Resident Evil 1. Chapter 1

_**Ok here it is the final story for Set One any feedback on this or the other stories would be great as it would give me an idea if the story lines in all or some are acceptable or need to be improved**_

The lights in the darkened room slowly flickered to life bathing the room in an unnatural bright glare.

The flow of sedatives and muscle relaxants slowly ground to a halt as the machines issuing them powered down.

At first the enormous covered bulk on the table didn't move but suddenly one of the large gloved hands started to twitch and it opened its silvery eyes.

Slowly the giant rose from the table it had been lying on taking in its surroundings. It knew it was in a room and the bright lights were mildly irritating to its sight but there were also two other beings in the same vicinity.

The creature turned to face the unknown individuals that were behind it. It saw two people, an older looking man dressed in a lab coat and a woman wearing a black outfit.

It knew that they were not enemies and as it took several steps towards the smiling man in the lab coat the woman seeming very nervous took a few steps back.

The man in the lab coat still kept his grin as he slowly put away a small black remote, he then looked straight at the creature and spoke, "Welcome to the land of the living"

The creature only stood still, it's large muscled arms by its side while lightly clenching its gloved fists, its master had spoken and it awaited further instructions.

When both of the vehicles had returned back to the cabin the morning had already started its daily cycle.

Getting out of the van Jill walked around the back to open it.

No sooner had she unlocked the doors did Deception jump out, take a few steps before stretching his scaled arms out in front of him.

Turning towards Jill, the Hunter first looked at her with his yellow eyes before snarling and running across the dewy field and into the bushland.

Watching Deception go Jill shook her head, "You're welcome" she muttered.

Jill suddenly noticed that neither Alyssa or Nemesis had exited the van, glancing inside she saw Nemesis sitting down in the left corner of the van while Alyssa was curled up beside the monster in a deep sleep.

Nemesis was wide-awake but didn't move when Jill got inside the van and approached him.

Kneeling down beside Alyssa, Jill lightly tapped the girl on her forehead causing her to open her eyes while yawning.

"We're back home Alyssa but you can go and lie down if you're still tired" Jill said. "I don't think anything action wise is going to happen during the day"

Alyssa suddenly seemed more alert and stood up, "What about Claire is she ok?"

As Jill slowly got up so did Nemesis he stiffly rose from the floor, the whole sitting experience was too foreign for him.

"Claire's fine it was only a scratch" Jill replied. "Come on let's go outside, it's a beautiful day today"

Alyssa nodded and followed Jill outside the van, when all three got out they noticed that Carlos and Leon were waiting for them.

"That was some fancy riding you did on that motorbike last night" Leon said towards Alyssa. "Couldn't have done a better job myself"

"But Claire did all the steering" Alyssa pointed out. "I just sat on the back"

"That's true but you kept control of the bike when Claire was hurt, that took guts and quick thinking"

Alyssa frowned, "You're funny you know that?" she then walked past Leon and went into the cabin.

Jill watched Alyssa walk off and sighed, "Why do I get the feeling that bullet wasn't meant for Claire? Something happened in those labs and it affected Alyssa I can tell, she either saw something or…so what are you two doing out here? I doubt it was to say good morning even though it is one for us"

"Actually we were waiting for the big guy to wake up" Leon replied. "Carlos says he trains with him and I wanted to see it for myself"

Carlos grinned, "You'll do more then watch Leon" he then walked past Jill and looked Nemesis in the eyes. "Hey amigo you ready to go? Not too tired from last night?"

Nemesis shook his head and replied in a wavering growl that sounded like 'no'

Hearing this surprised Leon, "I didn't know that Nemesis could talk"

"He says only one word at a time some have more of an impact then others, but yes Nemesis is quite capable of speech just not the kind to have a long conversation with" Jill replied.

"Well I'm starting to believe that both of these monsters are different to the ones we've encountered in the past" Leon said. He then turned towards Carlos, "So where to from here?"

Carlos gestured for Leon to follow, "I'll show you but those clothes you have on at the moment are they easy to clean?"

Leon seemed confused by the remark, "Why do you ask that?"

"You'll see" Carlos said as he and Nemesis walked around the side of the cabin.

Before Leon followed he turned towards Jill, "I think Claire wants to talk to you, she seemed really worried about something last night"

When Jill entered the cabin she heard the blare of the television and saw that Chris, Rebecca and Claire were seated at the rickety table. Claire was now wearing a brown tank top, a blood stained bandage wrapped around her arm.

All three became silent and looked up at Jill when she entered.

"Ok I get it you're all keeping secrets from me now" Jill remarked smiling. "I can take a hint"

As she went to leave Claire stood up and approached Jill, "Can I talk to you about something outside?"

Jill's smile began to fade as she nodded, "Ok but what's it about?"

Claire remained silent until the two of them walked out the front and sat on the wooden veranda.

"Why so mysterious Claire?" Jill asked as she sat down beside her. "Is there something wrong?"

"Alyssa's a sweet kid, you wouldn't even know she was carrying something so deadly inside of her like a virus"

"Well Alyssa wouldn't have been alive if Carlos and I hadn't have been shoved aside by Nemesis" Jill said as she stared across the field. "When Alyssa first came to us she was almost dying and we didn't know it, we thought that Nemesis was trying to kill her when in reality he was trying to save her, she was so close to death that night up in the cave. It's kind of hard to imagine that when you see Alyssa today though"

Claire turned towards Jill, "So you'd know everything about Alyssa and what she's capable of doing right?"

Jill nodded, "Well I wouldn't call myself an expert but I do know that thanks to Umbrella's interference Alyssa has abilities that can only be called super human"

"Are there any other abilities that you aren't aware of?" Claire asked. "Abilities that have the potential of making Alyssa a danger to the group?"

Hearing this surprised Jill and she frowned, "What are you getting at Claire? That she's some kind of sleeper cell agent sent here to kill us all?"

"So even you don't know about what Alyssa can do"

"Ok that's it, enough dancing around the issue what did you see Alyssa do? Did it have something to do with blue flames?"

Claire hesitated before continuing; "I didn't see how it was done I only heard it from Alyssa. The kid was really upset at the fact that she bit this soldier and he…"

Jill suddenly felt very cold and breathed deeply, "It could have been a coincidence"

"At first that's what I thought but Alyssa described it in such detail, I guess she's like anything that has been infected with the virus, a bite or a scratch and you turn into a mindless flesh eater"

Jill quietly swore under her breath before speaking, "Does anyone else in the group know?"

"I haven't told anyone yet but we will have to eventually, this is dangerous Jill, I know Alyssa is only a kid but all it takes is for one drop of blood or saliva to get on you, maybe we should just let her go I don't think Umbrella is wasting all their resources looking for one girl" Claire suggested. "If Alyssa went somewhere remote where she couldn't do any damage…then maybe I guess it'd be ok"

Jill got up from the veranda, she'd heard enough and wouldn't stand for anymore, "Don't say those things Claire, Alyssa has nowhere to left to go if we let her run loose eventually she would be found by Umbrella and you don't want to know what would happen if she was brainwashed by Griffin, she'd become an unstoppable killer. Now Carlos and I have been looking after Alyssa just fine and have saved her quite a few times when we had the option of leaving her so I don't need any ideas thrust upon me to abandon the poor kid when she needs us more then ever!"

Claire shrugged, "It was just a piece of advice Jill but I'd be careful all the same"

Walking across the veranda Jill turned the doorknob, "Well you can keep it, I wouldn't care if Alyssa had the ability to freeze things solid she's staying with us"

Going inside the television room Jill realized that the TV was no longer on and Alyssa was simply laying on the sofa staring at the blank screen.

Sitting down in one of the battered leather recliners Jill pointed at the TV, "Did it over heat and turn off again?"

Alyssa shook her head; "No I didn't want to watch it anymore"

Jill then leaned forward and looked directly at Alyssa, "Do you remember when the bad things made you create those blue electric flames?"

"You mean the virus? The virus gave me that ability but I wasn't ready"

Jill was taken aback by Alyssa's mature remark, she'd always referred to the dual strain as the 'bad things' but it seemed that once again the girl was growing up and baby talk wasn't an option. "Ok then the virus gave you that ability, do you remember anything about that time when the flames appeared?"

Alyssa frowned, "Not really, all I remember is getting really angry and then waking up and seeing you and Carlos"

"You don't remember what you did to Alice on the rooftop?"

Again Alyssa seemed confused by what was said, "I thought she went away?"

"No Alice didn't go away in fact when Carlos and I came up onto that roof she was badly burnt and lying on the ground, you were too powerful for her Alyssa, you beat her" Jill explained.

Alyssa suddenly shivered and curled into a foetal position, "I don't remember doing anything like that, I do remember using the flames but that was only for a second or so. Why are you asking me about a battle I don't remember?"

"I wasn't really asking about that what I wanted to know is that are there any abilities that you haven't mentioned yet? Something that could put the group at risk? Perhaps an ability that you recently discovered?" Jill asked.

Hearing this Alyssa's eyes widened and the colour drained from her face, she seemed as though she was about to cry when she suddenly rolled over and turned away from Jill.

Her body began to shake as soft sobbing sounds issued from the back of the sofa.

After a few minutes Alyssa turned back towards Jill, her eyes red and puffy and her nose was runny, "I didn't mean to, I'm not a monster, don't let them take me away, I'm not like a zombie," she said in between sobs. "I'll never do it again I promise!"

As Jill got out her pocket-handkerchief she hesitated and thought about what Claire had said about the spread of the virus. _Screw it; I've cheated death enough already!_ She thought as she began to wipe the tears from Alyssa's face. "Hey it's ok Alyssa, besides it could have been a fluke"

Alyssa then blew her nose on the hankie and looked up at Jill, "A fluke?"

"It means something that only happened once," Jill explained as turned Alyssa's face towards hers. "Now you listen to me, no one not even grumpy Chris is going to let them take you away understand? You deserve your freedom the same way we all do, this whole thing is just a tiny insignificant bump in the road and in a few days time we'll be far away from here living up in the Atherton Tablelands"

Alyssa nodded and sniffed, "I like that place, it's where I sometimes dream, but would you want to take a monster like me up there?"

Jill gripped Alyssa's shoulders, "Alyssa you listen to me, you are not a monster ok? You are a human being and a very kind and caring one for that matter. If you were a monster then you would look very different which you don't so stop referring to yourself as one all right? We'll get through this together I promise"

Alyssa didn't say anything after that; she only gripped the hankie so tight her knuckles turned white. She then reached into her jeans pocket and took out the key with the swallowtail butterfly emblem on it, sighing Alyssa pressed it into Jill's hand, "Can you keep it safe for a while? I'm frightened I might lose it"

Alyssa's actions confused Jill but she nevertheless took the key, "Where would you lose the key?"

Shrugging her shoulders Alyssa blinked her eyes while slightly turning, "I don't know but I know for a fact that key is safer with you then with me even if it was my father's"

Knowing she wouldn't get a proper explanation Jill got up and began to leave, as she left Alyssa said something, which caused Jill to turn around and ask the girl, to repeat it.

"I said do you think that when I, Nemesis and Deception die we'll go to heaven?"

"Of course you will, all of you are alive and breathe but that won't be for a long time so you don't have to think about that ok?" Jill replied as she left.

Once Jill had gone Alyssa picked up the remote and switched the TV back on and began to submerge herself in the information on screen.

Leon had fought some strong opponents in his life but they were mostly human, the creatures that he had been forced to fight in the past weren't even close to what now stood before him.

Listening to what Carlos had to say was one thing but keeping an eye on the towering Nemesis was another, both it seemed had it in for Leon as he barely missed a low punch from the giant's right fist.

"You do this often Carlos?" Leon asked as he dodged for the third time another kick.

Carlos grinned, "As often as we can"

Nemesis suddenly caught Leon off guard and threw him to the ground in one fluid motion.

Letting out a cry of surprise as his world turned upside down Leon lay on his back for a few moments as his mind caught up with the rest of his body. Slowly getting up Leon felt a sharp burst of pain but it was nothing he couldn't handle, he carefully eyed Nemesis who was standing still waiting for Leon to rise, "That's some throw you have there"

Nemesis growled back appearing proud of the remark and raised his fists.

Carlos gestured for Nemesis to turn towards him so he could speak, "Go easy on him huh padre? Start off with something simple" he whispered to the monster.

As Nemesis turned back towards Leon and took a few steps forward Leon felt slightly nervous.

"What'd you say to him Carlos? I hope you didn't order him to go easy on me, I'd like a bit of a challenge" Leon remarked.

"If I didn't say that you wouldn't be standing, remember Nemesis is built to be strong he'd easily knock you flying without breaking a sweat" Carlos said crossing his arms. "I'll join you in a few moments to give you an advantage though"

Leon seemed confused, "An advantage? Against what?"

Without as much as a single growl Nemesis unleashed a lethal barrage of kicks and punches fully directed at Leon.

At first Leon could only move around them though it seemed that when Nemesis did try to hit him the monster purposely made it so that the blows could be avoided. _Carlos did order Nemesis to go easy on me_ he thought jumping to the left to avoid a low kick. _I guess I'm to blame, it's not like I signed up for this_.

Rolling to the ground as Nemesis attempted a high sweep with his left arm Leon quickly recovered and reversed his direction. He knew for a fact that getting one hit in would be impossible but it didn't stop Leon from confusing the monster.

The sudden change in direction did confuse Nemesis and as the monster turned to face his opponent Leon had already struck.

Diving forward Leon delivered a few jabs with his right fist into the upper torso of Nemesis, this caused the giant to take a few steps backward while uttering a wavering growl from deep within his throat, but Leon wasn't finished yet.

"You had me going for a second big guy" Leon remarked. "I have to admit you're pretty strong but I have more experience"

As Leon closed in with his fists raised he realized something had stopped him, glancing down he saw what appeared to be a thick purple tentacle curled around his right leg. On further examination Leon realized the tentacle was connected to Nemesis having come from his wrist.

Briefly looking up into the green eyes of the monster Leon could've sworn he saw a glint in his eyes as though Nemesis had seen the charge coming. "Oh great" Leon muttered as once again his world spun upside down when Nemesis pulled his leg out from underneath him.

Carlos casually glanced down at the grounded Leon and shook his head; "Those years of experience should've taught you never to repeat the same move twice when fighting an opponent"

Getting into a sitting position Leon winched at the pain in his back, "When I was at the academy they didn't have eight foot tall mutants as combat opponents"

"Hey that's nothing, you should see Nemesis once he gets really fired up" Carlos remarked. "It always hurts getting thrown to the ground the first time but after a while you get used to it"

Slowing getting to his feet Leon could only nod, "I guess I'll have to take your word for it, so what was this advantage you were going to give me before?"

Carlos turned towards Nemesis, "You ready for the two of us?"

Nemesis nodded and growled out 'yes'

"Ok you get the right and I get the left," Carlos said.

"I think the biggest advantage is from Umbrella's tampering" Leon replied. "You go up against something like that you're bound to lose"

"Not likely, I've never tried a dual combat with Nemesis, this is the first time he'll face two opponents simultaneously"

Leon glanced towards Nemesis who was watching the pair slowly advance while not moving a muscle, "A learning experience for all, how fun" he muttered.

When Jill had gone into the TV room to talk to Alyssa, Chris and Rebecca had gone out the back entrance of the cabin and had been busy watching the bizarre training session slowly unfold.

Chris watched the trio out in the field exchanging blows with disgust, "Look at those two out there encouraging that monster to fight, I wouldn't be half surprised if that creature suddenly lost it and broke their necks"

"I suppose its good in a way for us as a group, this Nemesis creature is one monster we haven't encountered before at least we all know how these things attack if we're ever unfortunate to run into another one"

As Leon was thrown to the ground for the second time Chris shook his head, "I can't believe that Leon was so enthusiastic about it, Carlos has always been a loose cannon so his actions are plausible to a certain point but Leon? I'd find it very embarrassing if one of Umbrella's freaks tripped me up with such an obvious manoeuvre, he seems to get a kick out being a punching bag for a monster"

"Is it all that terrible Chris? I mean the only bad thing that either monster has done is snarl at us occasionally and they can't help that if it's in their nature"

"Don't tell me you've gone soft too Rebecca" Chris remarked. "Am I the only one who sees these monsters as what they truly are?"

But Rebecca wasn't listening she was staring out across the bushland, past the fighting Carlos, Leon and Nemesis and towards a green figure standing completely still watching the trio.

Chris had also noticed the figure and nodded towards it, "That Hunter, somehow I think it's the worst out of the pair, we don't even know what it does when separating from the group"

"You mean other then wipe out an entire squad of armed soldiers in the blink of an eye?" Rebecca remarked. "Jill said the Hunter always runs away from them, it's like he's never accepted the whole team thing and is only looking out for himself"

"Let's not get too carried away Rebecca, that Nemesis monster may be one thing but I highly doubt that Hunter is capable of retaining any intelligence, it's a mindless brute that only knows how to kill" Chris replied. Though even he couldn't deny how Deception had looked at him when he raised the Colt in the Hunter's direction. _Those eyes, they seemed so full of intelligence as though that monster was planning a mode of attack against me_.

Rebecca crossed her arms, "I don't know Chris both seem very intelligent to me but that's just from all the years of fighting creatures that only blindly rush towards you screaming, neither Nemesis or Deception did that when we first met them"

"Deception" Chris muttered as he watched the Hunter slowly prowl the scrub's edge. "They named that creature well"

Jill suddenly materialized beside Rebecca; her presence was so silent that it even surprised Chris who turned to face her.

"And here's the ringmaster to this circus" he remarked. "Come to see your handiwork I presume?"

Jill only ignored the snide remark before speaking in a soft voice, "We need to have a group meeting to discuss our next target and other matters that have recently arisen"

"I thought we already talked about Alyssa and the monsters?" Rebecca asked looking confused. "What else is there to explain?"

"Last night" Jill replied smiling thinly. "Something happened and I think everyone should know"

Chris shrugged, "I'm guessing you're not talking about the complex we levelled?"

As both Rebecca and Jill walked inside Jill turned towards Chris, "Carlos and Leon need to know about this too as I'm not going to repeat it"

Grumbling under his breath Chris slowly walked towards the trio, Carlos and Leon were attempting to teach Nemesis how to turn quickly in the opposite direction but because of the monster's size he could only preform a half turn before almost losing balance.

Standing a few feet away from them Chris told both Carlos and Leon they were wanted inside but as the pair stepped forward Chris walked straight up to Nemesis and pressed his Colt pistol into the throat of the creature.

"You might think that everyone here trusts you but I don't, if you ever get the urge to hurt anyone of us I'll cut you down understand? I've taken down much bigger and uglier things so you're not a challenge!"

Nemesis only glared back at Chris and growled causing the gun and Chris's arm to vibrate, he knew that hurting this certain individual wasn't right but if it was necessary…

Leon suddenly grabbed a hold of Chris's arm and lowered it causing him to turn around.

"Take it easy Chris we're all a little tense right now" Leon said.

Chris had only half turned so that he still had Nemesis in his sights, "Both of you are idiots, egging that thing on is like making a pit bull bite you, it doesn't realize you're playing and one day it just might tear your throat out or in this case break every bone in your body" he then stalked past Leon and Carlos and went inside.

Leon glanced over at Nemesis, "You ok big guy?"

Nemesis only snorted and took a few steps backwards.

Carlos had already started walking towards the cabin when Leon caught up with him.

"How did you do it Carlos?" Leon asked. "Be so casual with a creature that could easily end your life with very little effort"

Turning the doorknob Carlos shrugged, "Just pretend you're with a person who is very tall and very strong" he said. "You know just between Jill and I we gave Nemesis a nickname"

"Oh? And what was that?"

"We called him the Humble Giant" Carlos said as he stepped inside.

After Carlos and Leon had gone inside the cabin Deception approached Nemesis, he'd watched the monster fight the non-virus scented creatures from a distance.

When Nemesis glanced down towards Deception, the Hunter nodded towards the surrounding bushland while silently snarling.

Nemesis growled back and Deception began to walk slowly towards the scrub. Quickly turning back towards the cabin Nemesis briefly thought of checking on Alyssa's status but dismissed it, Alyssa was in a safe area with people who wouldn't hurt her and although Chris always seemed angry Nemesis knew that he wasn't a threat to Alyssa's safety.

Turning back towards Deception, Nemesis slowly followed the Hunter into the dense undergrowth.

Claire was already sitting at the table when the group entered, glancing at the various scratches on Leon's arm she gave a half smile, "Gee Leon I didn't know you were the wrestling type?"

Leon didn't say anything but attempted to cover the scratches with his shirtsleeves.

"What's going on?" Carlos asked Jill. "Are we getting ready to move out?"

Jill quickly walked over to the TV room, which still had to drone of the television emulating from it. When Jill reappeared her face was still blank and expressionless, "Alyssa's asleep, last night really took a lot out of her"

"You think we should leave Alyssa there on the sofa before we start?" Claire asked.

"Why can't we? It's not like as though we're all going to say things that could offend her," Rebecca said looking confused.

Sensing there was more to the meeting Carlos got up from the table, "You know that sofa isn't really the best place to take a nap, I tried it once and got a really sore neck, Alyssa would be much happier if she was in her own bed" walking into the TV room Carlos first turned the television off then gently picking the sleeping Alyssa up went past the group and down the small hallway.

A few moments later Carlos came back out and sat back down in his seat, "For someone her age Alyssa doesn't feel really heavy" when he realized everyone was staring at him Carlos glanced away. "Ok my bad for even mentioning it, but what is this all about?"

"It'd make sense for Alyssa not to be in ear shot because she's the main reason why this meeting was called" Claire replied.

"Why? Is she sick?" Rebecca asked looking worried.

"Alyssa is already sick, she has the dual strain virus in her veins" Chris pointed out. "She can't get any worse"

"I'm afraid she can" Jill suddenly spoke up. "In all the confusion and explosions something else happened last night at the Innisfail labs something that we're all unfortunately very familiar with"

"Are you talking about that woman who tried to strangle you Jill? I believe her name was Alice?" Chris asked. "I had a feeling you wouldn't tell the others about that"

"Hang on I thought you said that some mad scientist character called Griffin was the only threat who's this Alice?" Leon said seeming more confused by the second.

"We'd be here all night if we started to talk about Alice" Carlos remarked shaking his head. "If you look up evil in the dictionary her face would be right next to it"

"Try sadist as well, from what I heard Alice seemed to know a lot about you Jill want to start explaining that?" Chris replied looking in Jill's direction.

Claire suddenly slammed her hand down on the rickety table causing it to rock back and forth, "Stop it! We've gone right off topic! Don't you all get it? Alyssa is a virus carrier!" she shouted.

"Thanks for the remark Captain Obvious but we already know that" Carlos said.

"No you don't" Jill replied her face dead pan. "There's more to the story"

Once the group had settled Claire began to speak, "When we all split up Alyssa and I got separated, I wandered through what seemed like a giant rabbit warren of offices and labs. When I finally found Alyssa she was being cornered by a zombie, there was only one so I quickly shot it but that wasn't the worst part." She stopped and took a deep breath before continuing "The poor kid was so upset at first I couldn't understand what she was saying but it was when Alyssa mentioned bitting a man did it all fall into place"

Rebecca's cheerful demeanour had long since disappeared now it was filled with worry and sympathy, "Oh geeze Claire…poor Alyssa"

"But how do you know what Alyssa said was the truth?" Leon pointed out. "Kids at Alyssa's age have very creative minds and she was upset when you found her so how do you know it wasn't a figment of Alyssa's imagination and the zombie was some poor son of a bitch who was infected with the virus some other way?"

"I thought that Alyssa was just scared at first too but when she told me how she was grabbed by two soldiers and when they refused to let her go she bit the closet one on the neck I realized that Alyssa wasn't making up stories"

Carlos, who had remained silent for the entire time found his voice again, "So are you trying to say Alyssa is like a zombie? If she bites anything living they become an un dead creature?"

Chris glared at Carlos, "Isn't it obvious? Nice work Jill now we're all screwed because of your ability to help others, I hope you're proud"

Rebecca had a different reaction to what was said, "That poor kid, no wonder she always looks scared, Alyssa is what Umbrella was aiming to do all this time. It's no longer monsters we have to worry about…if they get their hands on Alyssa who knows what might happen"

"Exactly, which is the reason why Alyssa should stay with us" Jill said. "She's protected here and we all know what we're dealing with"

"You've had your turn at doing things your way Jill" Chris spoke up. "Why don't you just sit back and let the rest of the group decide"

"Really? And what is your big plan Chris? March up to that creep Griffin and give Alyssa back wrapped in a pretty bow tie?" Carlos remarked. "I say she stays with us"

"Of course you'd agree with what Jill says, both of you were in on this from the beginning"

"Maybe there's somewhere secluded where we can take Alyssa" Rebecca suggested. "Away from people that might try and hurt her"

"I said that before" Claire replied as she glanced towards Jill. "But it wasn't an openly accepted idea"

"But where could you take Alyssa that's out of harms way? Not to mention those two monsters, everyone hasn't forgotten about them," Leon said.

Chris leaned back in his chair, "Call me heartless and cruel but wouldn't we be doing all three a big favour if we put them down here and now? Umbrella wouldn't be getting their prize pupils back and we would've struck a hard blow towards them"

The room suddenly went silent as everyone stared back at Chris in shock.

"That's low even for you Chris" Leon muttered. "How could you just point a gun at a kid and pull the trigger? You'd have to have a heart of ice to do that"

"Well what's everyone else's opinion then? You want to be infected with a deadly virus then be my guest! I on the other hand won't rest until all of Umbrella's creations are destroyed and that includes the two pet monsters out the back"

"Maybe if I took a blood sample from Alyssa we could find out more about this dual strain she carries" Rebecca suggested. "Perhaps there is a way to stop it from spreading onto anything that comes into contact with Alyssa"

Chris turned towards Rebecca with a look of disgust, "You want to carry some of the girl's blood around? That's just as dangerous as letting her live"

"I don't think the dual strain is spread by touch" Jill spoke up. "It can only be passed on by bodily fluids like saliva or blood"

"And Rebecca wants to take some of it out, great" Chris muttered as he crossed his arms.

Carlos suddenly got up from the table, "I can see that is going no where"

"We really haven't decided on what to do in this situation," Leon said. "Shouldn't we be agreeing towards a solution?"

"Ok then I agree that Alyssa stays with us and neither her, Nemesis or Deception will be shot like rabid dogs" Carlos answered. "That's my opinion anyway" he then walked past the table and went outside the front door.

Watching Carlos leave Jill only shook her head, "I think we should leave that matter for the moment, especially when there are other issues to address"

Although the entire group was still shaken over what had been said between them everyone including Chris agreed that for the moment Alyssa and the dual strain she carried would be temporarily ignored, as the next target for the group would be decided.

As Griffin walked around the Bluewater complex busy making preparations for the night's events he noticed that Alice had been absent from his sight for the entire day. The heavy footsteps behind him however indicated that Phase Two was properly up and running.

The only disappointment to Griffin was that he would have to wait until next week to properly test out the abilities of the subject in a combat situation. _Tonight could prove beneficial though_ Griffin thought _perhaps the early activation might not be a complete loss_.

It had been against the board's orders that Phase Two be activated so early due to not having suitable specimens to be tested against it. Griffin however had easily convinced the members of the board's outer circle that the newest experiment in neural implants would be of great assistance in bringing back the Winterstone girl aka human specimen 8940 and the Nemesis creature that had been on the loose for almost three months now.

The board had no doubt agreed due to all the evidence that Griffin had shown them depicting the girl and monster helping the group of rebels destroy several valuable research facilities. Times were tough for the company and if word got out that the genetic experiments had continued then there would be no lawyer powerful enough to get Umbrella's board of directors out of the hole they dug.

Griffin was under orders to capture both specimens alive seeming as they were important assets to the company but what really pissed him off was the fact that the orders also said not to involve either Alyssa or the creature in any neural implant procedures.

It would've been safe to assume that the board didn't want another repeat of an event that happened in a certain Dr Isaacs's lab almost five years ago involving another such chimera that had been one of the first human programming trials.

Fortunately for that imbecile Isaacs he knew about the activation code! My activation code, necessary for controlling the subject! Griffin thought angrily as he continued down the hallway and towards a metal door. 

Despite Isaacs knowing how to press the 'on switch' for the implant Griffin was the only one who knew the full set of commands, which was bad news on Isaacs's account.

Thinking about his rival's demise made Griffin hesitate before opening the door.

Just only a few hours after Alice had returned and had both bullets removed from her wounds Griffin had given the activation order that would allow Alice to unleash her abilities to their full extent.

That very same regeneration chamber that Alice had slumbered in for all those months became Isaacs's tomb.

Although Griffin was disappointed that he never got to witness first hand Isaacs's death by a prize specimen when seeing the mangled corpse floating in the blue clear liquid with its arms twisted at horrible angles and the head pulled back so that it was touching the spine Griffin felt proud. In his head he could see the initial meeting between Isaacs and Alice, she probably smiled and approached him not saying much as was her way of sensing an enemy's actions. Isaacs most likely spoke bullshit to Alice, praising her for returning and the promise of great things in the future.

No doubt it would have further pissed Alice off to a point where she grabbed the babbling Isaacs by the throat, her piercing blue eyes staring down into his own frightened ones.

What happened next was blank in Griffin's head, in fact he really didn't give a rats ass what Alice did to the prick Isaacs the only good thing was that he was dead and now the entire neural research project was under new management.

Griffin had immediately gone to the committee, weaving a tragic story of how the pressure of the experiments had finally gotten to Isaacs and he'd committed suicide.

There was no inquest, Griffin saw to that, he had after all control of what was supposed to be Umbrella's pride, a human being that successfully merged with the T-virus and carried no defects.

That was until Alyssa Winterstone began to show promise of surpassing the abilities that Alice possessed. But Griffin had known from the start the young Winterstone girl had potential and it wasn't because of the dual strain she carried.

Stepping outside into the bright sunlight Griffin was immediately approached by two people, one being a heavily muscled man in army fatigues and the other was Alice.

Both exchanged glares before turning towards Griffin as though he was the only one who could command them to speak.

Griffin only made shooing motions towards Alice; "I'll call you if you're needed, for now just get familiar with tonight's course of actions"

For a few moments Alice stood glaring back at Griffin, if her eyes had the ability to shoot lasers then they would be doing so. After a few minutes Alice only stiffly nodded and walked past Griffin, her gloved hands forming fists.

As Griffin watched the brooding Alice walk off it crossed his mind to limit the amount of free will the implant allowed her. He could just as easily create a duplicate copy of Phase Two, which allowed no such thing as emotions and independent thought to be expressed by the subject, but Griffin dismissed it.

_Perhaps that is a matter to be discussed with the committee further down the track once Alyssa has been retrieved_ he thought.

For the moment Alice was the only subject that could withstand the constant updating of programs and various experimental serums that had been injected one after the other into her system. It would be a total waste of resources if the second best human specimen were suddenly turned into a vegetable all because a few wires had been accidentally crossed.

Shaking the thought off Griffin turned towards the heavyset man, "I trust that you have only bought the best Lieutenant Reid?"

Reid nodded and turned so that Griffin could see several covered personnel carriers, which a dozen armed men were loading up supplies. "They'll be sufficient enough in taking down those criminals, what I don't understand is that they had the pick of the land to hide in and yet they set up camp a few kilometres away from here"

"Yes fascinating isn't it" Griffin replied in a bored tone. "Have you briefed all your teams about the two targets?"

"They know what to do but regarding the Jack Knife…"

"Are they aware that one of the targets is not human? I don't want any of this getting out" Griffin cut in. "That was something I made absolutely clear when we spoke before Lt Reid some of your men may not come back alive due to heavy resistance from the target"

Lt Reid shook his head, "There aren't any squealers in my squads, I made sure of that you have the full co operation of my men and areal units, they're prepared to give their lives up if it'll help with the capture of a very dangerous group"

At that moment a large semi trailer slowly backed what appeared to be a large-scale version of a harpoon gun beside the black troop carriers.

Griffin only eyed it casually, never would he have thought that a high level weapon like the Jack Knife would have to be taken out of storage. The weapon had been designed to take down stronger creatures such as Tyrant class creations without severely injuring the subject.

The actual 'harpoon' itself was made with the intentions of going in clean but making it impossible to remove without the sharp edges being retracted first. The weapon had never been properly tested and although Griffin knew that the Nemesis creature wouldn't die if the harpoon were fired it would do tremendous damage if the monster attempted to pull it out. Griffin was hoping that the Jack Knife wouldn't need to be used and that if Alyssa had been subdued the creature would follow without too much trouble.

Lt Reid had a different reaction to the Jack Knife, "Are you sure that thing is safe? What if it goes off while my men are in range?"

Griffin sighed and rolled his eyes, "It won't, as long as your men know not to step in range when the target is sighted, besides I'll have one of my people manning it, you just make sure you do your job understand?"

"All this trouble for a group of eight people? A bit exaggerated on your account?" Lt Reid remarked shrugging. "Not that I don't mind taking down a bunch of low lives but are all these weapons really needed?"

"You need to speak their language Lieutenant and the only language that such filth speaks is via the use of deadly force," Griffin said coldly as he walked off. "Make sure you and your men are ready to move out as soon as it gets dark, catching those renegades by surprise is our biggest advantage"

Reid could only watch as the Jack Knife was slowly loaded onto an uncovered carrier, the sun reflected off its black surface making it look like a crouching giant black rhino beetle.

After the initial meeting was over Jill stepped outside onto the front veranda and found Carlos sitting on the edge near the stairs.

Without saying anything Jill sat down beside Carlos and then turned to him, "Hey" she said softly.

Carlos first didn't even acknowledge Jill's presence and only sighed while staring across the field. He then turned towards Jill, "Remember when we both decided to come here? It was three years after Racoon"

Hearing this Jill smiled, she could remember the group all going their separate ways but after losing two good friends to a monster both Jill and Carlos had remained together.

"Yes I remember, it was at some run down café near California, but the funny thing was it took a further two years to travel over here what with the media circus and all"

"Those were the days, everything was so simple it was just the two of us and now…" he trailed off. "Alyssa's different we both know that but she isn't a killer"

Jill sighed, "That seems to be a recurring theme here"

Carlos then turned away from Jill, "I'm guessing I was voted out four to one?"

"Actually after you left the group switched to discussing the new target, it's going to be the complex not far from here"

But Carlos didn't seem to hear a word Jill said, "I started thinking the other day, if it got too much we could always move the Tasmania, there's plenty of places to hide there ever since it's been turned into a large nature preserve. We could all pose as a family it would be easy to fool the authorities"

"I don't think I'd be a great mother figure for Alyssa" Jill replied smiling. "What about Nemesis and Deception? I highly doubt they'd pass as family pets, then again I guess I could see you Carlos in a tweed jacket smoking a pipe sitting in an armchair watching TV"

"It was just an idea I didn't mean we should actually do it" Carlos said sounding hurt.

Turning back towards Jill his face was serious, "Listen there's something I've been meaning to ask you for a few weeks now but it's kind of hard to say because I feel like a chump for even thinking it"

Jill seemed confused at Carlos's sudden change of moods, normally he was a joker hardly ever totally serious, she nodded, "Go on then I'll listen"

Carlos swallowed nervously and moved slightly closer to Jill, "It's just that we've been together ever since Racoon, that's almost five years now…well what I really am trying to say is have you ever felt…"

A large black form suddenly walked past the pair and sat in the wooden chair not far from where they were.

Jill didn't even need to look up to see it was Nemesis; the monster appeared to let out a silent sigh before leaning back in the chair. When glancing back towards Carlos, Jill noticed that he had once again taken a profound interest in the surrounding bushland.

"You were saying something before?" Jill asked.

Carlos only shook his head, "Don't worry it's nothing just some stupid thought that I was thinking"

Seeing Carlos like he was all nervous and jittery made Jill realize he was trying to tell her something and in the back of her mind she knew what that something was. _Just say it Carlos I won't laugh why be so secretive about it?_

Ever since teaming up with Carlos after Racoon, Jill had been close, both had been through so much together they'd faced monsters that defied explanation, uncovered the sinister experiments Umbrella still carried out in secret and yet despite all the horrors both had seen speaking three little words out loud was somehow impossible to say.

Jill really couldn't blame Carlos for not finishing what he was trying to say; there had been plenty of times when he thought that Jill was already in a relationship with Chris.

_That was never meant to be_ she thought. Even though she did have feelings for Chris Jill knew that it would never come to the point where both could be a couple. Chris was too security conscience, he'd left his apartment in Racoon in a great hurry not even pausing to say goodbye to Jill.

Then a few weeks later after the 'sanitation of Racoon' he appeared like a spectre at Jill's bedside in a darkened hotel room.

At that time Jill wasn't with Carlos preferring to find evidence on her own so it had given her a big shock when Chris materialized in the room talking softly and in a cryptic tone.

Chris had explained to Jill that he was going to investigate the European branch of Umbrella labs and hopefully meet up with his sister Claire who had disappeared a few weeks ago. He then refused to say anything else believing that the room could be bugged and didn't even look at Jill when saying that it could be a while before they met up again.

Before leaving Chris bent forward and gave Jill a quick kiss, but to Jill it seemed longer yet at the same time so short. His warm lips briefly touched her own and for a moment both seemed connected, Jill had a sudden urge to touch the hair on his head and wrap her arms around his body but she knew that Chris wasn't that type.

Then just like that Chris was gone, Jill never even heard the door close but she knew that he'd left. She was alone once again in a darkened room, huddled on an old hotel mattress, her lips still felt tingly from where Chris had touched them but the feeling was slowly disappearing.

It was a further two weeks before Jill had heard back from Chris, he told her that Claire had been found at an Umbrella base in the Artic and that the two of them were travelling back to Europe. But like Chris, the email he'd sent to Jill was cold and lifeless, the words carried no emotion or meaning, it was more of a typed clerical report then anything else.

Now five years onwards sitting on a veranda in Australia with Carlos and an eight-foot tall leather clad monster for company Jill's world had come full circle.

Getting up off the floor and stretching Jill lightly touched Carlos's shoulder, he looked up towards her, expectation flashing briefly across his eyes, "If you ever want to say something to me just tell me ok? I'd never think it was meaningless unless you said it was"

Appearing disappointed Carlos only nodded and sighed, "Yeah uh ok I'll do that"

"You coming back inside?"

"Actually I think I'll stay out here a bit longer if that's ok"

Jill only stepped away from Carlos and as she began to walk away she half turned, "Carlos?"

"What is it?"

Sighing and shaking her head Jill then took a few steps backwards, "Nothing, see you inside"

Walking off Jill was slightly frustrated, all this time she thought it was Carlos who was having trouble admitting to it when all along she was also to blame. _Well no more dancing around it, tonight I'll tell him and if it has to be within earshot of Chris and the others then so be it!_

The night that followed however would perhaps be the excuse needed to continue being apart and not as one.

37


	2. Chapter 2

The rest of the afternoon followed without any major dramas, the group had slowly drifted apart, preferring to be in different locations of the cabin like the kitchen and TV room.

As the winter night began to slowly take the surrounding bushland preparations were starting to be made.

It had been an idea thought up by Chris that the Bluewater facility be attacked in the early hours of the morning that way there was little chance of having to deal with large numbers of security.

When Jill came back inside she ignored the stares from the others and went to check on Alyssa.

Going inside the bedroom Jill saw that Alyssa had twisted herself at an odd angle while still in a deep sleep, one arm was hanging limply off the mattress almost touching the floor while the other lay across her forehead. Her two legs were in a running position as though at any moment they would quickly break free and sprint towards the door.

Walking towards the sleeping Alyssa, Jill first moved the girl's left arm away from the edge of the bed then covered her with a thick doona that had been kicked off previously.

Although Jill knew that Alyssa didn't appear to feel the cold it was best to be on the safe side as already the icy air from the outside plains had started to seep through the walls, it was going to be a very cold night.

Turning and walking outside Jill lightly shut the door before going into the TV room.

As usual the television's screen was constantly jumping as the audio leapt back and forth from the speakers like a crazed rabbit.

Sitting down in one of the battered leather armchairs Jill saw that she wasn't alone in the small darkened room; Rebecca was on the sofa while Carlos was in the other chair.

"How's Alyssa?" Rebecca asked.

"I thought Carlos and I were the only ones who cared about Alyssa?" Jill remarked. "Why the sudden interest?"

Rebecca shrugged, "I find it wrong too that we should throw Alyssa to the wolves but she's been sleeping all day, don't you find that strange?"

"Alyssa is mostly human don't forget, we didn't get back here until six thirty in the morning and she'd been awake all night" Carlos spoke up. "Leave her be, she's just really tired"

"I went in and checked on Alyssa before, she seemed ok, I'll go and wake her up at eight if she's not up by then"

"I honestly feel sorry for Alyssa, she grew up not knowing her family and the only thing closet to that is a giant mutant" Rebecca replied. "You have to admire her strength for not going insane after so much has happened"

"Alyssa has Jill and I" Carlos said as he quickly glanced towards Rebecca. "Or don't we count seeming as we're the black sheep in the group?"

Rebecca had no comment to the remark Carlos said and only returned to watching a very grainy weather report.

At first Alyssa thought that the helicopters were part of her dream, she had after all been dreaming about her escape from Bluewater. But when getting out of bed and seeing the bright lights in the distance through her small bedroom window she knew that the helicopters were real.

Alyssa wasn't the only one who had seen the approaching threat, ever since coming back from the forest Nemesis had remained seated in the large chair. When hearing the faint sound of the helicopter blades he began to growl quietly, his right hand reaching for the rocket launcher.

The rest of the group hadn't noticed the 'copters until it was too late, they were all seated around the table as Jill checked 'the map' when it happened.

Flying over the cabin the 'copters first shone their bright lights through the back window causing everyone to look up.

By now Alyssa was fully awake and had just reached the tiny living room when a barrage of bullets suddenly cut through the back walls.

Everyone instantly threw themselves down onto the wooden flooring as the bullets flew overhead shattering glass and timber in their wake.

When Alyssa finally uncurled herself she saw that the back wall now looked like Swiss cheese, moonlight began to stream through the dozens of holes made by the bullets.

The bright lights began to move around the side of the house slowly like a pack of lions circling a wounded animal.

Chris called out to everyone and they began to quickly make their way towards the front door clutching their weapons.

Jill helped Alyssa off the floor, "Are you ok?" she asked picking a few shards off Alyssa's shoulders.

Alyssa only nodded but her eyes were wide as saucers, "They're coming, they're here"

A loud roar caused both to run outside in time to see that Nemesis was no longer sitting on the veranda, instead the giant had stepped out onto the driveway in front of the cabin.

As the monster raised his rocket launcher in front of the three darting 'copters one of the nearest ones shone its bright searchlight that illuminated Nemesis, giving him an unearthly glow.

When the command came for Nemesis to drop his weapons the monster only roared back and stepped away from the bright light and fired up towards the 'copter.

Too late did the pilot realize the approaching threat and the machine exploded in a massive fireball, debris from the destroyed 'copter raining down on the field.

"What an idiot, trying to order that creature to not fire would be like telling a three year old not to touch an expensive vase" Chris remarked as he shook his head.

Jill didn't even hear what Chris had said, instead she was watching as the fiery wreckage came hurtling towards Nemesis. Once another creature like Nemesis had sacrificed itself to save a twisted individual, it too had blown up a helicopter but had been crushed under the flaming metal. _Move you big lug!_ Jill thought.

At the last moment Nemesis rolled out of the way, narrowly missing being impaled on what could have been one of the blades.

Standing up Nemesis roared back at the remaining helicopters that only circled the monster before flying towards the cabin.

With Alyssa in the lead the group ran out across the field, fearing another barrage of bullets but instead the two 'copters flew over them and around the back of the cabin.

Moments after the cabin exploded in a bright flash of flames and yellow light.

How the explosion occurred seemed to be in slow motion, the walls erupted outwards in a shower of wood and glass, the windows shattering and falling to pieces as the wave of destruction tore through the guts of the cabin. Pieces of burning items flew in different directions, what could have been the sofa spiralled across the back while the wooden stump chair rolled forward trailing a tail of flame behind it.

Alyssa cried out in shock and shielded her eyes from the bright light, never had she seen an explosion this big and so close.

"Those bastards!" Chris cried out. "They blew it up!"

"Looks like it was planned though" Carlos said over the 'copters engines as they circled the group again. "They wanted us to get out"

"I don't think its over" Claire replied as she pointed off in the distance. "Looks like we have company"

The troop carrier's bright lights were too close to hide from, the two trucks pulled up almost along side from the group and in seconds black armoured soldiers began to jump down from the back.

Seeing this Jill cursed and glanced towards the ruins of the cabin, there was nowhere to hide from the onslaught but spotting the wrecked van and Land Cruiser, no doubt damaged in the explosion gave her an idea. "Quick, everyone get behind the cars, that should give us some cover"

As the group began to run towards the blackened vehicles the chain gun sounded off.

Alyssa peered out from behind the van and turned back quickly her face full of worry, "Nemesis can hold them off but I don't think his weapon is going to last"

Leon quickly got out his samurai edge and slid a clip in, "Then we'll just have to provide the big guy with some back up"

For once Chris didn't argue and only nodded while taking out his prized Colt, "Let's go!"

Alyssa had already jumped up on top of the van striking a lone solider that had been creeping towards the group.

By now the majority of the soldiers had figured it wasn't the best plan to run towards Nemesis as they were instantly cut down by the short bursts from the chain gun.

There weren't any shouts to drop their weapons from the advancing soldiers as the rebels rushed forward, as they came towards the soldiers the heavily armed men fell backwards from the gunshots.

As Jill shot a nearby enemy in the neck she didn't even pause to think that she was killing a human being, she only knew that it meant survival.

The squads didn't seem to stop, as three fell down more took their place and they even seemed to be streaming from the surrounding bushland as well.

As a group of five soldiers surrounded Nemesis the unthinkable happened, the chain gun ran dry!

Growling in frustration Nemesis then swung it at the surrounding men knocking them to the ground. Dropping the now useless weapon beside the moaning soldiers Nemesis extended his tentacles and picked up the nearest man and tossed him aside.

Claire had seen what had just happened and avoiding a lethal uppercut from an attacking enemy she found herself right beside Jill. Both had their backs pressed up against each other and drew their weapons as the soldiers closed in.

"You see what just happened? Nemesis is down one weapon," Claire said.

Jill only nodded and raised her magnum, "I knew I should've gotten more ammo for that gun but don't count him out yet, Nemesis is still dangerous even without weapons, ok I'll take the left you watch my right"

Both women suddenly fired delivering fatal headshots to their chosen targets.

Stepping back Jill and Claire saw that the grassy field now looked more like the aftermath of a war, lying all over the ground were at least ten bodies and a further eight more unconscious.

The rest of the group seemed to be doing well, Carlos fired a rapid burst from his assault rifle causing an armoured solider to collapse while crying out in pain.

Leon and Chris had also teamed up and were picking off the small groups that had come from out of the scrub while Rebecca and Alyssa preferred to take out their targets with a few solid kicks.

It seemed like the attempted raid was a failure but it wasn't until the two 'copters circled again and Nemesis began to roar at them did the group realize it was going to get worse.

The soldiers had only been the first wave, what would soon follow would put everything else so far to shame.

Only a few kilometres from the initial drop zone two large white semi trailers and three troop carriers sat in the shadows. The lights from all the vehicles had been switched off to avoid attracting unwanted attention while a few lightly armed guards circled the parked trucks.

Inside one of the white semi trailer's backs was a different story.

While the other semi was a transport carrier the other had been converted into a mobile observation station, its primary function was to provide a safe environment for the researchers to gather field data on any test subject without being harmed.

Inside, sitting at a silver console was Griffin, he had already sent the aerial unit to flush the rebels from their hiding place and no doubt Alyssa and the two monsters would follow.

Beside Griffin stood Alice who eagerly watched as the events unfolded from the small laptop screen that Griffin was using.

Before setting off the video feeds on all the helicopters were tested and although the result was a very grainy night vision out put the images were clear enough. The audio however was a different story and after a few attempts to get it working the idea was abandoned there were other devises Griffin had that would be used to record anything interesting should something arise.

Reid approached the pair from across the other side of the room, "All units are standing by both ground and air, can I give the all clear for them to move out?"

Griffin turned from the screen and swung around in his chair to face Reid, "Only send out half of your squads, keep the others here they can be our reserves"

As Reid went towards the exit he heard his name being called again, turning he saw that Griffin was staring straight at him as was Alice who was also wearing a smirk as she stood behind the chair with her arms crossed, "Oh and one more thing lieutenant should your men forget orders and damage valuable property I will be holding you responsible understand?" Griffin sneered. "Because I'd hate to remind someone such as yourself how important it is to obey orders"

Walking outside into the brisk night air Reid silently cursed the laid back Dr Griffin although he knew that actually voicing his thoughts would cost him greatly Reid silently hoped that everything didn't go to plan. _What happens out on that battlefield can't be controlled with computers and remotes, Griffin and his goddamn babysitter can get screwed for all I care, the only thing I'm worrying about is the safety of my men_.

Going towards the black troop carriers Reid began to ready his men, some of whom may not come back.

When seeing the cabin's destruction and the loss of one helicopter Griffin was only partly annoyed, he had after all ordered the units not to attack unless necessary. The way it had played out seemed the opposite, the 'copters had first attacked the back of the house forcing all the occupants outside which was risky as the barrage of bullets could have easily dealt plenty of damage to the human specimen.

Nevertheless the girl appeared to not have suffered any injury as the cameras showed her running with the rest of the rebels out the front door.

Then surprise, surprise! The Nemesis unit decided that order needed to be ensured and destroyed one of the helicopters with the help of the rocket launcher it always carried.

Seeing the destruction of one of the helicopters the remaining two flew around the back of the cabin yet again and each fired one missile at the bullet riddled structure. Why the cabin had been destroyed puzzled Griffin, he wanted the rebels killed but not all at once, there was no fun in that, the deaths had be spread out across a series of slow painful torture procedures.

_Not only that but all those files those incompetents stole from me are now ashes!_ Griffin thought angrily.

Glancing at the screen Griffin saw that Reid's men had finally caught up with the helicopters but as the green grainy footage showed the soldiers were powerless against the combined strength of the Nemesis creature and the rebels.

Switching the camera view off Griffin then opened up another program and began to input commands onto the screen.

At the same time Alice's vision turned blue and she saw the words Order 71 Activate scroll across.

Turning towards Griffin, Alice only clenched her hands into fists; she knew very well that particular order had been deemed forbidden due to its dangerous outcomes but times were desperate and so it had been allowed.

Griffin only smiled, "Do what has been asked of you"

"You are aware what I must do to complete this order"

Pointing towards the door Griffin only nodded, "Wait for my signal and then we all move out"

Exiting the truck Alice then stood outside in the night air, the cold didn't bother her in fact she could hardly feel it.

In the distance the glow of the dying fires could be seen while the sound of gunfire could be faintly picked up.

One of the armoured guards leered at Alice from a distance but before she could do anything towards the gesture Griffin stepped down from the back of the truck.

Still keeping his smile Griffin began to walk towards the other white semi trailer, "Come on" he said to Alice in a cheerful voice.

Keeping a few steps behind Griffin, Alice heard him humming a tune that at first she couldn't recognize and then she knew it was BJ Thomas's Raindrops keep fallin on my head.

Deception had seen the explosion and heard the enemies approach yet he remained in the shadows hidden from view. This fight wasn't his, it belonged to the rebels, yet the Hunter had to resist the urge to lash out at a nearby solider who was a few inches from his hiding place as a squad soundlessly moved through the darkened scrub.

Creeping closer Deception could see that the rebels, which included Alyssa and Nemesis, seemed to be faring quite well against the dozen or so armed men.

It wasn't until the large flying creatures that had destroyed the cabin circled the group for a third time did Deception sense a change, more enemies were coming and by the way the others were acting they had no idea.

Slowly emerging from the bushland and into the moonlight the Hunter knew he had to fight even if it only meant making sure that Alyssa and Nemesis were safe, after all they did carry the same virus he had.

Snarling at a wounded man on the ground Deception silently approached the group and that's when all hell broke loose.

Alyssa looked up to see Deception appear from out of the moonlight and walk slowly towards the group. "Looks like we're all here now"

"That Hunter left it a bit late" Rebecca said. "All the work's been done so why is he here?"

"Keeping up appearances I guess" Carlos remarked.

"That'd be the day, a self conscience monster, give me a break, that Hunter was too scared to show himself while all the fighting was going on" Chris replied. "Speaking of which I think we all should get the hell out of here before more show up, I don't think a group of twenty armed soldiers is Umbrella's idea of a big army"

No sooner had Chris said those words than a pair of high beams illuminated the group. The helicopters circled the area again as the lights grew brighter.

"You just had to say it didn't you Chris?" Leon shouted over the 'copters rotors.

Moving away from the bright lights all began to run towards the darkened bushland but instead were stopped by a hail of gun fire and a voice commanding them to stop.

Deception was already busy doing what he was created for easily slicing through the thin uniforms of the advancing soldiers.

Jill groaned when she saw at least thirty men run from the blinding lights, checking her magnum she realized there was only one round left, "I wish I grabbed more ammo before the cabin was destroyed" she said to no one in particular.

The others were in the same position; they too had only grabbed their main weapons and not ammunition.

Using the ruined cabin as cover the rebels quickly dodged a hail of gunfire from the soldiers and began to return fire as another line of men appeared.

In the confusion Alyssa had hidden behind the fire-blackened van, she didn't want to hurt another person and hearing the roar of Nemesis she slid down the side of the van and sat on the dusty ground. _If I stay here then I won't be found, but if I do that then the others will die_ she thought.

The helicopters circled again, their searchlights singling out the group hiding behind the rubble.

Alyssa peered out from the side of the van and heard a bullet ricochet off one of the helicopter's front glass panels, this caused both machines to turn and fly higher up into the sky.

Glancing towards Deception and Nemesis, Alyssa saw that the two monsters had now teamed up and were fighting enemies from both sides. Nemesis had his tentacles extended to their full length and was easily picking up advancing enemies and throwing them aside. Deception however was taking a more violent approach and lashed out with his razor sharp talons snarling savagely.

Stepping out from behind the van Alyssa saw two soldiers come running towards her, one had a large combat knife strapped to his shoulder, which he took out when in close range.

Ignoring the soldier with the knife Alyssa easily moved aside and concentrated on the second one.

Closing in Alyssa first kicked him over then with a downward strike towards the centre of his back easily breaking it; she heard the loud crunch as the spinal cord snapped like a brittle twig.

Turning back towards the other solider with the combat knife Alyssa first dodged the lethal slashes then quickly turning towards the startled man grabbed a hold of the arm with the knife and turned it sharply downwards.

With such force applied the arm easily broke and the man cried out in pain as he dropped the knife, but Alyssa wasn't done yet. Picking up the knife Alyssa threw it towards her grounded enemy and at the same time imagined the soldier flying back towards the van.

Hearing the cries stop and a soft squishing sound Alyssa turned to see the now dead soldier nailed to the side of the van, his broken arm hanging at a limp angle while blood began to flow from his stomach where the large combat knife had landed.

Alyssa knew that what she did was wrong but she was not going back with Griffin, she might as well use her abilities to help friends and taking out two armed men was only the start.

Walking forward Alyssa saw something large behind the bright lights of the trucks; it looked like a giant harpoon gun but its purpose had yet to be revealed.

A sharp burst of pain caused Alyssa to grimace and put her left hand to her head, glancing in all different directions through the advancing soldiers, fighting monsters and gunfire Alyssa couldn't see the source but she could sense that something wasn't right.

Just like before in the Innisfail labs the noise had been different, slightly altered to become an even stronger signal that only Alyssa could sense.

At the same time that Alyssa heard the sharp note the tear gas grenades were thrown towards not only the rebel's hiding place but also at Nemesis and Deception.

Both the monsters easily avoided the choking smoke and used it to their advantage striking the soldiers foolish enough the rush forward into the haze.

The gun fire stopped as the smoke enveloped part of the field, either both sides knew that finding a target in the surrounding smog would be useless or the ammunition had just run dry. Either way the only sounds coming from the conflict were shouting voices and the roar of the monsters.

Ignoring the high pitch sound in her head Alyssa ran forward taking down a solider in a gas mask with a well placed high kick in the chest.

Approaching Nemesis and Deception, Alyssa didn't hear the sound of footsteps behind her. Being taller then a regular human Nemesis easily saw the solider coming up behind Alyssa with the intention of hurting her.

Roaring loudly Nemesis shot forward and easily impaled the screaming solider on one of his thick razor sharp appendages. Shaking the twitching body free Nemesis then turned towards Alyssa and growled softly.

Alyssa only smiled, "I didn't see that one"

But as the helicopters circled back towards the group after a long absence Nemesis roared at them and raised the rocket launcher.

Realizing the monster's actions Alyssa's smile faded as she tried to stop the events unfolding, out of the corner of her eye she saw the black harpoon machine start to move forward and knew that this could be the last battle for both her and Nemesis.

As smoke from the tear gas descended over the group the shooting suddenly ground to a halt as everyone backed away in an attempt to avoid being affected.

Hearing the roar of Nemesis close by Jill glanced up and saw two things: one was the giant slowly aiming the rocket launcher at the descending helicopters and two was a large black machine that resembled a harpoon moving forward.

Backing slowly towards the darkened scrub Carlos called out to Jill, "Let's go, the bush will give us more cover!"

But Jill hadn't heard Carlos she was watching another battle slowly unfold and she had a gut feeling it wasn't going to end well.

Alyssa was standing beside Nemesis and tried to stop the monster from firing but had no choice but to move aside as the helicopter began firing at the giant.

As Nemesis positioned the rocket launcher on his massive shoulder and aimed it at the firing helicopter Jill was powerless to stop the attack. _Just like before with Carlos_ she thought.

When the first creature had stalked her, Carlos had come to Jill's aid and with a lucky shot was able to destroy the rocket launcher the monster had carried. It had blown up with enough force that the creature had flown several feet backwards onto a bed of fire.

Now Jill didn't want the same thing to happen but she knew it was too late to prevent it.

The black harpoon machine began to move, the turret containing the actual harpoon pointing straight at Nemesis.

Then it happened, the nearest helicopter dipped low and fired towards the rocket launcher.

At first the bullets bounced off the metal surface temporarily distracting Nemesis as he sought balance, pointing the weapon up towards the other 'copter Nemesis squeezed the trigger and the last rocket sped towards the machine.

Two explosions happened at the same time and Jill thought that somehow both of the helicopters had been destroyed in the blast, she was very wrong.

Only one of the circling choppers had been blown up, the other began firing towards Nemesis who still had the rocket launcher pointed skyward and that's when the second explosion came.

One moment Nemesis was standing, the next the monster was down on the ground, small flames dancing across his back and arms. Nemesis roared with pain and fury and attempted to rise only to become pinned under the flaming wreckage of the first helicopter. There weren't any roars after the flaming debris had fallen.

During the explosions the harpoon gun had fired and this only resulted in something much worse then a monster being crushed by twisted metal.

Although Deception had moved far away from the helicopters when they descended Alyssa hadn't and when seeing the explosion she had instinctively stepped aside to avoid the flames.

When the harpoon entered Alyssa didn't feel anything, there was no sudden burst of pain just the feeling of something very heavy on her back.

Hearing someone cry out her name Alyssa turned to see Jill trying to run towards her only to be held back by Carlos.

Searching the field Alyssa could see a large group of soldiers trying to corner the others and a crying Jill trying to be pulled away by Carlos, but she couldn't see Nemesis anywhere. All Alyssa could remember was a big explosion and the helicopter crashing and now a heavy feeling in her back.

Feeling light headed Alyssa tried to turn and find the others but it was something she found impossible to do.

As her vision began to cloud Alyssa glanced down to see what seemed to be a large jagged spear poking out of her middle. The sharp end had gone into the soft dry earth anchoring Alyssa with it.

Blood was already running down the thick black metal and as Alyssa put a hand to her chest and discovered it too was covered in blood, she frowned at it.

Glancing across the field and not seeing anything but blurry shapes Alyssa half smiled, "It's so dark" she whispered as the shadows finally took over.

Seeing Nemesis taken out was one thing but when Alyssa was impaled it made Jill completely forget she was in a dangerous situation.

As she rushed forward to try and help Alyssa someone reached out and grabbed her by the arm.

Turning, Jill saw it was Carlos, "Let go Carlos, those bastards are going to kill them both if we don't do something fast"

"They're already dead Jill" Carlos said in a soft voice. "I don't think there's anything we can do now"

Tears had already started to cloud Jill's vision as she watched a pair of soldiers walk towards Alyssa, "No, I won't accept that!" raising her magnum Jill shot one of the approaching men in the head.

Carlos grabbed Jill by the shoulders, "Listen to me! Neither one of us are helping Alyssa or Nemesis if we're both killed here and now, we have to go with the others understand?"

Turning away from the horrible scene caused Jill to sob even harder, the image of Alyssa hanging limply while supported by the harpoon that was through her mid section was too much, "We can't leave them here to die!"

But Jill knew that even if Alyssa had somehow managed to survive her horrific injury she was as good as dead, Nemesis had been crushed under a ton of burning metal.

A low rumbling growl caused both Jill and Carlos to look towards the fiery remains of the helicopter.

As four soldiers freed Alyssa from the harpoon and began to carry her body off the twisted burning metal began to move, as the growl grew louder.

From out of the burning wreckage six thick tentacles shot out and burrowed into the ground.

A figure began to drag itself upwards like some kind of wingless phoenix, rising from the ashes, the growling turning to a wavering roar of pain.

Seeing this Carlos gasped and Jill smiled thinly, "Nemesis" she whispered.

It seemed that this particular Nemesis wasn't going to let fire or metal stop him from protecting someone he cared about.

The top half of the leather outfit Nemesis wore had been completely burnt away by the flames and while his skin had evidence of burns there were also wide stitches running across his back, evidence of the terrible surgical procedures he'd endured in the past.

Limping towards the soldiers Nemesis let out a loud roar as his tentacles whipped the air behind him.

Five other heavily armoured guards stepped forward; each had taser guns, which they fired towards the advancing monster.

The new burst of pain only caused Nemesis to momentarily step back growling loudly but the razor tentacles easily cut the majority of wires.

By now Jill and Carlos had been forgotten by the soldiers and they had slowly walked past the burning wreckage and towards the group who were busy taking out a smaller troop of armed men.

Jill however couldn't take her eyes of Nemesis, the monster who she thought was long dead had exploded from the burning wreckage howling for revenge.

The taser guns were only the first attempts to bring Nemesis under control as the giant dashed forward and grabbed two soldiers more surrounded the pain stricken monster and fired several large tranquillizer darts into his back.

Throwing the men to the ground and delivering a lethal stomp to them both Nemesis now turned towards the black armoured men who had shot at him.

Others attempted to encircle the monster but were impaled by the thick tentacles Nemesis had. Although his vision was starting to fade Nemesis still managed to grab a hold of one screaming victim and break their neck.

Throwing the solider to the ground Nemesis then snatch another with one tentacle and hoisted him overhead while pulling the man apart. As the blood from his victim rained down Nemesis roared and took another step forward ignoring the pain from his right leg he could no longer sense Alyssa and through his confused mind this troubled the monster greatly.

Jill and Carlos heard someone call their names but neither could turn away from what was happening.

"Nemesis has gone crazy it's like as though he's become a different monster" Carlos remarked.

"It's the pain," Jill said. "That's what's making Nemesis go out of control he's gone mad from it"

By now only a few soldiers remained and as they slowly backed off from the blood drenched monster something else stepped forward.

Through the blazing flames Jill only caught a glimpse of the towering monstrosity, it was the same size as Nemesis only this thing was in a better condition.

As the creature stepped forward Nemesis roared at it clenching his two massive fists while his long tentacles spread out in different directions.

Three more darts went into the upper torso of Nemesis causing the monster to howl with pain and take a step back and that's when the other giant struck.

It took a matter of seconds for the creature to dive forward and grabbing Nemesis in a chokehold slammed him up against the burning wreckage.

Jill and Carlos were now too far away to be picked up by this strange new creature and could only watch as the giant held a struggling Nemesis with ease by one heavily muscled arm as slowly the darts took effect.

The monster wore a green trench coat, on its hands were gloves and thick boots were on its feet, while its baldhead was grey its eyes appeared to be silver. The creature expressed no emotion, as it held onto Nemesis, not even moving aside as its victim attempted to release the chokehold with both hands.

Soon however the drugs had taken effect and Nemesis let out one last soft growl before slumping at the giant's feet.

As Jill and Carlos ran towards the group they knew for a fact that the giant with the silverly eyes and long trench coat would be something neither would forget.

Turning towards Jill, Carlos pointed towards the dark scrub, "You go ahead I'll follow"

At first Jill was confused as to what Carlos meant but when she saw the approaching soldiers she understood, this was not a time to argue so she only nodded and began to follow the others into the forest.

Chris had also seen the appearance of the silver-eyed creature and how easily it took down Nemesis but now he was more focused on the approaching enemies. A quick inspection of the Colt told Chris he only had a few rounds left but that was ok seeming as he'd managed to grab some ammunition for it before the cabin was destroyed.

Seeing Carlos approach him Chris nodded, "Looks like this is it, how's your ammo?"

Carlos raised his assault rifle, "I have a quarter left, it should be enough"

As the small squad came closer something jumped behind them and grabbed a hold of two members.

At first Carlos assumed it was Deception but when the two men fell forward he only saw the cold blue eyes of Alice.

The remaining members of the squad backed off but not before Alice kicked another over and then bending downwards snapped the man's neck with a twist of her right hand.

Without saying a single word Alice began to walk towards the pair, her face full of fury.

"Distract her" Chris whispered. "I have something planned for that sadist"

"Oh right a distraction" Carlos grumbled not taking his eyes of the approaching Alice. "Sure leave it to me"

Pointing the assault rifle at Alice's feet Carlos let off a short burst, which haltered her advance. "It'll get worse if you come any closer"

Hearing this Alice smirked, "Are you threatening me Carlos?"

"Yeah I guess I am and another thing…" Carlos was cut off in mid sentence by cold fingers wrapping around his throat.

Choking at the sudden lack of air Carlos could only stare into the blue feral eyes as Alice tightened her grip.

"We've been here before haven't we?" Alice said mockingly as she twisted the rifle from Carlos's hand. "Face it, you've lost this battle and by the looks of things been abandoned by your friends, but don't worry once I'm finished with you I'll go after Jill and make her heart stop beating it's really easy to do want to see?"

"If you're going to kill me" Carlos choked out "Then just do it don't waste time talking about it"

Cutting Carlos off Alice smiled coldly, "Very well then, goodbye Carlos Oliveira"

But as Carlos began to turn blue and start to choke someone was coming up behind Alice.

Chris hadn't run off completely just far enough so that his enemy couldn't spot him.

While Carlos had Alice occupied Chris was a few inches behind her and noticed the twin samurai blades in their scabbards. Seeing them Chris smiled, it was time for payback, this monster had hurt his sister and now they would experience the same amount of pain.

Reaching forward Chris quickly removed one of the blades then without even pausing plunged the sword through Alice's upper torso.

Throwing Carlos to the ground Alice spun around to see Chris smiling back at her.

"That was for my sister you sadistic freak!" Chris said forcefully. "It hurts doesn't it?"

Casually glancing down towards the blood stained blade Alice only shook her head, then reaching around with her right hand easily removed the blade without flinching, making eye contact with Chris she returned his grin, "Doesn't even come close to pain"

As Chris raised the Colt he felt something strike his leg, looking down he realized that the sword was now in his left leg, gritting his teeth Chris tried not to show any emotion as he sank to the ground while holding onto the sword.

"Although I think that you may have a different opinion" Alice sneered.

"Hey leave him alone if you want to hurt someone try me!" Carlos cried out.

Sharply turning towards Carlos, Alice took out her other sword, "Why so eager to die Carlos? You're not proving anything"

The sword in Chris's leg wasn't in as deep as he first thought and with a little effort he was able to remove it.

Keeping his eyes on Alice who was closing in on Carlos, Chris glanced towards one of the dead soldiers on the ground. On the utility belt was a single tear gas canister, which Chris snatched up and began to limp towards Carlos.

By now Alice was standing over Carlos and was just about to thrust the sword she held downwards when Chris appeared in front of her.

Grabbing Carlos off the ground Chris glared back at Alice. "Forgotten about me?"

"So you want to die together? How noble trying to sacrifice yourself for the others, it won't work I'll go after the other members of your precious group and crush this little resistance once and for all" Alice snarled. "Now how would you like to die? Slow and painful? Or quick and painless?"

Behind his back while still balancing Carlos, Chris pressed the button to activate the canister's gas release.

Alice stared back at them and raised an eyebrow, "I'm waiting, or do you want me to decide?"

"I'll pick fifty-fifty" Chris said as he threw the canister forward.

The canister started to surround the area in a choking cloud of tear gas; a cry of frustration followed the pair as they limped away.

Through the haze Alice could only watch as her wounded prey slowly got away, despite the order being authorised she knew it was useless in going after the two rebels, the others could be in the vicinity and besides their death was a constellation prize. She'd seen the creature take down Nemesis and Alyssa had fallen to the Jack Knife. Even though Alice was slightly pissed at the fact that yet again she'd fallen for the same trick Chris had used back at the Innisfail complex the time would come when Chris would run out of options and then she'd strike.

Stepping back from the tear gas Alice found her other sword, the blood from Chris still lingering on the blade, scowling at it in disgust Alice held onto the sword as she walked slowly back towards the parked semi trailer. Griffin would be too pre occupied with the two captives to worry about the rebel's escape so Alice knew she wouldn't be punished when he found out that she hadn't killed any of the rebels once again.

High above Alice a helicopter circled the field and flew over the scrubland; it's searchlight penetrating the cold winter gloom.

Chris and Carlos both limped through the darkened bushland keeping their eyes peeled for the others.

"You ok?" Chris asked as he avoided stepping on a large fallen branch.

Carlos smiled, "I should be asking you the same thing, you're worse off then me"

"That's true, look I know this isn't the best time but I guess I have been rough on both you and Jill over the past few days it's just with all those changes and all, actually I have no idea where to begin"

Thinking about what happened to both Alyssa and Nemesis made Carlos feel guilty and horrible at the same time. _We left them there; we left them behind to be found by our enemies_.

His mind flashed back to what he'd seen happen to Alyssa, the poor sweet little kid, she was in the wrong place at the wrong time and the expression on her face, it was as though she had no idea what had happened. _Alyssa didn't deserve that, she had no right to die it should have been me!_

The fate of Nemesis wasn't as harsh but it didn't sit right with Carlos how he could only watch as the pain stricken monster be taken down with tranquillizers and a mysterious giant creature. Both himself and Nemesis had been through so much together and when he had needed Carlos the most the help didn't come.

Shaking his head Carlos pulled away from Chris feeling he could stand on his own two feet, "Past is past Chris, I don't hold grudges"

Chris only nodded and tried to stand on his injured leg, winching at the short burst of pain, "I just thought I'd make sure"

Hearing the approach of footsteps both looked up to see the other rebels coming towards them.

Leon pointed off into the distance, "We found a place to sit out the forest patrols"

The large bleeding patch on Chris's right jeans leg caught both Claire's and Rebecca's attention.

"What happened?" Claire asked as she bent down to examine the wound.

"Did you get shot?" Rebecca inquired. "Or was it something else?"

"Something else, a sword to be more precise, would have been much worse had Carlos not provided a distraction" Chris replied. "We sort of got each other out of a bad situation"

"A sword? I thought the soldiers only had guns" Leon remarked looking confused.

"There were other things out there then just soldiers" Jill suddenly spoke up. "Which is the reason why we should get a move on, the cliffs aren't that far"

As the others began to move off Jill went up to Carlos and walked beside him, "You and Chris seem to be getting along now"

"Amazing what a run in with the local sword wielding maniac will do"

"Alice was there?"

Carlos nodded, "With bells on, she tried to kill Chris and I but luckily we were able to escape"

Nearing the edge of the clearing Carlos looked up to see a familiar looking mountain. The white walls appearing to glow in the moonlight giving the entire area an eerie feel.

"This place" Carlos breathed. "It's where we first met them didn't we?"

Jill blinked away a few tears that had started to form and turned towards Carlos, "You ok to climb?"

"I think I can manage" Carlos said. "How about you? Are you ok?"

Rubbing both her eyes Jill only nodded, her lips appearing to say something but no sound followed.

Despite his wounded leg Chris was able to quickly climb up the side of the wall and into the small cave.

Inside the cave it was dark and silent, in the far corner there appeared to be a pile of sticks and fabric but because of the complete darkness it was impossible to tell what it really was.

In the right corner something moved as it changed from a standing position into a crouching one.

Carlos saw the movement and in the dim moonlight knew it was Deception. Somehow the Hunter had managed to escape the carnage and follow the group and in a way Carlos was glad that Deception was still alive. Even though Deception had his own agenda and didn't seem to care for others around him he was still part of the group, they had already suffered a tremendous loss as it was.

Chris was now sitting against the wall of the cave while Rebecca and Claire were on either side helping to clean up his open wound.

Leon preferred to stand leaning against the wall his head touching his chest while his arms hung down by his side.

Jill stood at the cave mouth and stared out across the dark bushland just as she had done in what seemed to be years ago when in reality it had only been three months.

In the distance she could see the glow of lights no doubt from the raid, close by a helicopter still circled, it's own beam bouncing over the tree tops as though it had a life of its own.

Putting her left hand into her pocket Jill felt a small cold object, taking it out she realized it was the silver key Alyssa had given her. _Can you keep it safe for a while? I'm frightened I might lose it_. Her voice echoed through Jill's head, it was like Alyssa knew that she would be captured again.

"Alyssa" Jill said softly, just thinking about her caused the tears to flow and this time Jill didn't stop them from falling. "You knew it was coming and no one listened"

Down below the cave torchlights could be seen but Jill didn't care, tears had blurred her vision, she could feel them slipping down her cheeks and onto the floor of the cave.

Jill suddenly felt something warm wrap around her, turning slightly she realized it was Carlos who had wrapped his arms around her.

"You look a bit cold" Carlos said smiling slightly.

Jill only watched as the lights down below disappear and the helicopter in the distance slowly fly off.

"What's the plan now?"

Jill pressed her tearstained face against Carlos's left arm and sighed, "I don't know Carlos, I really don't know"

Slowly darkness reclaimed the bushland as the high beam lights gradually switched off one by one as though they were like candles being blown out by the wind.

**Life is but a futile dream…**

36


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