Friday Night
(Present day)
Claire Redfield began her Friday night like any other night; in her apartment behind her desk, surrounded by endless piles of paperwork. In front of her was her laptop with a blank word document staring back at her from the screen. Claire couldn't concentrate; her attention wavered from her assignment to the unopened stack of boxes sitting in her living room. She hadn't completely settled into her new apartment yet. Claire had made the move from California to Washington D.C. in order to be closer to work. Or at least that's what she kept telling herself.
Working for Terra Save had become a 24 hour, 7-day a week commitment-all in the name of helping victims of bioterrorism. Claire would fly to peace conferences, schedule meetings with politicians and political supporters coordinate search and rescue efforts in the aftermath of terrorist attacks...all from the safety of her desk at home. Rather than be armed with a shotgun or a revolver, her weapons of choice were her Mac book and blackberry.
"Remember Clare, this was what you wanted, a more stable life. You're a rescuer, not a fighter…."
Claire often reminisced back to her days in the Anti-Umbrella Operative; always in the forefront of danger, sometimes armed with nothing but a survival knife, a lighter and her wits. She survived despite the insurmountable biohazards Umbrella would throw her way. Those were the days when everything ended with a bang.
She actually missed it.
With the threat of Umbrella gone and the Anti-Umbrella Operative Task Force disbanded, the group went their separate ways; Barry retired to focus more on his wife and kids. The FBI recruited Rebecca as one of their leading forensic scientists. Ark accepted a position as detective for the NYPD. Billy & Carlos had become private security contractors and Chris and Jill formed the BSAA.
Claire decided to return to College and civilian life, turning down both a position at the BSAA and a position in same government agency where Leon worked. Claire had secretly hoped that the agent would do the same, but instead, Leon accepted a position working directly under the President. The both of them had become very close due to the time spent together trying to escape Raccoon City not to mention the dozens of missions they were assigned together during their years in the Task Force. Both had parted ways promising to keep in touch with one another. Due to circumstances, neither was able to commit to that promise.
Her last encounter with the government agent was in Harvardville. She noticed that he had become more cold and transparent, at least to her anyways. It saddened her when she thought back to how Leon used to be. Of course those feelings were not apparent in a certain pretty blond SRT agent whom they collaborated with in Harvardville. Claire couldn't help but feel jealous, even though she knew the reason why.
The white page on the computer screen continued to stare back at her. When she would encounter writer's block, she would surf the net, going back and forth between clothing retail sites and websites on how to survive a zombie apocalypse. She was surprised to find how over-whelmingly popular zombies had become in mainstream culture. Video games, books, movies (which she was the proud owner of quite a few) detailed scenarios of zombie apocalypses and how to survive them. Seeing how popular the subject has become she didn't know what was scarier; the fact a zombie apocalypse can actually exist or the fact that there were some people out there just waiting for it to happen.
If only they knew...
Claire released a sigh as she removed her hair band from around her wrist to gather her long auburn hair into a ponytail. Claire was ready to call it a night, when suddenly her cell phone rang.
Claire picked up the phone after seeing the familiar name and number flash on the tiny caller ID screen.
"You were supposed to call when you got back from your mission!" Claire exclaimed trying to sound upset.
"I came back last week." Chris's voice sounded tired and distant, not at all like his usual self. Claire knew something was wrong.
"Chris did something happen? How's Jill…."
Claire didn't get a chance to finish. Chris had interrupted her, stopping her in mid-sentence with two words. There was silence on the phone between the two. Claire took a minute to grasp and absorb the meaning of his words.
Her eyes began to swell with tears, "What do you mean she's gone…?"
