In this chapter, our heroes will enter the sewers. You'd be surprised how spacious they are in Raccoon City.
And yes, it's going to be smelly down there.
Still, it's got to be more pleasant than being eaten by zombies. And it probably smells better than they do, anyway.
Although, chances are there are monsters in the sewers.
Chapter 5: Irons' Secret
Claire found it hard to believe that the city had descended into chaos.
It used to be so peaceful.
But perhaps the mayor had taken the city's peace for granted. Even after those murders in the Arklay Mountains began.
He was pretty lucky he wasn't in the city when the virus hit.
Still, he was going to face the consequences of letting Umbrella walk all over him...when he finds a smoldering crater where Raccoon City was.
She and Leon entered the sewers...and encountered Crimson Heads.
"Careful, these zombies seem different than what we've seen before." warned Leon.
They were much more aggressive than normal zombies, making them that much more dangerous.
And they were capable of running.
Still, shooting them in the head worked well.
It was only a matter of time before they collapsed on the floor.
Hopefully they wouldn't mutate again.
But even so, the roars they made were unnerving. As if the moaning wasn't bad enough.
"Are the zombies mutating?" asked Claire.
"Looks that way." nodded Leon.
Claire started to wonder if the military would be able to handle them.
It seemed they might be able to adapt to their tactics.
...
"Where is she?" asked Frank.
He'd hate to imagine her being eaten by zombies.
Still looking for Rebecca, he followed the trail that Irons had left behind.
Following the footprints, he discovered Brian Irons' secret hideout.
He discovered Rebecca, who had been tied up and had a gag in her mouth.
She seemed extremely frightened...which was understandable given what was going on outside.
Frank quickly untied Rebecca.
She was understandably relieved.
"Who did this to you?" asked Frank.
"It was the police chief..." answered Rebecca, sweat coming down her face.
"What?!" exclaimed the news reporter.
To be honest, he wasn't expecting him of all people to be responsible for all this.
But then again, you couldn't judge people based on appearances.
"Well well well. It seems you've discovered my secret." remarked Brian Irons.
"What secret would that be?" asked Frank.
"Take a look around you." answered the police chief.
He looked around, and his eyes widened in horror.
Chief Irons was a serial killer who kept the bones and organs of his victims.
"What kind of madman is he?" thought Frank to himself.
Worst of all, he had used taxidermy to turn the mayor's daughter into a doll. Her eyes stared at everyone lifelessly. And he didn't like taxidermy to begin with.
Frank West thought this man was worse than Jo Slade, who he had met back in the Willamette Mall.
That was really saying something.
It looked like Frank was fighting yet another psychopath.
Brian Irons attacked first, firing his gun at him.
But Frank ducked for cover.
He then threw some acid at Brian.
Conveniently, there was some in the room.
Frank didn't want to know what Brian used that for though.
"Aaaah!" exclaimed the man, clutching his face where the acid had burned him.
It looked like he was getting a taste of his own medicine.
Rebecca then stabbed him in the arm.
But he pulled out a taser.
Brian then used it to zap Rebecca.
"Aaah!" exclaimed the woman.
Brian Irons smirked.
"Rebecca!" shouted Frank.
Luckily, it seemed she was alright.
Brian fired his gun at Frank.
It seemed like he fought a lot of psychopaths these days.
However, this one was the biggest of them all.
Frank punched Brian in the stomach.
Brian Irons collapsed to his knees.
"How could Umbrella do this to me?" asked the police chief. If it weren't for him, STARS might have discovered their secrets by now.
"Maybe if you hadn't taken those bribes from Umbrella, the city wouldn't be in this mess." noted Rebecca.
"Shut up!" exclaimed Irons.
Suddenly, Claire and Leon arrived on the scene.
"My boss is a serial killer?!" exclaimed Leon.
"Well, my brother's boss turned out to be evil." noted Claire.
Brian Irons noticed Sherry hiding underneath a table.
Much to Frank's horror, Brian Irons grabbed her by the arm and took Sherry hostage.
He pointed a gun to her head.
Leon and Claire were now worried for Sherry's safety.
"Stand back or I'll blow her brains out!" exclaimed Brian.
"You wouldn't!" shouted Rebecca.
Suddenly, they heard footsteps.
They wondered where it was coming from.
Was it a zombie?
As it turned out, it was something much worse.
Our heroes's eyes widened in fear as they discovered what was approaching them.
"Sherry!" shouted William Birkin.
Apparently, this was the monster that had been searching for Sherry Birkin.
Oddly, it looked somewhat like a human. After all, it was dressed in a white lab coat and blue jeans.
However, William's right arm had mutated.
There was also an eye on his right shoulder.
However, Brian Irons himself did not notice the creature.
He had his back turned away from the monster.
But he noticed the panicked expressions on everyone's faces.
"What?" asked Brian Irons.
William Birkin proceeded to tear Chief Irons in half.
It was rather gruesome.
Thankfully, Frank had shielded Sherry's eyes. Seeing such a thing would scar her for life, as if the zombies didn't do that already.
Everyone else was repulsed though.
And yet, nobody felt sorry for Chief Irons.
If he hadn't sabotaged the police's efforts, he might very well still be alive...which ironically would mean that he would be free to have more victims.
As Irons was being attacked by the monster that used to be William Birkin, he let go of Sherry.
She immediately returned to Frank West.
He quickly comforted her. Frank knew full well that people could be as dangerous as zombies themselves.
Unfortunately, after saving his daughter from the insane police chief, William Birkin then became aggressive towards the survivors.
It looked like they were going to have to fight him to stay alive.
Frank West was reminded a bit of Lisa Trevor. Although, perhaps Birkin wouldn't wear human skin over his face. That was...kind of messed up.
Fortunately, it seemed that he wasn't much stronger than a regular human in this state. The mutation the G-Virus inflicted was only just beginning.
But still, this did not mean that he was dangerous. He was more resilient than a zombie, for one. The G-Virus came with regenerative powers, as opposed to the T-Virus. It was part of the reason it was marketed as being better than the T-Virus.
For starters, he had a metal pipe. Frank wasn't sure where he had gotten that, but he could question that later.
Luckily, that enormous eye on the right side of his body was an obvious weakness.
Claire decided to focus there.
William Birkin swung the pipe at her.
Leon shot William in the face.
He clutched it with his hand.
Sherry couldn't help but feel worried for Claire and Leon.
Leon noted that the monster wasn't trying to bite them, unlike the zombies.
Perhaps the G-Virus didn't produce insatiable hunger.
Oddly enough, the monster didn't seem to be attacking Sherry.
Perhaps some part of the old William Birkin remained.
Unfortunately, the monster was spawning G spawn.
They began to attack the survivors.
Rebecca pulled out a knife and slashed away the G spawn that were trying to bite her.
However, Frank figured that he should attack the source instead.
He stabbed the monster in the giant eye.
William roared, and hit him on the head with the pipe.
"Ow!" exclaimed Frank.
For a moment, he had a concussion.
But he snapped out of it in time to stop the monster from grabbing Sherry.
He stabbed the monster in the giant eye again.
William Birkin collapsed to the floor.
Sherry Birkin cried. Perhaps her father would still be alive if he hadn't experimented with viruses.
Of course, by that logic, Raccoon City wouldn't be in this situation as well.
But it was too late to do anything about that now, just as it was probably too late to save Raccoon City from the zombies.
However, for some strange reason, she got the feeling that her father was still alive. It didn't seem like he would die that easily now that the G-Virus was in his bloodstream.
That wasn't a good thing though. He had kind of degenerated into a monster.
Just in case, they would leave the room.
Besides, it was giving them the creeps.
And there was the matter of escaping, of course.
Our heroes took their leave.
Unbeknownst to them, William Birkin began to stir.
It seemed that he wasn't dead just yet.
Though our heroes had certainly done a number on him.
He became to mutate.
This time, what appeared to be a skull appeared on top of his torso.
His face was then moved to his chest.
And yes, William Birkin was starting to look scarier...and decidedly less human.
Now that he had regenerated, he had decided he would resume his search for his daughter.
She wasn't getting away from him this time.
...
Unfortunately for Ada, it seemed Mr. X was hunting her down. He had murdered Ben and now he was searching for another victim.
Who knew who would be next?
She could hear his heavy footsteps, and they were getting louder.
Perhaps he realized her intentions and was trying to cease them.
He didn't want the G-Virus to be in anyone's hands other than Umbrella's.
Either way, she was in a worse situation than just being attacked by zombies.
Fortunately, Mr. X wasn't armed, so she didn't have to worry as long as she was at long range.
Still, being grappled by him wouldn't end well. She had witnessed him tear through concrete. Chances are he could do the same with her bones.
Unfortunately, shooting Mr. X didn't cause him to collapse like the zombies. Tyrants were known to be resilient.
However, this did not mean shooting him was useless. It did slow him down.
Using a grenade caused him to fall on his knees.
But he was already started to get back up.
Not only that, but he seemed to be getting irritated.
Ada Wong seized the opportunity to run away.
As she did so, she discovered another Tyrant.
However, it seemed this one wasn't after her.
Curiously, this one was female.
"Frank...West..." remarked Hel.
Ada Wong had heard of this man.
And unfortunately for him, he was in great danger.
But she didn't think there was anything she could do for him.
She already had one Tyrant after her already.
If she had more, she was definitely a goner.
So she focused on getting the G-Virus for now.
...
As Brian Irons had claimed, the military had arrived on the scene.
It seemed they were a bit early, however. It seemed people were worried about the outbreak spreading.
Specifically, they were the UBCS. The Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service.
Fortunately, they had enough power to take care of many, many, zombies.
Carlos shot a Licker in the exposed brain.
"I have to question their biology." noted Carlos. It made striking the brain all the easier.
Additionally, they did not have eyes.
They actually looked similar to the Xenomorphs he had seen in movies.
However, the military did not know what they were getting into.
Unfortunately, Nemesis had been instructed to take a break from hunting STARS to deal with them.
"UBCS..." spoke Nemesis.
Umbrella wanted to see how Nemesis would fare against a squad of trained soldiers.
When they had gotten results, he would go back to hunting STARS.
Some of them had already left Raccoon City, but they would cross that bridge when they came to it.
As it turned out, he fared quite well against the squad. Not least because the creature terrified its opponents.
For a moment, Carlos thought it was just another zombie.
But he stopped thinking that when he realized the creature was armed with a deadly weapon.
"Why does that thing have a rocket launcher?!" exclaimed Carlos.
None of the zombies he had seen were armed, unless you counted the long tongue that some of them had.
Nemesis shot a rocket at one of the helicopters, causing it to crash...and burn.
The soldiers were understandably freaked out.
Who knew how many rockets this creature had?
He then began launching rockets at their vehicles.
This put them at a disadvantage.
Could it be this zombie was...sentient? Cutting off their escape routes was actually a pretty smart idea.
And to make matters worse, he was regenerating from their bullets. Shooting it wasn't doing them any good.
"How many bullets can this monster take?!" exclaimed Mikhail, leader of the squad.
He sure hoped they didn't run out of bullets. That was practically a death sentence in this kind of situation. Especially since you couldn't surrender to the walking dead.
Nemesis grabbed one of the soldiers and ran him through with a tentacle, much like he had done with Brad Vickers.
It occurred to the soldiers that maybe they should cut their losses and hide from the creature.
As they fled, one of the soldiers screamed like a little girl.
Mikhail was expecting his men to be a bit more...manly.
Still, it was understandable given the situation.
Unbeknownst to the rest of them, one of the soldiers (who went by Nikolai) was writing a note about Nemesis's performance.
His superiors would want that.
Nearby, Jill Valentine got the feeling that the military had run into more trouble than they had expected.
Had anyone survived?
For their sake, she hoped so.
Perhaps they could help her escape.
They had taken refuge from Nemesis in the Clock Tower. It reminded her of Big Ben, even though she was not in London.
Hopefully, their time...wasn't up.
Considering the military had ultimately failed, Jill wondered if the city would be nuked.
Hopefully she could find a new place to live if that happened.
But she would focus on that after escaping the city.
For now, she would head to the clock tower.
Uh-oh! It looks like William Birkin is mutating further. Apparently, the G-Virus really is superior to the T-Virus.
The further he mutates, the more deadly he becomes.
And the harder it is to recognize him.
Sherry Birkin might still be able to recognize him though.
He's her father...and of course, she's a smart kid.
I believe Frank already acknowledged that.