Chapter 92: Determination

The cold touch of the alloy door seeped into her palms as Chloe sat leaning against it, burying her head between her legs.

For eight years, she had been locked in an isolation chamber at the Arklay Research Facility just like this, waiting day after day for the next injection, the next experiment, and for death, which didn't know when it would arrive.

Back then, she could do nothing; she could only act like a real test subject, letting the people from the Umbrella Corporation do as they pleased with her.

But now it was different. She had someone she wanted to protect; Jill Valentine was still waiting for her outside. She could not wait here for death, could not let Jill Valentine think she was dead again, and could not let Jill Valentine face this hell alone.

Chloe slowly raised her right hand, looking at her pale, slender arm. The effects of the S01 Inhibitor were still present; the virus within her body was like a frozen river, completely motionless. But she knew the virus had never truly disappeared; it was merely sleeping, waiting for an opportunity to be awakened.

Pain was the best key to wake it up.

Chloe took a deep breath and, without the slightest hesitation, bit down hard into her left forearm.

Her teeth pierced the skin and tore the muscle; blood instantly gushed out, dripping onto the cold floor and blooming into dark red flowers.

The intense pain spread through her entire body like an electric current; Chloe shuddered, and cold sweat immediately broke out on her forehead.

But she did not let go; instead, she bit down even harder.

"Wake up..." she roared in a low voice, her tone distorted by pain, "Wake up!"

As if responding to her call, the sleeping virus inside her body finally stirred. A faint current of heat rose from her heart, flowing through her blood vessels to her limbs. But this heat was too weak; as soon as it appeared, it was suppressed by the power of the S01 Inhibitor.

Not enough.

Still not enough.

Chloe released her bite, looking at her mangled forearm without the slightest waver in her eyes. She raised her right hand, dug her fingernails into the wound she had just made, and tore with force.

"Hiss—"

A large chunk of flesh and skin was ripped away, exposing the stark white bone beneath.

This time, the excruciating pain completely overwhelmed her. Chloe leaned against the wall, her whole body convulsing violently. But at the same time, the virus inside her was like gasoline being set on fire, erupting instantly.

A searing hot current swept through her entire body; every cell was screaming, and every bone was crackling. The defensive line of the S01 Inhibitor was completely crushed, and the T-Virus and G-Virus surged wildly through her blood vessels, fusing and devouring one another.

Chloe fell to her knees, supporting herself on the ground with her hands, gasping for air. She could feel her body undergoing a terrifying transformation.

The veins under her skin bulged, turning a dark, bruised black, like twisted earthworms. A tearing pain shot through her left eye; she couldn't help but cover her eye with her hand, and dark red blood seeped out between her fingers.

"Argh—!"

A suppressed roar erupted from her throat. Her left eyeball began to rupture, then rapidly regenerated, turning a pure, blood-red color.

At the same time, gray-white bone growths began to sprout on her left forehead and cheek, covering half her face like shards of broken porcelain.

Several sharp bone horns pierced through the skin on her head, growing out with a cold, metallic luster.

The G-Virus had begun to proliferate.

Chloe knew this was dangerous; once the G-Virus completely spiraled out of control, she would become a monster like William Birkin and would never be able to turn back into a human. But she had no choice.

She raised her head, her remaining eye staring fixedly at the corner of the laboratory. That was the weakest point in the entire room's structure; beneath the concrete layer, there was only a layer of hollow bricks.

Chloe slowly stood up. The fingers of her right hand began to deform; her fingernails grew long and sharp, glinting with a cold light, transforming into sharp, bladed claws.

She walked to the corner, took a deep breath, and then violently swung her claws down.

"Screech—"

The bladed claws easily sliced through the concrete wall, leaving five deep gouges. Chloe did not pause, swinging her claws again and again; concrete chunks and bricks kept falling, piling up into a small heap on the floor.

Sweat and blood mixed together, sliding down her cheeks and dripping onto the floor. Her breathing grew heavier and heavier, and her arm began to ache, but she did not stop.

Ten minutes later, a hole large enough for a person to pass through appeared in the corner.

On the other side of the hole was a dark, damp underground pipe network, and a pungent stench of sewage rushed out to meet her.

Chloe glanced back at the laboratory that had imprisoned her for several hours, her eyes icy. She would never return to a place like this again.

She bent down and crawled into the hole.

Raccoon City Police Department, second floor.

Leon walked slowly along the corridor, holding the black notebook left behind by Elliot.

The notebook contained a diagram for solving the puzzle of the Goddess Statue in the main hall, along with some scribbled notes; it appeared that three different medallions needed to be found first to open the secret passageway beneath the Goddess Statue.

He had carefully inspected the Goddess Statue in the main hall on the first floor earlier and had indeed found three indentations, corresponding to the Lion, Unicorn, and Maiden medallions.

"The Lion Medallion should be in the Chief's office, the Unicorn Medallion in the Art Room, but where is the Maiden Medallion?" Leon muttered to himself, flipping through the notebook.

Just then, a huge roar came from overhead, shaking the entire corridor slightly.

Leon snapped his head up, looking at the ceiling.

Was that a helicopter?

His heart skipped a beat, and he immediately ran in the direction the sound had come from. Leon passed through the waiting room and walked to the end of the corridor.

The sight before him left him stunned.

The wreckage of a helicopter had crashed through the corridor wall, wedged diagonally into the hallway and blocking the entire passage completely. The helicopter's rotor blades had snapped, the fuselage was severely deformed and still emitting black smoke, and scattered parts and bloodstains were everywhere on the floor.

It seemed this helicopter had crashed while attempting to land on the Raccoon City Police Department rooftop.

Leon stepped forward and tried to move a piece of the fuselage blocking the path, but the debris was too heavy; even using all his strength, it only shifted slightly.

"Damn it." Leon cursed. The path to the rooftop was completely blocked, and he had no choice but to head back the way he came.

He turned to walk back, and when he reached the fire escape, he subconsciously glanced down.

Through the window, he saw the scene in the backyard.

A girl wearing a red leather jacket was standing in front of the iron gate, shaking the lock vigorously. Rain had soaked her ponytail, sticking it to her cheeks; even from a distance, Leon could recognize her.

It was Claire!

A wave of wild joy surged in Leon's heart; he immediately pushed open the door to the fire escape and ran down.

"Claire! Wait a second, I'm coming over!" he shouted while running.

Hearing the voice, Claire immediately looked up and saw Leon running down the stairs, a look of pleasant surprise appearing on her face.

"Okay!"

Leon ran to the first floor in one breath and pushed open the door leading to the courtyard.

A cold iron gate stood between him and Claire. The gate was tall, covered in scratches and bloodstains, and the lock had rusted shut.

Claire was leaning against the iron gate, and seeing Leon run over, she smiled and said, "It's so good to see you, Leon. I thought you had been eaten by those monsters."

Leon walked up to the iron gate, panting as he said, "Are you okay? The explosion just now was so sudden; I was worried something had happened to you."

Claire shrugged and brushed the dust off herself: "I'm managing, at least I'm still breathing." She looked Leon up and down, taking in his R.P.D. uniform and tactical vest, raised an eyebrow, and teased: "Not bad, you're pretty well-equipped. But I bet none of those pockets have the key to open this gate, right?"

Leon smiled awkwardly and rubbed the back of his head: "Unfortunately, you guessed right... I just got here not long ago and haven't found any keys."

"I knew it." Claire sighed helplessly, then leaned against the iron gate, looking at Leon. Rain dripped down from her hair, gathering into a drop on her chin before falling to the ground.

The courtyard was very quiet, with only the sound of rain and the faint, distant roars of zombies. The two looked at each other through the iron gate, and the atmosphere suddenly became somewhat subtle.

Leon's heart beat inexplicably faster; he quickly averted his gaze, cleared his throat, and asked: "That's good then. By the way, have you found your brother? Chris Redfield—he's a member of S.T.A.R.S., right?"

Mentioning Chris, the smile on Claire's face faded. She shook her head, a hint of worry in her eyes: "No, not yet."

Leon looked at her dejected expression, feeling a pang of heartache, and quickly comforted her: "Claire, don't give up. The members of S.T.A.R.S. are all very capable; Chris must be fine. We will definitely find him, I promise."

Claire looked up, meeting Leon's determined gaze, and felt a little more at ease. She nodded and was just about to say something.

"Boom—!!!"

An earth-shattering explosion suddenly came from the east side of the police station.

Both of them turned to look at the same time.

They saw the wreckage of the helicopter from earlier suddenly explode violently; a massive fireball rose into the air, illuminating the entire night sky. A scorching wave of air rushed toward them, blowing their clothes until they snapped in the wind.

Immediately following this, the piercing sound of the fire alarm rang out throughout the entire police station.

"Wee-woo—wee-woo—wee-woo—"

Leon's expression changed instantly.

"Damn it." He gritted his teeth, turned his head, and said to Claire, "Do you know what this means?"

The smile on Claire's face vanished completely; she drew the silver revolver from her waist and disengaged the safety. She glanced back at the darkness behind her, where the sounds of zombies roaring one after another were already coming, and they were getting closer and closer.

"That's right," she said calmly, "It's dinnertime."

As soon as she finished speaking, several stumbling figures emerged from the corner of the courtyard. They wore tattered clothes, their faces were mangled and bloody, and their cloudy eyes stared fixedly at Claire as they emitted wheezing, roaring sounds.

Leon's heart jumped into his throat: "It looks like you have to go, Claire! Go, quickly!"

Claire looked back at Leon and gave a bright smile: "Don't worry about me, Leon. Take care of yourself."

"Go, quickly!" Leon shouted anxiously; more zombies were pouring out of the darkness.

Claire nodded, then turned, raised her revolver, and pulled the trigger on the zombie charging at the front.

"Bang!"

The bullet hit the zombie's forehead with precision, and it fell to the ground.

"Well then, find a way to survive," she said, waving at Leon while backing away, "both of us."

After saying that, she turned and ran into the alleyway nearby, disappearing into the darkness.

Leon watched her retreating figure until he could no longer see her, then slowly withdrew his gaze. He pulled out his walkie-talkie and pressed the talk button.

"Officer Marvin, Officer Marvin, please respond if you receive this. This is Leon; I've run into some trouble on my end, can you hear me?"

There was only the harsh sound of static in the walkie-talkie, with no response.

Leon tried a few more times, but the result was the same.

He put away the walkie-talkie and looked up at the pitch-black night sky. The rain was still falling, the alarm was still blaring, and the roars of the zombies were getting closer and closer.