In the forest outside, zombie dogs—Cerberus—and other infected abominations prowled near the mansion. Various bio-weapons and twisted experiments added to the danger.
If Max wanted to stay alive and complete the mission easily, the best strategy would be to bunker down here, turning the lab into a makeshift shelter. But that wouldn't yield many rewards.
He sighed tiredly. "Maybe I have to get involved."
Even if the mission was deadly, there was Rebecca—an experienced medic and one of Resident Evil 0's main characters.
And Billy Coen, an ex-Marine lieutenant, was no slouch either. A tough soldier with the strength to carry a team through hell, Billy's presence was reassuring.
Max steeled himself. If ordinary game protagonists could take on monsters without super-serums or cybernetics, then so could he—at least to a degree.
"Let's do this."
He began preparing. Searching the lab office, he found little of use—just an M9 pistol tucked in a drawer. He grabbed it, inspected the slide and barrel, and found it functional. Fully loaded.
He also had his handgun in his space backpack—a small yet invaluable edge the system hadn't stripped from him.
Backup ammo, a few rations, and some medical supplies rounded out his gear. It wasn't much, but enough to give him a fighting chance.
Max took a breath and slowly pushed open the door to the corridor.
A chilling silence greeted him. The hall was dimly lit, flickering as eerie shadows stretching across the walls. The silence wasn't comforting—it was the kind that screamed something was wrong.
'Why do these places always have broken bulbs?' he admonished the creators. In the Resident Evil universe, dim lighting wasn't just aesthetic—it was practically law.
Every step was deliberate. He kept his gun raised and eyes sharp, advancing toward the main gate. He had no intention of exploring the mansion blindly. Knowledge of the plot might be his biggest weapon.
Death was still death here.
A staircase came into view. Relief surged through him—until it was ripped away.
"Grrrawrr"
"Fuck," he trembled, nearly stumbling back.
From the shadows, a grotesque face emerged—human once, now a decaying mockery of life. Its eyes were cloudy, skin peeled back in patches, jaw slack as it released a guttural, animalistic growl.
Max froze for half a second. This wasn't a cutscene. This was real.
'Focus', he exhaled. The zombie was slow. Clumsy.
He raised the pistol and aimed. His heart pounded. This was his first real shot.
Bang! Bang!
Blood splattered as two rounds slammed into the creature's skull. It dropped like a sack of meat.
"Always double tap," he muttered to himself.
The silence returned—briefly. Then came the unmistakable shuffling of more undead. Max's shots had drawn attention.
Figures limped into view—lab coats stained, limbs broken, flesh rotting off their bones. Some dragged twisted ankles, others gurgled through shredded throats. Former workers, researchers maybe.
Now... just bodies in motion.
No time to waste.
He turned and moved fast, relying on his knowledge of the map layout. Every corridor felt like a trap.
Even seasoned S.T.A.R.S. operatives had been overwhelmed here. Max was just a guy with meta-knowledge and some aim.
He avoided direct fights, slipping past a pair of wandering zombies, and ducking into rooms when needed. Every breath he took felt earned.
At the same time…
Far from the mansion, Umbrella had dispatched a security team to investigate a stalled train.
The train, a mobile lab transport, had been en route to the nearby training facility. Staffed by researchers and operatives, it was a key part of Umbrella's secret programs.
Then it all went wrong.
Leeches poured in from every crevice—swarming, crawling, merging. The train descended into chaos, blood and screams filling the cars.
If Max was here, he would understand the situation.
Resident Evil 0. The beginning is set just before the events of the first game.
The Umbrella Training Facility was built in 1968, under James Marcus, one of Umbrella's founding minds. Officially, it trained company personnel. In truth, it was a viral research lab.
In 1978, Marcus was ousted from the board, and his experiments were relocated to the Arklay Institute, near the mansion Max was now navigating.
But Marcus hadn't disappeared. Not really.
Onboard the train, as chaos unfolded, one creature rose above the others—a leech-infested form twisted by hate and science.
Back in Raccoon City, strange murders had begun. Bodies mutilated. Victims vanished. Locals whispered of animal attacks. The police were baffled. That's when the elite S.T.A.R.S. Bravo Team was deployed.
Their chopper malfunctioned mid-mission, forcing an emergency landing deep in the Arklay forest.
Rebecca Chambers, a rookie medic and member of the Bravo Team, was separated during the chaos and stumbled across the derailed train. Her encounter with Billy Coen—the fugitive Marine—sparked the start of Resident Evil 0's events.
On his way, Max replayed the sequence mentally, reminding himself what came next. The leech creatures. Marcus's resurrection. The trek through the cursed facility.
He wasn't sure when he'd meet Rebecca and Billy, but he knew their survival depended on more than their canon plot armour now. Any deviation could doom them.
His mission wasn't just survival. If he played it right, maybe he could change things for the better.
Maybe he could— A groan behind him snapped him out of it.
More footsteps. Closer this time.
Max grits his teeth and moves again. He had no interest in being a side character with a tragic offscreen death.
He wasn't built like Billy. He didn't have Rebecca's training. But he had foresight, preparation, and a small advantage from his system interface.
And if he was going to make it out of this world alive… he had to keep moving.
….
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