Disclaimer: I don't own Resident Evil, never have and sadly, never will.

A/N: Just something I wrote while I couldn't think of anything for the Outbreak story. Hope you like it.

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The punch sent Ryan reeling. Hoping it wouldn't leave a mark; he rubbed his cheek and stood back up from his knees. He wasn't expecting anything to come from the little altercation they were having, but low-and-behold, the kid sucker punched him. Ducking swiftly, Ryan dodged the second punch that he knew was coming. Ryan didn't want to have to fight back, because he knew no good could come from it, but his quick thinking wasn't going to stop the hulking mass before him.

Using his right hand, Ryan deflected a blow aimed for his face and pushed the kid off to the side. He went down low and knocked the kid's legs out from under him. The roaring scream from the rapidly forming onlookers blared all around.

Ryan couldn't help but feel a sudden sense of hopelessness. It was his first day in this damned school and already he was in a fight. The huge figure before him got to his knees and pushed himself up, turning to face Ryan once more.

"Shouldn't have done that." He said wiping an invisible trail of blood from his lip with his thumb. With a loud growl, he ran at Ryan, bent low with both hands spread out to either side. Ryan waited until it was too late for the kid to change course and sidestepped effortlessly. Using the kid's forward momentum, Ryan pushed down on his back, forcing the kid to the ground, sliding to a stop.

"Look, I'm sorry man, just please stop before anyone gets hurt." Ryan said to the kid on the ground. He moved to try to reason with the kid once more when the kid suddenly grabbed Ryan's leg and pulled. The world seemed to topple over as Ryan crashed to the ground. The sudden shock was inundating.

A mere heartbeat later, the kid was on top of Ryan. His arm cocked back and uncoiled. Pain shot through Ryan's body as his head smacked against the concrete from the force of the punch. For a second the world went black, but soon came back into focus just in time for Ryan to see the next blow coming. He moved his head to the side, receiving a glancing hit instead of the intended one. Blow after blow, Ryan did his best to protect his face, but as soon as he tried to bring his hands up, the kid pushed them away and pinned them down with his massive legs.

Struggling just to remain conscious, Ryan did all he could to free his arm, but he feared that under the kid's weight his arms were going numb. In a last ditch effort, Ryan brought up his knee and slammed it hard into the kid's back. He jerked forward, but other than that, nothing seemed to happen. Rolling his head to the right once more, Ryan brought his knee up again smacking it hard into the soft meaty part of the kid's lower back. Crying out in pain, the kid shifted his weight and reached for his back to comfort the fresh pain. Using the opening, Ryan hit the same spot once more and rolled to the side. Without a firm position, the kid lost his balance and fell to the ground. Warily, Ryan staggered to his feet. He fought the sensation of exhaustion intoxicating him and tried to stop everything from moving so much. His legs wouldn't hold him, so he used a nearby mailbox to help support his body, until his legs were strong enough to work on their own.

The kid was rolling on the ground, clutching for his back and moaning in pain. None of the other students surrounding them looked inclined to break up the fight. In fact, some were looking slightly bored now that Ryan wasn't on the ground getting the life punched out of him. He looked down to where he was lying and saw a small puddle of blood. The pain was obviously masked by the adrenaline coursing through his veins, but Ryan had to know how badly he was hurt. Probing his face he felt his swollen bottom lip and felt either blood or saliva, which he wasn't sure. Going farther, Ryan dared to feel his nose. Blood flowed from his nostrils like a leaky faucet. Luckily, it wasn't broken –he thought.

Ryan rubbed his head, trying to stop the pounding headache he had. From the corner of his eye, he could see the kid recovering and slowly getting back on his feet. This was madness; he couldn't possibly keep this up. Ryan scanned the crowd, hoping that someone would help him. As the kid got up, Ryan tried his best to back away, but bumped into the mailbox and stumbled gracelessly to the concrete.

As Ryan stared into the sky, the sun suddenly blinked out of existence. Somewhere off in the distance, Ryan heard a soft clicking noise, slowly rolling closer. He turned his head to try to get a better understanding of what he was hearing but everything seemed to be in a blur.

"You should've just said you were sorry." The kid said from above. Ryan saw the outline of his leg rising in the air. With a thundering jolt, the kid's boot slammed heavily into Ryan's face, smacking his head once again against the ground. Just before he blacked out, Ryan heard the yells of the campus police and felt hands grabbing at his jacket.

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Ryan moaned softly and jostled around. He tried to move his arms so he could rub his head, but he was restrained somehow. When he opened his eyes, he immediately reprimanded himself. The stinging light flooded into view, momentarily blinding him. He didn't want to face the light again, but he knew he'd have to open his eyes at one point. Slowly, he opened his eyes little by little, allowing them to adjust at a slower pace. After what seemed like hours, Ryan had his eyes open and took in his surroundings.

He was in what looked like a hospital, a poorly supplied hospital. Looking down, he realized that he wasn't restrained per se, but tucked into an all white bed. Quickly he pulled his arms out from under the blanket and rubbed his throbbing head. It was a bittersweet comfort, more pain shot up from the cuts and bruises on his face, but he was just glad to be able to hold his head in his hands. Deep in his stomach, the pain was making him nauseous.

On a little nightstand to his right, a glass of water and painkillers were sitting. Greedily, he took the pills and chugged the water. With at least some water in him, he was beginning to feel human again, but only by a little.

Carefully, Ryan threw off the covers and positioned himself on the side of the bed. He let out a sigh and another moan, returning his head to his hands. When he looked up, he noticed that his glasses were on the nightstand as well resting next to the now empty glass. Luckily, they weren't broken, only a few new scratches decorated the lenses. Ryan rubbed the grogginess from his eyes before perching the glasses on the bridge of his nose.

"Hello?" He called out to no one in particular. "Anyone here?"

"Hmm?" A tall man with lightly browned hair poked his head out from behind a wall in front of Ryan. "Oh, you're awake, good."

He moved from behind the wall and dusted off his hands on his lab coat. The man started to walk towards Ryan, but stopped mid step and turned back around, disappearing only for a second behind the wall again. When he reemerged, he had in his hand a small flashlight.



"Almost forgot this." He twirled the flashlight between his thumb and index finger as if to highlight the importance of the flashlight. "Alright, sit still, I need to see if you have a concussion or something."

"Or something?" Ryan wasn't too thrilled that it seemed like he didn't know what he was doing. Being in the care of someone who was inexperienced wasn't what Ryan wanted right now.

"Figure of speech, now hold still." The man passed the flashlight over Ryan's eyes, holding it on each eye for a few seconds. "Eh…you look to be okay."

"How long was I out?"

The man clicked the flashlight off and scribbled something down in his notebook. "Well, a few hours since I got you."

"What's that mean?"

He stopped writing and looked at Ryan for a moment before continuing to write in the book. "It's standard procedure that a med student like myself, can't initially examine patients until the qualified doctors give the 'okay'." He swirled his hand in a circular motion as he continued. "So, in all actuality, probably no more than four hours; it could take about an hour for you to get to me."

Ryan let out a low whistle and looked around the room once more. "So, where are we exactly?"

"Oh, in one of the campus' infirmaries," His eyes finished scanning the page in the notebook and finding nothing wrong, he closed the book. "You got into a nasty fight out there. From what I hear with Bret too. Not the nicest fellow on campus."

"You're telling me." Ryan chuckled a little at his own joke. "That kid packs a mean punch."



"Yeah, but from what I hear you held your own for a little while."

"Yeah, until I was on the ground getting the crap beaten out of me."

"Well, Bret isn't one for the formalities. What'd you do to piss him off anyway?"

"Actually, he bumped into me and told me to say 'sorry'." Ryan shrugged as he spoke.

The man made a face as if to not be surprised. "Sounds like something Bret would do."

"Naturally, when I refused he sucker-punched me and the rest is…well the rest." Ryan sniffled and wiped his nose with his sleeve. "Great way to start the semester off, right?"

"Eh, it gets better. Campus police had to break up the fight, you're lucky they got there when they did you know? You were on the ground and had blacked out. Bret was about to kick your face in."

"Yeah, I seem to remember him not having a problem with that the first time." Ryan pointed to his face, more notably the cuts and bruises on his face.

"Yeah, we need more people on that force." The man stared at Ryan's face before clicking his pen and turning away. "Well, you look to be okay, I can clear you, but once I do you have to head straight to the Dean. He wants to see you right away."

"I figured he would." Ryan mumbled as he tested his legs and stood up. The man suddenly turned back around and held out his hand.

"I'm Derek by the way, first year grad student."



"Ryan: sophomore; undergrad." Ryan took Derek's hand and shook it. "I'd say it was a pleasure to meet you, but I think I'd rather have met under better circumstances."

"I don't really blame you", Derek turned slightly and pointed to the wall he had been standing behind when Ryan first met him. "Your stuff is over there; you should grab it and head off as soon as possible."

As Ryan started to walk toward the wall. "Wait, am I going to get billed for this somehow?"

"No, no, no, it's part of the tuition and besides, this place if free for the public because it's also a training facility." Derek chuckled a little at the question.

"Ah" Ryan stared at the strange man for a few moments before turning again, to where his belongings were. He swung his messenger bag over his head and started to head out.

"I hope to see you again, Ryan." Derek called before Ryan left the room.

"…What?" Ryan looked back over his shoulder.

"Oh, no not like that." Derek waved his hands as if to wipe all doubt from Ryan's mind. "I didn't mean in here. I just mean around campus. Not like I want you to get hurt again."

Derek laughed at himself, hoping to alleviate the uncomfortable moment.

"Oh, yeah, you too." Ryan said over his shoulder as he stepped through the threshold and out onto the grounds of the campus once more. He did hope to see Derek again; he was so far the only person who had been friendly to him. Maybe he might even have a friend here yet.

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Reviews are appreciated. :D