Before she could ask any questions, he turned and faced her, smiling uneasily. Look, I'm sorry I didn't wait for you, but I heard somebody walking out in the garden and had to take a look. I found this place by accident, kind of tripped and fell in… anyway. I'm glad you're here. Let's check around, see what we can dig up.
Jill nodded, but decided to keep a close eye on Barry for awhile. Maybe she was paranoid, but in spite of his words, he didn't seem all that happy to see her…
Watch and wait, her mind whispered. For now, there was nothing else she could do.
Barry led them toward the door to the right, holding his Colt up. He pulled the handle, revealing another gloomy tunnel.
A few steps in to the right was another metal door and across from it, the passage veered sharply into almost complete darkness. Barry motioned at the door and Jill nodded. He pushed it open and the two of them moved in to another silent corridor.
Jill sighed inwardly as she studied the bare rocky walls, wishing that she had a piece of chalk with her.
The tunnel they were in now looked pretty much like all the rest of them, turning left up ahead. She already felt lost, and hoped that there weren't too many more twists and turns.
Hello? Who's there! A deep, familiar voice shouted from somewhere ahead of them, the words echoing through the passage.
Enrico? Jill called out.
Jill? Is that you?
Excited, Jill ran the last few steps to the corner and around, Barry right behind her. The Bravo team leader was still alive, had somehow ended up down here.
Jill rounded the next corner and saw him sitting against the wall, the tunnel widening out and ending in a shadowy alcove.
Hold it! Stop right there!
She froze, staring at the Beretta he had pointed at her. He was injured, blood seeping from his leg and puddling on the floor.
Are you with anyone, Jill? His dark eyes were narrowed with suspicion, the black bore of his semiautomatic unwavering.
Barry's here, too – Enrico, what happened?
What's this about?
As Barry stepped out from behind the corner, Enrico stared at them both for a long moment, his gaze darting back and forth nervously and then he sagged, lowering his gun as he fell back against the stones. Barry and Jill hurried over, crouching down next to the wounded Bravo.
I'm sorry, he said weakly. I had to make sure…
It was as though defending himself had taken his last bit of strength. Jill took his hand gently, alarmed at how pale he was. Blood oozed from his thigh, his pants soaked with it.
This whole thing was a set-up, he breathed, turning his watering gaze toward her. I got lost, I climbed the fence, saw the tunnels… found the paper… Umbrella knew, all along…
Barry looked stricken, his face almost as white as Enrico's. Hang on, Rico. We'll get you out of here, you just have lie still.
Enrico shook his head, still looking at Jill. There's a traitor in the S.T.A.R.S., he whispered. He told me…
Bam! Bam!
Enrico's body jumped as two holes suddenly appeared in his chest, blood pulsing out of them in violent spurts. Through the resounding echo of the shots, running footsteps clattered away down the corridor behind them.
Barry launched to his feet and sprinted around the corner as Jill helplessly squeezed Enrico's twitching hand, her heart pounding and sick. He slumped over, dead before he touched the cold stone floor.
Her mind flooded with questions as Barry's pursuing footsteps faded away, silence settling once again over the deep shadows. What paper had the Bravo found? When Enrico had said traitor she'd immediately thought of Barry, acting so strangely, but he'd been right beside her when the shots had been fired.
So who did this? Who was Trent talking about? Who did Enrico see?
Feeling lost and alone, Jill held his cooling hand and waited for Barry to come back.
Rebecca was going through an old trunk pushed against one wall of the room they'd entered, shuffling through stacks of papers and frowning while Chris checked out the rest of the room. A single, rumpled cot, a desk, and a towering, ancient bookshelf were the only other pieces of furniture. After the cold, alien splendor of the mansion, Chris was absurdly grateful to be in simpler surroundings.
They'd come to a house at the end of the long, winding path from the courtyard, much smaller and infinitely less intimidating than the mansion. The hall they'd stepped into was plain, undecorated wood, as were the two small bedrooms they'd discovered just off the silent corridor. Chris figured they'd found a bunkhouse for some of the mansion's employees.
He had noticed the thick, unmarked dust in the hallway on their way in with a sinking resignation, realizing that none of the other S.T.A.R.S. had made it out of the main house. With no way for him and Rebecca to get back, all they could do was try to find the back door and go for help. Chris didn't like it, but there weren't any other options.
After a brief perusal of the shelves, Chris walked to the battered wooden desk and pulled at the top drawer; it was locked. He bent down and felt along the bottom of the drawer, grinning as his fingers touched a thick piece of tape.
Don't people ever watch movies? The key's always stuck under the drawer.
He peeled the tape away and came up with a tiny silver key. Still grinning, he unlocked the drawer and pulled it open.
There was a deck of playing cards, a few pens and pencils, gum wrappers, a crumpled pack of cigarettes – junk, mostly, the kind of stuff that always seemed to accumulate in desk drawers…
Bingo!
Chris picked up the key ring by its leather tag, pleased with himself. If finding the exit was this easy, they'd be on their way back to Raccoon in no time.
Looks like we just got a break, he said softly, holding up the keys. The leather tag had the word Alias burned into one side, the number 345 written on the back in smudged ball-point pen. Chris didn't know the significance of the number, but he remembered the nickname from the diary he'd found in the mansion.
Thank you, Mr. Alias. Assuming the keys were for the bunkhouse, they were that much closer to getting off the estate.
Rebecca was still sitting by the trunk, surrounded by papers, envelopes, even a few grainy photos that she'd pulled out. She seemed totally absorbed in whatever she was reading, and when Chris walked over to join her, she looked up at him with eyes clouded by worry.
You find something?
Rebecca held up the piece of paper she was reading.
A couple of things. Listen to this: 'Four days since the accident and the plant at Point 42 is still growing and mutating at an incredible rate…'
She skipped ahead, skimming the page with one finger as she spoke. It calls this thing Plant 42, and says its root is in the basement… here. 'Shortly after the accident, one of the infected members of the research team became violent and broke the water tank in the basement, flooding the entire section. We think some trace chemicals used in the T-virus tests contaminated the water and contributed to Plant 42's radical mutations. A number of shoots have already been traced to different parts of the building, but the main plant now hangs from the ceiling in the large conference room on the first floor… “ 'We've determined that Plant 42 has become sensitive to movement and is now carnivorous. In close proximity to humans, it uses tentacular, prehensile vines to entrap its prey while leechlike adaptations latch onto exposed skin and draw fatal quantities of blood; several members of the staff have already fallen victim to this.' It's dated May twenty-first, signed Henry Sarton.
Chris shook his head, wondering again how someone could invent a virus like the one they had come across. It seemed to infect everything it touched with madness, transforming its carrier into a deadly carnivore, hungry for blood.
God, now a man-eating plant…
Chris shuddered, suddenly twice as glad that they'd be leaving soon.
