The Corsica Project
Prologue: Corsica; 1996
There was nothing particularly noteworthy about Corsica. In the typical tradition of smaller cities, it boasted a relatively small population at best, being home to no more than a few thousand people; the vast majority of which happened to be residents who had lived there for many generations. Nestled amongst relatively low lying mountains and thick forests, blanked by the deep green of regional oak trees, the town proper consisted of a fairly short strip of shops, as well as official town offices all lined up on a single street. Larger facilities, such as the local hospital and community college, were settled here and there amongst the hills that surrounded the town, set up in such a way to prevent the townsfolk from feeling distaste in everything being too closely crammed together. Residential homes were much the same as the larger businesses, such as the local mega mart, sparsely hidden on small drives amongst the hills, the diminutive population allowing for everyone to have their own fair amount of space. Very few of the townsfolk lived on Main Street, save those who owned shops there, such as the owner of the long standing Chinese restaurant, Mr. Huan; a fellow whose name few could pronounce despite the many years he had dwelled in Corsica. It wasn't the sort of quaint place where everybody knew one another's name, but it was relatively close and as such boasted a peaceful existence.
Being so small a town, despite how spread about in the mountains it happened to be, it was not easily found on a map of the local area, easily overshadowed by the nearest metropolitan areas, the most noteworthy of which happened to be Raccoon City, though Stone-ville was much closer. Corsica managed to survive well enough without being so heavily immersed amongst the usual bustling economy, the tiny city making most of its money during the fall months by drawing in hikers and campers when the foliage became an alluring mix of vivid crimson and brilliant gold. Despite the colder winter month, it was rare for snow to fall amongst the mountain town, though the few paved roadways amongst the hills became deadly hazards with the spreading of slick ice. It was just before the arrival of the lackluster winter season, when the colorful leaves had fallen and the tourists had moved on, that a few unusual yet easily overlooked occurrences began to take place. With the slow plummeting of temperatures and the promise of potentially hazardous weather, given that there had been innumerable automobile accidents throughout January of that year, the city counsel seemed to initiate certain lengths to fortify the town in case of a harsh winter. White vans began to fill the streets, workers from an unknown power company hauling themselves up the high telephone poles, supposedly securing the power lines to prevent outages. It seemed like a valid enough excuse for the peculiar works presence in Corsica, so no one seemed to bat an eye, leaving the men in their black coveralls to toil as they saw fit.
As a preventative measure, the physicians at the local hospital began to urge their patients as of late August to allow flu vaccinations. With so small a community and much larger cities being relatively far away, the citizens did not want to allow for any risks of a continually spread sickness to be passed around the town, so few, if any of the townsfolk refuted the advice of their doctors. By the beginning of September, all of the white trucks moving throughout Corsica's quit streets all, but disappeared. The anticipated illnesses doctors had anticipated showed no signs of growing, though a slim few individuals appeared to develop small and altogether brief colds; nothing that anyone took seriously. All seemed to be well in Corsica, the little city immersed in the normalcy that always existed there. It was not until the day of September, 14th, early in the growing light of a cold dawn, that the beginnings of an unanticipated nightmare began.
It was the day that would mark the end of Corsica.
End of Prologue
Author's Note: And so begins the Corsica Project. I hope you all come to enjoy this story. I wanted to try something taking place before the events of any of the games, seeing what would have happened had Umbrella had control over a scenario like what happened in Raccoon City, though on a much smaller scale. There will be a lot of horror, action, and drama in this little story, though I'm sorry to say that any of the characters from the series will more than likely not be present, the cast being made up of all original characters. Series characters will, at best, make very brief cameos and probably not interact with any of the OC characters. I hope you enjoy this piece anyway. I'll have chapter one up as soon as possible.