Author's note:

Thought I was gonna continue and tell you what happens to S, C and C? Well, you thought wrong! I've decided to try something else due to the nearly over-whelming response to Rain. Hope y'all enjoy!

I woke up and felt that everything was wrong. Like I was two people in one. I tried to bring my hand to my head and couldn't. I tried to move my legs, my hands, my head, anything but I couldn't. I looked around. It was pitch black. I tried to move my hand straight up and ran into something hard and wooden.

"Ow."

The funny thing was, I had always had just a touch of claustrophobia. Here, trapped in this...whatever...I was close to losing it. But I, Rain Melendez, did not "lose it." I slowed my breathing and concentrated. I really hoped I was wrong about this...I brought my hands up and dragged the tips of my fingers over the lid. Yep, that's right. I was in a coffin. How had I ended up in here? The last thing I remembered was entering the Hive and capturing the man responsible for some sort of corporate scandal after being alerted by Alice Abernathy, one of the Hive's main security people. We, One, J.D., Kaplan and the rest of the team had then turned the man over to our superiors at HQ.

Maybe this was some kind of test and I wasn't supposed to remember how I get in here? I decided to go with the test theory. Well, if I didn't get out I was gonna fail the test. I shoved on the top and felt it budge slightly. I smiled to myself and pushed again. I shoved with all my strength and the lid fell open, becoming unhinged as it did so. I was in a dark, once sterile room. There was blood everywhere and besides my coffin were a few others. I felt goose bumps run over my skin. Something was definitely wrong here. My vision was weird. It was like when a camera flashes and there are "after-images" left behind. Or like the time I had gotten a concussion and seen double. I shook my head but it was no help. I staggered towards the door, wanting to leave this shocking room as quickly as possible. I pulled on the handle and it opened easily. I slipped quickly out the door and paused, listening for alarms, or sounds or ...anything. But there were no sounds-no muffled talking, no footsteps, no sounds that would signal life. Ooookay.

Something told me that I was on the bottom floor and that I needed to travel up three flights of steps to get out. And something else, some internal survival instinct, told me I needed to get out of this building NOW. I immediately turned north and headed towards the nearest stairwell. I knew there were three stairwells on this hallway but that one of them was locked and the other required a keycard. So door number three it was. I reached the stairwell, still not hearing anything. I opened the door-and a corpse fell out. I backed away, my lip lifted in disgust.

I waited a second, unsure of what I expected. No doubt about it, I expected something. Giving a mental-shrug, I went into the stairwell.

I encountered nothing else on the stairs but still hesitated at the main entrance to the ground floor. What had happened here?

I took a breath and then opened the door to find-nothing. I surveyed the room. It was almost exactly as I remembered it. There was a large oak desk in the middle of the room, which an armed guard stayed behind. I knew that there were security monitors and other devices behind the desk. Behind the desk, on the wall in large, bold letters, were the words "Umbrella Corporation" along with the emblem of the red and white umbrella. One thing that definitely wasn't usually there: a blood smear running under the word "Umbrella" as if underscoring it. There was a broken, overturned plaque that stated the senior partners names. Otherwise, the lobby was the same as it usually was. I moved behind the desk, thinking of a potential weapon. Thankfully, there was no body this time but there weren't any weapons either. I searched the desks and found a radio.

"Hello? Can anyone hear me?"

At first there was nothing but static but then a frightened male voice came through.

"H-hello? Is someone there?"

I nearly dropped the radio in my haste to respond. "Yes! Yes, I'm here. What's the hell's going on?"

"They're saying there's been some kind of outbreak. Most of the city's been infected."

I felt like I had eaten glass. An outbreak? Was I infected? How would I know...?

"W-what are the symptoms?"

"I...I don't know," the man's voice was still shaky.

Ok, maybe I was and maybe I wasn't. Panicking was still not an option.

"What's your name?"

"Chris. Chris Redfield."

"Alright, Chris. Can you tell me where you are? My name's Rain."

"Uh...I...about five miles away from Raven's Gate," his voice seemed calmer, now that he was talking to someone.

I almost laughed. "Chris, could you be a little bit more specific?"

He actually did laugh. "I'm really not sure. There's a bunch of corporate-looking buildings around...one of them says 'Alexa, Incorporated.'"

I knew the building. It was a sister corporation of Umbrella's; a place so secretive even the higher-ups didn't know all of what went on.

"Chris, I know where you are. I'm going to come get you."

"I...Thank you."

I smiled even though I knew he couldn't see it. "You're welcome. Tell me more about this outbreak."

Thirty minutes and some seriously weird conversation later, I still couldn't believe what Chris was telling me. Supposedly, this virus reanimated the dead, creating a horror buffs dream come true (or would that be nightmare come true?). Every being of my body rebelled against this idea: Umbrella had intentionally created the virus and knew its effects, even allowing it to be released. Since I wasn't dead, I guessed I hadn't been infected-yet. I had told Chris everything I knew about the Hive and Umbrella as I walked towards him-which really wasn't much, other than some information I had personally gathered. He, in turn, told me about what he had seen and about his sister, Claire. I was only a mile away from him when I heard a loud engine. I looked up as suddenly a black helicopter buzzed overhead. Four people dropped to the ground around me, each holding AK-47's and various other pieces of weaponry. Maybe I had spoke too soon.

"Move," one of the people in black motioned with his (her?) gun towards a black S.U.V. that had pulled up. The back passenger door was opened for me and I was motioned in, still held at gunpoint. There was a man already seated in the SUV. He smiled at me and I immediately wanted to hit him. Without even talking to him, I knew he was going to be a pompous ass.

"Hello, Miss. Melendez. How were your accommodations?"

I thought he was making a joke. Maybe he was. He was still wearing that smile as he reached into his jacket and pulled out a gun. I held up my hands, letting this guy know that he was the one in control. He shot me anyway.

Author's Note: So okay, originally I wanted to do this entirely from Alice's p.o.v. but then I kept getting people asking about Rain! So, while this is still shorter than I'd like, hopefully, I'm beginning to answer some questions, even while I leave you with a heckofa cliffhanger regarding our three "normal" people's fate. Also, just an F.Y.I. I'm probably going to start flip-flopping between Alice and Rain and I'll try to give you a heads-up but I thought I'd surprise you just this time ;). One more thing, next week, I have tons of stuff due and then I have Fall break so I'll try and update as much as possible before then. P.S. I wrote this at like eleven after five cups of coffee and three hours of sleep, so if there are errors, please let me know and I'll fix them. Thanks and Please Review, all you Rain fans! (That's right, I know you're out there!)