Title: Into the Light
Author: Malenkaya
Rating: R for violence and swearing
Summary: (RE movie fanfic, 2nd in trilogy): What began as a mindless effort to survive has developed into a race against time to stop Matt's sudden mutation as Alice, Rain, Michael, Matt and J.D. re-enter the Hive in search of a cure.
Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or its characters.
Feedback: Please! I live and breathe reviews! Flames, as long as their explanatory, are fine.
Author's Notes: Again, a thousand thanks to all those who have reviewed and commented upon "Into the Light" thus far! Particularly for chapter three: Faded Writer, Gabzilla, and rain1675.
Also… my number of reviews has been dwindling lately (only three this chapter!) and so I'd just like to take this opportunity first to beg for reviews- I have no shame- and also just to mention that if there's anything disagreeable about the fanfic, please tell me, constructive criticism is always welcome!
And sorry for the lateness in the update this week. Fanfiction. net was being cruel and I had a few problems with it.
Also, my general use of "y" for spaces is not working, so you're all stuck with the incredibly undignified "space" this chapter... sorry :)
Thanks again, enjoy the fic!
Into the Light
Chapter Four: Eight Days
The ex-Umbrella S.W.A.T. team had managed, after a half hour of searching, to find a small room off the main corridors which was both windowless and equipped with a locking door. And as the blond girl, the taller of the two in the group, introduced everyone, Olivia realized with a pang how good it felt to hear people speaking again.
Even if they didn't particularly trust her.
Because no matter how nice the blond- Alice- was, she could already tell she trusted her almost as much as the other girl- which was to say, not very much at all.
"So what did you do?"
Olivia turned to look at the speaker- Matt- who stared back at her, a perfectly blank look on his face. He was obviously trying not to pass any early judgment.
Olivia cleared her throat, trying to find a way to phrase her common Umbrella activity- the creation of viruses. Particularly the development of the T-virus, which, as she could guess, the team hadn't exactly been happy about.
Deciding just to say it- they wouldn't be happy to hear it either way- Olivia stated simply, "I worked on the creation of viruses, studied their effects on the ecosystem or biological systems, things like that."
"What about the T-virus?" Matt again, staring at her with that uncommonly perceptive look in his eyes.
Olivia hesitated. "I wasn't involved directly, but I have been studying it for a few months now. Umbrella demanded it, after the Raccoon Incident- especially the study of a few newly advanced anti-viruses."
Expecting an angry, even hostile, reaction to this bit of news, she was surprised at the reactions of the group. Alice and Matt glanced at each other imperceptibly; Michael, the resident computer nerd as far as she could tell, glanced up from his knapsack; and even the other girl and the guy- R.D?- glanced up from the back, where they'd been involved in an apparently exclusive discussion.
Her curiosity piqued despite herself, Olivia started to comment on their reaction, but was cut off by Alice. "What strains of the anti-virus did you work with?"
Her eyes were bright, almost feverish with emotion Olivia couldn't place. Almost hopeful, in a way; but why?
"A few," Olivia told her, being purposefully vague. "The one they're working on right now was made to correct a mutation brought about by injection of one of Umbrella's mutations into a living human system—"
"The Licker," Alice interrupted her. "Right?"
Olivia nodded, unsurprised despite herself. They obviously had a few secrets of their own.
"Has it been tested?" Michael this time, staring at her with a calm, shrewd expression. She nodded.
"It was tested on a man a month or so ago- it worked completely, as far as we know. They were forced to leave him by the road after another mutation attack."
"Who was it?"
Olivia shrugged. "I don't know. A citizen of Raccoon- they just called him "Experiment A"."
Alice turned to Matt then, whispering something to him- Olivia strained her ears, trying to listen in without appearing obvious, and heard the word, "Kahpan". She wasn't quick enough in disguising her confusion, however, and R.D sent her a sharp glance before asking abruptly, "Where'd they keep the virus?"
Olivia shrugged again. "I don't know," she said honestly. "It was kept at the labs, obviously, but it could be anywhere."
A look shared in the group triggered another flash of suspicion, and she asked, narrowing her eyes, "Why all the questions?"
She knew instantly that it was the wrong question to ask. A stony look passed over Matt's face, and Alice answered, her voice biting, "No reason."
Understanding that she was steadily aggravating the only two possible allies she might have in the group, Olivia couldn't help but press the issue, asking shortly, hoping to catch them off guard, "Who's infected?"
A look of protectiveness mingled with annoyance flashed over the other girl's face, and she snapped, "None of your goddamn business." R.D laughed, and Olivia was slightly heartened to see Alice cast the two an exasperated look. Alice was obviously the mother of the group.
And judging by their reactions to her questions, at least one of them was infected. And judging by the protective look on the girl's face, it was probably R.D- the two hadn't left each other's side since Olivia had first seen them.
She wondered idly if they were together. Matt and Alice obviously were.
Instead of asking, she glanced away from the group, putting her questions aside- for now. An awkward silence ensued, one which Matt finally broke, saying simply, "We'd better move out."
Alice nodded, and both clambered to their feet, the others following suit. Scrambling to her feet, Olivia asked shortly, "Where are we going?"
She didn't miss the exasperated look R.D and the girl shared, nor the distinctly irritated look in Alice's eyes as she told her simply, "If we stay in here, sooner or later one of Umbrella's mutants will catch up to us."
She turned to leave, and though Olivia tried to push the questions, the frustration at being left in the dark, aside, she couldn't help the words that escaped from her mouth next. "Look, if we're going to be working together, I think I should know if someone's infected—"
Alice turned to look back at her, the look in her eyes now reaching a cold glare. "What part of it's "none of your goddamn business" don't you understand?"
By the delighted grins on R.D and the girl's faces, as if Christmas had come two weeks early, Olivia understood instantly how out of character the comment was for Alice and flushed despite herself as Alice turned and left, Matt following closely behind. Alice had obviously been not only pissed off by, but somehow offended by the question- but despite a brief flash of shame, Olivia couldn't help but be angry at the way the group had been treating her. She had no fucking idea what was going on, and they didn't seem to care in the least.
She stood sullenly, knowing that she was acting like a child, but not caring, as she watched the others file out of the room. Last was R.D, who turned back to her, and, a mocking grin on his face, asked, "Are you coming?"
She just stared at him, no easy answers available. She had to go with them, that much was obvious- but the question was, did she want to?
R.D seemed to sense her rising frustration- a sudden flash of concern, and then of understanding, erupted in his eyes. Looking at her with a softened expression, he said quietly, "Come on," before disappearing through the doorway.
Realizing she might have an ally after all, Olivia followed.
Space.
"The virus escaped."
He stopped, cleared his throat imposingly as he scanned the room, taking in the stunned expressions of those present.
"They were able to add some sort of chemical to the virus, something that changed a relatively danger-free solution to a highly lethal one. Everyone in the Hive was killed, and when it was reopened, the virus spread to Raccoon City."
He paused, cleared his throat again for impact. "All it's inhabitants are dead."
A flurry of whispers and shocked expressions went through the room, and he waited a moment before continuing.
"Thankfully, we were able to contain the virus to Raccoon. All above-ground Umbrella employees were able to escape—"
All the important ones, anyway—
"And no surrounding areas were affected." He paused against o pull a stack of photos out of his briefcase, throwing them out on the table in front of his colleagues as he listed their names. "Alice Parks. Jacob Salinas. Rain Ocampo. Chad Kaplan. Matthew Addison. And Michael Cahill. The first four are part of a renegade S.W.A.T. team once working for Umbrella, the last two, civilians."
Another pause for effect. "The are the criminals responsible for the destruction of Raccoon and it's inhabitants. If any of them are found, I want them brought to me immediately."
"They are armed and dangerous. Do not hesitate to use force."
He nodded to Crawford to indicate he was finished speaking, then stepped back.
Glancing around the room as Crawford wrapped up the meeting, watching as expressions changed from ones of shock to anger as the hamsters photos were magnified on the wall, William Archangelo smiled.
Back-up plans were always a good thing. And now, in the unlikely event the "renegade S.W.A.T. team" ever escaped the Hive, they'd have the entire American police force to worry about.
Still smiling, William lifted his briefcase and stood. Coming face to face with Evan Rouhiainen, a man both disturbingly twitchy and somehow effeminate. Right now he stood wringing his hands together, gazing at him nervously until he barked "What!?"
Rouhiainen jumped, then said hurriedly, "Anderson told me you've requested a meeting, Sir."
"Same time, same place," William answered indifferently.
Rouhiainen nodded. "Yes. Sir. I just- had an idea. About your daughter."
William smiled. It wasn't a nice smile. "Well, isn't that nice," he said sarcastically. "Tell me at the meeting, not here, you imbecile."
Nodding, an embarrassed flush spreading across his face, Rouhiainen left. William watched him go, a small smile on his face, cheered despite his harsh words. Rouhiainen was a psycho, sure, but mentally, the man was brilliant. Hopefully, he had good news.
"Archangelo!" Turning quickly at the sound of his name, William was both pleased and slightly nervous to see Vincent Crawford bearing down on him. His superior looked benevolent, but with his cold eyes and frozen features, William had never seen the man actually smile.
"Nice speech," Crawford told him genially. Clapping a hand on his shoulder he continued, in a lower tone, "I didn't think you'd be able to handle the Raccoon City situation. You know how important this cover-up is to Umbrella's future, and quite frankly, I didn't think you would possibly be capable of doing a successful job on it. We took a big risk putting you in there." Straightening up again, he smiled an actual smile. "Luckily, you seem to have proven us wrong." With another clap on his shoulder, Crawford left, leaving William marveling at the way the man could pay someone a compliment and at the same time leave them feeling as if they'd just been subtly insulted. It was a skill William had attained to a lesser degree- but then, he supposed there was a reason Crawford had been named Head of Umbrella Corporation after all.
But insulting or not, Crawford had technically paid him a compliment. The board meeting could not have gone more smoothly, and the hamsters were, to put it simply, fucked. Even if his plans with Olivia- which he had yet to carry out- didn't work, they would still end up in his custody. All he had to do now was find a way to rescue his daughter- which, if Rouhiainen's news was anything worth hearing, had already been planned.
William smiled.
Things were looking very good.
Space
"Things aren't going very well, are they?" Olivia hissed in his ear.
Having been walking in silence for over thirty minutes, listening to Michael's off-key whistling and Rain's irritated comments regarding said whistling, J.D was understandably caught off guard.
Jumping in surprise, he turned to glare at Olivia. "Don't fucking do that!" he hissed in return.
Instead of meeting his comment with a raised eyebrow, as Alice would, or smirking in return, Rain's classic answer, Olivia actually blushed. "Sorry," she said quietly. "I just- it's hard not knowing what's going on."
J.D turned to look at her, a flippant comment on his lips- but looking at her hesitant expression, her wide blue eyes, he said instead, "Yeah, I know."
She turned her attention to the corridor ahead of her again, and he did likewise, shifting his assault rifle in his arms.
In a way, he was actually starting to not mind Olivia's presence. There'd been of course an immediate initial attraction when he'd first met her- and who could blame him? With her long brown curls, deep blue eyes, and close-fitting medical coat, she was the starring role in some teenager's greatest fucking fantasy. The only guy who hadn't looked twice at her was Matt, and Matt- well, Matt had Alice.
Irritation, however, quickly won over. J.D had known her for less than three hours, and he'd already realized she was the type of woman who insisted upon knowing everything and was annoying as hell when she didn't.
But with that realization brought empathy, as he recalled his own days back at the beginning, when he'd had no idea what was going on. When he'd woken up in a fucking hospital bed, sickly and shaking like a crackhead on detox, and been forced to run before the monster- Spence, he would guess now- could find him. The first few days, when he'd been faced with a world where half his team was dead, where Matthew Addison had somehow joined their team, where Rain was sickly and unconscious and no one would explain to him what the fuck was going on—
Needless to say, he could understand her reaction.
She was fumbling with the pistol Matt had given her now, and as he glanced over at her, a sudden burst of affection came out of nowhere, overwhelming the irritation. Without bothering to think it over, he asked, "Do you know how to use that?"
She looked up, surprised, and smiled. "Sort of."
He raised an eyebrow. "Sort of?" he repeated, a cocky grin spreading over his face.
She rolled her eyes, then relented. "I've never shot an automatic before. I don't know how good I'll be at it."
Softening slightly, he reached out to the gun she held. "If you just shift it this way—"
He guided her hands into position on either side of the grip—
"You'll shoot straighter," he finished.
"Thanks," she said softly, gazing up at him. He looked back at her, trying to decipher the look in her eyes—
Which was when the glass panels forming the corridor shattered. Before J.D could draw his gun, before he could even move, it was on him, and he could hear Rain and Matt shouting, Olivia screaming as he crashed into her, sending them both to the floor—
He was up immediately, jumping to his feet and scanning the room around them.
There was nothing there.
He glanced at the rest of the group. "What was that?" he asked, voice ragged.
They stared back at him, their expressions as confused as his, until Michael broke the silence. "We didn't see anything."
J.D stared. "Then what the fuck—"
"Shh," Alice craned her head, stepping forward lightly. "Can you hear that?"
J.D listened. At first all he could hear was the air whistling through the ventilation pipes, Olivia's nervous breathing, his own heart pounding—
Then he heard it, a quick flurry of tapping footsteps, combined with a dry, rasping breath—
And then he saw the mirrors ripple as something flashed across them and was hit by a sudden thud of realization.
"It can camouflage," he whispered, staring transfixed as the ripple passed by him—
And fell to ground, a bright shock of green as Alice bulleted it with gunfire. It rose to it's feet, a sinewy, lime-green monstrosity, and let a screaming wail of pain that split the mirrors around them and sent every person in the room to their knees, dropping their weapons in favor of covering their ears as the screaming pierced through them—
And then suddenly stopped, J.D coming out of his stunned reverie just in time to see the monster running for Olivia, who stood, dazed and confused, at the end of the corridor.
Without stopping to think, J.D clambered to his feet, and, leaving his weapon abandoned- bullets wouldn't stop the thing anyways- threw himself at Olivia, knocking her to the ground.
The monster smashed into him then, and they crashed through the mirrored wall, J.D rolling out of the way immediately, panting, the wind knocked out of him.
He heard voices calling his name, one high and obviously terrified, the other more demanding but with the same shot of worry as he climbed to his feet.
The monster had already risen, and turned to face J.D as he stood, watching it warily, wondering how the hell he was supposed to face without a gun—
He heard Rain's shout of annoyance then- "J.D, get down!"- and obeyed, dropping to the ground and lay there, covering his ears as the monster turned to face the new threat—
Which turned out to be preemptory, because the loud gunshot that followed a steadily increasing whir he'd previously ignored slammed into the monster, tearing it into a thousand pieces and giving it no chance to scream again.
The fiery explosion that followed was quenched by the eruption of silvery blood and wet, rubbery bits of green skin that settled over the room, even as J.D covered his head in disgust, watching through his soaked hair as Rain stepped carefully into the room. Handing off the rocket launcher she'd been holding to Matt, a slight smirk playing across her lips, she held out a hand to J.D where he lay covered in the silvery slime.
Glaring at her, he grabbed her hand- and then, yanking her closer, took a handful of the slimy shit and smashed it into her hair and right cheek.
She straightened immediately with a cry of outrage and smacked him in the head as he clambered to his feet, laughing. "God damn it J.D!"
He couldn't help but laugh as he watched her standing there, wiping the silvery fluid off her face and trying- in vain- to comb the shit out of her hair, a thoroughly disgruntled look on her face.
"Are you guys finished?" Alice asked. Her voice was cool, but looking to where she stood next to the gaping hole that had once been part of a mirror, J.D saw a small smile on her face.
Standing next to her, Matt added, "And keep your voices down. You don't know what else might be in here." Despite the seriousness of the statement, he was grinning as well.
"Fuck, this stuff is disgusting," Rain commented, completely ignoring them as she pulled another handful out of her hair, throwing it half-heartedly at J.D.
Alice rolled her eyes, but smiled. "Come on, we'd better keep moving." With that she took off down the hall, Matt immediately following to where Michael still stood, watching the end of the corridor.
From his vantage point, J.D could see Matt reach down and take Alice's hand, and smiled despite himself. "Aww," he commented.
Rain glanced up at him, then at Matt and Alice. She snorted. "And they lecture us." Reaching up, she grabbed the sides of what was actually a rather large hole in the wall and pulled herself out, pausing to pull another clump of the silvery blood out of her hair and throw it at J.D.
J.D followed, and then stopped, struck suddenly by the obvious nervousness on Olivia's face as he clambered out.
Covering the distance between them, he asked quietly, "Are you okay?"
Olivia nodded, giving him a tight smile. "Yeah. Sorry. And-" she paused for a moment, as if considering her words, then said softly, "Thank you."
He nodded. "Your welcome," he said.
Space
By the time they'd finally reached a room with information proving useful to them, over two hours had passed. Absolutely nothing had attacked them, and besides a few Dobermans still locked in their cages, they hadn't encountered any of Umbrella's monsters along the way.
It made Matt nervous.
And so he was first opening the door and walking into the room, because that was simply the way he reacted to any sort of fear. Michael attempted to lessen his fear with logic, J.D passed his off with a joke and increasingly protective gestures, Rain kept hers to herself, absolutely refusing to let anyone know she was scared, Alice struggled to help everyone else with their fear and ignored her own, and Matt— Matt kept to himself, and tried to protect the others from what could be the source of his fear.
Nudging the door open slowly, the grey carpet and plain white walls caught his eye first- and then the long table set in the middle of the room, surrounded by simple office chairs. Set around the table, against the walls and corners, were—
"Filing cabinets," Alice whispered next to him. He glanced at her, and saw that she was smiling, her eyes bright. "There might be something useful in here."
"This place is a mess," Rain stated abruptly, giving them a meaningful look. J.D was the first to catch on to the meaning in her words.
"Like someone was in a hurry to leave," he said.
Glancing around, Matt realized they were both right. Boxes sat in front of the cabinets, stuffed with papers and files, and the table was a mess- a full pot of coffee had tipped over and spilled onto the floor, leaving a blotchy stain no one had bothered to clean up.
They all stepped into the tiny room hesitatingly, glancing around as they did so. Besides the files and table, nothing particularly interesting was in the room. There was another door at the back, and as Matt turned and locked the one through which they'd entered, Michael hurried to lock the other.
Alice had already moved to the first of the filing cabinets, pulling on the handles experimentally as she checked the doors. "They're all locked," she said simply, moving onto the next. "Umbrella obviously—"
"Left the cabinet holding the keys completely unlocked?" J.D asked, looking amused as he pulled open the door to another cabinet on the far wall, revealing a wall of silver keys.
Rain, drifting over to look, snickered. "Hey, they even labeled them." Lifting one from it's hook, she tossed it to Alice. "Try this one."
Alice did, and the door slid open easily. She turned, raised her eyebrow at them. "Are you sure the cabinet was unlocked?"
J.D shrugged, and glanced at the door again. Alice went back to her search through the files inside.
Hanging back by the wall, looking awkward, Olivia hesitated before reaching up and grabbing a key as well. Walking slowly over to Alice, Matt watching out of the corner of his eye, she asked, her voice both nervous and guarded, "Can I do anything to help?"
Her comment was met with a smile of both relief and gratitude from Alice, and she nodded. "Look for any files that have anything to do with the viruses Umbrella was working on."
Olivia nodded, her expression softened somewhat, before turning to the next file cabinet and opening it.
Matt smiled slightly at the scene, glad that Olivia seemed to have given up her somewhat relentless quest to find out exactly who had the virus. He didn't think it especially mattered whether she knew who it was, or not, but Alice was adamant that they be completely sure of her loyalty before they told her anything.
That's just the way Alice was. Probably the kindest, most welcoming person he'd ever met- but fiercely protective, as well.
"This lock has been forced."
It was Michael's voice, grim and sudden, which brought him out of his reverie. "What?" he said, surprised despite himself as he hurried over.
Glancing at the door, he realized Michael was right. The damage to the keyhole wasn't particularly obvious, but it was there all the same. Someone had obviously used something else- any sort of metal appliance would have worked- to force the lock.
"Why would an Umbrella employee force the lock on a cabinet holding their own keys?" Rain asked. She was sitting on the floor, holding a box of files in her lap and shifting through them slowly, looking somewhat bored with the whole process.
Michael shrugged. "Good question," he admitted, with a small smile.
"Maybe it was someone who wasn't working with Umbrella," Olivia said. They turned to look at her, the look in her eyes undecipherable.
Matt nodded. "It's possible," he said simply, watching her closely. Her suggestion wasn't a bad one- in fact, it was most likely true- but she seemed to nervous, to willing to accept the idea of it, to be speaking only logic.
She stared back at him, her blue eyes giving nothing away.
They were both interrupted by the smashing thud as something slammed into the door.
They all turned to stare at it- all besides Alice, anyway, who continued to shift through the box more hurriedly, an almost desperate look on her face now- as another thud resounded through the room and a paper-thin crack spread through the wood.
"We have to go," Matt said shortly. He turned back, away from the door, watching as Michael grabbed the key from the cabinet and shoved it into the second door hurriedly, turning the doorknob and throwing open the door.
He fell back with a short shout of surprise, and the Doberman which had been on a direct collusion course with his face instead flew into a filing cabinet, where it fell to the ground with a short whimper.
It didn't have time to get to it's feet- Matt put a bullet through it's head, and it collapsed to the ground.
More followed, though, and as Rain, J.D, and Michael pulled out their guns and started shooting at them, J.D pushing Olivia behind him, Matt took the opportunity to hurry over to Alice, who was still kneeling on the ground in front of a box of files, shifting hurriedly through them. "Alice, come on, we have to go—"
She looked up at him, her bright eyes almost feverish, and said, "Matt, there's a file in here, I have to find it—"
Another crack appeared in the doorway.
"Forget it Alice, we have to leave—"
"It's here!" Extracting a file from the box, shoving the rest out of the way, she opened the front, reading out loud, "The virus T-I, when directly injected from one living system to another—"
"Alice." Matt said simply.
For whatever reason, the calmness in his voice got to her; looking up, she seemed surprised to realize that the door was crashing in, that the others were clustered outside the room, shouting at her to follow, and climbed to her feet, stuffing the file into her knapsack even as Matt told her "Forget it Alice, there's no time." Grabbing his hand, she ran through the room, and made it through the doorway just as the other door crashed in, Matt letting go of her hand to slam the door shut and lock it.
Whatever was in the room thumped against it, and the group took off running down the hallway they'd encased themselves in, the walls in this one plain and white rather than mirrored as the other one had been.
Fortunately, the first windowless room they came across also had a stainless steel door, and as the six piled in, Matt slammed and locked the door.
He glanced around the room, doing a check of everyone else's situation that had become instinctive. Michael, probably the least in shape of the five of them, leaned against the wall panting, but unhurt; Rain stood next to him, looking both exasperated and concerned; J.D was talking to Olivia, and Alice—
Alice was kneeling on the floor again, paging through the file. Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Matt dropped to his knees next to her. "So what's in the file, anyway?" he asked wryly.
J.D snorted. "Yeah, no kidding. That thing almost got you killed."
Alice ignored them both. "It's encoded," she said simply, looking at Matt.
He paused. "You were reading it before," he pointed out, giving her a confused look.
She nodded. "I know. That was just- basic information. Stuff we already know." He stared at her wordlessly, and she added quietly, "It's probably important."
"Maybe I can read it," Olivia said quietly.
They all turned to look at her, and she shrugged. "I understand some of the abbreviated names and symbols Umbrella used in a lot of their documents. Maybe I can help."
Alice wordlessly handed her the file, and Matt, staring at her worried expression, felt an instant tinge of both worry and affection. It was completely like her to worry so much over someone else, he knew that- but all the same, he wished he could find some way of alleviating that worry.
He reached over and grabbed her hand, squeezing it tightly. She smiled at him, a beautiful smile of gratitude mingled in her worry, and squeezed back.
They both looked at Olivia then, where she had sat down as well, the entire group clustered around her. Even Michael had managed to step away from the stabilizing wall to sit down in front of her.
Matt smiled, despite himself, thinking of how ridiculous they probably looked. Five adults, cloistered around, waiting eagerly for Olivia to read out whatever was written on the papers.
It made him think of times when he was small. When him and Lisa would sit with his grandmother, listening to her read Christmas letters sent from his parents while they worked away from home- in, he was to learn in a few years time, a small group attempting to arrest and destroy all Umbrella's pharmaceutical development. Him and Lisa would fight over who got to see the letter, who got to read parts of it themselves- even though Lisa, eight at the time, couldn't make out half of their mother's tiny handwriting.
He wished he was there instead. They all seemed so old now, and yet were barely adults. Him and Alice were both 25, J.D, 23, Michael, 22, and Rain, only 21. And yet, in less than 30 years they had already endured what seemed a lifetime spent fighting against Umbrella.
Olivia shuffled the papers, and Matt was brought back into the present by the hesitant look on her face.
"I think I understand this," she said slowly. "It's about a particular strain of the T-virus, the one I mentioned earlier- one transferred from an injection directly into living tissue to another life form."
She looked up, as if waiting for some sign to continue, and then said, "They're- predictions, I guess you could say. Fairly accurate ones, basically stating the length of time one can last before mutating, depending on the circumstances. Particularly one person- an AN04. From first infection, he's supposed to undergo a bunch of symptoms like—"
"Skip ahead, we know this shit already," J.D told her abruptly.
She didn't seem insulted in the least, but just continued: "It basically states that despite all injections of the anti-virus and any other precaution taken- besides, of course, an anti-virus, titled AV04, created specifically to reverse the effects of said virus- he will mutate, turn into a creature they call Nemesis, by— by July 21st."
"But that- that's in eight days," Alice said, sounding stunned. "Are you sure?"
Olivia nodded, looking both grim and, Matt couldn't help but notice, shrewd. Like she was waiting for some sort of reaction to identify exactly who was carrying the virus.
Whether the others saw the same look or simply understood that to say something would irreparably give the information away, Matt didn't know. But they were all quiet- not a word was spoken.
Eight days. Barely more than a week. Eight days to find the virus, eight days to use it- eight days at the most.
Alice's hand tightened around his, and it should have brought him comfort, but it didn't.
It should have brought him warmth, but it didn't.
Matt was cold.
Eight days.
