The Hive

As the train sped through the tunnels toward the underground facility, the commandos took their positions by each exit, keeping a vigilant watch under Captain James's orders. Rain had moved to the back door but struggled to get it open, finding it jammed. I approached her to help, and she accepted, stepping aside slightly to give me room. As our fingers brushed over the handle, there was a fleeting moment of contact that seemed to stir something in her, a quiet spark in the midst of the tense mission.

With her watching, I pulled the handle, using my super strength to wrench the door open. The door swung wide, and to everyone's surprise, an unconscious body tumbled through—Spencer. Startled, the team gathered around as Olga, the medic, quickly assessed Spencer's condition, noting he was in the same state as Alice: temporary amnesia.

The team exchanged wary glances, processing the unexpected development. I kept a casual distance, knowing Spencer's condition didn't impact my mission directly. The briefcase with the T-virus and its antidote remained stashed in its hiding place for now; I had no use for them, having stocked my inventory with an infinite supply of the zombie antidote from my earlier ventures in the Resident Evil 2 Remake game world back when I bought from System Shop and used infinity on it and cured Kendo's daughter.

About eight minutes later, the train slowed to a halt at the underground station. We exited one by one, weapons drawn and alert to any signs of movement in the shadowy corridors. The main entrance was sealed shut, but two of the commandos set to work, pulling out equipment to cut through the heavy metal door.

While we waited, Alice turned to James, her frustration evident. "Who am I?" she demanded. "And what the hell is going on?"

James exchanged a glance with Chad, who activated a holographic map of the facility. Together, they explained the base's purpose: a secret Umbrella laboratory beneath Raccoon City, dedicated to classified experiments and hidden technology. Alice's expression shifted, confusion giving way to reluctant understanding as James explained her role in the base's security—though her amnesia had erased any memory of her former life.

"We're here to shut down the Red Queen," James continued, his tone darkening. "The AI went rogue and killed everyone inside the base. Until we regain control, nothing here is safe."

Alice frowned, glancing down at the ring on her finger and then at Spencer's unconscious form. "This… marriage? What does it mean?"

Alice glanced down at the simple band on her finger, then over at Spencer, still groggy from his amnesia. The look of confusion on her face was impossible to miss. James seeing her confusion said, "That marriage is a cover, nothing more. An arrangement created by Umbrella to give you both a plausible identity outside this facility."

Just as the explanation wrapped up, the door gave way with a hiss, the cut metal finally yielding. With weapons drawn, we prepared to step into the heart of Umbrella's hidden world, knowing that whatever was waiting inside would require all their skills—and maybe more. 

J.D. was the first to step forward, donning his night-vision goggles to scout ahead in the darkness. The entire corridor was eerily quiet, illuminated only by the faint green glow of his gear as he scanned for any signs of movement. After a tense minute, the lights flickered to life, revealing a sterile space devoid of any sign of life.

Rain and I made our way to the elevator doors, forcing them open to check inside. The cables were frayed and snapped, rendering the elevator useless, so we took the stairs, descending cautiously to the bottom floor, where the labs were located.

We found ourselves in the labs at the bottom of the stairs—a cold, metallic corridor, courtesy of Red Queen having flooded several lab rooms. A researcher had attempted to escape, breaking the glass with an axe but all it did was poke holes in the glass walls. The leaking water had gradually filled the corridors, creating an obstacle in our path.

Rain and I exchanged a nod, each of us pulling out weapons as we waded into the flooded hall. The murky water reached our calves, and the chill sent a shiver through us. There was no telling what might lurk beneath, or if Red Queen had any traps set in these waters. As we moved further the corridor with the stairwell leading further down was completely flooded blocking our way so we returned back and informed James of the situation.

James quickly instructed Chad to locate an alternate route, leading us toward a section marked "Restaurant B." As we entered, the team hesitated, looking around at the tanks and pipes, puzzled by the restaurant's odd layout. What they didn't realize was that this innocuous room was also a containment area for the "Lickers," deadly bio-organic weapons kept in hibernation by Red Queen's systems. Her influence had kept them sedated, but that security was at risk if we shut her down.

Finally, we stood just outside Red Queen's mainframe, the culmination of our mission lying beyond a gleaming glass corridor lined with bright, sterile lights. The path was deceptively calm, separated from us by a sealed metal door with a keypad lock and the same on the other side of the corridor. We knew Red Queen's defenses would be layered and formidable, but reaching this point without any major resistance had dulled Chad's caution. He settled in at the control terminal nearby, hacking into Red Queen's defenses with surprising ease, a confident smirk playing on his face.

The keypad on the door clicked, and it slid open, illuminating the way forward. Chad, assuming his hacking had successfully disabled the remaining barriers, gestured us onward, saying, "All clear. Let's go."

James took a step forward, ready to lead us through the corridor, but I reached out and stopped him, meeting his surprised gaze. "You're the captain," I reminded him calmly. "You shouldn't be the first one to walk into the unknown."

There was a beat of silence as he registered my words, a flash of understanding crossing his face. Red Queen was known for her traps, and as capable as James was, the unpredictability of this mission required a degree of caution. James ordered two of his unnamed commandos to enter the corridor.

Two commandos entered the corridor first, placing a transmitter on the lock pad to help Chad hack the final code remotely. The doors slid shut, and for a heartbeat, everything was calm. But suddenly, the lights dimmed, and an ominous hum filled the corridor. The laser grid activated, trapping the commandos inside. Desperately, they tried to evade the deadly beams, but the lasers advanced relentlessly, slicing through them in brutal precision.

Rain and J.D. watched in horror as their comrades fell, each beam leaving behind nothing but lifeless bodies. The corridor was bathed in an eerie red light as the final laser dissolved, leaving silence in its wake. James turned away, his jaw clenched with anger and grief. I had intervened earlier to keep Olga from entering, sparing her from the same fate, but the team had suffered a devastating blow.

James, visibly irritated with Chad's oversight, pressured him to double-check every system to ensure the Red Queen's security measures were fully disabled. Chad, shaken by the loss of their teammates, reluctantly confirmed the shutdown, but a heavy silence hung over the team. No one wanted to be the first to risk stepping forward, not after witnessing the brutal laser trap that had just claimed two lives.

Seeing their hesitation, I stepped up, my gaze steady as I entered the corridor. Each step echoed in the silence, but I reached the far end without incident. The team watched, a flicker of relief crossing their faces as Rain followed closely behind, reaching my side without harm. One by one, the remaining commandos moved through the corridor, their nerves taut but determined. Slowly, the rest of the team followed, all of us keenly aware that we were only just beginning to uncover the facility's horrors.

When we finally gathered in the mainframe room, Red Queen's holographic image flickered into view. Her voice was cold, and calculating, as she warned us not to shut her down, her words laced with a dark promise. "If you do this, you'll never make it out alive."

But James, still seething with anger, paid her no mind. He ordered Chad to retrieve the shutdown chip. With a swift motion, Chad pulled the chip free, and the hologram dissolved. For a brief, tense moment, the base was plunged into total darkness once again. Then, after a few seconds pause, the emergency lights flickered on. A distant rumble echoed through the facility as containment doors began unlocking all around us.

The zombies had been set loose.

As the lights flickered back on, the main power supply had restarted, which meant one thing: the base was fully operational again, and every door, lock, and hidden mechanism Umbrella had in place was now active. However, the zombies that had previously been contained are now set free.