Out of Control

"Do you think this thing has a life of its own? You know, once a T-Virus host's head is destroyed, all the viruses inside it go dormant and stop all activity. But this thing was separated from its host and it's still so active."

"That's why the person Wesker brought back might not have been infected with the T-Virus. He could have been infected with the G-Virus. The G-Virus has limitless potential, so it's only natural that it would remain active even after being separated."

"How is that possible? The G-Virus is the company's ultimate trump card. Every vial of the virus and every test subject is strictly documented. How could he have escaped?"

"Stop talking and take it out to study. Then we'll know."

The researchers crowded around the viral fragment, chattering away like a bunch of women in a clothing store arguing over which outfit looked better.

They valued scientific research more than their own lives and could hardly wait to pry open the protective casing and examine the lump of black material under an electron microscope.

But the casing was locked to the metal table, and only Wesker could open it.

He'd brought them here to observe it, but wouldn't open it so they could get a closer look. Wasn't he deliberately dangling it in front of them?

Bang!

Suddenly!

The viral fragment, which had been moving erratically inside the protective casing, hardened without warning into a black spike and lunged at the researchers watching it!

It struck the casing with a loud thud. Lacking sufficient force, it only left a scratch.

Without the casing, one of the researchers would probably have been impaled through the head!

The researchers were caught off guard and startled, each instinctively taking a step back.

"Please observe from behind the safety line. If anything happens, we'll have trouble explaining ourselves to Supervisor Wesker," the two U.S.S. soldiers guarding the door warned them.

The two soldiers served under Captain Kromi. They had also taken part in the operation to capture Xia Tianming and were among the few lucky survivors.

After the battle, they hadn't left with the armored vehicle transporting Xia Tianming's corpse. Instead, following Supervisor Wesker's orders, they had cleaned up the scene and collected fragments knocked off the target, to prevent them from infecting other organisms and creating another creature like him.

Afterward, they brought the viral fragments to the temporary laboratory next door to the Safe House and stayed behind to guard them.

These two lucky men didn't know that their other surviving comrades had ultimately failed to escape the clutches of Xia Tianming, who had come back from the dead.

And one of the two soldiers had accidentally inhaled some of the black powder blown into the air when he'd used a high-explosive grenade to test whether Xia Tianming's corpse, charred by the Rod of God, was still alive...

"Uh... why's your nose bleeding?"

One soldier saw dark liquid running from both of his companion's nostrils and pointed it out.

The soldier heard him and instinctively felt beneath his nose. He really was bleeding, and the blood was pitch-black.

Why did it look so much like the indescribable thing in the protective casing? And why did he feel as though someone were calling to him from somewhere beyond his sight...?

"Maybe it's because I was startled earlier..."

The soldier was about to wipe the blood away with his sleeve when his raised arm suddenly froze in midair.

Seeing his companion stand motionless like a puppet for no apparent reason, with blood dripping from his chin onto the floor, the other soldier reached out to pat him.

The moment his fingertips touched the man's shoulder—

"Argh!"

The soldier with the nosebleed suddenly turned his head and opened his mouth, sinking his teeth into the hand reaching toward him!

The other soldier was horrified and shoved him away, but his hand was already covered in blood!

When he looked again, his companion's eyes had been completely consumed by a strange blackness. Not a trace of white remained.

Before he could react, the black-eyed soldier lunged at him again...

The researchers heard the commotion behind them and turned around. The sight before them made their hearts stop.

One soldier was snarling like a beast as he savagely tore into the other soldier's neck. The man's windpipe was exposed, slick with blood, which flowed across the floor to the researchers' feet!

"What's going on? Has he been infected with the T-Virus?!" one researcher cried out.

But before soldiers entered the base from the wilderness, they had to pass through a virus detection gate. It scanned them for any biohazards they might be carrying, preventing outbreaks within the company.

How had it failed to detect him?

Could it be that he'd been infected by a virus the company didn't know about?

Their suspicions were soon confirmed.

The soldier who'd been bitten—whether he was still breathing or not—suddenly began convulsing violently on the floor.

Suddenly!

His body went rigid, and his upper half sat bolt upright. His pitch-black eyes, like the Abyss, stared fixedly at the researchers standing in front of him, dumbstruck. The ghastly wound in his neck continued to gush blood...

Had he been infected and turned in less than ten seconds?

The fastest infection time for the T-Virus was still one to three hours...

"Ah!!!"

The laboratory soon rang with the researchers' screams and the snarls of monsters...

The commotion carried into the Safe House next door.

"What are they yelling about next door? Are they really that excited over a fragment? Is it more thrilling than watching the battle unfold right here?"

One of the shareholders, annoyed but curious, went outside to see what the bookworms were so excited about.

The moment he opened the door, an extremely fast figure pounced on him and knocked him to the ground. Without hesitation, it opened its bloody maw and sank its teeth into his neck. Blood sprayed three feet away!

Everyone inside froze at the sudden turn of events. Wesker was the first to react. He leaped over the two people struggling on the floor and slammed the Safe House door shut.

As soon as he closed the heavy door, loud banging erupted from the other side, accompanied by bloodcurdling roars.

That sound was unmistakably the snarling of Zombies!

When they looked at the figure that had rushed inside, they saw that he was wearing a lab coat. They recognized him as one of the researchers who had gone to the laboratory next door to observe the enemy's fragment.

He had already turned into a Zombie, but unlike the others, whose eyes were a clouded, ashen gray, his were pure black!

As for the unlucky shareholder he'd tackled, he had stopped struggling. A bite mark deep enough to expose bone marred his face.

"How did he end up looking like that? He was fine just a moment ago! Has the Zombie virus leaked? But how could something like this happen inside the base?" the shareholders cried in panic.

Their cries drew the Zombie researcher's attention. He rose from the floor and lunged at them again, arms outstretched and claws bared!

The shareholders stared in terror and let out shrill, womanlike screams!

Bang!