-Chapter 21-







"Kat!" Razor said as Kat entered his view. "Razor…" she replied in a barely audible voice.

"Where are you going?"

"Down to the Umbrella Labs to fulfill my mission."

"Can I go, too?" he asked with anxiousness in his voice, "I wanna find out what Tnadiug has been hiding from the people!" he held his arm out, bent and with a fist, "Let's do it!"

"You don't have to do that, Razor." She turned her head away from him, "I don't want you to be involved with this! This is my mission…. Other people outside of the rival corporation of Umbrella cannot be involved in this dark business!"

"Too late Kat!" he said in a lighthearted tone, "I've been involved in this ever since Mike died! I can't stop now! This is the only thing I feel that I can do!" he narrowed his eyes, "If we can escape with our lives from this insane place, I… I don't know what I'll do, but I'll do my best until then!"

"Just… don't throw away your life for me!"

"Yeah." he pulled back the hammer of the handgun in his hand, "We have to escape! Let's go, Kat!"

She ran towards the lobby, he followed.

¤ ¤ ¤

"Agh!" Vash growled under his breath as three zombies in lab coats approached him from each side, "Get the hell away!" He waved his fist in the direction of the mindless corpses, looking around for another emergency axe or anything. His back hit the wall behind him and felt it give way, reducing him to trying to keep his balance with one foot over the center garden, he cried out in surprise.

Damn, he thought to himself, Where the hell is an axe or rope when I need it?!

The zombies steadily moved closer, he looked back, and saw a pond below, What luck! He thought enthusiastically then grinned at the zombies, "See ya!" he jumped back towards the pond, plummeting feet first. He landed on the branches of a tree, which snapped under the sudden weight; and landed in the water, finding that it was a twenty foot deep, twenty foot wide pool with various pond plants and the sound of frogs.

He looked around, finding that he is in the dead center of the pool; also feeling the slight current of passing aquatic animals. Just the fish, he assured himself, it's just the fish. He felt a slight nudging on his legs, something like a vine or octopus tentacle.

Looking down in the crystal clear water, he saw the dual eyes of a giant octopus. He managed to hold back a frantic cry, knowing that a sound of a scream might entice the octopi to resume its intended hunger driven feeling of him. Damn, he thought to himself, going against that Licker and those zombies are all right but this sucks! I'd rather be up there with those zombies or that man in the trench coat that be in here! He slowly inched his way towards the edge, careful to not cause any disturbances in the water.

After five minutes, he managed to reach the edge. He grasped the ledge with both hands and started to pull himself up the ledge which was three feet above him. His splashing of getting out of the pool excited the octopus enough to send one of its tentacles up at his ankle when he managed to get out.

With pretty remarkable strength, the tentacle managed to lift him high in the air, a good ten feet above the pool. It started to wave the tendril with his ankle, leaving his body to dangle like an upside down rag doll. It swung around for a few more repetitions and launched him at a first floor window. His body met the glass, breaking the whole pane, and landed on his right side in the lobby. "Ugh..." he groaned as he came to rest in front of the elevators, bloody but still alive.

He looked towards the main lobby door, seeing a tall and muscular figure approach the glass at a brisk pace. It stopped just short of doors; its purely crimson eyes seemed to glow in the late afternoon sun, like if it was peering into his soul with murderous ambition. "R-Razor! Kat! Anybody! Is anybody around?!" he called out at the top of his lungs for anyone to hear, "Get over here!" He scrambled to his feet, facing the thing outside with an idea of its desires.

¤ ¤ ¤

Vash's calls echoed through the hall, filling Razor and Kat's ears, followed by the sound of another person yelling and gunshots.

"What?!" Razor called out suddenly

"It's Vash." Kat said

"And that other guy I met who helped tend to any wound you had from the man in the trench coat.... Grant Reklaw was his name." Chris and Claire dashed past them in response to the noise. "C'mon, let's go help him!" He ran off, following the Redfield siblings.

"No...." she said with a small note of fear, following Razor to the lobby.