"Who reads this kind of stuff?" Claire asked herself as she stood in front of a large bookcase. The door the crest had opened didn't lead to anywhere special. It had only led to an almost empty room. The bookcase was packed with books centering around demons, torture, and cults. Claire was disgusted by it. There was an old book with no title in the middle of the bookcase. She picked it up and flipped to a random page. There was red ink underlining some of the words.

"The crying woman holds the key to open the door of tragedy."

'What does that mean?' Claire wondered. She noticed something on the bookcase where she removed the book. It was a key in the shape of a cross. Claire tucked the key into her pocket.

'Well, at least I found something. Now I need to go find Steve...' Claire turned around and stepped forward. As she did she heard something crack under her. Before she could move, the floor fell under her and Claire screamed as she plunged into darkness.

Cheryl Higgins silently watched Wesker as he stared at the computer monitor. It was impossible to tell what he was feeling. He barely showed the slightest hint of emotion, aside from annoyance or anger. Yet Cheryl wanted to prove herself to him. She felt some kind of attraction to him. Cheryl blushed from embarrassment.

'Cheryl, you're a scientist, not some love-struck teenager. Start acting more professional,' she thought. Wesker, aware that someone was watching him, turned his head.

"Oh, it's just you," he said. Cheryl was a little surprised, he would usually say something like, "what are you doing here? Get out."

"M-Mr. Wesker, are you all right?" she asked quietly. Wesker turned away from the monitor and walked toward her. He stopped inches away from her and looked down. Then he did something she never thought he was capable of doing. He smiled at her.

"There's something I need to take care of at the Cornelius mansion...if I don't come back, there's something I want you to do for me," he said. Cheryl's throat went dry. He wanted her to doing something for him? And what did he mean by 'if I don't come back?'

"Of course, Mr. Wesker," Cheryl said. I'll do anything you want me to.

"Good," Wesker motioned for Cheryl to come closer to the monitor. Cheryl obeyed without hesitation. She wouldn't dare disobey Wesker. He quickly typed in something and a file appeared. It looked like someone's address...

"I need some men to go to this address. There's a little girl named Sherry Birkin that I want brought back. I can count on you to do that, right?" Wesker asked. Cheryl quickly nodded.

"I'll make sure she's brought here," Cheryl said, trying to sound more confident. Wesker printed out the address and gave it Cheryl. Her fingers brushed against his hand as she took the paper from him. She blushed and looked down, feeling embarrassed and stupid.

"Okay. You may leave now," Wesker said. Without a word, Cheryl hurried towards the door. Before she left his office, she turned around and looked at him. Her face was red.

"Um...Mr. Wesker, if there's anything wrong..." Cheryl trailed off. She wasn't sure how to finish.

"I'm fine. You don't have to worry," he said calmly. Cheryl flashed him a quick smile before leaving. Wesker watched her as she left.

'Stupid girl...so easy to manipulate. She'll probably try to do all the work herself,' he thought. Maybe Cheryl Higgens wasn't so useless after all...

Claire groggily awoke to the sound of metal scraping against the floor. Her body ached from the fall, but she didn't seem to have broken anything. She sat up, wincing in pain. She was in a small room with a single oak door, surrounded by the rubble from the first floor.

'What's that sound...?'

Claire picked up her handgun and curled her finger around the trigger. She slowly got to her feet and made her way to the door, trying to be as quiet as possible. She pressed her ear against the door, listening to the sound of someone dragging something heavy against the ground.

The noise stopped. It was silent for several minutes.

"Is someone there?" Claire asked aloud. She waited for an answer, but it was still quiet. Gathering her courage, Claire opened the door and stepped inside.

There was a row of empty cells. A musty smell filled the room and the doors were rusted. Most of the cells were trashed and Claire could hear water dripping from somewhere. A large steel door stood at the end of the hallway. There was no trace of the mysterious person or thing that was making that weird noise. Claire walked past a few cells, glancing all around the hallway.

'Where is it? Did I just imagine it?' Claire thought. Then it started again, only this time she could hear a soft grunting. Claire thought it could be a zombie, but zombies didn't sound anything like that. They moaned, not grunted like some animal.

The door shook as whatever was on the other side rammed it. Claire jumped back in surprise and fumbled to aim her handgun. A huge dent appeared in the door as it smashed the door again. Claire watched in horror as the door flew off its hinges and landed in a crumpled heap of steel.

A figure shuffled out. It looked like a man, but he was huge. He was much taller than Claire was, and looked extremely obese. It was dragging something along the ground and was limping towards Claire. As it came closer, its characteristics became more and more clear.

The figure was no human. It had bright red skin, just like the zombie she and Steve had seen. Half of its gut had decayed revealing its insides. Part of its slimy intestine was dangling from its rotting, exposed stomach. The intestine itself looked like it had been partially eaten. Its clothes were ripped and drenched in blood, and it was blind-folded. In its hand it carried an large axe. It left a trail of blood across the floor as it dragged itself forward.

Claire couldn't stifle a gasp at the horrible site, and the monster lifted its head when it had heard the sound. She covered her mouth and mentally kicked herself.

'Great going...now you've got its attention,' she thought to herself. The zombie stared at her for what seemed like hours. Sweat dripped from Claire's forehead. It continued to limp towards Claire, showing no sign of aggression.

'Maybe he didn't know where it can from,' Claire thought hopefully. She could slip past it and not even have to fight it. She didn't realize how close the monster was to her when it stopped just a few feet away from her. It stood silently, looking down at her. She barely notice that it was lifting its axe off the ground.

'Oh no! NO!' her mind screamed. The monster lifted its axe into the air and with one giant swing, it brought its axe down on Claire. Claire leapt away before the axe could cleave her in two and accidentally dropped her handgun. She could practically feel the ground shake as the axe smashed into the ground. The monster's gentle grunting turned into a loud snarl. It pulled its axe out of the ground effortlessly. Claire ran, trying to find a place to hide. The only place she could go was into one of the cells.

The monster was running after Claire, swinging its axe wildly. It reminded her of Steve, when he had turned into that horrible monster and tried to kill her. The was an open cell to Claire's right. She dove in, barely avoiding the axe's blade. She slammed the door closed, but it wouldn't hold for long. The monster was slamming its axe against the door over and over. She was trapped.

Just like Steve...

Claire half-expected a giant tentacle to burst out of the wall and attack her. She felt sick to her stomach. She didn't want to remember those things at a time like this. Claire scrambled to the back of the cell, tripping over something as she backed away. She looked down.

At her feet was a slumped over corpse of what looked like a solider. His head was crushed in and large chunks of his flesh were missing. He looked like he had been dead for a long time. In his hands was an assault rifle. Claire tried not to look at the corpse as she plucked the assault rifle from him. She quietly mumbled an apology.

'Please be loaded, please be loaded,' she thought. This gun was her only way of survival. She didn't have her handgun anymore. She checked the gun, inside were bullets just waiting to be used. The door flew open and the zombie stumbled in. Claire knew that the cell was way too small to fight in, but the zombie didn't. The zombie swung its axe over its head, then reeled back when it struck the ceiling of the cell. Claire took this opportunity to slip past it and back into the hallway.

There was another snarl as the monster regained its composure and chased Claire down the hallway. Claire knew she'd never make it out in time. She turned and aimed the assault rifle at the zombie. The gun jerked in her hands as she held down the trigger. The monster cried in pained and spasm as it was showered in bullets. It stumbled back and used its arms to shield itself. Blood sprayed everywhere as the monster was driven back.

Click. Click.

Claire cursed. The assault rifle was empty. She looked up, expecting to see the zombie charging at her to finish her off. To her surprise, it was limping away from her. Blood dripped from the bullet wounds all over its body. She had won.

Claire quickly scooped up the handgun she had dropped and turned around and ran as fast as she could down the hallway. The zombie let out a long, agonized wail as it traveled further down the hallway and out of Claire's sight. Soon, the only thing that could be heard was the soft scraping of metal across a cold, hard floor.