Epilogue 2: Hearing the Faint Whisper

It wasn't supposed to be like this. It never meant to be. Everything was supposed to be going according to plan once he had joined Celine's team.

That, however, was no longer a possibility.

Their objective was to take down Umbrella, put an end to their heartless experimentations, but because of a recent occurrence, that objective was going to have to wait.

Several more loud crashes came echoing out of the safe-room, ending with a blood-curling roar. Julian sat beside Andrew, who had a few nasty bruises on his arms and legs, while Celine tended to Desmond. The rest of her team were either frantically browsing through a computer, or attending to their own injuries.

Julian bent forward and rested his head on his hands, feeling a headache approaching. He recalled all that had happened, all that lead up to this disaster.

They arrived at the 'Headquarters' of the team at dawn, after a whole day of driving. The supposed 'Headquarters' was nothing more than a 2-storey house surrounded by trees and farmland. The open farmland would allow them to spot any intruders from far away, while the trees provided good cover should they have to sneak out at night in an emergency.

But it was more than your typical 2-storey house, the first difference being the small control panel embedded into the wall by the front door.

Briareos keyed in the passcode, and as soon as they stepped in, Julian's jaw dropped, and he could sense that Andrew and Desmond did the same.

From the outside, it looked like a normal shack. But on the inside, it was completely different. There weren't any colourful paintings or sweet-smelling vases. Instead, several tables lay here and there, most of which were occupied by either computers or an endless pile of papers. There was a small gun rack underneath what Julian guessed was the kitchen counter, filled with several light weapons like 9mms and Berettas.

It was a wonder how they could turn a normal house into something like this.

"Not very comfortable as you can see, but you'll get used to it!" Briareos turned towards the 'new recruits' and smiled. "Although finding a sleeping bag big enough for Leo is going to be hard…"

"Don't worry, I'll manage." Leo replied. He suddenly tensed his body and stifled what sounded like a growl.

"Hey, you alright?" Julian asked.

Leo rubbed the shoulder of his clawed arm. "Yeah, just a slight aching feeling, nothing to worry about."

It was amazing how they agreed to take them in, given their age and lack of skill (excluding Leo, of course). When Julian had mentioned, back in the van, that he wanted to join their team, both Briareos and Celine were speechless for an entire minute.

"Do you know what you're getting yourself into?" Celine had asked. "This isn't gonna be your classic field trip. You're better off living a normal life."

Julian lowered his head. "How can I lead a normal life now, knowing that my father died because of Umbrella…?"

They all fell silent. Julian listened to the constant humming of the engine, to the chirping of birds outside, trying to soothe his troubled soul. All to no avail, obviously.

"I…I'm sorry…" Celine stuttered.

"If I don't help to avenge my father, I'll never forgive myself…"

"But are you really sure about this?" It was Briareos' turn to ask. "There won't be any turning back once you've been blacklisted by Umbrella."

"Yes, I'm sure…" Julian then turned to his 2 friends. "I'm not going to ask you to accompany me, neither am I going to force you. If you want to, then go ahead."

His gaze remained on Andrew. He had not told Andrew about his father yet, and he didn't even know when or how to. Even though it was Andrew's father that was partially responsible for Steven's death, and completely responsible for Leo's transformation, Andrew still has the right to know what happened to his father.

But now is not the time. Not yet.

"Very well then. I'm not gonna say 'welcome to the team!', but I am going to warn you that it's going to be hard from now on." Celine explained.

"I'm ready for anything."

"Dude, you're really not planning on going alone are you?" Desmond said.

Julian turned and opened his mouth to answer, when he saw the look on Desmond's face. That oh-so familiar look of friendship and determination.

"We lost our own friends in this disaster as well." Andrew spoke up. "I don't know whether my father was a part of this, but Umbrella is still responsible nevertheless."

"Your…father?" Julian repeated, momentarily forgetting what he witnessed back at the compound.

"Hmm? What did you say?" Andrew inquired, leaning closer.

"No…nothing. Just talking to myself…"

And so, there they were, all cramped into the small and comfortable house, where they were formally introduced to the rest of Celine's resourceful team.

Briareos Caltine, the second-in-command of the team (with Celine as the leader). His size made Julian assume that he was the 'tank' of the team, throwing out the firepower while absorbing as much as he can to shield his team members. Linda Marlin, she was the medic of the team, and took care of hygiene and the supplies in the house. At a mere 22 years of age, Julian was impressed at her solid foundation in medicine and resilience, leaving himself to ponder whether to pursue a medical career or not. Next, was Hunter Lorenz. He served as a backup to Briareos, and ensured that all their weapons were in working condition. 36 years old, he was less built than Briareos, though he looked like he could run much faster than any of them. Last was Melinda Traydor. She served as the scout of the team, gathering information from sources that she herself miraculously conjured out of thin air. She had short, curly, brown hair, and a typical woman's body, the same as Linda, though Melinda was slightly taller.

The introductions kicked off a laughter-filled lifestyle, one which Julian had not experienced for many years. Most of the troubles he received from the Raccoon City incident were washed away in the days of laughter that followed, as well as the sessions of training where he was taught the basic skills of handling guns. Julian wasn't a fast learner, but if something was of importance, he would strive to master it as soon as possible.

After all, they were talking about going against a multi-billion dollar company such as Umbrella. How can 'handling guns properly' not be considered important?

All that was then. Now was the beginning of a new hell.

In the middle of the night, Julian had awoken to a scream. It took him five seconds to realize that Desmond was the one screaming, his frightened voice ringing throughout the house. At first, he thought that Desmond was only having a nightmare, but his screams were cut short. What Julian heard next chilled him to the bone – a deep, fierce growling.

And the fact that they were all in the same room, put Julian on high alert.

He slowly got out of bed, fearing the worst, hearing Andrew also doing the same. Several thumps were heard from upstairs, meaning that everyone else had already awoken to the screaming. In the moonlight leaking in from a small window, a large figure stood over Desmond's limp body. It was Leo, undoubtedly. Something was dripping from the end of his clawed arm.

Blood.

No…No way…

This was what Julian had been fearing the most for the past few weeks.

Andrew's faint whisper came floating to his ears. "What the… Julian, what is-"

"Shhhhh!"

It was too late. At the sound of their voices, Leo turned around, his eyes glowing a distinct red, focusing in on Julian. He began running to the other side of the room, but was too slow as he felt a huge force slam into his side, throwing him well off his feet. Julian crashed into the wall head first, knocking the daylights out of himself and causing his vision to blurr. He heard Andrew picking something up and smashing it down on Leo, only to receive a tight slap from Leo's clawed arm. Andrew stumbled and crashed into the table, tipping everything over, including himself.

The door flew open, and there stood Celine and Briareos, guns aiming directly at Leo.

"NO! Don't shoot! Just get Desmond out n- GAH!" Julian yelled as he felt the sharp claws slicing across his right leg when he tried to roll away.

The two didn't hesitate. They dashed in and picked Desmond's body up, his clothes already stained a deep red where Leo had slashed him. Andrew stumbled out of the room after them, leaving Briareos in the room along with Julian and Leo.

"Julian, it's your turn. Out, NOW!"

Briareos grabbed a bed sheet, sneaked up behind Leo, and threw it over his head. He then delivered a kick to Leo's back, knocking him down. Despite the pain in his leg, Julian got up and ran as fast as he could for the door, with Briareos following closely behind. Once they were out of the room, Briareos slammed the door shut, and Julian could hear the locks clicking into place.

Thank goodness they were sleeping in the safe room.

Several hours have passed. Desmond had a nasty gash in his left side, which Celine was working desperately to stitch up. Other than that, they were mostly alright.

"Hey…Hey I think I found something!" Linda called out, her glasses reflecting the brightness of the computer screen.

"What? What?" Hunter beckoned, walking over to her desk.

Linda scanned the screen for a few seconds before looking up again. "I managed to hack into one of their Umbrella websites, and found out that they're working on some kind of anti-virus."

"According to this," Linda looked back at the screen. "this anti-virus can supposedly reverse the effects of the T-Virus entirely, and that makes it completely different than the standard anti-virus, which only wipes out the virus currently within the host."

" 'Supposedly'?" Briareos raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I know what it sounds like, but the project began some 20 years ago, which means…"

"That there is a chance that the cure is nearing completion…" Julian said, slowly.

"Correct… According to reports here, most of the tests they conducted with this anti-virus were successful." Linda read out.

"But why would they want to come up with a cure to the very virus they themselves developed to create super-soldiers?" Hunter asked, rubbing his chin.

"Who knows..." Briareos casually said. "Probably to make up for their accidents, or reduce the damage of failed experiements."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go…" Julian said, and stood up. A sharp pain shot through his leg, and he remembered that he had not yet bandaged up his wound.

Briareos put both his hands up in a 'stop' manner. "Woah woah, hold it right there. We're talking about infiltrating one of their heavily guarded laboratories here…"

Julian didn't have to listen to this. They clearly had no other choice. And as more crashes sounded from the safe room, as they all threw their tired glances at him, as images of what might happen should they fail flashed through his mind, he said, with determination.

"The decision's final. We're getting that anti-virus…"

X-------X-------X

A/N: Sadly, we have now come to the end of this fanfic... TT But fret not, for this is not the last you have seen of Wongster! I would like to thankeveryone who took the time to read my fanfic, reviewers and non-reviewers alike!

As I had mentioned before somewhere in the past chapters, I'm planning to make this into a trilogy. BUT I'm gonna take a break from Resident Evil for a while, as I am also planning on writing a fic for Silent Hill.

So be sure to look out for my next fanfic on Silent Hill!