Again, I don't own Jonny Quest, Resident Evil, or any of their affiliates. I am not making any money from this; it is purely for fan enjoyment.

A/N: I changed the rating of this story to "T" because I realized that with the violence and language that it may be too much for younger readers.

Please, read and review. Any comments, critiques, or suggestions are welcome.

WHEN NIGHTMARES WALK AMOUNGST US

CHAPTER 3

Chicago, Illinois

After arriving at the airport and securing the Quest team's private jet, The Dragonfly, everyone took a limousine to the hotel where the conference was being held. The drive to the Hilton on Michigan Avenue was relatively short, since it was past rush hour in the city, and uneventful. Upon arrival the group checked into their rooms; one room was reserved for all three kids and the adjoining room, with a door connecting the two, was for Dr. Quest and Race. Phil had his own room across the hall from the others. After dropping his bags and freshening up a bit, Dr. Quest had gone down to the lobby to try and meet up with some of his colleagues that were scheduled to be in attendance. Jonny, Jessie, and Hadji wanted to go and see some of the city and after pleading with Race to let them go he finally acquiesced. However, they were restricted to the immediate vicinity that included Buckingham Fountain, the Magnificent Mile, and Millennium Park. Somewhat dismayed they agreed, it was still better then staying in the hotel and they convinced Race that if they had time later he would let them go to the Field Museum, Shed Aquarium, the Art Institute which were all relatively close by, and then maybe some other sites further out. After everyone else had left Race and Phil sat down together in Phil's room to try and see what type of plan they could come up with.

"I think the first order of business would be to secure some weapons." Race stated.

Phil nodded in agreement, "Yes. I'll call my guy in later. Once I meet up with my other contact and get the rest of the information we need, as far as the labs location and layout, I think then we will be able to plan more effectively."

"Phil, just a suggestion, but I think it may be smarter if you stayed out of the limelight while we are here in the hotel."

"Why?"

"Do you know how you would react if you spotted Krumlanski from across the room? Or what if he spots you? There's nothing stopping him from trying to take you out."

Phil shrugged in response.

"Think about it, if he sees you, he may get nervous assuming you are here because you are on to his operations with Umbrella. He may disappear before we can act."

"That's a good point. I am not going to stay holed up in this room the whole time, I need to see what's going on, assess the situation. However, I will try and keep it low profile."

Race seemed satisfied with the response, "Ok. Well unless you have anything else I am going to go link back up with Quest and see what's going on. I don't think Krumlanski knows me by sight, so if I see him I will let you know."

"Alright."

As Race got up to leave, Phil's cell phone rang. Race glanced back and Phil waved him off, so he figured it wasn't relevant to this situation and he didn't need to know about it.

After the door shut, Phil answered the phone.

"Agent Corbin."

"I have the rest of the information you need. What room are you in?"

"Jade, are you here already?"

"I've been here, drove straight here the other night."

Phil rolled his eyes, "Room 403."

"I'll be right up."

"Careful; Race just left my room. I didn't tell him it was you that I got this information from."

"You know me."

"Yeah, that's why I'm worried." With that he hung up. A few minutes later there was a knock on his door. He looked, saw it was Jade, and let her in.

"At least you knocked this time."

"Good to see you again, too." She said as she made her way past him and over to the mini bar in the room.

He rolled his eyes again and with a sarcastic tone said, "Help yourself."

She poured a drink for the both of them and sat on the edge of the table. She had placed the luggage bag she had with her on the table next to her. She pulled out a folder and held it up in front of her. "In here are photos from the Raccoon City Police Department when the murders in the surrounding forest were first reported. I also have some aerial photographs of the city during the outbreak that were taken by Umbrella personnel. Also, maps of the lab where Krumlanski has been working on these same types of experiments and blueprints of the building itself."

Phil reached for the folder and she pulled it back. "These photos are pretty horrific to say the least. I couldn't look at them all at once myself…it's sickening."

Phil looked her in the eyes, saw the seriousness those eyes held, but also something else. Pain? Fear? Guilt? It was difficult to be sure. "Alright."

He took the folder and opened it up, looking at the first photograph; at once he realized that she had been right. It was like nothing he had ever seen before. The first photo was of a woman. Her neck had been torn out, ragged with bits of flesh still barely attached. Her clothing was covered in blood and gore and her hair was matted down with the same. Her face was unidentifiable. The right side looked as if it had been chewed away, her eyeball missing. The left side was no better, torn up by what had to have been sharp jagged knife or maybe even claws. Phil closed his eyes, trying to get the sight out of his head. It didn't work.

"The others are worse."

He downed the rest of his drink and lit a cigarette, hoping they would calm him. He looked at the next picture, immediately averted his eyes, but then he forced himself to look again. He had to see what Umbrella had done. This was an actual crime scene photo. Two bodies lay dead on the floor of the house. One of the bodies was literally ripped in half, the lower torso a few feet away from the upper. The intestines had been torn out and again looked as if they had been gnawed on by some sort of animal. But he knew that no animal could have done this. The other body was similar to the first photo, large chunks of flesh looked to have been bitten off the entire body; the neck was twisted and broken in a manner that Phil couldn't imagine was possible.

He flipped to the next photo and was somewhat relieved to see that it was one of the aerial photos. He could see Raccoon City, buildings were ablaze, vehicles flipped over, a few on fire. There were people in the streets, even though the photos were stills he could tell the people were fighting each other. However, it seemed like a massive mob, some caught in the motion of lunging for others; one person appeared to have a handgun and was firing at no less then six attackers. Bodies and litter were everywhere. All the aerial photos were relatively the same scenes, just different locations.

"The whole city was like that."

Phil closed the folder and threw it on the dresser, unable to look at any more. He sat down on the edge of the bed, took a long drag from his cigarette, unable to speak. Jade let him take it all in; not saying anything till he was ready.

After about five minutes looked up, "How did it happen? What killed those people?" He spoke softly, still attempting to comprehend what he just saw.

"The T-virus."

"The what? A virus didn't do those things."

"The T-virus is one of the viral weaponry experiments Umbrella was working on in Raccoon City. It got out somehow and infected the lab workers first. At that point it was airborne. The virus killed them; however the way the T-virus works is that it reanimates dead tissue and cells. Those people came back to life in a manner of speaking."

"Zombies."

"For lack of a better term, yes, zombies. They were mindless, driven by the basic need to survive, sustainment…to feed. The first photos were victims of these zombies. Once the people were bitten, the virus was then passed to them through bodily fluid exchange, blood. Then they came back. There are more photos."

"How do you kill them?"

"Massive brain trauma or severing the spinal cord. That's about it."

Phil was quiet again for a long time. When he finally looked up, he had a whole new set of questions, "Jade, how do you know all this?"

"Like I said before, I've been to the new lab."

"How did you escape with these photos? I would assume that Umbrella doesn't want just anybody knowing about this. How did you get out alive?"

"I smuggled the photos out. My informant on the inside was kind enough to share the rest of the information with me."

"Who was your informant? He must have trusted you pretty well to tell you all those things?"

Jade turned away, not wanting to answer.

Phil saw her apprehension immediately and knew something was amiss. He stood up and went to face her. "Who was it?"

When she finally looked at him, he knew. He could see it in her eyes. She turned away, unable to face him, tears starting to run down her cheeks. He stepped back from her, not knowing how to react. "It was him, wasn't it? Krumlanski?" He growled.

Jade sat down on the bed, her face buried in her hands, she nodded, unable to make the words leave her lips. She could feel Phil's stare piercing through her. She knew he'd eventually find out, knew he'd be upset, but she never knew how he would truly react. She heard him light another cigarette, pacing back and forth. "Phil, I'm sorry." She sobbed.

"Don't." Was his only response. He suddenly didn't know how to react. He felt betrayed. His anger began to well up inside of him and he had to force himself not to let it all out. Jade had her ways, as unique as they could be, but he always felt that he could trust her, until now. It made him feel dirty. After what happened the other night and now associating with someone that he thought he could trust, just to find out she had been with his enemy for who knew how long. "Why? Why did you do it?" He finally asked.

She finally built up the courage to look at him, "I did it for you."

Phil blinked and shook his head in confusion, "For me? How the hell did you figure you were doing it for me?"

"I wanted to get was much dirt on him as possible, so you could stop him. I was only thinking of you." Now she began to get angry, but whether it was at Phil or herself, she wasn't entirely sure. "You think I enjoyed it? You think I had fun? It was the only way I could get him to trust me! And he did and I got the information you would need to bring him down!"

Phil snorted in disgust and turned away.

"Damnit, Phil!" Her voice rose and he turned back towards her. "Stop thinking of yourself for one damn minute!"

"How dare you…"

"This goes beyond you now! It goes beyond your desire for vengeance! Look at the photos again if you have to! See what he is doing! He's a monster!"

"And you slept with him." It was a cheap shot and he knew it, but at that moment he didn't care.

Jade was aghast. She walked up to him and slapped him across the face, hard. "You asshole." She spat through gritted teeth. "I'm not some whore, Phil. No matter what you think I was always thinking about you. I hated it! Every damn minute I was in his presence I just wanted to curl up and die!" She turned to go; she was too upset to be around him any longer.

"Jade...wait a second…" Phil started.

"No, Phil" she had her hand on the doorknob, but she turned back to him. "What happened between you and I the other night…I wanted that to happen." She looked down and then back up at him. "I hope you realize that that is the truth. Just do us all a favor and kill that son of a bitch." With that she turned and walked out.

Phil poured himself another drink, a much stronger one this time. Jade was right, he did act like an asshole to her. He knew it would be pointless to try and catch her now to apologize; they both needed time to cool off. She had left the folder and her suitcase in his room; he didn't want to look at the pictures again, not now, not ever. Instead he picked up his cell phone and called Joey Spnitz, the scumbag dealer that he was going to have to get weapons from.

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Dr. Quest, Race, Jonny, Jessie, Hadji, and Phil all sat in the hotel's restaurant the next afternoon for lunch. The conversation started who Dr. Quest had seen so far, some others he was surprised to see here, such as Dr. Elaim, a chemist from the University of Texas. The kids talked about where they had gone the pervious night and places they would still like to see, such as the Sears Tower. Phil remained pretty much silent. He didn't sleep well at all the night before; between the photos from Raccoon City and the fight with Jade, he had worn himself out and it showed. He talked to Spnitz, told him what he needed and had arranged to meet him around 0100 the next day. He had shown Race the photos and they reviewed the map and blueprints of the lab. The lab was located in a small city surrounded by dense forest which seemed to be Umbrella's locations of choice, just south of the Canadian border in Washington state. According to the blueprints the lab was huge. It would take a lot of time for the two of them to cover the whole place.

"So," Dr. Quest interjected after finishing his filet, "I think this conference will be quite interesting. Umbrella has made huge advances in the pharmaceutical industry. Some people are saying that they wouldn't be surprised if they discover the cure for cancer within the next ten years."

"Yes." Hadji agreed, "I hope to see some of the new technologies that Umbrella has been developing here. The medical field has advanced so much, but now, with Umbrella at the head, I think the opportunities for advancement and discovery are unlimited."

"I just want to see the Sears Tower and put my head against the glass like in 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off'." Jonny chimed in.

Everyone laughed at his remark, even Phil, though it was forced.

"Phil, you grew up here in Chicago, right?" Dr. Quest asked.

"Yes I did, doctor."

"Any relatives still around?"

"Some." His answers were short and vague. He really hadn't felt like coming to lunch, let alone making small talk, but Race insisted, saying if he didn't it would look suspicious. "I left when I was eighteen to join the Army. I came back and went to UIC for my first degree, then went back to the Army as an officer. That's when I met Race. After I made Major, I left to join Intelligence One."

"What did you do in the Army?" Jonny asked.

Phil shrugged, "Nothing too exciting."

"Yeah, right. Mom and dad always said you were in the Special Forces." Jessie threw in.

Phil shrugged again, "Yeah, I guess so."

Dr Quest was about to start again, when he saw Dr. Elaim approaching the table, with another man in a suit in tow.

"Benton! Sorry to interrupt, but I saw you all sitting here and wanted to introduce you to one of my Umbrella colleagues. Also, I have never met your children, wow, are they all yours?" Dr. Elaim said, grinning the whole time.

The table fell silent and Jessie saw Corbin's body physically tense. His neck went stiff and he was clenching his butter knife so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. She saw Race lean over and whisper something to him and he relaxed a little, but the tension was still there.

"Dr. Benton Quest, this is Dr. Mikel Krumlanski. He works with me at Umbrella." Dr. Quest stood and shook hands with the man. He was tall and thin, his receding hairline too noticeable due to him slicking his hair back along his scalp. He wore glasses that sat upon his birdlike nose. He wore a light grey suit, obviously expensive, and had a small lapel pin of a white and red umbrella. He had a permanent smile affixed to his face, like he was a part of an inside joke that he was just dying to tell, but couldn't. "Nice to meet you. Let me introduce you to everyone. These are my sons, Jonny and Hadji." Both kids shook his hand, "This is my friend and colleague Race Bannon and his daughter Jessie." Race nodded to the man, not getting up and Jessie seeing her father's reaction did the same. "And this is Phil…"

Krumlanski cut the doctor off, finally getting to release his inner joke, "I know Phil Corbin, we go back a long way." He made his way around the table and stood behind Phil's left shoulder.

"Oh," Dr. Quest mumbled, "I didn't realize that."

Phil stared straight ahead, not looking up at the man and now everyone at the table could tell something was terribly amiss. "I don't know you; you've mistaken me for someone else." He growled.

"Nonsense, Phil!" Krumlanski exclaimed, slapping Phil on the shoulder. "I will admit you do look a little different then the last time I saw you." He squeezed his shoulder hard, "So, how's your wife doing? Sarah's her name right?"

At that Phil lost all control; he sprang out of his seat so fast that Krumlanski had to step back to avoid the falling chair. Phil clenched his fists, ready to swing, "Get the hell away from me, you sick bastard." Race jumped up and interjected between the two, trying to restrain Phil. The commotion had caused others in the restaurant to turn and watch.

"Not here, not now." Race whispered in his friend's ear.

Dr. Quest was taken aback. He had no idea what was going on. Even Dr. Elaim seemed genuinely confused.

"Come now, Phil. You still haven't learned to control that temper." Krumlanski sneered, mocking him. "I'm surprised they let you go out in public. I'm sure your wife wouldn't approve at all." Krumlanski snickered. "Maybe that's why you two aren't together anymore; that must be the reason, isn't it?"

Phil lunged at the man, wanting nothing more then to snap his neck right then and there. Race had to struggle to hold him back. "I'm going to kill you, you son of a bitch!" He yelled.

"Phil!" Dr. Quest exclaimed, "What do you think you're doing?"

Phil made the mistake on glancing at Dr. Quest when he spoke and Krumlanski landed a cheap shot across his face. It wasn't hard, but enough to enrage him further. "How dare you speak to me in such a crude manner, you barbaric creaton!" Krumlanski spat. Race could tell the scientist was enjoying the humiliation that he was unleashed upon Corbin and at that moment he almost felt like releasing him and letting Phil tear him apart.

The punch to the face was the final straw; Phil pushed back against Race and lifted himself on the heels of his feet, attempting to gain some leverage that would force Race to release his hold. His right arm came loose and he instinctively reached for his handgun. Krumlanski saw the motion and stepped back, realizing that he had gone too far. He held up his hands, "Hey now. Take it easy."

Just as Phil was drawing the firearm from his shoulder holster Race regained his hold and clamped his free hand down on Phil's wrist, stopping him from pulling the pistol the rest of the way free. His body weight pushed against Phil's back, placing the other man off balance and effectively immobilizing him as well. "No." He barked into Phil's ear. "Don't! Not here, I won't let you. Calm down. You can't do this here."

Krumlanski grinned again, seeing he was safe. "Dr. Quest, I am sorry. I did not think that a man of your prestige would associate with common gun happy thugs like this. It is unfortunate. Maybe if you take up better company we can talk again."

"Sir, do not worry about that." Dr. Quest had caught on. He knew something was wrong and that that man had perpetrated some horrible deed against Corbin and if Race was defending Phil then he knew that was something extreme. He had never seen Phil lose his composure the way he just had. "You can keep your company, Dr. Krumlanski, Dr. Elaim. I will keep mine." Krumlanski snorted in disgust, turned and walked out. Dr. Quest stood next to the other two men. Race still held Phil, but he eventually relaxed his grip. He didn't think he would, but he didn't want him running after the man that had just insulted him.

Phil finally relaxed. His shoulders slummed and he hung is head, running his hand over through his hair. He was angry, upset, embarrassed, and ashamed. "Dr. Quest…"

Dr. Quest held up a hand, cutting him off; then he placed a reassuring hand on the other man's shoulder. "It's ok."

Phil lowered his shaking head; he looked his hands, not realizing who he had become. "No it's not."

"Phil, I don't know what happened between you and that man, but I have a pretty good idea. He baited you just now. He set you up and he got the exact reaction out of you he wanted."

Phil looked at the kids at the table, the looks of shock and concern evident on all of their faces. It finally struck him that he had almost killed the man right in front of the three of them if Race's hadn't of stopped him. He felt like he was the real monster now. "I'm sorry. To all of you. I lost control, I ruined your day. Please, forgive me. I don't know what happened to me just then." To his surprise all the kids smiled at him, genuine smiles at that. Even Dr. Quest had a small smile on his face. He turned and nodded at Race who nodded back. No words had to be spoken between the two agents.

He turned to leave, not able to stay there any longer. He wasn't ready to face the questions, not to mention he had to greatly apologize to the hotel staff for his outburst. As he turned to go Jessie stopped him.

"Mr. Corbin." She said.

"Yes, Jessie?"

"You are a better person then me."

"What? How do you figure that?" He asked, shocked by the young girl's statement.

"I would have killed the bastard, no matter what." She grinned at him as she made the profound statement.

He liked Jessie, she was a good kid; smart as well. He smiled back at her and nodded, "Thanks." Then he turned and left.

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To be continued…

UIC-University of Illinois at Chicago

A/N: Ok I apologize for not having the kids more. I have to get up early tomorrow for work and it's late. I would sit here and type more if I could, but I have to get some sleep. I'll have another chapter out a in a few days.