Treatment Plant – Core Chamber
The console screamed to life, alarms wailing as red lights bathed the chamber in a hellish glow. Warning klaxons echoed through the steel as words flashed across the cracked display:
MELTDOWN SEQUENCE INITIATED.
CORE FAILURE IN T-MINUS 10:00.
Jack's vision blurred as the VSS notification burned across his sight, a grim reminder:
[Viral Survival System Notice]
Cellular Lockdown – ACTIVE
Time Remaining: 00:15:54
He blinked hard, forcing his mind away from the countdown and back to the only thing that mattered—getting Rebecca out alive.
A deep rumble rolled through the chamber. Overhead, pipes burst, spraying scalding steam as the floor trembled beneath their boots.
Jack staggered, barely catching himself on the railing. Sweat, mucus, and blood dripped to the floor beneath him. His gaze snapped to the weapon lying where he had dropped it—the quad-barrel rocket launcher, gleaming under the strobing red lights.
Gritting his teeth, Jack staggered forward. He bent low, hooked his hands around the launcher's heavy frame, and hauled it back onto his shoulder with a groan. Pain rippled down his spine, but relief cut through the haze. At least he wasn't leaving it behind.
Rebecca rushed to his side, panic in her voice. "Jack—we need to run, now!"
Jack nodded, breath ragged. With his free hand, he reached for hers, gripping tight. "Then let's move."
Together, they sprinted toward the massive service elevator—the same one that had carried them into the plant's depths. Behind them, the treatment plant roared like a dying beast, the meltdown tearing it apart piece by piece.
The sirens screamed louder with every step. Rebecca kept pace, her pistol cracking as she dropped dogs and Eliminators rushing in from side passages.
Jack's M4 barked too, bursts hammering into the shadows, but he could feel the swarm building ahead. The tunnels shuddered with a sound like rain—hundreds of leeches pouring from the ceiling vents, writhing together into a living tide.
Rebecca gasped. "Jack—there's too many!"
Jack's jaw tightened. His M4 clicked empty. He dropped the mag and slung the rifle aside, shifting the quad-barrel launcher into his grip.
"Then we make our own exit."
The red glow washed across his face as he braced the weapon. The swarm surged forward. He thumbed the trigger.
A rocket screamed down the tunnel. A heartbeat later, fire and steel erupted, the passage collapsing in a storm of flames and stone. The ceiling crashed down, crushing the leeches beneath molten debris and sealing the corridor entirely.
Rebecca shielded her face as the shockwave washed over them. She looked up at Jack, eyes wide. "Are you insane? You'll bring the whole floor down on us!"
Jack grunted, swinging the launcher back over his shoulder. "We're still standing, aren't we?"
They pushed forward again, the plant crumbling around them.
Another blast door loomed ahead, half-jammed open by twisted beams. On the other side, more figures snarled—a horde of Cerberus, eyes glowing red, claws scraping sparks as they fought to squeeze through the gap.
Rebecca raised her pistol, voice trembling. "We'll never punch through that in time—"
Jack slid the launcher off his shoulder again. His voice was flat, cold. "Here you go, boys. Fetch."
The rocket thundered down the corridor, striking the twisted frame. The blast tore the door's supports apart. The steel collapsed in on itself, crushing the entire pack beneath tons of debris.
Jack and Rebecca reached the service elevator. The lift groaned as it rose, gears shrieking against the weight of its cargo. Rebecca slammed the control panel again, coaxing more speed out of the dying machine. The floor below them was already cracking apart, molten waste spilling into the abyss.
Jack leaned heavily on the rail, the quad-barrel rocket launcher braced across his back. His breaths came sharp and shallow. The VSS flickered across his sight again:
[Viral Survival System Notice]
Cellular Lockdown – ACTIVE
Time Remaining: 00:10:27
He now knew he had roughly five minutes before the facility shut down.
Then the sound came—wet, slapping, relentless, echoing up the shaft.
Rebecca's knuckles whitened on the controls. "Jack… tell me that's not—"
"Why would this thing ever stay dead?" Jack groaned through gritted teeth.
The shaft erupted. Leeches poured upward like a living tide, clinging to the walls, writhing into a shape that dragged itself onto the rising platform. Marcus's voice hissed from the swarm, warped and layered.
"You really thought a blade could kill something eternal?"
Jack just shrugged, ripping the launcher free. "Hey—it was worth a try."
The hive reformed, a bloated half-man, half-leech monstrosity. Its eyes burned with venom as a clawed hand swung for Rebecca.
Jack planted his boots against the trembling steel. "Back off!"
The first rocket screamed into Marcus's chest. The blast exposed a glowing core inside the mass of flesh. The impact shook the elevator, fire and ichor splattering across the walls. The swarm screeched, reforming through the flames.
Jack tried to line up another shot, but the elevator jolted violently, throwing off his aim. Marcus lunged, his claws slamming into the launcher. Jack barely had time to brace before the blow tore it from his hands. The weapon clattered across the platform, sliding out of reach.
Marcus loomed, leeches writhing across his chest, the glowing core pulsing faintly behind the swarm. The hive hissed in unison, voice layered and broken. "You are finished."
Rebecca's eyes darted between Jack and the launcher. Jack was down, Marcus's claw about to fall. She dove, fingers closing around the grip just as the monstrosity raised its arm again.
"Jack, take cover!"
Jack threw himself flat, arms over his head. Rebecca shouldered the launcher, her stance unsteady, the weapon almost too heavy for her frame. She had never fired one before, but there was no time to think. She squeezed the trigger.
The final rocket screamed free. It slammed square into Marcus's glowing chest.
The explosion tore through him, ripping the core apart. Leeches shrieked as their hive-mind dissolved, burning alive in the firestorm. The swarm convulsed, limbs thrashing, before collapsing back into a boiling heap. Then it fell—tumbling into the shaft below, consumed in fire and ichor.
Rebecca stood frozen, the launcher smoking in her grip. Her arms shook from the recoil. Slowly, she lowered it, chest heaving.
Jack groaned as he dragged himself upright against the railing, wiping blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. His grin, though faint, still managed to cut through the exhaustion.
"…Remind me again," he rasped, "you're a medic, right?"
Rebecca shot him a look somewhere between exasperation and relief. "Yeah. Try not to make me prove it every five minutes."
Treatment Plant – Escape
The elevator shuddered and ground to a halt, the grated doors screeching open into the night. A rush of mountain air hit them, sharp and cool against sweat and smoke. Behind them, the treatment plant groaned, flames eating through its core.
Rebecca stumbled out first, pistol raised, scanning the treeline. Jack followed slower, the quad-barrel launcher slipping from his back to the dirt with a dull clang. The tubes were empty anyway—just dead weight now.
The VSS flickered across his vision:
[Viral Survival System Notice]
Cellular Lockdown – ACTIVE
Time Remaining: 00:02:42
His body begged for rest, but he pushed forward. Not yet. Not until she was safe.
The ground buckled beneath them as a shockwave ripped through the mountain. The plant erupted, a column of fire and smoke clawing into the night sky. Rebecca turned, the glow burning in her eyes. "It's over… we actually did it."
Jack dropped to one knee, bracing on his rifle. He gave her a faint, lopsided grin. "Yeah. You did good, Becca."
She crouched beside him, laying a hand on his shoulder. "We did good."
Their eyes met, exhaustion giving way to something else. Jack's jaw tightened, then softened as he swallowed hard. "You know… with everything going to hell… there's one thing I don't want to regret."
Rebecca's lips parted, but before she could ask, Jack leaned in. His hand cupped her cheek, rough and warm, and he kissed her—slow, steady, deliberate. Not survival. Not duty. Just him and her, alive.
Rebecca froze for a heartbeat, then melted into him, her hands clutching his vest. The world burned, but in that instant, it didn't matter.
When they broke apart, she pressed her forehead to his, her breath shaking into a smile. "About damn time."
Jack chuckled weakly, coughing halfway through, then gave her his best grin. His hand trembled as he lifted it, fingers smudged with soot and blood. He gave her a crooked thumbs-up.
Rebecca laughed—a sound edged with relief and tears. She grabbed his hand, squeezing it tight. "Idiot…"
The VSS timer ticked lower in the corner of his vision. He ignored it, holding onto her warmth and her laugh, carrying them with him into whatever came next.
They got up again and started toward the treeline. The flames from the collapsing facility painted the night sky orange. Rebecca clung to Jack's arm, his weight heavy against her, guiding him away from the rising column of fire.
"Come on, Jack… we need to move a little further," she muttered, her voice shaking.
But his steps slowed, his body swaying like a man walking through water. The VSS timer blinked faintly across his vision:
[Viral Survival System Notice]
Cellular Lockdown – 00:00:00
User entering recovery mode…
Jack's eyes rolled back. His knees buckled.
"Jack!" Rebecca cried, barely managing to ease him down to the ground. She ripped open his vest, pressed her hand to his chest, then his throat, panic clawing at her heart.
For a moment, she saw the sickly black veins spiderwebbing under his skin, wrapping around his neck and jaw. Then, slowly—mercifully—they began to fade. His skin returned to normal, his fever gone. His chest rose, shallow but steady. His breathing evened out.
Rebecca exhaled, tears stinging her eyes. "You scared the hell out of me…"
She wiped her sleeve across her face, then hooked his arm over her shoulder. His body was heavy, limp, but alive. She dragged him step by step up the rocky slope, every muscle in her small frame straining.
"Don't you dare quit on me now," she grunted, teeth clenched. "You got me this far… now it's my turn to carry you."
The treeline broke ahead, and Rebecca's breath caught. Silhouetted against the moonlight was a towering, jagged roofline. A mansion, its windows dark, its presence looming over the forest like something watching.
The mansion loomed close, its shadow swallowing them as the fires of the facility burned out behind.
Rebecca dragged Jack's unconscious body forward, not knowing she was leading them straight into the next nightmare.
The nightmare wasn't over.
It was only the beginning.
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A/N: This one was a blast to write, especially now that I've got two protagonists to juggle. Honestly, I had so much fun writing Rebecca, and I think she really shined in this arc. For me, this whole section was kind of a practice run—figuring out how to balance dual main characters. Back in Arc One, I was testing myself on pure action scenes, and also exploring Ada Wong's manipulative dynamic with Jack.
Now, moving into Arc Three, I get to tackle something Resident Evil is famous for: those iconic puzzles. Plus, Jill Valentine finally steps into the story, and I can't wait to show you how her role plays out.