IMPORTANT: Following this story's completion, disregard all previous Enduring the Evil stories and their link with this one, as the eventual REwrites of those old stories and the slightly differing events will be the new Enduring the Evil canon. I was considering removing all previous Enduring the Evil stories to make way for the REwrites in the future following this fresh start, but I think that would probably be a waste, so if anyone wants me to at least keep those old stories around, well, let me know.
Now with that, I can officially say Enduring the Evil 0 is finished and complete. Took longer than I wanted it to, but at this point I'm not even surprised anymore. Every story I write always takes forever to finish when I'm near the end, but here's hoping things will be different in the future.
Please keep in mind, I intend to take a break from writing Resident Evil fanfiction for a long while, that way I can get around to finishing other stories and projects that I'm working on. So, for the love of god, please don't pester me and constantly ask me when I'm going to start writing Enduring the Evil 1 REwrite. It will be up when it's up, that's all I can say.
Anyway, I don't want to waste too much word space so let's just get to it.
Disclaimer: Resident Evil and its characters belong to Capcom obviously, any Original characters in this story belong to me.
'Epilogue'
Raccoon City
There was plenty to think about during the long walk back to the house.
In the time that went by, Scott was still unsure of what he was going to say to the others. He was especially unsure of what he was going to say to Cindy, after all, she was actually very fond of his old man even though they had only met a few times.
And of course, there was the big conspiracy apparently.
Scott had a gut feeling that if he were to tell the others everything that his dad told him, about Project Limbo, and the mysterious organization that controlled all of Raccoon City, then they were very likely to just laugh in his face and tell him to disregard it.
He wouldn't blame them of course. He too thought it was absurd and absolutely ridiculous, but given everything that happened last night, there was plenty of signs that pointed towards all of it being true. And his dad told him all of this before he was shot and killed by Callihan, an agent for this organization. There was no way his old man would lie about all of this, especially when he was expecting to die.
Either way, he knew what he needed to tell the others, and Cindy, regarding his dad.
As for the big conspiracy, well, he'd have to talk to Andrew and Alex about that first, as they were very likely to believe him far more than the others. For a second, he wondered if he should tell Cindy, and quickly concluded that it would be a terrible idea. He knew right away that if he told Cindy everything, there was no telling who she might accidentally let the information slip to, and would ultimately end up making herself a target.
No, he couldn't let that happen. He wouldn't.
Scott was already pissed off that these people killed his father. If something happened to Cindy too, then...well...he would destroy everything.
At least with the others, he'll always be present and able to make sure no one blurts anything out. But Cindy is often out at work, and talks to a lot of people there, it was just a risk he could not afford to take.
He was so deep in thought that he didn't realise he was walking by the house, and someone, who was standing in the front garden, had to speak up to stop him.
"Wow, ain't like you to be so distracted bro."
Scott stopped in his tracks. He turned and looked at the source of the voice, and responded, "Connor. You're awake."
Connor shrugged, "Well, considerin' all the back and forth goin' on in there, it's kinda hard for a black man to sleep in peace, know what I'm sayin'?"
True enough, the former star quarterback was wearing his pyjamas and house robe, having just recently woke up.
He was fit looking, not as built as Scott, but about as fit as one would expect of a former football player. Dark-skinned and brown eyes, he was half a head shorter than Scott and he looked to be in his early twenties, much like the others. His black hair was very, very short, buzz cut short in fact, a hairstyle he was very proud of and has been sporting for a long time. He always liked to think of himself as a star rapper in the making, and he would have looked the part were it not for the house robe and pyjamas.
"So, what's up?" Connor asked.
Rather than answer, Scott instead asked, "Is Alex back yet?"
A nod, and Connor said, "Yep. He's just talkin' with Andrew and Jamie right now and-" He stopped, hearing the door open. "And here he comes."
There was a long silence as Alex exited the house, staring directly at Scott. Following him was Andrew and one other person.
Connor's brother Jamie.
Even though they were brothers, one wouldn't think they were due to the obvious differences between them, such as their physique, skin and hair colour. While Connor was obviously the bigger and older of the two, Jamie was a head shorter than him, the shortest person present in fact. His skin tone, clearly different from his brother's, was a little more lighter than the usual normal white, and despite not being big or having some of the square like facial features his brother had, he still looked decently fit for someone as fresh-faced as himself. And as expected of him, his short dark brown hair was combed back to look neat and tidy, and if it wasn't for his house robe, one could have assumed he was going for an interview for an office job.
The only thing he shared with his brother was his dark brown eyes. Of course, there was one subtle difference. While Connor's eyes had a bit of a softer look to them, making him look friendly and approachable, Jamie was the complete opposite. There was a slight hardened look there, a glint in his eyes that made it difficult to figure out what was going through his mind.
"Andrew. Jamie." Scott addressed them.
"Scott." While Andrew waved, and addressed him back by name, Jamie just gave a small nod.
Having been told by Alex what Scott had set out to do last night, they were all looking at the largest member of their group with anticipation, clearly waiting to hear what happened.
Mentally, Alex was bracing himself for bad news, heartbreaking news that he wasn't sure he wanted to hear.
Connor and Andrew were the same, the latter looking far more calm and composed compared to Connor and Alex.
While Jamie, just stared silently, masking his emotions with a blank expression.
Finally, Scott decided to tell them.
"He's dead."
Those two words earned mixed reactions from the group.
Alex and Connor, eyes widened in shock, overcome with grief, even Jamie's blank mask broke out in surprise a little.
But Andrew didn't react, and instead asked, "Your posture and the manner of your tone tells me there's a 'but' coming next."
Scott nodded, and the others listened.
"But..." Scott started, adding, "I wasn't the one who killed him."
Relief was the first emotion they all felt.
Followed up by curiosity.
Alex was the first to respond immediately, and asked, "Who did then? Do you have any idea?"
"Tommy Callihan." Scott replied. "Some asshole marine that was part of my old man's unit. Apparently he was under orders to keep an eye on my old man."
Confusion now.
"What do you mean under orders to keep an eye on your old man? What the hell is that supposed to mean? Whose orders?" Alex asked.
Scott shrugged. "There's a lot that needs to be said. I don't even know where to begin."
Alex sighed, mentally wishing things could be simple for once.
Yet, they never are.
"Ok, take a breather first, rest up, then tell us, Scott. In the meantime, I think we should all address the elephant in the garden." Connor said.
Before Scott could ask what he was talking about, Andrew had already answered him. "Bryan and Danny."
Scott looked at each of them for a moment, confused, and asked, "What about them?"
"They haven't come back yet." Jamie finally spoke, quietly, but just loud enough for them to hear him. He then added, "I said the train was probably just running late, but Alex and Andrew here are convinced that something's up."
Alex then responded, "Of course something's up! They were supposed to be back hours ago!"
Jamie just shrugged him off, and said, "Which is why I'm saying the train is probably just running late."
"Not quite." Andrew interrupted. "If you look at it from a specific perspective, the train should not be running late."
Scott sighed, bracing himself for another one of Andrew's long explanations.
"You see, the train in question, is the Ecliptic Express." Andrew started, adding, "Arguably the most expensive train in Raccoon City, and a train solely for use by employees of Umbrella. Keep in mind that Umbrella prides itself on everything it owns, its products, its properties, and make no mistake, they are very serious and protective of their public image. Now, employees at Umbrella take their jobs very seriously, I know this thanks to Kyle, and they are all very strict about making sure they manage to adhere to their schedules. And if that schedule were to be, say, delayed or interrupted, it would certainly upset some of the higher executives.
Now, add in the fact, that the timetable for the train allows it to come and go only a certain number of times per day and night, if it were to leave the station for one destination, then it should be expected back within two or three hours, depending on where its headed. Now, according to Kyle, the timetable last night for the Ecliptic Express had it going out to the facility he was being transferred to, and from what Kyle said, that facility is far out in the Arklay Mountains. If I were to make a calculated guess based on the distance and the speed of the train, I'd wager it would take three, to over four hours for the Ecliptic Express to reach its destination, and then make it back to the station in the city."
Connor shrugged. "That's all well and good Andrew, but maybe you could sum it up for us in the language of just get straight to the point."
Andrew sighed, and responded, "Basically, it's almost impossible for the Ecliptic Express to be running late, because Umbrella executives in charge of it are working hard to ensure their employees are not behind schedule, that's why it's such a popular train, because it's never late, it's always on time. That means, when it set out for its destination in the Arklay Mountains, its return was supposed to be its next and last stop for the night, it SHOULD have come back hours ago."
He then went on to add, "Which also means, Bryan and Danny SHOULD have been back hours ago."
As the rest of them processed this information, Jamie decided to respond. "And I'll say it for the last time. The train is running late, Andrew. You're overcalculating things."
"Ok...Jamie." Andrew replied, looking Jamie in the eye before adding, "Let's say, hypothetically speaking, the Ecliptic Express was running late. I can assure you, with one hundred percent guarantee, it would not be by much. Minutes. Mere minutes at most."
Despite his subtle attempts at masking his emotions, Jamie was visibly annoyed, and refused to accept Andrew's logic, replying with, "Then it broke down."
"Pardon?" Andrew raised a brow.
Jamie nodded, and repeated himself. "The train broke down. It's very common for trains to breakdown and it would perfectly explain why the guys haven't returned yet."
"Not possible." Was Andrew's response.
"...Why?" Jamie asked, quietly fighting back the urge to grit his teeth in frustration.
Andrew then explained, "The Ecliptic Express is constantly checked on for any faults and damages at every stop it makes. Do you really think Umbrella would use it if it were capable of breaking down mid-journey? Again, they pride themselves on everything own, and mechanical failures in the most popular train in the city wouldn't sit well with employees, especially the executives, so make no mistake, they would check, and double-check, to make sure the train was running at one hundred percent."
"Then they changed the timetable." Jamie replied, adding, "Given the facility in question is far out there, it would be more reasonable to assume they decided there was no point in making a last return stop before shutting down for the night, and decided to shut down at the facility instead."
For a just a brief second, it looked like Andrew had no response, prompting Jamie to mentally claim victory.
Until Andrew did respond. "Plausible. Any other train and that would be acceptable. Except we're talking about Umbrella's Ecliptic Express, a train that has stuck to its timetable for years and has never once in its history, changed or adjusted its timetable."
The response earned a subtle frown from Jamie.
"Plus..." Andrew added, "Even if the train did shut down at its destination for the night, don't you think Bryan or Danny would have gotten in contact with us to let us know?"
Silence was Jamie's response.
Connor grinned and nudged his brother. "He's got ya there bro."
The younger sibling just folded his arms and looked away, clearly in a bad mood now.
Alex finally spoke up again, and asked, "Ok, so what do you think happened Andrew?"
"I can only come to one conclusion." Andrew said, adding, "Something bad happened."
Scott then asked, "What exactly?"
Andrew shook his head, unsure. "I don't know. All I do know, is that something went wrong, and now our friends are far out there in the Arklay Mountains. A very unpopular place to be as of late. Given the recent incidents we've been hearing about taking place out there, it is not out of the realm of possibility to assume that those incidents could potentially be involved in this situation."
"That's...don't you think that's just a little far-fetched?" Connor asked.
His friend simply replied with, "Could be. But then, what other possibilities would there be, if not that?"
When Connor didn't respond, Andrew added, "As...unbelievable as it may sound, I believe the train may have been attacked by the same people responsible for the murders out in the Arklay Mountains. That's the best assumption I can make with what information I have."
Scott nodded. "Fine. I guess we're heading out then."
Jamie looked at him, surprised. "Heading out...where exactly?"
"The Arklay Mountains. Where fucking else?" Scott said.
Of course, the response didn't sit well with Jamie, who replied, "Are you mad? Didn't you just hear what he said? There have been murders out there! Reports even said that people were eaten!"
Scott just stared at him. "...Then we'll bring fucking guns."
Jamie recoiled, surprised by how serious he actually was, and asked, "And...what if we run out of ammo?"
"Then we'll bring fucking plenty of ammo. It's quite obvious, is it not, Jamie?" Scott said.
Jamie waved his hands in defeat and backed away. "Whatever. You guys go ahead and put yourselves in danger, I'm telling you right now, going out there is a bad idea."
Andrew then spoke up again. "Bad idea? Yes. But our friends could be in trouble, Jamie."
"Then call the police! Let them handle it! That's their job!" Jamie argued.
Unsurprisingly, Scott disagreed with him. "The police never get shit done in this city and whenever they do, they're always too fucking late. No, we're taking this into our own hands. I don't trust anyone but myself to take care of this."
"It's illegal to go out there." Jamie tried to argue again.
Connor shrugged. "Well look on the bright side bro, if we get caught at least we'll have a good excuse for being out there. Looking for our friends. At least it won't be some lame excuse like going on a camping trip or something."
Jamie looked back and forth between them, and started to grow frustrated with their insistence on actually going through with this.
He then turned to the one person who could possibly change their minds. "Alex?"
All eyes were on Alex now, who was thinking it through very carefully.
"...If it were us out there...they'd do the same thing." Alex said, making it clear where he stood on the matter, much to Jamie's disappointment.
The look of frustration on Jamie's face was very visible.
After taking a moment to calm down, he shrugged, and replied, "...Fine. You guys go out to the Arklay Mountains, put your lives in danger, but don't say I didn't warn you."
With that, Jamie stormed back into the house.
Connor chuckled. "So serious." He looked at the others, adding, "Don't worry, I'll persuade him to come along. He'll listen to me."
"We could use all the help we can get, Connor." Alex nodded.
The former star quarterback then asked, "If that's the case, why don't we ask some of the other guys to come and give us a hand?"
Scott answered him, "Because we don't want to attract any unwanted attention from the police. And plus, do you really want Marcus constantly bugging us with his stupid riddles?"
"Hm, good point." Connor shrugged. "Oh well. Anyway, I got dibs on the wheel."
Alex then quickly responded with, "No! I'll drive!"
Connor just looked at him. "Why? What's wrong with me driving?"
"N-Nothing. I just think I should be the one to drive, that's all." Alex answered.
The former star quarterback started to look a little angry, and replied, "Oh. Oh I get it, you think a black man driving out to the illegal mountains-"
Andrew rolled his eyes, "Oh here we go." He said, before dragging Connor aside as he continued to rant. "We'll talk to Jamie, you guys sort out everything else." He added, before dragging Connor back into the house.
When they were gone, Alex turned and looked around the street.
"Keeping an eye out for Matt?" Scott asked.
Alex shook his head. "No. Just looking to see if anyone is watching us."
Scott shrugged. "I don't think you have to worry about that. Still early in the morning. And if anyone was, it's just a group of friends standing in the garden, talkin' about the school days."
"..."
"..."
"...What's in the briefcase?" Alex asked, changing the subject. "I've been meaning to ask about it. What's in it? And what's the rest of the story with your dad?"
For a moment, Scott wondered if he should really share that information with his friend.
If he did, he'd end up having to tell the others as well, and soon enough it would only be a matter of time before one of them blurted it out to the wrong people, even if he did keep an eye on them.
At the moment, Scott decided it was best to keep it a secret, at least for now.
"I...can't tell you. I will at some point but, just...not yet." Scott said, looking visibly conflicted over his decision.
Alex noticed this, and asked, "Is it that bad?"
Scott nodded.
That was all Alex needed to know, and he decided to respect Scott's privacy.
Silence followed.
Neither of them said a word.
They just stood and relished the peace and quiet after a, very unexpected night.
A tough night in fact.
If it wasn't bad enough, now they had to prepare to set out on a search and rescue in the Arklay Mountains.
Their bad luck just never seemed to end.
"Thank you." Alex said suddenly.
Scott looked at him and raised a brow. "What for?" He asked.
Alex didn't look back at him, but answered, "For not killing your dad."
"He died anyway Alex." Scott sighed, looking away again. "He died anyway, and all I could do was watch."
The response from his friend was quick though. "But at least it wasn't you."
Again, Scott looked at him.
"I'm glad it wasn't you." Alex added, smiling a little now.
Scott couldn't help but chuckle a little, and replied, "...Alex this is getting cheesy."
"Nah, I think it's appropriate." Alex laughed.
"You would." Scott grinned.
Once more, the two were eventually silent, still thinking about what happened, and what might happen once they set out to find the others.
Then, Alex said something that caught Scott's full attention.
"I hope no one close to me ever betrays me like that."
Scott looked at him, and nodded in understanding. "Yeah. Yeah I know what you mean."
Alex sighed, mentally praying that a day like that never came.
Because if it did, he wasn't sure what he would do.
"So..." Scott said, changing the subject. "Disappearances, murders, people being eaten. Sounds insane doesn't it?"
Alex chuckled. "Yeah..." And looked at his friend.
"What could possibly go wrong, right?"
(Batman Begins OST - End Credits)
Authors Notes: I couldn't find anything suitable, and just recently finished watching the Dark Knight trilogy, so I just stuck that in there and called it a day.
First off, I'd like to give a shout out to Darksymphony777 for I believe it was him that first suggested the idea of using Resident Evil 0 to better develop Bryan and Danny's characters. And of course a shout out to the people that continued to stick with this story, and especially the people that have stuck with my Enduring the Evil stories since my first one. I'm honestly surprised people are still bothering to come back and check for updates and whatnot.
Now, what's next? Well, I already said at the top, I'm going to take a break from writing Resident Evil fanfiction for a while. I'm going to finish other stories and projects that I've left unfinished for too long. After I take care of those, I'll see what to do about starting Enduring the Evil 1 REwrite. And again, if you ever want to know what's going on regarding the stories, just message me, I always reply eventually.
For now, I'll leave a Poll on my profile and let all of you vote on how I should approach posting chapters for Enduring the Evil 1 REwrite.
Anyway, that's about it. Again, please don't constantly ask me about the story, unless you have good questions. And with that, I'll end it here, thanks for reading!