He hounded down the straight hall to a branching corridor, his eyes locked on what he feared was a body on the ground, his head soaking in a puddle of blood. He approached with caution, a skip of his heartbeat as he looked down. A man lay dead, wearing the same mercenary outfit and insignia; his skin had turned gray, his eyeballs veined, rotten flesh on his face and hands. "One shot to the head... one to the arm... and one to the leg." His expression frowned. "Someone tried to slow him down- not kill him right away..."

He looked back in direction of Anaka. His mind was conflicted; a part of him wanted to have her walk out of the hospital, away from this hell, the other wanting to keep her close, and help her get through this madness. Goddammit... His jaw tightened. He returned to her, but remained in silence.

"There's a dead man down there... isn't there?" She could read him with ease. "Like the man upstairs or..." His expression had already answered her. "Are you... are you sure he's really dead?"

"Headshots make them as dead as can be." He recalled her words. "And I'm guessing whoever shot him knew that too... but they also shot him in the leg and arm- as if they tried to slow him down instead..." He didn't withheld his observation. "Wearing the same mercenary outfit... looks like they first hesitated, until they realized it was them... or the other."

"This- viral infection..." She spoke with hesitance. "It found its way here... and I have a feeling it wasn't by accident." She felt repulsed. "It's clear that Umbrella is conducting something in this city... these mercs hired to either get their hands on it, or cover up for whatever's going on here." He nodded in agreement.

"The man upstairs-" He connected the dots. "He said he had to kill them all... this has to be is doing..."

"He also killed himself, so that he wouldn't end up like them..." She recalled; a crucial piece was still missing. "If his team somehow got infected by the virus... was it from this place- these lower levels?" Her breathing increased, a tension built all across her body. "And the hospital staff... were they also..?" She didn't finish; although the reception hall seemed deserted, they couldn't confirm whether or not the rest of the hospital was as well.

"That nurse you mentioned back at the inn... could you find her upstairs?" She replied with a puzzled look, but was quick to pick up on the reason behind his inquiry.

"You don't want me down here... do you?" She took note of his averted eyes, and troubled expression; he winced and let out a sigh, her perceptiveness annoyingly keen.

"That's not-" He shook his head. "It's just- we don't know what else we'll find..."

"We've come this far- I won't back down now... no matter what we see or what we find out..." Her quivering voice betrayed her truthful words. She took a few steps ahead of him, her focus and weapon ready. "Let's keep going." She proceeded down the hall, Billy following shortly after.

She glimpsed at the body, struggling to keep her composure, as a nauseating feeling took hold of her. Blood was found all over, hand prints trailing off the walls, small puddles along both hallways, the pungent smell intensified by the stench of iron and death. Two ways were present to them; the straight hall from the elevator, and the intersection leading to a rusty door.

"Where do we go first?" Her eyes traveled between the latter and what was marked as the entrance to the maintenance room.

"Let's start with that old door- maybe we'll find something useful in there." She followed his lead, and proceeded inside a derelict office: damp cardboard boxes stacked between a row of cabinets, a few rats crawling back inside the walls. A quick scouting of the room brought them a sense of relief however, with no threat or dead body in sight. A few handgun magazines, a folded piece of paper and two weirdly shaped plugs were found on a desk. "Instructions of some kind... and it looks like it corresponds to the numbers and symbols on that panel."

"So using these plugs should release the locks- at least two of them..." He scrutinized the pieces. "We just need to find out from where." They had one more look around, but found nothing else that could be of use. Proceeding back out, they continued on to the maintenance room. Only one light was on, flickering at the far end of the room; machinery and pipes all around, several rusty shelves, misaligned as if pushed by brute force, and a wavering silhouette shadowed on the wall.