New Arrivals Disclaimer - I don't own Resident Evil, or any of the trademarks or characters in this story, I'm merely borrowing them for my own amusement

The highway seemed black and endless as it passed under the jeep's wheels, stretching as far as the eye could see in the dim light. Sunset had not long passed and the shadows had grown larger and darker, covering the barren landscape in their firm embrace.

The black jeep barreled down the empty road, it's headlights illuminating the area in dull light. Leon knew he was probably breaking the speed limit - not the best example for a law enforcement officer to set - but he was already more then behind schedule. It was his first official day as a cop in the Raccoon City Police Department tomorrow and he had planned to arrive in the town today with plenty of time to prepare himself. Thanks to some car trouble he was several hours late and in a sour mood as well.

This all I need. Irons already doesn't like me, I better not end up showing up tomorrow half dead from lack of sleep.

Leon Kennedy had never planned to move. The transfer was unavoidable, thanks to the lack of cops in the smaller cities and he was one of many chosen to try and fill the gaps in the local police force. He had only graduated from the Academy last year, and had been enjoying his previous post. Now he was forced to come to Raccoon City, a place he had never even heard of until recent times.

It was a nice enough place he supposed, just like any other town really. He had only visited once; to meet with the local Chief of Police Brian Irons, and have a quick look around what was to be his new home. Irons had been professional, but not really friendly. Not that Leon had expected him to be; from what he had heard the Chief kept a lot of things to himself and didn't have many friends in either the force or the town. Still that was none of his concern. The town was primarily industrial, with the pharmaceutical company Umbrella operating a disposal facility nearby, which was the main source of employment. Leon knew of them only from the headlines he had seen linking them to some kind of virus outbreak. That had been a huge scandal a few months ago, but since then things had calmed down and life went on.

Leon finally checked his speed as he passed under a battered old street sign indicating the turn off for Raccoon City. He was in the outskirts of the city now, and there was no point causing any accidents by being careless. Not much risk of that he thought - he hadn't seen a single car in over an hour.

Several minutes later he was in the heart of the city, only a few streets from his new precinct. He slowed even more to study the buildings and stores lining both sides of the street, their windows reflecting the streetlights. Two things struck Leon as strange.

No movement: not one moving car, pedestrian, not even a dog! What is this? Is there some town meeting or convention I didn't hear about? And why is it so quiet? No sound at all, like a ghost town… this is strange.

His mind focused back on the road just in time to slam on the brakes as the jeep's headlights revealed a black mass in the middle of the road. The car stopped immediately, and there was a rustle and flapping of wings as the crowd of crows he had spotlighted took off, leaving a grisly form lying motionless on the ground. It was hard to tell what it was at this distance; just a lump in the road, but he could see it was stained red in several places.

His first thought was that it was a dog that had been hit by a car. Or maybe a coyote or something - they were known to occasionally come into the city.

Whatever it is, it's been here a while for the scavengers to have moved in. Where the hell are the city workers! This shouldn't be just left here to rot in the middle of a main road!

Leon killed the engine. He knew this was going to delay him even more, but he couldn't just leave it alone.

I guess this kind of thing goes with the job. Might as well start setting a good example for the public.

He opened the door and stepped out of the car. He was already wearing his uniform, the bold white R.P.D letters stenciled out on the back and front. To Leon, his footsteps sounded unnaturally loud on the road as he approached the corpse. As he got closer, he realized it wasn't a dog at all it was…

Oh my God!

Leon kneeled down next to the corpse. Not much was recognizable about her by now, but he could tell she had been young, probably around his age. He realized there was no point calling an ambulance - the damage had long since been done. He felt sick just looking at the body, but forced himself to examine it further.

The woman was on her back, her face still mostly recognizable. She had a look of both surprise and fear frozen on her features. Blood was everywhere - whatever had happened, it hadn't been quick.

Though he hadn't been on the beat very long, Leon had seen a lot of things in his time as a cop. Shootings, stabbings, assaults… but all of them combined couldn't even come close to what he was looking at now. Fully clothed, the corpse's chest and stomach was a mass of puncture wounds, huge pieces of flesh seemed to have been ripped clean out. Leon could see exposed rib bones that had been snapped like twigs. Her stomach was simply gone, replaced with a ragged hole. Pieces of cloth and flesh lay carelessly scattered nearby. Her body was covered with marks and smaller wounds.

She's been… eviscerated! What the hell is this? These marks, they look like teeth… was she attacked by some kind of animal? In the middle of a city? Not likely. What else could it be though? Why hasn't anyone seen her yet? Where the hell are these people!

Leon thought he was going to be sick. He stood slowly, his blue eyes staring into the lifeless eyes of the corpse at his feet. He had to do something about this, get over to the precinct right away and notify them. This wasn't…

His train of thought was broken by a noise behind him. A low moaning followed by shuffling footsteps. The sounds were so unnatural in the silent surroundings that he was instantly warned of danger. He whirled around, his hand already going to the handgun on his hip.

Several figures were staggering out of the shadows towards him. At first he thought it was a group of drunks - maybe kids that had partied too much. As they got closer, he got a good look at the face of the leading figure… and gasped in shock.

It was a walking corpse. A tall man, his head bald, with what remained of his clothing hanging in tatters. He staggered towards Leon, arms outstretched as if looking for a gruesome embrace. The man's skin was gray and slimy; as Leon watched, pieces simply slid off like snakeskin, revealing red flesh underneath. His face was grotesque, like something out of an old horror movie he had once seen. His cheeks were puffy, his face ashen, surrounding sunken bloodshot eyes. He was leering at Leon, blood dripping from around his mouth and staining his already rotting teeth an ugly red. He made gasping, retching noises as he staggered forward. Behind him at least a half dozen similar figures had appeared.

Jesus! What the hell is going on!

Leon's shock wore off quickly and in one smooth motion he drew his handgun and leveled it at the guy in the lead.

"Freeze! That's far enough!"

They ignored him

"Stop now! This is your final warning!"

They continued to stumble forward.

Can't let them get any closer, whoever they are they don't look friendly.

Leon's finger tensed on the trigger, and then he felt something gripping his ankle. He lowered his gaze to find a skeletal hand digging into his leg. The supposedly dead woman had rolled over and grabbed him, already bringing her mouth across to sink her teeth into his flesh.

"No!" Leon cried. He lowered the gun and fired a single shot into the back of her head. Her grip loosened and she fell motionless. He then opened up on the approaching crowd. Gunshots rang clearly through the night air.

The first two bullets slammed into the guy leading the pack and he staggered back a few steps, blood staining his dirty white shirt. Then to Leon's amazement, he simply shrugged it off as if they were mosquito bites and continued forward.

"What's going on? I hit him…" Leon asked himself.

He fired over and over, every single bullet cleanly hitting one of the monsters (Leon couldn't call them people anymore.) Yet each of them simply continued walking. He found himself backing up towards a nearby alley as the crowd continued to rush him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw more and more shuffling figures joining the throng.

What are these things? I'm almost out of ammo!

A door to his right in the alley suddenly burst open. He whirled around ready to fire, and just stopped himself from shooting a young woman. She stopped dead in the doorway, his gun pointed at her head. She shook her head frantically, eyes wide with fear.

"Don't shoot!"

At last, someone sane in this nightmare.

Leon spotted the zombie behind her, about to place a clawed hand around her neck.

"Get down! Now!"

She dropped to a crouch instinctively and he fired. A small red hole appeared in the monster's forehead and it tumbled back silently.

Leon extended his other hand to help the girl up. She got to her feet, glancing at the corpse behind her.

"I don't know who you are, but thank God you were here!"

"We have to get under cover. These streets are too dangerous. Let's go to the police station, we should be safe there." Leon reloaded the gun as he spoke, his face grim.

She nodded. "Okay."

The two of them dashed back out onto the road. They were still a safe distance from the group of monsters that had ambushed him. They seemed to be aimlessly milling around, not sure where he had gone.

Whatever they are at least they're slow. Not very bright either. But how can we get to the precinct?

His jeep had already been overrun, that was out of the question. He looked around the road and finally spotted what he was looking for. A police cruiser parked on the opposite side of the road. It seemed to be undamaged.

Please let there be keys inside

"There!" he gestured towards the car and pushed the woman towards it. "The car!"

They quickly crossed the street. Leon glanced through the driver's window and was relieved to see the keys still in the ignition. They both jumped in and Leon took a few seconds to do up his seat belt. The girl, seeing his example fumbled with hers. He turned the key and the comforting sound of the engine purring traveled through the car. He put it in gear and floored the accelerator.

The cruiser leaped into gear and sped off. In seconds they had left the wandering zombies far behind. Leon realised he was holding his breath in fear and finally exhaled. They were safe - at least for the moment. Then again, the way things were going so far, being in this city anywhere wasn't too safe at all.

He divided his attention between the road and the brunette beside him. This was the first real chance he had to actually get a proper look at her. She was younger then him, her long hair done up in a pony tail which made her look even younger. Bright blue eyes studied the dashboard in front of her. She was dressed almost all in dark pink and black, and he noted the minor scratches on her bare legs and arms. She was shaking, hands gripping her seat belt tight.

She's probably in shock, can't say I blame her. Just what is this place? It's like something out of a horror movie. Those people, they were like zombies… some kind of disease? If she's a local maybe she can tell me something. I have to look after her now.

He realized he was missing something she was saying.

"…Arrived in town and the whole place went insane! Do you know what's going on around here?"

"I was hoping you could tell me." Leon replied. He grabbed the police radio, hoping to get a connection but wasn't completed surprised when all he could hear was static. He tossed it aside in disgust. "Radio's out. Looks like we're on our own for now."

She appeared to be seeing his uniform for the first time. "So you're a cop?"

He managed a wry smile. "Yep, first day on the job. I arrived just in time for the party from the looks of it. Name's Leon Kennedy by the way."

"I'm Claire. Claire Redfield. I came looking for my brother Chris. Seems today wasn't the best day to come." She seemed to be doing better now, a little less tense now they were on first name terms.

Redfield… I know that name. That's the guy everyone was talking about last time. Some kind of conspiracy theory…

"Your brother… he's a S.T.A.R.S member right?"

She nodded. "We've always been close. I haven't heard from him in months, so I thought I'd come pay him a visit here. Do you know him?"

"No, but last time I was here a few months ago there were all kinds of rumors going around that the S.T.A.R.S had uncovered some kind of illegal chemical research by Umbrella. Nothing came out of it though"

Claire looked a little disappointed, but hid it well enough. "I heard a few things as well, but it was all a little too hard to believe. Hopefully Chris will be at the police station."

If anyone's there at all. This is all too weird; it's like being in the goddamn twilight zone. I have to keep her spirits up though.

"I'm sure he will be. There's bound to be help there. The place is like a fortress, we'll be safe." He wasn't sure who he was trying to convince more with that. Claire seemed to relax though. A thought occurred to him.

"Will you check the glove box?"

She popped the lid open and just as he had hoped, withdrew a handgun similar to his. She gripped the handle with both hands and sighted it through the windscreen.

She seems to know how to handle a gun at least. Just in case something happens.

"Better take that with you Claire. Just in case." She nodded. He turned down another street, only a couple of minutes from the precinct.

Then everything went crazy. Leon barely saw it, a flicker of movement in the rear view mirror. Claire screamed and tried to bring her gun around as the zombie lunged between them from its hiding place below the back seat. Slimy hands brushed Leon's neck as the living corpse went to grab him, its bloody mouth trying to bite. Leon jerked his body away, in the process throwing the wheel hard to the right. The cruiser slammed into the nearby wall and sparks flew off the twisted metal as it screeched in protest.

"No!" he heard himself cry as they continued to speed along the road, scraping the wall. With one hand he tried to punch and push the zombie aside while trying desperately to keep control of the car. They were coming to a T-Junction and he realised he wouldn't be able to stop in time.

"Look out!" Claire screamed. He spun the wheel as hard as he could to the right

The cruiser spun around a full ninety degrees, so it was the back, not the front that slammed hard into a steel signpost. Mercifully the zombie vanished, and was thrown straight through the back window with the force of the impact. It rolled over the trunk of the car and was then lost from sight.

Leon could feel blood on his forehead from where it had struck the wheel on impact. His neck ached where it had slammed back into the seat, and it took a few moments for his head to clear. He glanced with concern over at his passenger. Remarkably she seemed to have survived intact. He guessed if they weren't wearing seat belts, both of them would have come off much worse.

"You okay?"

She managed a smile. "Still in one piece."

Leon was just unbuckling his seat belt when he heard it, an engine running. The first time he had heard anything else around there. He looked up and saw a truck approaching them, a huge petrol tanker. It was racing down the road they had just traveled and as he watched it smashed a wrecked car clean out of the way. He realized even before he made out the zombie-like figure in the cab that it wasn't going to stop.

"He's going to ram us! Claire, get out now! Move!"

He didn't have time to see if she obeyed. Leon forced his door open and broke into an unsteady run just as the huge truck smashed full force into their car. The tanker exploded on impact, a massive fireball enveloping both vehicles. The force of the blast threw him to the ground a short distance away and the deafening boom made his ear pop.

It took Leon a few moments to slowly get to his feet. Turning back to the remains of the car all he could see was a wall of flames. The smell of petrol assaulted his nostrils and the intense fire made his skin burn even from this distance.

"Claire!" he screamed, trying to be heard over the hungry, crackling flames. "Can you hear me?" He was relieved when he finally heard her faint reply.

"Leon! I'm okay!"

He started forward but realised there was no way of getting to her. The fire was too intense,

"Claire! I can't get to you from here, you'll have to go to the police station, it's safer! I'll meet you there okay?"

"Alright! Be careful Leon!"

She's got a gun; she'll be okay… I hope. No, she has to be. She will be. Have to look after myself for now.

Leon could hear the all too familiar moaning and shuffling already. They were coming. He turned away from the burning wreckage and started to run.

Author's Notes - As you noticed, I took a few liberties with the dialogue from the intro, else this would have been a pretty quick story. I think it's a fairly accurate description otherwise! All reviews welcome, and most appreciated!