Ch. 4: The First Boss

Author's note: Well, no reviews yet, but I will continue on. And I do not, have not, and never will own Resident Evil.

Re-edited: 3/17/11

They entered into a small hallway. Stairs led to a second floor along the left wall. In front of them, an electronic door led to the kitchen with a light above it glowing red. While Rebecca checked the door, Daniel grabbed the file sitting on the small table in the corner.

Rebecca sighed. "It won't open."

"According to this, the power is controlled by a generator on the roof of this car." He replied as his eyes scanned the document.

From behind them, they heard yelling.

"It sounds like Edward," Rebecca commented nervously. More yelling rang out.

"And Jessica," Daniel added. "Looks like we need to go back."

The pair re-entered the car and found the source of the latest issue. Billy was standing at the opposite end of the train watching the scene unfold before him with a small smirk. A few feet in front of Daniel, Jessica and Edward were locked in verbal combat. "What's going on?"

Immediately, Jessica turned to Daniel and gestured at Edward. "Good ol' Eddy here wants to lock up the new guy. I said we shouldn't bother with it, until we're back in safety. And connect the dots for the rest."

"You have talent for creating chaos," Daniel observed, directing the statement at Billy.

"Lucky me," Billy said sarcastically.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Edward demanded, glaring at Jessica. "You heard my Captain. That convict is a murderer." His eyes focused on Billy. "A disgrace to the Armed Forces. He's nothing more than scum. And it's my duty to take him in."

"And what part of 'zombie situation', don't you get!?" Jessica argued. "Wait, scratch that. 'Zombie and freakin' monster' situation! We're going to probably need his help to get out of this situation alive!"

"We have the situation under control!"

"Tell that to Bart!"

"This isn't helping us in the least," Daniel interjected.

Edward turned to Daniel. "Are you also suggesting that we let this bastard go free?"

Daniel frowned. Well this is a lot different from the game. "If you want to cuff him, that's your prerogative, er call. All I'm saying that it might be more useful to keep an eye on him without the cuffs. After all, survival comes first, and there's safety in numbers." He glanced at Billy. "I'm assuming that's why you were trying to catch up to us."

Billy nodded. "This situation is FUBAR. It'd be better if we teamed up until this whole thing blows over." He scanned the room. "Although, I wasn't expecting so many civilians to be here." He focused on Edward. "You'll need my help protecting them."

"Like hell I do," Edward growled. "The only reason we've lost one soldier is because I wasn't here to take care of the situation, and Kevin is only a pilot."

"Well, don't you just inspire confidence," Billy replied sarcastically.

"Shut up! I'm arresting you for the murders you've committed," Edward declared as he advanced toward Billy with a pair of handcuffs.

Billy's response was to pull out his handgun on the approaching police officer. Edward responded in a similar manner. The tension in the room doubled. "I already have one pair. Don't need another one."

"Hey, hey, hey!" Shantia interrupted. "We don't need to be shootin' each other. We've got bigger problems to worry about."

"She's right," Daniel added. "Billy, if you're serious about joining us then put the gun down."

"And how do I know he won't just shoot me?" He asked.

Edward snorted. "Don't think I'll sink to your level, bastard."

Billy glared daggers at the STARS member. "Stop calling me that."

"For God's sake!" Jessica shouted. "Just put down the damned gun and get it over with!"

Billy's eyes flickered between Jessica and Edward. Slowly, he relaxed and dropped his aim.

"Now that's finished," Daniel continued. "Billy, you're going to have to stay here. We'll let you keep your gun, won't handcuff you, but Edward will keep an eye on you."

Edward shot an annoyed look at Daniel, but didn't speak.

"So, what's the plan?" Billy questioned

"Rebecca and I are going to search for survivors in the rear car. Once we're done, we all will leave the train together and try to meet up with the rest of Bravo team."

"Simple. Let' hope you don't run into anything."

"If we do," Daniel replied, "We're well-equipped to handle it." He gestured to Rebecca and the two of them moved out. Since their hallway search was already completed, they climbed the stairs to the next floor.

When they reached the top, they found the dining area. Next to them were two rows of small tables lining the car. Each one adorned by a white linen table cover, a candlestick, several sets of expensive dishes and glasses and two wooden chairs with red upholstery. Next to each table was a window with cream-colored curtains. A counter with a pass-through and wooden shutters sat next to the stairway. On the other side of the counter was a door. Since the incident, one candle had toppled over, quickly lighting a table. The only living thing here was an old man in a brown suit who seemed to be staring at his plate.

Daniel frowned as he studied the fake human. The cutscene from this segment of the video game played in his head. Rebecca checking the figure, the leech attack, and Billy's last minute rescue. But things are different this time. Billy isn't waiting at the foot of the stairs, ready to make his rescue. He's stuck with the others with Edward watching him.

Rebecca took a step toward the figure. Daniel quickly grabbed her arm. She shot him a quizzical expression. "What is it?"

He whispered, "Does anything with this scene feel very off?"

She frowned, but found herself whispering back, "No, we need to help him."

"Then could you please explain to me, why he hasn't moved or reacted to us at all?"

"He could be in shock or maybe he's passed out."

"Then could you also explain why he isn't hurt when everyone else here is dead?"

Rebecca paused. "Maybe he was hiding until then?"

"I don't like it." He shouted at the old man. "Hey! Are you alright?" The figure didn't respond.

"Let's just go help him," Rebecca implored. Instead Daniel grabbed a nearby fork and threw it at the being. Through a lucky hit, the fork crashed into its forehead.

"Daniel!" She started, only to watch in horror as the head fell off. Already well aware of what was happening, Daniel turned off his rifle's safety, and switched it to burst mode.

With the "head" on the floor, the rest of the body began to deform. The old suit it wore slowly turned blue and fleshy. As Rebecca watched in horror, the "body" fell to pieces that were soon identifiable as leeches. The leeches themselves were monstrously huge, completely unnatural with an odd, white membrane on their backs in the shape of an eye. Even Daniel could feel his stomach react to the sickening scene and sound. They are a lot more disgusting in real life than in the game.

The now-separate leeches slid into a pile that soon became a mound of ugly flesh. Daniel knew what was next, and pulled his trigger as a response. The loud crack of rifle fire snapped Rebecca out of her dazed fear. She added her own weapon's firepower to the mix. The leeches, which had melded into one form, ignored their attacks. After another second of morphing themselves together, it now stood in the form of the old man. But unlike last time, it merely shared the elder's detailed shape, including the outline of the jacket it wore earlier. Along with that, its eyes had no pupil, its hair was nothing more than an imprint, and it was all a sickly green color.

It took one sludge-like noisy step toward them before it finally acknowledged the bullets piercing its "skin". Rapidly, the figure deformed into the mass of leeches. And then, as one yet as individuals, the swarm slithered toward them. But not at a snail's pace that Rebecca had always pictured. But at a blazing pace that removed the few precious feet between the two of them. Crap, crap, crap! Daniel roared within his mind. Need to think of something. Out of the corner of his eye, the fires were beginning to spread and consume the tablecloth. Remembering the leeches' extreme aversion to fire, he dropped his rifle and shoved the burning table into the swarm's path. There was a strange gurgling noise as the table landed on the forward half of the swarm. The remaining leeches quickly slithered around the burning obstacle only to have another table thrown upon them, courtesy of Rebecca. The last few leeches halted their advance and decided it was prudent to retreat.

While Daniel would have preferred to stomp on the few survivors, he and Rebecca had to spring into action and stop the fires from spreading. As they started on their task, heavy and rapid footsteps alerted them that someone was coming on the stairs. In a few seconds, Billy arrived on the second floor, closely followed by a vigilant Edward.

"What's going on?" Edward demanded. Billy, for his part, immediately joined Daniel and Rebecca in quelling the flames.

"We ran into something," Daniel stated.

"Something?"

"Leeches!" Rebecca exclaimed, her expression showing open confusion and dismay. "Hundreds of huge leeches! They could form themselves into a humanoid appearance! They tried to attack us!" She glanced at Daniel with newfound awe in her eyes. "How did you know there was something wrong about the old man?"

"Well," he shrugged, "seemed a bit obvious that all wasn't right with him. The way he was just sitting there like that." He looked and noticed both Billy and Edward's skeptical expressions. "You don't believe us."

Edward frowned. "Well, it's a bit out there."

"Says the man who was just attacked by a zombie dog," Daniel countered.

Edward got the point.

With the fires out, Billy was observing the few intact leech corpses. "They are huge. But why are they here? I thought they only lived in swamps."

"Not necessarily," Rebecca explained. "Their only real preferences are fresh-water bodies of water. The real question is why are these mutated leeches on this train?"

Before anyone had a chance to answer her, a singing voice drifted softly into their ears. Everyone looked about confused until they realized that it was coming from outside the train. They walked over to the windows and gazed into the darkness. Lightning briefly lit the environment. And in those quick flashes, they could make out a figure standing on a nearby hill. The person was garbed in a white, single-piece of clothing, looking suspiciously like a gown. The storm didn't seem to faze the figure, who continued to sing in a high soprano.

"Oh my God," Rebecca whispered. "He's surrounded."

"By what?" Billy wondered and then he saw them. Leeches, hundreds of them. All of them approached the gowned individual who seemed not to notice them. Another flash gave them a clearer look at the person's face. They could barely make out the face, which looked masculine. This man had light-colored hair and piercing eyes that were locked onto them. "Who is that guy?"

The small group was in for another surprise. Without a warning, there was a jerk as the train started to move. "What the hell!" Edward exclaimed. He turned to Daniel. "I thought you said the door to the control room was locked?"

"It was," Daniel repeated, "unless someone found the card key and unlocked the door."

"But who would start the train?" Rebecca wondered aloud.

"We need to get to the engine car." Billy warned them. "Before anything else happens."

Edward grunted in agreement. "Let's go."

"Wait. Someone might've only entered the engine car from the outside while the train was still. The door might still be locked." Daniel argued. "We should only send a couple of people to check, while we finish checking this car."

"I won't let him out of my sight," Edward reiterated, gesturing at Billy.

"We can't finish searching this car, until power is restored to the automatic door downstairs. The power supply is on top of this car. We'll need someone to get up there to fix it. And I doubt either of us," he pointed at himself and Rebecca. "Can get it done."

Edward seethed at this latest problem, all the while glaring at Billy. Billy was indifferent, looking towards the roof and then to the window at the back. He walked over to the rear window and saw the ladder leading up onto the car. "I can do it."

Edward made no reply. "Don't worry I can handle him," Rebecca insisted.

Edward frowned. "No offense, Rebecca, but you're still just a rookie."

"She'll have me to help," Daniel added.

"Great, two babysitters instead of one," Billy muttered.

Edward hesitated for a moment before addressing Daniel. "If he tries anything, shoot him."

"Understood."

Edward shot one last dark look at Billy before heading downstairs. Billy began climbing the ladder, leaving Daniel and Rebecca alone in the car. She tried to open the door in the corner of the floor, but after struggling with it for a few seconds before declaring, "It's jammed."

She sighed. "So, remind me, how did you and your friends end up out here? The forest is closed to civilians."

Daniel was uncomfortable where this was going. The last thing he wanted was somebody to start digging into his cover story. But that didn't stop him from repeating it to her.

"What a terrible way to end a vacation," she said.

"Agreed." Before she could ask another question, he decided to take the initiative. "So, why did you join STARS? I hear it's an elite police unit."

"It is," she answered proudly. "We're the finest officers in the RPD, the Raccoon Police Department. As for my reason for joining, it's pretty standard. I always wanted to be in law enforcement since I was little. My uncle died in the line of duty, so there's also that."

"Oh! Sorry to hear that," he replied, genuinely surprised. Capcom never really explored her character, now that I think about it.

Rebecca smiled, with just a tinge of sadness. "It's okay. I'm over it now. It happened several years ago, right before STARS was created. You actually look a little like him." Her eyes began to become unfocused as she drifted into old memories. But before she could go into detail, there was a loud thud from behind the locked door.

Edward

I need to wrap this up quickly. The longer I'm gone, the more chances that monster will have to kill Rebecca and Sims. Images filled his mind, all involving Rebecca. Although it was true that STARS needed someone with her talents, Edward and pretty much everyone else had been surprised when Captain Wesker approved her application to the STARS unit. She was so young and inexperienced. The thought urged him to move faster. In seconds, he was back with the others.

"Hey, did you see that woman out there with those weird slugs earlier?" Jessica asked him as he entered the car.

"I still think it was a guy," Kevin argued.

"Oh come on. I mean some guys can get pretty girly, but a gown?"

"Never mind that," Edward interrupted. "Private Askew, I need you to come with me and check to see if the engine car is accessible."

The brown-skinned girl nodded and sat up from her seat.

"Wait! What about me?" Jessica cried.

"You're staying here with Kevin and the civilians," he explained.

"Like hell I am! Now that we're moving, the chances of anything else attacking us from outside is none. I'm not babysitting these guys any longer!" She declared.

Edward did not want the hyperactive teenager coming with him, especially armed. But the clock was ticking and Rebecca was going to spend more time with the convict if this argument continued. "Fine, move!"

"Yay!" And with that, she tore off running toward their destination, as Edward and Shantia scrambled after her.

In the next car, two more bodies reanimated. But before either Edward or Shantia could get a shot off, Jessica plugged two slugs into their craniums. The zombies collapsed to the floor. Despite his first impression, Edward's respect for the cowgirl jumped a few points. The car cleared, they made their exit. Nothing stood between them and the door as they ran down the hallway. But when Edward checked the door, it still refused to open. "Damn it!"

Billy

Walking on top of a moving train is difficult. Walking on top of a train during a pouring rainstorm was in a class all on its own. Still, I'd rather be doing this than fighting any more zombies by myself. Billy thought to himself as he cautiously crawled to the other side, raindrops stinging him all the while. Though it took quite a bit of concentration to make sure he didn't slip, Billy was still able to wonder about his new comrades in his quest for survival. Edward obviously hated him. Just another fringe benefit from my false conviction. The girl (Rebecca, wasn't it?), despite her attempts at bravado, seemed to be okay with working with him, reluctantly, but still. The other guy, on the other hand, didn't have a problem with him in the least. He's either really stupid or he has a clear understanding of the gravity of our situation. Billy wasn't sure which was true. Before he could evaluate the others, he arrived at the generator just past a hole in the car's roof.

The generator was nothing more than a small metal box attached to the train. A portion of the protective shell was gone. With easy access to the generator's innards, he immediately identified the power problem. One of the cables was disconnected. He easily reconnected the two halves. As he was about to head back, he noticed a clear liquid rising from within the generator. "Hmm?"

Suddenly, the "liquid" leaped at him in the form of leeches! "Woah!" He shouted as he stumbled backwards sliding on the slick metal, straight into the hole. He landed with a heavy thud. Billy groaned as he stood up.

"Hello?" A feminine voice called from the nearby room.

"It's me," Billy replied.

"What happened?" A masculine voice asked.

"Ran into some of your leeches." He was now in a small room filled with wall cabinets and counters. He would have said it was the kitchen if it weren't for the lack of a fridge or stove or any other such appliances. In the back of the room was a small elevator. "It looks like I'm in the waiter's station." He could easily imagine food being sent to the room via elevator into the waiting waiter's hands. On one of the counters was a green plant in a pot…and a box of ammo. Strange, Billy thought as he picked it up. He then noticed a key next to it. It was on a rag with a tag reading "Conductor's Cabin."

"Can you open the door from your side?" The girl, Rebecca questioned.

After shaking the door handle, Billy discovered he couldn't. "No." His eyes focused on the pass-through and its wooden shutters. Sims started to say something, but it was cut off when Billy delivered a powerful kick against the shutters. The shutters crashed open as his foot connected. The new hole wasn't big, but it was large enough for him to get through. It was a tight fit, but he crawled through and joined the others. Sims's face showed open surprise, while Rebecca's showed concern. What's wrong with him? He already knows I'm a marine. Did he actually think that flimsy shutter was going to keep me in? Billy was now leaning toward the "stupid" interpretation of the soldier.

What the heck!? He was supposed to be in there until we found the ice pick and came back to un-jam the door. So much for THAT portion of the video game. Daniel thought to himself. And now there's no point to the item elevator. Well, I guess this is a good thing. But even as he thought that, Daniel hoped that this didn't mean he wouldn't be able to predict future events.

Rebecca glanced through the now open pass-through and spotted the plant. "Oh! An herb." She went through the pass-through to retrieve it.

"What? What about it?" Billy wondered.

"It has medicinal properties," Daniel clarified.

How does he know that? Okay, maybe he isn't stupid. But what's with the uniform? I've never seen anything like it, Billy thought.

"You're right," Rebecca replied as she came back with the green herb. "Are you a medic?"

"No, I was supposed to be a transportation specialist," Daniel answered.

"A transportation specialist?" Rebecca inquired.

"A truck driver," Billy chimed in. "But what do you mean, 'supposed to be'? Haven't you finished your training?"

…don't like where this conversation is going. However, Daniel said, "I'm part of the 'split-ops' program. I do one half of my training in the summer, and finish it up in the next one. I've only finished the first half."

"Why is your training split into halves?" Billy pressed. And why haven't I heard of it?

"I'll tell you later." Daniel offered, "For now, we need to finish our search."

Rebecca nodded in agreement; Billy, however, grudgingly accepted the soldier's evasion. There's something strange about him, he decided.

The three of them trudged downstairs. The once-red light above the electronic door was now glowing green, beckoning people to enter. This group of people were more than happy to oblige it. With a swish, the automatic door opened.

They were now in the kitchen. Daniel and Rebecca regretted entering the room. Thanks to the disaster, food had been left to burn on the stove, dirty dishes clogged the sink, and an ominous stench emanated from the fridge. There was another door at the back of the room. Since there was no one to save in the kitchen, they headed for the door.

A plaque on the door read "Freight Car", below a window in the door. The window was covered by a roller blind, blinding them to the other room. When Billy found that the door was locked, he took his handgun and slammed it against the glass. Unable to take the stress, the window shattered inwards. And now we don't need the panel opener either. What else are we going to end up skipping? Daniel pondered.

But as Billy triggered the blind to roll up, a snarling, dog's snout lunged at him. He jumped back, cutting his arm on the glass. Rebecca let out a screech. Daniel, who knew about the z-dogs (even if he hadn't expected the dramatic surprise), quickly aimed and popped off a round that pierced the monster's skull. The z-dog yelped and fell back into the room, only for another one to come flying through the vacant hole.

By now, Billy and Rebecca had recovered their wits, firing on the dog as it landed on their side of the doorway. The beast found itself caught in a three-way gauntlet of hot lead. It soon expired under the combined assaults.

With the fight over, Billy added another mental note to Sims's profile: Kid does well in combat.

"Here, let me fix that for you." Rebecca grabbed Billy's cut arm and applied the green herb directly to his injury. Within moments, the bleeding stopped.

So that's how herbs work in real life, Daniel noted.

"Thanks." Billy glanced at Daniel. "Not bad."

Daniel nodded, but could still feel his heart going at ninety-miles an hour. And, when the fridge burst open and loosed a rampaging zombie, his heart rate doubled. Unfortunately, Billy was in right in its charge and was facing the opposite direction.

It lunged and grabbed onto the marine. Already well aware of the consequences, Billy did everything he could to keep it from biting him. Daniel was already reacting and was about to pull the trigger when he realized something. My rifle still isn't zeroed. I might hit him.

Rebecca, due to her lack of practice and training, didn't dare take a shot either. Billy desperately tried to shake it loose by slamming it against the back wall. The zombie wasn't even fazed. But as it leaned down to take its first bite, it was rudely interrupted by a rifle round fired at point blank range. The shell went straight through its head, taking a chunk of its rear skull with it.

Billy let out a sigh of relief as the double-deceased body slid to the ground. "I thought you had a clear shot from the get go?" Billy asked Daniel.

"I didn't. My rifle hasn't been adjusted to my eyes. I might have hit you," Daniel responded as he defended himself.

"Maybe you should have paid more attention at Basic," Billy growled.

"They never taught us," Daniel replied acidly.

"Well, I see the Army standards are as high as ever," the marine grunted.

But before Daniel could counter, Rebecca interrupted, "Come on! Let's finish checking this room and get back to the others."

The men relented. After clearing the rest of the glass away, Billy unlocked the door. The Freight room contained boxes, crates, cages to the rear of the car, and a can of gasoline. But there was no sign of anyone, living or undead. Daniel walked into the room, making a show of scanning it.

"Let's go, there's no one here," Billy stated.

It might end up being pointless, but it can't hurt to get the ring. Daniel glanced into one of the cages before pulling out a small, gold ring.

Billy raised an eyebrow. "I know the owner is probably dead, but we really should avoid stealing."

Rebecca shot the convicted murderer. "Why do you care?"

Billy glared at her for a moment before deciding to avoid the topic.

"It's a strange ring. With these indentations, wearing it must hurt," Daniel observed.

Billy, confused by his observation, walked up to him and Rebecca for a better look. Daniel was right. On opposite sides were three points on the inside of the ring. "Even so, best to leave it alone."

He was ignored when Daniel pocketed it. Billy chose to ignore the slight and said, "Come on."

Daniel glanced at the back door. Should I go ahead and get the hookshot now? Sure, it'll save time, but it's going to look awfully suspicious. And I don't know when we'll crash into the training facility. But we're already skipping two parts of the game's level. So, I think it'll be okay in the end. So, against his better judgment, Daniel and Rebecca left to catch up to Billy. Then the back door began to rattle. The three of them traded looks.

"Hello?" Rebecca called out.

There was no answer other than the continued beating. Billy and Daniel both entered into firing poses, with Billy standing and Daniel kneeling. The door burst open. A figure spilled inward onto the floor. From its poor motor skills to its eerie groan, there was no doubt that it was a zombie. Since Daniel was closest to it, Billy decided he should take care of it. The blonde-haired soldier waited for the zombie to stand up, giving him the best shot.

But when it finished collecting itself from the floor, realization crashed into him. "Oh no," he whispered. The walking corpse was covered in mud and blood, but he still identified it: Bart. I thought Jessica took care of him? He must've climbed back on board! Logic ordered him to fire. But he found that he couldn't pull the trigger. The new zombie ambled towards him. He's going to eat us, shoot! His mind roared at him. But his finger refused to bend.

What was once Bart was only a step away from him, a handgun fired. The round hit the undead right between the eyes. "What the hell was that?" Billy demanded as he walked up to Daniel. The green-eyes teenager said nothing, only gazing at the fallen body. The ex-lieutenant was about to shout when he finally made the connection. The uniforms, they're the same.

Rebecca, already guessing this part of the story, laid a hand on Daniel's shoulder. "This was your friend?"

Quietly, Daniel knelt down and closed the lids over the milky-white eyes. "He was."

Billy spotted a knife on top of one of the crates. He grabbed and offered it to the soldier. "Losing a friend is hard, but you need to be prepared to do what is necessary," the ex-marine warned the soldier.

Daniel stared at it for a moment before taking it.

"Put it in your boot," Billy advised.

Daniel nodded and did so. Then he stepped back from the body, turned around, and walked back to the others. Billy and Rebecca silently followed.

They entered the car just as Edward was about to open their door. He scanned Daniel and Rebecca. Satisfied with their well-being, he relaxed. "Find anyone?"

"Not alive," Billy answered. "What about the engine car?"

Edward's frown was back, but he replied, "Still inaccessible. And, unless you found the card key back there, we're stuck."

"I didn't find a card key, however," Billy pulled out the key ring, "I found this earlier. It's for the Conductor's cabin."

"Well, I guess it's better than nothing." Edward pointed at Rebecca and Shantia. "You two come with me. We'll check the cabin. Everyone else, stay put."

"What?" Daniel and Jessica demanded.

"I don't need more than three people. After all, we're only searching one room," Edward argued. He held his hand out to Billy, who relinquished the key.

Daniel thought about the cabin. Which just happens to have a hidden ladder leading to the second floor. Wait the second floor! "Alright then," Daniel conceded.

"What? I thought you were going to be on my side!" Jessica pestered. Edward nodded a silent word of thanks before leaving with his team. The cowgirl glared at the green-eyed soldier.

"Okay, Jessica, Billy, you're with me."

"What?" Billy and Jessica responded.

"There's a stairway in the next car to the second floor. Edward seems to have forgotten about it. We should check it out."

Jessica grinned. "Agreed."

"Fine." Not like I'm going to be doing anything here.

"You really shouldn't undercut his authority like that," Kevin warned Daniel.

"I'm not. I just happened to remember that there's a part of the train in need of searching," Daniel countered. Kevin grunted unhappily, leaving it at that.

Edward, Shantia, and Rebecca

As the team made their way through the next cabin, Edward glanced at the stairway in the corner. "We'll check that after we're finished with the room." The two women nodded in agreement. As they were about to exit, another body reanimated.

Shantia, who was the last one, aimed and fired. Only to see the bullet pierce its cheek without killing it. "Damn it."

Edward followed up with a successful shot. "What's wrong?"

"The sights haven't been adjusted for my eyes," she explained.

"At that range, the problem is probably both the sight and your aim. Do you know how to adjust it?"

"I don't," the raven-haired girl confessed.

"Well, I'm no specialist, but I think I can help with that." After fiddling with the sights for a bit, Edward returned the rifle back to her. "That should do it."

"Thanks."

"No problem."

The rest of their walk was uneventful. Just past the luggage mountain was the locked door. Edward unlocked it and they entered. The small room was trashed. Papers, documents, and files were littered everywhere. A green and red plant sat on the only window's sill. A map of the train was posted on the wall to their right. In the corner opposite the door, a closet stood partially opened. While Rebecca went to work on collecting and mixing the green and red herbs on the window sill, Edward started going through the papers, and Shantia checked the closet.

Most of the papers turned out to be nothing more than schedules and work-related material. Edward folded and pocketed the more important-looking ones. Could be helpful for our investigation. Then his eyes spied one scrap of paper on the floor. He picked it up and was intrigued by its contents.

"Looks like the key card is in the Conductor's bag," Edward announced.

"Like this?" The others turned and saw Shantia holding up a small, brown briefcase with a strange-looking lock featuring two circle indentations. She shook it and everyone could hear a light object shuffling around inside.

"Yeah. This note says it needs two keys to unlock it. Special ones." Edward took a closer look at the briefcase, especially the lock. "It is different than most."

As Shantia was observing the briefcase, her eyes were drawn to a beeping, red light over Edward's shoulder. When she stepped around the other two, she saw that it was a button next to the door. Her finger moved to press it, paused, then pressed it. I know this is all supposed to be a horror series, but it's not like there would be a self-destruct bomb on the train…right?

To her delight, no explosions happened. Instead a panel on the ceiling opened. From it, a ladder descended. "Nice work," Edward commented. "I'll go first. Rebecca, after me with Shantia after Rebecca." He didn't wait for any form of acknowledgement before ascending up the metal rungs.

Daniel, Billy, and Jessica

"Oh shit," Jessica muttered.

The group was at the end of a hallway next to the stairs. The hallway was decorated with pink and brown square-patterned carpet, was well-lit, and even had an antique phone sitting on a cabinet. But the rest of the hallway was blocked off by a huge mass of gooey leech eggs. And as she stared at the eggs, she realized that they were made of a clear substance, giving them a good look at the leeches within. A constant squishing sound continued as the eggs grew.

"They're almost finished," Billy observed. "We need to kill them."

"I completely agree," Daniel began, "but how? I don't think we can start a fire here, it's too wet."

"Then we squish them." Billy grabbed one of the corner tables, flipped it over to its flat side, and began pounding the eggs into goo.

"Ugh, this is just disgusting," Jessica complained before grabbing another small piece of furniture and joined Billy. Daniel grabbed the last piece and aided in their endeavor.

Edward, Shantia, and Rebecca

The ladder led to a bar room. Unlike the rest of the rooms, this one filled the entire upper floor of the car. The bar itself only occupied a third of the room. The other two thirds was made mostly of empty space with comfortable chairs and sofas sitting next to the windows. Bottles of vintage wine sat on shelves behind the bar. Their new-found entrance opened on the edge of the bar, almost at the end of the car.

Edward whistled. "Pretty fancy."

"Who owns this train?" Shantia wondered aloud.

"It's probably Umbrella's," Rebecca answered as she finished climbing off the ladder.

"Umbrella?" Shantia remembered Daniel mentioning something about them, but she was having trouble remembering the specifics.

Rebecca gave her confused look, but continued, "They're a huge corporation dealing in pharmaceuticals. They practically made Raccoon City, but their HQ is in Paris. I'm surprised you haven't heard of them. They're the only ones who can afford a private train like this."

"The bigger question is," Edward said, hijacking the conversation. "Why does Umbrella have a train in Raccoon Forest? Everybody knows about the murders."

"I think that they had an investigation unit on the train. They were heading for a research facility in the mountains," Rebecca explained.

Edward shot her a bewildered look. "How do you know that?"

"I found these files in a couple of the passenger cabins," the medic pulled out a diary and a sheet of paper for the older cop to see.

He quickly reviewed the files and agreed with her. "Suspicious. I would really like to know why they feel it's so important to send an investigations team just to check-up an old lab, which happens to be dead center in these cannibal woods. Let's keep moving."

As the team stepped around the bar and toward the door, an insectoid rattle thundered from above them. Each one of them trained their weapons on the spot. "What the hell was that?" Shantia asked rhetorically.

"Don't know. Don't want to stay here and find out," Rebecca admitted.

"Agreed, let's move."

Quickly and quietly, they edged toward the door. But just as Rebecca reached out a hand to turn the handle, there was a thud. To their horror, a giant claw had pierced the roof!

"Let's bolt!" Shantia declared.

"We can't," Edward argued. "With its strength, it'll tear the train up!" Despite his logic, Edward would very much rather be anywhere else, especially when a giant scorpion crashed through the roof.

"Holy shit!" Shantia screamed.

"Open fire!" Edward roared as he squeezed the trigger.

With another insect roar, the scorpion advanced toward them. The incoming hail of lead bouncing off its main carapace.

"Aim for the head!" Rebecca warned them. Armed with this knowledge, the scorpion's slow advance was finally stopped. When several rounds struck its face, it let out another screech. Its massive claws, usually meant for offense became the perfect shields as it folded them in front of its sole weak point. It skittered backward for a moment before wildly swinging its deadly tail forward. As it lunged forward, it threw its claws forward in what would have been damaging blow.

Fortunately for the humans, it was too far away to hit anyone. And a cycle was born when they fired into its hardened skull. After scoring a few hits, the scorpion would resort to its claws for defense and lunge forward with its tail.

In time, someone would have scored the killing shot and ended this dance. But even when it withdrew, its subsequent charge slowly closed the distance between the two sides.

"Why won't it die!" Shantia screamed after the fifth charge. By now, its "head" was a mess of holes and green blood. But it refused to succumb to their best efforts to kill it. And glancing between the monster and the door, the high school student was painfully aware of the mere feet that was to be their safe zone.

"Shantia!" Rebecca shouted.

The soldier turned around to see that, now that the distance between it and its prey was thin, the scorpion changed tactics. Its tail was reared back like a slingshot. Time seemed to slow down as the tail shot forward. The ebony-skinned teenager ducked and could feel a whoosh as the stinger narrowly missed her. Now she was face-to-face with the giant arachnid. Before it had a chance to attack, she jumped back, tripping on one of the chairs. Rebecca, momentarily forgetting the extent of the situation, rushed to help Shantia.

"Rebecca, no!" Edward cried. In her zeal to help her friend, Rebecca had ran straight into the monster's path. It pulled its claw left and thrust it forward. Edward, moving out of instinct, jumped in front of his teammate. The blow sent him flying into the wall. Rebecca was struck by Edward's body, but fell to the floor no more than an inch away from the beast.

When she looked up, she was eye-to-eye with its hideous skull. Horror-filled, Rebecca watched the tail rear back. I'm going to die! She wailed.

Her view was suddenly blocked. For a moment, she thought she fainted. Then her ears were ringing as a shotgun and an assault rifle fired in the same moment. There was a screech as the monster was pushed back.

No longer terrified, Rebecca finally processed what, better yet who, was standing in front of her. Two men were now shielding her from death. On the left, the figure wore a camouflaged outfit, revealing that it was Daniel. The right guy was wearing a familiar blue wife-beater and jeans combo. It's Billy! She realized with a start.

Beyond the two, she heard crashing and garbled screeching. Then the noise ended with a loud thud. Seconds passed. The silence was broken by a voice behind Rebecca. "So, how long are you going to just sit on your ass?"

Rebecca turned around. Standing in the open doorway was Jessica wielding two handguns. A grin was plastered on her face as she waited for Rebecca's reaction. Realizing that the danger was over, the rookie cop speedily climbed to her feet.

"I'm sorry we couldn't get here sooner," Daniel began as he addressed them. "We were dealing with another situation."

"You should have seen it!" Jessica declared. "There were leech eggs in the hallway," she said, nodding her head to the hallway behind her. "Hundreds of those little suckers." She directed her grin at her friend.

"Oh, hardy har har," Daniel "laughed" which soon became an old man's wheezing.

"Shut the hell up!" Jessica admonished, her grin never disappearing. "We were in the middle of smooshing them when the rest started to hatch." She shuddered. "We had to duck into the passenger rooms and stomp on them one at a time. Took forever," she continued, groaning. Her expression lightened up almost instantly. "But we found a shotgun for our troubles." She pointed at Billy.

The fugitive, satisfied that the creature was truly dead, only now turned around, giving Rebecca a clear look at his new weapon. That explains why she has two handguns. The other one is Billy's. "You let him take it?"

"Well, I thought about grabbin' it fer myself, but I think I can rack up more kills this way," the cowgirl clarified. Everyone's gaze locked onto her after hearing that. "….what?"

"Anyway," Daniel interrupted, "we also found these." The soldier dug a few herbs out of one his larger pants' pocket. "Thought you might want them." He finished, handing the items to Rebecca. Along with the silver ring, he thought to himself, his mind picturing his left chest pocket where both rings were now stored.

She smiled at him. "These'll come in handy later on. Thank you and thanks for saving my life," she paused and addressed both Daniel and Billy. "Both of you." Billy shrugged it off and was more concerned with the huge corpse filling the room.

Daniel smiled. "No problem. I guess we're now even."

"Even?" she answered confused.

"Yeah, you saved my life with the z-dogs and now I saved your life here," he patiently reminded her.

"Oh! Yeah, you-"

She started only to be cut off by a wailing, "NOOOOOOO!"

Everyone once again directed their gaze at Jessica. "What!?" Several of them asked at the same time.

"Not the alcohol!" The teenager cried, running over to the ruined bar. "Damn you giant scorpion!" She roared charging at the dead creature. She kicked it a few times.

"…." Summed up the rest of their reactions, well, most of their reactions.

"You don't seem to be surprised by the fact that there is a giant scorpion," Billy pointed out.

Jessica shot him a well-duh-look. "Think about it. If there are such things as zombies and zombie dogs, than why not giant insects? Heck, why not vampires?"

Edward, despite only being in Jessica's presence for a short while, was under the impression that this was normal for her. She may be strange, but her behavior matches it. That's not what's bothering me. He gazed at Daniel. I've been watching all three of them. Billy is the only one who seems to be surprised by this big bug. Private Sims, on the other hand, hasn't even done so much as a double take. There's something weird about him. The STARS member thought about Daniel's easy acceptance of Billy's help. In fact, he actually brought him along to search the second floor. Is he stupid? He shook his head. It just wasn't making sense at all. And no matter what, Sims wasn't the danger here. Edward's eyes focused on Billy. "Why did you jump in front of Rebecca?"

Billy met Edward's cool gaze with a similar one. "Simple. The shotgun's most effective range is up close and personal."

"You could've waited until after the scorpion killed her. That would have been one less cop to worry about," the Bravo team member pointed out.

"Yeah, but my goal is to survive," the con man countered. "And the best way to guarantee it, is by keeping everyone alive and working together."

Edward grunted. "Did you find anything worthwhile back there?"

While those two started trading information, Daniel and Shantia walked over to the mourning Jessica. "You know, I could've used a warning," Shantia argued quietly, but fiercely.

"I'm sorry," Daniel replied. "I know that you three were going to run into it. That's why I brought Jessica and Billy with me to 'check' the upper level. To be honest, I'm surprised we got through at all. Couldn't do that in the game."

"You mean, you couldn't just, I don't know, walk on the eggs?" Jessica asked, her mood jumping from wailing to sarcasm.

"No. The games weren't…didn't exactly offer a lot of freedom in actions," Daniel explained.

"Well then, you better make sure you don't forget that this isn't just a video game," Shantia warned him. "Where's this train headed?"

Daniel glanced at the others who were still deep in discussion. "An Umbrella training facility. This train is eventually going to crash into a barrier in an underground tunnel below the facility. We need to warn the others to duck and cover when we enter the tunnel."

"Shouldn't we try avoiding that?" Jessica suggested.

"I don't know if it's possible. I do want to see if we can't at least limit the damage, but we need to move quickly. I can get the card key, but I need someone to get the hookshot," the male soldier responded.

"And you're sure we need this hookshot?" Shantia questioned. "And while I'm asking, how safe is the facility?"

He was about to say "yes", however he thought of it over, in lieu of their ability to circumvent some of the game's barriers. We don't need to use it here on the train. I don't think we'll need to use it at the church if we can just force the gate open. That leaves the hole in the facility below the church. Wait, the first hole doesn't have any way around it. "Yes, we will need it for later. I want you two to get it. It's at the back of the train. It's in a security system that requires one person to unlock it, and the other to grab it before it resets."

"What kind of funky security system is that?" Jessica wondered. "Better yet, why does a hookshot, of all things, need that kind of security?"

"You better get used to it. We're going to run into that kind of crap all the time from here on out," Daniel predicted. He turned to Shantia. "Honestly, not safe at all. Except for the main hall, the place is crawling with monsters."

"Well, shit," was Jessica's succint reply.

"What about you?" Shantia put in.

"I'll help them get the card key. We'll go the engine car and stop the train. As soon as you two are done, join the others. And if you see us enter a tunnel, duck and cover."

"Got it," the female soldier answered. The two of them stood up and descended down the ladder to accomplish their task.

Daniel was going to join the others when he did a double take in his friends' direction. Is it me or did something happen to Jessica's stomach? He shrugged it off. Billy and Edward were now discussing the briefcase Edward found.

Rebecca watched as the blond-haired teenager walked up to them. "Where are they going?"

"They're going to re-join the others since we're at a dead end," Daniel covered, a twinge of guilt settling on his back. "What's going on here?"

She sighed. "They can't open it. And there isn't a keyhole."

Daniel paused. "Can I look at it?"

Edward looked at him. "Sure, knock yourself out."

Billy chuckled. "Think you can get it open? It'd be easier if you would just let me use my knife."

"No," Edward insisted.

"Huh, these holes look familiar," Daniel declared.

"They do?" The men asked.

Without another word, the young man pulled out the two rings he had. One by one, he placed them into the lock's indentions. And with a click, the briefcase was unlocked.

"You did it," Rebecca announced.

"Where did you find those?" Edward wanted to know.

Billy eyes narrowed. "Where did you find the other one?"

"Earlier," Daniel commented. He flipped open the cover and pulled out a key card.

Jessica and Shantia

As Shantia finished her descent, her ears caught an unusual sound. Was that a cork popping? When she faced toward Jessica, she found the source of the noise. Jessica had found an untouched bottle of wine. With it opened, she brought it to her lips and threw her head back as she began to drink. "JESSICA!"