The girls screamed. Clover and Alex wrapped their arms around each other, fearing for their lives. Sam was rolling to the bottom; then she was falling along with the jet. She landed on the pile of furniture. Alex took a grip on one of the crates and placed her foot on a window ledge; Clover hung from her other leg.

Sam twisted and turned, battered and broken. There was nothing Alex and Clover could do. They were quick, but they weren't fast enough to let go and get their jetpacks before crashing, let alone fly away at a safe distance.

Their jet abruptly stopped falling and came to a sudden halt. Sam was curled into the rear end with the jetpacks; she was alive but still a bit scared. The jet was still bottom-heavy with Sam, the radios and the monitor down there with her. The girls breathed heavily and got their bearings.

"Sam!" Clover called. "You okay?!"

Sam rolled onto her back and waved her hand. "I'm fine..." she moaned loudly.

Alex looked up at the cockpit door. "What stopped us?"

"Girls! Are you okay in there!?" someone called outside.

"Was that..."

"Zaac!" Alex yelled.

"I have an idea." Clover let go of Alex's leg and fired her bungee belt's end piece to latch onto the wall by the cockpit door. She lassoed herself to the door to open it with a button press; it wasn't comfortable with a broken limb.

Zaac was holding the jet's nose with his bare hands; he was straining something awful keeping it falling off completely. His left arm was wrapped around the nose with his other digging into the hull. His grip slipped for a brief second, and then it occurred to him that he couldn't hold it in place.

"Girls, get out of there!" Zaac yelled, "I can't hold on much longer!"

"So Zaac stopped us from falling with his bare hands?" Clover wondered submissively. "Trippy."

"Sam!" Alex called. "Use your bungee belt and get up here quick." Sam was silent. "Sam!?"

"Get down there and bring her here. I'll be fine."

Clover removed her arm from her makeshift sling and lifted herself into the cockpit. She hoisted herself with one flashy flourish. Zaac signalled her over with a nod; Clover leapt to the left wall to bounce off onto the cockpit chair she used earlier. She jumped upwards to grab the broken window's frame.

She was outside, standing by Zaac's beefy arms. The sight was phenomenal. Lights off in the far distance, the wind brushing her perfect blond hair and the cherry on the top was the pleasant fresh air. Clover bent over to leap over to Zaac and step off him like a stepping stone. Now it was Sam and Alex's turn.

Sam and Alex had their jetpacks on; they quickly ascended into the cockpit. Sliding out of the windows was a tight squeeze, but they flew quickly to Clover without any nicks or cuts. All of them was on solid ground now, saved by Zaac. He was happy to help and even happier to let go of the girls' jet.

The jet hit the mountain three times with a loud crashing sound that screeched and wailed. It hit a large bed of spiky rocks that ruptured the jet and caused a glorious fireball that roared hellfire. The four took a quick breather. Alex wrapped Zaac in a hug so tight it was hard for him to breathe.

Zaac hugged Alex, but not affectionately, only to turn right around and shield her from a bullet that was audible from a distant cliff well behind them. It was a few hundred meters away, nearing that unidentified building that was more troublesome than a mere tick.

With a quick twist of the body, the round struck the sheath on Zaac's back and shattered into scraps. From Alex's point of view, it was almost romantic, seeing a hunk twist her under him under the beautiful night sky, eagerly waiting for the kissing. Although, the setting was horrible but that wasn't the case; a lunatic was out to kill them all.

Zaac waved his hand and ordered the girls to get behind him and stay together, with him as their shield. He unsheathed a longsword from his back and took a stance with the hilt raised above his head, pointing the tip down. It was a beautiful weapon, the faint gleam in the low light showed some numbers running down the lower part of the blade.

Another round fired off from the same direction and made contact with Zaac's sword. There was no way of telling how powerful the bullet or how durable Zaac's sword was, but something ringed as the round made contact. It rebounded off and disappeared; then everything was silent. Zaac sheathed his sword with a little flourish.

Zaac scoffed. "Amateur."

"What the hell was that?" asked Clover.

"I deflected the bullet back at the shooter."

They all assumed it was over. They lost their jet, communications and their shelter but at least the person out to kill them was gone now. Zaac seemed confident to declare the assailant's demise. Despite the lack of shelter and warmth; they were still alive.

The girls were stuck out in the shivering cold for minutes on end, crocked at the far back as they could with only their body heat for warmth. Zaac had his arms around them and acted like a thermal blanket; he noted his armour adapts to temperatures. That was good enough for them to cook up a plan to get home. Eventually, the brainstorming came to an end.

"If we… don't find a… way out of here..." Sam stuttered in her shaky voice that drew hot breaths, "we'll freeze to death..." Sam was just held together by Zaac's arm. Alex was lucky; she was right in the middle. Clover shared Sam's pain.

"How?" Clover breathed. Her teeth started to chatter loudly. "Freakin' radio's gone."

"That can't honestly be the only communication device on this rock," Zaac said, utterly undisturbed by the cold, "Just because ours is kaput, doesn't mean all is lost."

"How else can we contact people?"

Zaac exhaled. "Have you tried the distress call on your X-powders?"

Sam huffed. "How'd you-"

Clover pressed a button on her X-powder and tucked it into her side pocket. "Well, that's that done."

"Could've done that… ages ago…"

"In all the excitement, I guess I forgot."

"Clover!" Sam yelled.

"The guy that shot you down must have the means to stay in touch with the outside world, even if it's just a phone. There's a signal the closer you get to the top of Everest, so we just got to put the pieces together. Might be a place to keep warm."

"Where do we start?"

"Clover…" Sam stuttered, "Didn't we see a… building on Everest somewhere?"

Clover rubbed her chin. "Hmm… Strangely, we were shot down after we noticed that building."

"What building?"

"It looks like a black box of sorts, somewhere on the side of the mountain up there," Clover said, stretching her arm out to point to her right. She indicated that this building was around the tall mountain, somewhere just around the corner. Zaac couldn't see anything from the angle he was sat but took their word for it.

"Could you reach it with your jetpack?"

"Hopefully. It may not have enough juice to get back home, but it'll do." Clover grabbed Alex's shoulder and shook her; she was asleep. Looked cosy hugging Zaac like a child. "Alex, we're moving."

Alex yawned. "Where to?"

"That building Sam and I saw earlier. Might be a warmer place to stay."

"All right. Lead on."

Zaac grumbled. "I don't have a jetpack."

"It's fine; I'll carry you."

"I don't like being carried..."

Sam Clover and Alex activated their jetpacks and took off in an instant. Alex wrapped her arms around Zaac's chest tightly, not to drop him since he was pretty heavy for her. It felt great using their old jetpacks; they get little action since the use of lethal weapons became almost mandatory. They are soaring into the air with the wind caressing their bodies and brushing their hair. It was an old luxury of their spy days.

Zaac didn't like heights; he was a fearless leader, but heights were something he could do without. Alex held him tightly, so he didn't mind as much as he should. The girls soared and accelerated towards a building that looked like a black box with a catwalk all around. Alex dropped Zaac onto the icy catwalk as they descended to join him. The windows were mirrored from the outside.

"This is the place," Sam whispered.

Zaac unsheathed his sword from his back and got ready at the door, as did the girls with their handguns. He was prepared to breach. With a firm shoulder, Zaac rammed the door down with his right shoulder and took a stance with the blade's tip pointed down. The girls back him up with their sights on all corners. They were alone.

"Why do you keep on using that sword, Zaac?"

"Swords and knives work better for close encounters."

"It's a sword," Sam clarified.

Zaac sheathed his sword again, hoping it would be for the final time. "Everyone's a critic..."

"It's so plain in here." Clover moaned. "Would it kill someone to put up some curtains or something?" She held her broken arm.

Zaac investigated the bed. It was unused and fairly tidy. "Owner must've been up here for a while to need a bed."

"Living up here in secrecy is something a spy would do."

Zaac turned around to Sam. "I wasn't aware of anyone living this close to Everest back in my time."

Alex sat on the warm bed. "Whoever lived here has a lot of explaining to do. Anyone who goes around shooting people out of the sky is major bad news."

Clover smiled and put her hand on her hip with a little swivel. "Yeah. Last I heard there weren't any old hermits up here. Just another reason to hate Saturdays."

"It's technically Sunday now."

"Details, details, details..." Clover sighed.

"We're living in terror times now, girls. That's the one thing that never changes."

Opposite the door was a single bed that wasn't slept in for some time, with a wardrobe and footlocker nearby. Just under the windows were a desk and a computer terminal. The corner on the left, closest to the door and windows, was a table and chair. A radio was present, a simple one like Zaac's.

There was a fridge in the corner on their right. The food inside was the long-lasting preserved food that soldiers use - tasteless MREs. There was only half left in stock. The drinks were plain water.

In the corner below the bed were two rocket launchers and a giant sniper rifle. Some boxes had individual rockets and ammunition for them. Some of the warheads were missing from the container.

They put their weapons away and ransacked the room, they were all sure it belonged to their assailant, so they dug around for answers. The wardrobe just had changes of warm clothes. Footlocker just had medical supplies. Fridge. Food. All that was left was the PC. Zaac moved the mouse, and the screen saver came off. Clover and Alex tried out the radio and did everything they could to contact W.O.O.H.P. H.Q.

"This is nice." Zaac chuckled, sitting down at the PC.

Sam peeked over Zaac's shoulder to see a chat room of sorts. Between two people. "What is?"

"The cunt didn't log out."

"Great." Sam smiled. "Time to spy."

The previous conversation was between the owner and another person under the name of "Headquarters", which must be a business chat room and not one for everyday use. The last messages were from the owner; he was identified as "Agent 13".

Agent 13's last message was him stating that he will finish the job. He also previously said he shot down an unknown jet and sought out to kill the crew. If Zaac didn't kill him, he might have succeeded. Headquarters said that anyone within the exclusion zone must be silenced. There was nothing too out of the ordinary.

Zaac accidentally collapsed the chat room window and went straight to the desktop. The background was just solid black with a yellow and white cress in the shape of a tilted octagon. It was strangely similar to Umbrella. Only golden and not original red. Zaac sighed over the sheer coincidence.

"Fucking hell, I should've known. It looks like the guy who tried to kill you worked for Umbrella, but the logo... it can't be..." Zaac was perplexed and had to take in a moment of silence. "Those bastards..." Zaac looked around the programs and documents. Very shady material topics and materials. "Those bastards… Neo-Umbrella actually happened? I can't believe this!"

"The pharmaceutical giant?"

"Yeah. As evil and corrupt as the old Umbrella."

Sam looked to Zaac. "Are they related?"

"I was there when their council of assholes were talking about their future - debating about Neo-Umbrella succeeding them once they overthrew the current director. I thought they were bluffing."

"Who was bluffing? How much do you know about Umbrella?"

"Too much for my own good." Zaac started to type away on the computer. He was trying to find extra information on their webpage, but their internet browser required login details. Zaac had none of that. He cursed and slammed the keyboard in a fuss. Sam stepped back. "We're not getting anything from this PC. At least we know who's behind all this."

"Neo-Umbrella…"

Zaac stared at the monitor with a severe glare. The thoughts of Umbrella still being around boiled his blood, even if it was a stupid re-brand. "What do you know about Neo-Umbrella, Sam?"

"Bad people, but we never dealt with them personally. Our guardians try to keep us away from the bigger threats like them until we're ready."

"Plural? Who are they?"

"Patryk and Ashley."

"Patrick?" Zaac met Sam's eyes." Patryk Detrovski? A Russian man about my age?"

"You know him?" Sam smiled.

"Oh, my God, it is."

"So you do know him."

"We... have a rocky relationship. I like Ashley, though; she's got a good head on her shoulders."

"They have quintuplets."

"That's with a five, right?"

Sam nodded.

"Oh no… anyway..." Zaac stared back at the monitor and rested his chin on his hands. "Good for him though…"

"How did you get involved with Neo-Umbrella?"

Zaac looked away from Sam. "Before I moved to Beverly Hills, I lived in Raccoon City my entire childhood. Umbrella controlled the whole town. Police. Officials. The mayor. Everything... I stood up to oppose them after the Raccoon City Incident, and ever since I did, they marked me for death."

"Wouldn't that make you a Raccoon City survivor?"

Zaac sighed. "Yes… Everything bad that happened to me was because of Umbrella. I spied on their activities, killed every executive I could find and exposed a majority of their plans. Done everything I could to stop them, and now... they're back. It's happening all over again."

Sam frowned. "I'm sorry..."

"Save your sympathy; I have no need for it… only justice."

"I know how you feel; my parents were Raccoon City survivors too."

"I know. I helped them."

"Yes but..." Sam hesitated, not knowing what to add. "Excuse me?"

"Gabby and Jack were some of the lost souls I bumped into during my younger years as a cop; it's a shame we kinda drifted apart." Zaac frowned. "That's what marriage does to you; things just change."

Sam felt a little flustered hearing that the mystery man she only met a few hours ago had known her parents, not a big surprise, considering he was as old as them. "We'll have to arrange a little reunion once we get back home."

Zaac looked at Sam, smiling genuinely. "I'd like that. Your mother was… nice to me."

Clover walked on over and stood behind Zaac. She had her arm in a fresh makeshift sling, despite that she was quite cheerful. "I have good news and bad news."

Sam sighed. "Let's hear it."

"We got a hold of headquarters, but no one was there."

"Not even Mozzie?" Sam frowned.

"I left a voicemail for the guardians; it was all I could do. There's no telling when or if anyone will find us," said Clover, "Makes me miss GLADIS; she never needed beauty sleep." Zaac stood up and walked past Clover and over to the fridge in the back. "Anything useful on this PC?"

Sam folded her arms. "Zaac and I found out that Agent 13 - the man that tried to kill us - was hired by Neo-Umbrella. What he was doing here, I don't know. Something about maintaining an exclusion zone." Alex and Zaac were rummaging through the fridge of MREs. "So we might be here for a while?"

"I hope not. I still need to study for our exam this Monday."

"That's what you get for blowing it off until the last day," Sam sharply shot back.

"I was busy blowing off other things than my studying." Clover smirked. "I just forgot this time."

Sam groaned. "You're disgusting."

"You should try it on David; it's good for your health and guys fall for it all the time."

"Oh my God, we're just friends!" Sam blushed and threw her arms in the air. "I don't need to hear this." She interrupted. Sam went away to the other side of the room to sit on the bed, waiting patiently for rescue. The blanket was a thick thermal one.

Zaac came over with Alex. "We have enough food and water to live here for at least eight days. Apart from that, there's nothing more we can do other than to wait it out."

"Great…" Clover moaned. "Patryk doesn't start work until nine. What do we do until then?"

"I spy?" Alex suggested.

"I'd rather sleep."

"Is that what you'd rather do Clover? Honestly?" Sam mocked.

Clover huffed under her breath and joined Sam on the warm bed. She sat next to her and got comfortable. "Fine… Let's play… until we get bored and fall asleep."

Zaac chuckled. "You girls could have your own TV show."

Clover pouted. "That's what all the big Hollywood producers say, but no one actually means it."

Alex shushed everyone and jumps onto the bed to sit down against the corner of the wall. "Shhhhh… I spy with my little eye, something beginning with… T."

"Table," Zaac replied.

"Best two out of three. Something beginning with… F."

"Fridge," Zaac said again, almost as quickly as earlier.

"Best three out of five..."

Zaac sighed. "This is going to be a long night…"

No one was sure what time it was until Clover checked her X-powder - it was 04:31 am. It was too cold to sleep, and her broken arm made it hard to try. Sam slept on Alex's shoulder; she slept on Clover's, and Zaac was sat in the middle of the room. Asleep.

Meditating. Zaac was meditating. Legs crossed, hands resting on his knees, eyes closed. It was eerie since meditation was just so last year. Could just be asleep. Clover couldn't sleep. Everyone was lucky to have time pass quicker.

Clover got a call on her X-powder; she had a dreadful ringtone that hurt the ears. She flipped it open and saw Patryk Detrovski on the other end. He looked like he only just woke up after a long sleep. Hair was unkempt, and his eyes squinted to adjust to the light. He was sleeping in his office again.

Patryk yawned. "What's going on, girls?" he asked clearly, "Why do I have a notification at two in the morning?"

"Pat, it's an emergency." Patryk sat closer to the monitor and cleared his sinuses. "We need someone to pick us up from Everest."

Patryk rubbed his forehead that slowly drifted to a brush of his short black hair. "What? Uhm… Y… You're on Mount Everest?"

"We're stuck on Mount Everest," she corrected. "We were on our way home from the reunion, and we were shot down by someone as we passed over Everest."

"Are you okay?" he asked sharply with a slight twitch of his eye.

"Destroyed the jet but it's all good." Patryk shook his head as if he just lost out on a few thousand dollars' of private jet funds." Apart from that, only minor wounds. The worst part is that Neo-Umbrella hired the dude who shot us down. We don't know what they're planning out here, but it's about time we talked seriously about them."

"In due time… I will pick you up as soon as possible, Clover, but you know how I feel about that subject."

"They broke my arm, Patryk!" she almost yelled, yet softly lost her seriousness with a little sigh. "I'm ready to lead the girls, and I'm sick of being handed the table scraps."

Patryk sighed. "Fine. We'll sit down over some tea and discuss your future. Like adults. Jerry was tough on me when I was your age, constantly putting Mozz and I in life and death situations." Patryk paused." I'm just not sure if I want to do the same to you, Sam and Alex. Or even Brittany and Blayne, for that matter…"

"We're not kids anymore. I can lead them…"

"When you get back, the kiddie gloves are coming off; I promise." Patryk rubbed his eyes and groaned. "You girls are something else, no wonder Jerry was this cranky and old. I'm only half his age, and I already feel you three sucking the life out of me. That's my kids' job."

"Don't get any ideas, Pat." Clover chuckled. "Thanks, you're a diamond."

"Don't mention it." Patryk finally smiled. He had sweet lips and a beautiful grin - management material. "We'll talk about it more before your next mission. Might be a more exciting one. "Where are you three waiting?"

"Bunkering down in a small building near the point. It's black and has a catwalk outside. You can't miss it."

"How am I gonna find a small building on that mountain?"

"As you fly over China, you'll see it."

"Fine. I won't be long, so just stay warm and keep an eye out. Ta-ta for now." Patryk hung up and disconnected. Clover closed her X-powder.

"Things are looking up for us."

"Patryk's coming?" asked Sam. She was wide awake.

Clover blushed. "How long were you awake?"

"To hear the innuendo between you and Pat." Sam smirked.

"Let it go, Sam… I like him as a friend and a boss. That's IT."

"I also heard talk about an exciting mission. Care to explain?"

Clover smiled and looked away to the corner with a little sneer. "I might have charmed Patryk into a promotion to the bigger missions." She looked at Sam. "Not the leftover variety."

"We don't get a say in this?"

Clover threw her arm up. "Come on, Sammy; we're too good for these childish missions. When was the last time we busted a major baddie that wasn't a low-life that wanted to destroy the world in the lamest possible way? Fashion. Music. Ice cream. Coffee! We get all the winners now, don't we?"

"I have to agree. Our antagonists aren't exactly… effective. Dastardly but not in any way effective as a serious threat. Most of them almost seem like lame villains from a children's spy flick."

"Who was the last major baddie we took down?"

"Terrance and Scam."

"Right. Terrance is happily retired and Tim Scam's gone underground. The rest of the LAMOS and the other generic bad guys are wallowing in their cells in their lame self-pity. Oh, what a wonderful life they have. I'm doing us a favour of getting a bit more excitement in our lives."

"I guess the job has been lacking a bit lately..."

"You can thank me later. Like... doing my essay. That might help even us out."

"You just see the opportunity, and it's already yours."

Clover smiled. "Awww, my secret guide to picking up boys."

"When I think about it, it wasn't a particularly good guide."

"Ha! Worked for me."

"I'll say. Managed to get Alex and Virgil together with that terrible plan of yours. The one with the goat and trombone-"

Clover nodded. "That I did."

"Good for them. I'm happy just being friends with David, so don't go doing any more favours for me. We're happy as can be."

"Life is sweet." Clover blushed. She thought fondly of that dream she had of her and Blayne skydiving all those years ago when she was married by Jerry. Blayne matured up since then. A real pothead. "Apart from the looming threat of danger."

"All too true, boss."

Clover groaned. "Not you too."

"Just as a reminder, when I'm doing your essay, I'll be sure to make it uncomfortable for you."

"Me and my big mouth."

"How did it ever get so big Clover? Sam smirked. Ahhh, innuendo. A vile mistress. "Actually scratch that, I already know."

Clover surrendered with her hands above her head. Mocking Sam. "Oh my God, what did I just start? I'm sorry, okay?" She got up from the bed and let Alex's sleeping body slump onto the pillow Clover was sat on.

Alex shot up. "What's going on? What did I miss?" Alex asked quickly as if she was secretly a part of the conversation, even though she was sleeping like a log.

"We got promoted." Sam smiled. "Isn't that right Clover?"

"Don't thank me, please," Clover muttered. She went to the fridge opposite to pick out a bottled water. It was on the warm side; anything was good to drink right now to get rid of the dry taste in her mouth. "This will have to do."

"A promotion? Yeah, right." Alex crawled closer to Sam. "Anything else?"

"Don't ask. Just be happy to hear that Patryk is on his way."

"Yippee!" Alex cheered. "I cannot wait…. What do we do until then? It's not like anyone brought any video games along."

Clover redirected her eyes to Zaac. It was strange for him to just sit in the middle of the room. Meditation wasn't something she found interesting, too dull for her taste. "We just so happen to be the company of a handsome man, it would be a pleasure to at least get to know him before someone tries to kill us again," Clover said with a slight grin, "We're not having much luck avoiding that all of a sudden."

"Life's short enough as it is."

"Either we get a conversation going or die of boredom." Clover leant on the fridge and took a small sip of water. Tasted warm and generic, like tap water. She walked back to the bed and sat back down next to Alex.

"I guess now is the time to show you something cool I found down on that plane wreck earlier," said Alex. She unholstered the nickel-plated handgun from the space of her belt and showed it to the girls. It was unloaded, and it glimmered. The golden W caught her eye.

Sam took the handgun from Alex's hand and pulled back the slide. "This feels right…" The slide clicked back into place. Sam noticed some words engraved on the left side. The handwriting was exquisite. "Brian Wesker..."

"Who?"

Sam shrugged. "It's what it says here on the side."

"Must be what the W on the grip stands for," Alex added.

"Someone mention my name?" Zaac said. The girls never saw him coming; he just appeared at the side of the bed. He looked rested and had a bit of a frown. Clover almost flinched; she wasn't paying attention.

"Did I?" Sam queried.

"Hey… my handgun." Zaac smiled. "Where'd you find it?"

Alex waved her hand to get Zaac's attention. "Me. I found it by your plane wreckage."

"Does it belong to you?"

Zaac looked at Sam and nodded. "Passed down from my grandfather." He held out his hand. "Can I have it back, please?"

"Sure." Sam handed Zaac the Colt, and he felt it up with love and care. It was kind of bizarre.

"Thanks. Been in the family for three generations, and has quite a… sentimental value." Zaac ejected the magazine and inserted a fresh one into the handgun before holstering it. He made sure the safety was on.