The lights flickered.
Jack was still rattled by the echo of Walker's last words, but he couldn't dwell on them any longer.
There was no time to think. No time to breathe.
The ground trembled.
Jack froze. Dust trickled from the ceiling as the floor vibrated beneath his boots. Then came the sound. Heavy. Slow.
Thud… Thud… Thud…
"...please give me a break already," Jack muttered, raising his pistol instinctively.
From the far corridor, something emerged from the haze of steam and flashing red lights.
A giant.
Broad shoulders nearly scraped the ceiling, grotesque muscles stretched tight beneath stapled and bolted flesh. One eye gleamed milky white, the other hidden beneath a jagged scar. Steel bracing dug into its spine, and its hands—no, claws—looked like they could shear through steel.
Jack fired his Beretta M9.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Three rounds punched into the monster's head. It barely flinched. The bullets sank into its flesh as if swallowed by mud. No roar. No stagger. Just a twitch, like the rounds annoyed it.
Jack swore. "Oh, you've got to be fucking with me…"
The thing stepped forward. THUD. THUD. THUD.
Jack bolted.
He sprinted down the corridor, lungs still burning from his fight with Walker. The monster followed, its footfalls pounding behind him like war drums.
Jack dove around a corner, firing blindly over his shoulder. BANG! BANG! Sparks ricocheted off steel walls. The giant didn't even slow.
He stumbled into another hallway—only to find two infected staggering out of a broken cell, jaws gnashing, claws scraping the walls.
Jack raised his pistol—
SMASH!
The giant's claw swept sideways, smashing the infected into the wall with bone-shattering force. Their bodies crumpled instantly, twitching once before going still.
Jack's eyes widened. "What the hell…"
The monster turned its milky eye toward him. For a moment, Jack's breath froze. Then, without a sound, it stepped forward again. Not toward the corpses. Toward him. Always him.
Jack ran harder.
Through the strobe-lit labyrinth, he dodged broken pods, leapt over corpses, and shoved past overturned consoles. Every turn, every door—still it followed. Not sprinting. Not rushing. Just steady. Relentless.
More infected burst from a side corridor. Jack raised his pistol—
But the giant's claw ripped through them first, tearing them apart with ease. It cleared Jack's path.
Jack's chest heaved. Sweat stung his eyes. His legs burned, muscles screaming with every stride, but he couldn't stop. If he stopped, the monster would catch him. If he slowed, the infected would tear him apart.
The VSS flickered suddenly across his vision, blinding in the chaos:
[VIRAL SURVIVAL SYSTEM]
[Milestone Reached: Endurance under Pursuit]
[New adaptation acquired – Soldier's Path: Stamina Boost (Tier 1)]
Minor stamina boost. Slightly reduces recovery time when fatigued.
Jack gasped, lungs still on fire, but the burn dulled. His legs steadied, the edge of exhaustion fading. He could keep going. A little longer.
He didn't question it. He couldn't afford to.
He sprinted through another corridor, the monster's steps pounding behind him. It wasn't losing him. It wasn't killing him either.
It was following. Always behind. Always watching.
Jack skidded into a service hatch, slammed the release, and pulled himself through. The door hissed shut behind him, sealing tight.
He collapsed against the wall, chest heaving, sweat and blood soaking through his torn fatigues. His pistol shook in his grip.
From the other side of the hatch, claws scraped once across the steel. A long, slow drag.
Then silence.
Jack sat in the dark, gasping, every nerve screaming.
"...It could've killed me," he whispered, voice hoarse. "So why didn't it?"
Ada's POV
The security office hummed with static, banks of monitors flickering under the glow of emergency strobes. Two Umbrella guards leaned over the console, muttering as they cycled through the feeds. Ada lingered in the shadows just beyond the doorway, unseen, calm as stone.
Then one of the men cursed.
"Target located! Subject #199 is on Sublevel C."
Jack Hale filled the screen—battered, armed, fighting through the containment wing. The Umbrella logo pulsed in the corner of the monitor as data scrolled beneath:
PRIORITY: Subject #199. Capture alive.
"Shit," one guard muttered, slinging his rifle. "Dr. Weiss will have our heads if we don't bring him in."
The other hit the alarm override, then followed. Within seconds, the room was empty. Their boots pounded down the hall.
Ada's lips curved faintly. Perfect.
She slipped inside, heels silent on the tile. Sliding into the still-warm chair, she produced her slim black device from her belt. The screen flickered once, then bled Umbrella's data across its surface, line by line.
On the monitors, Jack fought for his life. Walker—unrecognizable yet unmistakable—charged him.
Ada tilted her head, lips twitching faintly.
"Oh… my little hint actually helped him."
She didn't look away. Not when Walker fell. Not when Jack stood over the broken body of his squadmate. She allowed herself a single breath, slow and measured.
"You keep surviving when you shouldn't," she murmured. "I wonder… is it the virus, or just you?"
For a moment, Ada's hand brushed across the monitor, lingering for a second. Her fingertip traced the blurred outline of Jack's face as he stumbled but refused to fall. Too stubborn. Too reckless. But alive.
She lingered longer than she should have, watching the flickering feed, before her device beeped sharply—download complete. The file header glowed across the screen:
Aegis Virus – Remaining Sample Vials – Storage Locations: Sublevel D, Cryogenics Vault.
Ada leaned back, one leg crossing smoothly over the other. She watched another scene flicker across the monitors—Jack sprinting desperately through the corridors, the Proto-Tyrant stalking just behind. His chest heaved, his movements raw, frantic—but still, he kept moving. Always moving.
A faint smile ghosted her lips. "Don't fall behind, soldier boy… I'd hate to admit it, but I'm starting to enjoy watching you…"
She rose, heels whispering as she crossed the room. The monitors still crackled with Jack's gunfire and the Proto-Tyrant's heavy pursuit.
"You're more useful than you realize, soldier boy," she murmured, sliding the device back into her belt. "Keep them busy… while I collect the prize."
Ada didn't look back as the door hissed shut behind her. But the echo of her words lingered in the empty security room, softer and more telling than she would ever admit aloud.