What's up, everyone! This is GKC here bringing you the next chapter of "The Dead's Reaper".

Now for the disclaimer: I do not own, except my OC, Resident Evil or Highschool of the Dead. All rights belong to their respective owners.

Now let's get this party started… BEGIN!

Resident Evil: The Dead's Reaper

Chapter 4: Death's Return

[Infection Zone]

It had taken a while for Rei to dry her tears.

Reaper could hardly blame her. After all, her boyfriend did die.

If he were honest, he half-expected the gray-haired teen to suddenly burst out of nowhere and laugh it off as a joke to tease the ex-Umbrella agent. He would've gotten hit but he'd still be alive. Another factor he found disconcerting was that Takashi had said nothing the entire time. The other boy almost appeared to be sulking. How odd.

Then again, he did kill Hisashi before he turned. Despite being a mercy killing, he was still experiencing the trauma that came with killing someone he knew. He had initially assumed that the two of them, along with Hisashi were good friends. It seemed out of character for Takashi to be glaring at the riverbed instead of being by Rei's side. Perhaps they were not as close as he had originally thought? Or perhaps it was simply the fact that cold logic could never predict how emotional humans would act.

"Come on," Takashi muttered as he picked up a stone and threw it into the river, with a good amount of force no less, "We need to get going if we want to get to the station before 7."

"Unfortunately, we will not get there on time by foot. We'll have to find shelter to rest." Reaper pointed out.

"Where do you suggest then?" The brunette asked.

"My apartment is close by. We can stop there to rest and resupply." The ex-Umbrella agent stated.

"How far?" Takashi asked.

"Not far. About a block from our current position. If we're quiet and swift, we should be able to make it there without any unexpected hassle from the undead." Reaper answered. "For now, stay behind me and follow my orders."

The two teens nodded in understanding as they followed the former Umbrella agent.

However, despite the silent path they tread, their mysterious pursuer continued to trail behind them in a slow, menacing pace.

[Meanwhile…]

"Are you guys hearing this?" Saya frowned, "Shidou sounds like he's trying to get us to join a new religious sect or something."

Saeko merely nodded as she glanced out the window. The number of vehicles stuck in traffic right now was as far as the eye could see. It did not seem that they would be getting through any time soon. It did not seem that anyone would be getting anywhere too soon for that matter.

At this rate we won't be going anywhere anytime soon," The purple-haired swordswomen crossed her arms over her chest, "Perhaps it would be better if we continued on foot?"

"I think that's a good idea, senpai," Kohta said as he nodded in agreement, "I don't exactly like Shidou-sensei."

Takagi snorted. "Who actually does? The guy's as slimy and rotten as they come."

"Then we are all in agreement?" Saeko glanced at her watch, "We still have a few hours before the meeting."

"Uhm, is it fine if I tag along too?" Shizuka waved sheepishly, "I don't exactly enjoy Shidou-sensei's presence all too much either."

Saeko merely smiled. "Of course, we were all originally together at the start anyway." The purple-haired swordswomen then clapped her hands together. "So it is agreed then?"

"Let's just go already," Saya said in a clearly annoyed tone of voice, "I'll go crazy if I have to listen to any more of Shidou's ramblings."

With an almost unnecessary amount of grace, the Takagi heiress rose up from her seat and made her way to the door, beckoning for the rest of them to follow.

[With Reaper…]

The city was in an even worse condition than he had originally theorized. While he had expected to see the panic and perhaps hysteria, the sheer amount of chaos that he had borne witness to so far had been quite surprising.

Destruction was everywhere. Cars were aflame, buildings were rundown and looted. The current setting resembled one of the many war-torn cities he had traversed as an assassin.

Exhaustion had yet to creep upon him. Given that he had been trained as a soldier and raised as a killer, it was only natural for a super-soldier to be physically and mentally capable of the apocalypse. Looking over towards his two companions, he could tell that they were not faring any better.

Takashi hid it well, but he could see his slightly labored breathing. Rei simply looked like she was about to faint.

They had been walking for a while. By Reaper's estimates, it had been close to half an hour. During that time, he had to keep the two teens from making any noise lest they attract the attention of the city's undead inhabitants.

Now if only he could get them to shut up…

"Oh, I'm sorry princess, I am oh so sorry for not taking that into account. Yeah let's just go knock on someone's door and ask them if we can crash at their place while there's a fucking zombie epidemic going on; that would go over real well wouldn't it?" Takashi threw his hands up into the air, "Yeah, I'm sure people would be willing to help with half the city up in flames and the walking dead everywhere!"

"Ugh! What the hell's your problem, Takashi?" Rei venomously bit back, "You're always like this, why can't you be more like Hisashi for once?"

"My problem?" Takashi began to raise his voice, "What's your problem? Hisashi's fucking dead okay? He turned into a fucking zombie and I killed him! How about you stop fucking comparing me to him for once!"

"For the love of God, shut the fuck up so I can get some peace and quiet for two seconds!" Reaper exclaimed.

The two teens went quiet immediately out of fear of angering the former assassin.

"Thank you. We're almost there anyway so… stop arguing until we get there." The super soldier said.

The other boy only grunted in response while the brown-haired girl muttered a quiet apology.

He tilted his head towards that direction and beckoned for his companions to follow. Takashi stuffed his hands into his pockets and looked away as he briskly walked near his left side while Rei followed along on his right side with her arms crossed over her chest. While the tension in the air seemed to be so thick that it was starting to become visible to the human eye, he enjoyed the peace and quiet nonetheless.

The journey was uneventful, and for that he was grateful. He was much too tired to be dealing with any extra shenanigans that fate wanted to throw his way at this point. He had already dealt with more troublesome things in this one day than in his entire life combined. It was quite ridiculous when he actually stopped to think about it.

His apartment complex looked almost exactly the same as it was when he left it this morning, with a few minor differences here and there. Well, he supposed his now dead neighbor's body lying in front of the entrance wasn't exactly minor. Then there was also the fact that most of the complex looked a lot more trashy than usual.

'Nobody had better gone in my apartment and taken my guns or I'm gonna be pissed.' Reaper thought with a small growl.

He marched down the blood-stained halls with Takashi and Rei following close behind him. Both teens looked a little green at the sight of so much blood.

Eventually, the trio came across a door that still seemed to be locked. Reaper noticed the half-eaten corpse of his neighbor by the door. Poor guy probably wanted to try and warn him about what was happening only to suffer the same fate as the rest of the undead's victims. Shame, he really liked his wife's cookies.

The young man shook his head to rid himself of such memories. Reaching into his pants pocket, Reaper pulled out the keys to his apartment and quickly unlocked the door, allowing them to enter into the safe confines of his home.

"Holy shit…" Takashi said with shock and awe.

"That's… a lot of guns." Rei admitted with a hint of caution in her tone.

Reaper ignored them as the teens shuffled inside while he closed and locked the door, making sure to use a bookcase to barricade it just in case. "Alright, we should be safe here for the night. For now, take a breather while you can." He said to his traveling companions.

Takashi and Rei graciously followed his advice as they sat on the soft, comfortable vice grip of Reaper's couch. The former assassin flipped a switch as the lights flickered on, much to his companions' surprise.

"There's still power here?" Rei inquired.

"I installed a backup generator for my home only. It will last for a few years as long as I regularly refuel it." Reaper explained. "I had it installed just in case there was a blackout. Luckily, I was right on the money."

"Um, what's with… all the guns, by the way?" Takashi asked rather nervously about the apartment tenant.

The clone looked at Takashi with a dry glare, "It's a hobby." He answered.

"Pretty weird hobby…" Rei muttered before squeaking in surprise when Reaper leveled his glare onto her. "Um…"

Takashi quickly came to the girl's rescue, "So you live here by yourself, Nocturne?"

The former assassin nodded as he marched over to the kitchen, opened the fridge, and pulled out three cans of cola. "Something like that. Been living on my own for a few years." He stated.

"What about your parents? Aren't they worried?" Rei asked while accepting the drink from Reaper.

"Never had a dad. My adoptive mom is away on… business right now." He answered as his thoughts drifted to Lupo, who was no doubt hiding with her children to keep Umbrella's agents from finding her. Mental images of his other teammates came to mind but he figured that they were either hiding as well or trying to take down Umbrella's upper echelon from the shadows.

It's what he would've done…

"Well, I hope your mom is alright," Rei admitted with a sad look on her face.

Reaper gave the girl a once-over before he gestured down the hall, "Go to the bathroom and take a shower. You look like you need it right now."

The thought of a hot shower immediately gave Rei pause mid-sip of her drink before she looked at her savior with gratitude. "Thanks, Nocturne-kun." She said, standing up from the couch and quickly walking down the hall to get a much needed shower.

After Rei left, the boys were the only ones left in the living room. Takashi sheepishly looked at his classmate, who was busy checking each weapon that was mounted on the walls of his home like he was preparing for war.

"So… how were you able to do all of that? Back at the school I mean." The hot-headed boy asked.

"I was trained since birth." Reaper explained. "Umbrella wanted a weapon so they made me and had their trainers mold me into the perfect killing machine. I was lucky enough to escape from the organization before I became their puppet forever."

"Umbrella? Puppet? You keep going on about that but Umbrella's been disassembled for nearly a decade." Takashi retorted.

"That's what they want you to believe. The public company may have been destroyed but there are those of the upper echelon that still lurk in the shadows. They are the ones who control the production of B. from behind the scenes." The ex-assassin explained.

"Seriously, man, you're speaking like a crazy person." Takashi said with a creeped out look.

Reaper sighed, "Whatever. Believe me or not. It won't change the fact that the world is burning and the undead have risen."

The Japanese youth figured that the American was done talking and decided to just sit on the couch quietly. Meanwhile, Reaper decided to remove his shirt and examine himself for any injuries he may have missed during the escape from the high school. His fingers brushed against one particular scar on his chest that left him with a scowl.

[Flashback]

After Wolfpack had finished their mission at Raccoon City Hall, Command had given them their next orders. Right now, Reaper sat away from the rest of Delta Squad, his weapon resting against his lap while his teammates were either having a quick drink, a bite to eat, or a few minutes of sleep. The super soldier had run some evaluations on each member of Wolfpack. Though some of them were only in it to get paid or to have their fill of blood, he noted that each of them had a symphony with one another, which made them all the more effective as a unit. They'd be useful in his mission… so long as they didn't hamper him in any sort of way. When the time came for their usefulness to end, he would gladly kill them.

"A number of survivors in Raccoon City may still have information that could damage the corporation. We don't have time to hunt them down individually so we're going to have you knock out a power grid that will take down the city's telecommunications. We can't let anything get out that might link us to the outbreak. We are sending you some electromagnetic pulse generators that you will use to deactivate the power plant in the northern sector of the city. A supply chopper is inbound with the generators, rendezvous with it on the Raccoon City Hospital rooftop helipad."

Despite the team's exhaustion with Nicholai, the Lickers, and their irritation at Command for blaming them for the town's horrors, they reluctantly agreed to fulfill the new task.

"Objective conformed, we're moving to the hospital now." Lupo said.

"Command out."

Wolfpack moved out. Eventually, they reached their next destination: Raccoon General Hospital.

"I am getting too old for this." Spectre complained. No one said anything about it.

The hallway they stood in upon entry seemed empty, but Wolfpack were not fooled. Something was bound to jump out and attack at any time.

They carefully walked through the hall and entered what looked like a cafeteria filled with party stuff such as balloons, party hats, present boxes that were ripped or unopened and food items that were left uneaten and rotting. Apparently, it was some kind of retirement party meant for someone before the T-Virus escaped as it said so on a few signs that said "Happy Retirement!"

Before proceeding any further, a familiar, sinister-sounding voice spoke through the room's intercom speakers. It was Nicholai Ginovaef.

"Good evening Umbrella Security Service. Hope you haven't forgotten your old friend, Nicholai." he said, his voice echoed through the abandoned cafeteria.

'I wish we did.' Bertha thought.

Nicholai continued. "I see you escaped my little diversion at City Hall."

Wolfpack looked around the cafeteria for him, but he was nowhere to be seen. Not even Spectre was able to spot him with his goggles when he thought he was hiding inside.

"How is he tracking us?" Spectre asked.

"Unfortunately, my client . . . can't have you interfering with our little side project. So I've rigged up a few toys to keep you busy." said the mad U.B.C.S. member.

And just as he said that, the tables all over the cafeteria began to wobble and zombies crawled out from underneath them and began walking toward the U.S.S. unit.

Nicholai let out a maniacal laugh through the intercom and left Wolfpack on their own to fend off the undead.

"Nicholai, you bastard!" Lupo yelled and she and her comrades had no choice but to survive Nicholai's trap.

After killing the zombies a few minutes later, more broke into the cafeteria through another door and joined in on the action.

Wolfpack saw that these new zombies were different. They were rigged with bombs that were attached to poles which were embedded in their backs and shoulders. If these zombies were killed or if the timers on their bombs expired, they would go off and lead to bigger problems for the six survivors.

"Shoot zombies before… they get too close." Spectre advised, not that he or the others couldn't see that.

The bomb zombies were shot at from a far distance and when they died, their traps exploded. Two zombies that were walking next to them were also killed when this happened and it gave the Wolfpack members an idea on killing them faster.

Four Eyes gathered the zombies together with another one of her pheromone bombs and when that worked, she fired off a shot at one zombie whose bomb detonated and killed all the other surrounding zombies, making their own bombs explode as well until they were all vanquished.

From elsewhere, Nicholai was heard again via the building's intercoms.

"Ha ha! My little contraptions seem to be working perfectly."

"Go fuck yourself, Nicholai!" Beltway shouted. He hoped Nicholai was able to hear his angry comment, but Nicholai said nothing back and left the team alone again.

After the rigged zombies were dealt with, the unit waited for the pheromone gas to wear off first before leaving the cafeteria through the same door the zombies came from and soon, they were now standing inside the hospital's main lobby where a few dead bodies were seen laying on the floor and on a couple of stretchers that were laid out in the area.

Another door from the opposite side of their position was broken down by more zombies with bomb traps on their bodies and made their way to the Wolfpack soldiers.

Some of those rigged zombies were Crimson Heads. Their speed, agility and strength, combined with their bombs, made them even more dangerous to handle.

The group quickly killed the Crimson zombies first before targeting the slow ones next.

After the threat was terminated, Wolfpack explored further and found a stairway that led them to another room filled with zombies waiting for a bite to eat. During the undead massacre, one zombie latched onto Vector and he finished it off by grabbing its head under his right arm and giving a sudden jerk to its head and neck.

Another bomb zombie emerged from a hidden spot and attacked Four Eyes when the team entered another hospital room. Seeing the bomb's red light blinking fast, Four Eyes shoved the creature away just in time as the device went off and showered its surroundings with blood and flesh. A second too late and she would have wound up being killed or seriously burned and/or injured.

When they journeyed farther, they discovered not only another exit ahead of them, but they also found out that they also needed a keycard to open it, just like back in City Hall.

"Great… another keycard to find." Vector said, annoyed by the new task.

A familiar, hissing sound echoed near them and they got ready, already aware of what was coming for them next.

"Not… a good sound." Spectre said.

Lickers were crawling into the room through shafts and Wolfpack got to work in getting rid of them right away.

Afterwards, the team found the card they needed, which was located in a trash bin, and resumed their dangerous journey to the helipad.

"Delta Team, the EMP supply chopper is inbound! Get to the roof!" said U.S.S. Command.

Beltway wanted to say "What do you think we're trying to do!?" to his own boss, but he restrained himself for the moment.

All seven members came to a room, but before they could take its stairway to the top, Spectre noticed a couple of laser-trip mines attached to each side of the stairs and one on top. The Russian member was able to spot them via his thermal vision since the lasers were invisible to naked eyes and upon so, he stopped his teammates in their tracks.

"Laser trip mines… detected." he said.

They looked around and saw the three mines armed and ready to detonate should anyone or anything touch their lasers which were unseen to them.

They stepped back cautiously and Spectre picked up a cardboard box and threw it at the bombs to activate them and they exploded, allowing the group to access the stairs. They also had a guess that Nicholai planted those bombs just for them.

More rigged zombies were disposed of and the team kept moving to their intended destination.

A giant ammunition chest was found and Wolfpack helped themselves to as much as they could carry.

They finally made it to the hospital building's rooftop and spotted the helipad. Besides that, their relief was short-lived when a crowd of Crimson Head zombies were seen coming right at them. None of the creatures were rigged with explosives like previously, but they still had to be destroyed.

"V-A-C-T's! Be careful!" Spectre said. "V-A-C-T" is Umbrella's original name for Crimson Head zombies.

Wolfpack worked together in killing the sprinting redheads.

Soon, the helipad was secure and Wolfpack climbed onto its top and awaited the helicopter Command told them about.

The sound of rotating blades was heard and they looked around the night sky and spotted a helicopter heading their way. It was the chopper loaded with the EMP charges they were ordered to get.

However, before the helicopter could land and make its scheduled delivery, it was suddenly shot at by an unknown source and the air vehicle started spinning out of control. The unexpected attack was not done by a rocket or a missile, but rather by a mere, simple bullet that struck the helicopter's pilot and caused injury and death.

The helicopter continued to decrease in altitude until it crashed in a different section of the town.

Back at the helipad, Wolfpack watched in awe.

"Who could have done that?" Bertha asked.

"Who do you think?" Vector responded. The answer to who was responsible for the mishap was pretty clear to them: Nicholai.

Just as they guessed it correctly, a series of explosions suddenly rocked the hospital and a few other buildings elsewhere and the event literally brought the roof and helipad down along with Wolfpack. They crashed back inside the structure and were now stranded. To make it worse for them, the entire floor they were on, along with the rest of the hospital, was on fire and the fire alarm began blaring everywhere.

"This hospital is burning down! Let's get out of here before we go with it!" Bertha said in a panic.

Beltway cursed when his left arm was in pain from the impact and he began rubbing it. "Command, Nicholai just shot down our supply drop and we're fucking burning up in here!" he said into his comm link.

"Do not let Nicholai get a hold of those EMP charges! Get to that crash site and recover them immediately!" Command ordered.

The lines stopped and Wolfpack had no other option but to navigate themselves through the hospital that was now one big blazing inferno.

They made it back down to the cafeteria where Crimson Head zombies were seen again, but this time, instead of carrying explosives on them, they were engulfed in fire. They were being cooked alive and yet the fire didn't seem to slow them down one bit and being grabbed by any of them in their current condition was obviously dangerous! CQC techniques on the flaming zombies were most definitely out of the question.

"Take down those walking torches!" Beltway shouted and they all shot down the fiery undead with extreme caution.

The Crimson Heads kept coming and with their speed and strength, Wolfpack had to evade them now and deal with them later.

The group were back in the waiting room which was also on fire like everything else.

Lupo had an idea on getting out.

"The morgue should have a loading dock! We can exit through there! Hurry!" she explained.

They started running to the opposite end of the area and entered a hallway and when they reached its doors, they burst open and, instead of zombies as expected, Wolfpack were met by a trio of fierce Hunter B.O.W.s!

"Hunters! Be careful around them!" warned Four Eyes.

One of the creatures roared viciously and began their assault on the Umbrella squad. Because the hallway was narrow, this made it difficult to maneuver around the bulky-sized reptilian creatures and the Umbrella operatives realized that fighting them was their only solution.

One Hunter went for Lupo and Vector, the second went for Beltway and Four Eyes and the last one targeted Spectre and Bertha.

Thinking quickly, Lupo used her suit's invulnerability to help her stand a better chance against the enemy monster and, despite their burning environment, she loaded her weapon filled with incendiary rounds which would harm the Hunter and kill it faster than regular bullets. She was saving them for special occasions and now seemed to be the perfect time.

Vector's cloaking couldn't fool the creatures for certain obvious reasons, so he relied on just his weapons and quick reflexes. The Hunters may be strong and slightly resistant to puncture wounds and gunfire due to their armored skin, but they were slow.

Lupo fired her incendiary rounds at the Hunter and the bullets penetrate its flesh and caused intense burns, making the creature howl in pain and Vector went in with his own gunfire and mortally wounded the Hunter with a few quick slashes and impaled his knife through the underside of its large chin.

The Hunter grasped at its bleeding jaw as it bled out from its injury and gurgled blood while Lupo's bullets burned it in different areas where she shot it at and soon its whole body was on fire. These combined attacks weakened the Hunter enough to kill it.

Beltway, like Vector, relied on his skills and weapons to fight and Four Eyes decided to try killing her target in a way that differed from her pheromone bombs. It involved the use of her mind-controlling chemical she called "Program Infected". Zombies might be easy to control, but Hunters were a whole different story, which is why she was eager to test it out on them.

The team's virologist whipped out her hypo gun, set it in the desired setting and fired one shot containing the chemical at the Hunter. At first the monster was confused by her action and barely felt the prick of the needle on its flesh and resumed attacking. In a few seconds though, the Hunter stopped and began clutched at its head and squealed painfully. This meant that Four Eyes' drug appeared to be taking effect on its mind and body and soon, the creature ceased attacking and was now under control, allowing Four Eyes to command it in any manner she pleased and it couldn't disobey her orders no matter what.

She told Beltway to give one of his frag grenades to it and he did, though he did this with caution as he was still on edge from being close to the large creature.

Four Eyes then ordered the drugged Hunter to remove the grenade's pin and swallow the explosive itself. It fiercely yanked off the pin, placed the object in its jaws and gulped it down its throat like a fruit. With that done, the two soldiers quickly stood back and the Hunter exploded, its blood and bones splattering everywhere.

"That's just downright disgusting, but I fucking like it!" Beltway commented and Four Eyes said nothing. She was stunned that her Project Infected drug formula actually worked on Hunters. Next time, she wanted to try it on a Licker.

Bertha had her healing items and abilities ready for the fight. But just to make things go a little smoother for her and the group, she injected the Hunter that was staring at her with her "Infection Neutralizer" drug, the chemical that healed or harmed T-Virus infected.

Spectre took on the same Hunter with just his guns due to him not having any special killing abilities like his teammates had.

Bertha began firing her weapon at the enemy. During the fight, the creature was starting to feel weak. Like with Four Eyes' drug, Bertha's own injection was affecting the Hunter's ability to fight and it was soon on its knees from losing physical strength and it groaned weakly and was seeing everything in blurry vision.

Reaper took the chance to save everyone ammo by ripping the Hunter's head clean off its body.

With the three Hunters out of their way, Wolfpack carried on with their escape.

They entered the hospital's morgue room and hoped that Lupo was correct about there being a means of escape around here.

Another Hunter burst in and knocked Beltway into a fire pit at random.

"Fuck, that burns!" he shouted and quickly scrambled away from the fire and patted all flames from his person. Lucky for Beltway, his thick heavy suit prevented any burn injuries to him as it was designed resistant to most fiery explosions. He didn't actually feel the burning pain, it was just a sudden reaction from being knocked into it.

Lupo rushed over to help him out.

"Be careful, mon ami." she said to him. What she said translated to "my friend" in French as she herself was French.

The Hunter was killed and they kept running, refusing to stop for anything or any virus-contaminated being that tried to stop them until they reached the morgue's exit door and were finally outside again and they were very relieved to have survived the fire incident.

"I told you this was a way out. Now let's get to that crash site, find the EMP charges and, if possible, kill Nicholai."

Wolfpack walked ahead with their weapons raised and ready for any B.O.W.s or Spec Ops soldiers.

Spectre used his wrist computer to locate the downed helicopter's whereabouts and soon learned that the site was the city's park.

The sounds of gunfire and yelling were heard not too far from them, not to mention inhuman growling and screeching. Each member guessed that enemy soldiers were around and were fighting off some B.O.W.s and judging from the screeching noises, Crimson Heads were afoot.

"Stay quiet and move slowly." said Vector.

They entered an abandoned apartment building and turned a corner that led them back outside and onto another street.

Their guesses about there being soldiers and zombies within range were correct as they spotted a team of Spec Ops troops combating Crimson Heads that were running at them from all sides except from, obviously, Wolfpack's own spot. The lone Umbrella unit brainstormed on what action to take next at the sight.

"Should we let the bastards tear themselves to shreds or do we just kill 'em all?" Beltway questioned. He wanted to kill the Spec Ops members, but on the other hand, he saw the idea of the creatures killing them brutally as more entertaining.

"I say we sit this one out for the moment and terminate the leftovers like last time. It will save us the ammo for more important matters on the road ahead, yes." Bertha suggested. By "important matters", the German woman was referring to Nicholai rather than the city's creatures.

"It will save us energy and ammunition." Reaper added, agreeing with the plan.

Nobody protested that idea and they hid in the shadows except Vector who simply activated his cloaking and stood his ground and they all watched the street battle in silence.

Eventually, it was just down to a single Crimson Head and two Spec Ops members. Some of the soldiers were still alive, but those ones were gravely injured and possibly infected with the T-Virus all in part of the zombies.

When the Crimson Head was killed, the remaining Spec Ops were about to tend to their wounded teammates when Wolfpack suddenly emerged from their hiding places and finished them all off, especially the fresh virus carriers.

Jogging all the way to the other side of the street, the team found the path that led to the Raccoon City Park. Spectre informed them about the crash site being somewhere in the park and Wolfpack hopped over a pile of discarded junk. When they reached the park's gate entrance, they were disappointed to find that it was blocked off completely.

"It's blocked. We'll need to go around." Vector said. Having no other option, Wolfpack resorted to Vector's suggestion.

An open path was seen on their right and they followed it. A few wooden fences were seen and they just simply ran across them.

The team discovered a large, brick wall with a gaping hole blown in its middle and they entered the park that way. Fog covered the entire park, making it appear to be haunted. It gave them the creeps.

At last, they found the downed helicopter. Now they had to search it completely for the EMP devices and vamoose before any of the city's monsters showed up or worse, Nicholai.

A hefty box was seen sitting alone near the wreckage and Vector went and scooped it up.

"Is this it?" he asked. A sticker on its side was seen and it identified the item as one of the EMP devices they sought.

"Yes. Only two more to go." Spectre answered.

Screeching and rapid footsteps came within earshot and Wolfpack knew that company was coming.

Crimson Heads originated from the fog and were running toward Delta Team who then raised their weapons and opened fire at the creatures.

During the conflict, another scattered EMP device was discovered by Four Eyes and she took it.

"I found another one!" she shouted, shooting down a zombie that followed her.

"Good. That only leaves us with one more, yes?" Bertha asked.

Their radio comms were unexpectedly intercepted by the voice of Nicholai during the zombie battle.

"If you want the last EMP charge . . . then come and get it!" he said to them, his tone in a teasing manner.

Each Delta Team operative felt their blood boil and minds cloud with fury from hearing him.

"Nicholai!? He must be on our comm channel!" Spectre stated.

"No shit, Sherlock!" said Beltway.

"Wolfpack, take him out! You need that EMP charge!" said Command.

Receiving their new order without protest, Wolfpack killed off the remaining Crimson Head creatures and entered a gate that led them to a place that appeared to be void of life except for them just now. A building with three sections was seen along with a few garden blocks on the ground in front of them. This new place looked like something out of a Gothic story.

A red laser started creeping up on one of the Wolfpack members and then a gunshot was fired from somewhere and it almost hit them.

"Sniper! Take cover!" Lupo shouted and they did with the area's plant blocks.

A figure appeared from one of the building's structures and Wolfpack immediately recognized it to be Nicholai. He was seen holding a sniper rifle in his hands. The U.B.C.S. operative tossed out a frag grenade and it landed near Vector and Beltway.

"Grenade!" Beltway yelled and they all quickly moved away and the grenade exploded.

"Someone distract him with suppressive fire so we can move!" Vector said.

"HA! You fools don't even know what you're doing!" Nicholai taunted through their radios.

Gunshots were exchanged between the opposing people. Spectre was the only one capable of actually seeing Nicholai via his mask's scope and informed them of Nicholai's activities such as where he moved to and when he was reloading his firearm whenever he ran out of ammunition.

"Do you really believe that I could have done this all alone, comrades?" Nicholai asked them during the battle. "How do you think I knew where you were going? How did I know about your precious EMP devices? Simple: my client gave me your comm channel!"

His speech stunned the Wolfpack team.

"That's right! I've been gathering combat data for 'Operation Watchdog'! You have been most useful in assisting me!" he said with pride.

"That fuckwad! He's been hoodwinking us the whole fucking time!" Beltway yelled angrily.

"Then let's kill him and be done with it!" Reaper said as he exchanged fire with the Russian.

Another grenade was thrown at them as Nicholai continued rambling on about his deeds.

"Of course, if my client wants this information, then they will have to pay for it, and neither you or them can stop me!"

He was then shot at by Bertha and Spectre and received a hit in his right shoulder. His shrieking grunt of pain satisfied Wolfpack for a brief moment.

Vector activated his cloaking and started running across the field in order to sneak inside the structure Nicholai holed himself in then killed him from within. However, he unknowingly stepped on a hidden landmine and it began beeping. Cursing loudly, Vector made a desperate dive away from it and into a corner of the building.

The mine detonated and bits of rubble and dirt splashed everywhere, including Vector who's cloak was disrupted by the blast and deactivated. Now he had to wait a while before using his cloak again. It was obvious that Nicholai had set up the trap and there was a possibility that additional landmines were buried in random spots in the ground ahead of the team, just waiting to go off and harm someone or something.

Nicholai saw this from the corner of his eye and smiled wickedly, now aware of what Vector tried to do. Other than that, he also had a thermal scope equipped on his rifle, allowing him to see Vector whenever he's in his invisible form.

'You didn't think I didn't come prepared especially for you, did you?' he thought to himself.

The Russian man threw another grenade at Wolfpack, not caring who he harmed with it.

That didn't happen when one of his enemies shot the object in mid-air, causing it to explode and harm nobody. Although against Wolfpack, even Nicholai had to admit that that was an extraordinary feat.

While reloading, Lupo spotted a sniper rifle near a dead zombie and claimed it, avoiding another bullet by Nicholai. It was a bolt-action type. She inspected it for ammo and found only 5 bullets remaining in its clip. This new gun would increase their chances at getting rid of the deranged U.B.C.S. soldier faster, but the downside was that there were no further spare clips for the gun, so she'd have to use it wisely.

Sure they could use their own weapons on Nicholai, but with him camping high above them in the building and with hidden landmines preventing any of them from proceeding further, Lupo's new rifle was one of two weapons among Delta Team that would aid them, the other was the semi-auto rifle Spectre had and he had plenty of ammunition to go around and unlike her gun, Spectre's carried 10 rounds per magazine, doubling the firepower.

She had an idea.

"Spectre! I found a sniper rifle, so I need your help in eliminating Nicholai!" she said to him.

"Understood. Get ready to shoot!" he said.

Lupo and Spectre readied their respective rifles and took aim at where Nicholai kept appearing to shoot.

Nicholai laughed. "This might be easier than I thought. Maybe I overestimated the U.S.S." he said.

He then left his post for a moment and began to ring the tower's bell. Its loud ringing echoed throughout the park and went non-stop. That was bad news for Wolfpack because soon, they started hearing the all-too familiar roaring and snarling and it was getting closer.

"Not again!" Bertha complained.

Zombies showed up from everywhere and from under the building and made their way to the U.S.S. people. Some of those zombies also happened to be former U.B.C.S. soldiers. Either Nicholai doomed them to that fate or they got separated from him and their units on their own.

"Ha! Easy targets!" Nicholai bragged.

With Wolfpack being distracted by the new zombie threat, they had to carefully balance between killing the creatures and shooting at Nicholai whilst avoiding getting wounded by him.

Some of the zombies tried to breach the building's doors to get to Nicholai due to his bullet wound and they were easily attracted to the sight or smell of fresh, uninfected blood.

"Spectre and I will handle Nicholai so all of you keep those B.O.W.s away from us at all costs!" Lupo said.

To ensure she couldn't be harmed by Nicholai or the undead, Lupo activated her "Super Soldier" ability again and she and Spectre got to work in attacking Nicholai while the others worked to keep the zombies at bay from them.

"Do you see him?" Lupo asked him.

Spectre focused his mask's vision mode and got a lock on Nicholai.

"Indeed. He is standing on the far right of your position… trying to tend to his injury." he said.

The two snipers focused their rifle scopes on where their target supposedly was and prepared to fire the moment he tried to shoot.

Nicholai emerged from his hiding place and took aim at whomever he wished to shoot, mostly at the ones fending off the undead. But before he could do that, Spectre shot at Nicholai's rifle to prevent him from firing and Lupo took a shot at him, hitting him in the chest.

Lupo grinned with glee at striking the man down. Unfortunately for her and Spectre, Nicholai was wearing a bullet-resistant vest underneath his uniform. It saved him from being killed, but the bullet's impact against his vest still hurt. Plus, he was still vulnerable on his limbs and most importantly, his head.

"Agh! You are ruining my work!" he shouted.

After spending additional time killing the zombies and trying to kill Nicholai with no success so far, the latter had ceased his shooting rampage and fled the scene through a secret entrance/exit. By this time, no more zombies approached and Lupo's ability expired without her realizing it until now and the team members were all covered with blood and dirt.

"Nicholai is not a priority. Disengage and proceed to the power plant immediately. We need to deactivate that power grid." said U.S.S. Command.

"Nicholai's gone, eh? What a fucking chicken, choosing to run off than stay and fight like a man." Beltway said about the situation.

The entire area was quiet again. No gunshots, explosions or monster noises.

Their business finished here, Wolfpack gathered up their weapons and ammo and headed toward the building. Spectre used his mask technology to seek out any leftover landmines that survived the onslaught as well as Nicholai's whereabouts inside and didn't see either one, indicating that the madman had indeed escaped and that it was safe to cross the field. Still, that didn't mean they were safe from him. They were bound to run into him sometime in the city.

The group realized that all of the entrances to the building were bolted shut from the other side and that Nicholai must have built barriers to hold off all enemies before their short-lived confrontation with him.

Beltway tried ramming down a door on the building's far left, but he didn't succeed, so he planted a bomb on the door's front and he and the others stood back as far as possible. They didn't worry about the blast attracting any undead nearby, for there weren't any around, what they killed earlier was the horde of the park.

Beltway pressed a button on his wrist computer and the bomb exploded, opening the door for sure.

Wolfpack stepped inside and found a grand piano in the lobby and a small chapel room that was filled with extra corpses of zombified nuns and reverends. All of them had bullet holes in their heads and bodies, telling them that Nicholai slew them upon arrival.

The team entered the chapel and started searching until the 3rd and final EMP charge was located under one of the chapel's seats, thus ending Wolfpack's hunt for the EMP devices.

"Command, we've obtained all three EMP charges. Requesting update." Lupo spoke in her radio.

"Good work, Wolfpack. Management is not sure what's motivating Nicholai. But he seems to have ulterior motives. We'll keep looking into it."

Wolfpack took their boss's word for it and departed from the chapel through a back exit. Their next location was, as Command put it, the city's power plant.

People from the Spec Ops unit were seen outside waiting for someone or something to pass by. Spotting each other, the two factions attacked one another.

When the U.S.S team were finished killing their enemies, they ran across a corner or two until they reached a building that they guessed was the power plant. Now they had to find and disable the plant's generators.

Two minutes later, Wolfpack found the plant's main generator room. It was huge, so huge that neither member knew where to start. The three main generators were seen in the area, electricity flowing throughout their metallic forms. No one was guarding the generators, leaving them ripe for the picking or so to speak.

"Command, we've reached the power plant." Vector said.

"Copy that. Plant the EMP charges on the generators and knock out that power grid." Command ordered and Wolfpack got to work right away.

To make it simpler, one EMP charge was given to three of their own and those in possession of them were told to seek out one generator machine each and plant a charge near them while the ones without an EMP device were to stand guard for intruders of any kind, monster and human.

While the team did their jobs, groups of Spec Ops soldiers were seen moving into the power plant's main room and prepared to attack.

"Spec Ops… incoming!" Spectre yelled.

The ones with the EMP charges put their tasks aside to help in fighting off the opposing unit.

Besides the Spec Ops, zombies suddenly invaded the area. Now it was a two-way fight for both operatives.

One Spec Ops person was struck with three bullets, suffering massive bleeding. This caused the zombies to suddenly screech and head for the wounded victim, ignoring their previous enemies.

The Wolfpack unit watched on as their adversaries focused more on the undead than on them. Seeing that made them suddenly realize why the creatures were attacking the Spec Ops more due to their wounded member. This is exactly how they saw the zombies act when they battled Nicholai at the chapel building before, but the team didn't realize it then. The presence of blood from the Spec Ops soldier and from Nicholai made the creatures behave wildly like sharks or piranhas in a feeding frenzy, a behavior similar to how they get from Four Eyes' pheromone bombs.

Like an egg, an idea hatched inside their minds.

Aiming carefully, the Wolfpack group fired shots at the Spec Ops soldier's unarmored body parts such as their arms, legs and even their head and throats and as expected, the zombie horde lurched at the Spec Ops men even more than before, leaving them to be distracted long enough for Wolfpack to sneak around the chaos and place their charges on the generators.

None of the zombies even bothered to notice and attack the Umbrella soldiers as they were too busy with the team of government soldiers like wild animals.

So far, only two charges were planted. All they had to do was place the final charge and leave the plant.

Just then, they heard the voice of a certain someone above them. "I'm done playing games with you Security Service dogs! Time to finish this!" Once again, it was Nicholai Ginovaef.

"It's Nicholai… on the catwalks… above us!" Spectre said aloud.

Wolfpack looked up and saw Nicholai standing right above everyone and everything. He held his sniper rifle tightly in his hands and prepared to attack the U.S.S. troops.

'Here we go again!' Lupo thought.

As they fought with Nicholai again, more enemies, both zombies and Spec Ops, appeared and went after Wolfpack and each other. With their presence, tackling them and Nicholai was going to be an even more serious, difficult task to juggle.

Vector offered to take the last EMP charge and complete the mission himself. He was given the device and he quickly activated his cloak and made haste.

Beltway accompanied him since demolitions and explosives were his specialty.

Although none of the Spec Ops people could see Vector, the B.O.W.s could as well as Nicholai thanks to his thermal scope, but he didn't care about that. His bullets would have a hard time piercing Beltway's armor suit, but he tried anyway.

The Umbrella duo shoved a Spec Ops man aside and before that person could fight back, he fell over a rail and was attacked by some of the zombies nearby and his horrible shrieks echoed throughout the compound.

Nicholai cursed as the duo proved to be more trouble than they were worth. Even if the mission proved to be a failure, he could at least take down one of these insufferable dogs. His line of sight lingered on Four Eyes, who was busy keeping zombies away from her but left her back open. The Russian smirked maliciously as he aimed his rifle at the woman then pulled the trigger.

Four Eyes heard the shot and turned to look back, eyes wide with shock as she was about to receive a fatal injury… until a black mass stood in front of her, taking the hit.

"Urk!" Reaper grunted as the force of the bullet sent him flying until he landed on his back, a hole present on his chest plate with blood seeping from the wound.

"Shit! Reaper's down!" Four Eyes cried out as she fired at any of the Crimson Heads that tried to make a meal out of the fallen super soldier.

"Get him on his feet! We're not leaving him behind!" Lupo ordered as Bertha and Four Eyes took the time to bring Reaper back onto stable ground while the French woman and Spectre covered them with their rifles.

At last, the charge was set and was good to go.

"Charges set! Detonating now!" Beltway warned. He and Vector ran for it as did their teammates, Nicholai and any surviving Spec Ops members and in a few seconds, all three EMP devices were initiated.

The three generators exploded in a blinding flash of light and in seconds, they, the computers inside the area and everything electronic all over the city were deactivated. Buildings and homes blacked out all at once. Nothing electronic survived.

By then, most of Raccoon City was soon engulfed in darkness and the only main source of light available were the fires that blazed on. Other than that, the only things that withstood the EMP blast were Wolfpack's own gear and technology.

Miles away outside the city limits, even a few signs that said "WELCOME TO RACCOON CITY. HOME OF UMBRELLA." were powered down. It was like a modern-day version of the 8th plague from biblical scriptures.

"Good. The power grid's down. Our job's done here. No need to keep fighting. Leave those bastards in the dark." Command commented on Wolfpack's success.

When it was over, Wolfpack took a seat on a ruined bus stop bench and breathed a sigh of relief knowing that their task was complete and they were free of Nicholai and his madness. Four Eyes and Bertha were checking over Reaper, who was keeping a hand over the hold in his armor as weak breaths left his lips.

"How do you feel?" The German medic inquired.

Reaper coughed a few times then looked down at his wound. "Bullet pierced through my lung… Can't heal… Have to get it out…"

Lupo came over to investigate her wounded teammate. "What's his condition?"

"Puncture wound through the lung. I need to perform a field autopsy or else he'll choke on his own blood." Bertha answered as she worked to remove Reaper's chest plate.

Four Eyes looked at Reaper, "Why did you take the bullet for me?"

"You were in trouble. My body just reacted." Reaper answered in his usual blunt honesty. "Kinda regretting it now…"

"Hush now, Bertha will get you back up on your feet soon. Just stay alive until then." Lupo told the clone, who nodded in response as the medic of Wolfpack worked her twisted magic to help her injured teammate.

Reaper would survive his wound, but traitorous Russian's words came back to haunt him. Someone gave him Delta Team's comm channel. He only knew few people who had access to that information… and it made him doubt their true intentions.

[Present]

Reaper sighed as he lowered his shirt and went to check on Rei to make sure she was doing alright. It would be some time before they would have to leave again and they couldn't linger in his apartment forever, despite how favorable it would be to have all his weapons.

He passed by Takashi, who was napping on the cough, and marched down towards his bedroom. He knocked on the door a few times but received no answer. 'Honestly, what the hell is taking her so long?' Reaper though as he opened the door to his room but no one was in sight.

"Takashi, is that-" He heard Rei's voice then a door opened and out came Rei Miyamoto… clad in only a wet white towel that hugged her fine female figure. "N-Nocturne-san!? What are you doing here!?"

"This is my bedroom. Why were you taking so long in the shower?" Reaper pondered, not really caring if Rei was naked or not. He'd seen it plenty of times before when he still worked in Umbrella.

Rei blushed heavily as she hid behind the door to hide her nudity, "W-Well, I was covered in blood but then the shower felt too good and I sorta lost track of time."

Reaper sighed, "Just get yourself dried off and dressed. Once we've rested, we're leaving for the police station." He stated.

"Okay…"

The super soldier left the embarrassed girl alone, closing the door behind him as he made his way into the kitchen to grab a quick bite to eat. When he reached for his fridge to pull something out…

*WHAM*

…the wall next to his head suddenly broke open, revealing a massive gloved hand that reached out to crush his skull. Luckily, Reaper's instincts managed to save his life as he vaulted back to avoid his attacker's grip.

Reaper narrowed his eyes as the owner of the hand emerged from the wall, revealing their menacing form. A tall humanoid creature with dark grey skin, milky white eyes, and a bald head growled lowly at the former assassin. It was clad in a protective coat that was black in color with power limiters on the gloves of its wrists.

"A T-103…" Reaper growled. "Just my fucking luck."

Takashi shot awake from his nap, "Huh? What's happening?" He said sleepily before he took notice of the Tyrant standing menacingly in the kitchen. "Holy shit!"

"Takashi, grab Miyamoto and find a safe place to hide!" Reaper ordered.

"Huh? Why? Just who is that?!"

"There's no time! Run, now!" The super soldier yelled as the T-103 reached out to grasp his head but Reaper dodged at the last second, grasping the bioweapon by the wrist and using his enhanced strength to judo flip it over his shoulder, slamming it right on his dining room table.

Takashi quickly ran for the bedroom to grab Rei while Reaper dealt with the B.O.W. The super soldier quickly ran towards his weapon wall and removed a SPAS-12 shotgun, taking a few buckshot rounds and loaded them into the chamber. With a jerk of his hand, he pumped the weapon and took aim at the Tyrant's head.

"Eat lead, bitch!" He snarled before firing several rounds at the bioweapon's face. Bits of its grey flesh flew off from its face, revealing muscle and bone before it had enough of the pain. The Tyrant's large hand reached out, grasping the barrel of the shotgun and squeezing it to the point the metal was warped beyond recognition. Reaper shot his foot out, kicking the B.O.W in the face.

"Why did this motherfucker have to come back in my life!?" Reaper snarled before he rushed towards a container and opened it up, revealing a rocket launcher with the missile already equipped. He mounted it on his shoulder and aimed. "SUCK ON THIS!"

He pulled the trigger and the rocket was sent flying towards the Tyrant's face and exploded on contact. When the smoke cleared, the Tyrant knelt on one knee with its head bowed down.

"Now's my chance…" He said, glancing over at his power suit and quickly ran over to it. He removed the armor and slipped on the muscle suit. The artificial servos activating and empowering him with greater strength. Following that, he clipped on the boots, greaves, waist guard, the gauntlets, and the chestplate. He was about to reach for his helmet before his instincts warned him of danger, forcing him to crouch down to avoid a wild haymaker from the Tyrant after it recovered. "Always hated these fucking things."

LINE BREAK

"Takashi, what's going on?!" Rei demanded as she was frantically trying to get her clothes on after taking a bath.

"I don't know, some big guy came crashing through the wall and now he's telling us to stay put," Takashi answered.

"We have to help him then!"

"No, we can't. We won't stand a chance." Takashi said. "We just have to hope that he makes it out alive."

*CRASH*

A black mass crashed through the wall behind Takashi, sending plaster and wood all over the floor. Rei screamed out of instinct while Takashi covered her. The two teens looked at what slammed through and found it to be Reaper, who was clad in the black armor from before.

"Ugh… I really hate Tyrants…" Reaper groaned.

"Nocturne-san!" Rei gasped.

"Huh?" Reaper looked at the teens. "Idiots! I told you to hide!"

"Hide from what!?" Rei demanded.

"From that!" The clone gestured through the hole towards the approaching Tyrant.

"Shit, it's coming!" Takashi panicked as he grabbed the hastily dressed Rei by the arm and pulled her along. "Come on, Rei! We need to move!"

"Wait, Takashiiii!" Rei cried out as they dodged a lariat from the Tyrant.

"Hey asshole, your target's me!" Reaper shouted as he went up to it and gave it a few punches.

The Tyrant shook its head from the super soldier's blows and focused its attention on Reaper, going in with a big overhead punch to knock him down but Reaper rolled between its legs and then kicked it in the back, knocking the tall bioweapon down. He then raised his leg and brought an axe kick down on the Tyrant's spine, causing the floor to break and the Tyrant crashing through several floors.

"That should keep him down for now…" He said to himself then looked down at his fallen helmet and recovered it. Crimson eyes stared into the four dim blue camera eyes that stared right back at him. He turned the helmet around… and placed it on his head as the HUD came online, feeding him intel for his vitals, weapons, ammunition, and the condition of his armor. The camera eyes shined their luminescent blue once more.

The Reaper has finally returned.

A/N: That's the end of the chapter, finally!

Oh my god! I cannot tell you guys how long its been since I had to finish this. I was hitting a roadblock with the fight scene with the Tyrant but I finally finished it.

KRD: Thanks to me~!

GKC: Oh right, I asked KRD to help me with this. I should've done that from the start…

KRD: What would you do without me? :)

GKC: Take over the world.

KRD: Ha-ha very funny. Anyways, as you can see, I'm helping him out because one, huge fan of H.O.T.D and RE, two, my co-author for my version of H.O.T.D left me high and dry altogether, having not being able to contact him for years, and three, well… okay, just two. But our interests in these two franchises are aligned so here I am!

GKC: Rejoice! For we shall align in this story of blood, tragedy, and drama!

KRD: Okay, easy there… But yeah, look forward to more of me around in the future. See ya next chapter!

GKC: Peace out, everybody!