Title: Suture

Author: cannibaljello@yahoo.com

Rating: R for violence and strong language. Possible adult themes later on.

Disclaimer: I do not own Capcom or anything from the biohazard/resident evil series. No profit is made from this fic. I don't take credit from any S.D. Perrys novels either.

Notes: Had this sitting around on my little laptop for some time now. I finally have the patience to deal with ff.net and their formatting bullshit. Anyways, I like Billy. He's neato and I'm disappointed in the lack of fics with him in 'em. Yeah, well…time to eat sushi. Enjoy.

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Billy Coen was alone.

It was his pair of feet stepping over fallen branches and leafs, snapping and breaking. He no longer stood by Rebecca Chambers, the young S.T.A.R.S. Bravo team member. Billy was completely alone, surrounded by the over whelming scenery of Raccoon forest, as he had been for quite some time now.

The ex-lieutenant, charged with the murder of 23 people was bothered by something. What, he didn't know for sure. No, it wasn't the fact that his life had taken a drastic change in the past few hours, that he now had to question everything and reality itself.

Billy didn't think that it had anything to do with the knowledge that he could have been dead two times by now. Either by the death sentence the courts had scheduled for him or at the hands of the terrible monsters that lurked on the train and the mansion.

No, something just felt wrong, different. Billy's slightly callused hand reached up and gently searched for the cold metal that once hung from around his neck. His hand caught air. The dog tags that had spent so long against his skin had vanished.

That's right. She took it.

A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. Ms. Chambers had, with a surprisingly gentle tug of an impossibly small hand, pulled his dog tags from right beneath his nose, so to speak.

The image came flashing back, the fairly short woman bringing the chain over her head, sun shining warmly against their skin. As the metal fell against her body, it had caught the rays with a flash of fire.

But now she was gone, heading to that mansion and god knows what was in it. For all they knew, it could be crawling with zombies and those mutant bugs just like the other had. It could be worse; Rebecca could already be dead—

—Stop thinking that way! She's strong, smart, and the other S.T.A.R.S. would be there with her.

Still, he was worried and regretted not following her. After he had handed over everything but two clips for his handgun, they had departed. It had been a short, bland farewell. Billy wished he could have said, done more…

You could still turn back. You've walked maybe three miles from that point. There's always a possibility that you could catch up with her—

—Except those three miles had been down hill. Yup, just hike back up there at a full sprint and track her down through acres of forest. Sounds like a wonderful plan!

Billy scoffed at the sarcastic voice nagging in his head. He had never been known as the optimistic type by any means, but this was damn near pathetic.

For what seemed like hours Billy traveled through the lush Raccoon forest, twigs snapping and dry leafs crunching beneath his boots, birds calling from every which way. It would have been peaceful at one time of his life, being completely surrounded by nature. But after what had happened, the terrible images that haunted his mind took complete hold of him…

…The things that had once been human, the zombies. Reaching out, moaning for your blood and flesh as they stared at you with their cataract eyes, the scent of death radiating off of them in thick, noxious waves—

—You would shoot, the bullets ripping through their rotting bodies. But they kept coming, shambling and bleeding. A walking virus. And once they where down, once you thought that you could kill something that was already deceased, they would pop back up and attack as you stepped over their putrid body.

With their bony, skeletal fingers, flaky skin falling from the bone they would grab your foot and pull it towards their mouth. Like they needed to feed, like it would help them regain or heal the lives that they had lost—

—And the sight of their teeth, some gone, others threatening to break off once they sunk into your flesh. Stained with blood. The bloated, swollen, purple tongue quivering with excitement—

Shaking his head, Billy tried to dislodge the troublesome thoughts from his mind. He rubbed at his temples with a gentle, circular motion. It was late; he was tired and sore. Billy noticed, with a frown, that his feet where throbbing, a dull, burning ache. Apparently the boots had been wearing the heels of his feet raw.

Sighing, he continued his trek through the trees, stepping over broken branches and rock. Billy closed his eyes, legs and feet still working. It felt so good to rest his eyes that it almost hurt, his lids refusing to open for a minute or so. His mind began racing again.

Zombie humans, dogs, birds, oh my! And don't forget those leech- things.

Billy shuddered, thinking about his first encounter with them. Technically it wasn't his encounter, but he had been there.

Hanging out at the bottom of the stairs, bored as hell. I had dropped the idea to Rebecca that we should work together but she insisted rather kindly that she didn't want my help. So she went on ahead without me. Brave little girl, working for the Special Tactics and Rescue Squad, fighting for justice, freedom, and the American way…

I had been checking my ammo, filling a few spent clips with a loose box of bullets I had stumbled across. Just as I slapped a fresh clip home, I heard a scream. So I charged up the steps, looking to play hero. You know, save the pretty girl, blah blah.

When I had hit the top step, I saw it. There was a man—no not a man—a thing in a humanoid shape. Rebecca was fumbling to reload her gun—it was quite obvious that she was a rookie—when the thing's head split in half. From its body these slug things, leeches, came swarming out and towards Rebecca.

At the time I had just been staring with disbelief, but when they completely covered her I sprang into action. With two shots, they fell from her petite form. Still looking for a fight, two jumped for me. After I had disposed of them, the leeches fled.

Rebecca hadn't been harmed, which had filled Billy with an awkward relief. She had given him a slightly moody thumbs-up. With a smirk, he had kneeled down next to her, hearing a gentle singing from beyond the train.

There was that weird guy wearing a white robe, the guy who turned into the "queen" just before our escape. Talk about multipersonalities. He was that old dude too. Marcus something, or something Marcus. Doesn't matter anymore, he's gone.

Billy stopped for a moment, finally opening his eyes. What if he didn't die? Could he have somehow survived? It didn't seem likely…

…But stranger things have happened. Like this whole day. Talk about weird, this tops my chart as the Ten Most Fucked Up Times of My Life. And didn't the guy die before it all took place?

A faint sound pulled Billy out of his uneasy thoughts, something very familiar, and very, very welcomed. The thrum of a car's engine. There had to be a road near by, he realized and began running towards the sound.

When he emerged from a lush bush, he could see it. A long, winding road. There was a sharp turn to the left. Hopefully he had beaten the vehicle, his once ticket out to the real world. And he saw, with a relieved sigh and a jump of his heart, that he had as a sleek, black limousine rounded the corner. That had to be the last thing he had expected to see.

I'll take anything I can get my hands on thank you very much.

Raising his arms, he waved frantically, relief sweeping through him as the vehicle slowed to a stop just a few feet away. It was very expensive, the windows tinted pitch black like the rest of it. When Billy stepped up to one of the back doorways, he could see his own reflection like on an ocean of onyx. Billy quickly shrugged off a few leafs that had stuck to him.

The window rolled down, revealing a plush leather interior. Who ever the man was seated in the back was, he had taste.

"Sir, do you need a lift?" Billy nodded, studying him. His black eyes glittered bright with humor and intelligence, like a joke had been told and only he understood it. Matching his irises, he had dark hair that was neatly trimmed. A smile curled his lips. The stranger had to be near his forties.

"Yes, may I?" Billy tried his best at being polite and respectful. But he felt stupid doing it, getting the impression that the man certainly wouldn't mind if he acted any other way.

"Certainly." The man, whose name he didn't know yet, popped the door open.

Once he was inside, Billy sank down into the leather seats, his sore muscles jolting with pain. With a small nod from the man Billy sat across from, the car began to move again, the forest swimming past them. He noticed vaguely that a trench coat had been draped across a few seats.

"You look as though you've had a hard day," His savior chuckled lightly, looking at him.

"You wouldn't believe how right you are," Billy sighed, running a heavy hand through his hair. His gaze met the man's and he could tell by the way his eyes where slightly narrowed that he was being sized up.

"So, ah, Mr…" Billy began but stopped when he realized that he didn't know the kind mans name. He was grinning like a shark now, it seemed that every tooth was showing. And this alone made Billy deeply uneasy. Billy began to wonder if he would have been better off on foot.

"Excuse my manners, please. My name is Trent."