All of You

Not Who You Thought

I led the team into City Hall. Chris told me to take it easy and stay behind him at all times. As soon as we reached City Hall, a certain smell stung our noses. In addition, the place was all too quiet. Where was Delta Team?

"Search this place from top to bottom. I want all of you to be on guard," Chris ordered, realising the same thing as I did.

I got a sudden headache. I could see Chris and Piers walking ahead of me, but my vision became blurry. I saw another man approaching me, but the apparition soon disappeared. What the hell was that?

"Riley?" Chris asked when he noticed I wasn't behind him.

"Sorry, Cap. I'm alright, don't worry," I assured, rushing towards him.

He looked at me in worry as he glanced at my hand. Finn then gasped as he passed by what looked like cocoons. Guess that's where Delta Team went. Just then, we heard a loud click coming from above. Finn rushed up the stairs, claiming that there was something behind the door. Chris commanded Piers and me to follow him while the rest of Alpha Team to continue searching the place.

"Riley to HQ. Four of us are splitting off from the group. We're heading further into the building."

Finn took point. He led us inside but stopped in his tracks. He claimed that he saw someone and tried to chase after the person. However, a J'avo appeared out of nowhere to attack Finn. Guns were of no use because the J'avo was struggling against Finn and they were too close for arms. I took out my knife and plunged it right in the head of the J'avo.

"Good thinking, Lieutenant Riley! Thank you!" Finn breathed a little harder than he should, still shocked from being attacked suddenly.

"Alright?" I asked, putting away my knife and extending my right hand.

He took it and nodded. Meanwhile, Piers was accusing me of not staying behind the Captain's back. "He told you to stay behind him at all times. Didn't you hear?"

"So you want Finn dead?"

Chris broke us up immediately. He pointed forward, telling Piers to go on ahead. Finn quickly walked ahead of Piers who was at this moment walking far too fast, to continue taking point. Chris handed me a magazine for my 9mm handgun.

"I know you can handle yourself, Riley. That's why I chose you. Cover our backs."

"Of course, Captain."

The hallways were eerie. We came across three cocoons, just like the ones in the foyer. Suddenly, the cocoons hatched one by one. The menacing-looking stone beasts had hard shells, but Chris took care of them by using his incendiary grenades. The four of us moved forward into an empty room when the person Finn saw from earlier showed up. Chris and Piers immediately drew out their guns.

"C-Virus. That's what the guerrillas were calling it. Nice to see the cavalry's here."

"Who are you?" Piers demanded, stepping forward.

"I work here. My name's Ada Wong. They held me hostage."

Bullshit. I glared at Ada who looked like her usual cunning self. I didn't know what she was here for this time, but I knew it wasn't good intentions. The last time I saw her was in Spain during my mission with Leon to rescue the previous president's daughter, Ashley Graham. If Ada gave away my identity right now, it was over for me. However, she didn't seem to give me any attention as she continued on to answer Chris' questions. My ears perked up when she mentioned Neo-Umbrella. For all I know, she could be the one leading them. She was always full of nasty surprises. I didn't know why Leon was so fond of her, but they had a long history together. She was this mysterious femme fatale that caught the eyes of my partner. It's too bad that he keeps on chasing her like a lost puppy. Ada had some redeeming qualities, but other than that, I would stay away from her. It was always trouble whenever she's around, and I didn't need extra problems on my shoulders.

"Come on, I'll show you a quick way out of here," Ada said, getting out of the room first.

I gave a pointed look at Chris, who immediately got me.

"Finn, you're in charge of looking after her," I told him and he nodded.

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Piers, keep an eye on her," Chris lowered his voice.

We made our way back to the foyer. The cocoons had already hatched and the same BOWs from earlier were attacking Alpha Team.

"Fall back!" I yelled.

We rushed up to the second floor where Ada pressed a button to reveal a secret door. Everyone managed to enter before the door closed. We then encountered three new BOWs that looked like lizards. While we took care of the BOWs, Ada threw in a snide remark here and there. It was nothing new but it definitely pissed off Piers who then told her to stay in her own lane.

"Over here. This is the shortcut to the exit."

I was wary of Ada the whole time. I didn't recall having another way out of the building, so I alerted Chris who nodded in acknowledgement. He gave a signal to Piers who moved closer to Ada to keep track of her every move. We went through the warehouse and killed the BOWs. We reached one of the gates, but it was sealed tight. Chris was about to ask Finn to blow up the door when a certain someone was missing.

"She's gone!" I yelled, holding onto my handgun tighter.

"I don't know what happened! She was here a second ago!" Finn said in a panic voice.

The door suddenly opened. Chris took point and we moved cautiously inside. Suddenly, an alarm sounded and both doors started to close fast. I shoved Chris and Piers out of the room, but I wasn't able to get the others out. The three of us were separated from the team and they were trapped. Ada then appeared on the other side, holding a small device in her hands.

"Thanks for the escort. Here's something to remember me by," Ada said, throwing the device into the room.

"No!" I cried out, holding onto the bars of the door.

Ada had injected them with the C-Virus and all of them became cocoons. Finn yelled in pain as he reached his hand out. Chris came up beside me and tried to take his hand, but Finn had already hardened.

"No... No, goddammit, no! Finn, hang in there! Not like this!" Chris cried out exasperatedly.

They began hatching right after, transforming into the ugly stone beasts. The doors slowly opened and the BOWs advanced towards us.

"We've got to move!" Piers yelled, pulling me back first.

Chris, however, wasn't budging from his position. Piers had started shooting, but his bullets weren't doing much damage to the BOWs.

"Chris!" I shouted, trying to push him out of the way.

My vision turned black as soon as my back hit the wall. I couldn't see if Chris was alright and I couldn't hear anything Piers was shouting. I wanted to move, but every bone in my body seemed like it was broken. The last thing I saw before I passed out was a BOW right in front of me.