A/N: It's been a couple of days since my last post, and in that time I've been planning the best way to tie this story together with the multiple storylines that are tied in with it. And with so much to go on and so many ways to go about it, I'm trying my best to think of the better way to bring it all together. So expect a few delays.

The last time we left off, Ethan had finally encountered the Nemesis. And if anyone whose ever played knows what this thing is capable of, it'll take a lot of firepower to stop it, something he doesn't have at the moment. So with this in mind, this chapter will be centered around him fighting the evolved Tyrant, but he'll also be encountering another couple of characters along the way.

Fight, Flight or Freeze...what would you do faced with the Nemesis?

Disclaimer: I don't own Resident Evil.

Chapter 27:

"The most efficient way to lose a fight is to act without knowing your enemy first. First of all observe before acting." - Frank Matobo

The rattling of full-auto fire pierced the air. Ethan kept the trigger of his HK5 firmly pulled, bullets spraying from the barrel and peppering the hulking monster that slowly skulked toward him. Small fountains of blood spurted with each round that penetrated its tough hide, but did absolutely nothing to slow it down.

Nemesis growled deep in its throat, large boots stomping the ground with each step it took. Its lone eye locked firmly on its target as the Heads Up Display that made up its vision flashed with its primary objective; 'Terminate STARS Members'

"STARS!" the evolved Tyrant bellowed while closing the gap between it and the teen who was backpedaling, keeping as much distance between the two of them as possible. Clip running empty on his submachine gun, he slung it over his shoulder and drew his magnum, taking careful aim and pulling the trigger.

The powerful handgun kicked, slug blowing a bloody hole through the Nemesis' shoulder. The force of the round tilting its body to the side slightly and halting it for just a moment. Turning to face Ethan again, the beast growled like an enraged animal, pulling its right arm back as though it were about to throw a disc before swiping it through the air.

A long, whip-like tentacle sprouted from its open palm, lashing through the air and striking Ethan in the chest and sending him hurling through the air several feet and landing in a heap by a cluster of bushes. The impact from the attack knocking the wind out of him and stinging even through the layers of kevlar his vest provided.

"Shit..." he groaned getting back to his feet and seeing the Tyrant stomping his way again, tentacle retracting back into its arm. "Can't fight this thing, not without something with a lot more kick behind it."

On his right, a zombie stumbled up to him, arms outstretched and mouth agape to take a bite out of him. At the same time, the Nemesis cocked its arm back, the shifting that was seen underneath its mutated flesh signifying that it was preparing to shoot another tentacle.

Thinking fast, Ethan grabbed the zombie by the shoulders and threw it forward, right as the beast shout a sharpened tentacle from its palm. The fleshy spear piercing through the infected's chest, snapping it forward until its head was encased in the larger monsters hand.

The zombie struggled in the Nemesis' grasp, the beast growling at the mistaken grab before crushing the undead creature's head as easily as though it were a kiwi fruit. Blood, grey matter and shards of bone sprayed through the air and seeped through its huge fingers before it tossed the body aside carelessly.

Looking back toward its target, the Tyrant watched as Ethan sprinted out of the park and out on to the street. "SSSSSSTTTTTTAAAAAAAARRRRRRSSSSSS!" it roared before stomping after him.

X

Left, right, down an alley and across a wide street, Ethan ran for all he was worth. Feet hitting the ground as he tried to put as much distance between him and Nemesis as he possibly could. Shoulder slamming into a door to a nearby shop, splintering the frame and nearly taking it off its hinges as he barreled inside.

Slamming the door behind him, he grabbed a nearby shelf and threw it against it, sealing the opening and taking the time to reload his HK5. All while trying to get his racing heart rate to slow down. 'Fuck! I didn't think that thing would be coming around so quickly, Umbrella must be pulling out all the stops to keep things from getting out.' he throught, looking at the blocked door while he slipped a fresh clip into his weapon.

The loud, heavy footsteps outside made his breath hitch. 'It can't be that fast...' He pressed his back to the wall by the door, magnum in hand as he heard a deep, rumbling growl that sounded like an oversized bulldog that couldn't find its bone.

Looking across the shop, past the overturned shelves and the various products scattered across the floor, was a large door with a red-neon exit sign that flickered above it. The door most likely led into the alley behind the building, and it was only a matter of time before Nemesis managed to locate him.

Despite everything he knew about this particular BOW, he didn't have nearly enough firepower to even scratch it. Hell, this thing was built like a walking tank and would put the previous Tyrants he had fought with the others to shame.

But worse than that, this thing was programmed to target STARS. And since he was the only one left in the city...

The footsteps stopped right outside the door, harsh breathing on the other side told him that the monster was looking for him. 'No other options, that barrier won't stop it.' Taking a deep breath, he pushed off the wall and began treading toward the back, carefully stepping over the various objects that were scattered everywhere. From what he could tell the Tyrant hadn't moved, the breathing still persisted behind the door and there was shuffling but nothing else.

Turning back to the door he started moving again, he was barely halfway to the exit when something on the shelf to his right suddenly fell off and clattered to the floor. The noise nearly deafening in the completely silent store.

Ethan froze, slowly turning to face the front of the shop, praying to every entity in every religion that it hadn't been heard.

Though neither fate or religion were on his side at the moment.

The front of the store exploded inward, shards of wood and metal flying in all directions as Nemesis' hulking form stood in the gaping hole it had punched through the wall. "STARS!" the creature roared, swallowing up the sound of the lone STARS' Colt Python firing in the small space.

Aiming low, the teen fired, punching bloody holes through the monsters legs and knees in the hopes of slowing it down before about facing and running to the exit. Kicking the metal door open and immediately turning right down the alley. A corpse that had been slumped against the wall slowly rose up but was kicked back down as Ethan ran past it, leaping up and rebounding off a closed dumpster and vaulting over the wooden fence that blocked off the end just as the door behind him was sent crashing into the concrete wall across from it.

Hitting the ground on the opposite side, rolling from the impact back to his feet, Ethan stood and started running again. Barely making it five feet before his body was gripped with crippling pain.

A burning ache that stretched through nearly every muscle, his head feeling several sizes too big and his vision tinting red around the edges. "D-Dammit! What the hell's happening?" he gritted through his teeth as he staggered to his feet, scooping up his dropped magnum as he started stumbling away from where he had fallen just as the wooden fence behind him shattered into splinters.

The thudding footsteps of his pursuer on the asphalt was heard over the pulse pounding through his ears. His instincts screamed in the back of his head and he dropped to the ground in time for a tentacle to shoot through the air where his head would have been. Stabbing through the side of a nearby station wagon like it was tissue paper.

Ethan rolled on to his back, magnum held in both hands to steady his aim as he targeted the Nemesis' head. The tint in his vision making it a bit difficult but still managing to get a lock just as the Tyrant ripped its tendril from the car.

Bang! The last slug in the gun fired, zooming through the air and punching through the stapled flesh that covered the monster's eye. The roar that blasted from its mouth echoed along the building walls and could probably be heard halfway across the city. It bowed down, hand clamped over the side of its face with small rivers of blood oozing out from the injury.

With the Nemesis distracted, the traveler struggled back to his feet and moved as quickly as he could. Going around a street corner and began searching for a place for him to hide. Pain still wracking his body while he moved, he managed to find a garage door that was slightly open at the bottom and decided that it was his only chance, the distant roar of the hulking beast behind him a dimmed and its heavy footsteps started again cementing the idea.

Dropping to the ground, he rolled under the large door and got back up to seal it shut the rest of the way in time for Nemesis to stomp right past where he was now hidden.

The Tyrant growled as it scanned the surroundings for the missing target, blood still dripping from the hole punched through its face as it stood in the open street. "STARS!" it ground out as it stomped farther up the road.

Ear pressed to the steel door, Ethan listened as the thundering footsteps faded away. A breath he didn't know he had been holding was released as he slowly turned to observe the new room he had wound up in.

It was big enough to house a car, but looked to be used for storage space considering the crates and boxes stacked along the walls illuminated by a couple of flourescent lights still active overhead. The slight smell of wood and grease filled the air, and the only other exit seemed to be a single, metal door in the far corner.

Shuffling across the concrete floor, he checked the other exit and found the door locked. "Only one way in or out, good." he mumbled before checking to make sure that the rest of the room was secured.

No corpses, no blood, and no sign of trouble. Perfect.

Ethan pressed his back to the metal door so that he could face the room, sliding to the floor as the bizarre burning feeling in his body continued to pulse through him. "W-What's happening...to me..." he groaned as his vision began to darken, his form slumping completely and slipping into unconsciousness.

X

In an undisclosed location, a lone man sat at a large desk looking at the display set out before him. Various screens depicting the situation in Raccoon City and the individual he had taken responsibility for.

Through the eye of one of the cameras on a lamp post, he had watched the young STARS go into hiding to escape the Nemesis. Umbrella was really pulling out all the stops, their operations had been fortified with the US Special Forces moving into the city to perform their own investigation into the outbreak.

So many different variables...with so little time left for the city itself.

"He took the serum...didn't he?" said a woman's voice behind him. Coming out of the shadows and being bathed in the light of the displays, was the same woman that had taken Ethan from his world and brought him into this one. Concern reflected on her face which had remained mostly flawless despite her age.

"Yes, he did." said 'Oracle' leaning back in his chair. The woman could make out the subtle slumping of the man's shoulders, a sign that any tension he had been feeling was let go.

"You're still worried about him," she stated rather than asked.

The mystery benefactor let out a slow breath, "Why wouldn't I be? He's their son, I promised to look after him if anything happened to them. Had it been up to me...I would have left him in the dimension that they placed him in."

She nodded, "I understand, it wasn't easy for you to make the choice to bring him here. And I know that it really isn't easy for him either." she looked at the display as the hulking tyrant moved on in its search. "Umbrella's certainly not pulling any punches, I hope he's ready."

"Which is why I made sure he received the serum," replied Oracle. "It will give him the edge that he needs to survive and carry out any plans he may have compiled. Knowing him, he will most likely go in search of Sherry before going to the lab beneath the station."

"Do you think that he can handle it? The truth? And what's about to be awoken within him?" she asked leaning over his shoulder as time passed on the monitors.

"Only time will tell, but I have faith that he will at least have an open mind and understand all the secrecy." The man's eyes watched the screen before him, "For now...we'll just watch and wait."

X

Hours had slipped by before a groan came from the slumped figure in hiding. Blinking open his eyes and feeling as though he had been pulled from a large body of water. Rubbing his face as he felt the grogginess slowly start to fade. "What happened..." he muttered to himself, bracing against the wall as he stood up.

The light within the storage space were still on casting a bright glow around him, but he had to shield his eyes a bit because they felt a bit oversensitive at the moment.

Once his vision adjusted, he took the time to stretch and work out the stiffness in his muscles. The burning pain he had felt before was completely gone now, in fact, he felt better than he ever had before.

It was almost like back at the mansion when he and Rebecca woke up in the residence dorms, when they discovered that he had healed completely from the claw marks he had gotten from the Hunter the night before. He looked down at his hands and clenched them a couple fo times, hearing the joints and tendons pop softly while he tried to think of what had been the cause in the first place.

'Had to have been that serum,' he concluded. 'No other explanation.' checking his watch, his eyes shot open and his musings came to a screeching halt seeing the time. Over ten hours had lapsed since he fell unconscious, meaning night had fallen over the city already.

'What the fuck did that shit do to me to knock me out for that long?!' He made quick work of checking over his weapons and gear, taking stock of what he had left and reloading his guns before drawing his Samurai Edge. 'I'll worry about the serum's side effects later. Gotta get back on track.'

Moving over to the garage door he had rolled under when he had arrived, he knelt down, hand grabbing the handle on the bottom with his left hand while gripping his Beretta in his right. Bracing himself for a fight incase any undead were out wandering around since he'd been knocked out.

Taking a slow breath, he pulled the door up, the loud rattle of the metal echoed loudly within the room and the now dark street outside. And he wasn't disappointed about possible zombies.

Four of them had been milling around as the door open, all of them swinging themselves around toward the source of the loud noise and began shuffling toward it. Ethan crouch-walked under the door, raising to his full height as the undead began to close in.

Pulling his knife out, the teen drove the blade through the temple of the closest one. Kicking the corpse away before stabbing another through its right eye socket, crossing his right arm over his left forearm and steadying his aim as he fired a 9mm round through the forehead of a third zombie a few feet away.

The last infected continued toward him, once a woman with one of its legs dragging behind it with bones sticking out of its decaying flesh and leaving a small smear of blood along the asphalt.

Lowering his weapon and pulling his knife free, Ethan just kicked the zombie in the chest knocking it to the ground, walking away while it tried to get back up. 'Gotta keep moving to the police station. 'Too much time has passed already, and I don't know what's been going on around here while I've been out.' His eyes swept along the alleyways and store fronts he passed while moving down the street, pistol in hand with the knife held against the grip upside-down in the standard CQC fashion.

'Police station's just a of couple blocks away, should be no trouble as long as I don't attract too much attention.' a hiss-like growl broke him from his thoughts as a humanoid form sprinted from the mouth of a nearby alley.

The familiar sight of a Crimson Head, skin the color of blood, sharpened claws and red rimmed-white eyes that locked on to the traveler while it came at him at full speed.

With it moving so fast and closing in, he didn't have time to use his Beretta and took a stance with his knife at the ready. When the fast zombie got within distance he moved to the side and lashed out with his leg and heard the satisfying crunch when he connected with the creatures kneecap.

The Crimson Head pitched forward and crashed into the ground, its head bouncing hard on the asphalt, shattering its nose but not completely cracking its skull. Ethan raised his foot and brought it down hard on the creatures neck with a loud snap, the body going still immediately.

A chorus growls filled the air, the traveler turned back to the same alleyway the undead sprinted from and heard multiple running footsteps echoing. More were on the way, a good number more.

He barely had time to bring his Samurai Edge to bare when the first couple came running out of the shadows. They were quickly followed by about four more making six total, all of them with saliva and blood spraying from their rotten teeth as they sprinted toward fresh meat, their claws preparing to tear through flesh.

Ethan swept his gaze over the infected as they drew closer, his mind already calculating the best way to take them down without them getting too close or taking any hits. He felt his heart rate pick up with adrenaline coursing through him. Time itself around him began to slow to a crawl, the Crimson Heads seemed to slow to a dull trot, even though they still looked to be at full sprint.

Bringing his gun up, he took aim at the closest Crimson Head and fired, its head turning into a fountain of blood and bone before he reaimed at the one next to it and pulled the trigger again.

To him, time may have been slow, but on the outside looking in his movements were hard to track as he swung in a small arc, the slide kicking back with each shot and ejecting a spent casing each pull of the trigger. By the time the second and third casing hit the ground, all six Crimson Heads laid in the middle of the street with holes punched through their heads, blood and chunks of grey matter spilling out on to the ground as the teen lowered his weapon.

The bizarre time-dialation that he had just experienced steadily faded and everything went back to the way it was before. "The hell was that?" he asked himself looking from his gun to the dead infected that laid before him. "It felt...like what had happened at the mansion. When I fought those dogs and then Wesker later."

Shaking his head, he started moving again. Going from a steady walk to a light jog as he rounded a corner, coming to a stop when he encountered a barricade made entirely out of damaged cars stacked on top of one another stretching from one end of the street to the other.

It was crude in design, but from what he saw when things started falling apart it had been effective...for a while anyway.

Checking his surroundings, Ethan headed toward the barrier, putting his foot down on to the open doorway of one of the bottom cars and pushing himself upward. He began climbing his way up the pile of wrecks, being cautious about sharp chunks of metal and glass that were sticking out. Reaching the top in no time at all before vaulting over the edge and landing on the ground on the other side.

The precinct was only another block or two ahead, 'Almost there.' he thought steeling himself as he continued on his path, while at the same time wondering what else he would encounter along the way.

Boom-Crash! He spun around, Beretta raised as the car-barricade he had just climbed over shook violently from something crashing into it on the other side. The barrier shook again from another hit, various parts from the cars fell of and shattered on the ground below. A third hit caused one of the cars on top to roll off and crash on to its roof.

With each crash, Ethan started to slowly tread backwards. Another hit shook the entire barricade and sent two more cars crunching to the street, one last strike sending one of the vehicles hurdling through the air and crashing off to the side on the sidewalk and leaving a gap large enough for whatever was banging on the other end to stomp through.

"Oh great..." the teen muttered as the hulking form of Nemesis stepped through the hole it had made. Large boots crunching down on chunks of glass and metal with each step, the hole that had been shot through its head from before had scabbed over, but the slight glint in its lone eye proved that it hadn't forgotten about that incident.

"SSSSSSSTTTTTTTAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRSSSSSSSS!" the beast roared as it began stalking after him. Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Ethan pulled the trigger of his Samurai Edge again and again, each round finding purchase on the huge BOW but having no effect on it.

When the clip ran dry, he spun on his heel and made a b-line toward the next street that had the police station on it. 'I can't get into the station with this thing dogging me at every turn, gotta lose it and fast.

He rounded the corner and could make out the form of the RPD precinct only twenty meters away, but the street was blocked off by a cross-town bus that had overturned and crashed at one point in time.

Hearing Nemesis drawing closer he didn't slow down, right foot landing on the surface of the bus' roof and gaining the leverage to launch himself farther up. Grabbing the edge of the large vehicle, he pulled himself up and leapt off the other side, rolling when he hit the ground before sprinting toward the gate that led into the station.

A loud groan filled the air, the bus itself seemed to shift as the Nemesis grabbed on to it and turned the multi-ton vehicle to the side before shoving it in the direction the young STARS was fleeing. Metal crunched and glass shattered, sparks shooting out from side pressed into the pavement as it was launched after the traveler.

Looking over his shoulder and seeing the danger, Ethan pumped his legs harder as he angled himself toward the side of a street where a car had been backed through a pizza restaurant's front window. The bus coming after him like a massive battering ram as he ran up the hood of the car, jumping up and running a few steps before springing off seconds before the wreck slammed into the wall, the bus itself fish-tailing to the side and rolling up until it landed back on all four wheels.

Ethan hit the ground, snapping back to his feet and looking forward to see a group of six heavily armed individuals, three men and three women all looking at him with stunned expressions while the evolved Tyrant continued to stomp down the street toward them.

"Don't just stand there!" he shouted at them. "FUCKING RUN!"

"STARS!" Nemesis roared as the teen ran past them and toward and alley at the end of the blocked off street. The sounds of multiple footsteps running behind him as the group caught up quickly.

"What the fuck is that!?" Shouted the blonde hefting the sniper rifle on her back.

Before he could answer them, the doors and window along the right side of the alley blasted outward and a large group of infected came pouring out. Ethan dumped the spent clip from his Beretta, slamming in a fresh one as he opened fire on the horde and killing a small handful in his path. "Shoot through them! We can't stop!" he called back as he ran out of the opening on the other end and entered the street behind the precinct. Taking a left, he intended on sticking to the back alleys and keeping one step ahead of Nemesis.

But he didn't intend on a large tentacle to lash through the air and wrap itself around his throat.

X

Echo Six wasn't too far behind, after managing to put down the undead while running after the survivor they had encountered they found themselves baring witness to the creature that had been chasing him with its arm outstretched. A tentacle shooting from its palm with the other end wrapped around his neck, slowly dragging the younger man toward its awaiting grasp.

"We have to help him!" Dee-Ay shouted turning to his team, "Tweed, Shona cover our backs! The rest of you, open fire on that thing!"

A round of acknowledgements went around as they spread out. Willow, Harley and Party Girl moved with their team leader and opened fire on the hulking beast that was attempting to crush the survivor. Automatic weapons firing a barrage of rounds directly into the monster and sending blood flying, though the damage didn't seem to faze it as it continued to drag the struggling teen closer.

Dee-Ay emptied the rest of his magazine before drawing his combat knife, intent on cutting the survivor free before the BOW got ahold of him only to find the one in question already having drawn a knife himself. Driving the blade into the tentacle and twisting hard until the small appendage gave way, sliding back into the monsters arm as it gave out a bellowing roar of fury.

"Keep...moving!" the survivor gasped while clenching his throat before bolting down an alley that was on their left. Echo Six didn't think twice and chased after him, the angered beast bellowing behind them as it came after them, swatting zombies aside as they came out of their hiding places.

The large group found themselves in a closed off section, burning car wrecks surrounded them while more undead came pouring out of windows and doorways around them. "Can anyone walk through walls?" asked Harley, the burly medic firing his pistol straight through a couple of undead that got too close.

"Maybe we can backtrack before that thing-" Shona was cut off when Nemesis stood at the opening to the alley, roaring loudly before stepping farther in after its prey.

Tweed raised her shotgun, Party Girl on her left with her sniper rifle as they hit the thing with everything they had to slow it movements. "If anyone's gotta plan, now would be a good time!" the british woman shouted blasting the BOW with another shell.

They heard gunfire and saw the armed survivor shooting a scaffolding off to the side, one of the platforms gave way and fell down making a ramp that led up. "He seems to have one, let's go!" Dee-Ay shouted while stabbing his knife through a zombie that attempted to grab him.

The team followed after him, double timing it to get out of the hostile spot and taking to the rooftops. Leaping over gaps and going across makeshift bridges, the survivor stopped at the door leading into the building before them, kicking it in and giving them an opening. "We have to keep one step ahead of that thing. It doesn't give up so easily."

He went to step inside, but Willow spoke up. "How about you tell us what we're running from. Just what the hell is that thing?"

The teen shook his head, "Bio-Organic Weapon, and its been programmed to hunt and exterminate any target relentlessly. Anything short of explosives won't even slow it down." he explained. "Look, I'll explain more later. But we need to keep moving before it catches up with us."

Dee-Ay nodded, "Alright, but we need a full sit-rep about what's happening around here when we're in a safe spot. Can we at least get a name?"

"Name's Ethan Mercer, I am...or wa, a member of the Special Tactics And Rescue Service here in Raccoon City." Ethan said as they entered the building, taking out his HK5 and switching on the flashlight at the end of the barrel to illuminate the darkened stairwell before him. The Special Forces operatives doing the same behind him.

"Can you at least give us a cliffnote version of what's happening?" asked Harley. "This place is crawling with fucking zombies!"

"A virus had somehow been released into the city, capable of brining the dead back to life or causing horrible mutation. The evidence around you speaks for itself." the teen replied as they picked their way over various dead bodies and pools of blood on each landing as they continued downward.

One body attempted to grab at their feet, but Ethan's boot came down hard on its skull and crushed it to the floor. Tweed whistled, "Damn...you look a bit young to be a STARS operative." she commented.

Ethan shrugged, "I'm 19, my girlfriend was also part of STARS here and she's only 18." That got a couple of stunned looks from the team. "We both got an IQ in the upper triple-digits, nearly genius level. She's an expert biochemist and I'm a strategist and criminal profiler, both of us graduated college barely a year ago. With resumes like that we fit the bill for a job here."

"Impressive." said Shona as they reached the bottom of the stairs, finding two infected stumbling around on the ground floor.

Dee-Ay got up behind one and snapped its neck while Willow pulled out her knife and stabbed it through the head of the other one. The door on the right was kicked open and the group stepped back outside into a small parking lot. "This looks like a pretty safe place, for now anyway." said the squad leader as they entered the open space, the only way back to the street being through a small alley straight ahead.

Echo Six grouped together and checked their supplies before turning to their guest who finished doing the same, "Mercer, you promised us an explanation. Mind filling us in?" asked Dee-Ay wanting to get right to the point.

Ethan turned to all of them, wondering how far he could trust this group with the amount of information that he had with him. They were with the US government, and if anyone had the power to put Umbrella in a real bind it would be these guys.

After taking a few moments to weighs the pros and cons, he put his weapons away and addressed the team, "Alright, get comfortable because this will take a while to explain." Echo Six had their complete and undivided attention on him as he prepared to give them the rundown, "It all started back in July..."

A/N: A bit of a cliffhanger, but one worthy of bringing about. With Echo Six about to be brought up to speed about what's been happening, how much will the story change because of it? And with the Serum Ethan injected into himself, what will be the fall out when it all comes to a head in the end.

I really appreciate the reviews guys, keep them coming!