There wasn’t much inside, just a single card.
Ivan pulled it out and handed it to Billy.
Billy studied it for a moment, then gave it back.
“It’s the conductor’s ID card.
Probably meant to open the driver’s cab.” “Though it looks like we won’t be needing it now.” Ivan glanced at it a couple of times before slipping it into his pocket.
Instinct told him it might come in handy after all.
“Clack, clack, clack.” Without warning, the train that had gone dead silent somehow roared back to life.
The floor lurched under the three of them, nearly sending them sprawling.
Once they’d steadied themselves, Billy’s face darkened.
“That’s not right.
How could the train start up on its own?” “Don’t tell me the conductor’s still alive.” When the train had first jolted into motion, Ivan had pulled Rebecca Chambers against his chest.
Now, hearing Billy’s words, she poked a fingertip against Ivan’s chest.
When Ivan looked down at her, Rebecca Chambers reached into his back pocket and drew out the card.
Then she jerked her chin toward where Billy stood.
Ivan caught her meaning.
Sure enough, once Rebecca Chambers had slipped free of his arms, she crossed to Billy.
Standing in front of him, she waved the card in his face.
“Looks like we’re going to need this pretty soon after all.” Billy understood the jab buried in her words.
He waved a hand and pursed his lips in mock irritation, wearing an expression that said “you’re so annoying.” That kind of look was rare on Billy.
Rebecca Chambers turned her head and met Ivan’s eyes.
Both of them clamped hands over their mouths to smother a laugh, and Billy quickly spun around too.
Because right then, the corners of his own mouth were hard to keep down.
For a moment the oppressive mood lifted, eased considerably by Rebecca Chambers’s well-timed teasing.
Meanwhile, out on the external platform of the train’s braking system.
Two fully armed USS operative, kitted out in standard-issue gear, were radioing their superiors with a status report.
“This is Delta Team.
The train is under our control.
Over.” In the monitoring room, a lean, powerfully built man in a S.T.A.R.S.
uniform, wearing sunglasses and sporting a flat-top haircut, answered back.
“Copy that.” Beside him stood a man in a white lab coat, short blond hair and heavy bags under his eyes, who voiced his confusion.
“It makes no sense, Wesker.
How did the t-Virus leak out in the first place?” “And why did the contamination spread from the lab at the Spencer Mansion all the way to the Ecliptic Express three miles out?” Hearing his partner’s doubts, Albert Wesker carefully pressed a hand over the mic so their conversation wouldn’t carry.
“That doesn’t matter, William.
What we need to do now is destroy the train, completely.” As he spoke, he gave William a long, hard look.
“It’s the only way to keep word from getting out.” With that, he turned his head, lifted his hand from the mic, and went on questioning Delta Team.
“How far are you from the nearest side track?” Delta Team: “About ten minutes or so…
huh?” Albert Wesker caught the wrongness in the man’s tone.
“What is it?” Delta Team: “Hm…
I think I heard something.” Albert Wesker wanted to press further, but at that moment, from the other end of the radio…
“Ugh, aaahhh, bang, bang, bang!” Screams and gunfire tangled together, followed by absolute silence.
William Birkin and Albert Wesker stared at each other, silence the only answer between them.
Where Delta Team had been, dense swarms of leeches crawled over their cold corpses, silently telling the truth the two men had been trying to uncover.
Inside the Ecliptic Express, the three-person team was making blistering progress.
Except for the front of the train, the zombies and monsters throughout the middle and rear sections.
had already been cleared out by the three of them, so on the way back they met almost no real resistance through those stretches.
As for the front section, the zombies there stood against Ivan and the other two like Xing Daorong facing Lu Bu, no match at all.
After putting down the last zombie in the corridor and reaching the head of the train, Ivan and the others had meant to head straight into the driver’s cab.
Only to find another door diagonally across from the cab, one that also required a card swipe.
Seeing this, Ivan first put a round through the head of a corpse slumped against the wall.
Then he pointed a finger at the door ahead, and Rebecca Chambers and Billy nodded in reply.
With his teammates’ confirmation, Ivan drew out the card and held it against the reader.
“Beep.” With a crisp chime, the three of them stepped inside.
Once they took in the room, Rebecca Chambers half-covered her mouth with her palm, lips parting in shock.
Billy’s feet were already moving on their own.
He walked up to the counter, staring at the weapons and gear packed onto the desk and hung across the walls of the cramped space.
Letting out a heavy breath, he grabbed a firearm and turned to explain to Ivan.
“M4A1, 5.56 caliber.
Enough to turn every one of those living dead we ran into into Swiss cheese.” With that, Billy pressed the M4A1 into Ivan’s arms.
Ivan cradled the M4A1 and watched Billy pick up a “helmet” and point it toward the world outside the train.
“AN/PVS-7D Night Vision Goggles.
With these, you’ll see every ridge on an ant crawling across the ground.” Not waiting for Ivan to react, Billy fitted them onto his head.
“How’s that feel?” Ivan took in the view, the brightness balanced out by the goggles.
“Feels good.” Billy clapped Ivan on the shoulder, then turned his head toward a tactical vest hanging on the wall, a spark of heat in his eyes.
He stepped forward, took it down, and ran his fingers over the texture of its surface again and again.
“Interceptor Body Armor (OTV).
Never thought I’d get to see it here.” Ivan played the straight man right on cue.
“Is this vest rare?” Before Billy could answer, Rebecca Chambers had already come up to Ivan carrying an identical vest.
Fitting it onto him gently, she explained as she worked.
“This is a new body armor the military developed.
Right now it’s only issued to a handful of designated units for testing.” “I never imagined we’d actually see one here today.” Ivan said nothing, just quietly enjoyed Rebecca Chambers’s help getting dressed.
Once the last strap was in place, Rebecca Chambers looked up at Ivan with concern.
“There, how’s that?
Too heavy?” Ivan gave his body a shake, his answer perfectly honest.
“It’s fine.
I don’t feel any weight at all.” Billy, gearing up in his own armor, heard Ivan’s words and couldn’t help recalling the moment earlier when the three of them had fought their way to the front of the train, when Ivan had snapped a zombie’s lower spine with a single kick.
“Ivan, you’re in good shape.
Did you train before?” Ivan scratched his head.
“Can’t really remember.
Ever since I came to, the memories in my head feel like a bowl of mush.” That caught Billy off guard.
He honestly hadn’t known.
“It’s fine, don’t worry.
Everything’s going to be okay.” Ivan gave a little chuckle.
“Heh heh, thanks, Billy.
Rebecca Chambers told me the same thing.” Billy raised an eyebrow and said nothing, the corner of his mouth curving up into a reassured little smile all on its own.