Deadly Silence: Resident Evil
Chapter One: The Cannibal Murders
Raccoon City… a small urban center in the American Midwest, almost out of place against the rural backdrop of the heavily forested Arklay Mountains. It was a city like any other, where children rushed off to school every morning, while parents did the same to their jobs, and a steadily increasing population led to an equally increasing crime rate. Funded largely by the Umbrella Corporation, the city enjoyed two decades of relative prosperity, with a booming economy and healthy tourism industry… until the spring of 1998.
NEW VICTIM OF VIOLENT ATTACKS DISCOVERED
June 30th, 1998 by Ben Bertolucci
In spite of the promises made earlier this year by the Raccoon City Police Department, yet another victim of the exceptionally brutal attacks taking place in the mountains surrounding Raccoon City has been located. Identified as 28 year old Susan Thompson, an Ornithologist vacationing from New York City, she was discovered early this morning by a group of hikers in the upper region of the forest zone.
Like the other victims, Susan had at first appeared to have been mauled by a large animal, such as a bear or a coyote, but after conferring with anonymous sources within Raccoon City General Hospital, it can be confirmed that the attackers were human. According to the report, Susan would have been descended on and attacked by a small group of people while birdwatching, and the cause of death has been listed as loss of blood from wounds caused by human teeth.
In a brief statement obtained this afternoon, Raccoon City Mayor Michael Warren, while insisting that the police have everything under control, has also urged the people to exercise caution if traveling through the forests outside the city, and to avoid doing so at night all together. Rumors of a possible citywide curfew have been dispelled for the moment, however, with the Mayor insisting once again that everything is under control.
"What in the purple fuck, Brian?!" Mayor Warren yelled, slamming down a copy of the Raccoon City Press on the Chief's Desk. "You promised me that this the city was safe, and that those sick bastards out in the woods were gonna be dealt with, remember? So why, oh why, does this God damn reporter have a seventh body to write about?!"
"Mr. Mayor, these things take time and resources." RPD Chief Irons replied calmly. "You might not have noticed, but the Arklay Mountains are a pretty big place, and with the crime rate within the city still going up, I don't have the manpower for a proper search and investigation… unless you want a repeat of what happened back in march."
There had been an attempt to investigate the murders a couple months before, back when the body count was a lot lower, but… calling that mission a failure would have been like calling the Challenger Space Shuttle a minor setback. The destruction to Arklay County property had been staggering, as well as the loss of an important historical site, giving plenty for the newspapers to write about, but almost killing the tourist industry… with no results. Thankfully, the boys in PR had been able to claim that fires and explosions were all accidents.
"No, no, no, Brian, not this time." Mayor Warren said with finger pointed. "No more blaming cops who are dead or comatose, this time… this time it's all on you. The people of this city are demanding an end to these… what are they calling them, Cannibal Murders? So, I don't care how you do it, but either this negative press… and these murders end by the end of the week… or your career does."
With that, the Mayor turned away and stomped toward the door, slamming it loud enough to shake the walls and knock down a photograph. Warren could be heard yelling to himself while continuing to stomp his way down the hall, seeming to pass an Officer who must have said good day to him or something, because the Mayor could be heard telling them to stop wasting time and get back to work, before finally getting too far away from the office to be heard anymore.
"Well, Sieg Hail, mein Furhur." Irons grumbled under his breath, giving a mock Nazi salute. "Douchebag… oh, the poor people of this city… oh, that mean old reporter… I hope the papers catch you screwing a goat, you God damn asshole."
His feelings about the Mayor aside, the Chief knew that the city really was facing a crisis, and that the people were going to be looking to him, maybe even more so than the Mayor, to resolve it. Using a scapegoat from the disaster a few months ago had worked for a while, but the killers were still out there, and they seemed to be getting bolder with each passing week. At first it had been only random attacks in the woods at night, but one of the more recent ones had involved a family getting torn apart after a group broke into their home.
So what was he going to do? Irons hadn't been lying about being short on manpower and resources, especially since the Mayor had spent a huge portion of the city's budget on things like statues of himself, and a totally unnecessary cable-car line that only serviced a small part of the city. A good portion of Homicide Division was out of commission, while Burglary and Traffic Divisions were needed on their regular patrols throughout the city, since for some reason the scumbags of any population wanted to get even worse when bad things were going on.
That left what? STARS? It was possible to dedicate that whole group to the Cannibal Murders, but what would happen in the city if the Special Tactics and Rescue Service, which had replaced SWAT a few years before, was all out in the forest looking for ghost-like murderers while real criminals were robbing a bank? No, that one would be Mayor Warren's fault, since after all, he had ordered the Chief to get this matter resolved by any means necessary.
"Steven, bring me all the files from Homicide Division involving the Cannibal Murders." Irons said, pushing the intercom button. "And then have Captains Wesker and Marini come to my office at once."
"Yes, Chief Irons." The voice of his secretary replied. "I'll have it done right away."
'I'll have it done right away' the Chief mocked after the conversation was over, feeling suddenly angry that he had to have a man for a secretary, instead of a beautiful young woman… of course, there were reasons why that couldn't happen, since he would never get anything done, especially if she was good looking. Oh well, Steven was decent at his job, even if he had a habit of getting into things that he wasn't supposed to, for instance… why would a secretary have any business moving a decorative statue? A janitor, certainly, but Steven had no reason at all to touch… anything in the precinct.
About fifteen minutes later his secretary came into the office while carrying two medium size boxes, each one stuffed with papers and reports, and each one the young man was relieved to be able to finally set down onto Irons' desk. With that, Steven was dismissed, and the next time someone knocked on the office door, it was Albert Wesker and Enrico Marini, the two Captains who ran the STARS unit. Both men were professional and good at their jobs, but… he just wished that Wesker didn't look so much like a Fed with his blond slicked back hair and perpetual sunglasses.
"Okay, boys, here it is." The Chief explained, leaning back in his chair. "The people are scared, and the Mayor is breathing down my neck like a subway-train rapist at rush hour, so your department is being put on the Cannibal Murders effective immediately."
Their assignment was relatively simple, at least in its explanation, having to take all of the data and reports filed by the investigation last spring, and combine it with the new data from the past couple months in order to track down the killers. This case was to be given all of the STARS department's resources and attention, and while Captain Marini seemed almost excited to be given such a high profile undertaking, Wesker looked annoyed.
"Once you have found where the cannibals are hiding, you are to move in on them immediately." Irons continued, leaning forward again. "No survivors, though, am I clear? I want these sick freaks as dead as the many trophy animals on my walls, because the last thing we need is for some bleeding heart lawyer to get them off on a technicality."
"Don't worry, Chief." Captain Marini replied, leaning forward in his own chair across the desk from Irons. "STARS was designed for extreme situations like this one, so I'd say that the case will be closed by… the end of August?"
"Oh, I agree completely." Wesker calmly added with a slight smirk. "In fact, I'm so certain of our success, that I'll give Enrico's Bravo Team the honor of going in first… once these sick freaks, as you say, are located."
Well, this made Irons feel a little bit better, and he gave a slight sigh of relief as the two Captains gathered up the boxes in order to begin reviewing back at the STARS Office at the other end of the precinct. Honestly, their department was a motley crew of weirdos who looked more like they belonged in a NARC unit, with their non-regulation hair and… sort of uniforms. Still, the two female members on the team gave him something nice to look at.
Opening one of the drawers of his desk, the Chief took out a couple of small photographs, the first being of a young woman in her early twenties with brown hair and a very… tone body. Corporal Jillian Valentine, a member of STARS Alpha Team, was the daughter of Richard 'Dick' Valentine, a petty criminal who was doing fifteen years in the County Jail for a job that had gone wrong back in '92. Apparently the little brat had been scared straight by the arresting detective, and joined the RPD after a few years in the US Army… immediate STARS candidate, mostly due to her unconventional skillset learned from her father.
The second photograph was that of a much younger girl, a redhead with short hair and a beautiful smile. She was a skinny thing, not athletic like Valentine, but Rookie Officer Rebecca Chambers hadn't been recruited right out of college for her physical skills. The girl was only eighteen years old, but had already graduated from some university with a Master's Degree in Biology or Chemistry or something, and STARS wanted her. Of course, they weren't the only ones who did…
Now rubbing his thumb along the photograph as if he were stroking Chambers' hair, Irons licked his lips, and forgot all about Valentine while imagining the unique things he wanted to do to the little scientist if they were alone. Too bad he couldn't simply take her away without the rest of STARS noticing… but if she ever decided to resign from the RPD, well… how would anyone ever know that she was never able to leave?
There was a picture of everyone in the STARS unit on the wall, with both teams standing in front of one of the precinct's helicopters, but aside from wanting them to do their jobs, Valentine and Chambers were the only ones that the Chief ever thought about. Of course, the whole city was going to be thinking about them soon, especially since the Mayor was probably going to do something ignorant like publicly announcing that STARS was going to save the city… oh, that man was an idiot… he had a very attractive daughter, though…