Resident Evil (Operation clean sweep)

by William Pease

William Maximus of the florida based Stars learns of the turmoil in Raccoon City. He assembles a strike team to find out what happened to the city and his friends not knowing what dangers lie ahead for him and his team.

1. Default Chapter

RESIDENT EVIL…(OPERATION CLEAN SWEEP)

ONE

The air conditiong was humming in the average sized office with gray walls, pictures and plaques of various kinds hanging in no particular order. He was sitting in his desk with his feet propped up on an old army trunk, one hand behind his head and the other typing slowly on the computer. The one thing that he did not like was paper work, forms here, forms there ,forms all over the place. His name is William Maximus, STARS team member , second in command of the florida based team. Everyone knew he should be in charge, but the team leader Ronnie was the mayors nephew, all books no street smarts at all, but that did not bother Maximus , he was 28 years old and had all he wanted. Six foot tall browns hair and green eyes, the build that most men envy. He joined the U.S. Navy right after high school and became a navy seal, the best in his class, served six years with them and then became a stars member to "Better the world". he was an expert in hand to hand combat, weapons, and had plenty of other skills that he learned over the past ten years, he was smart, not genius smart but smarter than a lot of people. He knew a little about everything, in part for his liking of books.

He sat their typing on the computer almost in a dream state when….BBBZZZT…..BBBZZZZTTT. The screen began to flicker on and off he sat up in his chair, with a puzzled look on his face. "What the?" he said aloud. When the screen became to display words on its own. Thinking to himself "must be hackers", but the words were calling for Maximus. OTHER STARS IN DANGER……..RACCOON CITY GHOST TOWN…………..CONSPIRACY IN STARS…….WATCH WHO YOU TRUST……… GET THOSE YOU TRUST TOGETHER……….RACCOON CITY IN DANGER……..LOSS OF LIFE GREAT……..GO HELP RACCOON CITY………. This went on for a minute or two with these short incomplete sentences with info in them he thought it to be a wild joke.

He decided to give his buddy Jon Andrews a call in Raccoon city. He and Jon served in the navy together and have kept in touch ever since. He picked up the phone and dialed the number, waited and then a voice came over the line " were sorry the number you have dialed is no longer in service." Maximus looked at the phone as if it were crazy, one eyebrow raised, " HHMM, let me try the police station." he said to himself and dialed the number. The recored message came on again. He tried various numbers at the RPD station and each time the same message. He began calling any number he could think of in Raccoon city, and each time the recording. He actually was beginning to feel uncomfortable "what is going on." He pressed the button on his comm link. "Carlos can I see you in my office please its important" there was a brief pause.

Carlos Mercado was a Puerto Rican 23 year old man, served in the marines for four years, he was new to the STARS. Only being a member for just over a year. He was about 5ft 9in tall dark hair and eyes, a real slender yet muscular build. He was the STARS explosives expert. He had a knack for blowing things up. He possessed a lot of skills needed for this type of job. He kept his cool in the heat of a situation and could follow orders as well as make them when needed. He would definitely go place in the STARS. He tapped his comm link and answered William saying he was on his way. He entered Williams office peering in with just his head, thinking he must have did something wrong for William to sound so serious over the comm link. "what's up boss" he said with a slight hint of concern. William turned in his chair at the same time giving Carlos a head motion to enter . He folded his hands together and placed his chin in them appearing to search for the words to say. "You have family in Raccoon City correct." His voice was low and stern Carlos knew this was not the time to joke. He let a small smile come through his face. "Sure I have some aunts and uncles and stuff, you know." He looked at William inquisitively "So… why do you ask."

(1)

William folded his arms and leaned back a little further in his chair. "Have you….spoken to any of them lately?" Carlos paused for a minute looking in the air for an answer. "well, no its probably been a month or so, why?" he seemed puzzled at the question. William grabbed his phone from his desk and handed it to Carlos. "Call any one of them, I want to see something ." Carlos took the phone glancing at William with a crazy look, but none the less did as he was asked. He dialed his aunt Maria's house. There was a pause and the, "Were sorry but that number is not in service." message was all that was heard. Carlos looked at the phone as if waiting for it to explain itself. He handed the phone back to William and said " there was no answer… well it was not even in service." he looked confused "what does that mean."

William finally stood up from his desk. " Well it means something may be going on in Raccoon City."

He walked over to a large file cabinet and opened a door to it grabbing a handful of files. " I've called over thirty numbers in Raccoon and all have the same message." He began to look through the files he grabbed scanning over them with great intensity. He had Carlos's attention. He stood there watching Williams every move. " I'm looking through the files from the past several weeks from the STARS network. Seeing if there were any reports made by STARS leading up to today." He walked around the room studying the files for a good five minutes then snapped them closed. " well there were a few reports of gruesome murders and such, but nothing to cause mass hysteria."

William put the files back and closed the door to the cabinet. "Well I say we go talk to Ronnie and see if we can pay Raccoon a visit." He motion for Carlos to join him as they left the office and headed towards Ronnie Johnston's office. The big boss of the Florida STARS, but was clues about all that was ever going on. William just walked in the office with out even knocking, Carlos at his heels. Ronnie turned around to face them, scared to the point of a small jump when they barged in. He was definitely intimidated by William for he was only five foot seven and 140 pounds when wet. He had red hair and small freckles on his face. He had an average build and minimal training, the only respect he got from his team was the respect that William made them have. His uniform was always clean and pressed never has been dirty .

"LT. Maximus what can I do for you." You could feel a slight amount of uncertainty in his voice obviously confused as to why the sudden company. William walked over to his desk, which was perfect in every way, nothing out of place the total oppisite of William's. He leaned over to come very close to Ronnie. "We want to visit Raccoon City, boss." Ronnie's eyes lit up as if William said something horribly wrong. William noted that in his memory but failed to let Ronnie know he noticed. Ronnie moved his chair back as if trying to escape from William's grasp. "Well why do you want to go there, there is nothing to do that you cant do here." William quickly replied " well I have a lot of friends there and was wanting to catch up with them ,ya know possibly help with some of those murders that have been going on."

Ronnie's eyes were beginning to dart in the air for answers. William began to get the feeling that he was hiding something. Ronnie stood up and walked toward the water cooler in his office. He reached for a cup and poured himself some water drinking the whole glass in a few giant gulps. William knew he was not saying something. He looked at Carlos and back to Ronnie. Carlos took the initiative and added. "yes and my aunt Maria is getting married and I would also like to go." Ronnie turned around quickly blurting out, "You have family in Raccoon!" Carlos seemed startled by Ronnie's sudden change in attitude. Ronnie regained his composure and drank another cup of water. "Well who all are we going to send." he spoke in a more calm manner this time. William remembered the messages on the computer screen. "Just me and Carlos, no big deal. We have the vacation time coming." Ronnie thought far a second and said " Sure, you can leave tomorrow." he smiled almost an evil smile as he spoke. William did not worry about that though he shook his head to Ronnie and darted out of the room.

He and Carlos were going to Raccoon city. They had to get things together and had to move fast. After they got back to Williams office they finally spoke. William turned to Carlos. "Something is going on in Raccoon, and we are going to need help." He grabbed his phone. He knew a lot of people who could help but only a handful he could trust with out any doubt. He went through his list of contacts, and came up with eight names that he knew he could count on. (2)

Right after William and Carlos left the office Ronnie immediately picked up the phone. In a frantic and nervous voice. "This is Ronnie Johnston ID number 43621 alpha." There was a brief pause on the other line and then it began to ring. Within a few rings someone answered the other line. "yes what can we do for you?" Ronnie was not sure what to say to these people, they could really make life miserable if you did not make them happy . "We… have a small problem." His voice was drenched in fear almost to the point of cracking. "I have some members of our STARS who insist on going to Raccoon City." He waited for an answer, what took second seemed like hours. A mans voice came over the other end, "That's fine, we will just have to use them as more test subjects. See how they handle them selves under pressure, Just make sure one of our team goes along to report back to us." The phone then went silent. So that was the plan to send two of his best men to their deaths just because they cared for others. Ronnie almost felt sorry for a moment, but he then realized that he would be getting rid of his worse adversary, William Maximus. He hated all there was about that man and now he was going to get rid of him. A broad smile came across his face, as he leaned back in his chair. Thinking that all was going to be just fine.

William and Carlos began making the necessary preparations for their trip to Raccoon city. William was still thinking about the messages that came on to his computer. Debating with himself about whether to just pack and leave casually or treat the situation as hostile and take a full supply of gear. He got the nick name "Maximus ammo" when he was a navy seal. That name paid off when his seal team was trapped of the coast of Columbia and he saved the team's lives. They all ran out of ammo but he took so much with him that he was able to give them each two more clips and still have four for himself. He was kind of proud to have that nickname. So thinking to himself he decided to stick with his name sake. "stock up on all you can carry Carlos." He said this as he was making the final details of their approach to Raccoon city.

Carlos was thinking that William was taking this a "wee bit" overboard with all the supplies, but he respected William's leadership abilities and would not question his motive behind taking an arsenal with them. "Must be a reason for it all, so just go along with it Carlos." he thought to himself as he was packing ammo, supplies, and various other equipment. Carlos then began to think on the bright side. "Yeah, now I can just bring a whole lot of stuff to blow things up. Say it's for training purposes." With that thought a big grin came across his face that he could not hide. He headed off to the explosives lockup to go shopping till his heart was content, William gave him the o.k. to get what he needed and that made him very happy indeed.

As Carlos left the office William began to go over his final list of his STARS comrades that he would like to join him. He was thinking of how could he tell them why, without them thinking he was crazy. Just as he was beginning to think of a story his phone rang. He glanced at it for a few seconds and reached over to pick it up on the third ring. "Hello" before he could say anything else a mans voice came over the phone. "Hello Mr. Maximus just listen to me for a moment and in the days to come you will thank me for what I am about to tell you." William leaned back in his chair he was willing to be amused by this caller for the time being. "My name is Trent, that's all you need to know about me." there was a fast pause then the man began speaking again. "The Umbrella Corporation has done a horrible injustice to the city of Raccoon. You should be warned of the dangers that lie ahead for you and your teammates." William was growing increasingly curious about this stranger. How did he know that he was going to Raccoon city, and why was he calling him in the first place? Was this the same person who hacked into his computer just around two hours ago? How did this guy know his name? The man continued to speak some more. "Remember that the upper floors in buildings tend to be the safest for refuge." William was listening with great interest now, he wanted to know all this "Trent" character knew. "when the time comes to leave there is a heliport in the north east side of town at an old factory, but getting there may be extremely difficult. "William was about to speak when Trent started again "And I leave you with this Mr. Maximus, "Remember the brains of all things is what hold their lives together." The phone then went silent. William did not have the chance to ask him anything and that made William quite angry with himself. He hung up the phone and sat there in sort of a dazed trance as Carlos walked back in to the office.

(3)

Carlos was smiling from ear to ear at all of the high tech explosives he grabbed from the lockup. When he saw the look on William's face his smile quickly faded. He asked with concern. " Hey why the sad look, amigo." William raised his head from his trance and in a low harsh voice replied. "I think this is going to get real ugly." Carlos looked really confused and took the seat beside William. "Whats up bro, why is it going to be so ugly." William sat up in his chair and told Carlos about all the events that have happened so far today. Carlos agreed with him one hundred percent, and for the first time felt real uneasy about going to Raccoon, he became worried about his family that lived there and the other STARS member who were stationed there. For what it was worth he was worried about the whole city.

William and Carlos wasted little time in contacting the other team members that they wanted to take with them. After a few hours of intense phone conversations and computer chats they finally got together the team they wanted. Joining William and Carlos were the best STARS that were available to him all were experts in their field. William was going to go into Raccoon in two teams of five. Team Alpha was his team. It would be himself, Carlos, Mike Jones, He was an expert in computers and communications, Janet Reynolds, a jack of all trades. She was primarily a medic and a pilot, but being close friends with STARS member Jill Valentine she learned the trade of locksmith, and that could be a good thing. Last but not least of the Alpha team was Jamal Washington, a heavy weapons expert and the muscle of the group if they needed any. He was a tall black man of 270 pounds six-foot five inches tall, all muscle. He could be very intimidating if the need arises. These members would accompany William on their quest to find out whats wrong in Raccoon.

The second team would consist of five more STARS members that William would bet his life he could trust. For he served with all of them in one form or another. The Bravo team leader would be Denise Wilson, she served in the air force and was one of the best pilots they had, she is also a communications and computer expert and has experience in leadership. She and William have known each other for three years. Second is Kyle Maddox, he and Carlos went to demolition School together and he finished second to Carlos in the class. Third was Beth Morgan, she was a medic and biochemist. If it had something to do with science chances were she knew about it. The fourth member was Juan Lopez an all around great team member with no one specialty. He knew hand to hand small weapons and close quarter engagement, a true fighter in every sense of the word. The fifth and last member of Bravo was Matt Stewart, he was a master at guerilla warfare, he was older than the rest of both teams, but at his forty-five years he could hang with those of half his age. He was a true soldier and taught William a lot of what he know today, he is in a way William's father away from home.

With the team all in place and everyone one their way to meet here. William was going over the list of all the needed supplies to take with them. He did not want to forget anything. He packed his usual equipment. His mp5k that he grew fond of in the navy. His mossberg pistol grip police model shotgun, and his ruger p-89, 9mm hand gun, and all the ammo he could carry. William began to think about the loyalty of his friends, he skipped the bullshit story line and just told everyone the truth about what he knew and they all immediately agreed to join them. He was hoping that they would all be o.k. and come back alive, but as with all missions there is the chance of casualties and despite them being his friends that was a chance William was willing to take.

William and Carlos were finishing the last touches of their supplies when Ronnie entered the room. They both looked at him sarcastically but he never noticed. Trying to sound in charge. "Well your all set to go." He looked around the office and saw the arsenal they had in their possession. His eyes lit up in shock. "Why all this to take a vacation?" he pointed to the stacks of supplies and equipment in the room. William moved in front of Ronnie to impose the size difference between them, to be more intimidating. "Were going to do field training with some other STARS, kind of like a working vacation."

Ronnie took a few steps back from William, he did not like him standing over him. "Well did I give authorization for this, I think not." William began to laugh . "You forget, I don't need your permission to get these things." The look on Ronnie's face turned to slight anger but William paid no attention to it.

(4)

Ronnie began to mumble under his breath. William and Carlos paid him no mind. Ronnie stood there for a few quick moments and then left in a disappointed rage. William was never fearful of him and this made his blood boil, but Ronnie was going to have the last laugh on the matter soon as they entered Raccoon city. He began to feel better thinking this and his rage faded to a warm feeling in his gut.

William and Carlos were done on their end, the rest of the time would be spent waiting for the others to arrive. It would be early tomorrow morning before they would leave, but at least daylight would be on their side. They would have the whole day to make progress with out worrying about shadows.

Not three hours after they made the calls, two of the team showed up. Mike and Kyle arrived and were happy to see William. Kyle walked over to William and they gave each other a hug, as did Mike. After a few minutes of the catching up on each others lives William turned back to "combat mode". "We will go into full details once the others arrive, I just want to say thank you for coming it really means a lot to me." Kyle and Carlos hit it off quickly, both being in demolitions they had a lot in common and were around the same age. They went to the supplies of explosives and began a conversation that William did not completely understand. He was about to speak when Denise popped her head in the door. She was beautiful, five foot seven athletic build, long dark hair and eyes. William remembers her from their police training school and was as skilled as she was good looking. William stood up as did Mike. They kept their greetings short yet friendly, making small talk of what was going on in each of their lives. Over the next six hours the rest of the team showed up. With all ten team members present William was ready to begin they briefing.

The briefing went smooth and very quickly William broke down each members support role and told them the teams that would be together. No one had any complaints and seemed to agree with the details of the mission. The short version was, enter the city from police helicopters form two teams and search the city as fast and safe as possible keeping in constant contact, and never being more than five city blocks away from the other team. Far enough away to do a good search but close enough to provide support if the need arises. William wrapped up the meeting and the team then went their separate ways for the evening, mostly to get a good nights sleep, for at four a.m. they were leaving to Raccoon for what ever awaited them.

(5)

TWO

Four a.m. came quickly but no one was late the team packed all the gear they could on the two copters and each team boarded their respective rides. William was up half the night thinking if he has made the right choice in this matter. He was responsible for the teams lives and would do what ever was necessary to protect them. The team members ran down their check list of weapons and supplies as the copters engines roared to life and they began their journey to the unknown. William kept thinking about what Trent told him, all the hints, but no straight answers. He pushed those thoughts aside he needed to be focused for what lies ahead. The copters rose from the ground and headed toward Raccoon city.

The flight took around five hours, so that made it nine a.m. eastern time, so here in Raccoon it was just after six a.m. and the sun was rising over the city as they approached it. William signaled for the pilot to fly over the city and then back to their LZ, just to get a look at it from above. What William saw was beyond his worst nightmares. The city appeared to be in ruins, small fires were everywhere, cars littered the streets. "looks like some serious rioting." William spoke over his comm link. Carlos answered back as he pointed down to what appeared to be civilians, they were walking around as if dazed and confused, some appearing to be wounded. William marked that area down on his map they would be sure to check this area out. They also saw a few people running from the crowds of the slower moving people. "Are they drunk, on drugs, rabies, what is this?" Mike said over the comm. Jamal was looking around at some of the streets when he saw a mob of people attacking two more people. It appeared as if the were ripping the person apart, hard to tell from this distance. He grabbed a pair of binoculars and looked into them with a gasps. His jaw dropped as far as it could go. All he could manage was a tap of Williams arm and to hand him the binoculars. William looked through the lenses and was just as horrified as Jamal but failed to show it. He opened his comm link to all members. "We are in a hostile situation every one is a hostile subject until they prove other wise, understand." the rest of the team acknowledged his orders. William looked back at the rioters, with the movement of the copter he could not get that clear of a look, but the attackers looked different in some way. Almost have the appearance of being dead, but that was not possible, had to be some drugs or chemical leak.

The copter swung around to the very entrance to the city and landed on top of a television stations helipad. The teams were off and formed in the blink of an eye. This team was good if not the best, if any one could handle this situation it was them. They stood with their teams, waiting for the word. As soon as the copter pulled up and away William took charge. "Alpha team your with me, Bravo team your with Denise." they all double checked their gear, it appeared as if they were ready to take on the army but that is how William liked it. He gave the motion to move out and the two teams separated and went down oppisite sides of the building.

Denise's team headed east two blocks and cut north. William and his team went west, deeper into the city for about three blocks then headed north. William kept a mental note that this road led right to the mob, a mile or two north. Denise had never seen such carnage. The city was in absolute ruins. Not much was left undamaged, she could see that there has been a lot of gunfire in this area, shell casings for at least five different calibers were all over the ground. She noticed several bodies laying around but it was obvious that they were dead so she or the other team members did not bother to check them. There were small fires everywhere and the smell of rot was heavy. A large city the size of Raccoon was now a ghost town. From a few wrecked cars down, a crash , the sound of glass breaking. Bravo team instantly went to alert mode, checking all around them and paying close attention to the car just twenty meters away. Denise motion for Juan to move forward to the car. A logical choice for this situation he was an expert in close quarters combat and this devastated city was definitely close quarters. Matt stayed three meters back and to the left. This way he could fire a clean shot if he needed to. Juan moved to the car and took a look under it, moving slow and silent. He saw what appeared to be the legs of a person just on the other side.

(6)

Juan pulled out his Beretta 9mm and slowly moved towards the front of the car. He began to hear moaning noises come from just six feet away, right around the other side of the car. Matt swung around to move around the oppisite side that Juan was at. Juan stood up and could see more of the body. It began to move, this startled Juan and he raised his 9mm and circled in front of the car. Matt had his m-16 assault rifle at the ready and came to the back of the car. He could now see most of the person. Juan moved to come in full view of the person and was horrified at the site. There were bite marks all over the persons body and his flesh was a light gray color. Half of his face was torn to shreds, Juan kept his eye on the victim and called for the others to join him. The person made a quick animal like lunge and took hold of Juan's leg it quickly lifted itself in a position to bite him as it opened its mouth wide. Juan with lightning fast reflexes kicked the man off of him and stepped back shouting. "stay where you are man, or I will shoot!" The warning had no effect on the man as he was now coming to his feet and walking with arms out and making a wicked growling sound. Matt came from behind and used a taser gun on the man. Sending 200,000 volts through the mans body seemed to have little more than a shaking effect on the man. Then from just inside a nearby store two more of the grayish skin people emerged coming straight to where the team was.

The man kept coming closer to Juan, when Denise yelled at him to fire. Without questioning her orders he fired twice in to the man chest . It had no effect. The holes were oozing think dark purple blood. Juan was no doctor but he knew this was not normal. The man was just six feet from Juan when Matt opened fire with a three round burst into the mans back. The man jerked from the hits and turned around and started toward Matt. The two other men were no more than fifty feet away and making slow steady progress towards the group. Then from all around the team the grayish skinned people began to show up. First it was three then six, then more and more were coming towards them. Before the team knew what was going on at least two or more dozen of these people were coming to them. "This is gonna get real nasty!" kyle yelled to his team. Denise gave the orders for them to stay close in a circle and they were going to try to run through this mob. They seemed slow enough to out maneuver.

William and his team were headed north investigating the surrounding area when in the distant they heard two small caliber shots followed bye a three round burst from an assault rifle. William knew the sounds of just about every weapon known to man, and those shots were from his Bravo team to the east some five blocks. He clicked his comm link. "Denise this is William copy." he waited a few seconds when her voice came back. "this is Denise we have a big problem." William became worried for a few seconds and replied. "What kind of problem, we heard shots fired do you need back up!" there was a brief silence then she came back on. "Remember the hostiles you were talking about , I think they all are right here and they want to party!" William could here strange noises from her comm link but he could not make them out. "we are on our way, hold tight." William looked at his map, and looked down a deserted road. Without any delays they should be there in five minutes tops. Just as he put the map down he heard World War Three start. Multiple gunshots from all different calibers he knew Bravo was in trouble and they had to hurry. He looked back at his team and they also knew they had to move fast. "Double time lets move out." The other were close behind William as they sprinted down the road. All the time the gun fire was continuing, a never ending ballad of gun fire. As they got closer the shots were getting less frequent, that could be two things, they are dead or on the move. That thought made William pick up the pace even more.

As William and his team made a right turn to be at the place that Bravo was, they had to stop. "What the fuck is this." Jamal yelled in his deep voice. William and the rest of the team were just as shocked. For blocking their way was a blockade of cars, some fifteen to twenty feet high and no way to squeeze through. They could hear a few gun shots from just on the other side. They heard a noise coming from the top of the pile. They all backed up and aimed their weapons towards the sound. They saw a hand, then arms, and finally a head. It was Beth from Bravo she managed to climb the blockade. They helped her down. She was out of breath and the smell of gunpowder was heavy on her cloths. William was trying to figure another way around and fast. "Denise, report." William was worried and furious at the same time.

(7)

Denise and the rest of Bravo team formed a tight circle and for the most part it worked. They sprinted some twenty meters before they were cornered and then opened fire. The bullets did little more than slow the people down. To her they were more like zombies and from now on that was what she would call them. She put twenty rounds from her modified glock into one of the zombies and it kept coming. This was a true nightmare in every sense of the word. They managed to escape in to an old warehouse with good solid doors and bars on the window. She would make it a point to thank Janet for teaching her how to pick locks so quick in just the few short hours that they had met. It took her longer than she liked but another moment longer and the zombies would have caught up to them. The strange thing that happened was that Beth took off from them and headed to a barricade south of their position. Denise ordered her several times to come with them but she refused. That kind of action pissed her off, but giving the surreal circumstances she would forgive her and hope that she ran into Williams team.

William was heated. Angry at the fact he could not help his fellow team mates out. He prayed that they were ok. Beth finally caught her breath as Janet looked her over for any injuries. Aside from a few bumps and bruises from the frantic climb she was good to go. William approached Carlos. "Can you blow this thing?" Carlos's eyes lit wide up like a Christmas tree. "Hell yeah I can blow this shit up, no problem." William turned to walk away "Then do it, you have five minutes." Carlos took off his supply pack and gathered the explosives he would need for the job. He was good at his job, maybe one of the best. He knew the right amount of what ever explosive you needed to do whatever job had to be done. This was no different. One look at the blockade and he knew what to do. Carlos yelled to William. "Yo, boss, I'm done." Carlos knew he was good. He was given five minutes, he did it in two and a half.

Denise checked on the other Bravo team member the only injury was to Matt. One of the zombies managed to bite his hand as he was helping to get it off of Kyle who had fallen when they were sprinting toward the warehouse. He seemed of but the bite was deep and it took a while for them to stop the bleeding. Kyle felt bad that a team mate was injured due to his screw up and offered apologies. Mat was a trooper about it. "Hey kid, if every time I took a lick for the team and they apologized, I would never be finished hearing them." Matt put his arm around Kyle "it's o.k. kiddo it's just a bite." the words made Kyle feel a little better about himself. Denise was taking a look around the warehouse with Juan searching for a safe exit, or in this case a safer exit. She tried her comm link earlier but the steel frame of the warehouse is too dense to get a signal out. They would have to wait until they left before they could contact Alpha team.

Alpha team went around the corner a building as Carlos pressed the button on the c-4 charges. The sound was deafening. The explosion sounded like a hundred freight trains were going through your head. As quick as the immense sound came it was gone. Carlos was the first up and running around the building. William guessed he wanted to see his handy work first. As William and the rest of the team rounded the corner Carlos was standing there with his arms held high "Ta da, perfect." the blast that he made, cleared a near straight line through the blockade of cars, about eight feet wide. William was impressed at his skills. The team quickly got there gear and proceeded to move through the blockade.

Denise and Juan came across a back exit that led into the cities business district. They headed back through the warehouse to get the others. As they turned back they heard a loud explosion in the distance, could not have been that far from here though or they would not here it in the building. Upon their arrival they noticed that kyle was missing. Matt was resting and had not even noticed he left. "Kyle!" Denise yelled. They kept calling his name out for what appeared to be an eternity but was more like thirty seconds. He appeared from the offices from the second floor. "Sorry, you guys, had to take a leak." He shouted back down to them. They waited for him to return. Denise gathered them around. " We found the exit were gonna use. It will just take us a few moments longer to get back on our chosen search path." "To get to the police station in time for some rest, we need to move out fast and watch out for the zombies." The team began to follow Denise out of the warehouse and in to the business district.

(8)

When Alpha team made the twenty foot walk through the blockade they could not believe their eyes. There were bodies every where. None of them were his Bravo team so he was happy to know they were on the move. It looked like a small war took place. Shell casing were every where and in every direction, but they appeared to move northeast toward an alley a few hundred yards away. That is were they would go also. William decided that one group of ten was better than two groups of five. So the teams would meet and then search the city together. They did a quick check to make sure all was clear. William called over to Carlos, he quickly came to William's side. William was looking at the work Carlos just did and then tilted his head toward Carlos. "You made that hole, can you seal it back up." Carlos sent a few thought through his head. "Yeah but it will take some of the two buildings with it." William looked around at the hell hole of a city and smiled at Carlos. "Do you really think any one cares." Carlos let out a laugh and went to do what he had to do. William wanted to block the way they came for fear of being attacked from behind. What ever Bravo team went through was something he wanted to keep to a minimum.

Bravo team was moving at a fast pace not wanting to stay put for to long. Denise noticed that Matt was beginning to look fatigued. She thought to her self that the bite mark may have cut an artery or something. That damn chicken Beth, why did she run away from them. If she were here she would know what to do, she was one of the best medics in the STARS. She knew she was going to have to stop shortly for a quick rest. She looked at her watch. It was only eleven a.m. they had been here five hours and it already felt like five days. The weight of there gear was slowing them down a bit but after what happened earlier she was glad that William insisted they come prepared for war. She saw a nice wide open area just up and to the left, it appeared to be a small park. There was clear vision for at least 150 feet on all sides. She liked that and told Bravo to take five, it was time to try and contact Alpha team.

Jamal was taking point as they headed toward the alley. As they approached Williams comm link went off. He immediately answered it. "William here, copy." Denise was happy to hear his strong voice from the other end. "Yes William were about half a mile north of our so called party." she paused for a moment the continued speaking. "The people we fought, well I don't think they were people so to speak." William was confused for a moment. "Go ahead, I am still hear." She searched for the right words to say. "I'm saying they were like zombies, they felt no pain. I emptied an entire twenty round clip into one of them and it did not phase it." William was getting very uneasy with being in two groups now. He came back over the comm link. "Were heading in your direction. Now the map shows a bank about two miles north of our position. That would put it at one and a half for you. Go there and wait for us." Denise acknowledged his orders and relayed them to the rest of Bravo, they were happy to be forming one group.

They came to the entrance of the alley and heard beating sounds from down it. They froze and got into defensive positions on each side of the alley. William quickly peeked around the corner. He saw at least ten to twelve "zombie" looking people mindlessly pounding on a steel door. William would put money on it that , that is the door they have to go through to reach Bravo. If what Denise said was true and William was in no way going to doubt her, then he did not want to fight them is such close quarters. A big smile came across his face. He could only think of one quick answer, "grenades" he pulled two fragment grenades from his belt and gave the silent word for his team to stay back. He tossed both of them right in the middle of the pack. Not one of them running for cover or for that matter any reaction at all, they were zombies.

The grenades went of almost simultaneously. The explosion took out four or five of the zombies standing right around the grenades, nearly disintegrating them. The shrapnel took out the rest of them. Spraying their bodies from head to toe in hot metal pieces. It was a pretty gross sight but had to be done. As the team came up to what was left of the zombies, they made sure that they made no contact with them. They came to what used to be the side door to the ware house. The explosion took it with it also William could see the door fifty feet into the warehouse resting on the floor. William thought to himself that at least it saved them time form busting it down. They entered the warehouse and proceeded quickly to the door that Bravo team exited. They wanted to waste as little time possible. Jamal opened the door and quickly closed it back. Turning to William whispering the best his low voice would allow.

(9)

William looked at Jamal in surprise. "What is it?" Approaching Jamal's side. Jamal looked through the spy hole of the door, holding his M-60 close to his chest. He moved his large body over so that William could take a look. Looking through the hole William saw what appeared to be Mercs. They had full combat gear and were well equipped, almost as good as they were. He could not see everything for the hole was not that great for spying. The one thing he could make out was that the man in black with sunglasses and blond hair was the leader. He was pointing and talking to various people and they were doing all the he said. William had to warn Bravo team about the unexpected company. The man in black looked very familiar to William, he had met him some where before. After a few quick seconds Williams eyes widened. He knew who the man was, how could he forget. The mans name is Albert Wesker former captain of the Raccoon city STARS. Rumor through the grape vine was that he turned out to be a traitor. William knew that he could not let Wesker know he was here or there would be another danger to face. They would wait here for Wesker to clear out, then they would head to meet Bravo. It appeared that Wesker's team was heading south east, which was good considering they wanted to go north west. William tapped his comm link.

Denise's comm link went off and she quickly answered it. "Denise here copy." William came over the other end. "Denise you got to get moving, we have a team of mercs here and they are well armed." She could here the worry in his voice, so she knew it to be serious. "ok we will head straight for the police station and wait for you there." she stood up and the rest of her team followed. Matt was not looking good and he needed help fast. They had no choice but to wait for William to arrive and let Janet look at him. He was barely standing on his own and his skin was turning very pale, almost ghost like. The wound has really never stopped bleeding. She was worried for him. She thought that some how he was beginning to turn into one of the zombies. That you could become infected through the blood stream, or saliva. She was not going to tell Matt this. She wanted his spirits up as much as possible. She knew that if he did turn she would have to kill him, that is something she did not want to think about at this time.

Wesker's team left in just a few minutes. They were definitely looking for something and moving fast. William's team could have taken them out if they wanted to. Only a few actually seemed to have any real military training but William did not want any unnecessary confrontations. William slowly opened the door. The mid afternoon sun came through, into the ware house room as he walked out side. He kept low and alert, walked out about twenty feet, looking around to make sure the coast was clear. He could smell the rot in the air, this city was a dead city and the afternoons sun only made it worse. He motioned for the rest of the team to follow. One bye one in a well trained manner they exited the warehouse to the business district. It was full of shops and small diners, large chain stores and the such, but now they were all deserted and destroyed. The city was silent except for the light breeze going through the trees, in the distance you could hear the soft moan of the zombies and whatever else was in this city. With the immediate area clear Alpha team began to move toward the police station to meet with Denise and Bravo team.

Denise and Bravo team were making good time despite the fact that Matt needed help walking now. He had already divided his gear up amongst the others for he was too weak to carry it all. She was worried he would not make it, if he could hold on an hour or two at most help would arrive. She glanced down at her watch, they spent around two hours resting in the park. Sure as hell did not seem that long. It was one p.m. so they still had some six to seven hours of daylight left. She could see the police station gates from their current position, just about three quarters of a mile and they could set up camp. The thought of that and knowing she would soon be back with William and Alpha team brought a small smile to her tired face.

William and his team were moving fast not wasting and time. They were moving so fast in fact that they did not notice Albert Wesker watching them from top of a five story building. He enjoyed the fact that he was not here alone, now he could have some fun and come for the computer disks that are hidden somewhere in the city. This brought a wide evil grin to his face. He knew who they were and he knew the leader of this group. "William Maximus, he is good, one of the best." Wesker said aloud to himself.

(10)

William and his team were sticking close to the buildings as best they could. Only moving out in to the open when they encountered one of the many barricades in the city. The RPD must have put up a good fight based on all the dead bodies laying around next to the barricades. Police cars were positioned to set up a perimeter for hostile engagement. William knew that RPD was a well trained police force and he found it hard to believe that these zombies would take them all out. There had to be something more to all of this and before he left this dead city he wanted to find out what. Could be some form of chemical leak, there is a large company called Umbrella that has several facilities here. A light bulb went off in William's head. When the team is all together, they will go to the headquarters of Umbrella for Raccoon city and dig deep in their files to see if they have some connection with all that is going on. He knew that Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, Rebecca chambers and some guy named Barry survived as did the back stabbing Wesker, from some type of accident at the Spencer estate the files left a lot of information out. According to the report he read they were all considered mentally unstable. At first he accepted the doctors answers about those people but a few in the STARS unit did not buy it. All the conspiracy talk was beginning to come totally clear to William. Sure as they were in a dead city he was starting to see how this hell was created. If this was the case and he was determined to find out, he would find the survivors of the Raccoon STARS unit and join their cause. These thought began to make him feel patriotic in some way and made him more anxious to find the answers to this problem.

Denise and her Bravo team approached the police station without incident. They were relived at the sight of its big iron front gate. It stood some twenty feet tall and was painted black, with the RPD emblem on top of the fence. The gate resisted the teams push to open them wide but not too much. They entered the RPD court yard the lights were still on and this made the team hopeful that maybe some survivors had held up here. Denise knew that Alpha team would be here in not time. This made her feel a bit better, she believed there was safety in numbers and ten was a whole lot better than four. She knew that they had to go in and secure the area. It would be unwise to stay outside with all of the zombies that were around here. They saw several of them on their journey to the police station but they were far enough away not to pose a threat. It appeared as if the zombies went off of animal instinct and she felt that if they see you they would come for you.

Alpha team was moving at almost a double time pace they police station was only three quarters of a mile away. They spotted a lot of the zombies but were a safe distance from them to worry about a confrontation. Jamal was still taking point. With Carlos, Mike, Beth, and Janet filling the middle in that order. William was taking the rear to guard against an attack from behind. William stayed about fifty feet from the rest of the group he wanted a clear view of the surroundings. He suddenly felt uneasy, as if someone was watching him. He glanced around the desolate city scape for any thing unusual. Other than the destruction that was all around him he could not find anything. They would be approaching the front gates of the police station in about ten minutes and he was anxious to be reunited with Bravo team.

Before they went in she tapped her comm link. "William do you copy." There was a short pause before he came over the comm. "William here what your status over." She motioned with her hands for Juan and Kyle to take each side of the massive front door to the police station. She answered back. "We are in position to enter the police station." She double checked her ag36 assault rifle and felt her trusted custom glock that rested in her leg holster.

"We will enter and make sure the lobby is clear." William agreed with her choice and also told her they may be getting some unwelcome company. He still had the felling they were being followed, so it was better to be prepared than to be caught with your pants down. Denise motioned for Juan and Kyle to open the doors. They each grabbed a handle and swiftly opened the doors. She burst in with the skill of a well trained solder. Searching as quickly as her body would allow her. The lobby of the station was well lit with doors to the left and right. There was a statue in the middle of the room with a fountain of a lady with a blind fold on. The place was silent and it was obvious that it was empty for the time being. There were footprints heading in all directions. It was a clear sign that not to long ago something had taken place here and from the looks of it, it was not good. She could see a few bloods stains on the wall in various places. Juan and Kyle entered right behind her, each helping to carry Matt inside.

(11)

William and his team were just about a quarter mile from the police station. William made a quick head movement to his right. From the corner of his eye, he swore he saw something move. What ever it was, it moved with blinding speed. William did not want to face it out here in the open so he moved back up with his team. In just a few short minutes they would be reunited with Bravo and that made William feel good. They ran past several burned out cars and buses, when it or better yet "He" was spotted off of the reflection of an abandoned cars windshield. It was that bastard Wesker. William played it cool, he knew Wesker was watching him and did not want to let the coward know he was spotted. The team came up to the police station gates . They entered the court yard and Jamal used his comm link. "This is Jamal of Alpha, we are at the front door, open up." his voice was deep and intimidating even though he did not mean it to be. The front doors opened and Alpha team entered. With both teams together it was time to come up with a new plan. They had about two to three hours of daylight left. They would use the night to provide cover from Weskers group.

With out thinking Denise ran over to William and gave him a hug. This caught William off guard so in return he raised one of his arms and patted her on the back. He did indeed like Denise has since he first saw her three years ago at a law enforcement expo in New york three years ago. They hit it off a soon as they met and have kept in touch ever since. His feeling for her were a lot more than his mind would allow him to show. Denise felt the same for William also. She could not help herself when she embraced him, it just came naturally. She wished it was more of an appropriate place to speak to him but for the time being she would keep it strictly professional.

After his touching moment with Denise, William turned his attention to Matt. William kneeled on one knee beside him. He looked in bad shape. His skin was flushed , his eyes were falling back into his head, and he was sweating profusely, barely maintaining consciousness. Janet came over to his side mortified at his condition. She called for Denise to join them. Denise was about to have a few words with Beth just as Janet called for her immediate attention. She was furious with Beth and she would have her time with her but the team is more important at this point. Denise came to William and Janet looking sorry and concerned for Matt. Janet wasted no time asking Denise questions as to what exactly happened to Matt. As Denise was answering all that Janet asked she was busily checking Matt over. After a few minutes she was done and turned to William. She appeared to have bad news written all over her face as she began speaking to William. "it does not look good for him." she paused as she glanced down at Matt. "his vitals are way below normal, he is living just above death. Even if we took him to the best hospital in the world I don't think he would make it." she looked away from William almost as if she was ashamed she could not do anything more for her fallen comrade. She felt at a loss, spending all these years in the medical field to help people and when there was nothing else she could do she felt that a part of her was dying with the victim.

William hated what had happened to Matt and he was going to make some one pay. Whoever or whatever caused this city to go to hell would meet William personally. William looked around the large police station lobby. They were not safe here in this area, too many doors around them. They need an area that was easier to cover. William was about to get the team together when he noticed that Beth was nowhere to be found. He asked the team if they have seen her. Mike thinks she went around the statue to the other side. William did not like people sneaking off with out telling anyone what was up, made him feel uneasy. William silently moved around the large statue and fountain. As he rounded the corner Beth came around almost running in to him. "What were you doing back here?" William's voice was stern and straight forward. Beth was obviously caught off guard by Williams sudden presence, she nearly yelled. Her voice was calm yet surprised. "Well I was just looking." she paused as if trying to think of what to say next. Not a long pause but long enough for William to think she was not being completely true with him. "looking for a computer terminal. Maybe we can look in the police files for info on all that has happened here." William grinned thinking to himself, "good one, girl." but he was no fool she was hiding something and he would find out. William told her to carry one just as Janet and Kyle walked up to him. They had the look of sadness on their faces. William knew what it had meant. Matt, his long time friend has passed away. A small pain entered his gut but he pushed it back, he was the team leader and needed to act in such a manner. It was time to make up a new plan. (12)