A/N: I was going through my old notes and found one of the old stories I never finished writing or had the motivation to actually continue because of my lack of confidence for my understanding the story of the Resident Evil franchise. While reading over it I felt that despite my personal feelings I wanted to let readers get a look at what I was going for being canning it, plus I still had most of the one shot written down so why not just get it out there, better that than just letting it sit there or deleting it all together. Maybe.
Jul.1998
Raccoon Forest
"Alpha Team is flying around the forest zone situated in northwest Raccoon City where we are searching for the helicopter of our compatriots, Bravo Team, who disappeared during the middle of their mission."
The view of the forest pans out to reveal a helicopter flying over the area, using a searchlight to find any traces of the missing Bravo Team. Inside the searching helicopter were the five members of Alpha Team: Albert Wesker, Barry Burton, Joseph Frost, Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine, accompanying the team was a cameraman who was reading over a newspaper until he heard Chris talking aloud while looking out to the Forest below. He furrowed a brow, confused as to why Chris was talking to himself and why nobody seemed to pay any notice.
He nudged his elbow into Jill, who was sitting beside him. "Um, why is Chris talking to himself? I haven't started recording yet."
"Oh, don't mind him. He likes to narrate to himself sometimes. You'll get used to it."
Was Redfield screw loose or just a bit weird? It didn't seem too normal for the cameraman but if it didn't bother the others then he didn't let it bother him either. He shrugs it off and opens the newspaper that was in his possession.
"What'cha got there?" Jill asked, leaning over to get a peak.
"Just a newspaper I picked up before heading out. This is the case you're investigating right?" She answers him with a positive nod which prompted him to take another look at the main article. "Bizzar murd-" He stopped himself, taking a closer inspection at headline to make sure he was reading right, his eyes fluttered at the sight of the painfully obvious typo that was displayed. He went on to skim through most of the report only to find similar mistakes. "...Wow. This newspaper is so littered with typos it hurts to read."
"Really?" Jill asked only to be handed the paper to see for herself. She glances over it only to let out an amused chuckle not five seconds into the first sentence.
"Forget it. I'll just let Chris catch me up." The cameraman states, now leaning his ear over to Chris.
The view from inside the helicopter pans out as they continued searching the massive forest. In the distance smoke could be seen emitting from the ground area, the pilot, Brad Vickers, pointed out the sight to the team and made his way for the potential crash sight of their Bravo Teams helicopter.
"Bizarre murder cases have recently occurred in Raccoon City. There are outlandish reports of families being attacked by a group of about ten people. Victims were apparently eaten. The Bravo Team was sent to investigate. But we lost contact."
"Look Chris!" Jill exclaimed as they drew closer to the smoke, revealing the downed helicopter belonging to Bravo Team.
With the downed helicopter in sight the team manage to find a safe landing spot and disembarked to further investigate. On ground level Joseph Frost was the one to search the remains of the chopper only to find it abandoned.
"Joseph." Wesker radios in as Frost continued his search. "How's it look in there?"
"The helicopter is completely totalled, sir. It's as if the engine just stopped working mid-flight. As if it was sabotaged."
Wesker went completely silent and broke out into a minor sweat.
"Sabotaged? Get real, Joe." Barry joined in on the radio chatter, commenting in a dismissive tone.
"Uh, yeeeeeah. Because that would be completely ridiculous!" Wesker added hysterically. "Anyway, what about the team?"
Joseph was then finally able to come across a member of Bravo only for it to be in the form of a dismantled corpse in the pilot seat. "Hm. Yeah, about that..." The sound of excessive vomiting could be heard in the ears of Wesker, Barry, Chris and Jill who all gestured faces of disgust.
Later the team ventured a bit off into the forest, careful not to wander off too far from their helicopter.
"We continued our search for the other members. And it turned into a nightmare." Chris continued monologuing aloud while the group was trying their best to keep their focus.
Flashlights and guns out at the ready for any possible danger, the cameraman followed by closely, recording the footage on his bulky camcorder, in a fashion similar to that of the documentary/reality legal shows you see on TV.
"Hey, uh, Chris?" He peaked over his shoulder. "I don't want to question how you do your job but that self-narrating thing is really distracting and we're currently in a forest looking for clues. Do we really have time for that?"
"Okay, okay, I'll stop. Hey, who are you anyway? You know all of our names but we still don't know yours."
"I go by the screen alias 'The Player', you can just call me that for now."
"The...'Player'?" Wesker questions with a smirk of doubt. "You can't be serious."
"Yeah. I like it. It sounds cool."
"No it doesn't." Wesker retorts.
"It's certainly unusual." Barry comments afterward.
'The Player' looks over to Barry, but kept his camera's focus on the captain. "More unusual than wearing sunglasses in a forest plagued with fog in the dead of night?"
"Hey, I look damn awesome in these." Wesker protested.
Chris and Jill look at one another and then over to Wesker. "You know, he's actually got a point." Said Chris, "Why ARE you wearing shades?" he questioned with a raised brow.
"Right?" The Player asked, "It gives off some serious shadowy vibes."
"Don't accuse me of antagonistic intentions. If you're assuming I have some ulterior motive that's your beef. I'm not evil, I swear."
"I wasn't accusing you of anything. I was just saying if makes you look like-"
In the midst of their banter the sound of a gunshot caught the team's attention, causing them to look back in the direction Joseph was last seen. The group rushes to the source of Joseph's horrified screams only to be greeted by the sound of monstrous growling becoming more audible the closer they got.
Alpha Team arrived only to find a pack of mutilated Doberman mauling a helpless Joseph. They were left to witness the horror and stand in disbelief.
While Joseph was being attacked Jill frantically fired the entirety of her clip into the horde of dogs only to find that her bullets were ineffective against the pack.
She looks on helplessly, petrified at the sight of her comrade being torn to shreds. Frozen in fear her finger repeatedly pulls on the trigger, not even realizing she was out of ammo. One of the dogs catches sight of Jill and then sets its murderous intent on the young woman. The Doberman charges at Jill at an alarming speed.
The sudden action it took actually snapped Jill out of her current state of mind only for her to fall back on the ground, defenseless to protect herself.
The dog was ready to kill but just before it could pounce onto Jill Chris fires a single shot into the dog's head, instantly killing the beast. A small helping of blood from the Doberman splatters onto Jill's face as she silently looked on in terror.
Chris rushes to Jill's side, helping her off of the ground before the remaining dogs could get to her. "Come on!" He exclaimed to her and the rest of the group.
The Player was keeping his camera on everything, struck in just as much disbelief as the others. "Why the hell was Joseph so far away from us in the first place?"
"Player, bring your slow ass on!" Wesker shouted from a distance.
Realizing the group had already left the Player ran in the direction they were heading, still recording rather than dropping the camera to save his own life, per the norm for found footage horror tropes.
As the group run through the dense fog, the sound of a helicopter flying overhead got their attention and it was none other than Alpha Teams helicopter, fleeing the scene after witnessing the horror that transpired.
"Sorry, guys. That's a bunch of NOPE and I'm not having any part of that! No siree!" Brad spoke down to the stranded group via the helicopter's microphone.
"HEY BRAD!" Chris shouted as loud as he could in a desperate attempt to try and get his attention but to no avail. "Where the hell's he going!?"
The Player reached out his hand to the helicopter. "NO! DON'T GO!" The delivery of that, supposed, desperate cry for help was pathetic.
As it became obvious the group had no chance at outrunning a pack of rabid dogs Chris faces the horror and covered his face, bracing for the worse, however Wesker fired his gun, shooting the attacking dogs to cover his team.
"Chris, this way!" Wesker called out to them, still holding up his gun in case more showed up.
Chris, Jill and the Player regroup with Wesker and Barry and together they all make their way through the forest. More of these vicious dogs appeared and chased the team through the fog, forcing them to look back and shoot every now and then in order to keep them off of their heels.
In the midst of this horror a safe haven in the form of a large mansion presented itself to the group.
The sound of gunshots, heavy breathing and footsteps rushing against the grass and dead leaves filled the air as the scene fades to black.
"There are only three STARS members left now. Captain Wesker, Barry and myself. We don't know where Chris is..."
"Now you're narrating to yourself, Jill?" The voice of the Player asked.
"When I get nervous! Leave me alone!"
The doors to the mansion open to reveal a gargantuan hall. Wesker closes the door immediately after they all enter, making sure the pack of Doberman had no way of getting in after them however the sound of the dogs clawing against the wooden doors could be heard revealing that they were still out there.
Wesker lets out a small sigh of relief as they proceed in. The Player stumbles over to the stairs and sits down, finally catching his breath along with Jill who remained standing.
"What is this place?" Barry asked.
Wesker took a quick gander, letting the impressive, yet eerie, mansion pique his interest. "...Not quite your ordinary house, that's for sure."
Jill turned back to Barry and Wesker and noticed they were one head short. "Hey Wesker, where's Chris?" With uncertainty filling the room there was no other place he could've been, he had to have been still outside. Jill made a sprint for the door, hoping Chris was still out there.
"Oh! Yes Jill, by all means, please open that door." The Player sarcastically remarked at Jill's noble yet impulsive action. "It's not like we just narrowly managed to escape death from rabid dogs."
His words managed to reach her before she could put her hand on the doorknob. "But-"
"He's right. You don't want to go back out there." Said Wesker.
"But we've got to find-" Before she could finish her sentence a gunshot being fired came from the double doors on the west end of the foyer/
"What was that?" Barry asked.
The Player shook his head at the question. "A gunshot..." He answered.
"Chris?" Wesker pondered to himself.
Jill feared the worst for her comrade, believing he was in some sort of trouble "No..."
"Jill, go and investigate." Wesker ordered, only earning him a conflicted glare from the Player.
"Wait, wait, wait. You want to split us up even more? That's a horrible idea!" The Player exclaimed as he stood up from the stairs.
"I'm going with her." Barry answered to calm the situation. "Chris and I go back a long way."
Wesker nods, giving the ok. "Alright. You three go. I'll secure this area."
"Me?" The Player asked in a timid tone. "Why can't I stay here with you?!"
"My squad, my rules. And you're getting footage for your demo tape or something, right? I'm not evil though, so don't worry. Can't you tell by my shades?"
The Player looks over to Jill and Barry before turning an even more confused glare at Wesker. "What the hell are you talking about!?"
Jill grabbed the Player by his arm and dragged him along. "Come on, we don't have time for this!"
"W-Wait! No!"
"Stay sharp!" Wesker warned the trio.
Barry readied his magnum at the double door entrance to the lower west wing of the mansion. Jill placed her back against the door, gun in her dominant hand, while checking to make sure her squad was ready. The Player smacked his teeth regretfully, holding the camera up to continue recording. With the boys in place she opened the door, allowing Barry to pass through, followed by Jill and lastly the Player.
The duo scanned the area for any hostiles only to discover an empty room with a loud ticking clock.
"A dining room..." Barry commented while further exploring the area.
The Player noticed a small ink ribbon on the dining room table and picked it up, to his left he saw a typewriter.
Upon further inspection of the area Barry stumbled upon an unnerving sight. "I think you better take a look at this." He spoke out to the two.
The Player placed the ink ribbon in his pocket and went back to focusing on recording, following behind Jill who approached the fireplace where Barry found his discovery.
"What is it?" She asked.
Barry placed his index and middle finger into the red puddle and held the red liquid up to his nose, giving it a sniff. "...Blood." The Player whimpered as Jill took another step forward to see much to her dismay. "Jill, 'Player'. See if you can find any more clues. I'll be examining this. Let's just hope it's not Chris's."
"What's there to examine? We know what it is." The Player added.
"Let's just go." Says Jill as she noticed a door behind the Player, she then points in its direction for him. "Maybe Chris is through there."
Jill walks ahead and approaches the door, placing her hand on the doorknob, she took a quick look over her shoulder to make sure the Player was following however upon seeing that he wasn't moving she waved her hand at him, gesturing him to follow.
Despite not wanting to go he followed the orders of the professionals, going along with Jill.
On the other side of the door was a long and narrow hallway. The Player cautiously looks both ways to make sure there were no dogs waiting for him but instead he was greeted to omnious silence, quite frankly it was beginning to unsettle him. "M-Mkay, episode 1 of STARS - Scared Shitless..."
"Keep your head. We're going to be fine. We just have to find Chris and wait until morning for reinforcements."
"Why do I have a feeling that it won't be that simple? God, I should've been a freelance journalist with Clancy."
Breaking the silence came the sound of a sloppy wet chomp. The Player lets out a high pitched scream and cowers against Jill by wrapping his free arm around hers.
"Hey! Let me go, that's my shooting arm." Jill had to shake her arm free so she could take up her pistol. She looks back to him and nods, wanting him prepared to follow her at a safe distance. The Player takes the camera and follows her from a distance but the perspective of the camera was a shaky POV.
Waiting for them around the corner was a man crouched down on the floor, his face hidden away from the duo - in front of him was a member of STARS who was also unidentified.
The sound of crunching was soon followed by wet slurping before it all came to an abrupt end. The crouching man raised his head, revealing a bald and unnatural grey skin tone, he slowly looks over his shoulder to Jill and the Player, a disturbing long growl escaped his blood soaked mouth as the head of the STARS member was left in a gory puddle of blood, revealing the man was violently biting into his flesh.
"...F**k this shit I'm out. MmMmmm. F**k this shit I'm out, no thanks." The Player sang while power walking in the other direction.
Jill slowly backed away at the sight, unable to find words to describe the unspeakable horror. The zombified man picked himself up and now had his sights on Jill who, after realizing the danger she was in, made a run for it in the opposite direction.
A/N: After the run in with the first zombie the cameraman, Jill and Barry were going to meet back up with Wesker in the main hall but naturally that doesn't happen and they end up splitting up but the Player refuses to leave either Jill or Barry due to lack of survival knowledge, and just knowing splitting up is a terrible idea, Jill suggests he come along with her since Barry has to be alone for the plot.
Each chapter would've ended with the Player writing his will or commenting on the events of the chapter on the typewriters they come across, those who play the games know that the type writers serve as a way to save the game so I thought it would've been a neat little nod to insert at the end of every chapter.