Chapter 12: Time Spent in Reconnaissance...

...........That's pretty much it."

Rachelle rolled her eyes. "That's it? What about inside the labs? How did you get out? You left so much unsaid!"

"The rest is history Shellie, it didn't happen."

"Oh come on!"

Danielle looked at her. "This is it. Martin and I went with Al Brasco to the labs and helped him blow it up. Along the way, some of the monsters had escaped and made life difficult for us, impossible for some. Martin, and many of Brasco's men were killed by the monsters. You've seen it all before, except on a much larger scale. We stemmed the problem before it started, and hardly anyone knew I had anything to do with it. They knew that Brasco had something to do with it, but they couldn't prove it."

"Courtesy of you, I presume," Carlos poked. Danielle nodded.

"Right. I destroyed the evidence. And Brasco covered for me."

"And you're still a cop? That's a good achievement," Jill put in.

"The chief was fairly incompetent and I had a lot of friends."

"What about Al Brasco? What happened to him?" Carlos asked, still leaning over the chair.

"He's still around. Haven't heard much of him lately. But it wasn't that long ago this happened. I guess he's just lying low for now. He got back at Umbrella, that's what he mainly wanted to do."

"And so she lives happily ever after."

"I can't believe this. We've been trying to find the culprits for ages, but we had no clues. I should have guessed," Annette shook her head. Danielle looked at her.

"You're not going to go turncoat on us, are you, Annette?"

"Why shouldn't I? Years of research went to pot in that explosion."

"Yeah.... Well, it was a matter of destroy or be destroyed. God knows if I didn't ask Brasco to take care of it, he would've himself anyway. He had the motives."

Annette looked away. "Well, I seem to already be a turncoat from the company, I can't really go back now."

"It was their fault that all those things happened, Annette. You do know that, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Then why are you still contemplating working for them? They're just going to make your life hell again."

She nodded and went quiet. Danielle turned back to the others.

"It was then I learnt about the Crossover Theory."

Rachelle's head snapped up as if on a spring. "What is this 'Crossover Theory'?! You're driving me crazy not telling me!"

Danielle shrugged. "Well, I read about it in a report written by Annette when she was in Chicago. She ended up coming back here almost straight away, I discovered. She was called in purely to lie for them."

Carlos shrugged. "Is she going to tell us what it was about?"

"I don't know. I don't think you should put it to her right now. Just leave her be."

"Danielle! Hurry up and tell us about the Crossover Theory!" Rachelle whined. Danielle shook her head.

"Another day."

Rachelle crossed her arms. "Fine then."

"I can see the lab!" Barry called from the pilot's seat. "How do we get in touch with them?"

Danielle looked up. "As soon as you enter their airspace, they'll raise you on the radio. Just let them talk to me, I'll get us right in." She turned to the others. "Now you can hear Umbrella's story from the person who knows most about them aside from the President of Umbrella himself."

So when it all came down to it, whatever happened in Raccoon City those few days, happened in a furious flurry of events that hardly any of the few survivors could put together clearly. Jill sat back in the seat of the helicopter they had just spent the last hour in. Barry opened the door for her and the others. Danielle was reluctant to leave. She sighed and shook her head.

"Why does everything have to happen at once?" she asked, stepping onto the concrete helipad of the great complex they had landed in. Barry shook his head.

"I'm probably the last person to turn to for these sorts of answers, Dani. I can't keep up with this, no matter how hard I try."

Danielle laughed. "Don't worry, as long as everyone's alright at the end of the day, I'll be alright too. It's just that well, I want to make them pay for ruining my life."

Carlos shrugged. "You and everyone else. I can't believe I even took up their offer. It's making me sick just thinking about it."

"Are you all done now?"

They looked up as a middle-aged, redheaded woman in a tight, blue, expensive looking dress approached them.

"And if we're not?" Rachelle asked, putting her hands on her hips. "What do you plan to do? Arrest us?"

The woman rolled her eyes and mumbled something under her breath. Then she checked her watch.

"Look. No one here has the time to play games with you. You're only here because Lachlahn said it was fine with him. If I had been in charge, valuable information about Umbrella or not, I would have turned you away without a second thought."

Danielle, Jill, Carlos, Rachelle and Barry looked at each other, their eyes telling everyone else their opinions about this 'lady' who had been sent to greet them. Rachelle stepped forward.

"And we don't have time to stand here and listen to you go on about how far your nose is up in the clouds. We have an injured woman in the helicopter who needs immediate medical attention and I expect you to get it to her!"

The woman was taken aback. "We... well, I'm not in charge of medical," she stuttered. It was obvious she was working on an excuse to get herself out of having to deal with them. Danielle leaned into the helicopter.

"Annette. Annette, are you awake? Take off your ID tag. It could complicate things a bit if you have it on."

Annette obliged and handed her the Umbrella ID she had clipped onto her coat. Danielle slipped it into her pocket. She smiled and directed her attention back to what was going on between her friends and this woman. She had turned around and was calling out to a woman with long brown hair standing by the gate, talking to a man in a white coat.

"Susanna! Dr Chambers! I need you over here now!"

The young woman looked up. "What is it, Vanessa?"

The woman, Vanessa Clark, held her hands behind her back and spoke to the doctor condescendingly, treating her as though she was a commoner among a convention of nobles. Yet Susanna Chambers was very patient and listened to Vanessa without any back talk.

"I want you to see to the woman in the helicopter. Make sure she's well taken care of. The quicker they all settle down, the quicker we can be rid of them."

Susanna walked over to them. Danielle nodded to her.

"Her name's Annette. Please don't ask any questions Susanna, just trust my judgement and take care of her. She was attacked my a monster called a Hunter. She's only really been nicked, but all the same, she's been hurt pretty bad."

Susanna nodded and smiled. "Okay. Listen, don't mind Vanessa. She let's her position get to her head a lot. I don't think she's seen anything past the end of her nose except her money for the past 5 or so years."

They laughed. Vanessa cleared her throat.

"If you all don't mind, follow me and I'll take you to see Lachlahn."

Jill shook her head. "We don't mind. We baby-sit."

Rachelle giggled at Vanessa's expression.

"Please. I used to say that in primary school."

"Really? I didn't know primordial organisms went to school," Rachelle wondered sarcastically. Vanessa rolled her eyes and walked off. Carlos crossed his arms and glared after her.

"Did you see the way she looked at you two? What a... a... bitch."

"Carlos, be nice," Jill scolded. "That's what happens when anal retentive people have children."

"Well then I'm glad my parents were loose, I have them to thank for my not ending up like that stuffed turkey."

Danielle laughed. "I feel a lot better now. Thank you for cheering me up, Carlos."

Carlos turned around and looked at her. "Heh. That's fine."

Vanessa led them to a metallic blue Tarago, sliding open the side door. They all got inside and Vanessa climbed into the front passenger seat. The driver nodded wordlessly and started the van. In about 15 minutes, they reached the huge, multi-storied building at the north end of the compound that served as the laboratory. The building was enclosed by a metal fence, as were many of the other buildings in the compound. As they approached, two men in uniform opened the gate for them. The driver pulled into a driveway down the side. Vanessa climbed out, followed by the others. She turned to them.

"This is the Laboratory Sub-Compound. Out of common sense, and for your own safety, I would recommend you don't touch anything."

They followed her through the side door and into a long hallway. Halfway down the hall, she stopped and pushed a button next to a sliding door. It opened to reveal an elevator. Vanessa ushered them in and pressed the button for the 30th floor. The elevator ride passed in silence. No one uttered a sound. Even when they reached the carpeted 30th floor hallway, not a voice was heard. Vanessa led them to a set of double doors. The double doors reminded Danielle of the mansion where they had first learned of Umbrella's secret.

"You may go in, but don't cause any trouble," Vanessa warned harshly. They all looked at each other, exchanging glances, but not words. Vanessa pushed open the doors. As soon as she did, an ageing man with dark blonde hair stood up, with a smile on his face.

"Girls! Such a pleasure. I'm glad you've finally come to see me again."

Rachelle smiled, and cast a sideward glance at Vanessa.

"We've had a rough ride."

"Well please, sit down," Lachlahn McDoughal invited, waving to the empty chairs at the end of the long conference table. Lachlahn sat back down, leaning on his elbow on the table and looking over at Danielle and Rachelle. Then he nodded. "Trouble with Umbrella? I'll say. Please tell us all about it. We here at Bio-Counter always do everything we can to stop Umbrella in its tracks," he looked around and sighed. "Whenever we can...."

Umbrella Pharmaceuticals Incorporated. It was the perfect disguise for the clandestine operations that were carried out below the glazed surface of the worldwide company. The public, in their ignorance, refused to presume that Umbrella was anything more than a widespread franchise that practically monopolised a sleepy mid-western American suburb called Raccoon City. The truth was far beyond the reach of their imaginations. Umbrella shielded a dark secret. Utilising similar techniques as those used to cultivate bacteria and organic matter, Umbrella went several steps to far over the line, creating the substance that meant the death of mankind if it ever were to be released into the world un-tethered.

A deadly series of viruses which had the ability to revitalise certain cellular functions, but at the same time, deteriorated the human mind and body into a death-like state were their covert product. Another effect of this disease was the rotting bodies of these clinically dead infected beings wandered mindlessly and spread the almost irreversible disease through a bite, or killing other creatures, including people. Once the virus had begun to spread, there would be no stopping it from wiping out entire communities.

But Umbrella had gone beyond merely experimenting with the viruses, but using their effects in a cruel way, purposefully exposing humans and animals to the muta-genic toxins, in order to create ultimate life-forms, Bio-Organic Weapons, or 'B.O.W.s'. While the 'zombie beings' created by the outbreaks or exposure to the viruses were strong and deadly, these B.O.W.s were several times more powerful. That's why the secret company, Bio-Counter was formed.

Bio-Counter, headed by Dr Lachlahn McDoughal, was an operation dedicated to stopping Umbrella in its tracks. Dr McDoughal sat at the head of the table and explained the history and existence of Bio-Counter; the thorn in Umbrella's side. The other people seated around the table had obviously heard this speech several times over, as the impact didn't seem to phase them as much as it did the survivors of Raccoon City. Lachlahn finished quietly.

"But every advance we make, Umbrella is already several steps ahead of us. When we introduced spies into Umbrella labs, we discovered that they had already begun this practice in our labs for almost a year earlier. That's why we need to be quicker and quieter. Anything you can tell us about Umbrella, whether we know it or not, would be of a great use to us."

Carlos leaned forward. "I bet you're going to ask me, huh?"

Lachlahn shrugged. "It would be logical, after all, didn't you work for them?"

"I was just a mercenary. If I was actually properly affiliated with Umbrella, I might know some stuff but I wasn't, so basically everything I know about Umbrella, the others guys are likely to know it, too."

"It's alright," Lachlahn said with an air of disappointment in his voice, "I know how Umbrella works, I used to work for them also. I quit when the experiments with the virus came to my attention. It was against my morals, so I stopped. Umbrella thought nothing much of it, except a non-disclosure agreement, and I don't think they know that I'm in charge of the assault mounting against them. Are you sure there's nothing you can tell us? At all?"

Jill shrugged. "You know about the Rail Cannon?"

"Yes."

"P-Epsilon gas?"

"We have a more effective version of it."

"G-Virus?"

"Why wouldn't we? It's been one of the main thorns in our sides for a while now. But we do have a vaccine to it. We also have a T-Vaccine."

"What about the Z-Virus?"

Lachlahn's ears pricked up. "Now this, we've heard about it, but we haven't been able to confirm anything-"

Danielle stood up. "I can confirm the damn thing! I can more than bloody confirm it. You want proof of the existence of the Z-Virus, take a look at the Werewolf. Or the Rhino. Or even the shit that it spat on my sleeve. That damn dog Werewolf, killed one of my best friends."

"What? Really?"

Rachelle nodded. "Werewolf cut him up pretty bad. He suffered deep chest wounds. But we made hot-dogs out of that oversized Chihuahua. But that's beside the point. Danielle had a vial of the Z-Virus at one stage. But I think she threw it over the edge of that building."

Lachlahn nodded his head solemnly. "That vial would have been extremely useful."

Danielle sighed, and it seemed as though she were miles away. But she was listening carefully to what was being said. Lachlahn shook off the disappointment, and stood up. He smiled and waved his arm over the table.

"This is my wonderful board of directors. They are head of a different department each. I'll introduce you all. Here at my right, is the wonderful Dr Susanna Chambers. I believe you've already met her, she's the head of our Medical Department."

Susanna nodded casually. Lachlahn motioned to a man on his left.

"And this is Vincent Austin. He is head of Security for the Main Compound and Sub-Compounds, in other words; the whole complex."

Vincent was a burly man with a bushy, black beard. He had short black hair which was also moderately curly.

"And next to him, is the head of Maintenance, Martin Adams."

Adams wasn't as heavily built as Vincent, but he appeared suited to his job.

"Further down is the lovely miss Vanessa Clark, I'm sure you've met. Vanessa is the head of Administration." Lachlahn turned to the opposite side. "Next to Dr Chambers, is our head of Research and Development, Joshua McCarson. And then we have the head of Viral Research, Linda Birkin."

Joshua was a young man with dark brown hair, and Linda had shoulder-length, curly black hair. They both wore lab coats over their clothes. Linda smiled at them.

"Please try to tell us everything you can about the Z-Virus. It is very important."

Danielle shrugged. "It's a lot more powerful than the G-Virus, and is capable of mutation above the levels of T- and G-Viruses. It takes half the amount of time after infection for the host to regress into a zombie. That's pretty much all I know, apart from the fact that, if combined with an aerosol, or hydrocarbon such as in a deodorant can, it can become airborne, and its composition is prone to becoming explosive."

There was an amount of nervous whispering when this information was released. Lachlahn shook his head.

"We have to learn more about this virus. We must contact our sources immediately."

"More fun for us, more hassles for them."

"I'm glad you still think on such a positive note."

"Can you both shut up, I can't hear the radio."

"Oooooh," Zoë waved her fingers at Max, who was holding the small portable radio up to his ear. Max waved her away agitatedly.

"Hey, cut it out! They're talking about Raccoon City!"

The six of them all went quiet and listened.

"....Death toll surpassing the 100,000 mark, as a basic estimate. It is expected to be much higher. As of yet, there is presumed to be no known survivors. The origin of the disease is as yet unknown, but it is presumed that it was a form of animal rabies that was mutated and spread via vermin, perhaps by mosquitoes...."

"Hah! If only they knew half the truth!" Jennifer spat. Thomas waved her away.

"Hang on, it's not finished yet."

"Why don't you just turn on the TV? You'll get the same story. After all, it's not every day that President Clinton decides to blow up a city," Dayna suggested. Richard nodded and walked over, switching on the set. Just as Dayna had said, as soon as the picture came up, there was a video image of the mushroom cloud spreading up into the air from the impact on Raccoon City. Jennifer shook her head.

"That's bad. Oooh, now I wanna just pound Umbrella's face in!"

"....We can see from these satellite pictures coming in now that the cloud appears to be fanning out to the south. Some light fallout is expected in Boulder and as far south as Santa Fe...."

"Not only was Raccoon City destroyed, but people nearby are going to suffer radiation sickness," Zoë said. "I mean, look at that picture. It could fuse with clouds and come down almost anywhere in the rain!"

Max nodded his agreement. "At least it won't be as bad as it would've if you were right in the middle of it."

"It's actually possible that some of the Raccoon civilians could've survived, as long as they were at least 3k's from the impact site. But at this point in time, they'd be dead anyway. If the initial blast, heat pulse, stuff like that doesn't get them, the fallout will," Jennifer said, shaking her head. Max nodded again.

".....There have been allegations from enraged groups throughout the country stating that Umbrella Incorporated had direct involvement with the outbreak, and thus the destruction of Raccoon City. These accusations have been disregarded by Umbrella as 'a mild civil outcry which stems from disagreements from within the company that have no relevance what-so-ever to the disaster in Raccoon City'...."

"Bull-shit!" Jennifer yelled at the TV set. Richard waved his hands at the unseeing reporter.

"Dickheads!"

"....A representative of the company spoke out against the accusations in New York today." The view changed to a shot of a well-dressed man addressing a group of reporters. Flashes went off everywhere as he spoke.

"The allegations of Umbrella Incorporated's involvement with the Raccoon City incident are hollow and unsupported. There is no evidence these 'factions' can produce to, in any way, incriminate the company. If any person has veritable proof that any operative of the company in any way had an involvement with this accident, it is assured that it was an individual action and investigations within the company will begin to discover the truth within that."

Richard threw a coke can at the TV amidst the booing and hissing of the others.

"Get off!"

A female reporter near the front raised her hand. "Mr Gailbriethe. Is it true that Umbrella experiments in the Arklays were terminated by Raccoon City's division of S.T.A.R.S.?"

"An Umbrella office in that area was attacked earlier this year, but the culprits are as yet unknown."

"Are there any further suspects in the case of the Chicago incident?" a young man near the front spoke up.

"At the moment no other leads have been established as to the bombers of the Chicago lab. Mafia boss Al Brasco has been named, but the Chicago and State Police have had no luck tracking him down as yet."

Zoë hissed at the TV. "You never will you turd! Go back to your slime pit!"

The same reporter had interjected again. "And what about the supposed 'Anti-Umbrella' agency supposedly based somewhere in the mid-west?"

"The company Bio-Counter which you are referring to is nothing but a second rate terrorist group. Any claims that they are any more, such as the one about them being a multi-million dollar organisation," Gailbriethe claimed, chuckling, "Are absurd and... quite laughable."

"It seems that your company has been under fire since it was founded, especially in the past few months. Have the threats and allegations had any effect on the function of the company?"

"None whatsoever. Umbrella will continue to develop new and remarkable pharmaceuticals as we have been since it was founded. There is nothing for our loyal consumers to be worried about," Gailbriethe laughed again. Jennifer sneered at the TV.

"Laugh it up, slime ball, you'll be feeling it soon enough!"

"There have been accusations in the past to your company claiming that you were making some sort of monsters in your Raccoon labs. Is that in any way true?" the female reporter asked. Mr Gailbriethe shook his head.

"Any stories you've heard about monsters bearing Umbrella ID tags, or queer animals in our labs are purely that. Stories. Inventions in the imaginations of tabloid writers to get a stir out of the public."

"And is it true that you lost two of your best researchers in the Raccoon City incident?"

"We lost many good and hard-working employees in Raccoon City. However, if you're referring to William and Annette Birkin, yes it is presumed that they were in the city at the time."

Thomas laughed. "You lost big boy! I'll bet they were the ones in charge of the virus."

"Shut up Thomas," Dayna scolded. "Did you even know that Danielle dragged Annette Birkin with her when she came here?"

Thomas almost choked on his drink. The picture cut back to the newsroom.

"Letters of sympathy to relatives of the residents of Raccoon City are flooding into the newsroom and paper offices. The New York Times is running a special edition this afternoon about the disaster. It is true that all our hearts go out to those innocent civilians of Raccoon City. Now in other news, an airfield closure in Denver has lead to the selling off of nearly all light aircraft......"

Dayna sighed. "When will you wake up and smell the roses, people?"

Zoë shook her head. "Come on guys, let's go see what McDoughal has for us today."

The Bio-Counter compound was huge, and it was surprising that Umbrella hadn't either detected it or destroyed it yet. Inside the main compound, there were several 'Sub-Compounds', some of which were surrounded by fences. However, most were not. Medical, Laboratory, Village and Helipad were closed off, but the other buildings, Research, Watchtower, Higher Maintenance and Lower Maintenance weren't. These areas and the Main Quad were completely closed off on all sides by high, thick concrete walls topped with electrical wires. The main gate was heavily guarded, and no one got in or out without a written order, or the presence of and express permission from Dr McDoughal. Security was everywhere, and so were their guard dogs. These dogs were trained to identify and attack any individuals who were classed as intruders in the compound. The dogs were free roaming, and they went everywhere in the outer areas.

Danielle thought this over as she walked up the steps to the Medical building. When they had first met Lachlahn McDoughal, Rachelle and herself were only academy students, almost ready to graduate. McDoughal had requested police protection, as he claimed that his life may be in danger. The chief of the local police station was happy to oblige, and sent for two students to look after Dr McDoughal. Neither Rachelle nor herself were very intent upon taking Lachlahn seriously, and he was unimpressed with the fact that two rookies had been assigned to his case.

At this point in time, they were two of the most disliked people in the academy for completely different reasons, and they hated each other at the time. Danielle, though a lone wolf, was considered part of Daionera O'Sullivan's group, and Rachelle had her own friends, and were always getting into tiffs with Daionera and Danielle. What had gone on, was that Daionera relied on Danielle to stick up for her. That was the main reason that O'Sullivan had taken to Danielle. So throwing them into the mix together wasn't considered a good idea, and both girls were unimpressed with the decision.

It took until there was an actual attempt on Lachlahn's life for them to take their task seriously. Each of them disliked the other, but eventually, they all became close friends, and after this assignment, Danielle made an effort of shunning Daionera and began to hang around Rachelle. They became close to inseparable. They also hadn't lost touch with Lachlahn, but were quick to pass of his claims about Umbrella's experiments. Back then, Umbrella was nothing but a company that had nothing to do with them, not a thing more. But that view had changed now, and here they were, six years down the track, fighting the same cause as Lachlahn himself.

"Oh, sometimes I wish it was still just that, a company we didn't have to worry about. Not a secret organisation more involved with developing things to hurt people, rather than help them," Danielle said to herself, sighing. "Why did it all have to change?"

She walked into the lobby and flashed the Guest ID that each of them had been issued with to the security guard. He nodded politely and let her pass. Knocking on a door just down the hall, she pushed it open slowly and walked inside. Lying on the bed, looking extremely bored and tired, was Annette. She looked up as she walked in.

"Hmm. I was wondering if anyone even remembered I was here. I was beginning to think that maybe you'd all forgotten about me."

Danielle shook her head and giggled. "As much as we'd like to forget Umbrella, I'm afraid that it's not that easy to forget the woman whose husband is responsible for the virus. It's just we've been busy. We've all been welcomed as honorary members of Bio-Counter for the moment. So, how do you feel?"

Annette closed her eyes and shook her head. "I don't really want to be shut up in this room. I have a feeling they know who I am, and it does little to calm my spirits."

Danielle nodded. "I wouldn't be surprised. They've probably been trained to hate you."

Annette rolled her eyes. "Here it comes."

"What's that for? All I'm saying is that these people can have a go at ruining people's lives too, you know. What's good for you is good for them. Bio-Counter ruins Umbrella, Umbrella ruins the people, sometimes in apparent retaliation, the ruin of the people hurt Bio-Counter, and thus the circle of destruction begins again. Do I have it along the right lines?"

"Basically. But there was more to Umbrella's research than just experimentation in the field.... Oh dear. Here I go again. Defending the people who destroyed my life."

Danielle shook her head. "You don't have to keep on with them. Listen, I'm sure Rachelle and I can convince the board of directors to hear you out without contempt, if you want to try again... at doing something right, that is."

"How can I be sure you're not just using me to get at Umbrella?"

"You can't Annette, to be honest. You just have to trust me."

Annette sat up and squinted at her. "Answer me this. Why do you trust me?"

Danielle shrugged and shook her head. "Call me stupid, call me foolish, call me anything but late for dinner, but I think I can. Well, can I?"

"I won't belie you trust. But I can't guarantee that Umbrella won't track you down."

"Yeah, I know. If they find us, I won't instantly blame you. I see more than that."

Annette nodded and looked away. Danielle sighed.

"So what exactly was it that got you?"

"One of those Hunters."

Danielle smiled. "I know all about them."

"So I heard," Annette turned to her. "You can't know as much as I do, though."

"Wanna try me?"

Annette crossed her arms and looked at her. "Alright then, name all the Hunter specimens."

"Hunter Ma-121, Gamma Hunter Ma-221, Aquatic Hunter Fi-5."

Annette rolled her eyes. "Smart-ass."

Danielle smiled and held out her hand. "What do you say, Dr Birkin? Friends?"

Annette looked at her half-blankly for a moment. Then she nodded and shook her hand.

"Alright. It's a deal."

Danielle stood up. "Hate to leave you, but I have to see Dr Chambers."

Annette nodded. Danielle waved and left the room.

Carlos sighed and leaned back in his chair, suddenly moving his balance forward as the chair threatened to tip over backwards. Jill and Rachelle burst out in laughter. Carlos grinned awkwardly and leaned forward.

"So what'dya think? Are we safe now, or what?"

"Not a chance, little boy. No-one can escape the wrath of Umbrella."

"Here's trouble," he replied, looking up at the voice. "Nice to see you're feeling a lot more evil today, Doctor."

"I find you so incredibly funny," Annette began, "That you can't hear my laughter."

Jill laughed. "Seriously though, at least everyone's back on their feet so if we do get into anymore trouble, we won't be slowed down."

Rachelle stood up and whacked Annette on the back. "So what'dya think? Can we trust Dr Evil over here, or what?"

Annette sighed and shook her head. "I'm a victim of stereotyping."

Carlos pointed at her. "You set that stereotype yourself, miss."

"You did it too and I don't see you pickin' up shit for it," Annette sneered playfully. Carlos crossed his arms snobbily and pretended to start crying a moment later.

"Mommy doesn't love me anymore."

"Poor baby," Jill teased. Rachelle laughed and then turned serious.

"But guys, think about it. How long is it really going to be until Umbrella busts this place? Or starts looking for us? I mean, Daionera was looking for you," she said, turning to Annette. "What's to say Umbrella doesn't send out agents to look for us too?"

Jill nodded. "I give them about three months at the most."

"You'd give them that?" Danielle asked incredously, appearing in the doorway. "I give them a month or less."

Rachelle shook her head. "Bliss never lasts long."