Biohazard: Resident Evil VII

Chapter One: The Road to Dulvey

The metal storm-door made a not so subtle squeaking sound when it was pulled open, and an even less subtle sound when allowed to slam shut, which was not the kind of impression that Ethan Winters had intended to make as he walked into the service station. The clerk behind the counter didn't seem to notice the sound; probably heard it a thousand times while working there, and the man seemed more amused by the way the sudden bang had made Ethan jump than anything else.

It was hot there, too… even while inside the building it still felt like the afternoon sun was beating down, making him think that maybe he should've dressed more comfortably, instead of the slacks and collared shirt that would've worked back home. Not that it didn't get hot in Texas… God knows that it could, but it was just so damn humid in Louisiana, and at least a man back home a man could get a break from the heat by stepping into the shade.

Best he could do in these parts was grab a couple of ice teas from the cooler, which was a nice option, since he hadn't expected such a tiny, out of the way service station to even have a working refrigerator. So he took the ice teas and a couple of small bags of potato chips up to the counter, having to make due with them since it had been a few hours since he had even seen a restaurant, fast food or otherwise.

"How's it going?" Ethan asked, taking money out of his wallet. "This, and, uh, gonna put twenty in the tank. You, uh… you know how far it is to Dulvey?"

"Dulvey?" The clerk asked, smirking a little. "Yeah, you look like the type… few miles up the road they way you're headed, then take a right on Garand Road, that'll get ya to the town limits. Course, you'll probably be wantin' to go left on Lund Road after that, and just follow it all the way to the end… bit of a drive, but you can't miss it."

The conversation had started out normal enough, but as the clerk had taken his money and counted out the change, his choice of words had started to get confusing, as if he was trying to direct Ethan somewhere. Of course, that was impossible, since they had never seen each other before, nor did the man know where he was headed. That, and he was suddenly curious to find out exactly what he looked like the type for.

"Thanks." He said, taking the drinks and chips. "But, um, what exactly is at the end of Lund Road?"

"The Dulvey Haunted House, of course." The clerk replied. "Reckon that's the only business city-folk like yourself got for comin' all the way out here… ain't nothin' out in this swamp worth lookin' at except the haunted house and a real long drive to Pineville."

Well, the clerk was right about that last part, since all Ethan had seen for the past few hours since getting on Highway 49 was swamp, swamp, and more swamp. And, since the man probably thought he was being helpful by giving all these extra directions, Ethan didn't want to disappoint him with the real reason that he was in Louisiana, so he just nodded and walked out. Hopefully, his visit to the town of Dulvey would be a short one, and then he could leave this giant swamp for good… at least Florida had the decency to drain most of theirs.

Back at the car, his friend, coworker, and reluctant traveling companion, Travis, was already taking off the gas cap. The pump had started by the time Ethan got there, and apparently twenty dollars didn't buy what it used to, since it felt like he had barely had enough time to set the bag of snacks in the car on the center console, when the pump stopped. Hoping that Travis had simply squeezed the trigger too hard and set off the safety, Ethan looked at the price gauge, only to find that all twenty had been used.

"Twenty bucks for eight gallons of gas." He griped as Travis went around and got in. "You know, back in high school, I could fill a car this size with ten. Okay, I got us some ice teas, and all they had to eat was chips, but look, Travis… Fritos, your favorite."

"Yeah, that's great, man." His friend replied, taking the ice tea and opening it. "Ethan, what the fuck are we doing out here? She's been gone three years, man… three years, and now you actually think you're gonna find her out here? Out here in this… this… how the hell do you describe this place… this deleted scene from Deliverance."

Ethan wasn't stupid; he knew that after three years, the odds of finding his missing wife were slim to none, and the evidence that he had of her being out there in Dulvey wasn't exactly concrete, but what else was he supposed to do. After Mia had disappeared, his whole life had fallen apart… after nearly losing his mind trying to find her for the first year, he started drinking, isolating himself from the world all together… hell, if not for Travis covering for him so much at work, he probably would have lost his job, too.

The slight, almost ridiculous possibility that Mia could still be alive was the first time that he had felt truly good since he could remember, and it came in the form of an email sent from her account. It wasn't much, simply addressed to him, and containing the simple message that read: Dulvey, Louisiana… Baker Farm… Come get me. Yes, it could have been fake, or some kind of scam, or someone hacked her old account as a sick prank, and all of these possibilities had been suggested by Travis when he showed him the email.

"We can still forget about this, Ethan." Travis continued, taking a drink. "We can just turn around, go home, and I'll even introduce you to my single cousin, Denise… you need to move on, man. You need to let her go."

"I can't, Travis, not yet." He replied, looking out the windshield. "But I'll make a deal with you… we go to this farm, and if we don't find her, I'll… I'll move on, okay? I just need to do this, because if I turn around now, I'll spend the rest of my life wondering if she was really there."

Without waiting for his friend to reply, Ethan started the engine, and then pulled the car back onto the road. He didn't mean to be so short with Travis, or with anyone that he had talked to over the past three years, but losing Mia had been literally the worst thing that had ever happened to him. The last time that he had heard from her was right before she vanished, and it was a video message that looked like she had recorded it while on the upper deck of some kind of ship.

Her reason for leaving had been to do some kind of babysitting job, which was normal, since she had been leaving town periodically to do this kind of thing since before they even met, and he had no reason to question it. It had been nice that she was able to travel while working, although no Ethan wished that he had tried to stop her from being away from home so often. Anyway, the message was what one would expect; Mia saying hello, and that she missed him, and that she couldn't wait until she could come home to her loving husband… and that was it.

"I'm gonna hold you to this deal, man." Travis said as they went around a curve. "Just promise me that when we don't find her, you're not gonna lose your mind… I do not like the idea of having to carry your butt out of the damn swamp."

Ethan laughed a little, but then returned his attention to the road, where soon enough, a sign for Garand Road appeared just like the clerk said it would. Now there was just a straight shot to the Dulvey village limits, but he couldn't help wondering that if Mia was really there, then why was she there in the first place, since she had told him that her babysitting job was up in New York. A second thought then entered his mind, and as ridiculous as it seemed, he felt the need to try and confirm it.

"Hey, Travis." He said. "Can you pull up your GPS, and see what the next road is?"

"Yeah, sure." His friend replied, taking out his phone. "Okay, let's see… we're on Garand, and… it looks like we're gonna have to take a left on Lund right when we reach Dulvey."

This was not the news that Ethan had wanted to hear, since after they had already looked up the address to the Baker Farm, it was the same directions that the clerk had given him to the famous Dulvey Haunted House. It was discouraging, since it added weight to the possibility that this was some kind of cruel hoax, but this still wasn't enough to make him turn around. Even if it was some kind of a joke, how would the person responsible know to send it to him, or importantly… that Mia even needed to be found in the first place?

It also didn't seem like a good idea to tell Travis about this new information, since it would only drive his friend to make him go home, so instead of saying anything, Ethan simply followed the road to the Dulvey village limits, and then turned left down Lund… a dirt road that seemed to become more overgrown and unused with each mile that they traveled. Eventually it looked more like a hiking trail than a road, and with larger plants starting to appear, he figured that it would probably be a good idea to stop the car before it got stuck.

"All right, it looks like we're on foot form here." He said, putting it in park, and killing the engine. "Come on, Travis."

"What the hell you mean, come on, Travis?" His friend demanded. "Are we looking at the same road, Ethan, it's… it's not even a road anymore, man. This looks like the place where roads come to die man; ain't nobody driven down here in years."

It was kind of hard to argue with him on that point, since it looked pretty well abandoned up ahead, but the phone's GPS said… well, before the phone lost every kind of signal possible, including GPS signal somehow, it said that they were less than two miles from the destination. The good thing about this road being so abandoned would mean that he wouldn't have to worry about anyone stealing the car if he went on foot. After all, there was only two miles left between him and the possibility of finding Mia.

"All right, Travis." Ethan said as he opened the door. "You can stay here if you want, but I'm going."

With that, he got out of the car and started walking, ignoring Travis's calls for him to come back, but then smirking when he heard the car door open and close, followed by his friend's rapid steps to catch up with him. He was glad that Travis made this trip with him, not just for the company… but because he honestly had no idea what was waiting up ahead.