The fog had rolled in densely as the sun began to set in Raccoon. It had been thirty-five minutes since Bravo left the RPD and they were nearing their landing point. Edward leaned forward, doing his best to see through the fog that had wrapped around the forest like a muggy blanket. Behind him the other Bravos were ready for action – most of them. Rebecca sat there, staring at the 9mm Beretta in her hands, aiming the muzzle at the floor and sliding her fingers over the handle.

"Hey – you alright?"

She looked up to see Richard Aiken giving her a warm smile as he slid down on the bench next to her. He was five years older than her and had become her best friend on the team. Being only eighteen years old made her extremely nervous on the first day, but Richard's calming smile and warm demeanor made her feel at ease. Though she'd never admit it, she had a crush on him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little scared." She had to speak loudly to be heard over the engine and blades of the copter but even then, her voice sounded small. She felt a warm hand on her knee and suddenly she wasn't afraid anymore.

"We're all scared on our first mission. You know what my first mission was like?"

Before Rebecca could inquire into Richard's anecdote the helicopter shook violently and everyone sat upright. Enrico unbuckled and moved to the front of the cockpit as Edward gripped the controls tightly. The Bravo Captain yelled out, his Latino accent showing up when he was excited.

"What's going on! What happened!"

"I don't know, Sir! The engine light is on; we have to land this bird NOW!"

Enrico looked down at the gauges. The temperature gauge was in full red – they were overheating. He quickly hustled back to his seat and buckled himself in. Edward acted quickly, twisting the controls this way and that and gripping them so tightly they were almost shattering.

"HANG ON! EMERGENCY LANDING!"

Everyone braced themselves for impact; Enrico leaned back, Forest leaned against the wall, Kenneth gripped at the bench, and Richard and Rebecca wrapped their arms around each other. Thumping sounds like rain sounded out, but it wasn't rain. The helicopter was hitting the tops of trees. The entire cabin began to shake as the thumping sound grew louder. Edward pulled back on the controls one more time and then with a mighty bump the Bravo copter landed and skidded forth.

Once everything had settled down Enrico was the first to action. He unfastened his safety belt and looked around the cabin, taking in the scene with his dark brown eyes. Everything seemed to be in as well a fashion as it could.

"Everybody okay?"

The other Bravos nodded and began unfastening their own safety belts. The door was jammed but a few shoulder thrusts from Enrico solved that problem. The Captain stepped out, followed by the rest of his team. As Edward climbed out, Enrico turned to him.

"Any chance this bird will fly again tonight?"

"Once the engine cools down, I may be able to rig it up to at least be able to return to somewhere in Raccoon. Until then all the use we'll have from this wreck is the radio."

The radio. He had forgotten about the radio. Enrico snatched the radio from his side and pressed a button.

"This is Enrico Marini. Wesker? Barry? Anybody copy?"

He was greeted with static. He shook the handheld unit and tried again; only hissing white static. The impact must have rattled a few chips inside. The pilot had already climbed back in and was trying to get a signal through his headset.

"This is Edward. Does anybody at the RPD copy?"

"….rost…..Curren….ation?"

It was all that came through his headset. He slammed the bottom of his fist into the console and then turned a few dials, hoping for better results. It worked. A clearer transmission traveled into his ears from the headset. It felt good to hear Joseph's voice on the other end.

"Frost here. What's your situation, Bravo?"

"The helicopter overheated and we had to make en emergency landing. We're about 1500 yards from destination. Once the engine cools down, I can fix it up enough to fly us back. Bravo will continue with the mission."

"Copy that. Over."

The sound went back to white noise and Edward removed his headset. He climbed out of the cabin and headed to Enrico who was standing about ten feet out looking around the location. The rest of the team was spread about, doing their own investigations.

"I got in touch with Frost, Sir. I told them we had engine failure but everything was still go."

"Good job. ALRIGHT TEAM! LISTEN UP!"

Enrico began yelling and the others turned back to look at him. They quickly assembled into formation in front of the Captain. They may have been the B-Team, but they were more than adequate soldiers. He ran a hand through his thick mustache and narrowed his eyes, going into "Captain" mode.

"Our copter is down with engine problems, but that doesn't stop our mission. We'll head deeper into the forest on foot and see what we uncover. Arm yourself and be on guard. These cannibals are dangerous and unpredictable."

As the Bravos began checking their weapons Forest headed back to the copter for the heavy duffel bag which held the heavy ballistics. Calling out, he stopped the Bravos and called them back to the helicopter. He pulled a handful of extra clips out and passed them around to his team before opening up the big guns. He pulled out a mean looking Remington M870 with obvious modifications and tossed it to Richard.

"Your old Rem, but I souped it up like you asked me to."

Richard cocked the super shotgun and twirled it once before sliding it over his back. No one, not even that marksman Redfield, could handle a shotgun better than he could. Now that Forest had made his modifications, this Remington would make anybody's day twice over. Forest pulled out one more large weapon, an M4 Carbine that looked as powerful as its shot was, and strapped it over his own back.

Armed and ready to go the S.T.A.R.S Bravo Team headed out. They only took a few steps before Captain Marini spun on his heels and looked at Edward who was already in the engine, standing back as steam poured from it.

"Be on your guard, Edward. These killers roam the forest."

He nodded and then the Bravos were on their way. Five armed S.T.A.R.S was enough to intimidate a small militia, the killers would be in for quite a surprise, especially if Richard took to his Remington or Forest unleashed some grenades on them from the Cabrine. Not to mention Enrico's spot on shot with a Samurai Edge.

Back in the RPD Chris Redfield was pacing the floor, his black boots clicking with every step he took. He had heard about the engine failure over the radio and his paranoid sense had kicked in. Thoughts of who sabotaged the helicopter were flying through his head. He looked over to Jill who had been sitting at her desk since the briefing.

"This doesn't seem odd to you?"

"Sometimes things happen, Chris. But you heard what Edward said, they're okay and will carry on with the mission. There's no need for us to go in yet. Edward read the mechanic report before departure. It was only a fluke."

He still wasn't buying it. If the mechanic report said everything was fine, why did the engine overheat? It didn't matter now. Though he still thought something may have gone wrong, Jill was right. Bravo was doing fine by themselves. He took one more look around the room and then reached into his front pocket, removing a pack of cigarettes.

"I need a smoke. Wanna join me?"

"No thanks, I like having my lungs healthy." Jill said with a slightly upturned nose. She watched Chris walk out of the S.T.A.R.S office and head down the hall before she turned back to the folder on her desk.

The Bravos were a good 500 yards from the helicopter, still exploring their surroundings. Beams of white light poured from their flashlights yet all they saw was knee high grass and trees. It sounded like a normal night in the forest, a few owl "hoos" and crickets chirping. A rustling sound came from a bush off to their right and the five Bravos immediately turned to that direction. Maybe it was one of the cannibals, or it could have been a forest dweller hunting for something to eat.

As they waited, the bush rustled again and a low growling sound could be heard. Richard cocked his shotgun and steadied his aim, waiting for whatever it was to reveal itself. Suddenly a large figure ran from the bush, barking…like a dog? With a squeeze of the trigger the shotgun exploded and the shadowy attacker let out a large yelp before tumbling into the grass. Four more guns pointed at it, ready for another attack, but it didn't get back up.

Rebecca stepped forward from the rear of the pack and made her way towards the creature Richard killed. She kneeled and shined her flash light on it. It was a dog. A Doberman – or what used to be one. It was missing its right ear and part of its skull was exposed, some of its fur and flesh was missing from a side, exposing a ribcage. A large cavity was in its chest, the result of Richard's shotgun blast, but the other wounds…a gun hadn't done those.

"It's a….dog."

"Looks like we found what killed those hikers. At least it's dead now."

Richard said as he cocked his weapon again, loading another shell into the chamber. Rebecca examined the creature still, seeming enthralled with this discovery. Her eyes narrowed as she leaned in, and she gasped. Enrico stepped forward, kneeling beside her.

"What's wrong?"

"This isn't right. Not right at all."

Enrico looked down at the dead dog and saw it up close for the first time. A shotgun blast from Richard had ended its life, but from the looks of it, it had already been dead. At least it should have been dead with the other injuries on it.

"Sir, have you noticed the blood on it?"

"What about it?"

"It's coagulated." She said with a chill in her voice as Forest stepped forward, wanting to get his own clear view at the creature that had attacked them. He saw the exposed ribcage and skull and noticed the thick, gelatinous ooze on its wounds.

"What does that mean?"

"It means this dog was already dead."

Kenneth spoke up as he moved forward to join the rest of the team. Forest turned to look at him with an awestruck look. Already dead? But it had been in the bushes moving about, it barked and growled and had attacked them. Things that were dead did not do that.

"I know it sounds odd, but blood doesn't thicken until several days after death. When your circulatory system isn't working the blood has no place to go and it just sits there…and turns into goop. Something killed this dog."

Forest was just about to question Rebecca on how the dog could be active with thick blood when a loud scream and another growl was heard from the distance. As everyone looked in the direction it had come from, they saw Edward aiming his gun at the ground and firing at another dog-shaped shadow. The creature yelped as it let go of its embrace on his calf and he hobbled backwards.

"EDWARD!"

Rebecca screamed and drew her gun as another one of the dogs leapt from behind and pounced on Edward's back, taking him down. He screamed as the animal bit into his neck as a second leapt on him, biting into his leg. Several shots were fired from Rebecca's gun but she was too far away for the shots to even come close. Forest, Richard, and Enrico broke off into a sprint towards their fallen comrade. The sounds of his screams and the dogs barking and growling were excruciating to listen to.

To their horror they saw a third dog join the pack and then run off, Edward's left forearm, still wielding his Beretta, in its mouth. Before they could get any further the two dogs turned towards them and began running, the yelped at the handgun shots, but still kept coming. Another blast from Richard's shotgun took one down but the other was barreling down quickly. From their left another three of the wild dogs came from behind a tree. They couldn't fight them all off. Enrico screamed.

"PULL BACK! PULL BACK!"

Another shotgun blast took down the closest dog and the three Bravos retreated. Kenneth and Rebecca broke off into their own run, leading the pack since they were further away. As they ran they occasionally turned back, firing into the darkness and tall grass, hoping to hit one of the dog creatures. Every few shots rewarded them with a yelp of pain but they just kept coming.

Edward was dead. One of the dogs had taken a bite out of his neck and the other one had completely gnawed his arm off. Even if they could have fought off the dogs, he would have lost too much blood before Rebecca could treat him. One of the S.T.A.R.S was gone, a victim to the wild dogs who had claimed eleven others.

"UP THERE! IT'S A HOUSE!"

Kenneth screamed as loud as he could. He was right. Several hundred feet away was a large house, nestled in cozily among the trees. The sight of safety gave the Bravos a new sense of adrenaline and their legs began to carry them faster. Rebecca sprinted to catch up with Kenneth who was leading the pack as the other three held the back end, trying to hold off their attackers.

"I'M OUT!"

Forest screamed as he jettisoned a clip from his Beretta and fumbled at his waist for another. Enrico fired off, taking down a dog which was catching up with them. Richard fired off his last shotgun round and began to reload while running. Forest slammed a fresh clip in and helped Enrico cover as Richard reloaded his shotgun.

As Richard squeezed the trigger he was rewarded by several yelps and a splash of blood. The spread-shot had taken out several of the killer dogs, buying them some much needed time. They reached the stoop leading into the mansion and Rebecca tried the door; locked. She slammed her hands into it and began pounding, screaming for someone on the other side to let them in.

"THE HELL WITH THIS!"

Kenneth pulled Rebecca aside as Enrico shoulder-thrusted the door. It shook under his weight but didn't open. He slammed his shoulder into the heavy wooden door several more times but all he managed to do was splinter it. Several well placed kicks followed and finally a metal deadbolt was exposed.

He gave it one more kick before taking aim with his Samurai Edge and firing off a shot. It took two more attempts but the deadbolt finally gave way and the door opened. Kenneth escorted Rebecca in as Enrico yelled to Forest and Richard.

"Come on! Inside, now!"

Each man fired once more and then ran for the door, literally leaping in. Enrico took one more shot and nailed a dog who had managed to reach the steps. It fell back with a cry of pain and in he went, slamming the heavy door behind him. Realization set in that it wouldn't stay closed. It was splintered and the deadbolt was destroyed. He held his massive frame against it and began looking around the room.

"There!"

A few feet away was what looked like the leg from a table. Forest quickly grabbed it and tossed it to Marini who shoved it in between the door handles, shutting it off. Outside they could hear the dogs pawing at the door, wailing as their meal had escaped. They got Edward, but the others had escaped.