Better grab a mouse because this chapter is kind of cheesy (just like this joke). ANYWHO!
This chapter contains a pinch of language and continues to have spoilers.
As always, be mature. I don't appreciate rude comments.
Enjoy :)
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Resident Evil or Piers Nivans or Chris Redfield. They are owned by Capcom. This story is inspired by Josh Groban's 'Feel Like Home' from his album Illuminations.
Chapter 8
Piers sighed heavily into the zipped up collar of his military jacket, gripping the bouquet of flowers he had brought as a gift. He stared at the gravestones in front of him. Each time he had visited this place, it had become harder and harder to stay for a decent amount of time. Besides that, he was a twenty-year-old military man. His mentality had formed to think himself weak if he shed a single tear in public because of being surrounded by a military lifestyle.
He knelt down in front of the stones, trying not to get his pants dirty, "Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad. I'm back. I hope you can see how well I've been doing. I'm not going to lock myself up in despair like you thought. Angie has been helping me through the whole thing."
Piers looked over at where Angie stood next to his truck. She gave him a small smile, waiting patiently for him to come back. He smiled back and turned back to his parents' graves.
About a year ago, his father had kept his word and got rid of his barely running 1967 Charger. His mother was there when they went to buy a brand new one when Dodge had brought it back. He sent Piers a picture and everything. He looked so happy, hugging the hood of his new baby. Ironically, on their way back from the dealer, they didn't have enough time to move out of the way of a suicidal drunk driver. No one survived the accident.
"Good news," Piers said, "I was able to buy a house. It's super small, but it's perfect for just the two of us. It's been about two years since her and I started dating. I'm sure you guys would approve of what I have planned for today."
A giant grin formed across his face. He hoped all would go as planned and end smoothly, even though his nerves were all over the place.
"I feel sorry for her, though," Piers said as his smile faded, "She has to be alone a lot because of me, being in the Special Forces and all. She says she's okay but she says that so I don't worry about her. You know how she is."
Piers looked up at the sky as clouds threatened to cover the sun completely. He looked back down and said, "I don't know when I'll be able to visit again. Shit is getting worse and the virus is now spreading past the US. It seems that I have to spend even more time away from home as it grows. I'm sure you understand. And I'm sure you guys are laughing at me for talking to rocks while you're actually standing next to me."
He took a deep breath and nodded, readying himself to go. He set the flowers down in front of the gravestones and stood up. He looked at his mother's side and smiled as he saluted his father's grave.
"I love you guys," he whispered as he walked away, tears forming in his eyes.
Piers walked towards Angie with his head down. He knew she was crying and just looking at her would make him break down. He didn't want that to happen. He wanted this to be a happy day but instead he had to start it off with sadness by visiting a cemetery.
He opened the passenger door for Angie and then got into the drivers side.
As always, it was silent after the visit. Having two people in a small area, whom have lost their parents in one of the most tragic ways possible, can put more of a damper on the day.
Piers nearly jumped when Angie spoke up, "So, where are we going?"
"You'll see," Piers said.
Angie tilted her head, "Come on. Tell me, please?"
Piers repeated himself, "You'll see."
Angie started pouting, "Fine."
They fell silent again.
Piers could tell that Angie was only trying to strike up a conversation that would take his mind off of his parents. Unfortunately, when they visited his parents' graves, she would begin thinking about hers. She wanted him to be happy and stay that way. And he wanted the same for her.
He moved to grab her hand and hold it as a sign that he was okay. She put her other hand on top of his and leaned her head on the seat.
It wasn't until the rock version of that damned song came on that the silence was broken.
"I swear," Piers said, changing the song, "That song has become more of an ear sore if anything."
"The band isn't bad," Angie said, seemingly trying to defend the song.
"Yeah, Red is a great band. But this song," Piers said, just as the slow version came up.
Angie laughed as Piers' head flopped back in frustration, "I like the rock version of Already Over. At least that one is a little more up beat."
"I guess," Piers said, turning onto a vacant looking street with some light fog.
Unfortunately for Washington, part of it had been hit pretty badly. The virus was thought to be gone but the aftermath left deep scars in the land, making it hard for people to live on.
"Um, Piers? You do realize we're going down a dead zone, right?"
Angie, as well as other people, called these areas 'dead zones' because Washington people feared these places still had the virus. They all though that it was lying dorment within the debris. The lack of livability here caused majority of the population to move on somewhere else.
"I know," Piers said, "We're almost there."
Angie looked over at Piers with a look on concern, "So, is this were you kill me and bury my body?"
Piers began laughing.
"I knew it!" Angie said, keeping the joke going.
"No!" Piers said, still laughing, "Why would I do that to the woman I love more than anything in this world?"
Angie shrugged, "Love causes people to do crazy things."
Piers nodded, "Yes, it does."
He, then, turned into a driveway area and parked his truck. He was about to get out when he felt a hand grab his arm.
"What are you doing?" Angie said.
Piers looked at her confused, "Getting out. Come on, I want to show you something."
Angie narrowed her eyes, "It better not be a dead body."
Piers' face twisted into speechless confusion.
"Knowing you, that's something you would do," Angie said, smiling.
Piers eyes widened as he began laughing again, "What is with you and dead bodies right now?"
Angie pointed to their surroundings. She had a point. They were in a vacant area supposedly doomed with death. For all he knew, there could be dead bodies where they are going.
"Come on," Piers said, getting out of the car.
He walked to the other side to get Angie. Reluctantly, she stepped out of his truck and began following him. It was a good thing he had he wear casual clothing and shoes. The grounded ended up being more broken up than he thought. Even wearing his boots seemed to hurt his feet.
He looked behind him and saw that Angie had stopped. She was staring at the single story building they were walking by with an emotionless face. Piers took her by the hand as she mentioned that the building looked familiar. As they continued on, more buildings like the one before appeared out of the minor fog. Angie kept looking around as if having a déjà vu. They got a little further from the cluster of buildings where there was a swing set and some bars in what looked like a playground. He led them to a sand pit when he heard Angie gasp.
"Is this…?" Angie said, not being able to finish.
Piers looked at her as she looked around in awe.
"Several years ago, a bully named Michael threatened to hurt me if I didn't meet up with him after school. After that, I met a girl from a different state right here in this very sand pit. She had long brown hair at the time and had this obsession with lions. She was quite the tomboy and was always fun to be around," Piers paused as he watched Angie's expressions, "As the years went by, we became more and more inseparable. We were the two kids everyone thought were twins. The years continued and people's views on us changed. They started thinking we were a couple. We would always end up in a stuttering and nervous wreck when someone said that.
"When I went into the academy, she never swayed from my side. She was always there when I needed someone. She would even stop what she was doing just to talk to me. She never came up with lame and obviously fake excuses to avoid me. Then a tragedy happened."
Piers looked at the ground, "She had lost her parents, in a bad house fire. While my parents and I took her in, we knew that we could probably never be what she had before. Regardless of what we thought, she always had a smile on her face. She was always laughing and teasing me. She was never afraid to tell me the truth, no matter how much it hurt. She was my best friend.
"After I graduated, we weren't best friends anymore. In fact, we became what everyone thought we were: lovers," Piers smile and looked away, almost embarrassed, "I have been in love with her since our middle school days and, not once, did I feel any different. But what we have just doesn't feel like enough. I know she's mine and she will never leave, but I just feel like… I don't know. I feel like something is supposed to happen. Then, it hit me."
Piers walked closer to Angie and pulled out a handkerchief to lay it down on the ground. The next thing he pulled out was little black box from his jacket pocket. She was now staring down at his hand, breathing heavily.
"Angie."
Angie slowly looked up at Piers. Then he got on one knee, making sure that he was on the handkerchief, and opened the box. The ring had one big diamond in the center while surrounded by other smaller ones. She stepped back a little and put a hand on her chest.
"Will you be mine forever?" Piers asked, "Will you marry me?"
Angie almost collapsed as she began crying out of pure joy. The smile on her face went from ear to ear as she nodded, "Yes."
Almost subconsciously, Piers jumped up like an excited kid in Disneyland, "Really?"
Angie started laughing, "Don't get too happy now. You might break a military rule for emotions."
Piers laughed at her joke but mostly because he was happy she said yes. He put the ring on her finger and then picked her up. They both laughed and hugged each other, happy that they were now taking their relationship to the next level. He put her down and they kissed each other.
"I know this was slightly cheesy and kind of dangerous," Piers said in between passionate kisses, "But to tell you the truth, I couldn't think of any other place to go."
Angie shook her head as she kept kissing him, "Yes, cheesy but it was actually quite cute."
After their feelings began escalating and becoming more passionate, Piers decided that it was a good idea to get in the car.
"It would be really uncomfortable here," Angie said, breathing heavily.
Then they both hurried to the truck as Piers said, "Good thing I keep protection in the glove compartment. And I'm not meaning just my gun."
Piers laughed a bit, remembering how they frantically jumped in his truck, "I'm just glad I had a back seat at that point. Anyway, we got married shortly afterwards. Jordan was the only one there along with her friend, Ayaka."
He walked away a bit, trying to think of what came next as he looked around.
"Piers."
"Sir?" Piers asked, immediately going back to reality.
Chris stayed knelt down, staring at the fire as some other BSAA members used flame torches to burn the human cocoons, "What happened to Ada Wong?"
It only took a second for Piers to react, "You remember!" When Chris didn't answer or make a move, Piers' excitement vanished, "Captain?"
"Where is she?"
Piers recognized the anger in his captain's tone. Even so, he was eerily calm about it when saying her name, especially after what he said in the briefing room after the incident in Edonia. Regardless, Piers was glad to have a definite answer to his question, "She's leading Neo-Umbrella. All these terrorist are-"
"Is she in the city or not!" Chris shouted, now looking in Piers' direction.
Piers stood there for a moment before answering, "She's been sighted several times since the attacks began. Yeah, she's here."
Chris stood up, not taking his eyes off the fire and then walked past Piers, "Tell the men we're moving out."
Piers watched as Chris walked away from him.
This isn't good.
He saw that look in Chris' eye. It was the look a man gets when he's on a personal mission full of nothing but blind revenge. Piers knew that look all too well. He had seen it several times when he was in the Special Forces. Majority of them ended in heavy casualties and tension between team members. Even Piers had it at one point in time. The feeling of looking forward to ending his grudge in the most horrible way possible felt so good energizing…
But he felt so guilty just by remembering how he thought about the twisted, torturous, and fucked up ways of ending that person.
Piers wanted so badly to try and reason with his captain but he knew he would only lose that battle. Not only was Chris stubborn, but he was also his superior officer and rank meant a lot, especially in these times. The only thing he could do at this point was nod and say, "Yes, sir."
