HHoD: Now my turn to be nitpicky;) My main character is not Isaac Brown. Isaac is property of Desertcross4, who makes an appearance in this story (and will be making many more). My main character is Kenneth Feng (who is fortunate enough to have been used in Desertcross4's story, "The Price of Normalcy"). Now that we've got all that cleared up, on with the show!

DemonDoor: I've already read the chapter to your new RE/FFVII story. But I can't remember if I've reviewed. I'll check right after I post this. But yes, the concept of melding RE and FFVII is fantastic. I'm a huge fan of the Final Fantasy series and NOT JUST VII and onwards. Although, I think my FF fascination is drawing to an end as I'm completely disappointed with XI and not too interested in XII. X2 was the best it got, wouldn't you agree?

E-Z B: Hey, long time no hear from you! Yesh, this story is meant to establish Kenny's position in the RE universe, and the events leading up to theoutbreak. His survival storyduring the outbreak isalready chronicled in"World of the Undead". I'm a fan of HHoD's "Project Lucifer" and decided to weave Kenny's story around the same teenage social structure HHoD bases Jack and Lisa's relationship on, involving many of the same characters she uses.

XXXXX

My buddy Justin Thomas and I were sitting on the front steps for RCSS the next morning, staring at the blue sky. The sun was just above the horizon, painting the thick, rolling clouds with its brilliant rays. He held a joint between his lips, blowing out thick, white smoke as he puffed away, obscuring my vision of the sky. It was a little colder today for some reason, a good ten degrees or so colder than it was yesterday. The clouds moved slowly, blown by a strong wind from a higher elevation. They gathered over the last ten minutes, growing thicker with every passing second, and gradually began blocking the sun. The wind at ground level started picking up slightly, blowing the smoke from Justin's mouth towards my face.

He was dressed in red and black basketball shorts that came down to his knee, revealing lanky calves and matching sneakers that made his feet look bigger than they really were. His button up T-shirt was made up of the same material as the shorts and the colours matched too - mostly black with red sleeves and the numbers 06 on the front and back. Justin was a real pothead. It's a pity, too, because he used to be one of the star athletes back in middle school and even during our freshman year. Justin played baseball, volleyball and tennis, but the sport that he excelled at hands down was basketball. The only sport he ever had beef with was football because he always considered it an insult to sportsmanship. that is, until he discovered pot.

It started at a party we attended once, at Lisa Hartley's house. The bash was actually organized by Julie, but she figured Lisa's place would be great because her parents were never home anyway. Not that many of us do drugs, and I'm not one of those who do. But there was this one guy there, I don't know who he was, I think an older brother of someone who attended. Anyway, he was the guy who brought the Mary Jane and decided to offer it around. I tried it but didn't really enjoy being high. But Justin - he had a blast and was hooked almost immediately. The stuff isn't addictive or anything, but for Justin, it might as well have been.

His coaches found out sometime in the later half of grade 9 and he got kicked off the various teams. I thought his hopes and dreams would've been crushed, and I didn't hesitate to lecture him on how bad that shit was but much to my surprise, he didn't care that he got kicked from RCSS's various sports teams. As long as he had his pot, he was good. After awhile, I stopped caring. Well, no, I still care about his well being, but its pointless lecturing him if he's not willing to listen.

So today started out like most days - us sitting on the front steps of the school, he with his doobie hanging from his mouth, me with my cigarettes and coffee. Teachers and principals never caught us, despite the obvious spot we were sitting in. We were there early enough in the day for them to be in their morning meetings and coffee, and whatnot. And Justin used his parent's cigarette rollers to make his doobies, so they actually looked like cigarettes. Administration never really cared about cigarettes. They knew a lot of the Raccoon City population smoked, and it wasn't like we could be blamed either. There was nothing much else to do in this boring mountain town.

"Oh MY gosh," an ear piercing voice said condescendingly at me and immediately I knew who it was. Julie Wilberforce, Lisa's official best friend of our year, the two most popular girls in school. She was naturally a brunette, but dyed her hair blonde at the beginning of the year, and wore it in curls – much different than the way she appeared last year. And I don't know how it happened, but all of a sudden, this year she just shot up the social hierarchy. It seemed the new look caused it, but I wasn't going to believe that a simple makeover would have such power in a high school. Julie was being followed by her groupies – as usual, a quartet of girls all with blonde hair, more makeup on their face than the combined weight of their skinny bodies, and designer purses all hanging off their right shoulders. They each wore skirts that reached down to just above their boney knees, revealing the bottoms of stick thin thighs and calves. Julie seemed like the only one remotely proportionate to what a normal human fifteen year old girl should look like, yet I've heard her call her groupies fat on more than one occasion. I never figured out why Lisa agreed to be friends with the girl. Julie was a complete bitch, using whoever she could to get more and more popular. And I doubted she had any real friends who wouldn't ditch her when push came to shove. And Lisa was the absolute opposite, being a kind, sincere and hard working girl – although she can be a little to naïve and trusting sometimes. Maybe she was trying to see the good in Julie that just didn't exist. I'll never know.

"What the fuck do you want?" Justin asked through pressed lips, sucking on his roach.

"Oh, aren't you happy to see me, Justin?" Julie sneered. But before he could answer, she continued. "Of course not. Who am I kidding? After all, you got what you wanted from me last summer, you fucking excuse for a man." Justin only looked up at her with a sleepy smile on his face, his eyes red from the drug.

"It wasn't that hard, considering Concubine Wilberforce is pretty popular around these parts." He stuck up his finger at her.

"Careful," I warned Justin. "Concubines are whores with class."

"It wasn't as good as they say," Justin said to me, though the blow was clearly at Julie.

"Well maybe you'd be able to feel a little more down there if you'd stop smoking that shit!" she said out loud, hoping to catch the attention of one of the teachers who might've been nearby.

"Piss off, Julie," I said. "What are you, trying to get us in trouble?"

"There are better things to do with my life than waste it making yours miserable," she said, taking me by the elbow. "Besides, I came to talk to you, Kenny."

"Don't do it, man," Justin piped up. "Who knows what she's swimming with!"

"Fuck OFF, Justin!" Julie screeched. She turned her attention back to me, leading me away from Justin. "Girls, make sure Justin doesn't get within ten feet of me and Kenny!"

"What do you want?" I asked, as we strolled away from the steps of her school, her arms holding onto my elbow.

Julie spoke in the fakest, sweet voice I've heard anyone muster. "You're a nice guy, Kenny, you really are. And I know you care a lot about other people – kinda like my best friend, Lisa!"

"Right …"

"What?" she asked, faking a gasp, "you don't care about Lisa?"

"I don't wish anything bad upon her, if that's what you mean. Get to the point, Julie."

"Look – I know you and Justin have your differences with me and the rest of the girls. But Lisa bridges our two groups, don't you agree?"

"Why do you keep bringing up Lisa?"

"Because we're losing her, Kenny!" Julie cried, finally breaking into her usual dramatic outbursts that had to happen once a day or it would be the end of the world.

"What do you mean 'losing her'?"

"Notice how she hasn't stopped calling us for parties on the long weekends at her house anymore? Notice how she always acts like she's not interested in talking to us, since she met that stupid puppy dog of a lover boy, Jack Carpenter?"

"Funny, I always thought you did the calling and just held the parties over at Lisa's place without her knowing."

"The point is, those parties don't happen anymore!"

"Well I wouldn't blame her, Jules," I replied. "Lisa seems to really like Jack. And we haven't exactly been nice to the guy. So what reason does she have to be the same around us when she's torn between us two?"

"I am not losing my best friend to downtown scum, Kenny," Julie insisted. "We know what they're like – dirty, penniless, amoral … and that is EXACTLY what Jack is. How can you just stand idly by and let him take advantage of a sweet girl like Lisa?"

"Because my popularity doesn't depend who I label my friends," I answered simply. "I told her what I thought about Jack. She knows I care about her. What she chooses to do now falls on her shoulders. If it's worth it to her losing all of us and keeping him, then good for her cause I really don't care. And if it's a 'wham -, bam - thank you ma'am' deal with Jack, then Lisa fucked herself over and I sure won't be there to pick up the pieces because I already warned her."

"You are not helping the situation."

"Well that do you want me to do!"

"I want you to get Jack away from Lisa. I want my best friend back."

"Yeah, right! How do you expect me to do that?"

"I don't know," Julie said shrugging. "But I trust you'll find a way."

"Kiss my ass, Julie," I said, turning back towards the school. "I'm not helping you start the next popularity gong-show of the school year."

"My father's a lawyer, Kenny," she said, calling after me. "I know about your status here in America." I spun around, eyes and nostrils flared in fear and anger. How in the world did Julie know? She wore a smug smile on her face, hands folded behind her back in mock modesty. "Word gets around the school pretty damn fast. I know about all the shit you say about me behind my back, but I also know all the shit people say about YOU."

"You wouldn't dare!"

"All I have to do is tell my dad about the legitimacy of just how you got to our cozy little mountainside community, and you'll be booted back to Japan." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. The life I had worked so hard to build myself in Raccoon City was about to be shattered by a high school girl over some popularity contest. It seemed inconceivable, but here she was, standing right in front of me muttering the very threat. I'd hardly told anymore, barely mentioned how I got to America – how was it that of all people, Julie Wilberforce was able to find out? "If you don't help me with our little issue with Jack Carpenter, I will see to it that my father gets you out of this country on the same leaky boat Jack came on!"

XXXXX

My smoke break with Chris today was spent mostly in silence. He wasn't his normal, cheerful self, instead choosing to puff on his cigarette and stare at his booted feet and the litter all over the alley floor. We had little to say to each other, me with my latest threat from the bitch of the school and he with the latest news going around the S.T.A.R.S. office, news that I'd happened to hear about earlier this morning.

Aside from the social bullshit going around school, mostly revolving around Jack Carpenter and Julie's inferiority issues, the mysterious cannibal murders were starting to affect Raccoon citizens on a
grander scale. I found myself filing more and more cases of these bizarre murders and they were creeping me out. It had only been a matter of weeks and they were already becoming a regular occurrence. Nobody at school seemed to really notice yet, being the sheltered uptown kids that we are and sofar, most of the cases have been occurring downtown. But working at the police station gave me some real insight as to what kind of shit was hitting the fan when it came to Raccoon City as a whole.

"We're going in tonight," Chris finally said, breaking the silence, blowing his a plume of smoke into the air.

"What ..." I blinked, confused as to what he was referring to.

"Bravo's failed in their mission."

"They weren't able to find anyone responsible for the murders?" I asked.

"Worse," Chris replied, never taking his eyes off the ground. "They haven't returned. They were supposed to report back early this morning, but we haven't heard anything from them. Their chopper crashed."

My heart dropped into my stomach hearing those words. The chopper had crashed. Something went wrong. I immediately thought about Wesker's shady presence just before the mission launch yesterday. My instincts were telling me to do something yesterday and I completely ignored them. I could've prevented this. Why was I so stupid?

"It's not your fault," Chris said straight away, seemingly having read my thoughts. "It's ours, for not listening."

"You had no reason to believe," I admitted. "I'm just an unpaid lackey who knows dipshit about what I'm doing."

"But you know what you saw."

"So you believe me about Wesker?"

"I don't think he had anything to do with it - but I'm sure you witnessed something important. I mean, why would Wesker choose to sabotage his own men? He's the one who founded the Raccoon City S.T.A.R.S. unit. He's a cold guy I admit, but I don't even think he's capable of pulling off something like this. Whatever the case, they're sending us over to the Arklay mountains tonight - the entire Alpha team - and Wesker's coming with us. We'll find out what's going on, and put a stop to it once and for all."

Something about the tone of his voice, maybe the way he stood and refused to make eye contact with me - I sensed despair. There was no way of telling if Bravo was alright. I kept an optimistic view, despite that. They weren't average hikers lost up there in the woods. With the exception of the rookie, they were battle hardened warriors most likely capable of surviving for far more than a day in the wilderness, at least more than your average Joe. And I even think one of those would be capable of surviving for longer than a day. But with those cannibal murders occurring left and right? Suddenly, I could understand why Chris was so worried – for them, and probably for himself as well. He was going in after them.

"Are you scared?"

Chris looked at me like I was crazy. "I may be a S.T.A.R.S. officer," he said, "but I'm far from superman. I always get like this before a mission. I always get scared. I'd have to be crazy not to, Kenny. I've got a lot to live for, as I'm sure you do too."

"I wasn't trying to attack you," I said quickly, but I might've ended up sounding defensive instead, so I elaborated. "I meant, well … I'm pretty nervous too, about all these murders happening. And lately, they've been making their way towards the center of town. What if it reaches? What if all of Raccoon City suddenly plunges …"

"Now you're starting to sound crazy," Chris smirked, taking another puff of his cigarette. I watched as the glowing embers gradually shortened the stick, glowing as he sucked the air in, and then went for mine and suddenly, I felt fine – well, finer, at least. It was amazing what this stuff could do for you.

XXXXX

It just scared me to think that my closest guarded secret was now information to Julie Wilberforce - information that she could use to literally ruin my life. She was the stereotypical rich girl of Raccoon City, spoiled rotten ten times over, with a gorgeous body that she never had to work for a day of her life. Her father probably paid for plastic surgery or genetic altering for her twelfth birthday. And I knew she wouldn't hesitate to use that information against me if I didn't help her with her ridiculous, twisted issue with Jack Carpenter.

"Whatcha thinkin' about, Kenny?" Rita asked, her sharp southern twang snapping me out of my daze. I blinked and looked at her questioningly, trying to figure out what she'd just said. "You've been reading your task list for a few minutes now. Three items isn't too much, is it?"

"Oh, no, not at all," I replied, shaking my head. "I was just thinking about ... well ..."

"Listen," she said, putting a soft hand on my shoulder, "you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. But you don't have to think of me as your supervisor all the time. If you have anything on your mind you want to discuss, you can feel free to talk to me about it."

"Thanks, Rita," I said. "But I think I'll be alright. Thanks for being there, though." The truth was, I wanted to ask her if it was possible for me to be deported. My student VISA was legal, but I don't think I got it the legal way. Whatever the case, when I was living on the streets of Osaka, my only income being the money Mr. Masters would wire to my bank account every month, I decided to scrape some money together and get the hell out of there. I mentioned my ideas to move to the States to a few people in passing, and somehow, a few weeks later, I got a message from Mr. Masters who had sent someone to deliver me my student VISA. The guy had paid for me. Something about it didn't sound right – I'd never met anyone, never had any interviews, never even stepped foot into the American consulate in Osaka and all of a sudden I'm granted a VISA to the States?

My only theory was that Mr. Masters was watching me. He'd planted spies all around me, watching my every movement and reported back to him. How else would he have found out about my plans to get to the States? Secondly, he must've either had a really high position either in the business or government world, or he could've been a crime overlord because there was just NO other way he would've gotten me my VISA without even meeting me face to face. And my biggest worry was that if Julie managed to pull some strings and get her father to check out my status in this country, he'd find the truth and if they decided to get me deported, would I be able to fight to stay here? Would Mr. Masters back me up then? I mean, I paid my taxes as an international student, and as a homeowner according to the laws of the county. I went to school and was a law abiding citizen. The only black mark was how I got permission to enter the country. But it didn't matter, as long as the permission was granted right?

"Kenny, you're staring again."

"Oh, sorry Rita," I said, snapping out of my second daze in a matter of seconds.

"Could you please start filing now?"

"Yes, ma'am." I dug my hands through the piles of papers, organizing the sealed case folders by last name and the type of case. I could've done it in the filing room in the west wing, but if I organized them right now at the main desk in the lobby, all I'd have to do is carry them over and plop them in their respective cabinets later. Besides, there was a lot more room to work out here, as opposed to that stuffy room.

After finishing organizing the pile, I picked up the stack, tucked it under an arm and prepared to go on my merry way. But I was cut off abruptly by a large crash, squeals of surprise from Rita, and some flying stacks of papers. I turned my head out of curiosity, wondering who would dare cause such a ruckus in a police station of all places. And upon seeing who it was, a mischievous smile crept across my face. I didn't have to look to see who it was – the stench gave it away – not to mention the faux Mexican accent. It was none other than Jack Carpenter, struggling with Officer Aaron – a sturdily built cop with short brown hair cut close to his scalp, who nobody fucked around with; not even the S.T.A.R.S. members.

"Yo' lemme go, man!" Jack cried, his brow length blond hair swaying into his eyes. "I told you, I be doin' nothing wrong!"

"Settle down, kiddo," Officer Aaron ordered, "or you will be doing something wrong."

Jack looked up and spotted me staring back at him as a gleam of hope lit in his eye. Whatever made him think I was going to help him get out of his predicament, I have no idea. Knowing his kind, he probably deserved to be in here, locked up somewhere in the jail cells with the K9 units.

"Kenny, you know these guys, bra," he said, trying to plead with me to help him. "You know me. Tell 'em I be doin' nothing, man! You know I'm not some thug!"

A laugh burst from my mouth without me even intending it to. "Now we're buds, eh, Jack?" He gave me a puzzled look as I continued, this time talking to Officer Aaron. "Sir, would it be okay if I just had a few words with Mr. Carpenter?" I asked politely. Officer Aaron rolled his eyes and conceded.

"You kids really need to find time to socialize in school," he said. "You boys have five minutes." I stepped around the desk and walked over to Jack who looked relieved as I approached him. But did I ever have a mouthful for the downtown trash.

"Thanks man," he said, spewing out his gratitude in a never-ending river of mindless words that went in through one ear and out the other. "I totally owe you one, and if you ever need any favors, I swear …"

"I choose not to associate with people like you if I can help it," I hissed, suddenly cutting him off. "You've got a lot of nerve – coming into the school ripping up our social circle by first of all replacing Charlotte Lascelles and if that wasn't a bad enough blow, you take her best friend to have for your every own!"

"You talkin' about Lise?" he asked.

Lise? What a disgusting nickname. "Yeah," I nodded, "I'm talking about Lisa. Who do you think you are, coming in here and turning her against us?"

"I din' do nothing to Lise," he said innocently, putting his hands up defensively. "I din' tell her to do nothing either. I just be her friend, man. An' she be my friend. That's all it is."

"So that's why she's been completely ignoring Julie lately," I said. "Because she's been friends with you?" Now this was where I had to break out the drama skills. I didn't particularly care for the Julie/Lisa Official Best Friends Alliance, but with Julie's threats earlier this afternoon, I had something riding on these skills. I couldn't afford to be booted from RCSS, not with things going so well for my future. I couldn't afford leaving town after having made so many connections at the precinct – hell, I couldn't leave the damn country! I had to fight to stay …

"Lise is a free girl, man," Jack said, jumping to her defense. "She can do whatever she wants, and I be happy for her. But I never told her to do nothing!" He was a stubborn one and it looked like he wasn't going to learn his lesson anytime soon. "I'm done with him, Officer Aaron," I announced. The hulking cop came over and hauled Jack away, who stared back angrily at me. "Stay the hell away from Lisa or there'll be some real trouble at school," I spat, before he led Jack away, towards the front of the main hall and into the east wing, probably down to the cells. There, I did my part. I threatened Jack and told him to stay away from Lisa, just like Julie asked. Wow, I was her bitch. And my conversation with Jack just moments ago proved it. A cold shiver made its way up my spine.

XXXXX

School later that afternoon was hell. I wasn't sure how much longer I could go on like this – school in the early morning, work before noon, afternoon classes, and the work again at night. Already, I was thinking about the filing tasks I left unfinished to get completed by tonight, even as I sat through another one of Bietelbaum's horribly dry history lectures. To my left, Julie sat with one leg elegantly crossed over the other, busily taking notes – or doodling, I honestly couldn't tell. Justin was on my right, staring off into space with a baseball cap hiding the top of his eyes, just so that Bietelbaum, who was standing above his head level, wouldn't be able to tell he was sleeping. Unfortunately for him, we all knew what Justin Thomas was like in class, especially in history.

"And therefore, this is why the war isn't particularly obvious in American history," she said, snatching Justin's hat off his head with one fluid motion, more swiftly than I'd seen any walrus move before. "The only war we ever fought with the Canadians, we lost. And they succeeded in burning down the White House." She opened her mouth to groan another sentence, but was fortunately cut off by a well timed bell. As the class quickly swept their belongings into awaiting backpacks, she remembered to yell out, "Remember to read the first half of chapter 5 tonight! We will be having a quiz first thing next class, so don't say I didn't warn you!" But the reminder fell upon deaf ears.

I headed out of the room hurriedly, stuffing the textbook and notes into my bag and began running for the locker in preparation for work tonight. More importantly, I was trying to escape Julie as she was no doubt hunting me down right now. She was probably so absorbed in her "note taking" that she hadn't even noticed the bell ring. So I decided to take the opportunity and get the hell out of there before I could be seen with her.

"And where are you off to in such a hurry?" she asked, leaning against one arm against my locker.

"Picking on little kids again?" Justin asked her, appearing from behind me. "Just get the hell out of here, Julie. You know Kenny doesn't like you and honestly, neither do I …"

Julie folded her arms across her chest and frowned at me. She looked up at Justin through sneered lips, who still stood behind me like I needed any backup against Julie, and she sighed. I got the hint. I understood what she wanted me to do. "Justin could you please give me and Julie a moment of privacy?" I asked weakly.

"WHAT!" he gasped. "Alright, man. Don't say I didn't try to stop you getting involved with the likes of her." He backed off and continued on his way down the hall.

"What a nice friend," she noted sarcastically.

"What do you want?" I demanded, cutting to the chase.

"I want to know how your day went."

"Well after having the pleasure of chatting with you this morning, I proceeded to the vending machines to purchase a small decaf light roast with two creams and one lump of sugar before heading off to Math, after which I packed up and headed to work at the precinct, where I organized some criminal report files and …"

"Did you fucking talk to Jack?" she interrupted, nearly biting my head off.

"Yeah," I replied. "Lucky for you, they hauled him into the precinct this morning, where I was given a chance to tell him to stay away from Lisa."

"What did he say?"

"Nothing. He just kinda looked at me like he wanted to kill me. And who knows what kinds of guns he and his mother might own. You're a pal, Julie." I patted her on the shoulder before turning around.

"Ew, don't touch me!" she ordered. But as I walked away, she ran to catch up. "I'm not finished with you yet, Kenny!"

I was about to turn back and yell at Julie – yell at her for looking like the bad guy, dictating who Jack has the freedom to be friends with, who Lisa can associate with, speaking for all the uptown kids. I could understand how it'd work for Julie though. If any of this backfired, it would fall on my shoulders and she'd get off free. I was her damn scapegoat and I was sick of this bullshit already. But I never got the chance to yell at her for before I even got the chance to turn around to face the sniveling bitch, I felt a sharp slap on my cheek. My vision blurred, and I saw stars, tears streaking from the corners of my eyes as I held a hand to my now red, burning face. I heard Julie snicker.

As the tears gradually fell out of my eyes and my vision cleared, I saw Lisa standing there with a fierce look of anger in her yes. Her round gentle face twisted into a mask of pure hatred – and she looked like she was about to cry even though I was the one who'd just been slapped.

"Lisa?" I asked out of confusion.

"What did you say to Jack!" she screamed.

"What are you …" But I comprehended what was happening too quickly for me to iterate. Anything I said came out as a blurb of complete and utter confusion, ironically enough.

"He called me from the precinct and told me everything!" she said, answering her own question. "He's sitting in a jail cell right now and scared half to death, Kenny! And you know his aunt Rosa is too poor to bail him out if they decide to press charges for anything! You could've helped him but you chose not to. That would've been fine, but instead you chose to threaten him in the middle of the police station – and tell him to stay away from ME? Who the hell are you to tell us who we should hang out with, Kenny? I never thought you were like that!"

"Listen to me, Lisa," I said trying to explain, but I never got the chance.

"Christ, Kenny, did you really threaten Jack today?" Julie sneered. "You sure got some balls, doing that, especially when you know Jack's got a thing for Lisa."

"He does not, Julie …" she said.

"Regardless, Lisa," Julie said, walking past me, "I'd be careful who I hang around with. Kenny gives a pretty bad example of us uptown kids. I guess we can't expect anything more from someone who was abandoned by his own parents." She tossed her head and walked down the hall, completely content with herself. I hoped the cannibal murderers reached her that night.

"…what is she talking about?" Lisa asked, noticing I'd gone deadly silent for a brief moment. I looked back at Lisa, this time the tears in my eyes shed from anger and betrayal, not from being slapped. But instantly, I could tell Lisa gut wrenched with guilt when she saw my expression. Something was very wrong with the shit Julie was making me do, and Lisa couldn't know any of it. I had no choice. I was a damn good scapegoat for Julie and I had to keep it up if I did want my future crashing before my eyes.