Disclaimer: see part 1 for disclaimer.

The More Things Change…

By Random1377

Part 8

Their movements were slow, hampered by the sense of unease that each team member felt at the current situation. To sum up, Rebecca thought grimly, we're God knows how deep underground, surrounded by unholy freaks of science, and one of our crew has either been captured or killed by the slimiest freak this side of a tyrant. No wonder everyone's tense.

Tense, she figured, was a rather large understatement. No one had spoken more than five words at a time since loading up on ammo and moving out of what Chris had dubbed the safe room – a room that was now more like a real safe, complete with a huge steel door and a massive lock that had driven foot-thick bars into the concrete on either side of the door as soon as they were all clear.

Jill, Rebecca thought grimly, stay alive until we get there, no matter what they do to you. God, I hate this quiet! I'm going nuts here!

"So," she said abruptly, making Carlos jump, "have any of you ever studied the T-virus? It's actually pretty interesting, because unlike other viruses, its capsid isn't a dome shape. It's more of a sphere, making it even smaller than normal, so it can slip into cells easier. I'm not saying the person who designed it wasn't certifiable, but he – or she – definitely knew how to create a virus that would…" she trailed off as everyone stared at her. "I'm rambling, huh?"

"Yup," Chris said, motioning Barry up to take the other side of the nondescript door they had just found – the fifteenth such door they had come across since leaving the safe room. "It's fine… it's in your profile, you know – tends to be, how did they put it? 'Overly verbose when subjected to extremely adverse conditions.'"

"Heh," Carlos chuckled as Chris and Barry prepared to open the door, "Sorry, chica, it is kind of interesting. I'm just not feeling up to snuff… bad case of lead poisoning, ya know?"

Rebecca nodded as he pointed to the bandage on his shoulder. "Right," she said weakly. "I guess you wouldn't care that much about this stuff right now."

Carlos patted her on the shoulder, lifting his rifle in spite of his injury and moving to back up his teammates. "Tell me more when we're in Cancun."

"Cancun?" Billy wondered, arching an eyebrow as he slipped down on one knee and covered the door- making it so four barrels were trained on the thick metal. "What makes you think she'd go there with you, hombre?"

Carlos braced the rifle against his wounded shoulder, grimacing a bit as he countered, "Not just her and me, dumbass – I mean the whole team. My treat. After this… I'm taking some goddamn time off."

Billy nodded, turning his attention on the door as Chris touched a finger to his lips and reached for the doorknob. "Now you're talking," he mumbled, tightening his grip on his pistol.

Everyone fell silent as the door creaked open, showing a large, unoccupied lab.

Chris held up a hand, indicating that everyone should hold their position – not that anyone was keen on hurrying in. They had all been in enough Umbrella labs to know that you never move in without checking every surface and doorway for something shambling or creeping their way.

This time, it was a single lab worker – clearly a carrier – lurching out of the shadows and heading towards them with a hungry groan.

"Are you kidding me?" Chris muttered, scanning the room for a moment. "One zombie? Hey Burton… is it worth the bullet?"

Barry surveyed the scene, ignoring the advancing zombie as if it wasn't even there. "Computers are all busted up… no paperwork lying around… vials are all spilled…" he mumbled, cataloguing the contents of the room for a moment before shaking his head. "I wouldn't," he concluded. "Too many unknown factors to waste a round on something like this."

Shrugging, Chris pulled the door shut. "It even locks from the outside," he muttered disgustedly, "I've never seen a carrier open a door, but still – better safe than so-"

As the door clicked shut, half of the wall on the opposite side of the wide corridor snapped open and four of the creatures Umbrella had dubbed 'hunters' exploded from the narrow opening, howling with bloodlust as they shot towards the group, claws raised to strike.

In the few seconds before they reached the team, Rebecca distinctly heard Chris groan, "Oh come on…!"

It wasn't much of a fight, really. Even hunters, as resilient and agile as they were, could not withstand the concentrated firepower of over a half dozen trained combat personnel in an enclosed space, though one of them did get close enough to take a swipe at Barry before the man's magnum relieved it of its head.

The other three tried to capitalize on their speed, bouncing off the walls as they approached and uttering their piercing, inhuman screams every inch of the way… but it was futile. The S.T.A.R.S. members, each familiar by that point with this type of beast, anticipated their moves so well it was almost comical, and through training and consistent team work, paid enough attention to each other's aim well enough to all focus their fire on a single creature, pumping it full of lead before moving on to the next.

All told, it took less than fifteen seconds to annhiliate the hunters.

"Well that was exhilarating," Chris mumbled, checking his clip to see how many rounds he had spent. "Chambers… damage control."

As the last echoes of the gunfire faded away, Rebecca immediately checked the wounded members of the group. "Bleeding through," she muttered, examining first Leon's hand, then Carlos' shoulder, "and… bleeding through. If this was a non-combat situation, my medical advice would be to stop using your weapons immediately… but as it stands, my advice is 'don't die.'"

"Comforting, doc," Claire mumbled, rubbing absently at her eye as she looked down at the hunters. "Damn it… not now…"

Rebecca gave her a sharp look, and to her horror found that the same, black scaling she had seen in the jeep was just barely visible under Claire's eye. "Claire," she said lightly, "come over here a second, I wanna ask you something." As soon as the other girl was out of the other's hearing rang, Rebecca whispered, "You need to take your medicine… I'll cover for you while you're doing it – but hurry before someone sees."

Claire nodded, reaching into her belt pouch. "Thanks," she muttered, covering her eye with her free hand. "Must be something in the air down here… it usually takes a day or so before I… oh my god…!"

Glancing down, Rebecca drew in a sharp gasp.

In Claire's hand sat the shattered remains of five medical syringes, victims, it seemed, of some massive impact.

"What happened?" Rebecca breathed.

Staring at the fragments, Claire whispered, "When the room fell… that thing jumped over me to get to Leon. My pack was on the floor then, so it must have… must have stepped on it."

"How long?" Rebecca whispered urgently. "How long before it's… too late?"

"The longest I've gone without a treatment was eight hours after the symptoms started," Claire said numbly. "But it starts to get bad after three… and after six, I can't move."

Rebecca forced a smile. "Well, in five it won't matter," she said softly. "Chris knows, right?"

Claire nodded. "Yeah, but none of the others do."

"We'll have to tell them…"

Swallowing hard, Chris' younger sister whispered, "I know, but… can you give me a second?"

"Sure," Rebecca said. "Umm… you do have more medicine, right?"

Claire gave her a rueful smile. "In the jeep, yeah."

Impulsively, Rebecca put her arms around Claire and gave her a tentative hug.

"We'll get you there."

Surprised, Claire pulled away, blushing faintly as she mumbled, "Y-yeah, sure."

Rebecca leaned against the wall as the younger Redfield straightened her back and approached the other team members. At least be subtle, Rebecca thought hopefully.

"I'm infected."

...or not.

"It's not T," Rebecca said quickly, pushing away from the wall as everyone stared at Claire with open horror. "She has medicine to control it, we just need to get her to where it is, ok?"

"Chris," Barry rumbled. "You knew, didn't you? I can see it on your face."

"Eh, doesn't matter," Billy interjected before Chris could say a word. "It's not like we would have just popped her if we'd known sooner, is it? 'Becca says there's medicine for it, that's good enough for me… right?"

Carlos, Barry, and Leon exchanged doubtful glances, but ultimately nodded, unable to meet Claire's eyes as they all mumbled that it was good enough for them too.

"Great, it's settled then! Let's get moving, huh?"

As the group took its formation once more, Rebecca caught Billy's hand. "Thanks," she whispered. "I owe you… what, five now?"

Billy shrugged. "It's no big deal," he said evenly. "Just wanted to keep things from getting out of hand… that Olivera guy was touching his gun, ya know?" Looking at Rebecca from the corner of his eye, he added, "I like his idea about Cancun, though. Sure wouldn't mind seeing you in a bathing suit again."

"Billy!" Rebecca exclaimed. "S-stop that… I told you, that's-"

"Ancient history," Billy cut in, "yeah, that's what you said… but right now, I need something to look forward to, and whether you like it or not, that something is you in a bikini." He moved a little closer, slipping a hand around to the small of her back as he whispered, "Actually, what I'm picturing involves less than that, but I'm willing to start at the beginning again, if it's you I'm starting with."

Rebecca looked around, finding the other members of the team all studiously staring the other way. "Billy," she said slowly, "it's… not now, ok?"

Billy frowned. "No, not ok," he said bluntly. "I'm not asking for anything, Rebecca, I'm just telling you what I want – and what I want is you, end of story. Now what you do with that info is up to you, but I'm not letting you leave here thinking that I ever wanted to break it off, got it? That was all you… and I want you to reconsider."

Stepping away from her, gave her a piercing stare, forcing her to avert her eyes before he turned to rejoin the group.

"Think about it."

Trying her hardest to remember all the reasons she had broken things off with him, Rebecca simply whispered, "I will."

( 0 0 0 )

Making their way through the next seven levels of the labyrinthine complex gave Rebecca plenty of time to get her head back into the game – especially considering that every third or fourth door the team opened spewed out hoards of zombies, cerebuses, hunters, and various mutated animals and plants until, by the time they had reached the stairs going up to the next level, there was nothing too think about besides surviving.

"Ok," Chris told them as they stopped to catch their breath, "we're at the halfway mark – eight floors to go."

"If Wesker wasn't lying," Leon pointed out, flexing his throbbing hand. "Do you really think they'll let us out of here alive?"

Chris shook his head. "Nope," he admitted. "I never believed that for a second, which is why we need to get to the ground floor… and kill them both before we let the self-destruct do its job. It's the only way to be sure."

"Provided we can kill them," Barry observed, stroking his beard as the others turned to him. "They move faster than any of us. The only way I see us having a chance is either catching them off guard – which seems unlikely, since they're probably listening to us right now – or outflanking them, which seems just as unlikely if they know we're gunning for them."

"Oh, I want them to know," Chris said evenly. "That way, when I put a bullet through Wesker's forehead, I won't have to worry about him wondering who it was that did it." Turning to Claire, he said, "How are you holding up? You're looking green around the gills… or actually, black around your eye."

Claire gave him a wry smile. "Clever," she muttered. "I'm fine, Chris. I just need my medicine."

"Can we make it?"

"Pardon?"

Chris was looking at Rebecca. "The next level is the main lab, if our map is right," he said smoothly. "If we clear the floor, can you synthesize more of the medicine?"

"If the labs are intact enough, I should be able to," Rebecca said, mildly disappointed that Chris had suggested it. She had come up with the idea some time back, but had planned to wait until they got to the lab before mentioning it herself, as and did not want to give Claire false hope.

"Alright, then let's give it a go," Chris said softly. "If the main lab is clean, we'll mop up the rest of the floor instead of just moving to the next one… that'll give you about thirty minutes to make the medicine. Can you do it?"

Rebecca wet her lips. "I was the youngest biochemist to graduate John's Hopkins in fifteen years," she said carefully, "but that's pushing it… can you give me forty?"

Chris arched an eyebrow.

"Do you want to live to see her use it?"

"I'll make it in twenty-five."

"Outstanding. Let's move out."

Smart, Chambers, Rebecca berated herself. Time is the one thing we don't have… and I'll bet if it was anyone besides your sister, we'd be moving right along, Redfield.

Keeping this unfair thought to herself, Rebecca followed the others up the stairs and through a short hallway into the main lab. As luck would have it, the lab was fairly well maintained, with only three exits, one on each side of the lab, plus the door they had come through, which was located in the middle, and considering everything they had just killed, it seemed unlikely that anything would be attacking them from that angle.

"Ok troops," Chris said briskly as Claire grabbed a notepad and began to write down her medicine's chemical composition, "one of you stay with Rebecca while she works… the rest of you, divide into teams and start cleaning house. I don't want to just wait here and get ambushed by every hostile on this level that's looking for a free lunch."

Rebecca knew that splitting up was a bad idea, but with two unchecked doors, having all of the team go through one was an even worse concept. "Leave me Carlos," she said, giving the man a quick once-over, "he doesn't look like he'll do you much good, but he knows how to handle a gun in case something does happen back here."

"I'm fine," Carlos protested, "just… my damn shoulder is killing me. I've had worse, Redfield… I'll be alright."

"Then you'll be alright staying here," Chris countered smoothly. "I've seen Rebecca when she works, and she gets pretty into it… so she'll need someone good to cover her back."

Carlos rolled his eyes. "Aww, don't blow sunshine up my ass, man," he said disgustedly. "Just make it an order and get out."

Chris chuckled. "Fine, it's an order then. Claire, you and Leon are with me on this side… Barry, you and Billy take the left. Move out." As the team began to break up, Chris murmured, "You know why it's you doing this and not her, right?"

Rebecca nodded. "Yeah," she replied softly, "she's hiding it pretty well, but she's already in bad shape. If she bumps into a vial of cyanide because she got a fit of the shakes or something, we'd all be screwed."

"Eloquently put," Chris said dryly.

Giving him a nervous smile, Rebecca muttered, "It's in my profile too… high stress makes me chatty and blunt."

"Good point. Ok, I'm out."

Nodding as Chris left the room, Rebecca moved to a set of test tubes, selecting one at random and scanning the assorted chemicals to ensure that everything she needed was present and undamaged.

"You wanna tell me about viruses now, chica?" Carlos asked, trying not to let his discomfort show as he eased his rifle off of his shoulder and set it within easy reach.

"Nah," Rebecca replied, reaching into her belt pouch and pulling out the syringe she had taken from Claire back in the jeep. "I'll be too involved with this… just make sure nothing eats me."

"I'll do my best," Carlos said with a wink. "But I gotta say you do look pretty appetizing."

Rebecca blushed.

"Stop saying stuff like that or I'll tell Jill," she warned, starting to gather up ingredients.

"Oh, she knows I like 'em young," Carlos countered dryly, raising his hands as Rebecca nearly dropped her test tube. "Hey, don't get all worked up, I'm just teasing."

"Can you stop?" Rebecca wondered. "This is kind of complicated…"

"Sorry."

Rebecca just nodded.

Ok, she thought, tuning Carlos' presence out and focusing on her work. This is kind of a complicated formula. No offense to Claire, but I doubt she came up with this on her own… Hell, I doubt I could have without a lot more equipment than this. I guess she had to memorize it, though, because if she was ever cut off from whoever makes it for her normally – like she is now – she'd have to know how to make it herself or…

Letting the thought go, Rebecca grabbed another test tube and squirted the few drops of the medicine that were left in the syringe into it. It would be easier to know if she was successful in replicating it if she had an original sample to compare it to.

I WAS going to work on a cure, she thought, selecting ingredients as Carlos scratched absently at his shoulder and muttered something about it being hot in the lab. With enough time in a lab like this, I think I could pull it off – I am a virologist, after all.

After that, Rebecca was in the zone, her movements becoming faster and surer as she combined and stirred components. Twenty-five minutes was a pretty bold estimate, even with a formula, since chemistry at this level was not child's play, and after fifteen minutes, Rebecca had produced two batches of glop that was most likely toxic to the virus… but it would also kill anything else it came in contact with.

Damn it, this is hard, she thought, wiping sweat from her brow as the sound of a few distant gunshots reached her ears. Sodium pentothal… little bit of chlorine… a few tweaks and this could either be a truth serum, or poison gas. And I have to make it a cure. God, give me more time!

Considering her tension level, it was no surprise that Rebecca started talking.

"The structure of this drug is pretty unique," she murmured under her breath. "Almost crystalline, almost solid… I can't even imagine how someone would come up with something like this."

Carlos gave a noncommittal, "Mm," by way of reply.

"Sorry," Rebecca yawned, biting her lip as she carefully added a pinch of sulfur. "I know this kind of stuff bores you, so just ignore me, ok? It relaxes me to talk."

"Mm hmm…"

Rebecca stirred her mixture looking at it critically as she sighed, "This batch isn't looking too good, Carlos… I think after the next one, we're just going to have to call it quits…"

"Ah…"

"If it does, though," she ventured, "and if there's time… I could look at your shoulder again – there's enough forceps in this place to pull out every splinter in Arkalay, so I'm sure one bullet wouldn't be a pro-"

"Uh…"

Rebecca frowned. "What is it?"

"Uh…hhhhnnn…"

A shiver ran down Rebecca's spine.

"Carlos," she whispered. "Carlos, get your gun… there's a zombie nearby, I can hear it."

Looking to her left, she tried to decide which way the groan had come from. Maybe he saw it already, she reasoned. That would explain why he's been so quiet… but he wouldn't use me as bait just to get a better shot, would he? That's just low! I mean, I know we're low on ammo, but-

"Unnnnnnnhhh…!"

Rebecca's blood ran cold.

"No," she breathed, "oh God, no…!"

Slowly, she turned to her right… and found herself less than a foot from Carlos. She barely had time to scream before the man that had been her teammate lunged towards her, his eyes shining with hunger as the bandage that had covered his wound fell to the floor with a wet slap, torn loose by the incessant scratching that Rebecca had been too busy to notice.

As she went down, Rebecca's head cracked sharply on the edge of the large table she had been working on, knocking her instantly unconscious and ensuring that she never saw Carlos' teeth descending towards her defenseless throat.

Continued…

Author's notes: playing Zero gave me the inspiration to pound out another chapter, but I don't know if any more will be forthcoming. I hate leaving stories incomplete, but between my lack of motivation, and the lack of readership, it's tough to get this one done.

I asked MacBeth2001 to pre-read on this chapter, since he knows RE pretty well and happens to be one of the 3 people to ask if I was continuing it. I guess the answer is yes, man… at least for one more chapter…