Sublevel C – Service Corridors
The safe room door groaned shut behind Jack, the heavy lock sliding into place with a metallic thud. He lingered for a moment, listening. The silence pressed in, broken only by the faint hum of the vents.
Then—
THUD.
The steel beneath his boots trembled. Dust sifted down from the ceiling. Another step. Heavy. Deliberate.
Jack's hand tightened on the M4. The giant was still hunting.
"Son of a bitch won't quit…" Jack muttered under his breath, sliding his back against the wall.
He pushed into the dim corridor, muzzle sweeping. The smell of cordite and blood still clung to the air. His boots crunched on shell casings and shattered glass.
A body lay slumped by the wall, one of the Umbrella guards. Jack knelt, quick hands searching through pouches.
Two full M4 magazines, one half-spent.
A pouch with three breaching charges, still sealed.
A sidearm magazine for his Beretta.
Jack exhaled through his nose. "Merry damn Christmas." He stuffed them into his vest and pack, the extra charges clipped tight to his belt.
He stood, racking the M4, eyes narrowing down the corridor.
THUD.
This one was closer.
Jack's chest tightened. His eyes swept for a way around, for shadows to melt into. The corridor bent ahead into a fork—one side toward the maintenance shaft, the other deeper into Sublevel C's service routes.
The sound of claws dragged against metal, sending sparks cascading in the dark. The monstrosity's breath rasped heavily, inhuman.
Jack pressed against the wall, slowing his breathing, every nerve screaming for him to run. But running blind meant getting cornered. He had to move carefully.
He edged along the wall, M4 steady, every muscle locked tight. His boots whispered against the floor, each step measured.
Behind him—
THUD.
Sparks showered as claws scraped the wall. The giant's breath rasped like a furnace in the dark, echoing down the corridor.
Jack's jaw clenched. His instincts screamed Don't fight it, but his training screamed Don't freeze.
He eased around the corner. Another guard lay half-crushed against the wall, his armor torn open by a claw swipe. Jack crouched fast, stripping the man's vest for supplies. Two more M4 mags, another Beretta clip, and a smoke grenade still pinned.
Jack shoved them into his pouches, breath quick and shallow. "Thanks for the resupply, pal…" he muttered.
The floor shook again. The monstrosity's hulking shadow stretched across the wall, growing larger as it advanced.
Jack slid the smoke grenade into his hand. He yanked the pin and rolled it down the hall.
PSSSHHH!
Gray haze filled the corridor, swallowing the strobe lights in choking plumes. Jack bolted the other way, boots hammering steel.
He ducked into an access tunnel, heart pounding in his throat. The tight crawlspace reeked of oil and rust, his rifle scraping against the narrow walls.
Behind him—
A roar. So deep it shook his ribs.
The Tyrant slammed into the corridor wall, steel shrieking as it ripped through the smoke. Jack gritted his teeth, shoving himself faster down the crawl.
He burst into another hall, rolling to his feet. The map layout in his head sparked memory—he'd found the armory on this floor before. The service elevator should be two turns east, past the maintenance area.
"Just have to make it that far," he hissed under his breath.
Another THUD rattled the walls.
Jack slapped a breaching charge onto a locked door as he passed, primed it with a slap, and bolted before the blast went off.
BOOM!
The door disintegrated in a shower of sparks, collapsing into the hall. Jack sprinted through, lungs burning, ears ringing. The explosion echoed back, buying him seconds—maybe.
Ahead, the elevator sign glowed faintly red, its light cutting through the haze. Jack's heart lurched. Almost there.
He reached the door, slammed the call button. The old hydraulics groaned, gears grinding as the lift crawled upward from below.
Behind him, the corridor shuddered.
The massive silhouette of the bio-weapon emerged through the dust and smoke, milky eyes locked on him. Its claws dragged sparks along the walls as it roared, the sound splitting the air like thunder.
The elevator groaned closer, closer—
Jack raised his rifle, sight steady, forcing his shaking hands to calm. "Come on…" he whispered, sweat dripping down his temple. "Come on…"
The Tyrant charged.
Jack ripped one more breaching charge from his belt, thumbed the primer, and slapped it hard against the wall just beside the elevator door.
The elevator dinged.
Jack dove inside, boots skidding across the steel floor. He spun, M4 raised, as the monstrosity's claws tore through the haze. Its hulking frame thundered closer, its milky eyes gleaming with cold fixation.
Jack's thumb pressed the trigger.
BOOM!
The breaching charge erupted in a burst of fire and shrapnel, the shockwave slamming into the corridor. The blast staggered the Proto-Tyrant mid-charge, smoke and debris swallowing its massive form.
The elevator doors groaned, sliding shut just as the monster's claws punched through the smoke. Steel shrieked as they scraped against the frame—but the hydraulics clamped shut just in time.
Darkness wrapped the small elevator. The lift shuddered, then began its slow descent toward Sublevel D.
Jack's chest heaved, sweat dripping down his temple. He leaned back against the wall, knuckles white on the M4. His ears rang, his pulse thundered.
For a moment, he could still hear the giant's roar above, muffled by layers of steel and smoke, echoing like a promise.
Jack let out a harsh breath. "Why is that giant so fixated on me…? The hell did I do to him?"
The elevator jolted, gears grinding as it neared its destination. The ding was sharp, final.
"Here we go again," Jack muttered, forcing his legs steady as the doors prepared to open.
Jack raised his M4, already expecting the white steel walls stretched pristine and polished, nothing like the claustrophobic hell from sublevel C
"Hopefully, this will be the last stretch to finding the rest of the team."