Chapter fourteen:

In the chamber, they were pounding on the glass and attempting to shoot it. Nothing was working. Alice knew then she couldn't break it to get them out. She couldn't access the panel to hack the code to open the door either. Panic was gripping her, fogging her mind. She looked at Jill, seeing that Jill was struggling to breathe.

"I love you," Jill was saying. "I love you, Alice."

Alice saw Angie, the girl she had practically raised as her own. She saw her dear friend, Carlos, and her newer friends, the Redfields. She wasn't going to let them die, and she certainly wasn't going to lose Jill.

In a moment of clarity, Alice pulled her gun and held the barrel to the cure. Wesker raised his eyebrows. "What are you doing?"

"You need this cure to make the world safe for repopulation. It'd be a shame if something happened to it. It could save so many innocent lives and set things right. Let them out."

"You'd destroy the one way to save the entire world to save those five people?"

"They are my world. Let them out now or the cure will be released down here, where it doesn't matter."

Wesker snorted. "You think I'm going to help you?"

"I wasn't talking to you, Wesker. I was talking to the Red Queen." Alice looked directly at the camera in the corner. "Do the right thing. Let them out."

The doors to the chamber opened, releasing the gas. Wesker ran to avoid it. Alice covered her face and rushed to the chamber. She lifted Jill from the floor. Carlos helped Angie, and Claire helped Chris. They left the room and ran until they reached a hallway with clean air.

Alice cradled Jill in her arms, frantically kissing her face as she breathed. "That's it. Breathe, baby. Breathe…"

"Alice," Jill choked. "We're okay. We'll be okay."

"I say we get the hell out of here," Claire said.

"Do we know which way?" Carlos asked.

Alice found a nearby computer. The Red Queen appeared and Alice smiled. "Thank you for that."

"As you said, it's the only way to set things right," the Red Queen replied.

"We need a way out," Alice requested.

"I have one for you. But you must hurry. Wesker is telling Dr. Isaacs you have the cure. They're sure to come for you."

That was their cue to get moving. They followed the exit plan given to them by the Red Queen, stopping occasionally to set explosives behind them. When they got near the surface, Wesker and Dr. Isaacs were catching up to them. They all ended up in the entryway beneath Raccoon City.

"We have to get to the surface to release the cure," Alice decided. She went to Angie and held her hand. "I want you to get out first."

Angie nodded. "I understand."

Wesker and Dr. Isaacs were upon them. Dr. Isaacs went after Alice, and Wesker went for Jill. They wound up on opposite sides of the room. Alice called out. "Jill!"

"Go! We'll be along soon," Jill answered.

"No, you stay with me," Alice argued as she narrowly avoided the powerful punch of Dr. Isaacs. "You promised you wouldn't leave me."

Carlos, Claire, and Chris opened fire at Wesker. That drew him from Jill long enough for her to join Alice and Angie. Jill and Alice fought against Dr. Isaacs. It was not an easy task, as Dr. Isaacs could calculate their next moves. While he was distracted by Alice and Jill, Angie hurried to find an exit. Angie was the first one to leave The Hive and reach the entrance below Raccoon City. Alice and Jill weren't far behind her, with Dr. Isaacs in pursuit.

Wesker was doing his best again Claire, Chris, and Carlos. Yet, Carlos pulled a knife. He threw it and it wedged into Wesker's forehead. He stumbled backwards, into a doorway. Claire saw the electronic door control and opened fire, forcing the door to close on Wesker. Wesker was pinned to the floor. Chris and Carlos opened fire, blowing holes into Wesker's head. Claire held out her hands for the explosive charges, so Carlos threw them to her.

They set up the explosives near Wesker and retreated to the entrance to Raccoon City, where Jill and Alice were sparring with Dr. Isaacs. Angie had made it to the opening to the city above. When she opened the manhole cover, she had a view of the street. The city was thick with the Undead. So much for them having moved on.

"Alice, Jill!" Angie shouted.

"Carlos!" Alice called out.

Carlos rushed to join Angie. He popped up first and started taking out the zombies on the surface. Angie was behind him, and the Redfields weren't far behind them. Alice and Jill fired at Dr. Isaacs together, slowing him but not stopping him.

"Go!" Alice shouted.

Jill climbed to the surface first. Alice was right behind her, but Dr. Isaacs was right behind Alice. On the surface, Carlos and the Redfields were preoccupied with the Undead. They had nearly forgotten to denote the explosives in The Hive. Carlos finally remembered, but it was Claire who had the denotator.

"Claire, the explosives!" Carlos shouted.

"On it!" Claire returned.

Though Claire detonated the explosives, sealing Wesker's dying form in The Hive forever, Dr. Isaacs had made it to the surface. He pushed Jill aside and lunged at Alice. He was feeling her pockets for the cure.

"Give it to me! I will not let you release it yet!" Dr. Isaacs hissed.

"I don't have it," Alice answered. "Angie, now!"

Angie had the cure, as Alice had slipped it to her when she held her hand. Angie readily threw the cure to the ground, breaking it and releasing it into the air. Alice elbowed Dr. Isaacs, forcing him to release her. Once she was clear, Jill shot him between the eyes. He fell on the streets of Raccoon City, dead.

The effects of the cure were instantaneous. All the Undead in the immediate area simply disintegrated before their eyes. Finally, after over five years of fighting the T-virus, the end of their fight had come.

"It'll take years to reach every corner of the globe," Alice noted as she helped Jill to her feet. "But it's a start."

Claire had tears in her eyes as she embraced Chris and Carlos. Angie was also crying, mumbling, "It's over now, Daddy. It's over…"

Alice and Jill embraced, tears in their eyes. Alice spoke in a whisper. "I thought I was going to lose you in there."

"I've always told you nothing is set in stone," Jill murmured. She pulled back and gazed into Alice's shimmering eyes. "Maybe now you won't have nightmares anymore."

"And I won't keep you up at night."

"When have I ever minded you keeping me up?" Jill asked with a suggestive wink.

They laughed and kissed. They were interrupted when Angie moved to embrace them. Carlos joined the embrace. Soon, Claire and Chris had joined the group hug, everyone taking in the relief they felt that it was all over.

"I can't wait to tell the convoy," Claire said.

"Hopefully, L.J. hasn't sunk my ship," Carlos joked.

Angie looked at her surrogate family with a curious expression. "What happens now?"

"I guess the survivors will have to figure out how to live again," Alice said. "Until the cure reaches everywhere, we'll still have our work cut out for us."

"And after it's safe to live everywhere?" Angie went on.

"We get to start a new life," Jill answered. "One where we can finally stop running."