.....
As he continued moving forward, Allen checked the bracelet on his wrist, monitoring the locations of the women connected to him. According to the signals, Karena and Rachel appeared to be in the eastern district of the city, while Michaela was in the western area together with Cristine. Ada's signal, however, was coming from deep underground—inside an Umbrella laboratory—and it was steadily moving toward Spencer Memorial Hospital.
'It looks like Ada is still following William…' and she just happens to be near the hospital.
After that, Allen shifted his focus to another set of signals. The remaining members of Black Rose were positioned near the Raccoon City Clock Tower, securing the railway line to ensure that no monsters or infected creatures could approach the area.
The vehicle they were using continued to push through the ruined streets of the city, weaving past wreckage and abandoned cars. However, they were eventually forced to stop when another blockade came into view. The road along Wallace Street—the route leading toward the hospital and connecting to Victoria Road—was completely sealed off.
"Well, looks like we'll have to continue on foot from here," Allen said as he stepped out of the vehicle and immediately opened fire on the zombies shambling toward them.
Claire and Svetlana quickly exited the vehicle as well, moving to support Allen as they cleared the path ahead.
"Over here," Allen called out, remembering that they were close to Robert's gun shop. By sheer luck, the back of the store connected directly to a route that led straight toward the hospital.
"Sorry, buddy… but I'm going to have to break your door," Allen muttered before driving his foot into the shop's entrance.
Crash!
The door burst open under the force.
"Claire, Svetlana—move, now!" Allen shouted, urging them inside so he could shut the door quickly and prevent the zombies from following them in.
After they entered the shop and were about to leave through the back door, they suddenly heard a voice echoing from the narrow alley outside. Someone was clearly aiming a weapon at them.
"Hey—are you humans? If you are, answer me," a man said, his voice sounding strangely familiar to Allen.
Claire and Svetlana immediately raised their weapons, aiming back toward the source of the voice.
"Yes, we're human," Allen replied calmly. "And your voice doesn't sound unfamiliar. Have we met before?"
The man slowly lowered his weapon and stepped closer.
"Hey, it's me—Carlos," he said. "Do you remember? My team was the one that helped you when you were trapped in the stadium. Well, it's good to see you again, mate. And by the way, thanks for supplying the antivirus earlier."
Carlos smiled, especially when he noticed Allen standing beside two beautiful women.
"Oh, so you're from the U.B.C.S. Delta Team," Allen said. "How's your team holding up?"
Meanwhile, Claire watched the interaction with clear confusion. The soldier standing in front of them was still wearing a jacket bearing the Umbrella logo.
"Well… we lost a few people," Carlos replied. "The rest of the team's scattered across different sectors, securing evacuation routes through the underground railway."
Carlos then glanced at Claire.
"By the way, Allen—who's this beautiful lady? Is she your new girlfriend?" he asked, stepping forward as if to introduce himself.
"Oh, this is Claire," Allen said. "She's a school friend of mine."
"Oh, hey Claire. Name's Carlos," Carlos said, extending his hand toward her.
Claire didn't take it. She simply nodded at him.
The atmosphere immediately turned awkward.
"Hey, mate… what's going on?" Carlos asked Allen quietly. "Why does your girl look like she's angry at me?"
Claire clearly heard him.
"Of course I'm angry," she shot back. "Isn't all the chaos in this city caused by your company?"
"Jeez, lady, calm down, okay?" Carlos said. "I honestly don't know anything about Umbrella. We're here to help people, that's it."
He then glanced at Allen, as if trying to understand what was going on with the girl beside him—and clearly wondering whether Umbrella really was behind all this chaos.
"Alrigth...Claire, calm down," Allen said, trying to ease the tension. "Not everyone working for Umbrella knows about this. Only the people at the top are involved."
Hearing that, Claire turned her gaze back to Carlos.
"Do you really have no idea what Umbrella has been doing?" she asked.
"All I can say is that my team and I truly didn't know anything about this," Carlos replied.
"Really?" Claire said, clearly unconvinced.
Carlos gave a tired half-smile and raised his hands slightly, palms open—a soldier's sign of surrender rather than weakness.
"Well, look I can't force you to trust me."
"Hmph…" Claire let out a quiet breath, clearly done with the conversation. Her eyes remained wary, her suspicion toward Carlos far from gone.
Carlos noticed her reaction, then shifted his attention to Allen and Svetlana.
"By the way," he said, adjusting the grip on his rifle, "I'm heading to the shelter. You guys coming with me?"
Allen shook his head.
"No. We're heading to the hospital first. There's something we need to take care of there."
Carlos studied Allen for a moment, then nodded in understanding.
"I see. In that case… good luck out there."
He gave a short nod and turned away, starting down the dark, debris-filled street toward the shelter route.
Allen watched him go—but just before Carlos disappeared into the shadows, he raised his voice.
"Hey, Carlos!"
Carlos stopped and turned back. "Yeah?"
"If you run into a man named Nicolai," Allen said firmly, his tone serious, "be careful. That guy works for Umbrella."
Carlos frowned slightly, clearly registering the weight behind the warning.
"I understand," he replied. "Thanks for the heads-up, Allen. I really appreciate it."
With that, Carlos turned and broke into a run, disappearing into the darkness as the distant sounds of gunfire and groaning undead echoed through the ruined city.
Allen exhaled slowly, then turned back toward Claire and Svetlana.
"Come on," he said. "Let's move. The hospital's not going to wait for us."
The three of them resumed their journey toward Spencer Memorial Hospital, now only a few blocks away. They moved carefully, slipping through narrow paths between damaged buildings, doing their best to stay quiet—any mistake could draw a swarm of zombies from every direction.
As they advanced, Claire finally spoke, her voice low.
"Can Carlos and his team really be trusted?" she asked. "Are they actually good people?"
Allen glanced at her while keeping his weapon ready.
"Well… most of the people on Carlos's team are death-row inmates who were given a second chance," he said. "The rest are regular hired mercenaries—people who took the job just for the money. You could say that most of them had nothing to do with the outbreak itself."
He paused briefly, scanning the shadows ahead.
"That said," Allen continued, "some of them are still guilty of their own crimes. So yeah… it's complicated."
Suddenly, a low growl echoed from the darkness.
Allen reacted instantly.
Bang!
The gunshot rang out as a zombie dog lunging toward them collapsed onto the pavement, its body skidding to a stop just a few meters away.
"Let's keep moving," Allen said quietly. "We're almost there."
"You seem to know a lot about this," Claire said, nodding as she followed Allen and Svetlana. The two of them moved swiftly, eliminating the zombies in their path with practiced, almost effortless efficiency.
"Yeah, he really does," Svetlana replied, a faint hint of admiration coloring her voice. "And maybe… you'll learn even more about all of this later."
Her gaze lingered on Allen as he advanced ahead of them, calm and composed despite the ruined streets and the groans of the undead echoing through the city. He showed no hesitation—every movement precise, every decision calculated.
Not only was he strikingly handsome, but he was also incredibly sharp—especially when it came to gathering information and reading situations. On top of that, He is always kind, especially to those around him and knew how to treat the women beside him with care and attention, something that only added to his appeal.
It was a combination that never failed to impress her.
"Allen… what about the vaccine?" Claire asked as they moved forward. "Can it turn people who've already become zombies back into normal humans?"
She remembered what Carlos had said earlier—about Allen managing to secure a vaccine for the virus. A small part of her still clung to the hope that maybe, just maybe, this nightmare could be undone.
Allen slowed for a moment, then shook his head. There was no hesitation in the gesture—only quiet resignation.
"No," he said firmly. "For people who've already turned… if they're injected with the vaccine, it won't save them. It'll kill them instantly."
The words hung heavy in the air.
Claire's expression fell. Disappointment flickered across her face, mixed with a bitter sense of helplessness. She had hoped there was a way back—some miracle cure that could undo all the suffering she'd seen.
But reality was cruel.
The vaccine wasn't a cure. It was containment. A last resort to stop the infection from spreading any further.
"I wish it were different," Allen continued, his voice lower now. "I really do. But once the virus reaches that stage… there's no coming back."
Claire clenched her fists, forcing herself to keep moving. She hated it—but she knew there was nothing any of them could do. In a city already sentenced to death, some losses were simply irreversible.
Allen glanced at Claire and simply shook his head. He didn't want to say anything more—didn't want to deepen the sadness already weighing on her.
The truth was, even if he could fix everything here by turning back time, the cost would be far too great. Rewinding events wouldn't "save" this world—it would erase it. The current timeline would be destroyed and replaced with a new one, rewritten from the ground up. And that… was no different from committing genocide on a cosmic scale.
Allen refused to do that.
Even if he reset everything, it wouldn't mean the end of suffering. Umbrella would still exist somewhere down the line. Someone else would make the same mistakes. A different virus, a different city, a different disaster. History would just find another way to repeat itself.
No—this world had to face its own consequences.
Allen exhaled slowly, steadying himself as he pushed those thoughts aside. He wasn't foolish enough to play god recklessly, to tear apart reality on a whim.
Well i'm not Barry Allen… he thought. I won't break the universe just because I can.
There were limits—even for him. And some tragedies, no matter how cruel, could not be undone without creating something far worse.
As they moved through the darkened street, something sudden happened.
Ada dropped down from behind them without warning and wrapped her arms around Allen from behind.
"Did you miss me, darling?" Ada whispered teasingly. She looked a little worse for wear—her clothes were scuffed and lightly stained with blood, clear signs of a rough encounter.
Claire nearly jumped out of her skin. She spun around, weapon raised, her finger almost pulling the trigger.
"Hey! Don't do that!" Claire snapped. "I almost shot you—I thought you were a zombie!"
Her heart was still pounding in her chest.
Ada chuckled softly. "Well, sorry for startling you, little girl," she said, clearly enjoying Claire's reaction.
"Alright, alright, that's enough," Allen said with a faint laugh, stepping slightly forward so Ada loosened her grip. "Don't tease her like that."
He turned to Ada, his tone shifting to concern.
"And yes, I missed you too, dear. So, has your business been taken care of?" he asked.
Ada shook her head slowly. "Not yet. My target is… tougher than I expected. He's giving me more trouble than I'd like."
She exhaled, her expression turning serious. "I tried to get a sample from William, but fighting him head-on is a nightmare—especially in tight spaces. His regeneration is insane, and every time he takes damage, he just evolves again. It's like he's constantly adapting."
The air grew heavier at her words.
Svetlana, who had been listening in silence, seemed intrigued at the mention of William.
"So he's still out there…" she muttered, her eyes sharpening.
"Yeah," Ada replied calmly. "And he's getting more dangerous by the minute." She paused briefly before adding, almost casually, "By the way, I've got news for you. The federal government plans to launch a missile strike on this city in less than twenty-four hours."
"A missile?!" Claire exclaimed in shock. "What do you mean, a missile? Why would the government do something like that? There are still so many people trapped here!"
"From the intel I've gathered," Ada said coolly, "they don't want the virus spreading to nearby cities. So they've decided to wipe Raccoon City off the map entirely." Her tone remained disturbingly calm. "You could also say it's a convenient way to erase any evidence of their involvement."
Claire clenched her fists, anger burning in her eyes. "That's heartless… How can they do something so cruel?"
"That's enough, Claire," Allen said gently, reaching out to place a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
Claire took a slow breath, then nodded, forcing herself to calm down.
Allen lifted his gaze toward the distant silhouette of Spencer Memorial Hospital, barely visible through the thick smoke and oppressive darkness looming over the city. The ruins of Raccoon City groaned around them, as if time itself were running out.
"Then we don't have much time," he said quietly, his voice firm with resolve.
"Let's move."