Disclaimer: All recognizable characters, places, and events are the property of Capcom.

Chapter One

Ash Tennyson pretty much knew that today was going to be a shitty day. He just wasn't sure how much.

He was one of the newer policemen in Raccoon City, having graduated from a police academy in Florida just about two years ago. He was new, but good—he was naturally gifted at diplomacy, which had helped at one of his very first assignments on the job; it had been a kidnapping case, one of those obsessive ex-boyfriends who wanted to prove to his girlfriend he still loved her by kidnapping her and holing up at the roof of City Hall. The guy had been crazy, for sure, but it ended up alright—Ash had managed to talk the guy into letting the girl choose between him and her new boyfriend, and the minute she left his grip Ash had shot the ground an inch from the guy's foot, putting the fear of God into him and making him surrender to the police quite easily.

"Score," Ash muttered, opening a random, unlocked locker in the RPD's basement weapons locker, which revealed bountiful goods—a few boxes of ammo for his 9mm, an H & K VP70 handgun, some empty magazines—and the beautiful, slim, compact figure of a Remington shotgun, complete with a shoulder strap. Ash peered inside and saw boxes at the very bottom of the locker, just behind the butt of the shotgun.

"Thank you," Ash whispered, quickly reloading his handgun. It had taken all of his bullets to ensure that all the zombie policemen in the weapons locker were dead, and he knew that if he hadn't just found ammo in here, he'd soon be dead with them.

This has just been a really fucked up week…

Ash sighed, holstering his gun. He'd been part of the last police resistance, locking himself in the squad room with Marvin Branagh and a few others since three days ago, but it didn't help—pretty soon Yang and Davis had become zombies, and Ash and Marvin had had to shoot them, but not before Yang managed to take a few bites of Branagh's shoulder. Ash had helped the other man patch up the wound, and then Marvin had sent him away, told him to find other survivors. Ash didn't want to leave him; Marvin had been basically a mentor to Ash since Ash had been recruited into RPD, but Marvin would have none of it—Ash found himself facing down the barrel of Marvin's gun as Marvin shouted for him to leave.

"Dammit." Ash shook his head, coming out of his reverie. Dwelling on the past wasn't going to help him; he was pretty sure that the sickness had turned Marvin into one of them, and he'd rather remember one of his best friends as the man he used to be, and not the freak he would surely turn into.

Ash stared into the locker, searching for something, anything, a pack or bag, to put the extra ammo in. There was nothing. Ash swore, "You've gotta be kidding me…" All this ammunition and nothing to put it in—

—and in frustration, Ash slammed his free fist into the next locker, the force making the door fly open, and Ash stared into it, shocked; there was a small, empty, canvas duffel bag sitting there.

Thank you!

Ash hurriedly grabbed the duffel and emptied it; there was a pair of shorts in there but nothing else, and shoved the extra magazines and the boxes of shotgun and handgun ammo inside. He slipped the strap of the bag over his left shoulder, letting the bag rest at his right side, the strap crossing diagonally over his chest. He grabbed the Remington, checking it for ammo; when he was sure that the gun was loaded, Ash set out again—there were no survivors left in the precinct that he knew about, and the next place to search was out.

He wished he didn't have to go, but he had promised Marvin. Ash grit his teeth and left the weapons locker.

---

Beth took careful aim, and fired.

The bullet drove straight through the zombie's left eye, obliterating the left side of the face, and Beth was aiming for the next zombie before it even touched the ground. This one was a woman, maybe in her late forties, with most of her limbs intact except for the fact that she was limping—Beth saw that one of her ankles was at an odd angle and there was the slick white of bone showing through the skin—

—and why are you even thinking about that!

Beth fired, BAM, and the woman's forehead exploded into brain and blood, and Beth swung around, her gun at the ready.

Nothing there.

She lowered the gun, the adrenaline pumping through her veins making her twitchy, wary. She was shaking, she knew, but that didn't matter. What mattered was getting out of this freak city and leaving.

It had taken her a whole half hour to stop freaking out and crying in the middle of the street, and another fifteen minutes for her to get herself together. She had cried out all her frustration, leaving behind logic and fear…but Beth knew she couldn't get rid of the fear, not as long as she was standing in a city full of zombies and God knows what else.

It was the logic that really mattered. The reasoning that she was probably the only one left alive in the entire city, and that it wasn't going to do any good if she just decided to lie down and wait to be killed. Above her fear of the monsters, Beth had a fear of a gruesome death, and that was probably the only thing that made her take out her gun and start shooting when the monsters had come out to meet her.

That's all there is to it. Shoot the baddies, kick some ass, and get the hell out.

That was definitely easier said than done. Beth let out a heavy sigh, maybe I should go into the RPD precinct, they probably have some bigger guns there I could use—

—and then the gates swung open, and Beth was firing.

BAM BAM BAM!—

"—shit, wait, dammit, WAIT!"

Beth stopped, but didn't lower the gun. "Who are you!" she demanded, her fear making her voice louder than normal.

"Hey, if you just calm down, I—"

"Who are you!"

"Hey, calm down." The voice was smooth, low, and definitely male. "My name's Tennyson, Ash Tennyson, I'm a cop."

Beth almost cried tears of relief if it wasn't for the fact that she had cried out all her tears just about an hour ago. She lowered her gun, stowing it in the waistband of her Levi's, and stepped towards him, feeling safer than she had in the past few hours.

Ash Tennyson was tall, and pretty young-looking, maybe around twenty-one or so. Dressed in pair of dark jeans and a black shirt with a vest over it, he was probably around six feet tall, Beth guessed, built like a basketball player, tall and lean. His hair was dark, cut short so that his bangs grazed his bright green eyes, and he had a square, strong jaw.

Like a green-eyed Johnny Depp, Beth thought absently.

"You alright?" Ash asked, walking up to her. "I heard shots. I'm guessing it was you?"

Beth nodded, flushing slightly. "I didn't mean to shoot you…" she said meekly.

Ash smiled, and Beth noticed he had dimples. "No problem," he told her, "you missed, anyway."

And then Beth found her manners, and she gasped, stepping back and sticking out a small, slim hand. "I—I'm Beth," she said, stumbling slightly over the words. "Beth Takarai."

Ash studied her for moment, then shook her hand, asking, "Civilian?"

Beth flushed again, nodding. "Y-yes."

Ash nodded, looking thoughtful, and Beth suddenly noticed that he was armed up the ass. He had a handgun in a holster strapped to one leg, and she could see that there was a shotgun strapped to his back. And Beth was willing to bet money that the duffel bag at his side was holding either more guns or more ammo.

"Hey, look," Ash said suddenly, and Beth looked up at him, "I think we're the only people alive in this place, and now that we've found each other, I'm starting to think it's a pretty good idea that we stick together. I'm armed, you're armed, and together we stand a pretty good chance of mowing through these…these monsters, and getting out of the city." His expression was uncertain as he looked at her. "What…what do you think? Do you want to do that?"

Beth blinked, letting the idea sink into her mind—she would be with a cop, someone trained to handle things like this, and he was asking if she wanted it? Hell yes! she thought fiercely, and smiled up at him, a grateful, happy smile.

"Yeah, definitely. I'd definitely want to do that."