Author's Note: Hey y'all readers! Sorry it took me so long to update, but I had to make sure I got this chapter perfected, and had to do many referencing to the previous chapters, so I hope you find it to your satisfaction!

AND, as usual, please READ & REVIEW!

Chapter 11 : Hope Still Remains

He knew, without a doubt, that there was a very good chance that he would have to leave his father behind. The small percentage chance of not having to do so was negligible, given the current state his father was in.

But a small percent was more than enough; any son would know that. His father, however, had already made his decision. A decision that would scar both their hearts for all eternity.

Julian did not want to think about it.

There he was, kneeling down beside his barely-conscious father with tears streaming down his face. It seems that while Julian was unconscious, Philip had knocked Steven around even more, worsening his injuries and giving him a few new ones. Now, Steven had a twisted ankle, a broken right arm, fractured ribs, and even missing a few tooth.

All in all, he looked like he was just run over by a bus.

He pleaded and pleaded, trying to give his father some false hope by saying things like "You can make it!" and "Leo can carry you, we can get out of here!", but Steven was fully aware that he will be more of a liability than a help.

"I've already made a grave mistake by continuing my work…" Steven had said, barely over a whisper. "I can't leave this place and not be haunted by my faults…"

"What do you mean you can't leave this place!" Julian practically yelled in his father's face. "Please dad, don't throw your life away just because of such a stupid reason!"

Steven shot back, his face suddenly filled with vigor. "That's not a stupid reason!" Then, his vigor disappeared as suddenly as it appeared. His head slumped back onto the wall, his shoulders sagging once again. "When you've been working on something your whole life, only to discover that your research was going to be used in the wrong way… You wouldn't understand how I feel right now!"

Even if others had said that Julian was strong in his language, that he could refute what anybody else said on the spot, he was speechless now. All he did was stare and stare into his father's fading but determined eyes, tears still welling up in his eyes.

"No, dad. Please…"

Leo remembered how good it was to love and be loved in the past by his parents, before their love for him suddenly turned sour. Why it had happened, he would never know.

And he would never want to know.

But now, he couldn't help but recall all the possible reasons as he witnessed the scene before his very eyes – his cousin, always strong in character but now reduced to tears, weeping in front of his father who could very well be on the verge of death. Had this entire incident strengthened Julian, or only served to break his mind into a million more pieces?

Whatever the reason, Leo still did not know whether to feel sorry for Julian or not.

"What about Mum? Or Sis? Or our entire family!" Julian said. "What about them? You gonna just die like this and leave them all alone?"

Memories of his time with his family came flooding into Steven's mind as soon as Julian had mentioned them, good memories and bad ones as well. Birthdays, celebrations, achievements, all were golden in Steven's mind. But were they good or strong enough to overshadow the sins he have made?

It seemed that every single second Steven had spent on his research, was a second added to their future suffering. He had already made his decision, and he was damn hell going to follow it.

"I'm sure they will understand…"

"No! No, they won't! What makes you so sure they will?" Julian yelled again. He was plagued with confusion as to why his father was thinking like this.

At this, Steven went silent. Julian was right, how was he to know whether the others will forgive him for what he has done, or what he is about to do? It was human nature for family members to understand each other's actions, but it was still possible for them not to.

"They must. Don't you see Julian? I don't have a choice. The more I remain on this earth, the more I will threaten our family!"

"There is another choice. There always is…" Julian trailed off, almost on the verge of giving up trying to talk his father out of his crazy decision.

"I will always be with you, even after I am gone…" Steven raised his hand and placed it on Julian's shoulder, managing a smile. "Now you have to get out of here, before…before the missiles hit…"

With the mention of the word "missiles", Leo's eyes widened.

What missiles? Does he mean that the city was about to blown to hell!

If that were true, then yes, they HAD to get out of here, and fast.

He stepped forward and grabbed Julian's arm. At first, Julian resisted, not wanting to leave his father's side. All the hate he had towards his father disappeared, and now he was regretting even feeling like that towards him in the first place. But if the both of them were to perish along with the city, then nobody would know what really happened in Raccoon City, to his father.

And so, he slowly allowed himself to be helped up by Leo. As they headed towards the door, Julian turned back to catch a last glimpse of his father. Steven looked back, and gave a thumbs-up.

"You only have around thirty minutes from now. I suggest you move quick…!"

Now, Julian was limping down the hallways, helped by Leo. His vision was starting to get blurry -- a reward for losing too much blood from the wound in his leg -- but the image of his father remained etched in his mind, as clear as daylight.

It was really strange, he thought, that when you have hated or despised someone for almost your whole life, all those feelings of anger and frustration would wash away once you've realized that you're no longer going to see that person ever again. Julian saw his father as someone who only cared about his work and not his family, when in actual fact, his father was trying to do what's best for all of them – bringing in the income, putting food on the table, everything that a typical father would work for.

And it took Julian 10 years to realize that.

What could he do now to make up for his attitude? He would never see his father again. He would not be able to love or hate him anymore. Nothing.

But perhaps the most he could do, was take down the very people who betrayed him, and Leo as well. The heartless company who wouldn't think twice or give a shit about the consequences of their actions.

Now they will.

Umbrella.

In anger, Julian clenched his fist. He knew the difficulty of bringing down such a corporation. Could one man, one boy, make a difference? Nevertheless, either he will forget about it and let his father's death be in vain, or he will die trying.

The answer was obvious.

Leo had kept silent ever since they left the room. He couldn't imagine what his cousin was going through right now, seeing all the tears he spilled. He wasn't that a good judge of character himself, constantly stereotyping that everyone around him (except Julian, of course) were nothing but emotionless bastards, so he obviously wouldn't know how to respond to this kind of situations. That was expected, wasn't it? After all, he did have two of those emotionless bastards as parents.

How many times had he run home to show his gleaming grades, and get nothing in return? How many times had he wanted to inform them of his achievements in sports, only to be shunned away as if he was merely interrupting their 'special time' together? Not even a simple "Well done!" or a pat on his back, Leo had retreated to the confines of his room, not wanting to swear at his parents, but at the same time, desperately wanting to.

Maybe it was because of the new woman who had stepped into his father's life, into their lives. His father had always shown a caring attitude towards Leo, so that woman must have poisoned and corrupted his mind to the extent that he would so willingly throw away his own flesh and blood for some stranger.

But isn't it the duty of a father to always love and cherish his own children, and never to be swayed from that duty? Knowing this, Leo, till now, was unsure whether to blame his father or his step-mother.

For now, there was no use racking his mind over that. His parents were out of the picture, so he couldn't give a rat's ass about them. What mattered now was protecting his cousin, and dealing with his own monstrous body as well. Who knew when the Tyrant in him will rear its ugly head again.

"Are we…are we reaching the station yet?" Julian asked, his voice becoming softer with each sentence.

"Almost. Hang in there, we'll get your wound fixed up soon. You're gonna be ok…" Leo said as he strengthened his grip.

"No worries, I don't think I'll be dying anytime soon…" Julian joked.

"Not funny."

"Didn't say it was…"

After all this time, his lameness hasn't changed one bit.

"Any of your friends waiting for us there?" It was unlikely that Julian would survive the entire journey to the compound all by himself. If he did, then Leo would seriously have to consider his fighting capabilities.

"Yeah, Andrew and Desmond. You've met them before right?"

"Yes, yes I did…"

Andrew Jacobs and Desmond Watt. Leo had met them on several occasions, most of which were lunch outings organized by Julian. It all seemed fuzzy (after you've been cryogenized, why wouldn't it be?), but he vaguely remembered their characters. Bickering over the simplest of things, teasing each other for no apparent reason, all Leo had done was stand aside and laugh at the entire scene.

And to think that they have willingly accompanied Julian on this trip to hell. It was obvious that those 2 weren't the 'I'm-friends-with-you-only-because-you're-rich' kind of people. He wasn't complaining, but he could sure make do with friends like that.

Then again, he knew that he wasn't very good at keeping friends. Or, more specifically, at maintaining strong friendships.

He couldn't blame anyone for that. Not his negligent parents, and definitely not himself. It was just the way he was, just like how everyone was unique in their own way.

But if he thought like that, it would be the same as accepting your own death on the spot.

Could he really break the chains of fate now, and choose his own actions instead of leaving them up to others? Leo was daring, but this was different. Sure, he has been thrown into a life and death situation, along with his cousin, so it was going to take a tremendous amount of determination to do so.

Nevertheless, his actions now will most likely determine what they will experience in the near future, and Leo wasn't going to give up.

They reached the door leading to the station with just ten minutes to spare. Both heaved a huge sigh of relief as the door slid open, but Leo knew that it wasn't alright till they were miles away from here.

They were completely oblivious to the shadow that darted across the corridor behind them. It was given a duty to perform, and it had managed to track them down using the spots of blood on the floor.

It remained in the shadows. Hiding and watching.

X-------X-------X

Andrew stood up when he heard the sliding door open, flicking the safety off his shotgun as he did so. He highly doubt that if it was another monster, it would've made its entry in another way than just walking in through the front door.

But in a city where zombies prowled the streets and freaky-looking creatures with tongues the length of a bus jumped from rooftop to rooftop, an elaborate entry would be the last thing Andrew was worried about.

He heard movement coming from inside the train, as well as the obvious 'click' of a handgun. Desmond must have heard the door as well.

Footsteps echoed in the massive room as Andrew tightened his grip on the shotgun. Whatever it was, it wasn't a zombie, since they had a habit of tumbling head over heels when they encountered flights of stairs.

Initially, he saw Julian's figure come into view. His head was slightly down, and there was a sick-looking gash in his left leg that was bandaged in an already blood-soaked piece of cloth. And it looked like he was being supported by…

"What the fuck…" Andrew murmured as he squinted, not believing what he saw. Behind him, Desmond came walking out and almost tripped over the stairs leading down from the train in shock.

A massive figure, easily twice the size of Andrew, was supporting Julian. It had several big claws sticking out from its other arm, not to mention its impossibly broad shoulders. All Andrew could do was stare until Julian and that thing walked towards them. Once they were closer, Andrew got a good look at its face, and pondered.

That face… Why does it look so familiar?

"Julian? Um, who is…" Andrew started.

"I'm Leo, we've met before, thought I certainly look different than our last meeting." The giant said.

Leo…Julian's cousin! But, what happened to his body…?

"Hell, yeah. Whatever the heck happened to you!" Desmond said, finally breaking out of his state of awe.

Leo hesitated, looking at them with his vacant eyes. It appeared that he was carefully choosing his words, which also meant that he had something to hide. Andrew could see this. For some reason, he was exceptionally good at reading people's body language.

"I was a guinea pig for an experiment. Let's just leave it as that for now."

As expected, Leo was definitely concealing something behind those words, but whatever it was, Andrew wouldn't be so direct as to question Leo face-to-face. If there really was anything suspicious going on, he felt that it would make itself known sooner or later, though Andrew preferred the latter.

"Is the train ready? We've REALLY got to get out fast…" Julian said.

"Yeah, mostly, and I agree with the 'getting out of here quickly' part. Seems we weren't the only ones who know about them missiles." Desmond said.

"All just to cover up everything…" Andrew recited. "Never imagined such people really existed in this world."

And it was true. His father had worked so hard for the company, and in return, Andrew had gotten almost everything he ever wanted. Luxurious living, branded goods, you name it. Fortunately, he wasn't the kind of person who would transform into a spoiled brat after being buried under ten feet of money. That was the reason why he didn't walk out onto the streets with bling-bling style accessories and fancy hairstyles.

And it was also the reason why Julian, Desmond, and himself was able to remain as best friends all this time.

"We'll save any happy reunions for later. For now, we better get moving." Leo demanded.

Not wanting to disobey commands issued from a giant, Andrew and Desmond scrambled onto the train, while Leo helped Julian up. Desmond, who had spent the most amount of time fiddling with the train controls earlier, headed into the driver's compartment to start the train, while Andrew closed the door behind Leo.

Desmond, once again, fiddled with the controls until the train managed to start up. Initially, he adjusted the speed to a suitable number, and then he looked at his watch, and immediately hammered the lever and shot the speed to maximum.

They only had slightly over five minutes before everything was going to be blown to kingdom come.

Behind, the three passengers suffered whiplash as the train rocked and jerked unsteadily on the track. There were only 3 carriages left after the mayhem that Desmond and Andrew caused – the driver's compartment, and two passenger carriages. So, the train was speeding much faster since it had only 3 carriages, as compared to the 6 it initially had.

"Hold on guys! We're going at full speed!" Desmond yelled over the noise.

"Wow, we didn't realize that!" Andrew yelled back sarcastically, stumbling back and forth in the shaking carriage.

Clank!

Even in a weak state, Julian thought he heard something in the carriage behind. But amidst all the metallic noise that the train was making, zooming ahead at probably a hundred miles per hour, it was probably some iron pipe dropping from a table.

He turned his head back to face the front. Andrew was grasping onto a table as if his life depended on it, mumbling something to himself, while Leo was standing in front of him, staring out the window into the darkness of the tunnel. Andrew had found some kind of employee's shirt and pants, and passed them to Leo. He couldn't fit into the shirt, but barely got into the pants. Still, it was better than walking around naked.

Soon, the darkness transformed into a faint light as the train rocketed out of the tunnel and into the morning air. It was dawn. The sun was slowly creeping over the mountains that surrounded the city, pouring its rays over the outskirts of the city. The city itself, however, remained as bleak and destroyed as it ever was. Pillars of smoke were rising into the sky, whilst some buildings were still on fire. In the distance, Julian could hear the constant whirring of a helicopter, indicating that there were survivors of the chaos on the other side of the city.

That wasn't the only thing that he could hear.

Over the annoying noise of the train, Julian could still hear the hungry moans of the undead. How many lives were lost due to Umbrella's recklessness? How many dreams crushed and swept away to make way for a completely materialistic and cruel one? The moaning of those once human was the answer. Julian clenched his fist in anger as a tear slid down his face, knowing that one of those 'lives lost' was his father's.

It wasn't long before the blast came. Leo shouted something, pointing towards the sky. In reply, Desmond yelled something back, accompanied by Andrew. It didn't matter what they were yelling about, as the sheer sound of the explosion drowned out everything else.

And as Julian fell off the seat and face-flat onto the ground, he could do nothing but close his eyes and pray.

X-------X-------X

Celine leaned her head back in exhaustion, closing her eyes and listening to the constant buzzing of the engine. Beside her, a tall, muscular man yawned and stepped on the accelerator. His skin was tanned to a brown colour, and he wore a singlet and army pants, showing off his muscles to a great degree. His hair was of appropriate length and it hung over his forehead.

The man's yawning caused Celine herself to yawn as well. So much had happened, and she had so little time to rest.

She couldn't believe that just a while ago, she got into a fight with a monster twice her size, not to mention that it even spoke to her. She remembered feeling the morning breeze against her face as the helicopter soared into the sky and above the death-ridden city. A conversation had ensued between her and the fireman sitting with her behind.

Danny…That was his name right? Danny the fireman…

After all, it was his job to calm any survivors down. He had asked Celine what she was going to do after they flew her to another city, and she had politely instructed them to drop her off outside the city, but far enough such that she wouldn't be blown away by the shockwave. She had almost burst out laughing when she saw the expression on Danny's face after saying all that, but he kept quiet and passed the instructions to the pilot.

Once on the ground, Danny gave her a thumbs-up and Celine smiled back, watching the helicopter disappear into the morning sky. It was just before her ride arrived that she saw the city ignite in a bright, blinding light.

Raccoon City was gone, and it was over.

But not for her. Her journey was just beginning.

Somehow, standing there watching the city get blown into a billion pieces, her thoughts shifted to the young boy she met amidst her search in the city. She wondered whether that boy and his friends made it out in time. In fact, she hoped that they had made it out in time.

When the dark blue minivan pulled up beside her, she instinctively gave the driver the finger.

"You're late, Briareos…" Celine grumbled as she got into the front passenger seat.

"Sorry, bad traffic. Hey, at least you got to see the fireworks!" Briareos replied, smiling at her. His voice was a mix of American and Canadian, and sometimes Celine thought that it was rather comforting and soothing to hear.

"Very funny… Come on, let's blow this joint."

"Gotcha! Everyone else back at HQ have been anxious to see you. Guess you've grown more popular, eh?" Briareos joked, turning the minivan around with a perfect 3-point turn.

"I guess I have…" Celine murmured.

Now, they were driving around the outskirts of the city, admiring the scenery, or what's left of it. The helicopter had dropped her off on the wrong side of the city, but she was too damn tired to say anything, but she could use the time to rest a bit before the second hell started.

"What the hell…?" Briareos said, waking Celine up from her slumber. She was about to curse at him, but she followed his gaze to the side of the road ahead of them.

Four human figures, one towering above the others, stood at the side of the road, waving frantically at them. They looked very familiar, and as Briareos brought the minivan closer, Celine got a clear look at their faces.

It was Julian, and his friends.

But it was the tallest person that got Celine's attention the most. He looked almost exactly like the Tyrant she had fought back at the university, though a bit smaller. Even Briareos' jaw dropped when he saw him.

Agreeing that that giant wasn't going to be a threat, since he was with three normal humans after all, Briareos pulled up right beside them and winded down the window. As soon as Julian and his two other friends saw her, they exclaimed in shock.

"Talk about a small world eh?" Celine said. "But, who's THAT guy?" She pointed at the fourth person.

"Oh, that's my cousin, Leo. He…err…" Julian trailed off, locking gazes with Leo.

"It's a long story. I'll tell you after we get Julian some medical attention." Leo said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, I couldn't agree more." Briareos said, bending over the window and looking at the blood-soaked make-shift bandage on Julian's leg.

And that was that. The four of them crammed into the minivan, with Leo taking up the most space obviously, and they drove off into the sunrise.

Julian heaved a sigh of relief. They were finally leaving the city, away from all the blood, away from all the suffering. He would rest up, get himself cleaned up, and then his battle with Umbrella would begin. He didn't know whether Andrew and Desmond would accompany him, but it didn't matter.

Umbrella was going down.

X-------X-------X

A/N: Ok, it may sound like this chapter is the last in this fanfic, but it isn't alright? I'll probably add in either 1 or 2 more chapters to serve as epilogue before officially declaring this story as COMPLETE.

And need I remind you again? R&R!