Recommended BGM:

1. Resident Evil (Remake) & Director's Cut (DualShock Ver.) - Contaminated/B3 Laboratory

2. Resident Evil (1996) - Wesker's Theme

3. Resident Evil (1996) & Director's Cut (DualShock Ver.) - (SPOILER NAME) Watch for BOLD TEXT below

Chapter 29

Chris found a dropped videotape covered in dried spots of brown blood and a custom STARS Benelli M3 shotgun, the same one he had seen on Frank since they last met. With these items, he was bewildered that no one seemed to be inside anywhere in the labs. The Visual Data Room was a mess of its own as if someone had violently thrown everything off the table, but again, no signs of Frank, which had him more worried since then.

Hope you're not dead too…

He had checked to see what was on the videotape that was dropped near the stairs down to B3 and inside the security room, he found out that it was a tape that belonged to Kenneth Sullivan, showing the last moments of his life, shooting at the same bullet-riddled zombie from before on that same narrow corridor of the mansion. The poor guy ran out of ammo in his magazine seconds later before getting ambushed and eaten alive. He figured Frank was the one who had the videotape with him, presumably by scavenging what was left of Ken after those same shots were heard in the main hall of the mansion.

Uncertain about Frank's fate, he pressed on, still clinging to the hope that the old man was still alive somewhere.

Chris had eased into the streaming, hissing room, a thick smell of grease permeated in the heated air. It looked as though it was some kind of boiler room. A really big one as well. The noise inside was almost too deafening, the hot air filled with heavy sounds of thrumming machinery. Industrial pipes made at least three different aisles, the catwalk winding to multiple paths that had massive turbines spinning and pounding on the ceiling, generating power steadily as the dark corners of hidden ducts spat out massive amounts of steam at short intervals. To his right was a small blazing fire that looked like a massive furnace.

The lighting of the room was dead and dull. Carefully, he walked slowly around the corner of the nearest walkway, hoping there weren't going to be any surprises waiting for him to happen. After all, he had learned that the hard way when he was caught by Plant 42 and it nearly cost him his life. Not to mention Richard died an unnecessary death that could've been prevented, had Chris been more careful at the time.

From where he stood, he could tell it was going to be another maze to go through. However, the map he had did not show anything about the interiors of the lab itself, other than the actual location of the heliport.

So much for the easy way out.

Chris deduced that the machinery around him had to be the actual source of the mansion's power or the entire complex for that matter. It would explain how they managed to keep the entire thing a secret for so long, having their own little town out here, completely autonomous.

Probably had their own stash of food shipped in as well.

He turned around to face the whole narrow walkway in front of him, carefully on his guard either to not get ambushed by Wesker himself, or more of those strange, brittle zombies he had seen and dealt with in the corridors of B3. The path seemed clear; no zombie, no spider, no green alien, no Wesker. Somehow, even with the deafening sounds of the machinery around him, he was still feeling uneasy, almost like someone or something else was watching him.

And he wasn't far from the truth.

Chris felt a violent slash rip through his vest and undershirt, scraping his left shoulder on the bare skin beneath.

Chris ducked and spun, aiming the shotgun in the direction he thought it might've been Wesker trying to catch him by surprise. No one was behind him.

"Show yourself, Wesker!" He shouted at the air around him, the hissing machines barely making his voice audible to even hear it himself. "I know you're behind all this!"

A huge hairy limb stretched out to grab him towards the ceiling, suspending him in the air as the thing that grabbed him pulled his whole head towards its own, and Chris was now met face to face with a creature he had never seen before.

White, glowing eyes and a large flat head, resembling that of an insect's rather than a human head, it hissed at him loudly before it prepared to expose Chris' neck, seemingly ready to slash it off or decapitate him completely with its other free limb, the shape of a pair of small blades on its claws.

Chris panicked as he tried wiggling his way out, but feeling the strength of whatever vicious creature it was that wanted to kill him, he dropped the shotgun, unholstered his custom Beretta, and began firing directly at the creature's mouth in a desperate attempt to save himself from its grasp. The bullets tore through its hairy, hideous face, making it drop him to the ground as it began to ooze thick blood out of the bullet-hole wound in its gaping mouth, the creature still hanging in the grated ceiling.

I had enough of Umbrella's playthings!

As he immediately picked up the shotgun, there was a small glimpse of a door at the end of the narrow walkway and Chris wasted no time sprinting toward it, heart racing, the pounding hum of the pipes and generators thundering in his ears, making him incapable of hearing the mutant creature that could still be after him.

He was only a few feet away before the panels of the ventilation shafts above the walls ahead dropped violently to the ground and more moving silhouettes positioned themselves both above and straight in front of him.

More of them!

Two more of those terrible-looking creatures were overhead, one of them crouched almost close to a small-sized ball before standing up again, limbs stretched as vicious, curving bladed hooks, and the monster now looked like a deadly combination of a tall ape and an enlarged fly.

Is there any limit as to how much more hideous can they make a living thing be?

The creature that had him in its grasp before suddenly came right behind him from the ceiling once again, this time, swiping at him with its bladed arms as it hung by its clawed feet from the grating itself.

Chris instinctively managed to duck just in time and fired the shotgun at the creature above him. The monster screeched as the blast hit it in its chest. The creature fell dead to the ground as maggots began to crawl on top of Chris' shoulders and hair before quickly wiping them away in complete disgust.

With the door ahead blocked by two of some of the most hideous creatures, not even mother nature could possibly create on its own, Chris ran back toward the entrance, being able to hear the subtle clatter of claws hurrying to his location just behind him.

Another ventilation shaft above the wall in front burst open, revealing another one of those monkey-like aberrations swinging across the grating as it leaped in front of him, and Chris ducked once again, afraid to stop and look at his own back. The creature's human-sized bladed limb made a small whistle past his right ear, missing his head and face by about less than an inch.

The pair of metal doors from where he first came in was now in front of him. Chris pushed himself into them, pulling one handle down, and crashed down back into the cold, humid stillness of the corridor. He hurried to the door behind him and finally shut it down furiously, the hissing of both machinery and the strange creatures now silent inside of the corridor, never to be heard again.

He leaned and sagged against the door, gasping for air as he was glad it was finally over, and no way in hell would he ever decide to come back in there ever again.

As he laid his back to rest, he found himself face to face with Barry Burton, who was standing just above the small staircase midway through the chilled, humid corridor. He hurried towards him, an expression of both relief and worry etched on his seemingly exhausted bearded face.

"Oh thank God I finally found you! Rebecca told me all about what happened with Richard. I'm sure you did everything you could. Are you alright, buddy?"

Chris pushed himself away from the door, surprised, but happy to see him. However, the mention of Richard kept him from giving off a positive expression. "Yeah… I'm fine, thanks. I'm glad to see you're alive at least. Captain Wesker is behind all this. He has been playing with us the whole time since the murders began!"

Barry merely stared at him, almost grimly. "So I was told. He has been playing with us, all right."

Chris took out the charred envelope silently and handed it over to Barry. "This is how we both found out about his betrayal and how the rest of the complex all connect here to this lab."

As his old friend read the papers that were inside, Chris began staring at him thoughtfully. He began to notice the dark splatters of blood around his clothing and a pair of medium-sized tears around his shoulder and waist, realizing he must've fought one of those weird-looking green alien creatures that had huge talons on each of their limbs, some of which had encrusted blood on them. He was glad he didn't have to fight any of them along the way and he hoped it stayed that way for as long as they were still living.

Speaking of… AH!

Chris touched his left shoulder and looked at it closely, his vest and sleeve somewhat drenched in blood. The cuts he received from the abominations in the boiler room were painful but seemed shallow. Compared to how close he was to getting slashed around his jugular, he was grateful that was all he had to endure.

"Sounds about right," said Barry, almost as if he knew the exact timing of Chris' thoughts. "I mean… he did one hell of a job at playing the good guy all along but somehow, I'm not at all surprised, considering—-"

Barry paused as if he was about to say something rather critical but immediately stopped himself before doing so. Chris raised an eyebrow, holding onto Jill's words with what she said about Barry acting strange, and she was seemingly not far from the truth.

"Nevermind," he said hesitantly, dismissing his train of thought before handing the papers and envelope back to Chris and continuing on. "Anyway, I found some evidence in the lab that says they're cultivating something strange; a biological weapon of some kind. Says there are also high-tech computers containing files in the lower level that we can use to really nail'em."

Barry didn't seem all too intrigued by the find, which caught Chris by surprise even further. He'd known Barry for so long, enough to know that Barry should be feeling more positive about finally being able to crack down the case about the murderers and disappearances occurring around the outskirts of Raccoon City. The fact that he seemed more depressed than ever was… worrisome, but not as surprising all the same since Chris was sure that Barry had seen and been through so much this whole night, just as much as everyone else here have been across the estate grounds.

Or maybe, he had already found the rest of the team, dead, and does not want to tell me about it. God, I hope not…

However, Chris wasn't going to pass the opportunity of looking for and collecting these damning files and if Wesker really had a huge hand in all of this, it'll be the end of both him and Umbrella themselves.

We'll be able to find out a lot more about everything, from the virus that caused all this, to the wide range of conspiracy theories finally becoming tested hypotheses. We can present all this to the FBI, stopping Umbrella once and for all…

Chris slowly grinned, finally nodding. "Lead the way, Bear."

Rebecca was still shaken up after what the taller man of the Alpha team had told her about earlier.

Lisa…

She remembered the journal that Richard found back in the mansion's secret room at the bar. The monster that Barry talked about was George Trevor's daughter, having been alive after all this time, turned into a monstrosity that Umbrella had made her become due to possibly endless amounts of experimentation done to her over the past thirty years in confinement.

Rebecca couldn't even begin to imagine the amount of emotional damage she had endured, living alone, imprisoned, and tortured by a corporation that was driven only by greed for a high profit in the biological field.

She had told Barry about her findings back at the guardhouse, including Richard's horrible fate, the image of his ripped corpse kept haunting her mind over and over again.

Trying to clear off her mind for a bit, she decided to at least go and check out B2 and see how big the entire lower level was. It's been a couple of minutes since the last Alpha left the room and several minutes since Chris had told her to stay put. She was willing to stay behind, to make sure she'd be able to survive and expose the truth should she end up being the only survivor, but she also wasn't keen on becoming bored and doing nothing while waiting for anything to happen in the silent entrance of the lab.

Growing tired of looking at the small environment around her, she proceeded to check the room below the narrow opening where a ladder was put in place. In the room below, there wasn't anything out of the ordinary. At least no dead viral creature of any kind so far. The double doors ahead were already opened, and she guessed it was either Chris or Barry that had left them open, most likely being in a hurry.

With her weapon tightened in her grip, she leaned forward and darted left and right, only to see a long corridor stretching across a small opening to the right, filled with small puddles of murky water.

Trying not to step on them, she slowly walked her way around them, almost finding herself shimming to the wall on her right side, until she reached a railing, seeing a couple of emaciated corpses over near the staircase that looked almost nothing like any of the zombies she's seen from the mansion altogether.

Better not go down there. Just gonna search this floor. That's it.

She slowly walked forward and quickly peeked to a left corner of the hallway before heading in, seeing another pair of metal doors open. It led to a room that was filled with various documents on the ground and a damaged slide projector, which she couldn't turn on for as much as she hoped it was able to.

Seeing that the dropped documents could offer up anything useful, she picked them up, one by one, trying to see if any of them could provide a direct link to Umbrella's involvement with the production and experimentations of the t-Virus itself.

After reading a few uninteresting subtitled documents, there was one that caught her attention, called "V-ACT". Intrigued, she opened up the file, and inside were various research papers, describing the process of a zombie's mutation after receiving severe trauma to its body or brain. One of them had a note of a researcher named John Clemens. It read as follows:

V-ACT

There is now evidence that when the host loses consciousness, the body goes into a dormant state. During this time, the virus becomes active and rapidly transforms and reconstructs the basic composition of the body.

The host eventually mutated into a humanoid creature. (We call them V-ACTs).

Its speed and amazing muscular development are particularly noteworthy. After transformation, it becomes more agile and aggressive.

Already four of our researchers have died from trying to feed it, turning the place into an instant blood bath. (Ever since this tragic and barbaric accident, we have decided to call its kind "Crimson Heads")

That dangerous and precious prototype specimen can't be left there. We have to figure out a way to deal with it. Termination is definitely not an option.

We finally decided to freeze the specimen and confine the body inside the basement of the backyard cemetery.

Rebecca was disgusted by the fact that instead of killing the creature that was inside what she now knew what the coffin in the crypt housed, those researchers were all too greedy to pass on the opportunity to study it, despite the number of damages they'd already caused and done. It's no wonder why they were all seemingly dead now, their own creations having turned against their favor.

And it was probably for the best too instead of allowing them to study the virus further and potentially infecting the whole city rather than a secluded area in the Arklay Mountains.

After reading up a few more files regarding how the lab itself operates, there was one particular file that caught her attention; a fax to Umbrella's sanitation department. Immediately, she sat down on top of the ruined table and began to read carefully.

FAX

To: Sanitation Division

Attn: Manager of Sanitation

From: Raccoon Disaster Contingency Committee

The contents of this fax are confidential and intended for the named addressee only. Any copying or disclosure of the contents of this fax to any third party is strictly forbidden by the sender.

After reading the contents of this fax, it must be destroyed immediately.

We expect a significant increase in the damage done by the recent T-Virus outbreak than initially estimated. There are several concerns.

First concern:

More than half of the researchers have been infected by the T-Virus and died. It has also been reported that almost all of the survivors of this accident are starting to show symptoms of the T-Virus infection.

Second concern:

Our Secret Security Patrol Team has also been completely eradicated. Therefore, our most secret research is in danger of public disclosure. Quick actions are demanded to prevent mass media coverage.

Third concern:

There is a high possibility that most of the specimens are running loose inside the compound. We expect many casualties to follow.

However, yet unfortunate, these casualties underscore the success of our research results. Actions must be taken to prevent our research results from being made public.

We suspect the first official intervention will come from the State Police and S.T.A.R.S. We strongly recommend taking measures against them first.

Rebecca was in awe.

Even Umbrella's own sanitation team has all been wiped out. They couldn't even cover it up successfully and they knew either the State Police or STARS would try to go after them sooner or later.

In one of the other files she had read, they explicitly mentioned something about using the self-destruct system as a precaution in case of an accident like this arising. With this information in mind, she figured that if the triggering system was to be activated, it could in turn make the whole thing into a first-class emergency, allowing access to the doors leading to the heliport.

And then, we might have a chance at getting out of here by somehow catching Brad's attention! Assuming he's still flying around somewhere…

She knew the entire complex would be destroyed, eradicating any incriminating evidence left behind, but it would also ensure that any possible remnants of the t-Virus itself and its monsters wouldn't spread out their territory any more than they need to.

She collected all the files she could put in her packs. She was about to exit the room and investigate the lab further to search for the self-destruct system, but then she remembered the promise she did to Chris…

She couldn't risk getting captured or killed by Captain Wesker himself and who knows if he had already finished the job with both Chris and Barry…

There were only a little under fourteen minutes left before she had to escape the lab and look for an alternative route. Rebecca wished it wasn't going to come to it, but if it did, she would have to either risk activating the self-destruct sequence herself and call for help that may never come, or risk going through the infested forest that could still be inhabiting those dogs, possibly other unknown infected wildlife, and hope she'd make it through.

Uncertain about her unforeseeable future, she decided to remain inside the room she was in and began to gather more documents that were scattered on the ground, reading many of the subtitles each of them had.

T-Virus side-effects… bio-organic weapons… human and animal DNA hybrids…

Soviet numbers programming research?

Among all the files she had collected, there was one in particular that referred to some sort of numbers research from a Russian named Nikita Dragovich; something about a list of sleeper agents and the many brainwashing techniques made for giving commands against someone's will.

What's all this…?

Jim Krueger, Leslie Sinclair, Eliana Miller, Calvin Dunn…

...Alex Mason?

Rebecca couldn't believe what she was reading.

According to the document, Alex was one of the many sleeper agents, brainwashed to do the Soviet's bidding. It also had a small biography about him underneath his name out of all the other ones.

Shaking and afraid of what she was about to find out, she continued reading on.

Alex Mason

Perhaps having represented the best and worst of the CIA, his impulsive, reckless, and passionate persona has earned him a position within the ranks of the CIA itself, the itch for action only being matched with his relentless will in the face of resistance. Alongside his longtime partner, Frank Woods, he is an operative who will take matters into his own hands, regardless of orders, to see that the job gets done.

His current service record and reputation are mired in controversy, but his effectiveness is indisputable, as classified CIA files have shown throughout.

Mason's history with his position to defend his own beliefs at all costs makes him an unlikely candidate to be susceptible to reactivation in his programming unless extreme measures are to be taken.

Further studies on Soviet research are required to exploit this potential vulnerability.

Umbrella knew from the start who exactly Alex Mason and Frank Woods were, the moment they both joined STARS. This also meant Umbrella may have people within the CIA itself, whether it be spies, moles, or maybe even under the direct pay grade of the US government itself. If that were the case, did they specifically plan their involvement from the very beginning?

And if all of it was true, what did that mean for Alex himself or the rest of the country?

Becoming extremely uneasy and concerned, she continued to look for any more information around the room regarding Dragovich's research on the Soviet brainwashing numbers. She wanted to find out what Umbrella was planning to do with them and if they were really thinking of using Alex as part of their BOW creations…

Barry couldn't begin to fathom the intense amount of guilt and shame he had been feeling since he first saw Chris in the lab, his old friend from the US Air Force. He couldn't even bring himself to look Chris in the eye as they took the elevator down to B4, knowing that he was sending him to a trap, possibly to his death along with Jill and Frank, both of whom were now being held captives.

Wesker and Alex, now knowing that he had been brainwashed by Wesker in ways he still did not understand, would be waiting for them at the lower level, and Chris would find out that the person he thought he could trust the most, had been helping the captain out all along.

Before having entered the lab, he'd killed three more of those green, violent creatures that followed their trail down the tunnels and into Jessica's tomb. Fortunately, there was no mutant Lisa to deal with anymore after having wasted enough time inside and so he had bumped into Rebecca before she told him that Chris went to investigate the lab alone.

But that was before he realized Wesker would be waiting for him, in the main corridors of B3, letting him know that if he wanted his family, Alex's son, and the rest of the surviving team safe once again, he'd have to lure Chris down to B4 and assist him in locking away the Alpha trio. The bastard couldn't stop smiling the entire time as he promised it would be the last thing he and Alex would have to do before he'd call his people off.

Except that's what he kept saying every time. Find the octagonal-shaped emblem and you're free. Help me navigate through the underground, you're free.

Betray your old partner from the Air Force…

"You okay, Barry?"

He turned to him as the elevator hummed to a stop, looking miserably into his concerned, thoughtful eyes.

Chris continued, laying a hand across his arm. "I've been worried about you ever since we first separated at the mansion. Jill even told me that you'd been very uneasy ever since - never mind what she said. You can tell me anything, man. Is there something bothering you?"

Chris' words pierced him with even more guilt inside his conscience. The gates automatically opened and Barry found himself an excuse to look away once again, feeling severely ashamed for what he was about to do.

"I… yeah, there is actually, but… now's not the time," he said quietly. "Let's just get this over with, alright?"

Chris grimaced, but nodded, his face still covered with worry and concern.

"Okay. When this is all over, we can talk about whatever's bothering you."

You won't want to talk to me when this is over…

Barry stepped out into the short hallway, filled with industrial-looking steaming pipes all over the walls, and Chris followed, their boots echoing in the small hallway across the concrete ground.

They turned the corner and Chris froze in shock, staring straight into the muzzle of Alex Mason's raised Beretta. His expression showed almost no human side of his former self; his green eyes held a piercing look of bloodlust inside of him, looking ominous, dreadful, and threatening, his soul lost in a limbo of no empathy or compassion.

"[Wesker's waiting,]" he said lowly, his tone cold and emotionless as he flicked his Beretta and tilted his head to the side at the door behind him.

"Alex?" Chris looked puzzled, not knowing what Alex had just told him, other than Wesker's name, but he knew it wasn't anything good when he motioned to move out inside the room that was behind the door on his back. Chris turned to Barry, startled at the revelation in front of him. He felt confused, saddened, and furious. "...Barry?"

"Sorry, Chris," he said as he grabbed his holstered gun and strapped shotgun, handing it over to Alex, who still had his deadly gaze fixed on Chris, his Beretta firmly aimed directly at his face. "I'd suggest you don't ask questions. Just move and don't do anything clever. Please."

Chris turned his attention back at Alex, unsure why he looked and acted the way he did, besides his physical appearance showing signs of many struggles he may have endured after he had last seen him.

With a subtle huff, he walked past Alex and headed out into the sliding door, now entering a room that housed many unknown creatures inside a series of glass capsules all shaded in green.

It was a huge chamber, lined with monitored consoles and terminals, cables snaking their way across the floor and connecting to a whole series of glass tubes, containing what seemed to be unknown experiments, looking extremely gnarly and disgusting in appearance.

As he was being pushed by the tip of Alex's Beretta, firmly jammed against his back, he walked closer to the other end of the room, seeing the revealing silhouette of the same man that he knew was partly responsible for just about everything that's happened over the past couple of months.

Just ahead was a much larger capsule, and Chris became awed by the aberration in front. But before he could take his time to see what it really was, there was a familiar voice that spoke, catching his attention.

"Chris, no!" A voice echoed across the room, their tone filled with hopelessness and despair.

"Redfield!" Another distressed voice soon followed.

Chris turned to the source of the voices to his left and saw both Jill and Frank tied up underneath a desktop on a metal beam holding them in place, their expressions filled with extreme anger and fear all at once.

"Jill! Frank!"

He was about to rush towards them, before he was immediately stopped by Mason, pulling him harshly back into his place, now aiming his Beretta directly into the back of his head. Barry didn't know what to do himself other than helplessly watch in shame and guilt as the events in front of him began to unfold.

"So, you've finally come," said Wesker calmly. The captain was still busy on the terminal in front of him, injecting himself with something none of them knew what it was. "Chris, you are one tough guy, and that is saying something when you have people like dear'ol Alex and Frank over here."

Chris huffed almost in irritation. "Hmph, thanks…"

His face began to burn in fury and rage as Wesker finally turned around to face the trio behind him, his dark shades still hiding most of his facial features, save for the annoying smile across his partially unhidden face. He was now aiming his Beretta directly at Chris. Barry, Jill, and Frank continued to watch helplessly.

"Since when, Wesker?" Chris said coldly.

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."

"Since when have they been slipping you a paycheck?! And how did you get Alex and Barry on board with you?!"

Wesker walked closer to Chris, almost as though he was about to burst out of laughter.

"Maybe you're a bit confused," he said. "I've always been with Umbrella. As for Alex and Barry, well… I hear that Barry's better half and two lovely daughters will be in danger if he doesn't do everything I tell him to. Alex was also keen to help for a time but I had to do some… adjustments… for his well-being. Not to mention for the sake of his estranged teen-aged son as well."

"What?" Jill's shocked voice echoed across the room. "You… BASTARD!"

Frank's voice followed after, his tone bitter and dark. "How— how the FUCK do you know anything about David?! If you even lay a finger on him, I swear I will—!"

A gunshot was fired almost close to his head. Wesker had fired his gun in his direction as a warning shot.

"I won't be missing next time," said Wesker as if he was interrupted by a child with a temper tantrum. Frank's gaze seemed as though he wanted to kill him by simply staring at him furiously.

Chris kept staring at him in complete disgust and anger. "You are one hell of a loathing asshole."

Wesker grinned widely. "You were right about one thing; the 'paycheck' you mention is huge but Umbrella is already a sinking ship as you can see around here. And as a result, STARS were Umbrella's— No, rather, my little piggies."

Barry clenched his fists silently, his jaw tightening up as his teeth gritted in response to his red haze of rage building up inside him.

Wesker continued. "The Tyrant Virus had leaked, polluting this whole place, and so, unfortunately, I had to give up my fellow members of STARS," he then turned to Barry's defeated and angry expression, as if he was about to taunt him with something extremely aggravating. "Like getting rid of the Bravo captain for one thing."

Barry's blood raged with growing anger, his expression becoming contorted, showing no signs of any calmness around his aura.

Son of a bitch was going to kill us all anyway. Wesker you pathetic trash of a human being…

Chris gasped in shock and terror. "You… you killed Enrico with your own dirty hands?! You SON-OF-A-BITCH!"

Wesker chuckled inwardly. "Oh yes… just like this."

He immediately turned his gun towards Alex and at that very instant, he had shot him at point-blank range without any sort of hesitation, his body toppling and now laying on his back, his eyes seemingly closed forever.

"NO!" Chris turned to try and check up on him but was soon stopped by a smiling Wesker.

"Don't move!" He commanded harshly as the shouts of shock exploded all around them from Barry, Jill, and Frank.

"ALEX!"

"NO...MASON! - I'LL FUCKIN' SKIN YOU ALIVE, WESKER!"

"You promised you weren't going to—!"

"I know what I said, Barry!" Wesker replied back, this time, almost menacingly, his gun still pointed at Chris as he spoke. "Plans changed. Alex was of no use to me anymore. Now go outside and wait for me. I said - now!"

Chris looked back at Barry briefly, his eyes showing signs of sorrow and rage that even Barry had never seen him have before. He then slowly turned his head towards Wesker once again.

"You…" Chris muttered angrily, his expression now completely contorted by the built-up rage inside of him.

Barry had the door closed behind him. However, not only was he feeling ashamed of himself, but was actually terrified for his remaining teammates trapped inside the room with Wesker. He was glad that Rebecca didn't come down here, expose herself, and see the whole mess he had caused. Not to mention Wesker had no idea she was still in the lab somewhere, let alone alive.

Wesker promised this and that, but his words mean nothing. They always meant nothing! If he knew Rebecca was here, he'd probably kill her too along with the rest of the Alphas inside.

What if I just turn on the elevator and send it up without a passenger? Maybe I could still do something to help keep them alive… eavesdrop without anyone knowing…

Barry hurried to the lift, opened the gates, pressed the button to B3, and immediately rushed back outside, causing the elevator to send itself up without anyone inside.

He slowly moved silently to the edge of the door in the hallway and began to listen, peeking through the circular window every now and then.

Wesker chuckled softly. "You gotta love Barry. He must be really afraid of Umbrella. A pity that Alex wasn't the same, but not that it matters anymore."

Barry could barely contain his own emotions just by listening to every word being spoken out of Wesker's mouth. He managed to hear Frank's muffled roar of rage, filled with complete fury and despair, making him feel even more guilty for Alex's fate as he'd known both of them had been close friends for decades.

"How could you and Umbrella do this to him, to Alex, and their families? What gives you the right?!" Chris snarled.

"Umbrella? Well, I used some carrots and sticks to cow them around, but it never had anything to do with Umbrella. All that family stuff was all but a simple lie. I only ever used them for my own personal interests," Wesker chuckled once again for a brief moment, "Funny how all you piggies thought I was directly following Umbrella's orders."

Chris didn't utter a word, but Barry listened to Jill's faint voice inside, his blood boiling in rage even more for Wesker using them with made-up blackmail that never existed in the first place.

"Then what the hell are you planning to do?!" She said almost frantically.

Wesker turned his head in her direction, still having that loathing smug on his face. "I guess it's time for show and tell."

You've said enough!

Barry couldn't stand hearing him any longer. He opened the door suddenly and aimed his revolver fast enough before Wesker was going to activate the huge monstrosity in front of them, shooting his gun off of him first and then again directly into his right shoulder, incapacitating him as he dropped to the ground in pain.

Chris stared at a crippled Wesker for a small moment, feeling extremely satisfied with what just happened to him, before turning his head around and seeing Barry in astonishment.

"Bear?" He said in disbelief.

Barry stared down at Alex's body for a brief moment before his eyes turned to meet Chris. His face was overwhelmed with shame and remorse.

"Forgive— me…"

"Hey, you're not to blame," said Chris, putting a hand over his shoulder, remembering that he was a family man that would do anything to protect his own family, even if he had to betray his closest friends under duress. "It's always been Umbrella and Wesker all along."

Barry switched gazes towards the duo that was still tied up, hurrying to use the knife that was just out of their reach and help Jill and Frank get off of their zip ties that had been restraining them for a long time.

He then began to say something quietly to the three of them, his eyes not being able to meet any of them.

"Even if it meant my family, I couldn't bear turning my back on my friends again," he then looked up at Frank's eyes. They were still filled with anger and rage, but the reflection on his blue eyes showed a window of empathy towards Barry. "I'm so sorry for what happened to Alex, Frank. If only I—"

"Don't beat yourself up, Burton," he said, his tone calmer than the past few minutes Barry has ever heard from him. "You did everything you could to protect your family, as I'm sure Mason did the same for his son as well."

Barry slowly nodded silently as he finished cutting the last zip tie on his legs, letting him go free as Frank rushed to collect their stolen weapons and give them back to their respective owners. Barry now found himself into Jill's gaze, who now had a concerned look on her face rather than the driving emotions of fear and anger that were shown earlier.

"The guys are right, you know?" She murmured. "And I'm happy to see how devoted you are to your family. Just goes to show how much of a good person you really are inside."

Barry didn't say a word as he quickly cut the pair of zip ties, but nodded briefly, almost as though the nod itself would judge him harshly for his recent actions.

Chris stared at the three of them, almost feeling as though he was reminiscing the good times he and the rest of the team had before all this ever began.

That is until he heard Wesker push a button on the terminal as he slowly tried to stand up, laughing almost loudly enough for everyone to hear and stop what they were doing. His gunshot wound was bleeding profusely as Wesker held his hand on it, struggling to get back on his feet.

"You fools…" he said finally as he looked at the huge humanoid creature inside the much bigger lone stasis tank in front of him. "The show …is only just about to begin."

Enraged about what he did to his best friend, Woods immediately rushed toward Wesker and pulled him up by his bloodied uniform as he held him up close, fiercely looking at him with a murderous expression as he punched Wesker on the left cheek and pressed on his bullet wound as hard as he could, making Wesker groan in pain.

"You will finally get what's coming to you, fucker!"

Before Woods was about to take the life force out of him, the sound of draining liquid overwhelmed the entire room around them. Frank let him go for a moment as he turned to see the capsule in front of them, joined by his other teammates. All of the Alphas saw the tank slowly drain as they stared at the abomination in complete shock.

Wesker then laughed weakly.

"The ultimate life-form: Tyrant!"

Frank's former teammate, Pvt. Adrian Brian Serrano, or what was left of him, seemed overall more human than anything else made from the t-Virus itself. However, one of his arms had been altered to become a weapon of its own; a huge cluster of dragging claws that were hanging past his knees, while the other seemed ordinary, proportional to his overall massive size and height. There was a thick, red tumor attached to where his heart would be, realizing it was at least two large individual hearts combined in one, none of them looking proportional to human-sized organs. As the liquid inside drained away past his chest, the massive protruding heart began to pulsate slowly, expanding and contracting in slow rhythmic loud, vibrating beats. Large lines of scar tissue stretched all across his limbs, possibly surgical scars. His right thigh was partially covered in small, tumorous bulbs of pus and exposed flesh. The beast had no sex organs, looking as though they had been cut away. Looking up at his face, there were parts of his flesh that had been removed, the lips completely gone, revealing a wide, terrible red grin, all of its teeth exposed.

Chris laughed almost teasingly, not being able to believe that such a hideous thing could be something to be treasured about.

"You've become a senile man, Wesker," he said defiantly. "Or were you already born this way?"

Wesker limped in front of the Alphas as he continued to stare at the Tyrant in front of them, slowly extending his arms in the air as he let his wound bleed out more, seemingly having almost no care for what Barry had done to him.

"It's… magnificent…" he replied, his tone sounding rather detached.

The Tyrant soon began to move, its left arm that held its cluster of claws came rushing through the glass, shattering and breaking the entire capsule, impaling Wesker through the abdomen as the Tyrant raised him up almost in total humiliation. The beast walked out of its shattered capsule as everyone stepped back in shock, the Tyrant still raising Wesker through its blood-drenched claws before finally throwing his now limp body across the room to where Frank and Jill used to be held hostages. Blood sprayed across the ground through the distance that his body covered and Wesker moved no more. (BGM #3 Tyrant Breaking Loose/Tyrant Breaks Loose)

A cool voice began to follow as the Tyrant now began to menacingly stare at the rest of the STARS team.

"Warning. Biohazardous containment has been breached. Please rectify the cause, immediately. If the current emergency state is not resolved, self-destruct system will be activated. Warning. Biohazardous containment has been breached."

"Self-destruct?! Fuckin' hell!" Exclaimed Woods, not being able to believe their current situation has now gotten them no time to spare inside the lab any longer. He looked back at Alex's body, not being able to bear the fact of leaving his body behind in the same room where Wesker had died. Without wasting time, he decided to drag Mason's body out of there, hoping that he was still alive as there was no blood coming out of the bullethole through his vest. He then tossed the other spare gun that Mason had with him to Chris. "Cover me!"

Jill hurried to help Frank with Alex's heavy body. Chris caught the gun that Barry had seized from him initially and prepared his aim toward the hulking beast that slowly walked huge steps through the shattered glass on the ground. Barry put himself in front of him, ready to shoot at the Tyrant's evil grinning face as it slowly inched closer to them.

"You want a piece of me?!" He yelled back at it, feeling scared, but not wanting to make the same mistakes ever again. Not after everything he has done recently.

"Barry, get out of here!" Chris shouted at him, his tone shaky as the voice around them continued to inform them about their current situation.

Barry ignored him and began firing a couple of shots to its face, the thundering shots hitting its left cheek, but did almost nothing to it. The shots merely tore a piece of its white-gray skin causing it to slightly bleed, but nothing more. The Tyrant continued to slowly stalk them, the ability to flinch from spent .44 magnum bullets being non-existent.

"What the hell?!"

As Barry and Chris continued to back away as it came closer to them, Chris took a quick glance at a red gas canister that was just behind the humanoid creature on its left and quickly called for action. "Everybody get back!"

Barry knew exactly what he was going to do at that split second and quickly dove back out through the door that was now behind them. Chris shot a few bullets at the gas tank, igniting most of the surrounding place on fire as it threw an intense blastwave towards him, causing Chris to be sent flying out through the exit as everyone else ducked for cover behind the corner of the short hallway.

"Chris, you okay?" Said Jill as she got closer to him and tried helping him stand up as soon as Barry managed to shut the door for good.

He had hit his back harder than he'd expected, his bladed-shaped scratches on his shoulder still hurting, but at the very least, he will survive.

"I'll live, thanks," he replied, grunting in response to the pain he'd received from the blast itself.

Barry watched the inferno inside the room through the window of the closed door. The Tyrant had been consumed by the blast, seemingly dropped dead as its entire body was engulfed in flames. The stasis tanks that were next to the inferno had been shattered completely, and the bulbous masses of the unknown creatures that were inside weren't spared by the flames burning relentlessly. It looked as though the Tyrant was not getting up any time soon and he hoped it stayed that way.

However, the cool, female voice around them suddenly began to announce something new over the slow and rhythmic alarm that erupted almost without warning.

"Self-destruct system has been activated. All personnel must evacuate immediately. Deactivating and releasing all locks. You have five minutes, until detonation."

The recorded message began to repeat and everyone inside now realized that time was not on their side any longer.

"Shit! Not now!" Frank blurted in a slight panic, still holding on to Mason in his arms as he began to check for a pulse, gently putting two fingers on the soft skin of the right side of his neck.

He was still alive.

"He ain't dead yet!" He announced, his heart pounding almost as loud as the alarm itself.

The bullet was still in his vest, stuck inside through the bulletproof clothing as the impact itself probably knocked the air out of him. Wesker had to have known it wasn't a lethal shot.

Probably one of his fucking ploys to try and deceive us all one last time.

I hope you burn in hell along with your fucked up abominations…

"Al! Al!" He shouted at him through the loud blaring alarm inside the lab. He slapped his face a few times to see if he could wake up once more. "Come on don't do this to me you lazy asswipe. COME ON!"

"Frank," said Chris as he crouched, putting a hand gently over his shoulder. "We have to move. The heliport is open for us to get Brad's attention, or anyone else if we're lucky enough."

Frank's face became contorted in disgust and shock at once. "That fucker's still in the air somewhere? And never decided to call in any reinforcements?!"

Chris slowly nodded, almost afraid to say anything back to him.

"Damn this place to hell!" He yelled as he turned his attention back to an awakened Mason, coughing as he struggled to take small breaths of fresh air. "Hey, easy there. C'mon, let's get you out of here."

Relieved that his best friend was now back in the world of the living, he put Mason's left arm over him, helped him stand up, and slowly reached the elevator that was now called back to the floor that they were still in.

"Frank…?" Mason said tiredly, his eyes met Frank's for a brief moment before he gazed onto the ground, no longer the inhuman, murderous stare he had before he got shot. He seemed weak and exhausted, almost as if the brainwashing itself had drained all of the energy he had in him. "I'm… please…forgive—"

"Shut up! I don't wanna hear it! We're gettin' you outta here!"

Woods knew all of it and did not want to have a repeat of what happened just recently. He didn't want to think about Adrian's fate, the numbers, Kravchenko's involvement, or the fact that Wesker played them all and messed with their heads. All he wanted to focus on right now is to find a way to get themselves enough distance away from the estate grounds. Whether it be flying out of there or running through the forest, it did not matter. One way or another, they were all going to escape at any cost.

Author's Note: Probably the longest chapter in the entire story!

We're almost there! Our surviving characters' only goal now is to escape at all costs. Will they encounter more BOWs along the way? Is the T-002 (aka Adrian Serrano) gonna face them one last time? Is everyone going to survive?

Make sure to stay tuned for the last two remaining chapters, both of which will be uploaded at the same time, ending this story!