67. CLaire

Most of Claire's memories of the island weren't good, but despite that, Claire, there was a certain feeling of familiarity and comfort as the woman climbed the stone steps to the asylum grounds. The staff there had been torturers, but she had made loyal friends among some of the patients. It'd be nice to see them again.

"That is if they are still alive."

No, Claire thought to herself. They would be fine. They had survived worse, and they wouldn't die so simply. However, Claire's hopes shattered when they entered the building. mark

"Harpyiai," her doppelgänger said, looking at the claw marks on the wall. The girl traced the scratches with her pale fingers and tilted her head.

"They are always so eager for blood."

"Even if we split, where do we even start?" Jill asked. "I mean, we don't know what we are looking for."

Jill's voice brought Claire's mind back into reality. Mobius had left. If not, the demons that lurked in the darkness of the island had already taken care of them. The only thing left for them now was to see if they could get information about the new virus. The data they could gather would be valuable to produce an antivirus and a vaccine. But where could they find that information?

"Medical records," Claire said in realization. "The patients were test subjects. Whatever they have done to them, it should be in the records."

"Yeah," Chris said, "Yeah, that might work."

"Well, we could use a map of this place," Barry groaned, "surprise, surprise. There's never one when you need it."

They didn't need one when Claire knew the layout of the place by heart. She was a walking map; that was why she'd so adamantly insisted on coming with them.

"The first floor is common ground. There's a dining hall, a salon, and a library. There's also a chapel, but that's on the other side, down this hallway."

"Ok, that works, too," Barry said, shocked.

Claire sighed. She crossed her arms and looked around; she could almost see the patients looming in the corridor. Their ghostly images vanished in a blink, leaving nothing but the destroyed hallways behind. The woman looked up the stairs, and she saw her doppelgänger standing with her hands crossed on her back and a playful smile.

"The second floor is treatment rooms, or torture chambers if you prefer. The third and fourth were patient wings. Medical records should be on the administration. That's on the fourth, too."

Claire's room had been on the fourth floor, too. Her window gave her a pretty view of the gardens and the moor.

"Ok, that's where we are going then," Chris nodded. "Connor, Duke, scout the second floor. Barry and Harris, you two take the third. Jill and I will take fourth. Leon and company, stay with us."

Claire didn't complain about the arrangement. She'd intended to go to the fourth floor even if Chris had told her otherwise.

The hallways were just like Claire remembered them. They had an air of abandonment and loneliness, and now that he was lying abandoned, those feelings were even worse. Most of the rooms were open, but the sight within them wasn't soothing. Leon was thoughtful enough to shield her from seeing some of the goriest scenes, but the glimpses of red gave her an idea of what was probably in them.

"God," Jill said, "I'm starting to suspect Mobius didn't leave after all."

"You don't think there was an outbreak, do you?" Rebecca asked.

"Who knows, but I wouldn't be surprised if that happened," Chris said. "What way, Claire?"

Claire didn't answer. Her doppelgänger passed between her friends, smiling sheepishly. The girl walked through the corridor, turning to her with a taunting expression.

"Will you come, or will you run?"

"Claire!" Chris called.

"Huh?" Claire replied, snapping out of her trance. "What?"

"Where should we go?"

"Ah, it's down this corridor," Claire replied.

Chris nodded, and the group began to move. Claire's ghost image strutted among them, but only Claire could see it. The doppelgänger looked at her defiantly.

The door to the medical office was closed, but it wasn't something Jill couldn't open. The office was in better condition than the rest of the building, yet it was empty. No medical staff or patients were hiding in the office, but they did find the records.

"Are you ok?" Leon asked her. The group had scattered to look through the files, and Leon had used the opportunity to approach her.

Was she? Claire wasn't sure. She was sad and angry, but she couldn't let the feelings get hold of her. She needed to stay focused.

"Of course, why wouldn't I?" Claire replied, looking through some files. She'd been right. The so-called "medical records" were nothing but data logs of the test subject's evolution. The files described the early responses to different substances and dosages from each patient. However, in Claire's opinion, there was still data missing.

"Claire, you don't fool me."

"I am not trying to fool you. I am ok."

"You're a people person, Claire," Leon said, "you are not ok knowing there was a potential carnage here. You don't need to act tough."

Didn't she need to act tough all the time? All her life had been a trope of acting tough since she was a child. It only got worse as she grew up and started working at Terra Save. How would people trust you if you had a meltdown during difficult moments?

Leon was the first person to tell her she didn't need to act tough, and for a minute, she felt tempted to accept.

"Talk to me," Leon whispered, taking her hand. "You know I am here for you."

"It is my fault," Claire replied automatically. "I should have come sooner. If we had come earlier, maybe we would have saved them."

"It wasn't your fault," Leon whispered soothingly. "You lost your memory. You can't blame yourself for not remembering."

"Oh, but it is our fault. You chose to forget, didn't you?"

"Don't give up so easily," Leon added. "there might still be survivors hiding somewhere."

Claire appreciated Leon's optimism. It was a tiny possibility, especially if the monsters had broken loose, but hearing him say it was comforting.

"I started copying the files. It's going to take some minutes," Jill said. She was sitting at the desk, typing to the computer. "Let's hope there's something useful in there..."

"If the files in there are better detailed than this," Rebecca said, showing the folder she'd been reading. "It should. These experiments are horrifyingly antithetical."

"When have you seen anyone in this business being ethical?" Helena asked.

The woman sounded bitter, and Claire could tell that Helena was reminiscing about her sister, Deborah.

"Well, yeah," Rebecca sighed, "but still, this is just cruel. They were giving the patients dosed quantities of different viruses like it was a medicine. I mean, why?"

"Small quantities can moderate the infection," Claire sighed. "They were trying to play with the effects of the virus."

"And using people that were already suffering," Rebecca said sadly. "All these people had psychiatric disorders."

"That's not for sure, they had Claire, and she was healthy," Chris said.

"Find my file," Claire sighed, "Then we'll see if that's true."

"Ah, that's right," Rebecca nodded. "Your file should be here, right? I'll look for it..."

"Rebecca, you..."

Chris didn't get to finish the sentence. A loud bang reverberated through the silent halls, setting them all on their toes.

"What the fuck?" Chris said.

"Was that a gunshot?" Helena asked.

"It was," Chris said. "It came from below, shit. Barry, do you copy?"

Chris stepped away for a moment to contact the two other pairs, checking the second and third floor. The remaining people exchanged looks of concern while Chris talked to his com.

"You don't think they got attacked, do you?" Rebecca asked worriedly.

"It's too early," Leon said, looking through the window. "The sun is out. Even inside the building, it is still bright enough to harm the BOWs."

"We don't know if the genotypes here aren't immune to the light, though," Rebecca said.

"They are not," Claire said, shaking her head. "We would have encountered something by now if they were."

"But if they were shooting at something," Rebecca said.

"Or someone. It could be..." Claire said, looking at Leon. The agent looked at her and sighed.

"Barry found survivors," Chris said, walking to them.

"What?" Jill said.

"If they are survivors, why are they shooting at them?" Helena asked.

"Seems the survivors weren't exactly friendly," Chris said, shaking his head.

"Mobius?" Claire asked.

"I don't know," Chris said. "I'm going down to assess the situation. Jill will stay here handling those files. You guys stay, too."

Like she would do that. If it was Mobius, Claire had some payback to do, but it could be a poor terrified patient, too. If that were the case, Claire would be their best chance to calm them.

"Wait, let me go with you," Claire said, making her way to her brother. "It might be someone I know..."

"Claire, I don't know if..."

"If it is a patient, it is infected. If you scare them too much, they might mutate," Claire said. "I can help."

"It is dangerous," Chris said.

"I can handle that," Claire replied.

Chris made an impatient grunt. Claire knew him well enough to know he disagreed.

"I'll come," Leon said. "That should make you at ease."

Chris looked at Leon. The two men exchanged a silent conversation that Claire could not decipher. After a couple of seconds, Chris gave up.

"Fine," Chris replied. "You keep an eye on her, Leon. Don't let her do anything stupid."

"Need some backup?" Helena asked.

"Nah, I can handle it. You stay here with Chambers and Valentine," Leon said. "In case they need backup."

"Sure," Helena replied. "You, guys, be careful."

Claire, Chris, and Leon made their way to the third floor and met up with Harris and Barry. The two men were cowering behind an open door, with their weapons in hand and a puzzled look. The two soldiers seemed happy to see them. Both rushed to explain the situation as best as they could.

Barry and Harris had been looking around the rooms when they had seen something move. They hadn't seen what, but they quickly rushed to chase it. Then, suddenly something or someone had attacked them using small pebbles as projectiles. At first, they had known they were stones, so the two soldiers thought they were getting shot, so Harris had automatically retaliated. The shooter was hiding somewhere beyond a cabinet that laid across the hallway.

Claire listened carefully. Projectiles? She knew someone who happened to like throwing things; could it be? The woman peeped from behind their shield. Something was on the ground: a small, handmade doll with brown hair and a red dress. The small object automatically pulled Claire into a memory.

"She has no name yet," a young girl of around 13 or 12 years old with curly blonde hair said, showing her the doll.

"It doesn't?" Claire asked gently. "Why not?"

"Because I haven't found one," the girl shrugged.

"Well, shouldn't we give her a name? A name is an important thing. She might be sad if she doesn't have one."

"My mum said she would help me name her," the girl said with a pout. " But she left, and Liam said she is not coming back. Oh, I know! I can name her like you!"

"Me?"

"Yes! Doesn't she look a lot like you?"

"Well, we have the same hair color, I guess."

"Splendid! She will be Princess Claire, then!"

"Princess Claire," Claire whispered in realization.

"What?" Barry said with a frown.

"That doll."

"Oh, that? I think they dropped when they ran," Harris said. "It wasn't there before."

"A doll?" Chris asked with a frown.

Claire nodded. If she was right, then she knew who the survivors were.

"Let me handle this," Claire said.

"What? What are you planning to do?" Chris said.

"Claire..."Leon said with a frown.

The woman looked at him.

"I know what I am doing," Claire said.

"No, no. Absolutely not. It's dangerous," Chris said, shaking his head.

"Please. It will be fine, trust me."

"But..."

Claire looked at Leon, begging for support. The agent was reluctant. The expression on his face made that clear, but the agent sighed and only sighed.

"Let's give her a chance," Leon said, "If it doesn't work, we shoot whoever that is."

Chris hesitated, but he had no choice but to agree. Claire walked out from their hideout and moved forward through the hallway. She picked the doll from the ground and shook off the dust from it. It was Princess Claire. The dolly was, indeed, Lily's. That could only mean that the survivor was no other but the young girl, and if things hadn't changed, her brother would be around.

Claire heard a bang near her. The projectile had barely missed, scratching her arm and making a hole on the nearby wall. Claire caught a clicking sound behind her, and she knew both Leon and Chris had taken up their weapons and were ready to shoot.

She turned to them and shook her head. Chris was anxious, and Leon didn't seem better. She would have time to explain herself later.

"Lily?" Claire called, "Liam. I know it is you. It's ok. You know me. It's me, Claire. "

There was no answer, but Claire knew the two siblings would come around. After a couple of long minutes, she heard a door open and suddenly, someone was hugging her tightly from around her waist.

"You came back!"

She patted the girl's blonde head and looked up in time to see a bot with straw-colored hair come out from behind a cabinet. He stared at her in disbelief, and Claire smiled. They were alive.

"Wait, who are these again?" Helena said with surprise.

After clarifying some things with Chris and Leon and doing some introductions, the group returned to the medical office, where Claire promised to explain everything. Chris sent Harris to find Connor and Duke, allowing them a little more privacy to talk.

The three women were shocked to see them return with the two additional members.

"This is Lily and her brother, Liam," Claire replied. "They were patients here, too. We helped each other all the time."

"So they are..." Jill asked.

"Infected?" Claire asked. The woman looked at the siblings and nodded. "Yeah, alphas like me."

"God, they even used children?" Rebecca said with horror.

"Ye talking about the arseholes that called themselves medics?" Liam jeered. "Those sods didn't care how old ye were. They just needed, ye, to have something wrong up here, and that was it."

Liam pointed at his head with a bitter look.

"What?" Chris asked.

"Ah, right," Helena said, looking at Leon. "We were looking through the files, and it seems there is a pattern on how they chose people and what kind treatment they used on them."

"What do you mean?" Leon asked.

"All the subjects suffered from some psychiatric disorders. It could be severe, or it could be mild. It seems that depending on the disorder type, they assigned the secondary infection," Rebecca explained. "These files don't provide much detail about that. They only say what viruses they used, the dosages, and how often they received them."

"Unfortunately, these files don't say much either," Jill said. "They are encrypted so we need someone to deal with them first."

"Shit, so nothing we can use?" Chris grunted.

"It is useful, but yeah, not that much," Rebecca shrugged.

Claire sighed. She looked at Leon, who was talking to Helena.

"Who are these people?" Lily asked. The girl had been hugging her since they had found her and her brother.

"Uh, they are my friends and good people. Remember I told you I had a brother, too?"

"Yes."

"That man over there," Claire said, pointing at Chris. "That's my brother."

"The scary man?"

Claire chuckled. Well, Chris was intimidating.

"Yeah, he might look a little scary, but he's a nice man."

"If he's Claire's brother, then I believe!"

Claire ruffled the girl's hair and chuckled.

"We all thought you died when sector seven collapsed, Claire," Liam said. "They didn't bring ye back, so we thought..."

Claire stopped him.

"The tunnel collapsed, and I fell to the sea," Claire replied. "Some people found me, and that's how I returned to my family and friends."

"And ye came back for us?" Lily said, grinning.

Claire smiled and knelt in front of the girl.

"Yeah, sorry I took so long."

The girl giggled.

"Henry always says it is better late than never."

"And that is true..."

"The old bloke is still going. If that's what ye thinking," Liam said. "We were at the Hunting grounds when this shite happened. We came out from hell to find another hell. But don't cry over spilled milk. He and Julie are both doing splendidly."

"Henry? Julie?" Rebecca asked curiously.

"They were patients, too," Claire answered, "Did anyone else survive?"

"Not many, and those demons kill at least one each night," Liam sighed.

Claire frowned. The comment had caught her friends' attention, and suddenly she felt Leon's presence by her side again.

"How long has it been since this happened?"

Liam looked at Leon with distrust. The boy had always had trust issues. It wasn't his fault since he was a little cynic by nature.

"It's alright," Claire said, placing her hand on Leon's arm. "This is Leon, and he's..."

Claire hesitated. Was she supposed to say he was her friend?

"Technically, I am her husband..." Leon said, "do you have any idea when this happened?"

"Well, we were in the Hunting Grounds for two cycles," Liam said.

"Three days," Claire said. "So this all happened two or three days ago. You say they come to hunt at night?"

Liam crossed his arms.

"The whole island is a hunting ground now," he explained. "Some of them turned recently, but some monsters from areas 2 to 4 are lurking around. I don't know what happened, but it would seem they leaked out."

"They are coming from the maze?" Claire said.

"Yeah," Liam grunted. "And things just got worse when that bird showed out and opened that gate."

"Bird?" Helena asked.

"Means woman," Claire clarified. "Wait, someone came before us?"

" Yes, a weird lady showed up yesterday. She opened one of the entries to enter the maze and left it open. Demons from area 1 crawled out last night. We thought ye were going to do the same, so we wanted to stop ye."

A woman. Suddenly Claire had a suspicion of who that might be. She turned to Leon. Judging from the agent's expression, he was thinking the same.

"Is there anything important down there?" Leon asked. "A laboratory or something?"

"I don't know. All I've seen is the bloody maze."

Claire felt a light bulb lit up in her mind.

"Area Zero," Claire said. "There's a laboratory. It is in area zero."

"What's up with all those areas?" Barry asked.

"That's a long story," Claire sighed. "There's a research laboratory underground. I was there once, but my memories are a little blurry."

" if the woman they saw is who I think it is..." Leon said, "There is something important down there, probably the virus."

"Oh!" Rebecca chirped, "The pure strain!"

"If that is the case," Chris said. "We need to get there."

"Are you bloody mental?" Liam said. "That place is hell on earth. You know that, Claire."

"Yes, I do," Claire sighed, "but there is important information that we need that might be down there. If we want to understand and perhaps fix what they did to us, that laboratory might be our best chance."

"That's ridiculous," Liam grunted.

Liam had a bad temper, and he often acted like a spoiled brat, but Claire knew that he did not intend to act like that. He was a good boy.

"I know I can't stop ye from doing shite," Liam sighed. "But if ye are going to jump into the pit, at least come see Henry first."

Claire hesitated. She looked at Chris, who sighed.

"We need to get ready anyway."

Claire smiled.

The survivors had settled in a small hut near the orchards. Claire remembered the building as a storage room, but the building was solid, and if they could remain silent long enough, it was, overall, a safe place from monsters.

After making the necessary introductions, Chris and the rest of his team decided to return to the ship to collect supplies and equipment that would be more appropriate for an underground mission. The group left Claire, Leon, Rebecca, and Helena with the survivors.

There were not many survivors. If anything, it was about ten people. Among them, Claire recognized several faces. Henry was the oldest of the group. The older man looked leaner and more tired than Claire remembered, but other than that, the man looked as vigorous as a soldier. Julie was the one who looked the most changed. In Claire's memories, the woman was seldom lucid enough to articulate a coherent word. The woman who greeted her when Liam and Lily guided them to the refuge was a completely ordinary person.

Several other survivors were going through a hard time, and Claire soon realized that many were suffering from withdrawal symptoms. She had gone through them when the BSAA had first found her, and she could relate to their suffering. Without the asylum in operation, no one was applying the drugs to them, and after so long, dependence was only logical.

"This is terrible!" Rebecca said, looking at the suffering people. As a medic, it was only natural that she would immediately feel sorrow for them.

"Why are they like this?" Helena asked.

"They are in the early stages of the treatment. I don't know what they were doing to us in there, but unlike us," Henry explained. "Their recovery speed seems to be slower, and now that they are not receiving their medications, the withdrawal syndrome is hitting them hard."

"They aren't even on phase 1, so yeah. Poor lads," Liam said. "Their healing speed isn't like ours."

"You sound very well informed for being a test subject," Leon said with a frown.

"Well, lad. Thank that to Claire," Liam said, shaking his head. "We'll all be ignorant and probably dead if not for her telling us' bout the whole virus thing before."

Leon seemed to find that reasonable. In the end, Rebecca insisted on taking a look at the survivors, and Helena followed her as an escort. Liam took it upon himself to guide them, so Leon and Claire were left behind with Henry.

"So, who is this again, lass?" Henry asked.

"He..."

"Leon S. Kennedy," Leon replied. "I work for the US Secret Service."

"Secret agent," Henry said, nodding. The man turned to Claire and looked at her with a paternal smile. "Yer sweetheart, I presume, lassie?"

"That..." Claire said, surprised. Were they that easy to read?

She looked at Leon, but the agent only chuckled.

"How did you know?" Leon asked, pulling Claire closer.

Claire exchanged looks with Leon.

"I'm an old man. I've lived long, and I know how sweethearts look at each other," Henry snorted. "Ye never mentioned you had left behind a sweetheart, lassie."

"I hadn't," Claire admitted. "This is kind of recent..."

"I'm happy for ye," Henry sighed.

"Liam said you saw someone on the island yesterday," Leon asked. "Do you recall what the person looked like?"

"It wasn't I who saw it," Henry admitted. "but from their description, it seems it was a woman. It was near dusk, so Liam and Julie went to find her to warn her. However, by the time they saw her, she'd already entered the maze. The door shut behind her, so they gave up following her."

A woman. That solidified their speculations. The persona that Liam had mentioned was probably Ada Wong. A pinch of anxiety hit Claire as she looked at Leon.

It wasn't like Claire didn't believe Leon's feelings for her, but it was hard for her not to feel uneasy, especially knowing that Ada and Leon had some kind of background. To his credit, Leon showed no expression that betrayed him.

The agent nodded and looked at the ground in thought.

"Is there a way to enter the underground?" Leon asked.

"There is always a way for everything, lad," Henry answered, "but that doesn't mean it is easy."

"The door is probably locked," Claire said, "but Jill should be able to open it. The problem is choosing where to enter."

"Are there multiple entries?"

Claire nodded.

"We will need more than a map to navigate it," Claire said. "And I think we might have something that could help. Did they do anything to my room when I left?"

"Not that I can recall," Henry replied. "Lily used to hide within, so they probably locked the door."

"That should be fine," Claire nodded. "Are you up for a walk, Leon?"

"A walk?"

"I could go alone," Claire shrugged. In fact, she preferred to go on her own. There were things that she preferred others- especially Chris and now, Leon, too- didn't see. "But I doubt Chris will like that..."

"And there's no way I am letting you out my sight," Leon said, tapping her forehead gently.

"I don't know if I should be flattered about that."

Claire and Leon excused themselves to Henry and headed back to the main building. The feeling of desolation that usually accompanies these kinds of places hit Claire as soon as she stepped foot inside her. The air within the walls was so different from the outside. That was why the woman had always loved the hours when she was allowed outside.

"So those people were your team while you were here?" Leon asked casually. "I shouldn't be surprised. You are someone who knows how to make allies with ease."

"Surviving as a team is easier than trying to survive alone," Claire replied. "That's why nature favors packs over individuals."

"You talk a lot about surviving. What exactly is down there?" Leon asked.

"We originally called it a maze, because well, that's what it was. Later we found out that Mobius called the Hunting Grounds. It's divided into sectors. Each sector corresponds to a phase of infection. The higher the number, the stronger the monsters in that sector are."

"How many are there?"

"Ten, I think. The protocol was simple. Early phases, those barely getting used to the virus, like the people outside, weren't put into the maze until they thought they were ready. Once you get in, you'll eventually stumble with the different sectors. Maybe you'll be lucky enough to end up in a reasonable one, maybe not. "

"Those bastards were treating you worse than lab rats," Leon said with anger.

"Yeah. The sectors change constantly. They don't have a permanent layout," Claire added. "The only constant is sector zero. The main labs and the observation rooms are there, so it was well isolated from the rest of the sectors."

"They wanted to stay safe," Leon concluded.

"Yes, most likely. Since the layout changes throughout the day, it's impossible to have a map, but I did my homework while I was in here..."

Claire stopped in front of a closed-door located on the fourth floor. Leon stood by her side.

"C. Redfield," Claire read from the plaque. "This is my room."