A/N

Hey all. Sorry it's been so long. This might be a long chapter, so be prepared to read! This chapter may have some slightly stronger language than previous installments.

Chapter 27: Jaws of Death

The Mines

Rick thought he'd heard the sound of gunshots. He couldn't be sure where they were coming from, as he was still a bit disoriented after his river-ride. Soon, the silence returned, and he figured that the Alpha team had run into some "friends". He started walking up a path that was on a slight incline. He turned to face the river one more time, still wondering if there was a passageway under the water somewhere that could lead Alpha Team out of this hell-hole. He was shocked to learn, however, that the water level was slowly beginning to rise. The spot where he'd been washed up was now underwater.

"Shit!" He thought out loud, "I need to find the others so we can get the hell outta here."

Elsewhere...

The chopper landed safely outside of Hessenauer Falls, and it's occupants poured out one at a time. All except for Lillian, who was still out cold from Jill's kick. The faces of the Raccoon City Survivors were solemn, and streaked with tears.

"C'mon," said Leon, breaking the sad silence, "We have to prepare him for the flight home."

Leon was, of course, speaking about S.T.A.R.S International Chief Chris Redfield, who had just been killed mid-flight. The only consolation was that Allen Winchester, the son of Albert Wesker, had also been killed. As Leon and the others were talking, Lillian Holt began to stir. As she awakened, she noticed that her hands had been bound by a thin, but strong rope. As she looked around she noticed blood near the chopper opening. As her vision cleared, she made out the body of Chris, lying on the floor, a bullet hole deep in his chest, near the heart. She seemed happy at first, but quickly realized Allen was missing.

"There must have been some sort of struggle while I was out. And if Redfield is in here dead, but no Allen, then that means..." She wouldn't allow herself to finish the thought. She had truly loved Wesker's son, but their plot to start Gen-Tech had gotten in the way of any real romance. As she uncharacteristically began to mourn her own loss, she heard Billy Coen's voice just outside...

"I think we should make her talk. Find out the location of Gen-Tech's main lab, so we can put a stop to this before it goes any further."

"I agree," responded Claire, who was still fighting her tears, her voice quivering a little, "But do you think we'll be able to?"

"I don't know, but we have to try. For Pete's sake, our kids are still wandering around out there, facing God knows what. I realize they're all capable S.T.A.R.S members, but they've only seen a taste of what we went through. And now, my husband is lying in there dead because Wesker's bastard son and his little bitch, Lillian wanted revenge for Umbrella and the HCF!"

Lillian, although saddened over the loss of Allen, was slightly amused at the ranting of Redfield's widow. But she didn't have time to waste, she needed to get away, and so she began to cut her bonds by usind the slightly sharp edges of the steel chopper seats.

"Jill, I know how you feel...," said Claire, who had embraced the older woman that had become more like a blood sister than a sister-in-law, "...but we need to think about what's happening, and how to stop it."

Jill nodded her head in agreement, and the moment was broken up by Rebecca, who'd gone to check on the hostage. They could do nothing but look surprised by Rebecca's two simple words: "She's gone!"

Alpha Team

After the battle with the giant bat-thing, Joe and the others continued their search for Rick. The path that followed the river had been a dead end, so they backtracked to their original path. After what seemed like forever, they came to a three-way fork. The path to their right sloped down on a rather steep incline. The one to their left went down as well, but it wasn't as steep. The path in front of them seemed to stay somewhat level.

"Well?" asked Hunter, "Which way?"

Joe pondered it for a few moments. As the second-in-command of Alpha Team, he was more comfortable following Rick's lead. But with Rick missing, he had to make the command decisions. Joe was always nervous about making the wrong choice, but the team was counting on him.

"Alright," Joe started, "We'll go straight. If it's a dead end, we'll head back, and take the one to our current left."

"Did you have to say dead?" Tiffanie asked, suddenly feeling unnerved.

After a nervous chuckle, the team moved on, hoping for the best.

Rick

Rick headed up the incline. He had to find Joe, Liz, Tiffanie, Hunter, and Britney. For all he knew, they were completely unaware that the mine caves were flooding. He figured the water must've been dammed up so Gen-Tech could work. The earthquake and subsequent aftershocks must have broken the dam, which was most likely temporary in the first place.

As he reached the top of the incline, he noticed a three-way fork. It was the same spot Alpha Team had been just moments ago. He headed toward his right, and continued down until he found the remains of the giant bat-like creature that had been killed by Joe and the others. All around the corpse were bullet casings, and the kill was still somewhat fresh. He knew instantly that this was where the gunshots he'd heard came from. He figured the path led straight back to the crumbled bridge, so he decided to backtrack. As he got back, he made up his mind to take the steeper path down, completely unaware of what he was about to be faced with.

As he reached the bottom of the slope, Rick noticed a large freshwater pool, probably about thirty-five yards across. But the thing that caught his attention was the small, but noticable area of light. It was dim, but it definitely meant that light was coming from the other side of the cavern wall in front of him. He was about to head back up to continue looking for the others, when a huge splash erupted from the small lake behind him.

As he turned, he could make out the massive, deformed body of what used to be a crocodile. It looked as though it had been experimented on at great length. It's forty-five foot body was riddled with spike-like scales, and the claws on the feet were grotesquely overgrown. If one looked closer, they would notice that it also had gills. But it's most formidable feature was seen as it honed in on Rick, and opened it's wide mouth to reveal several rows of three inch, razor sharp teeth. Rick couldn't believe it.

"Holy shit!" was all Rick said as he opened fire.

Alpha Team

Joe and the others came to the end of their path, literally. They found themselves on a large outcropping of rock, about fifty feet high, overlooking the same waterway that Rick had found. They also noticed the light on the other side.

"There's our way out!" said Joe.

Britney was beside herself. Her worst fear was staring her in the face, and she knew she couldn't get out of it. Her pretty face went white with fear, and Hunter and Tiffanie both noticed.

"This is gonna be rough." Hunter said, as he exchanged a worried look with his cousin Tiffanie, who just nodded in agreement.

The moment of awkward silence ended abrubtly at the sound of gunfire below.

Rick unloaded his desert eagle into the hide of the monstrosity that came from the pool, but the creature was still coming.

"Jeezus!" He thought to himself, "Seven shots, and it's still coming."

Suddenly, he clicked empty. He knew he only had eleven shots left, but he had to reload. There's no way he'd have time. He needed a distraction, and he needed it now.

"Over here, you ugly sonuvabitch!"

The creature turned it's massive body around to face Joe. It turned unbelievably fast, and as it did so, it's muscular tail made contact with Rick's chest.

It all seemed to happen in slow motion as Liz saw her brother knocked back into the cave wall. She rushed over to check on him as the rest of the team began to shoot the hideous beast they were confronted with.

Nothing seemed to slow the monster down. Then, Joe fired a round into the gills of the creature. The creature howled in pain as it turned and grabbed Joe in it's massive jaws. Joe was impaled on the lower teeth of the monster, but he was still alive, barely. He knew his time had come. The creature was about to clamp down to finish him, but the sound of Rick's magnum was heard loud and clear as a sigle round embedded itself in the left eye of the creature. The creature roared and retreated back into the water, taking Joe with him.

"NO!"

Everyone heard Britney scream, as she held Rick's gun in her trembling hands. Then, moments later, the water erupted in an explosive splash. Joe had used the little strength he had left to pull the pin off of a hand grenade. Then, the outcropping that Alpha Team had just been on ten minutes before crumbled on top of the remains of the creature that was now dead. But it had taken Joe with it. As the dust cleared all they saw of Joe was a tattered part of his S.T.A.R.S vest.

A/N

Finally, another chapter completed. I hope the few of you that are actually reading this enjoyed this part. I hope to recieve some new reviews soon. As always, thanks for your patience, as well for reading and reviewing.