The three of them stepped off the cable car. Annette led the way, her stride unsteady but driven. White corridors stretched ahead, lined with cultivation tanks where test subjects threw themselves against the glass in dull, rhythmic thuds. She didn't spare them a glance. Sherry was the only thing left in her head.
Ada walked in the middle, fingertips resting on the suppressed pistol at her hip. Her eyes swept every corner, every shadow, every alcove. But her peripheral vision kept drifting back to Ryan.
He moved like nothing had happened. Not a hitch in his step, not a flinch. As if the round Annette had put into his back was a mosquito bite. Ada knew better. Even through a ballistic vest, a shot like that carried enough force to crack ribs. Most people wouldn't be standing, let alone walking this smoothly.
Ryan brought up the rear, X-ray vision spread wide across the entire NEST complex. The layout unfolded in his mind like a blueprint. Security drones here. Hunters lying in ambush there. The self-destruct system's master terminal, two floors up. Even William's current position, clear as day.
Huh. Leon and Claire made it inside too. Their group had entered the facility from the opposite end and was already pushing toward sublevel four.
They reached the main control room. Annette stepped up to the console, fingers flying across the encrypted keypad. A long string of codes later, a section of wall slid open to reveal a recessed alloy safe.
"The original sample is in here." Her voice carried a faint tremor. "This is the G-Virus base solution William developed first. Three vials total. He injected himself with one. One is inside Sherry. This is the last."
The safe opened. Black shock-absorbent foam lined the interior. Three sealed cryogenic containers sat in a neat row, each holding pale green liquid. Two were empty. Only the center vial remained intact, its contents catching the light with an eerie sheen.
There it was.
Ada's breath stopped for half a second.
This was what she'd risked her life infiltrating Raccoon City to obtain. Wesker's kill-order. The final objective of every mission parameter she'd been given, right there within arm's reach.
Her fingers twitched. The instinct to raise her weapon was almost automatic. She had a dozen openings. Drop Annette. Turn on Ryan. Grab the sample and run.
She looked at his back. Her hand settled.
She didn't stand a chance and she knew it. This was a man who headshot Hunters through walls, who took a bullet to the spine without flinching, who anticipated every threat before she'd even registered it. Drawing on him would only end one way.
And beyond all that, she didn't want to.
Ryan walked up, plucked the vial from its foam cradle, bounced it once in his palm to feel the weight, and tucked it into the waterproof pouch against his chest. Casual as grabbing a bottle of water off a shelf.
Annette opened her mouth, then closed it. She had no leverage and she knew it. Seeing Sherry alive was the only thing she could still hope for.
The alarms hit without warning.
A shrieking klaxon tore through the NEST. Red emergency lights strobed down every corridor. A synthetic voice echoed off the walls, looping:
"Warning: high-concentration G-Virus activity detected."
"Warning: B.O.W. containment breach. Level-one lockdown initiated."
"Warning: self-destruct system on standby."
Annette went white. "It's William! He can sense the G-Virus. He's tracked it here!"
Ryan's eyebrow ticked up. No surprise on his face. He'd already seen it through the walls: G3 William, barreling down the corridor toward the control room at horrifying speed, ripping through every security system and Hunter in his path like tissue paper.
"Relax." His voice stayed flat. He sealed the pouch tight against his body and put a hand on Annette's shoulder. "Emergency evacuation tunnel. Follow the utility corridor to the train platform. Sherry and Leon are already down there. You wait much longer, you won't see her at all."
Annette stared. Hope ignited behind her eyes. "You're... you're really letting me go?"
"What else? Told you we're not Umbrella." A small smile. "Keeping you here doesn't help anyone. I'd just have to babysit you on top of everything else. Go. William's almost at the door."
She didn't hesitate. A deep bow, then she turned and sprinted into the evacuation tunnel. Her silhouette vanished around the far bend in seconds.
The control room fell quiet. Just Ryan and Ada now.
Red light strobed across both their faces. The alarm screamed. Beyond the door, William's roar was getting closer, punctuated by the shriek of claws tearing through steel walls.
Ada looked at him. When she spoke, her voice was low but precise. "You knew he was coming. You sent Annette away on purpose."
Ryan turned to face her, the corner of his mouth pulling into a lazy grin. "What's this, Ada? Just the two of us now. Not going to make a move for the sample? It's the thing you nearly died for."
Her grip tightened on the pistol. Then, slowly, it dropped to her side. She met his eyes, her expression difficult to read. "I can't beat you. And you saved my life back there."
Principled after all. He kept the thought off his face, kept his tone breezy. "Good. Then quit standing around. William's almost here and this room's a dead end. We need to go deeper."
Ada blinked. "Deeper? The core laboratory is back there. That's a dead end."
Ryan raised an eyebrow and was already moving toward the security door at the rear of the control room. "Not for me, it isn't. Stay close. Don't fall behind."
Ada looked at his back. Then at the door, where the roaring was so close now the frame was vibrating. She followed without a word.
[Read 50+ chapters ahead on Patreon: patreon.com/NiaXD]