The train suddenly shook all over; then, a warning siren blared throughout the carriages. "Fuck!" Leon left the cockpit. Claire was sat on the pull-out seat with Sherry resting on her lap. Scott leant up against the wall next to the door with his head tucked between his knees.
"Great… another siren." Claire sighed. "What's going on now?"
"Sounds like something might be going on back there," Scott mumbled from his folded arms. He stood up. "Guess I'll go check it out." He walked through the door to the second carriage, and the door behind him closed automatically and clicked.
The P.A. system came back online. Not she, or it was just getting plain annoying. "Warning! Biohazardous outbreak imminent!" it blared, "The emergency system has been activated! This train will be detonated; repeat, this train will be detonated!"
"Ah, son of a bitch!"
Claire stepped to the door behind Scott and stared through the glass window. "What's happening!? The door won't open."
"The train's gonna self-destruct!"
"What?!"
"I'll be back. Keep an eye on Sherry."
Just after the empty carriage was the last one that held an assortment of wooden crates and other forms of cargo. There were no windows or any means to check what was going on, that was sight, but Scott could hear heavy movement on the roof for sound. It ceased after the ceiling started to groan. A bloody tentacle pierced through the ceiling, then another one that brought a large piece of metal crashing down.
"What the fuck?" Scott backed away and walked back where he came. The tentacles thrived in the air, sniffing Scott out. Two more tentacles burst through the ceiling. "You slimy bastard…"
Scott ran back through the door into the second carriage; the outbreak was none other than G-Birkin; he was still alive in another form of his evolution. G-Birkin was more of a fleshy, discoloured blob of pure hatred and persistence. Its flesh was charred with a huge gaping mouth complete with rows of teeth. Two large eyes were seen on the back, though it still had a head above the mouth.
G-Birkin used his thick tentacles to drag himself further into the carriage; Scott was banging on the locked door at the back. Ever so slowly, G-Birkin crept his mass closer and closer by the few seconds; with the door locked, there was no way for Scott to escape.
"Warning! Warning!" the P.A. blared again, "The self-destruct system has been activated! Each train compartment will detonate sequentially!"
The carriages lit up in red with everyone disoriented by G-Birkin's sudden arrival and the added complications to their survival and escape. Scott was banging on the door, screaming to get the door open as he started to panic. Claire and Leon couldn't do anything; there was no way to get any of the doors open.
"Claire! Leon!" Scott called, "You got to the main deck and do something!"
Leon turned away and ran to the cockpit door and immediately had trouble getting it to budge. "I can't! The door won't open!"
"What?!" Claire exclaimed.
Sherry stood behind Claire with hands cupped on her chest. "Claire, what's going on?" she asked in her sweet little voice.
"Stay back, sweetie."
Sherry nodded and went over to Leon for safety.
William G-type smashed the carriage door down with its mass; the presence scared Sherry. It broke the door off the hinges and used the tentacles to squeeze itself through the door frame, tearing it open wider for its enormous size, then it ripped away the walls and pressed further. Finally, the tentacles' sharp talons slammed down on the floor just by Claire's feet.
"SHERRYYYYYY!" William G-type roared; his voice was without any humanity.
"Leon, it's him again, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it's William!"
"Scott, where are you?!" Claire yelled loudly.
Crawling on the small series of ladder holds on the rooftop was Scott; he heard gunfire from below him, which stirred his suspicions. Staring back at his feet, he was already tailed by more of G-Birkin's tentacles. They danced and waved in the air, unable to find him, but that was far from the problem.
"I should've stayed in retail…"
Claire and Leon took some shots at William G-type's tentacles as they slithered closer to them and Sherry; she was its target. A small vent was just by the door to the cockpit, a small step to the left, and it was just wide enough for a child of Sherry's size. The metal grate wasn't screwed on, just leant against the duct. Sherry crawled through.
"Sherry, what are you doing?" Leon asked quickly. He fired again at a closing tentacle, exploding purple ooze on the ground.
"We have to stop the train, right? I can do it," Sherry said from the other side of the door.
Claire looked back at Leon. "Where's Sherry?"
"At the controls."
G-Birkin showed no signs of slowing down and still moved his body closer to the duo. Leon and Claire stepped over a square utility hole in their retreat, and it looked like it could be removed. Claire tore off the cover and heaved it at William G-type's mouth; he chewed it down, and it was gone. Claire saw the running tracks, passing by so fast it was almost like they weren't there. The duo nodded and squeezed through.
Sherry was at the controls and had no idea where to start. Keypads, illuminated buttons and levers were all unmarked. "Which one's the right switch?"
"Sherry!" Scott called from above. He had his head and arms through a hatch above.
"Scott?" The train shook and stumbled her and Scott; he barely caught his grip. "Ahhh!"
"The emergency stop button!" Scott pointed to a large red button not far away from the rest of the controls. "There!"
At a button press, the speed of the cart plummeted as the wheels firmly and abruptly refused to move. They screeched under the speed and weight combined; sparks shot from the rails. The momentum carried the train on before it slowly stopped to a halt; the sparks heated up the wheels to a boiling point. Everyone vacated the train safely and in an orderly fashion. Safe. Alive. Claire and Leon crawled from under the train and back towards the front of the cart.
From afar, daylight was seen; it was morning now. Being stuck underground for the last few days, Scott couldn't wait to feel the sun's rays on his tired body. He almost forgot what it was like to be outside.
Scott sighed. "Finally, an exit."
Leon and Claire quickly came over; both of them were hot and bothered. Cold sweat ran down their bare skin. "Everyone okay?" Leon asked.
"We just crawled under a train, Leon; we're far from okay…"
The train's siren was still audible and remained restless. Worse yet, G-Birkin still nears them; his mass became one with the cart. He was consuming it with his sheer weight and growth of the virus. He lashed his tentacles out that all narrowly missed Scott and Sherry.
"Fuck this!" Scott moved himself and Sherry away from G-Birkin. "Go, go, go!"
"Run!" Claire bellowed.
Claire, Scott, Leon, and Sherry ran towards the exit; it was only eighty or seventy metres away, within a good sprint. Scott carried Sherry in his arms and was still able to overtake Claire and Leon. A few steps left, and everyone was losing their breaths quick.
Scott took his eyes off the prize and checked his watch on the go. "Seven… seconds… left..."
G-Birkin was hot on their trail, he consumed the rest of the cart, and his tentacles reached out further. The timer struck 0000 in the main deck, then a chain reaction of concentrated detonations erupted throughout the emergency cart. The train and everything around it were destroyed into bits of rubble and meat; the tunnel suffered a cave-in.
On the sides of the tunnel, everyone was finally safe; gout of kicked up dust and debris coughed up out the tunnel before it ceased at long last. They were greeted with the beautiful sights of unspoiled hillsides and green grass that went on for a few miles at least.
The train tracks stretched for another mile, at least that was out of sight beyond some rocky hills. Those tracks lead to a small settlement that was apparently outside the city - Raccoon Pier. That was another safe area, and the tracks lead directly to it as the main road also does.
Scott let Sherry down on her feet and sighed. "It's over… We're free." He rubbed his tired eyes that already had bags under them. "Finally outdoors."
"Where to now, Scott?"
"The tracks will take us to the pier, roughly an hour's walk." Scott held Sherry's hand, and she held Claire's hand. Claire smiled and let her walk between her and Scott.
The four walked on the track for a few minutes, and the day was still bright, almost really early morning bright; the birds were out, and there wasn't anyone or thing in sight. Complete loneliness is just what they needed after their constant fear of something trying to kill them.
Leon lagged behind with Sherry walking between Scott and Claire like they were her parents or parental figures. She missed her parents, but she never did feel like she was beloved as much as she initially wanted as their daughter. The worst part was coming, though, breaking the bad news to her.
"We're going to be okay, aren't we?" Claire asked.
Sherry murmured indifferently, not feeling one way or the other.
"Sherry," Leon called. Sherry, Claire and Scott paused to listen, making the bad news even harder for Leon to bring up. "I have something to tell you about your mother… She's… in a better place now."
Sherry turned to Claire and hugged her around the waist, sobbing as any child would do if they lost their parents. Scott brushed Sherry's hair, wishing he could ease the grief, but he could do nothing other than to remember the good times. They were human, after all, and decent colleagues.
"The vaccine that saved you," said Leon, "it was from your mother. She loved you very much, to the end."
"No! That's a lie," Sherry sobbed, "Mommy never…" She couldn't finish her sentence.
"It's true," Scott cooed, trying his best to be tender, "She helped us make the vaccine. But, Sherry, honey, she begged us to save you…"
Claire knelt down to hug Sherry as her tears of sadness refused to falter. "Sherry, I know what it's like to lose someone you love…" She let go of Sherry.. "The pain and suffering hurts now, but it doesn't last forever…"
"She's right," said Scott, "You just got to take it one day at a time. You're my sister, Sherry, and I'll be right behind you, every step of the way..."
Leon felt a little bit of the sadness drifting his way. He stared at the grey and blue clouds above, wondering what would happen next…
END CREDITS
Scene: Claire Redfield holding a baby with Leon Kennedy standing in a doorway behind her.
CLAIRE REDFIELD (NARRATE)
With a baby to care for, Claire put all of her focus into locating Chris, despite Leon's protests. She couldn't believe Leon during the heated debates. Leon growled at her obsession with finding Chris. The bickering wasn't doing her any favours, so she eventually just walked away. Claire made plans to face Umbrella again as they were her only hope to seek the remnants of her brother's tracks.
Scene: Leon Kennedy standing at a desk in a small oval office.
LEON KENNEDY (NARRATE)
Leon Scott Kennedy was confronted by a man who claims to be a U.S. government agent. When he was invited into the agent's private office, there was talk of the orphaned Birkin child. Leon urged the American government to leave her alone as she was innocent and merely a victim, but the negotiations were in vain. After the quick assumption that the child knew too much, the topic shifted to Leon's way. First, the agent made remarks on how Leon had a promising future and exceptional combat skills, so then he gave Leon a good deal with plenty of opportunities.
Scene: Sherry Birkin sat on her bed, crossed-legged and in her school uniform.
SHERRY BIRKIN (NARRATE)
When asked if Sherry had any relatives to take care of her, she could only say two older siblings: Scott Wesker and Alexis Daemith. Sherry didn't talk much after they were dropped as potential legal guardians, as neither of them was within the immediate family. And so, this little girl hid herself away. The only thing that kept her from crying in the solitude of her room was hoping Claire would come back to her.
Scene: Scott Wesker sat in a single prison cell behind bars, complete in orange overalls.
SCOTT WESKER (NARRATE)
Scott's intentions might have been noble and pure, but even the most righteous man wasn't above the justice system. Outside of the nightmares, the words that haunted Scott the most was what the judge said after his trial. Even behind bars, he was constantly reminded that his life was just as fragile as the countless thousands he inadvertently ended. Not seeing his son grow up or having time to make peace with himself were the worst parts of his imprisonment. But then, a representative of the U.S. government stepped into Scott's cell and made an offer he couldn't refuse. Work for them, or face the death sentence.
THE END
