The platform was quiet. Emergency lights cast a cold green wash over faces that were tired and drawn tight. The train's engine rumbled at low idle, the doors cycling open and shut, counting down to departure in silence.
Ryan stood at the edge of the crowd, eyes on the lit carriages.
Nearby, Mikhail kept his back straight despite the blood seeping through the hand pressed to his side. He looked at Carlos and Tyrell, who were geared up and ready, and gave them their orders in a measured voice.
"Carlos, Tyrell. You have a mission. Command wants you to locate Dr. Bard. He's central to the vaccine. They believe he's hiding in the Raccoon City Police Department." He paused. "No confirmed position. You'll have to sweep for him. Move out as soon as the train leaves."
Carlos and Tyrell exchanged a look and nodded. "Understood, sir."
In a corner of the platform, Kendo had his arms around Becky. The girl's face was flushed with fever, her eyes half-closed, her small hands knotted in her father's jacket. Kendo looked like he'd been running on nothing for hours, but the way he held her didn't waver.
The word "vaccine" brought him to his feet. He crossed to Mikhail in a few quick steps, voice stripped down to raw urgency. "Sir. Let me go too. If there's any chance it saves her, I don't care what it takes."
Ryan watched.
His original plan had been straightforward. Get on the train, get out of the city, keep Jill safe. Clean and simple.
He'd known, from the moment he saw Kendo and Becky in the gun shop, that he wasn't going to follow it. The source material had gotten to him when he read it. Seeing it in front of him now, Kendo refusing to leave his dying daughter, willing to walk into anything if it meant a chance, stripped away whatever was left of his hesitation. He couldn't step onto that train and leave them behind.
Jill's gaze kept returning to Becky. Her brow was tight with concern. She moved close to Ryan and dropped her voice. "That girl's in bad shape. What do we do?"
"We're not getting on the train." Ryan kept his eyes forward. "There's another way out of the city."
No argument. "Then I'm with you."
He walked over to Kendo and spoke quietly. "Come with us. I'll explain outside. Don't stop moving."
Kendo looked down at Becky, then back at Ryan. He nodded.
Mikhail watched them go. He shook his head slowly and said nothing.
They made it to the exit just as Carlos and Tyrell were heading out.
"Why aren't you on the train?"
"We're going with you," Ryan said. "Becky needs that vaccine. More hands means better odds."
Carlos didn't argue. Extra reliable guns were never a problem. "Works for me. Let's move."
They cleared the subway station and stepped into a dead street. Abandoned cars sat at odd angles across the road. The night air carried the smell of rot and chemical disinfectant mixed together. Somewhere in the distance, a zombie let out a low, hollow sound.
Tyrell worked his tracking device as they walked, adjusting settings without breaking stride. Halfway through the block, it beeped.
He stopped and looked at the screen. "Something's off. I'm picking up two matching signals. One's at the RPD. The other's at the downtown hospital."
Carlos leaned over to look. "Two signals? Could one of them be a decoy?"
Ryan kept his voice unhurried. "Vaccine research needs proper lab conditions. Precision equipment, stable environment. The RPD can't offer that. Bard's a scientist. He'd go where he could keep working. The hospital signal's weaker, but that's where he'd actually be. The RPD signal is there to throw people off."
The logic held. No stretch in it, nothing forced.
Carlos straightened up. "You're right. Okay. We split up to be safe." He pointed toward the RPD. "Tyrell and I take the police department, check out the signal there. You take the others to the hospital, find Bard, and get the vaccine. We'll catch up."
Ryan nodded. "If you don't find anything, meet us at the hospital. Watch yourselves."
"You too." Carlos clapped him on the shoulder, then he and Tyrell broke away at a jog toward the RPD.
The group split. Ryan took point, Jill covered the rear, and they kept Kendo and Becky between them as they pushed toward the hospital. Ryan cleared the route ahead, picking off stray zombies before they could drift close. Jill handled anything that came up from behind.
Kendo moved fast with Becky against his chest, his steps quick and deliberate. Her breathing was shallow, her face pale, but her hands were still clenched in his jacket, not letting go.
"We're almost there," Jill said, keeping her voice low. "Hold on a little longer."
"That's right." Ryan didn't slow down. "Find Bard, and Becky gets her shot."
The dark had settled over the city completely, block by block, building by building.
Ahead, the hospital rose out of the shadows, solid and still.