Chapter 3

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Leon and Claire had blasted two more zombies on their way through the poorly-kept office. The rookie cop shuffled through desk drawers. He turned up with a small disc, about the diameter of a baseball. He turned to a small computer terminal on the desk, and inserted the disc. Claire looked over his shoulder. Leon accessed all the files he found, trying to come up with something---

---and he found it: a map of the facility. "Bingo," he said softly. "Now we won't get lost." Claire's ears perked up, listening to a soft shuffling noise. She turned, bringing up her M93R, unlocking the safety. Three shapes lumbered past the office windows, heading for the door. Leon ejected the disc, and placed it in a case for safekeeping, then tucked it into his pocket. He took Claire's shotgun and checked the ammo. He cocked it and took aim, then fired, sending buckshot through the blinds and the glass of the window. The zombies staggered, and Claire finished them off, placing a bullet into their heads.

When they were sure the zombies wouldn't get up again, Claire said softly, "I hope Jenner is doing alright...."

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The monstrosity made its appearance, pulling itself up over the edge of the crevasse. It had the body of a tall, muscular man, but it was sexless. Its eyes glowed an eerie green color, and in the place of hands, it had sickle-like blades. Its mouth was stretched into a permanent grin, its lips gone. It's face looked much like that of the Grim Reaper.

Jenner backed away, drawing his SOCOM. When will Umbrella learn...? He trained the laser on one of the beast's eyes and fired. Faster than he could blink, Jenner saw the monster pivot and lean sideways, avoiding the bullet. It then straightened up and lunged, slicing at him with its sickle-blades.

Jenner, having occasionally prided himself as being an astounding athlete, back-flipped out of the path of the deadly blades. He did backward, one-handed cartwheels as he unloaded round after round at the monster, keeping his aim steady. The bullets streaked through the air that had once been occupied by the Reaper, its lightning-quick movements allowing it to dodge Jenner's attacks. Holstering his weapon, the young man drew his knives and ran at the creature, jumping into the air and landing a kick to the barrel-chested creature, ready to push off into an airborne roundhouse-kick.

Seemingly unfazed, the Reaper swung its arm and swatted him away with the flat side of its left sickle. Jenner went sprawling across the dirt floor, dizziness slowly beginning to overtake him. He shook it off, then got up and assumed a fighting stance, knowing he was crazy to do so, but he had run out of options. Crouching down, he held his knives upside-down, and crossed his arms in front of him. He broke into a run, and sped toward the monster. He leaped into the air, and sent two fierce slashes across the Reaper's chest, leaving a bloody gouge in the shape of an X.

The Reaper howled a blood-curdling, inhuman shriek. Jenner pivoted and sent his boot into the eternal grin of the beast with a reverse high-kick, sending it staggering backward toward the crevasse. Two more slashes rendered the Reaper immobile, as Jenner had slid between its legs and severed one of its Achilles' tendons. The creature struggled for balance, it's one good leg trying to keep it upright. Finally, the Reaper went down on its knees, using its arms for frontal support.

Jenner shook his head. "Chew on this!" He dashed forward, jumped slightly, and placed his left foot on the Reaper's left shoulder. He then sent his right foot into the chin of the monster in a devastating somersault-kick. The Reaper fell backward, tumbling down into the abyss, screaming its unearthly scream until it finally faded. He checked the ammo in his SOCOM. He had ten shots left; half of his extended clip, plus the three spares he had in his vest pocket. He thumbed the safety and backed up to the wall beneath the chute. He broke into a run, and somersaulted over the chasm, landing perfectly on the other side. He turned around, looking back across the room. He smiled to himself, then exited the chamber.

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Leon tapped buttons on the control panel, trying to find out where Jenner may have gone. At last, he found the tunnel where they had split. Then Claire spotted something. "Look," she said, pointing. Leon followed her gaze and saw a small square hole in the floor at the dead end. Leon tapped a few more keys, and the view on the screen changed. It showed a large room, some fifty-feet by thirty-feet, and in the center, was what looked like a deep pit that stretched the width of the room. He zoomed in with the camera, and came across shell-casings that lay scattered about on the dirt floor.

"Jenner was there, no doubt about it," Leon said finally. He switched to another camera, and the two of them saw the young man running through the halls, followed closely behind by a large group of zombie-dogs. How did those things get in here...? Claire asked herself. She and Leon kept watching the screen, and at one point, Jenner turned and opened fire, jogging backward as the bullets ripped into the rotting flesh of the dogs. Soon, Jenner was alone; the dogs lay still in pools of their own blood. The young man ejected his empty clip, and slammed in another, then he picked up the empty, tucking it into one of his vest pockets.

"Where is he?" Claire asked. Leon checked the cam's location on another monitor. "Level B2. That's not too far from here," he said. He picked up his Desert Eagle and hurried out of the room, with Claire following not more than two steps behind.

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"NO!" the Man in Black yelled. He pounded his fist on a nearby console, smashing it. He felt no pain with that last action, but he brimmed over with anger, and a bit of surprise as well. "The GR-218 should have killed him without a problem! But what happened? That brat killed it with little effort!!"

At that last statement, the Man in Black calmed down a bit and smiled to himself, as if this had in fact been a blessing, instead of a disaster. "Maybe this won't be so bad, after all....." He hit a few more keys, and several "Watchers" whirred to life, scanning the room briefly before rolling up onto the walls and out the door.

When they were gone, the Man in Black pushed his sunglasses back up onto his nose. He chuckled to himself yet again. "The Hunters will keep him busy for quite some time...." To that, he added, "Just long enough for me to take care of Claire and her cop-friend...."

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Jenner came to a large room with a clear display-case against the back wall. The room was lavishly furnished with expensive armchairs, two velvet couches, and a large fireplace with an old-fashioned door next to it. He went over to the display case and looked inside. He saw a well-maintained M-16 rifle, twin MP5-Ks, and in the center, was a gold-plated H&K VP70. At the base, he saw three switches. Each had a different picture: a Tyrannosaurus Rex, a flame, and an hourglass. Turning around, he saw a desk, topped with a few files left open, as if someone were forced to leave in a hurry. He rifled through the files, and came across a scrap of paper taped to the desk. He picked it up and read it:

This thing all things devours

Birds, beasts, trees, and flowers.

Gnaws iron, bites steel,

Grinds hard boulders to meal.

Slays kings, ruins towns,

And beats the greatest mountains down.

It was a riddle; and one that he found quite puzzling. He thought it had something to do with the three switches, so he went back over to the display case and examined it once more. He looked at the riddle, then at the first picture: the T-Rex. It certainly does eat pretty much anything, but...

The riddle said "kings". Tyrannosaurus Rex literally meant "tyrant king", but Jenner didn't think that was what the poem was getting at. In addition, if the poem meant human kings, the T-Rex would have been extinct for millions of years, so he ruled that out. He looked at the second one. Flames are Nature's destroyers, but they couldn't "beat down mountains" or "gnaw steel", so he went on to the third one: the hourglass. He thought about the riddle again, then the answer came to him.

Time...

So he flipped the switch over the hourglass, and a soft click reached his ears. The glass front of the display case slid upward into the wall, and he reached in to take the machineguns. He slung them across his chest, then picked up the rifle and checked the ammo. He had a full clip.

He reached inside and took out the three large, green boxes that were stacked in the far corner of the case. He set them down on the ground and opened them. Several clips were inside. He grabbed an extra clip for the M-16 and a handful of magazines for the MP5s, which he put into one of his pockets. He put as many clips as he could into one box, as well as the VP70, then he closed it. He strapped the rifle over his right shoulder and held it tightly in his right hand, then he picked up the ammo case and headed out of the room, going through the door next to the huge fireplace.

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The Man in Black decided that he'd had enough. I will take care of the three of them by myself! he declared silently. He went over to a large storage locker and opened the door. He took out a small automatic pistol and slapped a clip into it. He brought back the bolt and grabbed an extra magazine. He pounded a few buttons on the control panel marked "LABORATORY CELLS." Satisfied, he walked quickly out of the control room. "I'll start with that Australian brat...."

He moved silently down the hall, his machine-gun gripped comfortably in his hand. Within moments, he spotted a couple figures at the end of a dimly lit corridor. He guessed it to be the cop and young Ms. Redfield, whom he would take care of soon enough. He pressed himself against the wall until they had passed, then he went in the other direction. He finally came to a small side-passage, and he ducked into it. He then heard quick, light footsteps echoing down the hall at the end of the passageway, and he stuck his head out of the recess. He stole a quick glance, then stepped into view, just as a young man rounded the corner. The Man took aim, and let loose a volley of 9mm fire. Jenner never saw it coming--

--until just before the Man fired. Jenner reacted quickly, kicking his legs out from beneath him and returning fire with the M-16, it's thunderous call echoing down the corridor. The Man seemed to break into a run, and he suddenly had Jenner by the throat. The young man was lifted into the air by the neck, and his attacker seemingly exerted little to no energy picking up his one-hundred-and-fifty-pound body with one hand.

Jenner struggled, but his efforts seemed futile, for the more he fought to free himself, the more the Man in Black tightened his grip. "You have caused me," the Man in Black seethed, "more trouble than you're worth...." Jenner felt darkness begin to overtake him. No... he pleaded silently. It can't end like this...it won't end like this...! With the last of his strength, Jenner brought his leg back, and sent the steel-toe of his boot into the Man's ribcage. He heard a small grunt, then he fell.