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"Rebecca, look at me."
She looked up, her eyes wide with fear.
"We will find him," Atlas promised, his voice low and vibrating with absolute confidence. "He's a Marine. He's tough. But I need you focused. Can you do that?"
Rebecca took a ragged breath. She looked at Atlasâat the calm grey eyes that hadn't shown fear since this nightmare started. She nodded, drawing strength from him.
"Yes," she whispered. "Let's go."
[The Power Control Room]
They moved deeper into the facility. The lights were dim, running on emergency backup. Shadows stretched long and distorted against the wet walls.
They reached a control building overlooking the reservoir. Inside, the hum of dormant machinery filled the air.
Atlas stood guard by the door while Rebecca rushed to the main console. She was the tech expert; this was her domain.
"This is the hydro-electric grid," Rebecca muttered, her fingers flying over the keyboard. "The sluice gates are locked because the main generator is offline."
She pointed to a schematic on the screen.
"Atlas, look. I can reroute the emergency power from here. If we turn on the generator, we can open the lower pathways to the filtration chamber."
"Do it," Atlas nodded.
Rebecca threw the master sequence switches.
THRUM-THUMP... HUMMMMM.
The facility shuddered as massive turbines deep underground spun to life. Floodlights flickered on outside, illuminating the dark walkways.
"Good job, Rebecca," Atlas smiled.
Rebecca beamed at the praise, a flush of color returning to her pale cheeks. "Let's go get Billy."
They exited the control room and headed for the service elevator platform.
As the elevator descended to the B5 maintenance level, Atlas reloaded his revolver. He sensed something. The air down here felt... charged.
The doors opened.
They stepped out into a corridor lined with power distribution cabinets. The floor was wet. Lying in the puddles were several bodiesâmaintenance workers who had died during the outbreak.
Groan.
The bodies began to twitch.
"Eyes up," Atlas said casually.
The zombies shambled toward them. Atlas didn't even stop walking. He raised his G19.
BANG. BANG.
Two bullets tore through the skull.
Another zombie lunged at Rebecca. She didn't flinch; she stepped back, knowing exactly what would happen.
Atlas backhanded the zombie with his free hand, sending it crashing into the wall, then finished it with a boot to the skull. Next, he quickly killed the remaining slow zombies with perfect headshots.
"Clear," he stated.
They moved past the Power Room, entering a narrow corridor surrounded by rusted sewer pipes. Steam hissed from the joints.
Suddenly, a heavy, dragging sound echoed from the darkness ahead.
Scrape... Thud... ScrapeâŚ
Rebecca froze, grabbing Atlas's arm. "That sound... I know that sound."
Emerging from the steam was the six feet tall Tyrant she thought they had ended.
It was a ruin of a creature. Part of its skull was embedded in his brain, accompanied by the bullets from the shots Atlas fired on the rail floor. Its movements were spasmodic, glitching like a broken machine.
From this alone, it's clear it's not winning any longevity awards.
"It's not dead yet!?" Rebecca gasped, stepping behind Atlas.
"It's too stupid to die," Atlas growled. "Stay back."
The Tyrant roaredâa gurgling, wet noiseâand tried to charge. But it stumbled, its legs failing.
Atlas walked toward it. He didn't run. He didn't dodge. He walked with the swagger of an executioner.
He raised the Magnum Revolver.
"Stay down."
Bang!
Boom!
The shot hit the Tyrant in the exposed brain. The creature arched back, shrieking.
Bang!
Boom!
The second shot hit the knee, shattering the joint. The monster collapsed.
Atlas walked up to the writhing mass of flesh. He placed the barrel of the revolver against what was left of its head.
"Dismissed."
Bang!
Boom!
The head disintegrated. The body went limp, finally, truly dead.
"This time," Atlas said, wiping a speck of black blood from his cheek, "he's completely dead."
Rebecca stared at the corpse, then up at Atlas. She let out a shaky laugh.
"Remind me never to make you angry," she said.
Atlas looked back at her, his expression softening. "You're safe, Rebecca. Let's keep moving."
[The Body Disposal Room]
They pushed through the heavy doors at the end of the corridor.
They found themselves in what looked like a subterranean break roomâa bar, dusty and abandoned, where workers used to drink away the stress of working for a bio-weapons company.
Atlas vaulted over the bar counter, checking for supplies. He tossed a box of shotgun shells to Rebecca.
"For the collection," he winked.
They found a hidden staircase beneath the floorboards. It led down, deeper into the earth.
The sound of rushing water grew louder.
They emerged onto a stone walkway running alongside an underground river. This was the filtration chamber.
"Billy!" Rebecca shouted.
Lying on a pile of debris on the far bank was the convict. He groaned, rolling over.
Atlas and Rebecca ran to him. Atlas grabbed Billy's arm and hauled him up.
"Wakey wakey, Marine," Atlas said, slapping him lightly on the cheek.
Billy coughed up water, blinking groggily as he felt pain in his chest. "Aaa fuckâWhere... where am I?"
"You're safe now," Rebecca said, kneeling beside him, her hand on his shoulder. "You're okay. We found you."
Billy nodded, wiping slime from his eyes. He looked around, trying to get his bearings. His eyes widened.
"Look," Billy whispered, pointing to the corner of the chamber.
Atlas and Rebecca turned.
Piled against the wall, stacked like cordwood, were bones.
Hundreds of them.
Skulls, ribcages, femurs. Some were old and bleached; others were fresh, with tatters of clothing still clinging to them. There were smaller skulls tooâchildren.
The three of them approached the ossuary in silence. The weight of the sight pressed down on them.
"Who are these people?" Rebecca whispered, horror dawning on her face. "How did they die here?"
"Test subjects properly," Atlas said, his voice cold. "Political prisoners. Homeless people. Failed experiments. This is Umbrella's garbage dump."
He picked up a skull. It had a bullet hole in the back.
"They didn't just die," Atlas said. "They were erased."
Billy stared at the pile. It reminded him of the village in Africa. The senseless waste of life.
"We have to burn this whole company to the ground," Billy said, his voice trembling with rage. "We have to make this public."
"We will," Atlas promised. "But first, we survive."
He looked at the map on the wall.
"This is a dead end. We have to go back. There's a sluice gate mechanism on the upper level. We need to drain the dam to access the Engine Room."
[The Dam]
They backtracked to the upper walkway.
A massive lock gate blocked the river. On the other side was the path forward.
"The lever to open the gate is on the other side," Atlas noted. "But the bridge is out."
He looked at the rusted industrial gondola suspended on a cable over the water. It was smallâa metal basket barely big enough for one person.
"It won't hold my weight," Atlas said. "Or Billy's."
He looked at Rebecca.
"I'll go," Rebecca volunteered immediately. She didn't hesitate. She stepped toward the basket. "I'm the lightest."
"Be careful," Atlas said. "Radio check as soon as you land."
Rebecca climbed into the basket. Atlas went to the control panel and threw the switch.
The basket jerked and began to slide slowly across the dark water. Rebecca looked back at them, giving a thumbs up.
She landed on the far platform. She ran to the control booth.
CLICK... CLANK.
The gears ground. The massive sluice gates slowly opened.
The water roared as it was released, draining from the upper canal and rushing into the depths. Within a few minutes the water level dropped, revealing a muddy, slime-covered path across the riverbed.
"Gate is open!" Rebecca's voice crackled over the radio. "Come on over!"
Atlas and Billy jumped down into the drained canal.
The mud sucked at their boots.
"I hate sludge," Billy grumbled.
They were halfway across when the mud exploded.
CROAK!
A Giant Lurkerâthe same frog species that had taken Billyâburst from the mud. It was massive, its skin glistening with mucus, its tongue lashing out like a harpoon.
It aimed for Billy again.
"Not this time, Kermit," Atlas snarled.
He was faster than the tongue.
He drew the Magnum.
BLAM.
A single shot. The bullet entered the Lurker's open mouth and exited the back of its skull.
The giant frog collapsed backward into the mud, twitching.
"Nice shot," Billy couldn't help but be amazed at just how unbelievably fast Atlas is.
They scrambled up the other side. Rebecca was waiting for them at the Engine Room door.
"Further forward is the Engine Room," she said. "Just walk past it, and there will be an elevator going up to the surface."
"Ready?" Atlas asked.
"Ready," they chorused.
[The Engine Room Gauntlet]
They shoved the heavy double doors open.
The Engine Room was a maze of turbines, pipes, and steam. And it was occupied.
"Contact!" Atlas yelled.
More than a dozen zombies turned toward them. These weren't just researchers; they were security personnel, wearing body armor.
"I'll carve us a way through!" Atlas roared as he unleashed hell.
The gun became an extension of his willâbullets tearing free in rapid-fire bursts, slicing through the horde with ruthless, almost elegant efficiency. Each shot found its mark, skulls bursting before the infected could even comprehend death. Magazines were swapped in a blink, his hands moving faster than they could even shoot.
He advanced without slowing, positioning himself squarely in front of Rebecca and Billy.
Billy fired short, controlled bursts with his MP5, covering their flanks. Rebecca used her handgun to pick off stragglers.
But it was Atlas who did the most of the heavy lifting with his headshoats. He was farming.
"Let's move!"
They fought their way across the catwalks, leaving a trail of bodies behind them.
They reached the exit door. Atlas kicked it open, ushering them through.
They were in a final corridor. Barbed wire lined the walls.
At the end was a large, ominous door.
"This is it," Atlas said. "The Boiler Room. The heart of the facility."
[The Boiler Room â]
They entered the room.
The heat was intense. The air shimmered. But it wasn't just heat.
The room was covered in slime. The walls, the floor, the machineryâeverything was coated in a thick, pulsating layer of leeches. Thousands of them.