Dante

The group eventually spread out between the two cars do to large numbers which was probably a good idea since having Nathan and David in the same car was not a good idea.

Dwayne, Nathan, Winsor, Vanessa and John in one car, Nathan was driven, Dwayne was in the front passenger seat and the rest where sat in the back.

Dwayne turned around to Winsor and said "So your Nathan's bi- girlfriend then huh?" Winsor nodded.

Dwayne looked Winsor up and down before he leaned his head slightly to the side, raised his brows and smirked as if to say "Not Bad."

"Think yourself lucky, Nathan probably lowered his standards for you," he joked and Nathan laughed along with Dwayne, both taking it as a joke but Winsor just a gave a weak smile and laugh no less feeble.

"Heh. Heh. Yeah," she said before turning his head towards the window, the sky was now clouded over and signs of rain where starting to develop.

"So this Piers guy," Dwayne said as both he and Nathan lost their smile.

"What's he want?" Dwayne asked.

"You know, to find us with his soldiers and monsters, torture us and kill us," Nathan replied before turning to Dwayne whose eyes where wide in fear.

"You get used to it," he added with a light smile.

"Hopefully he's not done any of that to Ryan," Vanessa said leaning forward in the to look out the front window.

"Our luck held out until now, lets hope it continues," John said loading his weapon.

"When I get my hands on that weasel Piers I'm gonna make him wish he was never born," Nathan said gritting his teeth.

"This is the last stage if we do this right," John added watching the pharmacy appear in the distance.

---------------------------------------------------

"Hmmmm, so they think they shall triumph in my own backyard," Piers said pulling a sadistic grin across his face as he saw the two cars pull up beside the Factory through the monitors in his office.

"Sir shall we release the Bandersnatches," the skinny man said standing stiff as a board at the door.

"Hmm no, I've arranged for a little game with our guests," Piers said stroking the monitor as the group stepped out their cars.

"Who's that?" Piers asked grabbing the skinny man by the tie and pulling him towards the screen as he noticed a newcomer to his play toys.

"Eh I-I d-don't know sir," the man said trembling.

"Well find out you useless excuse for a human being," Piers said although there was no anger in his voice.

"Y-yes sir," the man said before turning and bolting out the room.

"Oh well, another sample for me to dish out pain to will be a rather..... splendid," Piers said caressing the screen.

---------------------------------------------------

"So this is the place?" Dwayne said as they all stared in awe at the huge building.

Claire Redfield

"This is it," John said.

"It might as well be," Dwayne said a second later.

Winsor looked at the building. It was huge, but it also made sense. Part of the place would manufacture medical supplies and the other part would do the experiments and other tortures. There was a good chance that the people that worked there wouldn't have known about the other job application. It was kept a secret for so long.

The secret's out now.

Jarred, Alex, and David walked up next to them. Winsor glanced at Alex and then at Dwayne. She was sorry that she had dissed Alex while fighting with David. As for Dwayne, Winsor wasn't sure of what to think of him. She'll find out maybe more about him from either himself or Nathan. She'll also apologize to Alex too...Later, like if she lives to tell it.

"Ok, everyone got their weapons?" Jarred asked. Everyone held a gun, some of different varieties that Winsor had never known. Either way, all very powerful.

Unless there's a huge creature like the Nemesis.

She ignored that thought. Now wasn't the time to reminisce on the monster's longevity and strength.

Dwayne looked around, searching. "Hey, if this is a very large building that creates monsters in secrecy, wouldn't there be guards around here somewhere?"

Good question. Everyone took a moment to look around, but saw nothing. No movement, no life, no sound. It was creepy.

Before they knew it, they were walking to the entrance. The twin doors were closed and there were small dents on the metal.

"Alright, let's do this carefully, "said Alex.

"Gee, it can't be that dangerous. Just walking into a building which we don't know what the hell's behind each corner and the fact we're in enemy territory where they have the home team advantage, makes it all sound unbelievably safe," Winsor said in a sarcastic tone. When she turned to look at the others, they were glaring at her. All she could do was give them a twisted smile.

Suddenly, there was a sound coming from the side of the building. Everyone readied their weapons, waiting for whatever it was to rear the corner.

A zombie shuffled with one arm hanging loosely from its shoulder. By the way it was dressed, it looked like it might have been a scientist or something like that involving a white lab coat. It shambled forward, moaning with each step.

Vanessa shot at its head and it collapsed to the floor. Somehow that reminded Winsor to not diss Vanessa openly when she has a weapon in her hand. She had gotten pissed, but Winsor enjoyed pissing her and everyone else off, even Nathan but not as strong.

CR-

-that was all the group heard before they were all thrown back a few feet from the doors.

What the fuc-OW!!!

Winsor landed flat on her back. She hissed in pain and felt someone or something by her leg. It was Jarred. She looked around. Everyone was on the ground, but slowly rising.

"Oh shit!" Nathan said.

Winsor and Jarred were the last to rise when Jarred started to go higher and higher. His feet dangled from the ground and Winsor saw it.

It was a mesh of flesh on a muscular body that had crashed through the twin doors with such a force that it through the doors of their hinges and everyone onto the ground. Its face resembled that of a waxed face that was melted and now resembled that of a grinning skull. But one thing that stood out was that it had one arm. An arm that was so long that it couldn't be real, but it was. And it was holding Jarred by his head.

Jill Valentine

The others stood back in awe as they watched the mutation fling Jarred up into the air; holding him up by the neck.

"Come on!" Vanessa yelled at the others. "We can't just stand here and watch, we gotta help him!"

Racing towards the mutation, she began firing at it's legs, hearing it screech in pain as a result of the shots. It finally released it's grip on Jarred, as he came flying down, Vanessa just catching him. The creature seemed to of been really pissed of this time.

"Arghhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!" it screamed at them, angrily waving it's long mutated arm towards them.

"You okay?" Vanessa asked Jarred as she weakly pulled him back.

"Yeah," he smiled back at her, rubbing his neck in pain.

"Guys get out of the way!" Nathan screamed, pushing his way past Dwayne and Winsor. "Let me handle this!"

Firing wickedly at the monster's facial area, the shot's heavily pierced it's face and chest, knocking it down to the ground. Hearing it screech in pain once again, Nathan pressed the barrel of his gun to it's temple, and pulled the trigger; hearing one last painful gurgle erupt from it's mutated body.

"It's dead...right Nath?" Dwayne asked, cautiously approaching the creature, and kicking what was left of it's lifeless leg.

"Yeah, pretty much," he replied flatly. "Come on, let's go look for Ryan."

Reaching his hand out to pull Jarred up, Winsor ran by Nathan's side, grabbing his hand for a sense of security; Alex doing the same with David.

"You feeling okay?" Nathan heard David whisper to Alex.

"Yeah, I'm okay David," Alex whispered back in response.

With John trailing behind, the seven youths wondered cautiously down the dark hallway, hoping to find Ryan; safe, alive, and still human...

Joker

"Halo" Flight, 75th Regiment US Army Rangers, en route to Gaines, Colorado.

November 24th, 2001

9:45 a.m.

The ride by UH-60 Blackhawk was a fairly long one for the 33 Rangers chosen to spearhead the surgical strike set in motion by some mysterious transmission bursts in the otherwise isolated town of Gaines. The communique intercepted by the NSA's supercomputers at Fort Meade, Maryland from a Vanessa Williams was odd enough. But an unknown piece of footage clearly displaying the walking dead was enough to prompt military action.

It had been at least few hours since "Halo" Flight had set out from Fort Carson, Colorado, three UH-60 Blackhawks each carrying a contingent of eleven US Army Rangers. Their role was to secure a foothold within Gaines for the main convoy to deploy.

As Gaines slowly rolled into view on the horizon, it was time to prepare for the big dance...

Lieutenant William McFarlane was aboard "Halo 1" giving a final briefing, just as the Staff Sergeants aboard "Halo 2" and "Halo 3" would be doing.

"Rangers, listen up!," he barked, bringing any small-talk to an abrupt conclusion. "We will be deploying in an extremely hostile area..."

Behind him, the radio chatter from the Blackhawk pilots filled the air.

"Halo 2 or 3, you got a good view of the LZ yet?"

"Negative, Halo 1. There's some activity down there, but that's about all we can see," came the reply from Halo 2.

The Lieutenant continued, "We are to clear and secure a foothold inside the town of Gaines, Colorado for the ground convoy to move in and set up a command post. From there, we will be assisting in the clean-up..."

"Guess this is why Rangers lead the way!," Corporal Lemieux spoke up, much to the appreciation of the other Rangers.

The radio chatter continued.

"Watch your vector, Halo 2, it's gettin' a little tight here."

"Halo Flight, this is HQ, what's your ETA?"

"HQ, Halo Flight. ETA 5 minutes."

"Sir, what are we up against?," Private First Class O'Hara asked the Lieutenant.

"That we're yet to determine, Private," McFarlane responded. "The brass thinks something serious has occurred in Gaines forcing it to cut off all communication from the outside world. Basically, we're paving the way to stop whatever it is causing all this havoc before the shit really hits the fan."

"Alright, Halo Flight, let's drop to the deck, prepare for aerial insertion," came the order from the "Halo 1" pilot.

Gaines was getting closer. As Halo Flight neared, the condition of Gaines was more apparent. The streets were dotted with civilians who appeared to be wandering aimlessly. Fires raging left and right, the clock tower now a smoking, mangled husk of its former glory.

----------------------------------------------------

On a rooftop, a large figure stood, brandishing a large rocket launcher, black leather obscuring most of the nightmarish figure, although not making it look any less foreboding.

The Nemesis had been attracted by the sound of rotors carrying through the morning mountain air.

It growled softly as it waited for its prey to come into range...

----------------------------------------------------

Ryan left the dead end where there was a whole new meaning for the term. Four dead Blair soldiers, one dead... "Bandersnatch?"

Ryan still found the term quite funny, despite the fact it had nearly killed him.

As he came back to the corridor, he looked around, making sure there weren't any more surprises. Baird had told him there was only a skeleton crew here: Four guards, Piers and Markenson... whoever the hell that was.

Ryan looked at the weapon he now held. A fully loaded M4A1. "Looks like I didn't need the assault rifle after all. I had plenty to choose from in the dead end."

As Ryan cautiously made his way through the complex, he couldn't help but wonder if his "friends" were coming for him. He hoped they wouldn't. All he had ever done was get them hurt and, in some cases, killed. Just like Joanna, just like Paul, just like his entire Physics class...

These thoughts went away with the distinct sound of a gun cocking nearby. Ryan looked around his immediate area. Nothing but empty space.

Quietly, he made his way to the elevator which brought him to an area that seemed to be for research and development. Not as bad as the detention floor in some ways...

Ryan approached a glassed-off section which had blood smeared all over the walls. Inside, he could see what appeared to be fresh zombies devouring a corpse.

Worse than the detention floor in other ways...

----------------------------------------------------

Halo Flight were within a minute of their destination. As they moved towards their designated positions for insertion and "dust-off," the radio came to life.

"What the hell is that?"

"This is Halo 1, say again, what is what?"

"Halo 2 reporting imminent danger, 2 o'clock low!"

The pilots quickly located what the Halo 2 pilot was talking about. A solitary figure, quite large in appearance, wielding an equally large rocket launcher.

Before they could respond, a rocket was fired.

"Halo 3, break right! Break right!"

Halo 3 pulled away to the right, attempting to dodge the warhead approaching it.

The rocket streaked into the Blackhawk's tail, tearing it off in a forceful blast, sending Halo 3 spiraling to ground.

"Holy shit! Halo 3's down! Halo 3's down!"

"This is HQ, what the hell is going on out there?!?"

"HQ, Halo Flight is under attack! Repeat, we are taking fire!"

"Then return fire, Halo! You've got chain guns, don't you? We need that threat eliminated now!"

"HQ, we're out of range for return fire!"

"Halo, engage! That's an order!"

The Halo pilots started to close the gap to the Nemesis, narrowly avoiding another rocket. As the Nemesis reloaded, they were within range.

"Put this in your pipe and smoke it!" came the somewhat cavalier war cry of Halo 2 as the chain gun opened up, ripping into the rooftop...

----------------------------------------------------

The Nemesis could see the concrete and dust and debris being kicked up by the large-caliber shells pounding its position. It wasn't long before Halo 1 joined the fray, making the hail of lead unbearable as it slowly was directed at Nemesis itself, ripping into it with an unrelenting fury. A few stray shots perforated the rocket launcher, detonating the warhead the Nemesis had barely finished loading, rendering it inoperable.

The Nemesis itself appeared to be "rendered inoperable."

----------------------------------------------------

"Hooyah! That's some good shit!," Halo 2 called over the radio, bringing a smile to the face of everyone who heard it.

Upon seeing their handiwork, Halo 1 and 2 dropped back to the deck to complete their mission. They could see some survivors of the Halo 3 wreckage, but not everyone came out. Of the 33 Rangers intended to be inserted into Gaines, about 29 were remaining along with a wounded pilot and the Halo 3 crew chief.

The Rangers jumped out of the Blackhawks while they were still hovering several feet off the ground and waited for the order to move out.

"Halo, this is HQ, what is your status?"

"HQ, this is Halo, we have one down but the mission's a go. I say again, mission is a go. We are RTB at this time," the pilot said as the remainder of Halo Squadron returned to Fort Carson.

----------------------------------------------------

Ryan searched around the complex until another elevator was in sight, one that would hopefully go as far as the surface and allow him to escape...

The other thing in sight was Piers.

Ryan quickly ducked behind a corner and heard Piers' taunting voice.

"You'll never get out of here alive, Ryan! You're going to join the rest of the family, I'll see to that!"

A single shot was fired, hitting the floor near Ryan.

"Come on out! Don't you want to join your family? They're... ahem... dying to see you again!"

This made Ryan insane with rage.

"Grrr, enough of this game! Come on out! You little bastard, I'll send you straight to hell for making me wait so long!"

"You first!" Ryan shouted as he pivoted around the corner and, without thinking, slammed the trigger back as far as it could go.

Piers couldn't possibly defend against such an onslaught in such an exposed position, the full magazine hitting him in the center mass, making him convulse in some sort of demented dance before the magazine went dry. Piers fell lifelessly to the ground.

Ryan breathed hard, looking at the mutilated corpse of Piers. "Good fucking riddance. Ya'll don't come back now, ya hear?" Ryan said in a twisted parody of the Beverly Hillbillies.

Ryan suddenly stopped breathing as his heart skipped a beat. He could feel the hard muzzle of a gun at the back of his head. Without even looking, he immediately thought, "Markenson..."

"Thanks a lot, kid," Markenson said, smiling like a Cheshire Cat. "I've been meaning to off the son-of-a-bitch myself. I'll take that rifle now, thank you..."

As Markenson led Ryan away, Ryan noticed something which chilled him to the core.

Piers was starting to move again...