The thunderous noise of Billy's Striker reverberated through the winding tunnels as it blew away the heads of the zombies the trio came across. Leon kept his knife at the ready and Jill took aim with her Beretta. She was starting to run out of ammo for it and the grenade launcher would be a little much at this time.
"There's no end to these things!" Billy shouts.
"Of course not," Leon adds, dryly.
A zombie missing half its face evaded the powerful burst from Billy's shotgun and charged for the ex-cop. Leon slashes his knife through the creature's neck and gives it a solid kick to the chest. It crashes into a wall, and the head tumbles after.
Jill's Beretta fires off a few rounds and the heads of a few zombies burst with dark liquid. She then took aim at the leg of an approaching zombie and blew its knee out. With a sturdy roundhouse kick, she smashes its face into the wall.
The gunfire continued for a few more minutes and the tunnel stank of decomposing meat. Billy checked his shotgun and found it to have ten more shells; his assault rifle was on its last two clips, and he didn't have the ammo to reload. Jill had run out of clips for the Beretta and was down to her last ten bullets, while the grenade launcher had four more shells. Leon had no guns at the moment, but only had a few clips for his handgun ammo and a handful of shotgun shells.
"Think that's all of 'em?" Billy asks.
"Probably not," Jill says, "but let's not stick around to find out."
The group traveled down the hallway in silence, not even hearing the sound of their own footsteps. After fifteen minutes of darkness, they came to an elevator. Next to it was a large gray handle marked with big red letters that said: DO NOT TOUCH.
"Should we?" Leon asks no one in particular.
"Yeah, lets," Jill says. "What's the worse that could happen?"
Billy takes hold of the handle and gives it a firm, downward pull. Red lights streak above their heads, and a woman's voice resonates through unseen speakers.
"The facility has been compromised," the voice said. "Decontamination process has started. Reactor core armed for detonation. Self-destruct in one hour."
"They don't miss a beat, do they?" Jill says.
"Looks like we're outta here." Billy opens up the elevator and the trio marches in. The metal box rises up through the dark shaft.
The only noise they heard was the cable straining to lift them up.
Wesker heard the detonation signal as he traveled up the only other elevator still functioning. He knew that Kennedy had set the reactor's coolant system to shut down at dawn, but it wouldn't overload and explode until fifteen minutes later. The fact that someone had armed the reactor meant they three pains in his ass were not taking any chances of him, or his pride and joy, from walking away from this.
"Probably think I'm dead, after what happened," Wesker muttered to himself. "Wouldn't be the first time."
The elevator came to a stop and the doors slid open to the lobby of an office building. He looked around and took note of the decomposing bodies strewn about. A clock on the wall said the time was 4:49, and in less than an hour, the very ground he stood on would become a crater.
Wesker walked out of the lobby, kicking the doors off the hinges, and examined the formerly infested zombie town. It had a charm that Raccoon City had in its last hours and he wasn't in the mood to be around when this place met a similar fate. Before taking a single step out onto the street, his walkie-talkie shrieked. He snatches it and turns it on.
"Wesker," he answers.
"Oh, you are still alive," said the voice on the other end.
"Krauser. What's new on your end?"
"The bitch came through, in spades. How 'bout you, Al?"
"I had it, but complications have arisen."
"What kind?"
"Let's just say that due to circumstances beyond my control, I'm just like you now."
"Really? Well, then, let's see how far you get with two different viruses runnin' through your system."
Wesker gritted his teeth. "You just wait, Jack. When I get out there, I'm taking that beret of yours and shoving down your throat."
Krauser chuckled and replied with, "I'd like to see you try, pretty boy."
Wesker turned the walkie-talkie off and hooked it to his belt. He took a few steps down the street but abruptly stopped. He looked down and saw a jagged claw pierced through his shin, through his stomach, and out his back. A raspy gasp penetrated his lips as the claw dragged his body through the street.
The elevator finally stopped and the doors swung open. Billy, Leon, and Jill looked around and found themselves in…
"A parking garage," Jill says. "Of all the places to dump us, it drops off at a parking garage."
"Yeah, and no usable cars," Billy adds, seeing several vehicles with their tires blown, engine parts strewn about, and some were melted to the concrete.
"Let's just find a way out of here before we're all barbecued," Leon says, his voice echoing.
They traversed the garage, weapons at the ready, until they came to a vehicle that looked fresh from the dealer on the third floor. They couldn't believe their luck at what they just found.
"A 2005 Hummer, with a convertible roof," Billy said in awe. "What are the odds?"
"Pretty damn good, I'd say," Leon replies. "One guess as to who owns it." The ex-cop points to the license plate, which read, "STRSCPN."
"'S.T.A.R.S. Captain', eh?" Jill reads. "Figures. Only Wesker would have a vehicle like this."
"Since he's not gonna say anything…" Billy says. He climbs into the driver seat, followed by Jill in the passenger seat, and Leon in the back. Billy checks the visor but finds nothing. "That bastard! He has the keys!"
"Jill, move over," Leon says. Jill climbs in the back and Leon jumps upfront. He kicks the ignition and a section of the steering column opens up.
"What are you doing?" Billy asks.
"What's it look like?" Leon spits back. "I'm hotwiring this thing?" The ex-cop yanks out several wires and uses his teeth to take the plastic coating off.
"You sure you know what you're doing?" Jill asks, impatiently.
"Did it once," Leon answers, spitting some plastic away. He fiddles with the exposed wiring and the engine roars to life.
"Holy shit!" Billy exclaims. "Where'd you learn to hotwire a car?"
"Raccoon," Leon answers bluntly. "Now, Mr. Coen, I believe we were making a hasty getaway."
Billy smiles, throws the car in drive, and steps on the accelerator. The massive vehicle thunders out of the garage on military-grade tires. Once out on the main road, Leon pops open the glove compartment and finds a nickel-plated handgun. He takes it without question.
"Cool piece," Jill says from the back.
"Y'know, for being a mutant bent on killing us and destroying the world, Wesker certainly has good taste in guns," Leon contemplates.
"If you think that's nice, check out the back." Jill knocks her knuckles against something metal behind her seat.
Leon holsters the gun and climbs in the back. He brushes his hand against a metal box but can't see what it is. "Hey, Billy, we could use a little light back here!" he shouts up front.
Billy pushes a switch and the truck's canvas top collapses. The light from the dimming street lights illuminate numerous metallic boxes decorated with various numbers and letters. Leon pulls one up, grunting slightly.
"Billy, what would you say this is?" the government agent asks, making sure that the numbers and letters are visible.
"Off hand guess? I'd say it's an antitank weapon," Billy answers.
"Antitank?" Jill repeats, the confusion evident in her voice.
"It fires a rocket filled completely with napalm," Billy explains. Jill and Leon exchange looks of nervousness. "It comes with small charge at the head that emits just enough heat to ignite the napalm. Pretty deadly stuff."
Leon lowers the weapon case with delicate care. Jill returns to a natural sitting position and the rabbit on her shoulder jumps into the empty seat upfront. She and Leon exchange a quick glance and shrug.
The drive continued on in silence as the sun began to rise. According to the Hummer's dashboard clock, they had about 25 minutes until the facility went boom. Jill spent the time polishing her Beretta with a rag she dug out of her jeans. Leon examined his newly acquired firearm, finding nothing unusual about it, except that it had a laser sight imbedded under the barrel. Billy drummed his hands on the steering wheel, as he sang to himself in a low voice. Rebecca the rabbit curled into a ball and quietly slept.
A low rumbling caused them to stop what they were doing. Billy brought the truck to a stop and the group listened carefully. The rumbling came again, two minutes later, and increased in intensity. Thirty seconds later and the truck began to shake. Five seconds later and a section of road behind them erupted. Chunks of asphalt rained down and the three Umbrella survivors recoiled in shock as to what came out of the street.