"This rain isn't stopping," Christine growled as she glared at the rainclouds and the drops of water pitter-pattering as they struck the window panes of the guest room they were in and rolled down.

"Why hate the rain?" Vector asked as he sat cross legged with his back against the bed. "It camouflages any sound you make and it's a problem no sniper can solve with a bullet. Best time to take out sentries. It can also be a shower and doubles as drinking water after boiling it."

"Joking is unbecoming of you, Vector."

"They're merely observations made through experience." He said with a frown. "Plus, when it rains, it does so indiscriminately. Our eye in the sky will give us sitreps when necessary, so we won't have to make a sudden departure unless absolutely paramount that we do so. Ryuji should already have laid everything out." Standing up after his short meditation period, he stood up and began stretching.

"Are you not worried?"

"About what?" Vector arched his back as he fell backwards and raised his legs up while keeping them crossed. He then extended them, moved them in various directions before bringing them down to the floor, slowly.

"Michaela."

"Why?"

"I'm worried about Hector. Considering he's twice the size of anyone on the team if not more, and because of that he's prone to…..going more than the proverbial extra mile. I'm worried he would push himself too far while I'm absent. Michaela's told me that she worries about you because of your high tolerance."

"And you're worried our doctor in charge is straining herself by accumulating more efficient ways of treatment and other miscellaneous information? Foolish questions are unbecoming of you, if you ask me." He then took a deep breath and lay flat on the bed with his side arm and knife in each hand.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? Are you or are you not worried about her? It's a simple question with a simple answer."

Vector rolled over to look at Christine. "You honestly think I don't give a shit about any of you despite sticking together all these years?" His jaw was squared and his face was hardened, giving nothing away. "If you don't know my answer to that question, then you obviously don't know me enough." His eyes, however, betrayed him. Christine could see in the depths of those orbs was the tiniest slivers of worry and loneliness that Vector failed to hide. "Alright, enough stupid questions. I'm going to take a short nap, so don't wake me up unless we're under attack or I'll toss you out the window."

Christine chuckled silently as her brother-in-arms started snoring lightly after a minute or so. He may act like the strong and silent type, which he is, but he is just as delicate and sensitive. The only problem was his thoroughly clumsy attempts at showing that. His hate for humiliating himself did not help, but anyone in the team could see that his feelings for the team and for Michaela ran deep. This gave her some semblance of peace. Connecting her earpiece to the man pack radio, she maintained contact with Vladimir.

"What in tarnation was that bout? I demand an explanation." Saeko broke the silence once they returned to the quarters readied for them. Ryuji, however, was skimming through the Book of Genesis translated in Japanese which he randomly pulled out of the bookshelf without so much as flinching.

"As I said before: insurance."

"I know that!" Ryuji's head jerked up from the book slightly in surprise and confusion. He had never heard her raise her voice aside from kendo practice. The calm, collected and wise appearance of Saeko Busujima was nowhere to be seen. What he did was simply select an option that allowed them to sustain their safety here and therefore sustain their lives. "I am well aware that it is far better to come clean with the lies before they are discovered as lies! But why would you deliberately put yourself in harm's way?! This is not like fighting the infected! What if you had—-"

"Saeko," Ryuji cut her off, placing a hand on her shoulder. He had a smile plastered on his face, one that grew wider as the childlike glimmer in his eyes disappeared like candles in a storm. "Calm the hell down." She felt the hand on her shoulder tighten into a vice-like grip. Before she could blink, Ryuji had flipped her over on her back with him straddling her. Both of her hands were pinned above her head and the point of his new short sword was pressed at her throat.

Trying to fight him off, Saeko squirmed only to have a knee planted firmly in her solar plexus, rendering her immobile. That was when she saw his dead eyes. They clearly displayed anger, but his dilated pupils were as cold as the nadir of the abyss itself. "Are you fucking kidding me right now? How dare you question my abilities."

"Ah!" Saeko opened her mouth to speak, but there was no sound she could utter aside from a gasp of pain and fear upon meeting his gaze. She felt the strength and will to resist leave her. The blood in her veins even seemed to stagnate its movements as if the very aura of his wrath was sucking the life out of her.

"Why, you ask? To live, to fight and to protect my home, my family, and my life. That is all that matters to me. They could be the descendant of Mother Teresa herself, but if they make a move toward any of us, they die. When they die, I move on. I will give myself over to whatever madness in me that will give me what I need to protect them. That is what I do, that is who I am." Tightening his grip on the weapon, a bead of blood fell to the ground from Saeko's broken skin. "One more thing: it could be skydiving, murder or a sparring session with real weapons, but it's all mind over matter. If you think you can do it and get away with it, more often than not you do. Didn't take you too long to get a taste for putting the infected in their permanent place with that wooden sword of yours."

Saeko chewed on her quivering lower lip, fighting back tears. He hit the nail on the head. It was true. There was no hesitance of neutralizing something she could register as a clear threat through force. Doing so has brought her joy and ecstatic pleasure. In fact even now, somewhere in her mind, she wanted more.

"Right now, you live in a world where a wannabe with a blade can become a bonafide manslayer. All that's necessary is the resolve and constitution." Removing the blade and his knee, Ryuji lapped up the blood from her neck. "Don't ever question my raison d'être again. Ever."

"But….I was just…af-fraid….If anything had happened to y-you…." Saeko sobbed as she sat up trembling, finally free from his gaze which had induced crippling fear in her.

"I'm sorry. I scared you." Kneeling down, Ryuji reached out, but Saeko flinched, backing away until her back was against the wall. Even then, like a child who woke from a lucid nightmare, she curled up into a ball and squeezed her eyes shut tight in an attempt to shrink away into oblivion. He followed her, and caressed her soft pale cheeks glistening with tears, now uncontrollably streaming down her face.

"Please…d-don't. Don't hurt me…."

"I won't. I won't. I just…lost control. Nobody's gone through what we have and lived to celebrate it. They're the only family I know. I'm their son, their nephew, their brother-in-arms, and their living lucky charm. People acting like they know what they don't just…ticks me off. Especially if it involves them." Kissing her along those streaks, he lapped up her tears as well, soothing her with whispers. "It's not that I don't appreciate your concern. But I've been doing this since I was five years old with a gun and knife in hand against monsters shaped like people and people who are monsters at heart. So just…let me do my thing." Still feeling her trembling, he cradled her head and stroked her head, running his fingers through her silky locks of black hair, softly shushing her.

She responded with a small nod, and put her arms around Ryuji. "I understand. But you must understand as well that I….well…I need you as much as you need them." The heat of her blush reached an all-time high as she buried her face into his neck as the words left her mouth.

"This rain doesn't seem like it's going to let up any time soon, so I am going to take a nap if you don't mind. That fight actually took some outta me."

"Hector, how's the weather up there?"

"Going on sunshine, ese. I can hear a chorus of fucking birds chirping a Disney musical dance number from here." Hector snarked back to Vladimir with an unpleasant snort. "Jokes aside, things are not lookin' too well, I'm afraid. Our numbers are reduced to half, and I can't see too far because of this fucking terrible weather. We got more infected reacting to the rain. Firecracker won't do jack in this weather."

"Your shift will be over soon. Prochnost, my friend." Going through the various screens, Vladimir's fingers danced across the keyboards. Pinching the cigarette sitting in the ashtray in front of several system units of desktop computers and took a small drag. The smoke formed several small donuts before dissipating.

"Vladimir, take a break. It's time to switch." Karena called out.

"And so I shall." He stood up as he smothered the cigarette which already had at least a dozen stubs already. She then slipped into the seat he was in in front of all the screens. "Are you still worried? About Viper?"

"As much as I am reluctant to admit it, yes. I have watched him grow since he was a little boy, and he is a strong young man now. I guess it is true that there is no cure for a fool." And she hated herself for being such a worrywart soccer mom. Those days should be way behind her, and yet she keeps finding them just over her shoulder.

"A fool, yes, but only in the sense of being a doting parent. That is infinitely healthier than idiots who spoil their children rotten, if you want my honest opinion. And I am certain that Ryuji is grateful for it. Out of all of us, he is most….permissive and indulgent when it concerns you, and he definitely cares about you the most. You remember that job we had in southeast Asia when we had a mop-up operation with the local mob?"

Karena clouded her face with sorrow. That was the most basic—-and therefore the worst kind—-of mistake that she had made in her entire career as a woman of war. She had gone ahead too far and was ambushed after making chase too far. It ended up in her taking several bullets, cracked ribs and a minor concussion.

As they made their second attempt after thorough planning, they saw carnage; grisly, utter carnage. The mob was completely wiped out along with their families in a single night, butchered like animals in a slaughterhouse. Atop the mattress of corpses was a single boy sleeping with a glowing satisfactory smile on his face as if he had finally come up with the best mother's day gift to present.

"All those men taken down with nothing but blades…It was clear that he had pushed himself far beyond what he is used to, and despite the virus enhancing his regenerative capabilities, he still has scars. What is more, that wasn't the only time he went off like that." If Ryuji's smile could be compared to a light, his lividness was a bulb that had gone out. Any facial expression denoting the existence of emotion falls away like dead leaves, which always ended up with a string of bodies surrounding him. Then there was nothing that could stop him, and the only options were to let him work the anger out of his system, have the other men restrain him with everything they have, or have Karena snap him out of it.

"Proof of how much he loves you. He will not think of your affection as a burden. You should be more worried about how to make him deal with your death, should it happen, although I hope not until well into the future."

"I will not die. Not here. I will decide when, where and how. Go and get some rest already. I'll wake you up when it's time."

"Da. Spasiba, kapitán."

"And stop smoking." She swiped the carton of cigarettes he was trying to sneak off with and dumped them in the trash can along with the stubs. "They're called coffin nails for a reason. Find an alternative, like gum."

"I'll think about it. Good night." Walking back to his room, Vladimir picked up the satellite phone on his table and called a number which connected almost immediately.

"It's me." A young woman with a slightly husky voice answered.

"Ah, Ms. Minami. I have some good news. We have your flatmate secure, free of bites of course."

"Shizuka's with you?….I see. Thank you sir." Rika answered matter-of-factly, but the small sigh did not escape Vladimir's ear.

"Oh, no need to thank me. It just…happened. I too must apologize for not bringing this news to you sooner. We had….some business that required immediate and undivided attention. And anyone with medical expertise is definitely beneficial to have around. We have others that know her well so there is no need to worry about conflict."

"Is that all?"

"Not quite. I need your current location, a sitrep, and what the BSAA are planning. Best to your knowledge will suffice. I will give you everything I have that I know about this incident."

"Sure. You might wanna write this down."

After about ten minutes, he hung up the phone and read through the notes he took:

Rika

Flew to Tokonosu Airport from the newly-established Far East branch of the BSAA, secured civilians

Ordered to take out any infected and secure the airport

Currently taking a break, waiting for the JMSDF to pick them up

Weapons in the maisonette gun locker with ammo (collect ASAP)

US President/BSAA

Close cooperation between the other branches through information provided by the FOS

Orders out to DSO to search and rescue members of the WHO and other high-profile researchers

Those already rescued currently working on a vaccine through an obtained sample

Miscellaneous

Other branches have began search and rescue operations of renown biologists, virologists and other men and women of expertise

United States used as temporary HQ

Although no longer under Umbrella's employ, being in league with a BSAA agent would have severe repercussions for the latter, but this information was valuable enough to shoulder that risk.

"No need to worry about 'that' happening any time soon….but a faraday cage wouldn't hurt anyone." Lying down on the futon after checking for his gun underneath the pillow, he closed his eyes. Due to habits that have been ingrained over the long years of sticking to it made his sleep light and kept it that way for the longest time. However, the gradually weakening sound of rain soothed his ever-bristling nerves, falling deeper and deeper into the unconscious.

"So? What do you think? Amazing, no?"

"This is…..ridiculous! How can something like…like this possibly exist?!" While indeed an airhead, Shizuka still is a doctor, albeit a hatchling of one. She had been going through Bertha's personal notebooks for a while now, and she only delved deeper. The content of them were about previously encountered BOWs and various data about the virus, all of which were crammed into bookcases along with other books. "I guess the military really does teach you some hardcore stuff, huh?"

"I actually went through the basic training manual when I first started. Learning about the virus wasn't hard thanks to Christine, and everything else I learned on the spot. Everything else….well, you'll have to own it before you can confidently say that you know what you're doing."

"I guess…"

"So you need to get your shit together, ja? Now that you will be working with us, we'll need all hands whenever and wherever necessary. For today, finish up with everything that's on the table."

"Yes, ma'am!"