Author's Note: I admit that I'm not an expert on Resident Evil: Outbreak, so there may be some errors. Considering the flexible canonicity, I don't think it's too much of an issue, so with that out of the way, please enjoy.
Chapter 1
Manuela wished she could stop to assure Sherry as they walked, but she knew there wasn't time for that. Leon strode ahead of her, taking a pace she hadn't seen in a long time. His expression was unreadable and his eyes cold. She could even feel her own attitude had changed, being uncharacteristically silent.
The message had come in the night, with the utmost urgency. She'd been staying at the base, rather than at Leon's, but by the time she was out the door, he was already in route to the rendezvous. She had frowned slightly when she saw that he was already equipped; she didn't like his constant worry. Once she got the basic details, however, she had gone silent. It was no wonder Leon was on edge.
The three of them entered a board room, sitting along one of the long sides of the table. Both women sat flanking Leon, while their escort sat across from them. The lead man pulled out a file and set it down, but made no motions to pass it yet.
"Thank you for coming at such an odd hour, but you understand that this is quite important."
"Of course. But I would like some details."
"And you'll get them, Agent Kennedy, but first we need to establish some ground info here. In light of your condition after the Incident, we didn't ask too many questions, but now I'm afraid is the time to be asking them. First of all, how much do you remember of Raccoon City?"
"Every damn second," Leon replied flatly, and without hesitation. The man turned to Sherry.
"And you?"
"Honestly, not much. I just remember Leon and Claire saving me, and the thing that my father became. A lot of fire and death."
"That's understandable. Now, are you familiar with the reports on the survivors?"
"Claire, Sherry, Jill and myself. I'd heard rumours about an Umbrella agent escaping the city."
"Yes, Agent HUNK. The rumours were true, but we've yet to locate him long enough to track him down. But you are wrong on the account of being one of the only five survivors. In total, there were thirteen well documented, with a few more escaping our focus."
"There were eight more survivors? How come I never heard of them?" Leon asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Unlike your group or the late Ms. Valentine, they were not involved in the core elements involving the G-Virus. Though they did encounter and defeat several riskier B.O.W.'s, their knowledge of the organisms was limited and less than helpful in the wake of the city's destruction. As such, they were moved to low priority and largely left to their own devices."
"I'm guessing that's not the end of the story if we're here," Manuela pointed out.
"You'd be right on that Agent Hidalgo. We of course kept track of them throughout the years. A few of them had to go through therapy, or moved out of the country after what happened. But a few in particular were worth noting. You may recall Mr. Ryman." The man pulled out a photo of a man with messy brown hair. His physique spoke of a job involving physical stress, and the military grade equipment and uniform he wore in the photo sealed it. Despite his history, he wore a smile and a laid-back posture that spoke volumes of his optimism.
"He was one of the men on the force. He was supposed to be on the same division as me, but I only met him once. He survived?"
"Correct. For a while, he went on joyrides across America, but eventually, he returned to the Midwest, and actually came to us. He claimed to be unable to stop thinking about Raccoon City and what happened there. He wanted to protect people; so we gave him a job on the quarantine security detail. Since his instatement, he's risen through the ranks and become one of the ranking officers there. His knowledge of the infected has prevented anything from escaping the zone."
"You mean there are things still in there?" Sherry asked, worry evident in her tone.
"At the time, we were unprepared to deal with the threat. It was only last year that an anti-virus was created for the t-virus. While the blast killed the majority of infected, that didn't stop them from surviving on the dead, or on wildlife that strayed into the area. Even worse, the majority of infected that survived were unable to be found quick enough to prevent them from reaching the 'Crimson Head' stage before passing into 'Lickers.' It's taken all of our strength up to this point from preventing attacks by the creatures on the borders. We've never had the manpower to enter and start clearing it out zone by zone."
"But that's not why we're calling you here. Mr. Ryman wasn't the only one to come back to it all. Not long after the incident, Mr. King re-entered the city through a gap in the net. At first, we though he would be dead in a few days, but reports indicate that he's been living inside the borders for years, always at a distance."
"Why haven't you tried to retrieve him?" Manuela asked.
"According to all the other survivor's testimony, the man wasn't the most stable. He is reported to have enjoyed killing the infected. Prior to the incident, he wasn't exactly well off, but his skills made him well suited to survival in the incident. He may well have figured he was better off in there, and so we didn't think it would be a good idea to rescue a potentially dangerous target who didn't want to be rescued."
"But he's not the problem is he?" Sherry pointed out, starting to get where it was going. "Who went in that shouldn't be there?"
"People have entered and exited for years, often without approval. We always try to patch up the holes, but it's inevitable. You would be surprised how much we have to pay to keep people quiet," the man half-joked. "However, there was a unique case."
The man pushed a photo towards them of a young Japanese woman with long, raven black hair. She had a slightly tense look to her, likely a result of the incident. But more so, she looked haunted, and it didn't take Leon long to notice the Umbrella emblem on her shirt. "Who's she?"
"Yoko Suzuki. A former Umbrella researcher who escaped with the others. It was her testimony that brought down Umbrella, Agent Kennedy, so please do keep calm. After the incident, she spent some time researching the t-virus, hoping to create an antigen, but she disappeared a while ago, taking all her research with her. We thought maybe Umbrella had whacked her, and in all the chaos with Mr. Redfield in Europe, we had bigger matters on our hands."
"Let me guess, she's in the quarantine zone."
"You would be right. She disappeared around the time that Ryman was made commander of the zone. We have reason to believe the two events are not unrelated. Again, no evidence popped up after that to show her existence, until recently. Just a few hours ago she was seen again."
"You want us to get her out."
"That's the short of it. However, there are a few other things to note. First, we have Commander Ryman in holding right now, but he's being rather tight lipped. We don't believe he poses a risk to the U.S., but nonetheless, he's suspected of being involved in Ms. Suzuki's entrance to the zone. We want you to talk to him."
"Why me? Seems to me like he doesn't want to talk."
"He let Suzuki in. While it may be due to their mutual acquaintance, we have reason to believe it is also because she was a survivor of Raccoon City. Both you and Ms. Birkin here are survivors, so we believe he may be willing to cooperate more with you."
"Alright, so we'll talk to him and see if we get any leads. What else do we need to know?"
"There are many factors complicating your mission once you arrive on site. Not only are most of the infected in advanced stages, they are not the only threat. While most of the infected fauna were destroyed, wildlife that wanders into the zone tend to get infected, so there are packs of infected animals that roam the zone. Not only that, but the place seems to be a beacon for particularly deranged individuals. We have a few reports from the few ranging teams we've sent that they've seen individuals in the mess who seem to be arranged into rough tribes or the like. Most of them are either in the woods or the ruins, but they could still pose a threat."
"The largest threat however is the prolonged window. Searching the ruins for Suzuki could take time. We're willing to deploy drones in order to help coordinate your motions as well as scan the surface level, but if it's taken this long to simply spot her, she may be travelling in a way invisible to the drones."
"She could be using the subway lines. You have any maps of them?"
"We have records. One of the survivors was a subway driver; we'll try to bring him to one of the outposts in order to radio you instructions should you enter the underground. More to the point though, all of you have either a natural immunity to the virus, or have been treated with the antibody, so we have no worries about sending you in, but it will be hard to survive in there. I'm sure I don't need to remind you of your training for this matter."
Leon nodded as the man continued. "If a week passes in the zone, we'll draw you back and recompile the data in order to narrow the search zone. Even as we speak, the observation teams are crunching numbers. You'll be fed constant updates on the situation as we monitor. Unfortunately, she was spotted pretty far in, and we're closer and closer to losing her each moment. Still, we can't afford to drop you in by helicopter; the sounds just attracts the infected. You'll have to trek by foot, and any amount of gear you carry risks slowing you down. You will be equipped with flares in case you need emergency evac, but those have their own risks, as I'm sure you know."
"Once inside, you were be on your own. We have snipers who will support you as far as they can, but weather conditions might change. Luckily, the weather looks fairly clear for the next few days, so we shouldn't worry too much, but in about four days a rain system is approaching, which will lower sight in the zone."
"We'll try and get this done before then, but if that's what it comes to, we'll keep pushing on," Leon promised. The man nodded, visibly relaxing. He seemed to remember a thought and leaned forward.
"I would like to add that none of you are being forced to do this. We fully understand that you've all been through a lot and-"
"I'm ready for this," Sherry interrupted, to everyone's surprise. Her face had set in determination, and she sat straighter, meeting the agent's gaze. Once she realized that no one was speaking, she faltered a little, turning to her companions. "Are you guys going to do this too?"
Leon smiled. "Of course. Don't worry, we wouldn't let you go by yourself."
The three of them stood up, and the agent mimicked the motion, offering his hand. Leon shook it tightly, and was handed the file. "Everything we have is in there, including some stuff you wouldn't normally have clearance for. Please look over it while in transit. The men will escort you to the armoury so you can get properly armed before heading over. Your packs are being assembled on-site, in accordance with our own standard field packages and your custom loadouts. Your agency was most generous in its assistance. Good luck!"
Leon nodded his thanks before hurrying down the corridor, followed by his partners. Each of them steeled themselves for the task ahead, and what they hoped would be a short deployment. In the back of their minds, however, they couldn't help but feel that it would never be as easy as they hoped.
"It looks like we'll be starting our search from the Nyx outpost. It's supposedly where the survivors escaped the city, so they have reason to believe that Yoko entered the city initially that way."
"I doubt even a police dog could track her down in all that decay anyway," Sherry noted. "According to these reports, the whole zone has a horrid stench that makes it near impossible for any kind of scent tracking to occur. Though the missile itself wasn't nuclear, it seems a few of the Umbrella facilities underneath the city used the stuff, and they caused some radiation spills in the center of the city. We're being issued hazard suits and suit geiger counters in order to avoid danger zones."
"They won't be able to track us with drones near those areas. The residual particles would make them start to malfunction. Unless we need to, we avoid them, got it?" Leon demanded, and both women nodded firmly. Manuela shifted over a map to their focus.
"This map shows the subway system. A lot of it has been blown away, but it looks like the stuff near the edges should be intact. If Yoko's been using them to get around the city, there have to be some that head towards the heart of the city."
"Leon, didn't we escape on a train? What about the rails?"
"Raccoon City didn't really use rails. They were connected to a nearby town, but the subway was the main transit. It's still worth noting that someone could possibly use a rail cart through some of the underground portions." Glancing over the maps, he seemed to be pulling an idea together. "Alright, so we'll start at Nyx and begin mapping out the surface at first with the drone support. Once we cover the area, we begin looking for signs of travel. Repeated marks along intersections, tunnels, anything. If we can't find that, we head to the underground. There's no way that she got to the center of the city without using the tunnels, even if she had help getting in."
Sherry nodded, gently turning the map so she could get a better look at it. Thinking, she traced a path down the highway, stopping when she reached the rail station.
"If she's after research," Sherry began, thinking aloud, "the first place she'd have gone is back to the site of one of the larger B.O.W.'s. They have the most chance of surviving the detonation. Barring that, the next best place would be the Umbrella lab."
"The police station was in the epicenter of the explosion, so I doubt we can take that way in, and even then, the radiation would be the worst there."
"We could always enter through the Dead Factory," Sherry supplied.
"But that still means we'd have to deal with the radiation. I don't think that Yoko would risk heading in there without proper equipment, and the image doesn't show her with anything like it." Sherry nodded, but Leon continued. "However, the Dead Factory could be a good lead. There's likely some B.O.W. corpses there, so we can check that after establishing our entrance zone. It does mean that we have to spend time trekking through the park."
"That shouldn't be too hard. Between Sherry and me, we should be able to follow a trail. If Kevin works with us, it shouldn't be too hard to get a lead on where she could have gone."
"Do you think she told him anything about what she was doing?" Sherry asked.
"Kevin saw the destruction of Raccoon personally. I doubt he'd let anyone in without a damn good reason," Leon explained. "We won't know until we talk to him though whether or not he actually has any clue what she's doing in there."
The agents fell silent, listening to the sound of the engines whirring in preparation for take off. Within minutes, they were in the air, speeding off into the dark night towards the quarantine zone.