Kindly remember to add this new work to your libraries."Zenith of Desire: The Hollywood Incubus"
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*****
A fist-sized chunk of its head simply vanished, trailing smoke and steam as the corpse cartwheeled lifelessly to the floor.
Atlas lowered the gun, smoke drifting lazily from the muzzle.
"Clear," he said, voice flat as he wiped the barrel on his thigh.
The S.T.A.R.S. Alpha team stared—still gripping weapons, breaths held.
The team stood frozen, the echo of the shots still ringing.
They'd seen his speed before, the way he outpaced nightmares, but the sheer, effortless brutality still hit like a gut punch.
"Remind me never to play poker with you," Chris muttered, finally lowering his rifle. "You'd probably draw faster than I could blink."
They continued moving. After walking a certain distance, a coughing sound echoed from around the bend.
"Someone's there," Jill whispered.
They approached cautiously, weapons ready. They turned the corner and saw a man slumped against the wall, clutching a wound in his side.
"Captain Enrico!" Rebecca screamed in surprise.
She broke formation, running toward him. "Captain!"
Enrico Marini, the leader of Bravo Team, looked up. His face was pale, sweat-drenched, but his eyes were sharp with fear.
"Stop!" Enrico wheezed, stretching out a bloody hand to halt them. "Don't come closer!"
"Captain, it's us!" Chris said, stepping forward. "We're here to get you out."
"You... you made it," Enrico coughed, eyeing the group suspiciously. "But it doesn't matter.
We have been betrayed. S.T.A.R.S. is finished."
"Betrayed?" Jill asked, confused. "What are you talking about?"
"There is a traitor..." Enrico rasped, his eyes darting to the shadows behind them. "Umbrella placed an informant in the unit. He set us up. He led us here to die."
The group exchanged stunned glances.
"Who?" Atlas asked, his voice low.
"It's—"
CLICK.
Atlas's enhanced sense picked up the sound of a hammer cocking in the darkness of the tunnel behind them.
"Down!" Atlas roared.
He didn't dive for cover. He moved toward Enrico.
BANG!
A gunshot rang out from the shadows.
It was a perfect kill shot, aimed directly at Enrico's heart. In the original timeline, Enrico Marini died here, silenced by a traitor's bullet.
But Atlas was faster than fate.
He shoved Enrico hard against the wall. The bullet sparked against the concrete, inches from the Captain's head, spraying stone chips into his face.
"Contact rear!" Chris yelled, spinning around. Atlas was already moving. He saw a flash of a silhouette retreating into the gloom. He raised his gun and fired blindly to suppress the shooter.
BOOM!
The shot hit the wall, blowing a chunk of plaster out, but the assassin was fast. Footsteps echoed rapidly, fading away.
"He's gone," Atlas growled, lowering his gun. "Professional."
"Who was that?" Jill asked, her voice shaking. "They tried to kill the Captain."
"Use your head," Atlas said coldly, turning back to the group. "Besides us, only one person isn't here. Who do you think it could be?"
Jill looked confused. "Wesker? But... why?"
Enrico groaned, clutching his side where Atlas had shoved him. "He's right. I investigated the files in the underground lab. The informant... it looks like Albert Wesker."
Silence fell over the tunnel. The man who had trained them, led them, and recruited them was the architect of their nightmare.
"Yes," a gravelly voice spoke up from the back. "It's Wesker."
Everyone turned. Barry Burton was standing there, his head lowered, his Colt Python hanging loosely at his side.
"Barry?" Chris asked, stepping closer. "How do you know?"
Barry looked up, his face twisted in shame. "Because he... he found me. When we split up. He threatened me, Chris. He threatened my family. My wife... my daughters."
Barry's voice cracked.
"He told me to keep you all in the mansion. To lead you into the traps," Barry's voice cracked, heavy with shame. "He's defecting, Chris. He plans to steal the ultimate biological weapon—and sell it to a rival corporation. He needed us to serve as bait. To distract the B.O.W.s and clear a path to the lab so he could extract the asset safely."
Barry looked up, his eyes hollow.
"We were never meant to do anything... we were meant to be fed to the wolves so he could slip out the back door without getting his hands dirty."
"This scoundrel!" Chris slammed his fist against the wall, his face red with fury. "We were just distraction? He killed Kevin? He killed Forest? Just to use us as meat shields?"
"Chris, wait," Jill put a hand on his shoulder, her own expression hardening. "Barry didn't pull the trigger. Wesker did."
"I'm sorry," Barry whispered. "I'm so sorry."
Atlas stepped forward. He looked at Barry.
"We deal with Wesker later," Atlas said firmly.
"Right now, we need to survive. Barry, you're with us. You make it right by getting these people out."
Barry nodded, gripping his gun. "I will. I swear it."
"Okay," Enrico said, wincing as Rebecca helped him stand. "First off, we need to get out of here. I know there is a helipad at the research institute. There might be helicopters there that we can use to leave."
Jill glanced at Atlas, relief flickering in her eyes. She gave him a quick, firm nod—pure thanks. She'd been ready to throw herself between Chris and Barry if it came to it, but Atlas's calm authority had kept the team from shattering.
He caught her look and held it. That faint, disarming smile flickered across his face—charming in a way that felt almost out of place amid the gore and gun smoke. He dipped his head once in return, a silent you're welcome that carried its own quiet heat.
"A helipad," Chris exhaled. "Hope."
They continued moving deeper into the catacombs. The air grew colder.
They arrived at a massive circular platform suspended over a dark abyss. In the center of the platform was an ancient sarcophagus, wrapped in heavy iron chains. The chains stretched out to four massive stone pillars at the corners of the room.
"What is this place?" Kenneth whispered.
"A tomb it seems," Atlas said.
As they stepped onto the platform, a low, mournful moan echoed from the darkness on the opposite side.
Clank... Drag... Clank…
Lisa Trevor emerged.
She looked more horrific than before. Her skin mask was torn, revealing the wet, pulsating muscle beneath. Her eyes were wild, searching. She shuffled toward the sarcophagus, drawn to it by an instinct she couldn't understand.
The heavy iron door behind her slammed shut.
"We're trapped," Jill said.
"It's us or her," Barry said, raising his Magnum.
"No," Atlas said. He looked at the chains. He looked at the pillars. "She's attracted to the coffin. We don't need to kill her. We need to open it."
"Open it?" Rebecca asked.
"Just do it!" Atlas commanded. "Jill, Chris—push the stones! Barry, cover them! I'll distract her!"
Atlas stepped forward, waving his arms. "Hey! Over here!"
Lisa roared, swinging her chained arms at him. Atlas dodged, weaving under her blows, keeping her attention focused on him while the others strained against the massive stone pillars.
GRIND... CRASH.
One by one, the pillars were pushed off the edge of the platform. The tension on the chains released.
SNAP. CLANG.
The chains fell away. The lid of the sarcophagus slid open.
Inside, resting on rotting velvet, was a skeleton. A woman's skeleton.
Lisa stopped fighting.
She froze. The rage drained out of her, replaced by a heartbreaking stillness.
She turned her back on Atlas. She shuffled slowly to the sarcophagus. Her trembling hands reached in.
She pulled out the skull.
"Mother..." she gurgled. It was the most human sound she had made in thirty years.
She cradled the skull to her chest, rocking back and forth. She let out a wail that tore at the hearts of everyone watching.
Then, she stepped toward the edge of the abyss.
"Wait!" Rebecca shouted.
Lisa didn't stop. She clutched her mother's skull and stepped off the ledge.
She fell silently into the darkness below.
Atlas stood at the edge, watching her fall. He could have pushed her. He could have shot her. He could shatter her. The system would have rewarded him with thousands of XP and more.
But as he watched the tragic figure disappear into the dark, he felt something else.
'May you rise beyond mortal grasp,' Atlas spoke in his mind, his tone heavy and solemn, reciting another prayer he didn't really believe in before. He swallowed the tightness in his throat and kept walking. 'Ascending to some heaven that stays forever out of reach… where bastard Spencer cannot hurt you. a place safe from his poison, from every nightmare he carved into your life. Where you're safe. Where you're finally safe.'
His voice—inside his head—cracked on the last part, and for once he didn't try to hide it.
Atlas thought, the words clawing up from his chest like they hurt to say.
He felt a tightness in his chest. If he had killed her for points, he would have lost a part of himself. He would have become just another monster in this Unforgivable world. By letting her choose her end, by letting her find her mother, he retained his humanity.
*****
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