Editing Resident Evil: Chronicles of Darkness (section)

===Viral Outbreaks===
Umbrella's experiments with the T-Virus and B.O.Ws are being carried out all over the globe. It was inevitable that something would go wrong. It happened on 11th May, 1998, and ironically enough, it was caused by Umbrella's own actions.

When Marcus and his leeches were killed, one large and healthy leech survived. It crawled inside of Marcus' shattered body, and merged with him from the inside out, consuming him and assimilating his memories and knowledge. This Queen Leech believed itself to be Marcus reborn, and burned with the need for revenge on Umbrella. It attacked the Arklay Mansion Laboratory, resulting in a massive T-Virus spill and the release of multiple B.O.Ws, predominantly the zombified dobermans known as Cerberus. Soon, the entire research team had succumbed and become zombies, and the flesh-hungry killers began to spread into the wilderness around them.

Over the next two months, Raccoon City was struck by a plague of bizarre animal attacks and cannibalistic homicides. Finally, seeing an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone, on July 22nd, a fax was sent to Wesker telling him to lure the S.T.A.R.S to the mansion and arrange for them to battle the rogue bio-weapons; this would provide valuable combat data and winnow out the B.O.W ranks without any cost to Umbrella itself.

On the evening of the 23rd, the Queen Leech strikes again, this time attacking the Ecliptic Express, a train bringing a convoy of new researchers and security agents intended to investigate and potentially re-open the Umbrella Executive Training Centre. 

Soon afterwards, the S.T.A.R.S Bravo Team is forced to make an emergency landing nearby when their helicopter's engine fails. They discover a crashed Military Police HUMVEE in the area, which has been attacked by something; it was transporting a court-martialed soldier, Billy Coen, for execution. As the team starts examining their surroundings, Rebecca Chambers the S.T.A.R.S medic, finds the Ecliptic Express and starts exploring, only for the train to reactivate itself. She is saved from being eaten by the zombified passengers by Coen, and the two are forced to work together to survive. They ultimately crash at and explore the Executive Training Centre, until finally they find and kill the Queen Leech on the morning of the 24th.

Over the course of the night, Bravo Team members Kevin Dooley and Edward Dewey are killed by the cerberus packs, with the rest of the team being driven towards the Arklay Mansion.

Upon destroying the Queen Leech, Rebecca and Billy go their separate ways, with Rebecca heading to the Arklay Mansion to find the rest of her team and Billy wandering off into the woods to fake his death and find freedom from the false charges laid against him.

At the Mansion, Rebecca manages to unite with Richard Aiken, and they find a safe place to rest and recover. Forest Speyer isn't so lucky, being attacked by T-virus infected crows on the balcony and fatally pecked to death.

By the evening of the 24th, Alpha Team has been sent to try and find their missing comrades in arms. They too are attacked by the cerberus pack, with Joseph Frost being torn apart. When their cowardly pilot Brad Vickers abandons them, the survivors flee to the mansion. They arrive minutes too late to save Bravo Team member Kenneth Sullivan from being killed by a zombie, and start exploring. Chris manages to find Rebecca and Richard, but not before Richard has been lethally bitten by Yawn, a giant snake B.O.W. Likewise, when they find Captain Enrico in the caves beneath the mansion, he reveals that the S.T.A.R.S have been betrayed, but is assassinated.

Eventually, the surviving S.T.A.R.S find their way to the hidden lab beneath the mansion, where Wesker is revealed as the traitor. He taunts them with how their comrades have perished, and then unleashes the Tyrant - only for it to go out of control and kill him. Through sheer luck, the S.T.A.R.S manage to defeat the rampaging B.O.W; having heard on Richard's radio that Brad Vickers has returned to the area in an attack of conscience, they signal to him and set the self-destruct on the mansion. At the landing strip, though, the Tyrant revives and attacks them again; only with the aid of Vickers and a rocket launcher he had brought along in the helicopter do they manage to destroy it and flee before the mansion erupts.

When the S.T.A.R.S returns to Raccoon City, their claims of what happened and of Umbrella's involvement are laughed off. They have no evidence, and Umbrella literally owns the city. With no other choice, they try to find new evidence, even as the infected creatures from the mountains start spreading into the city, causing micro-outbreaks. By the 24th of August, Chris and Barry's investigations have led them to rumors of the "G-Virus", and so they head to Europe to challenge Umbrella at their headquarters. Rebecca leaves Raccoon City, whilst Jill makes plans to meet Chris and Barry there. Brad Vickers refuses to get involved.

By the 22nd of September, things reach a critical point. Suspecting Birkin may betray them, Umbrella sends a team of black ops agents led by HUNK to take a G-Virus sample from scientist by force. In the confusion, Birkin is shot and desperately injects himself with his own mutagen; transformed into a mindless monster, Birkin massacres HUNK's team and shatters vials of the T-Virus, which infect the water supply and the sewer's population of rats and roaches. The result is devastating to Raccoon City; a full-fledged zombie plague erupts in the streets, so that by the 24th, hordes of diseased cannibals are openly stalking the city streets. The survivors try to escape or otherwise survive as best they can.

On the 26th, the police officers try to make a final gauntlet to help the uninfected escape, but to little avail, thanks to the madness of Chief Brian Irons. Units of the Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service are deployed to try and thin the ranks of the infected, but most perish in the attempt.

On the 28th, Jill Valentine, having been stranded in the city by the sudden outbreak of plague, tries to make her escape. She makes an alliance with the UBCS survivor Carlos Oliveria, only to be betrayed and attacked by another UBCS survivor, Nikolai Zinoviev. During the chaos, Umbrella deploys its prototype "Nemesis" T-103 Pursuer Type Tyrant, a Tyrant infected with the NE-Alpha Type Parasite, to hunt down and kill any and all S.T.A.R.S. Brad Vickers is slain by the beast, and Jill herself is wounded during a deadly battle outside of the Raccoon City Clocktower, resulting in her being infected with the T-Virus.

On the 29th and the 30th, as Carlos desperately retrieves an experimental anti-T vaccine for Jill, Claire Redfield and Leon Kennedy arrive in Raccoon City. Thrown together by chance, they work together to try and survive as they seek an escape from the city. They encounter and rescue a young girl, Sherry Birkin, daughter of the mutated William Birkin and his wife, Annette. They also receive cryptic aid from a mysterious Chinese woman named Ada Wong. Pursued by a T-103 Tyrant, they realize that it is chasing Sherry's locket, which contains the last known sample of the G-Virus and seemingly kills Ada, although in reality she survives and manages to escape Raccoon City on her own with the last sample of G-Virus. In the process of eluding it, Sherry is attacked by her increasingly mutated father, who infects her with G-Virus and forces them to apply the "Devil" Vaccine to save her life. Finally, they manage to destroy the horrific abomination that was once William Birkin and escape. Claire goes her own way, still determined to find her brother, whilst Leon and Sherry are taken into custody by US governmental agents.

On the 1st of October, Jill Valentine finally awakens, cured of her infection. Together, she and Carlos manage to signal to Barry Burton and kill the Nemesis, escaping Raccoon City just before it is obliterated with a missile strike.

The next major outbreak occurs in the November of 1998; on the 22nd, Commander Vincent Goldman of the Sheena Island base goes insane when he realizes that Umbrella is likely to remove him from his position after receiving reports about his brutality and inefficiency. Driven by the urge for vengeance, he deliberately causes an outbreak on Sheena Island, hoping to wipe out everyone who can report him for his repulsive human rights violations. He then sets to hunting the spy he knows has been operating the island, one Ark Thompson. He succeeds in tracking him down on the 25th, but in their confrontation, both are rendered unconscious, with Thompson temporarily rendered amnesiac. Awakening on the 26th, they stalk each other through the zombie infested streets; Goldman is killed when he unleashes the prototype Hypnos-T Type Tyrant, whilst Thompson then destroys it. Setting the island to self destruct, Thompson escapes in a helicopter with Lott and Lily Klein, the sole remaining uninfected survivors of the Sheena Island Incident.

The next major outbreaks occurs on December the 17th, 1998. Claire Redfield attempts to infiltrate Umbrella's Paris Laboratory in search of her brother, only to be captured and sent to Umbrella's private prison and military training facility; Rockfort Island, commanded by the now-quite-insane Alfred Ashford. 

Shortly after her arrival, an unknown force attacks the island, causing T-Virus samples to be leaked and infecting the guards and prisoners alike, even reviving the recently buried corpses in the graveyard. Safely ensconced in solitary confinement, Claire is spared, and freed by an Umbrella guard named Rodrigo Raval, who takes pity on her. As she explores the zombie-infested island, she encounters and teams up with a fellow surviving prisoner, Steve Burnside, dodging the insane Alfred Ashford as he pursues the two through the island.

As they explore, they encounter a shocking figure; Albert Wesker. Unbeknownst to any of the survivors of Raccoon City, Wesker had received a special virus from Birkin before deploying to the Arklay Mountains, one that promised to revive him from death with superhuman strength, durability and speed. This even more inhuman Wesker gloats that it was he who attacked Rockfort Island, releasing the T-Virus, before he abandons the two to what he is certain will be their death.

But Claire and Steve are more skilled than Wesker anticipates. Nothing in their way stops them, not even the deadly mutant Gravedigger, nor the prototype Bandersnatch B.O.Ws, nor even Alfred activating the self-destruct and unleashing a T-103 Tyrant "trainer". Boarding a hidden seaplane, the duo escapes the island and flees - but Alfred, having likewise escaped in a private plane, seizes control of their plane by remote control, directing them to Umbrella's Antarctic Base.

When Rockfort Island was attacked, the survivors fled here, unwittingly bringing their infection with them. By the time Claire and Steve are forced to land, the entire population has been infected and its experimental B.O.Ws have been released. Forced to seek a way to escape, the two survivors eventually confront and mortally wound the last scion of the Ashford family. But, in his death, he manages to release his mutated father, now known as the Nosferatu, and also triggers the awakening of his sister, Alexia. Although Claire and Steve manage to slay the distorted Alexander Ashford, their attempt to flee for the safety of a non-Umbrella-owned research base in a snowmobile are cut short by Alexia, who imprisons the two.

It isn't until December 28th that Chris Redfield arrives on the ruins of Rockfort Island. Amazingly, Rodrigo Raval has survived until this point, but he is attacked and killed by the mutant Gulp Worm after telling Chris that his sister is alive. Exploring the island for clues, Chris encounters Wesker, and engages in a short-lived duel that demonstrates the mutant's new physical prowess. Losing track of each other, each makes their way to Antarctica. There, Chris saves Claire, but is too late to rescue Steve; transformed into a deformed monster by T-Veronica, the mutant almost kills the siblings, only to be distracted when Alexia interferes with a giant tentacle of biomass. Through sheer willpower, Steve manages to redirect his rage at the tentacle and save Claire, but is struck a seemingly mortal wound in the process.

Chris faces down Alexia and destroys her with the aid of the Linear Launcher, a super-weapon secretly developed by Alexander when he began to suspect the malign nature and malignant intelligence of his engineered progeny. Fighting another short duel with Wesker, the two parties escape; the Redfields back to safety, and Wesker back into hiding, taking with him the body of Steve Burnside.