"Catch you later."

She was so surprised that she almost couldn't find her voice in time. Was he nuts, or just stupid? He was at the door before she spoke up, jogging after him.

"Steve, wait! We should stick together…"

He turned and shook his head, his expression incredibly condescending. "I don't want you following me, okay? No offense, but you'll just slow me

down."

He smiled winningly again, working the eye contact as hard as he could. "And you'd definitely be a distraction. Look, just keep your eyes and ears open, you'll be fine."

He was through the door and gone before she could say anything. Dumbfounded and thoroughly annoyed, she watched the door settle closed, wondering how he had survived so far. His attitude suggested that he thought this was just one big video game, where he couldn't possibly get hurt or killed. It appeared that sheer bravado counted for something … the one thing teenaged boys seemed to have in abundance.

That and testosterone.

If being perceived as cool was his main concern, he wasn't going to make it very far. She had to go after him, she couldn't leave him to die…

Arroooooooo…

The terrible, lonely, ferocious sound that suddenly shattered the still night was one she'd heard before, in Raccoon City, and it was coming from behind the door that Steve had just gone through. There was no mistaking it for anything else. A dog, infected by the T-virus, turned from a domestic animal into a ruthless killer. After a fast search of the dead guards in the courtyard, she had two more full clips and part of a third. As ready as she was going to get, Claire took a few deep breaths and then slowly pushed the door open with the 9mm's barrel, hoping that Steve Burnside would stay lucky until she found him … and that by meeting him, her own luck hadn't just taken a serious turn for the worse.