Chapter 27: Reunion

After a hurried farewell to Enrico in the deep research corridor, Rebecca Chambers turned alone and walked in the opposite direction of the captain.

With every step she took, the worry in her heart grew heavier. The scene of Billy falling replayed in her mind like a recurring nightmare.

The violent charge of the mutated baboon, Billy's staggering figure, the endless darkness beyond the railing, and that muffled thud that made her heart stop.

She didn't dare think about the worst-case scenario; she only knew she had to find him. Enrico said there was no way Billy could have survived a fall from such a high platform, but Rebecca Chambers refused to believe it.

In this twisted and insane facility, where even the dead could rise again and viruses could reshape life, how could someone as strong as Billy disappear so easily?

She retraced her steps along the corridor, the emergency lights flickering overhead and stretching her shadow. The smell of disinfectant mixed with rot grew stronger in the air, and the mottled black and red stains on the walls silently told of the tragedies that had occurred here.

Rebecca Chambers gripped her handgun tightly and checked the magazine. The battle with the Leech Man had nearly exhausted her ammunition; now, only a few rounds remained, and every single one had to count.

Guided by the monitor room and floor signs, she soon found the small passenger elevator that led to deeper areas. To find Billy, she had to return to the area below the Cable Car Platform, and this elevator was the only path to quickly traverse the floors.

Rebecca Chambers pressed the elevator button, and the metal panel responded with a dull thud. She leaned against the cold wall and closed her eyes briefly, trying to calm her surging emotions.

In such a short time, she had experienced reunions, separations, falls, fierce battles, and more separations—the series of events had nearly crushed her. But she couldn't fall; she was a member of S.T.A.R.S. Bravo Team, a Medic, and Billy's only hope in this hellhole.

The sound of chains grinding came from the elevator shaft as the car slowly ascended. Rebecca Chambers opened her eyes, her gaze warily scanning the empty corridor.

This facility had long been under James Marcus's complete control. Leeches, zombies, mutated creatures, and even unconfirmed new types of BOWs could spring from any corner at any moment.

Just as the elevator was about to arrive, an unusually heavy set of footsteps echoed slowly from behind the collapsed ruins at the end of the corridor.

It was certainly not the sluggish, shuffling gait of a zombie, nor the scurrying of a small mutated creature. Every step was like a heavy hammer striking the concrete floor—dull, powerful, and carrying a near-crushing sense of pressure that shook the dust in the air.

Rebecca Chambers's nerves tightened instantly. Her muscles tensed as she instinctively gripped her handgun and slowly turned toward the source of the sound.

From within the ruins, a shadow slowly emerged.

A burly figure, about two meters tall, stepped out from the rubble and broken rebar.

It had a roughly human silhouette but had long since transcended the human realm. Grayish-black skin was stretched tight over abnormally developed muscles, exuding a non-human, hardened texture.

What chilled Rebecca Chambers to the bone was its completely mutated right arm; the original arm was gone, replaced by a thick, sharp, glinting giant spike. It was like a natural weapon, threatening to tear through the air with the slightest movement.

Even more terrifyingly, its chest lacked any skin or muscle covering. A bloodshot, violently throbbing heart was exposed to the open air, every contraction clearly visible, emitting a nauseating, metallic stench.

Rebecca Chambers's breath hitched. She instinctively took half a step back and whispered in shock:

"What is that..."

She had seen this figure on the screens in the monitor room.

It was a prototype BOW secretly developed by the Umbrella Corporation deep within the Training Facility. An ultimate weapon based on a human, forcibly injected with the T-Virus for enhancement—the Tyrant Prototype.

It had no consciousness, no emotion—only the purest instructions to kill.

The Tyrant Prototype's clouded eyes instantly locked onto Rebecca Chambers. Without warning, it suddenly lunged forward, its heavy body exploding with speed completely at odds with its size. Its massive spiked right arm swung toward Rebecca Chambers with a whistling wind!

Rebecca Chambers's pupils shrank. Her body reacted before her brain, and she lunged to the side.

"Boom—!"

The spike slammed heavily into the ground where she had just been standing, instantly shattering the hard concrete and sending debris flying. Rebecca Chambers rolled across the floor in a disheveled heap, her elbows and knees stinging from the rough surface, but she ignored the pain and scrambled to her feet.

But at that moment, the harsh sound of mechanical gears turning came from behind her.

A heavy alloy security shutter was slowly descending.

The sound of metal grinding against metal was grating. Within seconds, her escape route was completely sealed.

With the Tyrant in front and a dead end behind, Rebecca Chambers was cornered. She had no choice but to fight.

She raised her gun without hesitation and pulled the trigger at the Tyrant's torso.

"Bang! Bang!"

The bullets hit their mark but only left shallow marks on the hardened skin, failing to penetrate. The Tyrant was unharmed and swung its spiked arm again, its violent assault relentless.

Rebecca Chambers could only keep dodging. In the narrow corridor, she was like a dancer on the edge of a blade, coming within millimeters of being impaled by the spike every time.

Every one of the Tyrant's strikes was powerful enough to crush steel. Deep craters were smashed into the walls, debris fell from the ceiling, and the entire area shuddered under its attacks.

Her stamina was draining rapidly, and her breathing grew more ragged. Rebecca Chambers knew that at this rate, she would eventually be hit.

Just as she was cornered and the Tyrant swung for a lethal blow, Rebecca Chambers's gaze fell once more upon the throbbing heart in its chest.

A weak point.

To pursue extreme power and activity, all prototype BOWs sacrificed the defense of their core organs. That exposed heart was its only fatal weakness.

Rebecca Chambers made up her mind instantly. She stopped dodging blindly and instead intentionally left an opening, luring the Tyrant into a full-force swing. The moment the Tyrant's spike swept out and its chest was fully exposed, she held her breath and locked her sights onto that throbbing heart.

"Bang—"

A direct hit!

"Roar—!!!"

The Tyrant let out a deafening roar of agony. Its massive body shuddered violently, and its assault came to a sudden halt. Blood spurted from its chest as the exposed heart was severely wounded by the bullet, and its entire body began to twitch uncontrollably.

Seizing this fleeting opportunity, Rebecca Chambers emptied her remaining bullets into the exact same spot.

The final shot rang out.

The Tyrant's massive frame could no longer support itself. It fell heavily to its knees and then collapsed with a thud that shook the floor. After a few more twitches, it went completely still. Its clouded eyes lost their luster, and that fatal heart stopped beating.

Rebecca Chambers leaned against the wall, gasping for air. Cold sweat soaked her underclothes, and her limbs shook uncontrollably. Only when she was certain the Tyrant was truly dead did she slowly breathe a sigh of relief, her frayed nerves on the verge of snapping.

Just then, there was a soft "ding."

The elevator had arrived.

The metal doors slid open, the bright interior of the car contrasting sharply with the dim and terrifying environment outside. Rebecca Chambers didn't dare linger. She dragged her exhausted and aching body into the elevator and reached out to press the button for Level 4.

The elevator rose slowly, the narrow space filled only with the low hum of machinery. Rebecca Chambers leaned against the interior wall and closed her eyes, wanting only to grab these few dozen seconds of rest.

She didn't know that in the Main Control Room deep within the facility, a pair of cold eyes was watching her silently through the elevator's internal surveillance.

Dr. James Marcus stood before the console, a chilling smile playing on his lips. Beneath the skin of his entire body, countless tiny black leeches were slowly surging and crawling, clinging to him like living things and merging with him.

Watching the disheveled yet resilient Rebecca Chambers on the monitor, James Marcus chuckled coldly, his voice raspy and bone-chilling:

"Game over."

He slowly raised his hand, feeling the terrifying power of the Progenitor Virus and the leeches coexisting within him. His eyes flashed with obsessive and manic hatred.

"I am no longer interested in you... vanish now. No one can stop my revenge."

The elevator arrived smoothly at Level 4.

As the doors opened, the sound of rushing water hit her, mixed with a cold, damp wind.

Rebecca Chambers stepped out of the elevator to see a broken, suspended steel bridge. Below it was a wide and turbulent underground river, its murky waters churning violently with incredible force. She rushed to the edge of the bridge, her heart pounding so hard it felt like it would burst from her throat.

The next moment, her gaze locked onto the middle of the river.

Billy Coen was clinging to a piece of broken reinforced concrete protruding from the water. His upper body barely held onto the edge, while his lower body was caught in the rapids. His eyes were tightly shut, his face as pale as paper; he had long since fallen into a deep coma, completely unconscious.

"Billy!!"

Rebecca Chambers screamed, her voice swallowed by the sound of the water.

Just as she was about to call out, a more violent wave slammed down. The concrete Billy Coen was relying on for support was instantly swept away. His body, like a fallen leaf, was violently carried off by the rushing water, drifting rapidly downstream and vanishing around a bend in the river.

"Billy—!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Rebecca Chambers sprinted along the riverside passage.

She stumbled along, ignoring the puddles and debris beneath her feet and the dangers lurking around her. Only one thought remained in her mind: catch up to him, she had to catch up to him.

The long and oppressive facility corridors seemed endless. She ran past broken hallways, through narrow ventilation ducts, and across flooded underground halls. Cold water soaked her pant legs, and exhaustion surged like a tide, but she didn't stop for a single step.

After running for an unknown amount of time, a massive sewer entrance appeared ahead, with all the rushing water pouring into it.

Rebecca Chambers made her way down the sloping inner wall. In the dim light of the emergency lamps, she finally saw the figure she had been desperately searching for at the end of the sewer.

Billy Coen lay on the dry ground, soaked through and covered in mud, still unconscious.

"Billy!" Rebecca Chambers rushed over and knelt, gently shaking his shoulder, her voice trembling with unmistakable fear. "Billy, wake up! Can you hear me?"

Slowly, Billy Coen's eyelashes fluttered.

He struggled to open his eyes. His gaze was dazed and unfocused, taking a while to sharpen and recognize the person before him. His voice was raspy and dry, weak to the extreme:

"Rebecca Chambers... where... is this?"

"Don't worry, it's safe now." Rebecca Chambers carefully helped him up, leaning him against the wall. Her eyes were slightly red, but she maintained her composure. "How do you feel? Does anything hurt?"

Billy Coen shook his head slightly, slowly catching his breath, his gaze instinctively drifting forward.

A second later, he froze.

Rebecca Chambers followed his gaze, her face instantly turning pale as she instinctively covered her mouth.

On a patch of open ground further down the sewer, a massive pile of human remains was stacked.

The bones were numerous and piled haphazardly, many bearing clear bite marks and signs of viral corrosion. Scattered nearby were tattered clothes, blurred ID tags, and rusted shackles... silently testifying to the endless suffering they had endured in life.

"How could... anyone do such a thing..." Rebecca Chambers's voice trembled. As a Medic, she understood the weight of life better than anyone. The scene before her filled her with a chilling dread from the bottom of her heart.

Billy Coen's gaze darkened. He remembered the confidential Umbrella Corporation files he had found in the facility and James Marcus's insane experiments. Each word he spoke was as heavy as a boulder on his heart:

"They were test subjects. James Marcus used them to test the Progenitor Virus, constantly observing and modifying them... until they completely lost their utility."

Looking at the remains of those innocent people, the memory of the brutally slaughtered villagers flashed through Billy Coen's mind. They were just as innocent, just as helpless.

His fist clenched quietly, his knuckles turning white, and the aura around him became exceptionally somber.

Rebecca Chambers noticed his change in mood and called out softly, "Billy?"

Billy Coen slowly came back to his senses and shook his head slightly, suppressing the emotions surging within him, saying nothing more.

Some pain was beyond words.

The two of them shared a look, seeing determination in each other's eyes.

They didn't linger or look back at the suffocating pile of remains. Rebecca Chambers supported the still-weak Billy Coen, and step by step, they walked deeper into the sewer toward the heart of the facility.

The road ahead was still dark, and danger was everywhere.

But this time, they would not be separated again.