(A/N) Well... it's been seven months since my last update and here I was thinking that long gaps between updates were over.

I began work on this chapter a few days after posting Chapter 15 in January, but I hit a road block called "knowing what I want to write, but not knowing how to word it." It's not writer's block, but it can be annoying when this issue crops up.

I'll go more in depth in the notes at the end, as you'd hopefully have read the chapter by then, so I wouldn't have spoiled anything for you. I will say thank you for your patience.

To keep up with this new thing where I tell you the word count for the chapter, it's 5,452! Longer than chapter 15! So, without further ado, I hope you enjoy the chapter.

No flames please~! If you feel that some improvements could be made, don't be afraid to say so; tell me what I did good or bad, and like I just said, improvements are very much appreciated!

Disclaimer: I do not own these franchises, or their characters. Resident Evil belongs to CAPCOM, Silent Hill and Metal Gear Solid belong to KONAMI and Final Fantasy belongs to SQUARE ENIX.

Chapter 16: Mysterious Phone Call

After leaving the cramped S1, Leon and his companions began to check every door on the patient wing to find that most of them were locked. That was until they got to S7.

Stepping into the room, they saw that it wasn't too dissimilar from S1; it was cramped with the same furniture set-up. The only difference was that instead of a magazine resting on the bed, it had an open notebook with the usual doll beside it, however, the doll didn't look that well looked after. It was decapitated with its head sat next to it and the limbs were torn from the body.

Heather's brows creased, as she gently nudged Leon aside, who had been taking the lead. Her focus was mainly on the doll, whose discarded head looked to have been partially melted and clumps of its hair had been ripped out. She couldn't help but shiver at the sight, thinking about that doll's state being a representation of Stanley's frustration with her not noticing him. Perhaps, even being a warning of what he was going to do to her.

Heart hammering in her chest, she turned to the group, trying to keep her voice steady. "He's on the move now, isn't he?"

"What makes you say that?" James asked, looking at her quizzically. "Did you read the note?"

She shook her head. "But what other reason would there be for him to ruin his precious doll?" She asked. "I think it's a warning."

"I see where you're going with the idea, but we don't know for sure," Leon tried to reason, while Zidane squeezed pass Heather to read the notebook.

The girl folded her arms and looked ahead in thought. "Come to think of it, you're right..." she said, groaning at her own mind jumping to conclusions.

"Don't worry, he won't be harming you anytime soon," Zidane stated, handing Heather the notebook.

"What does it even say?" She asked, reluctantly taking it.

"Well, reading it would give you an idea," he shrugged, folding his arms. "The gist of it is that he really wanted to see you, but..." he paused and turned to Leon. "Leonard wasn't happy with it."

Leon raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Leonard Wolf?"

Zidane nodded. "I think so."

"Who's Leonard?" Heather asked, glancing between the two, as James also stood eager to listen.

"Like Stanley Coleman, he was a patient admitted here," the agent explained. "He was suspected of having a mild case of schizophrenia."

"And what has he got to do with this?" James spoke up.

"I'll read it," Heather sighed, bracing herself:

"Goodbye, Heather."

"Thank god..." she muttered under her breath, before continuing:

"I'm sorry I wasn't able to respond to your love."

She paused again to roll her eyes:

"It's all over.

Leonard despises me — because
I made fun of it, saying it would
come to this.

If it weren't for his meddling,
I would have been able to meet
you in just a little while.
Then I could have taken you to my world.

A world for us alone, more beautiful than this one."

"Yikes," Heather grimaced. "I don't want to know what he meant by that."

"He's really... something..." Leon shook his head. "You haven't even met..."

"And I had been waiting for this day, for today. The day I'd see you, the day you'd save me.
Today."

The girl flinched. "Was he going to find me?"

"Or were you going to find him somehow?" James wondered.

"And that isn't even the most important part," Zidane stated. "Keep reading."

"Heather, watch out for him.
Leonard is no ordinary guy."

"Huh? Is this Leonard guy here?" She asked.

"We'll just have to find out," Leon replied.

The room was silent for a bit, before the girl spoke again.

"The note ended before he could finish," she said:

"Farewell. I loved you.

Heather, my goddess.
Heather, my lover.
Heather, my"

"And that's where it ends..."

"He must have been silenced..." James sighed.

"Do you think Leonard did it?" Heather asked.

The agent nodded. "Maybe..."

The group of four stood in silence, yet again, while Heather placed the notebook on the bed with a sigh. Finally, she spoke. "He may have been a creep, but he didn't deserve to get murdered..."

"He may not have been, we can only guess," Leon told her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"You gonna miss him?" Zidane asked suddenly, leaning on the wall with a small grin.

"Hell no!" Heather involuntarily yelled, prompting a chuckle from the other teen. "I'm relieved, actually..." she added, folding her arms and rubbing them. "But at the same time, like I said, I wouldn't have wished death on him..."

"Nobody would have, but his intentions toward you were far from pure," James stated.

"He's right, this Leonard guy helped you dodge a bullet," Zidane told her, patting her free shoulder. "There's no telling what he'd have done to you if he was left to roam around."

"Or what he would do to us for getting in his way..." Leon added, turning towards the door. "I think it's best we move on now."

"Yeah," Heather nodded. "I'm guessing we're just going to check for unlocked doors?"

"How did you guess?" Leon replied with a humoured smile, as the group left the room with an exasperated Heather following.

Upon stepping out of the room, Leon felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, as he heard faint footsteps and quiet groans coming from both sides of the corridor. From the corner of his eye, he could see James tensing up, while Heather held her gun close to her chest, and Zidane hovered his hand over one of his dagger sheaths.

The agent began to slowly strafe to the left in an attempt to try the other doors, while the rest of the group watched cautiously. He tried the first nearby door to find it locked, which wasn't a good start. Cursing under his breath, he carefully moved on to the next door. Just as his partners were about to follow suit, a gunshot rang out across the corridor, prompting the group to stop in their tracks.

"What the..." Leon mumbled to himself, aiming his gun in the direction the shot came from; up ahead.

He was going to ask who was there, but didn't want to risk drawing unwanted attention to themselves. It was apparent that there were monsters in the area, if the groans weren't telling enough, so perhaps this was someone trying to gun down monsters and they could just get moving.

He gestured for the group to follow as he crept to the next door, stopping mid-step when he noticed that the others weren't moving. They looked on edge, as if they thought they were going to get jumped any minute.

"Hey," Leon whispered, just loud enough to be heard over the groaning. "Let's go."

The other three looked amongst themselves, their expressions uneasy.

"But, Leon, one of them has a gun," Heather whispered back, taking a glance behind her.

As if to further emphasise her point, another gunshot rang out, prompting them to duck.

"One of them?" Leon asked, slightly confused. "You mean the monsters?"

"Yes," James nodded.

Before he could ask the man to explain himself, Zidane spoke up.

"Remember what I told you in the storeroom?" He asked.

The agent thought for a split second, before it clicked.

'We were attacked by nurses on the way and I had one point a gun at my head...'

The kid had mentioned almost being shot by a nurse, but he didn't specify whether they were zombies, or not. However, considering their situation, it wouldn't make a lot sense for actual nurses to be here. That brings the question of how could a monster use a gun?

He shook his head. There were more important matters than the logistics of monsters using armed weapons. They had to get a move on.

"Yeah, I remember," Leon stood. "Even if one of the monsters has a gun, we can't sit here like ducks. We've got to move."

"Right," Heather stood with a sigh.

James and Zidane just stood without saying a word, which wasn't unusual for the former, but for the latter, it was. Leon wasn't going to worry over something that minor, when they were stood in a hallway with monsters.

"I'll keep leading the way," Leon began. "If we encounter anything, we'll save our ammo."

"And what if they get too close?" Heather asked, glancing at her gun.

"Harry gave you a switch blade, right?" James turned to her with a look of uncertainty. "Did you bring it?"

"Of course, I did," she stated, retrieving it from her pocket and whipping out the blade. "He's always been a worry wart..." she smiled fondly for a second, before nodding and facing Leon. "So you want use to do melee?"

"Yeah," he said, placing his gun in its holster and getting out his knife. "I know Zidane has his daggers, but what about you, James?"

The man didn't even get to answer, before a horde of nurses limped out of the shadows, pipes in hand. They began to pick up their pace after noticing the group stood in the open.

"I just have my gun," James answered quickly. "I can hit them with the barrel."

"Okay, we're gonna have to be quick!" Leon yelled over the noise, as they began to quickly check the doors again.

It didn't take long for the nurses to catch up. This left Leon and James with no choice but to charge through them, while Zidane and Heather slashed at them with their weapons to prevent them from retaliating. After checking a few more doors, they were lucky to find S12 unlocked.

The room was no different than the past two rooms they had entered, which was annoying as they had to cramp together again. Leon began to check the bedside draw, while James sat on the bed, Heather leaned in front of the door, and Zidane leaned on the wall.

There was nothing of interest in the drawers from what the agent could see, unless one counted paper clips and balls of paper to be interesting, so he turned around to face the group to tell them just that. However, before he could, the phone sat on top of the table began to ring, startling them.

"I didn't think anyone could make phone calls in an abandoned ghost town..." Zidane said, eyeing the device with suspicion.

"They can't," James stated, looking on in confusion. "The phone lines have long died, trust me, I tried once or twice when I was here last time..."

Heather ran a hand through her hair, as she turned to James' direction. "Then what do you think is going on?"

"I don't know, but if there is someone pulling strings..."

The phone stopped ringing, but the group's eyes didn't leave it, expecting it to ring again.

"So, you think it's that lady trying to pull something?" Zidane asked, getting a nod from James.

"I can't think of what else it could be."

Before anything more could be said, the phone rang again.

"What do you think she wants?" Heather sighed, rolling her eyes. "If it is her, that is..."

"I'll find out," Leon replied, as he approached the device and yanked the handset off the base, pressing the receiver against his ear. "Who is this?"

"Greetings, Leon, glad to hear you alive and well!" It was that wretched woman, whose voice sounded oddly cheerful. So James was right. "I began to worry that no one was going to answer, after all, this is the twentieth attempt at trying to contact you..."

"What do you want?" The agent growled, getting a laugh out of 'Saviour.'

"Nothing that should be a major hindrance to your quest," she stated airily. "I just want to know if Heather is with you."

"Why? Who wants to know?" was his immediate reply. If she, or any of her henchmen, wanted to get their hands on Heather, they had to get through him first.

Saviour seemed to pick up on his guarded tone and laughed again. "Calm down, Leon, it is only an old friend of hers," she said. "I will give the phone to them now, you just put Heather on."

"What if I don't?"

It went silent on the other line for a few seconds, before the woman sighed. "Ashley will pay for your non-compliance," she warned without a shred of any emotion.

Not wanting to risk Ashley's life, he reluctantly turned to Heather. "It's for you..." he mumbled, as she approached and took the handset from him.

"Hello?" She asked with hesitation, getting a loud, feminine gasp on the other end of the line in response.

"Alessa? Is that really you?"

Heather felt her blood run cold, as her grip on the handset tightened. "Who are you?"

"I am Claudia, don't you remember?"

"I've never heard that name in my life, you must have gotten me mistaken for someone else..."

"No..." the strange woman, Claudia, trailed off sounding disappointed. "So, it is true..."

"What?"

"That man brainwashed you... and made you forget all about me and your true purpose."

Heather felt a migraine start to come on, as she bit down on her frustration.

"What man? What purpose?" she asked.

"Harry Mason... he took you away after you were reborn. He turned you against us."

Now she really thought that this woman had something wrong with her. She wasn't abducted, she was adopted. She's never met this woman before, so how could she have been turned against them? Especially, when her Dad never mentioned this nut case. And what did she mean by she was reborn? Does Claudia believe in reincarnation, or something?

"What do you mean? I don't know you..." was all that the girl was able to get out.

"Exactly!"

"Claudia, right?" She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "What are you talking about? What do you mean by true purpose?"

"Your power is needed to birth an eternal paradise... to lead us there with blood stained hands."

This Claudia thought she was a murderer, didn't she? Sure, she carried a switch blade everywhere, but that's because her Dad's paranoid of predators, not because she wanted to kill people!

"I'm not a murderer... I'm not killing people!"

"That's not what I meant, Alessa... my dearest..."

"Okay, then... what?"

"You're the Holy Mother... Mother of God..."

"Wha - !" She couldn't finish her sentence, as she dropped the handset and fell to her knees with a cry. She gripped her pounding head and screamed, prompting James to run to her side and drag her from the phone, allowing Leon to grab the handset.

"What did you say to her?!" He barked.

The phone could be heard changing hands, as a familiar voice chuckled.

"It was not what I said, but what her old friend said," she was heard yawning, before she spoke again. "Do you want the key to the amusement park? That is why you are here, is it not?"

He felt like he was on a wild goose chase, one where he wasn't getting anywhere. He just wanted to find Ashley and leave, so he can get himself and the others free of this parasite before it causes any serious damage. To do that though, he had to play this woman's stupid games... it was far from ideal.

The agent sighed. "Tell me."

"I knew you would be curious," she mocked. "A special little monster that I have made is in possession of it. The location is through a door at the end of the hall on the second floor."

"What?"

Unfortunately, she didn't answer, as she had hung up. Of course she did, how else would she make their journey longer? Shaking his head, the agent placed the handset down and turned to the group.

Heather had stopped screaming, but she was still whimpering in James' arms, who looked deeply concerned. Zidane was still leaning against the wall, but looked to be in a daze. He wasn't focused on what was going on, instead staring at the wall in front of him, which was more than unusual.

"Hey, you okay?" Leon asked, which got him no reply. The kid was still in a world of his own. The agent glanced at Heather and James, who were mirroring his own worried expression, before he approached the blonde and shook his shoulder.

"Huh?" The boy's head snapped to the agent's direction, eyes wide as he jumped slightly. After a second, his expression relaxed, sighing in relief. "Oh... hey, Leon," he gave a tired smile, before standing straight.

"Don't 'hey, Leon,' me, what's going on with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're acting off."

"Am I?" Zidane grinned, rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry, I didn't realise."

"Zidane, if there's something going on - "

"Leon, there are more important things to be worrying about," he interrupted, patting the agent on the shoulder. "I'm good, so stop worrying. Focus on what was said on the phone."

The group stood in silence briefly, before James brought up an important question.

"What did she say, Leon?" he asked.

"She said that the key is being guarded by a monster through a door at the end of the hall on the second floor," the agent stated.

James blinked in bafflement. "What? But there was no door at the end of the second floor."

"True, but if she's saying there is one, she might have added one," Heather stated, voice hoarse, as she sat up. "So we could check it out, it's the only option we have right now."

"Yeah, it's not like we have a lot of choice," Leon sighed, rubbing his temples. "By the way, what did she say to - "

He was interrupted when Zidane began having a coughing fit. It gradually got worse with every hacking sound, prompting Leon to grab hold of his shoulders to keep him steady.

"Hey, you're gonna be fine," the agent tried to reassure him. "Just let it out..."

The boy continued to hack and cough until he threw up, blood painting the wall in front of him. Leon's eyes widened in alarm, as he heard him heave and felt his shoulders relax. He didn't have time to ask if he was okay, before he fell backwards into the agent's arms, limp.

Heather looked away with a scream, causing James to pull her into a hug. It was so sudden, and with how much of the boy's blood that was on the wall, James couldn't help but fear that he had some sort of reaction to the parasite that killed him. Those thoughts were put to rest, when he heard wheezing coming from where Leon was. Turning to face him, he was relieved to see that it was Zidane, who was still breathing, albeit unevenly.

While Heather calmed down, James watched as Leon carefully sat himself on the ground with the kid in his arms and began to wipe the blood from around his mouth. After that, the agent switched to lightly shaking him, which didn't work to rouse him; at that point, his breathing had slowed significantly.

"Zidane!" He tried again, but still got no response. "Shit..."

"Is he... dying?" James asked hesitantly, ignoring the punch Heather delivered to his arm.

"Don't say - !"

"No," Leon interrupted her with a shake of his head. "The answer is 'no.' Like any other infection, symptoms will keep presenting themselves."

James' expression relaxed slightly. "So, he just coughed up more blood because of the parasite? Nothing serious?"

The other man simply nodded.

"Does that mean that he'll still be himself when he wakes up?" Heather asked, looking down at her hands. "It hasn't taken over?"

"He'll be fine," Leon reassured with a small smile, allowing the girl to relax a little. "We just have to get through this quick."

"Right..."

"If he keeps taking the pills, he should be fine."

It was quiet for a bit until James had a question.

"When it takes over, is there an obvious symptom?" he asked, standing and dusting himself off with Heather following suit.

"Yeah," Leon said, picking Zidane up and carrying him piggyback. "The eyes turn and glow red, the veins become visible, among other things, but they're the common ones."

"So, we still have time..." Heather sighed in relief, getting a nod from Leon.

"Let's go."

Before they could even start moving, James stopped them.

"But wait, are you sure you want to be carrying him around?" He asked. "Should we leave him here to rest and come back for him when we're done?"

If the agent was going to be honest, he wasn't comfortable with leaving an unconscious Zidane there on his own, as he wasn't exactly in a state where he could defend himself. Also, James had said that Sphinx was on the look out for the group, minus James himself, to bring them to that woman, and after reading that memo in C2, even though he had doubts about the boy being the biological weapon mentioned, he didn't want to risk it.

"It's alright, besides the three of you still carried me around when I was out of it and it's not like the kid is heavy, so..." he trailed off.

"There's another reason isn't there?" Heather said, folding her arms. "Please be transparent with us for once!"

"I don't want to leave -"

"And don't give that excuse either! That's only part of the reason, not the full truth!"

"Alright, fine... we found a memo in C2, probably written by that woman judging by how vengeful it sounded," Leon started. "It seems she wants justice for her father, who was killed during a raid to retrieve a type of Bio-Weapon called a 'Genome,' while the man her father worked under got away."

"What's a -?" Heather tried to ask, but the agent cut her off.

"I'm getting to that," he said. "Apparently, they're a genetically engineered human capable of wielding, as she put it, 'unimaginable power, the kind only seen in fiction,' by going into a state called 'trance,' which was said to be triggered by intense emotion."

"That's..." the girl trailed off. "Someone like that was actually made?"

"Yeah..." the agent sighed. "In 1988, the Genome was born as a baby, so that they could develop complex emotions for this 'trance' state to actually work. The child was retrieved four years later..."

James and Heather glanced at each other, before the former spoke.

"Where is this 'Genome' now?" He asked. "Surely, the government wouldn't have left something as deadly as that running around."

"Well..." Leon paused. He was going to say that he didn't know, but then the puzzle pieces clicked.

What the woman had written at the end of that memo...

'I believe that he is still looking for this kid to this day...he will not succeed. He will pay for what happened to my father if it is the last thing I do.'

...combined with what she said when she first revealed herself...

'Then we have the strange monkey boy, Zidane Tribal, who is a truly interesting case... I'm going to use him as a tool for revenge on a repulsive human being when this is done.'

The Genome is...

"On my back..." he finally said in a mumble.

Heather broke the brief silence between the group.

"Wait, you're not saying that Zidane's the..." she trailed off.

"I think he is..." James said, looking at the unconscious boy on Leon's back. "If so, the tail makes sense, but..."

"He's not a monster, or evil..." the agent finished. "He seems to be genuinely good natured."

"Yeah..." Heather said. "Could that be why the government just let him grow up, since he was just a child with a tail?"

"Probably," Leon sighed. "Explains why she injected him with the parasite... he grew up in an environment where he could develop his own identity and morals."

"We're lucky he's not a jerk..."

"But if his assimilation is allowed to come to term, we're in trouble," James stated grimly.

"That's if the Genome is him, but it sounds likely..." Leon said.

"Does he know?"

"Not really. He drew the same conclusion I did, but I assured him otherwise... I didn't think about it too much, but I should've..."

"All we can do now is get through this and make sure this lady doesn't get her way," Heather stated.

"And as much as he may hate it, we have to guard him with our lives... whether he's the Genome or not, we can't take chances..."

Foxtrot sighed, as she watched Juliett tend to India's wounds. She couldn't believe that they had failed in their mission after being out-smarted by a mere civilian. They were lucky to have run into Juliett and Golf when they did, otherwise, India would have bled out.

"If I didn't have my orders, I would kill that man..." she growled, staring off into the distance. It was just fog and empty buildings up ahead, nothing of interest.

"Which one?" Golf asked timidly, twiddling his thumbs.

"Henry Townshend."

"He did this?" Juliett asked in her soft spoken voice, no anger detected. In fact, if Foxtrot were to describe an emotion behind her words, she'd say the younger girl sounded proud. "I would expect nothing less of him."

"And why do say that?"

"Foxtrot, don't you remember his file?" The girl asked, yet another question, as she carefully removed the bullet and applied pressure to the wound. "He escaped from being the 21st, and final, sacrament by eliminating Walter Sullivan, a well known serial killer, who just so happened to be dead already - "

"I know that!"

"Then why are you surprised that he retaliated? You should know that with who we're dealing with this will not be a walk in the park."

The Third-in-Command didn't know how to respond that, but she didn't have to, as Juliett took the words right out of her own head.

"You had low expectations of him just because he isn't combat trained," she stated, before asking India to continue applying the pressure to his wound, while she got a rag and applied some antiseptic to it. "Am I wrong?"

She wasn't. Because Townshend had no combat training and barely survived his paranormal hostage situation, Foxtrot assumed that capturing both him and that author he was with would be easy... it wasn't.

"So," Juliett continued, as she dabbed at the wound. "It isn't fair for you to be angry with Henry, because of your own assumptions and lack of foresight. That thirst for vengeance will only serve to compromise the mission, not guarantee its success."

Foxtrot thought for a moment. It was times like these where she forgot that the girl was just a teenager. She was right.

"You're right, and besides, Saviour also wants him alive..."

"Precisely," she nodded, as she began to stitch up the wound.

They sat in silence, as they watched Juliett stitch, until a new voice entered the fray.

"Hello, team," it was Delta. He stared at them briefly, before his gaze landed on India. "What happened to him?"

"He was shot by Henry Townshend during a struggle, sir," Foxtrot stated with a salute. "We had successfully captured Harry Mason beforehand, but we were thwarted. It was better to leave with the injured than to -"

"It's fine," he interrupted. "We have enough skilled members to try again."

"Yes," she nodded. "Where is Echo?"

"Currently, she is unleashing more monsters into town with the help of Hotel. We need more risks here if stress can cause the assimilation process, too. They should be back soon."

"Right. And have the notes been placed around the hospital?"

"Of course," he smirked. "I even got to kick James Sunderland off the roof."

Foxtrot's eyes widened. "We're not to kill them, Delta!"

"He is not dead, he just has a limp... probably."

After hours of wandering the maze that was the underground prison, Ashley and Raiden were relieved to see a ladder that, hopefully, led out of the dump. The girl was beginning to get tired of dripping sounds, damp smells, and the darkness.

"Which one of us should go first?" she asked, fiddling with her bracelet.

"I was thinking you should go first," Raiden replied, glancing at the ladder. "That way, if you fall, I can catch you."

"I know how to climb a ladder, I'm not that useless," she blurted out, covering her mouth after the words left her mouth.

She thought that she had offended the guy, but he just looked at her with a small smile.

"I'm not saying you're useless, I just don't want to take chances," he said, gently leading the girl in front of the ladder. "There could be someone here who could drag you down as soon as you start climbing, you never know."

She sighed. "I guess that makes sense..."

It was a pretty long climb, but they eventually reached the exit in the form of grating. Ashley tried to lift it, but it was too heavy.

"I think we're stuck," the girl said in a low whisper. "I can't lift this with one arm."

"I think you can if you try a little harder," Raiden told her calmly. "How badly do you want to get out of here?"

"Are you seriously asking me that question?"

"Yes."

"Why? You know the answer is yes!" She yelled in a hushed tone.

"The idea is to try and put some emotion into your push."

"What?"

"Push while thinking about how badly you want to go home."

Ashley sighed and looked back up at the grating. This is the last obstacle preventing her from getting above ground. She missed her Dad, her college, her normal life... she missed Leon, too... even if he did tease her sometimes. Placing those thoughts front and centre, she gave the grating another push... she made little progress in lifting it.

"I can't - "

Before she got the opportunity to wallow in her own ineptitude, a loud bang was heard. In a panic, she pushed at the grating again, successfully lifting it off the exit and rapidly climbing out.

She had to wait for her eyes to adjust, before she could see where she was. An alleyway in an extremely foggy town; she could barely make out the street name engraved into one of the houses. Martin Street.

Raiden could be heard climbing out and then lifting the grating over the exit again with ease.

"See, I knew you could do it," he said, patting her on the shoulder.

Ashley shook her head, as she tried to disguise her smile. "Where are we?" she finally asked.

"Silent Hill."

"Like the ghost town?" she said in confusion.

He nodded.

"But I thought it was some weird urban legend that got passed around college..."

"No, it's a real town," he stated, approaching one of the few large bins there. "But we're actually in some simulated version apparently."

"What?"

"I'll fill you in when we get in this bin," he opened the bin and hopped in, holding it open for the girl. "It's better to lay low until Snake catches up."

Sighing, she complied, getting in yet another bin. When the lid shut, immediate growling was heard, making the girl glad to be in a bin... it wasn't everyday she thought that. On the bright side, with her being out from underground, at least she'd be one step closer to finding Leon... or at least, she hoped.

Alrighty! This chapter is finally done! I didn't think I'd get it out, I won't lie...

So, as for the content in this chapter, the word fart I went through occurred at the start of the nurse scene. Even though it lessened as I finally got my writing hat back, I think there are quite a few sections where you can tell that my rhythm wasn't all there. In short, and I say this almost every time... not the best chapter, but I try.

Also, the minimal twist here. All of you most likely would have seen it coming, anyway.

From looking at my notes, we are also entering a new arc next chapter, too... I think. So, there's that. The plot may start to get weirder to, but it depends on your perception of weird.

Improvements are appreciated, please tell me what I did right, wrong and how I can improve. If you would like, you could also favourite and follow this fic, as well as suggest areas of improvement, which I guess is the same as the first sentence. R&R and thanks for reading!