Chapter 11: The Dangers We Avoid

A/N: For those who missed the earlier messages, real world names have been replaced with fictional ones.

Also, I've changed my profile description to reflect one of my RL struggles.


Rebecca stared at the dark liquid with more than a little trepidation.

"It's just water," Jessica pointed out.

Rebecca fought the urge to glare at her companion. "First, we don't know if there's anything in there. Second, it's a major environmental hazard. If the T-virus is active in there, there's no way Richard and I can avoid infection if we go in there."

Said environmental hazard was a large pool of still water. Rebecca inwardly winced at the memories of the training facility and its underwater reservoir.

Richard frowned as he studied the place again. The water was dark. Too dark to see within its liquidy hold. The structure of the place suggested some kind of crosswalk should be available to the other side, but there was none to be found. He glanced again at the small dam next to them. It was obvious it could be either lowered or risen, but he didn't see a control switch. His best guess was the small, marble pillar on the other side of the dam held the control mechanism, but it was pointed the wrong way for him to confirm it.

"So," Jessica began, throwing a hand at the dam. "We can walk across that."

"And if there are any leeches or something in the water?" Rebecca countered, her apprehension on display.

Jessica rolled her eyes. "We can go over one at a time, keep watch over our backs."

"Not much time for reaction," Richard murmured as he frowned at the water. He didn't share Rebecca's fear, but his struggles over the prior night had not been as intense. Which meant he weighed Rebecca's trepidation highly.

Jessica sighed in exasperation before she pointed away from the dam. "Okay, if we're not going to take the fast way, then let's just take the long way." She shot Rebecca a sardonic look. "Unless you're also terrified of trees?"

Rebecca followed Jessica's finger. Next to the pool of water was a row of trees and the forest beyond. Wild shrubbery and greens waited to be a hassle, but not much more than that. Rebecca glanced at the tree's higher branches, remembering how it rained snakes on them only a little while ago. She couldn't see anything, yet that didn't mean much. "We'll have to be ready to move quick."

"I don' have trouble runnin'," Jessica replied as she sauntered toward the end of the stone path.

Richard was a step behind, flashing Rebecca a confident smile. "It should be better than the dam."

Rebecca nodded and followed after them.

The mansion doors closed with a loud groan behind Alpha Team. None of the officers so much as twitched.

Daniel had watched the doors closed with a sense of finality. This, this room was where the Resident Evil series had been born. A rich, red carpet flowing from a grand staircase, symbol of both arrogant welcome and subtle foreboding. He had been through this room many times during his gaming.

Yet, he couldn't shake a distinct pall of ignorance.

In theory, Rebecca, Enrico, and Jessica should have arrived hours ago. What progress had they made? What monsters had they already destroyed? He hadn't expected them to greet Alpha Team as they had arrived, especially without the sound of gunfire to grab their attention. Without his knowledge, he doubted they had made it to the lab beneath the foundations of the mansion. That still didn't tell him how far they had made it.

The news of Tim's death slammed into him again from behind. It slid a dagger of ice into him as he considered another question: were they even alive? There was no law in this universe to dictate their survival. He had left them well-supplied with ammo, but that was no guarantee of success.

Stop it, he hissed to himself. No point in killing them off without learning the truth of yourself.

He pushed the hole of misery away from his mind as half-heartedly followed Alpha Team in.

There was a moment of silence.

Then another.

Daniel grimaced. By this point, they should have heard Kenneth's shot, signaling his death and signaling the game to begin. The fact they heard nothing but the tread of their own combat boots was not a good sign.

Or, maybe it was a good sign, he though with equal measures of anxiety and hope.

"We'll split up in pairs," Wesker announced as he concluded his own scan of the room, no doubt well familiar with the place's oak and marble décor. "Chris, Jill, you're partners. Joseph and Barry, and Sims will stay with me."

Daniel fought off an instinctual flinch, but he could only slow the panic spreading in his chest. In the game, whoever remained with Wesker while the player's chosen character went off to investigate the gunshot was the designated captive. It was a safe position for the captive was simply locked in a cell away from the rest of the danger. Somehow, Daniel doubted Wesker would take such a hands-off approach. A line had been crossed. Daniel didn't know what Wesker would want to do with him, but that was a possibility best kept away at all costs.

Still no gunshot. Daniel thought frantically. An idea popped into his head.

He whirled toward the western double doors. "Did you hear that?"

Alpha Team paused. Some of them straining their ears. Daniel could feel Wesker's gaze burning into his gaze.

"I'm no-" Jill started, but Daniel couldn't let his chance slip by.

"It sounded like a gunshot," he yelled before he started sprinting to the dining room. "Jessica! Rebecca!"

Shouts came from behind, but Daniel dared not slowed down. For once, he felt safer rushing to the zombies than away from them. He slammed himself through the oak double doors. He jumped when a flash filled the room. A terrifying second passed as his mind flew through possibilities. Only for the thunder to follow the lightning a second later.

In spite the momentary panic, Daniel didn't stop. He could hear people running after him now. Two or three, but what predicament did that put him in? The dining table sped past his left, while the grandfather clock and the secret it contained ticked past his right. Near the corner of the room was the door he wanted.

Firelight threw dancing shadows over it before Daniel shoved his way. Still no gunshot; would he make it in time?

He left the door swinging open, breaking one of the cardinal rules of the video game the back of his mind noted. A light welcomed him into a hallway with dim strength. He shot left toward a shadowed room, his heart racing.

He past the corner and jerked himself to a stop.

The sound of bone and flesh filled the room.

Daniel sagged.

In front of him, one body crouched over another. As defeat gleefully punched into him, he glanced at his pursuers. Chris, Jill, and even Barry came rushing after him.

"Sims!" Chris started, frustration tightening his face. He didn't continue as his eyes slid to the scene in front of Daniel.

The zombie left its current meal unfinished as it turned its head towards them. A milky eye locked onto Daniel. No fear touched the soldier who was had fought and killed many of its kind.

The Alpha Team was not as immune.

"What the hell!" Chris exclaimed.

"It's some kind of monster," Jill breathed.

Barry froze as his eyes went wide.

The zombie moaned as it rose to its feet. Daniel moved with casual ease as he slung his rifle over his shoulder. It would be a waste to use a rifle round for this foe. Instead, he drew out a handgun from a pocket. He flicked off the safety as he aimed, while the zombie raised its arms in desire.

Belatedly, Chris said, "Wait."

Daniel squeezed the trigger. The bullet slammed against its side of the head.

Then Daniel flinched when it didn't topple over. Every zombie in the Training Facility, no matter from what angle struck, had died from a headshot. This one, however, didn't. When the bullet hit, its head snapped to the side. Then slowly it recovered as it marched forward.

Wait, what?! Daniel thought before the zombie lunched towards him.

A small explosion thundered. A chunk of the zombie's head vanished. Its body crashed into Daniel who hurriedly shoved it away. A moment of silence passed as everyone absorbed what had happened. What the heck? Daniel thought to himself. What changed? I admit I wasn't being that careful with my aim, but since when did their skulls do anything? I thought the T-Virus weakened their heads to the point that any shot will do it?

This escalation did not put him at ease. Still, he looked to his right and saw a wisp of smoke flowing from the barrel of Barry's magnum. Daniel nodded to him. "Thank you."

Barry, who had been staring at the no-longer walking corpse, flinched when Daniel spoke. A second later, he returned the nod. "No problem," he said absentmindedly. "What the hell is that thing?"

"You shot it in the head," Jill said to Daniel. Her eyes flashed to the other corpse. "It killed Kenneth."

Daniel's morosely followed her gaze. Kenneth J. Sullivan, Bravo Team's Recon Man, was in worse shape than he had been in the game. His throat wasn't the only thing missing. The zombie had eaten his neck, his lower face, and parts of his chest. If Daniel had to guess, the zombie had been eating for twenty-to-thirty minutes instead of the few seconds it had had in the video game.

Just about the extra time it took for us to walk to here from the copter. Without the zombie dogs to force Alpha Team into a dead sprint, Kenneth had died exactly as he had originally without any hope of rescue. In spite of Daniel's best efforts, another member of Bravo Team had died as fate had decreed.

Is there no fighting fate?

"We need to report this to Wesker," Jill stated. Her gaze flipped over to Daniel. "Are you hurt?"

Daniel shook his head. "No, it didn't get a chance to." He turned away from the corpse. Then his mind registered who was in the hallway with him. In the original game, the player had to choose between Chris or Jill as the main character. But both of them were here. Not only them, but Barry was here too. What does that mean?

Chris eyed both corpses with half-hidden apprehension. "Jill, is this what your contact said we'd be facing?"

To the surprise of everyone else, Jill hesitated, suddenly guilty. "I'll explain on the way."

As much as he didn't want to go back to Wesker, Daniel was the first one to start walking. "Did Bruce not explain the situation?"

An additional surprise came upon the soldier as the others followed his lead. It was weird to see them deferring to him, even if it was unintentional. "He did explain everything," Jill said as she fell into step with Chris. Barry brought up the rear. "Chris, Barry, I'm sorry, but I didn't think you would have believed what he told me. I had trouble believing everything he said to me. Half of me was convinced he had hallucinated things, had ingested some narcotics, or anything that made sense besides… this."

Barry grunted as he closed the hallway door behind them. "Yeah, I don't blame you. Until I saw the thing myself, I doubt I would have believed it."

"I'm still having trouble believing what I saw," Chris echoed.

"Happens to everyone," Daniel called out from the front. A moan stopped the Alphas in their tracks. Daniel paused and threw a tired glance at the upper walkway above the dining rom. No steps followed the moan which meant the zombie didn't realize how close it was to a meal if it dropped. "I don't think we have to worry about that one yet. Let's get back to the main hall."