Chapter 9: The Following Days
New York State
7:30 am
1 year later
Dante, now 14, was awaiting his bus so he can go to Avalon High School in southern New York since the part of Northern New York had been quarantined was now undergoing extensive clean-up efforts following the outbreak. Entire buildings had to be sanitized, and the government was unsure about how the region would recover after over 300,000 people were killed. 450,000 were displaced as a result of the outbreak, and many of the BSAA's personnel had aided in the relocation efforts of the displaced. Dante and Alexis's families were able to move in friends of theirs who lived down south, and managed to regain some of their old possessions thanks to Leon's close friend Chris Redfield. Dante was sitting on a bench, waiting for the bus to arrive since he was a freshman in high school now with his girlfriend by his side...
" Hey, you doing Alright?" Alexis asked, taking his hand.
" It's been a year since the outbreak, and it still haunts me." Dante said.
Alexis kissed him on the lips, and then rested her head on his muscular shoulder...
" I know, I wake up every morning hoping my brother would come into my room laughing, but to no avail." Alexis said.
" I miss Xavier, and his Pikachu jokes." Dante said, before saying Pikachu in the voice.
" You still got it." Alexis said with a chuckle.
The bus arrived screeching to a halt in front of the couple and they hopped aboard, while Dante received a call from Leon...
" Hey Dante." Leon said.
" Hey Leon." Dante responded.
" I wanted to see how you were doing before I head out." Leon said.
" That's nice of you." Dante said. " Where are you?" He added.
" I'm in Afghanistan, the government is working with some of the Mujahedeen in the area in hopes of taking down some of those T-Nubius shipments that arrived here." Leon explained.
" They're still shipping the stuff out?" Dante asked.
" Yes, many fledgling terrorist cells have enrolled support, and China has just declared war on them." Leon said.
" Let's hope they back down." Dante said.
They concluded their conversation as the bus pulled up to the high school, in which Dante and Alexis would begin their high school life since their old one had been destroyed as a result of the outbreak. Avalon High School was a 3-floored building, six white columns sat in in the school entryway and the school was a bright-red color.
" This is gonna be our school?" Alexis asked.
" Let's hope it's a good year." Dante responded simply.
The young couple proceeded into the building to begin their high school lives. Meanwhile, In Afghanistan, an arms deal between ISIS representatives and agents of The New Umbrella were about sell 15 canisters of the T-Nubius Virus and 3 BOWS for 15 million dollars, but were about to receive a deadly visit...
Kunar Province, Afghanistan
9:00 am
9 ISIS soldiers accompanied the main representative, while meeting with the agents of The New Umbrella, whose numbers stood at 7. The agents wore proper desert gear, while the ISIS soldiers wore elaborate soldiers uniforms, they had brought a large truck to carry the shipment...
" Ah, Abbas, so glad you could make it." Carlisle, the agent leader, said.
" You are the man I am to meet?" Abbas said with a doubtful tone.
" I know I don't look like much, but I'm best at making sure that deals like this do not turn into a firefight." Carlisle explained.
" I see." Abbas said, ordering his men to start loading the shipments.
" I am glad that you're willing to talk." Carlisle said.
The two men walked along as the agents and a couple of the ISIS soldiers loaded the shipments into the truck...
" Are you sure these weapons will help our cause?" Abbas asked.
" Yes they will, the BOWS have serious tempers, so I'd be careful with them." Carlisle said.
But before Abbas could speak again, the tip of a serrated machete severed his head clean off and a figure wearing all black desert gear emerged from the shadows behind Abbas, who raised a magnum and pointed it at Carlisle's head...
" Now, let's not get too hasty." Carlisle said.
" Hasty? This is the perfect moment." The masked individual said before shooting him in the head.
The individual walked towards the ISIS soldiers and New Umbrella agents, who were currently pinned down by an unknown sniper, with the individual hopping up on to the back of the truck right in front of the BOW cages...
" Hey, get away from those things!" An agent said, raising his pistol.
" Why, don't want yourself to face your own creations?" The individual said, cutting the locks.
The BOWS poured out of their cages, and started tearing the agents and ISIS soldiers apart before dying mysteriously after the fight. The masked sniper jumped down from their high ground, which was just behind one of the old statues nearby and converged on the bloody site with superhuman speed. The sniper removed the mask around their face, revealing themselves to be Arianna...
" Man, that was a good fight." Arianna said.
" Don't let it go to your head." The young man said.
" I know, taking pleasure in fighting is the first sign of a maniac." Arianna said.
The masked individual turned out to be Xavier, with a burn on the left side of his face and the eye on that side to be glowing blood red. He was more grizzled and hardened by the events he had experienced, and he pulled out a radio and began to speak...
" Tiger, this is Raven, come in." Xavier said.
" Copy that, Raven, this is Tiger come in." The man on the other end said.
" Serpent has lost it's venom, venom ready for pick up." Xavier said.
" Good, we're on our way." The man said.
They heard the sounds of horses coming towards them fast, so they took cover behind some rock piles that were stacked to look like a wall. Eventually, a Chinese man in his mid-40's hopped the wall on horseback, accompanied by 9 Afghani men on horseback as well.
" Glad you could make it, Rhi." Xavier said.
The Chinese man was Zhao Rhi, an operative from China's Counter-Terrorism Agency and a survivor from the attacks in China. He was working alongside Xavier and Arianna by overseeing relations between them and a Mujahedeen who didn't trust the offer made by the U.S government.
" That's understandable. We have two extra horses so us three can go to the Mujahedeen while his men transport the shipment to the old mines." Rhi explained.
" Be careful you guys, this strain can kill you in an instant." Xavier explained.
The Mujahedeen's men acknowledged what Xavier had said and took the truck to away, while Xavier and Arianna left with Rhi to the main compound of Mujahedeen Al-Qadir. Qadir was a burly man in his mid-50's with a reputation among the other Mujahedeen, due to his trust issues with other Nation Governments and how his family held their own during the country's occupation by the Soviet Union. Xavier knew one thing, this war was just the beginning.
What, Did you honestly think I was going to kill off a character just like that? WRONG! Xavier managed to somehow survive, and is now waging war against New Umbrella in retaliation for the countless people killed in New York State during the outbreak. Like Adam Hoek says, your joy and laughter will stop when you see the final chapter...
ENJOY.
