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EPILOGUE
They saw the aftermath of the explosion from ten miles outside the city, a black and billowing cloud that rose up into the early morning light and hung over Raccoon like a terrible storm or a bad dream, Rebecca thought, a recurring one. Umbrella. She didn't say it aloud, because it wasn't necessary. John and David hadn't gone through the Spencer estate nightmare, but they'd been at the Cove facility, witnesses to what Umbrella was capable of; they knew. Nobody spoke as David stepped up the speed, his knuckles white on the wheel. For once, John didn't crack any jokes about what might have happened. They all knew that it was bad; before Jill, Chris, and Barry had left for Europe, Jill had wired them with her suspicions about another accident, and asked them to keep tabs. When the phone lines had gone down, they'd loaded up the SUV and left Maine to see what could be done. The only question was how many people had died this time.
Maybe this is the end, finally. A blast like that… Umbrella can't cover this up so easily, not if it's as bad as it looks.
John finally broke the silence, his deep, mellow voice uncharacteristically subdued. "Fail-safe?" David sighed. "Probably. And if there was a spill, we're not going in; we'll circle the city and then call for help from Latham. Umbrella is surely sending in its cleanup staff already."
Rebecca nodded along with John. They weren't technically part of the S.T.A.R.S. anymore, but David had been a captain before, and with good reason. They fell back into a tense silence, the dawn-touched trees spi
It was a question. The cop glanced back at the woman, then met David's gaze for several long beats. He must have seen something in David's face that he felt he could trust; he nodded slowly, then motioned for the woman and girl to come forward. "Thanks," he said, the exhaustion finally coming through. "If you could give us a ride, that'd be great." David smiled. "Please, get in. John, Rebecca -
–would you assist…?"
John grabbed a couple of blankets out of the back as Rebecca reached for her medical kit, careful not to uncover the rifles tucked next to the wheel well.
An Umbrella accident…
Rebecca wondered if they knew how lucky they were to have survived it, but another look into those three exhausted, shell-shocked faces told her that they probably did. They started talking even before David turned the vehicle around and in a very short time, they dis– covered that they had a lot in common, as the child fell asleep and they drove back the way they'd come, leaving the burning city behind.