Cass got out of the car and started walking up the stairs, humming a song as she got her keys ready. Chris had invited her over for dinner. She just needed to feed her fish and drop off her gun before heading to his house. Joy's boyfriend's car was in the parking garage, so Cass felt less bad about leaving for dinner. No doubt Joy would want some alone time with her boyfriend anyway.

Carefully sliding in the key, Cass opened the door and quietly crept through before shutting it behind her. The light was on in Joy's room, so Cass quickly walked to her bedroom door. She heard moans from Joy's room. Embarrassed, she quickly opened her door and tucked her gun into her safe. As she exited her room, she heard a sound that made her pause. She could have sworn she'd heard gurgling.

Hesitantly knocking on the door, she asked awkwardly, "Hey, is everyone okay?"

There was a loud thump. It sounded like someone had hit the ground hard. Cass quickly opened the door and stood horrified by what was inside. Joy's boyfriend laid on the bed covered in blood. Parts of his chest had been ripped off, and his eyes stared blankly at the ceiling. Joy's body was on the floor beside the bed with her neck twisted at a horrifying angle. Cass felt the urge to throw up, but that went away as Joy's dead eyes moved and focused on Cass.

A crackling sound erupted from Joy as she clumsily stood up. Cass quickly slammed the door. She held it closed as she heard a banging from the other side of the door. After realizing that Joy wasn't making any attempts to turn the doorknob, Cass ran for the phone. Dialing 911, she looked around for something to put in front of the door.

"911, what's your emergency?" the operator asked.

"There's something wrong with my roommate!" Cass said breathlessly as she pushed the bookcase in front of Joy's door. "I came home… I heard some weird noises from her room, and he's dead. Her boyfriend is dead. I've got her trapped in the room, but you need to send people! Something's wrong with her… She's sick! Rabies maybe?" Cass knew this wasn't rabies, but she wanted to make sure the officers took precautions. Joy's eyes reminded Cass of the dogs' when they attacked Jack. She didn't want this to spread.

"Your address?"

Cass gave the operator her address as the wooden door splintered, and Joy's hand popped through. Cass let out an involuntary shriek and dodged the flailing limb.

"What's happening now? Does she have a weapon?"

"I don't think so. She just bashed through the door with her hands. Please hurry! I don't know how much longer I can keep her in there."

"Officers are on their way to your location. Please stay on the phone."

Cass put the phone on speaker as she moved more furniture in front of the door. Joy let out an inhuman scream.

"Perhaps you should wait outside for the officers," the operator said uncertainly.

"I will… after I make sure she's stuck. I can't have her attacking people. She's not in her right mind," Cass answered as she took a second to catch her breath. "Okay… I'm pretty sure she's stuck for a little while. I'll go outside."

"Good."

Cass grabbed the phone and quickly walked out the front door, peeking down the hall before she shut the door. She could feel a knot in her stomach as she locked the door behind her. Joy's screams were now muffled. But even though the danger was farther away, Cass couldn't help but feel dread. Sirens made her look up, and a familiar face ran toward her with worry in his eyes.

"You okay?!" Kevin asked before gently guiding her towards his cop car. Officers raced past him to Cass' door. "We've been told to keep back but evacuate the building. They've got 'special units' on their way. You aren't hurt, are you?"

"No, I'm not hurt," Cass said, noticing the tremor in her own voice. Taking a breath, she asked, "By 'special units', do they mean S.T.A.R.S.?"

"Don't think so. I heard Chief Irons refer to them as a 'clean-up unit'… whatever that means. Come on…" Kevin said and opened the car door. "They want to speak to you at the station."

"Okay," Cass said tiredly and got into the car.

Cass looked out the window as they drove to the precinct. She realized that she was probably in shock considering how detached she felt. For once, Kevin kept quiet. It was so unlike him that Cass glanced over to check on him. He was looking forward at the road; his face fell into a serious grimace that, in Cass' opinion, didn't suit him.

"Are you okay?" Cass asked, and he glanced at her in shock before laughing. "What's so funny?"

"Sorry… just a bit weird for you to ask me that in this situation," Kevin replied with an awkward laugh. "Just thinking about how everything seems to be going… haywire. Makes me wonder if something else is going on… but maybe I'm just being paranoid."

Cass nodded and went back to looking out the window. Sirens blared as more cop cars blazed down the road toward Cass' apartment. Leaning back into the seat, she closed her eyes and tried to relax. After failing to do so, she tensed when the car came to a complete stop in the parking garage.

"We're here," Kevin said tiredly. "But… if you want to just sit here for a few minutes, I wouldn't mind."

Cass sighed and replied, "No. I'd rather just get all of this out of the way now. Thanks, Kevin."

"No problem," Kevin muttered, running a hand through his hair. "Just… if you need someone to talk to… or even if you just want someone to talk to… Just know that I'm here, okay?"

Cass put a hand on his arm and smiled while she said, "Thank you."

Kevin returned the smile, and Cass got out of the car. She took a deep breath before walking into the police building. With a groan, she noticed that Chief Irons was waiting outside and immediately focused on her as she walked through the gate. She should have used the back entrance. The chief strode up to her with a strange, nervous energy and said hastily, "I'm glad you're safe. Not injured, are you?"

"No, sir," Cass replied with hesitation and noticed he looked considerably more relieved.

"Good, good," the chief muttered, wiping sweat from his brow. "There seems to be some kind of rabies going around. Just want to make sure it doesn't spread around. There's a doctor waiting inside for you. You should go see him."

"A doctor? I just said that I'm not hurt. Don't you need to contact the CDC before you start making decisions?"

Anger flared up in the chief's eyes, and he grabbed her arm menacingly. He growled, "Don't you order me around, girl! I am doing what is best—!"

"Irons!" a voice said in a commanding tone. Captain Wesker walked up to them with a relaxed stride, but there was anger in his voice. "Don't you have other matters to attend to? I will accompany Miss Walker."

Irons must have sensed the danger as he let go of Cass and fled the scene while muttering under his breath. The captain gently placed his hand on her back and guided her through the police station. Even though people clearly wanted to talk to Cass, they walked away under the stare of the captain. Leading her to an empty room, he closed the door behind them and led Cass to a chair, which she sat in graciously.

"I would like to apologize on the chief's behalf. He shouldn't have treated you so roughly," Captain Wesker said, taking off his glasses and examining her arm. "I'll make sure someone has a talk with him."

"Thank you, Captain," Cass replied with a grateful smile. "I'm sure I'll be fine though."

"Even so…" Captain Wesker said with a sigh. "But you truly should see the doctor before you leave."

"I've never been good with doctors… or needles," Cass admitted, giving Wesker a sheepish look.

Captain Wesker knelt down to her eye level and asked, "Do you think you could do it as a favor to me? I'd really appreciate having you back at work and in good health as soon as possible. After all… the state of Chris' desk has to be seen to be believed."

Cass gave him a small laugh and agreed, "Okay then. I'll brave it for you, Captain."

"Much appreciated."

"But there is one thing… no, maybe not."

"Please. I'd like to hear your thoughts."

"Well, it's not like I have a lot of medical knowledge, but… rabies doesn't make you eat people, right? She didn't just bite him. She was eating him… And her eyes… that didn't look like rabies to me. It looked like… whatever was wrong with those dogs."

She had started shaking. Keeping the tears from falling, she looked away from the captain, embarrassed to show weakness in front of him, but he held her hand in his and gave her a worried smile.

"Miss Walker… that is a very astute observation. I will look into this matter. You have my word, but let's keep this between us. We don't want the chief to get worked up now, do we?" Captain Wesker asked, and Cass shook her head. "Very well. Now… let's get you to that doctor."