The voyagers remained quiet as they continued moving. Mercenaries held their weapons up as they swiftly moved through the floor.

Carl was desperate. He didn’t know why the voyagers, even the girl that seemed so nice, would agree on letting t-virus spread across the world. From the memory he received, most of mankind would be gone in a few years. Governments toppled. Civilizations wiped out. Old people would be slaughtered while the few children that survived would be turned into soldiers fighting for their lives. What kind of “reward” was tempting enough to make someone agree to this?

Carl didn’t know, and he didn’t want to. He just wanted it to stop. The memory told him the penalty for failure was death, but what type of person would he be if his survival was based on the suffering of 7 billion?

But there was nothing he could do to stop it. Any one of the three voyagers could kill him almost instantly. He had firearms, but he doubted someone as inexperienced as he could take down a dozen trained killers. He glanced at the girl that came up with the brutal idea and realized she wasn’t even looking at him. Either she was stupid or she was confident he wouldn’t be a threat. Carl thought it was the second reason. His steps turned rapid and scrambled as he looked around, searched throughout his memory, and tried to come up with a way to get by his “comrades” and prevent the t-virus from reaching the outside world.

The team reached a sealed door with an Umbrella symbol on it. As his men went through the door, Shade told the rest of the group why they were really here. The AI controlling the compound, the Red Queen, suddenly turned loose and killed everyone. The team was sent down there to turn her off. The voyagers pretended to be shocked as they shouldn’t have known this information.

The door fell quickly, and the group found themselves walking into a place labeled as Dining Area B. Unlike a normal dining area, it was filled with large sealed cases with tubes connected to the ground. Only fools think it was a place for eating. Then again it was never stated that it was a dining area for human beings…or that those being dined on were not.

Looking at the containers filled with lickers, Carl toyed with the idea of warning the Sanitation Team about them, but Shade didn’t care at all about whatever secret Umbrella had down here. As a mercenary who had seen the darkest side of mankind, he knew sometimes curiosity not only kill cats but human as well. A facility as important and secret as The Hive likely held important information, information Umbrella wanted to keep as a secret. Know too much, and the leaders of the Corporation might decide only the dead could forever remain quiet. He merely waved his hand and ignored the strange looking containers.

“JD. You and Rain keep the prisoner here and secure the exit.” Rain was the female mercenary that cuffed Matt Addison. JD was a mercenary who was flirting with Rain. The two nodded. “There may be survivors. Rest of you form a search line and keep it tight.”

“Xia, stay with them. Keep this place secured.” The acting captain, Ivan, ordered. They wanted to spread the infection, not become a part of it. The exit was one of the most important positions. Hold it, and they could escape whenever they needed to. Voyagers weren’t afraid of a few hundred undead, but the tricky part was they needed to stay alive and keep most of the undead alive. Massacre the undead here, and Umbrella might just contain the infection. That would be helping their enemy.

Shade glanced at Ivan but didn’t object. The Sanitation Team and the Hound squad were two separate forces. Shade didn’t know why, but he imagined there to be a reason for the five men and women to be here. A secret mission, perhaps, and more importantly it was a mission Shade had no intention of knowing. That was why he didn’t do anything or suspect anything when the voyagers sat by and had their own conversations. He didn’t want to get himself in trouble by knowing too much.

Walking across the container dotted room, Jean discreetly tapped the lickers with her xel’naga celestial energy. Xel’naga created both the protoss and the zerg. Their power contained not only destructive potential but also creative possibilities as well. Jean’s eyes flickered as information about the licker flowed back to her.

The lickers were created by further experiments on basic undead zombies. With enhanced speed, strength, regeneration, and a tongue that could act as a ranged weapon, lickers were much more effective than their zombie counterparts. Still, a single sentinel could kill it with a few slashes. Even a few zerglings in the Starcraft world could rip it apart. Nevertheless, it was important to know that a few zerglings could also massacre the entire Sanitation Team with ease. Their weapons couldn’t even break through the zerg carapace. The lickers were by no means fragile. With the element of surprise, they could effectively break through an army. Pulling her energy back, she casually walked away.

In front of another container, Carl didn’t share Jean’s optimism. Jean could crush the creature like crushing an ant, but the same could be said for Carl and the licker. Looking down on his rifle, the young man wondered what it could do against the foul creature.

Suddenly Carl heard someone approaching from beside. He jumped slightly. It had been a few nervous hours. But his alert fell when he saw who it was.

“A…” He caught himself, realizing Alice was still suffering from amnesia. She didn’t even know who herself was, which meant she definitely didn’t tell him her name. “...Ahhh...Hey.”

“Hey.” Alice subconsciously replied, her eyes still on the dormant licker. “What is this?”

Carl didn’t reply. Instead, looking at Alice, he saw a possible ally. Alice had more than enough hatred for Umbrella to want to destroy it. In the future, she would become extremely powerful with the power of t-virus. Even now she could slaughter quite a few zombies with her training as the head of security of The Hive. She could be a useful friend, especially when his voyager comrades were being more than useless.

But before he could say anything, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He jumped a little as he turned.

“Keep moving,” Ivan warned with his deep voice. His cold tone suggested Carl not to do anything stupid.

Carl nodded slowly and left the container’s side, not wanting to get into a fight with Ivan now.

Now smaller by four people, the 12 men squad kept on moving and found themselves standing before a metal door. Looking through the glass window of the door, Carl could see a hallway covered with glass on both sides. The target of the Sanitation Team, the Red Queen, was on the other side of this pathway. As far as the mercenaries knew, the only thing protecting the AI was the metal door.

Carl knew better. He knew the innocent hallway would turn into a deadly trap at the AI’s command. Lasers would cut any intruder to pieces, literally. It was this trap that costed the lives of four mercenaries, including Shade himself.

The tech guy, Kaplan, took out his computer and started to hack into the Red Queen’s defenses. A few seconds later, the metal door snapped open.

As the captain of the Sanitation Team, Shade was trusted by his men, and there was a reason for that. For example, in this case, when the hallway wasn’t completely secured, Shade was the first to enter. Unlike some leaders(Jean), he had no intention of using his underlings as cannon fodders. He was cold blooded to more people, but this was nowhere to be seen toward his brothers in arm.

As Shade entered the room, the lights suddenly turned on. Shade froze. “Kaplan?”

“Automatic lights.” The man replied.

Shade nodded and turned to the rest of his team, including two other mercenaries and one medic, and ordered them to enter. The two mercenaries carried a large case as they entered. The case held a device that could turn off the Red Queen.

In the original history as soon as the four mercenaries entered the hallway the door would close, cutting off their retreat. When Kaplan managed to open the door again, all four would be in pieces.

Jean and Ivan had no intention of saving the mercenaries. The mercenaries proved no worth to their cause.

Carl had a slightly different idea.

This trap, to a certain point, contributed to the spread of t-virus infection. When the Red Queen was eventually turned off and the undead was unleashed, the Sanitation Team was caught by surprise. But even with their reduced numbers, they were able to take down a number of zombies and just lose one man, JD, and that was because he was completely caught by surprise. If four more elite soldiers, armed and trained, could join the battle...the Sanitation Team might be able to push the zombies back with their superior firepower and gun down any zombie before they could get close enough to attack. With reduced numbers, the zombies might not be able to break through the Umbrella forces at the entrance of the mansion. Even if the voyagers didn’t do anything, just the mercenaries might be enough to contain the infection.

So he did something he thought was clever but was actually really stupid.

“The Red Queen is highly intelligent. I doubt there is no protection for her at all.” He walked up and said, interrupting the mercenaries’ movement.

Shade frowned. “What do you mean?” He sounded a bit offended.

“I don’t think the Red Queen is truly hacked.” Carl continued frankly, not seeing Shade’s darkening expression.

Jean frowned. This is not going to turn out well.

Shade glared at Ivan. “What is this?” He wasn’t grateful at Carl’s warning at all. The Sanitation Team and the Hound squadron were two parties with, as far as he knew, separate missions. Shade had never interfered with the voyagers’ missions and the voyagers had stayed clear of the mercenaries’ path. But now a member of the Hound squadron was suddenly questioning the decision made by the captain of the Sanitation Team. This was simply offensive.

Ivan shrugged apologizingly. “Sorry. He’s new.” Shade thought he was referring Carl was new as a mercenary. The voyagers knew what he truly meant.

“Keep your men in check. This is not a drill.” Shade replied harshly and turned to Kaplan. Carl’s warning, despite being dismissed, planted a tiny seed of doubt in Shade’s mind. But the confident nod his teammate gave him wiped that seed out. He would choose his own team over a random noob anytime. As he nodded at his fellow team, the three mercenaries continued to walk into the hallway of death, ignoring Carl’s warning.

Carl opened his mouth, but no word came out. What could he say? How could he save someone that didn’t trust him at all? Suddenly he felt so alone. Everything he tried had failed, and he had no idea what to do. There was nothing he could do as the four mercenaries walked into a trap that can and will kill them.

Fate was continuing down a road Carl did not like.