Realization

For hours they scavenged through the manor, in search of their next plan. Between herself and Chris, they thought that had discovered all of the secrets the building held. They soon discovered it was only the beginning. The manor itself seemed to have been built solely to protect Umbrella's worst fears. Not knowing how much longer they had before the inevitable, they decided it was easier to split up; Shiloh and Peter handling the upper levels while Chris focused on the main floor and the lower levels.

Shiloh and Peter made their way back up to the main floor, slowly creaking up the first staircase. They assumed most of the undead inside had been killed off, but it was hard to relax not knowing what surprises Umbrella had for them. She hated the feeling that lingered in the pit of her stomach, telling her time and time again that they knew her every move. This all seemed so scripted. Not wanting to miss a thing they searched each and every inch of every single room.

"You're quiet, Shi, too quiet, what's on your mind?"

"What do you think? This whole situation is fucking insane."

"Well yeah... I just meant with Chris and everything.. Are you sure you're ready for this?"

"I have to do this, you know that..."

"I know... This is just a lot for one person..."

"This filth runs in my blood, my family did all of this, I did all of this. I have to find a way to stop them..."

"We'll get through this together, huh?"

"Yeah..."

Peter would survive, she would bet her life on that. At this point she was tired of running, almost tired of fighting. If it came down to it, if she wasn't strong enough to take them on, she was more than willing to surrender to protect the lives of her friends.

For hours they searched in silence, listening carefully for each slight shift in the building. The manor reminded her of some fucked up fun-house, when she was younger she even believed the rooms would change position every now and then, making it impossible to find your way back out. With the upper levels covered, there was only one more place to search, the attic. Whenever she would spend time here as a child, her mother always told her to stay out, it wasn't safe. But with the condition of this hell hole, how worse could a simple attic be?

Tugging Peter along, they crept up the last flight of stairs. Shaky hands focused on the doorknob, creeping it open. Looking around, it was nothing special - only a few bookshelves and a few scattered boxes. Her gaze focused on a large split in the wall, torn through by something she hoped not to discover.

"Just a boring attic, this isn't too bad."

"Sure.."

Maybe he was right, but her gut was telling her otherwise. He quickly started to go through the boxes, eyes scrolling through dozens of papers. A few minutes passed by before a loud hissing was heard from the distance, coming closer with each second. She motioned over to Peter to stop what he was doing. They sat still in silence, the eerie noise approaching faster. With only moments to react. a large figure emerged from the walls opening, slithering towards them. A ginormous mutant snake, ready to strike at any moment. Yawn, a name she vaguely remembered learning as a child, one of Umbrella's other creations.

"W-What the FUCK is that?!?"

"Stay back!"

Shiloh popped up from her seat, eyes locked on her target. Pistol cocked, she fired a few warning shots at the floorboards before the creature, a stupid sliver of hope lingering thinking it would scare it away. Of course, she was dead wrong, only pissing it off more. It raised its head, letting out a loud screech. Striking the floor beside her, she launched her body to the side, firing a wall of bullets towards its head. The attack did nothing, the monster ready to strike again. The snake launched itself in all directions, thirsty for her blood. She lunged around, a sickly angelic dance avoiding each strike. She couldn't avoid it forever, it was much too fast to avoid.

"Shiloh, catch!"

Eyes focused on Peter for a split second, he threw a sword over in her direction, instinctively catching it. This could work.

Circling the creature, she couldn't help but smirk.

"Alright buddy, you want a fight? I'll give ya a fight!"

Quickly lunging herself to the right and back to her left, she distracted it long enough to act. A stupid decision, but the only one she could think of, she launched herself into the air, arms wrapped around the back of the creatures neck. In one swift motion she dug the sword deep into its neck, green slime oozing and spraying throughout the small room. With a low growl of defeat the snake collapsed onto the floor, her body falling down with it. Rolling to the side, she panted heavily trying to catch her breath. Peter quickly ran over to join her. Loud footsteps approached, Shiloh moaning with annoyance, "Oh, what now?"

Chris burst through the door, eyes wide with panic taking in the scenery.

"Do I even wanna ask what happened up here?"

Standing with triumph, she raised the sword into the air managing out, "I defeated the beast!"

"Alright my little warrior, I found a way out, come on!"

All three raced down to the main level, setting up camp in the dining room.

"Alright, what do you have for us?"

Slamming a few maps down onto the table, "This Mansion was built as Umbrella's ultimate escape route out of the city, there's an insane series of tunnels beneath the city, all leading from here to The Hive and vise versa. There's a storm drain down in the lab that will get us in there, and from there we just need to follow these maps and it will lead us right to them."

"Wow, we're really doing this."

"It's now or never guys, let's get some rest and head out in the morning."