Resident Evil: The Sunnydale Conspiracy

The Black Hawk helicopter swept quietly through the dark skies above the Arctic wasteland. The pilot was flying low to the ground in order to avoid the enemy's early detection radar. The helicopter was operating under silent running and so made barely a sound as it sped through the air.

Aboard the craft, Lt. Alexander Harris sat in the cargo bay, going through one last check of his equipment. Harris listened with detached interest as his commander, Steven Raishe, gave the final briefing.

"Alright men" his commanders voice sounded cold and gravelly amidst the background noise of the helicopters blades, "ETA to target landing zone is five minutes. We're putting down two clicks out so we can avoid their radar. " He pulled a map out of his pack and opened it. "We enter the base here" he indicated a metallic protrusion on the satellite photo, "From there we split into two teams. Alpha team, your job will be to disable the security systems on the upper level. Delta team will take the cargo lift down to the lower levels. Lt. Harris will access the lab facility and allow the rest of Delta team to secure the rest of the facility. You hear that Harris/"

"Yeah captain I hear ya" Harris responded as he snapped a clip into one of his Glock nine-millimeters and racked the slide,. "You can count on me."

Raishe nodded and continued the briefing, "We want to keep as low a profile as possible during this op. That means no surreptitious discharging of firearms and that means you Harris."

His commander fixed him with another stare and Harris responded with a "Huh me?" look.

"Yeah you" Raishe answered the unspoken question. It was well known among Harris's fellow squadmates that he was a bit of a cowboy, which made it all the weirder that his designation was team infiltration and suppression specialist. In short, he was the guy who snuck up behind the enemy and slit their throat with a combat knife. He preferred to use his Glock's with silencers though. Harris was also well known for his usage of the twin automatic pistols. He refused to use any other kind of weapon, even when the situation called for heavy fire power, he would simply use Teflon coated bullets. The pistols worked fine for his purposes, and no one ever bothered to confront him on it. Harris had a reputation for being someone that you didn't mess with. He was well respected for his role in fighting the evils of the Hellmouth. The rest of the world may not have known about the things that go bump in the night, but it was hard for a military group like S.T.A.R.S to not have that knowledge.. They were constantly in the thick of battle and it was inevitable that they would eventually encounter evidence of the "real world."

The first indication for the group had come when an entire squad of operatives was wiped out during the raid of a suspected drug cartel. It turned out that the demons were involved in the production of top quality cocaine. After the incident, the S.T.A.R.S set up a special task force nicknamed "Demon hunters" to handle anti-demon operations. Harris, who was a new recruit at the time, had distinguished himself by rescuing his entire team from a demon ambush that had been set up to decimate the new division. He had led the demons into a trap, using himself as the bait. He baited them into an abandoned warehouse and had set fire to it, killing all of the demons that were later revealed to have been vampires. When asked about where he got the idea, he would only say that he had taken a cue from a blonde.

The commander had finished giving his instructions when he received his signal from the pilot, "Alright men, we are approaching the drop zone. LET'S LOCK AND LOAD!"

As Xander, or Alex as he was now known donned his gear and prepared for the drop, he thought back to the day over two years ago when all this had started.

Sunnydale Ca, some time over two years ago

Xander was on his way to the library to meet the rest of the gang. They were supposed to discuss some new evil that threatened the world. Xander felt a moments hesitation when he recalled what Buffy had said the other night, that he should stay out of the way, but he shook it off <My friends won't push me aside> he thought. He was about to learn that he was dead wrong.

As he neared the doors to the library he began to hear the sounds of a discussion inside. <I wonder why they started without me> Just as he was about to open the doors to walk in, he heard something that set in motion the destruction of his world.

"I should get Xander so we can-" "No Will. I want Xander to stay out of this. We don't need him getting in the way. I can't look out for him all the time."

Xander couldn't believe what he had just heard. Buffy had basically called him a liability, useless. He waited for his childhood friend to defend him. What he heard next, felt like someone driving a stake through his heart.

Xander felt the strength leave his legs and was surprised that he hadn't fallen to his knees. His friends had just given him the brush- off. They had abandoned him. Xander was surprised that he felt no tears stinging his eyes. In fact, he felt no real sorrow at all. He somehow always knew that this would happen. After all, if his own parents thought he was useless why should his friends feel any different. He had thought that they would remember all the things he had done for them. But, he realized they only saw what they wanted to see. And, what they wanted to see was silly goofball Xander, who never did anything but make people laugh. That's all they thought he was good for. They didn't have to worry about hurting his feelings because he was just Xander, he had no feelings to hurt. He always knew that in the end he would be alone. That was how it had always been and that is how it would always be. He felt no sorrow or loss. All he felt was a profound emptiness. He felt new strength in his legs and he raised himself up to his full height. If they didn't want him around, then he would stop inconveniencing them. He would finish up here, then he would go somewhere he was needed. He thought back to the conversation he had had with his cousin.

"The S.T.A.R.S is a top notch military organization. You could do a lot of good there Xander. If you ever want a chance to join up just give me a call.

"I think I'll do that Pete." Xander spoke softly as he walked away from the library and his old life. "I've been needing a change of scenery and I hear L.A is beautiful this time of year."

He caught sight of Jack O'toole walking down the hallway and remembered that there was something strange going on with him. "First though, I got something I need to take care of."

January 24, 0405 hrs Zulu

Alex shook himself out of his revere as he heard his commander bark out the order to vacate the vehicle. He steeled himself against the Arctic weather and plunged out the back of the aircraft. He hit the ground running and quickly met up with the rest of his team. As the commander began giving out moving orders, he heard the helicopter noise fade behind him and turned to watch it disappear behind a far off ridge.

He took off with the rest of the squad, and as they made their way toward the distant mountain, he muttered a single comment that he knew the rest of the men in the squad agreed with, "Umbrella, you're going down!"

Part 2

January 24, 2001, 5:30Am
Somewhere in Antarctica

Xander stood and watched idly as his commander barked at the nervous private who was trying to hook up the scrambler to the cargo door keypad.

"I've almost got it sir" the eager young private sputtered out as he finished hooking up the device. He attached the final wire and touched a few keys on the pad before stepping away.

A second later there was a humming noise followed by a clicking noise. The LED on the pad turned from red to green, indicating that the door was unlocked.

Commander Raishe lifted his right hand to motion Alpha team forward. The five members of the team stepped up to the door and Raishe hit the access pad. There was a chirping noise as the computer processed the request and then a grinding noise as the gears sprung into action. The door slowly lifted up to reveal a darkened interior.

As Xander stood by, waiting for his squad to be called forward, a strong wind whipped through the canyon chilling him to the bone. It made him wonder, not for the first time. Just what the heck they were doing on the other side of the planet, smack dab in the middle of the coldest and harshest continent in the world. Of course, he knew the answer to that question as well as any of them. Their intelligence operatives had discovered the location of this base that was reported to be one of the chief development facilities for the T- virus. The virus was responsible for the destruction of an entire city and the deaths of thousands. A decision was made. A team was put together, consisting of the best and brightest that the S.T.A.R.S. had to offer. Xander had been chosen for the team because of his skills with infiltration, to help infiltrate the facility. The commander of his team Captain Raishe had also been chosen to head the team. The goal was simple, to infiltrate and commandeer the facility. Hopefully shutting down the production of the virus. So that's why he was standing here, freezing his ass off while he waited for the go code. His real challenge was about to begin.

He heard the order and immediately sprung into action. He stepped into the dark cavernous interior and activated his night goggles. The cavern was instantly illuminated and Xander took a look at his surroundings, marveling at the sheer size of the cavern. The massive interior was empty, save a gigantic cargo elevator and a set of steel doors off in corner. The lift was empty except for a few cargo containers. Xander knew from the schematics that there was a smaller lift that was obscured behind the main one. That was the personnel lift. He also knew that the main lift was locked down and that someone would have to activate it from one of the sub-levels. That someone was him.

He caught a glimpse of the last of the Alpha team disappearing behind the steel doors as he made his was to the personnel lift. He threw off a clumsy salute as he stepped into the lift and activated it. Moments later, the cavern disappeared from view as the lift began it's descent into the cold arctic earth.

Xander looked on as the bottom of the shaft slowly drifted into visibility. He activated his scope and noted the two security guards that were making their rounds. They would have to be dealt with soon enough.

As he waited for the lift to come to a stop, his mind began to drift back to that day two years ago when his life had changed forever.

Sunnydale C.A.
Two years ago

Xander began to fume as he made his way through the halls. He was feeling completely betrayed at the moment. Last night he had discovered that the rest of the Scoobs had handled a major evil without him. It wasn't just any major evil either, it was the opening of the Hellmouth. And they didn't even bother to ask for his help. He had made up his mind that he would confront them about it, make one last plea to them to not leave him out of the slaying. And, if they rejected him this time, he was through. He would pack up and leave town, he wouldn't even bother to tell them. Let them worry their asses off about him. He was through caring.

He stepped out into the quad and quickly spotted the group sitting at a bench in the distance. As he approached, he plastered on his best poker face and tried to look nonplussed.

"Hey guy's what's up" he was pleased with how little bitterness was in his tone.

Buffy glanced up and noticed him, "Hey Xander" she greeted as if she had done nothing wrong.

Willow smiled at her childhood friend "Man Xander you're lucky that you weren't here last night."

Xander let his façade drop and snorted "Yeah, I wouldn't want to get in your way. You had a lot to deal with, what with the Hellmouth opening and all. I'm sure glad you kept me out of that. We wouldn't goofball Xander putting every one in danger."

Buffy 's head shot up in shock. "How did you know about that?" the rest of the group was equally shocked.

Xander fixed her with a cold glare. "I was here Buff. And frankly, I don't appreciate this shit that you people are feeding me. I have just as much right to help as anyone else."

Xander cut her off "No Buffy, I will be like this. I'm sick of this shit. You fuck heads feel some need to protect me, well I don't need your protection, I take care of myself."

Buffy chuckled a bit which infuriated Xander even more "C'mon Xand, you almost got killed the other day. Calm down. We just don't want to see you get hurt."

This caused Xander to give out a bitter chuckle "Everyone gets hurt Buffy, and you're forgetting that it' my choice to fight. This is it. I'm not taking this shit any more. You either let me help out or it's over."

Buffy stared at him for a minute. A part of her felt bad at what she was doing to him. It was his choice to fight and maybe she should respect that. But, she really didn't want to see him get hurt and knew that he would get over it.

"I'm sorry Xander but the decision stands. It's for your own good." She looked around for the others support and they nodded their heads in agreement.

Xander's expression began to change as he realized that this was the end. A part of him had believed that when he confronted them about their betrayal that they would realize what they were doing and stop excluding him from the fighting. Deep down however, he always knew that it would be like this.

He slowly nodded at them, "I always knew it would be like this." His voice held no trace of emotion. "Fine, I'm sick of this. You all can go to hell for all I care. I'm through. He tossed off a middle finger salute at the group and turned around and walked away.

The remaining Scoobs stared at their departing friend in shock. None of them had ever heard him talk like that. He spoke with genuine rage. It both surprised and scared them.

Buffy was the first to find her voice again. "Will, have you ever heard him speak like that before?"

Her friend shook her head in confusion, "No. He's never been like this before. Maybe we were too harsh.

Buffy shook her head, "No Will, we did the right thing. I don't need him getting in the way. Besides, it's just Xander. He'll get over it. Xander never stays angry for long."

Giles nodded his agreement, "You're right Buffy. Xander seems to have a knack for bouncing back from depression. I suspect that he will be his old jovial self by the end of the week."

Buffy noticed her friends' hesitation, "C'mon Will, It will be okay. Xander will always be here for us."

Willow nodded again but whispered to herself, "But when have we ever been here for him?"

Unbeknownst to the group, Xander watched them from a distance. "That's it" he said to himself, "I'm through putting up with this shit. I'm gone."

With those final words Xander turned around and walked away from Sunnydale high and his life.

*****

Voices coming from the bottom of the shaft brought Alex out of his revere. He looked below him to examine the guards patrol routes. The two watchmen circled the shaft in an elliptical pattern. There was roughly a fifteen-second interval when any one guard was obscured from the others view. That didn't give him entirely that much time, especially considering that the descending lift had triggered the guard's attention.

Alex ducked below the safety bars of the lift to avoid detection. As the lift came to a stop, Alex pulled his combat knife from its sheath and crouched beside the doors to the lift.

The lift doors automatically swung open and Alex could hear the two guards discussing what to do.

"There isn't supposed to be anyone coming down." The one guard said. "I know. I'm gonna check it out." "Okay, I'll cover you."

Alex tensed as the guard steeped forward into his line of sight, his gun arm leading the rest of his body.

Moving like lightning, Alex sprung from his crouch and shot his hand forward, grabbing the guards outstretched hand. He jerked, causing the guard to lose his balance and fall forward, even as Alex brought his knife forward, into the mans chest. The knife cracked the sternum and penetrated the heart. The guard was dead before he knew what hit him.

Alex withdrew the knife and let the corpse fall to the ground. He stepped from the lift to see the other guard scrambling for the security alarm.

Alex drew back and hurled the knife. The steel missile flew through the air, even as the guard ran away. There was a sickening wet thuck sound as the knife impaled the fleeing guard through his neck. A spurt of blood erupted from the wound onto the wall in front of the mortally wounded human. He collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. Alex watched as the guard choked on his own blood. A matter of moments later, it was over.

Alex walked forward and knelt by the corpse. He reached down and withdrew the knife from the guard's neck, wiping the blood and gristle on the body's sleeve. He searched through the guard's pockets until his fingers fell over the thin metal card. Smiling, he pulled the object from the guard's pocket.

He stood and, replacing the knife in its sheath began to walk toward the security doors. He withdrew one of his Glock's from its holster and pulled a long, thin black tube from one of his pockets. He attached the silencer to the pistol and racked the slide as he reached the massive metallic doors. Going over the plans from memory, Alex knew that beyond these doors was a small hallway that contained the lift control room, as well as access to the facilities lab levels.

He slid the card through the reader and grinned as there was a clicking sound followed by the telltale hum of the door mechanism. There was a hissing sound as the airtight chamber was breached. The door swung open with another loud hiss and Alex took in the sight before him.

It was a stark contrast to the cavern he had come from. A long metallic corridor stretched out in front of him, a single gray door lay on the right side and the corridor teed at the end.

Alex crept towards the single door that he knew led to the control room. He put his hand on the knob and smiled when the door swung open with a click. "Not locked." He said to himself, "Big mistake."

He stepped through the doorway into the small corridor and immediately heard sounds of talking coming from up ahead. At first he thought that the lift operator had company, until he caught the unmistakable sounds of audience laughter. The guard was watching the TV. "I thought they only did that in the movies?"

He reached the end of the corridor and peeked his head around the corner. He spotted the guard leaning back in his chair, seemingly enthralled by the comic stylings of Urkel.

Alex gripped his Glock and swung out from behind the corner, settling into a firing stance. Within a split second he had acquired his target and he squeezed the trigger. There was a tiny pok! sound as the round left the barrel, and a plok! as the bullet shattered the guards skull and exploded inside his brain. There was a shower of Grey matter on the television screen as the guard slumped forward in his seat.

Alex quickly moved to the lift controls and flipped the switch, activating the main lift. He moved back into the corridor and into the main hallway. When he reached the lift room, he crouched by the smaller platform. He activated his radio and spoke the go code. Then he sat back to wait for the rest of the team to join him.

Part 3

Sunnydale Ca
The day after "The Zeppo"

Buffy walked down the now quiet school corridors, looking for her friend. She had been looking for Xander for most of the day. She was shocked and a little frightened by what he had said earlier. She was only trying to look out for him. He had to understand that. She had to make him understand. <I have enough to deal with without worrying about him getting in the way and getting himself or someone else hurt> She WOULD make him understand, if only she could find him.

A movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. She turned her head to see a figure dart into an adjoining hallway. She hurried to the intersection and, turning the corner, she caught sight of Xander.

Buffy quickened her pace and caught up to him. She grabbed him by the arm and spun him around to face her. She was momentarily stunned by the look on his face. His normally chocolate brown eyes were now almost completely lifeless. In fact, the one emotion she could in his eyes was pure hate. The look startled her, but she managed to compose herself.

"Xander, don't be like this. We're only trying to look out for you. We don't want to see you get hurt.

"I can take care of myself as well as Giles, and better then Willow. You just don't want me helping. You've been like this ever since the Acathla incident. We were really connecting there for a while. We could have had something, but then Angel comes back into the picture and you conveniently forget I exist. And now you try to push me even further away from you. I think you're afraid of what you might be feeling for me."

"Oh, don't deny it. I know that you have feelings for me, very deep feelings. You just don't want to admit it to yourself."

Buffy was getting very frustrated, "Xander, I hate to break it to you, but you are nothing but a friend to me. I love Angel. Angel is my soulmate. And, even if I didn't have Angel, I still wouldn't love you. We are friends, nothing more so just DEAL."

Xander stared at her, his eyes slowly losing any trace of emotion that they had left. He closed his eyes for a moment as he finally gave himself over to the emptiness in his heart. He knew it would be like this. He knew that when he confronted her about her feelings she would do this. There is just one thing left to do. He knows it will kill him but he has to sever his ties to this life. He has to do it now.

He takes a deep breath before he says the words that signal the end of his innocence.

"Buffy, I'm in love with you." He pauses, waiting for her reaction. When she doesn't respond he continues. "I have loved you since the moment I first saw you. I have never wanted anything more than to help you. You are the other half of my soul. I need you so much that it hurts." He finishes and waits for her to crush his heart again. She doesn't disappoint.

Buffy gives out a snort and chuckles a bit. "Xander, are you deaf. I said that I will NEVER love you, Ever. DO YOU HEAR ME?"

She gets in his face and starts to rap his head with her knuckles. "HELLO? ARE YOU IN THERE?" She grabs his head with her hands and pulls him down to look in his eyes. She talks to him like a child. "Now I know that you are a bit dense Xand, but I think I made it pretty clear how things are so get over it already."

What Xander does next surprises her. He looks her deep in the eyes and smiles at her, a smile without any emotion.

He pulled back and hit her with everything he had, he pushed all of his hate and fear and despair and loneliness, every negative emotion into a punch that would have killed a normal human."

"If you come near me again bitch, I WILL kill you." He spoke matter of factly, and Buffy had little doubt that he meant what he said.

Without another word, he turned around and walked out of the school corridor, into the midday sun, leaving one very confused slayer and a shitload of emotional baggage behind.

Willy's bar, later that night.

Xander was doing something that he never thought he would do. Something that his parents had always done. Something that went against all that he stood for.

He was sick of caring. All caring ever did was bring him heartbreak. He had intentionally confronted the slayer with his love for her, knowing that she would rip it out one final time. He needed her to do that. Even with all that had happened to him he still loved her. He needed someone to set him straight.

Now he was sitting in a demon-infested bar, getting totally smashed. He didn't give a shit. He wanted to get wasted, then maybe the emptiness would go away. Maybe he wouldn't feel so alone.

Xander focused in on the voice and saw that it was Willy who was talking to him.

Willy smiled at him. "I'm not as blind as you so called friends Xander. I see the things that you do."

Willy nodded, grinning. "Good for you kid. I was wondering when you'd wise up and drop those dead weights."

Xander walked out the front door and proceeded to stumble down the street. He crashed into the walls as well as some trashcans as me made him way to his house.

He reached the curb at the end of the street he was on and attempted to step up onto it. Being severely inebriated however, he miscalculated the distance and his left foot impacted the curb as he attempted to lift his right.

He pitched forward and would have fallen to the ground, except that a pair of strong arms caught him by the shoulders and pulled him to his feet.

The vampire looked at him curiously. "Xander, what are you doing wandering around by yourself this time of night. You could be attacked by vampires."

Angel shook his head "Xander, you're drunk. We need to get you home. Buffy is going to be furious with you, you know?"

Xander waved him off. "I really don't care what that blonde bitch thinks. She can go fuck a vampire for all a care. He grinned at Angel. "Oh wait. I forgot, she already has." He added with a bitter tone.

Angel did really not like the way that Xander was speaking. "Xander, I'm going to excuse what you said about Buffy, because you are obviously upset. Now what's wrong."

Xander continued, "All I ever do is go out of my way for her...for them, and all they ever do is give me shit, well I'm through. They have pushed me aside one too many times. I could handle not being thanked for the things I have done, I could even handle Buffy mooning over your sorry ass. But I will not stand by while they try to exclude me from their precious slayer circle. I'm sick of putting up with them. I saved everyone the other night and all I hear the next day is how happy they were that I'm not here. Well not any more."

Angel tried to process all Xander had told him. "Xander, what do you mean you saved our lives the other night?"

Xander goes face to face with him. "That night you two fucked Angel, was it good for her? Did she come?"

Xander gets right in his face. "When you see her, ask her if the goodnight screw was worth it. Ask her if she really got off on it. Ask her if it was worth losing a friend, and remind her that next time she's laying face down in a pool, I won't be there. Tell her I hope she has a loooong life." He finished as he began to walk away from Angel. "Because I want her to live with the misery of what she's done.

Angel stared Xander him as the fog that had seemed to come out of nowhere slowly enveloped him.

He looked up and cursed as he realized that the sun would be up soon. The fog was already disappearing so he would have no protection from the deadly rays. He would have to wait until that night.

With those thoughts in mind, the vampire slowly faded back into the shadows from whence he came.

Xander walked along near his house. He was lost in his thoughts. He knew that this was it. He would end it tonight. The only consolation he had is that the slayer would be devastated. Angel would pass on what he had told him and it would kill her. It was strange he thought, he used to only be concerned with protecting her and keeping her safe. Now however, he only wanted to cause her as much pain as he could. He was sick of being the only one in pain. If he couldn't make her hurt over her love for him, then he would make her hurt by knowing that she was responsible for his death.

He racked the slide and stuck the barrel in his mouth. "Goodbye Hellmouth" He was about to pull the trigger and end it all, when he heard the sound of a car horn.

Startled, he looked over and saw that a firebird red Porsche had pulled up alongside of him.

The window rolled down and a familiar face poked out, "Xand-man, what the hell do you think you're doing."

Pete eyed his cousin with concern, "Xander, put the gun down." He said in a calm tone.

Xander looked down at the gun in his hands and nodded, numbly. He spun the gun around so he had it by the barrel and handed it to his cousin."

Pete took the proffered firearm with visible relief. "Xander, what's going on man. You sounded seriously wigged out when you called me."

Pete smiled, "Y'know that offer still stands. The S.TA.R.S could really use you."

Despite the agony he was feeling at the time, Xander actually smiled, "I think I'll take you up on that offer."

Pete nodded happily, "Great! Hop in. Let's go get your stuff together. You need to say goodbye to anybody?"

Xander sadly shook his head, "Pete, Y'know the situation with my parents. They could care less if I was ever born."

Pete nodded again, "I know. I was referring to your friends. Do you want to say goodbye to them."

Again Xander shook his head, "I've said my good-byes." As Pete pulled into Xander's driveway, Xander felt a tear slide down his cheek. It was the last he would shed for a very long time.

*****

Part 4

January 24, 2001, 0510 hrs Zulu

The sound of the lift starting it's descent caught Alex's attention. He stood up and began to make his way to the main egress platform, when his radio blared to life. "Harris. Come in Harris over". He pulled his radio from its pouch and spoke into it. "Harris here over." "We have a slight change of plans Lt. You are to move ahead and secure the entrance to the lab facility. We will rendezvous at Gamma echo over>" Alex marked the coordinates on his map. "Copy that Delta leader over" "Roger that over and out."

He changed his course and made his way back into the main corridor. As me moved toward the bend that would lead to the main lab facility, he withdrew his second pistol, attached a silencer and racked the slide. He reached the bend and swung out with both pistols coming to bear on the corridor before him.

He continued down the corridor until he reached a set of steel blue doors that separated him from the main lab. He replaced on of the pistols in its holster and, reaching in his pocket, he withdrew the guards access card and slid it through the scanner. A few hum and beeps later and the door clicked open allowing him access to the passageways and chambers beyond.

He put the card back into his pocket and removed the pistol from its holster once again.

Alex gripped both pistols tightly as he stepped through the doorway into the open corridor.

The new corridor was a stark contrast from the one he had previously been in. Instead of dark blue steel, the walls were a plain sterile white. Just looking at this place reminded him of a hospital. "I hate hospitals" he muttered under his breath.

He moved ahead towards one of the pale gray doors that lay ahead of him. He knew from the informant's information that that was a testing lab for the virus. It was one of the first places that had to be neutralized.

The door swung open to reveal a group of scientists who were in the process of dissecting a human.

Disgusted, he leveled his pistols at them and showered the walls with their blood.

He turned his attention to the man on the table, who appeared to be still alive. "I'm really sorry about this." He said as he brought the pistol to the man's skull and pulled the trigger. He scanned the room for the viral injectors and found his prize. Having secured them in his pack, he made his way back out into the corridor..

He had almost reached the other set of doors, when he heard a strange moaning sound coming from behind him. He turned around and was horrified to see that it was the scientists he had just put down.

They were walking towards him on unsteady legs. There bodies riddled with bullet holes, blood seeping from the flesh wounds. Alex hadn't noticed it before but these men had been in dead for some time. As was evidenced by the skin peeling from the faces and the sweet smell of rotten flesh that turned his stomach.

Alex was no fool. He knew very well what they were. They were an example of what the virus did to humans. They were zombies, Not in the literal sense. They didn't walk around calling out "Brains!" and they didn't rise from their graves to feast on humans. And, technically, they weren't dead. They were in a taste similar to brain death. Their brains had ceased all higher functions and they were relegated to the basic human need, To eat. Of course, because all of their higher cognitive functions had shut down, they had no idea when they had had enough, so they kept eating and eating, until their stomachs bloated and finally ruptured. They also didn't care what they ate. It was just that these accidents typically happened where the most abundant source of food was human meat. The creatures possessed remarkable strength, because their bodies required very little energy to operate, and the fail-safes that were in place within humans to keep them from overexerting themselves were nonexistent. They were notoriously difficult to put down., because there bodies required so little energy to operate. They could take a dozen rounds from a nine-millimeter and keep coming. The only way to put them down for good was to either cause so much damage to their bodies that they simply bled out, or to take out the heart or brain. Alex had dealt with these things before but it was no less freaky this time.

When he was sure they were down for the count, he pulled his radio from its holder.

Another short pause and the radio crackled to life "Harris this is Delta leader. What is your situation over?"

"Delta leader this is Harris. We have stoners sir repeat stoners over." "Stoners" was the term used to refer to zombies, because they walked around with a glazed look in their eyes.

He could hear the sound of chuckling coming from the other end. "Roger message received. Over and out."

Alex waited for the radio to fade to silence, but what he heard next sent a chill down his spine.

"Holy shit They're everywhere. We need back up repeat backup. Alpha team do you copy? Ah shit! Rogers, take point. Reckenmeyer, watch your six, Stephano behind you. Look out...AHHHHHH!!!!!"

A blood curdling scream pierced the radio and them silence, save for the background static.

"Delta leader. Do you copy over...DELTA LEADER...anyone on delta team? ROGERS, RECKENMEYER, WILLIAMS, STEPHANO, ANYONE?" Nothing but static

Frustrated, he slammed his boot against the wall where he stood and cursed aloud.

He pounded the walls with his fists a few times before he regained his composure.

<Alright man think! The rest of the team is dead. You've gotta get out of here. The vial's you are carrying are the most important thing here.> He went over the blueprints in his head. <Okay, I can't go back the way I came. There's an access shaft at the other end of this lab facility. I've got> he checked his ammo count<Five clips apiece for my Glock's that's 170 Rounds. That should be enough>

He quickly removed the silencers from his pistols, ejected the spent clips and slapped in fresh ones.

He stepped back into the corridor and made his way further into the lab facility. "Aright Umbrella, LET'S DO THIS!"

Los Angeles CA, same time

The vampire formally known as Angelus stalked his prey. Unseen, he moved like the shadows themselves, dipping in and out, dodging behind pillars to avoid detection. He watched his quarry approach the abandoned warehouse and followed him in.

It was pitch black inside, but his vampiric senses allowed him to see as clear as if it was day.

He made his way through the junk filled building until he heard the sound of voices coming from a small office. He stretched his senses to hear what was being said.

"I don't like this one bit." The voice was gruff and held a certain edge to it, "I don't trust Umbrella. People who work for them have a habit of disappearing."

"I know what you mean Frankie" This voice was smaller and more reserved, "But we really don't have much of a choice. Besides, as soon as they get their new facility set up, their gonna pull outta this town and we'll be free, not to mention stinkin rich."

What he heard next would have stopped his heart if it had been beating, "Some town called Sunnydale. A real outta the way place like Raccoon City and we all know what happened there."

Angel shuddered. It was no secret among the undead community what had happened there. The entire city had been overrun with deadly virus from a chemical spill at the local Umbrella labs. Everyone in town had been turned into a zombie like monster. The government, to prevent the contamination from spreading eventually nuked the entire city. Over one hundred thousand people had died. Somehow, Umbrella managed to convince everyone that it wasn't their fault.

Angel took off from the factory at top speed. Umbrella had managed to keep a lid on their involvement in the incident. Angel knew the truth because of his contacts, but Buffy had no such contacts, other than Willy. She wouldn't know of the danger they were in. He had to warn her.

He sped off into the night like a phantom and was soon swallowed by the shadows.

Antarctica
0600 hrs Zulu

Alex spun around and emptied an entire clip into the monster chasing him before he took off again.

He shot down the corridor at top speed, dodging here or there to avoid the corpses that were reaching for him with their bony fingers.

He heard a monstrous roar behind him and quickened his pace, pushing himself to the limit in order to escape the demon pursuing him.

It wasn't actually a demon. It was a creation of Umbrella's, a variation on the popular Tyrant model. It stood over 10 feet tall, bristling with muscles. One of its appendages was shaped into a scythe like blade while the other sported 3-foot retractable claws. A large, bulbous muscle that could only be its heart lay on the outside of his chest wrapped around his head. His cold, emotionless eyes seemed to stare right through you. This particular version had a slight improvement.

<Oh goody> Alex thought as he rocketed down the zombie filled corridor <The giant spiders, snakes, sharks, penguins and dogs that I have faced haven't been enough. So, I get to meet the reject from nightmare on Elm Street. Lucky me>

He turned the corner and saw a sight that actually brought a smile to his face <The access shaft!>

The creature, which had been gaining on him, shot its claws out toward Alex in a sweeping blow.

Alex, sensing the attack dodged to the side and hurled himself through the doorway even as he emptied another clip into the hulking beast.

He quickly slammed the heavy steel door in the creature's face and slid the bolt home.

He heard pounding and almost instantly the door began to rattle on its hinges. He knew that he didn't have much time.

He made his way over to the emergency cargo lift access terminal and activated the emergency protocol. The protocol, he knew, was set up so that if a chemical spill occurred, the lab personnel would be evacuated on the emergency cargo lift and the lab facility itself would self-destruct.

He could hear the telltale hum of machinery that signaled the lift was activated and he quickly boarded the platform as it began to rise.

When the platform had reached about one hundred feet, he heard the sound of metal being ripped. He looked over the edge and saw that his guest had decided that they weren't finished yet.

He watched in amazement as the creature dug its claws into the walls of the shaft and began to climb at an incredible rate.

He knew that the tyrant would soon overtake the lift, so he reloaded his pistols and proceeded to empty the last of his ammunition into the monster.

It wasn't having any effect, he knew so he replaced his guns in their holsters and withdrew his combat knife. He knew that a secondary lift was already on its way down to evacuate the rest of the personnel. If he could hold out until the lifts crossed paths he could cross over to the other lift and change tracks. The tracks were what the lifts ran on. They were designed so that only one lift could go in a given direction at any time. If both lifts were operating at the same time, them one went up while the other went down. If he could reach the other lift, he could send this one back to the ground level.

He braced himself for the bone-jarring crunch as the creature leapt over the guardrail and onto the lift. He knew what he was about to attempt was suicide, but he really had no other options.

Steeling himself for the assault, he gave out a battle cry and charged at the monster.

He jumped into the air and leveled a kick that staggered the creature. He proceeded to lay into it with a series of knife jabs and punches. The Tyrant was unaffected by the assault but was unable to launch an attack of it's own.

All of a sudden, the creature pulled back and slugged Alex with his clawed hand. He felt intense pain as the claws tore through his body armor and into his chest. He was thrown backward to land amidst a stack of crates.

He rose to his feet and quickly examined the wound <Luckily my vest took most of it, but if he gets me like that again, I'm toast>

Taking a cue from his ex-friend/Vampire slayer, Alex ran at the creature and proceeded to walk up its chest. Using the creature as a springboard, he sent a spin kick at the Tyrant's jaw. At the same time he brought his combat knife down with all his might into the creatures blue skull. There was a sickening crack as the knife broke through bone and imbedded itself in the soft gray matter.

Alex knew that it wasn't dead, but that didn't matter as he both heard and saw the adjoining lift drop to his level.

He ran and jumped with all his might, barely clearing the 12-foot gap between lifts.

He hit the ground hard and was immediately on his feet. He made it to the control console and slammed on the button to change the tracks.

There was a loud grinding sound and a bone-jarring shudder as the lift ground to a halt. A split second later the machinery started again and the lift was reactivated, this time heading up.

Alex heard the earth-shattering roar as the creature started to rise to his feet.

"Oh no you don't" Alex spoke as he unclipped a small oval object from his belt, "Not in this fucking century."

He pressed the activation stud and lobbed the object with perfect accuracy. The steel missile flew through the air and landed in the same stack of crates that he had been hurled into. It was a Thermite grenade. Superheated plasma burned at an incredible temperature. It was so hot that it actually ignited the oxygen in the air. The result was total destruction, for emergency uses only.

"Give my regard to Satan mother fucker!" Alex said as he jammed down on the emergency acceleration button.

The lift immediately sped up to an incredible rate and Alex was thrown off his feet. He landed on his stomach and rolled dangerously close to the edge. He watched as the other lift and its inhuman occupant disappeared from sight, while silently counting in his head.

Below him, there was an enormous thunderclap, followed by the sounds of the air igniting. The sound became louder and louder and Alex threw himself behind the cover of some crates as the explosion caught up to him.

He tensed and blew all of the air out of his lungs as he felt the intense heat seep over him.

Just when he thought he couldn't take anymore, that he was going to be roasted alive, he felt the heat die down and the temperature slowly returned to normal.

He lay there, recovering from the intense ordeal he had just been through as the lift began to slow down. He knew he was nearing the surface and so, reluctantly rose to his feet even as the lift shuddered to a stop.

It mirrored the one he and his team had entered in many ways. He knew from the plans that it was the emergency egress dock.

He thumbed his radio on as he slowly made his way forward. "Black Hawk this is Delta team. Do you read me over?"

The voice startled him and he pulled a reserve pistol from his vest. Then, he recognized the voice. A surge of hope swept through him. "Raishe, is that you?"

Alex ran to him, "Thank god your okay! I thought everyone had been killed. Did anyone else make it?"

"I'm afraid that won't be possible Alex." Raishe spoke as he removed a pistol from his belt and pointed it at him."

His commander eyed him sadly, "I'm sorry Alex. I had no choice. They took my family."

"They" a new voice spoke up as a full contingent led by a man in all black came into view and leveled their weapons at him, "Would be us"

The man in black leveled a cold and cruel smile at him. "My name is Albert Wesker. And we have plans for both of you."

One of the guards stepped forward and opened fire with their stun blaster. The bolt took Alex full in the chest and he collapsed to the ground.

He lay half-conscious as Wesker walked over and knelt beside him, "Don't look so glum. You get to help bring about a new future." If it was possible, his smile turned even more evil as he added, "For those who survive."

With that, he withdrew his pistol and brought it down over the back of Alex's head. The last thing he saw was Wesker's evil smile as he slipped into the darkness.

Part 5

January 29, 2001, 9:05pm
Sunnydale Ca

Buffy Summers bounded happily down the steps of the Summers residence, bag in hand, ready for patrol. She was looking forward to getting out and about again. This was the first night in several weeks that she was actually going to be patrolling. She had just recently recovered from the Toth demon's attack, and she could hardly wait to bust some vampire skulls.

As she reached the bottom of the stairs, she heard the doorbell, "I'LL GET IT!" She yelled to her mom who was upstairs recovering from her recent surgery.

She opened the door and was greeted by the site of her red headed Wiccan friend.

The Wicca just shook her head at her slayer friend, "Buff, you have some real issues."

Buffy grabbed her friend by the shoulder, "C'mon lesbo girl, let's go kill some demons."

"Yeah and I prefer supporto girl. When you see her let me know and I'll point out politically correct Buffy."

They walked out to the Giles red sports car and Buffy smirked, Hey Giles, what's with the new car?"

Giles gave her an annoyed look, "Well Buffy, I was completely happy with my old car until super slayer decided that she didn't like my engine and ripped it out."

Giles nodded in mock understanding, "I see, and how may I ask do you explain the steering column?"

"I was in a bad mood and your car wasn't going fast enough. Besides, it wasn't my fault, it was the Toth demon. He was the one who shot me with the weird stick thingy. Blame him."

Umbrella scientists log number test no 142 Genetic manipulation and subject augmentation. Subject: Alexander Harris

Day 1

0410 hrs
The subject was brought in today, a prisoner from an attempted raid on an arctic base. The subject was highly uncooperative and had to be sedated.

0440 hrs
Initial scans of the subject reveal a highly developed muscle structure. Subject displays an extraordinarily high tolerance for pain.

0530 hrs
Subject to undergo compatibility testing for the augmentation process.

0800 hrs
Subject has successfully passed the compatibility testing. When the DNA scans of the subject were initiated, subject was found to possess fragments of Hyena DNA. This will prove useful, as there will be no need for full DNA augmentation. It will only be necessary to augment the fragmented DNA.

0900 hrs
Subject responding well to treatment. DNA augmentation is beginning to be noticeable.

1200 hrs
Subject is showing signs of increased strength and speed. No predatory tendencies have emerged as of yet.

1500 hrs
Subject's strength and speed have reached an extraordinary level. Testing indicates augmentation equal to that of previous subject Wesker.

1800 hrs
Subject to undergo combat testing.

1830 hrs
Subject has completed testing with incredibly high marks. The demons were eliminated within minutes. Subject shows little or no signs of stress or fatigue.

Day 3

0900 hrs
Subject is steadily improving in combat expertise, is still showing resistance. Medication has had to be increased to avoid rebellion.

1200 hrs
Subject continues to show no signs of primitive behavior, it is believed that the DNA fragments only enough to alter physical factors.

Day 5

0600 hrs
Subject has shown remarkable progress in training and is to undergo mental manipulation in order to erase memories of prior existence and install allegiance protocols.

1240 hrs
Subject has escaped while enroute to second stage of mental reconditioning. Several scientists and technicians were killed during the escape.

1500 hrs
Project suspended until further notice.

End log

January 29, 2001, 1220 hrs

That was about all he could do. He had no idea where he was or how he got there. He didn't even remember much more than who he was. All he knew is that when he woke up, there were some men in lab coats trying to shove an eight inch needle into the back of his skull.

He had fought back. He reached out, breaking the restraints that held him and grabbed the scientist by the head. Twisting with all his might, he was more than a little surprised when the head had popped off. He broke the rest of his bonds and leapt from the table he was lying on.

Several men tried to stop him and he had punched them so hard that he crushed their chests. He made it all the way into the hallway before he encountered a group of guards with guns.

He ran at them faster than a human should have been able to move and tore into them. He picked up one of the rifles and shoved it through the owners' chest. He snapped another guard's neck and he snapped the remaining mans spinal column.

He rose to his feet, his hands covered in his victim's blood, and started running again. Somehow, he knew what kind of place he was in. He killed the guard with the access key and used it to escape to the outside.

Admist the torrent of thoughts cascading about in his head, one word rang loud and clear, "Sunnydale" He knew where he had to go, now he just needed to figure out how to get there.

As he made his way through the woods toward the highway, unbeknownst to him, a figure watched him with cold lizard eyes.

He smiled as he saw the man stumble through the trees. Everything was going according to plan. "Soon my boy" he whispered as his smile grew even more wicked, "Soon."

Sunnydale Ca, 9:45pm

Buffy grinned as the vampire burst into ash, "You have no idea how good that feels."

The redhead nodded but still looked uncertain, "It's just that LOOK OUT!" Willow shouted.

Buffy, sensing the attacking vampire, stepped to the side and threw her arm out. The vampire ran right into the close-line maneuver and flipped to the ground. Buffy calmly knelt and drove the stake through its chest, "Just what Wills?"

Willow looked hesitant for a moment, "It's just that you haven't really been yourself since Xander left."

The blonde nodded sadly, "It's just that, It's all my fault Will. I... we never treated him the way we should have. I pushed him aside and not only ignored hi feelings but I trampled on them. And then we find out all that he's done for me...us, and all the things that he went through, and I can't even tell him how sorry I am. I can't make it up to him. I destroyed who he was and I can never make up for that."

"I know that Buffy, we all felt that way. We didn't realize that it wasn't our decision to make"

Buffy pulled back a bit, "Of course I love Xander, he was one of my best friends."

She pulled away and turned to look up at the sky, after a minute she spoke, "I've always felt something for Xander. We have, or had a connection that goes deeper than friendship. I don't know what it is. I don't know if I love him THAT way, but I wouldn't mind trying to find out."

She looked down at the ground, "I never even gave him a chance Willow, not even one chance. All he asked was if he could dance with me and I told him no. That I didn't have feelings like that for him."

Buffy turned back to her friend as her voice rose in anger at herself, "What the HELL does that have to do with anything huh? I didn't have feelings for Angel when I first met him. I didn't feel anything for Owen at first, or Scott, or Parker or Riley. I felt nothing for them. You don't go on a date with someone because you have feeling for them. You go to see if you CAN have feelings for them."

She lifted her head to the sky and shouted out, "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME? I could have given up a chance for true happiness."

Willow walked toward her friend, "You could be right Buffy, but you can't keep torturing yourself over what might have been. You need to move on."

Buffy sniffed and looked at her friend, "You're right Will. I just needed to get that out."

She stood up straight again, "I'll be alright." She walked to her friend, "C'mon Wills, let's go kill some vampires."

Willow smiled at her friend, "That's the Buffy I know." The two girls walked away from the cemetery, unaware of the dark eyes watching them.

Giles cursed again as he stumbled over to where his cane lay propped against the table. He had needed the walking aide ever since he was injured during the mayor's ascension. He frowned as he thought of the battle that had taken place. More than half of the graduation class had been killed before they were able to destroy the mayor. His fellow watcher, Wesley Windham Price had been killed during the attack and all of the gang had been seriously injured in some way.

Cane in hand, he limped over to his bookcase to retrieve some volumes on demon lore and prophecy. He was halfway there when the phone in the other room rang.

"Blast it" Giles swore as he changed direction to head for the phone, "I really should buy a portable."

Buffy jumped the vampire and rammed the stake home, "That'll teach you to mess with my friends."

She rolled to her feet and started to lay into the remaining vampire with a series of punches and kicks. She knocked the vampire to the ground and was about to dust it when she was jumped from behind. Struggling, she fell to the ground struggling with her attacker. She managed to roll the creature off and shoved her stake through its chest.

The creature let out an inhuman roar but did not turn to dust. That's when she got a good look at it. It was tall, over seven feet, with hulking muscles dripping with slime. A long, razor sharp tongue hung out of the monster's mouth, whipping back and forth. A pair of serpent like eyes hung in its sockets and the brain was visible through the translucent skull. Huge razor sharp claws protruded from its hands, and it had a feral grin on its face.

She heard a growl behind her and turned to see the remaining vampire leaping at her. She tensed for the attack and was caught of guard when a figure clad in all black shot from the shadows and took the demon off its feet. She both heard and saw the dusting and regarded the new comer as he stood to his feet.

The blonde headed vampire scowled at her, "No need to thank me Buffy, I only saved your life think nothing of it." He smirked at her, "Y'know slayer it wouldn't kill you to be grateful once in a while."

Buffy shook her head, "I don't know, but it doesn't look nice." She turned to her friend, "Will, get out of here!"

As if in response, the creature leapt at her, claws out. Buffy dodged to the side and avoided the brunt of the attack. She winced as the claws caught her shoulder and dug into the flesh.

She threw her foot out and caught the creature's midsection. She reared back and struck its skull with all her strength. There was an audible crack and the monster stumbled backwards but did not fall down.

"Buffy!" Spike called out as he charged at the genetic freak. He threw his weight into the attack and bowled the monster over. As the vampire hit the ground he produced a stake from his pocket and shoved it into the demon's neck. There was a large spurt of blood and the monster gargled and spurted, but still did not go down. It back handed Spike which sent the blonde flying ten feet backward, and proceeded to charge the slayer again.

She removed a large blade from her jacket and held it in a defensive stance. Right as the creature reached her she threw the knife up and spun kicked it with an inhuman strength. The blade, propelled with incredible force, imbedded itself in the monster's skull. It stooped dead in its tracks and collapsed to the ground.

Buffy let out a huge sigh of relief and turned to her friend, "Are you all right Will?"

There was a rustle from some nearby bushes and the Wicca emerged, "I'm fine Buffy."

"No Buffy, I'm just peachy. No need to ask about me, but your concern is flattering." Spike said sarcastically as he brushed himself off.

The smile abruptly left Spikes face and he stood speechless for a moment, "Oh, SOD OFF SLAYER!" he shouted before he turned around and disappeared into the shadows.

Buffy walked over to where her friend was examining the monster's corpse, "What is it Willow?"

Willow pointed to the creatures skull, "These scars, they indicate that there was some sort of surgical procedure."

"Great, that's all we need, another initiative. Buffy rose to her feet, "C'mon, lets go see Giles."

In the shadows, Albert Wesker watched them, "Soon" he said as he turned around and walked into the night, "Soon."

Part 6

January 29, 2001, 0100 hrs Zulu
3 miles outside of Sunnydale Ca

Nicholas Martin saw the sign for the off ramp and turned his vehicle onto the exit ramp. The red jeep sped from the highway onto the local roads as he checked his road map again, "This is the place" he said as he confirmed his location. Sunnydale was indeed a small community. He couldn't help but notice the sharp contrast between this place and New York, "Almost like Raccoon---" he quickly shook those thoughts from his mind.

He turned onto a side road and began scanning for the warehouse. After a few miles he saw what he was looking for and pulled his jeep into the lot. The parking lot was empty save for a black van and a blue sports car. The moon shown through the clouds to cast an eerie glow on the place.

He pulled up alongside the van and killed the motor. Moving to the back, he retrieved his duffel before he made his way over to the warehouse doors. The place looked like it hadn't been used in several years, the walls were rusted and the doors had paint peeling off of them.

He stepped up to the side door and rapped on the wood. After a moment, there was the sound of the door being unlocked and it swung slowly open.

A man who looked to be in his early thirties greeted him. He had spiky brown hair and his eyes gleamed with a mischievous look. A cigar hung at a jaunty angle from his mouth, the corners of his mouth were pushed up in a smile. He wore dark green combat fatigues and a Berreta nine-millimeter hung at his side.

The man eyed him for a minute, then stuck out his hand, "Pleased to meet you. The name's Chris Redfield.

Several minutes later Nicholas was being introduced to the rest of the team. "This man here is David Arson." Chris began the introductions, "He was head of security at an Umbrella facility in the Mojave desert. There was a chemical leak and the complex was overrun with monsters. He managed to survive and escape, now he's joined our little group. He will be serving as heavy weapons specialist." David just smirked, "Happy to be here."

"This here" he pointed to a man with spiky black hair who looked like a wannabe rockstar "is Quan Williamson. His S.T.A.R.S team had a run in with the Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasures Squad. He was the only survivor. Now he's after revenge. Quan is our vehicle expert." "Howdy." Quan greeted him.

Chris pointed to a man who was dressed in a similar outfit "Our resident computer expert is Peter Stansfield. His cousin was a S.T.A.R.S. officer who was lost during a raid on their arctic base. Nicholas exchanged a quick nod with him.

"Ex-army Cassandra Davis is our team medic. Her medical rescue team received a distress call from an Umbrella camp. She was the sole survivor."

"I believe you already know Jonathan Reeves, our demolitions expert." Even after all this time, it still amazed Nicholas how big Jonathan was. The man looked like he could bench-press a truck, but his face betrayed a kind-hearted man.

"Hey buddy, glad to see you made it out okay!" His former teammate greeted him with a hardy handshake.

Chris continued, "Everyone this is Nicholas Martin of the N.Y.P.D Special Forces. He is our infiltration's expert and team sniper."

The Australian spoke up, "Just what is you story mate? If y'don't mind me askin?"

September 26 2000, 0900 hrs
Raccoon city

"This is too weird for television" Nicholas complained as he watched the approaching hoard. The sentiment was meant to be humorous, but Nicholas was far from joking. As he watched the mass of undead he saw that it didn't at all look like an army of death. He could see Women in their aprons, spattered food still on them. He saw children who looked like they had recently been playing in the dirt, teenagers who looked like they had recently come from school. He saw construction workers in their dirtied work clothes, and businessmen still in their suits. "These people aren't supposed to be dead" he thought to himself "let alone walking around feasting on the flesh of their fellow human." "What a way to spend a vacation."

"You can say that again." He looked to his side, his partner, Sergeant Jonathan Reeves didn't look particularly thrilled at the situation either. Nicholas knew where he was coming from, the two had served together in the NYC, specs ops unit for over 3 years, and they were the best. They had seen many strange things in that time "But this takes the cake" John muttered under his breath. Nicholas nodded, something like this shouldn't even be possible, people didn't walk around when they were dead. But here they were "And there they are" Nicholas said aloud. John nodded and hefted the heavy shotgun that he held. It was a Remington 100P fast action with increased barrel length for greater accuracy, and a more precise blast radius. As the heavy weapons specialist of the group John got to carry all the big guns.

Nicholas, as the team sniper had access to a less powerful, but far more accurate arsenal. This however was not a standard op, his PSG1 had been replaced with an M4A1 automatic rifle, to afford him a greater mobility. The weapon was still highly accurate and had a greater rate of fire. In this situation Nicholas was glad that it was by his side.

Behind him he heard the screeching of tires as a car pulled up. He turned around to see that it was a battered and beaten patrol car. The side doors opened and his commanding officer, Captain Steven Mason stepped out of the vehicle followed by the commander of the police forces, Captain Davis.

Captain Mason addressed his men "Report" John responded "We have established a line of defense sir, snipers are positioned on the roof of the building, our bazooka squad has the enemy in its sights, and we have a team out looking for survivors." Mason responded "Excellent" his deep voice boomed as he spoke "gentlemen we have developed a plan, with the help of police Chief Brian Irons, the main force of the R.P.D. is going to act as a diversionary force to draw the zombies away from the civilians. Our squad is then going to search for survivors and transport them to the evac point, at a bus station a few blocks from here, after all of the survivors have been evacuated we are going to raze the area in order to prevent the zombies from escaping the city."

Nicholas could see Mason studying their eyes as he gauged their response. "Any Questions" no one spoke up. Captain Mason nodded "Then lets do this people." Captain Davis took over "All squad prepare to open fire, pick your targets, conserve ammo, you all know what it takes to put these things down so don't waste." Nicholas took up his sniping position, he raised the rifle to his shoulder, looking through the scope and zeroed in on one of the zombies in the distance. He placed the crosshairs over the creatures left eye and waited for the order to fire.

He didn't have to wait long. "Fire!" the order rang out like a rifle blast and soon the air was alive with the sounds of weapons discharging. Nicholas pulled the trigger and sent a round right through his target's eye. The creature's head exploded in a shower of gore as the bullet tore out the back of its head. All around him he heard the sounds of gunfire as the other officer's pecked at the mass with their weapons. Nicholas could see the zombies' shudder as the hail of bullets ripped into them. But they weren't falling, at least not enough of them. Only a handful had been put down and they were getting closer and closer to the barricades.

Nicholas took aim and put another bullet through a zombie's face, the creature shuddered and fell. He dispatched three more in this fashion and then took stock of the situation.

The police were holding there own, but just barely. The main mass of zombies was still standing, and coming closer by the second. To his left he saw John tear into a group of the creatures with his shotgun, the blast vaporized the upper half of their bodies and they stumbled to the ground, the legs twitching reflexively. Nicholas switched his weapon to auto and took out a trio of zombies with an automatic burst.

The zombies were nearly on top of them and their numbers were still overwhelming. But they had accomplished their goal, they had punched a hole right through the mass. A hole wide enough to fit a squad through. Nicholas heard captain Davis give the order. "Let's move out people." Nicholas let off another burst, then moved from his crouched position to his feet. He saw his opening in the army of undead and took off running, right for the hole. He reached it and dove through as a rotted hand shot out from the mass to grab him. He tucked into a roll and came out on his feet, running at full speed for the alley just ahead. When he reached the passage he turned around to check on the rest of the squad.

He saw John charge through, not even bothering to fit through the hole, he barreled over a group of zombies as he tore through to the other side. Just behind John he saw several more men, including his captain and the team explosives specialist dive through the hole. A second later he saw another officer attempt to dive through the opening, but the hole had almost completely closed.

As Nicholas watched in horror, the poor man was yanked off his feet and pulled, kicking and screaming, into the middle of the crowd. Immediately after, he heard a blood-curdling wail as the zombies tore the man apart. Blood spattered on the undead as they fought over the now mutilated corpse that had, only seconds earlier been a living, breathing human being.

Nicholas turned away in disgust and focused his mind on the task at hand. He waited by the alley until the rest of the rescue squad reached his position. Captain Mason spoke up "Alright people sound off." The officer's names rang out and when they were finished they determined that 13 made it through the "gauntlet" That meant that they had lost three men coming through. "No time for sorrow people" his captain said "we have a job to do, now let's move out."

They moved in silence through the dark alley, weapons trained ahead to fend off whatever horror they might encounter. The sounds of gunfire slowly faded, to be replaced by the sounds of the wind as they traveled further and further from the police barricade. They neared the end of the alley and, stepping through they emerged in an open, empty street area. Nicholas knew that they were only a block away from the bus station, which was there final destination.

As they moved into the street, they caught their first sight of survivors, a group of about eight people was attempting to fend off a small cluster of zombies. Captain Mason's squad went to work, opening up on the zombies with a burst of automatic fire. The creatures were torn apart in the hail of bullets. The freed people ran to the rescue squad, the captain picked out a detachment to escort them to the bus station, and the rest of the squad was off again.

They soon came upon a second group of survivors that the zombies were already beginning to attack. Nicholas picked off the first few with his rifle and, with the help of the other squad members, they were able to rescue five of the seven civilians. Another detachment was picked out to escort the new group and the squad went off in search of other survivors. It went on in this fashion for the next hour, until the squad had rescued every survivor in the area. All in all the count was thirty-three with twelve lost during the rescue attempt. The rescue squad had lost 2 men during the operation and several were wounded. The captain ordered the rest of the squad to head to the bus station to see to the evacuation of the civilians and the wounded.

The team moved through the silent and desolate streets with six survivors in tow. The rest had already been sent ahead to the station. As they came to the end of the street they were on and rounded a corner Nicholas saw that they were in a courtyard of sorts. Cars were parked on either side of the road and he could smell the fumes from an overheated engine. As he looked in the distance, towards a set of dim street lamps, he caught sight of another crowd of undead as they descended on a small group of helpless citizen's.

The captain spoke up "Alright people you know the drill, engage the enemy." At these words the squad immediately ran forward and as they came into range, they opened fire on the zombies. Nicholas targeted on of the attacking creatures and sent a round right through its forehead, the monster moaned and collapsed. He had succeeded in putting down a few more zombies when he heard a screeching noise coming from above them.

He looked up and saw a flock of birds descending from the darkening sky. As Nicholas watched, one of the birds swooped down on one of the officers. "Look out!" Nicholas called, but he was too late. The bird shot from the sky and bit the neck of the officer. The man yelped in pain and grabbed at the creature, tearing it off his neck. The bird tore a hunk of flesh from the officer's throat as it was flung to the ground.

Without his throat, the man was unable to breathe, and he slowly choked to death, vomiting blood until he finally collapsed to the street.

Immediately afterward the rest of the birds swooped down on the squad. They began tearing into the officers as they cawed a bloodcurdling cry. The men looked up and started to fire on the ferocious foul. Nicholas could tell right away that they had no chance against the monster birds, there were just too many of them. The creatures he started to see were of incredible size, over twice the size of a normal bird. Their feathers were falling off en masse and their eyes had that same glazed over look that the rest of the zombies showed. He shouted out to his captain "Sir we need to get out of here, there is no way that we can hold them all off."

"I am inclined to agree" his commander concurred "Alright people we are pulling out, get to any survivors you can and evac. We'll meet at the bus station." Nicholas immediately kicked into action, lowering his head he charged into the flock of birds. He smashed into them, after a few seconds breaking through to the other side.

He rounded up the small group and herded them towards an alley that he saw in the distance. The birds saw what he was trying to do and shot after his group. He could hear them coming towards him, shrieking ferociously. He switched his weapon to full auto and at the last second, when the birds were right on top of them, he dove to the ground ducking into a roll. When he came up the barrel was pointed right at the mass of demon birds. The birds somehow must have realized what was happening because they tried to dive out of the way, but it was too late. Nicholas opened fire and blood spattered all over as the birds were caught in the trap. Bloody feathers slowly floated to the ground as he led his group down the side alley. They headed down the small deserted alley and after a few minutes, when Nicholas was certain that they had lost the birds, he turned around to look for the rest of his squad. He saw nothing and decided to wait. After a few minutes he saw some vague figures in the distance. Slowly, the figures came into focus and Nicholas could see that it was the rest of the team.

He saw his commander in the lead, followed by most of the other officers and a few survivors. He was extremely relieved that most of the squad had made it out of there. "Nice to see you captain" he said as the squad reached his position. "Likewise lieutenant" His commander returned. He quickly filled Nicholas in on the situation. They had just barely made it to the alley in one piece. Two officers and one civilian hadn't been so lucky.

Captain mason addressed the group "We're moving out, we have to get these people to the bus station and out of town safely. Sergeant Reeves you take point, Lieutenant Martin you take the rear." Nicholas immediately moved to the back of the group. "The rest of you, let's move out." The group headed out, again moving in silence, attempting to prepare themselves for any new nightmare that they might encounter. Nicholas couldn't help but think about all of the people that had already died, and those that were going to die, as a result of whatever had happened in this city. He'd seen the faces, they were human but at the same time they were inhuman.

The eyes said nothing of the life they had lived. Nothing of sunny days spent playing with friends or of those rainy nights with family. They spoke nothing of joys or of sorrows, of hopes for the future, or dreams of the past. No, the eyes spoke only of a deep pain, and of an endless hunger. A hunger that could never be satisfied, a hunger for the flesh of the living. Nicholas shook these thought from his head and tried to focus on the present "C'mon Nick, don't do this you can't think about that right now that's what causes people to lose it." He wasn't going to lose it, too many people were counting on him. He moved ahead with new confidence, he was going to make it out of here.

They made it the rest of the way to the bus station without incident and soon they rendezvoused with the rest of the rescue squad. Captain mason immediately ordered the squad to see to the evacuation of the civilians. There were fifty survivors altogether, too many for the small bus they had located, so it was decided that they would draw lots. The thirty "winners" would be loaded on the bus and sent out of town, though Nicholas knew that they wouldn't actually be taken anywhere, the risk of spreading the possible contagion was just too great.

They would be held at a "safe" location on the outskirts of town, until a team of scientists could determine if they were contaminated with the "virus." He didn't want to even think of what might happen to them if it was discovered that they were infected. "You know exactly what will become of them if that happens don't you Nick. They'll be left inside that "safe" house until one by one they turn, and devour each other. A horrible death to be sure." As for the other not so "lucky" survivors. They would have to wait until the bus came back to pick them up. "IF it came back" Nicholas thought to himself "if the driver even has the guts to come back here to see if anyone is alive." That would be several hours from now, no telling what could happen in that time.

"Anyone left here will probably be slaughtered. The small force left behind wouldn't be able to protect them for long." Once again Nicholas shook the thoughts from his head and got to work helping with the loading of the bus. After a few minutes they had the bus loaded up and ready to go. Nicholas could see the looks of happiness and exhuberation on the faces of those seated on the bus, in stark contrast to the expressions of horror and doom on the faces of those left behind. This didn't seem humane, to decide peoples fate by the roll of the dice.

Normally such a thing wouldn't happen, but this situation was far from normal, and it was better that at least someone survived this horror. Nicholas finished what he was doing and decided to go see the captain. "I have to talk to him about what we are going to do about these other people... and how we are going to survive until help arrives."

Nicholas searched for his commander among the chaos of the evacuation effort. He finally spotted him next to a pair of fuel tanks. He began to walk towards him, "Captain" he began "I need to talk to you about-- -" the rest of his sentence was abruptly cut off as the sounds of automatic fire ripped through the air.

He looked to where it was coming from and saw a group of officers who were being pursued by hideous monster like things.

He watched in horror as one of the creatures caught up to one of the fleeing officers and ripped him in two with its powerful arms.

The remaining officers quickened their pace to escape from the creatures as the team at the bust station began to give covering fire.

"Get that bus out of here NOW!" his commander barked. A moment later, the bus's engine started and it began to pull away from the station. Nicholas let out a sigh of relief as the bus pulled clear of the station. He trained his rifle on the oncoming creatures and let loose with a burst of automatic fire. The blast caught the monster in the chest and succeeded in slowing him down. Nicholas saw the officers were beginning to break away from their pursuers.

He turned his attention back to the creatures and was about to open fire again when he saw something that made him shiver.

The lead creature, apparently unwilling to let its prey escape let loose a thunderous roar and leapt twenty feet forward into the fleeing men. The creature stabbed out with its claws and grabbed one of the men by his back. The man screamed in agony as the claws tore through flesh and cartilage. On reflex, the corpse squeezed the trigger to his rifle and the ground in front of Nicholas was pelted by fire.

"Oh shit" Nicholas exclaimed as he saw the bullets land closer and closer to the fuel tanks. "EVERYBODY RUN!" Nicholas shouted as he took off away from the tanks at full speed. He knew very well that if those bullets hit the tanks, the resulting explosion would take out a city block. He forced his legs to pump faster and faster as he tried to escape the blast radius.

There was the unmistakable sound of bullets bouncing off hollow metal, followed split second later by an earth-shattering BOOM!

Nicholas was picked up and hurled ten feet in the air. He crashed into a pile of garbage and the world went dark.

"When I woke up, I found that everyone else had been killed in the explosion or from the zombie attacks. I managed to make it to the police station and tried to enlist the chief's help in searching for other survivors. He was less than cooperative, so I set out on my own. I eventually located a highschool that was being used as a sanctuary for town survivors. With the help of some fellow officers and some war veterans I was able to evacuate the survivors on foot and escape the town before it was vaporized in the air strike."

After a minute, Chris broke the silence, "Alright, now that introductions are out of the way, let's get down to business. We received reports a month ago that Umbrella was getting ready to open a new facility in Sunnydale. Now to the public, this facility will be just another pharmaceutical testing and development lab. The complex is also supposed to contain offices for the higher ups, in other words, it's the new headquarters for Umbrella in this country. Unfortunately, it goes much deeper then simple medical chemicals. Umbrella is building a secret lab facility with the walls as well as below the ground."

He removed several packets from a briefcase and passed them around, "These are reconnaissance photos that were taken by one of our operatives. They show that Umbrella is building holding facilities in the sublevels. There is also a troop garrison. If every one will turn to page 11"

Nicholas turned to the page and saw a picture of a scientist holding a canister that read G virus Alpha.

"This" Chris explained, "Is the new fast acting G virus that Umbrella is working on, it more than halves the time between infection and zombification. Umbrella is moving all their research on this virus to the new facility. If that virus is successfully created, then we could be looking at a new age in biological weapons. Umbrella will sell to the highest bidder and countries would be at the mercy of terrorist organizations. But, if we can destroy their research and cripple the facility before they finish, then we will have eliminated the threat of biological terrorism."

He regarded each of them in turn, "This is very important people. We have to succeed. The fate of the world could hang in the balance."

Chris smiled, "Good, that's the effect I was going for." He turned serious again, "Okay, here's the plan. We will send a team in to do recon of the facility. We need to determine exactly where the virus is being stored as well as the actual capabilities of the facility itself."

"How come you lousy yanks get to have all the fun?" Quan asked in an annoyed tone

"Alright everybody" Chris stepped in, " Lets get the vehicles inside the warehouse so we don't attract any unwanted attention then I suggest everyone get some rest get. We have a long day ahead of us.

0230 hrs
Sunnydale Bus Depot

Xander stepped down off the bus and looked at the area around him. He felt as if he should know this place, though he couldn't ever remember having been here.

He had emerged from the woods after several hours of running, confident that no one was following him and surprised that he hadn't even broken a sweat. He stumbled upon a mountain road and walked along it until he reached a truck stop. He learned that he was in Montana in the Black Hills. He had 'appropriated' a vehicle and had driven until he ran out of gas. He felt like he was being drawn to this Sunnydale place that kept appearing in his mind. He knew he had to get there, so he walked until he found a bus station. Many hours later, here he was.

The air here seemed so familiar, like he had been breathing it all his life. As he looked up at the night sky, he got a sense of dejavu, as though he had looked up from this same spot before.

He began walking into town, to find a motel to stay for the night. He stepped onto Main Street and was hit by a flash of memories.

He and two girls, one red head and one blonde, walking down the street to The Espresso Pump. Cruising down the street at night, looking for some fun. Heading to the bronze. Stumbling down the street, drunk off his ass. Talking with some weird guy with spiked hair...deadboy?

Just as he felt like he was beginning to remember, the memories began to slowly fade until they ceased all together. He shook his head to clear it, and began walking again.

He had the strangest sensation of familiarity, like he wasn't a visitor but a man coming home. He looked at the shops around him and knew that he had been in most of them, which scared him greatly. If he had been here before then why did he not remember it?

After a few minutes of walking he saw a cemetery and was inexplicably drawn to it. The gate was locked so he hopped the fence, amazed at how easily he cleared the eight-foot gate, <Something is definitely wrong here. What the hell did those bastards do to me? >

He chose a path and started walking through the all too familiar graveyard. It was strange but he knew he had been here before, many times. He seemed to recall long nights spent here with that blonde and red head, sitting on tombstones waiting around for...for...what the hell WERE they waiting for?

He started up a small hill and had the strange sense that he had climbed this hill many times.

He paused as he reached the top, there was a single tombstone. A bit of overgrowth had obscured part of the name, but he could make out the first part. It said "Jesse."

As soon as he saw the name, he was assaulted by more memories. There were images of him and a dark haired kid and the red head, playing in a sandbox, Him and the dark haired boy walking down a hallway, laughing. The boy playing a prank on their teacher. Being dragged away by strange creatures, glistening fangs... driving a stake through the boy's heart.

The memories became too much for him to handle and he collapsed to the ground, clutching his head in pain.

"Are you alright Alex?" a voice reached him through the waves of agony, "You seem a bit upset."

The pain lessened and after a few seconds Alex rose to his feet, "He spotted the owner of the voice, a blonde man dressed in dark blue combat fatigues with sunglasses hiding his eyes. <Sunglasses? Who the hell wears sunglasses at this time in the morning? >

"Who the hell are you?" Xander asked in part annoyance and part curiosity, he felt like he knew this man.

The man figure smiled at him, "I am someone who wants to help you Alex. You might say we're old friends."

A flash of intuition hit Xander and he returned the smile with a mock version of his own.

Resident Evil:

The Sunnydale Conspiracy

Author: Socrates <vampyr64[at]hotmail.com>

Disclaimer: Joss own the folks at Buffy. Capcom own the rights to Resident Evil.

Rating: A very heavy R for extreme violence and some language.

Distribution: You don't have to ask.

Category: Story/Angst/Horror/Adventure/Romance

Spoilers: Possibly through season five.

Summary: Xander leaves Sunnydale. He joins up with the paramilitary organization S.T.A.R.S.

Author's notes: The purpose of this fic is to show what would happen if Xander did what he should have and left Sunnydale after the way his friends were treating him.

Latest addition

Part 1

January 24, 2001, 0400 hrs Zulu
Somewhere in Antarctica

Sunnydale Ca, some time over two years ago

January 24, 0405 hrs Zulu

Part 2

January 24, 2001, 5:30Am
Somewhere in Antarctica

Sunnydale C.A.
Two years ago

*****

Part 3

Sunnydale Ca
The day after "The Zeppo"

Willy's bar, later that night.

*****

Part 4

January 24, 2001, 0510 hrs Zulu

Los Angeles CA, same time

Antarctica
0600 hrs Zulu

Part 5

January 29, 2001, 9:05pm
Sunnydale Ca

January 29, 2001, 1220 hrs

Sunnydale Ca, 9:45pm

Part 6

January 29, 2001, 0100 hrs Zulu
3 miles outside of Sunnydale Ca

September 26 2000, 0900 hrs
Raccoon city

0230 hrs
Sunnydale Bus Depot

Resident Evil:

The Sunnydale Conspiracy

Author: Socrates <vampyr64[at]hotmail.com>

Disclaimer: Joss own the folks at Buffy. Capcom own the rights to Resident Evil.

Rating: A very heavy R for extreme violence and some language.

Distribution: You don't have to ask.

Category: Story/Angst/Horror/Adventure/Romance

Spoilers: Possibly through season five.

Summary: Xander leaves Sunnydale. He joins up with the paramilitary organization S.T.A.R.S.

Author's notes: The purpose of this fic is to show what would happen if Xander did what he should have and left Sunnydale after the way his friends were treating him.

Latest addition

Part 1

January 24, 2001, 0400 hrs Zulu Somewhere in Antarctica

Sunnydale Ca, some time over two years ago

January 24, 0405 hrs Zulu

Part 2

January 24, 2001, 5:30Am Somewhere in Antarctica

Sunnydale C.A. Two years ago

*****

Part 3

Sunnydale Ca The day after "The Zeppo"

Willy's bar, later that night.

*****

Part 4

January 24, 2001, 0510 hrs Zulu

Los Angeles CA, same time

Antarctica 0600 hrs Zulu

Part 5

January 29, 2001, 9:05pm Sunnydale Ca

January 29, 2001, 1220 hrs

Sunnydale Ca, 9:45pm

Part 6

January 29, 2001, 0100 hrs Zulu 3 miles outside of Sunnydale Ca

September 26 2000, 0900 hrs Raccoon city

0230 hrs Sunnydale Bus Depot

January 24, 2001, 0400 hrs Zulu
Somewhere in Antarctica

January 24, 2001, 5:30Am
Somewhere in Antarctica

Sunnydale C.A.
Two years ago

Sunnydale Ca
The day after "The Zeppo"

Antarctica
0600 hrs Zulu

January 29, 2001, 9:05pm
Sunnydale Ca

January 29, 2001, 0100 hrs Zulu
3 miles outside of Sunnydale Ca

September 26 2000, 0900 hrs
Raccoon city

0230 hrs
Sunnydale Bus Depot