Raccoon City. September 24th. 


Jack waited behind the register of Kendo's shop, his trusty Glock in hand. Something was wrong. Robert was starting to get panicky. He had mentioned something about distributing the remaining arms supply to the civilians. He hadn't said why. For the moment, however, he was to man the cash register, as usual. He waited patiently for a few hours. No customers. Suddenly, Rob came from the storeroom. He said...he said that it was all over for him. That there was no more hope of him coming out of this alive. I didn't understand what he meant, but he told me to just shoot him. I asked him why, but he just kept repeating, "Just do it!" But I refused to, and so Robert ran up to me, took my gun from me and shot himself in his head, literally blowing his brains out. That's when I saw it come out from the shadows from behind the front door, but I didn't know what it was. It was deformed, missing its left arm, and raised the other one as it came lurking toward me, moaning...

So I grabbed the shotgun on the shelf and loaded it up and aimed it at the monster. BOOM! The shotgun exploded as the pellets went flying at the thing, taking his head off cleanly. I loaded the shotgun up again and walked outside. I aimed my gun around, until I heard a strange, but familiar moaning sound coming from up above me. I looked up, and I saw...

And saw...I don't know actually know. All I know was that I was glad I decided to take that shotgun from the store...though I should have grabbed my handgun back. I'll go back for it after, if I kill this...thing. I backed up several steps, my jaw dropped in awe as it lowered its absolutely long tongue towards me. I didn't have any time to spare, I raised the shotgun as fast as I could, and let off two rounds that sliced in the monster and it detracted its claws for the time being and fell to the ground. It immediately started crawling after me, it was really fast; I knew I'd just have to try to kill it and hope for the best. I heard a huge bang! I turned around quickly, only to see the creature dead, lying in it's own spreading pool of red and green blood. And then I noticed the person standing there, watching him as I studied them. Medium height, short blonde hair, a woman....

"Hello," she said. "Who might you be?" 

Jack stared at her, not moving. 
He didn't answer. 

"Hello?" she asked. "Anybody home?" 

He stared, not answering. 
She got frustrated. 

"You know, you could show a little gratit-" 

In one quick movement, Jack raised his shotgun at the woman and fired. She yelled in surprise, until she realized she was unhurt. She looked behind her to see another strange monster, a few fresh bullet holes in what was apparently its head. It writhed in pain until it eventually died. 

"Now we're even," Jack said.

 "Now neither of us have to say thanks. Say, you wouldn't happen to know what's going on, would you?" Woman: "Probably not much more than you. Hold on, allow me to introduce myself. I'm Stephanie Watson. And you are?"


"Jack, Jack Persons. Now tell me, what do you know, it could be helpful to me, Stephanie." 

"Call me Steph. Anyway, I just know that there was a chemical spill here, and this city is like the worst place in the world to be right now. Apparently the S.T.A.R.S. were telling the truth when they said something about monsters at the old Spencer estate in the forest. They said the Umbrella corporation was behind it all. Zombies. Among other things. I guess it's time to start believing they were right." 

Jack -  "Listen, I'll be right back. I'm gonna go get my gun from the shop, stay here." He jogged back into the store, barely able to look at Roberts remains. He scooped up his gun and got a few boxes of bullets, and went back outside. When he got there Steph was gone...

"Well shit. Now what am I supposed to do?" 

Jack, pondering the situation, decided it would be best to leave the city. His boss was dead, monsters were apparently lurking around the entire city, and the only person who seemed to know anything about it was missing. He could go look for her, but why bother? He didn't care about what was going on. He just knew he shouldn't stick around. 

Still, it would be better to have a companion. Two people could survive better together than separately. 

At any rate, there was no use staying where he was. There weren't many supplies left in the shop. Besides, he'd be a sitting duck. Not sure whether he was leaving or searching for Stephanie, Jack walked around to his car. He turned the corner to the lot only to find his car totaled, surrounded by zombies. 

"Crap."

Now he had three choices: Shoot them dead, which would waste valuable ammo, try to run past them, or go back and try to find another way to escape this forsaken place. Needless to say, he didn't like any of them. 
But, he knew he had to choose one, so he decided to...

...turn around. 

With his car totaled, there was no use trying to navigate through some dangerous zombies. Since he had to walk now anyway, he may as well take the easiest route. 

Or did he have to walk? 

He ran into the shop once again. This time he searched Robert for his keys. Finding them in his pocket, he ran back to the lot. Rob's car was clear of zombies. Rob had a pretty rusty Mazda 626. Jack got in and turned the key. The car started running. He drove off the lot. It was almost too good to be true. 

Of course, if something seems too good to be true, it usually is. Not 100 feet out of the lot the car stops moving. Wondering, Jack notices the gauges. There's no gas. What was that idiot thinking, driving to work with an empty tank? 

Jack would have to find a gas can as well as some gasoline. Jack shut off the car, got out, and checked the trunk. Luckily, he found a large, red gas container. He picked it up. 

He knew where the nearest gas station was, but it was at least a half-mile away. Discouraged, but not daunted, he started walking toward the station.

He looked around the deserted city as he walked, trying to find someone alive. 

Eventually, Jack reached the Gas Station. Jack entered the garage and searched for a can of gas. He spotted one in the back on a shelf. 

Jack walked slowly toward the can. Before he got to the shelf, he suddenly stepped in a puddle. He looked closely and he could see a liquid dripping down into the puddle. 

Jack slowly looked up, and saw a Licker on the ceiling. Jack gasped and the Licker heard it and dropped down on the floor, and looked at Jack...

He tripped on the corner of the wooden counter and fell backwards, onto the floor. He chambered a round into the shotgun he still held tightly and let it off. It was a lucky shot; taking the head off of its mutated body. It went flying behind the limp body and went through the window, shattering the glass. Jack covered his head for a moment to keep the glass from sticking into his flesh, then dropped his arm down. It had been another one of those long-tongued things, he didn't know what they were called, but they must have a name he thought as he tried to think of one. It should be one of its characteristics, Jack decided its tongue; a licker. And although he didn't know it, that was indeed what they were called. He stood back up, reached up and took the can of gas.

Having obtained the gas, Jack took a minute to relax. He examined the body of the headless "licker." It was an awful sight of contorted muscle and bone. It had some pretty noticeable claws. He had been lucky to kill it before it did anything. 

Other thoughts ran through his head. How had the monster been created? Did it used to be human? And had Stephanie been right? Was Umbrella behind this? Then again, did he really care? 

Jack stood up to leave. He casually checked behind the counter to see if there were any weapons. No luck. As usual. 

At any rate, all he had to do now was get back to his car. He walked to the glass door. He went to open it, but stopped. He noticed something moving outside, but he couldn't see what. It was dark. Two bright dots, slowly waving back and forth in unison. He brought his face closer to the door to see what it was. But then he jerked back in realization. They were eyes. The zombie slumped up against the glass door, moaning. Suddenly, he heard glass tinkling. He looked over to the large window next to the door (the one he had broken). There were more! And they were struggling through into the station! 

Jack walked backwards. He needed to get to his car. He could try and shoot them, try and rush through them, or try and find another exit. But he couldn't be positive that another exit would let him reach his car. What would he do?

This time, Jack was desperate to leave. He wanted to get to his car and get out fast. Jack cocked the shotgun and fired, blowing chunks of bone and flesh all over the place. Jack loaded in another shell and fired again, ripping two of the six zombies' heads straight off their shoulders. One more shot, and he could get through! He pulled the trigger--- click. Empty! Now, all Jack had was his switchblade. What good would that do? Hopefully enough to get me out of here, Jack thought. He noticed a hole and sprinted at it, but the zombies were closing in on his only exit to the car. He stuck out the knife and jabbed it into the nearest zombies skull, feeling for the first time how fragile deteriorating flesh and bone can be. The zombie just stared at him, face blank as, well, as a dead man's. Then, its face completely fell off the skull, followed by the entire head collapsing in a pile of dust. Jack ran for the car. As he entered the parking lot and noticed it was still clear near Rob's car, he slowed to a fast walk. Then, he heard a rattling sound come from an alley, and when he turned to look he saw...

Jack pulled out his Glock that he had forgotten he had and aimed it toward the sound. He saw a man. At first he thought it was a zombie, but then he saw he was alive. His skin was normal-colored, and aside from his disheveled appearance, he looked normal. He really looked like a bum. He spoke. 

"Wait! Don't shoot! Please wait!" 

"Huh? Who are you?" 

Jack relaxed, returning his gun to his side-holster. The man was rambling about something. 

"You've gotta help... there's nothing left... we must... we... we have to stop... stop...." 

The man was clearly upset and troubled. 

"Hey, calm down. What are you saying?" 

The man came right up to Jack and leaned on him. He stared right into his eyes. 

"The moon is full... tomorrow is nigh... the crow calls... and all die..." 

"What? What the hell are you-" 

Then Jack noticed the man's back was covered in blood. He had been bitten. 

"The eternal light has past, and now eternal darkness follows... and all die... and all die..." 

The man began to cry. Jack couldn't make any sense of his words. He was nuts. 

Suddenly, it started. The man's skin began to rot. His eyes rolled back in his head. His rambling slowly stopped. He was no longer human. He was a zombie. 

But it didn't stop there. Large growths began to appear around the man's wounds. Random arms and legs thrust themselves out of the body. Eyes and teeth opened up everywhere. It was becoming a giant mass, a gross biological contortion. Even now, it was huge, twice as big as a car. 

The car! 

The horrid and still-growing monster was between him and Rob's car. There was no way around, it already filled the street. What could he do? 

Suddenly, he heard a shot. The monster lurched in pain, but continued to grow. Jack turned to see who had fired. 

He saw a man in an Umbrella uniform. This was surprising. But what was even more surprising was what he saw at the man's feet. It was Stephanie, unconscious.

The beast turned toward the Umbrella man, probably wondering what was trying to cause it any harm, if it could wonder, or think for that matter. "Do something," Jack told himself, watching the thing move slowly to the man, who was still shooting useless bullets that really weren't causing any damage whatsoever to it. He could tell that Steph was still alive, so he told himself that he better try to save her from being crushed. Since the creature wasn't facing him, Jack figured that maybe he could run past it and pick her up. He didn't really give a shit about the man from Umbrella, considering Steph did say that they had started this whole mess in the first place. So he ran, even felt his left shoulder brush up against the monster's impossible flesh, put his hands down and brought Stephanie up into his arms and ran a little longer before daring to look back...

And the man was consumed, for lack of a better description of what he saw. Jack quickly turned before he was grossed out enough to puke and decided that this man had gotten what he'd deserved in a way for taking part in the creating of this disaster. He took the distraction of the creature to get into Robert's car. He quickly dropped Steph off inside and jumped out to refuel the car. Then he jumped back in and gunned it. The car heaved with the sudden revving of the engine and skidded around with no traction. While Jack tried to regain control, the creature heard this sudden upstart of noise, and was obviously annoyed. It leaped at the vehicle! Jack noticed it was a very agile, yet also very large monster. 

The thing crashed onto the hood and Jack noticed steam and smoke rising from the cracks and decided it was definitely time to run. He grabbed Steph in one arm, pulled out his Glock with the other, and ran while firing two shots to where his head was supposed to be. Jack had a matter of seconds before that engine blew and he had to decide which path to take out of there; the alley this guy turned creature had come from, or back through Kendo's towards "The Wreck", a huge pileup of burning cars. Or he could always brave the streets, but the exit to them would be risking being too close to the car when it blew if he wasn't fast enough, and with Steph adding weight, he was pretty sure he wouldn't make it. Where would he go?

Jack felt pretty sure that heading back to Kendo's would be tantamount to suicide, so, taking his chances, he headed towards the alley. A second later, the car exploded in a huge fireball, but Jack thought it best not to check if that...that thing was really dead. 

The alley ended in a door, which had clearly been barged open. As he entered the street, he looked both ways, obviously not checking for traffic. Instead, as he expected, more zombies on either side of the street came towards them. Deciding not to risk a fight, and feeling Steph should be taken to safety as quickly as possible, Jack headed to the nearest building. Judging by the scorched earth a fire had occurred here recently. 

The building was an apartment block. Jack headed upstairs into one of the empty rooms. Thankfully the building was empty. Resting Steph on the bed, he wondered what to do next, how to get out of this hellhole. Whatever had happened here, he felt the people responsible would pay big-time. They deserved everything bad that was going to come to them. Jack wanted to learn more of what had happened here, and to do that he would have to wait until Steph woke up. He stood up from the bed and paced back and forth in the small room, thinking. Thinking about how fast this all had gotten out of hand, about how he barely knew anything at all about the situation at hand. He didn't even really know what to think about. All he knew was that he wanted out, and now he wanted to help Steph survive and make it to another day as well. Speaking of Steph, that got him thinking. He wondered how old she was, how she had gotten mixed in with this, and what the last thing she remembered was. How she had become unconscious at the feet of some guy, who was dead now. So now getting out of town alive wasn't the only objective, now they had two. Survive, and take down Umbrella, or at least the jackasses who did this. 

He heard some movement, and looked to his left, at the bed. Then he saw Steph open her eyes. "Welcome back," he said. "I need to ask you a few questions, hope you got the answers..."

"Huh? What? What's going on? Where am I?" 

"Don't worry, you're safe. Remember me? From the gun shop?" 

She stood up and ran to the window, which faced the city. Kendo's shop could be seen behind another building, with two large fires surrounding it. Jack spoke again. 

"Hey, I need to ask you a few things." 

"What time is it?" 

"Huh?" 

"What time is it?" 

"I don't know... it's been about an hour and a half since we met..." 

"Damn it," she said to herself. "Where's my gun?" 

"Your gun?" 

"Yes, where is it?" 

"I don't know, but it's not here. You didn't have it on you when I picked you up. Come to think of it, I think that Umbrella guy was-" 

"Umbrella guy? What-? Oh, DAMN IT! What happened to him? Where is he?" 

"Uh, he got killed by that monster." 

"Monster... No, it can't be... what monster?" 

Jack was pretty surprised. He had been expecting to ask the questions. 

"Hold on now. I have some questions for you." 

"Oh never mind. I need to borrow your gun." 

At that, she swiped Jack's shotgun from its resting place against the wall and immediately ran out the door. 

"Hey wait! I'm not finished with you yet!" Jack tried to stop her but it was no use. She was already gone. And with his shotgun, no less. He hoped she knew there were no rounds in it. 

Well, well. Everything was perfect. Just perfect. He was stuck in a situation he knew nothing about, his only chance for escape had been crushed under the weight of a monster from God knows what origins, and he didn't even know if the stupid monster was dead. He didn't know anything. And the only person who may have known anything that would help him had just run off. With his gun. And on top of that, his shoulder was starting to hurt. 

Just perfect.

Damn! What was with that woman? Clearly she knew something about what was happening, but she'd obviously never heard of cooperation! 

Jack decided to search the room he was in. In one of the cupboards he found a navy-blue STARS uniform, obviously meant to be worn by a woman. In the pockets he found two boxes of bullets, and even a set of shotgun shells. He decided to pocket them, figuring Steph could use them if they ever met again. 

Jesus, what was up with his shoulder? It had been playing up ever since that fight against that... 

Then a horrifying thought occurred to him. What if that thing at somehow INFECTED him when his shoulder touched it? He peeled back his sleeve. His shoulder was bruised black, and there was a tiny ring of red spots - injection wounds. 

Jesus. What was he to do? He could end his life here, before, well, he didn't know what happened. Or maybe... 

The infection was still in early stages. He could try cutting his shoulder, letting some blood out. This would hopefully take the infection out with it, but there was no guarantee. Or he could hang fire a bit, and see if he could find a cure - he felt sure Umbrella would have a vaccine, but he didn't know how long it would be before the virus took full effect. What would he do?

Not only did he not know if there was a vaccine for sure, but he didn't even know where it might be. Hospital probably, he thought to himself. But that just raised another question: where the hell was the damn hospital? He didn't know how long it took until he turned into...something, but he didn't really wanna find out either. While he was trying to decide how to find the hospital, a map perhaps, he stared out of the window, at the wreckage of what has been happening. Then he saw a shadowy figure running down the street to the left: Stephanie. And she looked like she knew where she was going, Jack only wished he knew. Well then, maybe I should follow her. I could even run past the hospital building along the way...

He decided at the very least that if he could catch up to her, he could ask her the questions he had wanted to ask earlier. Not wanting to lose the opportunity, he ran out into the hall, down the stairs, and out into the street. He looked left, where he had seen Stephanie. He didn't see her. All he saw was two zombies in the middle of the street, about thirty feet away. They were wandering aimlessly, until they noticed him. They started to trudge towards him. 

Jack didn't bother. There was more than enough space to just run by them. Which he did. He glanced at the side streets as he passed by them, hoping to find Stephanie. No luck. While he was searching, he figured he might as well try to find some better transportation. Unfortunately, he couldn't find any cars with keys still inside, and he didn't know how to hotwire. 

Eventually, Jack realized he was even more lost than before. He had traveled for a good ten minutes, and now he wasn't familiar with the area. He was hesitant to continue, but he decided it was best to keep walking. Until he saw the fire ahead, twenty meters down the road. A large fire blocked the rest of the way. Jack stopped, discouraged. 

For a second, he was unsure of what to do, when suddenly, something caught his eye. A motorcycle, not hooked up to anything. It was pink, and resting on its kickstand, in front of a restaurant. The helmet was even hanging on the handlebars. It looked like its owner had left it in a hurry. Perhaps a woman, judging by the color. He got on and hoped it had gas left. He kicked the starter. The cycle gave a little jump, and began emitting a loud purr. Good. For once, things seemed to be going well. 

Now he just needed to find Steph. He hoped he could find her before his infection got worse. Thinking of that, he checked his shoulder again. It hadn't changed much, except that maybe the ring of marks had grown a little. He could only hope he wouldn't run out of time...

He decided that he might as well try and find that hospital. He rode down the street, blaring past zombies and an occasional Licker who were all too slow for the bike. He turned down a street that looked to be a pharmaceutical district and slowed up, noticed an Umbrella insignia etched into one of the many shop's doors. He stopped the bike, and thought a minute. He knew that had to do with something...Umbrella! It was an umbrella symbol. Somebody was either warning any people not to enter this place, or telling somebody to come in. Jack figured he'd best not go in, but maybe, just maybe Steph was helping him find her. But how could she have beaten him on a motorcycle? Still, Jack decided it was worth his time and entered the shop. 

What Jack saw wasn't like the other places in the city. This place was, well, to be honest, clean. Not a single drop of blood, no nasty dried and rotting fruit smell, just like a normal place. He saw, to his disappointment, nothing that would help him downstairs, but he noticed a stairway leading upwards. When he reached the top, it was more like a house. Come to think of it, this whole place was more like a house then a shop. He searched the drawers, desks, beds, everything. Finally, he found something. It was a journal. He read quickly through the single paragraph he found: 

"This is it, I can feel it. Umbrella wants my creation, the one thing I have left in my life. I've got to get out of here before they come, I have to. I noticed an underground waterway on my last visit to the station, perhaps I should hide there? No, Birkin is there, and they want his little virus as well as my creation. This whole bio-weapon idea was a disaster." 

Jack shuddered as he thought, "Even the employees of Umbrella hated to do this." Jack left the house.

Jack shut the door behind him as he left. When he turned around, he jumped back in surprise. Steph was standing there, with his shotgun. He was surprised to see her. And apparently, she was surprised to see him. 

"What are you doing here?" 

"Hey, I'm just looking for answers, Steph. And it looks like I found some." 

He aimed his gun at Steph. 

"What are you doing?!" she said. 

"This whole thing... this disaster...it's your fault, isn't it?!" 

"My fault?!" 

"Yes, and I want answers! You created that thing out there, and Umbrella wanted it! That's why that man was after you. And that's why you know so much about what's going on. Isn't it?!" 

"You don't know what you're talking about!" 

Jack rolled up his sleeve, exposing his shoulder. 

"You see this?! This is because of you! You made that thing and it infected me! And you're gonna get me the antidote, understand? I don't want to turn into a monster. Now, where is the antidote!?" 

"You idiot! What the hell makes you think I did this?" 

"This does." He held up the journal. "I found it in your house here." 

"I can't believe this." 

"Well, you'd better believe it." 

"This isn't my house!" 

"What?" 

"And that's not my journal!" 

"What are you talking about?" 

"You've got everything all wrong." 

"What...it's not yours?" 

"No." 

"Then... who...?" 

"I'm an agent. From the FBI." 

"What?!" 

"The agency sent me under cover after we received a report from a Chris Redfield a month ago. They think we ignored it, but in fact no report goes ignored. Redfield's report described an illegal operation carried out by Umbrella Inc. in an old mansion. Unfortunately, the mansion was completely destroyed, along with any evidence. I was sent to gather data. I've been here for three weeks. These zombies are a result of the T-virus, a virus engineered by Umbrella. There was an outbreak somewhere, and that's what caused this whole mess. I don't know exactly, but it involves a scientist named Birkin." 

"Birkin?" 

"Yes, William Birkin. I don't know much about it, but it would seem that Birkin developed a virus even more powerful than the T-virus. Umbrella wanted it, but Birkin refused to hand it over. They sent their special forces after him to retrieve the virus, but something went wrong. And there was a leak of the T-virus. And then... this disaster." 

"Hmm..." Jack looked in the journal, wondering. Steph spoke again. 

"Can I have that? It might help." 

"I guess..." He handed it over. 

"'Underground waterway'? Wait here a second, but don't go anywhere." 

"Okay." 

She ran inside. Jack waited for a few moments, until she emerged from the house again. 

"I've found a secret passageway. With luck, it will lead us straight to Birkin's lab." 

"'Us'?" 

"Yes, us. If what you say is true, we need to find the antidote right away." 

Jack followed Steph inside the house, and into a secret passageway under the stairs. It led to a sewer. They started to walk. Jack began to ask questions. 

"So, this whole thing is Birkin's fault?" 

"To some degree. It's also due to Umbrella's greed." 

"And that monster?" 

Stephanie stopped walking. 

"I can only hope." 

"Hope what?" 

"Look, you are the only one alive who's seen that monster. I didn't see it. But considering you saved me from that Umbrella officer, and that mark on your shoulder, I can only assume you're telling the truth." She sighed. "Listen, what I'm about to tell you is highly confidential. Civilians are not supposed to know about any of this. But, considering the circumstances, I feel you have to know." 

"Know what?" 

"The monster you described sounds like it wasn't a result of the T-virus, nor was it caused by Birkin's virus. It was another virus. One even worse that Birkin's." 

"Another virus?" 

"That's right. During my undercover work, I discovered that while Birkin was busy developing his virus, there as another scientist doing the same thing. His name is Kramer. He too created a virus of his own design. He named it the "Kramer" virus, after himself. He also caught Umbrella's eye, but not as much as Birkin did. The reason for this was that while Kramer's virus was several times more powerful than Birkin's, Kramer still could not control it. Judging by your description, it seems that the virus works by releasing the body's controls on growth, causing growth to rage out of control. This results in a horrid monster, the likes of which only you have seen. The problem was, this was too out-of-control for Umbrella. Besides that, any creature created by the Kramer virus would only last for a few minutes. Once growth reached a critical level, body systems shut down, and the creature dies." 

"That's crazy..." 

"What's interesting, is that Kramer was actually jealous of Birkin. He resented the fact that Umbrella was interested in Birkin's virus and not his... I don't know anything more." 

"Wow." 

"The real problem is that it would seem that the Kramer virus has leaked, or maybe even been released, on this city. There are in fact three super-viruses wreaking havoc on this city and its inhabitants. Umbrella's T-virus, William Birkin's virus, and..." she pointed to Jack's shoulder, "the Kramer virus." 

"Is there anything you can do to stop it?" 

"Well, the best option would be to just shoot you in the head. The Kramer virus has no effect on non-living organisms." 

"What?!" 

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna kill you. Yet. You saved my life, and supplied me with this gun. I think you deserve to live. Besides, if we can cure you, we can discover crucial data about Kramer's virus." 

"Did...did Kramer even make a cure?" 

"I don't know. But I hope to find out at Birkin's lab. I doubt there will be an antidote there. After all, it's not Kramer's lab. But, there should be plenty of useful information. You see, there was an incredible rivalry between Birkin and Kramer. There was so much tension between them that they probably kept spies on each other. I've got a feeling that we'll find plenty on Kramer at Birkin's lab." 

"Do you even know where Kramer's lab is?" 

"...No. I don't. But let's hope we find out. I'm just telling you now, if we can't find an antidote, or things start to turn ugly, I will be forced to kill you. You would die anyway."

They past dead zombie bodies on the way, along with several other things, some that they couldn't decide what they were. They were walking on a small cement walkway down in the sewers, green liquid to their right. And on the other side of that stuff, was another small walkway. They turned left, the tunnels reeking of rot and decay. None of them bothered to speak much, after all, there really wasn't too much to discuss. They both knew practically everything they needed to, and Jack really wasn't feeling too well, and he didn't know what to say. He knew what was going to happen to him if he started to change, and he really didn't want that to happen. He wasn't even sure he liked knowing. It was scary, and disappointing to know that you might change into a freakish creature and some cute girl would have to shoot you, he thought to himself. 

Wait...did I just call her cute? Oh well, not the best time to be caring about that. He wanted desperately to find information and a cure even more. He could tell his wound had gotten a little worse, because it was beginning to burn slightly. That only pushed him harder to do what they had to do. At the end of the long tunnel, it went both ways; left and right. Either way, they'd have to go into the sewer water until they got a little further down. But then he heard some splashing to the right, and saw Steph staring at something that he couldn't see, her mouth dropped open. He leaned out a little bit to see what it was...

It was back. The "Blob Monster" Jack had met earlier was back. And this time they weren't in an open lot with many routes of escape. They were dead. But, it was obviously slower, and its body was bulging and bleeding and reforming all at once, and all of a sudden it changed. Its extra arms shrank down into its body, then it's spare eyes as well. It looked like the bum again, but very hung over it seemed. Then, his eyes rolled back to face Jack and the man coughed up what Jack and Steph unanimously thought was most of the blood left in his now fragile body. The bum collapsed to the floor. Jack knew that that was no way to die, and now they had to find a cure, they had to! Jack felt a small tear run down his cheek as they trekked on, and hoped that if he started to turn, Steph would finish him off before he got to that stage.
	
They were both running now. They wanted to get to the lab as soon as possible. They left the man behind. Steph spoke to Jack. 

"So, was that the monster that attacked you?" 

"Yeah, the same one exactly. It was the same man, too. Except it was a little smaller just now than it was before. It must have shrunk somewhat." 

"Wait, you're saying that was the exact same monster?" 

"Without a doubt. I saw that very man transform not a half hour ago." 

"That's strange...usually the whole process lasts for only a matter of minutes. There's no way one of Kramer's monsters could last that long. Unless of course..." 

"Unless what?" 

"Unless he's starting to perfect the virus. If he perfected it, his monsters wouldn't automatically die in a few minutes. Maybe this one was infected with an updated virus, one that lasts longer." 

"What does that mean?" 

"It means Kramer is still working on his virus, even as we speak. And even as his own monsters ravage the city. This is a problem. If he completes that virus, there won't be much hope for anybody." 

They were reaching the end now. The sewer came to a dead end about twenty meters ahead. They'd be there in a few more seconds. A few more... 

Suddenly, Jack felt searing pain in his wounded shoulder. He stopped, and fell down to the pavement, clutching his shoulder. 

"Jack? Jack! What's going on?!" 

"Aaaaaghh! It hurts... rrrrggh..." 

"Are you starting to transform? Can you feel it?" 

"Pain...it hurtsss...." 

Jack started rolling on the floor, constantly clutching his shoulder. The pain was unbearable. And he could feel something. Something was coming out from the inside. It was unbearable. Jack couldn't take another moment. He started to reach for his own gun, but then immediately put his hand back on his shoulder. It hurt too much to take his hand away. And his other hand was spasmodic, writhing all over the place. He didn't know what to do. He couldn't even speak. If it was really happening, he hoped Steph got it over with soon. His shoulder hurt... something was coming out...

Suddenly, There was a burst of pain and blood. Stephanie couldn't deny it any more. It was happening. She aimed her gun at Jack. 

"Sorry Jack. We were...too late." 

Then, Jack noticed it didn't hurt any more. And he wasn't twitching. He body was under control again. He yelled in protest. 

"No wait! It stopped!" 

"What?" 

"It doesn't hurt any more." 

Indeed, the pain was gone. And he didn't feel anything inside any more. Whatever it was, it was over. 

The panic was gone. That is, until Jack looked at his shoulder. For the first time, he noticed that an extra arm had sprouted off of his left shoulder, a new appendage. He gave a yelp of surprise. Stephanie was shocked as well. They took a closer look. 

Other than the fact that it was a third arm, it appeared to be normal in every way. Jack could even move it around. He had control. 

"Well...that's not good." 

"I don't understand," Steph said. "What on Earth is going on?" 

"Actually, this would be cool if I didn't know it was going to kill me." 

He tested his new arm. It functioned normally. He put all three of his hands together in front of him. 

God, this was freaky. 

"C'mon," he said. "Let's keep going. I wanna find that antidote before anything else decides to pop out."

They continued down the corridor, taking lefts and rights, not knowing where the sewer would end. All of a sudden it did. But not in the way you'd expect. It just, well, ended. There were no doors, but there wasn't a wall. When you approached the "open wall", as Jack called it, you would hit solid matter, but you saw nothing but more hallway. To say the least, they were amazed. 

"How the hell are we supposed to get past this?!" Jack asked. 

"Simple. Calm down first. Then look around. This passage way is meant for something, this is just meant to turn us away from, from something." 

Jack looked around, only noticing his left-left arm, a small grate in the upper-right corner of the ceiling, and...wait! It had to be the vent! There was something about it. It was so small, almost like it was there to be hidden. Jack rushed over to it, Steph looking on. Jack was too weak to lift her, and he didn't have enough balance with, well, added weight to be lifted. So, he decided some good would come from this new appendage. He reached up, standing on his toes, and slid his hand into the hole. Perfect fit. He felt around and he noticed an indent in the bottom of the grating. He placed his hand in it and a droning female voice came on from sources unknown, probably a hidden speaker. 

"Access denied, not Dr. Kramer's print." 

"I think we know why this is so elaborate now." Steph said. 

"Damnit, we can't go further, I think my survival chances just fell to null." Jack replied. 

"Maybe not..." said Steph. She had seen something in the shadows. Something...human.

He slipped through the shadows when he saw the woman and man checking out the passage. He didn't think that they'd be able to get through, so he didn't bother to mess with them. He was changing. Into what, he wasn't sure, but he knew he was going to become some kind of monster. He knew he would lose his memory, human memory. He needed to find Sherry. Annette had given her a pendant with a sample of the G-virus in it. If those two got in his way, he would have to take them down, along with anyone else that got in his way. He had been shot repeatedly and shot himself with the, his virus. Umbrella wanted it before it was completely done, and if he could do something about it, he would. William Birkin would get what he wanted, he always does.

Oh...my...god. What have you done honey? How, how could you? Wait, how could THEY?! It's not your fault this man's guts are on the ground, this man's eyes are no longer there, that this guy's face is wiped off this earth. No, it's their faults. They couldn't be patient, they just couldn't! And now, I can't have you again. Ever. "Fuck UMBRELLA! Fuck Raccoon, fuck Kramer, fuck life!" The woman left the underground walkway that the dead Umbrella Squad resided in. She would find Sherry, and they would leave. Without William.

Annette Birkin ransacked the place. Everything. She opened up every file cabinet, accessed every computer file, and even checked in the food pantry. 

As she searched, she recalled the events of the last two days. Everything had fallen apart. Her husband's work, her husband's life, and her family. Umbrella had taken it all away. They ruined her life. There was nothing left now. 

And it was all that Kramer's fault! 

That no good, sleazy, double-crossing bastard had started this whole mess. Which was the reason she was currently in his lab. She had been searching for the old, balding little bugger ever since...ever since the disaster. The disaster that he had caused. That fucker had actually organized the siege! It was his fault Umbrella invaded the lab! It was his fault the T-virus had leaked into the city! And it was his fault her husband had turned himself into that monster...Oh, if she could just get her hands on him... 

But she didn't even know if Kramer was still alive. If she hadn't wanted to get revenge personally, she would have loved the thought of that jerk dying because of an atrocity that he himself started. 

At any rate, he wasn't in the lab. No one was. In fact, it looked as if everyone had left in the middle of their work. The lights were on, but nobody was home. So now she was looking for anything that might lead her to his whereabouts. But there was nothing useful. Nobody was there, and the only files that remained only had information about the Kramer virus. And Annette could care less about that for now. She just wanted revenge. Revenge on Kramer. And, if there was any hope, she could heal her tortured husband. 

But there was nothing to work with, Kramer could be anywhere, and she doubted he'd stick around Raccoon City considering its current state. It was just like that little rat to start an accident and then run from the blame! He was always that way. Ever since he and her husband had been- 

*BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP* 

There was a quiet alarm coming from somewhere in the lab. Annette could just make it out. Luckily, she knew the place like the back of her hand. She left the files room, ran down a few hallways, and finally made her way into the main security room. Amongst the several security monitors, a red light blinked rapidly. A similar light blinked on the main control panel, below the monitors. She pressed the button next to the light, and the beeping stopped. The monitor lit up to reveal an underground sewer passageway. Funny, she had never seen it before. She thought she had been everywhere in the lab, but it would seem that Kramer had been keeping secrets from them since the beginning. 

Annette took a closer look at the black and white image. She saw two people, a man and a woman. The woman looked vaguely familiar, but she had never seen the man before. There was something odd about the man, but she couldn't quite make it out... the image was too small... 

Then, the man turned away, and she saw it with all too much clarity. He had a third arm! A third fucking arm! This was Kramer's doing! Only he had ever done something so unique. That meant he was definitely still alive. 

Suddenly, something new caught her eye. A small, thin shadow. It was just barely in the camera's range. She looked at the main controls for a movement switch. Finding it, she panned the camera to the left, away from the two people. Eventually, the shadow came into full view. 

There was nothing that could describe her shock. 

William! It was William! Oh, thank God he was still alive. Oh, but he had already transformed so badly... it was almost painful to look at the horrible creature that at one time was her husband. 

Seeing her husband only made her angrier with Kramer. He had caused too many problems for everyone! Especially her! All that jerk was, was a no good thief! And a liar! And a backstabber! 

Having no more leads except the two new strangers in the sewer, Annette left the room in search of the exit to the secret passageway that would lead her there. At the very least, she may be able to find her husband... 




Meanwhile, Jack and Steph heard the hum of the camera's motor as it panned away from them. They noticed it for the first time. 

While they pondered this interesting new piece of their problem, a shadow slowly moved towards them, from the other side of the invisible wall. It came closer... closer...they were too busy staring at the camera; they didn't suspect a thing.

"Arghhhhhhh!" 

Jack heard a scream like nothing he'd heard before. He looked around for it's source, but it was too dark now to see anything. A new pain was also growing in his chest. He felt like he was about to burst. Suddenly, the half-man half-beast leaped from a small corner they hadn't noticed. Jack dove to the ground as Steph backed away firing shots at the monster. 

"It's Birkin, Jack! Oh my god, this is what his virus does?! We are DEAD." 

Just then Jack's stomach tore a new one, literally. His stomach ripped open, a newer one flying out and then squishing against his chest and closing the hole. Then two arms came out. A new body was growing ON Jack! 

Jack also decided he'd use this to his advantage, despite the pain. He leaped at Birkin, and attacked with all five fists swinging. Birkin was un-dazed by the three fists of his actual body, but the two new ones were very effective. Powered up strength is one benefit of this, I guess, Jack thought. 

Steph looked on in horror. How could Jack even stand now, let alone fight that thing?! She didn't stop to think though, she continued to fire on Birkin. How much worse can it get, she thought? A lot worse, as she was about to find out. Birkin had just....

...started to grow again. His tremendous right arm grew only bigger, and a huge eye peered out of it. It was hideous. Birkin raised his newly-enhanced arm to attack. 

Jack took the force with his three "old" arms. Meanwhile, his two new ones pummeled the mid-section of the Birkin/monster. Steph fired another round, into Birkin's arm-eye. The monster lurched back in pain. Jack took the opportunity and starting pounding on the wound. He was winning. He felt something primal inside of him, the same feeling that a cornered mouse must have. 

Just then, the invisible wall, well, disappeared. The wall had had the appearance of a hallway. This facade now dropped, revealing a clean passageway, which led upward. Behind the dropped wall stood an angry Annette Birkin. She aimed her gun at Jack. She fired. 

Jack's reflexes threw him backward, out of the way of the bullet. However, the bullet passed through the spot where the new arms had burst out of his body. Jack's pain increased even more, then stopped suddenly. Jack looked down to see the two new arms literally get sucked back into his stomach. Jack felt a sudden nausea. He was going to vomit. 

Meanwhile, Steph and Annette traded rounds. Steph used Birkin's temporarily paralyzed body as a shield. Annette was yelling in frustration. She didn't want to cause her husband any more pain. 

"You bitch, I'm gonna kill you!" She started to walk towards Steph, gun ready. 

Steph grabbed Jack's arm. "C'mon! Let's go!" She pulled him across the sewer towards the secret passageway that Annette had just left. Shoving Annette out of the way, Steph pulled Jack across the threshold of the invisible wall, then pushed a large button on the side of the wall. The invisible wall reappeared between Steph and Annette. Birkin was with Annette, and Jack was with Stephanie. 

Although Annette couldn't see them now that the wall was up, she knew they were there. She pounded on the wall in anger. 

"Noooooooooooo!!! Come back here!" 

While she pounded, Jack recovered from his own attack. He was still reeling from the formation and deformation of two new arms. But he still felt it. He still felt the pain. The pain that meant something was going to grow. The two arms had been absorbed into his body as extra mass. And all that mass had to go somewhere... 

Jack's right shoulder burst into pain. It felt like it was on fire. Jack fell and writhed on the floor as Steph looked on in horror. The pain moved around. It slid, for lack of a better word, from his right shoulder towards his chest, and then reversed direction and slid around to the top right side of his back. Then he felt it again. Another arm ripped itself out of Jack. It came out of his back, on the right side, near the top. The pain stopped. 

Steph stared at Jack. Then at Annette. Annette had stopped pounding, shocked at what she had seen. The arm protruded in an ugly fashion. This one was far from normal. It was big, and blackish in color. It grew wider, widest at the elbow (which was positioned directly above Jack's right shoulder) and then tapered down to a large claw. It actually looked much like Birkin's arm, except without the eye, and in a weird place. 

Just then, Birkin stood up. He was moving again. Seeing only Annette, he attacked her. His memory had been almost completely wiped out. Annette ran to avoid her husband. She could only run away, for the wall blocked her in the other direction. Birkin chased after her, and the both disappeared around a corner. 

Jack felt dazed. The situation was getting worse. It was still seemingly under control, though. 

"Who was that?" he asked. 

"That...was Annette Birkin."

"Now I need more questions answered." 

"Shoot." 

"Okay. First, did Birkin's whole family work on this thing? And why did Umbrella want to steal their own virus?" 

"Well, yes, all of William's family took part in this. Even little Sherry Birkin, and she's only 12 years old. They-" 

"WHAT!!! 12?! And she helped work on this!" 

"No, no, NO! She is unaware of what has gone on with her parents. But she does carry Birkin's G-Virus." 

"She's been infected?" 

"No, but Annette supposedly hid a sample of it somewhere on her where Sherry would never notice it. Many groups are here tonight to obtain that very sample. Even William." 

"Ok, back to Umbrella for a sec. Why did they steal their own stuff?" 

"Because of Kramer. From info I've been receiving, Kramer called in to Umbrella two days ago reporting that the G-Virus had been done for over a month and Birkin was going to run off and keep it to himself. So Umbrella came to get it, and unfortunately, it wasn't actually done, and..." 

"And what?" 

"Well, Birkin was attacked while working on the virus. He was fired upon badly when a UO, Umbrella Officer, got an itchy trigger finger after Birkin dropped something that exploded, creating a gun fire noise. The UOs grabbed Birkin's case of work and left. Then Birkin injected himself with the sample still in his hand, the only perfected version. He then mutated to a super-human, slightly-deformed state and quickly tore up the UOs in one of these underground waterways." 

"So all this is because of Kramer's lust for being the ultimate Umbrella gem?" 

"In short, yes." 

"Damn. Well, enough talk, we need to find Kramer, and, hopefully, an antidote. Let's go."

As he left, he took his warning device. During all the mayhem of the last day and a half, test subject #0031F had escaped. Who knows what would happen. Chances were the virus had already taken effect, and killed him, but it couldn't be guaranteed that he hadn't infected anyone else. 

He emerged into the open street. As an afterthought, he turned the device on. The small round screen released a blip. There was exactly one small blip, in a very specific location. Seeing this, he became worried. He pressed the button to superimpose a map, then zoomed in. Apparently, another subject had been infected. The size of the blip implied it had been infected very recently. And it was in the secret passageway. 

That was strange. It worried him. 

But, despite this new predicament., he had to perfect his work. And he could no longer proceed in Raccoon City. He would have to retreat to his secondary lab. He had not anticipated that calling for Umbrella's seizure of Birkin's G-virus would cause an outbreak. It was a tactical error on his part. But that was in the past. He had shown Birkin what was what, and that was all that was important, other than his own work of course. 

He started to leave, until something on the warner caught his eye. The blip was moving up the corridor into the lab. But that wasn't what interested him. 

The blip was not growing. 

But the fact that there was a blip meant that the infected subject had already experienced growth. But, whenever a subject began the growth cycle, it couldn't be stopped. Death always followed closely behind. 

But this blip wasn't growing at all. It had grown by some fixed amount and then... it had stopped. This meant...this meant he had done it! Controlled growth at last! 

It would seem his theory on HIV had been correct after all, despite the test results... 

This was certainly a milestone in his research. Unfortunately, it was a milestone which would have to go un-experienced. It was not worth the risk of returning to the lab and confronting the new subject. 

However, the fact that his exploitation of HIV in conjunction with his own virus had succeeded meant that it would not be very long before he perfected the final virus. A virus capable of creating the ultimate bio-weapon. 

He would have to hurry now. Hurry to the secondary lab. He could continue his research there. He only hoped there was enough original data left. He hadn't used the lab very often. 

Without another thought, he pressed a secret button in an empty alley. Another secret passage opened up into the ground. He entered it. 

It wouldn't be long now. Everything was finally going his way, just as he deserved it to be.

They had gone down several huge hallways before turning into a lab. It had a few rooms, each somewhat different from the other. They looked around, searching for anything helpful. Although, it seemed that that would be nearly impossible, considering files and papers were scattered out everywhere. "Someone must have already been here." :Jack. 

"Yeah, and I'll bet anything that it was Annette. She hates Kramer, and blames him for everything that has happened, although in reality it's not completely his fault." 

"How do you know so much?" 

"Uh, um, I just know what they told me." 

He thought it was strange that she had hesitated, so he went further. "They? Your boss?" 

"Yes. The CIA. I told you, I work for them. And trust me, I don't know exactly how they got all of that information, so don't ask." 

He wanted to say more, but let it slide. For now. The first room they entered from the corridor had tables full of research papers, which Jack could barely even understand the material. The second room appeared to be a control room. There was a long console with a bunch of tiny buttons. Above that were 12, 13 monitors. Jack spotted where they had been only a few minutes ago, and then, curious, searched along the screens for any movement. "There," Steph said, pointing at the last one. He looked over and saw Annette closing a shudder door to get away from Birkin. Nothing more to see there though. 

The third and last room was apparently where the experiments took place. There were several huge holding tubes where Kramer must have held some of his monsters captive in. There were scientific utensils, and some tables that had blood spilled on them. Jack - "Let's get the hell out of here, there's nothing I wanna see in here." Steph nodded, and they walked out. 

Steph mumbled without thinking, - "I should probably report back to K..." Jack immediately turned around. "K? K who? Finish the name Steph." 

"Uh..."

"... I can't."- Steph 

"And why the hell not?!"- Jack 

"Because. Just because."- Steph 

"That's NOT a good answer Stephanie. You need to tell me the truth."- Jack 

"I can't. My superiors at the FBI would ki-"-Steph 

"Oh, so now it's the FBI again? You've duggin yourself a huge hole, and I think you can't climb out, can you?"- Jack 

"What're you talking about? Jumping to conclusions just like back at that scientist's house huh?"- Steph 

"Don't even try to turn this around on me!"- Jack 

"It's been on you the whole time, Jack. Why are we even wasting time? You need to find that antidote."- Steph 

"I don't care about that right now. I'm not gonna get screwed by you later, so I need to either leave you or gain some trust RIGHT NOW."- Jack 

"I guess you'd better leave, but not in the way you meant." - Steph. 

She fired on Jack. He dodged it and ducked behind a desk, tipping it as he ran behind. Steph continued to fire rounds until he heard a clip fall to the ground. 

Then she just laughed. Jack heard a rustling noise, the loading of bullets into a gun, and a pull of a trigger. 

CRKKKK! The bullet punched through the desk, just missing his shoulder. "Whoa, what the hell you been packing woman?!" 

"Just a Magnum .50 cal., nothing fancy." 

She smirked. Jack looked over the edge and saw that smile. The face of somebody he shouldn't have trusted in the first place. Then he dove behind another tipped desk as she fired right where he was. He was done for.

The bullet impacted in Jack's chest. He could feel it ripping in him. After a few seconds, Jack realized that he was still alive, even after taking a hit like that. 

It seemed Steph was just as surprised as Jack was. Suddenly, Jack felt it again. It felt like something was about to burst out of him. 

Oh, god, he thought. If something's gonna come out of me it'll kill Steph outright. I know I can't trust her, but I need her alive. 

Quickly, he shifted his position slightly. The very next instant several long, sharp spines ripped out of Jack's chest, flying across the room at an incredible speed. 

One of them buried itself in Steph's shoulder. She suddenly released her grip on her gun; the spike must have severed a nerve. The force of the impact sent her flying into the tables where she landed with a sickening crash. 

It was lucky Jack decided to move; if he hadn't those things would have gone straight through her skull. Even she didn't deserve to die like that. 

Suddenly he remembered. The virus! Maybe it was in Steph's body now, as well as his. 

He moved over to Steph's body, and checked for a pulse. She was out cold, and her pulse had become fairly uneven. Jack pulled the spikes from her shoulder and checked the wound. There were black bruises around it, just like his shoulder had been when he first discovered the virus. 

Well, we're now in the same boat, he thought. He thought she'd probably be safer resting here. Still, he decided to remove all of her guns and ammo. Holstering the Magnum for himself, he decided that he'd probably find a cure much faster on his own. It wasn't like he had any choice now anyway. 

The pain he had felt in his chest had thankfully subsided, and it didn't look like he was about to sprout new limbs. Giving a last glance at Steph, he left through the other door.

He didn't know if Steph being infected was a good thing or bad thing. On one hand, she couldn't do anything to him, right now anyway. But on the other...well, even though he couldn't trust her, for some reason he didn't want her to die. And with that being the case, it was going to be difficult to get the antidote for the both of them. He didn't want anything to happen to her even after what had happened, or turn into anything, either. He headed down the opposite way they had come from, because he didn't want to go back, and he figured that he might as well continue along. He thought it had to lead somewhere, and he hoped that wherever it led, it was out of these sewers. 

Besides the disgusting smell that he had actually been getting kind of used to, it was just plain creepy. And dark. He had never been too fond of darkness, and with monsters roaming around, it didn't exactly help him out. And finally, after the many twisting hallways, he saw a ladder leading up at the end of what appeared to be the last corridor. He hurried toward it, some hope of escaping after all rushing through his entire system. When he reached it he looked up, feeling a slight cool breeze flooding down over him, and saw that the top of it was open. He could see the cloudy night sky above, it looked amazing, like a dream, only this whole place was turning into more of a nightmare every minute. He stood there for a moment, just looking up, the time seeming to slow down for an instant. And then the instant was over, as he saw and heard the huge abnormal crow fly overhead. 

"Jesus," Jack muttered to himself, "the crows are infected too?" Now he didn't really feel like going up there anymore, but he decided to anyway, not wanting to go back. He climbed up, rung by rung, and hoisted himself up and onto Raccoon's city street. He looked at his surroundings, and when his eye fell upon a light in a building's window, he felt a strange feeling in him. He didn't know what it was, so he just starting walking into the dark, toward the building, and wondering who the hell was up there.

Jack stared at the light in the nearby building. It was interesting... a contrasting patch of white amidst a sea of darkness. It was a curious thing. Jack couldn't tell if anyone was inside since it was on the second floor. But from what he could see, there wasn't any movement. 

Jack stopped for a while to think. He contemplated his situation, which included two new arms. The newer arm was a strange thing. While the first new arm was normal, this one was big, black, and ugly. It had been forced to grow when the two arms from his stomach had been shot and receded into his body. The extra mass was dumped off out of Jack's back in the form of the monstrosity that Jack now sported. It was easily twice as thick and long as a normal arm. It originated at Jack's upper right back, extended upwards to an elbow above his shoulder, and came back down to a large hand/claw thing that hung about two feet in front of his chest. It was a strange thing. Jack tried moving it around for the first time. It was very heavy, and so Jack couldn't move it very fast without losing his balance. On the plus side, it gave Jack a gigantic reach, especially behind him. Still, it was just plain weird. A big, black thing on his back. Like a big black wing. 

Thinking of big black wings reminded him of the giant infected crow that glided high above his head. Looking up, he saw it soar around, temporarily obscuring the moon as it passed in front of it. 

Deciding that he didn't want to get the thing's attention, Jack thought it would be best to move on. But he didn't know where he should go. At the moment, all he knew was that he was infected, and that the only person who might have an antidote to cure him had either been killed or had retreated to an unknown location. Things looked pretty bad. 

Jack decided to investigate the lit room. He had no other leads, and there was no use staying where he was. So he went into the building. He noticed with a quick examination of the exterior that it was an office building of some sort. Once inside, the first room was a large lobby. The elevators weren't working, so Jack took the stairs to the second floor. Everything was very dark. He looked for the patch of light that he had seen in the corner of the building. He saw the light at the end of a hall. He went to it. An open doorway led into the room. 

The room was very cramped. It was filled with various copy machines, fax machines, and storage space. Despite the cramped space, there were two windows, since the room was in a corner of the building. One window, across from the doorway, looked out onto the street in which Jack had just been. The other window, to the right, looked out over a small alley that came off of the street. 

Jack searched the room thoroughly, looking through the endless shelves for anything useful. Unfortunately, he found nothing. He was disheartened, discouraged. He had reached another dead end. 

Jack grabbed the door to leave. And then he noticed it. In the small patch of wall that the open door had blocked. There was a thin line of blinking light. Jack closed the door to get a better look. On closer inspection, he noticed there was a small panel in the wall. Hope sprang eternal, and he opened the panel. Inside was a small console with an array of controls. They were all small, dark buttons. None were lit. Except for one. A small button on the side that was flashing green light. Full of hope, Jack pushed the button and waited. 

Nothing happened. 

Not only that, the light had stopped blinking. Jack's hopes were dashed. Still, not quite discouraged, he tried again. Still, nothing happened, but this time the blinking started again. Frustrated, Jack tried a third time, and a fourth and fifth time. Nothing. The light just turned on or off when he pressed it. Now it was off. 

Disappointed, Jack walked to the side window and stared up at the sky. Slowly, his gaze dropped depressingly to the alleyway below. And then Jack noticed. Something was different. It was very slight, but different. He couldn't tell how. Curious, he went back to the panel and pushed the button once, so it started to blink again. Then he checked the alley. And then he saw. It was lighter! There was light coming from somewhere! He tried the button again, and sure enough when he checked the alley it was slightly darker. He pushed the button one last time to light it up again, and finally he realized: a door. A secret door in the side of the building. When it opened, light poured into the alleyway. 

Finally, Jack had another lead. His hope was renewed. With a whole new sense of encouragement, Jack ran for the door. Maybe he had finally fond the way. 

Steph awoke to strange sounds. She opened her eyes slowly. She was on her back. A repetitive sound was coming from somewhere. It was a strange, yet familiar sound. It sounded like... like... like a door. A hermetically sealed door that was opening and closing repeatedly. And then the sound stopped. 

Stephanie sat up and started to recollect her bearings and get things in order. She tried to remember what had happened. Her hand retreated to her side and...her gun was gone! And all of her ammo! 

Then she remembered. Jack had finally caught on. She began to fire on him. She almost had him, and then... and then... he did something. He shot something... and it had hit her... in the shoulder! Her hand went instinctively up to her right shoulder as she remembered what had happened. Jack had shot some weird spikes all over the room. And one had hit her. She rolled up her sleeve to look at the wound. And she was shocked to see various black marks where the spike had hit her. She was infected. Jack had infected her. 

Steph was horrified. She was so horrified, in fact, that she failed to realize that the hole that the spike should have left in her shoulder was completely gone. She also failed to realize that she had no pain. She could only think of the virus. She had to reach Kramer. She needed an antidote. She didn't want to turn into a monster like Jack had...and Birkin. 

Another sound brought her to her senses. She remembered where she was. Then she heard the sound again. A door closing, then opening. And then it stopped. 

Stephanie began to make her way toward where the sound had come from. She knew the area pretty well; she had been here often with Kramer. She passed several empty, ransacked rooms, hallways, and passageways. She remembered that Annette had done that. She hoped she wasn't still around. She might have been able to find a way around the invisible wall. Eventually. But she hoped not. She didn't want to have to confront her unarmed. 

Steph was almost there now. She was in an unfamiliar part of the lab. She entered a passageway she had never been in before. It was dark, and rose slightly uphill. It was lit dimly by occasional alcohol lamps, but other than that, the passageway was left in darkness. Then, up ahead, she saw light. It was very dark, and blue. It was the night! The passage lead outside! She was outside! She was running now. She wanted to get out. She wanted to leave and find Kramer and she wanted to live. She didn't want to die. But she didn't even know where Kramer was. He could be anywhere. Or worse, he could be dead. 

She reached the end of the passageway and felt the cold night air. She looked around to see where she was. She was in an alley of some sort. To her left was a street. Above her was a single lit room. The light poured out and onto the adjacent building. 

Then, she heard another door. A normal door, being opened and slammed shut. And then footsteps, running. Someone was running towards the alley. She looked at the entrance to the alley to await who would come running around the corner. And then she saw. 

It was Jack.

"You!!" they said in unison. Their eyes glared at each other, wrestling for who would start the inevitable string of Q&A. Jack decided he might as well start. 

"You lied to me this whole time! You lied when I was mutating right before your eyes, dying! H-h-h-how could anybody ever do that? 

"Well, I uh, Kramer, he-" 

"What?! He's your boyfriend?! Is that the reason you had to lie to me? If that's it, I th-" 

"Hey, shut up! Jumping to conclusions like always! Just listen for once tonight, please! I beg you." 

"Fine." 

"Okay. Kramer and I have no relationship, none whatsoever. It is a fact that I have slept with him twice, but that's really irrelevant in the long run seeing as how he had gotten me drugged both times. He is the attracted one, I see nothing but genius in him. Anyway, Kramer was afraid...afraid Birkin would send Umbrella after him, so he decided to have a little chat with Umbrella's higher ups about Birkin keeping his G-Virus from Umbrella and going freelance." 

"I got that already, but still, why did you-" 

"Shhhh. Just wait. I walked in on him while this call was being made. I wanted to tell someone, but he bribed me, and actually injected me with the unstable version of this virus. He gave me the antidote only if I told no one and became his bodyguard. As you can see, I followed suit, and I'm back to being infected in the end. Now, do you want to work together to find the antidote or not?" 

There was a long pause. Jack decided to....

He decided he really didn't have much more to lose, so he figured they might as well work together. 

"Fine. But only because I want to get out of this place alive, and not a full-grown monster. I don't like you, not now. You betrayed me, but I won't do that to you. We're in the same boat here, and I don't exactly think you deserve to die. So, do you in fact know where the antidote is?" 

"Possibly, but I'm not sure if it's still there, considering Kramer might have taken it with him wherever he is now. I just hope that that's not the case." 

"Well, I saw a light in a corner room of the building a little back there. That's why I was interested and checked it out. There was a flashing light, and that's how I found this place." 

"Okay. That means Kramer was there, and since the light was blinking, he came in through the same way you did." 

"You mean he's here somewhere?" 

"That would be what I meant. I was going to look for him anyway..." 

A voice from a little farther along came echoing down. "Well Steph, you want me, come and get me." 

Jack and Stephanie locked gazes...

Kramer! 

The voice had come from down the alley. They ran towards it. If Kramer was there, it could finally be the end. But they had no luck. They reached the end of the alley, a dead end, seeing nobody. 

Then they heard the voice again, louder this time. 

"Over here, Stephanie. To your left." 

They looked left, at the wall of a building. There was a small black intercom in the side. Kramer's voice emerged from it. 

"There you are. That's right. You didn't think I was stupid enough to stick around now, did you?" 

"Kramer!" Steph yelled. "Where the hell are you?!" 

"Oh please, you really do underestimate me, Stephanie. I would have thought you'd know me better than that. Risk is something to avoid in all situations." 

"Kramer, listen! We don't want to kill you, we just need the antidote!" 

"Speak for yourself..." Jack muttered. 

"I'm sorry, Stephanie, but that would be pointless. I can see here that you have been infected. How sad. Well that's too bad. And your new friend, too. What a pity. Such a shame." 

"Damnit Kramer!" 

"Now please do me a favor and leave me alone. I've decided to grant you the pleasure of dying before the virus takes its effect. #0068B should be headed your way as we speak." 

"What?!" 

"It's such a pity it had to end this way. Well, not really. Goodbye Stephanie." 

"Kramer?! Kramer!!!" 

There was no answer. 

"Damnit!!!" Steph yelled. She pounded the intercom in frustration. "RRR!" 

"You really are infected, aren't you?" 

"Yeah. And who's fault would that be?" 

"Yours." 

Steph paused. It really had been her fault. This was her own doing. 

She slumped down on the ground. 

"This sucks." 

Then they heard something else. A shuffling. Someone was coming towards them. They looked back where they had come from. A disheveled man was stumbling towards them. He looked at them despondently and then fell to the ground. 

For awhile, they just stared at the man. Jack walked closer. The man just lay there on the ground. There was something on his back. A big black mark or bruise. It was similar to the one he had seen before on the bum. Right before he had- 

The man lurched upward, screaming. He started to twitch and writhe on the floor. 

"This is bad," Jack said. "He's going to transform!" 

"What? Quick, kill him!" 

Jack raised the magnum. In a panic, he fired. He missed. The man was starting to grow now. He had sprouted two new arms and three new legs. And all the time he was getting bigger, bigger... 

It was pretty hard to miss now. He was so wide he filled the whole alley. And there was a dead end behind them. They were trapped. Jack fired multiple rounds into the monster, to no avail. It kept growing. Jack looked on the thing with disgust. It was a pitiful thing. Jack could even see the man's still-intact face, locked in an expression of ultimate pain and horror. 

"This is really bad!" Jack said. "Steph, what do we do?!" 

"I... I don't know..." she answered. They were trapped. There was no escape. And even magnum rounds had no effect on the thing. It was hopeless. 

She started to panic. While she sat, unable to remove her eyes from the creature before her, she curled up into a ball. It was hopeless. They were going to die. Panic had really set in now. She started to breathe heavily now, unable to control her breathing. She started to hyperventilate. 

And then she felt it. It started in her very center, then migrated quickly up the length of her right arm. Less than a second afterward, her arm lurched upward, out of control, lifting her up on her feet. It started to hurt. Very badly. It was the virus. It was starting. Her right arm pulsated with pain. Having only just enough willpower to open her eyes, she saw that her arm was in fact pulsating physically. It was a horrible thing to see, and it hurt! 

And then it burst open. Her arm flew apart to release a humungous green tendril, lined with long sharp spikes. 

Jack jumped back to avoid getting stabbed. "What the hell!?" The thing must have been twenty feet long! And the spikes were as big as he was! It looked like it weighed four-hundred pounds! 

It was thick and massive, and it moved constantly, writhing about like it didn't know where to go. Steph tried to control it, tried to direct it where to go, but it was extremely difficult. She looked at the monster, still growing. She wanted to hit it. She wanted to kill it. She hated it and everything it represented! 

Releasing a piercing cry, she flung the tendril up into the air. With all her will and might, she slammed the green spiky arm onto the growing monster. It sank into its flesh and crushed it like it was nothing. It stopped growing, and in fact started to shrink. All the extra limbs and appendages began to fall off and dissolve, leaving behind the dead figure of the man on the ground. It was over. 

The panic was gone. Just then, the spike-arm fell off as well. It seemed almost uneventful. It just fell off, slamming against the floor with its huge girth. It lay there, like a dead thing. 

Stephanie was in pain. She looked at her right arm. It was gone! She had no arm! Jack rushed up to her. 

"Steph! Are you all right?" 

"Wait! Get back!" 

Jack backed off. Steph tried to calm down. She regulated her breathing. She let her left arm drift off her right shoulder. She regained her calmness and composure. And it worked. Her right arm started to grow anew from her shoulder. It built up from the shoulder, to form a new elbow, a new wrist, and a new hand. Then it stopped. And that was it. She had an arm again. And it was perfect. Normal in everyway. The black marks were even gone. It was better than new. 

"My God... I did it..." 

Kramer stared. He had observed the whole incident. It had been phenomenal. The culmination of his life's work had finally unfolded before his very eyes. His theory had worked! The virus had become more perfect with each new mutation. And now it was finished. Complete growth control. He had done it. He was a genius! 

He had dismissed it before since it hadn't been complete. The one with Stephanie who was also infected had an improved, but not perfect, version inside of him. But he had decided to keep moving. 

But now, his ultimate goal was done, staring at him in the face. He couldn't pass it up. It would be faster to retrieve her and take a sample from her blood. But then again, that would be incredibly risky. It would be better to stay where he was and produce the virus under his strict control. The incubation time hadn't been too long. Maybe three hours for the first subject, and another two hours inside of Jack, and then Steph had been injected with the final version. If things went well, he would have his own sample within five hours. 

So Kramer decided to stay put. After all, there was no use in exposing himself to any unnecessary risk.

"Jesus", Steph muttered. It seemed that neither of them could think of anything to say. 

The two of them just stood there, stunned into silence... 

Finally, Jack spoke; 

"Something tells me that this is not something to get too excited about". 

Steph was glad Jack had broken the silence. It had been too uncomfortable. 

"I think you're right. This must mean that somehow, with each mutation, the virus has become more perfect. If Kramer knows about this (which, Steph reminded herself, he most likely does by now) then he'll know he can perfect it. Then if it were to be used that would be it. The End of Humanity." 

"Jesus". Jack thought he'd seen the worst of it with the virus in them. Could things get any worse? 

Then, he made his mind up... 

"We've gotta stop him." 

"Kramer?" Steph replied, "Listen, we don't know where he is. Even if we somehow found him we don't know what he's set up." 

Jack stated, -  "We've got to try. I for one am not leaving until we've found the antidote, and destroyed all samples of the virus. We... might even need to kill Kramer." 

Steph felt uncomfortable. Could they do it? Could they actually stop this thing? 

And how could Jack be so cold about the possibility of killing Kramer? Then again, he WAS pissed off. Nobody had asked for this, least of all, them, and anybody else infected by this thing. 

"Listen, there's another lab elsewhere. I don't know where it is, but I know that Kramer must be there. The big question is, where is it?" 

"Well, I suggest we find it fast", Jack said, "before something else decides to sprout out of us".

Interesting, the figure in the shadows thought to himself. Controlled growth. 

He'd heard the rumors about Kramer and his work. Looks like the results were in front of his eyes. 

Clearly one of them was infected with an improved, but not perfect virus. Two arms stuck out of him. One reasonably normal, the other black and twisted. Kind of like the Tyrant's claw, he thought to himself. It was rather amusing when he thought of it. 

The woman was outwardly human now. He had seen that 20ft long tentacle erupt out of her, then he saw it fall off and die, and a new, human arm grow in its place. Could this be a perfect form of Kramer's virus? 

Although he could probably take them both down easily, his orders were merely to follow, and observe. Still, this was interesting stuff, he thought. More interesting than whatever Redfield's sister and that police officer were up to. 

As the pair headed off in another direction, the figure gave a cold smile, and quietly followed them, keeping well out of sight.

Kramer had set his laptop up again, and was typing information when he looked up at the screen from a camera that had been set up in the alley. It was a figure, a man. He was creeping behind Steph and her new found friend...Jack, he thought she called him. The shadowy figure was keeping his distance, and quietly at that; he obviously knew what he was doing. He stepped into a small light and Kramer saw, in detail, who the man was. He hadn't figured that he would be in Raccoon at this time. Dressed in black, blonde hair...why would he be here? Kramer knew about Umbrella, had a couple friends that worked there, and they hadn't mentioned anything about him coming here. He leaned in closer to make sure of his identity, no way... 

She was safe from her husband...for now at least. It was thanks to Umbrella, and Kramer, that...she mumbled under her breath. She couldn't let him get out of this alive, even if she died. He had destroyed her husband, and her life. She was trying to think about Sherry at the moment, but couldn't concentrate. All she could think about was Kramer, that bastard. He tried to steal Umbrella from them, to make the corporation buy out his virus instead of theirs. Of course, they all knew that that would never have happened. And now all of this shit...it pissed her off, needless to say. She needed to find him, to get her revenge--when William started pounding and denting the shutter. Oh great, she thought to herself, not again. Now, she just ran.

Jack: "So what's our main objective now, anyway? I want it to be getting the antidote." 

"Yeah, well, whether you like it or not, it's finding Kramer. Why? Because wherever he is, that's where the vaccine is. So we gotta find him before anything else. Deal with it." 

They continued down the alleyway, not sure when it would end. They had passed several dumpsters along the way, and it even felt like they were just making their way back to the gun shop where they had met. But they had no other leads. They just had to go with the flow for now, until there was an actual decision to make. The alley had been plain, still was, and it always turned in one single direction, which made it a lot easier. Just follow the path. It actually felt more like a tunnel than just an alley. 

Jack had a weird sensation running through him. He felt...he felt like they were being followed. He put out his right arm, his normal right arm, and stopped Steph, and whispered to her, "Shh, just listen."

Wesker heard them stop, so he did the same. He didn't want to give up his identity now, at least not yet. Although it probably wouldn't matter anyway; there's no way they would get the medicine in time. Their minds would be long gone by then. Then they would just be mindless monsters like the rest of Raccoon. Of course, Kramer was still alive, he had heard him through a speaker talking to the young woman and man. He had heard them say each other's names...the girl was Stephanie, and the guy was Jack. 

Wesker grinned, ha, they won't even be human soon enough, not once the rest of the virus kicks in. He heard them start walking again, so he made sure he didn't fall behind. He wanted to see exactly what they were going to do, and what they accomplished. He kept to the shadows, but wasn't looking down when he stepped on leaf, crunching it. Damn, guess they get to meet me sooner than expected. They turned around, searching for whatever had made that noise, and Wesker stepped out into view. Wesker - "Welcome to this game. Had fun yet?" 

Steph: "I've seen this guy's picture before. You're...W, W something." 

"That would be Wesker, little girl. Get it right. You won't have much time to talk with me anyway." 

Jack: "We're busy, come back later." 

Wesker: "DON'T talk down to me boy. You don't know what I could do to you, of course you'll learn soon enough. If you push me, I'll just have to kill your little bitch." 

Wesker started toward them, loving how powerful he had become.

Jack didn't know who this guy was. He was either really stupid, or there was something else to him. Something beneath the surface that Jack couldn't see. 

Jack didn't care. Right now, he had to move on. And if this person was going to step in his way, he'd have to run him down. With his four arms. 

Jack rushed at the man. He let out a cry of attack. He raised his large, black arm up into the air, ready to attack... and suddenly he was on the ground, the wind knocked out of him. The man stood above him as Jack coughed for air. 

"Please don't try anything," the man said. "It would just be a waste of energy. Now why don't you be a good mutant and die?" 

He kneeled down and grabbed Jack's throat with his hand. He was surprisingly strong. Jack couldn't breathe. 

"No! Stop it!" Steph yelled. She ran towards him. Wesker raised a hand at her. 

"Stay where you are, if you value your life." 

Steph stopped. What could she do? Jack was dying. Who was this guy? She tried to remember if Kramer had ever mentioned anyone like this. She couldn't. 

Jack struggled against the stranger, but he didn't budge. He was powerless against such a force. He was panicking. What would he do? What could he do? 

And then Jack felt it again. That all-too-familiar pain. And this time, it was widespread. It went up his entire back, and down his entire right side. Jack started jerking in convulsions that were so violent, it was difficult for the man to keep hold. But still, even now he was still strangling Jack, choking the life out of him. 

The pain culminated in a giant surge, and then another burst, followed by relief. The sheer force of it all threw the man off of Jack and knocked him to the ground. Jack struggled to stand up. It was dark. It was hard to see. And as he stood up fully, he got an eyeful of the new mutation. 

Wings! He had grown wings! 

They were featherless, ugly things, similar to his big arm. They were covered with horrible angles and random protrusions. It was by far the worst-looking transformation yet. The wings sprouted out of Jack's back, one on the left and one on the right, and bent at gnarled joints around his body to his front. Each one was as big as he was. 

But there was more. Where his right shoulder and the right side of his neck met, there was a huge, bulbous, skin-colored bulge. It didn't do anything except take up space. He couldn't even feel through it. It was just a lump. A small, but otherwise normal arm came out of the strange lump and hung over Jack's right shoulder. It was half the size of a normal arm. It was very disturbing. Not only that, but Jack couldn't really control it. It would only move a little if he tried really hard, but otherwise it just hung, limp. 

The man was standing now, in front of Jack. He didn't seem surprised at the mutation. 

"The virus works in mysterious ways. But it won't save you." 

Then, Jack felt a tremendous force on his chest, a punch that was too fast to see. It sent him flying backwards, onto the ground again. The man was on him instantly. He was too fast to even see! He pounded Jack relentlessly. Jack tried to do something, anything. He tried to cover himself with his wings, but it was useless. The man was too close to him. Jack just flailed them wildly, hoping to hit him. But the blows didn't faze the man at all. 

Steph stared at the two, crying. She had been struck with the feeling of ultimate futility, of complete uselessness. She couldn't do anything to save her friend. She was nothing. She wanted to use the virus to help her, but she didn't know how. All she could do was watch with horror. 

The man stopped and stood up, with blood on his fists. Jack was bleeding everywhere. He couldn't get up. He hurt badly. 

"And now Jack, you die." 

He raised his foot over Jack's head, ready to stamp his brains out, literally. Jack's face was so bruised and bloody, he could barely see. But he knew what was about to happen. He waited for the death blow, his eyes clenched shut. 

"NO!" Steph screamed. 

The man raised his foot up quickly, ready to smash it down. He began to stamp downward, but he stopped an inch above Jack's face. He had heard something. 

"What?" 

He turned his head to the noise. A rocket... it was the sound of a rocket being launched... and again... and again! Somebody had a rocket launcher. Then he heard gunfire, rapid gunfire. An assault rifle. And then, finally, there was an unearthly roar, a huge moan from some beast. It was a familiar sound. And then he realized what it was. 

There was more gunfire. It went on for about a minute, and then stopped. No more gunfire, no more rockets. Only a very distant, quieter, inhuman groan. 

It could only be one thing.

Jack opened his eyes. He had expected death, but it hadn't come. He looked at the man. 

The man stared into space, thinking. His back faced Jack. 

Jack took the opportunity and ran. He grabbed Steph and picked her up in his arms. And he ran as fast as he could. 

"Hey!" the man yelled. He started to chase after them. 

As he ran, Jack had only two hopes, but they were pretty big hopes. For one, he hoped the stranger couldn't fly. For another, he hoped that he himself could. 

Jack leaned his upper body forward. Doing his best to control his wings, he started to beat them up and down, slowly. Of course, Jack didn't know the first thing about flying. He would just have to get it right the first time. 

He beat his wings faster and faster. He could feel it working. He was getting lighter. He just needed to take off. Then he would be out of range. He beat harder, but made sure to keep a rhythm. He could feel himself getting lighter and lighter. And then he was weightless. He looked down. His feet were off the ground! He was running in the air! Quickly, he stopped running and concentrated on trying to fly. His back was getting tired, but he didn't care. He had to keep going. He tried to look behind him to see where the man was, but he couldn't see past his beating wings. He looked at his arms. Steph had fainted. 

He rose higher and higher, very slowly. Sometimes he began to sink, and Jack would panic. But then he would just beat faster and start rising again. 

Jack couldn't believe it. He was flying. 

He was about one and a half stories high now. And it was easier. He didn't have to beat as fast. He could see the man below him, starting to slow down. The man stopped and looked up at him. He had escaped his grasp. 

Jack had escaped.

Jack decided to take a look around. After all, now he wasn't in any sort of danger besides a new mutation that might turn him back into a land-only animal, and Jack wasn't going to think about that. So he scanned the horizon, tested his wings, and then he saw something. 

RPD. That could only be the police department, judging from the PD. It was huge! More like a museum, he thought. Jack decided against going to it, he had a bad feeling about it. And his bad feelings were usually right. 

Jack had now been flying for nearly an hour. "Enough of this joyride." - he said quietly to himself, "We need to find this antidote." Steph was becoming hot, almost steaming, and Jack didn't want another weapon coming out of her and hitting him. Especially while flying! Jack came down near an old church yard, and noticed that there was a path of destruction torn through and around the church. Something had been here. 

He laid Steph down, and quietly searched the area. As he neared the church, he thought he heard someone. He hid against the wall, and as he peeked around he saw someone. A girl! And another man was there with her. He was about to go and ask them for help when he realized that they were probably part of either Wesker's or Kramer's entourage. And Jack didn't want to mix with them right now. So he watched them walk off. The girl was obviously fighting off something. Another virus? he thought. Jack wanted to follow and find out more, but he couldn't leave Steph behind. So he returned to her and thought out his next move...

The truth was, he didn't know what to do next. He was just glad that he had gotten them away from that guy, Wesker. There was something up with him, something very strange. Jack didn't know exactly what it was, but Wesker had been extremely powerful, and had been wearing sunglasses the whole time. And he had just about killed Jack. I wonder why though...Oh well, that didn't matter now. He needed a plan now, something to do. He sat down on the ground, his back leaning against a gate. He hadn't even noticed until then that his wings had contracted back into him. Steph was now starting to wake up, making little noises in the back of her throat. When she was fully awake, he could tell she was taking in their surroundings, and then she looked over at him, so he stood up. 

"Where are we, and how did we get here?" She asked. 

"Well, we're in some kind of church yard, I'm actually not exactly sure what it is. But I just knew we had to get away from that Wesker guy. And since I had just grown wings, I used them, the best I could. I mean, I kind of had never flown by myself before. It was cool, though." 

"Well, what are we going to do now?" 

"I'm not too sure..." 

The noises had distracted him long enough for the couple to get away. He had tried to catch up with them, but they had gotten just a little too far away, even with how fast he was. Wesker knew that the sound had had to have come from one of Umbrella's new creatures, though he couldn't quite remember which one. He still had a connection with White Umbrella even though he was with his new company, HCF. 

Oh well, he thought. Doesn't matter, I'll find them anyway. Now that he had tasted Jack's blood, he wasn't going to leave Raccoon until more of his blood had been spilled. And his girl. Steph. She wouldn't live either, though he did have a small dilemma. 

Who would he kill first? Well, that would be known within time. Either way they would both die at his hands. And he did love that power so very much. Knowing that someone's fate was up to him was so...so enticing. He loved it. Though maybe I should go check up on that rookie cop and Redfield girl. Although they will both most likely die, if Claire was as stubborn as her brother, Chris, she wasn't going to go down easy, and not without a fight. Yeah, that damn Redfield charm. 

Not only that, but he had heard about Kramer, but even more interesting than that, Jill Valentine was still here, still in Raccoon City. He had underestimated her at the mansion, sure, but now that he knew what she was like, he wouldn't be surprised by her again. But no, he didn't care about any of that, at least not yet. 

He started toward the way Jack had flown off to. He wanted their blood, and set out to get it.

Wesker made his way across the streets of Raccoon City. He was making good time. Ironically, the two had escaped to the same place he had heard the noises coming from. Wouldn't they be surprised if they found its source? What was its name? He couldn't remember. But that wouldn't be good. If the monster killed them both before he could reach them, chances were slim that he would be able to retrieve a good sample. 

As he considered this, he noticed he was passing very close to the police station, which reminded him of his second objective. He could divert his path temporarily to obtain the G-virus, and then resume his chase after Jack and Steph. But to do so would mean giving the monster more time to kill them. Therefore, it would be best to stick with his original plan. 

So Wesker decided to keep going... that is, until he noticed something on the police station's roof. He didn't have a clear view of it, so he climbed up the stairs on the side, up to the helipad. A helicopter had crashed into the building, but that wasn't what had grabbed his attention. It was something further on... something smaller... He came closer and saw there was a small hole in the roof. This was what had caught his attention. He hoped it wasn't what he thought. He walked up to the hole and looked down into it. And there it was: an Umbrella T-Capsule. 

Shit! This meant Umbrella was already a step ahead of him in obtaining the G-virus. The Tyrant had probably been there for hours already. This wasn't good. On the other hand, it was a good lead. The G-virus must be nearby if they decided to drop a Tyrant here. 

Wesker stood up against the night sky. He stared at the Clock Tower. That's where he had heard the monster. A S.T.A.R.S. member was likely to be there as well. They just wouldn't die... 

"Jack!" he yelled into the night air, "I'm not finished with you yet!" 

He stared at the hole. 

"You just wait..." 

He jumped in. 

Jack stared out at the sky. Wesker had called to him. That guy scared him. And now, wingless, he had no real escape from him. If they ever met again, there wouldn't be much hope. 

Steph had heard it, too. They stared out at the sky together. Then they heard the roar. It was an awful sound. The roar of some beast. It came from behind them, inside the Clock Tower. It was bone-chilling. They stared at the building. It was the first time they had noticed a helicopter had crashed into the tower. 

Silence. 

"I don't like this at all..." said Jack. 

"We have to do something," said Steph, "There's no use in staying here." 

"You're right. Of course. But where can we go?" 

They looked around hopelessly searching for some direction. 

"Do you have any idea where Kramer's lab might be, Steph?" 

"No. I just know it's in the outskirts somewhere. Somewhere far from the main lab." 

"Well, we're pretty far from the main lab at least." 

"Maybe, but for all we know, it could be on the other side of the city." 

"Great. It could really be anywhere..." 

They both sat down and thought for a while. 

Eventually, Jack stood up and started searching the walls of the tower. 

"What are you doing?" Steph asked. 

"I'm looking for another secret passageway. If Kramer has more like the one I found earlier, then maybe, if we can find one, we can get to the secondary lab." 

"But you don't even know if you're in nearly the right place." 

"Hey, it's worth a shot, right? And think; what better place to put a secret passageway than behind the Clock Tower?" 

"I can think of a few..." 

"Whatever. Just give me a few minutes to try this out, okay?" 

"Jack, it's a waste of time." 

"Better than doing nothing." 

"Maybe, but we could be on the move, looking elsewhere. Besides, I don't want to be here if Wesker or that thing in there decide to show up." 

"Give me a break." 

"Jack, I'm serious!" 

"There." 

"Huh?" 

"See, I told you." 

Steph looked at the wall where Jack indicated. A piece of the wall had turned on hinges, revealing a small panel. 

"Now, let's see if I can remember which one opened the door..." 

"Jack... that's amazing..." 

"What?" 

"That you would bring us to the exact spot that there was a secret door, and then be able to find it when you weren't even sure if it existed... the chances are one in a million!" 

"Well then, maybe I'm just lucky. I'm overdue for a lucky streak anyway..." 

Jack pushed the upper right button on the panel. Sure enough, it started to flash green. They heard the sound of a door opening off to their left. Jack closed the panel, and they walked over to the door. And there it was, leading down into the ground. A secret passageway. They stepped inside. 

Kramer heard a bleeping. He glanced at one of the consoles to see what it was about. One of the outer doors had opened. Concerned, he checked his tracker. 

Uh-oh. 

The two mutants, Jack and Stephanie, had opened the door. They were coming straight for him! It would seem that Wesker, wherever he had come from, hadn't killed them after all! He had to block the way somehow. Thank goodness it was the long passageway. 

But how had they found it? The chances of them finding it randomly were incredible. And he knew he hadn't told Steph the location of his lab. It was as if the Center Hypothesis were coming true. 

Things were starting to turn ugly. This wouldn't do. This wouldn't do at all.

Wesker knew the RPD building pretty damn well. He should, he did used work there after all. He had plenty of memories of his treachery, and he loved them all. He was good, very good. He had heard about that other agent, Ada Wong, coming here to also collect a sample of the G-Virus, and some specially trained people from Umbrella, but that wouldn't do. He wouldn't have that happen. He wouldn't let that happen. Umbrella wouldn't win this; whoever Wesker worked for, they were the power. 

He kept walking down the halls, heading down, towards the parking garage. He was thinking about going down into the sewers, to find the secret lab. But he did want to get out before Jack and Steph got away. No, they wouldn't get away, there was really no chance of the event occurring. He didn't have to worry about that. 

He made it down to the first floor, to the first room in the station where you enter into from the front doors. The reception desk was to his left, the computer was on, the screen bright in the dim light that flowed throughout the room. The whole station, in fact. But he didn't mind, he loved the dark. He always had, but somehow, after coming back from being dead, he loved it more than ever. 

As he was about to go through the door by the front double doors, he heard that howl again, and the rocket launcher. He opened one of the doors a crack, and saw the Umbrella creation, Nemesis, that's it, the Nemesis. Wesker arched his head out and saw...nothing. Nemesis must just be on the trail of someone; most likely Jill. 

"Oh well," he said to himself, and turned to continue his little quest to obtain the virus.

Kramer had never been so panicked in all his life. 'How could they...?!' he kept thinking. That Jack character must be the most lucky guy on Earth, not only because the virus, or Wesker, hadn't destroyed him yet, but how did he find the door?!! Steph was a trouble-maker as well, especially with that perfect virus...
 
Suddenly, an idea came into his head. It was a crazy, dangerous idea, but maybe, it just might work... If he could somehow capture Steph, all he'd need would be a sample, then he'd deal with her appropriately. It would certainly cause the research to come forward in leaps and bounds, much faster than even he could ever anticipate. That Jack wouldn't dare try anything for fear of her life. Not that it really mattered to Kramer, Jack would die sooner or later anyway... 

Storing two test tubes of blue liquid in a freezer, Kramer switched on another camera to find Jack and Steph in the passage. Perfect, he thought, as he worked more buttons on the console...

Jack and Steph walked slowly down the path, not wanting to run into anything unexpectedly. It was pretty dark, and they had no light to flash on so that they could see better. They didn't know exactly what to say to one another, so they just walked on in silence, but an eerie one. Steph finally broke the silence, asking Jack a question. 

"So, do you think you can get your wings back? They might have just retracted and not just disappeared." 

"Maybe, but there's no need to right now, anyway. We're in another passageway, no where to fly to...think this is the way to Kramer's lab?" 

"Possibly. I mean, he most likely would have it hidden, after all. He wouldn't want it to be out in the open where anyone could find it that easily." 

"True...hope we find it soon." 

Jack didn't want to have another mutation, though the wings had been lucky, a blessing really. Without those, he would've most definitely have been killed by Wesker. Jack hoped that they didn't run into that guy again, or else they might die. Obviously, neither of them wanted that. They continued to walk down and through the small tunnel, until they came to and intersection... 

Wesker didn't feel like continuing to look for the virus any longer, at least not until a little later on; it'd still be there when he got back. He wanted to kill, to spill the blood of that Jack character...and even Stephanie. They were both running from him, and he had to admit, he just loved a good chase. It got him excited, hunting people down and all. It was fun. He had turned back a few minutes ago and left the RPD building, through the hole in the roof in which he had came. He was on the roof now, taking deep breaths of the night air. Full moon, clear sky...beautiful, really. The perfect picture, especially on the building, looking down upon the city. 

He shook that feeling off, taking on a whole new one. The desire to kill, and bring more death among Raccoon. He jumped down, not bothering to take the stairs; he absolutely loved being able to shit like that. It was incredible. He landed perfectly, and looked around. Where are they? Hmm. He turned around, and saw an open space, about the size of a doorway. Oh yeah, time to play! He walked through it, sniffing the air. He could smell their sweat and blood, and he followed the trail, the feeling of death overcoming him. This should be fun...


Either path seemed risky - no telling what might be here. 

Jack - "Which way?" 

Steph - "We'll try left first. I think it leads further out of town, that's where the lab's bound to be." 

Jack - "I'm trusting you on that." 

So they set off down the path. Jack's expression was grim, determined, rather frightening. 
Steph couldn't help admiring Jack. Despite all they'd been through, and what was happening to him, he was still determined to get through this in one piece. 
She was also thinking a lot about the virus inside them. A few times it had activated, each time in a case of dire emergency. And each time it had given them the attachments and weapons needed to survive. It was almost as if it was adaptable to the situation, and would only activate when needed. Almost as if they had some sort of control over it. There was no telling how long it would be before the virus stopped giving them 'benefits' and turned them into shambling wrecks. It didn't bear thinking about... 
Suddenly, a metal shutter slammed closed behind them. 

Jack - "What the...?" 

Steph - "This doesn't look good." 

Jack - "What does these days?" 

Steph couldn't reply. She saw, behind Jack, two pairs of glowing yellow eyes... 
Jack spun around, coming face to face with another two monsters. These ones were new. They looked a lot like green gorillas, only they seemed leathery-looking, with long sharp claws and even sharper teeth. 

Jack suddenly remembered he still had the Magnum. He pulled the clip out of the gun and checked the bullet count. 
One bullet. 

Jack - "Crap."

They bolted. Jack could feel it: these guys wouldn't take one Magnum round and all die at once. No way, no way in hell. Which they were in, of course. So all they did was run. He could hear more leaping out from alleys, shadows, rooftops, everywhere, and they were fast. Very fast. Too fast. Now, Jack began to pray. But not to survive. He prayed to die, fast, painless, and easy. But then he thought about Steph, he had this underlying urge to see her through this, and for them both to rid themselves of the virus. 

Suddenly, Steph heard a far off cackle, echoing off the building walls from far off. Images of Jack's blood ridden face suddenly filled her mind, as well as.... Wesker's. It had to be him. Wesker was coming. 

"Jack! You hear that? It's Wesker!" 

"Don't worry about him, just run like hell!" 

BLAM! Jack fired off his only remaining Magnum round. No sense using it now.... he thought. He heard a screech, looked back, and saw pools of blood gushing from one of the creatures. It was still coming. What the hell were they?! 

Blood! It knew the smell like only it would. Forget the girl, it thought, there's blood in the air. And it had to have it. The Nemesis thundered off towards the smell, bewildered by the sheer amount of it. He also smelled much food. This was a lot better than the S.T.A.R.S. girl any day. Definitely. 

There they were, running like hell from what he had practically become. Right into my hands, Wesker thought. Just wait a few more minutes... wait! The new Tyrant project was coming! He'd heard the steps before, and seen the carnage at the churchyard, but he could tell it was coming towards THEM. Then he noticed the bloody Hunter still chasing after Jack and Steph (or Jack and Jill rather, he thought amusingly). Of course it would chase it, and then murder everything else there. Wesker decided not to wait for them, it would be too late. He left his place and ran. This will definitely test my skills, a little too much, maybe...he thought.

He wasn't sure how long the dark tunnel was, though he could hear them getting closer. He was at the end of course, just waiting for them to arrive. Nemesis was far enough behind so that Wesker would have the pleasure of killing the duo. Screw Jill, he could come back for her, if he so chose to. Which he might not. That didn't matter right now anyway, Nemesis would probably reach her before Wesker did. As long as she died, he didn't have to worry about her at all. Though he might want to find her, kill her for his own delight. 

They were still running, getting very tired though, however seemingly not as tired as he usually got...must be the virus he thought. They had been running for several minutes by this time, so that probably meant that they were getting somewhat near the end. He could use a mutation right about now, though what he wasn't sure of quite yet. Just anything that would help them out...but of course now that he wished it, it wouldn't happen. And it didn't. Steph was a little bit slower than Jack, so he decided to make sure she didn't fall too far behind. He didn't hear thumping from behind them, but he still wasn't about to slow down until they were sure they were in the clear. 

With Wesker's heightened senses, he could smell their blood. And also, they had just come in to his sight. He could see pretty damn well, even in the dark, so they were probably still pretty far back...though maybe not as far as he thought. They were closing in fast, and this was his moment of glory...for now at least. Maybe he would torture them before actually killing them, but whatever he decided, he just had to get his hands on them now. He held out his arm, fist closed, and Jack's face slammed right into it, knocking him straight down, and hard.

Jack lay on his back. He could see the full moon above him. What happened? First he was running for his life, and suddenly he was flat on his back. It was like he had run into an invisible wall. 

"Hello, boy." 

The haunting face of Wesker brought itself into Jack's view. 

"Oh sh-" 

In one motion, Wesker grabbed Jack by the neck and flung him into the Chapel wall. Jack hit it hard, then slid down to the ground. Just then Steph came through the opening. 

"Jack, no!" 

Wesker turned and smacked her away. She landed some five meters away, the wind knocked out of her. 

"For the last time, stay out of this!" 

Wesker walked slowly toward Jack's unconscious body. Steph tried to get up, but she couldn't. She could barely move. Her back hurt a lot. It may even be broken, she thought. She needed the virus to work for her. But try as she might, she hadn't the faintest idea what to do to use it. And it wasn't working on its own, that was for sure. He was getting closer to Jack. Closer. He was only a few feet away now. Jack was going to die, and she could do nothing to help him. 

A growling came from the tunnel. The monsters! Wesker turned to the noise. There were two of them. Once outside, they looked around for something to feed on. One saw Wesker. The other saw Steph. Simultaneously, they charged in opposite directions. 

One hit Wesker. Hard. It knocked him to the ground. It was surprisingly strong. Dr. Kramer was surely a talented man at creating monsters. He struggled against the thing, its arms, legs, and teeth tearing at him. 

The other jumped on Steph. It was tremendously heavy, and the pain in her back only escalated. The pain became unbearable. She screamed in agony. And then it happened again. It grew in an instant, from her breastbone. A long spike stabbed straight up through the heart of the beast and carried it off of Steph. It was dead instantly. Then, as quickly as it had appeared, the spike was gone. Steph looked at Wesker. He was still struggling, but it was clear that he was winning, and would be free soon. 

She did the only thing she could. She ran to Jack. Hoping not to attract the attention of the remaining creature, she picked him up, and carried him over her shoulder. He had so many extra appendages now, she had lost track, but it made him extremely heavy. She stared into the face of Wesker, under the beast only a few feet away. She had to escape. But where could she go? Wherever she went, he'd be on her soon. 

She headed for the passage again. Maybe if she could close the door it would buy them some time. She propped Jack up against the inside wall of the passage and looked around for some button to close and lock the door. Soon, she found a small panel on the inside wall. There were many buttons. She pressed one; it didn't do anything. She saw the second creature get thrown by the opening. Wesker had beaten it. He was running towards them now. He'd be there any second. 

Suddenly, a huge explosion erupted off to the right. That was where the hospital was. Large pieces of the building flew into the tower yard. One of them hit Wesker, sending him flying back. 

"Luck is really on our side..." 

Then there was another distraction. It was the roar of the monster they had heard earlier. But now it was much, much closer. Steph didn't care anymore. Frustrated, she took the Magnum by the barrel and hit the panel with the butt of the gun, putting all her force behind it. Some sparks flew, and the door came down with a loud SLAM. 

"Luck is REALLY on our side..."

	He slowly came to, his head throbbing. It was the only pain he had felt in months. And it disturbed him. He had forgotten how it had felt. Nerve endings pulsating, sending signals back and forth from his brain. All culminating in one big OUCH on the side of his head. He slowly stood up, holding his head, looking around. Just as he thought. Steph and Jack had both got away. 

"DAMNIT!!" Wesker yelled at the top of his lungs. The sound echoed off the buildings of the dying city, an empty hollow sound. He wasn't sure how long he'd been out for, but he was sure the duo had used the time to get as far away from him as possible. He knew the Nemesis would go undaunted, and most likely reach Jill before Wesker had a chance to expose himself. He also knew that Mr. X was closing in on one of the last samples of the G-Virus. He only hoped Ada would get to it first. 

Wesker whispered to himself, "So much to do. So little time." 

Jack was finally waking up. And Steph couldn't be happier. She'd been dragging his heavy-ass, mutated body for the past 15 minutes, and she was getting rather tired. She just hoped she'd put enough distance (and obstacles) between them and Wesker. 

"Are you alright?" Steph asked as Jack blinked and opened his eyes. 

"As alright as a man with four arms can be, I suppose," Jack quickly cracked back. 

"Yeah. Yeah. Alright, wise-ass. Then you can use your normal two-legs and walk yourself," Steph said with a smile. They had ended up having to run back into the tunnel they had emerged from when Wesker had confronted them. They had now just reached the junction that had originally led them in that direction. 

"So, I guess we go right this time?" Jack said. 

"Not much of a choice, I suppose. Unless you know how to take out the weirdest man I've ever met," Steph locked eyes with Jack, "Second weirdest." She smiled, and Jack laughed as they continued down the corridor. They just hoped it would lead them to Kramer's lab. 

"DAMNIT!!" Kramer screamed. He had been relieved at first, when the two soon-to-be creatures had taken the wrong turn, and headed away from his lab. But now, all of a sudden, they were headed right back for him. He didn't know why they had decided to turn back, but everything today had seemed to run totally on luck. And it had all been bad for him. He had to find some other way to slow their progress. 

'Just 3 more hours," he thought to himself, '3 more hours. Then they can track me down all they want...'

So they went right. As they expected, it was a long and dark passageway, it almost seemed to go on forever, but at least they couldn't see anything that could hurt or stop them. No monsters. No Wesker. Which was the best thing for them right now; they wouldn't have to deal with any distractions...least not yet. As they continued on, the only sounds of the tunnel were their steps echoing, and a consistent drip of water coming down from above. They walked on for what seemed to be a very long time, silent, although it had probably only been a few minutes when they came to another intersection. Considering what happened at the last one, they were being cautious. 

Jack - "Now which way?" 

Steph - "I don't know, last time we kind of didn't have a choice." 

They each looked down both ways, trying to see if one was shorter than the other. 

Jack - "Well, left probably leads more into the city, maybe the way out of here. That could be the way we want to go, if it'll take us out of Raccoon." 

Steph - "Fine by me." 

So they turned that way and kept walking in silence.

Kramer watched them approach the intersection. He had these monitors practically everywhere in the tunnels. They were getting closer, though it seemed as if they were having a bit of trouble deciding which way to go; they had stopped and were looking down each way thoughtfully. "Don't come left," he breathed to himself. If they did, he'd just have to deal with it. And let Jack and Steph deal with the consequences. They were talking to each other now, though Kramer couldn't hear; he hadn't gotten all of the sound hooked up to each camera yet. And wouldn't, not now. This city was going to hell fast, and he would be leaving soon enough as it was. He didn't have to do anything else with that shit. Slowly, they turned and headed down the wrong way, towards him; left. 

"They should've gone the other way, for their own good." He muttered. 

He didn't have too much more to do, but they had to be stopped before they reached his lab. He reached next to him, pushing a small blinking button. He knew exactly what it did, and soon they would too. He watched as above them, the ceiling opened up.

Fwhump! 
"What the hell was that?" 

"Look up..." Jack replied, but he sounded like he'd just seen a ghost. When Steph cocked her head up and caught a glimpse of what she saw, she screamed out. Loud, very loud. 
Peering from the opening were two, four, six, more reddish-green eyes popping up everywhere, just staring at them. All of a sudden, Jack caught hold of his senses and knew their only option: run!

Steph grabbed Jack's upper-right arm, not even realizing he was so terrified he was pretty much leaving her if she hadn't caught him leaving out the corner of her eye. She decided to take a glance at what they were running from, but when she turned there was nothing in the hall. "Jack, wait," she yelped, "They aren't following." 

"Are you sure?" he said, slowing to a jog. 

"Unless I've gone crazy, they aren't." she replied. 

"I think you have then." Jack replied, a forced smirk forming on his face. 

"Then you look and tell me they're there." she said sternly, shrugging his attempt at a joke off. 

Jack turned, stopping his run and saw what she had described: an empty hallway. They wouldn't just stay there, if I've learned anything from this hellhole, so what the hell are they doing, and where are they? He asked himself. Suddenly he heard two sounds at the same time, in front and on top of them. Instantly, the ceiling fell out a few meters in front of them and four, maybe six monsters appeared in front of them, followed by three from the ceiling's brand new sky roof. "They were chameleons, ain't that a bitch?!" Jack thought out loud. 

So they tucked tail and ran, not wanting to look back...

Wesker walked toward the door in the side of the Chapel. The whole area was much lighter now. The hospital had exploded; everywhere it used to be was ablaze, lighting everything nearby. Debris had been literally sprayed everywhere. It could only have been done with high explosives. Must have been one of those lowly UBCS supervisors. They sickened him. They were mere dogs. 

He examined the door. A large, metal shutter now existed where brick wall used to be. It was the only thing standing between him and his prey. He'd just have to knock it down. He pounded on the door to test its strength. It was tough. He'd have to use tremendous force to break it open. He stood firm in front of the door, and began summoning his awesome strength. He put all his power into one blow with his fist, slamming against the door. 

Wesker's blow put a huge dent in the metal shutter as his punch connected. But as soon as he withdrew his hand, the metal popped back into place. Despite the huge dent he had caused, it was only momentary. The door had sustained no damage. 

His hand hurt from the blow. But he ignored the pain. The door was too strong. Not even he could overcome it through brute force. He'd have to manage another way in. 

But he had other matters to attend to. He could figure this out later, after he had obtained a G-virus sample. He needed to check on Ada. With that Tyrant lurking about, she would probably need help. 

As he looked toward the police station, he wondered what the Nemesis was hunting. It was close and he knew it. Aw well. No matter. It was of no use to him. 

"This isn't over Jack. Before the sun rises, I will kill you!" 

Jack ran as fast as he could, pulling Steph behind him. They'd been in this situation before, too many times. Jack was getting rather sick of it. But at the moment, there was a bigger problem. He looked back to check on the monsters. He could see them; they were gaining. 

"Jack, where are we going?" 

"There's only one place to go." 

They were nearing the second intersection they had come across a minute before. Without slowing down, Jack gripped the wall with his left hands, and let his shoes slide across the floor. Pivoting around the corner, they slid into the right fork of the intersection. Once in the right fork, Jack took off again. 

"Let's hope this goes somewhere."

"Yes. Yes. Perfect." Kramer intently watched his monitors, beaming. The creatures had chased Jack and Steph off in the other direction. There was nothing to stop him from completing his virus now. 

"Just another couple of hours. Then everything I have worked for, everything I have dreamed of, everything, everything will finally be mine." 

The ground shook violently. He could feel it, a massive sudden movement of earth, as if it had decided to roll over in bed. He saw a cloud of dirt and dust spray up into the air about two miles away. And then the shaking stopped just as suddenly. He didn't know what that had been about. If it was a creature, it certainly wasn't one he had ever heard about. Possibly, it was another snake, like at the mansion. But whatever it was, Wesker didn't feel much like meeting it. Even in his powerful state, he couldn't move tectonic plates. And besides, having to fight something right now would slow him down considerably. He had no time to lose if he was to accomplish all his objectives before Raccoon City was but a smoking crater on the face of the Earth. 

And now they finally realized their luck had run out. They were going to die. 

Jack and Steph just stared blankly at the wall that the right passageway had led to. A dead end. And, overused pun or not, dead was right. There was no doubting it now. The creatures would be on top of them in no time and there was no escape. 

They turned and stared at each other. Jack, with his five arms, one of which was miniscule, and the other a large, black, cancerous growth of tissue and bone. Steph with her...well, Steph was still relatively normal. Besides the fact that less than two hours before she had miraculously spurted a 20-foot tentacle, and then grown back a complete arm, there was absolutely nothing wrong with her. She was perfect. Jack stared at her. Her hair, her eyes. He never noticed how fair her skin was before. Or what a beautiful, athletic body she had. She was staring back at him with those big, beautiful, blue eyes. And suddenly, something inside him took over. Something primal. He didn't know if it was an effect of the virus, or just the severity of the situation, but he drew her close with all his arms and kissed her. And he felt her arms around him and she kissed him back. They held each other in that embrace, waiting for the inevitable... 

And then the entire ground began to shake. Strong, violently. The tunnel behind them collapsed, crushing the creatures that were mere moments away from tearing the couple to shreds. And then, the shaking stopped and everything was still again. Jack and Steph broke their embrace and just stared at each other for a minute. Then they stared at the collapsed tunnel. Then back at each other. Looked like luck was still on their side. 

"You know," Jack talked first, "When we kissed, I felt the earth move under my feet." 

Steph punched him in the arm; one of the normal ones. 

"Shut up."

Now that they'd been stuck and had no way of stopping him, he was restless. His plan was going to be set into action, the world was his. But still...this was no fun. They were so close, and he never even got to test out the ReX-4095 on them. Plus, a sample of Stephanie's blood...That sample would be useful in his experiments later on. Kramer also wanted to play with the strengthening aspects of Jack's mutations, it seemed the virus had taken quite an interesting turn in his system. He had been struggling with his self for a while now, and after much deliberation, he pressed a small red button on his panel in front of him.

They heard a slight whirring noise from behind the wall, and turned to see what the hell it was. Jack was the first to notice some chips from the brick wall crumbling to the ground in the top-left corner. Then, more dust and chips of brick started hitting the ground, and then the wall lifted. Revealed behind the dead-end was a small office room, with about a dozen computers and twice as many vials. 

Jack and Steph entered the lab, and then the wall slammed down behind them. Just then a voice came over a PA system. "Hello my little guinea pigs." Kramer. "Welcome to my lab. I hope you find it accomadating, I know I have. Have fun trying to find me now, there's not much time left. Oh, and please take care of dear Rex for me, would you?" Then his voice faded away. 

"Hey, you were helping Kramer earlier, right? Do you know anything about this Rex thing?" Jack asked. 

"Well, it's a code name. Kind of like a mix between these Hunter things and one of Umbrella's top secret Tyrant designs, the Nemesis. A Hunter is like Wesker, but Reptilian and far from human. They do, however, have all the abilities Wesker has used against us thus far. Except Hunters have claws as well. A Nemesis, as Umbrella calls them, are programmed for one purpose, which they are hell-bent on carrying out. We heard one screaming when we were in the alleys above. It was probably searching for any remaining S.T.A.R.S." 

"So, in other words, we're in some shit." 

"Exactly. We'd better move before he programs that thing and sends it here. At least that way we'll have some time put between us." 

Jack and Steph quickly got out of the lab, and the nearest door opened to a...

They opened the door into an abandoned building. Big surprise there. There were some stairs several feet in front of them leading up to a second staircase on the opposite side. From the looks of it this place had actually been abandoned for longer than when the virus...viruses leaked out. Some wooden planks had fallen and were just leaning halfway from the walls onto the dusty floor. 

Steph - "What now?" 

Jack - "I don't know. I guess we just keep trying to get out of Raccoon. But for now, just get the hell away from Kramer's lab. I don't know about you but I really don't want to be around when that Rex thing gets loose." 

Steph - "Yup, gotta agree with ya on that one." 

Jack - "Oh, and one more thing. You're a pretty good kisser." 

Steph looked at him, trying not to smile. "You want another punch?" 

"Ha, sure, why not. Not like the other hurt anyway." - Jack said with a grin. 

They stepped farther into the room and turned right, where they saw what had to be the front door. They started towards it, but Jack stopped after only a few feet, clutching his chest. Steph - "What is it?" 

Jack - "No clue. I just felt something...inside me." 

Steph - "So what's new? Have you just noticed what you look like or what?" 

Jack - "No, you didn't let me finish..." 

Just then Jack's eyes glowed yellow for about a split-second, but long enough for Steph to see it and Jack to know something was happening...something worse than just mutations. 

Steph - "...Your eyes just turned yellow and went back almost instantly...that's new." 

Jack - "Something's totally wrong...and I don't mean another mutation. It feels like...like I'm losing something." 

Kramer watched the couple from the safety of his own lab as they had gone into the old building next to his place. Well, his lab wouldn't be so safe for long after he let out his monster. He still didn't and wouldn't have sound, which did bug him slightly, though it didn't matter anyway. All that was important was watching their next steps. He noticed that when they had been moving toward the door, Jack had stopped almost immediately, in pain. 

Kramer figured it was another mutation...but then he had seen Jack's eyes turn. That's when he knew things were in its final step, at least for Jack. Kramer knew what was soon to happen to the man. Just as Wesker had practically lost it...Jack had begun to lose his soul. 

When it was gone, Kramer wouldn't have to worry about either of them in the least. Jack would kill Steph all on his own. Or Rex would kill the both of them before it was completely gone. Either way, Kramer won. He won because Steph would be killed, and Jack would also be mutilated by Rex. Then he could get his sample of both test subjects. A difference was that Wesker had been losing his soul slowly, but for Jack it would be much faster. And not all at the same time, but gradually both him and Steph will notice a difference in his behavior. He especially will notice his hunger and thirst for blood. And Kramer could not wait for that moment.

Jack paused. This was a new feeling for him. It originated deep within his chest, a cold singularity that was draining something from his body. Jack had never felt anything quite like it before. It was obviously some effect of the Kramer virus, but this one was radically different from any others he had had before. This was something else... something... irreversible. 

It started to increase exponentionally. The slight chill he felt grew into a vast, frozen emptiness in a second. It hurt. Jack fell down to his knees. His vision became blurred. Steph began to panic.  

"Jack... Jack, what's wrong?!" 

"Cold... can't see straight..." 

Jack struggled to keep his eyes open as his sight became more erratic. He started to hunch over. He brought his hands under him to support him against the wooden floor. His fourth hand, the ugly brother of the other three, flopped above the others, big and limp. Jack looked at the arm. He was breathing heavily and beginning to sweat. It was a cold, cold sweat. He forced his eyes to stare at his grotesque growth. His eyes tried to move around wildly, but Jack put all his energy into keeping them in one place. His arm... it was moving. And he wasn't moving it. Huge growths burst out of it for a split second. Jack widened his eyes in surprise, only to discover that the growths had disappeared. 

"Jack, are you all right? Speak to me!" 

"Did... did you see that?" 

"See what? Jack, please try to calm your body down!" 

Jack could barely hear her voice. His senses were going completely haywire. And they were getting slowly worse over time. And all the time it grew colder... colder. 

Jack understood it now. He had come to face what was perhaps inevitable all along. The virus was deteriorating his body and soul. Once the virus had eaten his soul, his body would rage out of control like he had seen in the others before him. This was the end. 

But no. Jack had never been one to give up. He just had to regain control until they could find some sort of antidote. He gathered his strength to stand up, and concentrated to eliminate the confusion in his senses. He got up slowly. The cold was still there, but he could feel his senses returning to normal. He was doing it. He had the determination to overcome this. He could do it. Jack strained his throat to speak. 

"We need... to keep going... have to..." 

Jack took a step and feel to the floor once again. 

"Jack!" Steph rushed to help him up. 

"No..." 

This was it. This really was it. Even if Jack could control his own senses, he didn't have enough power or control to even walk a step. There was no stopping it now. He didn't want to put Steph to any risk just help him. Jack was losing control. He was scared. He was used to having control over his own life, at least in some sense. He had never believed in fate, but instead that man determined his own path. That was all thrown out the window now. Jack was out of options. There was only one thing he could do now. Just one thing remaining that he still had control over. 

Trying to keep his body under control, he searched his pockets frantically. He was looking for something, his last hope. He hoped he had at least one left. Steph started to get teary-eyed. 

"Jack, what are you doing? Jack?" 

He reached into his back pocket and found what he was looking for. He pulled it out and held it in his open hand. It was the last one left. A .36 caliber round. 

"Jack?" 

He reached behind Steph and pulled out her gun out of her pocket. He opened the chamber and started to load the bullet. 

"Jack what are doing? Stop it!" 

He closed the chamber with a *click*. He started to stand up slowly and painfully. He raised the gun to his temple. 

"No! Jack I won't let you do that! You can't leave me!" 

Steph tried to grab the gun away but Jack took hold of her with his big arm. He drew her in close to his body. He brought her red, teary face to his, and said: 

"I don't want anyone else to die." 

He brought her in closer and kissed her. It was a passionate kiss. He knew it had to be good, it would be his last. Slowly, he pulled her away. 

"Jack, no!" 

He threw her away from him lightly, so that she slid across the floor and came to a stop about thirty yards away. 

"NO!!" 

Jack couldn't hear her anymore. Holding the gun with his original right arm, he pulled back the hammer, pressing the barrel against his right temple. This was it. His finger twitched nervously near the trigger. 

Steph was yelling now, running towards him again. She'd be too late.

The pair had Kramer's full attention now. The computer was finalizing his own personal research and would have everything finished within the hour. As he waited, Kramer watched the scene unfold before him on the security monitor. He watched as Jack continued to struggle against his virus. He watched as Steph tried to help him. And he even smiled as he watched the rather common madness produced by his creation drive Jack into taking his own life. At least, he smiled at first. He stopped smiling as soon as he realized what the consequences might be. His previous studies had shown that there was only a 30% chance of the virus causing growth in a recently dead host's body. If Jack were to kill himself before he fully lost control, he might not mutate into the monster he so deserved to be. And that would mean Stephanie might be able to escape. With a free sample running around freely, Kramer's entire project was compromised. He would have to keep watching to ensure that did not happen. With luck, even if Jack didn't mutate, Rex would make a quick end of the girl. But Kramer never liked to depend on chance to work for him. He would rather create some sort of insurance, but at the moment there was nothing he could do without putting himself at risk. The moment was out of his control. It was something Kramer rather hated, but it was something he would have to deal with. 

Silently, pondering, he pored over the monitor. 

This was it. His finger twitched nervously near the trigger. 

Steph was yelling now, running towards him again. She'd be too late. 

Jack closed his eyes. It would all be over soon. 

But wait! What was that?! Jack stopped and lowered the gun slowly. All the noise that had been confounding his senses disappeared. In an instant, his senses had turned from frenetic chaos to sharp, crisp acuteness. He had heard something. A sound. Jack's eyes were still being attacked by blurred images, but they were quiet now, more focused. Everything was colored a yellow tint. 

He'd heard something. A sound. Somewhere nearby. A threat. A thing. Some thing. It was some thing, threatening him. What was it? What was that?! There! There it was again! There. It was in the walls. It was in the floor. It was everywhere. He was being watched. They were watching him. His eyes darted around frantically, searching for the source. Where was it? What's going on?! They're watching me. Eyes. Eyes everywhere, jeering at me, torturing me. Where is it? Where is my enemy?! Where is my predator?! There again! That sound! A step! A scratch! What was it?! Who is it?! What's doing that?! It's coming to get me. It's coming to get me and it's going to kill me. Kill, kill, die, death, the end. No. I don't want to die. So I'm going to kill it. It's going to die.

He was too quick. She was too slow. He had grabbed her gun away from her in a second, and she had been to slow to stop him. And when she tried to take it back, she was too weak to do anything. They kissed, and she liked it. She wished it would last forever, but already she was flying away, flung away by Jack himself. And now Jack was going to kill himself, he was going to die. All because she was too weak to help him. It was her fault. But she wouldn't give up, no matter what. She was running towards him now, even as he brought the gun up to his own head. She was too far away, too slow. There was no way she could make it in time. But she ran anyway, a last hope. Because she refused to let it happen. 

She was about halfway to him when Jack lowered the gun again. Thank God! she thought. She kept running, hoping to get her gun back before he changed his mind. She ran up to him and yanked the gun from his sweaty fingers. She stared at it, the gun that had almost killed Jack. Jack wasn't going to die. He was going to live. And they would escape, and they could be together. 

"Oh Jack, don't ever even think about doing that again..." 

She looked up at him, and suddenly she wasn't relieved anymore. Jack's eyes were yellow again, only permanent this time. They darted around wildly, like the eyes of some startled animal. His teeth were clenched, and she could hear a faint growl coming from his mouth. 

"Jack? Jack, snap out of it!" 

She waved her hand in front of his face, but his behavior did not change. His head jerked around occasionally, and his arms remained up in the air, ready to attack. Or at least, that's what it looked like. 

"Come one! Wake up!" 

She clapped her hands an inch away from his face. Nothing. He just wasn't responding to her anymore. He was in another world. 

Just then, Jack jerked his head towards the wall opposite the front door. He closed the forty feet between himself and the wall in one gigantic leap. Steph rushed to join him. She ran up to the wall, where Jack had his ear pressed up against the bricks of the wall. He was listening to something. 

"What is it? Why won't you listen to me!?" 

He paid no attention. He practically wasn't human anymore. There was something wrong. 

Jack pulled his deformed arm back, and slammed it into the wall. The whole room shook with the force. Steph fell to the floor, and scrambled a few feet away. There was a huge crack in the wall where Jack had struck it. He pulled his arm back again, preparing to strike. Steph readied herself for the impact. The arm crashed through the rest of the wall loudly, causing the room to shake a second time. He pulled his arm out of the wreckage. There was now a large hole in the brick wall, big enough for Jack to pass through. Without hesitation, he jumped through the wall. Steph ran after him. She looked through the hole. It led into another room, very dark. She couldn't see more than a few large, square machines lining the walls. 

Not sure what to do, she reluctantly followed Jack. 

Kramer was already frantically preparing to leave. He didn't want to stick around. He saw how Jack had made short work of the wall, and had then entered straight into the lab. Undoubtedly, he would meet up with Rex within a few minutes. Kramer did not want to be nearby. He needed to move to a temporary location where he could observe his lab in safety. If he could get a good sample from the girl, he'd come back later to retrieve it. But if things turned ugly, he would have to leave. He would hope for the best, but expect the worst. As he ran back and forth, preparing his things for the move, he glanced at the computer. It would still be five minutes at least before everything was finalized. Suddenly, five minutes seemed like a long time to wait.

Jack's soul was hanging by a thread. He had lost what made him human, and was now nothing more than a fierce beast, a primal animal running on pure instinct. He could smell it. There was a predator nearby. His enemy. Jack no longer saw the array of computers around him or the newly emptied specimen tanks that stretched from floor to ceiling. All he detected was his enemy's scent. He followed it, cautiously, stalking it. He walked slowly, step after step, keeping as quiet as possible so as not to give away his position. He inched closer... closer... 

Rex lifted his head. He became aware for the first time. Instantly, he felt the power of his humungous body coming to life. His long limbs started to move, his senses started to become active. Having only been truly alive for a few seconds, Rex already felt it. The driving force that had been biologically programmed into his being. To defend. 

He took in his surroundings. He had no true eyes, but his other senses formed a collective picture of the area around him. Rex did not understand. He didn't try to understand. He was not truly human either, neither in mind nor appearance. His senses honed to ultimate acuteness, Rex had already picked up the presence of another being, one that would have to be crushed. For that was his purpose. It was his only driving force and his only reason for being. The thing was foolishly approaching him. He would kill it. 

Rex took a step out of his chamber, and strode confidently and uncautiously toward his target. 

Steph wandered in and slowly understood where she was. She was in a lab. This was it. Kramer's second lab. They were here. But where had Jack gone? 

Steph continued on. The whole place was eerily silent. 

There it was! It was coming toward him now. This was it. Stealth was no longer worth the effort once he could see his opponent. Over the desk under which he hid, Jack's eyes fixated on the doorway ahead of him, from whence the footsteps came. They were loud footsteps, from some large creature. They grew louder and louder, nearer and nearer. It was almost there. 

A large green claw reached its way around the doorway and gripped the doorjamb about seven feet above the ground. It was big. Slowly, the rest of the creature came into view beyond the door. It was a sleek, beautiful creature, but a monster all the same. Seven feet tall, it stood erect on its hind legs. Its skin was a dark hunter green all the way through, except for a paler yellow on its front. Its large reptilian frame looked awkward in its upright position. It appeared as if a frog had been altered to grow large claws and large muscles. A giant Hunter. Its strong, powerful legs stepped forward, towards Jack. Its long, great arms swayed at its side, ready to attack at any moment. Its large amphibian head took up most of its torso. 

The thing stepped closer. It did not look around the room. It looked straight at Jack the whole time. There was no denying it; it already knew he was there. 

His instincts taking over once again, Jack leapt out of his hiding spot and covered the distance between him and it in a single bound. At once, Jack was upon it, all four limbs thrashing wildly. He aimed for the head, the only feasible weak spot. 


But the thing was strong. Even stronger than he had anticipated. With one mighty claw, it grasped Jack's two left arms. With the other, it took hold of his deformed arm. Jack's remaining free arm was useless. Jack struggled under the thing's power, but his only true strength lay in his mutated arm. He put all his power into it, pushing against the thing. But it would not budge. However hard Jack pushed, the thing matched his power. Just then, it raised its arms, lifting Jack into the air above its head. Jack thrashed more to wriggle free, but to no avail. It would not be moved. But Jack was determined to win. He flung his legs about, kicking the thing in the stomach and head, and in the shoulders. He kicked everywhere that would conceivably be damageable. Nothing. He kept kicking anyway, pounding the thing's head in an attempt to cause some brain damage. But every kick fell to a metal-solid skull. He didn't care. He wouldn't give up. 

The thing began to move again, raising its arms a little higher. Perhaps he was annoying the thing. Jack could predict his moves. It would try and throw him across the room. In an act of desperation, as well as an attempt to get free, Jack used the fact that his arm was on his back to his advantage. Instead of pushing against the monster, Jack put all his strength into straightening his mutated arm. Using the thing's own claw as a pivot, he flipped himself over the thing's head, pulling its own arms behind it. Then, instead of trying to pull free of the thing's grasp, he held tight to its arms. Coming to the end of his flip, Jack thrust his legs straight out behind him, striking the monster directly at the "base" of its head. Without letting go of its arms, Jack pushed as hard as he could against the back of its neck, pulling its arms tightly behind it. Jack could feel it working. Not only did he know his heels were digging closer and closer to the brain, he could feel the things bones beginning to dislocate at the shoulder. He didn't stop. He would win. 

Despite all the thing's position, it remained calm and unweary. It didn't move aside from the shaking that Jack was giving it. Jack had its own arms crossed straight out behind its back. Jack's animal instincts were controlling him, telling him to rip the thing's arms off. But he couldn't do it. Slowly, he felt his grip weakening. The monster began to bring its arms about to the front again, pulling against Jack's legs on its own back. It kept pulling back, undoing what Jack had done. Jack pulled against it now, trying the keep its arms behind it. But it was still too strong. It slowly made headway: its arms began to move forward laterally around its body. But it was staggered. The thing was definitely struggling to maintain itself. Nonetheless, it was beating Jack hands down.

 Still Jack held on. Jack was squashed against the thing now, and by holding on to the thing's arms, it was beginning to stretch his own. As it pulled its own arms to its front, it pulled Jack's arms with them. Jack's arms began to stretch unnaturally behind him, around the thing's body. Jack pulled and pulled, still trying to win, but he knew that if he held on much longer, it would tear his arms off. Reluctantly, Jack lessened his grip from his left arms. Realizing the sudden weakness, the monster gripped Jack's big arm and threw him across the room in one swift motion. Jack sailed through the air and hit the ceiling, then crashed into one of the desks and bounced to the floor. He lay on the ground for awhile, dazed. But then, the animal inside him still as determined as ever, and still as bent towards its own survival, Jack slowly stood up and faced the thing. It stared back at him with its cold, eyeless face.

The funny little creature had surprised him. Although it was not impressively strong in the least, it still managed to be difficult to deal with. It didn't matter. He would crush and destroy it. 

Rex began to walk toward his prey. 

Jack was getting panicky, like a little animal. Jack was no longer trying to win. Now he could only survive. He would have to escape, to run. But he couldn't just run straight off; it would catch him for sure. He needed to wound it somehow. A head-on attack was no good. It would be able to stop anything he threw at it. 

Not sure what to do, Jack dashed to the side and fell to the floor. Moving on all fours now, he glided swiftly between the rows of desks, chairs, and computers, desperately trying to conceal himself. He would come around silently and try to attack it from behind. 

Just then, he heard a swift noise of air moving. He stopped, listening carefully. Then crash! The desk in front of him was crushed instantly as the thing landed on it from its incredible jump. And now it stood above Jack, right in front of him. 

Jack wasted no time, less the thing would take advantage of its strength. He did everything in one swift motion. Quickly, Jack got up and used his big arm to grab the thing's upper body. His claw slammed down on its face and gripped around his head. Meanwhile, he placed his left arms firmly against its flat stomach and reared his left leg up, ready to kick. Jack slammed his leg outward against the thing's shin, then pulled hard on its head with his big arm and pushed against its lower body with his left arm. The result was that Jack lifted the thing up off the ground, over his own head, and flung him a short distance. It was incredibly heavy, several hundred pounds. It was a very short throw. But it was still a small victory. The thing's entire weight plus Jack's own force had been used to thrust it's back into the floor. Jack's claw still gripped the thing's head. 

Taking advantage again, Jack leapt onto the creature, still holding on to its head. Lifting his hand slightly, he gave himself enough room to kick hard on the thing's head, pounding it into the floor with each blow. It was a relentless assault. Then, Jack pressed his foot into its neck, and pulled with its claw, trying to snap its neck. It began to move about, somewhat frantically compared to its other, slow movements. It was working. He was hurting it. 

But the thing would grab him soon. He couldn't stay on top of it. Jack searched frantically for the thing's mouth. Once he found it, he grabbed its lower jaw, fortunately toothless, and opened its mouth. Putting his foot against the upper jaw, Jack pulled, separating the jaws from one another. Jack was much weaker than the creature, but he was still considerably strong. Not only that, but it was obvious this thing hadn't been grown with strong jaws in mind. The lower jaw quickly tore off, and Jack threw it away. He had succeeded. 

But before Jack could celebrate, and before he knew what hit him, he flew across the room and slammed against the back wall. Regaining his lost wind, Jack watched in horror as the thing stood up completely unfazed, now jawless. Green blood gushed down over the thing's belly, covering the yellow. It just stood there, just as sleek and powerful as ever. Jack had done nothing. 

Before he could even see it, the thing was rushing at him at top speed. And before he could react, it was already upon him. With its full enormous weight behind it, it slammed into Jack's chest, crashing through the wall behind him and into the room beyond. Jack sailed through the air and struck the wall on the other end of the new room, where there was a counter and some cabinets. He hit the corner of the counter hard. The contents of the cabinets flew out from the force of the blow, showering Jack with glass flasks and test tubes. His ribs were completely broken. He was bleeding internally. And he was in incredible pain. Slowly, he began to lose consciousness. He closed his eyes, and couldn't feel anymore. 

Just as Steph was beginning to thing she was completely lost, she heard a loud crash nearby. She rushed toward the sound, hoping it hadn't been Jack. 

This whole situation sucked. Everything was going down the tubes. First Jack began to lose it, and now he was somewhere getting himself killed by some other creature. She needed to save him. He couldn't die. She couldn't bear it if he were to die. 

She burst into the next room. It was an experiment room. Cabinets and rows of counters filled the room. She spotted Jack lying in the corner, covered in broken glass. 

"Jack!" 

She ran up to him. Clearing the glass from his face, she saw he was unconscious. 

"Jack, wake up! Wake up Jack!" 

She didn't risk shaking him, but instead shouted loudly in an attempt to wake him up. He had to be alive. He had to be. She didn't want to be alone. She needed him. She couldn't face this alone. 

Jack was nothing. He had been hurled into a world of blackness and pain. He could see nothing, feel nothing. But he knew he was fatally injured, and wouldn't last long. Retreated to the recesses of his unconscious and subconscious, the human part that remained with Jack tried desperately to be at peace with itself, to let itself go and be free of everything. 

But then, from the blackness that he had been hurled into, he heard a voice. A faint voice. He couldn't make out what it was saying, but he recognized who it was. It was Steph. She was calling him back from the darkness. Back to humanity. 

Suddenly, all the animal instinct that had taken over was completely abolished. Jack's humanity had control once more. Slowly, Jack willed himself back into consciousness. Slowly, he opened his eyes. His eyelids were heavy. It took all his strength to open them. But it was worth it. The first thing he saw on his return was the face of his loved one. Steph's face hovered above his, tears welling in the eyes. 

"Oh Jack, you're... you're..." 

"I'm... back..."

"Jack... I thought you were dead. I thought you'd left me again." 

"...Steph..." 

"No, don't try to talk, you need to conserve your energy." 

"No... can't-" 

Jack started to move, to try and stand up. 

"Stop moving! You'll only make it worse!" 

Despite the pain, and Steph's insistence, Jack kept rising. 

"Please stop!" 

His chest felt like a mess of bones and organs. Still, it felt good to have full control again. Then again, there wasn't much left to control. 

"Jack, stop moving!" 

"No... go..." 

"Stop!" 

He was all the way up now. He was just tall enough to see over Steph's head, to see behind her- 

"Steph... Look out!" 

Fighting through the pain, Jack shoved Steph aside as hard as he could to get her out of the way. She had moved over just in time to avoid Rex's attack, which subsequently connected with Jack's stomach. He screamed in agony. 

"AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!" 

Steph, now shoved to the floor nearby, would have yelled for him. But she was too horrified to speak. Never had she seen such a powerful and awesome monster, even through all her trying experiences of the night. She was completely paralyzed. She sat, unable to move as the thing threw blow after blow, its arms sinking into Jack's weak flesh. He was on the floor again, now being pounded by another assault. This was it... his final moments. If he was going to die, he could at least save Steph. That was what he had originally planned all along. He struggled to speak through his screams as the amphibian began to rip through his chest. 

"Rrr-...Steph...(Ah!)...you...you gotta get oughtta here!" 

His voice brought Steph out of her temporary shock. 

"No! I won't leave you!" 

Rex appeared not to notice the girl, as he tore into Jack like a ferocious dinosaur. His permanently opened mouth sprayed green blood everywhere, soaking everything. Its blows tearing into Jack poured his blood onto everything as well. It was all blood, mixing and covering everything a mud brown. 

"NO! You have to leave! Hurry! I-(chcok!)" 

Jack couldn't speak anymore. The thing had tore out the front of his neck. Breathing was useless. He began to struggle for air, only to lose it through his neck. 

"No...no please, you can't leave me here!" 

But she already knew the sad, sad truth. Jack was already too far gone. There was no rescuing him. The least Steph could do was to fulfill his death wish: to escape with her own precious life. If she didn't leave now, Jack's death would have been in vain. 

Sobbing hysterically, and still not catching the monster's attention, Steph stood up and ran away, back the way she had come. She didn't look back, in fear that she would break down if she ever saw him again. 

The instant he had lost his throat, he knew it was all over. He was going to die. It was unstoppable. Jack didn't like having no control, but it was truth. Still, before he died, there was one thing he had to do. He had to cover Steph's escape. The monster would go after her, and then there would be no stopping it. 

Jack was desperate. He had again fallen into the black recesses of his unconscious mind. He knew there was only one thing he could do. He had to let go, give up the fight. He had to relent all control to the virus, and let it finally and totally consume his body. Only then could he have a chance of killing it. Jack focused what was left of his soul, and took the final step. He let go of what he had been holding on to the whole time. He let it go. 

He immediately felt the effects on his body. Within seconds, his body had grown to unnatural proportions. He began to grow arms, legs, and other unworldly appendages completely at random. He degenerated into an ugly mass of biology, twisted arms popping out of wrongly-bent legs, near where a new chest had begun to grow. "Jack", for that was hardly who he was anymore, began to fill the entire corner of the room, growing and growing in mass, the random appendages reaching and reaching outward. 

Rex was suddenly confused, like he had been presented with something he couldn't understand. He tried to kill it, slashing into it with his gigantic claws, but it just kept on growing, even despite all the holes he was putting in it. It grew bigger now, and Rex had to step back to avoid getting consumed in its impossible lumps and body parts. 

And then it became focused. It was as if the mass was suddenly aware of him, by some unnatural force driven towards him. It somehow lurched, slid, or otherwise flopped towards him, trying to capture him. It continued to grow arms and legs and teeth and hair and slicers and pincers and bones and hearts and lungs and claws and several other other-worldly, highly inhuman and completely unspeakable horrific things. 

Whatever it was, Rex understood he couldn't stop it. It was coming toward him, and it would quickly overwhelm him. He decided to escape and let the pitiful thing die on its own. He readied himself to sprint, but then realized that he had nowhere to go. The thing had grown so big that it now cut off every escape route. It practically filled the room. Rex was backed into a corner. The claws and spines and tentacles and things reached out to him, coming closer and closer. There was no way to avoid them. They'd be on him soon, feeling and slicing and grabbing. There was only one way to survive. He would have to tear his way through. 

Suddenly with a renewed self-confidence, Rex ran at the thing claws first. He viciously tore at the infinite thing, tearing a pathway for himself. For a moment, he seemed to be making progress. The thing began to grow around him, engulfing him, trapping him inside. Rex paid no attention, stayed focused on his goal, and continued to plow through. He used his infinite strength to tear off limbs and rip through flesh, slowly making his way through. 

But he couldn't keep up. The thing just kept growing, faster and faster, until every hole Rex put in it had already re-grown by the time he made another blow. The pressure began to build, an unbearable pressure, even for a perfect creature like himself. He flailed and began to writhe in pain, trying desperately to find some opening, some escape. But none came. And so his slow painful death came, only minutes after his real awakening. Slowly, the pressure of all the sheer mass increased. One by one, Rex's bones snapped, and were crushed. And just then, at the very end, only moments before his final death, Rex felt something he had never even imagined before. 

He was afraid.

Wesker had been tracking the pair for a little while, and now he was so close he could smell blood and sweat. Also, there was that familiar scent of death filling the air, which he liked. He knew he was coming up on something important. Plus, he could tell he was in a lab. Must be Kramer's...which meant there was most likely some kind of a creature down here. Or maybe not. Wesker didn't really feel like having to deal with any monster right now, he was just on the hunt, chasing the guy, Jack, and the girl, Steph. He started running, eager to see what was up. When he saw a doorway with blood outside and inside of it, he slowed down. 

He came up to it slowly, smelling a lot of blood, and the scent was definitely coming from inside of the room. He looked in cautiously, and was surprised to see a room covered in the red liquid, along with green and blue fluids also. Damn, something...or probably someone must have literally exploded for these things to be all over the friggin place. Of course, he was right. After Jack had smothered Rex, he himself had imploded. He looked around, and then walked in. He tried to avoid getting the different colored blood on his shoes, but it was practically impossible. Aw well, not a big deal...whoa, didn't see that...Wesker looked on the floor towards the back of the room by a cabinet, and saw Jack's head just sitting there, with the eyes open. Yeah, definitely exploded. And his head's the only thing left. Heh, good enough for me, now I don't have to bother killing him. 

But there was something Wesker noticed. Stephanie wasn't there. Which meant she was still alive, and still on the run. He turned back and left the lab room. He started going the way he had been going in the first place, before checking the bloody room. He still had to get to her. He couldn't kill Jack, so now he could take out every frustration and other feelings out on her. So he sniffed the air, and found her scent. He took off after her, going the directions his nose led him. Eventually he was out in the street, and he saw the girl jogging, obviously tired. "Hey!" She stopped and turned around. 

Steph - "Wesker..." 

Wesker grinned as he always did. "Yeah, it's me. I saw that your little friend is dead, probably saving you, I assume. But nothing could save you from me. I don't give up." 

Steph - "I know he's dead. But why do you want to kill me?" 

Wesker - "You've been in my way all night. I'm sure you didn't actually expect me to forget or forgive that. I don't really ever forgive anything. Plus, it'll be fun for me." 

Steph - "Just get out of here." 

His grin widened. "You ready?" 

Steph - "Ready for what?" 

Wesker answered, his yellow eyes glowing in the darkness. "For the end."

Steph: Oh...shit... 

Wesker leaped at her, moving blindingly fast, and within a second Steph was on the ground, choking and gagging trying to cough, while Wesker was back in his original position. 

Wesker: There's more you know. This is only the beginning. This is the fun part. 

This time, Wesker came at her more slowly, wanting to savor the moment. This is a hell of a lot more fun than watching some cop and his bitch... 

He stood right above her, and slid his shades down his nose, looking her right in the eye. After a few seconds, he slid them back in front of his eyes, and calmly spoke. 

Wesker - "Hit me." 

Steph(coughing) -  "W-what...you're i-i-insane!" 

Wesker - "Fucking hit me!" 

Steph lunged forward and upward, and smacked him with a shin and a fist right where Wesker should've expected her to go. He keeled over in pain, clutching where she had hit him. But only for a few seconds. He leapt up, in a sudden fit of mad rage, and slapped her right across the face. Blood splashed out of her lip, she'd bitten it open. Crying, she crumpled up in a heap on the ground. 

Wesker - "C'mon girl. This is too easy. Give me a challenge. You're starting to bore me."

Steph slowly crawled to her feet, and she felt a sudden surge of, she didn't know what it was; rage, pain, loss, strength, she couldn't tell. But she rose up, and felt as though she towered over Wesker. She thrust her left forearm right at him, but he grabbed it and threw it aside, still standing still, feet unmoving. Suddenly, with a burst of lightning quick speed, she threw her right fist right into his face, which immediately stopped his laughing. His glasses crunched under the force, glass smashing into his face and eyes mainly. 

Wesker - "Fuck!"

Steph - "Never hit a lady Wesker, you should know that." 

Steph smiled at him, and tossed her hair to the side. Shouldn't I be scared of him? Why am I so confident all of a sudden? Could it be...the virus? It must be. 

Steph made a skip towards him and a quick jump into the air, landing a swift kick right on the chin. Wesker flew back from the force in her legs, smashing against a dark wall in the alley. Rats scurried away from a trash can nearby. 

Steph started to giggle, and she couldn't stop. She was starting to have fun with him now. 

Steph - "C'mon boy. Give me a challenge! I'm getting bored! "

Steph laughed, mocking Wesker. It wasn't a smart move. Wesker disappeared suddenly, and Steph broke out of her trance, looking all around for him. He was too fast. She may have been gaining the upper hand on him in the strength department, but he had her beat everywhere else. And he knew it. 

The bitch. She's, she's, she's changing! It's that virus, he must've copied pieces of the virus Birkin gave me, and then just created a horrible amplification of it! Kramer!!! 

Wesker roared out with a battle cry and leapt from the shadows, he'd been hiding behind a dumpster far down the alley. Steph turned toward the cry, and saw Wesker, toe to toe, nose to nose with her. Before she could react, he gutted her with his fist. She fell limp to the ground. 

Wesker - "Hmmm, not too hard in the end."

Wesker stared down at her, and looked shocked when she rose up. 

"Wesker." She said, sounding slightly different than before. She sounded...deadly. 

"Wesker. Are you ready?" 

Wesker - "Ready for what bitch? 

"Come find out." 

She turned and ran, faster than she'd ever ran in her life. Wesker followed closely. They sped down the alley, both moving faster than any man or woman had ever moved on this earth. Suddenly, she stopped outside an old factory and ran in. Wesker followed silently. 

She walked slowly through the factory, avoiding the machinery as she did. She hoped all the noise would distract Wesker's sight and hearing. She didn't think it would help too much though. And it didn't. 

Wesker leapt from behind a rotary belt and smacked Steph across the face, but she leapt right up and, grabbing a robotic arm, hit him in the shoulder with a kick. She used her new found strength to tear it off and raked it across Wesker's face. He sprawled out on the floor, and stayed there. She started to walk away when Wesker crawled lightning quick in front of her and tripped her. She smacked her head against the cement floor, and they lay motionless on the floor. 

After a few moments, Steph leaped into the air and spun around, Wesker doing the same. They stood face to face, nose to nose as before, but this time they were equals. Equal in power anyway. Wesker slowly took what remained of his shades off, throwing them at Steph's feet. Steph crushed them in turn. 

Steph -  "The time is now. You're about to die." 

Wesker - "And how exactly are you so sure little bitch?" 

Steph - "Because, I have something you don't." 

Wesker - "Oh really? Help me out then. What do you have that I don't?" 

Steph - "A soul." 

Wesker was shocked. Suddenly, he got fidgety. He felt himself all over, suddenly feeling cold. His skin grew pale, his eyes looked afraid. He continued to feel around his stomach, as if his soul should pop out right there and tell him he still had it. Then suddenly, he stopped. 

Wesker - "Nice try girl, but I really don't care. This soul of mine, if it is gone, isn't the reason I think like I do. It isn't the reason I earn my money, earned my reputation, gained my strength. That soul never did a single thing for me but give me a conscience, which I don't miss too much. It's an easy way to live, without that I mean. So, on with you dying, shall we?" 

Wesker lurched forward and swung a fist at her cheek, but right before she got hit she dodged and hit him in the side. Then she kicked him three times straight in the gut. Steph grabbed his hair and spun on her tip-toes before tossing him, by the hair, onto a conveyor belt. 

Wesker, dazed by the sudden offensive, lay still on the belt. He stirred and rose, looking around. Just then, he hit his head on the side of a large machine and slid under. 

Steph watched as the machine bumped around, probably mashing him into millions of processed meats. Then, it stopped for a second, and when it started again it went faster than before. Whirring noises came out of the machine, and suddenly it burst into flames. Takes care of that problem... Steph thought. She turned from the machine and left the warehouse. 

A minute or so later, Wesker leapt out of the wreck of the machine, visibly burned in areas, but healing quickly. His muscles rippled, strained by the work he had put into losing. Losing! And to a girl, no less. And in such ugly fashion too. He screamed a blood curdling howl into the night, and his eyes glowed a dark gold. 

Steph ran at the sound; she thought it was a second Rex creature. She ran down the alleys until she reached what she thought was the outskirts of town, and stood on top of a hill, looking back towards the city. She'd escaped, and hopefully killed Wesker, but lost Kramer during it all. 

Steph sighed and turned away, walking slowly towards the next town. She wondered what she would say, if an excuse was needed. Zombies took over a town, my friend turned into a giant blob to save me, and I almost died before killing a mad man in a factory. That was too crazy. She walked off towards the rising sun, thinking of a much less lame excuse...

Only it wasn't over, as Wesker came out of no where a minute later, surprising the hell out of Steph. 

He grinned widely. "It takes a lot more than that to take me down. Besides, I have something you want." 

Steph was deeply confused. "What the hell...damnit Wesker. What do you have?"

He slipped his hand in his pocket and pulled out a tube of purple liquid. "The vaccine, of course."

Steph's eyes widened. "How the hell did you get that?" 

"Doesn't matter. Ya want it, you're gonna have to come and get it." He started backing up slowly, moving the antidote between his fingers. "C'mon, I won't even run considering how much faster I am than you." 

She had no choice. She began following him, keeping up her pace. "What do you want for it?"

Wesker - "Mainly, your life, but not if you can take it from me. I doubt you can, but if you get close, maybe I'll just let ya have it."

Steph - "Right, like anyone can trust you. You'll never just hand it over."

"Only one way to find out," Wesker replied.

She didn't want to make any moves, not yet, she had to think of how to get the medicine from him. They kept walking, until Steph noticed they were in the same spot they began their fighting in, and stopped. 

	Wesker was just playing with her, but then he heard something that made him wanna get the hell out of Raccoon. The city was going to get nuked very soon. "Shit." He looked up at the sky, then at Steph. 

"It's your lucky day, girl." He threw up the tube and turned around and took off towards the edge of the city. 

Steph didn't get why he was concerned, but she immediately went to catch the vaccine when Wesker threw it up. Then she heard the warning about a missile coming to really destroy Raccoon City. Now that she had the antidote, she could get away and hopefully live as much of a normal life as someone who just had this kind of experience could. He ran in the opposite direction of Wesker, and ran for her life.