(Covers information from Anderson's universe)
The Hive Outbreak was a biohzarderous incident that occurred In September 2002, committed by Umbrella operative Spence Parks.
History
In an act to foil his lover, Alice, and her plans to expose Umbrella with Lisa Addison, Spence made his way into the virus chamber and stole several samples for the black market. He tossed a single container onto the ground as he exited the secure room a way to cover his tracks. The escaped virus quickly became airborne and traveled through the Hive's air conditioning system and made its way through the facility. The Red Queen, in an attempt to stop a disastrous viral outbreak, sealed off the offices in the facility and filled it with halon gas, suffocating everyone within. Elsewhere, the computer system flooded another chamber with water, drowning doctors Anna Bolt, Dr. Blue and Dr. Brown. Further attempts to kill the population resulted in elevator cables being cut and their safety devices rendered inert.
Investigation
In her haste to stop the spread, the Red Queen did not notify the company as to the facility's situation, leading to an investigation. Some five hours after the attack, the Sanitation team arrived at the secondary entrance to the facility - a mansion in the nearby mountains. Inside they stumbled upon the recently awakened Alice, and Lisa's brother Matt, who had entered the mansion as part of his investigation.
With no where else to go, the three were taken down into the Hive with the squad. Initially, the team found no bodies at all, with the exception of Dr. Bolt and her team, still floating in what had become a water tank. Eventually, the team succeeded in disabling the Red Queen, loosing several of their members in the process - their leader and medic among them. This move, however, led to the release of all locks around the facility. Even worse, it would soon be revealed that the Red Queen had failed to exterminate the infected - the personnel were now zombies.
A surprise attack on the team would lead to more casualties, forcing the rest to escape through access ways. The team would realize that they would have to restore the Queen to bring order to chaos. She would reveal to them that they were all infected with the virus, and so she would not allow them to escape the facility. Meanwhile, Spence made his way to the transport terminal to go out alone, but was attacked by an escaped licker. Alice would head into the station and take Spence's suitcase from him, which contained samples of the anti-virus - evidently, Spence planned to sell these on the black market, too. Still not letting them go due to the hopelessness of Rain's case - the T-Virus had surpassed curable levels in her body, Alice attacked the AI before heading for the train with Rain and Matt.
Injecting themselves with the anti-virus, they were then attacked by the Licker which, before its death, infected Matt with a mutant strain of the virus. Rain would die and resurrect as the Red Queen expected. Making it to the mansion, Alice and Matt would be confronted by a team of Umbrella scientists, who would strap the two to stretchers for immediate biological study, with Matt being placed on the "Nemesis program". Their next order of business: the reopening of the Hive.
Aftermath
The Hive is eventually reclaimed by Umbrella at some point during the Global T-Virus pandemic and becomes a Noah's Ark of sorts for the Umbrella High Command and thousands of others held in stasis to wait out the "apocalypse." Despite reclaiming the Hive, Umbrella makes no apparent efforts to repair the damage done by the outbreak nor clean up after it.
Further Notes
- In the novelization of The Final Chapter, the Red Queen explains that her actions were not only to contain the T-virus to the Hive, but also to stop the apocalyptic plot of Doctor Alexander Isaacs, something she failed in when the Hive was reopened. This is also indicated by dialogue in the movie when she tells Alice that ten years before they failed to stop Isaacs plan and can't afford to fail again.
- In The Final Chapter, while the Hive has been reclaimed by Umbrella until its destruction at Alice's hands, its shown to have lasting damage from the outbreak and at least one T-virus mutation loose in its halls.