I had this chapter prepared before the last one (It's amazingly easy to type these lol) anyway, don't worry for sure I'll be summing up Code Veronica X and am combining Darkside Chronicles with Code Veronica X but it may take another chapter or two! Yes these chapters are important I promise!

Enjoy!

"Looks like my brother was never even here." Claire said, disappointment heavy in her tone. Steve looked up from his lugar as she said this before curiosity took over his gaze. "Umbrella probably doesn't know where he is, either."

Steve's eyes traveled towards her hips and then lowered further.

"What did he do?" he asked putting a hand to his chin while fixating his low cast gaze without her knowledge. "Why are they after him?"

"I don't know," She replied before craning her head towards him. He quickly averted his gaze and began twirling the lugar on his finger as she spoke up again. "But he's been missing for three months." Steve slid his finger on his hand, stopping the twirling of his gun abruptly and looked up at her again.

"Mom…dad's been missing for three months…"

Claire turned back to the computer, her long thin fingers flying across the keys of the keyboard as she said, "I was in Paris looking for him. I broke into one of Umbrella's labs…but I got caught…" he voice trailed off after those last few words.

"And you were sent here." Steve said completing her sentence while stroking a finger at his cheek as he thought. Claire didn't look up as she asked,

"What about you? What's you're story?" Steve let out a sigh, deciding against an opportunity to wallow in his own bile.

"It's dumb, you don't wanna know." To his surprise he heard a small giggle come from her. He looked over at her in the corner of his eye and saw she was looking back at him-a friendly smile on her face.

"Just tell me!" Steve quirked a brow. He was curious as to when they had established that they were now on friendly terms. At first he didn't say anything and just looked at her but her crystal blue eyes maintained that unusually confident gaze that never broke with his. It overwhelmed him and he surrendered.

"I didn't even do anything." He scoffed. "Some other jackass screwed up and landed the two of us in here." He turned away from her, looking out the window on the wall behind him. That cruel reminder that his father was still somewhere on the island sparked a fear within him. He doubted his conscience. Should he be looking for his father right now? Was his father still alive? Was there any hope?

He heard a beep come from the computer and his newfound companion shift. His gaze was glued to the muddied path outside the window in the rain. What if his idiot father came running by it just this second? He could only imagine the things he would yell at him.

"So we're in the southern hemisphere?" Claire's voice broke his chain of thought and pulled him back to reality.

"Yeah. So you don't know much about this place, do you?" he asked turning halfway to her. Claire looked over at him, tilting her head to the side slightly as she listened. "Apparently some noble family owned the joint." He said with a shrug of his shoulder. "The Ashfords." He added before turning to the picture of the man that hung above a billboard mounted on the wall behind him. "He's the only surviving Member. Rumor has it he went mad from the loneliness." He explained. He looked up at the picture of the blond man with the pair of light blue eyes-filled with something close to insanity. Garbed in a crimson military coat and adorned with three separate metals, he stood in the picture with a commanding presence.

"But why would anyone wanna bomb this place?" Claire concerned voice wrung up again in his thoughts. Steve frowned, now not having the answer to her question. "Anyway, I've got to contact Leon." He assumed she guessed he didn't have an answer and began typing away at the computer again. "He'll come for us."

Steve rolled his eyes. She'd have her fair share of disappointments soon enough. No one was coming for them, he knew, but he preferred to let her figure that out herself. He shook his head-really at himself-as he exited the computer area. He was becoming bitter.

"Wait, where are you going?" Claire asked as she finished typing.

"Anywhere but here." He said calmly. Little more clicks at the mouse and then suddenly her hand was locked around his elbow. His eyes snapped to hers-confused at first as to why she would stop him and then he found himself angered by her reaction. Was she reprimanding him too?

"Look I don't like this situation any more than you do but we have to stick together." He looked away from her fierce gaze, hating the feeling of her eyes on him. Who the hell did she think she was? He didn't owe her anything. "It's too dangerous to go at this alone!"

"Yeah and if we stick together we double the number of those people, don't we?" he asked her. Claire opened her mouth to say something but then closed her mouth again he assumed she had been unable to find the right words.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." He replied. He turned to walk away from her again but found she hadn't taken her grip off of his elbow. "Let go of me!" he snapped. She held his gaze with a frown.

"I don't want to be alone, and I doubt you do either." Her voice was suddenly soft, almost soothing which confused him miserably. "So let's at least get somewhere safer and then decide if we're going to split up." She offered. Steve looked away from her and sighed exasperatedly. His father would have to wait.

"Thank you." she said to him. He nodded-still avoiding her gaze and waited for her to lead the way. Her hand released his elbow and she quietly turned around heading towards the computer. "I'll shut this off first, just in case we may need to use it again." She said to him as she walked. Steve followed after her, climbing the short steps to the platform for the computer.

A loud bang halted the two in their tracks and for a moment, he just stared at the back of Claire's red head until she turned around to face him with a questioning look. He nodded, confirming her suspicions that she didn't just imagine the noise. She drew her gun from its holster while he backed from where he imagined the source had come from.

"Shit…" he muttered when he heard it again. Claire stepped up next to him with her gun raised.

"Get ready, they'll-" before she could finish her sentence, more of those disfigured people burst through the doors to the detention facility-moaning and staring at them with dumb-hungry eyes.

"Let's head for the back door!" Claire barked. Steve shot her a fearful glance.

"But we don't know where it goes!" he argued before opening fire on the things as they stalked towards them.

"Where are your manners?" Claire asked sarcastically. "This is no way to treat a lady!" Steve smirked.

"They probably think you're cute." He said pretending she had been referring to their attackers instead of him. He stole a glance at Claire, making sure she had made it out before backing out of the doorway after her-blasting away at the horrible beasties as he did so.

"They stop following us?" Steve asked after a moment. Claire didn't answer as they continued along the path that seemingly wounded around the building.

"Another zombie…" Claire muttered just after their gaze fixated on a body slumped against the wall. Zombie? Steve shrugged. All right, if that's what they were going to call them. They kept walking-silent and alert-then stopped. A loud clatter came from behind and both of them spun around, marveled for a second or two at why they saw and then opened fire.

The guard dogs he had once seen roaming the training facility were snarling at them hungrily.

"So it's not just humans who have turned?" Steve asked over the gunfire. The first with it's ear and patches of its face missing went down first before Claire silenced the other that was missing both eyes and the skin over its ribcage. Steve wrinkled his nose at the disgusting site.

"They must have been what was dragging the bodies under." She said to him.

"Let's get out of here!" he said quickly. Claire nodded and they ran for the iron doors that lead to the square. The zombies in the building came pouring out, but it was too late. They were through the doors and onto the next of their gruesome ordeal.

"We can't go straight. Nothing but the solitary cell down that way." Claire said between breaths. Steve looked around impatiently for their third option while more zombies began to peel out from really everywhere the eye could see. His eyes spotted another pair of heavy iron doors with a balcony above.

"Then we'll have to go this way!" he said before blasting another zombie that had been advancing on him. Claire moved past him and began pushing at the doors.

"Damn it!" she gasped. Steve shot down another one and rushed to help her.

"Cover me!" he commanded. Claire spun around that instant and continued her assault as he finally budged one of the doors.

"Get in!" he yelled. In another instant she was inside and helping him seal the door. Once the gates were closed a satisfying click came along with it, telling them the door had been locked. The two backed as the zombies on the opposite side pounded at the doors desperately.

"Thank god." Claire breathed. Steve only nodded in agreement as he panted. His heart thumped in his ears and sweat beaded his brow. He heard Claire's footsteps and turned to join her in her pace.

"This might be our way out of here." She said to him.

"Let's find out." He breathed before walking on.

"…There was a friendly but naïve king who wed a very nasty queen-" the duo's eyes snapped to the source of the new voice with the hands on their guns twitching slightly.

"What the hell?" Steve whispered to himself

"-the king was loved but, the queen was feared." There was a woman standing at the railing of the cliff above, a series of staircases to her left. She was a blonde apparition in a purple gown-her voice haunting. "Till one day strolling in his court an arrow pierced the kind king's heart, he lost his life and his lady love." Her voice carried for a moment and the rhythmic swaying of her arms stopped. For a moment she looked at them and then turned her back and disappeared beyond their site.

"Wait!" Claire called. Steve snatched her arm.

"What are you gonna do?" he asked her. Claire looked over at him, frowning deeply. "She must be out of her mind singing a lullaby at a time like this!" he reasoned. Claire shook her head.

"That's exactly why I can't leave her out here all alone!" she argued dropping her hands by her side.

"Oh, you got to be kidding me. I should've just left you alone, too." He scoffed. Though he respected her selflessness this really didn't seem like a good idea.

"Let's go." Claire said almost pleading him. Steve looked away.

"Fine!" he barked before following after her. He couldn't help the feeling in his chest. They were going to regret this.

That's it! Reviews please!