Wow, so this chapter may not have taken me as long to write, but damn it certainly was a hard one to put into words. I also never expected it to be this long, but, eh, whatever. Anyway, with this chapter now up, that leaves just the EPILOGUE. We're almost there, and I expect I'll have the Epilogue finished either in a couple of days, or maybe even sooner than I think. It all depends on how much free time I can find to write.
That said, I'll be leaving a very important Authors Note in the Epilogue chapter, so when I do eventually post that, make sure to read it. Anyway, let's just get right to it.
Disclaimer: Resident Evil and its characters belong to Capcom obviously, any Original characters in this story belong to me.
Chapter 14:
'Another Day'
Treatment Plant
'Rebecca, Billy, Bryan, Danny'
After a long night of enduring countless zombies and monsters, the four survivors were finally on the verge of escaping the horrific nightmare that never seemed to end.
For the moment, they stopped to rest, needing it after the close call with Dr. Marcus, or rather, the Queen Leech.
While Billy was checking on their weapons and ammo, Rebecca checked to make sure she had plenty of her medical supplies left, and even though there weren't that much remaining, the fact that they were nearly out led her to believe they wouldn't be required.
As for Bryan and Danny, the two civilians were just too exhausted, the latter more so due to the injuries he was still recovering from, and seated themselves on the cargo lift, simply waiting for someone to pull the lever.
The STARS medic, concerned for their well-being, checked on them, first on Danny, who put on a brave face and refused further medical attention, instead pointing to his friend and suggesting that the medic check on him instead.
He didn't have to tell her twice.
Approaching the young teen, who was sitting in the corner of the cargo lift, Rebecca kneeled down next to him, looking at him with genuine concern.
"Are you okay?" The STARS medic asked, quietly and gently.
When Bryan slowly raised his head and looked up at her, she was surprised to see he no longer had that cold look in his eyes.
His eyes had returned to that soft, kind and friendly look that she had gotten so used to overnight, the look that she missed after that close call with the Proto Tyrant a little while ago. The very fact that she missed that look said enough, it simply showed just how close the two of them had become throughout the whole ordeal.
"Bryan?" Rebecca spoke up again.
The young teen nodded, and looked away. "I'm fine. I'm fine. Don't worry about me."
Placing a hand on his shoulder, the STARS medic replied, "...Are you, feeling any stress at all? Anything on your mind?"
He shook his head, this time offering her a gentle smile. "Rebecca, I'm fine. Honest."
She couldn't help but worry about him, but when he offered that smile, she couldn't help but return it, and decided not to press any further.
"How's our ammo?" Danny asked Billy as he was checking on his guitar.
Billy responded with a sigh, "Not much. Still some bullets left, a few shells, but that's it. I don't imagine we'll be needing it anymore though."
Rebecca then spoke up, "Can't be too careful."
The former marine nodded, and then made his way over to the lever that controlled the cargo lift. "Alright, you all ready to get out of here?"
Danny saluted him. "You're damn right."
"No objections from me." Rebecca shrugged and smiled a little.
Bryan simply gave the former marine a thumbs up and a nod.
"Alright..." Billy said, before proceeding to pull the lever. "Let's do it."
The entire cargo lift began to move in response, and slowly started to ascend upwards, away from the facility.
Finally, they were finally about to make it out.
Raccoon City
At the same time...
Scott was looking at his dad the entire time he was catching his breath, keeping a careful eye on him to make sure he wasn't going to try and get back up to continue the fight.
Normally, Scott would have no problem continuing a fight, but this was probably the first time in his life that he was actually hoping to avoid having to fight any further. All it took was just one long glance at the large crack in the wall a few feet away, the damage left by his dad's fist, and Scott knew right then and there, he'd rather not continue fighting.
"Scott..."
The older marine's voice caught his attention, and Scott looked back over at him. "What?"
Owen remained flat on his back, staring up at the ceiling the entire time as he replied, "There was something I didn't tell you."
"Not really surprised." Scott straightened himself a little, and asked, "What is it?"
His dad waited for a moment, clearly trying to figure out the best way to word his response.
When he did, he replied, "I went through with the Limbo Project because I wanted to save the lives of marines, but there was another reason why I went through with it, why I had no choice but to go through with it."
Scott said nothing, and just listened intently.
Owen let out a loud sigh, and added, "...The suits in charge of Project Limbo, threatened to kill your mother."
If Scott's complete attention wasn't on him a second ago, it certainly was now. "The fuck did you say?" He asked, rising to his feet and looking very pissed off.
His dad slowly sat up, and looked him in the eye. "I honestly don't know why they chose me of all the officers at the base, but they did. And because I'd already known about the project before I agreed to it, they needed to find a way to make sure I wasn't going to try and go behind their backs and expose it. They threatened to kill your mom, if I even so much as attempted to try and leak information about the project."
Scott was silent.
"They were watching my every move, and no matter how badly I wanted to tell someone, I just couldn't, because every single time the idea of telling someone came to mind, I immediately thought of your mother. And you." Owen explained. "And ultimately, I had no choice but to agree to help with the project."
Again, Scott was silent, simply processing everything he was hearing.
Owen sighed again, and added, "It was all supposed to be simple. Things were never meant to get out of hand the way they did, and yet they did. Waller's addiction, and Coen's execution."
"And mom leaving?" Scott asked.
The older marine looked up at him for a second, and replied, "...That was her plan."
Scott's eyes widened a little. "What?"
Owen nodded, adding, "Your mom knew something was wrong. She asked what was going on, and I didn't tell her at first. But, you know her, she never stopped asking, and eventually I did tell her. And when I was explaining the entire situation to her, she just listened, and she understood, she understood the gravity of the situation I was in, that we were in. She knew that all of it could not be handled with a simple call to the police, it was much bigger than that."
Once again, Scott listened intently, eager to get more answers and find out the truth.
"Instead, to ensure I didn't have to worry about her, your mom suggested moving to the UK, where she would be safe and away from those bastards." Owen explained, and added, "So we arranged a little act in public, where I knew they'd be watching."
And just like that, it hit him, and Scott couldn't help but ask, "The argument that led to you two breaking up?"
"Exactly." Owen nodded. "We broke up in public, and your mom packed her things and moved to the UK to live with her parents. She was safe from harm, and I was able to do some, careful digging, without having to worry about threats anymore. Unfortunately, I never found anything concrete enough to expose the bastards, and when I felt they were starting to catch on to me, I backed off to keep them from suspecting me any further than they already did."
Scott raised a brow at him, "I'm surprised they didn't threaten my life."
"Oh they did." Owen said, chuckling now. "But I knew I didn't have to worry about you, because I know anyone they'd send after you would only end up getting their ass kicked."
This prompted a small chuckle from Scott, who then asked, "But what about mom? Did she not ask about me too?"
Owen nodded again. "She did. She wanted to take you to the UK, but I convinced her to let you stay, because if you left, that would mean you'd have to leave your friends too. And I know how close you are to them, protective in fact, like you're their big brother."
Scott looked away, feeling...awkward.
"So...there you have it. That's the whole story." Owen said.
However, there was still one thing Scott had yet to ask, that his dad had yet to tell him.
"No, pop. That isn't everything." He said.
The older marine looked at him, confused now. "What are you talking about?"
Scott looked him in the eye, and said, "You still haven't told me the most important part."
Again, Owen looked confused.
"You haven't told me who these bastards are." Scott said.
That was the one thing the older marine hoped his son wouldn't ask.
With a sigh, Owen simply responded with, "You're better off not knowing. I'm already a target now, son. But as long as you don't know, they'll have no reason to go after you."
"I don't give a shit about that. Tell me, who's behind all of this!" Scott demanded.
Owen just looked at him.
For a long moment, Scott's dad just looked at him in silence, as if he was pondering on whether or not to tell him, to give him the answer he wanted.
However, before any answer could be given, Owen, eyes widened, jumped to his feet and ran towards his son.
Scott, for just a second, balled his hands up into fists and braced himself for a fight.
Until his father ran past him, then behind him, putting himself between Scott and a thin red laser.
Glass shattered, and the first thing Scott saw when he turned around was his father falling, a bullet fired right through his chest.
Scott caught him, fell down with him, and examined his wound for just a brief second, before glaring death at the window where the bullet had come from. More specifically, the red laser that continued to scan the hall they were in.
Acting quick, he rolled to the side and grabbed his dad's magnum, before standing up and unloading several shots in the direction of the red laser, shattering the window completely.
The red laser quickly disappeared in response to his shots, but Scott ran over and, carefully, scanned the outside for movement, making sure the shooter was gone.
A car drove off down the street, speeding away until it was out of sight.
Even if he wanted to chase after it, it was already too far away for him to catch up.
Not that Scott was intending to go after it to begin with.
He was already back at his dad's side, kneeling down next to him as he examined his wound.
Owen chuckled through his coughing, and said, "You didn't...replace those rounds with blanks. I knew...I, knew you were full of shit."
Scott fought back a grin, and replied, "We gotta get you to a hospital."
"No...no. I won't make it." Owen said, coughing again. "And even...if by some goddamn miracle I did, they'd just kill me there...anyway."
His son looked confused now, "The hell are you talking about old man? Who the hell are these bastards?"
Owen sighed, slowly shaking his head as he replied, "They control...the hospitals. They control the police. They control...everything. The whole damn city...Scott. They...control it all."
Scott did his absolute best to fight back the tears that were threatening to leak from his eyes, and asked, "What kind of fucking conspiracy shit is that huh? Come on man, stop fucking around!"
"I'm...not!" Owen coughed again. "Listen to me...Scott. The third marine, who fired on the village...with me and Palmer. He...works for them. He's the one...who's been watching me...on their orders. The shooter who just...ran off. It's him...I know it." He muttered weakly, and given he looked like he was failing to keep his eyes open, it was clear that he was starting to fade.
"DON'T YOU DARE! DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE DIE ON ME YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Scott shouted, the tears having broke free now, visibly sliding down his cheeks.
Owen managed a little smile at his son's words, and quietly replied, "That marine...he has...the...information you need."
"A NAME! GIVE ME DAMN NAME!" Scott shouted again, quickly wiping his tears away.
To his horror, Owen's eyes slowly began to close, his head going limp against the floor, finally giving in to his fatal injury.
But not before he uttered out a single name.
"Tommy...Callihan."
With that, Owen Calver took his last breath, and ceased to move.
"DAD!"
Scott stared, eyes widened in disbelief.
At first he just wanted to think he was in some bad dream that he'd eventually wake up from.
But he knew this was reality, and no amount of thinking was going to change the sight before him, the sight of his dead father.
Prior to coming here, he had braced himself for the worst, braced himself for the moment that HE would have to pull the trigger on his old man.
Yet, now that he looked at the dead marine before him, he realised now that he was just fooling himself. There was just no way he would have been able to pull the trigger if it had come to it, there was just no way in hell that he would have had the courage to kill his own father.
And now he felt nothing but grief, and regret.
Regret that he stopped talking to the older marine, regret that he accused him of ruining their family, regret that he actually considered the idea of killing him earlier.
And...grief.
Grief, that his own father was dead.
Dead, all because the marine saved his life.
All of the grief that he felt, was eventually consumed by a burning rage.
Fists tightening, Scott rose to his feet, and glared at the shattered window. "Callihan...that son of a bitch."
Tommy Callihan was an asshole punk among the marines.
Certainly the kind of guy Matt himself would hang out with.
He was good, but his attitude and personality was completely unfit for the marines, yet somehow he never got kicked out.
Perhaps he was backed by the suits in charge of Project Limbo prior to joining, or perhaps he wasn't the only one who was secretly taking orders from them.
Either way, it didn't matter anymore.
Scott had a new target and he already swore to himself that Callihan was going to pay, him and the ones behind Project Limbo.
"You're dead, Callihan. You and those bastards. You can all hide if you want, but I will fucking find you eventually." Scott said.
Before he left, Scott went back up to his father's room to retrieve something.
He knew his old man had some of it stashed away, he must have, given he used it on himself earlier before they fought each other.
It didn't take long for him to find it.
A metal briefcase.
Inside it, were dozens of samples of Project Limbo.
For just a moment, Scott considered the idea of destroying it.
Then decided against it.
Perhaps, perhaps he could find a good use for it.
He closed the briefcase and took it with him.
When he made his way back downstairs, he glanced over at his dad.
As much as he wanted to stay here and grieve a little longer, it was only going to be a matter of time before someone found out what happened.
He wanted to grieve, but he forced himself not to. He couldn't let his emotions get the better of him, he never did, that's why making hard decisions was always easy for him.
With that, Scott stared at his father one last time, before forcing himself to look away.
He exited the house, and walked on.
The only thought running through his mind now, was trying to figure out what he was going to say to Alex and the others, and to Cindy.
It was going to be a long walk.
Treatment Plant
'Rebecca, Billy, Bryan, Danny'
The small group of survivors were silent the entire time as they waited for the cargo lift to take them to freedom.
Billy was checking his equipment, while Danny was busy admiring his guitar, which was thankfully still intact, much to his relief.
Rebecca was seated next to Bryan, still keeping an eye on him despite him reassuring her earlier that he was fine. One couldn't be too careful though, especially after the sudden and very unexpected change in his personality
earlier, the STARS medic simply wanted to make sure he was okay, if not physically, then at least mentally.
Everything was quiet besides the sound of the cargo lift moving, and for the first time, the four of them were finally able to relax knowing they were almost out of this long nightmare.
It was a peace and quiet they hadn't really gotten since the main hall back at the mansion, the only difference being that it was much warmer there.
Unfortunately, the peace and quiet was short-lived, interrupted by a loud crash.
"What?" Rebecca was back on her feet in an instant, looking around for the source of the crash.
Billy looked down the shaft, and shouted, "It's the Queen!"
Right enough, the Queen Leech, clearly mutated and bigger than before, could be seen down the shaft, emerging from a hole in the wall just below them.
Bryan and Danny looked over the railing and were hit with a wave of mixed feelings.
Dread for one.
And anger, from Bryan specifically, who looked visibly furious.
Suddenly, an alarm went off.
"The self-destruct system has been activated. All personnel evacuate immediately. Repeat."
While Bryan was too focused on glaring daggers at the Queen Leech to react, Danny facepalmed, and chuckled into his hand, "Oh you gotta be kidding me. This is a joke right?"
"Who activated the self-destruct system?!" Rebecca asked.
Billy didn't respond, too occupied with tampering the controls, trying to get the cargo lift to move faster, if it was possible. "Come on! Can't this thing move any faster?!"
The Queen Leech started rampaging its way up the shaft, chasing after the survivors.
"Shit! Brace yourselves!" Bryan shouted.
By the time they reached the cargo room at the top, the Queen Leech rammed into the cargo lift, throwing the four survivors off of the platform and across the room.
They all avoided injury, thankfully, and quickly got back to their feet as the Queen Leech smashed the cargo lift to pieces and threw it aside, roaring at the four survivors as it approached them.
Suddenly, it stopped, and began to screech in pain.
For a moment, the four survivors were confused, until they began to notice the smoke rising from its body.
As the monster screeched and flailed about in pain, Rebecca was the first to notice the morning sun leaking in through a hole in the roof.
It took her just a few seconds, but eventually the STARS medic figured out the source of the monsters pain, and wasted no time informing the others.
"Billy! It can't handle sunlight!" She looked around, and added, "We need to open the windows!"
Danny managed a little chuckle at that, and said, "Wow, that's some vampire shit if I ever heard any."
The former marine scanned the room, and saw one of the locking mechanisms for the gate.
"Follow me!" He said, leading the others to the mechanism's handle.
Bryan then asked, "How many are there?"
"Four, judging by the gate up there." Danny said, gesturing towards the closed gate above, and the four locks at each side of it.
Before they could act, their attention was caught by the Queen Leech again.
The mutated monster managed to escape the sunlight and started plodding after them, much to their dismay.
"You three work on the windows!" Billy said.
Rebecca nodded in response, having no objections. "Got it!"
Concerned about the former marine though, Bryan asked, "What about you?"
Billy just glared at the approaching monster, and replied, "I'll use my charm to distract her majesty!"
"You've got balls of steel Billy, did I ever tell you that?" Danny said, earning a smirk from the former marine.
Billy then fired his shotgun at the Queen Leech, stunning it briefly, before making a run for it. "NOW!"
Rebecca started working away at the handle for the locking mechanism, while Bryan and Danny split up to find the others.
When the Queen Leech recovered from the shotgun blast, it was about to continue its way forward towards Rebecca, until a shot in the back stopped it in its tracks. It screeched in response, and quickly turned around, its full attention on Billy now, the latter refusing to back down from its intimidating approach.
"Got it!" Rebecca shouted, opening one of the locks.
Just as the STARS medic ran off to find the other one, the Queen Leech stretched out a limb and tried to grab her.
An impressive dodge from the medic, followed up by a well aimed shotgun blast from Billy stopped it momentarily, allowing Rebecca to run on and create some distance between her and the mutated monster. Billy, again, remained where he was, hitting the monster with every bullet and shell he had in order to keep its attention fully on him.
"That's another one Billy!"
The sound of Bryan's voice informing Billy of another open lock was music to the former marine's ears.
Unfortunately, they were unaware of Danny's struggle to turn the handle of the mechanism on his end. Even though his injuries were patched up, they were still very fresh enough that any attempt the young Rockstar made to try and turn the handle was stopped instantly by the aching pain in his ribs.
Rebecca, having reached the fourth locking mechanism, wasted no time trying to open it as fast as she possibly could.
Another attempt to turn the handle on Danny's end failed when the latter couldn't muster up the strength to power through the pain in his ribs. He made another attempt, but the result was just the same, as was the attempt after that, and the desperate attempt after that.
The Queen Leech started spitting out acid all around the room, and Billy was forced to take cover in order to avoid the lethal attack.
When he stepped out to take aim once again, the monster stretched out a limb, and knocked the shotgun out of his hands. It then proceeded to try and hit him, but Billy rolled out of the way and backed off as the Queen approached him again.
Bryan then jumped in, and, without a care in the world, repeatedly stabbed one of the monsters' large arms with his knife, screaming furiously, "FUCKING DIE ALREADY!"
"Bryan! Get away!" Billy shouted.
The Queen Leech instantly turned its attention to the young teen and easily smacked him aside with the same arm he just stabbed a dozen times.
He landed a small distance away, and started to growl in pain as he clutched his knee, his injury from before clearly making an unfortunate return.
"That's this one open!" Rebecca shouted, opening the fourth lock.
Billy looked up at the gate and noticed there was still one lock that hadn't been opened yet, and called out, "Danny! What's going on?!"
Danny grit his teeth, hissing in pain as he made another attempt to turn the handle, but failed.
Again, he attempted to turn the handle, harder this time, but the aching in his ribs was so much that he couldn't help but yell in pain and stopped, leaning against the wall before slumping down to the floor. "B-BILLY I'M SORRY! I CAN'T DO IT!" He shouted, arms gently wrapped around his sides as he started to mentally beat himself up.
Rebecca, hearing him, wasted no time and rushed to the other side of the room as fast as she could. When she saw Bryan on the floor, she stopped, frozen in place for just a brief moment, a need to run in and help him starting to overcome her. But a simple gesture from the young teen, telling her to open the gate, quickly persuaded her to run on.
Billy retrieved his shotgun and reloaded it with the remaining shells he had left, before running to Bryan's side, kneeling down next to him. "You okay?"
A thumbs up was Bryan's response, but the sight of him clutching his knee told Billy enough.
Seeing the Queen Leech approaching again, Billy got to his feet and quickly put himself between it and the injured civilian, before unloading every shell he had. "Come on!"
The monster screeched in response to the shots, but nonetheless continued towards him. Each blast from the shotgun only managed to stagger it briefly, holding it back for just a second before it continued its approach towards the two.
Eventually, the shotgun had no more shells remaining, and Billy was forced to back away from the monster as it now began to approach him unchallenged.
Until the last lock finally opened.
The gate above started to open also, and as it did, the entire room was lit up by the morning sky.
It was the blazing sunlight that stopped the Queen Leech in its tracks however, pouring in all around it and burning away at its body.
Rebecca, who made it to the last mechanism, helped Danny to his feet before running to Billy's aid.
"Billy! Bryan! Are you okay?!" The STARS medic asked.
The two looked at her and either nodded or gave her a thumbs up, until their attention was dragged back towards the Queen Leech.
Screeching and flailing about in pain, the monster knocked Billy and Rebecca aside and started crawling away, retreating towards the shadows of the room that the sunlight couldn't reach.
As Rebecca slowly got back to her feet, something caught her eye.
There was a magnum on the floor, hidden just behind a few wooden boxes.
She didn't need to think about what to do next.
Grabbing the magnum, Rebecca called out, "Billy!" Before tossing it to him.
The former marine saw it, and caught it with ease, before turning and aiming it right at the monster.
"Hey Queenie!" Billy shouted.
Very familiar with a magnum's power, he tightened his grip on the weapon, and braced himself.
"Feast on this!"
He pulled the trigger.
The single magnum round punched a hole right through the slimy body of the monster.
A loud screech, and the Queen slowly fell back into the elevator shaft, falling apart in the process.
Every piece of the Queen Leech's body continued to fall down the shaft, until it was all consumed and destroyed completely by the rising explosion, brought about by the facility's self-destruct system.
If Bryan and the others weren't convinced for a moment that the Queen Leech was dead a second ago, they certainly were now the moment they saw that explosion erupt out of the shaft.
Of course, they didn't get a moment to celebrate their victory however, as the explosion spread, and everything around them began to fall apart.
The STARS medic shielded her face from the explosion, and called out to the others, "Billy! Danny! Bryan!"
"Rebecca! Hurry!" Billy called back as he pushed her towards the exit. "I'll get Bryan!"
While Rebecca and Danny bolted right for the exit, Billy ran to Bryan's side, scooping him up with ease before following after the two. "I got ya kid!" He said to the young teen.
The former marine almost stumbled and fell due to the constant shaking caused by the explosions, but managed to keep his balance and reached the exit, and successfully caught up with the others before running on together.
None of them dared to stop or look back.
The Umbrella Research Center, overlooking the Raccoon Forest, erupted in a massive explosion.
Nothing remained, nothing but rubble, fire and smoke.
After barely escaping the explosion, the four survivors stopped to finally catch their breath.
They stood atop the cliff overlooking the forest, giving them a rather nice view of the environment, and the mountains in the distance.
Billy set Bryan on the ground, and after Rebecca gave him the key, unlocked the handcuffs around his wrist.
Without a second thought, he threw the handcuffs off the cliff, before flopping down on his back.
Danny joined him, sitting himself down before opening his guitar case to make sure the instrument was still intact.
To his relief, it was.
Meanwhile, Bryan was rubbing his knee, hoping it would make the aching pain go away quicker. Thankfully, it wasn't as bad now that he was sitting down.
As they all took in the moment to rest up, something caught Rebecca's eye.
"Hey. That must be the old mansion Enrico was talking about." She said.
Billy sat up and looked, as did Bryan and Danny.
Sure enough, as the sunlight washed over the forest, the four survivors could easily make out the roof of a large mansion just far ahead, easily hidden between all of the trees.
"Well..." Danny said, adding, "If that isn't suspicious, I don't know what is."
Bryan nodded slightly, but said nothing.
A long silence followed. A peaceful silence.
One that they made sure to relish every second of.
It was only disturbed when Rebecca leaned down and yanked Billy's dog tag from his neck, prompting the former marine to stand up and look at her.
This caught the attention of Bryan and Danny too, who looked on with curiosity.
After staring at the dog tag for a long moment, Rebecca finally spoke. "I guess it's time to say goodbye."
The two civilians looked confused for a moment, before slowly realising what she might have meant.
Rebecca placed the dog tag around her neck, and added, "Officially, Lieutenant Billy Coen is dead."
"Yeah, I'm just a zombie now." Billy joked.
The STARS medic smiled at his comment, before turning to face him.
He noticed this, and turned to face her as well.
And when he did, she saluted him.
Billy paused for a just a second, before reciprocating her salute.
The two of them stood there for a long few seconds, just taking in the moment, knowing that this would likely be the last time they saw each other.
With that done, Rebecca smiled and lowered her hand.
Billy did the same, before proceeding to give Rebecca a thumbs up. "Thank you, Rebecca."
Again, the STARS medic smiled, a wider smile this time.
"Hold on a second!" Danny said, getting to his feet. "What's going on? We aren't splitting up are we?"
The former marine nodded. "That's exactly what we're doing Danny."
Bryan struggled to his feet, making sure to keep pressure off of his knee, before speaking up. "We can't! Y-You can't go Billy!"
"He has to, Bryan." Rebecca said, getting their attention. "If Billy comes with me, it'll only be a matter of time before we find the Captain. And he'll want to arrest him. I'm not going to let that happen. Not again."
Despite that, Bryan was still reluctant to agree. "But...but still..."
Billy chuckled and approached him. "Hey, relax. Don't you worry about me, I'll be fine." He said, before ruffling Bryan's hair, much to Danny's amusement.
While the young teen was fixing his hair, the former marine turned to Rebecca and asked, "You taking them with you too?"
Rebecca looked at Bryan and Danny for a moment, and replied, "I...have to." She sighed, and said to the two civilians, "I want to get you both home, but it's a long way, and we aren't really in any condition for a long trip. My team are somewhere in that mansion, I think it'd be safer down there, and once we find them, we can see about getting you two home."
Danny shrugged. "A whole STARS team watching our backs while resting up in a big scary mansion in a big scary forest, or limping through said scary forest with only three of us and little ammo. Hmm, decisions, decisions."
"I'd wager that's an easy decision to make if you ask me, Danny." Billy chuckled.
Finally, the young Rockstar agreed. "Fine, fine. Big scary mansion it is."
All eyes were now on Bryan.
The young teen looked like he was struggling to make a choice, but in all honesty, he was more worried about the former marine and what he was going to do.
"But, what about you Billy?" Bryan asked. "What are you going to do? Where are you going to go?"
He was so worried, in fact, that his eyes were starting to tear up.
Something that Rebecca noticed immediately. "Bryan..."
"Come on Bryan..." Billy said, putting a hand on the young teen's shoulder. "I told you already, don't you worry about me and where I'm going. I'm going to be just fine."
Bryan didn't look convinced however, and looked him in the eye before replying, "Promise?"
The response caught the former marine by surprise, but nonetheless, he nodded, and patted his shoulder. "I promise."
Without thinking, the young teen hugged the former marine, and said, "Thank you...for everything."
Again, Billy was caught off guard, but eventually returned the hug.
Rebecca couldn't help but smile, feeling an urge to join in, but refrained from doing so.
Once they pulled away, Danny approached and opened his arms. "Don't I get a hug? We've been through a lot you know."
Billy rolled his eyes and chuckled, before proceeding to exchange a hug with Danny as well, much to Rebecca's amusement.
"We wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for you, you know." Danny said as they pulled away. "We owe you and Rebecca everything, Billy."
The former marine patted his shoulder, and said, "Stop it Danny, you're making this goodbye even harder for me."
Danny nodded. "Ok I'll stop." He laughed, before adding, "Seriously though, I swear we'll pay you back for this one day Billy. If we ever see each other again, we'll buy you a drink."
"Just a drink?" Billy asked, brow raised.
The young Rockstar shrugged. "Ok a few drinks. Right Bryan?"
Bryan nodded. "Yeah, we'll even introduce you to our friends. They're good guys, you'd like them."
"I'm sure I would." Billy said, smiling. "I look forward to that day, you two."
The two civilians slowly backed away, and gave their own little salutes.
Billy chuckled, and saluted back.
"Goodbye Billy." Bryan said.
Danny pointed at his friend. "What he said."
The former marine chuckled. "Goodbye you two. Another day."
With that, Billy Coen turned and walked away.
As he did, it took all of Bryan's willpower to not go after him and beg him to stay.
He wanted so badly to run after the former marine, and persuade him to stay with them, but in the end, he knew Rebecca was right. He couldn't stay with them, because if he did, the other STARS members would arrest him in an instant, and they would unlikely be willing to hear him out.
In the end, it was better this way.
Bryan understood. He didn't like it, but he understood.
Once the former marine was no longer in sight, Bryan sat himself down and looked over the forest below.
"If you don't mind Rebecca..." Danny said as he also sat down on the ground, adding, "We'd like to rest for a little bit before going down there."
The STARS medic nodded. "That's fine, I could use the break myself." She said, sitting down next to Bryan.
He looked at her, and asked, "You think we'll ever see him again?"
Rebecca looked in the direction that Billy left, before turning back, and replying, "Maybe. It's not impossible, I can say that much."
Bryan nodded, and looked back at the forest below.
Suddenly, he remembered something.
He reached into his pocket, and took out a small leather notebook.
"Kyle's notebook. I almost forgot about that." Danny said. When Bryan looked at him, he added, "We never did get a chance to take a look at it."
Bryan tossed him the notebook, letting him do the honours, before turning and looking back at the forest.
Danny caught the notebook, opened it and started reading.
Most of it was just a lot of notes about his job, a few things here and there, talking about how great his office was, how much he admired some of his co-workers, a mention of some girl he had a crush on. There was even a few mentions of Bryan's condition, notes about medicine and some prescriptions.
Other than that, nothing seemed to stick out.
Until he reached the last few pages.
The young Rockstar froze as he gave the pages a quick look, before speaking up.
"Bryan. I think you should hear this." He said.
Rebecca and Bryan both looked over at him, curious.
With their attention on him, Danny started to read out what was written on the last few pages.
"Danny, Bryan, if you're both reading this, and haven't heard from me in a while, then chances are something has happened to me, and I am most likely no longer with you."
Bryan's eyes widened in shock, and Rebecca looked just as surprised.
The young Rockstar waited for a second, before getting the nod to continue.
"I slipped this notebook into one of your pockets before I left the train, because I wanted to take a few precautions in the event that something went wrong. I wanted you guys to know the truth, and if I'm unable to tell you in person, then I wanted to make sure I could get the information to you another way. The truth is this...I didn't join Umbrella a month ago, I joined up with the company further back. I've been working there for far longer than I told you.
I joined up with Umbrella because I wanted to help people. I thought it would be a brilliant opportunity to put my skills to use for the betterment of not only Raccoon City, but for the health and well-being of its citizens. For a while, the job was amazing, and among my co-workers were some of our old high school friends, so it made it easier to converse with others, and understand how things worked.
However, overtime, those friends of ours went missing, one by one, and despite being assured that they were simply transferred to another facility, I knew better than that. I knew that they weren't the type to just up and leave without informing others, I knew something was going on.
But I kept this to myself, in order to avoid suspicion. I feared something may happen to me if I spoke out, so I remained silent and continued to do my job. When no one was looking however, I did some digging, and I found things. Things you wouldn't believe. Originally my first finding was just a simple combat drug called Limbo, and while at first glance it didn't seem like much, the details clearly said otherwise. It prompted me to dig deeper, and when I did, what I found, shocked the hell out of me.
I discovered information about a Tyrant Virus, and the details behind this virus were just absolutely insane. What really got to me though, was when I managed to dig a little further, I finally found out what happened to our friends. They were experimented on, used a test subjects for this virus, and were disposed off. It pissed me off, and I couldn't just stand by and do nothing anymore. I had to act, but I had to do it carefully.
I knew about the plans to reopen the old Research Facility, and I figured, if I could get myself transferred there, I would have access to all of the concrete evidence that I'd need to expose the company about their secret experiments. I worked hard and loyally for a period of time, earning a name for myself in the company, so when the time came, I was able to easily convince some of the senior executives to transfer me to the facility, they knew they wanted only their best working there, so there was no debate.
By now, I'm hoping Andrew and the rest of the guys are reading this. If all of you are, just know that I only kept this hidden to keep you guys safe, I couldn't afford for something to happen to you guys too. Please forgive me.
These evil people kidnapped our friends, experimented on them, used them as test subjects, and then threw them aside like trash, and I refuse to stand for it. I will go to this facility, and I will find out everything there is to know about these experiments, about this Tyrant Virus.
And when I do, I will take that evidence to the right people, and expose this evil company for what it really is. Or die trying.
It's the least I can do, to avenge our friends."
Silence.
Nothing but silence followed.
The three survivors couldn't help but be silent as they processed everything they had heard, or read in Danny's case.
Judging by the start of his message, it seemed as if Kyle was intending to sneak his notebook into Bryan or Danny's pocket before they parted ways. Of course, that didn't happen, as they never exactly made it to the facility as they originally intended. Kyle died in the unexpected Leech attack on the train and was never able to make it to the facility to carry out his plan.
They could tell just by his choice of words, that Kyle had been planning this for a while now.
But all of that planning, had gone to waste.
The Ecliptic Express was attacked, everyone on it besides Bryan and Danny were killed and turned into zombies.
And to top it all off, the very facility that contained the evidence Kyle hoped to use to expose Umbrella, had been completely destroyed.
"...In the end, it was all in vain." Danny sighed, closing the notebook and putting it into his pocket, and, clearly just giving up.
Bryan looked back at the forest below, and, much like Danny, just silently accepted defeat.
Rebecca didn't seem to agree however. "It couldn't have been in vain, at least we know. Right?"
"The facility's gone. That means the evidence is gone. Kyle lost." Bryan balled his hand up into a fist and punched the ground. "WE lost."
Again, the STARS medic refused to agree, and simply asked, "Did we?"
Both Bryan and Danny looked at her.
For a moment, they didn't seem to understand what she was referring to.
However, when she gestured towards the mansion in the forest below, they finally realised what she meant.
"That's right...Umbrella is using that place as a facility too." Danny said.
Bryan nodded, glaring ahead at the mansion. "Then that means we have a second chance. A second chance to finish what Kyle started."
The sudden determination in his tone caught Rebecca by surprise.
Fortunately it was a determination that she shared, as she too wanted to expose Umbrella for their crimes.
"Well, speaking of second chances..." Danny started, taking his guitar out of its case, adding, "I finally have a chance to sit back, relax, and play some tunes. So I hope you don't mind."
Rebecca smiled at him, "We're taking a break anyway, aren't we Danny? By all means, I'd love to hear you play."
The young Rockstar looked reluctant now. "Eh, this is...uh...this is gonna be awkward without the rest of the band..."
"Just sing along if it makes you feel better." Bryan said, keeping his eyes on the forest.
Danny raised a brow, "Well...I do happen to have a pretty good singing voice, thanks for reminding me."
With that, the young Rockstar slowly started to play his guitar, and began to sing along, "Another day...shit."
He messed up, and started again.
Then started again.
"Feeling a little rusty, Danny?" Rebecca asked.
Danny held up a finger. "One second..."
After several failed attempts, he finally got a feel for the song he wanted to play. "Ok, I got it."
(Drowning Pool - In Memory of)
As the young Rockstar started to play away, Rebecca couldn't help but look at Bryan.
Concern washed over her as she noticed a hint of that cold glare in his eyes.
Slowly, she gently took his hand in her own.
This caught his attention, earning a glance from him.
She smiled at him.
His eyes softened a little, and he smiled back at her before looking away at the morning sky.
That's all she wanted to see.
Authors Notes: Apologies if the Queen Leech fight didn't meet expectations or last as long as some of you thought it would. That said, I'd like to think the notebook thing worked out, and I would also like to think the Raccoon City subplots with Alex and Scott were a success in establishing them better. I'd also like to think that this story managed to succeed at establishing Bryan and Danny far better than my old Enduring the Evil stories did, you know, the ones I wrote when my writing skills were way worse.
Looking back, Resident Evil 0 wasn't a bad game in my opinion. It had its flaws, sure, but it wasn't bad to the point that it was unplayable, I certainly enjoyed it. Would I be totally fine with it getting the REmake treatment and improve on those flaws though? I suppose I would, although that would then mean I may have to REwrite the damn thing. I dunno, if Capcom decides to give most of the main titles the REmake treatment, by all means, I'll look forward to those, just like I'm looking forward to Resident Evil 3 Remake.
Anyway, once again, there's one chapter left, the Epilogue, so be sure to stick around and keep an eye out because it MIGHT get done much sooner than expected.