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Rebecca pushed herself through the air shaft, ignoring the layers of dust and cobwebs that were collecting on her hair and clothes, ignoring the suffocatingly close walls of thinbetween two rooms on the basement&039;s first floor, but there were spaces on the second, sub-basement floor that seemed to be part of the system, too It seemed likely that one of the shafts vented outside Billy hadn&039;t been overly enthusiastic--likely wasn&039;t the sareed that it orth a shot

At least it&039;s not very long, she thought, edging toward the square of light not far ahead There was a thinthe exit, but it popped off with a few taps, clattering to the floor below

She got a quick look at a big stone rooht fixture, then pushed herself out, grabbing the edge of the vent and so herself off, taking in the new rooloomy, a cavern made of stone The rock walls were fixed with chains, the chains fixed witharound that she didn&039;t recognize, but that could only have been made to inflict pain There were boards with rusty nails in them, knotted ropes in bunches, and next to a scu case that looked like an iron maiden She had no doubt that the dark, faded stains in the crevices of the rough-heere blood

"Everything okay? Over?"

She picked up her radio "I don&039;t think &039;okay&039; is the right word," she said "But I&039;ht, over"

"Is there another air shaft, over?"

She turned, searching the walls for a vent--and saw one, twenty feet overhead "Yeah, but it&039;s in the ceiling," she said, and sighed Even if they had a ladder to reach the vent, they couldn&039;t cliht up She spotted the room&039;s one door, in the southwest corner "Where does the door from here lead, over?"

A pause "Looks like it opens into a sh," he said "Should I meet you back in the corridor, over?"

Rebecca started for the door "That makes the most sense Maybe we can try--"

Before she could complete the sentence, a terrible sound filled the rooely fah, monkeylike shriek--

--that&039;s it The prih the cavernous space, co from nowhere and everywhere at once Rebecca looked up just as a pale, long-li vent It bared its teeth, thick and sharp, clutching the air in front of itshorribly

Before she could take a step, the creature leaped fro on the floor in a squat, on a tumble of thin boards in the middle of the room It stared up at her, its lips drawn back over its yellowed teeth It looked almost like a baboon with short white fur, except that there were great tears in the fur, glistening patches of dense red h it had been attacked, but rather as though itsthrough Its hands were too big, its nails overly long, and they dragged and ticked across the stone floor as it edged toward her fro maliciously

SlowRebecca eased her weapon off her hip, as frightened as she&039;d been all night Nor a person apart, and this one looked like it had been infected

The baboon edged closer--and froin to shriek, the noise getting louder, h now for her to smell, the hot andinfection

"Rebecca! What&039;s going on?"

She still held the radio in her left hand She depressed the button, afraid to speak butwould incite the creature, make it attack

"Sshhh," she said, her voice soft, as much to calm the ani the radio to the collar of her shirt, raising the nine-s--

--and sprang, just as she fired, just as twoforms hopped and capered into the roo her head as it fell past, its ragged nails tearing at her hair The strike pushed her out of the attacker&039;s way, but it also knocked her off balance, her shot hitting nothing but wall, all of the on the pile of boards--

--and then the floor collapsed

There had been no new develop man, whoever he was--and Wesker had his suspicions, which he kept to hie of Ja correctly, either,of ato see, to consider

After several long, boringto Birkin talk about his new virus, Wesker pushed back fro It was funny--a few years ago, he ht have been interested in his old friend&039;s work Noith his own departure fro, he found himself unable even to pretend

"Well, it&039;s been quite a day," Wesker said, breaking through Williaue when he took a breath "I&039;ll be off"

Birkin stared at hiht of the screens "What? Where are you going?"

"Ho more we can do here"

"But--you said--what about the cleanup?"

Wesker shrugged "Uht keeping the spills quiet was theDidn&039;t you say it was vital?"

"Did I?"

"Yes!" Birkin was actually angry "I don&039;t want anyone else fro questions about ain "So, set off the auto-destruct yourself, and tell our contact that it&039;s all taken care of"

Birkin nodded, though Wesker could see the uneasiness that flashed through his gaze Wesker dodged a s boys at HQ, avoiding interaction when he could Wesker couldn&039;t bla about Trent, his oddly self-possessed nature--

"What about--him?" Birkin nodded toward the screens Wesker felt a trace of unease himself, but kept his expression unperturbed

"A fanatic with a grudge He&039;s great with video tricks, but I iine he&039;ll burn as well as anyone else" Wesker didn&039;t quite believe that hi the mystery He wasn&039;t a detective in soet to the bottos In his experience, anomalies tended to resolve themselves, one way or another

"If word about what really happened to Dr Marcus were to get out--"

"It won&039;t," Wesker said

Birkin refused to be placated "But what about Spencer&039;s estate, the facilities there?"

Wesker started for the door, his boots clanging across the metal mesh Birkin followed like a ard pup

"Leave that to ive it to the holds up against the BOWs" He s, Jill and her eclectic upbringing, the daughter of an unparalleled thiefIt would be alittle Rebecca Cha untimely had happened to Enrico&039;s team; Wesker could use that, take the Alphas in to "find" the reet the Rebecca to go in search of The girl was brilliant, but brains didn&039;t equal combat experience In fact, she was probably dead already

They left the control roo to keep up They reached the elevator, still open from Wesker&039;s arrival, and Wesker stepped inside Birkin stood facing hiht of the corridor, Wesker could see the taint of insanity in the scientist&039;s face His eyes were rimmed in darkness, and he&039;d developed a facial tic at one corner of his uely if Annette had noticed her husband&039;s descent into the deeper wells of paranoia, then decided that she probably hadn&039;t That woreatness" of her husband&039;s work Unfortunate for their daughter, to have such parents

"I&039;ll set the destruct sequence," Birkin said

"Tirin "The dawn of a new day"

The doors closed on Birkin&039;s determined expression, a look of resolve on the face of a sheep, and Wesker&039;s grin widened, his heart light with thoughts of as to coe, for all of the as soon as he heard the animal shrieks, the crash, and was in the corridor when Rebecca&039;s frightened shout crackled fro thehih the air shaft

There, straight ahead, was the door, not far froiant spider bodies He barreled into it, slarabbed the latch and lifted The door crashed open and he was through The overhead fluorescents strobed, da the rooh there was a o!

He flew across the roo for hiht azohts buzzed on and off, the dyinginto darkness with each flicker It began to shuffle toward hi the second door open, ran inside