All of the characters except Miss Coronado are property of Capcom and their associates.
Another outbreak of her deadly virus.
Elizabeth was aware of the zombie's blood drying on her skin and in her hair as she held the bloodied piece of paper up so that Chris could read it. Both stood still, afraid that even breathing would make the words on the paper more real. They appeared to be in their own world as Chris raised his eyes from the paper and locked them with Elizabeth's. His eyes held completely numb terror within their orbs. The stillness was broken when Barry asked if he could read what the paper had written on it.
Barry held the paper up to his eyes, and when he read the message from the chairman, the color drained from his face. He moaned softly, " No...."
He turned to Elizabeth, who looked as if she was barely able to stand, and asked, " Is this true? Will it happen all over again? "
Barry's eyes pled with Elizabeth, imploring her to say that it wasn't true. Their lives were going to be normal from now on, weren't they? This was what they had wanted ever since the mansion outside the Raccoon City had been destroyed. They had just destroyed the main base of operation for Umbrella. Life was going to be fair to them now. They had avenged the dead citizens of Raccon City. Was there any more that they had to do?
Part of Elizabeth wanted to say that she was lying to them, to say that the world would be alright again, that their work was done, but her conscience held her from saying anything at the moment. The only thing that she could do was nod mutely. Her nod, combined with the tears welling in her eyes, served to make Barry moan again.
While the enormity of the chairman's message sunk into their psyches, Claire and Leon had come as quickly as they could when they heard Elizabeth's unearthly scream as the zombie attacked her. They passed Jill and Carlos who followed them closely. All four ran through the hallways of the facility, killing the occasional zombie if it happened to be in their way. Breathless, they halted as they saw Chris standing motionless, Barry bent down with his hands on his knees breathing heavily, and Elizabeth standing in front of Chris holding a bloody piece of paper, her eyes reflecting an anguished look. The doors to the elevator were still attempting to close on the body of the zombie lying between them. Blood soaked the walls inside the elevator, and they assumed that the blood on Elizabeth belonged formerly to that zombie.
Carlos broke the silence by asking, " What's wrong? Elizabeth, are you okay? "
His words shook Elizabeth from her reverie, and she answered, " I'm fine, but there is something terribly wrong. I received this fax from the chairman, and he says to prepare for the second outbreak in Massachusetts. Raccoon City is going to happen all over again. "
A collective gasp arose from the four. Jill swallowed bile rising from her stomach and asked, " Are you sure? "
" Yes, I am. "
Shock was overcome by a sick realization that their mission wasn't over yet. Carlos appeared dejected, looking down at his boots and the barrel of his automatic rifle. He had been tempted by Umbrella's promises and found out that they were not the saints that they had made themselves out to be. They were not interested in saving citizens of Third World countries from abject poverty but were interested in using them as a cheap source of expendable workers. How could they be stopped if they hadn't been able to stop them so far?
Leon cursed loudly, pacing back and forth. He brought up his arms in frustration. After only being a cop of the Raccoon City police department for one single day, he still felt loyalty for the men that had fought the zombies to no avail and wanted to make sure that their deaths were not in vain. The deaths would be if he did not honor them by removing the bestial corporation that had engineered them.
Jill stood still like Chris, but there was a cold look in her eyes that belied the fiery anger that she felt. It was a dangerous kind of anger, that which can result in the slow, torturous end of the recipient. There was almost no need to articulate that anger, but she spoke anyway.
" Then there is more for us to do. We can't give up now, no matter how much we would like to. "
Claire looked heartbroken. Jill's words made sense, but after the effort that they had put into stopping Umbrella up to this point was nearly negated by this message. She quelled her despair, put on a brave face, and said, " We can't. You're right, but this is going to happen all over again to a different city, this one is Massachusetts. Raccoon City doesn't have to happen again. We can stop them before the city is ruined. "
Elizabeth said softly, almost imperceptibly, " Of course, there will be some deaths, but I think I can do something this time. Maybe even stop my virus in its tracks. "
Leon retorted angrily, his eyes flashing, " How do you propose to do that? This virus is a devastator of life, a veritable Shiva, and you say that it can be stopped? One small town in America was just blown out of existence by your virus, and you want to believe that Death can be halted? "
Recoiling from his anger, Elizabeth persevered, " Yes. It can be stopped. I know it can. "
" Leon, I was infected with the virus in Raccoon City by the Nemesis, and Carlos found the vaccine in the hospital. He brought it back to me, and I survived. If the vaccine existed, then there must be a way to spread it out over a massive scale, enough to cure the city, " Jill interjected.
Elizabeth nodded, " There need only be some adjustments made to it. Viruses mutate constantly, and we need a vaccine that can do the same, maybe even at a faster rate. I need time though, and I don't know how much we have until the second outbreak. I'll start as soon as I can. I'll need a sample of your blood, Jill, so that I can see the latest incarnation of the virus. "
Jill replied, " I can do that. One more question though. How are we going to spread it on such a large scale? I mean, we can't run around injecting any zombie we find. There's going to be too many of them for us to do that. "
That was a terrifying thought. How would she do that? Could it be air-borne and spread by the intake of air? The virus spread by an infectious bite she knew all too well from her experience of near-infection by the monstrous dog. That still gave her nightmares, but the Tyrant series was even worse. Elizabeth shuddered.
Chris had recovered enough to enter the conversation at this point while Barry remained in shock. He thought for a moment and said, " We'll find a way. We have to although that could have gone unsaid. What is important, " he spoke, gaining a new perspective, " Is that we don't roll over on our backs and allow them to get away with this. "
Elizabeth walked away from Chris and stood, gazing toward the elevator. She turned toward the group and said, " That was my problem the first time. I was so intoxicated with the power that they had given me that I stood by and did nothing while they filled the mansion with my hideous children. I was so proud of myself for even bringing them into existence. Unfortunately, even God had to experience the fall of his creation, and so will I. I may not use a flood. I don't have that much power, but I can stop the virus from spreading.
" I can only hope that I can stop myself. "