"So can I ask why only I'm coming with you to Raccoon City?" Alice asked. She was floating a few feet above the ground, Luke supporting her flight with his telekinesis.
Luke kept his hand raised slightly, guiding her movement. "Two reasons. First, the Hive holds answers to a lot of your questions."
Alice frowned. "My questions?"
"Yeah. Things you've been wondering about since the day you woke up in that mansion." Luke glanced at her. "And second… there's someone important you need to meet. Someone connected to your past."
There was also the radiation problem in Raccoon City. Even after all these months, the city still held pockets of lingering contamination—silent, invisible, and dangerous.
Luke could shield people from it with his mana, but the more people he brought, the harder it would be to maintain a stable barrier around them.
Radiation wasn't something that could be taken lightly. It didn't matter how strong someone was or how tough their body seemed; radiation attacked the most basic foundation of life.
It damaged DNA directly, the blueprint every living organism relied on. As long as a being had DNA, radiation could harm them—slowly or instantly, depending on the dose.
That was why only two people were going.
Luke could protect himself, and he could protect Alice, but stretching his mana shield over a larger group would risk failure. And in a place like Raccoon City, even a momentary lapse could be fatal.
***
After some time,
They reached what remained of Raccoon City. Sixteen months after the nuclear strike, the landscape had settled into a silent wasteland.
The buildings were nothing more than collapsed shells, long weathered by wind and dust. Concrete had crumbled, metal frames had rusted out, and streets were buried under layers of debris.
The massive crater at the center of the city was still the most visible scar — a huge hollow depression where the explosion had hit. Its edges were jagged and uneven, covered in dirt, loose stones, and remnants of what used to be entire blocks.
Alice and Luke stood at the edge, taking in the hollowed-out terrain. Nothing moved. No animals. No infected. Just the quiet emptiness left behind after the blast.
Red Queen's voice came through the watch. "The entrance is on the left side of the crater. The blast doors remain open."
Luke looked in the direction she indicated. On the left wall of the crater, partially buried under months of debris, a damaged metal structure was visible — the upper section of the Hive.
The nuclear strike had cracked it open, and time had done the rest.
They moved through the damaged corridors of the Hive and eventually reached the Red Queen's main security chamber.
Alice paused for a moment. She remembered this place clearly — the last confrontation, the lockdown, the chaos. Walking inside again felt like stepping into an old nightmare.
The Red Queen appeared on a screen. "Proceed to the lower platform."
Without hesitation, the floor-panel beneath them shifted.
The entire platform began descending like an elevator, sinking deeper into the Hive. The walls around them widened until the lift opened into a massive underground chamber.
Alice's breath caught.
Below them stretched an enormous hall — a vast cryogenic vault filled with giant capsules. Row after row of glass pods extended in every direction, each containing an Umbrella elite member frozen in suspended animation.
These were the hand-picked survivors Umbrella planned to repopulate the world with.
Alice stared at them in disgust. "So these are the assholes who destroyed humanity…"
She shook her head slowly. "If I had known this place existed… I would have blown it up years ago."
Luke stepped beside her, looking over the endless rows of capsules. "Yep. These are the bastards. Every single one of them. People with power, money, influence… and not even a shred of humanity."
Alice clenched her fists. "They were sleeping here while the world burned."
Luke nodded. "That was their plan. Wipe out everyone else, then wake up in a clean world they could control."
The lift continued descending into the silent hall of frozen monsters — Umbrella's chosen few — and Alice felt her anger rise with every capsule they passed.
They stepped off the rising platform and entered the Hive's main chamber.
Instead of ruined machinery or decay, the room looked polished and luxurious — smooth white walls, clean floors, bright ambient lighting, and high-end consoles that looked untouched despite the chaos outside. It felt more like a corporate penthouse than an underground bunker.
Red Queen appeared instantly on the central holographic display.
"Welcome, Alice," she said in her usual calm voice.
Alice didn't respond. Her attention shifted immediately as Red Queen tilted her projection toward the far corner of the chamber.
"There is someone waiting for you," she said.
Alice followed her gaze.
A woman in a wheelchair sat quietly near a sleek medical console. Her clothes were clean, her posture frail, and her hair was streaked with silver and Blonde. But her face — her face was unmistakable.
It was Alice's face.
Older.
Alice stopped walking, her breath caught in her chest. She didn't even blink.
Luke checked the situation, glanced at Alice, then at the older woman, and decided this was very much not his moment.
"Well… you two have a lot to talk about," he said, stepping away. "I'll, uh… help myself to whatever alcohol Umbrella kept around."
He walked toward a small built-in fridge against the wall — glossy white, premium-looking, Umbrella logo glowing faintly — and opened it like he owned the place.
Meanwhile Alice slowly approached the wheelchair, unable to look away from the woman who was, in every sense looked like her.
*****
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