"Shit!"
"What's wrong with Brad? Why did he fly away with the helicopter? Wasn't he supposed to stay here? Can't he even do this one simple thing?!"
"Now we're screwed. Without the helicopter, we're like headless chickens in the Arklay Mountains, especially now that it's pitch-black. Is this how Bravo Team disappeared?"
Seeing their pilot, Brad, escape in their only mode of transport, the remaining members of the Alpha Team were stunned, staring at the disappearing helicopter. All that was left was a torrent of curses. They knew Brad was a coward, but they didn't know he was so cowardly that he would run away with the helicopter before anything had even started. This was like cutting off their escape route. The mission hadn't even begun, and Chris and Jill were already considering a retreat. With a teammate like this, there was no guarantee of safety.
However, Wesker had a wicked smile on his face. This was exactly what he wanted. He was here to collect combat data, and now that the coward Brad had fled, they had no way out but to move forward. His poker face in the dark of his sunglasses showed no hint of his true feelings.
"Alright, settle down!"
"Don't panic! Do you think you're qualified S.T.A.R.S. members? You're all getting so worked up over a small setback. What a disgrace. Now... listen to my orders. The entire team will continue to move forward."
"Now that we don't have a vehicle, it's better to move forward than to retreat. The Bravo Team is waiting for our support in the Arklay Mountains. We can't just give up so easily. Do you understand?"
Wesker, as the S.T.A.R.S. captain, displayed his authority, his cold voice calming his team members down. He ordered the team to continue deeper into the Arklay Mountains forest. Chris and Jill frowned at the order, but when they heard "Bravo Team," their expressions became resigned. Indeed, they couldn't just abandon their comrades. No matter the danger, they had to go and see for themselves.
But just as the Alpha Team members were about to move on, a rustling sound came from the rotten branches on the forest floor, along with the sound of rapid footsteps and a terrifying bark. Chris and Jill's expressions changed. "Are those fierce Doberman dogs coming back?" they thought. And from the sound, there seemed to be more of them than before. The ones that attacked Joseph were only three, but now Chris and Jill were hearing the barks from all directions. This meant that at least a dozen Doberman dogs were hunting them!
"Run!"
"Don't hesitate! We can't handle this many dogs. We'll take casualties. We need to find cover!"
Wesker, the captain, again gave the order in a low voice. He was starting to panic. He hadn't expected so many zombie dogs in the forest. He needed Chris and Jill alive to collect combat data on the bioweapons. They absolutely could not die here. So Wesker ordered a retreat without hesitation. Chris and Jill didn't hesitate either and started running. They weren't idiots. With so many Doberman dogs coming from all directions, they were bound to suffer casualties. There was no good way to handle this other than to run.
But... Chris and Jill completely forgot one thing: a two-legged animal can't outrun a four-legged one. Humans cannot outrun dogs, let alone a pack of Doberman zombie dogs that had been enhanced by a virus!
"Thump, thump, thump—!!!"
"Thump, thump, thump—!!!"
"Hiss... Woof—!!!"
The barks got closer, and several Doberman zombie dogs caught up to Chris and Jill. They looked back and saw the horrifying faces of the zombie dogs. Their skin was severely rotted, with chunks of flesh hanging from their bodies like tumors. A part of their stomachs was gone. A foul stench came from their bodies. Some of the zombie dogs' faces were horribly ugly, with their eyes hanging out and half of their mouths rotted away, but their fangs were still sharp like steel knives. Foul saliva dripped from their mouths as they ran. These were no longer just dogs; they were monsters. Real monsters.
"..."
"Damn it, they're catching up! We can't just run. We have to fight back at the same time!" Chris shouted as he ran. The other Alpha Team members didn't hesitate either. They turned around and started firing their guns, sending a volley of bullets at the Doberman zombie dogs.
"Bang, bang, bang, bang—!!!"
Flashes of fire lit up the dark forest. It was still 9mm pistol ammunition. Only Barry's handgun was a .44 Magnum. Even so, the sheer number of bullets was enough. Despite their lack of accuracy, many of the Doberman zombie dogs were hit in the head and limbs and lost their ability to charge.
"Owwooo...!"
With a wail, a dog fell to the ground. But... there were so many Doberman zombie dogs. Even after taking down half of them, five or six were still in pursuit.
After a frantic run, Jill fell behind the rest of the Alpha Team. As a woman, her stamina and running speed were naturally not as good as the men's, especially Wesker's. The captain, who had been injected with the Progenitor Virus, was running at the very front, minimizing his life-threatening risk. As the saying goes, when you encounter a black bear or a tiger in the wild, you don't need to be faster than the bear or the tiger; you just need to be faster than your companion. The one who falls behind gets eaten, and you get to escape.
But Chris, who had a strong sense of justice, would never do that. Seeing the beautiful Jill about to be overtaken and mauled by the Doberman zombie dogs, the young Chris didn't hesitate. He slowed down, falling behind Jill, and prepared to use his body to block the zombie dogs' attack.
"..."
"Chris..."
Jill was at a loss for words. She was grateful for Chris's actions, but her pride wouldn't allow her to become a liability, nor would she allow someone to sacrifice their life for her. It would make her feel very ashamed.
"What are you two doing?!"
"Hurry and catch up—!!!"
Seeing Chris and Jill acting like they were about to die together, Wesker was furious. He needed them to get to the mansion and die there. He didn't want them to get mauled by a pack of zombie dogs here. If they died, what would he do for bioweapon combat data? There were only a few people left in the Alpha Team. Besides Brad, who fled in the helicopter, and the dead Joseph, there were only six of them: the captain, Chris, Jill, and Barry. What's more, Barry was under his control. If Chris and Jill died, he would be left with a bunch of traitors. What was he supposed to do then?
"Thump, thump, thump—!!!"
"Hiss... Woof—!!!"
The Doberman zombie dogs were getting closer. Two of them had already caught up to Chris and Jill. They tensed their leg muscles and leaped, their foul, sharp fangs open, ready to bite down on their necks!
But, at the last moment, several flashes and loud gunshots came from deep within the forest.
"Boom—Boom—Boom—!!!"
The loud gunshots were clearly not from ordinary handguns but from a large-caliber Magnum handgun. Barry, who was sensitive to firearms, recognized them as .50 caliber high-power bullets, which were even more powerful than his own .44 Colt revolver.
"Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—!!!"
After the gunshots, speedy orange-yellow bullets flew. The speed was very fast. In the dark forest, Barry estimated that the shooter was about a hundred meters away. "Could a handgun be that accurate?" he thought. "No... that's impossible. No one can be that good, unless they're a shooting prodigy. But even a shooting prodigy, how could they hit anything in this darkness? By listening to the sounds?"
"Are you kidding me? You think this is a video game? At this distance, it's impossible to hit a Doberman zombie dog just by listening to it!"
"Well... I have night vision goggles! Damn it!" If Javier knew what Barry was thinking, he would have retorted. His tactical helmet was equipped with a monocular night vision device, which allowed him to see clear targets in the dark. With Javier's shooting talent, it was no problem to kill a few Doberman zombie dogs. Not to mention... he had also learned Master Ma's legendary Gun Kata, and making bullets curve was nothing.
"Squelch... squelch...!!"
"Owwooo..."
Sure enough, Javier's bullets hit the Doberman zombie dogs at strange angles. The sound of the bullets piercing flesh was heard, and several Doberman zombie dogs were instantly killed, wailing as they fell to the ground. What surprised Barry and the others was that the shooter had fired several shots at once, and in that instant, he had killed all five or six Doberman zombie dogs behind them!
It was unbelievable. This was equivalent to predicting the movements of five targets in one second. "Is there really such a skilled marksman?" Barry wondered. He had tried it on the shooting range, and at a distance of only 30 meters, he could only hit three flying targets at once. And now, at about 100 meters, five flying targets...
Actually, if Javier had wanted to, he could have been even more outrageous. He could have blown the heads off all five Doberman zombie dogs. But the .50 caliber Desert Eagle bullets were so powerful that they could kill a Doberman zombie dog no matter where they hit, so Javier didn't bother with a headshot. If he had, Barry and the others would have been even more shocked.
The volley of shots instantly resolved the crisis for Chris and Jill. But the person's marksmanship was so exquisite that the Alpha Team members became wary, their eyes on the direction of the gunshots.
"Whoosh..."
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."
The sound of footsteps on rotten branches gradually grew closer. As the distance shortened, the figure became clearer.
And as Jill and Chris were imagining that the person might be a Western cowboy, an alien, a world-class marksman, a mysterious Eastern Daoist priest, a church pastor, an angel, a demon, or even God...
"Hey, hey!"
"Javier, how did you do that? The way you 'pew, pew, pew' and killed those zombie dogs instantly, can you teach me? Come on, tell me your secret! What if I trade you my biological agent formulas?"
"Come on, what...? You don't want the biological agent formulas? Then I'll tell you how to make the enhanced version of the little blue pill! The kind of miracle drug that lets you go seven times a night...!"
The person hadn't arrived yet, but their voice had. Rebecca's childish nagging, however, shattered the Alpha Team's illusions. "Damn it... We thought it was some kind of cowboy sharpshooter, but it's just this lewd person!" they thought. "What is this enhanced little blue pill?" they wondered. "Is the little blue pill on the market really that good? How come I don't know about it? It can really let you go seven times a night? Ahem... We definitely don't want it; we're just questioning the authenticity of this dubious product. The S.T.A.R.S. team has to check it out first!"
But... why did the voice sound so familiar? Hearing the voice from the forest, Chris and Jill felt that it was very familiar, as if they had heard it somewhere before.
And soon, the strange pair of Javier and Rebecca appeared in front of everyone. Rebecca, the tomboy, was clinging to Javier's arm and acting cute. But Javier was not interested in her. He looked disgusted. "This girl is so mean to me, always hitting and kicking me. It's better to stay away from this violent loli," he thought.
Javier was wearing a black tactical suit, a helmet, a night vision device, a gas mask, a bulletproof vest, knee and elbow pads, and his thigh holsters were full of pistols. His pants pockets were also stuffed with a "big bird" as thick as a stun gun. He was also carrying a large tactical backpack and holding a sacred shotgun, practically armed to the teeth. He looked exactly like the legend—a "Big Black Mouse!"