Adam Luck - Thanks, man! Honestly, it's been pretty hard trying to come up with ideas on how to continue with the story at this point in time while also trying to keep it as interesting and unique as possible, but I'm glad you like it so far! There's still A LOT of room for improvement in my writing skills so I ain't celebrating yet. I appreciate the compliments though! :)
Also, your whole suggestion is pretty neat and on point. I might consider it, but knowing that there really isn't much that I have planned post-Code Veronica, I'm not all too sure. I'll definitely leave some things left open, in case I ever wanna go back and continue on with things like Operation Javier, Umbrella's End, or RE4 for that matter.

Recommended BGM:

1. Resident Evil 2 (1998) - Leon With Claire

2. Resident Evil 2 (Remake) - (SPOILER) Watch for BOLD TEXT below

3. Resident Evil 2 (1998) - The Basement of the Police Station

Bonus Track: Resident Evil 2 (1998) - Hope Against Hope

Chapter 9

The STARS office was devoid of anything dead or alive. It was cluttered, layered with dust, and unusually cold as if it were haunted somehow, yet Claire was feeling reluctant to leave. After having faced the undead and that nightmarish creature just outside of the office itself, finding the place where her brother had spent his working days had left her feeling weak with relief. David and Leon were still gone. She planned on writing a note for David to find in case he'd go looking for her in here after she'd go to search for them along the way. However, she found herself lingering around, almost forgetting the fact of trying to look for any clues regarding the STARS' disappearances.

Where are you, big brother? If you had to deal with these types of monsters before, tell me - how am I supposed to survive when all of you are now… gone?

How am I gonna get through this?

She had been sitting at Chris' desk, apparently having shared it with a guy named Kenneth Sullivan as she saw a labeled photograph of Kenneth and what seemed to be his son or nephew, both of them smiling at the camera as they were near an amusement park, which seemed to be the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Claire remembered going there once with Chris and their parents, which felt like it was a lifetime ago back when they were just kids. She wondered if Kenneth was with her brother, both of them looking out for each other in someplace she had yet to know. Their desk was one of the messiest in the entire office, and Claire started to search for any documents or paperwork that may reveal anything of interest in regard to their whereabouts, but all she found were materials that described what was recovered from the Spencer Mansion. It ranged from knight armor-related keys to crest medals and other unusual items.

While going through a bottom drawer, she found a small black-and-white picture tucked inside a cluttered stack of research papers on Umbrella; the photo which had both of them grinning at the camera as they stood in front of Chris' birthday cake when they last celebrated his twenty-fifth birthday. Chris' neighbor was the one who took the picture for them, and Claire remembered just how nice of an old lady she was to them. She was the one who offered to make Chris' cake, with marble-layered being his favorite type and the neighbor even went as far as to gift him a new lighter after Chris had given her his old one. He knew she never smokes, but a gift like that was something to be cherished in times like this when she wanted to think about him; a type of memento that she now always carried with her since his disappearance.

Claire took out the worn-out lighter from one of her thin pockets and stared at it for a long time, constantly flicking it open and shut, her gaze lost in thought as she did so.

Wherever you are Chris, know that I will always love you, no matter what, big brother…

As she stared at the lighter more intensely, she found herself wanting to cry, all of the fear and confusion finally surging out after trying to hold it back for so long. However, as she switched her gaze to the black-and-white picture of her brother's twenty-fifth birthday, she immediately remembered just how much laughter they both shared on that day, both of them having a good time. She started to feel better the more she thought about it. It wasn't because she had begun to feel happy or fine, no less afraid of the nightmare she's been stuck in…

…just better. Calmer… stronger. Chris was her idol, the one person she would deeply look up to, and in the back of her mind, she knew he was still alive somewhere, thinking about her the same way she was thinking about him right now. The two of them had survived the death of their parents, the loss that had traumatized them for as long as she could remember, and if they somehow managed to build lives for themselves and go on a small Christmas vacation with no real home to go back to, she knew they could cope with anything. She could cope.

And I can. I will find Leon and David and, God willing, my brother and the rest of David's missing family - and we are all going to make it out of this alive. Whatever means necessary.

Even if she had a choice, it wasn't something to argue against. She could simply stay put like she had told David, and wait for him to come and group up together. However, doing nothing while sitting around and longing for her brother wasn't exactly enticing either and she felt like there wasn't much of a choice left after that, especially when looking at the possibilities of either Leon or David needing her help.

Claire took a deep breath, slipping the lighter away as she put the remaining photo into her vest. She fumbled over the drawer one last time in order to see if she had missed anything else beyond the cluttered mess inside. After going through the papers, there was something soft and leathery. As she pulled it out, it was a journal with her brother's initials written on the label on the front cover. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw the possibility of the journal explaining their disappearance or at the very least, letting her know whether or not he was still alive after losing contact with him over the past month.

Please don't let it be any bad news…

With her mind running through various scenarios, she opened it up, the first entry dating back to August 8th, just days before the whole STARS suspension began. With anxiety beginning to rise, she began to read, her heart progressively becoming louder with each word read inside her mind.

August 8th, 1998

Everyone had mostly given up on convincing the Chief to try listening to us, but Alex and I refuse to do so. We went to his office together and confronted him with the facts and evidence of Umbrella's involvement in the t-Virus research conducted in that mansion, but again, he simply gave us that weary look of irritation, just like he has for the past weeks since that dreadful day.

Anyone infected with the t-Virus eventually turns into a zombie.

But the entire facility went up in that explosion, along with many incriminating evidence. Since Umbrella employs so many people in town, no one is willing to talk about the incident any further.

It looks like we're running out of options.

August 11th, 1998

Unfortunately, Frank passed away, all thanks to the injuries he sustained from that abomination we had to face just minutes before the lab went up in flames. When Jill, Alex, and I visited his room, his heart suddenly stopped, but no matter how hard they tried, they could not resuscitate him.

We were devastated, but Alex took it the hardest as he had known him for so many years. His sorrow was that of a child who lost their parent or sibling, reminding me of the time Claire and I lost our parents when we were kids. It was difficult to see him in such a state, I couldn't even let go of some of the tears I held back after so much misery we all had gone through together.

The hospital decided not to reveal his death certificate to the public for fear that it could spark more panic than normal. Not that it matters anyway since the whole press had lied about everything we've gone through no thanks to Umbrella themselves.

I will make sure they will pay for the crimes they have committed…

August 17th, 1998

Since Frank's passing, no one has heard from Alex afterward, not even a single sign as to where he could've gone. Barry suggested that he might've gone back to reunite with his son, but if that was the case, why didn't he tell anyone?

Come to think of it, the last time Barry and I saw him, he seemed a little off, similar to how he looked back when Wesker had him under his control. What the hell had Wesker really done to him anyway?

August 24th, 1998

For the past week, we've had several local reports about strange monsters appearing at random throughout the city. Looks like Umbrella is still at it again.

With the help of Jill and Barry, I finally obtained information vital to this case. Umbrella has begun research on the new G-Virus, a variation of the original t-Virus. Haven't they done enough damage already?!

The three of us talked it over and agreed that the only way to end this for good, was to take matters into our own hands. We're going to pay a little visit to Umbrella HQ located in Europe.

August 25th, 1998

Barry told me he got an email from some guy named "J. Hudson", the same guy Brad told us about several weeks earlier. Apparently, Jill already met him on the same night it all began, and Alex and Frank had known him for years. He said that Alex had gone into hiding to God knows where, but he gave him some coordinates to an old CIA safehouse somewhere out of the country, a place which we could use should we ever need somewhere safe to hide.

After some thorough digging, it was an ordinary house somewhere in rural Canada. Barry decided he will be relocating his family there in the meantime. Jill chose to stay behind for a while and continue to look for more evidence of a rumored lab somewhere beneath Raccoon. I will be traveling alone to Europe and prepare us for a difficult battle ahead of us...

I can't be forced to tell my sister about this because doing so could put her in as much danger as Alex's son and Barry's family could've once been. I just cannot take that chance.

If you ever read this Claire, please forgive me…

Claire stood silent, the last entry still opened in her hands as she gazed at the empty armory in front of her, lost in waves of deep emotions running inside her. It all made sense, but not exactly the type of sense she wanted to firmly believe in. She had lost contact with her brother between the fifteenth and twentieth of August, but if what he mentioned in his diary was true, then…

…he's alive, that's all that matters.

That wasn't the only thing, however. The disease that she had been wondering about since witnessing her first zombie up close in the city had a name she could keep in mind now - the t-Virus. She remembered Marvin telling her and David that the zombies were first found by the STARS in a mansion outside the city, which was the Spencer Mansion owned by Umbrella, and even with the entire place blown up and a city filled with hellish creatures, they were now making a new virus called the G-Virus…

…to do what, exactly? Do more destruction? Cause more chaos around the city or elsewhere in the country?

Then, Frank Woods, David's uncle, whom he's been searching for since arriving in town, is dead…

…and yet he still firmly believes Frank is still alive somewhere. Oh God, poor David…

At the very least, her brother mentioned that David's father left way before the whole outbreak began. The trouble was, he is now off the radar completely, making David have a much harder time finding him. Though Claire was still dreading the fact of telling him about Frank's confirmed death. The announcement would be just as harsh as when Chris told her about their parents' passing when both of them died just a few years apart. However, there was nothing she could do now but hope that she, David, and Leon would get out of there alive in one piece.

Wesker…

She couldn't help but keep thinking about the captain that she's been informed about by her brother just before their suspension, saying something about having some sort of feud against him, almost like describing his relationship with Chief Irons, but at a worse level. There was nothing that could implicate whatever happened to the STARS captain, and her confusion only grew from there about what kind of things did he ever do to David's father himself.

Claire quickly closed her brother's diary, taking in a deep breath before putting his diary inside of her drawstring backpack, also making sure to take out a few more magazines to put inside her hip pouch for easier access. She stood up and took one last look around the office before deciding to leave a note for David to find on the whiteboard against the wall that was next to Chris' desk and the one just behind his. According to what she found earlier on the desk across from Chris', a discarded bus ticket explained that it had once belonged to Jill Valentine. Claire never had the opportunity to meet her in person, but Chris once mentioned that Jill was pretty good with a gun.

Too bad she didn't leave one behind, let alone any ammo…

The team had obviously cleared out all of their most important stuff after their suspension, although Claire had found that there were quite a number of personal belongings here and there, like coffee mugs, framed photographs, CD music albums, and even Barry's personal gun kit. She knew right away that Barry's desk was the one with an incomplete plastic gun model on the desktop. Barry Burton was one of the friendliest people she's ever met, and one of Chris' closest friends; a serious gun enthusiast, but that was one of the perks of having someone to watch your back, knowing you'd be safe around them, which Claire hoped that was the case right now with both of them together, alongside with their friend, Kenneth.

And speaking of…

The armory itself was entirely empty; no magazines, clips, shells, or weapons of any kind. Everything inside had been ransacked and picked clean. She'd hoped there would've been something left for her to grab, in case there are more of those spider-like freak-o-maniacs to deal with on her way around the station. If worse comes to worst, the least she could do is search some of the corpses she'd found on her way here. Even though she had enough ammo, for now, she knew that eventually, she will run out and wouldn't want to find any more rounds at the last minute. The handgun was RPD standard issue so there wouldn't be much problem scavenging for some ammo on any dead person in uniform. It sounded bad to think about, but in times like this, there was no other choice.

Claire walked across the room, stumbling upon a smaller desk than most of the other ones in the room, almost next to the comms station. The black-and-white photograph on top that was labeled on the back, suggested that it was the desk of Frank Woods and Alex Mason, both of whom were grinning at the camera, along with a seven or eight-year-old boy, which Claire assumed had to be David himself.

I'm sure they had a good time when the picture was taken.

The men looked a lot older than she'd imagined. From what she could gather, his father was the most obvious one to recognize as both he and David, who was now older, look quite a lot like one another with their overall facial features; the huge age gap not breaking a lot of their similarities. She figured the other man with a bandana on top was Frank himself, her gut turning into wide knots as she thought about what or how could she even tell David the information she found out about him.

It'll kill me inside to see his reaction if I do tell him. But if I don't, the guilt will finish me off regardless…

Claire put down the photograph, deciding not to stash it with her in case David eventually finds the STARS office himself. There was a locked safe underneath the desk. She didn't bother trying to figure out the combination. Instead, she opted to use a spare piece of paper from one of the desks, and using an abandoned pen that laid on top of Alex and Frank's desk, she quickly wrote a small note for David to read when she heard a distant rumble from somewhere. No, footfalls. Loud and heavy, thundering through the walls as they echoed all around from a specific direction; a direction in which she had last come in from.

Could that be David? …or Leon?

Couldn't be. They sounded huge, bigger than someone ordinary walking around the infested halls of the police station as if they were wearing boots that weighed about half a ton, almost clopping in massive steps.

Claire froze, her heart pumping loudly in her ears, wondering who or what could be making those unnatural noises as she gazed at the only door out of the office. Whoever or whatever it was, they were now passing along the hallway just where she had dealt with that long-tongued monster and their crashing footsteps slowly echoed away to the other side of the corridor that she had yet to go through herself.

A distant door opened and the echoes dwindled to a complete stop after that.

What the hell even was that anyway?

She figured it had to be a monster, maybe a huge zombie. No way those footsteps sounded like any ordinary human footsteps. However, she needed to leave the office. According to the map she had found earlier inside Chris' desk on the top drawer, it told her that the Chief's office was on the other side of the building and through a back note, it explained that there was a secret entrance rumored to have been a part of the building before it was completely sealed off. Claire assumed there had to be something of importance inside there and with the note she'd be leaving behind, she hoped that it'd be enough for David to be able to retrace her steps to where she'd be going.

Feeling afraid and nervous, she slowly opened the door out of the office carefully, creaking loudly as she began looking sideways to see if there was anything out of the ordinary…

…and as she looked to her right, there was a sudden shiver of apprehension, showered with immense fear and dread that overwhelmed her whole body. The tallest man she had ever seen had stepped into view, looking straight back at her with a hidden gaze covered in the enveloping darkness ahead. His height was about twice her own, taller than the average height of an NBA star. The shiny, baldness of his head reflected just how pale his white, thick skin looked from the dim light shining behind him. His fists were closed tightly, and Claire felt the immediate violent nature coming from his intimidating appearance. There was no questioning the fact that it was yet another aberration that the city had to offer. His long army-green trench coat covered most of his darkened body and just less than a second later after trying to figure out what kind of monster it was, it began toward her with a massive, creaking step. The wood underneath him crunched as the humanoid creature focused on walking closer to a frightened Claire. (BGM #2 Black Impact)

"Jesus…Stay back!" She yelled in a panic as she quickly got out of the office, backing away to the location where she had first entered from.

Without further hesitation, she instantly aimed her Browning and began to fire directly at his head for a few seconds that she could spare before it came dangerously close to her. All three shots managed to hit the beast cleanly. Two of them impacted his left cheek and one just over the chin, yet the silent, menacing monster continued, completely unfazed by the shots it had received.

As the evil trench-coated man came into direct view from the spotlight that sat on the ground near the taloned dead body, his entire appearance was much clearer in detail. The trench coat was coated in four large bullet holes across his chest, a flap of his neck seam had been ripped away, and the rounds that she had fired on him did not do a single thing to slow him down, let alone injure him at all. Few speaks of blood had dripped from his seemingly thick, iron-like skin, but other than that, it was enough to send Claire to a full sprint out of the corridor, knowing that any attempts to put him down would be a complete waste of ammo.

Just as Claire ran to safety as she made her way to the Chief's office, she thought about what name to give the hellish abomination that had begun to stalk her.

Dr. Evil, Giant Freak, Incredible Hulk, Mr. X

Whatever it was supposed to be, she didn't give it much thought after that. She had to either hide somewhere or run, hoping she could lose Mr. X somehow, while at the same time, trying not to hear the indisputable sounds of his tremendous footsteps coming closer to her. After heading back out to the library door, she just ran, only focusing on how to outrun him and how to run faster. For several moments, she began to wonder why she even thought it was a good idea to leave the STARS office in the first place…

Sherry felt better after that long hug. She hadn't had one in ages. Not to mention that she'd never hugged a stranger so tightly whom she barely has known for less than half an hour. Plus, she's never seen a grown man cry before. David didn't make a sound when he did. She just saw a few tears running down his cheeks as he simply smiled back at her once they broke their hug. Somehow, it made her feel much safer around David; protection she never had even from her own parents.

Still, she really missed them so much. She hadn't fully accepted her father's passing, but having looked back at the picture inside the locket had made her realize that the monster David had killed wasn't her dad anymore. However, something about him saying her name made it seem like… maybe he was still himself. Maybe whatever thing that turned him into a monster, didn't make him forget who he was before like all other zombies. It conflicted her, made her sad at the thought…

…until David took her out of her inner thoughts when he started to yell at someone from above the ladder that led up to somewhere she didn't know.

"Hey, it's me, David!"

There was a distant voice, another man that didn't sound anything familiar.

"Oh thank God you made it here!" The echoing voice said, and Sherry could sense the genuine relief of the other man himself.

Maybe they know each other?

David turned to face Sherry as she looked at him in curiosity, his eyes showered in light of relief.

"Climb up," he stated. "It's safe up here."

Sherry gave him a silent nod and after David got out, she followed him up. He then helped her up as he pulled one of her hands to finally reach the surface, which was a big garage, the same place in which she remembered her mother taking her the last time they visited the police station to meet up with Mr. Irons.

Once she was back on her feet, Sherry saw there were two other people on the other side of the oversized garage. One of them was a police officer while the other was an Asian-looking woman. The officer had short brown hair with fringes on each side, looking much more determined than many of the other officers she has seen in the building through the vents. The woman in a red cut dress looked somewhat stern, a face of hidden irritation that Sherry knew all about since she's seen the same look many times from her parents before.

She better not be mean like Mrs. Colburn from my math class.

"Ada, this is David Mason," the police officer said to the young woman in red as he introduced David to her. "David. Ada Wong."

"Hey there," David waved a hand at Ada, and she only smiled in return, though Sherry could tell it was a forced smile, making her not like her right away after that. She could tell she was one of those adults who loved to lie through a forced expression and say something that isn't truthful at all.

David grabbed Sherry on both shoulders from her left side behind her. He then looked down at her and began to speak to her before introducing her to the officer in front. "This is Leon Kennedy, an officer that me and another lady we met named, Claire, bumped into before getting to the station." He quickly turned back to the officer and continued. "Leon, this is Sherry. Found her after Claire and I got separated by that statue's secret mechanism door in the main hall."

Sherry smiled at them shyly and Leon smiled back at her, making Sherry feel like he wasn't half as bad as the other mean-looking lady in red.

"Hey, Sherry," he said softly. "You must be a brave girl to have survived here all by yourself. Where are your parents?"

Sherry felt a cold knot tighten in her stomach, the dread of just answering that question was hard for her to even speak of. Thankfully, David noticed her subtle discomfort in replying back to him with a proper answer and he immediately changed the subject with a look that tried telling Leon not to discuss it any further. Sherry wasn't a baby to not be able to read people's expressions. In addition, she's had quite a lot of experience, especially since her parents were mostly silent every time they'd come back from work and she'd have to make educated guesses on what their expressions showed or meant, basing some of her knowledge from movies and TV shows she used to watch while they were away.

"Sorry, um…" Leon seemed to be out of words about what else to say before he looked back and Ada was already moving ahead through an opened door without him. He began to rush at her and spoke with a raised voice, sounding almost completely irritated as he briefly grabbed her by the arm to get her attention. "Hey, you can't keep walking away from me!"

Ada looked back at Leon, quickly retracting her arm from him with a look of disgust as her brows narrowed in response.

"What's up with her?" David whispered loudly enough for Sherry to hear as he looked back at her, both of them looking confused at what was happening in front of them.

Leon immediately calmed himself down and then continued in a normal voice again, "Look, I know we all don't know each other well enough, but right now, we are the only survivors left." Leon looked back at the pair that were staring at them in bewilderment before putting his attention back to Ada, "There's a giant monster in a green trench coat that had been following me earlier just after arriving at the station. We need to stay and work together from now on."

Sherry's eyes widened at the immediate thought of another monster stalking other people. Not only was her own father trying to kill her as he tried following her throughout the station, but now she had to deal with a second one. Who knew if the second monster would end up killing any of the grown-ups she was with right now?

"A… giant monster?" She echoed back, her voice filled with the same anxiety she felt when running away from her own mutated father. Her body began trembling uncontrollably, her blood feeling as cold as ice. "…Another one?"

David crouched in front of her, taking quick notice of her inner fears as he stared at her intently, and began to reassure her as he put both hands on her shaking shoulders.

"I'm not gonna let anything bad happen to you," he said softly. "As long as we are together, we'll be fine. All we gotta do is be brave and strong. C'mon, let's go follow them, and maybe, we can find your mom along the way."

Sherry nodded slowly as David stood up and began walking towards the pair in front. She was still feeling scared about another monster, probably already knowing where they all are right now, but knowing that David was there to protect her made her have a sense of relief that she desperately craved since arriving at the station almost a whole week ago.

Be brave and strong. You got this.

As the four of them moved inside some sort of dampened hallway that was barely lit with a few lights, Sherry began to feel a deep sense of unease. She knew the back of the station was where they held a small jail for bad people, but it wasn't the sense of seeing a bad person inside that kept her scared as she followed David's back. It was something else…

…and she couldn't be quite sure if it was the feeling of that monster being near that the officer talked about. The growing dread and cold knot inside her stomach began to expand, but she tried doing what David said, his deep, yet pacifying voice inside her mind giving her the energy required for her to move. Sherry took a deep breath and continued, the oppressive feeling still there, but did not let her control her for as much as she could help it.

"Shh…" Ada held a hand in front of them as she raised her gun with the other. "You hear that?"

There was a loud thumping noise before a booming crash from somewhere ahead in the Z-shaped corridor was heard and everyone inside gasped almost altogether at the same time.

"GRRAAAA!" A violent, inhuman shriek suddenly erupted without warning.

David and Sherry exchanged worried looks, silently telling each other that the piercing shriek sounded familiar enough to them, but didn't want to quickly jump to conclusions just yet. Before long, there was a man that had begun to scream in fear as a response.

"No! Get away from me!" The panicked voice pleaded.

"Ben?!" Ada gasped loudly, almost having not realized that she most likely could've led the monster to their location as she recognized who the voice belonged to.

The man's voice had turned into a desperate cry for help before he was quickly silenced with a murderous beating that could be heard from across the hallway, making Sherry shudder in response as she looked back at David.

Leon and Ada decided to walk through the first turn of the corridor and check on the other edge of the next corner to see whether or not there was any hint as to what it was that may have killed the man that Sherry and David only knew as "Ben".

"It's coming this way! Hide!" Leon whispered loudly as both of them returned back to where David and Sherry were.

All four of them stood silent behind the right wall of the hallway, frozen and unmoving as they held their breaths almost to a complete stop, the loud wet thumping footsteps coming closer to them…

…and upon the thing that killed Ben finally came into view, Sherry was pierced with an internal scream that, even if she wanted to let it out, she simply couldn't.

Daddy?! No!

The sight of the monster itself was unbelievable as she knew it had to have been dead, killed by David himself. But the thing that used to be her dad was still alive, and he looked just as scary as he did before, his abnormally large arm was hanging limply and his other human-like hand had fresh blood all over it. Sherry could only assume it had to have been Ben that he had just killed. That was clear confirmation that it wasn't her dad anymore. If the monster had no problem killing someone as violently as it did just previously, it would have no problem doing the same to David or anyone else around her.

And maybe… I could be next!

"Sherrrrrrryyyy….!" The monster echoed loudly in a deep growl, sending Sherry into shivers that gave her so much pain inside her stomach filled with butterfly knots, she couldn't handle it anymore.

That thing used to be her dad, but it was a monster that was using her dad's memories against her and himself. As the three grown-ups stared at the monster that was seemingly entering a door next to it as it walked away for good, Sherry did not look back and quickly got out of there without anyone knowing. She did not feel the need to cry anymore. She had already accepted the fact that her father had passed away. The monster that sounded like him was simply just that: a monster. Nothing more, nothing less.

"Sherry? Sherry!" David's plea echoed throughout the garage a short moment after she made up her mind, but it was already too late.

Sherry had already gone through a ventilation shaft and immediately, she felt ashamed for leaving David behind without saying a word to him. However, she found some solace in the fact that, if she were to get out of there as far away as she could, it would be David's only chance; their only chance of surviving. The monster would always somehow know where she is so if she were to go back to the second floor and lead the murderous beast there, she'd be saving him the trouble of having to fight the unkillable beast ever again.

The shaft she had entered was slightly bigger than the one she tried going back in the last time. Though it was still big enough for her to go through the tight and winding darkness of the ventilation system, hoping that she could find a way back to the second floor somehow…

Author's Note: Alrighty! Just to get some things out of the way first...

Yes, I know Chris leaving behind a diary for almost anyone to read that explains quite a lot about what they've done behind the scenes is doing a bit too much on the unbelievable side of things. However, you also have to realize we are talking about the same guy who's been described even in OG RE1's manual to be quite careless, and young Chris was exactly that, at least in the original timeline prior to the modern remake timeline.

Meanwhile, you have Jill, who's almost the complete opposite of Chris as she never let her diary become easily accessible to any potentially prying eyes. We see this happen in OG RE3 too when she already has her diary with her, even hidden from the player until every file in the game is already collected lol.

Also, three more chapters to go before this enters into a temporary hiatus!

I've done at least up to Chapter 18, but there's still a lot of revising to do and already I'm becoming burned out by all the heavy writing and thinking. After Chapter 12, I'll be taking a break, just as I did on the last one, maybe around 1-3 months, depending. I should be almost done with it by then and will definitely continue uploading after that.

One more thing... and I know I keep repeating myself, but...

PLEASE! Please do let me know how you're liking it so far. You can even tell me what you don't like or what is something you think I should go for instead. I greatly appreciate the support I'm getting as the stats for this story mean that there are a lot of you out there that love reading all this nonsense I've been posting every week. XD Special thanks to Adam Luck and those of you who have followed and favorite this story since! I don't think I can be any more grateful!

Hope all my fellow Americans had a nice Thanksgiving dinner last week! Or a nice Black Friday shopping spree for that matter!

I got myself an Xbox Series S for $250 w/ a free $60 headset from Microsoft's online store. Stuff's a steal, I'll tell you that much! Hadn't jumped into the ninth gen console up until now and the loading speeds and performance of the system are beyond anything I had ever expected for a console at that price! Too bad I can't play any of my older disc-based games that I have accumulated over time for the OG Xbox and 360 (only have a few games for Xbox One that gamepass already has), but with all the digital titles I tested it with, I have to say, it's a pretty promising beast of a console! My monitor's an Asus 1080p w/ up to 144hz support so I have no issue with stuff like blurry graphics or non-4K content (I have a Vizio 4K TV with a PS4 Pro for that, even if it ain't native 4K).

Still need to play the new MWII. Heard the campaign is one of the best ones out there, save for a few missions like almost any CoD game out there anyway. Kinda regret selling my MW2019 copy now that I think about it. Should've at least played through the campaign to know more about the story and not focus my disappointment on its multiplayer when I did...