Burning Up

Nemesis

Quarantine Room 15. Right below a biohazard symbol and an Umbrella logo, it was printed on a placard: Quarantine Room 15. Using the very same needle she bypassed the card reader on her own door with, Alice made quick work of fooling the electronic lock and getting inside.

What awaited her and Rain most certainly did not look like Matt. In fact, the thing laid on the operating table hardly appeared to be human at all. The figure was probably a good seven feet tall. His leathery skin was stretched taut over his muscled body, leaving various holes that exposed the reddish muscle beneath. Some splits were closed with staples—most notably, over where his right eye should have been. His hair, nose, and lips were all missing, leaving his face distinctly skull-like.

God... What had Umbrella done to him?

What had Alice done? How could she fail him too? Red Queen said that scratches could have the same effect as bites. Alice should have known. She should have given him the antivirus as soon as they set foot back in the mansion.

...She should have just... been more careful. Shouldn't have given Spence the chance to listen in on him and Lisa, should've acted faster when he went for the gun, she... she...

This was all her damn fault. None of it should have happened. Alice did her best to blink back the tears threatening to spill from her eyes. Lisa, Kaplan, One, J.D., Drew, Warner, and Danilova should've all been alive.

Rain's attention shifted from Matt to Alice upon catching a very quiet sniffle. "Hey... You alright?" 'Obviously fucking not. Stupid question.' Her brain may have felt like it was steeped in fog, but she was fairly certain that Matt didn't look like that before. If he did, she would have remembered. On top of the already shitty sundae that was their current situation, seeing a friend turned into that must've been a lot to process.

'No. Neither of you should be going through this.' Alice scanned over the various monitors situated all around. "I'm fine." Rain could plainly see the wet streaks on her cheeks. "Before we wake him, I want to be sure that he'll still be in there."

"Is there a way to know?"

The only possible means Alice could think of were those damn files. If they could gain access to all of that information in the database locked behind higher clearance, she was certain she'd find the answer. "There might be." All she needed was the right passcode. "Stay here."

Rain nodded in acknowledgment as Alice left.

It went unnoticed on the way over, but the door nearest to Matt's was slightly ajar. Alice poked her head into the room. It was small and dark, occupied by nothing but a chair and a desk crowded with electronics. Six monitors, two keyboards, a microphone, and a mouse. Behind the screens, there was a window—no, not a window, a two-way mirror. Matt and Rain were visible on the other side.

Alice began rooting through drawers.

Left to her own devices, Rain pushed herself off the wall and slowly began to circle Matt. She could hardly believe the state of him.

His scent was strange. Despite all the torn flesh, the strong smell of living meat was absent. He was... almost sterile. There was something distinctly chemical, too. She imagined it to be what she'd smell if she walked into a mortuary.

Her attention was drawn to three large cuts on his left bicep. There was a clear attempt to close them up, but root-like tendrils had begun to poke out despite that. The blue-eyed man suddenly flashed through her mind.

She could see his features contorted in pain, his entire form tense as he clutched at the big, bright red, oozing cuts on his arm.

Then, in an instant, she was back on a metal table.