SCOTT WESKER (MONOLOGUE)

When that bastard Richard tried to kill me, it all came together. He leaked our exact location, our contingency plan, every minor and major detail. Once I ripped the G and T-virus samples from Birkin's bloody fingers, all I had to do is dispose of them safely and securely.

It was all planned out, but with Richard's betrayal, there was no time to escape. Destroying the samples was going to be my redemption, and he stole it from me!

Now, bloody, battered and slipping into death's tender embrace, it was Annette Parker who saved my life. However, there was no time to spare; we still needed to find Sherry.

Claire was deep in cool, rushing water for a change. It was coming from a small opening in the ceiling at the far door. The running water was jutting out too fast with high pressure; they couldn't pass through.

The door mechanism required two large coins with a wolf and eagle relief; their slots were empty. So they went to the door to their left instead, and to their surprise, they saw Annette and Scott crocking up slowly behind.

Scott appeared to be refreshed and able, despite his bloody lab coat and slight limp. He walked confidently with Annette close by, closing in on Claire.

"Claire!" Scott called.

"You're looking better, Scott." Claire smiled. "You too, Annette."

"I feel better, thanks to her. If Annette weren't there to save me, I'd be a goner for sure."

"I owe it all to you, Doc." Annette held Scott's hand; he tried to object but caved in and indulged her. "You're the real lifesaver here."

"Strange… I don't feel like one…"

"Scott, is there any way to get through this water?"

"Yes, there is, but right now, we need to find Sherry." Scott let go of Annette's hand and took the lead. "Come on. The dumping area is this way."

The area was a tall control room with a ledge close by into more liquids of filth below, and there were sights of a higher floor. The elevating bridge on the literal centre of the room made the level in the shape of a seven.

"The control room is above," Scott noted. To their left was a door that would lead into a passage towards the refuse dump. "Sherry should be in there," Scott said after they passed over the bridge.

The three tread carefully over the bridge as there were no railings or anything to hold if one was to slip or fall into an otherwise vile torrent of waste. Scott led on, even though he was the one behind Claire and Annette. He was the third wheel, escorting ladies around like a gentleman.

Scott's hearing wasn't perfect, but he could distinguish the sound of a handgun from the noises of rushing liquids. A small weapon was cocked behind with a faint click; that was the safety coming off. Scott had darted around first before everyone else caught on.

It was a blonde woman in her late thirties; she wore a very similar lab coat to Scott's own. "Scott, you're alive?" the woman exclaimed. "Last I saw you, your body was... lifeless."

"Nice to see you too."

"Spare the pleasantries for later. What do you think you're doing bringing these people here? You can't just bring strangers into the facility!"

"Annette..." Scott sighed.

"Yeah?" Annette said from behind. "Oh, there's two of us now?"

"Who are these people?!" the woman sharply yelled, blasting her voice in Scott's direction. Scott gave her the silent treatment. She moved on to the others and lowered her aim, still kept her silver P99 visible at her waist. "What are your intentions here?!"

"Our intentions?" Parker muttered. "We just want to get out of the city alive."

"We don't have time for this," Claire pleaded, "This is not the time for us to go pointing guns at each other."

"Annette… Sherry's alone in the facility." The woman stared at Scott with terror in her blue eyes. "We're down here looking for her."

"That's impossible… I told Sherry to stay at the police station."

"You know each other?"

Annette glared at Claire, only quick enough to say what needs to be said. "I'm Sherry's mother, Annette." She glared back at Scott and took a step closer to him. "What is she doing here, Scott?! How can you claim to keep her interests at heart when you're nowhere to be seen?"

"Annette, I'm doing everything I can," Scott stammered. His face heated red. Blood boiling. Face all sweaty. "For fuck's sake, I'm doing my bloody best!" he yelled. The sudden outburst of his tone and character took everyone by surprise, especially Claire. But, of course, Scott's never usually like that. Annette didn't step back like everyone else did, though.

"Scott!" Claire shouted. "What the hell?"

Scott's face lost most of his blistering red rage of anger. "Umbrella is out to bloody kill us, and I'm having a hard enough time trying to protect my own family! Jesus-tapdancing-Christ!" He breathed slowly. "There's not a lot more I can do that hasn't already been done. I have been stuck in NEST for days… I can't go anywhere without some asshole trying to cave my head in."

Annette squinted her eyes. "Never spoke that brutish to me."

Claire stood forward. "Please help us find Sherry."

"You're right," said Annette, "William will be after her..."

"William?"

"William Birkin is Sherry's father. The one which capsized the city into hell to protect G."

"What the hell is a G?" Parker asked.

"The G-virus is a next-generation virus our team developed. It was a large project that unfortunately occupied too much of our time, at the expense of our daughter."

"Next-generation virus?" Parker commented.

Scott coughed and sputtered. "The G-virus was to be the T-virus' successor."

"It conforms to a living thing and rapidly evolves it to transcendental levels. The host would lose their memories as a human during-"

"And all G-viral bioweapons, including William, can implant embryos into other lifeforms," said Scott, finishing Annette's statement. "If what you said is true, which should be, William will no longer see Sherry as his daughter."

Claire lost her breath. "What are you implying?"

"William…" Annette sighed. "William injected himself with the G-virus, and as a result, he already began mutating beyond humanity. Bodies of non-related individuals are more likely to reject the embryos. Since Sherry was his daughter, that possibility is non-existent."

"The horrors of inherited survival instinct. Primal or worse."

A scream thundered and echoed throughout the room. "Sherry!" Annette exclaimed.

"Come on; we have to help her."

"I can't. I have unfinished business to attend to."

"Ugh, you gotta be kiddin' me!" Claire growled. She left the platform in a strop away from Annette's incompetence and crossed over the turning platform; Parker followed her. Scott shuffled just past Annette and slowly left her sight but stayed close enough to hear her quiet mumbles.

Annette stayed in her place. She had ties at Umbrella she had to straighten out and was conflicted with the feeling of guilt. "If there's a chance an embryo has been implanted, Sherry's going to need a vaccine. But, Scott, she needs the DEVIL cure."

"No one's ever made one before-"

"Your research notes are still in your locker; you can do it. Make one, save my daughter."

"You care so much for Sherry, but where are you in her life, Annette?" Scott left the platform and stopped at the door ahead. "People like me try so hard to live up to your example... I fail because I put family before work. Maybe you should do the same."

Scott left through the door, and Annette was left to her thoughts. Her colleague had a point, though there was more at stake than just Sherry's well-being.

The passage was dull and underground. Nothing was out of the ordinary; it did lead to a refuse dumping area. Behind some doors that were far too secure and thick for a common dumping area was the dump itself. Chairs, crates, cardboard boxes, any junk that popped to mind was carelessly discarded in clumps that formed mountains of trash.

Some liquid waste was present; the height of it rested at the waist level. It was warm, and the fumes were rusty enough to melt steel and taint the breathable air. Though it mostly irritated the eyes, it was okay to trek through for a minute or two.

There appeared to be vibrations in the water as it rippled slightly. Sherry was face down on a pile of junk; she was unconscious. Claire rushed to her aid and held her in her arms.

"Claire?"

Claire patted Sherry's back. "Yes, honey, it's me. Are you alright?"

"My stomach hurts..."

"Everything will be okay; we're gonna help you."

Sherry barely groaned.

Scott brushed Sherry's hair back and opened one of her eyes. "We need to get her somewhere safe."

"Where can we go?" asked Claire.

"I know a safe room." Scott beckoned Claire to let him carry Sherry in his arms.

"Is it far?"

"A little, but it's better than heading back to the R.P.D."

The three left the garbage dump and went back the way they came. Annette was nowhere to be seen in the treatment pool area; nothing within the room had changed. They crossed over the narrow path and left the way they came.

After dropping down the small ledge, Claire noticed Leon leaning against the wall on the other side of the sewer tunnel. The way he was walking using the grimy wall as a crutch led her to believe he was wounded, and she was right – he had a bloody bandage around his left shoulder.

"Leon!" Claire was about to comfort Leon but protested against it. "What happened?"

"I got shot." Leon straightened his back and leant on the wall, stopping in his tracks. "There was a woman-"

"Wait, you mean-"

"No, not Ada. She..."

"Patched you up," said Claire, finishing Leon's sentence. "Guess she's on our side then. Lucky us."

"She's confident with a good head on her shoulders; you'd like her."

Claire smiled. "She's alright in my books, considering that she patched you up."

"I'm serious; we all need to help each other if we're gonna get out of here alive. Even if Ada's not around, I want to help her and you, hell, everyone here. We need to protect our own."

"That will be a hell of a lot easier with you backing us up."

"Yeah. The department is fubar, no way we're getting out going back that way."

"We found Sherry, but she's sick. Nowhere to go except NEST."

"Of course, there's a secret lab down here. Fitting."

"Let's go. We don't have much time." Claire walked away with Leon close by. "Scott, come; we are leaving."

"Okay." Scott nodded. "You and Parker should take point; I'll guide you on."

"Whatever gets us to safety quicker."

Leon overtook Scott with Parker placing her hand on his shoulder. "You really okay, Leon?"

"I'm fine, Annette. Damn, it's good to be back."

"Did you find Ada?"

"Yeah, but not in the way I wanted to. A woman was shooting at her, and I got shot trying to get her out of the way."

"A woman?"

"Yeah. Dunno who she was, but she was not happy to see Ada or me."

Scott cleared his throat as his heart started to beat a little quicker.