File #3
Punishment Leads to Pain
I pretty much punched my apartment door off its hinges too. I was PISSED. Not only was that douchey motherfucker not finding my dad, he goaded me into attacking him so he could strip me of my status. I also felt shitty as I had promised Laura about 2 hours ago in this very room that I could control myself. Way to go Zack. You absolute class clown. I glanced toward the TV where I had a video game console hooked up.
"Perhaps some gaming might help me clear my head," I said to myself and booted it on. Growing up, we were allowed to play video games but not the super violent ones (unless Dad was there. Don't tell my mom). I was in the middle of playing a brutal fighting game as a lightning god named Arashi when I heard a knock on the door. I paused the game and got up to answer it. As I expected, it was Mom, Laura, Jenna, Uncle Leon, Auntie Claire and Christine.
"What," I snarled. "Come to scold me about that little outburst I just had? Because if so, there's the exit." I pointed over their shoulders and turned away.
"Dude, we agree with you," Christine said.
"We wanted to make sure you weren't going to do anything stupid," Jenna said walking in and glancing at the TV. "Ah, I see you have found a nice way of relieving stress," she added but turned it and the game system off. Mom was looking around the apartment as if she was looking for something. I figured I knew what it was when she looked at Uncle Leon who had shaken his head once. Auntie Claire gestured to the closed wall safe where my own custom Samurai Edge pistol Dad had commissioned for me now rested. Oh...that's what they really wanted to check on...
"Mom, that was 10 ye-"
"I DON'T CARE! DO YOU KNOW HOW OFTEN I THINK OF WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED?!" Mom suddenly yelled just as loud as I had back at the B.S.A.A. HQ and grabbed me by the lapels. "YOUR FATHER THINKS ABOUT IT TO! WE NEARLY LOST YOU!" Mom continued, shaking me slightly. "I NEARLY LOST MY BABY!" Her voice cracked a little on the last word which made me feel terrible so I hugged her again. That seemed to have helped. It usually did. I am a momma's boy after all and Mom knew it. Laura looked confused but walked over.
"Zack…" Laura started to say before she must have put 2 and 2 together and gasped before looking at Uncle Leon and Auntie Claire. Uncle Leon nodded. I did too.
"Here's the sparknotes. I was emotionally abused by a girl. Pretty bad. Got to the point where I nearly took my own life," I told her. Laura currently had her hands over her mouth pretty much in shock. Mom moved a strand of hair out of my face and then kissed my forehead. I also think about what would have happened if the shot didn't miss...I couldn't do that to Mom...or Jenna...or Dad.
"Lucky Chris was able to get the door open with one kick. First time I ever saw him that terrified. Jill, it's ok. He's fine," Uncle Leon said. Mom released me and went to sit on my couch next to Jenna. There wasn't a person holding onto me for a grand total of 3 seconds after Mom released me because Laura had grabbed me and I could hear her sobbing quietly. I thought I heard her say "you have me now."
"Whoa whoa wait, I think I've seen something like this before" Uncle Leon said, smirking at Mom who returned his smile. I was confused.
"What are you talking about?" I asked. I had moved myself and Laura to the couch so that I sat next to Mom and Jenna.
"Perhaps I was wrong about you taking after Chris, Zack. He wasn't very good at noticing when his partner/squadmate clearly had feelings for him" Uncle Leon said.
"Still took him a year to notice. Plus I had to help," Jenna said.
"Ok, now it's just getting creepy. Cause I had to help your dad figure it out too" Uncle Leon said.
"Didn't you and Dad meet at RCPD...before it was nuked that is…" I asked Mom.
"Well yeah, that's true. But there was much more to that. I suppose you should know why I love your father so much. Go ahead Leon," she said leaning against my other shoulder.
For the following part, I will use my parents' real names along with dropping "Uncle" from Uncle Leon. It will help you understand it a tad better. Anyway, here we go.
Leon pulled the door of the pub open as a gust of wind hit him in the back. He pulled up the collar of his leather jacket as he walked in the bar and started to look around. The door closed behind him with a snap and a few of the patrons looked up from their drinks or away from the baseball game on the TV. It was a pretty decent bar, not a shithole or anything like that. Just a run of the mill sports bar. Leon scanned the crowd until he spotted a man with broad shoulders and huge muscles. A blonde woman was seated next to him wearing jeans and a tank top. Leon smirked and made his way over to their table. The blonde woman had heard him coming and turned in her seat
"There he is!" she said, patting the man on the shoulder.
"Evening Jill….Chris" Leon said as Chris turned around a tad slower than he usually would. Leon could see that Chris had drunk a few shots of whisky already. Must be trying to forget what he had seen on his assignment in Africa. He wasn't plastered but he looked a little buzzed.
"Hey Jill, look! It's my brother in law!" Chris said, gesturing at Leon. Leon sighed. He knew this would happen. It always did whenever Chris was drinking.
"Chris, we've been over this. Claire and I aren't together," Leon said to Chris as he sat down.
"Well why the fuck not! She's already got 3 cats and named one of them Albert Whiskers. ALBERT WHISKERS LEON," Chris shouted rather loudly and went to grab Leon's collar
"No she doesn't Chris," Jill said, easing Chris's hands away from Leon. A waiter came over and Leon ordered a drink.
"So, you aren't dead. Chris was right. I heard that he spent 3 years looking for you after you supposedly sacrificed yourself for him," Leon said. He noticed Jill look over at Chris with adoration. How could this man not see it? It was so blatantly obvious.
"Yeah. I found my best friend being controlled by Wesker! Can you believe that? Wesker! I thought he died back in Antarctica but there he was, in the Spencer mansion...just being a DICK!" Chris said, slurring a few of the words slightly. Jill was trying to get Chris to drink some water but Chris ignored her for the moment.
"I just saved the world about a week ago by the way. Wesker BITCH ASS was gonna release this thing called Uroboros all over the world but me and Sheva killed the shit out of him! It was awesome! I EVEN PUNCHED A BOULDER. A FUCKING HUGE BOULDER LEON," Chris continued. Leon just sat there nodding. A few more drinks and Chris would be pretty much incoherent.
"He's not making that up right? The boulder thing I mean," he asked Jill as Chris finally started chugging the glass of water Jill had placed in front of him. Jill shook her head.
"Unfortunately no," Jill said.
"This man, for real, punched a boulder?" Leon asked. "Bullshit."
"Yes, I watched it happen from the helicopter I was in…" Jill began and then muttered something under her breath. Leon swore she had added "it was so fucking hot." Leon decided not to bring that part up...yet
"So, Wekser's dead I assume?" he asked.
"Yeah! Thanks to me! Chris 'Take Claire on a honeymoon to Dubai or I'll unload on you the Samurai' Redfield!" Chris said glaring at Leon. Leon decided to take matters into his own hands. He was getting a tad annoyed whenever Chris did this. Plus Jill looked pretty miserable, probably because Chris wasn't holding her in his arms.
"Alright Big Guy, answer me this. How the hell have you not realized that Jill is in love with you?" Leon asked. He got the reaction that he was hoping for. Chris seemed to have sobered up instantaneously.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Chris said, trying to focus on Leon.
"Come on Chris. She's been in love with you since you met at RCPD. Claire told me about her conversions with Jill," Leon said. Jill looked a little panicked but Leon reassured her with a look.
"AHA! So you are seeing my sister! When's the wedding?! Am I gonna be an uncle?!" Chris asked. Seems the whisky hadn't quite had it's fair share of words yet.
"Chris, listen to me. Who saved you from that cell in the Arklay mansion? Who relentlessly searched for you after Raccoon City? Who started the B.S.A.A. with you? Who was worried sick about you and dropped everything to look for you in the Mediterranean when you were supposedly missing? Who did you apparently just save from Wesker's mind control? Chris, buddy, open your eyes. Jill basically killed herself to save you," Leon answered, pointing his chin at Jill. She looked rather surprised that Leon knew all that information but she took a deep breath and turned to face Chris.
"Leon's right Chris. I am in love with you. Do you know how happy I was when the first person I saw after being free from Wesker was the man I've loved for years? And he was holding me in his arms so tenderly..." she said, caressing Chris's cheek. Chris looked beyond confused.
"But...but...but we're bestest friends Jill! And how did you know all that Kennedy?" he managed to say before Jill threw caution to the wind and kissed him on the cheek. Chris looked from Leon to Jill and back as if trying to make sense of it all.
"Claire told me half of that and Jill told me the other half...while drunk at 3am over the phone begging me to help you realize what's been in front of you for like 10 years. Jill is in love with you. You feel the same way about her. You know I'm right Chris. Claire knows you are too," Leon said, leaning back in his chair and sipping his drink. Chris seemed to understand what was going on. As if he just remembered that he also had searched high and low for Jill after her supposed death and all that other crap Leon had just told him.
"Jill...I...I think Leon's right...I love you too…" Chris said, rubbing his head before looking at Jill. Jill smiled warmly, wrapped her arms around him and sighed contentedly.
"Finally," Jill said and kissed him on the mouth. Chris seemed surprised at first but returned the gesture of affection. They broke apart and Jill laid her head against Chris's shoulder.
"I'm not being Punk'd or Yank'd or Bamboozled or whatever the kids call it these days am I?" Chris asked, still a tad buzzed. Jill giggled.
"No Chris. You are mine now though. No more talking to that girl from the office," Jill said, patting his cheek. Chris grinned.
"She didn't save me from a cell in a mansion," he responded. Leon finished his drink and smacked his lips.
"Welp, my work here is done. Enjoy your time off Chris. It was nice seeing you. Thanks for saving the world and all that jazz. We're even now I think. I got Saddler and you got Wesker." Leon said, getting to his feet and looking at his phone which had just buzzed. He had a message from Ingrid Hunnigan regarding an important matter that needed his attention. "Gotta run,"
Leon walked to the door of the pub and glanced back toward Chris and Jill. Jill was now sitting across Chris's lap leaning against him rather lovingly. She had caught Leon's eye and mouthed the words "thank you." Leon smiled to himself and waved back.
"There ya go Big Guy. You can carry on your bloodline like that. As for me and Claire? No thanks...bro" he said as he pushed the door open and walked outside.
"And I of course ate those words I said about Claire a few years later when we met up again," Uncle Leon concluded his tale and put an arm around his wife. Meanwhile, I was trying to make sense of everything that my parents had supposedly done...plus I needed to deal with the fact that my dad had for real said "Am I being Punk'd." Dad had saved Mom from that Wesker guy, I knew that much. They got together right afterwards. What I didn't know was that Mom had initially sacrificed herself to save Dad from Wesker at the Spencer Mansion. My head hurt. These guys had been through so much shit.
"Wow so Uncle Chris looked everywhere for you? For 3 years?" Christine asked.
"Yes, it's one of the many reasons I love him so much. He cared so much about me that he almost risked the destruction of the world so he wouldn't be without me again. That was a bit scary for a minute but he and Sheva killed Wesker," Mom answered. "We were even blessed with 2 kids. Something I didn't think was possible due to what happened to me after that mission at the Spencer Estate," Mom squeezed my shoulder again and smiled at Jenna. You honestly don't get how much this woman loves me. She loves Jenna too, don't get me wrong...but Mom and I have a special bond.
"There is no way I believe that Dad called himself Chris, insert bullshit here, Redfield. Also...Mom...you...you essentially died to save dad," I said in Mom's direction.
"When you love someone, you'd do anything for them. He'd do the same for me," Mom responded. Now I needed to find Dad. For Mom.
"As for what your dad used to call himself? Yeah, he did that all the time when he was buzzed. Trust me," Uncle Leon said. "Anyway, this other young lady that I do not know told us she's your girlfriend. What I would like to know is how did it happen? Like did she have an accident causing her to not be able to see clearly?" Christine laughed. Auntie Claire hit him. Again. Laura told everyone about the feelings she had for me for the past year, our night together before the mission in Buffalo and yesterday...thankfully leaving out certain parts that my mother did not need to know.
"Hang on a minute...is Rebecca Chambers related to you?" Auntie Claire asked.
"I've been meaning to ask that. I thought you looked familiar. Chris and I used to work with her back at RCPD" Mom added.
"That's my mom," Laura said and then looked at me with her soft brown eyes. "She tells me that she remembers Zack when he was little and how he used to cling to Jill's leg whenever he was shy or scared." I scowled but Mom and Laura smiled.
"Or whenever the pretty lady was in the same room," Jenna added maliciously. My eyes snapped to her as everyone else but Laura smiled remenicently.
"Zack, explain," Laura said rather sternly. I'll be honest, it kinda turned me on a bit. I turned to her and took a deep breath.
"Auntie Claire and Sherry Birkin were watching Jen and I while mom and dad were on their honeymoon when we were like 2. She was still single at that time. I guess I had asked Auntie Claire who the pretty lady was or something…Sherry heard me and thought it was the cutest thing she ever heard," I muttered. See? Told you it was a doozy.
"That's adorable," Laura told me. Gee thanks. Chris Redfield's son is adorable. I AM A MAN GOD DAMMIT!
"She pretty much stuck to Zack like glue after that. I even have a picture of him napping against her. Sherry still likes to bring it up whenever Zack is around. Zack usually gets all red when she sees him," Auntie Claire added. Much to my annoyance. Today on "Let's Embarrass Zack!", we're going to bring up all the bullshit I did when I was a kid!
"Does he now?" Laura said, patting my cheek.
"Wanna know what I used to call him when he was little?" Auntie Claire CONTINUED.
"Can you don't?" I begged but Laura put her hand over my mouth eagerly. To be honest, this whole thing had made me forget about my anger. Gotta love family am I right? I miss my dad though...
"As you wish Chubby Cheeks," Auntie Clarie teased. Mom laughed, Christine laughed, Uncle Leon grinned. Jenna patted me on the back while also laughing. I had a feeling that meant "See idiot? We all love you and know Xander's a dick."
"Outstanding," Laura said.
"Laugh it up Jellybean," I said to Jenna which immediately shut her up. Auntie Claire winked at me. That's what she called Jenna when she was little. Mom decided to add her own embarrassing story about me to the forefront.
"I think my favorite memory of Zack was when he was 3 years old around the time of the C-Virus outbreak. I was watching the news and I guess Zack had heard me worrying about Chris. He walked over to me, sat next to me and hugged me. He said 'I'll protect you until daddy gets back mommy'" Mom said unhelpfully. Laura squeezed me harder. I remembered this. It was during that time where Dad had PTSD/amnesia, remember? I believe some dude named Piers had promised Mom that he would find Dad and he'd begin his search in Edonia with some other B.S.A.A. guys. That worked out pretty well. I could still remember mom's scream of happiness when Dad walked through the door...but without that Piers guy. Found out later that he had died.
"If we're through embarrassing me, what happened after I left," I asked.
"Reaper proceeded to chew Xander out for several minutes with Oni and Major Wolf. He says they're gonna try to overthrow the ruling. Gonna take a while however because Xander picked the perfect time to go on vacation," Jenna answered. "Xander doesn't know that Kimi Shinji is Oni's cousin. She hates him almost as much as we do. I also think he's in very big trouble for pistol whipping you,"
"Outstanding," I said, leaning back against the couch with Laura still attached to my shoulder. Perhaps I will do Xander's job for him.
Desk duty didn't suck all that much….granted I had spent a week at home with Laura beforehand. Have you ever had someone actually care about you? It feels great but if you haven't felt that yet, don't worry. It's coming. Don't do what I did and nearly take my own life because of how one person treated me. My first day on desk duty consisted of yet more morning sex. Awesome. I put on a green dress shirt and some khakis after trying not to fall asleep again. Laura must have thought I looked pretty good in green and I had found this out when she had grabbed me by the collar and kissed me yet again when I walked into my kitchen area.
"What a handsome man. Gonna keep your temper down this time?" she asked me.
"Yeah, Xander's apparently gone for a while so this should be easy," I answered. "You and the guys got any assignments today?"
"I think Reaper wants us to just run some drills today. He's been trying to avoid taking high end assignments without you. Plus with the results we got from the guys in the lab, he really thinks you and Jenna need to be involved," Laura said before kissing me again. God damn Reaper was the fucking man. As for the results of that DNA sample that Reaper took from the dead BOW in Buffalo, they were just as I feared. It was indeed the t-Virus again but this was a new strand. The vaccine for it doesn't seem to have any effect...mainly because the sample also contained DNA from my father. The phone call I got from Jenna consisted of several minutes of me trying to figure out what she was saying through her rage.
"THESE BASTARDS ARE USING DAD AS A BLOOD DONATION MACHINE AND FUCKING XANDER DECIDES TO SEND ONE SEARCH TEAM TO LOOK FOR HIM?! THIS IS SUCH HORSESHIT! I...I miss dad..." she had yelled in my ear at full volume. Was I pissed? Oh yeah. BEYOND pissed. Mainly because Mom found out too and her phone call to me was even worse. I hated hearing her so upset. I had spent that night at my parent's house because Mom wasn't able to calm down. I fell asleep on the couch in the den and woke up the next morning with a blanket around me. Thanks Mom. You're the best. The next morning, I again promised her that I would find Dad. Nothing would stop me. As for my new position at the B.S.A.A., like I mentioned earlier, it wasn't so bad. I walked into one of the office areas filled with a few other workers. A Japanese woman had noticed me walking in and got up to greet me. She was a few years older than me and was wearing a suit with matching high heels. Her black hair was tied into a simple bun and she had a pair of glasses perched on top of her head.
"Ahh yes, Corporal Redfield. I'm Kimi Shinji. Jin's cousin," she said and held out her hand. I shook it. In case you haven't figured it out yet, Oni's real name was Jin.
"Just Zack's fine ma'am," I responded.
"Jin has told me a lot about you. Especially about how you ended up here. I'm sorry about your father but seeing as that asshole Xander is in charge of his search, I assume he's doing nothing," Kimi said.
"Pretty much yeah. Sent out a search team, then went on vacation. Dick," I said, putting my hands in my pockets. A few of the female workers had started eyeing me hungrily. Sorry ladies, I'm taken.
"I believe part of that vacation was due to the fact that he pistol whipped you. He was suspended w/o pay but was able to attend your trial and, unfortunately, give out your punishment for attacking him. Jin told me about your altercation on the helipad. Xander also left me some instructions on how to handle you but seeing as he's been incredibly rude to Jin in the past, I seem to have misplaced them," Kimi said and winked at me. "Your desk is right over there. All I need you to do is some data entry once in a while. Take all the time you need to search for your dad." Kimi pointed to a cubicle in the back corner, far away from anyone else as well as the door to the office.
"Thanks ma'am," I said and walked over to my new desk. Chair was comfy, that was nice. I booted up the computer and started rummaging through the drawers. I had nearly fallen out of my chair when I saw the nameplate lying on top of a stack of picture frames in one of them. It read "C. Redfield." This was dad's old desk...or was it. I glanced in the corner and grinned. It sure was. I could see the heart that little Rosemary Winters had carved into it when she and her mom, Mia Winters, had visited dad at work one day. I could see Kimi looking at me from her own desk with a smile on her face. I put the nameplate on top of one of the cubicle walls and nodded at her. She nodded back and went back to work. I glanced at the computer which had finally finished booting up and saw that the wallpaper was a photo of Jenna and I at our graduation day with mom and dad standing between us. I grinned and started looking through the stack of picture frames. There was a photo of Jenna and I as babies in the hospital, one of me as a toddler wearing dad's sunglasses and with my hair spiked up like his and one of Jenna as a toddler wearing Mom's old S.T.A.R.S. beret. I nearly lost it when I got to the next batch of photos. They were all from Mom and Dad's wedding. I saw one of Dad and Jenna on the dance floor. Jenna looked like she was laughing. There was another one me being held by Mom, who looked pretty teary eyed as she danced with me. Must have been the snazzy bowtie I was wearing. Geez, you must think I'm a pussy huh? Like what's with all this wussy shit about me and my mom? Where's all the bioweapon stuff? Well...kinda can't do that right now can I? Fucking Xander bitch ass...The photo of Mom in a white dress dancing with Dad (while Jenna and I stood near Auntie Claire in the background) with a smile on her face (Dad had one too. Relax) nearly made me start throwing things. I missed my dad goddammit! Where the fuck was he? Wait...Kimi told me that I could use the time to search for him. I turned to the computer and started to get to work.
This routine kept up for a few days. I had eventually deduced that Dad must have gotten taken near or is being held in the Esmark Mountains nearby. Just needed to figure out where. Kimi had even told the rest of her staff to leave me alone while I pretended to be punished. Major Wolf had even stopped by a few times to speak with Kim regarding my behavior. She had seen that I had put up some of dad's old pictures around my desk and I thought I had seen her flash me a smile before returning to her duties. As for my home life? Pretty great. Laura had started spending most of her nights there with me and we had even gone out on a few date nights. But I know, you want to hear about the bioweapon stuff as well as zombies and shit like that. I get it. Well do I have good news for you. One day while I was "working" (a.k.a. Taking a small nap after eating my favorite sandwich that mom had brought for me today) my phone buzzed which roused me from my thoughts about Laura. I took out my phone and gasped. A new message had arrived...from my dad. I opened the message which simply read "Esmark Park. Search party found me and we'll be there tonight at 8pm. Don't tell anyone, I want it to be a surprise." My heart started pounding. Finally someone had found him. As for Esmark Park, it was near the border of New York and Vermont, about an hour drive. The rest of the day was pretty much a blur as I was finally going to see my father again. I couldn't wait to see mom's face when I brought him through the door of her house later. I left pretty much immediately at the end of my shift at 7pm and arrived home a half hour later. Laura wasn't there tonight. She apparently had her mom visiting for the weekend. We were all supposed to have dinner on Saturday. I needed to leave pretty much right away in order to make the 8pm call time. I changed out of my work clothes and put on a B.S.A.A. tactical shirt, some beige pants and my combat sneakers. As I went to leave, a thought crossed my mind. What if someone was going to attack us when I picked him up? Perhaps someone was still after him. I decided to grab my sunglasses (as the sun was still out), a shoulder holster and I had retrieved my Samurai Edge pistol from the wall safe as well as a few extra mags. Since it was chilly out, I even grabbed my leather jacket Jenna gave me for Christmas last year. I left my apartment pretty much right after gathering my stuff and rode to Esmark Park.
I arrived at Esmark Park at around 7:45. The sun was starting to set as it was the middle of October. What was really strange was the complete lack of anyone here. I noticed this about 5 minutes after arriving.
"Weird," I said to myself and turned back to my bike. Oh Zack, you supreme BONEHEAD. How the hell are dad and I going to fit on my bike? Like I said, Dad was built like a tree. Suddenly, I heard something move in the trees nearby followed by a snap. In a flash I drew my pistol and knife from their holsters and turned in that direction. I slowly made my way toward that direction, keeping my pistol ready. I turned on the night vision mode on my glasses as I got closer to the source of the noise. An object was on the ground and I knelt down to examine it. It turned out to be a rabbit caught in a trap. Unfortunately for you rabbit lovers, the rabbit was dead.
"Just a hunter's trap" I said to myself and got to my feet. As soon as I did so, something fell from one of the trees. I nearly fell over when it suddenly stopped in front of me. It was a human body hanging by its neck at the end of a noose. It had it's back to me but it was wearing combat fatigues of the B.S.A.A. Something was also dripping from the body...it looked like blood.
"Oh fuck," I said and went to turn the body to face me. What I saw was worse than anything I had seen in my career as a field agent of the B.S.A.A. This man had been disemboweled quite viciously. His intestines were on full display to everyone there, i.e. me, and they even looked as if someone or something had taken some bites out of them. Judging by this guy's face, something had definitely tried to eat him. His nose and eyes were gone and chunks of his face were missing. So much so that I could see muscle and bone. What was worse was that I noticed the bodies of other members of the B.S.A.A. laying on the ground and against the trees. There were a grand total of 4 of them. 3 on the ground and one hanging from the tree. One of the bodies was split in half down the middle, another had been decapitated and the head looked as though it was hollowed out and the final one had a giant hole through their head and parts of their chest.
"Jesus fuck," I said after examining the bodies and tried not to throw up. What the hell happened to these guys? What was the B.S.A.A. doing out he- Wait a second.
"The search party...shit," I said and pulled out my phone. No service. Great. I shoved my phone back into my pocket. I started to make my way back to my bike in the parking lot...when I noticed a man was standing nearby it. He looked like…
"Dad?!" I called to him. The man didn't respond. He just stood there motionless. I tried again.
"Dad, it's me. Zack!" Again the man did not move. He stood stock still. Like a statue or a scarecrow in a farmer's field. I approached the man and went to turn him around to face me, much like how I did with the BOW in Buffalo. I screamed when I did so. It was my father...he was dead. His eyes were rolled up in his head and his face was paler than a ghost.
"No...NO!" I yelled and shook his body. "DAD!" Dad's body fell over in a heap on the ground and I knelt next to him struggling to contain my anger. Chris Redfield was dead. Gone. Almost 4 months of being missing only to be found too late. How the hell was Auntie Claire going to take this news? Or Jenna….or Mom?
"FUCK!" I screamed into the night and pounded my dead father's chest attempting in vain to revive him. "WAKE UP DAD! I'M HERE! PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME!" As I pounded his chest, I realized that this body wasn't Dad's. That was good news...the bad news was that it looked more like...me. It was wearing very similar clothes to what I was currently wearing. Shit.
"My my my, what a temper you have Mr. Redfield" a deep male voice said from nearby. I looked up from the body and drew my pistol and knife again.
"WHERE ARE YOU! I AM CORPORAL REDFIELD OF THE B.S.A.A. YOU KIDNAPPED MY FATHER DIDN'T YOU!" I yelled, pointing my gun everywhere I could.
"I might have. Then again I might not have. Did you let your fear get the better of you? How ironic. The famous Scarecrow, scared that he may have lost daddy dearest" the voice said again from behind me. I turned and fired. The bullets hit nothing but the sound echoed through the parking lot.
"A valiant effort Mr. Redfield but unsuccessful," the voice said, clearly mocking me. Ok asshole. You wanna play hide and seek? Fine. I turned on my thermal vision mode and scanned the area. I noticed a figure a few yards away giving off a heat signature. I made my way towards it but it turned out to be a deer who scampered off into the woods. When I turned back to where the body lay, I noticed what looked like a statue erected in the parking lot near the ranger cabin. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a scarecrow. It seemed to be tasked with guarding the small vegetable garden from birds. I fired a shot at the scarecrow in anger...and the scarecrow moved. It's head snapped in my direction after dodging my shot. The scarecrow moved unnaturally off it's post. It twitched with every movement as it approached me.
"The search party...You killed them with your own dirty hands... You son of a bitch!" I shouted. The scarecrow laughed maliciously.
"I enjoy hunting for my meals," it said. Fuckin what? This thing ate people?! I fired off more rounds but I was either too terrified or the scarecrow had simply dodged out of the way. I ran out of bullets and the scarecrow leaped at me and let out a high pitched screech. It wrapped it's fingers around my throat and I began to gasp for air. My pistol flew out of my hands and landed a few yards away near Dad's body. I tried to stab the scarecrow with my knife but it had noticed and pinned my arm to the ground while keeping its other hand on my throat. The scarecrow wasn't an actual animated scarecrow, it was a man. A rather long and lanky man wearing a straw hat and a full scarecrow mask with it's mouth stitched together and even had a noose around his neck. The fact that it was a man terrified me because you know...he pretty much ate the B.S.A.A. search party. I could see the man's eyes. They were smeared with mud. This explained why I couldn't see him on my thermals.
"We have plans for you, Redfield. You'll be with daddy soon.," the man said and let out another merciless laugh. The last thought I had before losing consciousness was that of Laura and that I never got the chance to tell her that I loved her.
