x-x-TheBurnedMan-x-x - All I can say for both of your responses is... "ELL-OH-ELL" XD The second quote you mentioned was actually a reference to RE0. As for the first quote... Oof. You're probably gonna have fun reading the RE3 version of events in the future lol.

Adam Luck - Thanks a lot for the praise! I'm glad you're loving the story so far! I'm sorry if I sound like a broken record, but really, I am extremely grateful! And about the movies, Alice's character isn't all that bad if the whole Mary Sue thing wasn't overboard, especially after Apocalypse (don't worry, there will be no characters here related to the RE movies xD). There was a lot of great potential for making her character more interesting, but yeah. I can agree that it all mostly has to do with Anderson throwing everything out in order to put his wife in the spotlight. Milla Jovovich herself is a great actress and she even shows it in the movies themselves. It's just that her Mary Sue scripts were just too much. Anyway, I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable by talking about the movies any further so I'll move on from here lol.
And yes, I actually tried my best in keeping Woods and Mason their original selves from BO1 & BO2, but also not make them the most overpowered characters that they are known to be, gameplay-wise as well hahaha. Not that I could even make them OP if I wanted to since they are already in their 60s by 1998 so they wouldn't be the same as they were twenty years back. Not to mention the fact that I'm trying to make every character as grounded as possible so as to not make them feel any less real than they need to be. Also, I actually didn't even know there was an actual name for a male version of a Mary Sue lol so thanks for the insight!
No worries about David! I will try to pair him with someone and if not, I'll try to give subtle hints of the person he'd actually end up liking, but may never have the chance to be together; a bit like how Leon and Ada's relationship works lol. Again, I'm no expert in the romance field, but I will at least give it a try. There's always a first time for everything so prepare to be satisfied or disappointed. XD
And yep, the whole Enrico thing had to play out exactly as it did unfortunately for him and everyone else. :P

Recommended BGM

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

2. Resident Evil (Remake) - Underground

3. Resident Evil (Remake) - Lisa's Lair

Chapter 24

Barry and Alex have been gone for too long.

Jill had no clue how extensive the underground tunnels were, but from what she'd seen, they all looked alike. The duo could be lost, trying to find their way back. Or they might've bumped into the murder and…

They may not be coming back at all.

If anything, despite being a new recruit, Alex was one of the best on the STARS team and he wouldn't let anything happen to either of them. Then again…

I can't just sit here and do nothing.

She stood up, taking a deep breath as she took one last look at the Bravo leader's pale face. She silently gave him a farewell and wished him peace before walking away. However, she couldn't shake off the final words that he uttered to them.

Double-crosser…

It was obvious enough that someone must've been following them and managed to shoot Enrico somehow, catching everyone by surprise. He pointed his gun in Alex's direction, so the killer was almost right behind him. Or Alex may have been the traitor himself, but the killer could've been an accomplice and—

No… that wouldn't make sense. Why would—

That machinery sound from earlier… could it have been the murderer coming in our direction?

She thought about who exactly could've been the killer. Chris and Frank were ruled out since both of them had been so convinced that something seriously wrong was going on from the start. Plus, considering the whole POW story Frank told her and Chris about, it was enough to convince her he couldn't possibly be the traitor, added to the fact that he also had an informant telling them both that a traitor could very well be among them. Barry and Alex were also automatically ruled out since both of them were with her the moment Enrico got shot and none of them had their weapons directly pointed at him. She couldn't think it was the youngest rookie since she seemed like the timid type and she would rant about how good of a captain, Enrico was to her. Not to mention Brad Vickers wasn't the type to go through anything dangerous. Kevin, Joseph, and Kenneth were dead - which then leaves Edward Dewey, Richard Aiken, Forest Speyer, and Albert Wesker.

However, none of them seemed likely, which made her shudder even more considering just about everyone she had met in STARS was all friendly and nice to her. If a traitor was among them, they were an exceptionally convincing person.

However, this didn't mean that she doubted Umbrella could have one of the STARS in their pockets. It was a real possibility and she had to be extremely cautious about it. For all she knew, it could also be more than just one person being involved.

When she got to the door, she quickly leaned down and tightened her damp boot laces, trying to mentally prepare herself at the same time.

Whoever had shot the Bravo captain could have just as easily taken one of them out as well, but since they hadn't, she could only imagine that they weren't looking for any more targets to kill. Though she had to assume that they could still be in the underground system. She'd need to be as quiet as possible since the rocky walls were perfect sound conductors, amplifying even the tiniest sounds possible.

She slowly opened the metal door, listening to anything in the room before a few footsteps were heard soon after, heading in her direction. Without hesitation, she kicked the door open and aimed her gun directly in front of her, only to realize it was simply Barry Burton, walking towards her, his expression seemingly grim.

"Barry," she said quickly out of concern as she put her weapon down. "Are you alright? Where's Alex?"

"I'm fine. He uh…" Barry hesitated for a moment before continuing on. "He's still chasing after that bastard who shot Enrico. Alex told me to go with you and check out the elevator here where the murderer could've come from. See what he was up to down below."

"What he was up to? You mean, the killer is a male?" She responded with a confused gaze fixated on him.

Barry's voice began to shake ever so slightly. "Yeah, I mean— we did get a glimpse on them before they went out of view and they were definitely male."

At least she wasn't far off when she ruled out Rebecca as being the traitor, but that was as far as she could go now. The possibility of anyone else being the traitor was still there as most of the STARS members were all male. The real question was, why did Barry not go and let her know about what was going on beforehand? It's possible he just came back from the chase after being told by Alex to come back here and get her up to date but at the same time, he was not breathing as heavily as one would expect after coming back from a chase.

Before she could even say a word to him, Barry motioned at the elevator, which was now at the center of the room where the large gaping hole was. "Let's get down there and see what we can find down below. I'm sure there's gotta be something they might've left behind as incriminating evidence against them or Umbrella themselves."

Jill nodded. She was hesitant to follow up with the idea of leaving Alex behind to do the chasing himself. Still, she immediately began to wonder exactly what was the killer doing down below even before Alex seemingly got here first as he faced the monstrosity that still laid flat on its back next to the elevator.

With one final sigh, she stepped on the elevator alongside Barry. It wasn't long before a low, grinding rumble reverberated through the heavy stone walls as dust began to fall just about everywhere in the room, a sound like something massive was moving.

What could possibly make the whole underground move like that? An earthquake? A giant monster?

"What the hell?!" Barry exclaimed, his balance almost lost as he tried to walk towards the controls as Jill grabbed onto the elevator's grating, looking at Barry with a worried expression.

After several seconds, it suddenly stopped. Jill shuddered, remembering the falling ceiling of that room in the main house. The tunnels could be rigged as well. The thought of being crunched to death by a bizarre mechanism underground…

Possibly where that pit was next to the hexagonal hole? Has Alex somehow fallen victim to it when chasing down the killer?

Ridiculous! It couldn't possibly be…

"Jill? You alright?" Barry snapped her out of whatever trance she was in. Jill hadn't realized she was lost in thought about the horrible possibilities that could've come with the rumble all over the place.

"Y-yeah… It's just - do you think Alex is okay?" Her voice was shaky, but she at least tried to compose herself in the end.

"He may be one of Bravo's rookie STARS members, but he's basically a one-man army. I'm sure he's fine," Barry reassured her.

He was right. The guy had a big reputation behind him, alongside Frank Woods and both of them had to be okay somewhere in this terrible place. They had to be…

She desperately wanted to know if the mechanism she saw earlier was the culprit of the whole shaking underground, but something in her gut told her that whatever place the elevator would lead to may have more answers waiting for them to uncover. Maybe Enrico's murderer had his lair set up somewhere deep underground.

Barry continued towards the controls, seemingly almost unfazed by what just happened recently. The machinery around them soon came back to life as the whole lift shook before it began descending further into the depths of the dark underground cave system.

The last utility light on the elevator began to flicker and just less than a few seconds later, everything around them was completely enveloped in darkness. There were no utility lights anywhere in the passing rocky walls. None of them had any flashlights with them as Jill had lost hers during their first encounter with the dogs from the forest and Barry dropped his carelessly when dealing with one of the monsters from the mansion itself. Both of them kept quiet along the way until the elevator's hum came to a sudden stop with a loud metal creak from the chains holding it in place. They had arrived at another section of the underground.

Rushing water was heard relatively close to their position. There were at least a few utility lights placed elsewhere behind them and one above a door to their right where the controls to the elevator were. However, before they could even begin to step out of the elevator, a low moaning sound was heard inside the only lit door that they were now facing directly. Has the murderer imprisoned someone here? Or was it…

"That sound…" Barry said in an estranged voice as he slowly raised his custom magnum as a precaution. "Could be …a person? Someone may need help around here," Barry quickly turned his attention to Jill as he continued in a low whisper. "Jill, go check it out. I'll stay here and secure our escape route in case something happens. We had enough surprises for one day already."

Jill nodded. "Okay."

She quickly reached the door and slowly began opening it as she raised her Samurai Edge with the other hand, ready for anything. Though as she entered through what seemed to be another maze inside the cave system, she managed to hear the elevator rumble at a distance through the stone walls, much as they had earlier before encountering an injured Enrico. She quickly thought something may have happened to Barry the second she left him, so she rushed back to where they once were.

"Barry!" She yelled out of concern …and anger all at once.

Much to her shock, Barry had managed to ditch her behind as he stared back down from the rising elevator, Jill being able to see a glimpse of his blank expression. If she wasn't incredibly bewildered then, she was now. Was Barry the actual "double-crosser"? Or was he simply an unknown accomplice?

What the hell, Barry?! Why?

She wanted it not to be true at all, but the facts didn't lie to her. Barry had left her down here, either to be kept as another prisoner or for something much more sinister. She should've known from the start, but didn't want to be so quick into jumping to conclusions. He was one of the nicest and most honest people she's ever met in her life, it was hard to imagine him as a traitor or even an accomplice.

Maybe he had already gotten rid of Alex? Or was Alex also a part of…

After all, Jason Hudson did say to watch out for Alex himself, a guy who Frank had trusted almost all his life. Even with all of this in mind, all signs were still pointing at Barry.

But if Barry really was an accomplice, why would he let Enrico get killed? Both he and Barry were pretty much inseparable family friends and it was perplexing to think that Barry would let his murder happen out of the blue like that if he knew it beforehand.

At this point, she simply wanted to find another way out and this time, not give Barry a chance to give out a multitude of excuses he may have under his sleeve and confront him, regardless of what he has to say for himself first. She was saddened, confused, and angry, mixed with other emotions she could not be bothered to understand now.

Filled with growing rage and resentment, she pressed on.

The cave system here was no different than the one above. Trying to clear her mind in a maze like the one she was seemingly in, didn't help matters at all. Turn after turn, it simply kept going in one direction, hoping it wasn't going to branch out to different paths as she could easily become lost.

Then a door suddenly opened from elsewhere and a gruesome scream was followed after. She had almost completely forgotten about the low moan they have heard earlier and it could be the same person struggling for help. A rattle of distant chains was heard dragging on the ground as bare footsteps thumped against the rocky ground.

"Hello?" She said in a quick but low voice, though quickly regretting it as she did not know what she could be up against. Sure, it could be an actual person having been a prisoner down here for God knows how long, but at the same time, it could've been something else entirely as the chained crimson zombie from the crypt was put in mind.

Shuddering at the thought, she held her Beretta tightly in her hands as she slowly walked towards a path that was now split in two.

Great, now I'm officially going to get lost in here. Thanks a lot, Barry…

The bare footsteps echoed ever so closely and to her left, a dark figure had now suddenly come into view through the dim light above her.

It seemed like a woman hunched down with both hands tied up in thick shackles. Their clothing was almost ripped to shreds and what was left of their humanity stopped there. Various faces of many different people were attached all over her head and back. Her own skull was partially exposed as her only yellow eye was looking directly at Jill with a deep murderous stare. Their body had almost no skin and part of their ribcage was exposed through their clothing. A rather large disturbing, bloodshot eyeball could be seen from behind her back, staring at the blank space in the dark cave from where she'd come from.

Jill was in total shock as her eyes widened in absolute horror. Who could've done such a thing to someone like them? What made them become the way they are now? Were they a former killer or another victim taken to this place? Had Barry known what was waiting for her down here and tried to get rid of her by using the monster to his advantage?

The piercing scream pulled Jill out of her paralyzing trance as protruding tentacles started to violently erupt from her back through the empty orifices of the skinned faces of its potential victims. The monster itself was too horrendous to see any longer and so Jill quickly began firing at it, backing down towards the other path that was on her right as the rain of bullets hit the monster towards its covered face. Blood and puss began to spray all around it, the hunched monster still screaming at her in both pain and rage, the screeching sound echoing around her, filling her with mortal terror.

She fired again and again as it began to slowly rush towards her, raising her thick restraints as it prepared for an incoming attack. The bullets tore through its flesh, blood coiling away, but much to her horror, its flesh slowly began regenerating small lost tissue after a certain amount of seconds passed through each shot, making disgusting wet sounds as it did.

How is that even possible?!

Click. Click. Click.

No more bullets. She didn't have time to reload her weapon before it could manage to hit her violently with the sharp edges of its restraints as the thing inched closer to her. She knew she had to move away quickly. She managed to run all the way to the other side of the path she was now in, hoping she had put enough distance away from the monster in chains.

As she ejected her empty magazine and inserted a new one, she began to wonder whether or not it was worthwhile to put it out of its misery. She had already wasted an entire clip on that thing and yet it was as if she was merely poking her with a wooden stick. The path she took had led her to a small open space, filled with crates and barrels that had gunpowder in them. She thought about using them as explosives against the monster itself, but considering how damp the entire place was, they'd be of no use at all. There was a door nearby, but it was blocked off by even more heavy barrels.

The moaning and screaming from the monster itself made her body shiver to the core and considering how an entire clip did almost nothing to it at all, she unstrapped her shotgun and prepared to see whether or not it would have any considerable effect on it. She descended down a set of stairs as she backed away from the corner she had come in from. Just as she stood her ground, the masked monster revealed itself once more, tentacles still protruding across its back through the faces of its victims.

Jill waited for the right moment, her heart pounding ever so loudly as her anxiety levels rose to astronomical heights. She tried finding comfort in the solid, balanced weight of the shotgun itself, but her body couldn't stop shaking no matter what she'd do right now. Her aim trembled within her grip, but at least with a shotgun, it didn't matter much since aiming it in a general direction would be enough to throw anything to bits if they ever got too close. As the monster waged in a feral rage, coming closer to her location, she fired, the roaring deafening sound echoing throughout the chambers of the underground as pellets punctured through just about everywhere within its head, chest, and elongated arms.

The knockback was too great for the monster as it backed away in response, though still determined to attack her no matter the circumstance. The screeching scream of the monster only grew by the second and Jill fired again, trying not to hear that terrible scream on a loop. Jill didn't care if she winded up deaf at this point. She simply wanted to get that monster out of the way and silence it for good. The second wave of pellets managed to puncture through some of the masks it was wearing, revealing more of its exposed face, looking far more hideous than before.

What seemed to be like a former woman, her scalp was partially missing, but the sewn masks covered what was already gone and her dirty blonde hair was mostly intact. Jill fired once again, hoping to put the monster down for good, but it only managed to drive the chained mutated woman to an intense animalistic fury, almost as if it was trying to yell at her to stop being a nuisance to her. Jill backed away in both disgust and terror but tripped on another set of stairs she didn't see coming, hurting herself on her back and knees as she accidentally dropped the Winchester on the ground behind her.

The chained monster took this opportunity and stretched out a pair of tentacles to hit Jill almost violently on her waist and right thigh, putting a couple of bruises on her before she could even get back on her feet, making her yell out in pain.

Seeing that it wasn't going to allow her to escape just as easily, she unholstered her Beretta to begin shooting at it in mere desperation. However, she was caught off-guard as one of its tentacles managed to grab a hold of both of Jill's hands and lifted her up in the air, trying to wiggle herself free.

Having become hopeless, all she could do was look at her now-soon-to-be killer as it began to closely monitor her body and then stared directly at her overall facial features as if it was now trying to see whether she was worthy of its gruesome collection of faces on its head and back.

Closing her eyes and preparing for her terrible fate, Jill waited in fear, feeling sad and betrayed for what Barry had done to her.

BAM. BAM. BAM.

Loud gunshots echoed throughout the cave network. The creature was apparently shot on its tentacles as it could no longer hold a grip on her hands and Jill found herself dropped to the ground, becoming somewhat dazed.

Was that… Barry? Has he finally come to his senses?

She looked behind her and through her struggling vision, it was a tall man in the shadows. It couldn't have been Barry since the shots didn't come from a revolver and the man did not have the wide broad shoulders that he is known to have. Before she could even take a closer look to see who it really was, their familiar, rough voice erupted.

"Move! Get the hell out of there!"

"Frank!"

Jill did not question how or why he ended up here and immediately went to his location, grabbing her shotgun along the way as she felt a sudden wave of immediate relief.

"I'm sorry, Lisa," said Woods with a slight hint of sorrow in his shaky voice as he moved closer for a clear shot. "You leave me no other choice."

"...Lisa?" Jill looked back at Frank, confused as to how he knows about the thing's name. Then, she remembered the main glass artwork from the gallery room with the same name.

Could it be the same woman?

Woods pumped in several more shots at Lisa but did virtually nothing to stop her from rushing at them in feral rage. Becoming aware of the futile actions against her, Woods quickly pointed at the back door behind them.

"We can play twenty questions later, let's go!" He demanded as Jill nodded and held the door open for Woods to quickly enter. As soon as he stepped foot inside, Jill made sure to lock the door with a deadbolt that was attached in front of it.

Both of them waited for some time to pass as the monster hissed and screamed in the background, angered that they have managed to get away and before long, its footsteps echoed further away until they were heard no more.

Jill stretched herself, trying to endure some of the pain she was now feeling after the sudden wave of adrenaline had passed out.

"You alright?" Said Frank out of concern. "Where's Redfield? Thought he was with you."

Jill continued to stretch for another moment before halting to take a small breath and proceeded to tell him.

"I'm alright. Chris went to check out another area in the courtyard while I took the underground passage through a man-made waterfall. That's where I found Barry and—"

She looked up at him, the only lightbulb above them shining enough for her to finally be able to clearly see Frank's overall appearance. He seemed to be completely soaked in water from the chest down. His face seemed mentally beaten up. His forehead was moderately bruised and had spots of blood just above his green bandana as if he had endured some kind of head injury and yet somehow, he looked as though none of his injuries bothered him at all.

"Frank, your head…" she said worriedly. "What happened to you?"

"That thing landed a good hit on me," he said almost too casually. "Didn't hear her coming, considering I was too busy reading some… tragic shit that happened to her and her family. Umbrella did the same thing to her and her family that they did to my team, only instead of weeks, it was years; decades! She was only around twelve years old. Who the fuck does that to a little girl!?"

Jill slowly widened her eyes in horror. She couldn't believe Umbrella would go that far to do experiments on children themselves. Then again, they have allowed children to die outside near the Raccoon Forest and have done little to nothing, even after the monsters from the mansion have been expanding their territory almost further into the city limits itself.

She then looked at Frank once again, not knowing what else to tell him, other than to give a mere sympathetic look about everything he had just told her about Lisa. Though after a while, she grew confused as to how he got down here and whether or not he knew about Barry's sudden display of betrayal.

"So… how did you get down here?" She inquired curiously. "Did Barry send you to your death as well?"

Frank raised an eyebrow at her. "What? Why would he - is he behind all this?!"

Jill sighed, trying to compose herself and not let her emotions get to her.

"Listen, I don't know the full story here, but— Enrico has just been murdered by someone we now know it's a traitor. Before he died, he pointed his gun in Alex's general direction and called him a 'double-crosser'. It wasn't any of them that killed him, but… since Barry left me stranded here from the only elevator that could lead us back to the surface, it's safe to assume he's most likely an accomplice to whoever is the traitor in STARS. Alex… he— I don't know Frank, but…"

Frank didn't immediately respond. Instead, he lowered his head down in defeat and immediately kicked the wall right next to him in a blind haze of fury, cursing loudly.

"DAMMMIT!"

Jill didn't know what else to tell him, but she proceeded on as to what else had she known so far, noticing that even if Frank was the supposed traitor, he wouldn't be reacting the way he is right now. It was now surprising to her that even though she knew, or thought she knew about Barry longer than Frank himself, she now trusted him more than Barry.

"Alex had disappeared elsewhere to 'chase down the killer' according to Barry. I can't say for certain whether or not Alex is also involved in this entire scheme himself but if he is, then..."

Frank's expression became even more grim, seeing that their current situation was now progressing even worse than before. After a few moments, he took out the same device that Hudson had given him back at the station. It looked completely wet. Despite its condition, he showed it to her nonetheless.

"Hudson told us not to trust anyone in STARS, even Mason himself as he feared that he may have been secretly brainwashed once again, not by the Russians, but this time, by Umbrella themselves," he then turned on the micro-computer and much to Jill's surprise, the small screen came back to life, confirming the device to be entirely waterproof. He scrolled over to one of Hudson's notes as he clicked on a file that was filled with various text inside and handed the device over to Jill. "Have a look."

Jill began to read, her hands becoming slightly shaky as a response to what she was about to uncover.

June 30th, 1998

Frank contacted me earlier today. He said he and Alex are joining up with STARS to investigate possible connections to the Angola Incident. I told him not to go through with this, but he insisted.

I learned from my past mistakes. Trying to convince a stubborn bastard like Frank is almost an arduous, impossible task. The last time it happened, I had to pull a gun on him in order to prevent him from using me as a punching bag. Even though we haven't met in person in years, I simply went along with their final decision nonetheless.

Once I'm done taking care of business, I will call it in and go to the city myself.

July 9th, 1998

I arrived in Raccoon City for the time being. Mason and Woods don't know it yet and I rather keep it that way. The security cameras around the city have a faint light that, when focusing on a certain person or thing, lits up in a subtle way. I have little to no doubt that the CIA or some other third party is monitoring me every step of the way. I have to be quick and careful.

July 11th, 1998

I set up a safe house in an abandoned warehouse at Uptown Raccoon. No one knows I'm here, but I can't stay in the city any longer than I need to so precautions need to be taken.

July 18th, 1998

I did some thorough digging this past week and according to my sources, STARS was funded by a corporation called Umbrella.

Umbrella Inc. is a pharmaceutical company almost widely known throughout Raccoon City. The company has since expanded its subsidiaries across the globe over the past thirty years, such as Umbrella Pharmaceuticals, Paraguas Line Company, and Umbrella Industries. However, these subsidiaries did not come without their dark mysteries.

Each of them is responsible for developing and transporting rumored illegal bio-organic weapons; something even Mason had mentioned hearing about during the Amazon mission in '92. At the time, we did not know anything about an Umbrella Corporation. Now the dots seem to connect and both Woods and Mason seem to be right on the money about this.

Since Umbrella USA is headquartered here in Raccoon City and has a mansion as part of something more sinister, I fear Umbrella may be tracking them discreetly and if what my sources have said were true, we are all in grave danger.

July 20th, 1998

After years of silence, I finally received an email from John Trent. He told me that there is a mole inside STARS and that said mole may most likely compromise Mason with those damn numbers again. He also sent me a copy of the Spencer Mansion's blueprints and layouts. He then added, "be careful as Kravchenko has been spotted inside the city recently."

This meant that if Umbrella and Kravchenko have any underlying connections together, there is a chance that he may have sent Dragovich's research on those numbers directly to Umbrella. Fucking Russian knows how to fatten his pockets.

I'm not sure how Trent knows all this information, but one thing is certain - if he knows we are here, anyone else not on our side may know as well.

July 21st, 1998

I decided to take matters into my own hands and managed to sneak inside Frank and Alex's place after Frank went to pick up Alex from his shift. Bastards have the place almost just as messy as every other living space they previously had. Guess some things never change.

After going under every nook and cranny inside the house, I found at least five different tracking devices, one of them being in Mason's room, which had the ability to transmit audio as well. Was Trent right all along? Have they been trying to brainwash Mason yet again? I have to know more…

July 23rd, 1998

STARS have been called for a meeting today. Both Frank and Alex are going to the station a few hours from now. Once I let any of them know about my findings, I'm getting the hell out of the city. It's going to be risky meeting them in person, but this is the only opportunity I have to help shed some light on all this.

Frank, Alex… if any of you are both reading this, I pray nothing bad will happen to any of you. You are all like my brothers and even if I don't show it as often, I deeply care for you both.

May God bless us all…

Jill felt her throat dry up quickly. Everything inside the little machine made sense; from Umbrella developing illegal bio-organic weapons, to spying on STARS from the very beginning. If anything, she may have her own place rigged with tracking devices as well as everyone else in STARS who do not have the best of intentions within Umbrella's mind.

And Alex possibly becoming brainwashed? Has Barry also happened to have the same fate as him? And what did Jason mean by "the damn numbers"?

Jill shuddered at the terrible thoughts circling inside her mind and quickly gave the device back to Frank, not wanting to see it any longer. Umbrella has been the main problem from the start and from what she has heard and read, they've been at it with their horrible experiments for as much as over thirty years with almost no repercussion as well, making her blood boil at the thought.

Frank then broke the silence between them. "Now you understand why we can't trust anyone until we are damn sure who the mole really is?"

Jill nodded. "Let's look for a way out first and then we can worry about this later."

"No need," he said as he took out an octagonal-shaped emblem similar to the one they've seen at the mansion's back exit. "I found this at the back room from here across a flooded section of this weird dollhouse lair. There's a way up from there and with this, we can go back to the main building at the main hall and put two of these emblems on the depressions of each gate underneath the main staircase. There's a high chance that the tunnels below may lead to Umbrella's underground lab."

"Then let's not waste any time," she responded, filled with renewed determination as she hurried past him. Woods nodded and followed immediately after.