Author's Notes: Hi. Firstly I'd like to say thanks for taking the time to read this. Just a few things I'd like to say really. Firstly; I'd like to make it clear from the start that yes this is a Resident Evil Fan Fic. But it will not be featuring any of the characters from the games (barring the various zombies and assorted beings affected by the T-Virus) or at least that's how I've got it planned out at the moment. It will feature organisations present in the games such as Umbrella and S.T.A.R.S and contain frequent references to events in the games. There won't be any zombies for the first few chapters so I hope that those of you looking for a quick zombie fix can bare with me! Other than that, please R & R. I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 1 – A Safe Arrival

"The key to the power of the universe lies not in cultural splendour, but in science."

The combined eighty-four thousand pound-thrust of the four engines on the AWACS plane pushed it through the sky at a steady thirty-five thousand feet, hurtling through the sky at over five hundred mph the plane looked identical to any commercial plane flying at high altitude. This was to be expected; for apart from the constantly rotating radar mounted upon its back there were no features left on the plane to ever suggest it had belonged to the US Air Force. There were in fact no markings on the plane at all, except for a miniscule serial number etched at the base of the tail-wing; 'UAW-02'.

Oblivious to these facts however were the three men resting in the surprisingly comfortable interior of the formidable plane. The small room they sat in contained several plush red armchairs and a circular mahogany table at which to sit, all bolted securely to the floor. There was a small bar in one corner of the room, a bar which so far at least had remained unused. Two of the men were sitting in the armchairs, both of them in their mid to late forties and both wearing the trademark white jackets which showed them to be scientists. This was where the similarities between the two ended. The first had clearly not aged well and had thinning hair flecked with grey. He had a pointed nose and peculiarly small eyes, to balance this; a large pair of spectacles perched precariously on his face. It was a miracle that they had yet to fall off. The second of the two was heavyset, with a full head of dark hair and a round face. He sat with his hands on the table in front of him, looking in the general direction of his colleague as they sat in silence. Not so much at his colleague, but over his shoulder, at one of the two doors leading out of the room. There was one behind him which led to the bathroom, the cockpit and the exit. The door he was looking at lead to a further compartment of the plane, a part of the plane no one wished to go.

Sighing to himself, the third man looked away from the two scientists and idly turned his gaze out of the window. Standing at around five foot ten he wasn't particularly tall, but his broad muscular shoulders and the piercing gaze in his electric blue eyes more than made up for it. Running a hand back through his slicked black hair he leant on the wall with the calm collected demeanour expected of a professional. He was dressed in an all black combat suit; a Kevlar bullet proof vest covered his chest and his back. At his waist were not one, but two pistol holsters. In the first was another of the countless military items afforded to his employers by the US government; a SOCOM pistol equipped with laser sighting and optional silencer, which at the moment was fitted securely to the barrel of the weapon. In the rear holster he carried a rare Glock Model 18C; virtually identical to the infamous Glock 17 this specialist model of the same weapon was capable of firing in full automatic; releasing a stream of bullets from its thirty round extended clip when the user depressed the trigger. Coming from his collar, which was fitted with additional Kevlar sniper protection, a tiny black coil ran up to his right ear and the earpiece he was wearing. Stood against the wall next to him was a large assault rifle, fitted with a shotgun attachment activated by a second trigger, and large night vision sights. To be blunt; he looked tooled up for some heavy action.

"We'll be arriving in ten minutes, you two better get ready." he suddenly spoke, his gravely voice directed at the two scientists at the table.

"Of course…..r-right away," replied the bespectacled scientist, brushing away a bead of sweat which had formed on his forehead. He took a deep breath and stood from the table, he was visibly shaking somewhat.

"Hey! Walt!" The larger scientist called to him, the bespectacled man turned his head slightly, "Look at me," he said, meeting the little scientist's gaze. "Calm down. We've been over this a hundred times already, it's perfectly safe. I'm nervous too, don't worry though, we both know its part of the job." As the man spoke he rose to his feet, standing at around six foot and weighing in at over two hundred pounds he hardly looked like what you'd expect of a respected scientist. He stepped over to the bar and poured his colleague a shot of bourbon. "Drink this. It'll calm your nerves, can't have you shivering and shaking like that." The small man gratefully took the drink, stared at it for a moment, then threw his head back and swallowed the shot. Pulling a sour face he then smiled his thanks.

Having calmed himself he wet his lips and walked across the room, under the gaze of the soldier in the corner, to the rear door. Edging open the door he stepped into a tiny enclosure, there was another door immediately in front of him. This door, unlike the other, was not an expensive wooden door designed to impress and comfort those on board, this door was solid steel and at least ten inches thick. There were no windows through to the next room, no trademarks on the door and no finery. Just a door shaped lump of steel completely impregnable to most portable modern day explosives. On the wall adjacent to the door were two security units. The small scientist bent his head down and looked into the retinal scanner, a small light wove across the screen and then back again. He removed his head and a green light flashed on a small readout next to the retinal scanner, a picture of his face appeared.

"Dr. W. M. Jefferson, PHD"

Turning back and stepping out of the room he spoke softly, "I've done it….your turn." The larger man turned from where he had remained standing at the bar and walked briskly past him, his large figure barely fitting into the cramped space. Craning awkwardly he managed to put his eyes to the scanner, a moment later the green light lit up again and his picture appeared below the one of Walt Jefferson,

"Dr. B. N. Wilkes, PHD".

Another display appeared which read;

"Authorisation granted; enter access code in 4:00."

Sighing to himself, Benjamin Wilkes went to sit back down at the table as the four minute timer began to count down. It was a customary procedure; the four minute pause was meant to check that everything was under control and that those putting the codes in were not being forced. Anyone who was trying to force access would be in a rush; they most likely wouldn't be able to wait for four minutes.

"Six minutes…" the soldier spoke again, having just received confirmation from his men up near the cockpit. Looking out of the window Benjamin saw that the plane was steadily descending, the cityscape of Windyclaw, USA, revealed itself in all its majesty as they emerged from the clouds. The city was located on the West Coast between Los Angeles and San Jose, it was home to just under three million people; making it the fourth biggest city in the entire country. As the plane flew over the cities suburbs the dozens of skyscrapers could be seen jutting out all over the city; business enterprises, entertainment centres, hotels, casinos and several newly constructed stadiums where the Windyclaw Ravens could continue their NFL crusade. The city was obviously extremely prosperous; partly due to Umbrella corporation's pouring in of billions of dollars into the city's upkeep over the last decade. The city was fairly clean as far as big cities go, with a well established police force and a relatively low crime level. A haven for families and businessmen its suburbs were teeming with families living 'The American Dream'. Due to it's location on the coast the city had ample trade with the rest of the country and indeed the world, with extensive harbours and large warehouse facilities on the front the shipping industry was booming. With an average of over 250 days of sun a year the city was almost a paradise.

The plane banked left, over the residential districts and skirting around the edge of the downtown district, avoiding the colossal buildings filling that area. It instead turned towards the far end of the city, at this southern end of the city Windyclaw merged with the countryside much more. Numerous estates and hectares of private land were owned by various companies and wealthy individuals in this part of town. The land was green and dotted with wooded areas which gradually built into the Windyclaw Wildlife Park. This area marked the southernmost border of the city and it was here where the aircraft found its destination. An airport, not marked on any maps, was located only a few hundred metres from this forest. The airport was small, with only one terminal and one runway; yet it was obviously very modern with the latest in air traffic control systems running from its tower and an extensive staffing to ensure that all who used it were treated as befitted their high status.

Benjamin Wilkes and Walt Jefferson nodded to each other and rose to their feet, Benjamin stood by the door whilst Walt entered the enclosure one more time, he waited a further five seconds until the timer finally read:

"You now have 2:00 to enter the access code."

Walt wet his lips nervously again and placed a finger on the keypad, at once the keypad whirred into life and its digital readout blinked on. It took an instant fingerprint scan from his finger, upon confirmation that it was indeed Walt Jefferson attempting to enter the code it stayed from the high current voltage it would otherwise have injected into the person using the keypad. Walt entered the fourteen digit pass code that he had long since learnt by heart and waited as the hydraulics on the other side of the door slowly and silently opened the steel door. Turning to face Benjamin he nodded and they stepped through into the next chamber, it was a small room measuring about nine metres square. The entire room was steel like the door; steel walls, steel ceiling and a steel floor. This room was designed to be completely impregnable. In the centre of the room was the focus of this flight and all the security; a cube around seventy centimetres by seventy centimetres stood in the middle of the room. A complicated system of computer screens covered the top of this cube shaped container. The readouts measured temperature, stability of environment and many other things. After brief inspection the two scientists deemed everything to be satisfactory, smiling in a relieved way they turned away from the cube. Hung up on a wall to their left were two hazard suits. They exchanged a glance and moved over to them.

Back in the room, the soldier, Sergeant Shane Harman, sighed to himself and pushed away from the wall, picking up his assault rifle he put the strap around his body and twisted the rifle around to his back. Stepping through the opposite door he walked through into a small corridor where two more of his men were stationed. Both dressed identically to him barring his second pistol and Kevlar sniper protection, wearing black helmets with tinted visors; they looked like clones. He nodded to them, both corporals and both reliable men, he was glad to have them with him.

"We'll be arriving in about sixty seconds. Everything you read in the briefing; every comma and every letter was there for a reason. We have to do everything exactly as they want us to. I assume you both understand this?"

"Sarge," came the joint reply.

"Good, didn't doubt you for a second guys. Stay sharp and we'll be back in the barracks tonight with the lads, no more of this brown nosing bullshit." The two corporals smiled beneath their visors at this comment, Harman grinned to them and moved back into the room just as the aircraft touched down onto the ground. Placing a hand on the wall to steady himself he quickly regained his balance and looked through the open doors to the two scientists. He shook his head in wonder as he saw the two of them, dressed in full hazard suits, bent over some form of container. One of them, the larger he thought, although it was hard to tell due to their suits, suddenly turned around. Despite the visor on the hazard suit he was sure that he was looking straight into the scientist's eyes. The scientist walked slowly to the steel door and pushed it closed, blocking Harman's view of the room. Harman raised his eyebrows and shrugged to himself, he didn't know what was in the container and he didn't care. What he did care about was the ten thousand dollars the two men and he were each getting to escort the package and the scientists from the Miami headquarters to the Windyclaw headquarters.

The plane taxied down the runway and began to dock against the terminal, Harman smiled to himself and waited as the plane finally came to a halt. It had been a fairly long flight to be stuck in a room with two boring academics and he looked forward eagerly to gaining his pay and getting back to other operations. He heard a loud thud as the plane was locked in place and they would finally be able to disembark. Turning back to the door he saw that the scientists were still not done,

"They'd better hurry up in there" he murmured to himself, not wanting to be on the plane any longer than was necessary.

Finally satisfied that everything was definitely ok the two scientists entered another series of codes into the cube. The cube opened outwards, as silent as the door which had opened previously. Resting inside the cube was a much smaller box, not much bigger than a standard attaché briefcase. Through a small slit of glass the top of several vials could be seen lying carefully cushioned inside the case. Benjamin and Walt stopped for a few moments, and looked at the case below them. The reason for all of this was inside those vials, both exhaling a little and calming their nerves once more, they set about picking up the case.

Corporal Louis Jones kissed the crucifix inside his jacket and replaced it. He smiled to the other Corporal; Buck Healey, and walked to the door, assault rifle in one hand he took the handle of the door and grimaced as he pushed it upwards and outwards. The door whirred as the mechanics inside took over and it lifted itself up to a right angle from the plane. Beneath his visor, Louis Jones' eyes widened as they took in the sight beyond,

"Jesus Christ!" he stammered.

"He can't help you now." Came the cold reply as the gun went off like a cannon in the confined space. The .357 round shattered the visor on Jones' helmet and went straight into his head. It caused a star shaped explosion in the back of his skull as the round exited his body and carried on through the wall behind him. A jet of blood hit the wall with a sickening splat, Jones' collapsed backwards and his body hit the floor with a horrific thud, his neck bent at an obscene angle where he fell, the jagged mess where his face had been clear to all. Buck Healey took in the sight of his friend's body lying in a pool of his own blood and let out a scream of rage; he had his rifle in his shoulder in an instant, aimed at the figure beyond the doorway.

Buck Healey didn't stand a chance.

From beyond the figure a fuselage of high powered assault rifles opened up, the high calibre bullets whizzed over the figure's shoulders and tore mercilessly into Healey's body, even after they had knocked him back into the wall the unseen assailants kept on firing for a full three seconds. Despite the Kevlar body armour he had been wearing his entire body was a ragged mess as finally he slumped down the bloody wall and keeled over onto the corpse of his friend. The figure motioned with his hand and three of the men with assault rifles hurried past him and entered the plane.

Harman went wide eyed in horror as he heard, a second after the door had opened, the deafening noise of what sounded like a magnum firing. None of his men were carrying that weapon. A moment later he heard a thud, followed by a voice he immediately recognised to be Healey's; crying in rage. It was drowned out by the endless machine gun fire, it seemed to last an eternity before finally he heard a second thud. Swallowing back the bile that had formed in his throat he took a jagged breath and stared at the door leading to the corridor in horror. Not having time to bring round his rifle he dropped his hand to his waist, to the second holster. Like a scene out of a Sergio Leone movie he brought the gun up as the door opened, depressing the trigger before it had even reached chest height. A stream of rounds erupted from the barrel of the gun. As he brought the Glock up splashes of red erupted on the legs, stomach and chest of the first man through the door. By the time he had brought the Glock up to the man's chest level he was already breathing his last, the final four rounds left in the magazine hit him full on in the chest and neck, spraying blood onto the men behind him. Harman narrowed his eyes further as he heard a clicking sound coming from his gun; the magazine was empty. The man was already falling and the man behind him was trying to get his rifle around him to get a clean shot in. Harman's left hand dove down to the SOCOM still in its holster. He brought the second, more futuristic looking pistol, up in his left hand as his right released the Glock, the Glock fell to the ground and the man's eyes were diverted for a second. A hint of a smile tugged at Harman's lips as he depressed the trigger on his SOCOM.

The smile was short lived; a horrified expression came across Harman's face as he heard another click. The safety was on! A memory flashed across his mind, of when he had kitted up in the morning, he had put the safety on the pistol as he didn't want it going off by accident. The Glock was one of the safest pistols ever made, he wasn't worried about that, but the SOCOM he wasn't so sure of. His mind screamed obscenities as the error of his ways dawned on him; at this point his training took over. His subconscious seized control and he didn't register what his mind was saying at the time. Instead he strode forward and leapt at the second man with his arms outstretched, his right hand grappled for the rifle and desperately pushed it up and away from him, he slammed it hard into the wall and with his left hand still holding the SOCOM he smashed it hard across his body into the commando's stomach. The commando coughed, winded by the blow, and doubled over gasping. Before he could recover Harman let go of the rifle and brought his right hand back across and delivered a powerful jab into the commando's face, he heard a crack as the mans nose broke. Through the balaclava the man was wearing he saw his eyes glaze over as he sunk into unconsciousness. Harman didn't have any time to celebrate this short lived victory over the two commandos as it was then that he realised there was a third commando standing a couple of metres behind the second, there was no way he would be able to dive at this commando before getting shot apart. He stood for a moment holding the unconscious form of the second commando, shielding himself from any gunfire. The third commando slowly lowered his rifle, Harman breathed an incredulous sigh, perhaps they were going to let him go? At almost the same time as this thought materialised in his head the commando raised his rifle again and fired a short three round burst into Harman's right knee cap, which was unprotected by the unconscious commando. Roaring in pain, Harman let go of the commando and sunk to the floor. His hands clasped desperately around his shattered kneecap and he winced in pain as two more commandos entered the plane.

Wilkes and Jefferson had been carrying the case to the door, Benjamin opened the door (which was unlocked from the inside) and pulled it open in time to see the Sergeant who had been assigned to protect them keeling over, there seemed to be bodies and blood everywhere. Jefferson felt his bladder go at the sight and a wet patch appeared down his leg, the scientists hurried back into the room and placed the case back into the cube shaped container,

"Close it! Quickly!" bellowed Benjamin as he dashed to the open door, he got to it just in time to see the commandos dashing into the room, leaping over the Sergeant. He started pulling the steel door shut and was about to sigh in relief when a black booted foot found its way into the gap of the doorway. "No!" he shouted in frustration, the door was wrenched out of his grasp by a much stronger man and the last thing he saw was the flare of an assault rifle before he felt a searing pain in his head a split second before his world went black. Jefferson looked on in horror as his long time colleague flew backwards from the door, it didn't take Jefferson long to realise he was dead.

"Shit….shit….shit!" he murmured over and over, frantically pushing at the buttons on the cube shaped container, a sharp buzz emitted from the container;

"Access code denied. Please re-enter code."

Jefferson whimpered as he saw the display, he started punching keys again when he felt a lancing pain in his lower back, he lowered his quivering hands and put them on his back, raising them in front of his eyes he saw that they were smeared red. He slowly slid from the cube and lay beneath it, twitching as his movement slowly left him. The bullet had shattered part of his spine and was cutting off his nervous system. He heard footsteps cross the room and saw two black boots come to a stop by his head. The commando standing above him grimaced distastefully at the puddle of urine beneath the scientist. He shouldered his rifle and fired a three round burst into the scientist's head.

Harman lay in a similar situation to the scientist; his hands clutched at his ruined knee and he bit down hard on his lip, causing a drip of blood to slide down his chin. A commando stood over him, he raised his rifle to his shoulder and Harman closed his eyes to prepare for the end.

"Stop!" a voice suddenly called out, the voice was strangely melodic, it was the sort of voice which sounded familiar despite the fact that he knew he'd never heard it before. "Don't kill him!" the man stepped into the plane finally, his powerful handgun still in his hand from having shot Jones a half minute before. Harman looked up at the man; he had wavy chestnut brown hair and a smiling face.

"You….bastard…" Harman muttered, staring up in contempt at the murderer. He scrunched his face up and grunted in pain, doubling over as the man lashed out and kicked him hard in his knee. The man looked to his dead commando and to the unconscious one, who was being brought around by another of the commando team.

"One dead…one injured…acceptable losses." He turned to the commando who still had his rifle trained on Harman, "Take this one with us. This one can be used." With these words he turned to the doorway and motioned again with his hand, instead of commandos this time two men hurriedly entered. They were dressed in full hazard suits similar to the ones Jefferson and Wilkes had been wearing. These two moved off to the back of the plane,

"No…" Harman murmured as he realised where they were going. He turned his head back around to the commando in time to see a rifle butt rushing for his face, as he slowly blacked out he vaguely saw the leader's feet as he pushed open the door into the cockpit. A pitiful voice called out, "Please…I have a wife! And a baby boy!" the voice was cut out by the sound of the magnum firing again. As his consciousness slowly slipped away the man's words echoed in his mind,

"This one can be used…"

Then, as he finally blanked out it dawned on him. There had been…one…gunshot. One…

Author's Notes: Well there we go, the first chapter is over. Again, I hope you enjoyed it. I will have the second chapter up in a week or so hopefully (due to a precariously balanced timetable I can't put aside as much time for writing at the mo as I would like). Any comments you have to make on it please do make and I'll take everything you say into serious consideration. Thanks for reading!