Booth frowned as he pondered the feasibility of this plan. He was in charge of this group, and although he did not care for their lives, he cared deeply about his reward. If he could complete this mission with everybody alive and in record time, he would receive a substantial bonus.
"Are you sure you can do this?"
"Now that the Red Queen has been shut down, Umbrella Corps's servers are at their weakest," Edward explained. "But if you are worried about my ability to break into a company as advanced as Umbrella, I can contact a company that loans a helicopter to come pick us up. The only issue is they might be shot down without the logo or authority of Umbrella."
Booth walked to a box on the table and took out a map of Raccoon City. "Raccoon University is about five miles from our location. Would that work?"
"Is the university sponsored by Umbrella?"
"Almost everything in this city is sponsored by Umbrella," Booth replied. "The university is the place they built to hide their members in plain sight and to recruit more talent."
Edward nodded. The first Resident Evil movie took place inside the Hive, an underground secret laboratory. The second movie, where this mission takes place, is set in Raccoon City. In the first few minutes, it was revealed that many scientists and engineers from the Umbrella Corporation, who held high-level security clearances, secretly resided in Raccoon City. Therefore, it made sense that they would need an identity and a place to conduct research, such as Raccoon University.
Booth drew a line from their locations to the university. "This is the shortest path to our goal, but you guys should prepare to face hordes of zombies."
"If you really want a short route, the buildings are the safest and shortest way," Nate suddenly said as he hunched over Booth's shoulder to look at the map. "I have experience with parkour, and if this map is as accurate as I'm reading, many of these buildings are close enough to jump. If we go through this path," He pointed at the map, tracing a straighter path. "We can drop down on this alley before walking to the university."
"Absolutely not," Dr. Frey said.
"Why not?"
"You may be fit for such activities, but I spent most of my time at a desk or in a lab. Do you think I can jump from building to building to build? Forget about jumping, even these weapons are useless. I'm not trained for any of this."
"You better adapt real soon," Booth said casually. "We will take the regular route." He then checked his watch. "We have a little over 30 seconds until the mission starts. I'll give you a quick lesson on how to use a gun."
"20 seconds? How —"
Booth manhandled Dr. Frey by forcing her into a shooting position and explaining basic gun skills to her, like proper stance and how to reduce the recoil.
"Go ahead and shoot the wall."
"What?"
"I said, shoot."
Bang! Bang!
"Until the mission starts, this location will be isolated and protected, so don't worry about the noise attracting anyone," Booth explained before glancing at the others. He noticed how Edward and Nate held the gun, so his gaze shifted to William.
"Come in line with her."
William was a little slow to react, but he soon walked next to Dr. Frey. Booth did the same thing for him, showing him how to hold and shoot a gun. He started with the 9mm before showing them how to handle a machine gun.
'These people were not selected randomly,' Edward analyzed as he observed everybody. Nate seemed like an adrenaline junky, pursuing strength and extreme sports. But the way he held the gun and how he so perfectly read that map revealed his extraordinariness.
Dr. Frey was probably chosen because of her intelligence, but she also appears to adapt quickly to using a gun. Meanwhile, the way William reacted after firing the gun revealed this was not the first time he had used one. It's obvious he had no training like Dr. Frey, but it's also apparent that it was not the first time he held or used one.
[Mission Countdown. 10…9…8…7…]
A voice was transmitted into everybody's mind, and they looked at their watch to see the countdown.
"On your guard," Booth said as he pointed his gun at the room's only door. Everybody was tense and followed his actions. After the countdown reached zero, the golden light disappeared, but nothing happened. No one or thing rushed in.
"You made me nervous for nothing," Nate complained.
"That's because this is your first mission, and it's on easy mode," Booth said calmly. "The Lord God even provided you with weapons and a map. If you think things are going to be this easy —"
Bang!
A zombie rushed in, catching everybody off guard. Luckily, Booth reacted by shooting it in the head. "You were saying?" Booth looked at Nate, who could only smile in embarrassment.
"What fast reflexes,' Edward thought. 'His physical stats should be Tier 1, or approaching it.' It became clearer to Edward and the group that Booth's abilities were already beyond human limits. Edward did not focus too much on Booth Skills since bullets or mortal armies can still kill tier 1-3.
His worry was on himself. 'This body is so trash.' In order to be safe, Edward only brought his knowledge with him, which in fact slightly improved his senses. However, a higher sense meant nothing when his body could not react. He saw the zombie rushing into the room, but he remained standing because his body could not keep up with his mind.
"Let's go," Booth said as he approached the door. He did not immediately exit, but he stayed close to the door to check for any signs of life in the surroundings.
"I see ten zombies nearby. Do not shoot them, but decapitate them with your sword," Booth ordered. He gave a hand signal before walking out. Nate did not hesitate to follow, and Edward followed after him. Dr. Frey remained close to him.
"Aren't you scared?" she asked in a low voice.
"I've been living in the underworld since I was 19. This is not new to me," Edward said. The backstory he gave himself was that of a genius who attended college at the ripe age of 8. By the time he was 19, he had accumulated too many degrees to count, and that's when he began discussing his grand plan, which soon led to his ostracism.
The artifact he gave Tobias and the other spies used the power of cause and effect to seemingly introduce a new person in this dimension's reality. Of course, that artifact was created long ago, and Edward did not believe it left any trace. As such, he's prepared to upgrade or remove the incongruities of his identity.
"Oh." Dr. Frey responded.
The team rushed over to the zombies, who were immediately alarmed by their presence. Booth did nothing but observe, but Nate had a grin on his face as he chopped off the head of the first zombie who came toward him. Such a feat showed how strong Nate truly is, and the quality of the weapon provided by the God Space.
Another zombie approached him, and Nate stabbed it in the head. However, he was too cocky and did not keep an eye on his surroundings. Before he could react, five of the zombies had already surrounded him.
Nate immediately panicked and started waving the sword around. His strength left wounds on these zombies, even chopping a few limbs, but this meant nothing as these mindless creatures were relentless. Booth showed no signs of helping. Luckily for him, Edward and the other three came to support.