October 1st 00:55

LOCATION: NEST 2

Carlos cursed his constant bad luck in his mission to track down the vaccine,

He made his way into the Umbrella underground lab via a maintenance hatch in the ceiling.

So far the labs security lockdown was kicking his ass, if he wanted to wander with impunity then he needed to find a way to shutdown the labs security lockdown system,

He certainly hadn't been expecting this bullshit when he started working for the U.B.C.S,

He checked his watch 01:00AM, he wondered how Jill was- he was praying that the vaccine would have done its job by now.

Since he'd made his way underground, he hadn't been able to reach Tyrell on the comms, he supposed there was no signal down here-

He was on his own from here out.

From the looks of it the Umbrella scientists hadn't fared too well either, he wondered if everyone was dead, if he was the only living thing in the entire facility.

Carlos fired at the Zombies adorned in lab coats, he pondered that the very people that had a hand in creating this monster making T-Virus where now the victims of it, which in a way was a strange irony.

He checks the bodies of the Zombies for anything that could help him bypass the lockdown

"Damnit" Carlos hissed, nothing.

Carlos wondered how Tyrell was getting along with talking with the military, he'd been down here for some time now- for a moment he'd thought that he'd heard something, it sounded like distant gunfire.

He kept still against the wall, he considered that it could be someone that wouldn't want him snooping down here or even worse- it could be Nikolai.

Natasha had explained to him that the Russian man was the reason for his U.B.C.S platoon's losses since they were stationed in Raccoon City.

They had been originally camped out in a secure post not too far from the RPD when their orders sent them into the Raccoon City,

Of course once Mikhail had realised that they were seriously over run and out numbered he had requested that his platoon be evacuated from the city, that was just before all hell broke loose- of course that request had gone unanswered,

He suspected that they were considered collateral damage to the company that hadn't once attempted to re-establish contact.

He cursed the company that he had once assumed had humanities best interests at heart, how wrong he had been.

Then of course there had been the shit show at the command post, a few days ago.

The location in which they'd stationed themselves included one gate as an exit and one as an entrance, it had been dark as the dawn hadn't yet appeared, that's when the horde came.

The undead came upon them like a tidal wave, once they'd realised how outnumbered they were everyone raced to the back gate where they had found it locked, trapping everyone inside the area with the Zombies.

Carlos remembered it being darker than dark, the flash of automatic gunfire being the only erratic source of light, the pack of Zombie dogs had torn apart most of the men, he'd seen other U.B.C.S soldiers fire at each other in fear and confusion, he's watched as a Zombie tore out the throat of a younger soldier with its teeth.

That single horrific incident had all but eliminated him and six others and in that whole time that they were fighting for their lives, he couldn't once recall seeing Nikolai fighting among them.

Carlos shook his head, he couldn't afford to think about it too much, one thing he knew for sure was that if the Black Widow has it her way, then a large wave of Karma was quickly coming that Fuckers way.

Carlos carefully checked around the next corner where several dead Zombies lay on the floor,

Carlos was certain that he hadn't come this way yet, as he looked up ahead, he thought that he saw a flash of something, Red?

Perhaps he wasn't as alone as he'd originally assumed.

Carlos quickly darted to the left side of the hallway hoping to get a drop on whoever it was down here with him.

However, as he quickly jumped out of his cover only to find the corridor empty, he sighed.

He wasn't losing his mind he knows that there's someone else down here, Carlos follows the corridor around, unaware of the figure that was grappled to the ceiling above him.

The female form soundlessly dropped behind him, Carlos suddenly felt the barrel of a pistol being held to his head-

"Don't move, don't turn around and I wont shoot. Let me see your hands soldier boy" the female voice demanded,

Carefully as to not spook her Carlos slowly held up his open hands

"Let me guess, you're U.B.C.S" the female voice spoke with an amused smirk-

"I was, but let's say I recently resigned" the female behind him laughed

"What are you doing here, whoever you are" Carlos felt the front of the pistol press harder into his head.

Whoever they were, Carlos doubted that they were meant to be snooping down here

"I'm just looking. What are you doing here?" the woman demanded, he felt the figure behind him shift their weight with a pained groan, Carlos considered that his attacker may be injured

"I'm looking for the vaccine" he decided that honesty was perhaps the best policy, he didn't know the motives of this strange woman, but he didn't think it was wise to play games with a lady currently holding a gun to his head

"That's a little ironic isn't it U.B.C.S?" Carlos shrugged he supposed it was, after all this stranger had no reason to believe him

"Listen- my entire platoon is dead, I'm now working with the Black Widow- you know the Avenger" he hoped that name dropping Natasha might make the woman think twice about shooting him.

The stranger remained silent for a few moments as if contemplating his words

"The Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff is here in Raccoon City?" she asked him.

Carlos felt himself relax a little as the pressure of the gun slightly reduced on his head

"Yeah Natasha, we're trying to locate the vaccine before the city is blown up" he prayed that this mysterious stranger would understand how important his mission was, who was she and how did she get down here?

"Hm- Natasha Romanoff, now there's a face I haven't seen in a long time" the female voice mumbled,

Carlos held his breath not wanting to move in case she changed her mind and decided to shoot him

"Hey, we're trying to save some lives, if you want you can come with me, there's a strong possibility that the city is about to be microwaved in a few hours"

The female voice laughed "Don't worry about me U.B.C.S"

Carlos felt the woman slip something in his pocket, Carlos turned his head slightly only for the end of the gun to push hard into his skull again,

He thought he'd caught a brief glimpse of his attacker, was she seriously wearing a red evening dress?

"What I've just placed in your pocket is an override key for the lockdown, you should be able to use it to get to the main research lab" the gun slowly retracted from his head

"And make sure to tell Romanoff that she owes Ada Wong a favour" Carlos turned around to find the woman was long gone, Ada? He pulled out the override key from his pocket.

He didn't have the time to ponder his brief encounter with 'Ada' he was running out of time, thankfully the key in his hand would make it much easier to find where the vaccines were stored.