Chapter 2


Batman reached the Branch and hopped out of his Batmobile. Running into the branch, he looked around at the death and chaos. Now he was glad the Nightwing was coming to aid him. This man, or thing would not be easy to take down, judging from what he had already done.

"Batman!" Nightwing called, jumping out of his own mobile that Batman build for him. Codenames were strictly used once they were on the job. Batman would have it no other way.

"Batman, I have found information on the Umbrella Inc..." Oracle's crisp voice said into Batman's headset.

"Broadcast it on Nightwing's headset too. He's here." Batman said, cutting Oracle off.

"Ok, give me a second" flicking a few switches, her voice was heard in Nightwing's radio transmitter hidden in his mask. "Glad to be working with you again, Nightwing."

"Pleasure's all mine." Nightwing replied, smiling.

"Now's not the time, Nightwing." Batman said. There was a little romance budding between the first Robin and Batgirl. Sometimes it was more of a distraction than an asset.

"Batman, Nightwing. This is it. The man causing all that chaos is probably Albert Wesker. He used to be the leader of a unit called S.T.A.R.S. , a special forces unit of the Raccoon Police Department. After some issues with some members of the group, he injected a virus into himself to fake his death. The virus gave him superman abilities, such as superhuman strength and speed. He is also skilled in guns and various martial arts."

Batman and Nightwing looked around the room for a sign of where Wesker had gone. It didn't take long before they noticed a door in the corner of the room. "Staff Only" it said. It was obvious enough where Wesker had gone.

Batman tapped Nightwing on the shoulder, and nodded towards the door. The man in the blue Zorro mask nodded back, and ran towards the door to open it. Nightwing twisted the doorknob… locked. But that's of no concern to Nightwing. Retrieving a wire from his utility belt, the door was soon open, beckoning the heroes in. Nightwing and Batman wasted no time in running quickly but silently down the stairway.

At the bottom of the stairway they found themselves in a dimly lit corridor, the florescent lights flickering eerily overhead. Walking slowly, the sound of their footsteps seemed to be amplified by the silence of the office. Nightwing walked up to the first door on the right. "Holding Room", the sign on the door said. Sounds could be heard from inside the room. Groaning, like that of a dying man. Nightwing took out his wire again, and picked the lock with ease. Turning the doorknob, Nightwing flung open the door.

"ARGH!" Nightwing cried out in surprise, as what used to be a man being grabbed his head, intent on making Nightwing its supper. Grabbing the zombie's arm, Nightwing flung it against the opposite wall. Batman tried to kick the door close, but it was too late. Half a dozen of the creatures had already come out of the room, with about ten more of them walking awkwardly towards them.

"What are these things?" Nightwing muttered, as he tripped another of the zombies, causing it to fall on the floor with a crack. He turned his head, to see the first zombie picking himself up. Its arm was visibly broken, but its face showed no signs of pain.

"I don't know." Batman said, delivering a right hook, knocking a zombie back. These creatures were slow, but they were not reacting to the punches and kicks thrown at them. It was almost as if the pain were of no consequence. They didn't seem human. "Oracle, any information on zombie-like creatures from the Umbrella corporation?"

"I've dug up some information on them already." the Oracle's voice said over both Nightwing's and Batman's headset. "These creatures are the results of a T-virus, a failure in the Umbrella Inc's research for a super soldier serum."

Batman flipped another zombie into a few of its friends, knocking them back. It seemed that no matter what they did, the zombies would just get up again. One was even coming after them while dragging a broken foot along. Nothing they could do, short of killing the creatures, would knock them out. Broken limbs, necks and ribs were not stopping them.

"Dammit! These creatures just won't go down!" Gripping the decomposing hand of the zombie trying to grab him, Nightwing flung the creature away in a masterfully executed Aikido counter. Withdrawing his two escrima sticks, Nightwing started to hit the zombies rhythmically, pounding them like a drummer. Yellow liquid poured from the wounds in the zombies where Nightwing had struck.

"Gross." Nightwing said, doing a back thrust, kicking away the zombie that had just grabbed him from behind in a bear hug. The zombie had had its mouth wide open, its teeth inches away from sinking into the flesh of Nightwing's neck.

"What's up with you people? Umbrella don't feed you enough?" Nightwing grumbled. The yellow 'blood' was smeared all over Nightwing's costume, much to the displeasure of the youth.


"Batman, Nightwing. I have more information on them. There is no known cure for these zombies. Once they have been infected with the T-virus, and enough time has passed for the virus to go through their entire system, they are already dead. They are walking dead, Batman."

"We don't have a choice, Batman. You heard Oracle. We have to kill them." Nightwing said, narrowly dodging an attempted bite by another zombie. Batman nodded. He hated killing more than anything else. A life was precious, and should never be taken by another.  However, these creatures no longer had a conscious mind, or a conscience. They needed to be exterminated like the pests they were.

"Batgrenade!", Batman said, shooting his grappling hook to the ceiling. Nightwing immediately followed suit. When both were safely out of range, Batman withdrew a pellet from his belt and dropped it on the clawing hoard.

BOOOM!

The resulting explosion rocked the lab, the fireball created engulfing all on the office floor below. When the smoke cleared, Batman and Nightwing dropped to the floor, landing gracefully. A smell of cooked meat filled the air. Scattered haphazardly around the room were smoldering corpses of zombies, some of them still twitching on the ground.


Clap Clap Clap

Spinning around, Batman and his young prodigy faced the newcomer.

"Impressive… very impressive." The man said, smiling.

Batman and Nightwing's eyes locked on to the man who had just spoken. His blonde hair was neatly combed back, enhancing his facial features. Wearing a pair of sunglasses and clad in black, the man was an intimidating figure. To some women, he may even be considered attractive. The uniform he wore looked like something a SWAT team member would wear, protecting every part of his body except his well-toned arms.

"Wesker." Nightwing spat in anger and disgust.