Chapter 19:

The survivors found themselves in a lab with work desks on either side of the room. Everything was a mess and the room was dark, the only light coming from a window that looked into the actual cooling lab. Veronica set down the trophy on a random desk as they made their way to it, finding the room to be covered in frost. It really was a cooling lab.

In the room before that, was an observation desk that had a computer on it. The screen was the same color as their chip and it made them curious to see what was on it. There was also a body on the ground that they knifed just in case it wasn't fully dead. As they approached the computer, the automated voice called out to them.

"Welcome back, Dr. Li. You have [5] new messages." Leon hummed curiously as he clicked on the computer. It opened to Dr. Li's inbox and revealed the messages sent by coworkers. They talked about a Dr. Cartwright who seemed to be hiding things and one email even had the clue about the trophy they had found. Then it ended with his coworkers freaking out after the outbreak. It seemed like the higher officials clearly left behind everyone. No one was safe.

Bummed out by the emails, the two moved on towards the lab. Passing through a small room with hazmats suits in it, they walked into the lab and started shivering immediately. There was frost everywhere and the air fogged every time they breathed out. It was super cold and the source came from one of the refrigerator doors that was left open, chilled air spilling out into the room. Veronica hadn't felt so cold since when she first arrived at the R.P.D., it was enough to cause her teeth to chatter. Leon shivered significantly as they walked through the room toward one of the machines.

"Who left the freezer open!?" he said incredulously. Veronica couldn't find it in her to answer as another shiver wracked her body. They quickly reached a machine that looked like it could do the job since it had some machinery resting inside of it, as far as they could tell. Veronica handed the cartridge to Leon then he pushed it into the machine. As he did so, Veronica found a can of gunpowder on a random table, so she took it. As they waited for it to do its thing, Veronica was caught by surprise by Leon pulling her into his arms and wrapping her in a hug.

"What-?"

"You're freezing over here. I'm trying to keep you warm," he said with a small grin, his hand rubbing down the side of her arms to cause friction. "If only I still had my jacket."

"If we still had it, I would give it to you this time. Aren't you cold?!" she asked pressing closer.

"I don't need it," he replied only for his body to betray his words as he shivered.

"Bullshit," she sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder. She tried to help somewhat by breathing hot air through his collar. It made him flush a little at the thought of her lips at such close proximity, but the warmth was a nice feeling. After about a minute, the machine ejected the cartridge back to them with it being at a cool temperature. The two survivors ran out of there and reveled in the feeling of warmth, even though it wasn't that much warmer outside.

They carefully made it to the exit while the lickers were on the other side of the lounge and ran up the stairwell. From there, they made a beeline back towards the greenhouse control room. Now that there were no more Ivys in their way, it was easy. Before they could do anything, they took this moment to create ammo for themselves after everything they had collected. Once they used the solution, they didn't know what they would be up against. After they were done, Leon quickly inserted it into the machine and watched as it beeped in success.

"Dispensing solution now," the automated voice said over the intercom. The plants outside were sprayed over and then began to droop as it was weakened. The pair watched in amazement as the body of the scientist, with the chip they needed was released by the plant and fell onto the floor with a loud thud. They looked at each other happily then ran out into the greenhouse. All of the Ivys were lying on the floor, clearly stunned by the solution.

"That did the trick," Leon muttered as they got closer to the body.

"Warning: You have dispersed a dangerous solution without authorization. Your actions have been logged and you may be subject to disciplinary measures." They shook off the voice and continued on. Once there, he picked up the fallen ID chip and inserted it into his wristband. As he was doing that, however, Veronica noticed the sound of thudding coming from somewhere nearby. It sounded like heavy footsteps and almost eerily similar to something they had heard before. She turned to the giant windows of the viewing room above them and gasped.

"Leon! It's Mr. X!" she cried, grasping his arm.

"Shit. Him again!?" They watched as the giant approached the glass and pulled back his arm to punch the glass. "Time to go!" They bolted away from there in time for the glass to shatter behind them. The floor shook as Mr. X dropped onto the greenhouse floor and began stalking after them.

Just as they were turning the corner, the Ivys had regained their strength and was hobbling towards them. One of them managed to grab onto Leon and tried pulling him in, its mouth opening like a venus flytrap. He managed to reach his waist and take out a grenade, shoving it into its mouth instead. He shoved it away towards the other Ivys behind it and pulled Veronica out of there. The loud explosion behind them was satisfying to hear, but Mr. X's footsteps never stopped.

They rushed out of the area and over the bridge to the machines on the middle platform. Leon pushed the button for the West Area bridge and it slid out in record time. Mr. X didn't seem to be following them anymore, but they didn't waste time sticking around to find out. They ran across the bridge and walked into the next area.

"Hopefully the G sample's up here," Leon said as they approached the door. Walking in they were met with a dark hallway that led to a small lab. In the hallway, there was another body of a gas-masked soldier lying on the floor, truly dead. At his feet amongst the pool of blood were another VHS tape and a grenade.

"Another one?" Veronica questioned as she shined her light into the other room. "Leon! There's a VHS player over there!" The power was out, but lucky for them, there was another breaker box for them and they still had the modulator. With some fine-tuning, they inserted the box and watched as the lights flickered on above them. Looking around, the room was filled with more lab equipment, but now they noticed the doorway they had walked in from was stretched out as if something large tried to squeeze through.

The pair looked at each other in worry then down at the tape in Leon's hand. Now that the power was on, the small T.V worked, so they inserted the tape and watched as the screen flickered to life. The footage playing looked similar to the one they had seen in the sewers. Only the soldier, named J. Martinez, was recording it was up in a ceiling vent looking down on a man who looked like a scientist. He was digging in some sort of scientific equipment and pulling out tubes of liquid and putting them into a suitcase.

"Got eyes on the G-Virus," the soldier said in a low voice. The screen flickered as he began getting into position.

"We're going in," another voice radioed in. The solider in the vents watched as other soldiers ran into the room with guns aimed at the scientist. Martinez used something to push the vent out of the way then he jumped down into the room to join the others. "Dr. Birkin, you'll come along with us quietly." The pair realized this was the rest of the recording that they had heard earlier.

"You think I didn't know you were coming?" the scientist, Dr. Birkin, retorted as he slowly slid a hand into his coat and held onto the suitcase for dear life. "This is my life's work! I'm not handing over anything!"

"We have our orders, Dr. Birkin," the leader of the squad told him. "I'll ask you one more time." Dr. Birkin breathed in then quickly tried to pull out a handgun. Only he was never able to. Instead, Martinez saw the threat and shot Birkin down before he could. Veronica could only look away, too horrified to look anymore.

"Stop! Hold your fire!" the leader shouted. Looking back at the footage, they watched as Birkin laid in a pool of his own blood, his body riddled with bullet holes. Another soldier moved forward to check his pulse only to pull away with a shake of his head. The leader turned to Martinez pissed. "What the fuck were you thinking!? Our orders were to bring him in alive!" He pulled away and it sounded like he radioed into the man behind the operation.

"We're in, sir, but we had a snafu," he said then turned to Martinez, still angry. "Target resisted, we had to take him out." He paused as whoever he was talking to responded. "That's correct, sir." Another pause. "Roger that. Just the sample then." The man standing over Birkin crouched down and picked up the suitcase. "Let's move!" The leader said before walking past Martinez, the other men following. Martinez took one last look at Birkin's body then the footage cut out. The man's lifeless face and blood dripping out of his mouth imprinted in Veronica's mind. Something about him seemed familiar. It took her a moment before she figured it out.

"So those were G samples."

"Leon, that man...he's the monster," she whispered.

"Birkin. He managed to survive the attack only to destroy Raccoon City." He glanced around the room and down at a computer on a desk. He looked through Dr. Birkin's inbox and found a slew of emails from Umbrella. They had accepted his work on G only to take it out of his hands completely. It seemed like Dr. Birkin wasn't about to let that happen.

"It sounds like Umbrella wanted G for themselves, but Birkin was too proud to let them take it. Maybe those soldiers work for Umbrella and they were hired to take G from him, only…" Veronica trailed off and nodded to the tape.

"Only for things to go horribly wrong. But how did he end up like that monster?"

"Who knows? Hopefully, he's dead by now!" The two left the room and walked through a small lab, a hazmat room, a decontamination area only to end up in a giant bioreactor room. Only it was thrashed! The ceiling was busted through and down amongst the machinery it looked like a battle happened. The walls were scratched up, broken panels all over the floor and steam was filling the room. Electric sparks flew around from broken machines and there were flames licking against certain parts of the floor.

Square in the middle of the floor below them, there was a giant mutated blob of something lying unmoving. From what they could tell, it had long claws and bone growth. They had a feeling they knew who it was. Across the room was another door, but they would need a bridge to get to it.

"William," a woman's voice croaked from behind them. The two survivors quickly turned with guns drawn only to lower them. Lying against the wall was Annette Birkin, only she looked worse for wear. Blood had dried at the corners of her mouth and in different spots over her body. She looked weak as she looked up at them.

"Annette?!" Veronica put her gun back over her shoulder.

"What the hell is going on!?" Leon questioned, keeping his gun out. Annette shook her head then stared out into the space below them.

"It shouldn't have been like this. It's Umbrella's fault- this whole mess."

"You're Umbrella, too. You're telling me you weren't involved in this?" She turned her head to glare at him.

"Yes...But we never meant for this to happen."

"Then tell me everything- right from the start." Annette sighed then began recanting on how she found William Birkin, somehow still alive after being shot down. Before she could stop him, he injected himself with his own creation, not only saving his life but also turning him into a monster seeking revenge on those who took his work.

"So you made that monster?" Veronica questioned.

"We made the G-Virus, but we never intended this to-."

"You can spin it any way you want. You're still responsible-," he was cut off as she gasped at a sudden surge of pain. She bent to her side, clutching at her wounds. Veronica turned to him then nodded to a machine on the edge of their platform.

"I'll stay here and watch Annette. You go and get G," she whispered.

"You sure?" She nodded.

"Just be quick." He nodded back then stood up and went to press a button on the machine. A bridge began rising from the platform, connecting the two sides together. The monster had slid off of it as it rose but was still lying on the ground beneath them and never moved while they were there. Leon quickly made it across the damaged bridge and disappeared through the other door.

"Where is he going?" Annette coughs, blood sputtering out of her mouth.

"He's getting one of the G-Virus samples. We're going to make sure this never happens again!" Annette stared up into Veronica's eyes and saw no lies behind them. She nodded and winced at the pain in her body.

"How did this happen?" the brunette asked, lifting Annette's coat out of the way to see her waist crushed up and bruised.

"William attacked me. He doesn't know who anyone is anymore. Just other creatures that are in his way. Another girl was here and she took care of him."

"Another girl?"

"Yes. Her name was Claire, I think."

"Claire was here!?"

"You know her?"

"Kind of. Why was she down here? How did she beat that thing?!"

"It was one hell of a fight. She saved my daughter."

"Oh. I'm glad to hear that!"

"Attention: Unauthorized removal of a [Level 4] virus detected. Facility lockdown initiated. Self-destruct sequence will begin when lockdown is complete," an automated voice said over the intercom above them.

"Self-destruct?! This place is gonna self-destruct!?" Veronica asked worriedly.

"It's in place in case the G-Virus ever left the building. You both need to get out of here!"

"What about you!?"

"It's too late for me." After she said that, Leon entered the room and began running back over. In one of his vest pockets, they could see a tube of the virus latched in. He quickly knelt down next to Veronica.

"You got it?" He nodded then looked over Annette.

"Jesus, that looks bad," he muttered.

"Feels worse, believe me," Annette responded weakly. Leon realized this wasn't going to end well for her, so he tried to lighten up his attitude.

"Look, about what you said...I don't know how much I believe it, but I'm willing to-." Annette reached up and grasped his arm.

"Just tell me you'll destroy that G sample," she urged. Leon seemed a little taken back and shook his head.

"No. It's evidence. It's going to the F.B.I." Annette chuckled but it turned more into a cough.

"You trust that bitch?" Both Leon and Veronica looked at each other confused. Was she talking about Ada?

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"She's not F.B.I, she's a mercenary."

"What!?" Veronica remembered hearing about those types of people. She didn't really think they existed, maybe only in movies.

"She's gonna sell it - The G-Virus is gonna go to the highest bidder." Leon shook his head in disbelief then got on his feet.

"That's bullshit," he hissed in anger. Both survivors' minds raced with every interaction they had with Ada. It did seem weird that she asked two civilians for their help, but they were too caught up in trying to save the city to think about it. Her actions in the cable car also gave them some red flags, but they didn't want to believe it. Annette gasped loudly in pain and began trying to lay on the floor, breaking them from their thoughts.

"I hope you're right," she told them between gasps as she clutched at her side. " But if the G-Virus...gets into the wrong hands…" She gave one last breath then fell onto the floor and went unconscious. Veronica was too scared to see if she was actually dead. She got up onto her feet and watched as Leon looked around with his thoughts running a million miles per second.

"Leon, do you think…" He looked up at her and shook his head.

"I don't know anymore. We need to find her and confront her about it." His partner opened her mouth to say something, but another warning message rang out above them.

"Attention: Self-destruct sequence initiated. Use the Central Elevator to evacuate immediately to the bottom-level train platform."

"We should go! We can ask her about it when we get out here," she urged while reaching for his arm. He nodded and let her pull him out of the room and towards the main shaft. Just as they reached the giant room, they were surprised to see Ada hobbling across the North Area bridge towards the elevator. She took out her hacking gun and unlocked the elevator, getting the machine to call for it. Apparently, someone else had already used it. They could only hope it would get up to them in time.

"Ada!" Veronica began jogging over to the middle platform but stopped halfway when she realized Leon was lagging behind. She turned to see him merely walking, his eyes focused on Ada.

"We were just thinking about you," he said loudly over the rumbling of the building. The ceiling was already crumbling and it felt like there were small explosions happening deep within the walls. It seemed like the self-destruct process took a little time to fully achieve.

"That makes three of us. I was getting worried," Ada responded, limping over to the bridge they were on.

"Y'know we make a good team, but I gotta ask you something first." They all stopped near the end of the bridge, Ada passing Veronica to meet Leon who was looking at her with a serious expression.

"Leon, this isn't the time for-" Veronica was stopped by Leon raising a hand. She sighed in frustration but let him talk. Ada looked at them worriedly, before keeping her eyes on him.

"The way's clear. Please, tell me you got it."

"Oh, I got it."

"Let me verify the G sample and we'll get the hell out of here," Ada said while holding a hand out to Leon.

"Before we do that," Ada dropped her hand, "we ran into Annette. She claims you're not F.B.I."

"Oh, Leon…" Ada scoffed and shook her head before suddenly taking out her gun and aiming it at the young officer. "Why couldn't you just hand over the sample?" The two survivors were not surprised, but they kept their cool. If anything, they were just disappointed.

"Because I realized, as much as we wanted to trust you…" Leon quickly pulled out his gun and the sound of a shotgun barrel cocking from behind Ada caught her attention. "We didn't," The mercenary peered over from the corner of her eyes to find Veronica aiming her gun at her before focusing back on Leon.

"I really hoped it wouldn't end up like this."

"So that's all this was...We were just some pawn to you?" he accused growing upset.

"Look, I am just doing my job."

"And I'm doing mine, so drop that damn gun! I'm taking you in."

"Guys, we don't have time for this!" Veronica cut in, but Ada persisted.

"Hand over the sample, Leon. I don't wanna hurt you." The parts of the bridge behind Leon suddenly collapsed after another explosion in the building, leaving the trio just on the edge of falling. Leon quickly got his bearings and then everyone was aiming guns at each other again. They all stood there for a solid second in silence before Leon dropped his gun and stood clear in front of Ada. The girls were taken back by this action.

"Leon," Veronica warned, trying to keep her cool, but was getting hard to with every second. Her partner was being stupid for once after all they had been through.

"Then you shoot me, but I don't think you can." Veronica kept her gun up as long as Ada had hers still aimed. Ada stood there thinking, but clearly, she was hesitant. Something was stopping her.

"Ada, please! No one else needs to die tonight," Veronica pleaded from behind. Ada turned her head slightly to her as the words sunk in. Her eyes looked back into Leon's as she tried lifting the gun to see if she could do it, but instead, she lowered it. They all breathed a sigh of relief that she didn't pull the trigger and began putting their guns away.

Leon smiled softly at Ada, but before she could return it, a gunshot rang through the air catching them all by surprise. Blood ran down Ada's arm from a bullethole causing everyone to look over at the West Area door. There on the platform stood Annette, barely alive as she aimed her gun at the trio.

Suddenly, an explosion below them shook the foundation they stood on. The bridge began to collapse more, the metal beneath their feet twisting onto its side causing Ada to lose her footing

"Ada!" Leon dove across the still connected panel and was able to grab Ada's wrist before she could fall into the dark abyss below them. Veronica quickly grasped onto Leon's leg and held onto the other panel to keep him from sliding. The room was becoming more and more destroyed with each passing second. They were running out of time.

A clinking sound caught their attention as the G sample vial slid out of Leon's vest, hit the panel then fell into the darkness. It was gone now. Veronica looked up at Annette who was still standing at the door, her gun lowered.

"No one gets that sample now," the scientist muttered before succumbing to her injuries and falling to floor one last time.

"Leon…" Ada tried to say but was cut off.

"Hold on...I think I can," he grunted as he tried lifting her with his one good arm, but the panel beneath them began to break at the pressure. Veronica tried to pull her partner back, but she was stopped when the floor began to buckle.

"Forget it," the mercenary shook her head as she looked up at Leon.

"Shut up- I've got you!"

"It's not worth it."

"Ada, please!" Veronica cried.

"Don't do this…" Leon pleaded. He tried pulling her up again, only for her wrist to slip slightly in his grip. Ada glanced down into the darkness before looking back up at the pair one last time.

"Take care of yourselves, Leon," she paused and looked over at the other girl who had tears already brimming in her eyes. "Vee." Leon grunted trying to keep his hold, but all for naught. Ada's wrist slipt from his grasp and she fell, disappearing into the abyss.

"NO!"

"ADA!" Tears spilled down the brunette's cheeks as Leon laid there full of distraught. Another explosion from the distance caught Veronica's attention, so she began pulling at Leon's leg to drag him away from the edge.

"Leon! Leon, please! We have to go!" He finally looked over at her and shook off the grief in order to get off the rapidly breaking bridge. Helping him up, she pulled him to safety and they had made it just in time for the rest of the bridge to collapse behind them. They took one last look over the edge to see if they could maybe find Ada, but it was too dark. There was no way she could've survived. It would take a miracle. The two survivors looked at each other then nodded. They had to get out of there.