Scott was the first to enter one of the taller rooms in the facility, the duct. An overgrown, giant plant has claimed most of the utility room for itself; fortunately, it was mostly attached to the right side. All the way down…
"What is this place?" asked Leon.
"The duct," Scott answered. "Don't mind the plant over there; it's dead."
A large duct, twenty to thirty yards in length and a hundred or two in length, it was a long drop down. Three levels, to be precise. A monstrous plant had taken up a large portion of the duct; from top to bottom, it fused with the entirety of the right side of the duct.
It was one of Umbrella's T-viral plant experiments; it seemed nothing was spared during its insane research. The monster plant was unmoving; only the vines still thrived and stretched over the walls and smaller ducts. They fused and became one with the walls, much like the plant itself.
Claire had to look closer. The giant plant looked like it still had some life in its many vines, but she couldn't tell if it was a cramp or not. "Is it moving?"
Scott gripped the nearby ladder and climbed down. "Some people passed by a while ago, and, well, that's when it died." He went down lower. "Trust me; it's dead."
Claire couldn't shake the feeling off; her eyes fixated on the vagina-esque shape of the face. It bloody had some sort of lips on the front next to the ladder; she didn't want to get any closer. "If you say so…" She and Leon followed Scott down the ladder.
Scott noticed the walls weren't cleaned; slime and grime started to show everywhere under the vents. "Ever since Plant 43 started taking hold of this place, the duct was completely avoided." He stopped at the bottom and opened the door in front of him. "Not far now."
Claire huffed. "Good…"
Two Zombies came at Scott; both wore bloody scrubs. He killed each of them with a shot to the head, surprised with how much his marksmanship has improved. "Ha! I'm getting better at this..."
Claire and Leon followed Scott down a narrow corridor and two left turns. The area passage looked like a waiting room of sorts; a row of several chairs was nested on the left side with another corridor up ahead.
"It's so quiet..." Claire noted.
"Things have gotten quieter over the last few hours," said Scott.
This room was a semi-circular hall, composed of multiple monitors placed high on the wall; nearby was a large whiteboard. The monitors that were not static were utterly destroyed, much like the cables dangling from the vents on the ceiling.
"Is this a surveillance room?" asked Leon.
"Looks like it."
"Hang on a tic… something's wrong here…"
Scott rushed forward, pushing away some of the chairs and staring at the controls below the wall of monitors. There were splashes of blood on some of them, most of which were displaying errors. Finally, seeing the screens focusing on high-traffic areas of the facility and the controls being quite warm, Scott came to a conclusion.
"Someone's been here recently…" Scott picked up a pair of sunglasses from the ground by his feet. Solid black and issued by Umbrella.
"What's wrong?"
Scott ignored Claire's question dropped the sunglasses. "We need to get outta here; it's getting a little… claustrophobic down here…"
Claire looked at one of the monitors; it showed the corridor they just came through. It was live… "Guys, take a look at this." A green humanoid scaled the walls, closer and closer to the camera.
"Isn't that-"
"We just came through there!" Claire watched on for a bit longer until the creature took out the camera, making the screen go static. Then, after a loud crash, Claire readied her handgun. "It's coming!"
After another crash or a bang, Leon got his handgun ready. "Where is it?"
Leon and Claire looked around the room, focusing on the door behind them and the ceiling. With all open vents exposed, they and Scott focused more and more on the ceiling; then, the monster crawled out into the open. It resembled a Licker previously encountered back at the police department; only it was green and scaly with more extended claws.
"The fuck…" Leon murmured.
"Eugh, it's ugly!" Claire called. "Kill it!"
Once the hail of gunfire started, the Licker jumped to the wall opposite the monitors, much closer to Claire, Leon and Scott. Its preferred method of attack was its tongue, and it shot out, hitting Leon's left shoulder like a loud whip.
Leon pulled his body away and dropped his handgun, leaving Claire and Scott to finish it off. Over a dozen rounds hitting its centre mass, the Licker took every bullet without so much as a flinch. Finally, the Licker died, but not before exhausting both Scott's magazine and Claire's chamber. Being meaner and greener did wonders for the monsters all of a sudden.
"It's worse than I thought," Scott murmured.
Claire pulled Leon back on his feet. "Tell me about it. As if the zombies down here weren't bad enough."
"No, I mean… The Lickers are evolving, just like the zombies seen in the Mansion Incident."
Leon picked up his handgun and tugged his sore shoulder. "You cannot be serious."
"Umbrella had wondered if Lickers were the final evolutionary stage of zombies for a while now. Guess we've just witnessed the final stage of their evolution."
"Great…" Claire reloaded her revolver." Zombies can evolve..."
"I should mention, they're still carriers of the T-virus, much like common zombies."
Leon huffed. "Shit…"
Scott gripped Leon's left shoulder and examined it closely. Apart from a nasty cleft, his shoulder pad took the full impact of the brute force. "You're clean; I don't see any penetration."
Leon took a breath of relief. "Lucky me."
It was Scott's turn to reload. "Shall we continue?"
One the three walked through the next corridor next to a large item box, the had noticed the walls and floors were covered in layers of mucus. Other than it looking moist and slimy, none of them wished to touch anything. So they carried on, only slower, somewhat thankful the lights were still on.
"What did this?" Leon wondered.
"It's like a nest…"
"There's been reports of a giant moth flying around the main shaft recently. I don' know how large it's supposedly grown, and I don't want to find out."
"What is this gunk anyway?" Leon asked.
Scott shrugged. "Some sort of secreted resin, I reckon."
"Secreted from what?"
Scott chuckled morbidly.
"Ew..."
The metal floor wasn't too slippery, but it was still unsettling walking into some sort of hive of monster moths. There was a left and right turn; only on the left were large doors that said P-4 on them - the lab where the madness started.
Once they stepped into the antechamber, they saw a row of lockers to their left a sliding door to the right. The room was a bit on the chilly side and felt a little grim, primarily due to the heinous laboratory.
Scott opened the locker in the middle and pulled out some things to lay on the table behind him. The small wooden box had a Desert Eagle inside that he handed to Leon; the full briefcase was for him.
"Help yourself to my locker; I'll get started on the vaccine." Scott took the briefcase and went into the lab.
Claire watched Scott through the window, sticking with Leon while he checked inside Scott's locker. "Anything useful?"
Leon was only able to salvage a small blue box of ammo before he closed the door. "Nothing worth taking; just office junk." He put the small box on the table and popped it open. Sixteen rounds were neatly packed in total. "Huh… .44 magnum, that'll leave a hell of a hole in some poor bastard's face."
"Can't turn down the extra firepower, especially now."
Leon equipped the magnum and pulled back the slide, loading the individual rounds by hand. "I'm sure it'll come in handy."
Something started banging on the door from outside, sounded like a barrage of flailing limbs from an incoming horde of zombies, or even something worse. Claire and Leon ran into the lab to set defensive positions around Scott; he needed protection.
The laboratory was composed of multiple desks with various science equipment littered across; several larger machines were adjacent to these desks. Scott had various jars of chemicals and empty phials on the desk he was stood at, but he was reading a file or a note of sorts.
Claire noticed the mess Scott made. Papers and coloured binders were stacked on top of his brown briefcase, and a small blue case was near the unmarked jars. It was open.
"Scott?" Claire put her hand on Scott's shoulder and gently shook him. He didn't budge, almost as if he was frozen. "What's wrong?"
Scott took some time but did eventually regain his posture. He handed the disturbing note to Claire. "Here… you need to read this…"
Scott.
By the time you read this, then that means I am already dead.
In response to the pain and suffering our G-virus research had caused, I was able to create a base vaccine ahead of time in hopes it would be enough to help you save Sherry or at least provide some salvation. However, you may have helped more than you bargained for.
Your ability to take coherent notes with such graphic detail and accuracy was truly underused; the research you collected helped the cause dearly. You have inadvertently created the foundation and structure for DEVIL, and the base vaccine is the fruit of your labour. Well done.
However, DEVIL is still not yet ready. All that needs to be done is to put the base into the synthesis machine and create the vaccine from the foundation you have built. I know you can do it, Scott; I believe in you.
Use everything you have learned to deliver us from evil, and redeem our souls! Let that briefcase tell our stories of the pain and suffering we had caused, and be the man you always wanted to be! Save Sherry and do the right thing!
Annette.
P.S. I personally appealed to the Umbrella Council about my other daughter shortly after she "disappeared" back in July. Since it has come to my attention that you shared a close bond with Alexis for many years, I feel it is only fair I disclose what they had to say regarding her status.
The council assured me that not only Alexis was very much safe, but she was making outstanding progress with her mental and physical tests. That, and she would be returned to William and me around August. Now, it's the closing days of September and the final days of Raccoon City, yet she is nowhere to be seen.
I, for one, am genuinely starting to get worried about her safety… I know for a fact the council's response was a vain attempt to give me a sense of closure, but I refuse to be spoon-fed lies and coddled like a child, not while Alexis is out there all alone! The council intends to keep Alexis and her status a secret.
The only information I was able to dig up that wasn't completely useless pointed at Rockfort Island. It pains me to ask this of you, Scott, but I think you would be the perfect candidate to investigate this lead, even though you have done so much for Sherry.
I know Alexis can fight for herself, but I don't wish for her to be under Umbrella's "care" for much longer; this is not the life I wanted for her. She needs the loving help of a friend, Scott, and you are undoubtedly the best one for her in these dark times.
My only advice for you would be not to venture alone; the Ashfords has torn the island asunder, and there's no telling what horrors may hide in the shadows of their torment. Find Alexis, Scott, tell her that I love her, and I am proud to call her my daughter.
"Scott… what am I reading exactly?" Claire asked slowly.
Scott took off his glasses. "Sherry's sister..." He sighed. "She's in trouble…"
"Who? This Alexis? The same one you mentioned earlier?"
Scott nodded solemnly. "Correct." He looked at Claire. "The Birkins raised her before Sherry was born; she was only just officially adopted. I know Alexis can handle herself, but it would probably mean the world to Sherry if I try to bring her back."
"Sherry's lucky to have you watching her back, Scott."
Scott tried to smile, but he still felt a little grief. "I try… She and Alexis are like sisters to me, and family is important right now..."
Claire put the note into her back pocket and gave Scott a little punch on his shoulder. "We've got a little girl to save, let's get it done and-"
"Claire!" Leon called, "We've got company."
The lab was compromised as the door was being hammered from the outside; it was sealed tight, but it was failing. The door bent under pressure, groaning loudly. Leon took a defensive position behind the row of desks.
"Shit! Oh, okay! Uh, Scott, make the vaccine, and we'll cover you. Yeah?"
Scott was about to say something, but Claire was already gone. Once the laboratory's doors stretched open, the infected started to breach through. There were several zombies in total, but some of them were quick, running at Claire and Leon without any regard for safety. The weirdest part, the faster ones had blood-red skin, leaving their grey brothers to shuffle behind.
Scott didn't have time to test the base vaccine, so he instead trusted his gut and Annette's word and popped the phial into the synthesis machine. Once he closed the glass lid, Scott flipped the switch, and then the device went to work; that's when he noticed the red zombies pouring through the door behind him. This was a perfect time to take his shotgun out for a spin.
The four red zombies were quick and very aggressive, sprinting with their sharp claws jutting out. Claire and Leon kept their cool, realising they were faster zombies, only a little harder to pin down due to their aggression.
Gunfire lit up the laboratory as the red zombies started picking out targets. One of them vaulted onto the row of desks while the others ran around both sides of the desks. They were dividing and conquering… an advanced move.
While Claire was pounced almost instantly, one red zombie came at Leon, whereas the other two ran around the desk to reach Scott. The coordinated attack caught Claire and Leon by surprise; however, Scott wasn't shaken; he welcomed the two coming his way.
With every pull of the trigger, Scott sent hails of buckshot at the red zombies running at him. The first two shells missed, but once they turned around the desks, the third staggered them both dead in their tracks.
Leon kept his attacker at bay with some light brawling and weaving in and out of its swinging claws. Claire was already taken to the ground; she dropped her revolver and pressed the red zombie's limbs against its chest, pushing back as hard as possible. It was more of an instinct to keep the teeth and claws away from her face and neck.
Scott dropped the two red zombies once he adjusted his aim to their head and neck area. Zombies were already fairly durable in their own right; Crimson Heads raised that bar significantly higher.
Even if it seemed the Crimson Head had the upper hand, Leon kept it away with a solid kick and a couple of rounds to the head. The claws only slashed against his uniform's padding, allowing him to remain unscathed and free of infection.
Claire locked the Crimson Head's into its chest while keeping away from its snapping jaws. It was like taming a wild animal. "Don't suppose someone could give me a hand with this fucker?!"
Scott dropped his weapon and wrapped his arms around the Crimson Head; it wriggled and growled like a wild animal. He threw its weight off her, watching it tumble on the hard floor. Leon pulled Claire back on her feet while Scott finished the Crimson Head with the remaining shells in his shotgun. Three rounds were overkill, considering its chest and head was blown to pieces.
"Thanks, guys." Claire dusted herself off and reloaded her revolver. "I'm not usually that helpless, but I wasn't expecting zombies to blitz us that quick."
"Yeah…" Leon mused. "Why's that… Scott?"
Scott reloaded his shotgun, slowly turning around to Claire and Leon behind him. He looked around briefly like a lost child. "They're evolving."
Claire huffed. "Even zombies?"
"Where do you think Lickers came from?" Scott pumped his shotgun. "Usually, the evolution takes a short while, but something in the air must be speeding it up. Unless we destroy their brains or their bodies, we can expect bumping into… nastier fuckers."
"Then let's not stick around," said Claire. "Scott, how long until the vaccine's-"
The door separating the laboratory and the small hallway flew off the wall, sliding across the floor to the furthest side of the room. Something more prominent than a zombie squeezed through the space, almost having to hunch down to fit.
Despite looking like a typical zombie in torn clothes, it had greyer skin and an exposed heart pulsing outside its chest. The muscular size and build were less than the Tyrant but more so than the usual bodybuilder, making something like an inferior Tyrant. All your lethality in a slightly smaller package…
"What the fuck-" uttered Leon as he was interrupted by the Tyrant Inferior's loud roar.
"Kill it!" Claire called," Kill it!"
The ferocious monster charged at Leon and Claire, tearing through the desks like a tornado with its meaty fists. While the two dodged its flailing limbs, Scott was knocked off his feet, his waist taking the brunt of the impact. His body crashed into a large storage unit before his back laid flat out on the cold ground.
Its reckless nature and preference to beat people down up close meant that a change of tactics was in order. But, unfortunately, it wasn't until it turned its head around that Claire knew that she and Leon were the following juicy targets.
"Run!" Claire yelled, running around the shattered desks behind her.
The Tyrant Inferior turned around, staring at Leon; he backed off and followed Claire around the desks, just passing by the lab's entrance. When the lumbering yet nimble beast started chasing them down, Leon and Claire ran to the opposite side of the lab; that's when it began to run faster.
Claire knew shooting a fast, bulky target would only slow them down. Instead, a change of direction was needed. "Cover me!" she yelled again, running ahead of Leon to Scott's aid.
"I'm on it!"
Leon split from Claire to run to the other side of the room, right where they were previously. He turned around and saw the Tyrant Inferior deciding between its targets, judging from its brief pause. Leon took aim.
"Hey, ugly! Over here!"
After firing a couple of rounds to catch the Tyrant Inferior's attention, Claire picked up Scott from behind the furthest desk at the back. It didn't notice the two smaller figures on its left, so it targeted Leon.
It started things off by picking up a nearby chair and launching at Leon; the metal chair flew over the desk and blew up the monitor. It was so sudden, Leon had to duck to avoid the debris from shredding his face.
Once the sound of Scott's shotgun blasting away graced their ears, Leon reloaded while Claire whipped out something extra special. The Tyrant Inferior staggered while it made its way to them, but eventually, it grew more and more irritated with Scott's intervention. Once it looked at Scott, Claire just had to seize the opportunity.
"Grenade!" Claire called out.
In a glorious explosion, the grenade splashed corrosive bile all over the Tyrant Inferior and the nearby desk, leaving everything else to burn away. Its flesh bubbled when it came into contact with the sulphuric acid, causing its melting mass to reel backwards in agony.
Scott pulled away and ran back to Claire and Leon, finding it hard to load his shotgun shell by shell on the move. Leon pulled out his magnum as Claire loaded another grenade while the Tyrant Inferior carried on its pursuit.
A second grenade struck its chest; rather than reeling again, it stepped back and dropped to its knees. The Tyrant Inferior's flesh melted profusely of its body, up until its strength gave away. Leon took over to make sure the monster stayed down; his magnum focused on its quivering body.
Scott approached the Tyrant Inferior and pressed his shotgun's muzzle against the back of its head, firing many times until it laid entirely still. Dead. In the ambient silence, all three of them reloaded their weapons; that's when the synthesis machine finally finished after a loud ding.
Claire slung away her M79 and pulled out her revolver. "'Bout damn time."
Scott ran to the synthesis machine and popped out the vaccine. He couldn't help staring at the teal liquid with slight awe. "Oooh… this is it… DEVIL…"
"Weird name," Claire mused.
"The name was a play on Birkin's wish for the Golgotha virus to turn humans into God-like beings." Scott handed Claire DEVIL and picked up his briefcase.
"The G-virus could do that?" asked Claire.
Scott shrugged. "Possibly, but there's no way to tell; Birkin's sad story ended with him and Annette." Scott slung his briefcase's strap over his shoulder.
Claire couldn't think of anything else to add to that; instead, she listened to the self-destruct siren, wondering how long they had left to escape. The fighting earlier really dulled out the blaring alarm.
"Let's get out of here." Claire was the first to start making her way back out of the lab; Scott and Leon were right behind her.
"So, Scott," said Leon, "Was that monster back there another mutation or evolution?"
"Hard to explain, really."
"How about an easy explanation?"
"Now is hardly the time to discuss the bloody strains!" Scott huffed in defeat. "While most zombies evolve into their expected variants under perfect conditions, some take an entirely different path. Very rarely, some might even evolve into Tyrant Inferiors, a nasty evolutionary dead-end that shouldn't even exist."
"Could there be more? Just one felt like a real handful… and it took a blast furnace to kill that one in the trench coat."
Scott smiled, hoping to be as reassuring as possible. "Don't worry about it; the chances of that evolutionary branch are hilariously pitiful, it was nothing short of a fluke we encountered one."
Claire exited the laboratory with Scott closely behind. As Leon trekked through the small antechamber, he decided to press on with the situation at hand. "What's with all these-"
The window between the antechamber and the lab suddenly shattered. A long, pinkish appendage wrapped around Leon's body, trapping him like a rope or even a snake. His body jolted back towards the cracked window between, unable to break free from the slimy appendage.
Leon huffed angrily. "You gotta be kidding me!"
Scott stopped in his tracks and ran back to Leon's aid. "Claire!" he called. As she ran back, Scott gripped the tongue with his free hand and tugged as hard as he could.
Leon felt his torso constricting as if a horse was sitting on his chest or a snake suffocating him. He gasped. "Shoot the tongue…"
Claire and Scott joined together to peel the tongue from Leon, but it snared him reasonably tight. The door opposite the lockers and just on their right side slid open; coming closer to Scott was a Crimson Head, only it had gone through another mutation.
The head resembled a Licker's, the blood-red, eyeless head torn through what used to be its facial features. The arms lost the hands and fingers favouring nasty flesh-ripping claws; the extra muscle in the arms had also torn through the skin. The harsh evolution shaped and shifted the Crimson Head into a bipedal Licker...
The monster shot its tongue at Scott, wrapping itself around his neck and chest. Scott's recovery was quicker due to his perseverance, and almost on impulse, he threw the tongue over his head. While the monster pulled back its tongue, Scott fired at it with his shotgun, knocking it back through the door.
Mutant was the most real name Scott could think of as it was no longer a mere zombie… The mutant lashed out its tongue at Scott, but he quickly reacted by raising his shotgun, leaving the appendage to warp around it instead.
Scott played the mutant's game and pulled back his weapon as hard as possible, really stretching out the tongue's length. The mutant reeled forwards and watched Scott adjust his aim for its tongue. The tongue severed, then he fired at its face, knocking it down to the ground after plucking away bountiful flesh and blood.
"Scott!" Claire called.
Scott ran back into the antechamber and fired at the tongue snaring Leon, far enough away to not cause any collateral damage with the shotgun's buckshot. Finally, Leon was freed, appreciating Claire's helping hand that saved him from a collapsed chest. He may have been coughing, but he was very grateful to be unscathed.
Claire was concerned that all these sneak attacks were slowing them down. She forced herself to be a little more assertive. "Come on, let's go!"
Claire dragged Leon back on his feet while they all exited the lab, but not before Scott got a good look at the mutant in the laboratory. "Pseudo Lickers…? This soon?"
"Come on!" Claire repeated.
Scott huffed and followed Claire and Leon. They took a right turn towards the narrow hallway, only to see two more zombies blocking their path. While they looked like Crimson Heads, they had already started to mutate further.
Claire huffed. "Seriously?"
The zombies were like Crimson Heads, only armed with thicker claws and longer tongues. The arms were longer and with extra muscle, less developed than the two mutants seen before. No. Somehow, these ones were right in the middle.
"Uber Zombies..." Scott mused. "Kill 'em."
"Music to my ears."
Claire whipped out her M79 and fired a grenade right between the zombies, blowing them apart in a glorious acidic explosion. Acid coated the walls and floor, but the two zombies were hilariously destroyed, even if they twitched at least a little.
"And let's move," Claire suggested.
While they ran back towards the monitor room, Leon had enough breath to finish the question he was about to ask before he was rudely interrupted. "What's with these mutations, Scott?"
"We honestly shouldn't be encountering them this soon, it's these Umbrella facilities being so full of viral and foreign agents. It's bloody stimulating their evolution, just like the Spencer Mansion!"
Claire huffed. "Forget about them. Leon, get Parker on the radio; we need her and Sherry to be ready to move.
Leon nodded. "Got ya."
"Won't that elevator take us to the emergency cart, Scott?"
"Yeah," said Scott, "Shouldn't be a problem with these wristbands."
They all passed through the door to the monitor room as Leon warmed up his radio up to his ear. They never stopped running and followed through as quickly as possible.
