The saferoom was empty. Jake stared into it, long and hard, his shoulders rigid with shock as he struggled to understand the simple fact that Sherry and Anja were not there.

His whole mindset had depended on the fact that they would be here when they got back, fully loaded and ready to go.

Jill's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Jake, there's a note on the bed, I think--"

The words had barely left her mouth and he was there, not entirely sure how he'd gotten there. His hands trembling as he snatched up the paper.

Jake, I wanted to wait for you, I'm sorry. Leon came and took us out. We have Anna with us... I wanted to wait, please come back to me. ~ Sherry

Relief surged through him. "That son of a bitch," he muttered holding the note out to Jill to read. She glanced over it, her eyes widening.

"Leon's not dead," she whispered flicking her gaze to Chris.

"What?" Chris moved forward to look at the note. He visibly relaxed. "I thought... When he closed us in, I thought..."

"What?" Jake snapped. "No one fucking stays dead around here." 

Jill snickered, covering it with a cough. Even Chris's lips turned up at the corners. It was ridiculous and yet true.

"He told us to go," Jill put a hand on Chris's shoulder. "He's been doing this for years, and so have you. It's not like you left him behind."

"Told you, I won't believe he's dead unless I see a body, "Jake relaxed a notch. "He's got more lives than a cat." He was relieved, Leon was probably the only person outside of himself who could have convinced Sherry to leave. And she was safer with him than anyone else here.

It also meant he didn't have to say anything to her about Claire just yet. Sherry was going to be devastated. It was the last news he wanted to share with anyone.

"Was this where they were keeping her?" Jill asked as she surveyed the room, taking everything in from the King sized bed to the small cradle. The heavy door locked on both sides.

"Both of them... and me." Jake sighed, fingering what was left of his shredded shirt, he pulled the remains that were tucked into the top of his pants, tossing them to the floor. There were a few other T-shirts in the drawers. He hated taking anything that Wesker had provided but the idea of running around shirtless did not really appeal to him either.

A roar rang out behind them, Chris and Jill froze while Jake yanked the shirt down over his head, hastily replacing his earpiece and rearranging his glock.

"What do you say that see what else is in here?" He glanced over at them.

Jill smiled. "I'm game if you are."

"Care to wager?"

"You want to bet on how many you kill?" Chris looked at him, his jaw hitting the floor.

"It's how Leon and I get through it," Jake moved through the door. Especially when there are tons. "Loser buys the winner a drink."

"I'll take that bet," Jill stepped up. "I like whiskey by the way."

Jake smirked but moved to the door. The black shirt he had on fit his mood perfectly. He really didn't give a shit about how many they killed but anything to mask what they were all really feeling right now.

"I'll take an entire bottle of scotch," Chris mumbled behind them.

_________________________________

Leon's head ached. He touched it gingerly making sure to keep himself pointed away from Birkin. He didn't need to show any weakness in front of the scientist. His other hand he kept on his 9mil at all times. He still had plenty of weaponry but the gun was the fastest and most deadly.

He knew he'd need it.

The lights flickered as they walked and his ears strained against the sound of their own steps. He didn't have to guess at what was hidden in the darkness everytime the lights went out. He'd seen it all before.

At least he thought they had. The did manage to surprise him on occasion with whatever twisted creation they came up with and he couldn't understand the drive to keep making the creatures. The technology was there perhaps but every time they tried taking a step forward, it was twenty steps back.

The technology was unstable, every break out crushed more lives than it was saving.

Leon sighed. And he was helping the clone of the monster that helped in creating some of the worst nightmares brought to life.

He snuck a glance at the creature and sucked in his breath. The inky black eyes were focused on him, jaws hanging slightly agape.

Again he was shocked at the intelligence he saw there.

He saw the creature freeze for a moment so he did too. He lifted a hand because Birkin although having the creature under his control did not have himself under control. He was still shaking and the sheen of sweat had turned into a waterfall.

"Wait, did you hear that?" His voice was low and he peered into the darkness, like the Neman he halted listening.

Voices coming from behind them...

"You don't think--" Birkin started.

"Let's find out if it's them..."

"And if it's not?"

"Then let's see who it is and either help them or waste them..." Leon pulled the gun out of his waistband and moved forward. To his surprise the creature followed his lead Birkin moved slower, behind them.

"You don't leave many options," Birkin said quietly.

"That's because there aren't many," Leon responded.

"I know I have a lot to make up for with Sherry..."

Leon turned around to look at him. "I don't think killing her husband is going to make her welcome you with open arms."

"He's a Wesker."

Leon shrugged. "You should see what happened to the last thing that almost killed him..."

"Tell me what happened." His voice was wavering and Leon seriously considered shooting him on the spot. He didn't know how Sherry would have felt about it but it wouldn't have been the first time he'd had to kill someone to save others. A brief flash of a memory surfaced, where he'd killed a close friend... Who had been president of the United States... and an infected zombie at the time.

"Sherry took on a creature resembling a C-virus styled Tryant, Ustanak class, like your friend Wesker is running around with.

He heard the intake of breath. It echoed down the hall causing them both to freeze.

"She shot it at point blank range in the heart, after it tried pounding Jake to a pulp. It almost succeeded in killing him..."

Leon left off the parts of that fight, namely the creature had a small remembrance of who she was and blamed Jake for stealing her away.

"I don't think she'd hesitate," Leon continued.

"I think she'd be better off..." Birkin interrupted putting a hand on the wall to steady himself. "Something is coming." He put a finger to his temple.

"How can you tell?" Leon stopped moving.

"This is a two way connection... He senses..."

"He?"

Birkin nodded. "He senses... humans up ahead..."

"That's good, right?"

"I don't know..."

"You know he used to be a human right, and he's still in there..." Leon hesitated. "He remembers."

Birkin said nothing, narrowing his eyes. Leon couldn't understand the man, couldn't understand how someone could look at their fellow human beings and somehow see them as less than... a human.

The demonic creature next to him turned and stared at him, he felt a buzzing in his ear. Abruptly it ended...

There was a deafening roar and then silence. He could only haphazard a guess at what made that sound...

True to Birkin's statement, muffled voices sounded in the distance.

________________________________________

Claws scraped across the concrete and the scuffled steps of the infected, mixed in with howls from who knew what...

The attack was en masse and Jake couldn't tell where any of the creatures came from, just from one moment he pulled the trigger and blew the face off of a j'avo that had leaped into his line of sight.

Six.

He jumped back out of the way careful not to touch any of its remains. Out of everything here, he and the J'avo had the most in common, both touched by the same virus. And while he was immune, he still feared at any moment he'd turn. It was irrational and yet he'd never been able to shake the feeling since Edonia.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and a gun cock next to his ear and moving faster than any normal person could, Jake swung the arm around flipping the body over him, his own strength surprising him. His gun was out but it was Leon's shocked face in his sights this time with Leon's gun aimed at his face.

"Son of a bitch, you..." He didn't have time to finish the sentence as an infected Doberman leaped onto him. He jumped back, firing a round feeling his shirt tear again. Damn it!

The dog landed on its feet blood leaching down its sides as well as shaggy bits of gray skin and putrid puss. A second later its head exploded and it collapsed in on itself. Leon grimaced at him rolling his shoulder around.

"Where's Sherry?" Jake managed to yell over the turmoil. He'd lost sight of both Chris and Jill in the melee. Birkin was on the other side of Leon standing against the wall behind the Neman he managed to get under his control. He looked even worse than the last time Jake had seen him.

The Neman ripped anything that came close to shreds with its clawed hands.

"I got her topside," Leon yelled back. "And then I came back for you."

Jake felt relief but it was short lived. They could run into any number of creatures up there. Not that he didn't have his own share down here, but any of them laying into the both of them...

His resolve only intensified. Mentally in the back of his mind, he was still counting the bodies dropping. Anything to stay sane.

Another J'avo. Seven.

Two Lickers. Eight, Nine...

There were shots going off from every angle. "On me!" He heard Chris shout, like some fucking hero in a movie. He wasn't wrong though if they kept this up firing at every angle they were bound to hit each other.

"Ten!" Jill shouted as he moved into place next to her.

"Are you serious?" He looked at her and then snuck a glance at Leon. "Ten already?"

"Are you two... keeping score?" Leon fired a round reaching into his vest for another clip, dropping the one from his gun and slipping a fresh one inside in one smooth, practiced motion.

"Maybe," Jill said as she fired another round.

"I got used to it," Jake said looking at him, remembering the first time they'd ever fought together. Leon had told him, smirking "You get used to it," before helping him take the creature they'd later find out was called Ustanak.

Jake cleared his mind as another j'avo appeared in his line of sight. He fired. Ten, and checked his bullets. He had maybe five left. And then he'd have to pull out a knife. He wasn't looking forward to fighting in close combat but he also wasn't about to ask anyone else to give him a gun. He could heal, he could afford to take a few hits. They couldn't.

He went to take a shot when he felt the presence again. Brother... this way...

Holy shit, who the fuck are you?

But he knew who was calling out to him. He knew exactly who it was as he glanced over at the black demonic creature he'd called "Neman" because it meant "demon" in his mother tongue. Its inky black eyes were fixated on him.

Intentional or not, Wesker had done it. Whatever these creatures were, they were far superior to humanity in every way. He watched as the creature turned and in one smooth motion picked up another dog, they seemed to have an endless supply of Dobermans he noted dryly. The creature was yanked up by the scruff of its neck and tossed straight through the line clearing out a section in front of them. Giving them time to pause.

"This way!" Birkin shouted.

The Neman paused next to the wall and Jake realized there was a door there.

"Why is it helping us?"

Brother... It answered. He put a hand to his temple and turned back to the oncoming tide of creatures. They were driven to attack whatever wasn't infected.

And for some reason even though he'd been hit with the C-virus that did include him. These creatures were not under someone's control.

Not even the J'avo, the easier to control zombie 2.0 version. A small part of him wondered if

"Go!" He heard Chris's voice shout behind him. Jill went first, then Leon, followed by Birkin and then Chris. Jake scrambled through the door last firing his last four rounds as he went.

"Shit, shit, shit," Jake cursed as he moved through the door, the Neman surging through behind him.

Turning he found himself face to face with, the inky black eyes drawing him in. He was surprised by the intelligence there, he backed into the wall.

In the corner of his eye he saw Chris raise his gun, the Neman snarled at it but Leon held out a hand and lowered the gunpoint as he watched. The snarled died as the creature returned his attention to him.

Brother... It prodded him in the chest. Jake's eyes widened.

"Is it talking to you?" Birkin moved forward and the creature growled.

What do you want from me? He backed up to the wall enthralled by those horrible eyes that used to be human and somehow still maintained a little of it...

Same thing you want... Death of Wesker...

"I order you to stop!" Birkin pushed past Leon with a strength that surprised them. The Neman snarled at him but made no move to attack anything...

"What is she doing?" Leon asked still not moving.

"He recognizes a fellow evil--" Birkin started.

"YOU did this!" Jake snapped, feeling heat rush into his face as his anger exploded. "YOU fucking did this!" He pointed at the Neman who regarded them both impassively. "And you have the fucking gall to say I'm evil?"

The creatures long claws clicked against the wall.

"Kill him!" Birkin shouted. The Neman grabbed his own head sinking to the floor and Jake realized it was refusing the order and whatever was happening was causing pain to the creature. What was worse, he could sense it, and from Birkin's stone cold face he knew Birkin could as well. His lips had parted in a gasp and yet he refused to give ground.

"I hate to break up this little party," Leon stepped in, "but there is a fucking zombie brigade on the other side of that door. And that's not going to hold forever."

"What now?" Chris said.

The creature stopped holding its head and Birkin's breathing evened out. Whatever order he'd been trying to send out hadn't been obeyed... Worse, he'd dropped it.

The Neman stood this time, Jake forgetting how tall it was.

That way, it started forward.

"Guess we're going this way..." Jake looked at his gun, empty with no remaining clips. He considered dropping it but stuck it in his belt, pulling out the knife instead.

He recognizes evil. It rattled around in his brain. An idea that couldn't escape. He had more in common with the creature in front of him than the men behind him. How many people were going to die for him today? He thought of Claire and how'd they had to leave her broken body behind...

At least she wasn't one of the walking zombies.

The pounding on the door behind him startled him out of his thoughts.

He turned back with the rest as they all simultaneously stared at the door. The hinges screeched. It was an ominous sound in the flickering lights.

"Run!" Chris shouted.

The door broke...