"First floor, shoes, menswear, Umbrella assholes,"

John said, not particularly bothered that he didn't get a laugh. Everyone had their own preferred method for dealing with tension. Besides, his sense of humor was more fully developed. Right over their heads, he thought, scanning the walls of the elevator car for anything unusual. Well, maybe not over their heads; it was more that they just didn't appreciate his fine wit. He kept himself amused, that was the important thing, it kept him from freezing up or turning into a basket case. The elevator looked okay, dusty but solid. John stepped carefully inside, Leon right behind -

–then John heard a noise, just as a red light started to blink on the lift's control panel. "Be still," John hissed, holding his hand up, not wanting anyone else to get on until he saw what the light was for -

– and the mesh gate closed behind him, the latch snapping shut. He spun, saw that Leon was on board, saw Claire and Rebecca lunging for the gate from the other side and David running for the keypad. There was a rasping click from overhead and Leon, closer to the front, shouted at Claire and Rebecca -

"Get back!"

– because the wall panel was coming down, slam– ming down, and the girls were stumbling back. John caught a final glimpse of their shocked and pale faces in the gloom -

– and the door had closed, and although he hadn't touched a thing, the elevator was going down. John crouched by the controls, punching at the buttons,

and saw what the flashing red light was for. "Manual override," he said, and stood up, looking at the young cop, not sure what to say. Their simple plan had just been totally screwed. "Shit," Leon said, and John nodded, thinking he'dsummed it up perfectly.

EIGHT

"SHIT." CLAIRE HISSED, FEELING HELPLESS and afraid, wanting to beat against the wall panel until it released the two men.

Trap, it was a trap, a setup. "Listen… it's going down," Rebecca said, and Claire heard it, too. She turned, saw David tapping the keypad with one hand, flashlight in the other, his face grim. "David," Claire started, and stopped as David spared her a pointed glance, a look that told her to wait. He barely paused in his number punching, returning his entire attention back to the controls. She turned to Rebecca, saw that Rebecca was chewing at her lip nervously, watching David. "He must be trying all the codes," she whispered to Claire, and Claire nodded, feeling sick with worry, wanting to talk action but realizing that David needed to concentrate. She compromised, leaning in to whis– per back to Rebecca; if she just stood there quietly in the freezing dark, she'd lose her mind.

"Think it was Trent?" Rebecca frowned, then shook her head. "No. I think we hit a silent alarm or something. I saw a light flashing in the elevator before the gate closed."

Rebecca sounded just as scared as she was, just as terrified, and Claire thought about how close she and John must have gotten. As close as Leon and herself, maybe. Claire instinctively reached for her hand and Rebecca took it, squeezing it tightly, both of them watching David.

Come on, one of them has to open it, to bring it back…

A few tense seconds passed, and David stopped hitting keys. He pointed the flashlight up, the reflec– tion just enough light to see each other by.

"Seems that the numbers don't work if the lift is in use," he said. His voice was calm and easy, but Claire could see that his jaw was clenched, the muscles in his cheeks twitching.

"I'll try them all again in a moment, and then again, but since someone else seems to have access to the lift's master control, we should start consider-ing other options. Rebecca – start looking for a cam-era, check the corners and ceiling; if we're going to be here awhile, we'll need privacy. Claire, see if you can find any tools we might use to get through the wall -

– tire iron, screwdriver, anything. If the codes won't work, we'll see if we can't force our way in. Ques– tions?" "No," Rebecca said, and Claire shook her head. "Good. Take a deep breath and get to it."

David went back to the keypad and Rebecca walked to the corner, turning her flashlight to the ceiling. Claire took a deep breath and turned, looking at the dusty table in the middle of the room. It had stacked drawers on either side; she opened the first, pushing aside papers and clutter, thinking that David really kicked ass under pressure.

Tire iron, screwdriver, anything… be careful, please be careful and don't get killed…

Claire forced herself to take another deep breath; then she opened the next drawer, continuing her search. John took the lead, which Leon was only too happy to follow. He may have survived Raccoon, but the ex-

S.T.A.R.S. soldier had been in and out of combat situations for something like nine years; he won. "Get down," John said, crouching himself, then lying down on his stomach and wrapping the M-16 strap tightly around his muscular arm. "If it's an ambush, they'll be aiming high when the door opens; we take out their knees. Works like a charm."

Leon lay down next to him, propping his right arm up with his left hand, his nine-millimeter pointed loosely at the gate. Outside, the darkness slid past, nothing to see but metal-lined shaft. "And if it's not?" "Stand up, you take the right, I'll take left, stay in the car if you can. If you find yourself aiming at a wall, turn around and shoot low."

John glanced over at him – incredibly, a wide grin was spreading across his face. "Think of all the fun they're going to miss. We get to blow some Umbrella guys all to shit, and they're stuck in the cold dark with nothing to do."

Leon was a little too tense to smile back, although he made an effort. "Yeah, some guys get all the luck,"he said. John shook his head, his grin fading. "Nothing we can do but go for the ride," he said, and Leon nodded, swallowing. John might be crazy, but he was right about that much. They were where they were, wishing otherwise wouldn't make it so.

Doesn't hurt to try, though. Christ, I wish we hadn't stepped on this thing…

The elevator kept going down, and they both fell silent, waiting. Leon was glad that John wasn't the chatty type; he liked to crack jokes, but it was obvious that he didn't take a dangerous situation lightly. Leon saw that he was breathing deeply, sighting the M-16, preparing for whatever was going to happen. Leon took a few deep breaths himself, trying to relax into the prone position -

–and the elevator stopped. There was a soft ping sound, a chime, and the mesh gate was moving, disappearing into its designated hole in the wall. A windowless outer door rose at the same time, mellow light spilled across them -

– and there was nobody. A polished concrete wall twenty feet away, a polished concrete floor. Gray emptiness.

Get up, go!

Leon scrambled to his feet, heart beating too fast, John silent and even faster to his left. An exchanged glance and they both took one step out of the elevator, Leon whipping his VP70 around right, ready to fire and there was nothing. Again. A wide corridor that seemed a mile long, the faint, mingled scents of dust and some industrial disinfectant in the cool air. Cool, but not at all cold; compared to the surface, it was summer. The hall was a hundred and fifty yards easy, maybe more; there were a few offshoots, rounded lights spaced at regular intervals along the ceiling, no signs posted and no sign of life either.

So who brought us down? And why, if they weren't planning on meeting us with a few bullets?"Maybe they're all playing bingo," John said softly, and Leon looked back, saw that except for the place-ment of a few side halls, John's side was identical to his. And just as empty.They both stepped back into the elevator. John reached for the controls, tapped the "Up" button, and nothing happened. "What now?" Leon asked. "Don't ask me, David's the brains behind our outfit," John said. "Though I got the looks."Jesus, John," Leon said, frustrated. "You've got seniority here; give me a break, will ya?"John shrugged. "Okay. Here's what I'm thinking. Maybe it wasn't a trap. Maybe… if it was a trap, they would've tried to get all of us. And we'd be in the middle of a firefight right now." And the timing. The elevator was only there for a few seconds – as if someone realized we'd called it up…"Someone was trying to keep us from getting on,