I sit here in the back of the khaki green jeep watching the streets of Pittsburgh fly past me.  I’ve been silent the whole journey, usually I’d be the one to keep their minds off things but not this time.  I flat out refuse to pretend that everything’s okay with me.  I mean god, it’s Friday night.  I should be out at Babylon, dancing and getting drunk.  Not cooped up back here polishing a gun.  

We turn down the road leading to the industrial area of the city.  My eyes are scanning over the sidewalk and buildings.  It’s quiet. Too quiet and I don’t like it.  Then I see it, the flash out the corner of my eye and I swear loudly.

“OUT NOW!”  

I throw open the back of the jeep and dive out, Jill dragging Chris out after her.  I’m barely two foot away from the vehicle when the grenade explodes, destroying the jeep.  I throw my hands over my head, stray shards of glass and metal slicing my bare arms and drawing blood.  We’re all panting, I’m the only one hurt as I roll onto my back.  Jill’s at my side like a shot, her worried eyes checking over my arms.  It hurts like a motherfucker but it’s nothing serious.

Staggering to my feet, my fingers run through my now dirty blonde hair as I glance about.  There’s a large building in front of us and,  to any innocent bystander, it would be a normal corporate building.  Only, it has the Umbrella logo on the main door which just shows me where we’re heading.  We run over, keeping our eyes peeled as I crouched down to override the access codes to grant us entry.  It takes a while but,  eventually, we get in.  My comrades draw their handguns but I stay armed with only a lock-pick.  The lobby is deserted, there are upturned chairs here and there.  The lights are flickering, something’s not right.  I glance sideways at Jill and she looks as worried as I do. 

“Justin, check the computers”

And that’s an order I suppose as I vault over the reception desk, landing perfectly in the leather chair as my fingers danced over the PC’s keyboard expertly, a look of pure concentration on my face before I raised an eyebrow.

“There’s were numerous reports of problems in the laboratories located on the fourth floor until the building was put in temporary lockdown at 0400 hours this morning after a problem…”

My leader looks at me, walking over as she holstered her weapon, “And this problem, what was it?”  I tilted my head back and to the side, shrugging, ”I dunno, the report ends there but something’s not right, doesn’t it seem all too familiar to you?”

She nodded, it reminded me far too much of the Arklay incident.  Problems in the lab, which I’m sure stored vast amounts of the famous T-virus, complete shut down of the facility.  

“Justin, I want a printout of the entire contents of that lab”

I growled, eyes darting up towards her, ”I’m not your stock taker Valentine!”  I was ignored (typical) but I went about it anyway, an eyebrow raising as I hacked into the mainframe and thus the lab stock, “We have extortionate amounts of the T-virus and some G-Virus.  Oh shit….Jill there’s a fucking prison here!”

My captain blinked but nodded, “Guess we’re checking out the prison then?  Which floor?”  I raided the bag beside me, pulling out my handheld 3D map creator as I hooked it up to the Umbrella mainframe to install the needed maps before nodding, ”Follow me…”

The corridors are eerily silent, dark and foreboding.  I am not liking this one bit.  Do you ever get the feeling you’re being watched?  And can see things moving out the corner of your eye but you’re too shit scared to go looking to see what it is?  Well that’s how I felt at that moment as we reached the stairwell.  Slowly we made our way down, me leading the way (well I DID have the map after all) then Jill, and Chris followed behind.  Emerging in a deserted corridor, I couldn’t help but blink.

“Ummm, where are all the people who are meant to work here?”

Evidentially my friends hadn’t a clue either as they stayed silent, looking about them as I half ran to the door into the prison.  That’s when I heard it.  The unmistakeable groaning from the other side of the door.  “No, no, no, no, no, god…” I whispered, shaking my head, ”Not again, not now…”  Gnawing my lip, I typed in the code to the door and pushed it open and stepped into the dark area, drawing my handgun as I went.

A scuffling of steps beside me, the loud popping of gunshots and then pain as something (or someone) bit my already bloody arm.