The film begins in the autumn of
2005, 7 years after the
Raccoon City Outbreak, and the incident happens at an airport somewhere in a mid-western American city.
Claire Redfield is now a member of a non-governmental organization which handles search and rescue of chemical and bioterrorist attacks. Claire arrives at the airport, for the purpose of business.
Meanwhile, a passenger airplane is approaching the airport for landing. As one of the attendants checks the passengers, she notices one man is looking un-well. The man in question is clearly in the final stages of the deadly
T-Virus infection, and warns the attendant as such and it is an emergency. Shortly after, the infection claims his life and he zombiefies, causing him to attack several other passengers, which spreads the virus throughout the plane. The out-of-control plane, attempting and failing to make an emergency landing, crashes into the airport's lobby. Claire survives, along with many other civilians, and witnesses the door to the plane opening...and
zombies pouring out of the hatch and attacking civilians, causing chaos.
The government is quick to lockdown the airport, sealing it of from the public and preventing the panicked civilians still trapped in the airport from leaving. Claire, meanwhile, lacking weapons, hides from the zombies, along with several other civilians, with Claire promising to protect a young girl;
Rani Chawla.
The
Special Response Team, led by Ex-SWAT Police Officer
Angela Miller, is planning a rescue mission for the civilians trapped in the airport and sterilize all the zombies. The White House, seemingly "too eager" to contain the outbreak, sends in a Special Agent with experience in dealing with these forms of situations;
Leon Scott Kennedy. Taking command of the SRT, Leon leads the team to breach the airport and battle the zombies, who by now have totally overrun the human population of the airport. Leon rescues Claire at the last moment and, together, they, along with Rani and Angela, escape the airport before it is bombed.
Shortly after their escape, it is revealed that an unknown bio-terrorist;
Curtis Miller, a former employee of the same organization that hired Claire and is related to Angela, broadcasts a message revealing he is responsible for the outbreak. Curtis holds samples of the T-Virus, and demands U.S.
President Graham to reveal to the public the entire truth of what happened of the
Raccoon City disaster, along with his direct involvement with the
Umbrella Corporation. Curtis gives the President a 4-hour deadline, or he will spread the T-Virus to every major city on Earth.
The SRT succeeds in locating Curtis' hiding place, but Curtis releases a new type of
Tyrant against them, and deliberately infects himself with the
G-Virus, turning him into a rampaging killing machine.