Chapter Eleven: Into the Hive! The Zombies Appear!
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Outside the mansion.
A secret conversation was taking place.
“Has James’s assault team entered the Hive?”
“Reporting, sir! James’s team has entered the Hive! However…”
“However, what?”
“We discovered two unidentified men inside the mansion. James brought them into the Hive as well!”
“Two unidentified men? You haven’t found any information on them?”
“Not yet. I suspect they’re corporate spies sent by another major conglomerate to investigate the secrets of our Umbrella Corporation!”
“Spies from another company? Ha! Ignore them! Issue orders immediately. Deploy three assault teams to seize the mansion. When the people inside come out… if anyone manages to come out, that is… arrest every one of them! The remaining teams will stand by where they are. No one is to enter or leave this place!”
“Yes, sir!”
One assault team after another emerged from the dark forest and infiltrated various parts of the mansion, taking complete control of the entire building.
Meanwhile.
Inside the Hive.
James, Yu Fei, and the others stopped in front of an elevator.
One member of the assault team pressed the elevator button, but nothing happened. He then forcibly pried open the doors and leaned over to look down.
“Captain, the elevator cable has snapped, and the shaft below is completely flooded. We probably won’t be able to take the elevator down.”
“Then we’ll use the stairs!”
James’s reply was immediate.
Yu Fei naturally had no objection.
In fact, even if the elevator had been working, he would never have taken it. He had no desire to find out what it felt like to be caught in an elevator and then sent hurtling up and down at high speed.
“Go, go, go! Pick up the pace!”
James urged them onward.
In the original story, they had planted a time bomb and, unable to use the elevator, had been forced to hurry downstairs so as not to waste time.
Although there was no longer any threat from a time bomb, James still urged them to move faster. If Yu Fei’s information was accurate, they probably did not have much time left.
Even without the bombs, Umbrella’s other armed teams would certainly act within a set period of time.
As one of Umbrella’s own assault-team members, James was all too familiar with their methods.
Fortunately, everyone in the group was in excellent physical condition.
The assault-team members needed no explanation. They had all been trained to the standards of military special-forces units. Even the team’s medics and technicians were far stronger than ordinary people.
Of the remaining three, Yu Fei was in the shape of a world-class athlete. Even James, the strongest member of the assault team, fell slightly short of him.
Matt was also tall and powerfully built, with a physique far superior to that of an average man.
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Alice appeared to be the “weakest” of them all. Yet even though she had not been injected with the T-virus, she had still managed to become head of security at the Hive laboratory. Her physical condition could hardly be poor.
With everyone in the group possessing strength far beyond that of ordinary people, they descended dozens of floors in less than a minute and a half, finally reaching the first underground level of the true Hive laboratory.
“Kaplan! Lead the way!”
“Follow me!”
Holding his handheld computer, Kaplan consulted the three-dimensional map displayed on it and led the group forward.
They turned left and right several times before a pool of standing water blocked their path.
“Rain! Salinas! Go ahead and see whether this route is passable!”
James paused, then added:
“And be careful!”
“Understood!”
Unlike in the original story, Rain and Salinas did not act carelessly.
After Yu Fei warned them that zombies might be present, they remained extremely cautious, even though nothing had yet confirmed the possibility.
The two of them proceeded carefully to scout the way ahead.
James turned to the others.
“The rest of you, take a short break here and remain alert!”
Alice, looking somewhat fatigued, leaned against a glass wall. Almost unconsciously, she touched the ring in her hand, and memories of her many moments with Spence once again surfaced in her mind.
In those memories, she and Spence had seemed genuinely happy together. Yet who could have imagined…
“Ah!”
Alice suddenly let out a shriek.
“What is it?”
“What happened?”
Everyone was startled.
“There’s a body!”
Alice pointed toward the corpse of a woman on the other side of the glass wall.
Behind the glass was a biological research laboratory. Because of the Red Queen, the entire laboratory had been flooded.
No one knew what the water had mixed with. It had turned a murky green, with almost no visibility. They did not notice the female corpse until it drifted over to the glass wall.
“It’s all right. It’s only a corpse.”
Matt spoke up to reassure her.
The other assault-team members relaxed as well.
Only Yu Fei suddenly stepped forward.
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“That’s not merely a corpse…”
“Hm?”
Everyone stared blankly at him. Before they could understand what he meant, Yu Fei suddenly swung his fist with all his strength.
Bang!
The tremendous blow struck the glass wall. It failed to shatter the glass, but it still sent a powerful tremor through the structure.
The ripples spread through the water and reached the female corpse.
The next second—
The corpse suddenly opened its eyes.
The dead, lifeless stare caused everyone present to feel their hearts momentarily stop.
But that was not the most terrifying part.
The most terrifying thing was that the female corpse had come alive.
She bared a set of vicious, jagged teeth and began to roar madly. Although she might not have been able to see Yu Fei and the others, she clawed frenziedly at the glass wall with both hands and feet, moving like a rabid beast.
“Zombie! There really are zombies in this laboratory!”
Kaplan’s voice trembled.
He had received professional training, and under normal circumstances, he would never have succumbed to fear. But what stood before him now was a zombie.
Who could remain completely calm in the face of such a nonhuman creature?
Even James, who had survived countless battles, instinctively placed a hand on his weapon.
At that moment, only the gun in his hand could give him any real sense of security.
“Damn it! I knew Umbrella was no good! They actually developed a monster like this, with absolutely no regard for human life!”
Matt cursed furiously.
Under other circumstances, the assault-team members might have taught him a lesson. But now, every one of them remained silent.
The truth was right before their eyes. Even they found Umbrella’s actions difficult to stomach.
Just then, Rain and Salinas returned.
“What happened? Why are you all—”
Rain’s words broke off in a sharp gasp.
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