Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil.

HOLY SHIT. You guys I actually feel like a horrible person for not updating. I just graduated high school and now I'm off to college so I've been really, really busy! Please forgive me! ;A; I'm leaving you now with a massive chapter because, first of all, I feel like an ass for not updating, and secondly, this is the climax of the story.

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MOONLIGHT SHADOW HUNTRESS: Thanks!

Chapter 38: Eden

After Chris and Wesker's scuff, the group kept on moving. Wesker hung in the back next to Claire and Patrick, holding Kaya in his arms gently. His son kicked the occasional pebble that wandered to his wearing shoe and he hummed something under his breath that Wesker could not decipher.

"Dad?" The boy chimed.

Wesker looked down at him, "Yes?"

"What's your favorite color?" Patrick squinted up at him, his blonde hair catching the little light that remained, showing the dirt that clung to it.

Wesker knew what his son was up to. The boy had not seen nor heard from his father all his life. He admired him like a superhero, an idol that the eleven-year-old child could hold on a pedestal as if he was the greatest thing to grace this earth. Patrick was enamored with his father. All he ever wanted to to know him. He wanted to go to baseball games, play catch in the yard, watch stars at night, stay up late and eat ice cream even though mom had denied him. He wanted to learn how to mow lawns and start a grill... but no one was there for him. He had no father to learn from and now Patrick was being allowed that chance. Somewhere in his heart, he knew it wouldn't last long but he sure as hell wanted to make the most of it.

Wesker chuckled a bit, adjusting Kaya in his arms. "Red."

"Your favorite movie?"

"The Shining."

The boy looked to his father, "What's that?" He asked inquisitively.

"I'll tell you when you're older." Wesker winked down to his son and smiled.

The boy huffed, "Well then how bout your favorite drink?"

"Coffee."

"Food?"

"Steak."

"Favorite dinosaur?"

"Stegosaurs."

Patrick laughed at his fathers choice but had one last question for him. "Who's your favorite person in the whole wide world?"

Wesker looked up to Claire who was a little ways in front of them and he nodded in her direction. "Your mother."

She turned to face him and flipped her fiery hair sarcastically. "Don't flatter me, baby." She winked at him and his mouthful of straight teeth flashed a wolfish smile. She slowed her pace, standing next to him and kissed his cheek. Wesker whispered something in her ear and Patrick looked up to his parents. Claire laughed, trying to stifle it.

"What's so funny, Claire?" Chris shot.

His sister gave him a warning look, "Al was telling me a joke, you big jerk. Calm your tits."

Jill laughed at Claire's remark towards her brother and once Jill laughed, Barry chuckled a little, thus making the whole groups laughter raise through the trees. Claire settled down a sighed, that's all they really needed, some happiness. It was hard to find these days. People were dying, the city they knew was headed straight for hell and there was no one strong enough or brave enough to save it. Claire's joy had now left her and she knew everyone else was feeling the same thing. Sorrow seemed to be the main theme nowadays. In the dead of the night, there was no more noise to wake to, no nightlife, no planes, and no angry taxi drivers. The woman's neighborhood was probably an infested block of sick bastards or a desolate ghost road with little to remember.

Claire looked down at her muddied shoes and her eyes flickered softly, she thought she might cry but then thought of everything bad she had left behind there, in that city to rot. Surprisingly, there were problems. Bills weren't easy to pay being a single mom with two kids. Safety was kind of an issue. She had to protect that which meant the world to her with nothing more than her wits and a nine mil. Crime, little there was in her area, scared her to death. It was just a mindless, mental scar that plagued her unfortunately. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Claire knew that she could survive. She was a survivor. Who would have though she lived through Raccoon and then Rockfort, not to mention Harvardville? She learned that day that friends were good to have and protecting kids meant everything to her. All the while she was skidding by the seat of her pants, she had a feeling that Wesker was out there somewhere... knowing that this particular event was happening. She never thought to ask him until now... but she wanted to refrain herself. What if he had nothing to do with it at all and she would just anger him by accusing him? She doubted the latter and perked up to speak to him.

"Do you remember Harvardville?" Shed asked, looking up to him.

The blonde nodded thoughtfully and cleared his throat however, it came out more of a strangled cough. "Yes... I remember it quite well. Why?"

"I was there." Claire said softly.

"I know."

She took a harsh breath and clenched her fists, trying not to anger herself with thoughts of the past. "I almost died."

Wesker looked down at her, his fading red eyes boring right into her. "How could I have known what you were up to that day? Do you think I did that on purpose?"

"Albert you seem to attack everything on purpose. It's kinda what you do if you haven't forgotten."

"I feel as though it was simple coincidence that you were there that day, Claire. If I had know that you were present, I wouldn't have initiated the attack. You cannot honestly blame me for that." Wesker coughed into the crook of his arm yet, more violently. He hacked worse with every inhale and couldn't seem to control it. Claire eyed him as he spat deep crimson blood onto his paling skin.

"I knew it..." Claire said softly.

He looked at her, "What do you mean?"

"I told Jill that I was worried about your condition and since then you've gotten worse." Her blue eyes looked at him with a silent plead. "Albert... what are you going to do?"

He sighed heavily and shook his head, "I don't know. It seems that the only thing I can do is suffer."

Claire choked on a sob and tried to repress it. "I don't want you to suffer anymore, Albert. I can't watch you do that."

"Then kill me." He suggested dryly.

Claire seemed taken aback by this and her eyes widened a bit, she shifted uncomfortably when her eyes scanned over the machine gun that hung around Chris' shoulder. "No." She stated quietly. "How could say something like that?"

Wesker shrugged, "You said you didn't want to see me suffer and personally, I'm sick of it too. If I put a bullet through my brain, I'd be done... I wouldn't have to do this anymore."

"What about Alex?"

"His mission will run cold." He shifted in his skin that he was no longer used to. "Claire..." Wesker looked down to her. "If I had the choice I would stay with you forever... but I can't and you know why." He proceeded to take her delicate face in his hands but she declined his gesture with a recoil.

"You have no spirit anymore, Albert..." She spoke lowly.

"It died a while ago."

XXXXX

Chris stopped the group for a map check and confirmed that they were still on the right path. The rumors that Jill had heard were that the walls of Eden were fifty feet tall, made from the tallest pine in the forest. The perimeter was vast, it would take days to walk around the whole thing, or so it was said. Survivors were to look for a distinguishable cut in a section of pine that looked as though it was cut out and placed back like a piece to a ragged puzzle. If they were to find that part of the wall, the next step was to look for a small, rectangular slat in the wall. Once found, the travelers were to knock three times and no more. A keeper would slide the slat to see who resided on the other side. City survivors were accepted as new members and it was a safe haven for the leader and their company.

The ragged man and his company... it still seemed farfetched to Chris but nowadays, everything seemed farfetched to him. There was still an uncomfortable silence that wafted through the winds like a stealthy killer on the loose. His hazel eyes averted to every corner he could humanly see. His ears were open wide, listening for anything out of the ordinary. And his reflexes were on the edge, waiting for a strike. Gun or fist, he was prepared. Jill walked beside him, her packs contents clanging together in a strange harmony that set Chris at some kind of ease.

Suddenly, like it was a blessing in disguise, the potent smell of fire rose to Chris' nose.

"Everyone stop." He commanded. "Do you smell that?"

Barry approached him, "Fire."

"This way!" Chris shouted. He wanted to punish himself for ever doubting that something could be out there but at the time it all seemed too good to be true. Through the denseness of the fog Chris could see the shrouded flames of torches. The fog was clouding his eyesight but he could swear he saw the dark shadow of walls.

The breath in his lungs turned to fire as the torches got closer. He could hear the company behind him, heaving from the thick air. Chris came to a screeching stop when his hazel eyes took in the sight of the walls of Eden. The torches were on either side of a slat. The slat from the damned story he took for granted.

"We found it." Barry said plainly. He chuckled deep in his throat and shook his head. "We fucking found it."

Jill smiled and tears welled up in her eyes. Finally. After weeks of travel and searching. It was high time they get some rest and food. Chris looked to Barry and Billy who nodded in approval. He raised his knuckles above the slat and knocked three times. There was a pause, one that felt like he had been waiting hours for an answer. He dared not knock again.

The silence of the forest crept in from all corners and made the hair on Chris' neck stand on end.

"Maybe no ones home." Barry inquired with a silly grin trying to lighten the mood.

There was a sliding sound and the slat pried open, ice blue eyes meeting Chris'.

"Company?" A voice said from the other side.

Chris nodded, "Yes."

"How many, sir?"

"Nine."

The opening was shut abruptly and Chris was taken back. Were they just denied?

However, it reopened moments later, those blue eyes meeting again. "Stand back please." The eyes averted to a stone wall about 100 yards back. "Over there."

Chris shuffled everyone to the wall and watched as an enormous wooden drawbridge was beginning its decent to the forest floor. It creaked loudly, large, and what look like salvaged chain links, clattered downward. When the bridge was finally upon the ground, the man with the piercing blue hues came to the threshold and beckoned to the group. The stood around him, being eyed as though he was examining each and every one of them. He was young, perhaps in his mid-twenties. He was dressed in a blue dress shirt with white suspenders strapped to his corduroy pants. His loafers were grimed with dirt as were his rough hands.

"My name is Andrew." He greeted. "Welcome to Eden."

A/N: Welcome to Eden.