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Umbrella Forward Base - Outside Raccoon City
Kane watched his mercenary teams go dark one by one. Every unit sent after Alice's group—eliminated. The Asian man had killed them all.
Time for something unconventional.
"Activate the Nemesis Project," Kane ordered.
The technicians exchanged nervous glances. "Sir, the test subject isn't ready—"
"I don't care. Deploy it now."
The Nemesis shambled out—eight feet of muscle and weaponry. Gatling gun on one arm. Rocket launcher on the other. Eyes glowing with cybernetic enhancements. The chip in its brain made it theirs to command.
"Field test first," Kane said. "Send it against the RCPD special tactics team. I want combat data."
Twenty minutes later, the special tactics team was gone—torn apart by overwhelming firepower.
"Target the Alice group," Kane ordered. "Let's see which experiment is more powerful."
Downtown Raccoon City
Marcus's group moved through the darkened streets, weapons ready. Around them, the city continued its death spiral—fires burning unchecked, abandoned cars everywhere, infected shambling through the shadows.
Every payphone they passed started ringing.
First one. Then another. Then another.
"That's getting creepy," Matt muttered.
Alice looked at Marcus. "Ashford?"
"Probably." Marcus walked to the nearest phone and picked up. "Hello?"
"Oh, thank God." Dr. Ashford's voice was tight with relief. "I thought you wouldn't answer."
Marcus put it on speaker so the others could hear. "Who is this?"
"My name doesn't matter. What matters is I can guide all nine of you out of the city. But you need to move fast."
"Why should we trust you?"
"Because if you want to survive tonight, you have no choice." Ashford paused. "In the morning, Umbrella is going to launch a tactical nuclear strike on Raccoon City. They're covering up the outbreak by sterilizing the entire area. You have maybe eight hours before this city becomes ground zero."
Silence. Everyone stared at the phone.
"They're going to nuke us?" Jill said, voice hollow. "Three hundred thousand people—"
"Are already written off as acceptable losses," Ashford finished. "Umbrella has that kind of power. One call to the right people, and the missile launches. No survivors. No evidence. No outbreak."
Marcus glanced at Alice. She looked sick.
"What do you want?" Marcus asked.
"My daughter Angela. She's trapped at Raccoon City Junior High. Get her out, and I'll guide you to an extraction point—a helicopter that can get you past the perimeter before the strike."
"Deal," Marcus said immediately.
"Thank you. The school is northeast from your position, about two miles. I'll guide you via the street cameras. And... be careful. Kane has deployed something called Nemesis. It's hunting you."
The call ended.
"A nuke," Terry whispered. She clutched her camera tighter. "They're actually going to nuke an American city."
"That's Umbrella," Alice said bitterly. "They'll burn everything to hide what they've done."
Jill looked at Marcus. "We're really doing this? Rescue mission in the middle of a zombie apocalypse?"
Marcus checked his rifle. "Kid needs help. We help. Simple."
They moved out, heading northeast toward the school.
Twenty Minutes Later
The street ahead exploded.
BOOM.
The rocket hit the pavement twenty feet in front of them, concrete and asphalt erupting in a fountain of debris. Everyone scattered, diving for cover.
"What the hell—"
Then they saw it.
The thing that stepped out of the smoke was barely human. Eight feet tall, wrapped in black leather and cybernetic enhancements. Its right arm ended in a six-barrel Gatling gun. Its left held a rocket launcher. Glowing eyes locked onto them with mechanical precision.
"Nemesis," Alice breathed.
The Gatling gun spun up with a high-pitched whine.
"MOVE!" Marcus shouted.
The gun roared to life. Hundreds of rounds per second tearing through the street, chewing up concrete, ripping through abandoned cars. The noise was deafening.
Jill's partner Peyton was a step too slow.
The stream of bullets caught him across the chest. His body armor shredded. Blood sprayed. He went down in a heap.
"PEYTON!" Jill screamed.
She started toward him. Marcus tackled her sideways as the Gatling swept back across, bullets stitching a line of death exactly where she'd been standing.
"He's gone!" Marcus pulled her behind a concrete barrier. "Stay down or you're next!"
The rest of the team scattered—Ryan and J.D. behind a delivery truck, Kaplan and Matt in a storefront, Alice ducking between vehicles. Terry huddled behind a dumpster, camera forgotten.
The Nemesis advanced. Methodical. Unstoppable. The Gatling gun swept left and right, keeping them pinned.
"We can't fight that thing!" Kaplan shouted over the gunfire.
"We don't have a choice!" Alice called back.
She broke from cover, moving fast—faster than she should be able to move. Her body felt different. Stronger. Quicker. Since the T-virus exposure, since the antidote, something had changed. Enhanced.
The Nemesis tracked her. The rocket launcher swung up—
Alice dove. The rocket screamed past, impacting a building behind her. Brick and glass rained down.
"Its eyes!" Marcus yelled. "Shoot the eyes!"
He leaned out, rifle raised. Two shots. Crack-crack. Both hit—perfect accuracy, both eyes shattered in sprays of sparks and fluid.
The Nemesis roared. The chip behind its eyes was part of its control system. Blinded, it went into automatic defense mode—spinning wildly, Gatling firing in all directions.
"Get down!"
They hit the ground as the Nemesis painted the street with bullets. Walls exploded. Cars shredded. Windows shattered.
Then the Gatling wound down. Click-click-click. Empty.
The Nemesis dropped the spent weapon, fumbling for the rocket launcher with damaged targeting systems.
"Now!" Alice shouted.
They opened fire. All of them. Concentrated firepower from eight different angles. Bullets tore into the Nemesis—chest, arms, legs, head. The bio-enhanced monster staggered under the assault but kept coming.
Ryan threw a grenade. It detonated against the Nemesis's chest, blowing a chunk of armor free.
"Keep firing!"
More bullets. More grenades. The Nemesis's advance slowed, then stopped. It swayed on its feet, systems failing, body riddled with hundreds of rounds.
Finally, it fell. Hit the pavement with a crash that shook the street.
Silence.
Everyone stayed in cover for a long moment, weapons trained on the corpse.
"Is it dead?" Terry asked.
"Yeah," Marcus said. "It's dead."
Jill walked slowly toward Peyton's body. The Gatling burst had nearly cut him in half. She knelt beside him, hands shaking.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
Then she saw his fingers twitch.
The T-virus worked fast. Peyton's eyes opened—vacant, dead, wrong. His jaw opened in a low moan.
Jill pulled her pistol. Aimed. Fired once.
The body stilled.
She stood, face hard. "I told him I'd handle it. Now it's done."
Raccoon City Junior High
The school loomed in the darkness—three stories of brick and broken windows. Perfect hunting ground for the infected.
"Split up," Alice said. "Cover more ground. Terry, stick with Matt. Everyone else, search your assigned areas. Anyone finds Angela, call out."
They spread through the building.
Marcus went straight for the second floor. His telekinetic awareness had already found her—a small heat signature hiding in a classroom near the end of the east wing. But he couldn't just walk directly there without raising questions.
He moved through the hallways, "checking" rooms one by one. In reality, he was just killing time, clearing the infected students that stumbled toward him. Small zombies, children who'd been infected at school. Each one got a single headshot. Efficient. Clean.
The classroom where Angela hid had five of them. Little corpses in school uniforms, shambling aimlessly.
Marcus put them down methodically. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.
The gunshots echoed through the empty building.
More came. A dozen infected children attracted by the noise, spilling from nearby classrooms and stairwells.
Marcus switched to his M16, firing controlled bursts. The rifle kicked against his shoulder as he worked through two magazines, dropping targets with mechanical precision.
When the last body hit the floor, he called into the classroom.
"Angela? Are you here? Your father sent me—Dr. Ashford."
Silence. Then a cabinet in the corner creaked open.
A small girl emerged—maybe ten years old, clutching a backpack, eyes wide with terror but also hope.
"I'm Angela," she said quietly.
Marcus smiled, making it gentle. "I'm Marcus. Come on, let's get you out of here."
She hesitated, looking at the bodies littering the hallway.
"It's okay," Marcus said. "I'll keep you safe."
Angela nodded and took his hand.
They headed for the exit, Marcus clearing the path with bullets whenever infected appeared. Angela stayed close, trying not to look at the bodies.
Outside, the others were gathering—Alice, Jill, Ryan, everyone. Safe. Mission complete.
"You found her," Alice said, relieved.
Marcus nodded. "Let's move. Ashford said he'd guide us to extraction."
They disappeared into the night, leaving the dead school behind.
Somewhere above them, a nuclear missile was being prepped for launch.
The countdown had begun.
End of Chapter 53