Alright, back again with another chapter. This one took a little longer than I was hoping, but not by much.

Disclaimer: I don't have any ownership stake in Total Drama, Zombieland, or any of the other, many properties that cross over with this story. (As silly and kind of dated I think this disclaimer stuff is, I've been doing it the entire time for this story, it would be kind of weird to stop near the end).

Reminder that this chapter will be from Chris McLean's perspective, so any non-dialogue uses of I are meant to be everyone's favorite host. Similarly, non-dialogue uses of Chris refer to Chris Redfield. With that out of the way, on with the show!

It was quiet as I continued to drive, there being no talking in the cab of the truck besides Chris Redfield giving me directions. After a couple of hours, Chris tapped my shoulder and said, "Hey, pull over when you get the chance. You've had a long day between whatever Frank said went down at the mall and then getting to me. Frank or I will take over."

The events of the day finally catching up with me, I realized I could use a break, but the zombies we were running from concerned me, so I voiced those concerns, "Are you sure? Don't we have that herd in the city to worry about?"

Chris took a look at the odometer and said, "No, we've travelled enough that we can stop for a few minutes. Give everyone a chance to stretch their legs. You can go in the back and rest while we're at it."

I kept my eyes on the road and asked, "Say, we're not getting in the way, are we?"

Chris sighed, "Well, bringing a group as big as you guys along won't make things easier for us, that's certain. But as long as you don't get in the way of our mission, there's no harm to keeping you with us either."

I nodded, "Frank mentioned something about a mission. Are you allowed to talk about it?"

Chris was silent for a few moments, as he seemed to be thinking. Finally he said, "I suppose it wouldn't be fair to you to leave you completely in the dark. Understand there's parts that I can't tell you however."

I glanced to my companion in the front and said, "Fair enough. And you don't have to worry about me saying anything I shouldn't. I told you before I hosted a reality show, let me just say that there's more than a couple things about how they're run that shouldn't be public knowledge."

Chris nodded, "Alright, what I'm allowed to tell you is my team is here on behalf of the US government, as well as whatever elements of the Canadian government managed to make it out. We were tasked with investigating a pharmaceutical company that might have had ties to a similar incident to what's going on here. Frank was involved in that actually, that's why he's here."

I began to slow down as I noticed a rest stop was ahead on the road and asked, "So what, you're trying to prove that the company was behind this as well?"

Chris waited a moment before nodding, "Something like that. I wish I could say more, but there's a lot that's classified. I almost think I already said too much."

I finally parked the truck and said, "Hey, no complaints from me. We're just trying to get to the states, if you're willing to help with that, we'd have to be stupid to turn that down."

I exited the truck to see Frank hop out of the back. The photojournalist asked, "Lemme guess, Redfield said you should have a break?"

I nodded, "Yeah. To be honest I haven't worked as hard as I did today in a really long time. Perks of being a show host I guess." A couple of other people got out of the truck to stretch their legs, including Trent, Jen and Cody. I looked at teens and asked, "And how were things going back there? I know it couldn't have been too comfortable."

Jen cracked her back and said, "I've been in worse. Aside from being a little stiff, it wasn't bad."

Cody nodded, "Yeah, luckily this military truck had the canopy covering us from the top."

Trent jerked a thumb at the back of the truck and said, "Some of the others are sleeping. Tyler in particular I never thought would settle down."

I was so concerned with getting out before that it only just hit me that Lindsay and Wyatt had died during our trek through the city. I grabbed the truck for support and Jen rushed over, "Whoa, you alright there?"

I nodded, "Y-yeah, I'll be good. I just need to rest. Just the whole day catching up with me."

Trent walked over and helped me into the back, where I collapsed into one of the makeshift seats and quickly fell asleep. It was an uneventful journey, as we kept travelling through the night, with a few people taking turns driving. We continued rotating drivers until the next evening, where Chris and Frank found an old roadside motel that appeared to be in good condition, all things considered. We elected to stay the night there in order to get a better night's sleep.

As I headed to the room that I was going to use, Frank stopped me, "Chris, got a minute?"

I nodded and said, "Sure thing Frank. What's up?"

We walked over to the truck, where Chris Redfield was looking over a map, Frank telling me, "Chris, the other one that is, just wanted to give you a heads up before we reached the rest of our team."

Chris looked over and nodded, "That's right, we'll reach the others late morning, maybe early afternoon tomorrow. When we do, Frank and I will convene with them, figure out our plan. I think we'll have to infiltrate the regional headquarters the company we're investigating has near Montreal."

I raised an eyebrow, "That doesn't seem so bad."

Frank crossed his arms, "Well, if they're working with the group that caused my incident, we could run into some issues."

Chris looked contemplative, "I've got a bad feeling regardless. I don't want to involve the rest of you, especially since many of your group are just kids. But the rest of our group might need a deal to allow the rest of you with us. I've worked with some of them in the past, and they don't exactly like to change plans."

I nodded, "A deal can work. Did you have something in mind?"

Frank nodded, "I told Chris here that you're a pretty good fighter."

I waved my hand dismissively, "What? I mean I am pretty awesome, but I'm not that good a fighter."

Chris sighed, "Even so, I'd feel bad about asking any of those teens to do this. Basically, we just want another person to back us up. You don't need to worry about gathering information or anything."

I raised an eyebrow and asked, "So what, like a bodyguard?"

Frank shrugged, "Sort of? I was going to say just be some extra muscle. Whatever sounds less demeaning."

I nodded, "I suppose. If that's what it'll take to get us back to the states with you guys, then I'm game I guess."

Chris started to fold up his map and said, "I appreciate the fact you're willing to cooperate. I understand it can't be easy to agree to help a guy you just met."

I shrugged, "Hey, you didn't start shooting at us when we met you and you didn't leave us high and dry. That's all I needed to know you're a good dude."

Frank yawned and said, "Well, now that that's settled, I think I'm gonna hit the hay. Sleeping in the truck like that was not comfortable."

I bid the two a good night and went to my room to sleep as well. The next morning, after a somewhat disappointing breakfast, we all packed into the large truck, most of us in the back, and continued on to Montreal.

I was seated in the back with the rest of my group and got everyone's attention, "Yo, guys, lemme talk to you all real quick."

Nikki grumbled, "This'll be good."

Jonesy elbowed her and said, "Hey, be nice."

Trent shook his head and turned to me, "What's up Chris?"

I looked around at everyone and said, "Just wanted to give you all a heads up of what to expect. Frank and the other Chris are going to meet up with the rest of their team and then they plan on investigating some company near there. They might need me to help them, I'm not entirely sure yet. Either way, once they're done with that we'll be able to hitch a ride with them back to the states."

Jude looked over, "What are you gonna need to do dude?"

I shrugged, "They said act as some extra muscle."

Sierra looked concerned, "Well whatever happens, just be careful. We don't need to lose anyone else." Tyler sighed and the Galleria Mall crew looked down in sadness. Cody facepalmed as Sierra looked embarrassed, "Oh, did I say something inappropriate again? Oops, sorry."

Trent shook his head but said, "Well, in a way, she is right. I just would have tried to put it a bit more tactfully, if that's possible."

Afterwards, it was a quiet ride as we continued onward to Montreal. After a couple hours, around noon, we reached a rather nondescript office building on the outskirts of the city. Frank dropped by the back and said, "If you guys want to just wait back here, we'll tell the rest of our crew the situation."

We agreed and Frank and Chris went inside the building. After a couple of minutes, they came back outside with three people in tow. The first was a serious looking man with brown hair that fell in front of and framed his face. He was wearing a brown jacket over a black shirt and black pants. The second was a woman with short, brown hair, wearing a sleeveless blue shirt and dark jeans and combat boots. The last was an older man looked like a war veteran, wearing a dark green beret over his graying hair as well as a green combat jacket over a beige shirt and camo-colored pants.

Chris looked to me and said, "Chris, everyone else, this is the rest of our team. The dour looking one is Leon, the kick-butt woman over there is Jill and the army vet is Bill."

Leon looked over our assorted group and said, "You didn't tell us they were kids. Hope you don't expect me to babysit."

Bill shook his head and said, "If they've made it this long, they'll be fine. I'd be more worried about yourself. You're good Leon but that attitude might make you sloppy."

Jill rolled her eyes, "Okay boys, we've had enough debates between the two of you while the others were gone. If we want to get home soon, we need to start planning."

Frank grinned, "How about I show you guys around? It's not much be we've been able to get a few things working in this place."

Cody quirked an eyebrow, "What, some of the electric grid is still intact here?"

Chris shook his head, "Sadly no, but we did find a generator still here from before and it's held up well."

Frank showed us around the office building they were using as a base, with much of their equipment on the third floor. Aside from a conference room, which was turned into a map room of sorts with various regional maps on the walls, the area they were most utilizing was a break room. It was partially a kitchen, with a fridge, coffee maker and toaster in the area, but there was an air hockey table and a projector connected to a laptop, a stack of movies nearby. I continued with Frank while the others stayed in the break room.

Jonesy saw the air hockey table and said, "Okay, I'm going to say we ban Jen from the air hockey table now."

Jen gasped, "What? How could you say that?"

Jonesy chuckled, "Sorry step-sis, but we all deserve a chance to win, don't you think?"

Jude smiled, "No worries Jen dudette, I'll play air hockey with you later."

Nikki rolled her eyes, "Just don't get too into it, alright? Last thing we need is another one of your competitive episodes Jen."

Jen pouted, "I don't get that competitive, do I?"

Tyler, meanwhile sighed and said, "Man, not even something like sports can get me hyped right now."

Trent clapped his shoulder and said, "It's alright man, you're allowed to grieve. You shouldn't be expected to be over something like this, not right now."

Tyler nodded, "It's just, I miss Lindsay, you know? I really did love her and I wasn't there to protect her. I failed."

Cody looked over and said, "Hey, I saw how it all went down. Sierra and I were on a nearby rooftop. There were so many of them that even if you had been there, you would have been overrun too."

Jonesy tapped his chin, "Yeah, but they were all dead when we found them, weren't they? How did that happen?"

Nikki raised an eyebrow, "Wait, the group that killed Lindsay and Wyatt were all dead when you guys found them?"

Tyler solemnly nodded, "Yeah, they were. Looked like some monster or animal got to them."

Sierra tilted her head, "What do you mean like a monster?"

Jonesy waved his arms around as he tried to explain, "So there were like these big claw gashes in them. I swear, it was like that one really bad vampire movie we saw that one time."

Trent raised an eyebrow, "And you didn't think it was important to bring this up until now?"

Cody had a cheeky smile as he said, "It didn't make a difference to you Trent, you were knocked out cold."

Jen gasped, "Wait a second, we saw zombies with claw marks by the mall too!"

Jude blinked, "So does that mean something is like, helping us?"

Nikki shook her head, "There's a difference between helping us and being against the dead."

Sierra pointed out, "Plus we've been driving for like two days. Even if they were friendly, there's no way they would be able to keep up with us."

Jonesy shivered, "Doesn't make it any less spooky that they were at the same place as us twice."

Tyler frowned, "If whatever it was had been just a little faster, Lindsay and Wyatt would still be alive. I swear, if I ever figure out what it was that did it, I'm gonna kill it." Trent and Cody shared an uneasy glance, the two boys knowing that Tyler's desire for revenge was dangerous but unsure how to handle it.

Meanwhile, in the area the group was using as a command center, I was being debriefed by the team. Frank turned to Chris Redfield and said, "Well, the floor is yours boss."

Chris nodded, "Right, I'll make this brief. McLean, this knowledge is to remain confidential to your group, understand?"

I slowly nodded but asked, "Sure, I get it. But if it's so secret, won't you get in trouble for telling me."

Jill playfully slugged Chris in the shoulder and said, "I'm betting something my old partner here didn't tell you was we were given permission to inform trustworthy individuals if necessary. When they told us that, they were probably expecting us to run into one or two individuals while we were here. Not the big group that you had."

I raised an eyebrow, "Fair enough. By the way, why are you guys here, if you don't mind me asking? Like why were you picked?"

Chris answered, "Well let's just say that Jill and I have history with this company. This isn't the first time they've been suspected of doing some shady experiments."

Leon shrugged, "I had done a mission for the government before that involved a plague affecting a village in Europe."

Bill shook his head, "I still think I shouldn't have been chosen, but back when I was deployed in 'Nam, my squad came across some weird voodoo shit that was like these zombies. I was the only one of my squad that came back from that mission."

Frank nodded, "And like I told you before, I've gathered evidence of a different company that caused a similar incident, but on a much smaller scale."

Chris laid a blueprint on the table and said, "Right, let's get back to the mission. We're going to be infiltrating the regional headquarters of the Umbrella Corporation. They're a pharmaceutical company that's always done some less than legal experiments behind closed doors. After the Willamette incident, the company behind it, Phenotrans, went under due to our friend Frank here. Umbrella hired many of their former employees and bought many of their resources, both of which they did off the record."

Jill brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and said, "We suspect them because there was a similar incident known only to those involved at this mansion owned by a former Umbrella executive. Chris and I were part of a strike team sent to investigate after several mysterious deaths there. What we found was a type of zombified creature not unlike what happened here. While these zombies behave differently, there's still enough correlation to be suspicious."

Leon scoffed, "I still think Umbrella and Phenotrans were always in bed with each other and Umbrella used the Willamette incident to consolidate resources."

Bill chuckled, "That's why we're here, isn't it? To prove they were connected or whatever?"

Chris nodded, "That's right. If we had gotten here sooner, we would have gone today but as it stands we'll leave tomorrow. Chris, you and Bill will act as vanguard and rearguard respectively. Of course, we'll be in a close formation so it only really matters when we reach any of the lab or other research points. Frank, Jill, Leon and myself are tasked with searching for necessary information."

I asked, "So what, I'll just keep watch when you guys are looking over documents or whatever?"

Frank nodded, "Essentially. It's not glamourous, but it'll help us get the job done. I don't think we'll find a whole lot, these guys were always careful with cleaning up after themselves. But maybe they were in a hurry and left stuff behind."

I tapped my chin, "That's right, everything really went to hell in only a couple of days. I was hosting a reunion of sorts with the cast of my show and by the end of the weekend, everything had changed. We had been on an island and by the time we reached the mainland, the city we docked in was nearly abandoned."

Leon shook his head, "There's something here that just doesn't add up. There's no way this would have spread as quickly as it had in such a short time. I'm wondering if it had been around for longer and only became a problem recently."

Jill groaned and said, "The media and police were always quick to cover things up, wouldn't surprise me."

Chris mused, "It's also possible it originated from somewhere around here. Maybe even the facility we're going to investigate. In the early days there were reports of more survivors making it further west."

Bill muttered, "The how doesn't matter right now. It's not going to change what happened. What mattered is the who and the why. If we can nail these guys, we can stop this from happening elsewhere."

I looked at the group and asked, "Is this company a big one?"

Chris seriously replied, "That's putting it lightly. They have major facilities on every continent, though their biggest ones are in the United States, in mainland Europe and in Japan."

Frank nodded, "We have no way of knowing if they're all doing the same experiments, but if they are and they lose control again, things won't end well, anywhere."

Leon sighed, "All the more reason to do the job right."

Jill agreed, "That's right, we should all get some good rest. We'll need our strength for tomorrow."

Chris nodded, "That's right. And should things go quickly tomorrow, we can be on the road by late afternoon. We have two trucks, so getting back won't be an issue. But we'll worry about that later. For now, you are all dismissed. Be ready for anything tomorrow."

The next morning, we were preparing one of the trucks while Chris was talking to the teens of my group. He handed a notepad to Trent and said, "I understand you all want to get going as soon as possible. I've written down some of the supplies we had brought with us and left in the base here. If you all could start gathering what we have and even help load it up into the other truck, it will help us get going that much faster."

Jonesy looked over Trent's shoulder at the list and asked, "So you're giving us busy work?"

Frank, who was walking by, said, "Hey, you could do that now or you could do it later when we bring the party to you as a bunch of dead creeps follow us back. Which do you want?"

Jonesy stuttered for a response and Nikki said, "What my idiot boyfriend is trying to say is that we'll get the truck as packed up as we can before you get back."

Chris nodded, "Okay, just try and make sure you keep an eye on it too. Last thing we need is someone to come along and steal our stuff since you weren't watching it."

Jen cheerfully said, "Don't worry, we can do that, right guys?" The rest of the teens voiced various forms of agreement.

Leon walked over to Chris and said, "All right, we're all ready to go when you are boss."

Chris nodded, "Okay, we'll be back before nightfall no matter what, hopefully sooner. Don't burn the place down while we're gone."

Cody gave a dorky salute and said, "Good luck."

Leon and Chris walked over to the truck and got in the cab, while Frank, Jill, Bill and I rode in the back. After a moment, the truck drove off. As we headed to our destination, we were quiet in the back for a bit. After a moment, Bill asked, "So Chris, was it? You said something about those kids being the cast for a show you had hosted? Do I want to know what the hell kind of show it was?"

I shrugged, "It was one of those reality competition shows. Get a bunch of teens, put them on teams, have challenges, losers get rid of someone from their team, last one standing wins a cash prize. Fairly routine stuff."

Jill raised an eyebrow, "So like Survivor?"

I blinked, "Uh, I mean kinda. But instead of being in the middle of nowhere, we stuck them in a run down summer camp. But I swear I didn't steal the idea. The network had the idea for this years ago, it just wasn't until Survivor became really popular that they were confident enough to try."

Frank grinned, "Man, if it weren't for the zombies roaming Canada, that would be a fun scoop to try and find. I can see the headline now: 'Canada vs US, Teens vs Adults, which reality show was first?' Man, now I'm disappointed I won't get to do any snooping around for the truth to that."

Jill rolled her eyes, "You're always looking for the next big scoop. Won't this one be enough? Part of the reason you were picked for the team was because of your press connections. We need them to take down Umbrella if they're involved."

Frank shrugged, "Yeah, yeah, focus on the mission. Sorry if I'm a little excited for whatever comes after, it's just part of the job of being a photojournalist."

Bill scoffed, "You know, back when I was in the army, I thought I would be the same way. I couldn't wait to get out. Turns out, it's hard to adapt to life after war."

I looked to Bill and said, "I know Canada wasn't all that involved, but thanks for serving."

Bill waved a hand dismissively, "Don't mention it. 'Sides, not like I had much of a choice. What with the draft and all."

The truck came to a stop and someone from the cab knocked the wall twice. Jill stood up, "Alright, look alive boys, seems we're here."

We exited the truck and checked our weapons as Chris and Leon joined us. I stared up at the large skyscraper that we would be entering, the red and white octagonal symbol serving as the logo for Umbrella corporation extruding outward from the building. For whatever reason it gave me the creeps and I shivered. Leon looked over and asked, "You good McLean?"

I nodded, "Yeah sorry, there's just something about the logo that unnerves me."

Chris looked over the group and said, "Well we'll make this as quick as possible. If this place is anything like other Umbrella facilities, the labs will likely be underground. Meanwhile important documents will be higher up. We'll start with the top and hit the labs on the way out."

Jill shook her head and said, "Is it too much to hope that Umbrella wasn't up to their usual tricks with this one?"

Frank waved a hand dismissively, "If the other places we've hit was any indication, they were focusing solely on zombies with the Canadian facilities."

Bill and I shared a glance, a bit uneasy at the implications that there were things this company was experimenting with besides zombies. Chris looked and said, "Alright, form up. McLean and I will be up front, Frank and Jill in the middle, Leon and Bill watch the rear." We got into our formation and entered the building, unsure of what we would find.

Back at the office building, the packing was progressing, but not nearly as well as some would have hoped. Jen grabbed her head and said, "Come on guys! We're so behind schedule right now! And that was accounting for some people being lazy or inefficient."

Jonesy raised his hands in defense, "Hey don't look at me Jen. For once I'm actually pulling my weight."

Trent moved a box over and said, "Well I know Tyler is still out of it, understandably. And I haven't really seen Jude around either."

Nikki brought her own box over and said, "What about Cody and Sierra?"

Jonesy tilted his head, "I saw them a little while ago, but not recently."

Cody happened to walk over and said, "I heard my name, what's up?"

Jen sighed, "There you are! We're running behind with this stuff."

Cody sheepishly scratched the back of his head, "Yeah, sorry about that. Sierra wanted to talk to me in private about something. Nothing to worry about though. And then we sort of got carried away and made out for a little bit."

Jonesy grinned, "Dude, nice."

Nikki groaned, "I still can't believe I'm going out with this dork."

Jonesy chuckled, "And yet we're still together. Speaking of people being together, Jen I still can't believe you and Jude are together."

Jen gasped, "Hey, I don't make fun of who you decide to date! Not that I would because you guys are some of my best friends, but you get the idea."

Jonesy put a hand of Jen's shoulder, "Relax step-sis, I'm just saying I didn't think you would go for a slacker like him. I always figured you would be with a real go-getter like yourself."

Nikki nodded, "Gotta say, I'm a bit surprised he's your type as well. Then again, they do say opposites attract. That's probably why I like the doofus here."

Jonesy feigned mock hurt and said, "Hey, I resent that!"

Sierra asked, "So is this sort of stuff normal for you guys?"

Trent raised an eyebrow, "When did you get here?"

Sierra shrugged, "When they were talking. It was kind of neat to watch."

Jen looked a little creeped-out, "Riiiight. Okay well we need to find Jude and Tyler and get them to help."

Trent raised a hand and said, "I'll find Jude. Maybe one of you guys should find Tyler? You know, because you share his pain in a sense."

Jen nodded, "That's a good idea. I think Caitlyn was closest to me, and Wyatt was close with all of us, so I think I should go."

Cody smiled, "Don't worry Jen, we'll keep things going while you're gone."

Jonesy groaned, "Ugh, I guess. Was really hoping Jen taking a break would mean we could too."

Nikki rolled her eyes, "Okay tough guy, twice the effort from you."

Jonesy grumbled while Sierra giggled and said, "Well I've got to make up for lost time, so I promise I won't get distracted."

Chris kicked a door in and held his pistol forward, peeking around the corner. He motioned us inside and said, "It's clear. McLean, secure the next stairwell. I'll be right behind you. Frank, Jill, Leon, start looking around."

As I walked forward, I asked, "We haven't found anything yet. What makes you think there will be something here?"

Frank looked at a nearby desk and said, "According to our intel, the first of the executives worked out of this floor. So we might finally start seeing the good stuff."

I crept my way toward the stairwell at the opposite end of the floor, my rifle raised as I went. I would look into the various offices as I went, making sure they were cleared of undead. I had reached the next stairwell and opened the door carefully. Poking my head inside, I saw a body and instinctively opened fire, knocking them to the ground.

Chris was quickly by my side and asked, "You saw a dead one?"

I hesitated a moment and said, "I don't know. I saw a body standing, but I'm not sure if they were a zombie or not. They didn't make any noise, it was strange."

Chris nodded, "All right, I'll investigate, stick with me though, to be safe." He entered the stairwell and approached the felled body. Double checking to make sure his gloves were secure and weren't showing any skin, he inspected the body. After a moment he said, "Well this is no zombie, I can tell you that much. But the bad news is this isn't like Umbrella's typical work either. This guy is completely petrified."

I raised an eyebrow, "Petrified? Like turned to stone like Medusa?"

Chris started searching the guy's pockets and said, "Just shy of it, it seems. Think more like petrified wood. Aha, found something. According to this tag, he was a human test subject that volunteered to try some new drug Umbrella was working on. Suffice to say, it probably didn't do what they wanted."

I relaxed and said, "Gee, you think?"

Chris stood back up, "Come on, let's get back to the others, see what they've found."

We reentered the main area of the floor and Leon came over and said, "So it looks like they kept a lot of financial reports here. Nothing damning yet, but I'd wager we're close to where the important stuff is."

Chris nodded, "Alright, wrap up your searches here and let's move on. Financial docs are okay, but won't help us nail Umbrella."

Trent wandered the building and finally found Jude on the roof, using a pair of binoculars to look around. The musician had a relieved look on his face and said, "Jude, there you are, the others have been looking for you."

Jude turned to Trent and said, "What's up brah? Something the matter?"

Trent shook his head and said, "Nah, we just were wondering where you went since we're packing stuff up."

Jude nodded and said, "Oh yeah, sorry dude. I was just, like, keeping an eye out you know? Being packed up would help, but we also don't want to get like attacked."

Trent nodded and said, "Okay, fair enough. I'll tell the others what you're doing, you keep an eye out and grab us if anything comes up, cool?"

Jude grinned and said, "Cool as a cucumber dude." What either boy failed to notice was something watching them from a nearby cluster of trees.

Jen meanwhile, found Tyler sitting at a random cubicle in the office building. He had his head against the desk as if he were asleep, but Jen knew better. The athletic girl raised her voice, "Hey Tyler? Mind if I talk with you?"

Tyler sighed, not raising his head from the desk, "Yeah, I guess."

Jen grabbed a chair from one of the other cubicles and sat down near Tyler. After a moment of silence, she said, "I know how much you miss Lindsay. And while I may not know exactly how you feel, Caitlyn was one of my best friends, so I'm sure I can come close."

Tyler turned his head and said, "It's just, I was powerless to help her. Maybe I would be dead if I was there instead, but at least I would have done what I could to keep her safe. I failed her, and nothing will change that."

Jen sighed and pat the jock on the back, "If you ask me, you didn't fail her. You did all you could after all. Maybe you should have been paired with her, but the others were concerned you wouldn't take things seriously if you had."

Tyler sighed, "I get that, but it doesn't make me feel better."

Jen thought for a moment before she said, "You know, if it weren't for me, Caitlyn would never have become friends with the rest of us. I ended up getting her a job that, well, let's just say it wasn't exactly glamourous. Her family was wealthy and her rich friends looked down on her for having a job. But me and the others? We didn't care about that though, and took her in as if she was always one of us. I guess what I'm trying to say is, we're all hurting. You don't need to shoulder this yourself."

Tyler looked contemplative for a moment before he said, "Yeah, I guess you're right. I'll mourn for her, but now's not the time to mope. There's more important things right now."

Jen nodded, "Thanks, I know it must be hard to not hurt for her, but we need to be ready for the others. Come on, let's go help pack up."

We had progressed another couple of floors since the incident with the petrified man, finding what I can assume was only somewhat damning evidence. Jill was busy searching through a filing cabinet while Leon played with a laptop. Frank looked at the other man and said, "Come on man, you can't seriously think that thing will start up."

Leon looked over and remarked, "I thought you had a good eye for things. I picked up a bunch of laptop batteries. One of these is bound to work."

Jill nodded, "Leon's right. It's worth a try if that executive was dumb enough to keep anything on his hard drive."

Frank shrugged, "Alright, I get it, leave no stone unturned. Bill, how are things looking behind us?"

Bill snorted, "Same as the last few times ya asked me. I'm starting to think that whatever they were doing here, they released into the world instead of keeping it inside."

It was silent for another minute or two before Leon said, "Jackpot, found a working battery. And it's unlocked too? Talk about my lucky day."

Jill raised an eyebrow and walked over, "This was an executive's laptop? And he didn't keep it password protected? You know if I didn't know any better, I would say that Umbrella was incompetent, not malicious."

Leon was quickly tapping keys and using the trackpad in order to get around the system's files as he said, "Those aren't exactly mutually exclusive conditions. They can have bad intentions and be idiots."

Frank walked over and asked, "Hey keep an eye out for Phenotrans in those file names or whatever. We might primarily be looking for evidence that they were behind this outbreak, but personally I'll settle for proof they snatched up the guys behind Willamette."

Bill shook his head, "You don't seriously think they'd be stupid enough to leave important information in file names, do you? Like I'm not much of a computer guy and even I know you don't name really important stuff something that would give it away."

Jill playfully rolled her eyes and said, "This is the same guy that had zero password protection on his computer. I wouldn't be surprised if he did."

Leon grinned, "Now we're talking! This guy is on a whole other level of stupid. He archived important emails between him and various other executives in plain documents. I've only scanned a couple of them, but they talk about tons of experiments they did here."

Chris walked over, "Any emails or documents that correspond with someone like Wesker?"

Leon shrugged, "Too early for me to say. There's a lot of stuff to comb through and that battery I found doesn't have a ton of juice left. I'll take it back as official evidence, let our bosses sift through it."

Chris sighed and said, "Hopefully there's something that links to the main branch. I can just see them weaseling their way out of trouble by claiming this branch had gone rogue."

Jill playfully smirked and said, "Well boss? What's the plan? You want to keep going and look for more evidence?"

Chris shook his head, "No, it seems they were pretty thorough when they abandoned this place. I'm amazed that laptop was still here to be honest."

Leon waved dismissively, "It was in the exec's office in a locked desk drawer. Even if a cleaning crew were allowed in the office, they wouldn't touch the drawer I don't think."

Chris nodded, "Good work on getting it open Leon. I'll grab McLean and we can head back down to the lower levels. Remember, the labs might still have some experiments running amok. Be sure to be on your guard. For all we know Umbrella might have been doing other work here. The zombies outside could be the least of our problems."

Back at the office building, Tyler, Jen and Trent had rejoined the others, doing what they could to get ready for the return of the away team. Currently they were staging boxes in the lobby of the building in order to then quickly move them to the trucks when they got back. All was going well until Jude ran in and said, "Dudes, we've got a problem. Like a mondo huge one."

Trent blinked, "What?"

Nikki rolled her eyes, "He means we have a massive problem."

Jen turned to her now-boyfriend and asked, "What did you see?"

Jude pointed in the direction we had come from originally and said, "There's like a ton of zombies coming this way."

Cody raised an eyebrow and asked, "How much is a ton?"

Jude blinked, "Uhhhh, I dunno."

Jonesy grabbed his head, "Oh man, they followed us all the way from the mall!"

Nikki hit him in the back of the head and said, "Don't be stupid. We were driving for a couple of days, and we changed course a couple of times. There's not a chance they would have followed us. Must be another group."

Sierra looked puzzled, "Sure, but why are they coming here?"

Jen tapped her chin in thought, "Didn't Frank say that they just kind of wander when they get that big. Could just be one of those."

Trent turned to the skater and said, "Jude, if you had to guess, how many were there?"

Jude shrugged, "Maybe like eighty? I'm not real good at math and stuff."

Cody peeked out a nearby window and said, "If we can each take out ten, we're set. I think we can manage that."

Tyler cracked his neck and said, "Come on, let's take them out. I need to take my anger out on something, might as well be them."

The group gathered melee weapons and all went outside to face the oncoming horde. The undead noticed the group and collectively staggered forward. The group held their ground and waited for the zombies to come to them. When they got within a couple of feet, everyone leapt into action. Cody quickly cut down two with a katana while Sierra watched his back and stabbed another one in the head. Jen had a machete and cut the top of one zombie's head off while Jude had a hatchet and struck one down with an overhead strike. Trent had a crowbar and bludgeoned one in the head while Tyler thrust a combat knife forward, stabbing an undead in the eye. Jonesy chopped a head clean off of one zombie's shoulders with a fire axe while Nikki had another sword and sliced a pair of undead heads diagonally.

After a moment, Jen said, "Guys, let's back up and regroup, then go again!" The others nodded and backed up a few paces, got into a group again and then moved forward to attack again.

Sierra spun in a circle, using her blade to cut down three zombies. Cody quickly chopped the arms off of one zombie before stabbing it through the jaw. Jude swung sideways, cutting into the side of the head with his hatchet. Jen cut vertically downward into another undead. Tyler grabbed one by the neck to keep its head at bay and stabbed it right in the brain. Trent hooked the end of the crowbar into the eye of another ghoul, striking its brain. Nikki cut a couple more zombies down quickly with her sword, slicing horizontally. Jonesy lodged his axe into the top of the skull of a zombie, kicking the ghoul to loosen the weapon.

Trent looked around and said, "I think we've got this guys, we're-oof!" He was cut off as something collided into the musician from behind, knocking him to the ground. The others were doing what they could to clear the area and couldn't help him at the moment. An odd growling noise was heard as Trent turned himself over.

What Trent saw surprised him, making him ask, "Ezekiel? Is-is that you man?" Standing over Trent was the homeschooled teen, his clothes somewhat dirty and torn. He appeared pale, but not quite the same way as the zombies. He had his fingers stretched apart, his nails sharpened like claws. After a moment Trent asked, "Wait, are you like that monster form you took during World Tour?"

Ezekiel continued to growl, but it did in fact seem that he had reverted to his feral form once more. Finally, Ezekiel managed to say in a guttural tone, "Chris."

Trent tried to get up but Ezekiel kept him pinned down and the musician said, "Chris went with some others to the office for some company called Umbrella I think. They should be back soon if you want to wait. And not hurt us."

Ezekiel turned to where Chris and the others had gone and took off full speed, running faster than would seem possible. Trent staggered to his feet and got his bearings to find a zombie right in front of him. The ghoul knocked him back to the ground, where the musician was trying to keep the zombie's mouth away from him by pushing with his hands. Unfortunately for Trent, he wasn't careful with his hands and the zombie bit right into his hand.

The musician cried out in pain, "Ah! My hand!" He was then met with the point of a blade that extended through the zombie's head, Nikki standing behind it. Trent looked at his bitten hand and said in a downtrodden tone, "Might as well put that through me too. No sense letting me suffer."

Nikki saw the hand and said, "I've got a plan, but you might not like it."

Trent looked at Nikki and asked, "What is it?"

Nikki helped him to his feet and said, "Just trust me. Jen! I'm going to need your help, trade weapons with Jonesy!"

Jonesy looked at his girlfriend and said, "Why not just ask me?"

Nikki looked serious and said, "Because I know you don't do well with blood. Non-zombie blood."

The Hispanic teen shrugged and traded weapons with his step-sister. Nikki, Trent and Jen went to go inside and Nikki said, "The rest of you hold the line. We've got a good handle on this, don't screw it up." Once inside, Nikki turned to Jen and said, "Get some bedsheets, at least a couple for the floor and one for Trent."

Trent raised an eyebrow and said, "I still don't know what we're doing."

Nikki sighed and said, "You were bitten on the hand. We know it takes time to spread. If we're fast and cut the hand off, we might stop the infection from spreading."

Trent looked shocked, "I'm sorry what? How am I going to manage without a hand?"

Nikki grouchily shot back, "Well it's that or you die. Take your pick."

Trent sighed, "Alright fine, but I gotta warn you, I don't do well with pain."

Nikki started to rummage through a box of kitchen supplies and said, "Don't worry, I'm planning for that too."

Jen ran over, a bundle of bedsheets in her arms, and said, "Okay Nikki, what do you want me to do with these?"

Nikki pulled something out of the box and said, "Set one aside, whichever is the smallest one that you think you can tie the tightest. The rest, lay them all on top of each other on the ground."

Trent was busy looking at his hand and said, "What about me?"

Nikki grabbed something from the box and said, "Just stay there. If all goes according to plan, you should be fine once you wake up. Sorry about this Trent." A loud "CLANG" sounded throughout the lobby as Trent collapsed to the ground, Nikki holding a frying pan in her hands. She threw the cooking implement to the side and said, "Jen, help me move him onto the bedsheets, we're gonna use them to try and absorb the blood."

The pair moved the unconscious teen onto the makeshift bedspread and Jen said, "I know what you're doing now. We're going to tie off the arm to restrict bloodflow, right?"

Nikki nodded, "Yeah, can you take care of it? I need to make sure this torch I found works."

Jen raised an eyebrow, "Isn't that like a welding torch?"

Nikki nodded, "Yeah, I think they were using it to heat food with a makeshift stovetop. I'll give those guys credit, they're resourceful."

Jen made sure to make the bedsheet she was tying around Trent's upper arm as tight as possible and then grabbed the axe. She uncertainly said, "I'm ready when you are."

Nikki walked back over, the torch in her hand and said, "Okay, we'll lay the arm out and when you're ready, chop off the hand. I'll rush in and cauterize the wound with the torch. I have no idea if this will work, but he's going to die anyway, might as well try it."

Jen hesitated a moment and asked, "Should we go a little higher? What if it already spread past the hand?"

Nikki shrugged, "You're the athlete, you know the most about the body. I trust you to pick the right place. But on the arms will be tough because of bones, I'm sure."

Jen thought a moment and said, "No, you're right, the hand is probably the easiest. Alright, be ready."

Nikki held the torch and said, "Already am."

Jen nodded and then after a moment more of mental preparation, she swung the axe at just above the wrist on Trent's bitten hand. The axe dug into the flesh and blood started to spill but the cut was not clean so Jen got ready to swing again. The second hit went deeper but didn't fully sever the appendage. It took another couple of swings but eventually Trent's hand was off of his body and Nikki rushed in to cauterize the wound to stop the bleeding. Jen, queasy from what she had done, ran off to throw up away from the site of the makeshift surgery.

After Nikki was done, she tossed the now nearly-spent torch to the side and wiped some sweat from her brow. Tyler poked his head inside and said, "We're all set out here, how's it going in there?"

Nikki sighed, "I have no idea if he'll live or not, but people have survived with missing limbs before so hopefully he'll pull through. Here, help me move him to the couch over there. Then we'll clean up the mess I made and maybe we can get back to what we were doing."

Tyler nodded and said, "Right. I hope the others aren't running into any trouble."

Nikki looked to the jock and asked, "Hey, you didn't see what happened to him, did you? I saw him struggle with a zombie but I don't know how he got to that point."

Tyler shook his head, "No idea. Whatever it was must have been serious. He's usually more composed than the rest of us when fighting these things."

We had finished with the offices, Leon's laptop find having more than enough evidence to implicate several people of note, so we were currently in the underground labs. To be honest, I figured it was going to be more along the lines of a mad scientist sort of deal, but the corridors and rooms were clean and sterilized. The power reserves were still operating, so luckily we didn't need flashlights to see, which had the adverse effect of making everything creepier by appearing so clean. Chris and Jill were taking the lead here, as the two had the most experience dealing with the company at this point.

Chris, the senior agent of the two, asked, "So what do you think we might have to deal with here? Just the dead? Or do you think they'll have some of their other monsters about?"

Jill brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and said, "I'm not sure. It wouldn't be Umbrella without some kind of freak of nature. The power reserves should keep anything contained, but if there is anything, I'd wager some of the dogs, maybe a licker at worst."

Leon scoffed, "What, no Tyrants like Nemesis or Mr. X?"

Bill and I shared a look, with the army veteran asking, "Do I want to know what those are?"

Jill chuckled and said, "Probably not. I would be glad to not know what they are."

I looked around hesitantly and asked, "So uh, what exactly are we looking for here?"

Chris glanced over his shoulder and said, "Any of Umbrella's experiments. Frank will take photographic evidence of anything we come across."

Frank grinned, "That's right, I'm not just a pretty face and a resourceful fighter, I'm a top-notch photographer too."

Leon shook his head, "You've got the ego of a star, that's for sure."

I laughed, "Eh, I would know ego, I am a pretty big star after all, and Frank's hasn't let it get to his head too much."

Just then the power went out momentarily, with red emergency lights turning on in the corridor. Chris readied his weapon and shouted, "Get back in formation! McLean, you're up front with me. Jill, you take rearguard with Bill. Frank, Leon, stick to the center. We're going to find the generator and see if we can't get it back online. Umbrella facilities have a safeguard where when under power issues, the labs lock down, so we can't easily get out of here until we get the power back up."

A moaning came from in front of us and a small number of zombies were directly ahead of us. Frank held his camera up and snapped a couple of shots, remarking, "Well, looks like we know they were doing something here now."

Chris didn't even respond, raising his handgun and firing into the crowd quickly and accurately. I joined a second later with my rifle, not as accurate, but still helping slow the undead. We made quick work of the group and Chris said, "We need to get moving. There's no doubt more here than we thought."

Jill turned around, keeping an eye on the rear and asked, "What's the plan? Find the generator obviously, but do we need to look for more experiments?"

Leon scoffed, "We've seen enough, we should get the power back on and get out of here!"

Chris was silent a moment before he said, "Okay, Frank, be ready to take more pictures in case we run into more evidence. But we're not making it a priority. We're getting to the generator, getting it online, then getting out."

Frank nodded, "You got it."

We moved out, continuing down the hallway, taking down small groups of zombies when we came across them. As we walked I asked, "So uh, how do you know we're going the right way?"

Chris continued walking and said, "Most Umbrella facilities have layouts that are very similar, if not the same. We've worked our way though a few Umbrella facilities by this point, so we know the way."

We were about to turn a corner when Chris held out his hand to stop us. We were quiet for a moment before hearing a strange snarling noise. Chris pointed to Jill, who nodded and moved to the front with him. Chris held up three fingers, and then after a moment, he and Jill leapt around the corner, firing their guns. Chris was then tackled by what looked like a zombie dog or something.

A camera shutter was heard behind me, from Frank getting evidence of this new monster. Chris kicked it off of him and Jill grabbed a shotgun strapped to her back and fired it at the monster point blank. It didn't die so another shot was needed, then another. After the third shot, it let out a twisted whimper before it died.

I almost dropped my gun and asked, "What the hell was that?"

Leon chuckled, "If that's what's unnerving you, then you better pray there's no Tyrants. They are some real nasty pieces of work."

Bill shook his head, "Look, can we just get moving again? I think I speak for all of us when I say the sooner we get out of here, the better."

Jill reloaded her shotgun and said, "He's right, we should get moving."

Chris nodded, "Right. Shouldn't be much farther. It should only be a couple of rooms and corridors away."

Frank checked the photos he took of the zombie dog monster and said, "Well what are we waiting for, an invitation?"

We all composed ourselves and kept moving, though Bill and I were more shaken up about the implications of the other experiments being done than the rest of the group. We continued along, running into another group of zombies before we reached a room that Chris stopped us in front of. He looked at us and said, "Okay, this is the generator room. We're going to go in and secure the room first before we try to turn it on. Make sure there's nothing hiding in there."

We heard a sudden crash from the room and Chris kicked open the door, shouting, "Let's go!"

We ran inside to find another type of monster attacking the equipment in the room. This one was humanoid, yet still beast-like. It was hunched over, with long claws at the end of its appendages. It had what appeared to be an exposed brain, and when it turned to face us, it didn't have any visible eyes, but it had a long tongue extending from its mouth. Chris, Jill and Leon ran in opened fire immediately, with Frank, Bill and myself joining in shortly afterward.

The monster tried to attack us, but those more familiar with Umbrella stood between it and the rest of us, keeping us safe but also taking the brunt of the attack. At one point it used its tongue to snare Jill's leg and drag her to the ground. Leon took a claw swipe to the arm but wasn't deterred. After about a minute, the monster was finally taken down, with the operatives firing some extra shots for good measure.

We caught our breath and I managed to asked, "Okay, now I really want to know, what the hell was THAT thing?"

Chris started to walk over to the generator and said, "That was a Licker. A mutated zombie that was a creation of Umbrella."

Jill and Leon moved the corpse over to the side and Frank said, "Now that I've seen one of these things, they live up to what I've heard."

Bill kept an eye on the hallway we came from and said, "I can't believe these damn idiots and them wanting to play god."

Chris went to turn on the generator, which I think was very old-fashioned, as it had a lever that had to be pulled to start it. Chris checked it out for a moment, then pulled the lever, causing the power to turn back on. We cheered until Chris released his grip on the lever, causing it to switch back to its prior orientation and the power turned back off.

Leon frowned, "Well, this is problematic."

Jill looked at Chris and asked, "What are our options here? Go for the long way around?"

Chris sighed and said, "That or someone stays behind to keep the power on. Which I don't like, but to go for the alternate exit would be incredibly perilous."

Bill stood up, saluted and said, "Let me stay behind. I've lived a long life, and I honestly don't think I've got much longer to live anyway."

Frank frowned, "No way man, we can all get out of here. It just might take longer."

Bill shook his head, "You heard Chris, he said the other way out is dangerous. I'm guessing lots of corridors, rooms, plenty of chances for experiments to attack us, the whole nine yards."

Leon looked upset, "Are you being serious about this right now?"

Bill nodded, "Completely serious. The fact of the matter is we need to get that evidence back to the states. If me staying will make it more likely that it gets there, then that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make."

Jill was distraught, "But you'll die if you stay! We can wait for you to get out the other way, but that's not a guarantee."

The army veteran shouted back, "This is my decision to make damn it! Someone has to do this, there's no guarantee we get out of here alive if we go the other way. At least this way, we can make sure someone gets out. Plus it's not just us to worry about, there's those kids too."

I looked concerned and said, "That's right, we have to get back to them, make sure they're safe."

Chris was visibly upset and said, "Those civilians are relying on us to make sure they get home safely, and the best way to do that would be for someone, Bill in this case, to stay."

Bill nodded, "I've made up my mind. I'll stay to make sure the rest of you get out. Just do me a favor, in the reports make it seem like I went out in a blaze of glory, alright?"

Leon looked at a watch and said, "As much as I don't like it, Bill's too stubborn to change his mind when it comes to big decisions like this."

Chris shook Bill's hand and said, "It has been an honor working with you. I will make sure your legacy lives on."

Bill chuckled, "Aw, get out of here, you're gonna make me cry. No seriously, get out of here. Something tells me those monsters know how important the generators are and are going to come here."

Jill reloaded her pistol and said, "He's right, somehow Umbrella's creeps always now what's important and what isn't."

Chris looked at us and said, "Okay, you heard the man, let's move out! Double time!" As we left the room, Chris turned and saluted Bill one more time before joining us on our escape.

Trent was still unconscious, Jen, Tyler and Jude keeping watch over him. The others were taking shifts either keeping an eye out for zombies or moving the last of the stuff into the lobby. Nikki and Jonesy were currently on zombie duty while Cody and Sierra were packing up one of the remaining rooms. Tyler walked over to Jen and asked, "How's he doing?"

Jen put one hand on Trent's forehead and the other on his neck and after a moment said, "Well he doesn't have a fever, and his pulse is on the low side, but normal, so he should hopefully pull through. When the others get back, I'll have them check on him, they probably can make a better assessment."

Jude looked at the unconscious teen and said, "Man, poor dude, losing his hand though. It's gotta be hard to play guitar with only one hand. Whoa, do you think he can get some kind of wicked robot hand?"

Jen shook her head with a playful smile on her face while Tyler kicked one of the nearby boxes, "This is my fault. I was next to him and had no idea what was going on until it happened."

Jen pat the jock's shoulder and said, "Don't blame yourself Ty. It was a hectic situation, we should be glad that it's not any worse than this."

Just then, Trent started to stir. He blinked his eyes open slowly and for a moment looked around, before he saw his bandaged stump where his hand was and he screamed. Jen was quick to his side, "Woah Trent! Easy, you're okay, we think we were able to keep you from getting infected."

Trent gasped for breath a couple of times before he calmed down a bit and said, "Y-yeah, sorry. Just not seeing my hand and a big shock of pain at once got to me."

Jude blinked, "Does it still hurt dude?"

Trent was conflicted, "Uh, sort of, I guess? Like the physical pain has subsided, or there's so much that I can't even feel it anymore. But the lingering feeling of something missing is there. It's almost like I can feel my hand even though it's not there."

Jen gasped, "I've heard of that! It's called phantom limb syndrome I think."

Cody and Sierra rushed into the room, with the superfan saying, "We heard screaming, everything alright?"

Cody saw that Trent was up and said, "Hey man, glad to see you back in the land of the living. How you feeling?"

Trent held his forehead with his remaining hand and said, "It's weird. I feel relatively normal, but at the same time it feels like I'm watching all this happen, like an out of body experience."

Sierra tapped her chin and remarked, "I'm no doctor, but I think that means you're a bit delirious from pain. Like your brain is tricking you into thinking you're on pain medication to distract you from the pain."

Trent shrugged, "Maybe. Still, it's strange looking at my hand and not seeing it. Guess I should be grateful I wasn't bitten on my dominant hand at least. Remind me to thank Nikki later. If it wasn't for her quick thinking, I wouldn't be here."

Nikki, who had walked inside as Trent was saying that, quipped, "I mean, you kind of just did thank me, but I'll take another thank you. It's nice to be appreciated by someone around here."

Jonesy, who was also there, looked hurt and said, "Hey, I appreciate you tons babe."

Jen also looked a bit hurt and Nikki sighed, "It was a dumb joke, alright? I try to be a bit positive for once and this is what it gets me."

Tyler looked at the pair, "Not to change topic, but how's it look out there?"

Jonesy shrugged, "Aside from the dead bodies on the ground, it looks no different than it did when we got here. It's so weird how those zombies came out of nowhere and once we took care of them we haven't seen any since."

Jude raised an eyebrow, "You asking for more murder machines dude?"

Jonesy shook his head and said, "No way! But you would think we would have seen at least a couple of them."

Cody looked at a watch and said, "Well it's getting late, relatively speaking. We should all stay inside and finish packing, maybe someone can keep an eye on the roof for any more zombies or the others."

Sierra giggled and hugged her boyfriend, "That's my Codykins! He's always thinking!" Cody laughed slightly as a sheepish grin and a blush came onto his face.

We kept running through the corridors we passed through on our way through the building, knowing that while Bill would keep the generator on as long as possible, any of the monsters that resided in Umbrella's labs could find and attack him at any moment. We faced little resistance on our way, only encountering the occasional zombie. We reached the lobby after a few minutes of running and Chris said, "McLean, go secure the front entrance, I'm going to use the short range radio we have to contact Bill, let him know we got out, try to guide him out the other way if he wants to try and rejoin us still. Leon, Frank, you two also go out front. Jill, you stay with me, make sure I don't guide Bill the wrong way."

I held my knees, panting, "Yeah sure, just, just give me a minute."

Leon, Frank and I made our way to the front entrance after a minute or so to see that the sky had darkened while we were inside. The three of us were forming a perimeter and surveying our surroundings when something tackled me from behind.

I grunted as I fell to the ground and heard something say in a guttural tone, "Chris."

I was able to scramble away from whatever it was and turned to see what looked like Ezekiel, but back in his feral state from when he stowed away on the plane in World Tour. He glared down at me and I could do nothing but cower there.

I heard the sound of a pistol cocking and saw Leon aiming at Ezekiel and I shouted out, "Hold your fire! He's not a zombie! It's a long story, but he's one of the kids from my show!"

Leon's posture relaxed slightly, but he remained vigilant, waiting for Ezekiel to make one wrong move. I turned my gaze back to the homeschooled teen above me and nervously said, "You aren't one of the dead ones, right Zeke buddy?"

He continued to glare at me and eventually said, "Million. Give."

I blinked in confusion, "What? We aren't in the game anymore dude."

I saw what looked like the faintest of eye rolls from Ezekiel and he growled out, "Leaving Island. Promise clear. Give million."

I was still confused for a moment before I gasped, "Oh! You mean my offer back when we first made landfall! I'll be honest, when you disappeared into that horde, everyone kind of assumed you were dead. Listen, I can't give you the money right now." Ezekiel snarled and I saw what looked like claws protrude from where his nails were and I quickly added, "Not because I won't! Because I don't have it on me! Not like banks are open right now and I don't exactly walk around with a million dollars in my wallet, you know?"

Ezekiel calmed down slightly and I continued, "Look, how about you come with us? We're making our way to America still, and when we get somewhere civilized, I can get you the money you earned. But uh, if you come with, is there anyway you can look more like your normal self?"

Ezekiel's posture turned somewhat normal, but his voice was still deep and gravelly, "Not easy. Condition change me."

I got up and dusted myself off, asking, "But you got better before. How did that happen?"

Ezekiel shrugged and said, "Take time?"

I replied, "Well as long as you don't attack us, I'm fine with keeping you here."

Leon gave me a puzzled look and asked, "Are you sure about this? I mean, he doesn't look right."

I pat Leon on the shoulder and said, "Believe me, it's not the first time he's been like this. It'll be fine."

Frank walked back over and saw Ezekiel, exclaiming, "What the hell is that?"

I pinched the bridge of my nose and said, "Long story, I'll tell you on the way back."

At this moment, Chris and Jill exited the building, the commander of the team looking somber. He looked at us and said, "Bill got attacked by some of Umbrella's experiments while we were leading him out. He's gone."

Even if I hadn't known Bill that long, I was still rather saddened by the news of his passing. Even Ezekiel was silent to pay his respects. Well, that or he figured being quiet was the smart move.

Jill motioned to Leon and Frank and all three picked up a gun of some sort and further paid respects by giving Bill a twenty one gun salute. After paying respects to Bill, Chris turned to us and said, "Alright everyone, let's get going. I want to be on the road before it starts to get dark. Wait a moment, who are you?"

I quickly piped up, "He's another one of the kids from my show. How he got here I don't know, but don't worry about his complexion. He's not one of the dead. I can explain more on the way back."

Chris sighed, "I would argue, but I'm honestly tired. I just hope it's a good story. Let's go." We all filed into the truck and headed back to our base, where hopefully the others had gotten everything more or less packed up.

Trent was sitting on the couch, still acclimating to not having a hand. He was mostly staring at the bandaged stump where his hand was, unknown thoughts passing through his head. Tyler had just finished moving a pile of boxes into the truck that was left behind and sat down next to Trent. The musician did not acknowledge Tyler, so after a moment of waiting, the jock cleared his throat.

Trent looked up, "Oh hey Tyler. What's up?"

Tyler sighed, "I just wanted to know what happened. I feel like this is partly my fault, I should have been helping keep an eye out."

Trent shook his head, "Don't worry about it man, it was a hectic situation, I don't blame you for being distracted. As for what happened, it'll sound strange, but I saw Ezekiel. But he looked like that time he became that troll monster thing or whatever. He asked me about Chris and when I told him he went with the others, he took off."

Tyler's mouth opened in shock and he said, "Ezekiel? But he died, didn't he? Back when he cleared the boat or whatever it was?"

Trent nodded, "That's what I thought too. And yet, he was there, crazy, but very much alive. I'm just trying to figure out, how did he manage to find us?"

Tyler shook his head and said, "Man, I have no idea."

Just then, Jude ran into the lobby and said, "They're on their way back dudes! Should be here in a minute or two."

Tyler clapped Trent's shoulder and said, "Should we go meet them?"

Trent shrugged, "Not much help I'll be down a hand, but yeah, why not?"

Jude tapped his chin and said, "Maybe one of them knows first aid and can take a look at your hand, make sure Nikki did it right."

Tyler nodded, "That's a good point, wouldn't hurt to have them look at it, plus maybe tell them what happened."

The trio went outside where they met up with the rest of the group and awaited the truck, which pulled up not much later. They were then surprised by both Bill's death and Ezekiel's return.

I stood in front of my group and said, "Okay, so as some of you can see, Ezekiel has found his way to us. Apparently when he went into the frenzy back before we split into the three groups, it was because of that deal I offered to pay someone. What can I say, the kid took it to heart. That's also why he kind of looks feral again."

Trent pulled at his collar with his remaining hand nervously and asked, "Are you sure that's a good idea Chris? I mean he attacked me before and was indirectly the reason why I don't have a hand anymore."

Frank looked over, "What do you mean you don't have a hand anymore?"

Trent waved his stump and said, "I got bit on the hand. But thanks to some quick thinking by Nikki, I'm not dead, so that's cool."

Jill walked over and said, "I'm the closest thing we've got to a medic. Let me take a look at it, to make sure it'll hold up until we reach the states and you can see a real doctor."

Trent nodded and before he and Jill walked away to check on the hand in private, Ezekiel spoke up, his normal dialect already returning, "I sorry Trent. No mean to hurt you."

Trent paused and sighed, "Well I mean I'm still here, so no harm done in the long run, right?"

Jill shook her head, "Let me be the judge of that. You may not turn, but a bad infection or something is the last thing you want right now." The two continued to walk away.

Cody raised an eyebrow, "Can we go back to Ezekiel? How did he manage to link up with us?"

Ezekiel looked at the tech geek and said, "I always follow. But not able to ask before. Not sure why."

Nikki noted the claw-like nails and remarked, "You were always following them? Any chance you killed some of the undead along the way?"

Ezekiel nodded, "Yes. Claws pierce head good."

Sierra gasped, "You think he was the one that killed the zombies with those weird gashes like when we had to escape the mall?"

The homeschooled teen nodded again, "Yes, that me."

Tyler collapsed to his knees and asked, "And with Lindsay? If that was you, couldn't you have been a little faster?"

Ezekiel solemnly nodded, "I try to save her. And other guy. But lots zombies behind. Too many. Can't get in time. I sorry Tyler."

The jock felt tears drip from his eyes and said, "Damn it, I was ready to kill whoever wasn't fast enough. But someone I know? I can't do it."

Jen pat his shoulder in solidarity, as she too was saddened that Wyatt had died due to essentially bad luck. Jen then asked, "So what's the plan now?"

Chris looked over and said, "We load up these trucks and get on the road ASAP. We completed our mission, all that remains is getting back home."

With that said, we quickly worked to load the remaining boxes of equipment and supplies into the two trucks, at which point we split ourselves among the two trucks and after Jill was done checking out Trent, saying Nikki did a good job considering what she had to work with, we started the trucks up and got on the move. As the truck I was in drove off, I was left to ponder things as I watched the scenery race by as the sun was getting low in the sky. All things considered, a whole lot happened to us in this city. We made some new friends, and ran into an old one. We lost a comrade and had a few close calls. It was surreal to think our long journey was nearing an end. And yet, I couldn't wait for us to finally reach safety at the states.

So here's the third part of Chris McLean and crew's journey. A lot of miscellaneous notes to go over here. For starters, the rest of Chris Redfield's team: Leon S Kennedy from Resident Evil, Jill Valentine also from Resident Evil and Bill from Left 4 Dead. I chose Leon's RE4 outfit and Jill's RE3 outfit, since they are the more iconic looks for them I think. And Bill was there to have a death pretty much. It was a reference to how Bill canonically dies between the events of Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2, right down to dying after keeping a generator on for the others to escape. Regarding the group's mission, I took some liberties with the reasons Frank was involved. I've never actually played Dead Rising, but I did a fair amount of research for this, and Phenotrans was never involved in the first Dead Rising game. They didn't get involved until the sequel, and while they released a version of it starring Frank West, when I initially added Frank, I based it post-Dead Rising 1, so just pretend it was an alternate telling of Dead Rising 1 or something. But given what I learned from my research, I could totally believe Umbrella and Phenotrans working together if they were in the same universe. This chapter also implies that the events of several Resident Evil games, as well as Dead Rising 1, have happened in this universe and uh, pretend they were all extensively covered up by the government, military, whatever. As for the result of their mission, I'll touch on that in the epilogue, but don't expect much.

As for the original group, up until I was writing the scene, I was still going back and forth on killing someone. It was between Trent and Sierra for awhile, but I settled on Trent because I figured some couples should survive all the way to the end. After deciding Trent would be attacked, he was going to die until I realized that, similar to crazy Gideon last chapter, I hadn't tried any alternative way to survive a bite. The Walking Dead (show, comic and game) has dabbled with amputating a bitten limb to prevent infection, to varying degrees of success, so I decided to throw that in too. Plus with how big their group is, it would be really hard to justify a scenario where someone gets overrun and dies, so I put Trent getting bitten, his hand amputated and surviving instead.

Lastly, Ezekiel. I had always planned on having him rejoin the group once he originally disappeared. And he was always going to become feralish again. The hints with the clawed zombies were intentional, and hopefully that little mystery didn't have a disappointing ending. I kind of had him revert too soon or something, but I also wouldn't be able to justify Leon not putting him down if he wasn't able to convey he wasn't a threat. Speaking of things ending too soon, the chapter in general kind of hits a brick wall and just ends, but I didn't really know how to segue from Chris' team getting back to them leaving, so the chapter ends kind of abruptly, sorry about that.

That's all for this chapter, the next and last chapter is an epilogue of sorts, bouncing between each group showing them getting to safety and meeting up with one another again. And who knows, someone might die at the very end, you can never be too sure on who will be safe or not. It will probably be a longer chapter, as each group will get some time in the spotlight, so I would say expect it by the end of July. I was hoping this one would have gotten out a little sooner and the epilogue out by July 4th, but with the slight delay for this one, I'm going to set my estimate back for the finale of this story as well. Until Next Time!