Evening, September 22, 1998 — outside the Raccoon Police Department.
A helicopter bearing Umbrella’s emblem descended in front of the station.
The operatives inside wore the same corporate insignia.
This was an Umbrella Security Service rapid-response team, one of the units responsible for high-risk internal operations and biohazard containment.
Aboard the aircraft was Alpha Team, led by one of the U.S.S.’s legendary operatives: HUNK, the “Grim Reaper.” Their objective was to recover the completed G-Virus samples held by Dr.
William Birkin.
Under ideal circumstances they were also to bring Birkin himself back to Umbrella alive.
The team had deliberately avoided arriving too early; if William learned a retrieval unit was moving against him, he might flee directly to a U.S.
military installation and seek protection before Umbrella could reach him.
William had anticipated that possibility for years.
He had always known a day like this would come, only not that it would arrive so quickly.
Ten years earlier, he and his closest friend Albert Wesker had killed their own mentor, James Marcus, under orders from above.
William did not believe his own talent was inferior to Marcus’s.
In fact, after another decade of research, William believed he had pushed the T-Virus as far as it could go—far beyond anything his teacher had achieved in an entire lifetime.
Even the surviving T-Virus material recovered from the Management Training Facility had not impressed him much after analysis.
In William’s mind, no scientist alive surpassed him except perhaps that freak from the Ashford family.
And didn’t that freak die because of her own experiment?
With Alexia Ashford gone, no one had advanced farther than William in viral research.
Yet his inability to defeat her directly had remained an obsession.
Now, at last, he had created the G-Virus: a virus that could elevate humanity to godhood.
It has to be better.
It will be better than the T-Veronica Virus that woman created.
And because of that, William would never allow anyone to take it from him.
He knew Umbrella would eventually come for the G-Virus, but he had never trusted Spencer.
The old man had been willing to dispose of classmates, friends, and collaborators without hesitation.
Why would killing William trouble him in the slightest?
There was little time left.
Most of William’s possessions could be abandoned.
As long as he escaped with the T-Virus and G-Virus research, everything important would survive.
Annette could handle Sherry, and William had already paid that old man Irons to assist them.
If necessary, he could simply pay the chief more.
Once William himself escaped, he was confident he could arrange for Annette and Sherry to disappear without Umbrella finding them.
His own researchers were another matter.
Could he trust them not to take spare G-Virus samples and trade them to Umbrella in exchange for promotions or protection?
William could not tolerate his life’s work falling into their hands.
So, to buy himself time, they would have to make a small sacrifice.
Fortunately, the G-Virus was not highly contagious through casual exposure.
If he destroyed the containers, he could eliminate potential traitors while simultaneously destroying most of the samples, leaving Headquarters with little to recover.
Once the decision was made, William did not hesitate.
He held the laboratory’s highest security clearance.
It was time to use it.
He slammed his hand onto a crimson control.
Hunters sleeping inside culture tanks opened their eyes, shattered the glass around them, and began slaughtering personnel throughout the facility.
Researchers, technicians, intruders—it made no difference.
The creatures had been authorized to kill every living thing except William and the family members protected under his highest-level access.
The Alpha Team did not act rashly after reaching the sewer entrance.
Headquarters had provided them with a complete map of the underground laboratory, so all they needed to do was take the shortest route and confront William directly.
William might release B.O.W.s to slow them down, but that possibility had been anticipated.
Their equipment existed precisely for anti-biohazard operations.
Hunters were dangerous, yet manageable under concentrated U.S.S.
fire.
Ordinary zombies could be dispersed or bypassed with specialized equipment to conserve ammunition.
Their protective gear was also substantially better than anything issued to ordinary riot-control personnel.
“Cheetah to command.
Detecting bio-organic heat signatures.
Thermal profile suggests Hunters.
Looks like Birkin released B.O.W.s to interfere with the G-Virus retrieval.
We also have personnel evacuating the area.
Requesting instructions.” The report came through HUNK’s radio.
He had already spotted one of the creatures himself.
Judging by its build, it was a Hunter α, one of the most common Hunter variants used in Umbrella facilities.
HUNK had faced plenty of them during anti-B.O.W.
training on Rockfort Island.
Hunters were also among Umbrella’s best-selling bioweapons.
Tyrants occupied the premium end of the market, but Hunters were comparatively cheap and exceptionally well suited to urban combat, making them a first choice for many smaller countries.
In an ambush, they were extremely difficult to guard against.
In a direct firefight, however, they lost much of that advantage.
Against a properly equipped U.S.S.
team, they had little ability to resist.
“HUNK here.
Ignore the evacuees.
Let them run.
Our mission is to recover the G-Virus samples, nothing more.
Clear the Hunters where practical; they won’t give you time to sneak around them anyway.
Stay alert.
They’re extremely mobile.
Your lives come before speed, so don’t rush the advance.
We know the shortcuts on the map.” Umbrella’s operations personnel called HUNK the Grim Reaper.
The nickname had originally been praise for his extraordinary mission completion rate, survival skills, and almost unbelievable luck.
To HUNK himself, however, it had never felt like a compliment.
Whether it was blessing or curse, he had excelled from the beginning of training.
Even a T-103 with its claws trimmed had sometimes felt more like a warm-up target than a serious threat.
HUNK had once believed that talent would make him an excellent team leader.
Reality had taught him otherwise.
His own pace pushed teammates beyond what they could safely match, and some had died because of it.
He changed his approach.
No mission objective justified reckless haste.
Every decision had to be weighed carefully, and the lives of his squad came before completing a task a few minutes faster.
“Cheetah copies.” Gunfire erupted.
Against Hunters, there was little point wasting ammunition on areas covered by bullet-resistant scales.
Marksmanship happened to be one of HUNK’s greatest strengths.
Every burst he fired struck a Hunter in the head or heart.
The submachine gun’s heavy firepower meant that even scales capable of stopping rifle rounds could not keep the creatures on their feet once those vulnerable targets were hit.
HUNK paid little attention to the young researcher he had just saved from a Hunter’s claws.
Yoko Suzuki, if he remembered correctly.
Maybe an intern.
It did not matter.
The mission came first.
She could leave.
She worked for Umbrella anyway, and eliminating or detaining laboratory staff was not part of Alpha Team’s assignment.
“Cheetah to command.
I’ve found an anomalous temperature zone.
The Hunters there appear to be frozen solid, and the cold has temporarily disrupted the ventilation controls.
We may be able to use the ducts as an entry route and reach Dr.
Birkin’s office directly.” Cheetah transmitted the coordinates.
HUNK checked them and confirmed the anomaly.
Temperatures in that section had dropped sharply enough to freeze Hunters and interfere with electronics.
The same cold disabling local equipment might indeed have created the opening they needed.
“HUNK copies.
Move toward the vent access.
One element will advance through the ventilation system toward Birkin’s office.
The other will push from the front, create noise, and draw his attention.
Regroup outside the office.
Over.” HUNK removed an access grille and entered the ductwork.
The electronic map had temporarily failed in the cold zone, but he had already memorized the route.
Once they moved away from the temperature anomaly, the equipment should recover.
Progress through the vents was slower, but concealment made up for it.
Gunfire echoed through the metal around him.
The frontal team had begun creating its distraction.
More than an hour had passed since Alpha Team entered the underground laboratory.
The Hunters had slowed them, yet the operation still felt almost too smooth.
A sense of unease rose in HUNK’s chest.
He forced it down.
There was no point imagining disasters that had not happened.
A clean mission was a good thing.
It meant his people were still alive.
William Birkin finally came into view.
He had already packed what he intended to take and was preparing to leave.
HUNK and his element dropped from the ventilation shaft while the outside team breached the door almost simultaneously.
“It’s over, Doctor.
Hand over the G-Virus.
Cooperate, and we’ll guarantee your safety.”