A/N Hey guys, I've noticed that one reviewer had pointed out a couple of issues with the first chapter so let me explain by saying that original chapters are not my strong suit when it comes to making stories since I usually struggle with them and ask others for assistance because of it.
As for another reviewer that said that there were grammatical errors and run-on sentences, you could say that this has become my writing style since I've always written it like this ever since I started back in 2018.
Well, I'm sure you guys are eager for me to get started so without further ado, enjoy.
I stirred at the smell of burning metal and pain wracking my body, opening my eyes and blinking a couple of times while I tried to assess the situation so I noticed that I was laying on my back and looking up at a high dark ceiling.
From the looks of things, I was inside a tunnel with shadows of rubble and rock dancing along the walls from the firelight around me when I suddenly remembered everything, the train, the brakes, and being knocked unconscious as it crashed.
"God...fucking hell," I groaned quietly as I slowly sat up and looked at the wreck before me.
I must've gotten thrown out of the driver's compartment if I was outside but that didn't matter right now as I could see that the train had crashed into a warehouse, a giant empty space with concrete and scaffolding off to the side while a handful of hooded lights overhead cast a small glow over everything.
Staggering to my feet, I looked around at what should've been the train's maintenance tunnel while the billowing smoke from the wreck started to already build up, but I couldn't find Billy or Rebecca anywhere and that worried me.
"Rebecca? Billy?" I called out while looking for any sign of them, clutching my head with one hand as I held the MP5 with the other hand, and was thankful that I only managed to walk away from the accident with only minor injuries.
I coughed as I strained my eyes to see in the faded darkness for any sign of the ex-marine and the rookie STARS operative, moving around piles of blasted concrete and puddles of burning oil in search of them when I saw that the engine of the train was on its side and the other cars had piled up behind it to block the exit to the tunnel.
"Owen?" someone called out, making me turn my head and saw Rebecca walking towards me as she had her beretta in her hand with a small trickle of blood seeping down from her hairline but other than that, she looked mostly unharmed.
"Hey, you alright?" I inquired as she got closer and Rebecca nodded.
"Yeah, got a bad headache but nothing serious," Rebecca assured me as she gazed around at the wreckage around us and asked, "Have you seen Billy anywhere?"
"Not yet, but he should be around here somewhere so let's hope he's okay," I said, just as the sound of movement to our right got our attention and we quickly looked to see that it was Billy while he was moving around a bunch of rubble to get to us.
"Hey, good to see you two are okay," Billy greeted as I could see he had a few scrapes and bruises on him but nothing serious.
"You too, we were about to go looking for you when you showed up," I told him, causing the ex-marine to chuckle.
"Nice to know you two care about me so much," Billy remarked with a smirk, making me shake my head as I started looking around.
I continued to look around the vast room, the small fires already starting to die out but the smoke buildup was steadily getting worse, black smoke filling the tunnel and making visibility drop more and more until my green eyes locked on to a single door 20 meters away from the engine.
"Over there, that's our way out so we better get going before we suffocate from the smoke," I said, pointing to the exit.
After getting agreements from the other two, we all started making our way to the exit and keeping an eye out just in case any zombies or other freaks of nature survived the crash, but not before Rebecca tapped me on the shoulder and I looked at her.
"I'm really glad you and Billy are okay," Rebecca admitted lowly and I sent her a nod.
"You too, and on the plus side, we managed to stop the train," I commented while glancing back at the wreckage and Rebecca let out a soft laugh.
"Yes, we managed," Rebecca agreed as we opened the door and entered the path beyond.
(3rd POV)
In the observation room in the depths of the training facility, Albert Wesker watched the array of monitors displaying various camera angles throughout every sector. He'd watched the train crash, even felt it shake the whole facility on its foundations but he remained unhindered, eyes unblinking as he continued to observe.
"We should get out of here," William Birkin said, the Umbrella scientist and creator of the G-Virus pacing back and forth behind the blond man's chair.
Wesker ignored him though and kept changing camera angles to get better perspectives, looking for something and remaining as silent as he had been since the last transmission from the cleanup crew that had inserted themselves on the train and presumably lost their lives based on that last transmission.
"Are you listening to me?" Birkin asked, looking tense and on edge while Wesker's cold demeanor wasn't helping his situation any.
"I hear you, William. If you want to leave, then leave," Wesker said calmly, watching the screens.
"Aren't you coming?" Birkin questioned.
"In a while, I'm just looking for something," Wesker replied, his blue eyes scanning each image behind his sunglasses.
"Like what, exactly? I'd say the train is pretty much cleansed. That's why we're here, isn't it?" Birkin pointed out but Wesker didn't answer, changing a few more camera angles before a small smirk appeared on his face.
"Ah, there we are," Wesker muttered, prompting Birkin to look over his shoulder at the live feed.
It was the main lobby of the facility, built to welcome executives and grunts alike into White Umbrella's...less than legal world but both men watched as a hand came up from the floor, moving a panel aside that led to the old access tunnels underneath.
A moment later, three people came out into the open that consisted of two males and one female as the first male had bare arms with an elaborate tattoo on his right arm and a black tactical vest, the second male was dressed up in an Umbrella Security Service outfit, and the female was wearing a STARS uniform as all three were heavily armed and observing their surroundings.
"Who on earth are those people?" Birkin asked.
"The girl is just a rookie of the STARS Bravo Team, though I'm unfamiliar with one of the two males while the other seems familiar," Wesker replied, zooming in on the three individuals with the camera.
"Do you think they were on the train?" Birkin questioned.
"Had to have been, there are no other ways into the facility that is open at this time," Wesker said and Birkin gazed at the male that appeared to be a USS operative.
"What about that one, the one who is dressed as a Security Sevice soldier? If he was part of the cleanup operation to cleanse the train, then why hasn't he taken care of those two witnesses?" Birkin inquired as he looked more than concerned and Wesker frowned thoughtfully.
"I'm not sure he is part of the cleanup operation since I have a feeling he might not even be working for Umbrella because something about him is familiar, but I don't recall him ever working for Umbrella," Wesker replied and Birkin felt a surge of panic.
"What are we going to do? One of them is with STARS, and the other two could be working for anyone so what if they escape and reveal what happened here?" Birkin questioned with a look of alarm, though Wesker shook his head.
"Don't be obtuse, William. They won't escape, and even if the facility wasn't locked down, it is overrun with carriers so all they have to do is open a door or two and they will no longer be a problem," Wesker said in a chilling voice.
On-screen, the group of three spread out to investigate the large room but the male in the USS outfit paused in the center. Wesker leaned a little closer, then raised his brow when he saw him look right at the camera that had been watching them and the male raised his hand to flip off the camera before going to join the young woman on the grand staircase and standing before the portrait of James Marcus.
'Well, aren't you clever, but can you survive what is waiting for you all within the facility?' Wesker thought with a smirk but his thoughts were broken when the intercom system echoed throughout the entire complex.
(Owen's POV)
"Attention, this is Dr. Marcus. Please be silent as we reflect upon our company motto. Obedience breeds discipline, discipline breeds unity, unity breeds power, power is life," the voice echoed throughout the lobby as it startled us for a moment.
"Well, that was creepy," Billy commented as he rejoined me and Rebecca while the two of us were observing a large portrait of an old man before us, the plaque under it reading 'Doctor James Marcus'.
"No worse than seeing that bastard on the train since that's the freak made of leeches that attacked me and Rebecca in the dining car before the young man we saw had called them back with his singing, and I have a feeling that he's connected to all of this somehow," I said while sending one last glare to the portrait until I looked at the others.
I asked how everyone was doing on supplies and it took a few minutes to go over everything in our packs and pockets, taking stock of our ammo and medical equipment while I handed a couple of herbs to Rebecca, who ground them up with the ones she had found using the tools in her medical bag.
She mixed the green and red powder together and added a few solvents to them, pouring the concoctions into thin tubes and twisting spray tops on them until she slipped the completed products into vacant slots on her belt.
Once she was done, she unslung her newly acquired MP5 and looked over it carefully while tilting it left and right with a thoughtful frown and I watched as she seemed to try and get used to how to handle the submachine gun.
"How does it feel, holding that?" I inquired and Rebecca looked at me.
"It's...different than the samurai edge, that's for sure," Rebecca admitted and I assume the samurai edge was the name of her beretta.
"Don't worry, you'll get used to handling it," I reassured her, causing the rookie STARS operative to smile in response before we continued to check our supplies.
The three of us also took the time to fish out boxes of bullets and load them into the empty mags we had on us, though I produced the five frag grenades I lifted off the dead Umbrella soldiers and gave one to Billy and Rebecca, stuffing the rest in a pouch for easy access should I need them once I used up the three that were on my vest.
Billy was also finishing up with loading rounds into the mags of his handgun and slipped them into an ammo pouch on his tactical vest, casting a glance towards the front doors of the lobby and reaching for his MP5.
"Guess this is our way out," Billy said, approaching the doors.
"I don't think that's such a good idea," Rebecca pointed out as she and I trailed behind Billy, who opened the door which allowed cool humid air from outside to sweep in.
The rain had slowed to a light drizzle but the ominous feeling of the storm was still present while we stepped outside and paused once we took in the landscape before us, seeing that the facility was built into the side of a hill with a paved walkway large enough to be a road was laid out and leading to the front doors but it was cut off a ten meters, revealing an abrupt drop that led into nothing but darkness.
"Well, safe to say we aren't using this path," I commented while looking into the abyss, kicking a stone and not hearing it land for quite some time.
"Couldn't you just fly us across it?" Billy inquired as he gazed at me with a questioning look.
"I could but I haven't absorbed anything with wings yet so that option is out for the time being," I replied and we all went back inside the facility since using the front doors to escape wasn't an option.
"Seriously though, what kind of place is this and who built it?" Rebecca wondered and I narrowed my eyes when I saw the large Umbrella symbol carved neatly on the middle of the floor.
"If I had to make a guess, Umbrella," I said and the others looked at me.
"What makes you say that?" Billy asked and I merely tapped my foot on the Umbrella symbol, making him and Rebecca look at it.
"It's rather obvious, wouldn't you say? Still, I had no idea the company had a place like this so far out in the wilderness so I don't think we were supposed to discover this place," I replied and Rebecca chewed on her lip.
"There's something I still don't understand after what we've uncovered so far, why would a pharmaceutical company with that much power and influence create something like the T-Virus and all the other monsters we've encountered so far, as well as turn you into some kind of shapeshifting lifeform?" Rebecca wondered and my eyes hardened.
"That's exactly why, companies like Umbrella or pretty much anyone with that much money and power can't always be on the straight and narrow, and it's no secret that you'd make more money creating and selling bio-weapons or super soldiers such as myself on the black market or the military instead of creating a cure for cancer in the medicine business," I explained while Billy nodded in understanding.
"Alright, whether or not Umbrella is evil aside, we still need to find a way out of this place so any suggestions?" Rebecca wondered and I was about to answer when the sound of moving stone echoed throughout the lobby.
We snapped our weapons up and stared as the painting of Marcus slid into the floor, revealing an opening with a staircase leading farther down so Billy went up the stairs and walked over to the secret passage, looking down into the new doorway.
"Looks like someone wants us to go a certain way," Billy said, looking back at me and Rebecca as we joined him until I motioned my head at one of the cameras' locations.
"No surprise there since we're being watched, counted three separate cameras since we came in from the tunnel and I bet there are dozens more all over this place," I stated as Rebecca and Billy looked around as well, also spotting the other surveillance equipment.
"You think someone is manning them?" Rebecca asked uneasily, looking uncomfortable at the thought that someone was potentially watching us.
"In a place like this? It's probably a safe bet," I said while considering our current options.
Luckily for us, the guard I absorbed during my escape from that Umbrella facility appeared to have worked here at one point before it was shut down since I also had his knowledge and memories of this location, so I mentally pictured this facility's layout while I observed the different doors that led to various sections of this place.
'Should we stay together or split up? While we would be safer in numbers, this place is too big for us to go from room to room in a group but going alone with this place possibly having more of Umbrella's freaks of nature roaming around is also very dangerous,' I thought with a frown, but our options are limited and we didn't exactly have all the time in the world so I weighed the pros and cons quickly before coming to a decision.
"So, you're not going to like this, but we should split up," I spoke up and Billy looked at me in disbelief.
"You can't be serious, this entire place reeks of hostile territory," Billy pointed out and I nodded.
"I know, it's risky but we'll be able to cover more ground that way since this facility is too big to search through it room by room as a group and if any of us were to get in trouble, we can use our radios to contact one another for assistance," I said and Rebecca nodded.
"I agree, separating would help us find a way out of here quicker, even if it's risky," Rebecca agreed and Billy blinked at that until he sighed.
"Can't argue with you there, though let's still keep our heads on a swivel on the off chance this place is infested with freaks like the train was," Billy said and I nodded.
"Understood, I'll look around on the first floor while you two search the second floor but if something were to happen and our radios don't work, then we meet back here in 15 minutes," I instructed and received nods from Rebecca and Billy until they went up to the second floor and I heard two doors close after that.
Now that I was alone, I went back down to the first floor and turned to the double doors to the right of the stairs before heading to it and got my MP5 ready, entering what appeared to be a dining room that hasn't been used in a long time but three zombies in the room spotted me and started shambling at me with hungry growls.
I fired my MP5 and shot one of the zombies above his right eye and he dropped to the floor, then I spun around and fired another shot into one with a fork sticking out of his shoulder as the bullet blasted chunks of skull and brain matter on the painting behind him.
The last zombie came at me a little faster than the others and was within grabbing distance in seconds, though I ducked under the cold rotting fingers grasping for my throat and kicked the undead creature back several steps, raising my MP5 and drilling a hole between his eyes.
Once the area was clear of all threats, I searched the room and found two half-full boxes of 9mm rounds before combining them into one and putting the box in a pouch when I went over to the other door in the room, though I took a moment to pull out my knife and stabbed it in the head of a dead body slumped close to the exit just to make sure it wouldn't come back.
With that done, I went through the door and down a small hallway to another door that led into a storage room when I encountered a zombie in a security uniform and shot it in the head to put it down quickly, but a second zombie shuffled around the corner with arms outstretched and letting out a moan of hunger until another shot killed it.
'I don't like it, this is getting too easy so I have a feeling it won't be that way for long,' I thought with a frown while going around the large shelves where the undead monster came from when I found a Remington twelve-gauge pump action shotgun leaning against the wall by a gas can.
"Hello, what do we have here?" I muttered as I slung my MP5 and reached out to take the shotgun.
Grabbing the weapon and checking it over, finding it fully loaded, I slung it over my other shoulder before leaving the room and heading back to the lobby but when I arrived, neither Rebecca nor Billy had returned yet and I haven't heard anything over the radio so there wasn't any trouble as far as I could tell.
Approaching the door on the opposite end of the large room, I raised my MP5 and entered the plush hallway beyond before following along the thick carpet with my eyes and ears straining to pick up any kind of potential ambush that could be close by.
Going past the door leading into the bathroom, I headed toward the door at the far end of the corridor and tried the knob but it was locked and I was about the fix that by raising my foot to kick it in when the sound of wood shattering filled the hallway and I threw myself to the side just in time as a long black tentacle slapped against the wall where I had been standing a moment ago, clear slime dripping down the wallpaper as the appendage retracted back through the hole that had been punched through the door.
A moment later, the door opened and a pale figure stepped out as it resembled a male zombie, but one major difference is that it had red-filmed eyes that seemed to zero in on me as I glared right back at it, fully understanding that this wasn't a regular zombie as I got ready to defend myself.
Suddenly, the creature's right arm stretched and thinned toward the floor like a rubber band before snapping forward like a whip and I found myself getting struck in the chest before I had a chance to dodge, the force knocking the breath out of me but I did a backflip in mid-air and landed in a crouch until I snapped up my MP5 and fired four rounds into the creature's torso in quick succession.
Four holes punched through its flesh as it hesitated, black ooze flowing from the wounds from what I knew was destroyed leeches before the holes sealed back up as the creatures healed themselves, the living hive starting to make its way towards me again.
My submachine gun wasn't going to cut it against this fucking freak of nature so I removed the Spas 12 from the holster on my back and aimed for the head, blasting it as the head exploded with a spray of black tissue, blood, and slime that splattered the walls while multiple shrieks were heard and the thing toppled over into a pile of leeches that slithered around for a moment.
I didn't give them the chance to reform, firing into the center mass as it was trying to collect itself, blowing over a dozen leeches to pieces and punching holes in the carpet but the leeches wouldn't stop as they started crawling over one another again and the mass they were building together started to rise from the floor.
'Fuck, this bastard is gonna eat up all my ammo at this rate so what's it going to take to kill this fucking thing?' I thought irritably while trying to come up with a plan and an idea came to me so I holstered the Spas 12 and grabbed one of the three frag grenades on my vest.
'No choice, I'm going to have to blow it apart,' I thought as I pulled the pin and held the trigger handle down as I backed away, seeing the cluster of deadly leeches beginning to shape back into a humanoid form.
Once I reached the corner, I threw the grenade at the creature before diving into cover and rolled into a crouch before covering my head as I heard the grenade bounce over to the creature and it soon let out a deafening explosion coupled with fire and shrapnel rattling the whole hallway.
I kept my head covered while the floor shook under me, the sound of pain-filled shrieks filling the air before everything died down to a still silence so I stood up and cautiously went over to the corner and peered out to see what the damage was.
Where the colony of leeches had been standing was a blackened scorch in the carpet that stretched out to the walls while any tables, lamps, or chairs that had been there were nothing but shards of wood, metal, and glass.
As for the leeches, there was barely anything left of them as one or two was still alive but were just twitching weakly where they lay while the rest were nothing more than smears on the walls, floor, and even the ceiling from the blast so I let out a sigh of relief and was about to head back when my radio started beeping.
"Owen, Billy, are you there? What was that explosion?" Rebecca questioned in concern and I reached for my radio to respond.
"Sorry, that was me. I ran into another one of those fucking leech creatures and the bastard just kept eating my bullets and shotgun pellets so I had to use a grenade on it to permanently put it down," I replied.
"Damn, I heard that from all the way over here so if there are more of those things in this place, then we need to rethink our strategy a bit since our ammo supplies won't last against a group of them," Billy said and I frowned thoughtfully.
"Agreed, either of you find a way out of this place?" I inquired.
"I think I did, so let's meet back in the lobby by where the painting of Marcus was and I'll show you what I found," Rebecca said and I nodded to myself.
"Copy that, regrouping back at the lobby now," I replied until I slipped my radio back onto my vest and sent one final glance at the damage the grenade had done until I started to make my way back to the lobby to meet up with the others.
(3rd POV)
Deep within the facility, the young man moved to a place where the hive could gather together more comfortably, a large space warm and moist while being far from where daylight could reach them as the many surrounded him now, singing their tuneless song of water and darkness but he was not so at ease.
He watched with cold fury as the girl, Rebecca, the murderer had called her, his cursed name being Owen, stole Marcus' journal and slipped it into her pocket before leaving the office but that was not the reason why he had left the desk open for her since she was only supposed to take the map of the observatory, not the journal as well.
The two met up with their other companion, a man named Billy, all of them conversing about their findings and their murderous exploits. Through the video feed connected to their new environment in the lower level of the treatment plant, he watched them but also through the dozens of eyes from the 'children' hidden in the shadows.
The many were powerful, able to send images to one another, to him; it was how they could work together so effectively but none of them were aware of just how vulnerable they were, of how easily he could reach out and take their lives from them so they still survived only by his mercy, especially the murderer.
The lone survivor of his recent crime sat in the man's hand, whimpering in uncontrolled pain while its brethren tried to console it as the fury in the young man's heart kept building so how dare he, this unimportant wretch, this insect who had mercilessly slaughtered two collectives so he was strong and resourceful, the young man would give him that much, but his luck would run out eventually and he would pay dearly for his crimes when it did.
Looking on, he watched as Rebecca shared the maps she had found with the two males so they studied them and conversed a little longer, too stupid to understand that he had all but given them their means of escape but, at this moment, he wasn't so sure if he wanted them to go free.
After coming to some sort of agreement, the group began to make their way down the stairs before disappearing from the screen and the manys' sight until appearing on another screen, then they stopped for a moment to stare down at the dead bodies of a couple of large spiders laying belly up with their legs curled inward, their yellow-green blood pooling under them as the trio observed.
He had made sure they had been taken care of moments before so that the group would avoid their poisonous bite but now he was sorry that he did since it would've been a pleasure seeing them die writhing in agony.
Now, he wondered what to do because killing them would fulfill a need in him, to avenge the children that had been killed by their careless hands, to assert his control over this place but exposing Umbrella was a priority to him right now, and the three interlopers would prove to be useful tools in that endeavor if they managed to survive.
Watching them move cautiously ahead, they entered a long-abandoned office before checking their map a moment and moving on into a dead-end room where live specimens had once been kept, though that's when the young man noticed something.
The murderer never even looked at the map and he was leading the other two as though he knew the place ahead of time, avoiding what could've been dangers and dealing with infected specimens as though he knew what their weaknesses were.
A former member of Umbrella perhaps? No, he had a feeling that wasn't the case but how did he know about the collective on the train? There was something very intriguing about this man, this murderer named Owen, and the many agreed in their own way, but they called for his blood for the death of their brethren at his hands so who was he to deny them their hunger should he meet his unfortunate end alongside his comrades?
The trio looked around the large room before the murderer pointed to the North-East corner near the ceiling, which showed a ventilator shaft that wasn't on the map and the young man shook his head since the shaft led to Marcus' private chamber where the doctor had once 'entertained' attractive test subjects so why wouldn't they leave?
There was nothing of importance in that room...however...a blade of a smile appeared on the man's face because the shaft was also connected to another specimen area, this one containing several creatures from the primate series that hadn't been fed in days so they would be very very hungry by now.
The smile he was sporting grew by a margin as he watched the murderer pull off the vent covering, leaving behind the two shotguns that were on his person and hoisting himself up into the opening, disappearing into the darkness beyond until Rebecca got a boost from Billy and followed after the murderer while the other male stood guard.
His children all cooed around him while feeling his thoughts, the walls and ceiling dripping with their slippery fluids, surrounded by the many, the fate of Umbrella in his hands, and now three little soldiers to play with, watching in enjoyment as they pitted their abilities against remnants of Umbrella's BOWs so whether they lived or died, he would be satisfied in the end.
"Open the cages, my darlings," he said softly before he started to sing.
A/N Seems like Owen and the others are going to be dealing with a new threat so the nightmare still isn't over for them yet, though with Owen's abilities, they'll have a much better chance of surviving that hellhole so let me know what you think and stay tuned.