Hi guys, this is the story that came in my mind after listening to the soundtrack of The House of the Dead Chapter 2: Revenge. So then it hit me to write this chapter and further expound it. Credits to two YouTubers (credited in the Notes section) for their interpretation for the meaning of the soundtrack.

Curien Mansion

Somewhere in the United Kingdom[1] [Exact place classified by the AMS and the Ministry of Defense]

Date: December 18th, 1998

Thomas Rogan and G went on the hallways and rooms of the Curien Mansion, shooting down any zombie and creature that came along their way. Rogan was doing things faster, as if emotionally-motivated. G noticed that, definitely. Both of their shots were on the mark, enough to blow off an undead's head off its neck. The two agents cleared the rooms and saved the stranded scientists they came across. They had one mission at hand: capture Dr. Roy Curien, the mad scientist the released all these creatures from Hell.

In Rogan's mind, things were as turbulent as whirlpool in the sea. His thoughts were clouded with the fact he was just too late to save his fiancée in time and to the fact that his fiancée is two months pregnant. That thought weighed on Rogan too much, now that their child will go unborn. It was a mixture of sadness, guilt, rage, and determination[2]; the latter that meant determined to capture the perpetuator of this outbreak of undead in the Christmas season of 1998. He would not let his feelings affect his work, for the undead were unpredictable. In the maze of this mansion, both Rogan and G were ambushed several by zombies coming to the right, left, front, back, bottom, and above. But Rogan's rage only sent more of these abominations back to the grave, to where they rested on.

Zombies in Christmas? Rogan thought. The idea would have definitely fit if this occurred on October 31st, 1998.

Reaching the front balcony, Rogan and G killed all the zombies in the area. In the terrace, Rogan looked up to the blue night sky with a large full moon looming above. It was definitely a beautiful sight and perfect place to spend time with your love, only if she was still alive and if this place was not infested with zombies. The agent clad in trench coat drowned in his thoughts again as he watched the full moon. In the distance of the moon, Rogan could see a shape of what looks like an aircraft perfectly outlined in the background. He could not tell whether it was civilian airliner or military[3]. Lucky bastards. Rogan pondered. Whoever those were up there in the plane was safe and did not need to deal with the monsters beneath. Hell, they are pretty unaware of the horrors right below! He wondered how being up there in the moon was much safer than in this wretched mansion. Indeed, Rogan was born on the year man stepped on the moon.

Yet, there was this particular incident that changed his outlook on space travel. When Thomas Rogan was still in high school, he and others tuned to their TVs watching the Space Shuttle Challenger ascend into space and subsequently explode live, in front of millions of Americans and people around the world.

"Challenger, go at throttle up."[4] Those words said by NASA astronaut Richard O. Covey moments before the infamous explosion would stick on Rogan's mind forever. It remained looping in his head as he and G blasted the zombies lurking in the halls of this mansion. The Challenger disaster happened too fast. And just like the accident, Sophie's death happened too fast. Rogan was this close to saving Sophie Richards just before the Hangedman snatched her followed by the Chariot swatting her away with its axes. He could also hear his would-be daughter's words: "I love daddy!" repeating all over again[5].

There would be justice. Those were the only things in Rogan and G's head, but more for Rogan. The two proceeded further vowing to eradicate the monsters roaming in this haunted house and bring the mad scientist to justice.

Notes:

[1] I originally thought the Curien Mansion was set in the United Kingdom, it did not look like the United States too me.

[2] One comment from YouTube user "Pooper" stated that "The voices in the background represent Thomas's guilt, the heavy burdening that has begun haunting him since Sophie's apparent departure, in both his career as an AMS agent and the family and personal life he has been denied."

[3] In my alternate history thread called The House of the Dead timeline expanded (link: forum/threads/the-house-of-the-dead-timeline-expanded.414139/) [account needed in order to view], I had the Her Majesty's government providing clandestine Royal Air Force reconnaissance using a Nimrod R1 plane that relayed feed to the COBRA meeting room in Whitehall under Downing Street. The plane that Rogan could barely see was the Nimrod R1 flying above the mansion taking a live video feed of the situation as it unfurled below.

[4] The phrase "Challenger, go at throttle up." is heard in the soundtrack of The House of the Dead Chapter 2: Revenge. So I decided to let Rogan remember that phrase since the Challenger disaster happened too fast, just like how Sophie "died" in the game.

[5] Another comment from a user "Pcfan11" stated "I think the little random messages are just what's going through Rogan's head because he thinks Sophie is dead. Like, "i love you daddy" is his children, who will go unborn because Sophie's dead."