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Raccoon City Junior High - Reunion
The gunfire echoed through empty hallways. Alice followed the sound, moving fast, Jill right behind her. Matt and the others cleared intersections, weapons ready.
They found Marcus in the east wing corridor, standing over a pile of small corpses. Zombie children, all headshots. And beside him, clutching his hand, a little girl with a backpack.
"Angela," Alice said, relieved.
Marcus nodded. "Mission accomplished. Let's—"
He stopped. Three zombie dogs rounded the corner, their rotted flesh barely clinging to exposed muscle. They charged.
Angela gasped and ducked behind Marcus.
Marcus raised his rifle calmly. Three shots. Three dogs dropped mid-leap, skulls shattered.
"You're safe," he said to Angela. "I've got you."
The group converged in the main hallway. Alice approached Angela, and the moment their eyes met, something... shifted. A flash of recognition. Connection. Like looking into a mirror that showed a different reflection.
"Do you know each other?" Marcus asked, watching them.
Alice shook her head slowly. "No. But I know she's infected."
Everyone tensed. Weapons came up slightly.
"How do you know?" Jill demanded.
"Because she is too," Angela said quietly, pointing at Alice.
Silence.
Ryan stepped forward. "Alice, you injected the antidote. Back at the Hive. We all did."
"I know," Alice said. "But something's different. My body's changed—stronger, faster. I don't know if I'm going to turn or if something else is happening."
She knelt beside Angela. "Let me see."
The girl hesitated, then extended her arm. Red spots dotted her skin—infection markers. Alice checked her pulse, her pupils, the lymph nodes in her neck. Professional. Medical.
Then Alice noticed the backpack. "May I?"
Angela nodded.
Inside was a metal case. Alice opened it, and everyone leaned in to see.
Nine vials in foam padding. Seven green. Two empty slots.
"T-virus antidote," Alice breathed. "Where did you get this?"
"My dad made it for me." Angela's voice was small but steady. "He has a genetic disease. So do I. He found the T-virus trying to cure us. It worked—it made my body better. But I need antidote injections regularly or the virus takes over."
She looked down at her hands. "Later, Umbrella took his invention. Turned it into a weapon. My dad didn't want any of this. He's not a bad person."
Alice pulled Angela into a hug. "It's okay. None of this is your fault."
Jill looked at the vials. "Seven doses. That's more than we had before."
"We might need them," Kaplan said. "If the infection spreads in the group."
Marcus studied Angela thoughtfully. Infected but stable. Regular antidote injections keeping the virus in check. And that moment of connection with Alice—telepathy? He thought about the cloning labs in the Hive, the research Umbrella had been doing.
Could Angela be a clone? Alice's genetic template?
It would explain the telepathic connection. The similar infection profiles. But now wasn't the time to voice that theory.
"We need to move," Marcus said. "Ashford's waiting for our call."
The Call
The payphone outside the school started ringing the moment they approached.
Marcus answered. "Dr. Ashford. We have your daughter."
"Thank God." Ashford's relief was palpable. "Is she hurt?"
"She's fine. Now tell us how to leave."
"Right. Yes." Papers rustled. "In forty-seven minutes, a helicopter will take off from the roof of the municipal building. It's the last evacuation flight before the nuclear strike. That's your window."
"Municipal building. Got it."
"Please... let me talk to her."
Marcus handed the phone to Angela. "Your dad."
"Dad!" Angela's voice broke slightly. "I'm okay. These people saved me."
While she talked, Marcus briefed the others. "Helicopter. Municipal building. Forty-seven minutes."
"That's not much time," Matt said, checking his watch.
"Then we move fast."
Umbrella Forward Base
Dr. Ashford set down the phone, relief washing over him. Angela was safe. She'd make it out. That was all that mattered.
His computer screen flickered. Then went black.
"Computers are sometimes unreliable," a voice said from behind him. "Just like people."
Ashford spun around. Kane stood in the doorway, armed guards flanking him.
"You betrayed us, Doctor."
Ashford's stomach sank. "I was saving my daughter."
"You were interfering with containment protocols." Kane stepped closer. "Did you really think we weren't monitoring you? Every camera feed you accessed. Every call you made. We've been watching."
The guards moved in, grabbing Ashford's arms.
"You can't stop them," Ashford said. "They're already on their way."
Kane smiled. "I'm counting on it."
Downtown Raccoon City
They found two cars that still ran—a sedan with a cracked windshield and a pickup truck with one flat tire. Not ideal, but functional.
"Thirty-nine minutes," Alice said, checking her watch.
"Then let's move."
Marcus drove the sedan with Angela, Terry, and Kaplan. Alice took the truck with Jill, Matt, Ryan, and J.D. They roared through empty streets, weaving around abandoned vehicles, occasionally smashing through zombies too slow to dodge.
The municipal building rose ahead—twelve stories of concrete and glass, imposing against the night sky.
They ditched the cars two blocks out and approached on foot. Stealth was better than speed now.
Marcus's telekinetic awareness swept the area. Armed guards. Lots of them. And on a nearby rooftop, a sniper positioned to overlook the approach.
"Wait here," Marcus told the others. "I'll handle the overwatch."
He disappeared into a building's fire escape, climbing fast. The sniper never saw him coming—one silent takedown, and Marcus had his position.
And his rifle.
Barrett .50 caliber. Twenty rounds across two magazines. Marcus smiled.
Below, the team moved into position. Alice led the assault on the ground-level guards while the others escorted Angela toward the building entrance.
Through the rifle scope, Marcus tracked Alice's movement. She hit the first guard fast—disarmed him, used his weapon to take down two more. Her enhanced speed made her a blur. A dozen mercenaries converged on her position.
She was handling them. Barely.
One guard went down. Then another. Alice's combat skills were exceptional, enhanced reflexes making her nearly unstoppable.
But one merc played dead. As Alice turned away, he raised his rifle toward her back—
BOOM.
The Barrett kicked against Marcus's shoulder. Downrange, the merc's head vaporized in a pink mist.
Alice spun at the sound, saw the corpse, the brain matter splattered across concrete.
"You missed one," Marcus said calmly through the radio.
A pause. Then Alice's voice, with a slight smile: "Isn't that what I have you for?"
"Apparently."
Alice regrouped with Jill and the others. Together, they moved to the building's roof access. The helicopter sat on the helipad, rotors already spinning, ready for immediate takeoff.
But something was wrong.
Too quiet. Too easy.
They emerged onto the roof—and froze.
Kane stood beside the helicopter, surrounded by guards. At least twenty armed men, rifles raised. And flanking the group, two massive figures in black leather and cybernetic enhancements.
Two Nemesis units. Gatling guns and rocket launchers pointed directly at the team.
Alice's group stood exposed on the rooftop. No cover. Nowhere to run. Trapped in a perfect kill zone.
Kane smiled. "Welcome. I've been expecting you."
Ryan's hand tightened on his rifle, but he didn't raise it. Suicide to try.
"The mantis stalks the cicada," Kane said pleasantly, "unaware of the oriole behind. Did you really think we wouldn't know about Ashford's little rebellion? We've been watching you this whole time. Guiding you here."
Jill's jaw clenched. "You used us."
"I used Ashford. He used you. And now..." Kane gestured to his men. "You're all mine."
More than a dozen rifles. Two Gatling guns. Open ground with nowhere to hide.
They were trapped.
End of Chapter 54