Author's Note: Fair warning: this is a sequel to my previous fanfic, "Resident Evil Black Ops: Umbrella Conspiracy", so if you have yet to read it, please do so before continuing with this one. Otherwise, read on! :)
It's finally here! Sort of... xD
As of now, I have ten chapters that are done, most of which still need a bit of revising. I've spent quite a lot of time revisiting OG RE2, RE2 Remake, and Darkside Chronicles (Memories of a Lost City) to make all of this happen, as well as replaying BO2 to study David's character and properly imagine him as a 19-year-old (screw those annoying strike missions!) and rereading RE: City of the Dead. Yeah... it's a lot. Lol
Every Monday from now until mid-December, I will be uploading one chapter per week. After that, it will be another long break before I begin with a new upload schedule, much like the one I did previously. I didn't think it would be a lot of work to actually try to write a sequel with added pressure from how well-received the previous one was. And I've only written ten chapters! So far, they are almost twice as long as the previous fic, and there's definitely a lot more to write...
MAJOR spoiler alert for Resident Evil 2 (both original & remake), Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles (Memories of a Lost City), and Resident Evil: City of the Dead by S.D. Perry. There may also be spoilers for Call of Duty: Black Ops 1 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 so heads up on that as well. Also, the title itself does not specifically mean it'll follow Black Ops 2 events, just in case some confusion arises lol.
This story will be rated T for its violence, gore, and use of strong language. If anything previously mentioned gets way too overboard, let me know so I can switch it to be rated M.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy it nonetheless!
Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil nor Call of Duty franchises, including all of their characters. They all belong to their respective owners, Capcom (Resident Evil) and Activision (Call of Duty). Credit will also be given to S.D. Perry, the author of the official book of Resident Evil: City of the Dead, which this fanfic will mainly borrow as a basis for the structure of its narrative. The only things I own are some of the ideas I have come up with for the fanfic in general. Any potential OCs will be pointed out at the end of the chapter in which they are first introduced. Otherwise, any unnamed characters in their respective lore may have made-up names in their place, hence why they won't be considered OCs.
Recommended BGM:
1. Resident Evil 2 (1998) - Prologue/Prologue - To Know the True End
2. Resident Evil 2 (Remake) - Save Room (Model Screen)
3. Resident Evil 2 (1998) - Nothing More To Do Here
PROLOGUE
Initiating Log 3294728…
Raccoon City was a town under the thumb of Umbrella. After the Mansion Incident, the people finally thought peace was upon them. Unbeknownst to them, however, the t-Virus would continue to ravage the city discreetly for months to come.
Soon after the surviving S.T.A.R.S. arrived at the hospital to treat their wounded, not one person in Raccoon believed any of their terrifying stories and after that, they were faced with unforgiving backlash from the citizens themselves. The poor souls were criticized in the mass media as a mischievous group of people that let a large portion of Raccoon Forest burn to the ground after having used the abandoned Spencer Mansion as "camping grounds". Not long after, the S.T.A.R.S. would be disbanded altogether, with Umbrella still monitoring their vigilante activities for the days and weeks that followed.
However, Umbrella would continue to do their biological experiments behind the scenes, and in an unsuccessful attempt to retrieve what they believed to be their own property, had sped up the progress to destroy what was once a lively Raccoon City, turning the entire town into a nightmarish city of the dead. The t-Virus would wash over the city like a tidal wave and in its wake leave a living hell with ungodly creatures.
End of Log 3294728…
Raccoon Times, August 11th, 1998
REAL MONSTERS
OR ATTENTION SEEKERS?
RACCOON CITY, MO - It's been almost three weeks since the disasters happened at the abandoned Spencer Mansion that had woken up and frightened nearby residents by the ensuing explosion. The raging forest fire that had been happening for well over a couple of weeks had since been extinguished, having burned off over 750 acres of land. As of today's date, the list of survivors is as follows:
Alex Mason, Barry Burton, Brad Vickers, Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, and Rebecca Chambers.
Among the wreckage and remains, there hasn't been any evidence regarding said "monsters" that a few of the remaining S.T.A.R.S. members have mentioned in their reports. Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine, one of the most vocal out of the whole squad, had this to say:
"We have reason to believe that the 'cannibal' disease is not just any ordinary disease. It is a man-made biological weapon, a virus that turns people, plants, and animals alike into violent organisms and other forms of bloodthirsty beings that we've all managed to have sighted in the outskirts of the city for the past few months. It is by no coincidence that after alleged disasters during the Cold War caused by a deadly man-made biological gas, history is once again being repeated, but only this time, with the use of a man-made virus."
Their credibility has been lost, however, after the sudden evidence brought upon by Umbrella, showing that the forest fire had been caused by the squad as a means for "camping grounds" using the abandoned Spencer Mansion as a place to do "mischievous" activities, which caused the careless deaths of many of its members, including their latest casualty, Frank Woods, who died of his injuries in Raccoon General Hospital. Autopsy records have yet to be revealed, but it is suspected that the main cause of his death had been due to the resulting forest fire.
As a result, Mayor Warren had this to say, following the S.T.A.R.S. disbandment:
"The good people of Raccoon deserve to live in peace and have their full confidence in the police force. All of you reserve the right to be secure in the knowledge that your political representatives are doing the best they can to ensure each of your safety. As many of you know, the S.T.A.R.S. disbandment is now ongoing and we are working hard to install a new force in the R.P.D., which we are now calling the 'Raccoon S.W.A.T.'. Chief Irons revealed that the S.T.A.R.S. have since greatly mishandled the murder investigations suggesting that they had never cared about this community.
Rest assured that myself, Chief Irons, and the men and women you see from the R.P.D. forces want nothing more than to make Raccoon a better place in which our children can grow without living in fear."
Following the above statement, Warren went into detail about hiring more qualified police officers and detectives and put a three-point plan, designed to bolster public confidence and keep Raccoon citizens from falling victim to violence. The ongoing curfew has been stated to last "until late September".
RACCOON WEEKLY, August 17th, 1998
PLANNED RENOVATIONS
FOR UMBRELLA COMPLEX
RACCOON CITY, MO - The Umbrella Chemical Plant, located just northwest near the city limits of Raccoon, is slated for major construction efforts, beginning next week. This will be the third renovation project in the last year for the thriving pharmaceutical company. According to acting Umbrella spokesperson, Linda Baldwin, the company will be overseeing two of its laboratories inside the main plant, fitted with several million dollars worth of new equipment designed for advanced vaccine synthesis, and several of Umbrella's main facilities will be equipped with state-of-the-art security systems. In addition, all connected office buildings will see their computers upgraded over the next several weeks.
However, a great number of concerns have been held about heavy amounts of ongoing traffic throughout downtown Raccoon. Baldwin had this to say:
"With the police department finishing up yet another one of their renovations, we know that local commuters are growing tired of blocked-off streets. Umbrella is doing the best they can to keep traffic flowing as smoothly as possible since most of the construction projects are internal, and the rest will be done after business hours."
The surrounding area between City Hall and the R.P.D. building, our readers may remember, was recently repaved and landscaped after several mysterious sinkholes appeared overnight during a busy weekend. Traffic had to be diverted around two blocks of Flower Street for almost a whole week.
When asked why so many "overhauls" as of late, Baldwin replied, "Umbrella had stayed ahead of the competition for as long as it has by keeping up with current technology. Busy weeks are waiting for us ahead, but I think it will be worth the effort when we're finally through…"
In addition to these ongoing events, strange sightings of the same "cannibal" beings have been reported by various individuals across the city itself. Whether they are officially confirmed sightings or not has yet to be revealed…
Raccoon Times, September 15th, 1998
HOSPITAL OVERWHELMED
WITH MORE PATIENTS
RACCOON CITY, MO - Raccoon General Hospital has been having a vast increase in patient admissions for the past week, following a sudden wave of a strange illness spreading across the city. Reports from the hospital have mentioned symptoms being those of a "fever" and "itchiness", followed by "gangrene" and "congestion" of their blood, and signs of "hyperphagia", another fancy word for a sudden abnormal increase in appetite.
The director of the hospital, Dr. Ethan Wellington, stated, "We are working hard in looking into the source of this mysterious illness that is currently ravaging our city. So far, we've only managed to figure out the most typical symptoms our patients have been experiencing. After more studies are done on this illness, vaccination development should be immediately followed. If you experience any type of feverish feeling or severe itchiness on your skin, it is highly advisable to self-quarantine, and immediately dial 9-1-1 if symptoms begin to worsen over time."
As of earlier today, efforts on expanding the ongoing curfew have been strictly enforced and extended to the end of next month. Mayor Warren has called for a press conference later today and with more serial killer sightings being reported, Chief Brian Irons has enforced more regular patrols, mainly across downtown Raccoon…
Chapter 1
Putting down the newspapers he had requested from an old childhood friend living in Raccoon City, having read them over five times, Leon checked his watch, only to be even more pressurized on how late he was going to be for his shift.
Way to go, Officer Kennedy. First day on the job and already showing a lack of professionalism in getting prepared. Your superiors will be so proud of you.
He had just changed into his uniform at the last rest stop but decided to spend some time at Burger Town since he hadn't eaten all day. Not since he had woken up from the terrible hangover he had been repeatedly experiencing for days after hearing about the news of the recent death of his grandparents back in Raccoon. His childhood friend, Kevin Ryman, had told him that his grandparents were among the casualties that had befallen the hospital in Raccoon, becoming victims of the rampant disease that had been plaguing the city for the past month.
Leon took the news heavily, having drunken himself almost to no end for about almost a whole week. And it was only today on the twenty-ninth of September that his shift was starting in just under an hour at nine o'clock at night. He had been sober for the most part in the past few hours throughout the drive from Nashville and he was glad that he hadn't gone through any accident since.
As Leon hopped into his jeep and pulled onto the main road towards the majestic view across the mountains ahead of the gathering darkness, he went past a sign that told him he was at least forty minutes away from Raccoon City. There was almost no ongoing traffic. He had only seen a couple of cars leaving the road, but other than that, it was almost completely empty. It was at least a nice change of pace, considering most of the traffic from the first couple of hours away from Nashville, had caused him to lose time for most of the afternoon. He even tried calling the desk sergeant, letting him know that he could potentially arrive late at work, but there was no answer from anyone at the station.
Got nothing, but an empty dial.
He hadn't exactly booked a place anywhere in Raccoon. He never planned ahead due to his uncontrolled alcoholism and carelessness over the recent weeks. He did, however, looked forward to booking a place at Apple Inn for the meantime, but never got around to doing so ever since the terrible news of his grandparents. Plus, he had heard about its room service being quite lazy at times so he was partly glad he didn't book a room when he had the chance.
"I had a lady come into my room, asking me if I needed anything," he remembered Kevin telling him about his personal experience. "Told her I needed a towel and some toilet paper. The lady didn't even come back later that day, until the following afternoon, after I had to use some of my own clean dry clothing for drying my hair and was feeling constipated the whole morning!"
Even if he had no place to stay, he hoped that by the time his shift ended the following morning, he could hit Kevin's place for the time being, until he'd find a more permanent place to live.
Assuming he could survive the embarrassment of not only showing up late, but being unprepared for his living expenses, he was looking forward to visiting some of Raccoon's tourist hot spots, such as Raccoon Park and St. Michael's Clock Tower. As far as he was concerned, Raccoon seemed like a peaceful place to live.
Well, unless you don't count the ongoing murders that have been happening since May and that strange damn disease that killed my grandparents…
In spite of it all, he felt a shred of thrill at the thought. What's been happening in Raccoon was horrible of course, but ever since the first sightings of the murders, none of the perpetrators have been caught and the investigation has since been ongoing. If he were lucky, Irons would end up liking him as much as the heads of the police academy had liked him, and maybe then, he would have the chance to work on the case.
Of course, word had it that Chief Irons was a total jerk and a knucklehead, but Leon knew that his overall training and performance had been top-notch, even a jerk like him would have to be a little impressed. He'd graduated in the top tenth, after all. Even if he never ended up being impressed, he still knew some parts of Raccoon City well enough to do some outside work as smoothly as possible.
Back then, he'd spent most of his summers there as a kid with his grandparents, back when he had first met Kevin Ryman for the first time. No one could ever separate the two boys when playing together at the local park during the heat of each summer. It was also in those years when the R.P.D. building was an art museum and Umbrella was still only several years away from turning the town into an actual functional city. However, even through the heavy renaissance and reconstruction, it was still the same old quiet place, as Kevin would describe it to be the last time he contacted him.
Once the cannibal killings were finally put to an end for good, Raccoon would be an ideal paradise, and he hoped life in the city would be better than the life he once had in Nashville, Tennessee.
Okay, so I get settled in somehow. Couple of weeks pass by, and Irons notices just how well I am with a pen and paper, or sees how good I am on the target range. He'd ask me to take a look at the case files, familiarize myself with the details, and spot something no one else had seen. Pattern, motive, missing item, or a hidden discrepancy… maybe come across a witness report that reads wrong. No one else had been able to catch it as they've been at it for too long, and this random rookie cop just comes along and cracks the case, not even a month fresh out of the academy, and I—
Strange movement is seen just meters ahead of the jeep.
"Oh crap!"
Leon hit the brake and his car swerved abruptly, snapping him out of his daydream as he struggled for control of the vehicle.
The brakes locked in place and there was a high-pitched screech of rubber, generating gray-white smoke across the road through the brightly lit headlights of his jeep. He had half-turned to face the darkness of the trees that lined the road and his jeep suddenly stopped after a churning jolt that left him shocked for a moment.
His stomach had turned into knots and his heart pounded like a hammer slamming against him inside his chest.
Leon opened the window and stuck out his neck, looking around and back, scanning the shadows for the animals that had darted across the highway. He didn't hit any of them, but it had been a close call. He had known the larger animal was a deer, but the other one looked red and slimy…looking like an oversized dog that could've been a shepherd or a Dobermann - chasing after the deer itself…
…glowing white eyes? Lean with a slimy red body? How could it— No, probably your imagination since you were half-scared to death when you were about to run over a deer and whatever wolf or dog the other animal was… At least you didn't hit anything and you're fine.
"Jesus," he said softly, feeling more relieved ever so slightly, and suddenly, his mood quickly changed into an angry one. He hated the fact that there were people out there that'd love to leave their pets running loose outside - claiming they simply wanted their pets to be free for a while and then acting shocked and surprised when little Fifi gets squashed by a running car while they chased down a deer in the middle of the road.
He wasn't far off from a nearby road sign just a few feet away from it that read;
RACCOON CITY 10
The lettering was big enough to make out in the darkening shadows. Leon glanced back at his watch again and he only had about half an hour to get to the station now. With the traffic empty and the road seemingly wide open and clear off of any other potential obstacles, there was still just enough time to reach his destination. However, before he could return to the road again, he closed his eyes and breathed deeply. The cool air of small pine-scented trees around him came flowing inside his jeep, though just about the whole environment outside felt unnaturally quiet as if time itself had frozen over.
His heart had now begun to beat at a more normal pace, but he was still feeling somewhat unsettled, almost feeling quite nervous, his hands starting to shake as he held onto the steering wheel in front of him.
The murders in Raccoon… Wasn't there something about wild dogs attacking people in the woods or something? Maybe it wasn't just anyone's pet dog after all.
The disturbing thought lingered in his head for a while, even more so when another one came flowing by as he thought about the possibility of the dog finishing off the deer and staring back at him through the woods, waiting for him to move and start its attack…
Yep, the hospitality from Raccoon City so far is excellent, thank you very much…
"Come on, Leo, it could be just nothing," he mumbled to himself, feeling better now that he had just outgrown his own childish talks. Though he couldn't say the same for his own imagination still running rampant after all this time.
You daydream like a kid in class, thinking about cops and robbers, then imagining a murderous dog watching you in the dark - at least try to act like an adult now. You're twenty-one and a cop for God's sake!
He started the engine and backed onto the road, ignoring the unease he had just let overcome him for a few moments. He had a new job and a new life to look forward to in a city he grew fond of as a kid.
And now life has led me here - on my way to Raccoon City; a promising new life for myself. There's nothing to be worried about, nothing at all…
David hasn't been feeling all too well mentally, ever since he left for the San Jose International Airport and landed in St. Louis, Missouri. Not to mention the fact that he wasn't used to riding motorcycles and his ass had been aching only just after being on the road for over an hour by now.
All this for trying to save a few bucks compared to renting a rather simple car… You get what you pay for, I guess.
God, let Uncle Woods be there, yelling at me to stop caring so goddamn much about the tiniest things in life… I wouldn't mind my father too for as much as I don't look forward to seeing him face to face, especially after he hadn't been there for me after all this time.
But who was he kidding? He really had been missing his father ever since, but never really told Woods or even his best friend, Mike Harper, about it either.
Hell, I hadn't even told him I was leaving too. Gotta have to stop and call him through a payphone at some point. Shit.
The Yamaha buzzed along through the long, empty dark road, the sound echoing all around him as it bounced off from the asphalt itself and the shadowy trees all around the sloping hills. He didn't ride the motorcycle as many crazy enthusiasts would do, but rather in a slower, calm manner as he took various turns around the slopes. The only reason why he knew anything about riding a motorcycle was all thanks to his dear'ol Uncle Frank, who surprisingly, had a lot of patience with him, especially given the fact that he wasn't known to be the patient type with just about anyone David knew.
However, it really didn't help his mind be put at ease just thinking about Frank and his father. Something terrible must've happened to them. No, rather, the whole place they were currently living in.
Nobody home. Not one person had answered back. And it's not like the whole city just up and went elsewhere from Earth itself.
It was definitely creepy. However, he also couldn't give two craps about Raccoon itself. What really mattered to him was Frank and his father were there, and if something seriously wrong happened to them…
He couldn't, shouldn't think that way. They were an unstoppable pair together, the only two people David knew would never be brought down by just about anything. And even though he despised his father for abandoning him many times as a child even after his mother had passed away in a car accident, he still thought of him as his hero.
His father had helped him learn many survival skills back when they still lived in Alaska and he was the first one who taught him how to use a gun and learn how to respect them as well. Frank, on the other hand, taught him how to defend himself physically; how to use anything in the immediate environment to his advantage, and even how to do close-quarter combat with just a knife and his bare fists. Having a father and their best friend train you with military tactics was quite a blessing not everyone could ever have.
His father even offered him to use his status as a military vet for a fee waiver on his college tuition and expenses, but David quickly rejected the offer and instead, never looked back. He hated the idea of even having some sort of dependency on his father as he didn't want anything to do with him after the last time he had left him in Jason Hudson's wife's care. It was one of the reasons why he ran away from Alaska a few years back and started a new life for himself in California to pursue a college degree in computer science.
Until he then decided to drop out as soon as it slowly began to dawn on him that he hadn't had a single letter or phone call from Woods in the last couple of months, let alone a single word from his father if his Uncle Woods was doing okay himself.
Uncle Woods would let me know about how he and dad were doing - ask me about how I'm doing. At least once every week or so. And not a single return to any of my calls or letters since the end of July.
He tried convincing himself that they were caught up with work, maybe a vacation together as a couple of old buddies, or something about the police department being overflown with a bunch of cases regarding local disappearances around the city.
Disappearances…
He violently shook the idea out of the way. No way in hell would they ever turn up to be those among the disappearances Woods talked about in his letters. And he'd be feeling pretty stupid to think it could happen to any of them, especially after they had survived so much together in a span of decades. They were an invulnerable duo after all as far as David knew.
In the small dorm that both he and Mike shared together, he had spent the last few days calling for just about anyone he could contact that could give him a clue as to where his father and acting uncle were. All he was able to hear was nothing but an emotionless mechanical bleat, always ready to answer him back after dialing any of the numbers he had in his address book. Mike told him not to worry, that Raccoon could have some sort of overwhelming load of calls put through, making the phone line busy, but that was exactly what kept David worried.
The disappearances in Raccoon had started to mount up ever since he was told that his father and Woods were joining up with STARS. People all over the world, who'd have relatives living in the area, would worry if they heard about what was going on in the city and start bombarding the police department with calls about their loved ones. He'd tried every number that Woods had given him in case of an emergency should he or his dad weren't there to pick up the phone - Jason Hudson, Cindy Lennox, a girl they'd meet up every now and then at the local bar, some cops named Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine. He even tried Jenny's number, although he remembered Jason telling him that his wife no longer lived at the same address in Alaska and changed numbers after that so that was immediately a no-go.
By the time he was done with more repeated calls earlier today, his worry had been slowly turning into a panic. Of course, he never told this to Mike as he didn't want him to worry about him or end up calling him a woose for worrying about a pair of former CIA agents that knew how to kick ass together. However, it was the lack of answers that had him worry more over anything else.
And yet I just pulled the exact same thing on Harper; not letting him know where I was going or where I'll be at. He must be pretty damn worried about me by now.
The trip from St. Louis to Raccoon City was about an hour and a half, and although he rented the motorcycle as-is, the fuel gauge was already telling him he needed more gas if he wanted to continue the short drive he had left for Raccoon.
Daylight was already barely visible through the long cloudy horizon ahead of him, although the moon itself and the Yamaha's headlight gave him enough light to see a signpost of a gas station nearby - the lights of the station slowly coming into view as he drove closer.
Mizoil Gas Station
He kept telling himself that once he puts gas and looks for a way to call Harper and let him know where he's at, he shouldn't worry.
Everything would be fine and whatever has been happening in Raccoon, I'll find out soon enough—
"OH SHIT!"
The Yamaha screeched and turned almost a complete one-eighty as he tried avoiding a lone wandering shadow that walked in the middle of the road. The screaming of metal was almost deafening, and before the motorcycle fell flat to the ground aggressively, he immediately dropped out of the vehicle and began rolling several meters ahead. His helmet, thick gloves, blue jeans, and long-sleeved jacket had saved him from bruising himself pretty badly down the pavement.
"Damn… what the hell even happened?" He said loudly almost in total shock as he slowly stood up, his body aching from the inside.
He took off his scratched helmet and looked back from where he had last seen the wandering silhouette and whatever it was, it was now gone. The shadowy figure looked a lot like a lone woman, hair long and messy, wearing a white dress, barefoot as well.
A drunk, perhaps?
Even if they had one too many drinks, it was mostly his own fault for not paying attention to the road ahead of him completely. He was under the impression that the entire highway was empty and alone, an impression that almost cost him his and the other girl's life had he not been any more careful.
Grateful that the accident didn't go a lot worse than it could've been, he turned his head to the other side of the road and walked towards the edge of the gas station's exit, and started inspecting the fallen Yamaha ahead near the large sign that read;
WELCOME TO RACCOON CITY
HOME OF UMBRELLA
Heh… well at least I'm already near the city limits.
He had heard about Umbrella from his uncle, something about a known giant pharmaceutical company in Raccoon. Not to mention the fact that a lot of the gadgets he had recently studied for his now former major were all funded by the Umbrella Corporation, somehow having some sort of influence in the computer science field, despite the fact they were mainly just a pharmaceutical company.
The smell of burnt rubber and metal still permeated the air around him, but as far as he was concerned, the vehicle looked mostly intact, although he'd probably need to explain some of the scratches on the paint it had received after it was lent to him.
As he turned off the motor and flipped the Yamaha over as much as he could, he quickly remembered seeing a glimpse of a payphone nearby.
Turning around to face the gas station directly, there it was, just across the other end of the place and he quickly began jogging towards it, finally having the opportunity to let Harper know where he was at now.
It has been exhausting to think about the many possible scenarios about what could be happening in Raccoon over and over again, and Claire was already becoming quite restless herself.
She'd been on the road for over six hours, sitting on her sore and overheated butt through the endless rumbling of the Harley itself, her stomach still jolting along the ride with butterfly knots that hadn't gone away in a long time. And the worst part, she'd be arriving in Raccoon almost totally unprepared without a proper biker outfit, and Chris would be furious if he were to even see her wasting time going to Raccoon.
Yeah, he's definitely going to shut me down completely, yelling at me for missing my classes and I wouldn't even care any less.
If only that could come true…
The road had been almost a straight line through the slopes of the mountains and the only thing that was heard all around the environment was the loud ricocheting echo of the Harley itself through the dense woody mountains. Surprisingly, the road she took didn't have that many turns so it wasn't like she had to worry about taking a spill and waiting a long time for help to come.
Like it would even matter. You don't even have your gear on and the next thing you know, they'll be scraping pieces of you off the asphalt with a squeegee.
It was definitely dumb. Stupid as well. But dumb and stupid were the least of her worries and Chris was all that was running inside her mind since then. She had spent a lot of her time trying to look up any answers as to where he had been after losing contact with him since last month.
Her college work was mounting up, her grades had begun to fall, and professors along with other friends and the rest of the university faculty had been growing worried about her. She hadn't explicitly told them what was wrong, but rather that she was simply going through a "phase".
Uh-huh… try a progressive panic or a growing anxiety attack… maybe have them bring you along into more therapy after mom and dad passed away when we were kids, but this time, over something that may not even be much of a big deal anyway.
It had been quite hard to continue living on like this. Chris was all she had left. Their father was killed in a construction job when they were kids, followed by their mother's death in a car crash a few years later, and Chris had done his best to take on a parental role since.
He was only six years older than her, yet he had done so much for her through that parental role. He helped her find a decent college, a good therapist that lasted for a few years, and he sent her what little money he'd have to spare every month, besides the scraps of what the insurance policies would pay out. On top of all that, he'd call her every couple of weeks like clockwork.
Except it's been over a month and all I'd get are busy lines for the past several weeks.
She'd been trying to repeatedly tell herself she was worrying for no reason at all - maybe he'd finally met the perfect girl, didn't want any distractions afterward, or something turned up with the whole STARS suspension thing, whatever that was all about. But during the last three times that she'd sent several letters to him and all of them went unanswered, that's when it was the final straw for her. She'd put a call directly to the Raccoon Police Department that same afternoon, somehow clutching onto the hope that someone out there may know what was going on with him or anyone else in the city. Again, the relentless buzzing signal was all she'd ever get.
As the busy signal kept repeating itself, she sat and froze inside her dorm room, listening to that soulless mechanical sound that had been haunting her for ages, and that is when she became even more concerned. She knew Raccoon City had a voice-mail answering machine set up to field calls, but there wasn't even a sign that there was one either. With the smallest part of her rational mind telling her a simple busy line is nothing to be afraid of, her gut feeling was telling her there was some foul play involved.
With trembling hands, she grabbed her small notebook, containing various numbers to call that Chris had offered her in case of emergencies and dialed each and every one of them - Barry Burton, Petunia Reyes from Emmy's Diner, a pair of ex-CIA cops she'd never even heard of until fairly recently, Alex Mason and Frank Woods, and she even tried calling his longtime cop partner, Jill Valentine, but again, nothing came up at all.
As there was nothing to go for, she had no other choice but to go to Raccoon City herself, her concern having progressed into almost a state of blind panic. The trip to the city was close to six and a half hours away from the university. Since her roommate, Elza Walker, was absent and had borrowed her biking gear to hang out with her new boyfriend on a scenery ride and dine out, she hadn't exactly had the time to look for her extra pair of gear, other than her spare helmet and gone out quicker than Elza would leap on her boyfriend's arms.
Can't believe I was so careless to just suddenly disappear without leaving a note by the time she'd come back to the dorm later tonight. She'll understand by the time I get the chance to know what's going on with my brother. Yeah… she has to.
She had just passed a small sign ahead, letting her know she was now arriving at Raccoon City in less than maybe ten minutes from now, making her concentration become even more focused down the road with the heavy bike. The rays of the dwindling sun had started to fade on the horizon and she'd have to be fast before it gets too dark for her to be riding out here all by herself.
Claire was fully determined to find the answers she needed and wasted no time putting less distance between her and the city that began to show itself ahead of her.
Author's Note: Not a lot happens, but enough to make it a bit more interesting. Please, bear with me on this crossover as RE2's events are fairly long to turn into a literary work (as it's quite apparent when City of the Dead is the longest novel in the whole RE book series). The inclusion of David Mason will make it even longer and multiple writer's blocks WILL happen. Not to mention that I'm also combining several events from Memories of a Lost City and from the remake itself.
Keep this in mind that you are all more than welcome to leave any type of review, be it negative or positive, and I will always try to answer them back! :)
