"It is time..." The man spoke from the safety of an alcove next to the oak desk. "The outbreak has started...our mansion laboratory has been discovered." The man hidden by the shadows swiveled in his chair, dark hair pulled back as the moonlight hit his chiseled, intense gaze. "Indeed, activate the Acheron Terminus project and inform Dr. Lydon that we will be requiring the use of his new virus much sooner than expected. See to the details concerning the witnesses...I want them silenced." The tall man rose from his chair and activated a holoscreen map of Burtonville, Oklahoma. A timer appeared beside it, counting down towards the final moments as a red area burned it's way across the map. "Burtonville is a loss, the facilities have been shut down and all employees evacuated." "But what about the chance one of the researchers could be carrying the virus?" The shadow man folded his arms in front of his chest, dark sunglasses glinting in the dark as he leaned back against the wall. "We can't risk a major outbreak within one of our installations." The tall man chuckled lightly. "The evacuated researchers will be quarantined and observed for signs of contamination...then they will be shot and their records destroyed. There can be no link between the B.O.W.'s and our organization. The town water supply has been spiked, and the virus has been transmitted as an airborne contagion, within twenty-four hours the town should be infested by ZOMBIES." "I see...I'll return to Burtonville and make sure the ARMS members have been dispatched." The shadow man disappeared, the only indication of his departure the tell-tale rap of his boots against the cold marble floor. James Landry, President and CEO of Umbrella Inc. (American Division) sat back in his chair, watching the red area completely devour the lively green of Burtonville. After a few moments he poured himself a glass of wine and began going through his reports concerning the new Tyrant modification system to the computer firewall. True, Umbrella did keep it's B.O.W. research under wraps, but that didn't mean that governments all around the world wouldn't give an arm and a leg for a fast, disposable army of ZOMBIE carriers. Brilliant in its simplicity, Landry's plans were simple. Create a virus that when introduced into a population breeds with symptoms associated with a rash, after a gestation period of 72 hours the infected carriers become ZOMBIES and destroy the area around them. After every living thing in the area has been killed or ingested, the ZOMBIES can be easily dispatched by sub-orbital laser or firebombs. Why waste men to fight and get killed when the enemy's own population destroys itself? After the word has spread, give a little demonstration and soon all the governments in the world would be vying for the T-Virus and he would have the power to rule the world. A deep chuckle hung in the air as the first bombs began to fall. ---Title--- Rise of the DEAD Chapter 4: Fatal Bite By Dr. Suekeiichi Kaiton ---Wesker City, August 4, 2001, Dimension 2626--- Doctor Edward Lydon sat in his lab deep within the sewer system of Wesker City perfecting his newest formula, the G-Virus. He was a tall man, his hair cut short but left to sway around his head. Biological engineering had been his world since he was a small boy, he had dreamed of splicing DNA and creating new genomes to create B.O.W.'s until Umbrella made his dreams into reality. He had been at Harvard studying Biochemistry when a headhunter for Umbrella offered him a chance to follow his dream and create B.O.W.s for Umbrella. He was given all the equipment he'd need and all the time in the world to achieve sheer perfection. But he didn't need eternity, Lydon only needed twelve years and the backing of Umbrella to concoct his G-Virus, a contagion ten times more powerful than Umbrella's experimental T-Virus and also more useful. Whereas the T-Virus merely mutates organisms and creates ZOMBIE carriers (living brains trapped inside dead bodies), the G-virus had the power to revitalize cellular functions and revitalize limbs as well as create ZOMBIE carriers. Now Umbrella was sending agents to retrieve the G-Virus sample, _his_ life's work was going to become just another moneymaking scheme for Umbrella, well he would not allow that. Lydon had taken the liberty of closing off the sewer system and evacuating the lab complex, he was alone in the facility and safe from Umbrella for the time being. Time enough to test his beloved virus on himself. He had given a sample to his co-conspirator against Umbrella, knowing that the only way to escape was death he injected himself with the virus and was ripped apart by Magnation-102, another one of Umbrella's 'supersoldiers'. The G-Virus had worked, and his friend was soon allied with a rival company planning to destroy Umbrella's corporate monopoly. Lydon was set to join him. The vacuum doors hissed as the automatic lock was released and three men dressed in assault gear and brandishing machine guns and gas masks burst into the lab. They looked briefly behind them, checking for possible threats before leveling their weapons on Lydon's standing form. The leader of the team latched the safety onto his rifle, when he spoke it was distorted and garbled by the gas mask. "Dr. Lydon, we're here to retrieve the G-Virus sample." "So you finally come...I won't let Umbrella steal my precious G-Virus, my life's work!" None of the men noticed Lydon's arm as he inserted the needle into a vein. "No one will ever take it away from me, least of all you!" Lydon fired his handgun at the leader, felling him with a bullet through the eye and had only seconds before the second-in-command riddled his torso with bullets. The hail of hot lead only stopped with the third agent slapped the muzzle at the floor, screaming about damaging the 'sample'. Lydon giggled at that, little did they know that he was the sample, the other vials contained portions of the virus but they needed to be mixed by an individual with his genius and experience. He coughed up blood as pain shot through his spine, nearly killing him from the shock. He watched in detachment as the agents picked up the sample case and ran off, leaving him to (presumably) die. But Dr. Lydon's story was far from over... ---Wesker City, August 10, 2001--- John Wilson and Kate Irons ran through the alley as the hordes of ZOMBIES lurched after them, broken limbs flapping or crunching under foot. After the horrific experience at the mansion lab deep in the Arclay mountains, the elite members of ARMS Alpha team thought the nightmare was over, after all, hadn't all the monsters and their double-crosser met their doom? Apparently not, for no sooner had they awoken in their hospital rooms than news of a major outbreak of the T-Virus in nearby Burtonville was broadcast on the television. Sharing an intimate moment, John and Kate suited up for an escape but it was too late, the Hospital was soon infested with ZOMBIES, the tight hallways and small storerooms leaving thousands of places for the hordes to hide. John had heard the first scream from the lobby (their rooms were on the second floor) along with the incessant moaning of the carriers and quickly ripped out his IV and was up and in action. Grabbing the nearby nurses and staff, they snapped the cable to the elevator with a bonesaw, threw flaming tanks of oxygen down the stairs and stockpiled food and medicine from the upper floors. Kate was up soon after and the pair began to make quick trips via the service elevator and underground passage to the ARMS office in the WCPD headquarters. Mere minutes before, they had prepared in combat uniforms with all the weapons they could carry before setting off down into the lobby of the hospital. It was strangely quiet as they exited the stairwell. No noises or moaning or screaming to alert them to possible danger, only the sound of something steadily dripping. John was the first to reach the waiting room, Kate following close behind and quickly losing her lunch at the tableaux before them. Sixty five men, women, and children were lying on the benches, heads twisted at odd angles and patches of skin missing from their extremities. They looked like fallen dominoes, each one resting upon the other as their blood slowly dripped and mingled on the floor. The walls were filthy with bile and blood, handprints and spatters baring testament to the brutality the ZOMBIE carriers were capable of doing. John took her hand as they slowly began to weave through the aisles. They looked at each corpse, memorizing it to remember what animals Umbrella employed, to decimate so many lives for a quick buck. A man had his intestines sitting on his lap as fluid oozed out of the rupture and dribbled on the floor, a woman's eyes were torn out and her breasts ripped off, a child's larynx was torn out and whitish vomit stained his overalls. This was the face of true evil, not the ZOMBIES nor Magnation-102 had been evil, it was the individuals responsible for their creation that were the monsters. Kate knelt down to close a poor old man's eyes. A cacophony rose, moaning, sighing, and shuffling, as the entire group stood from their seats and swiveled broken necks at the two living humans. The room was full of ZOMBIES, they shambled closer and neither ARMS member could think of a way out. All the bodies had been alive from the moment they arrived, waiting for the opportunity to strike. John gripped Kate under his arms, attempting to shield her from the din before a heavy roar exploded across the hospital. The ZOMBIE masses dispersed as they were systematically mowed down by a gattaling gun mounted to the back of a military truck. "Get the hell out here! I can't keep this up fer long!" Richard blasted the group with bullets as his compatriots dashed out of the lobby and leapt into the back with him. They barely had time to grab hold of the sides before Sarah gunned the engine and the last members of ARMS alpha team were rocketing down the street. "Whew! What is this!? I can't believe the virus spread so fast, no sooner than Sarah and I could get suited up, these monsters come scabbling towards us!" "Umbrella's behind this, they don't want witnesses..." John helped Kate move further into the back, closer to the driver's seat. The truck had a metal canopy and a sliding back door so they were realatively safe from the shambling ZOMBIES wandering the streets. "I'm sure they purposely set those ZOMBIES in the hospital, trying to kill us before we could talk." "I can't believe..." Richard set his head down and sat heavily in the seat attached to the gatteling gun. In his middle forties, Richard Laughton was spry and resourceful, earning him a place as munitions expert for the ARMS Wesker City branch. After serving in Vietnam, Richard Laughton became a SWAT team member of the Wesker City Police Department, eventually meeting the deceased leader of ARMS Alpha team. Richard was instrumental in the creation of ARMS (Autonomous Rescue Mission Squad) and possesed more than a soft spot for Kate as he had saved her many times during the fiasco at the Arclay Mountains Umbrella laboratory. His special Colt Python shined in the dim light of the truck at his hip. "All this destruction just to get rid of us..." "Sarah? Do you think you can get us out of here?" John poked his head up front where the young member of ARMS swerved to avoid oncoming ZOMBIE creatures. "I sure can, John but this truck is running out of gas so we're going to have to find a safe haven to hold up for the night. One thing's for sure, though, no one in their right mind would even think of entering Wesker City now..." ---Nerima, Japan. Canon Universe--- Ranma flipped from one set of bars to the next, tucking his feet to his chest as he hauled himself for a quick push-up, swinging a few times to build momentum before vaulting high into the air and grasping the convientent pair of rings above. From there Ranma bounced like a mad rubber ball, from wall to wall, floor to ceiling and back again as he preformed his arieal acrobatics. As an operative for Biotech, he had to be in prime physical condition for his missions and be able to keep crowds of ZOMBIES away long enough to disperse them enough so that they could be disposed of in an expediant fashion. Of course, his idea of training was meditation, ki training and gymnastics, but sometimes a ki ball doesn't put much of a dent in two hundred hungry monsters. The class watched in awe as Ranma finished with a perfect dismount from the ropes, feet straight and hands extended. Never before had Ranam taken the initiative to show off for his classmates but today was something different, nothing seemed to stop him! Even Nabiki hadn't been able to stop his antics, which was saying something - if the Ice Bitch of Furinkan couldn't make him bend to her will, what chance did his classmates have? Exhausted but at peace, Ranma collapsed onto the bleachers. Exercise was always the best thing to get his mind off the depression of losing another dimension to Umbrella's sick ambitions. When he'd first started as an operative he'd needed intense psychotherapy after each mission, as all green agents do, and anti-depressants. The reality of seeing your friends or aquaintences dead or even worse was something not everyone could cope with and Ranma dealt with it hard. This became the driving force behind his marriages to refugees. Speaking of which, Ranma began to wonder how Kasumi and Hinako were coping in the safe haven, were they well? Were they ill? Were they...dead? "RANMA!!!" Nabiki screamed in his ear. "What!? Huh? Did you say something, Nabiki?" Ranma barely noticed her approach in a tight white shirt and red gym shorts until she bellowed in his ear. "Did you find someplace safe yet?" "...No..." "No?" "The best place would be a high mountain in China, I've got the coordinates but it'll be a temporary base at most. We could last for a few years, maybe more before the barriers break down and the undead flood the region." Ranma looked down, no matter the skills he possesed, this world was done for long before he arrived. "That's great! A few years would give your organization time to send reinforcements!" Nabiki smiled and clutched his arm before she felt him stiffen in her grasp. "What's wrong? We'll be okay!" "Will we, Nabiki, will we? Biotech won't waste time or resources looking for me, my kind are a penny a piece. Besides, they'll just register this dimension as a loss, not even worth investigating." It was true, if the contamination factor went above 90% Biotech wouldn't waste resources; by the time the rescue team arrived this world would already be 96% lost, his CODEC had already done the math. "We'll get through it...I know we will." "I'm sorry I can't share your optimism." Ranma turned away as the bell rang for class to end, one thought weighing heavily on his mind. [How did it spread so quickly?] ---Biotech safe haven--- "Sir! I have strange readings coming from an uncharted dimension in strand D." A technician swivled to face Colonel Zentaro Choiler on the main security hub of Biotech region 9. It was kind of strange to be talking to your commanding officer when you knew quite plainly that he was dead. Biotech regulations only permitted two analogues per safe haven; this was the other Zentaro Choiler. "Well what are you waiting for, son, get me details on the double!" Choiler sat back in his seat and brought his hand to his mouth. "Are there any indications that Agent Saotome is in the area, any feedback from his tracer?" "Not directly sir, but we are reading abnormal kinetika readings, it is enough evidence for the Security Council to declare an investigation. The dimension shouldn't have any type of technology that produces kinetika waves, only Biotech jumpers produce those readings." "Biotech jumpers and Umbrella specimen capsules..." Choiler shook his head free of cobwebs and wiped his eyes, the late nights were beginning to get to him. "Start an investigation, I want to know if Agent Saotome is in strand D, I expect a full report on my desk in the morning." He sat up from the command chair and stretched, popping his vertibrae and neck. "Good night gentelmen." A chorus of voices sounded from the darkened room, every technician working to try and locate Saotome. Perhaps it was about time he paid a visit to those two women he retrieved from his last mission, perhaps they might provide a clue to his whereabouts... ---Dimension 2626, May 5, 2002--- "Greeetings, you must be the lovely Jessica Wilson." Jess turned from the ornate doors leading into the island 'palace'. A shadow in the back of the ruined pillars moved forward into the light. "Wh-who are you?" The brunette reached for her pistol as a sleek head of black hair rose from the dusty darkness. "Let's just say I'm a ghost...coming back to haunt your dear brother..." The man shoved the dense masonry aside with little effort and stepped towards the dais, hard steel-plated boots rapping against the cobblestones. She couldn't see his eyes. Instead all she saw were two mirrored lenses of smoky blackness but it was clear there was something going on behind them. The man was slight, probably around her brother's height and weight, about five-ten and 165 pounds with slicked back raven hair. She unconsciously pressed herself closer to the doors as he approached all in black, from black fatigues to the ebony kevlar vest dotted with pockets. She knew who he was...John had told her all about the debacle in the Arclay Mountains. "...Dufresne?" The man chuckled under his breath. "It seems there's not much explaining to do, is there?" He dramatically stretched his arms out wide. "I was the one who attacked this island. Who'd have thought you'd be hanging about? All the better for me now that the cat has dragged in this lovely surprise!" He chortled evily as Jessica raised her berreta and bore down on his forehead. "I don't know what went on between you and my brother, but he's not the kind of person you think he is!" In a flash she was disarmed and her hand broken, the handgun shattered at his feet. The man called Gregory Dufresne sneered as she clutched her bleeding hand and grabbed her roughly by the chin, his strength so great that she was lifted three inches off the ground. She could feel the supple black leather glove strain and flex over his iron grip. "I despise John!" Dufresne threw her behind him and gloated in victory as she cried out. Only her groans and the muted tap of his footfalls filled the air as he sauntered closer to the prey. "Oh! How your brother will weep to see you die! Ha, ha!" A steel boot crushed her shoulder; a few quick twists dislocating the joint painfully. Jess looked up at the turn-coat ARMS leader and spat in his face even as the pain threatened to burst her heart. She wouldn't beg for her life, John wouldn't have wanted it that way, she would follow in his footsteps and foil the bastard's nefarious plans. The leader of ARMS Alpha team laughed in glee as the splintering of bone and screams of pain filled his head. This was it for her. Dufresne was just about to stamp the life out of her, crushing her ribcage, when he stepped off and brought a hand to his ear. "Hmm? Yes what is it...stay there, I'm coming." He looked down and, seeing her try to recover, kicked her savagely across the cheek. "It seems you still have some purpose...I'll let you live a little longer..." Suddenly a triple chorus of muzzle flash illuminated the plaza and Dufresne flew through the air, blood flying from his throat. "Dufresne!" John ran up to his fallen sister from the gate on the west side and cradled her body as Richard and Kate covered the traitor's body. Sarah gave them all the 'thumbs up' from the roof of the palace, easing in a new strip of ammo into her machine gun. "Did we get him?" "I don't know, Kate do you think he's still alive?" Richard's ridiculous question was answered as the dark shape leapt over them in a feat of superhuman skill. He wiped a trace of blood away with his black glove. "John...I had hoped to end your live myself but this seems to be your lucky day." He turned around swifty and everyone present noticed the trailing corona of red spill from his eyes. "When next we meet don't count on another." The double-crosser broke through the iron gate and disappeared down the stairs towards his waiting jet. ""