Author's Note: This is going to be a fairly long chapter. Sorry that there was a bit of a wait, but I was having a hard time getting started with this chapter. Though, once I got the jumping off point down, I finished fairly quickly. There will be another Author's Note and the end. Enjoy!

Chapter Six

Rebecca Chambers' Apartment, Downtown Raccoon City

Rebecca sat on her small sofa, in her small apartment, staring with an unseeing gaze at the television. It had been a little over two months since the incident at the Spencer Estate. Two months filled with nightmares, with disbelief and ridicule. Two months of Rebecca and the other surviving S.T.A.R.S. looking over their shoulders, worried about what Umbrella would so to keep them quiet. And they would do something, even without them having the files on the Zombie Virus.

Rebecca sighed, her gaze travelling from the television to the Beretta 9mm on her table, next to the files. They had all agreed that there would always be a fully-loaded weapon within quick reach at all times, so no one would be caught unawares when Umbrella finally came calling. Rebecca was constantly tense, always on edge. None of them were naïve enough to believe that the multi-nation pharmaceutical company would leave them alone. It was only a matter of time before they showed up.

The telephone rang, jarring the young Bravo out her grisly thoughts. Reaching a shaking hand over, Rebecca picked up the receiver.

"Hello?"

"'Becca? It's Barry. Can you head on over to my place right away? I just had a friend from S.T.A.R.S. HQ come by, and he's got some stuff you should head. Chris and Jill are already on their way."

"Sure, Barry. I'll be there in ten."

Hanging up, Rebecca grabbed the gun and files and was moving before the phone had even settled fully back into the cradle. Within minutes she was on her bike and taking side streets towards Barry Burton's house. Her mind was racing, and she couldn't help but wonder what she would hear when she arrived. Barry had told them that he was putting in a couple of calls to contacts at the S.T.A.R.S. headquarters in New York, and obviously one of them had something that was so important to say, that they traveled all this way, rather than just calling. Rebecca only hoped it wasn't bad news. She didn't think she could take any more bad news. Of course, that didn't stop the thread of anxiety that had settled firmly in her chest lessen.

She made it to Barry's well within the ten minute time frame she had stated. She steered her bike up the Burton's driveway, looking around. The house and yard looked lonely and abandoned, the colors lackluster without the sight of Barry's two young daughters playing and laughing. After the Spencer Estate incident, Barry had been terrified for his families' safety and, after many arguments with his wife over the matter, had sent her and his two girls to his wife's parent's house in Florida. It hadn't done anything to stop his worrying though.

Stowing her bike along the side of the three-story home, Rebecca knocked lightly on the door. Before her knuckles could do more than brush the door, it opened, revealing Barry's large form. He was huge, but it was all muscle. His sharp, worried gaze darted around the yard, lingering on the shadows gathering from the approaching night. He offered Rebecca a tight smile before stepping aside to let her in.

"You're the first one here. Chris and Jill shouldn't be too long. I'll explain everything when they get here. There's no point in going through everything twice. You want a drink?"

"Water's good."

"Okay. Head on into the living room and introduce yourself. I'll be in there in a minute."

It was a confused Rebecca that walked into the living room. Inside there was a man. He was fairly tall, with sandy brown hair. His face was lined, though it still held the vestiges of youth. His brown eyes held the sharpness she was used to seeing in S.T.A.R.S. members, though there was also a worry and sadness in them. He looked up and his eyes met hers, and that sadness changed to surprise. Rebecca bit back a grin. She got a perverse kick out of the reactions people had when they were met with a 19 year old S.T.A.R.S. child genius.

Rebecca smiled and held out a hand, "I'm Rebecca Chambers."

"David Trapp. It's nice to meet you." Rebecca took note of his voice. It was authoritative, with the slightest hint of a British accent.

Barry returned with Rebecca's water, and the three engaged in meaningless small talk, all of them aware that something much bigger was going to be discussed soon. After about 15 minutes, Jill and Chris arrived and they exchanged introductions before getting too it.

David sighed. He knew that none of this was going to be easy, and it was highly likely that the team members wouldn't believe what he had to say, but he still had to try.

"I'm sure you three already know that Barry placed phone calls in to S.T.A.R.S. officials he had contact with, briefing them on the situation here and seeking advice. I was on the receiving end of one of those phone calls. After a few weeks of not hearing anything, I went to the other people Barry said he called, and was told to ignore it, that it was being taken care of. Later on, I caught a glimpse of a check sent to the S.T.A.R.S…by Umbrella. I have reason to believe the organization has managed to bribe the S.T.A.R.S."

The looks on the faces of the Raccoon S.T.A.R.S. was as he predicted it would be. They were shocked, angry, and betrayed. They, like him, had put their faith in the S.T.A.R.S. network, and now they were told that no one would come and help them. David sighed and continued.

"I also have reason to believe that another one of Umbrella's facilities has experienced a leak of the virus, in Maine. Barry told me that you managed to pilfer files from the Spencer Estate. What did you find in them, if you don't mind my asking?"

Chris sighed angrily. He was furious. He'd been with the S.T.A.R.S. for years, and had thought that they were unable to be bought, and now it turned out he was wrong. It was pretty shitty that it was in this situation that he was enlightened. He turned to David. "You'd have to ask Rebecca. She took the files with her, since she's the smartest one here, and we knew we wouldn't be able to make as much sense as she could."

Rebecca bit her lip nervously. She had, indeed, been able to make perfect sense out of the extensive files. What she had found in them had no doubt contributed to her nightmares. She took a deep breath and began her summary of what she had read. Her mind and voice slipped into what the other S.T.A.R.S. had termed "Lecture Mode", so that she wouldn't have to focus on the atrocities she was discussing.

"In June of 1965 Umbrella lab technicians picked up a male off the coast of England. He appeared to be in his late twenties, and also appeared to be afflicted with a disease of some form. Upon further examination, they discovered him to actually be deceased, with the exception that he was still walking around, though the body wasn't decomposing in any manner. There was no heartbeat, as well as no respiration and minimal brain activity. The subject was experiencing extremely violent psychosis, and was unable to speak, or understand what was being said.

"The decision was made to move the host to another lab to complete further tests. Upon moving the host, it broke free of its restraints and bit two lab technicians before it could be returned to them. Within the day, the two lab technicians had deteriorated to the same condition that the original host was in, except they actually were decomposing. Within three days, they were no longer viable, having decomposed to the point of being liquefied.

"It was at this point that Umbrella realized that they may be dealing with a virus, and that the virus was transmutable from host to host. It obviously wasn't airborne, or else they would all be infected. The two unfortunate lab techs hadn't been infected until the host had bitten them, so Umbrella discovered that it took direct contact from the host to a non infected person's blood stream to induce the infection. They couldn't discover why the original host hadn't decomposed and the lab techs had, but they decided they could figure it out later.

"A blood sample was taken from the original host and tested. The virus was discovered to be in the blood. It attacks the nervous and circulatory systems. An infected person basically has their brain and cognitive abilities burned out. A high state of dementia is induced and eventually the host becomes violent and psychotic. The heart rate slows steadily over time, as well as respiration.

"According to the file, anyone infected with this Transmutable Virus, or T-Virus as they came to call it, becomes deceased within 24 hours, though the exact time frame varies from person to person. Umbrella was unable to find a way to reverse the infection once introduced to the bloodstream of a living person. Within five minutes after being declared deceased, the infected hosts were up and walking around. They were violent, incapable of forming coherent thoughts, their movements were slow and jerky and they did not react to pain. They appeared to no longer recognize any of those whom they had previously worked with. They were subject to a battery of tests, and it was discovered that they now had one single purpose, to bite and infect others. If someone managed to escape after being bitten, then the infected left them alone. If they didn't they were eaten alive. Those who were eaten alive did not appear to contract the virus. Umbrella tested this virus for a great many years, hoping to create a Bio-Weapon that could have military applications.

"A sample of the virus was eventually contained and sent over to William Birkin, a scientist who works here in Raccoon for the Umbrella Corporation. Apparently, they were hoping he could find a way to reverse the infection once induced, or solve the problem of decomposition, which they had been unable to do. The original host remained in a locked facility in London, still being tested on. It had yet to begin decomposition. The year was now 1992. Samples of the virus were also sent to labs in Caliban Cove, Maine, Salt Lake City, Utah, Main Umbrella HQ in Austria, and remain at the London Facility. There may be other labs that have the virus as well.

"Birkin couldn't do it either, however, and years continued to go by. Umbrella employees that wouldn't be missed by anyone were used as test subjects. Janitors, low level Lab Techs with no family, people of that nature. However, about six months ago one of the infected hosts went missing. He was infected with an extremely potent sample of the T-Virus. Shortly after that, many other employees became infected. From what we can ascertain, the lab was locked down. Obviously at least one infected host escaped, because soon people started turning up missing around Raccoon. At first, no bodies were discovered. Then, a little more than two months ago, the bodies of two young girls that had gone missing turned up in the park. Though we didn't know it at the time, the marks on the bodies matched pretty well with the marks recorded on subjects by the Umbrella scientists.

"There was no testing of any sort done on the girl's bodies, since they were stolen from the morgue the day before the Spencer Estate Incident. We suspect Umbrella was responsible for the theft, so that their crimes could be covered. Any questions?"

The others sat quietly for a few moments. Though Barry, Chris and Jill had heard this before, it still horrified them. The fact that Umbrella had been testing with this virus since the mid 1960's was enough to cause them all to become chilled. They could only wonder why no one had caught onto Umbrella's activities before now. Finally David spoke up.

"What are the physical and psychological effects of the virus, Rebecca? What changes does the body go through before becoming deceased?"

Rebecca consulted another file before answering. "It appears that the virus attacks the brain first. It focuses on the areas of the brain responsible for cognitive abilities as well as pain receptors and logic. The attack on those areas causes the subject to develop a fever, which contributes to the burn out. Subjects become slow to respond to stimuli, thought processes become muddled. Many subjects express an extreme thirst or hunger, which I can only assume comes from the virus. The eyes become bloodshot before developing something similar to cataracts. Heart rate slows considerably, along with respiration. Skin becomes extremely hot to the touch, though no sweat is created.

"Within a couple of hours, subjects appear to lose touch with reality and become violent, needing to be restrained. All speech capabilities are gone at this point. Anyone who approaches the subject is open to attack as subject does not appear to be able to differentiate between friends, family, or medical personnel. Within an hour of this stage, subject dies. Within minutes of death, subject gets up and starts attacking. They no longer respond to any means to subduing them. The only way to stop a subject completely is to destroy the brain, either through a gunshot wound or blunt force trauma to the back of the head."

David nodded. "Well, intelligence reports indicate that there was another leak at the Caliban Cove Facility. There has been no contact for the last three weeks. Umbrella plans on sending out a team to sanitize the facility if required. I would like to take Rebecca in with a few of my people and recover any evidence before they get the chance to destroy it.

Rebecca looked surprised, as well as the others. They wanted to take her in? Why not the rest of them? Rebecca shook her head. "No. I don't go in without Barry, Chris and Jill. They're my team and I trust them. Where I go, they go, and where they go, I go." The others nodded their agreement.

David smiled. "Very well, let's start planning, we leave in three hours."

After about a half an hour of planning, Jill heard a rusting from outside the window. She held up her hand for silence, a silence which fell abruptly. Suddenly, they could hear the sounds of approximately 10 people outside of Barry's home and knew what it was. Umbrella had finally come for them.

As quickly as it took for them to figure it out, they all hit the floor, lying flat on their stomachs. Barry shot forward and turned off the lights, while Rebecca grabbed the files and shoved them into the waistband of her shorts so they wouldn't get lost. Then the sound of semi-automatic weapons being fired at them ripped through the air. David pointed at the stairs and they all shot towards them, keeping low to the ground. The front door burst open and Jill fired, hitting the soldier that was heading inside. They ran up the stairs and down the hallway, where there was an open window. Chris and David covered the rear, keeping their weapons trained at the top of the stairs, prepared to take out any one who set foot on the landing.

Jill looked out the window, counting quickly. "Ten in full uniform, probably wearing Kevlar. They're all heading inside. We should jump out this window and head into the woods, the bushes should cushion our fall."

Barry nodded. "I'll go first and help you and 'Becca down, David after Jill, Chris brings up the rear." Without waiting for confirmation, Barry checked to see if the way was clear, and jumped down from the window, landing hard on his shoulder before rolling into a standing position to grab Rebecca.

Umbrella operatives were storming the house. His house, the place where he raised his kids. Barry was thanking God that he had sent them away. He could hear Chris and David start firing as he helped Rebecca down from the window, barely seeing her as she immediately raised her weapon to cover him.

Jill came down and did the same, followed by the other two. They ran for the woods, Barry had almost made it before a sharp pain slammed into his shoulder and he went down. Rebecca didn't even stop to think; she turned and aimed right for the shooters head, squeezing off two shots in rapid succession. She knelt by Barry's prone form while Jill, David and Chris took out the others. She tore off his shirt, seeing that the wound went clean through. She used his torn shirt to stop the bleeding while he returned to consciousness.

"Barry? Barry, can you hear me?" Rebecca's voice was frantic with concern.

"Yeah, yeah, not so loud…"

"Can you get up, we have to move. Brad Vickers house is nearby, his lease wasn't up yet. We can hide there."

"Yeah, let's go." He stood shakily and Chris and David supported him while they ran as fast as they could towards the former Alpha Pilot's abandoned house. Securing themselves inside, Rebecca dragged Barry off to get properly bandaged and they others sat heavily on Brad's mismatched furniture. "Don't over extend it for a week or so. You were lucky; the bullet went right through and didn't hit anything major. Take aspirin for pain. You don't appear to have a concussion, which is good. I was worried you would given how hard you went down."

Barry nodded, smiling his thanks at Rebecca as David started talking. "Okay. The plane leaves in an hour, and it will take us 15 minutes to get to the airport. We should get moving as quickly as possible. "

Five minutes later, they were all piled in a taxi, headed for the airport. 45 minutes later, they were on a plane to Maine. None of them could sleep; the events of the night were keeping them all awake. After about three hours, the plane arrived in Maine. It was 11 at night, so they grabbed a cheap hotel and managed to get a few hours of sleep. Around midday they all woke up and David brought them to the house of Karen Wright, one of the other team members going on the mission. Also there were John Andrews and Steve Lopez. After everyone introduced themselves, David spoke.

"Right, then. As you all know, we are planning on infiltrating the Umbrella Laboratory located at Caliban Cove. We have reason to believe that a volatile virus has leaked and infected most, if not all, of the personnel there. The main objective is to obtain as much documentation of this virus as we can. If we can get a sample without infecting ourselves, great, but documentation is the main objective. Rebecca will give you the run down on the virus and safety precautions. Rebecca?"

Rebecca stood, nodding. "Above all, direct contact with an infected host should be avoided. The virus is not airborne, so the only way to contract is id through a bite from an infected source, or by the virus entering through one of your mucous membranes such as the eyes or nose. Avoid touching any lab equipment with your bare skin. The virus is incredibly resilient and appears to resist cleaning attempts with anything aside of pure bleach. One drop of blood can contain hundreds of thousands of virus cells. It is absolutely vital that you avoid infection at all costs. If you are infected, there is no way to reverse it. If infected, you will die and then turn into one of them. I will have basic medical supplies with me if needed, but if any are infected, then it will be like putting a band-aid on a gunshot. Are there any questions?"

There were none. They all understood the risks, and were willing to take them. Silently, everyone began gathering as many weapons as they could.

They were heading to Caliban Cove.

Author's Note: Yeah, sort of a cliffy. Hogwarts chapter next, which will include dealing with Dumbles and the Weasley's. Someone sent me a private message asking what ships were going to be in this fic, so here we go:

Harry/Hermione (I think you guys got that, LOL)

Claire/Leon

Chris/Jill

Rebecca/Steve and Rebecca/John.

Also, I think I got Karen's name wrong, but I'm not sure. If anyone can remember it, that would be awesome. I got the idea for the watch-like potion detectors mentioned in the previous chapter from "The Real Us" by Seel'vor, which is an AWESOME fic, and I totally recommend you read it. Don't be afraid to leave a review. :)