To see the once thriving city he had grown up in so quiet and desolate was beyond unnerving. BJ couldn't see it as home anymore, the darkness and madness of the outbreak had turned it into a literal shadow of its former self.

Moving through the alleys with Sherry and Claire on his heels and keeping their eyes searching every dark corner in case something was lurking nearby. Thankfully they'd had no trouble since leaving the police station. None of them saying anything in the off chance they would be overheard by something.

BJ stopped and held up his hand, the girls following his lead as he looked through the chain-link fence on their right. Between a pair of parked cars, three undead dobermans eating a body. Too focused on their 'meal' to notice them.

Pressing a finger to his lips, the Marine continued to lead them toward the mouth of the alley. Pushing the gate open slowly, they ventured out into the street and began making their way around the cars. BJ being sure to keep a close eye on the zombie dog pack who still hadn't seen them yet.

With the street as cluttered with derelict cars as it was, the trio had to cut through the basketball court and then into a cross-town bus that had formed a barricade to block the way.

"There it is." said BJ, motioning to the cartoon colored gates that were now dented and warped from something bashing their way through.

Claire saw the damage and cringed, "I hope they got the children out before all this."

"Me too." the Marine added as they eased through the damaged gate. Finding the old oak doors that led into the building smashed to splinters. Raising his rifle to his shoulder, he crept up to the threshold and peered inside.

The atrium was completely trashed. Toys and furniture thrown about, the walls and floor were torn and cracked in several places, and there were splashes of blood on a few surfaces.

None of them even wanted to think about what had happened here.

"Where now?" asked Claire, grip tight on her machine pistol.

BJ took out the map of the building. "There's a room in the back with a hidden trap door that should take us to the sewers. Let's hope Irons wasn't as crazy as he looked." They made their way to the back of the main room and through a door that led into a L-shaped corridor that led farther into the orphanage.

They had just rounded the corner when someone ran into them.

That person being Irons himself. The former Chief of police looked as though he had been through hell, his clothes torn and bloody with deep scratches on his face and his skin looking grey like stone.

"Y-You! Little bastard!" Irons bellowed, looking to be in pain as he stumbled forward and grabbed BJ by the arms. "I...It's all y-your f-f-ault!"

The Marine broke the man's hold and punched him across the face. The sound of Irons' jaw cracking as he was thrown into the wall next to them was overshadowed by another noise, this one sounding similar to stretching and tearing.

"D-Damn you, William!" the Chief shouted just before his chest exploded in a fountain of blood and gore. A fleshy creature covered in tendrils burst forth with a high-pitched screech as it jumped out of the man's rib cage straight at the startled group.

"Jesus Christ!" Claire screamed, jumping out of the way with Sherry as the thing sailed past them and landed on the floor. There was a brief pause before it sprang up and scuttled down the hall and out of sight. "What the fuck was that?!"

BJ was stalk-still, unable to even comprehend what had happened in less than a minute. His gaze trailed back to Irons' body, knowing right away that the man was dead given the huge hole in his chest.

"Is...Is he dead?" Sherry whimpered from behind Claire.

Her brother nodded, "Yeah. Corrupted asshole as he was...no one deserved to die like that." he said, stepping around the corpse and toward the room where Irons more than likely came out of. Looking to be an office of some kind that had recently been tossed with how the furniture had been thrown about.

With no immediate threats, the little group looked the room over carefully for anything important. Finding a few spare bullets scattered around but not much else in terms of supplies. But toward the back of the room, in a corner out of sight from anyone not looking, was an open trap door that led under the orphanage. Just like the file Claire had found said.

BJ knelt by the opening, shining his flashlight down into the darkness and seeing a stone floor at the bottom. "This is it." he said looking up at the girls. "I'll head down first, check to see if it's clear."

"Be careful." Sherry and Claire said at the same time, looking at each other surprised before laughing.

The Marine rolled his eyes, but smiled as he got on the metal ladder that led under the floor. "I'll be fine girls." he said before sliding down the rungs, boots hitting the stone where he spun around and crouched with his AR-15 at the ready.

The walls and ceiling all matched the floor. Old stone and looked to have been built around the same time the orphanage had been. The faded, yellow lights on the walls providing just enough visibility to see ahead.

"We're good, come on down." he called up. Sherry came down the ladder behind him with Claire not far behind, when they were all together again they started moving down the tunnel in front of them. Turning a corner and going down a flight of steps that took them farther into the earth.

A loud crash from behind made them jump. Turning around and discovering to their horror a familiar black-clad giant stomping toward them.

"Go, go, go!" Claire shouted and they started running through the long, winding tunnels, down more stairs until they reached a dead end with a service elevator open and waiting.

Sprinting inside, BJ slammed his fist on the panel by the door and closing the gate. Only for Mr. X to slam into the other side, sticking his fingers in the middle and prying them back open again. The metal bending beneath his monstrous strength.

"Oh, give us a fucking break!" BJ shouted, emptying a full clip from his rifle into the giant's exposed face while Claire put herself between X and Sherry and shooting as well. None of the rounds doing any good as the giant had the gate open enough to get inside.

And with nowhere else to go, they were trapped.

The two older survivors prepared themselves to fight to the end against the giant, only to be showered in blood when a massive set of claws suddenly exploded out of Mr. X's chest.

Behind him, the mutated form of William Birkin stood. Growling like a rabid animal as his body began to change. Muscles stretched, bones cracked and split as his body grew bigger, his head drifted down into his chest and a second, alien-looking one grew in its place. Another large arm sprouted from his left side while his human one hung limply from his torso.

"D-Daddy?" Sherry breathed, BJ and Claire looking on in morbid fascination at the man's new transformation.

With a bellowing roar, William tore his claw out of Mr. X. Nearly bisecting him clean in half at the waist, the once unstoppable giant collapsing to the ground unmoving. With the other monster out of the way, he charged at the elevator just when the gate had closed again.

"DADDY NO!" Sherry screamed as he slammed into the lift, sending it crashing against the back wall of the shaft and breaking the cables keeping it aloft.

"HANG ON TO SOMETHING!" BJ shouted as the elevator broke loose and went into freefall. All of them screaming as they plunged into the darkness below…

A loud crash following soon after.

X

"Billy!"

16 year old BJ all but kicked the bedroom door open, standing in the threshold in a wife beater and sleep pants after waking up hearing Sherry scream for him.

His 6 year old sister peeked out from where she was huddled under her blankets, rain pelting the window with lightning flashing and thunder clapping in the distance.

"You okay, baby sis?" he asked, coming over and sitting beside her on the bed. Running a hand through her short-blonde hair.

"I...I had a bad dream…" she whimpered, tears in her eyes from her night terror.

BJ gave her a sad smile, "Do you want me to get you something?"

Sherry shook her head, "Can you stay with me...please?"

Her brother smiled again, "Okay, scoot over." Sherry made room, allowing BJ to lay down next to her as she cuddled into his side with her head on his chest. "Comfy?"

"Mmhmm." Sherry said, nodding her head as they fell into a comfortable silence. "Billy?"

"Yeah?" asked BJ.

"Do...Do you hate me?"

The older sibling sat up, forcing her to look up at him, "What...Why would you think that?" he asked, shocked she would think he hated her for anything.

"I heard you fighting with mommy and daddy again. You were yelling about me...I just thought…" Sherry trailed off.

BJ sighed, "Sherry, no. There's absolutely nothing in this life or the next that would even remotely make me hate you. You're my baby sister, the most important person in my life. And that's never going to change." he said with his heart in his words, pulling his sister close and hugging her.

"Why do you, mommy and daddy fight so much?" she asked into his chest. "Are you mad at them?"

He had to think about that one for a moment, "In a lot of ways, I am mad at them." he said honestly.

Sherry nodded, "Why are they never home?" she asked, her voice wavering.

BJ rubbed her back, he wanted so badly to tell her the truth. That they put their jobs ahead of their children, that they didn't even know how to be parents. But he couldn't. He couldn't do that to her.

"It doesn't matter." he finally said, "Because I'm here. And I will always be there for you when you need me."

"Promise?" his sister asked.

"I promise."

X

BJ groaned, his whole body feeling as though he'd been put through a grinder. When he managed to open his eyes a bright light flashed over them making it hard to see.

"Wake up. Wake up!" a woman's voice said above him. A familiar voice he had trouble placing until his vision finally swam back into focus.

Kneeling over him was an older blonde woman with her hair tied back in a ponytail wearing a dirty lab coat, blouse and slacks. Her face was slightly gaunt with dark circles under her eyes, looking as though she hadn't slept in days.

"...mom?" BJ said, immediately recognizing her even while she was shining a flashlight in his eyes.

"Not infected. Good." she said before standing up and walking away.

The Marine rolled to his side, holding the back of his head as he surveyed his surroundings.

The elevator was a mangled mess of metal and sparks, the drop crumpling it like a tin can. He immediately shifted his gaze when he saw Claire laid out on the floor a few feet away.

"Claire!" BJ got up, stumbling a bit as he dropped beside her to check her over. The young Redfield groaned as she opened her eyes and looked up at him. "You still with me?"

"Y-Yeah." Claire said, hissing when she sat up, "What happened?"

"Elevator collapsed when-" BJ stopped, eyes widening and looking around. "Sherry? SHERRY?!" he shouted, not seeing his sister anywhere in sight.

"Sherry's fine." Annette Birkin stated, walking around them and writing in a small notebook. "...was an impressive display of strength." she mumbled to herself while looking at the remains of the elevator.

"Where is she?" the Marine demanded, "And what the hell has been going on around here?"

His mother seemed to not hear him as she continued to move about, "We need to assess the situation. I didn't foresee this…" she turned to the younger duo. "Tell me what happened to William?"

BJ looked at her bewildered, "What happened to...Mom what the FUCK is going on?!" Claire shot a surprised look at her partner when he revealed that the woman was his mother. "Raccoon City is a fucking Necropolis! There are mutant freaks running around killing people! And now Sherry is missing!"

Annette looked into the eyes of her eldest child a moment before looking back down at her notebook and started writing again. "Seems to be evolving much faster than expected…"

The Marine saw red. Slapping the notebook from his mother's hands and grabbing her by the arms. "WOULD YOU STOP TALKING BULLSHIT! YOUR DAUGHTER, MY SISTER! IS OUT THERE ALONE WITH A WALKING NIGHTMARE! IF YOU KNOW SOMETHING THEN YOU BETTER BE FUCKING TELLING ME!"

A long silence stretched for several seconds before Annette yanked her arms out of her son's grip. "I don't have time for this." she said, picking up her notes and making for a door nearby. "Everything is under control."

BJ crossed the room in three strides, grabbed Annette by her lab coat and had her against the wall. His eyes blazing with cold fury.

"Where. Is. My. Sister." he hissed through clenched teeth.

His mother showed little to no emotion in response. "She is no longer your concern." she said coldly, removing herself from BJ's hold again and departing through the door she had been approaching.

Claire stood back and watched, unable to comprehend the obvious family drama that had unfolded in front of her. She'd never seen BJ so angry, it looked as though he was losing his restraint on whatever was keeping his emotions in check. And the cold dismissal the woman, his mother, had said…

A roar filled with fury and pent up rage made her jump. Reaching for a weapon expecting another monster, she was stunned when she saw that it was coming from her companion.

BJ lashed out, slamming his fists and feet into a nearby barrel. The blows warping the metal more and more with each strike before picking it up and throwing it across the room. He then started destroying a nearby cabinet, sending its contents flying when the door was torn off the rusted hinges.

"BJ! BJ STOP!" Claire shouted over his primal screaming. Running up behind him and wrapping her arms tight around his middle. He struggled as he continued to let out his rage. "YOU NEED TO CALM DOWN! WE'LL FIND SHERRY! I PROMISE! BUT YOU NEED TO CALM DOWN!" the brunette pressed, doing her best to get through to him.

Her words seemed to have an effect. The Marine stopped what he was doing, taking notice of the arms wrapped around him and the sweet voice trying to reach him.

All of his emotions bled out of him, along with his strength as he collapsed to his knees. Claire followed him, not loosening her hold for a second. In that moment, BJ felt everything finally catching up with him. Years of neglect from William and Annette. Having to be the one to raise Sherry when they weren't around. Everything he faced in the military. Everything he faced during this nightmare and losing Sherry again...it was all too much…

For the first time in what felt like forever...William Birkin II broke down.

Tears fell from his eyes in a soft torrent as heart tearing sobs shook his frame as he lost himself to everything he refused to feel for so long. Everything he pushed aside to be strong for his sister, for his country...for Claire.

For the young Redfield, she only tightened her grip as she felt the Marine fall apart. Whatever was happening, she knew she had to be there for him. He needed her to be there.

"It's okay. I got you." Claire said softly. Laying her head on the back of his.

They sat in the silence, broken only by BJ's anguish finally being released. Time unknown to them until the Marine managed to get himself back under control again.

"C-Claire?" BJ spoke, his voice hoarse and dry.

Claire got up and knelt in front of him, looking into his bloodshot eyes, not with judgement, but understanding and kindness.

"I-" he was cut off when the brunette put a finger to his lips. She then leaned forward and hugged him.

"It's okay." she said softly.

BJ was frozen for a moment before wrapping his arms back around her. Taking in the smell of her hair, the warmth of her embrace. And for a brief second, he felt a bit of the weight on his shoulders lessen.

X

It took a little time before BJ was willing to talk about what had just happened. But when he did he told Claire everything from his childhood to the present.

In honesty, she was surprised he hadn't broken down sooner. From what she was hearing, her partner had never really had a moment to feel vulnerable. Always having to be strong for everyone else to the point where he had almost none for himself. It all reminded her too much of what she and Chris had been through growing up.

Now that she knew the truth, Claire couldn't help but find even more similarities between herself and BJ. The biggest difference, however, was that her parents died years ago. BJ and Sherry's parents were alive, but may as well have been dead to them.

The Marine did, and would do, anything for his sister. Just like she knew Chris would always do whatever he could for her.

"I could really use a cigarette right now." BJ muttered when everything had been said.

"I didn't know you smoked." said Claire.

"Quit after I lost my leg...after tonight I might pick up the habit again." the Marine replied with a sardonic chuckle. He sent a look at the door his mother went through and sighed, "We need to get moving. Sherry's still out there, and the longer we stay here the more danger she could be in."

The brunette nodded, "You okay now?"

"Yeah. Claire...thank you." BJ replied honestly.

Claire smiled warmly at him, "You don't have to thank me, BJ." He disagreed, but the Marine smiled back at her before they prepared themselves and went through the same door Annette had passed through earlier.

Entering an office that was in better shape than most of the places they had been in, they headed toward the adjacent door when something on a nearby desk caught BJ's attention.

An open file with its contents spread out over the surface, mainly lab notes and data sheets, but there were also images of DNA strands and other genetic blueprints that showed signs of modifications.

"What is it?" asked Claire as he started going through the files.

"Lab data. Experiment results. It must have been what my mother was working on." said BJ, finding one sheet written out in his mother's handwriting;

'G' Report:

The G-Virus clinical trial will be entering its final phase soon. Before 'G' - the new creature that will surpass humans - is born, allow me to predict a few things about its biology and biological functions.

"G...this must be what my dad and Irons were talking about." The Marine muttered before he continued reading.

-Intelligence:

The subject's intelligence will begin to drop immediately, with their linguistic abilities disappearing within a matter of days. Finally, they will lose their capacity to reason and their humanity. G will be a creature of pure instinct, driven only by a need to survive and reproduce.

-Physical Abilities:

Due to unusually accelerated cell division - evolution - it will be highly adaptable to any environment. Furthermore, with its amazing ability to repair itself through regeneration, it will be difficult to completely kill it with any conventional small firepower.

-Reproductive Behavior:

G's most remarkable feature will be it's intense desire to reproduce. It will instinctively search out humans with DNA that closely matches its own and implant an embryo in them.

But the chances of success are very low and if the DNA is not close enough to a match, an underdeveloped G creature will be produced instead. I suppose the only ones who might be close enough of a match would be any biological children of the subject, though…

The paper slipped from BJ's limp fingers when he finished reading the words out loud. Terror coursed through his veins like liquid ice as the full gravity of the report came down like the Hindenburg.

His father was infected with this G virus, turning him into the monster that had been lurking around. His humanity long gone and replaced with the need to kill and...reproduce.

And those he would be hunting for were-

He turned to Claire whose face was as pale as his was, she more than likely coming to the same conclusion.

"We need to find Sherry, NOW!"

X

A/N: And the true horror takes root for our heroes.

I know BJ's breakdown seemed to come out of nowhere, but coming from someone who suffers from depression, anxiety and PTSD, it's so much easier to ignore your anger, pain and sadness. Forcing it down deep and trying to forget it existed. But in the end, it just takes that one trigger to set it all off. It happens to service men and women everyday as well as countless others who suffered somewhere in their past.

BJ is very much human. One that went through a lot but ignored his own pain for the sake of being there for Sherry. His drive and focus, ultimately being his weakness as well. He needed this to not only recover mentally and emotionally, but to also grow stronger for what happens next.

Hate it or love it, I figured these events needed to happen. And for Claire to be there to help him through it.

I'm steamrolling through this folks, so keep the support coming and I'll update soon.