File #2
Zack's Trial
"You're gonna have to run that by me again," I said through gasps for air. I was suspected of bioterrorism. Me. The son of the former golden boy of the B.S.A.A.. That's right, my father is the legendary Chris Redfield. Now, I know what you're thinking, "Chris can't have kids! Because of the steroids he took before the Kijuju Incident!" Wrong. Dad never took steroids. Auntie Claire tells me it was just an obscene amount of gym time and protein powder. He had needed to in order to fight that bozo Albert Wesker hand to hand. Oh and speaking of Wesker, he had brainwashed my mother, Jill Valentine, and ordered her to attack my father and his partner at the time, a B.S.A.A. agent named Sheva Alomar. Dad and Sheva had saved Mom from Wesker's mind control and then saved the world because that's what Chris Redfield does.
What you actually should be thinking is how the hell I'm even here right now after what my Mom, not Dad, had been through. She had been injected with many different strains of the Progenitor Virus as well as something called P30. Dad told me that she was able to run up walls and do all sorts of crazy shit with it before he had ripped the injector/mind control device off. Mom wasn't sure she was able to have children after she and Dad officially got together. Well, clearly she was wrong sometimes. According to Dad, Mom had been ecstatic to find out she was pregnant with me and Jenna. Dad was present when Jenna and I were born on January 11th, 2010. Both Jenna and I were born with zero complications and had no traces of viruses in our systems. Mom tells me that I took a liking to her (she says I smiled at her first before anyone else) while Jenna went to Dad. I was told I still liked Dad when I was a baby but I usually fell asleep in Mom's arms. Speaking of my mom, I could see her standing a few yards away dressed in black pants, a maroon shirt and a black jacket with ¾ length sleeves. She wasn't wearing her typical blue beret on top of her side part layered bob hairstyle tonight but she was wearing an expression of pure anger. When Dad found her in Kijuju, her hair had been blonde but she quickly reverted it back to her natural brunette. She still looked pretty young for her age, not a single gray hair and her physique was as good as it was back in her S.T.A.R.S./B.S.A.A. days. Nowadays, she took on a more advisory/office position with the B.S.A.A. like Dad and Dad went missing on the way to Boston...3 months ago. Currently, Mom was being restrained by my Auntie Claire, Dad's sister. My Uncle Leon was restraining Jenna and, to an extent, Laura from charging forward as well. Again, I know what you might be thinking. "Leon's supposed to be with Ada!" Nah, that ship sailed after that whole C-Virus fiasco. I'll explain that in a sec. Right now, a giant douche/turd sandwich was telling me that I was under arrest.
"Did I stutter Redfield? You. Are under. Arrest," Xander said again, drawing his pistol and placing it against my head. Mom and Jenna yelled something that sounded like "DON'T YOU POINT THAT AT HIM!" but I couldn't really tell as their words were drenched in anger. You did not want to be present when Jenna Redfield or Jill Valentine (officially, she is Jill Redfield but it's easier to use her maiden name, just go with it) were angry. Trust me. Dad and I would know.
"DID I FUCKING STUTTER WHEN I ASKED AS TO WHY?!" Reaper shouted back.
Xander ignored this and pistol whipped me in the face. I glanced toward Reaper with double vision who looked like he was about to tackle Xander. I also saw that Mom was beside herself with rage.
"YOU COWARD!" Auntie Claire shouted angrily.
"YOU...DARE PISTOL WHIP MY BROTHER!" Jenna yelled at Xander attempting to wriggle free of Uncle Leon but Uncle Leon was a tad too strong for her even though he was in his late 50s.
"HEY, ASSHOLE. Tell us why you are threatening my nephew or Jill will MAKE you. You do realize that you just pistol whipped her son right?" Uncle Leon said, adjusting his grip on Jenna's arm. Mom cracked her knuckles. I saw Xander's eyes widen in fear which made me happy. Many people knew that Mom was still able to hold her own in hand-to-hand combat despite her age.
"Fine. We have received intel connecting little Zacky here to the outbreak his squad just contained. It shouldn't have been necessary to blow up that building if it wasn't for him. Know how many people you killed Redfield? Around 100, give or take" Xander said coolly.
"Hey genius, you were the one that gave us the intel to go there. Why did you send me if I supposedly did it?" I responded and got to my feet but kept my hands in the air.
"The intel came in shortly after you left, wise guy. It's a video clearly showing you taking payment and releasing what looks like an airborne virus into the building's air vents" Xander said.
"And does this video have a time stamp? Or did you draw it with crayons? Wait no, you've upgraded to finger paints right?" I responded. Laura and Mom smirked. Xander scowled. Good. Jackass.
"Yes Redfield. It was recorded about 2 days ago. You were still on vacation at that time, correct? Some vacation, killing innocent people," Xander said smugly and kept his gun pointed at me. Mom was about to go ballistic. No one threatens Jill Valentine's son in front of her. NO ONE. I tried calming her with a look. She must have thought I looked like dad in the moonlight because she stopped struggling against Auntie Claire's grip.
"Yep. That's where I was. In upstate New York with my virus. Ya hear that guys, Zack REDFIELD decided to go rogue and kill innocent people. Oh wait, hang on a sec...yeah yeah, I was actually at my apartment doing the exact opposite of that," I said.
"Pfft, can anyone confirm that?" Xander asked.
"Yes, I can. I was there," Laura said. I saw Mom glance at Laura and then back to me. I saw her smile. I went to smile back but you know...a douche was standing nearby and he was kinda killin my vibe.
"I can confirm it too. I straight up saw him on his apartment balcony that evening with Laura," Jenna added. Oh, so by "busy" she meant "seeing if my brother is smart enough to know when a girl likes him."
"Oh like I'm going to believe that garbage from your little girlfriend and your sister Redfield," Xander retorted.
"I mean it sounds more believable than what you're telling us. So far, your evidence boils down to 'trust me, bro.' Is this what you've been doing these past 3 months? Trying to frame me for something I didn't do?! MY DAD COULD BE DEAD FOR ALL YOU KNOW AND YOU'RE DOING FUCKING NOTHING ABOUT IT! I'VE SEEN YOU. YOU JUST SIT IN YOUR OFFICE BOSSING THE INTERNS AROUND FOR 5 HOURS AND THEN YOU GO HOME! TELL HIS WIFE. TELL HER TO HER FACE RIGHT NOW!" I yelled. That got Mom's and Auntie Claire's attention. Jenna looked just as angry.
"WHAT?! I HAVEN'T HEARD FROM CHRIS IN 3 MONTHS YOU BASTARD!" Mom yelled and tried to break out of Auntie Claire's grip. Auntie Claire almost let her. Almost.
"YOU'RE DOING NOTHING TO FIND HIM?!" Auntie Claire shouted. Xander clenched his fist.
"The B.S.A.A. is doing all it can to find Chris Redfield,"
"NO, YOU'RE DOING THE BARE MINIMUM," I yelled at him. Xander shoved his pistol in my face again but this time I was ready. I grabbed the gun and wrenched it from his hand in one fluid motion before throwing it over near the roof access door.
"Fetch," I said.
"I don't have the time for this Zacky boy. Take him to lock up to await trial. I still can't believe this. The son of one of the best B.S.A.A. soldiers, a traitor. Chris would be so ashamed of you," Xander said. That did it. I saw red. Pure unadulterated rage came over me. How dare he say my dad's name in front of me.
"Zack! NO!" Uncle Leon yelled but it was too late. I shoved Xander's personal guards away and rugby tackled Xander to the ground and started punching him in the face over and over with all my might. Every ounce of rage I had went into every strike. I think I broke his nose. Soon, I felt Laura's gentle hands pull me off of Xander. I was still struggling to resume my punching of him.
"DON'T YOU EVER TALK ABOUT HIM IN FRONT OF ME!" I screamed.
"Easy Zack," Laura said, squeezing my shoulder affectionately. It was enough to make me stop struggling. That surprised me. Mom was the only person that was able to calm me down with just a touch. Xander got up off the ground with a bloody and bruised face and looked at me with pure disgust.
"You'll pay Redfield. Ferguson, take him to the holding area. That's an order" Xander snarled at Reaper.
"You do not get to tell me what to do lieutenant," Reaper snarled and pointed at his Captain's patch. Xander faltered.
"I will do no such thing. Laddie, I order you to go home when you're ready. Zack will stand trial for the accusation, because I assume you already started the process. Oh and guess who's going to actually go looking for Mr. Redfield tomorrow at 0600 hours? Give up? It's you. Now get out of my sight before I let Jill and Claire beat you senseless." See, this is why I liked Reaper. He actually gives a shit about us. I was a little annoyed at the trial comment but knowing Xander, Reaper was right. Dude loved convicting people for crimes. Xander went to yell at Reaper but Reaper had been ready
"Go ahead, keep talking. I dare ya. You will wait for me downstairs where we're going to have a little chat about who we're supposed to point our guns at. That's an order. Go. Now," he said pointing at the door to the roof. Xander motioned to his men to follow him and they left the roof.
Uncle Leon was the first to break the silence on the roof. He had since released Jenna who was standing off to the side, speaking with Reaper and Oni. Jenna was indeed fuming. I don't think she knew that Xander wasn't making an effort to find dad.
"Stupid question Zack. But you didn't do it right?" he asked me. I raised my eyebrows at him. Auntie Claire did too.
"Really Leon?" she said. "Zack wouldn't do that."
"I said it was a stupid question" Uncle Leon said "But I wanted to confirm it." Auntie Claire shoved him slightly. I've seen them doing this my entire life. Oh! Now that there's not a douche in my face, I can explain how Auntie Claire and Uncle Leon got together. First, there was the matter of that Ada person. Yes, Uncle Leon had harbored feelings for her since about 1998ish when she had kissed him on an underground train or something. He'd run into her again during his mission to Europe and then there was that whole C-Virus thing back in like 2013ish but hadn't seen her since. Here's the thing, Auntie Claire was smitten with him pretty much immediately when they met in Raccoon City but Uncle Leon was a tad dense when it came to reading signals. I often joked that since he was so bad at reading signals he shouldn't be allowed to drive. Uncle Leon and Auntie Claire had also secured a young Sherry Birkin from Raccoon City who had thought they were dating. More on Sherry later. Trust me, it's a doozy. This is where Dad comes in. Apparently, he's an absolute riot when he's drunk…'cept for that one time back in 2013 where he also had PTSD/amnesia and Mom had to beg some guy named Piers to find him. That was another time Dad went missing but the B.S.A.A. had a general idea of where he was that time but that's besides the point. According to Uncle Leon, Dad was hell bent on getting him to date and eventually marry Auntie Claire. He kept saying something about preserving the Redfield bloodline. This has to have been before Mom and Dad-...shit, I just grossed myself out. Anyway, what was surprising was that he was pretty vulgar with these supposed statements and he called himself stuff like Chris "Make sure to become my brother in law or I'll just break your jaw" Redfield or Chris "Knock up my sis or you'll catch these fists" Redfield. There were also a lot of really raunchy ones too...like one involving a French pastry. Fuckin' gross Dad. Come on. Uncle Leon had ignored these comments as he was still fixated on Ada at the time. When Ada bounced, Auntie Claire met back up with Uncle Leon and he decided to give it a shot with her. You can see how that turned out. They married shortly after and had 2 kids in the following years, my younger cousins, Glenn and Christine. Christine has ambitions of being a famous fantasy writer and has, in fact, gotten some of her stories published even though she's barely over 20 years old. I've read at least 2 of them. They were really just retellings of our parents' missions set in her fantasy world of Mioso where the protagonists were caricatures of our parents. Quite entertaining to be honest. I recommend the one called "Terror in the Ykrala Mountains" mainly because she wrote the rock punching barbarian party member to be like Dad. Mom found this very amusing and started calling Dad the character's name for a time. Dad tolerated it because it made Mom happy and Jenna laugh. Right, enough backstory, back to the current situation. Laura helped me regain my composure as Mom came over to help.
"Hi sweetie," Mom said and hugged me before whispering. "I like her. She's cute," I nodded and Mom let me go and started to brush dirt off my gear. She had noticed my bloody scythe shaped knife and tensed.
"5 bioterrorists. All dead," I said, answering her unasked question. "What are you guys doing here anyway?"
"We were seeing how the search for your father was going. Apparently, absolutely nowhere" Auntie Claire said angrily. She was possibly the only other person that loved my dad as much as my mom did...minus the physical stuff...dammit, I just grossed myself out AGAIN. I noticed Mom's eyes begin to water and I placed my hand on her shoulder.
"If Xander won't find him, I will. I promise," I told her and she ran her thumb across my cheek and I hugged her. See? I loved my mom. Don't judge me, asshole.
"Yeah, about that. You did just attack a senior officer," Oni said, trying his best to tell the truth without sounding like a dick.
"These are facts but the BASTARD GOADED ME! I KNOW IT!" I yelled.
"Chris, relax" Mom said before realizing what she had called me, looked away quickly and started crying silently. Like I said, I look pretty much the same as my dad except with a chin goatee...plus I wasn't exactly built like a tree like he was. Dad still maintained his physique like Mom had. Mom must have been reminded of Dad's old temper back during their time in the RCPD. Auntie Claire, Uncle Leon and Jenna had also noticed this slip up and Jenna went to console Mom.
"It's ok. We know you miss him mom. They'll find him. Reaper's gonna make sure of that," she said and turned to Reaper.
"Aye. I'll be keeping an eye on Xander now that I know what's really going on. But he's right Zack, there could be punishment for attacking Xander. I get to serve as one of the judges as I am your direct superior. We might be able to argue that you were goaded into attacking him. Xander's also going to have to answer for pulling a gun on you for no actual reason as well. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go have a chat with Xander about protocol and manners plus I gotta get this info to the guys and gals in the lab. They'll want to see what we saw," Reaper said and made his way toward the roof access door.
"I'll take care of the report. We know you didn't do it Zack," Oni reassured me and followed Reaper.
"What did you see? Bugs? Guy with a chainsaw attached to his arm? Zombies?...Girl zombies? Were they hot?" Uncle Leon asked. Auntie Claire hit him in the chest again, rolling her eyes.
"Zombies mainly and none of them were itching to get to Bingo Night," I said.
"Very funny," Uncle Leon said as Auntie Claire started laughing. I looked at Jenna. She looked back and we had a silent conversation as to whether or not to tell them about what or who the zombies looked like. Eventually we decided to. Mom would want to hear it from us rather than someone in the lab.
"We encountered zombies as Zack said but they were different from what any of you have seen before," Jenna began.
"Oh please. Claire and I killed Sherry's mutated father on a moving train back in '98. Guy had rows of teeth and multiple eyes." Uncle Leon said.
"Hold the phone...Sherry. Like Sherry Birkin right?" I asked as my face began to turn red and Auntie Claire noticed. Why, you ask? Again, I'll tell you later.
"Yes, Zack. That Sherry." Auntie Claire said, smiling at me.
"But continue," Auntie Claire added, thankfully not bringing attention to my red face.
"Right...um...zombies. Yes, so they looked pretty much like standard t-Virus infected. You know, slow, moaning a lot, trying to grab you and chow down on your neck. But...but their faces looked like they were...fused with someone else's" I said hoping the next person to speak wasn't…
"Who's exactly," Mom asked. I looked at Jenna who looked just as scared as me at the moment but I decided to take the bullet.
"Dad's. They looked exactly like dad from one side." I said and wasn't surprised to see Mom's face switch between confusion, anger and worry in rapid succession. Auntie Claire had gripped Uncle Leon's shoulder and he winced slightly.
"They were strong too. Lot of them looked very skinny but they were ripping doors off hinges and we had trouble breaking their grips. None of us were bitten thank God but there were a lot of close calls," Jenna added.
"Where were you Zack?" Mom asked me.
"He was outside saving me from some Disciples of Azrael guys. They had caught me off guard as I was guarding Zack as he was looking through the shed where those zombies attacked him. I managed to shoot one of them but the other 4 got around my defenses and started to drag me away. I broke free and began to fight one of them. I eventually dispatched him before being incapacitated. Zack took out the other 3 with minimum effort and saved me. You trained your son well Mrs. Redfield." Laura said, giving me a small smile. Mom did too.
"Call me Jill dear," Mom said to Laura before turning back to me. "Does Reaper know about these BOWs?"
"Yeah, he just went to give the data to the guys in the lab." I said knowing exactly what Mom was going to say next.
"I'm going to go see this for myself. Not that I don't believe you but I need to see this. This is the first time I've heard anything about him for months," she said and I noticed her eyes begin to water again.
"Maybe we'll finally get a lead now. You still have me and Jenna mom," I said. Mom hugged me again and kissed my cheek.
"I know, I'll see you later, ok? I assume you want us all there as moral support?"
"Obviously"
"That's my Zack. I love you sweetie," Mom said.
"Love you too mom," I answered. Mom, Auntie Claire and Uncle Leon left Jenna, Laura and I on the roof.
"Aww look Laura, Zack loves his mommy. Ain't that cute?" Jenna said, pinching my cheek. I batted her hand away. Laura smiled.
"Headed home Zack?" Laura asked me as I myself started to walk towards the door.
"Pretty much yeah." I hesitated but I saw Jenna mouth "don't chicken out." "Wanna come?" I asked Laura. She smiled warmly.
"I thought you'd never ask. I expect different songs tonight though," she said and grabbed my arm. Together we walked through B.S.A.A. HQ, slowing down slightly to hear Reaper giving Xander a piece of his mind in front of Xander's direct superior. The superior had noticed me.
"Go home Zack, take tomorrow off too. You as well Chambers. We need the courtroom tomorrow for Xander's own hearing," she said, nodding at both of us. Ahh, justice. Laura and I went to the garage where my motorcycle was parked. I gave Laura my helmet while I went helmetless.
"You sure you'll be alright?" she said, pulling the helmet over her head.
"Yeah, just hold on to me," I responded, starting the bike's ignition. It roared to life, echoing throughout the empty garage
"Not a problem at all cutie," Laura said and wrapped her arms around my waist. I kicked the bike into gear and headed off to my apartment.
The following day? Best day of my life lemme tell ya. Laura and I had spent it just hanging out in my apartment watching TV, playing music, roasting Xander and...well...she had kissed me and asked if we were official now. It felt right to be honest so I said yes. I had been deprived of a woman's touch for so long that it felt really nice feeling her lips against mine. I found myself waking up next to her on the day I was supposed to attend the hearing for my supposed bioterrorism attack and assault on Xander. Laura was still sleeping and I jumped into the shower. I had been in the middle of thinking of new things to call Xander when I thought I heard the door open and close.
"Made in Heaven? Yeah. Makes sense to me," I heard a female voice from behind me say. I turned to see Laura standing there. Naked. Everything about her body was perfect. Everything. She must have noticed the tattoo on my back. It was of an angel holding a bomb with rows of other bombs below it. Above the angel read the words "Made in Heaven." She had a few of her own as well. She had a tattoo half sleeve on her right arm of a plague doctor. Heh...ironic. There was also a tribal looking one on her shin. As for me, I also had a tattoo sleeve but mine was a full sleeve on my right arm of, you guessed it, a scarecrow. My other arm had a banshee on it. You can probably guess what Jenna's tattoos were as well.
"Well, good morning Zack," she said seductively and rubbed one hand across my chest and grabbed my crotch with the other. I inhaled sharply and Laura giggled.
"Uh *ahem* good morning" I said, very aware of how good her touch felt. She noticed. Mainly because...you know.
"See anything you like?" she asked me with her hand still on my crotch. I nodded and she bit her lip. Fuckin hot.
"I figured you'd like your girlfriend to join you and provide some stress relief," Laura said as she started stroking and then kissed me. I instinctively grabbed one of- Wait...You can probably guess how that whole thing went. I'll spare you the details. I will say this. Both of us. Same time.
I had decided to at least look somewhat nice and picked out some khakis, a black shirt and a gray sport coat. Laura, who was wearing one of my old college hoodies, looked me up and down as I came into the sitting area.
"I do like a well dressed man," she said and kissed me again. "Good luck, ok? I'll see you there. Jenna's on her way to give me a ride back to my place but I know you need to be there early. Please control your temper."
"Yes ma'am" I responded, grabbing my keys off the hook. I arrived back at B.S.A.A. New York within a half hour. My trial wasn't supposed to begin for another hour but I needed to be there early so that I was following protocol. I decided to kill some time in the waiting room by reading Christine's most recent story she had sent me after filling out some paperwork and taking the oath. After reading it for a few minutes, I realized that this one was based on Mom's escape from Raccoon City and some bioweapon named Nemesis. It was exciting. Much more action packed than the one I had read before. I was about to shoot Christine a message when a female voice called my name.
"Corporal Redfield? The board will see you now," I rose, took a deep breath and walked inside the courtroom. It was pretty much exactly like a modern day courtroom except slightly smaller. As I walked toward the defendant's table, I noticed quite a few familiar faces in the crowd. Mom, Laura and Jenna were seated together right behind the defendant's table with Auntie Claire and Uncle Leon behind them. What was surprising was that I saw the brown curly haired head of my cousin Christine sitting next to Uncle Leon. She must have wanted to come and see how much of a dick Xander really is. Oni was sitting nearby as well, stroking his goatee. Reaper was seated along with a couple other officers as well as Xander, who also had a black eye along with his broken nose. I should have felt happy about that but I knew that the more damage I had done to Xander, the worse trouble I'll be in. I took my seat as the "judge", Major Monika Wolf (Xander's direct superior), took her seat at the bench.
"Morning Zack," she said, smiling slightly at me and taking out some files.
"Morning ma'am," I answered.
"Well, this shouldn't take long. According to this report filed by Lt. Evan Xander, you stand accused of bioterrorism. How do you plead?" Major Wolf asked me.
"Not guilty," I responded confidently.
"We have video proof of this ma'am if you would be so kind as to show it. Let's see how mommy's going to react to you killing innocent people Redfield," Xander snarled at me and went to pull up the video on the screen. I said nothing but I did clench my fists angrily and grinded my teeth. A video had begun to play on the screen near Major Wolf's head. It was some security cam footage of that building my squad and I had infiltrated and blew up 2 days ago. I could see that the building was actually some kind of office building as I saw quite a lot of people in suits and ties going in and out. The shed I had investigated was off to the side. I raised my eyebrows at this, waiting to see when "I" would make an appearance. Sure enough a figure that looked very much like me had entered the frame and had leaned up against the nearby fence. The figure looked like he was waiting for someone. Eventually 5 people walked up to him and handed him 2 briefcases. The figure opened one which was full of money and then the other, which contained a single canister of what looked like an airborne pathogen. The figure shook the leader's hand, who I recognized as Yuri, and they walked off. The scene fast forwarded to what looked like that afternoon where I watched the figure kick open the HVAC system of the building and toss the canister inside. The scene shifted again to all out chaos. People were being devoured by the newly created zombies. The video had no sound but I could imagine the screaming. The worst part, the camera had planned over to my doppelganger and he was clearly laughing amusedly at the carnage and walked out of frame. The video ended after that and Xander turned to me.
"There you go, Major Wolf. Clear proof that Redfield caused that outbreak," he said.
"Corporal, how do you respond?" Major Wolf asked me.
"Really? You think that guy in the video was me? Since when do I wear my name on my back like I'm a baseball player?" I said looking at Xander.
"It's you! I know it's you Redfield!" he snarled back.
"Again, I was at my apartment with Miss Laura Chambers on the night in question. I recognize the date in the corner. Jenna can prove that as well. Literally anyone who knows me knows that I would never do something like that," I said. I heard Mom and Laura whispering behind me. I caught a bit of what they were saying. Laura was telling her about the songs I had played that night. Mom sounded excited because of course she did. She always told me that I had a nice singing voice.
"Then explain the gun! That is your specific rifle!" Xander said angrily.
"That, my guy, was an Mk 14 EBR. I do not use that rifle. Mine is an M21 a.k.a. The Remington MSR. My rifle also has ghillie suit-like material on it which that guy's did not have," I responded calmly.
"How much were you paid?! For killing all those people?!" Xander said, becoming more and more agitated at my continued calmness. I shrugged.
"I don't know. Because I. DIDN'T. DO IT." I said looking him dead in the eye. "Also if the guy in the video is me, where are the B.S.A.A. patches? Plus why am I wearing a pair of Chucks?"
"YOU-" Xander began but Major Wolf cut him off.
"That's enough Evan. Corporal Redfield has stated his defence. I spoke with Private Chambers and Private First Class Redfield earlier and their stories match. Captain Ferguson has also vouched for him. Says he's a dedicated soldier, like his father was. Speaking of his father, Evan, any news to report?" Xander's eyes narrowed.
"No. I searched his last known location but no one had seen or made contact with Chris Redfield. A search party was dispatched to the area this morning. Happy?" he said, still keeping his eyes on me.
"Not until my mom is. And the only way that happens is if you walk through the door with Chris Redfield," I said, folding my arms. Mom patted my shoulder affectionately. Major Wolf meanwhile had turned to the panel of senior officers.
"Jury, please talk amongst yourself on this matter," she said. The panel of officers, including Xander and Reaper, began chatting. In the meantime I replayed the video in my mind. That guy looked like me, but only from the back. He had never shown his front to the camera. I also thought he was a little taller than I was and I was about 5' 11". The figure looked like he was 6' 1" judging by his height compared to a nearby fence. Minutes passed as I sat at the table in silence. At least it was cool in this room, I had removed my sports coat. The tattoos on my arms were on display. Eventually, the jurors had stopped conversing and Major Wolf spoke,
"Has the jury reached a verdict?" she asked. One of the officers stood up and as I saw him do so, I caught a glimpse of Reaper's face. It wasn't good. Oh fuck.
"Yes ma'am. On Corporal Zackary Redfield's charge of bioterrorism, we the jury find him not guilty due to insufficient evidence," the officer said. I breathed a sigh of relief before realizing that Reaper was still pissed and Xander stood up.
"While I don't agree with the rest of my colleagues about this ruling as that was Redfield on the video-"
"Oi, that clearly wasn't him ya little scrote. Again, when did we start displaying our names on our backs?" Reaper interrupted angrily.
"BE THAT AS IT MAY, Corporal Redfield attacked and injured me. I still believe there should be punishment for that Major Wolf? We have, on record, that he is known to have quite a temper. He must get that from his father," Xander continued. Mom and I both stood up angrily but I felt Laura's hands on my shoulders easing me back to my seat. I could see that Jenna was doing the same to Mom.
"That's enough Evan. Zack, is this true?" Major Wolf asked me. Reluctantly I nodded. Major Wolf went to open her mouth but Xander interrupted
"Hold it Major, being that it was me he attacked and that I outrank him, I get to assign him punishment. Let's see ...Stripped of his position on Spectre Team….suspended for a week….and desk duty under Kimi Shinji until your temper improves Redfield," Xander said smugly.
"FUCKIN WHAT?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" I shouted at him against my better judgement but I didn't care. I was stripped of everything I had worked for because I had punched him in the face for being a dick towards my dad?! Xander was looking at the other officers with a smug look on his face. He was clearly saying "see what I mean?" Major Wolf had the decency to look just as shocked as I was.
"Redfield, calm down. Evan is right. My hands are tied" Major Wolf told me but still studied Xander with the intensity of an actual wolf. I glanced behind me. Mom was just as outraged as me along with Laura and Jenna. Oni looked like he was ready to kick Xander through a wall. Uncle Leon was holding the bridge of his nose while Auntie Claire and Christine were glaring at the panel of officers.
"CALM DOWN? OH MAN, WHAT AN IDEA. WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT!" I shouted. I was beyond thinking clearly at this point.
"Don't make it worse for yourself Zacky boy" Xander said.
"OPEN YOUR FUCKING MOUTH AGAIN DOUCHE BAG AND I'LL BREAK MORE THAN JUST YOUR NOSE!" I yelled at him. Reaper was begging me to calm down with a series of gestures and facial expressions. I ignored him.
"Redfield, leave. Now. That's an order" Xander said glaring at me. I glared back but didn't move. What I wouldn't give to shoot him in the face right there in front of everybody.
"Laddie, go." I heard Reaper say calmly. This time I listened. I saw Reaper looking at me with an expression that said "I'll handle these idiots." I nodded and turned to leave. Reaper began arguing with the rest of the officers.
"Chris, wait" Mom said, getting up and grabbing my shoulders. There it was. She did it again and she knew it too. I threw her hands off my shoulders but regretted doing so immediately. I hated seeing Mom upset.
"He's still missing, thanks to that FUCKING WASTE OF SPACE," I said pointing at Xander's back. I barely noticed anyone else on my way out of the room. When I reached the door, I didn't just push it open and walk out. Oh no. I was so angry that I had just raised my fist and punched it clear off its hinges. The noise it made reverberated throughout the courtroom. I can't believe this, the son of the legendary Chris Redfield, Spectre Squad's top marksman and hand-to-hand combat expert, was demoted. Stripped of everything he had worked for. I got back on my bike and rode towards my apartment. This day had started out with sex in the shower with my new girlfriend and then turned into utter garbage because of one man.
Fuck Evan Xander.
