x-x-TheBurnedMan-x-x - Agreed! Wesker in Code Veronica and RE5 was pretty much a Neo incarnation lol. But hey, I honestly didn't mind any of it since RE has been pretty goofy since the very first game so I'm not too bothered by it. And the boulder punching scene is legendary of course! Even Capcom acknowledged it in RE8 just how goofy the entire scene was in retrospective. XD And yeah, I had Frank in the last chapter experience what he did since I've always thought of him being the type of guy who doesn't like being around kids, but also the type to be extremely caring and protective of them, as seen in the Black Ops II mission, Suffer With Me. Though I guess David Mason was an exception since he is the son of his best friend and sees him as his own nephew but even still.

Adam Luck - Hey man! Thanks for the feedback once again! I'm glad you liked the Kravchenko part of the story. Just like you said, I always thought they didn't exactly do him complete justice in BO2. I mean sure, he was there as another connection to the previous Black Ops game, also to remind you that Mason still suffers from the numbers regardless of how he's been feeling since, but his role was pretty much meant to be a way of telling the player whether or not they caught on with the traitor working close to them. In return, it was a small contributing factor towards the ending of the game for first-time players, which I really liked about. I'm happy you liked the whole thing of him missing his eye. He definitely had that coming for a very long time. And about Harper, I think I may have another way of introducing him in between the stories I plan on doing. It's not gonna be a huge deal with his appearance, but it'll definitely be a way to serve as a possible connection I could be able to do IF I do end up covering anything post-Code Veronica. Although thanks for the suggestions as always! And yes, RE2 will be one interesting ride I think no one reading this story should ever miss out on! I already have a written outline of possible scenarios I could do with all the protagonists for the sequel. :) RE2 isn't my most favorite in the classic catalog (RE3 taking that title), but it is still definitely up there as one of my favorite video game classics of all time. One question, do you hate ALL live-action RE films? I thought the 2002 live-action film and its sequel, Apocalypse, were the most decent ones before everything just started completely derailing as proper RE films. Heck, even Welcome to Raccoon City and the new Netflix series (yeah I binge-watched all eight episodes; something I can never undo anymore lol) made the Anderson films look like an entire goldmine, to say the least. I will warn you now, there is one part in this story that takes some inspiration from the 2002 live-action film, but trust me, it'll be entirely worth it! Thank you for the 100k word celebration! I never would've thought I'd make a story this big, but here we are, and there's still quite a lot more to go!

Recommended BGM:

1. Resident Evil (1996) - Outside with Water Running

2. Resident Evil (1996) & Director's Cut (DualShock Ver.) - The Underground

3. Resident Evil (Remake) - Guardhouse II

Chapter 22

Chris and Jill found themselves in a high-walled courtyard, all covered in moss and overgrown vines, even on the same ground they were stepping on. The casting of the lighting inside the courtyard was enough to see a couple of curled bodies of mutant dogs just from across the narrow pathway leading to what seemed to be a dead-end, possibly killed by whoever had put the emblem key onto the door.

The sound of rushing water made them think twice about which way any of the other STARS could've gone to. Whether it was upstairs towards a rusted gate, or maybe…

Frank said the lab in Angola was located deep underneath the Cubango River. Maybe the lab here could also be underneath some sort of local water source?

Chris walked closer to the narrow path and figured that there could be a ladder going down. If there was any chance that the lab could be that way, he'd gladly take it.

However, as he took a closer inspection of the area, there was no ladder. Instead, it was a deep hole, stretching all the way down to at least some twenty or thirty feet below him. The iron grating around the hole was maybe three feet wide in circumference, enough space for both him and Jill to fit and manually climb down while holding onto the grating itself.

"Jill!" Chris called out to her, startling her for a brief moment before heading to his location. "Think I found us a way down. You're up for it?"

"We've got no other choice," she expressed in somewhat of a defeated tone. "I checked the gate on the other side and there were at least a dozen snakes slithering all over the ground across the reservoir ahead. No way am I willing to offer myself as free dinner."

Chris nodded. "After what happened to Richard, to hell with those critters!"

Jill gasped slightly. "What—what happened to him? Is he…?"

"No, he's fine now," he responded quickly. "He was bitten by a giant version of those snakes, but Rebecca treated him on time. Frank told us he fought the thing as well and killed it while he tried looking for his way back to the foyer."

Jill couldn't believe what she heard, but then again, she wasn't all that surprised about a mutant like that existing. Though she shuddered at the potential possibilities of what else could Umbrella have done and let escape in the wild.

At least Richard was okay for now…

"Do you happen to know where could they be at the moment?" She inquired. Maybe it could've been either of them who found the emblem elsewhere.

"I told them to search the rest of the first floor but considering they were nowhere to be found, I think it's safe to assume that both of them had made it out here by now."

Jill nodded. Even though she wasn't exactly sure it was a firm possibility, she hoped they did make it out regardless. It was also another possibility that they could now be with Barry and Alex, all four of them trying to look for a way out of here and call for help.

Again with the assumptions …anything's possible.

"I'll go first," said Chris, shaking her off of her thoughts. He began to holster his Beretta and carefully descend as he held on his grip on the grating as tight as possible. Jill followed next, making sure her shotgun was securely strapped behind her back, and made her way down just a few feet above Chris.

It wasn't long until they managed to hit the ground, both of them realizing the entire shaft was part of an elevator system. Even if they wanted to use the elevator itself, there were no controls outside of either ground level, and even if there were, the entire thing had no power at all.

Both of them stared at the multiple directions they could go; another rusted gate and a secret tunnel that the small waterfall was hiding just ahead of them. Again, any of the STARS could've gone both ways, but they couldn't afford to waste much time on one route, while others could be in danger on the other.

Another fork. Exactly what we needed. Perfect…

"What do you suggest we should do?" Jill asked her teammate, who seemed just as anxious as she was feeling.

Chris didn't respond right away but kept staring at the gate almost without blinking as if something unusual had caught his attention.

"Thought I heard…" he paused for a brief moment before looking back at Jill, his expression giving a subtle hint of distress. "...A noise up ahead?"

"If you want, I can search through the waterfall while you go ahead and investigate through the other side of the gate," Jill advised, seeing the urge in his eyes to investigate whatever sound he might've heard on the other side.

Chris nodded but hesitated to proceed any further before realizing what Jill was going to go through first.

"You sure you don't want me to go there instead?" He pointed toward the tunnel through the hard-hitting waterfall. "You may end up catching pneumonia before you could do anything else inside."

Jill hadn't really thought of it. The price for going through was to get wet and the possibility of catching a cold, or worse, pneumonia, was moderately high.

Better than catching whatever virus ravaged the place around here.

"I'm sure catching a simple cold is the least of our worries right now," she said, almost too enthusiastically. She has never been this happy about preferring to catch a cold rather than something else entirely since forever. "Plus, it's the middle of summer and it's not as chilly either. It'd be worse if it was during the winter."

Chris smiled at her, chuckling for a moment before nodding and heading towards the creaking gate he had begun to open.

He turned his head around one last time.

"Good luck in there," he said just before he was now out of view inside the winding path.

Jill gave one final smile before finally entering the dark tunnel, the waterfall completely drenching her all over as she tried cowering down and hurrying as fast as she could. Her wet uniform was now forcefully clinging as tight as possible, making her feel colder than the low temperature of the waterfall itself.

She stopped at an opened trapdoor, seeing a ladder bolted against a rock wall. She immediately began descending the ladder without giving it much thought and found herself inside a cave or mine. There were water pipes running from the ceiling to the ground, seeing that this was where the mansion got its running water before weeks or months of neglect may have brought its water system to a halt. The pieces of wood still left inside meant the cave system she just entered used to be an old mine. There were only a couple of lightbulbs lighting the way and through the winding corner was a series of broken lightbulbs with only one of them flickering on and off, like the one she saw at the mansion from the second floor when fighting her first crimson zombie.

Jill skipped ahead of the very first door near the ladder and walked through a couple of winding corners until she stood still at the edge of a yawning, open pit in the damp tunnel, staring hopelessly at a metal door on the other side. The dark pit was too wide to jump over and there was no way to safely climb down inside, let alone without a proper flashlight to see her dark surroundings.

Her frustrated sigh had now turned to a shiver. The dampness inside made it colder and harder to keep herself dry. She had no other choice but to go to the very first door that she'd skipped earlier.

Before heading back, however, she saw there was a small glint of metal attached to the left rocky wall, turning as her feet squelched in her boots. Looking closer at it as she brushed a few wet strands of hair out of her eyes, she saw it was a small iron plate set into place with a hexagonal-shaped hole about the size of a half-dollar coin at the center. She darted her gaze back at the door, thinking.

Another, yet complex mechanism… could it be some sort of hidden bridge or stairs?

She didn't bother thinking about it any further since she didn't have whatever tool is required to operate it. To her, it was as good as a dead-end, and besides, if anyone had gone down here, it was unlikely that anyone would have hopped over to the other side.

Jill backtracked all the way back to where she first came from, still quite in shock about what she'd discovered so far. If the tunnels beneath the estate connected here as well, then it meant that the underground network was surely going to be a labyrinth to go through before anyone could potentially reach the lab that Frank and Chris mentioned earlier. Just seeing the sheer amount of work that has been put through into creating the underground pathways was mind-boggling in itself.

She reached the metal door next to the ladder, trying to make the best effort possible not to let her teeth chatter as a chilling draft swept down from the breeze of the courtyard above. Any sound coming from outside was oddly muted. The echoing rhythm of water dripping from the metal pipes and damp jagged limestone rock walls themselves was much louder, giving it some sort of ancient feel to the environment itself.

She pulled the door open and froze, feeling a sudden rush of mixed emotions as Barry Burton swung around to face her, his revolver quickly meeting her face for a brief moment before realizing who she really was.

Barry?

"Oh, Jill!" He said in a sudden wave of surprise. "How did you get down here?"

"Uh… same way you did; through the trapdoor behind me," she replied, trying to state the obvious as she also saw him wet as well, his short hair having formed individual thick strands over his skull as his T-shirt underneath clung to his broad shoulders.

"Oh, right," he said. Jill couldn't tell if his shaky voice was due to the chilling effects of his cold, drenched clothing or if he was actually feeling nervous or scared to see her down here.

Whatever the case was, she was about to ask him about some of the things she's been wondering about for so long, until he quickly cut her opportunity to give any response to him.

"Anyway, good timing on your part since a little while ago, me and Alex heard something down here so he went to go check it out while I stayed behind to secure our only exit out," he then motioned her to stay silent, listening to the acoustics of the environment itself.

"Voices… earlier," he finished off.

Jill couldn't pinpoint any sound, other than the rhythmic water dripping around them in echoes. If anything, she started to feel more nervous herself as thoughts began to rush inside her mind about what if Barry was already losing it after staying in this Godforsaken place for far too long.

"Look," said Barry, noticing her worried look piercing his own, "I'm sorry I've been pretty evasive lately. This place just gets to me, ya know? And after seeing Kev, Joseph, and Ken's corpses, I… I've been pretty on edge ever since. Me and Alex did find the emblem already in place and, well… our curiosity got to us first after we caught a glimpse of someone going down here…but I'm glad you're here now."

Jill nodded, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was still off about him. Maybe she was becoming just as paranoid as he was, but in spite of his words, he didn't seem all too happy to see her…

But before anything else could be said and done, gunshots began to echo elsewhere within the cave system.

Barry's eyes began to widen suddenly in great fear.

"Alex!" Barry exclaimed as he quickly turned around and rushed to the left of a splitting rocky pathway, leading up to the only other metal door inside.

Jill quickly followed after him, her adrenaline pumping as worrying thoughts began to wash over her mind, thinking all kinds of worst-case scenarios, some of which she could not let go of for as much as she wanted to.

Through the door was a gloomy room, almost completely enveloped in darkness. Most of the utility lights were out of order, save for a couple of them, which illuminated most of the gaping hole in the center which looked like a wide elevator shaft going deeper underground. On the far other side of the room was too dark to see through, other than a few sets of small red and green lights on some sort of machinery.

The gunshots they heard earlier continued and the entire area flashed in response to a gun's muzzle lighting up the area for brief moments, capturing two humanoid figures. One of them shot the other while the other began to jump at an incredible height towards its prey as it gave an unsettling high-pitched shriek for an incoming attack. Another shot was fired, making it stop in its tracks, generating a piercing shriek of pain, but not for long before the sounds of its feet gave hints of the thing standing back up again.

"Why won't you fuckin' die?!" Alex yelled out, his voice giving off an irritated tone filled with hopelessness.

Jill and Barry hurried to his location and, by simply looking at the other creature's silhouette, they began to blindly fire at the bloodthirsty thing coming after Alex, screeching like nothing they'd ever heard before, the sound echoing around them within the enveloping darkness. With a final shot from Barry's revolver, the creature was knocked off its feet and laid on its back, letting out a high shriek of pain before finally becoming motionless.

Jill had never seen such a creature like it.

Wh—what was that thing?!

"What in the hell?!" Barry's voice gave a sense of mortal terror that perfectly described exactly what Jill and Alex were feeling when looking at the dead creature in front of them, barely visible with whatever remaining light was shining on top of its scaly green, muscular body.

The trio looked at it closely, kicking it closer to the light of the room to reveal the detailed horror that was now clearly visible in front of them. It was huge, shaped like a man, but the resemblance to a normal human being stopped there. Naked, but sexless, its entire muscular body was covered in jagged, green reptilian skin. Its skull was almost flat with a huge hunch that allowed its impossibly long arms to extend all the way toward the end of its feet. All four of its limbs were tipped with huge thick, brutal claws, bigger than the ones they've seen from the last crimson head they faced together before.

"That's one hell of an ugly thing," Mason commented, still in shock about what the creature was capable of doing. Any second longer and he would've instantly gotten ripped to shreds, had it not been for Barry and Jill intervening. "I owe you both."

Jill shuddered after a brief moment of staring at the carcass. Her skin began to crawl uncontrollably for every second that passed by. "Can we get going? I don't think I can stand watching this any longer…"

Both of the men agreed and seeing that it was no longer safe going separately, they all remained together, reaching towards the other metal door just across from their position that none of them had gone through yet.

Mason pushed it open and the three of them moved in yet another dark corridor. Jill sighed inwardly, noticing the wet rocky walls and the remains of an old, abandoned mine, wishing this place was a literal goldmine rather than one that was filled with terrible monsters inside.

The tunnel they were now in felt pretty much like the ones she was initially in before, turning left up ahead. Even though she had two teammates to back her up in case of any trouble, she already felt lonely and lost, hoping there weren't too many twists and turns to count further inside underground.

"Who the hell's there?!" A deep, but familiar voice echoed through the passage from somewhere ahead of them.

"Captain?" Mason called out.

"Mason? Is it really you?"

Before Mason could do anything, distant machinery was heard elsewhere through the dampness of the tunnels where they were. However, he quickly ignored the acoustic sounds and simply hurried towards the sound of the voice, taking the last few steps to the corner and around, Barry and Jill following right behind him.

The trio was now standing in front of an injured Enrico, who was lying against the wall, the tunnel widening out and ending in a shadowy alcove.

"STOP!" He commanded, his voice weak, but firm. His dark eyes were showered with suspicion, seemingly looking at the three of them as if they were at fault for something serious.

He slowly began to stand up, the pain from his bleeding injury on his left leg seemingly fading away as his expression began to change from a pained look to a more vengeful one; an expression Mason had seen from Woods many times before.

Though confusion spread among the trio as he slowly drew his weapon towards one of them, particularly closer to Mason's direction, catching him by a sudden wave of surprise with a shocked look etched on his face.

"Double-crosser…" he said in a low, but fierce voice, looking directly in his direction with the seeming intent to shoot his weapon without hesitation.

"Wait what?!" Jill exclaimed loudly, not knowing what to do herself.

"Enrico," said Alex as calmly as he could, dropping his weapon as he slowly raised both of his hands. "...Wait."

"Don't!" Barry cried out, trying to convince his friend in vain not to shoot him.

BAM! BAM!

Gunshots echoed and both Jill and Barry flinched away as they were both afraid that Enrico had gone through with it.

However, as they turned to face him once more, Enrico's body was suddenly riddled with two fresh bullet holes directly in his chest, blood pulsing out in small, violent bursts, a scarlet pool beginning to slowly form underneath him. His body fell to a slump and froze in place. He was already dead.

"ENRICO!" Jill cried out, hurt and confused about what just happened in a matter of seconds, running towards the now limp body in front of them.

Who killed him, I wonder…!

For a moment, she thought it was Alex who shot him, but it was impossible since he dropped his weapon as a sign of good faith for the Bravo captain before shots were fired. As a result, she calmed herself down at the thought that it wasn't him who did it.

Without a word, Barry ran after whoever was responsible. Mason grabbed his dropped gun and sprinted after him, their pursuing footsteps fading away, and soon enough, the echoes of dripping water began to conquer once more.

Jill's mind flooded with so many questions with that last single word that came out of Enrico's mouth. She immediately thought of the duo that was with her once again, but instantly brushed it all off, reminding herself that Barry was right next to her, looking away just as she did, while Alex had his hands raised without a weapon in his hand at that exact moment.

So who did it? Who was Hudson talking about? And who exactly did Enrico refer to as a "double-crosser"?

Feeling lost, alone, and in despair, Jill held on to his cooling hand and waited for either Barry or Alex to come back with some news. Good or bad.

Rebecca was fumbling over a stack of papers she had found over the ancient bookshelf at the end of the room they had entered, while Richard investigated the rest of the room. A well-used bed, an old, cluttered desk, a couple of wooden chairs, and a towering wardrobe next to the giant bookshelf were the only pieces of furniture there was inside the room. After the cold, intimidating environment of the mansion itself, Richard was more than glad to be in a rather simpler place.

They'd stumbled upon a much smaller house through the gates leading to a long narrow winding passage. It was less decorated and was filled with plain greyed wood planks all over the inside of the building. The two initial rooms they'd discovered thus far, resembled something as part of a bunkhouse or small guardhouse. Sure, it was just as filthy, filled with cobwebs across every dark corner. Still, a smaller building meant the less likely possibility of becoming lost or overwhelmed with a sense of loneliness and isolation.

They had noticed the thick, unmoved layers of dust in the main hallway of the dormitory building, realizing that none of the STARS had ever stepped foot into the place at all, wondering if anyone else could've gone through that long tunnel that the artificial waterfall was hiding. With their only way out now blocked by snakes and the other elevator being gone without power, all they could do is try to find a back door of the place and get some outside help. Richard didn't like it, but with his radio having limited range and the possibility of Brad running out of fuel any time soon, there weren't any other options open for them.

Seeing nothing of interest anywhere else, he walked past a reading Rebecca and towards the battered wooden desk. He began to pull at the top drawer.

Locked. What's new?

He then thought about pulling it with enough force as the whole thing felt light and flimsy. Using his healthy limb, he pulled hard enough to break the lock apart from the inside of the wooden drawer, chipping a small chunk of it as it finally revealed its contents.

A pair of mags were found inside, tucking one with him while saving the other for Rebecca as soon as she was done reading. The rest of the contents were all a bunch of junk; a deck of cards, pens, pencils, erasers, mint wrappers, an empty crumpled pack of cigarettes - junk that you'd usually find inside a drawer that would simply keep accumulating over time.

Checkmate!

Among all the useless junk, a keyring was found. Excitedly, he picked it up by its plastic tag. He didn't want to think it'd be this easy to find all the keys in one single place as everything for him so far has been anything but easy, especially when he almost doomed himself for a simple mask. Maybe finding something like this could, once again, make him pay the price for something greater than just his arm.

God, I hope not…

He checked one side of the plastic tag. Faded, but still visible, it read, "H. Sarton". Flipping it over, it had "563" written on it.

Thanks for the gift, Mr. Sarton.

He didn't know the real meaning or significance of the numbers in the back, but just in case, he began to memorize the numbers for future reference. If there was anything he learned about the whole place was that there were pretty unusual things around that required the most unique puzzle-solving techniques he's ever seen in his life.

Rebecca was still sitting in one of the chairs, surrounded by more papers and envelopes, along with a few grainy photos of some lab researchers that might've worked inside the mansion. She seemed immensely absorbed in whatever she was reading, and when Richard walked over to join her, she looked up at him with worry in her eyes.

"So?" said Richard as he gave her one of the handgun magazines he had found earlier. "Anything important?"

Rebecca held up the piece of paper she was reading.

"Listen to this: 'Four days have passed since the accident. The plant at Point 42 is growing at an amazing rate.'"

She skipped ahead, skimming through the page as she waved one finger over as she spoke.

"They nicknamed it 'Plant 42' and mentions its roots being located somewhere in the basement of this place. 'Immediately after the accident, an infected scientist went insane and destroyed the Aqua Ring. Ever since, the basement has been like a pool. There is a high possibility that the trace amounts of chemicals in the water are what are promoting Plant 42's rapid growth. A bulb-like body of the Plant 42 has been sighted hanging from the ceiling of the first floor. We are sure that it used the air ducts to reach the first floor. Numerous long tentacle-like vines are protruding from the bulb. We've determined that Plant 42 had become sensitive to movement, and with gained intelligence from primary t-Virus infection, it had now developed a growing taste for blood. In close proximity to any living organism, it uses tentacular-like vines to capture its prey. After doing so, it begins to use its vines to suck on exposed skin and slowly draw fatal quantities of blood; several staff members have already fallen victim to this.' It's dated… May twenty-first of this year, signed by Henry Sarton."

Richard shook his head, wondering again just how many experiments had they done already and how many more have they yet to encounter. Apparently, this so-called "t-Virus" is so virulent, that it can affect pretty much anything living; plants, animals, humans, you name it. And everything comes down to one thing in common: the virus transforms its carrier into a mindless violent and deadly carnivore, hungry for anything with fresh blood.

A man-eating plant? Just perfect…

"So this guy and his team decided it was a good idea to experiment on a plant, and now we have a plant monster to deal with?" Richard scoffed. "Wasn't a giant snake good enough for them?!"

"And look at this," she said as she handed him a photo of one of the researchers, her expression grim.

The snapshot was grainy and blurred, but it was enough to see that the middle-aged man was wearing a lab coat with his nametag seemingly unclear in the photo. His face was bland with a blank expression, standing stiffly right in front of a pair of double wooden doors with stained-glass windows over the top of each door. Richard didn't know exactly where those doors were located as he never recalled seeing those particular doors upon entering the place or in the mansion at all.

He flipped the picture over, squinting at the tiny inscription on the back.

H. SARTON, SEPTEMBER '97, DORMITORY, POINT 42

He stared at Rebecca, now beginning to understand why her gaze had fear clouding her mind. The building they were standing on was a dormitory for the researchers. Those doors had to be inside the building somewhere. The carnivorous plant was here.