Annette Parker was cold. The R.P.D. underground parking lot was dank, that was where she was reduced to - alone and scared. She had to get to the kennels; it was all on her to jimmy the hatch open. A large S.W.A.T. van parked directly in front of the door towards the holding cells and kennels was new to her.

The parking lot was dark. Broken and otherwise inactive police cruisers were parked and elevated without care all along the sides of the lot. None were operational, much like the van.

There was no point trying to move it, she was only a small woman, but she had to try. All that could really be done was to press all of her little weight into the boot of the van and park it correctly. Even that failed. She pressed her back up against it and recoiled back as hard as she could. Barely moved it an inch.

The stone floor was damp, Annette's shoes couldn't get the grip she needed to move the van. From this fruitless endeavour, she gave up, and just sat down up against the van. From contact with the cold ground, her backside was almost drenched with murky water the formed puddles and patches all over. The cracks in the ceiling were dripping something on her shoulder; she hoped it was water.

She was too weak. The radio in the pouch of her vest was picking up nothing but static, there wasn't any signal underground, or maybe it was a matter of range. She sighed and rubbed her chest from the inside of her vest; it wasn't built for warmth. She was cold. She crossed her legs and rubbed her triceps, using the friction to heat up her bare arms. She could feel the goosebumps.

Sound was diminishing; sight was fading… She was tired - hadn't slept for days. Annette rested her eyes. Suddenly, a gunshot from close by ricocheted at the ground, against the wall and ending in the ceiling. Her eyes shot open. It was a woman holding Leon at gunpoint but slowly lowering her handgun.

When the woman in red lowered her arm, she took the chance to examine her further. She was Asian-American. Good looking. Early-twenties. She was good looking. She did realise that Leon was human, but it took longer than a regular person would. If she wanted to, she would easily mistake him and Annette as a zombie. That wouldn't end well.

"Sorry about that," the woman said, "After I saw that uniform, I almost assumed you for another one of those zombies."

"You still shot at me!" Leon bellowed.

"If I didn't take the shot, I would never have known you were human."

"Right… and you are?"

"Ada Wong."

"And what are you doing here?"

"Not standing around quizzing people. That's for sure. Is this any way to treat a lady, Officer?"

Leon blushed. "No."

"Do you know where I can find a guy named Ben Bertolucci? He's one of those snoopy reporters. I'm looking for him."

"Sorry. It's my first day." Ada looked around the lot. Mainly around the ceiling and walls. To Leon, there wasn't anything important. "What are you doing here?"

"Ben has information about the city's crisis."

"What kind of information?"

"Not sure, but that's something I want to find out."

Annette raised back on her feet, used the van to hold to help her up. Still tired, despite the short rest she had. After a grunt caught the attention of both Leon and Ada, she now was in both of their sights. Annette didn't care; she only wanted the damned van out of the way. "You both quite done over there? I could use a hand."

Leon lowered his aim, followed by Ada. She glared at Annette. "Are you a member of STARS?" Leon queried.

"I wish." Annette sighed. "You must be the new guy. Leon is it?"

"Yeah, I'm the new guy. It's nice to see another officer. What's your name?"

"Annette." She peered over to stare at Ada. She was still glaring back at her. Annette couldn't understand why, but it left her wondering if she gave off the wrong impression. "I overheard you two. Ada Wong. Right?"

"Depends on who's asking..."

"That be me asking, Sergeant Parker. If both of you help me move this van out of the way that would be great."

"Why?"

"I need to get to the kennels; it's our only way out of here, and it would free up the holding cells for you. That's where you can find Mr Bertolucci. Care to give me a hand?"

Leon sighed and stood by to Annette to help her move the van. The vehicle still felt like a tonne of bricks, better describes as pushing a solid brick wall. Still, the wall had wheels, so the two were able to budge it out of the rut in the ground eventually. The van has been immobile for months.

Ada folded her arms. "I'm sorry, but who are you? This is no place for children."

"Who are you calling a child? I'm a sergeant. I deserve some respect, ma'am."

Ada scoffed to Annette's forced big talk and walked straight towards the holding cells through the open door. She ignored any sounds and comments from Leon and Annette because she earned some from just barging through the two past the door.

"What's with her?"

"Annette, come on." Leon stood quickly behind Ada and caught her attention. She stopped. "I know we don't know each other, but there are only a handful of us left alive. We need to work together."

Annette hushed Leon and Ada. "Does anyone hear that?" she whispered.

Suddenly, there was a thundering crumble, of what sounded like a collapsing ceiling or a brick wall - heard by everyone. Then the rattling and stretching of metal bars. It echoed in the stone corridor. Shortly after, there was a faint sound of cries and pleading. It sounded human and came from the holding cells.

After a bellowing cry, Ada and Annette made slow movements towards the cells but then there were heavy footsteps, coming for them. Ada stopped round a corner and followed Annette when she dialled back to Leon around the corner by the door behind them and waited in silence.

"Something is coming this way," Leon whispered.

Prowling around with heavy footsteps was a monster of eight feet in height. It was almost human-like from the torn bloodied white coat and brown trousers, but from the large claws on the oversized right arm, it was a mutant of sorts. The only way to describe it was the word monster, even if it sounded crazy. The three were far beyond that. Fresh blood dripped from its talons.

Annette caught a glimpse of the monster's exposed heart when she peered around the corner like a child. It grumbled like a monster from her dreams. She was about to scream, "What the fu-" Leon placed his hand over Annette's mouth before she could finish. They couldn't afford that.

"It's okay," Ada whispered, "it doesn't know we're here." A door around the corner opened then the footsteps slowly faded away. "I think it's gone."

Annette began to muffle loudly. Leon had let go of her mouth. "What the hell was that?" Annette breathed.

"I don't know."

"What about you?" Annette growled to Ada. "Do you know anything?"

"Huh? No. This is new to me. That crying, though… Sounded like Ben."

Leon moved from the corner and headed for the cells. "We need to check it out. Come on."

Leon followed the faint droplets of blood into the holding cells. There were two cells inside. One was open, and the other was torn wide open. The iron bars were ripped from every hold and hinge. Inside was the lifeless body of a man in his early-thirties with a ponytail and dressed in business casual clothes - bloodied and torn. His chest was ruptured and torn at with sharp claws. This reporter's story was can cancelled.

"Oh… God..." Annette muttered. "It's Ben."

"There was nothing we could've done," Ada added.

Leon leant up against the wall opposite Ben and folded his arms. "This is a disaster," he declared. Annette noticed scribblings on the wall behind Leon and moved him away. "What is it?"

"There's something on the wall." Annette began to read from the stone wall. The faint scribblings of a dead man, marked with a permanent marker. 'With no hope of survival, I write in hopes that someone will be able to use this information. The beasts everywhere… I can hear them in the darkness as I wait… for release. The Chief is the one responsible. He conspired with the Umbrella Corporation…'" Annette sighed, "Ben…"

"That sounded dreadful," Leon added.

"He must be talking about the Police Department's involvement with the pharmaceutical giant Umbrella."

"Look at this." Leon pointed to a sentence in the wall's scribblings with his handgun. "The part about the station and the lower lab being connected by the sewer. If we can get access to the sewer we can get outta here."

"That would be the manhole in the kennels."

Leon turned to Annette and looked over to Ada behind her. She was missing. "Huh? Where'd she go?"

"Who?" Annette turned around to see Ada missing too. "Ada?" She turned all over furiously flailing her arms slightly. "She was just here."

Leon stepped out of Ben's cell and looked both ways to see no one. "Ada!" He and Annette walked to the kennels. "How long have you worked here, Annette?"

"Nearly two years. Why?"

"Do you know anything about the involvement of the police and Umbrella?"

Annette stopped outside the kennels. "No, I do not. Listen here. I don't know anything about what Ben wrote on the walls. I'm just a sergeant; I'm not that high up from you. That's something only the veterans or captains would know about." She snapped, "And if you hadn't noticed they're all dead."

"Jeez, sorry. Thanks anyway."

"I'm sorry," she sighed. "I've been lost for quite a while now. Up until I met you I honestly thought I was the only officer alive-"

"Likewise," he interrupted.

"Still… I'm scared."

"Could've fooled me."

Annette chuckled. "Projecting force and standing firm is the only thing I can do to seem tough. It's all I've been doing since the R.P.D. was wiped out. I needed to be strong to carry on their duty… and memories."

"Who told you that?"

"Captain Wesker. The good one. He was my teacher… my idol."

Leon held Annette shoulders with both hands and stared into her stressed green eyes. They glistened brightly, the only light Leon could see past the darkness of the corridor. "We're gonna be fine, Annette. You hear me? We'll make it through this."

"Positive thoughts are the only thing that can keep me going."

"Let's go find this manhole." Leon let go of Annette and stepped into the kennels.

A dark, depressing room. It stank of rotting dog meat, both the food and the animal. Annette liked dogs, especially the R.P.D.'s. Their breed of Doberman were lovely additions to the force, but when the infection hit they were the first ones to get infected. Luckily they were the first ones to be put out of their misery. Annette felt like she should cry. Her eyes felt too dry to do so, cried enough over that last few days anyway.

Annette knelt down to an open utility hole, one that was sealed tightly recently. "This was sealed last I checked."

"Let's go, then."

"Wait, Leon," she said, standing arms folded, "If Ada passed through here, why did she go alone?"

"She just wants to get out of here. She might need our help."

"Men… always so eager to help."

Leon scoffed. "Women..."

"Someone needs to stay here and wait for Claire. I'll call her radio while you find Ada."

"That sounds like a plan. Later." Leon took hold of the ladder down and descended into the odourless sewers.

"Be careful, Leon," she whispered. Annette holstered her handgun and took out her R.P.D. radio, it was roughed up but still worked when there wasn't any static. She called Claire.

"Hello?"

"Claire, it's Annette. I'm at the kennels waiting for you."

"Is Leon there?"

"Just missed him. We found another survivor called Ada Wong. He went into the sewers to find her when she disappeared. Have you found that little girl?"

"Not yet. I still need to find her."

"Okay. I'll wait for you here. Then we can regroup with Leon and Ada."

"Sounds good. I'll see you soon." Claire disconnected from her side of the radio.

Annette squatted down to the manhole and looked down below. The fumes of the sewage were minimal, and it was almost pitch black. Thinking over the estimated time for Claire to arrive, Annette looped it over in her mind for too long.

It was the only way out of the city. Leaving the condemned R.P.D. was worse than taking the risk of leaving the city alive, some risks were worth it. She sat by the manhole for some time and tried to stay warm by rubbing her arms. The day was cold since the early morning. Then there was a big hand wrapped around her mouth, and a prick in her neck. It was cloudy, and her body collapsed.