Prologue

"Doctor Birkin!" screamed the little girl when she saw her bloody body. Any other girl her age would've thought she was sleeping, but this girl knew better. She saw the pale face and blank eyes and recognized death.

The girl had been hiding in the Umbrella Laboratory's security office when a woman named Claire had shown up with another girl, Sheri. The girl had known Sheri for as long as she could remember. Their parents worked together in pharmaceuticals and the girls were in daycare together. However, when the outbreak began all top Umbrella personnel had been evacuated to the labs.

All that remained of Raccoon City was burnt-out cars, abandoned buildings, and the walking dead. Dotting the landscape of the once picturesque backwoods burg was the occasional survivor. Either holed up and hiding in attics or armed to the teeth and fighting to get out, the survivors were far outnumbered and knew that their days were few.

However, the eight-year-old screaming the name of the woman that had kept her safe for so long was on the verge of hysterics when another woman, an Asian woman in a red cocktail dress, scooped her up and ran to an elevator.

"It's okay," the woman whispered in the girl's ear. "We're going to get out of here, don't you worry."

Confused, the girl settled down as the woman ran through room after room littered with inanimate bodies of the dead, among other things. The woman ran into a room and kicked the door shut. She set the girl down and locked the door.

They were in what appeared to be sleeping quarters, like a college dormitory. There were dirty clothes thrown all over the room and a big poster of a woman in a small bathing suit graced one of the walls. The woman set the girl down and ran a hand through her short hair.

"How did you make it this long, kid?" the woman asked.

"My mommy told me to stay in Philip's office," the little girl said quietly. "I stayed in there forever, but my mommy never came back. Then this big girl showed up with Sheri. I got scared and ran away."

"Sheri Birkin?" the woman asked. The little girl nodded her head and pulled at a loose thread on her shirt. Her mother had put it on her more than a week earlier.

"Well, I'm Ada," the woman said with a look at the door. "What's your name?"

"Alex," the girl answered. Alex looked at Ada and saw that the woman was holding her shoulder and wincing painfully. Then Alex noticed the large bloodstain that the woman had left on her shirt. "Where's my mommy?"

An awkward look crossed the woman's face. "I think your mom's dead."

"Oh," Alex said glumly.

"I guess this is it," Ada said sadly. "I wish I could've gotten out of here with the Virus, but that stupid Leon…"

"Who's Leon?" Alex asked with a look at Ada. She saw that the woman's eyes were shining in the dull emergency lights. However, before Ada could answer, the door burst open and the undead began shuffling into the room.