Alex pulled the magnum from her shoulder holster, not that it would do her much good. Nothing short of a rocket launcher, or some similar heavy firepower, would take that monstrosity down. A glance to her left showed her that both Jill and Carlos had pulled weapons of their own. She couldn't see Kevin, but assumed he too had armed himself.
She now found herself at an impasse. If they all opened fire at once, there was a good chance the Tyrant would become confused long enough for her to snatch the sample. However, if Alex didn't fire a shot the Tyrant would fixate on Jill and Carlos. This would give Alex the chance to escape unharmed and with the virus, but Jill and Carlos would probably die.
Decisions, decisions…
Alex clutched the magnum a bit tighter, raised it, and fired the first shot. The bullet slammed through the tyrant's chest and produced the exact reaction Alex had anticipated. The Tyrant stopped and turned in her direction. Both Jill and Carlos pulled their respective weapons up, preparing to aide her.
"No, both of you get the hell out of here!"
"But Alex, that thing will kill you!"
Jill looked as if she couldn't believe what Alex was saying. For her part, Alex didn't really know what the hell she was doing herself. Her priority was the virus, yet here she was pissing off a seven foot killing machine in the hopes of saving two people.
Behind her, Kevin had opened fire. The shots from his 45 were hitting the Tyrant square in the chest, right where the heart was. It wasn't doing a whole lot of good, but at least he was putting forth the effort.
"Jill, get your ass out of here, you're going to have enough problems getting away from Nemesis…don't add a Tyrant to the list!"
"I can't just leave you here!" Jill's face had contorted into a mask of determination.
"Jill you don't have a choice!" Alex fired several more shots into the Tyrant while she spoke. "GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!"
Alex was still firing, but there couldn't be more than three shots left in the clip. Behind her she heard the unmistakable click of a dry fire. Seconds later a clip hit the floor, Kevin was reloading. In the middle of it all Jill stared at Alex with an emotion in her eyes Alex had not seen since coming to work for Umbrella, a mixture of pride and admiration. Alex spared Jill a glance, smiled slyly, then mouthed a single word…GO.
Carlos grabbed Jill by the forearm, pulled her passed the rows of pews, and to the mangled doorway. Both of them gave Alex one last look, then disappeared into the Clock Tower lobby. Alex had saved their lives, at least for now, but she still had to save her own and Kevin's. A premise that was easier said, than done. They had the Tyrant's full attention now, which was certainly not the best of ideas.
Alex's clip ran dry and she grabbed for a second off the shoulder holster, slamming it home with a solid click. Behind her a second clip dropped to the floor followed closely by what could only be the sound of Kevin dropping the 45, he was out of ammo. Alex wasn't set well with ammo herself. She had a two more clips for the magnum, then of course there was the berretta and it's two and half clips worth of shells. But firing a berretta with normal 9mm ammo at a tyrant would be a lot like swatting at a licker with a fly swatter, all you would manage to do would be to piss it off. Not that both Kevin and herself, hadn't already managed to do that, but at least the hollow points from Alex's magnum were doing some damage.
During the brief respite of fire, the Tyrant once more turned its attention to the black bag containing the virus sample. It moved forward, reaching toward the bag with one large hand. In a moment born of stupidity and desperation, Alex dove forward. Just as the Tyrant caught hold of one of the bag's straps, Alex grabbed a second strap.
"Alex get out of the way!"
Alex spared him a glance and saw he had managed to retrieve the shotgun from the debris. But, at this distance there was no way he could fire on the Tyrant and not hit her. Alex gave a sharp tug on the bag, the Tyrant tugged back, and the bag broke. Alex fell backwards into the alter , landing on her ass. The contents of the bag lay scattered across the floor. By some miracle, the metal case containing the G-Virus and one frag grenade landed at her feet. She grabbed both, as the sound of the shotgun reverberated through the small chapel.
Alex counted shots as she scanned the room, looking for an exit. The Tyrant was blocking the doorway, and there was no way they could run past the pews. Unlike the other side of the room, the pews were pushed against the wall. This left them both with only one option.
"Kevin! The window…out the window!"
Kevin looked to where Alex was pointing. Behind him was a large stain glassed window, their only chance at escape. Alex fired two shots into the Tyrant as Kevin turned his attention to the window. Seconds later there was the sound of shattering glass.
"Alex come one…MOVE!"
Kevin stood halfway in the window motioning for her to hurry up. Alex fired one more shot, and bolted for the window. The Tyrant let out an inhuman bellow and turned to follow. As she reached the window, she pulled the pin on the grenade. Alex shoved Kevin through the window, tossing the grenade toward the Tyrant. It hit the floor and bounced a couple times before rolling to a stop at the Tyrant's feet. Alex dove through the window seconds before it went off.
Alex hit the ground in a hard roll coming to stop only a couple feet from Kevin. The explosion rocked the clock tower. They both covered their heads as shards of glass and other debris rained down on them. As the smoke cleared they saw that the chapel had collapsed, along with half the Clock Tower's lobby. Alex pulled herself to her feet.
"We have to get out of here, before that thing wakes up."
"You've got to be kidding me?" Kevin looked astonished. "You just blew it up, for Christ's Sake!"
"Trust me, all I did was piss it off even more."
Alex looked scared, scared and sick. Kevin decided it best to listen to her. After all, she did work for Umbrella. She would know better than anyone about whether or not the Tyrant was still alive. He slowly nodded and headed back toward the street. Alex limped along behind him, giving directions. They had to get out of town as soon as possible.
After three blocks, Kevin slowed to a stop. Alex looked like death warmed over. She leaned against one of the nearby buildings, breathing heavily. Her leg was bleeding again, probably the result of diving through that window.
"Are you alright?" The concern in Kevin's voice rang clear.
"It's the T-Virus." Alex coughed, struggling to get her breathing under control. "I don't become a zombie, but I get sick. Usually it doesn't happen this soon, but with all the running…it…it…"
Kevin managed to grab her before she hit the ground. He gently lifted the unconscious Alex into his arms, and looked around. He had to find some place safe to hide out until the virus worked its way through her system. After ten minutes he finally settled on a location, and started moving.
Alex stared through the window, a mixture of scorn and sorrow etched on her face. The doctors paid her no mind as they went about their experiments. They also paid little to no attention to the woman strapped to the table in front of them. Except for writing their little notes and monitoring their various equipment. To them she was nothing more than a lab rat, human no longer.
Alex noted footsteps and turned slowly from the window. Albert stopped next to her, his attention fixed on the experiment in progress.
"You shouldn't think about it too much."
Albert's voice was cool and practical. It sent shivers down Alex's spine. He had never sounded like that before coming to work for Umbrella. She nodded slowly, swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat. This was her job now, protect the scientists, protect the project.
Albert turned from the window and gave her a rare smile. Alex smiled back, instantly feeling better. Albert could always do that, make her feel better.
But not anymore…
Not after the Mansion…
Alex snapped awake, images of her first site of the T-Virus still clinging to her mind. Apparently she was on the roof of some building. She braced her arm on the roof's wall and pulled herself up. Kevin was standing a few feet to her right, looking at something. She limped over, pulling a pack of cigarettes from her pocket. It had been several moths since she'd had one, Birkin didn't allow it in the labs. But if there ever was a time to take up the habit again, this was it. She slipped a cigarette into her mouth and dug around in her pockets for a lighter, coming up empty. She sighed, reaching for the cigarette when a small flame suddenly appeared near her face. She leaned forward, lighting the cigarette. Kevin flicked the lighter closed and handed it to her.
"Keep it." His tone was clipped.
Alex accepted the lighter, looking it over for a moment. A Zippo, with the R.P.D. logo on the side. She smiled a bit and pocketed it. She took a drag and rested her elbows on the top of the roof's retaining wall, staring out over the city. From up here you could almost imagine that there was nothing wrong with the city, almost.
"When were you planning on telling me about this?" Kevin held up the metal case and several papers.
"Never." Alex took another drag off of her cigarette. "Where are we and how long have I been out?"
"Outskirts of town. I figured there wouldn't be any zombies on a roof, they can't climb stairs after all. You've been our for about five hours." Kevin lowered the case, but still looked at her with scorn in his eyes. "Why?"
"Orders."
"Orders? You're about to hand over a virus to Umbrella even more devastating than this zombie virus and that's your only excuse…orders."
"That's all I got Skippy. I was ordered to retrieve the virus, that's what I did. What they plan on doing with it isn't my concern."
"There has to be more to it than that. Why do you even still work for them after what they've done?"
Why indeed. Alex had expected this question, after all hadn't Chris and Jill asked her the same thing only weeks ago? But she didn't have an answer anymore. Alex lowered her head, staring into the ally below.
"I don't know. I've been in charge of at least two separate labs. I honestly don't know how many outbreaks I've contained. One of those outbreaks resulted in me getting infected. That's how Umbrella found out I was immune. They thought it was great to have a head of security that couldn't get infected."
Alex sighed, flicking the ashes off of her cigarette.
"I can't tell you why I do it anymore. I could give you a load of shit about how I save lives or how noble Umbrella's work is, but it isn't. Simple truth is, If I cut and run now they'd have everyone on my ass. Anyone with me would be in danger. I suppose I figured it was best just to stay where I was and do what I could to prevent something like this from happening. But I failed."
Kevin laid a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it gently. She was briefly reminded of Chris, when she'd gone to pick up Albert's things. She smiled, her mind going over the possibilities. Was it possible to escape Umbrella without getting anymore people close to her killed in the process?
Suddenly, the door to the roof exploded. Alex spun around, dropping her cigarette and pulling her magnum. The Tyrant stood in the doorway.
"Holy Mary mother of Christ." Kevin whispered, pulling Alex's berretta.
Kevin had taken the words right out of Alex's mouth. The Tyrant had mutated, the result of losing its limiter during the explosion back at the Chapel. It stepped onto the roof, long claws dangling at it's sides, it was now at it's most deadly. It displayed it's newfound deadliness by raising a single claw and rushing them.
Alex had only two seconds to make a decision. She spun around, pushing Kevin out of the Tyrant's path. The claw came up and swiped down almost in a single motion. Alex fell to the roof, screaming in pain. The claws had raked her from the center of her back, across her shoulder blade, and down her left arm. Kevin fired into the monster point blank and was thrown aside, to land against the opposite wall with a sickening crack. Despite having a broken arm and several cracked ribs, Kevin continued to fire drawing the Tyrant away from Alex.
Alex pushed back the pain and managed to pull herself up, one arm laying across the retaining wall. It was then that her eyes caught the virus case and her dropped cigarette. She glanced over the wall and there it was, the thing she had been staring at only minutes before. Sitting between the two buildings was a large tanker truck.
She snatched up the case and got to her feet. The Tyrant had it's gaze firmly fixed on Kevin and was preparing for the final lunge when Alex fired a single shot into it's back. It turned to stare at her. Alex opened the case, holding up the single vile of the G-Virus sample.
"Come on you bastard, you want the fucking thing…COME AND GET IT!"
Alex and the Tyrant stared at each other for a few seconds. The virus held in her left arm, outstretched, directly over the side of the building. The Tyrant bolted forward, displaying more speed and intelligence than it had in the Chapel. Alex waited for the last possible minute then dropped the sample. It fell to the ground, bounced, and rolled under the tanker.
"Opps…my bad."
The words from Alex's mouth were cold and emotionless. As expected the Tyrant followed the vile over without hesitation. As the tyrant went over the wall, Alex turned firing three shots into the side of the tanker, gasoline poured to the ground. Still holding the gun in her right hand, she quickly retrieved the lit cigarette from the ground. When she again looked over the wall she saw the Tyrant was on it's hands and knees, desperately trying to retrieve the sample from its resting place under the tanker. The gasoline continued to pour and the Tyrant paid no heed to the fact that it was currently pouring all over him. Alex held the cigarette in one hand and raised her arm.
"Game…over."
The cigarette spun through the air, coming to land near the edge of the gasoline's ever growing puddle. But Alex didn't see that. As soon as the cigarette left her hands, she sprinted for Kevin, pulling him behind one of the large air conditioning units. For a brief second she thought she had failed, that the gas wouldn't ignite. She was wrong…
The fire caught, traveling over the puddle, up over the Tyrant's back, and into the truck itself. The explosion was deafening, rocking the very foundation of the building. The tanker rose at least ten feet into the air, before crashing back down to the street. Everything from bricks to steel flew at the buildings. Alex and Kevin covered their faces, as several pieces of fiery debris flew over their heads. Both the Tyrant and the virus sample were consumed.
Finally realizing that everything was clear, Alex peeked out from her hiding place. Laying dead center of the roof, was the Tyrant's head. A small cruel smile played across her lips. She then turned her attention to Kevin.
"Damn, you look like shit." She mumbled, running her hand over his ribs.
"Yea, and you look so much better." Kevin gritted his teeth as Alex's fingers found a tender spot.
"At least…"
"Alex…Kevin this is Jill, do you read me?"
Alex removed the radio from Kevin's belt, a what now look on her face.
"This is Alex, what's up Jill?"
"We have a problem, Umbrella is planning to destroy the city."
All the color drained from Alex's face. She knew of this contingency, she just never though they would actually do it. Kevin looked at her with wide eyes. Alex licked her lips and depressed the talk button once more.
"How long?"
"…eight minutes."
Alex nodded to herself. It would be the only way to destroy all the evidence. She just never thought they could or would ever do that. It appeared that she was very, very wrong.
"Got it."
Alex slipped the radio onto her own belt and pulled Kevin to his feet. From the look on his face, it was obvious that he didn't need to be told they had to hurry. Alex glanced around the street, her eyes finally coming to rest on a Jeep. It was in pristine condition and could be their only chance of escape.
Alex and Kevin hit the pavement in record time. They made a mad dash for the Jeep, both of them pushing past the pain and forcing their bodies to the limit. Alex could feel blood and sweat running in rivers down her back, but she ignored it. Several zombies advanced toward them. Alex lifted the magnum, Kevin lifted the berretta. Each shot, hit its mark and neither one of them slowed a step. Alex dove into the driver's seat, Kevin somehow managed to crawl over her to the passenger seat. By some stroke of luck, the keys were in the ignition. The Jeep started on the first try.
She slammed the vehicle into first and dropped the clutch. The jeep jumped and took off like a shot. Alex did a 180 and pointed the car out of town, slamming it into second as they picked up speed. The zombies walking toward the vehicle were ignored as Alex worked her way through the gears, finally getting it up to fifth and about 100 mph. One zombie made the unfortunate mistake of walking into the Jeep's path. Alex didn't bat an eye.
"Hah! Ten points!"
Alex giggled uncontrollably as the zombie flew into the air landing in a crumpled heap on the ground behind the receding Jeep. Kevin had a death grip on the Jeep's roll bar, looking at Alex like she'd lost her mind. They speed out of town, Alex mentally ticking off the time they head left…
Dawn breaks over Raccoon City, overhead a missile silently makes its way to the city's center. Only the moans of the dead are there to greet it. The missile hits and for a few seconds nothing happens…
Fire sweeps over every building, consuming everything in it's path. The fire doesn't care that it is destroying years of work and taking the lives of an entire city. It has only one purpose, destruction. It does it's job well. All evidence of Raccoon, it's inhabitants, and the T-Virus is erased in only a few seconds.
Almost all evidence…