With the final shot, the bear B.O.W succumbed to its wounds and collapsed on the ground dead. Its body twitched for a moment or two before growing still. Soon after, its entire body began to decompose rapidly melting into the very black ooze that seeped from its body.

Junior's frantic shrieks could still be heard as he approached Hawking's body. He let out a series of soft whimpers as he nuzzled against his older sibling.

"Hey, Junior, where are you-Oh, god!" Charlie was shocked at the sight before her, "W-What happened?"

---

Sherry was relieved that the B.O.W. went down quickly, but now there was the matter of…

“You must be Charlie,” said Sherry, holstering her weapon as she stepped over to Hawkings’ body. “The… bear, or whatever you want to call it, got a good swipe in.

She knelt down, carefully inspecting the head and body. Could he regenerate from something like this? She didn’t know, but she made sure the head and body were close, just in case.

"Yes, I'm Charlie." she replied, "But, how did you know my-"

Her curiosity was interrupted by the sound of sudden gasping for air. Hawking's body slowly began to sit up as he started shifting into his second form. A new head began forming where the old one once was and his shoulder-eye darted about in confusion before focusing on Junior.

"Little brother." Hawking smiled as he picked up his sibling, "You found me. Sherry, look, it's our baby brother!"

He held the little blob up to Sherry. Junior let out a series of curious gurgles and waved his tentacles.

---

Or he could just grow a new head. That worked, too.

Baby brother.

She had wanted siblings, once upon a time, when she was really little. She had quickly come to realize she would be taking care of them, too, and that was the end of that. These didn’t feel like her siblings. And they really weren’t, were they; her father could not have actually created them.

“Hi,” she said, reaching out a hand, a small tentacle briefly making contact with her finger before she remembered what she had come here for. “Sorry, excuse me.”

She pushed herself up and made her way to what little remained of the bear, using her phone to take a picture before kneeling down. Was this what had been causing problems?

Junior cooed happily in response.

"Aww, he likes you." Charlie spoke before clearing her throat, "Anywho, from earlier, yes, I'm Charlie. I didn't get your name, though, or how you know mine."

Hawking pointed out, "That thing's been stalking us for the past few days. No idea why."

"That thing was stalking you?" Charlie asked as she took out a small vial and some tweezers to collect a sample of the black sludge.

"Yes." Hawking nodded, "Father, my brothers, and I were hiding in these woods to avoid humans. That bear thing showed up and attacked us. Kept circling around the cabin day after day."

Charlie frowned in concern, "And, where is your father?"

"I...don't know. He left one night and hasn't been back since." he replied.

---

Sherry stood up and turned to face Charlie.
“Sorry. I’m Sherry Birkin from the National Security Agency. Hawking told me your name. I was sent here because of possible bioterrorism activity in the area.”

"It's nice to finally meet you, Sherry. Birkin told me about you. I'm glad to see you're alive, and I'm sure he would be too." Charlie nodded.

Junior let out a series of curious gurgle as he tried to reach towards the sludge. Hawking kept a good hold on him to make sure he didn't eat it.

"No, sweetie. That's not food." Charlie spoke softly yet sternly before turning her attention to Sherry again, "I'm starting to think what you were sent here to investigate is connected to what I've been dealing with lately. I worked for a company called Lazarus Corporation. We specialized in genetics and cloning. Unfortunately, there was a major B.O.W attack a month ago and our facility was one of the places attacked. And, to make matters worse, we were blamed for that same attack. I've been trying to prove our innocence ever since with little success."

Hawking asked, "So, that bear was after you?"

She answered, "Me, your father, your siblings. I got a bad feeling why. In the meantime, I'd like to study this sample I collected."

---

“Hm.”

Sure, he would be happy to see her, but he was not Sherry’s father, and she still wasn’t sure how she felt about it.

“The attack a month ago. What was it? Something similar?” she asked as she tapped Lazarus Corporation into the database search function on her comms device.

“Hawking, have you only seen the bear? Was it the one tearing up forest animal?”

Hawking nodded, "Yeah, it never ate any of the other animals. Er, not in the way that bears usually do. It would just rip off body parts and attach them to itself like it was replacing them."

Charlie pointed out, "That is very concerning. As for the attack, several B.O.W.s were let loose in a small town not too far from here. It was all over the news. Mostly Lickers and Hunters, though there was at least one Tyrant. The BSAA managed to clean up the mess, and then they turned their attention to us. To them, and to the general public, we're the next Umbrella. But, we're not like that. We want to help people."

She frowned slightly looking at the black sludge that was contained in the vial. Sure, she had suspicions, but she couldn't be certain until she was able to do a proper study of it. Charlie silently hoped her assumptions were wrong. For, if she were right, it would mean that the situation was far worse than she could imagine.

"Do you have a lab nearby?" Charlie asked Sherry, "It doesn't have to be anything fancy. Just something I can use to study this bear sludge."

---

Ugh. The ones that needed a scaffolding of sorts to regenerate somehow seemed so much more grotesque to Sherry.

“You want to help people,” she said. “That doesn’t mean everyone within Lazarus Corporation does. Trust me, I would know. I’m not saying they’re definitely involved, but the possibility is there.”

She had gone so long without thinking about Chief Irons, but everything that had happened today had dredged up his memory.

“I have some equipment in the trunk of my car that should help. It is a three-and-a-half hour walk, but I assume we can just drive to where I left it?” she asked, gesturing at the humvee. “In exchange, I’m going to make note of any results you get for my investigation.”

Charlie replied, "The Humvee should still work. Though, Price will probably kill me once he realizes that I left him to save a very naughty little blob."

Junior let out a sad series of coos.

"It's ok, sweetie." she sighed as she patted Junior on the head, "I know you were worried about Hawking. Just, promise me you won't do that again. I promised Birkin I wouldn't let anything happen to you."

She then began heading to the Humvee with Hawking behind her still carrying Junior.

---

Sherry followed after, ignoring the pang in her chest every time someone referenced Birkin.

“Hi, I’m Sherry Birkin, I’m a federal agent with the Division of Security Operations. We need to get to the car I left at the edge of the forest; these are the coordinates if you want them,” she said to the man she assumed was Price, offering him the screen of her phone.