The Red Queen's hologram flickered, her prim voice cutting through the tense air of the Hive's core room. "There's a way out—underground, through the water and gas pipeline tunnels."
Raja clapped, grinning like he'd won a Quidditch bet. "That's my lil' sis Red, coming through!"
The team—Shade, Rain, Alice, Matt, JD, Kaplan—exhaled, clutching weapons, still rattled from Raja's execution of Spencer, the virus-leaking traitor.
MAYA: "Master, they're scared of you now."
Raja ignored her, rallying the squad. "Listen up, folks—tunnels mean zombies, guaranteed. We move quiet, no shooting, eyes sharp. Got it?"
The team nodded, uneasy but trusting his lead, their faces pale under the Hive's flickering lights.
Raja took point, knife gleaming, with Alice and Rain in the middle, Glocks ready.
Shade, JD, Kaplan, Medic, Commando 1&2 and Matt covered the rear, rifles up, creeping through the damp, echoing passage.
The tunnel stretched forever—pipes hissing, shadows dancing—wearing everyone down. Exhaustion hit hard; Matt slumped, Kaplan's hands shook, Rain's glares softened to fatigue. Even Raja felt the mental grind, though he'd never admit it.
"Break time," he called, voice low. "Five minutes, chill." The team sagged against walls, sipping water, nerves frayed but grateful.
Alice muttered, "This place is a nightmare."
Raja winked, "Just needs better lighting, Red."
Matt, leaning on a rusted grill door, didn't see the zombie lunging until its they caught his hand and dragged him. "Gah!" he yelped, stumbling.
Kaplan, panicking, fired—BANG!—the shot echoing like a dinner bell. Zombie groans swelled, footsteps thundering closer.
Raja spun, eyes blazing. "Kaplan, I said no shooting! What the hell?"
Kaplan shrank, "Sorry, boss—freaked out!"
Raja groaned, "Fine, no time to cry. Girls, crawl up the pipes—follow us. Guys, I'm front; you hold six o'clock, headshots only. Move!" The team snapped into gear, adrenaline overriding fear.
Zombies poured in, a snarling tide. Raja drew his enchanted knife—no magic, just wicked sharp—and went feral, dodging, punching, slicing limbs like they were overgrown weeds. Heads rolled, bodies crumpled, his peak-human strength a blur of destruction.
On the Back, Shade's crew fired tight bursts, skulls popping, while Alice, Rain, Medic and Matt scrambled along the overhead pipes, grunting with effort.
The tunnel dead-ended at a grilled ceiling, blocked by debris.
Raja leapt, muscles flexing, and smashed the grills with a single heave, metal screeching. "Up here, now!" he roared, signaling the team.
Alice, Rain, Medic and Matt dropped into the ceiling chamber, panting.
Raja played human trampoline, boosting JD, Kaplan, Shade, commando 1&2 and Matt one by one with a shove—each landing with a yelp.
Zombies surged closer, claws scraping.
Raja sprinted at the horde, channeling his inner action star, and unleashed a roundhouse kick that sent the front line crashing back like bowling pins.
He spun, bolted, and leapt—Spider-Man style—clearing the ceiling gap in one fluid vault. Landing, he grinned at the team's dropped jaws. "What, miss me already?"
Rain muttered, "Showoff."
MAYA: "You're enjoying this too much."
They crept through the middle floor, guns up, nerves taut. The experimental lab loomed—ground zero for the T-virus leak.
No zombies, just eerie silence.
Raja spotted a Red Queen camera and a comm screen, striding over to patch in. "Yo, lil' sis Red, why's this floor a ghost town?"
The team frowned—what kind of question is this?
Alice whispered, "Let's just go."
But Raja's grin was pure mischief, like he smelled a twist. Red Queen's hologram didn't answer, her silence louder than a banshee. The crew shifted, uneasy.
MAYA: "She's hiding something, Master."
Raja leaned closer, voice teasing. "C'mon, Red—don't tell me you let those Dining Hall beasties loose when we flipped your switch."
The team froze, chills racing. Images flashed onscreen—Lickers, all claws and tongues, ripping through chambers.
Red Queen snapped, "I didn't release them—you did, shutting me down caused it!"
The team gaped, stomachs dropping.
JD croaked, "Lickers?!"
Raja's grin didn't waver. "How many got out, Red? And where's the armory?"
She replied, flat, "Ten Lickers escaped. Armory's two floors down." Ten. Panic rippled—Matt cursed, Kaplan paled.
Raja clapped, unfazed. "Here's the plan: you lot hit the tram station, secure Spencer's virus samples, guard 'em tight. I'm grabbing guns below. Wait five minutes—if I'm not back, bounce. Clear?"
Alice and Rain protested, "We're not leaving you Kid!"
Raja flashed a cocky smile, "I'm too pretty to die—promise I'll show."
They relented, eyes worried. He added, serious, "Surface-side, Umbrella's definitely waiting to jump on you. Don't fight—cooperate. Shade, act like mission accomplished, hand over the virus if they ask. Resistance gets you dead. Stay sharp, yeah?"
Shade saluted, "Sir, yes, sir!"
Raja waved the guys to turn around, then swooped in, French-kissing Alice and Rain like a soap opera star—long, dramatic, leaving them blushing.
He handed them his Glocks, mags, a grenade, an incendiary, and two flashbangs.
"Use it tactically before I reach you guys," he winked, sprinting for the armory like a caffeinated cheetah, kicking zombies aside with glee.
En route, six zombie dogs lunged, jaws snapping. Raja's knife flashed—six swings, six heads hit the floor, clean as a chef's chop.
Red Queen's cameras caught it, and got stunned by your Super Human Feats.
MAYA: "You're terrifying her."
The armory gleamed—Umbrella's finest.
Raja grabbed two custom Glocks (four mags), an assault rifle (five mags), each gun a masterpiece of precision.
Red Queen popped up on a screen, urgent. "Your friends are in trouble."
Footage showed Lickers stalking the tram station, claws clicking.
Raja's eyes narrowed. "Red, why didn't those freaks hit me on my way here?"
She paused, "Lickers are hive-minded, more mutated than zombies. They're… avoiding you. Maybe fear."
Raja's grin was pure evil. "Good—they should fear me. I'm turning 'em into shish kebab." He bolted, Usain Bolt on overdrive, toward the tram.
Five minutes earlier, Alice and Rain scoured the tram station for Spencer's virus case, striking out until Alice remembered—they found Spencer in the tram first.
She checked, found the case, and popped it open: T-virus vials, glowing blue. "Got it," she told Shade, but her eyes flicked up—a Licker slithered across the ceiling, tongue flicking. She froze, heart pounding.
Shade whispered, "Guys, walk towards the tram—slowly. Ladies, follow."
They crept, silent, as Kaplan fired the engine. The rumble woke the Lickers, who sprinted, claws screeching metal.
Shade's team fired, bullets bouncing off Licker hides.
Alice and Rain tossed flashbangs—BANG!—stunning the beasts, then lobbed grenades and incendiaries—BOOM!—two Lickers exploded, four reeled, scorched.
The last four charged, relentless. Ammo dwindled; the team bolted for the tram.
A Licker lunged at Rain, but—SHUNK!—a blade pinned it to the tram.
Raja vaulted in, rifle blazing, parkour-flipping like a ninja, dropping four Lickers with Spraying Bullets at their heads until their Hides give up and headshoting them, emptying his rifle.
The team cheered, but three Lickers regrouped, bull-sized and pissed.
Raja ditched his rifle, Glocks out, channeling inner John Wick.
He danced—tackling, shooting, mags dropping—each bullet a taunt.
The team's minds screamed, He is Not human! Licker hides shrugged off shots, so Raja yelled, "Kaplan, move the tram—I'll catch it!"
They trusted him, engine roaring.
Raja roundhouse-kicked one Licker, punched another flying, and Spartan-kicked the third into a wall—CRUNCH! And Bolted towards the Moving tramp like cheetah and jumped towards the Tram to catch it.
Alice and Rain readied themselves to catch raja and pull him in to the tram safely.
As the tram speeding up, but the pinned Licker broke free from the Blade, tackling Raja mid-leap—WHAM!—crashing him onto the tracks.
Dizzy, Raja staggered up, facing four Lickers, the freed one snarling.
MAYA hissed, "No cameras here—finish 'em, Mortal Kombat style!"
Raja channelled his inner Yujirio Hanma and roared, flexing so hard his shirt and vest shredded, revealing a chiseled back that seemed to pulse with menace—his Demon Back vibe, pure intimidation.
The Lickers felt unadulterated fear causing their senses go Haywire and hesitated to attack, sensing doom. The tackled licker, braver, leapt at raja.
Raja caught it one-handed, slammed it down, and stomped—SPLAT!—its head burst like a rotten melon.
The other three yipped, bolting back to the lab, terrified of the Demon Human.
MAYA: "You scared mutants. New low."
Raja sprinted for the exit, spotting a charred Licker corpse—friction-burned from the tram.
Near the station, he flicked Glock bullets at CCTV cameras—ping, ping—blinding them.
At the sealed door, he nudged it open with Telekinesis, slipping through and locking it tight, stealth mode on.
From the shadows, he watched the sanitation team report to Umbrella suits, skipping any mention of him.
Alice and Matt were whisked away by scientists, Matt's shoulder sporting a fresh scar.
Raja muttered, "Can't rewrite fate—burnt Licker's gonna mutate him." He sighed, helpless.
Turning inward, he called, "Maya, time to dip—back to the main world. I'll return when this apocalypse pops off."
MAYA: "Finally, a break from your zombie circus."
Raja smirked, ready to bounce, his legend cemented in the Hive's blood-soaked halls.
To Be Continued…