Raccoon City was gone. After he had heard the news, Bruce could barely process what he had heard. He had gotten a transmission on his scanner while doing his research, and he was surprised to hear the voice of a former student of his, Claire Redfield, come through the scanner.
"I don't even know if this stupid thing works, but if anyone can hear this, we need help! My name is Claire Redfield. There are survivors in Raccoon City. We are currently taking shelter in the R.P.D. building. It's me, a rookie cop, and a little girl. We need help! Please, can anyone hear me?!"
It had come on just after he had finished speaking to Leonard, but he had no time to answer his former student, because that bastard Blonskey had chose that particular moment to order a rocket fired on his cabin. And with everything that had gone on with the Division and the 'Devil Hulk' persona, he hadn't had any time to catch up on it. But by the time he had remembered it, they had already fired nuke at the city, wiping out the T-Virus and anyone or anything left in Raccoon City. He remembered the horror he had felt for Claire, and the two she had with her.
He had figured Ross was involved, and he had made that very clear when he had willingly brought out the Hulk to destroy the Military base in the badlands, and the adjoining Vault gamma prison. It came out pretty quickly that the pharmaceutical company Umbrella was involved, and as it turned out, they were making bio-weapons. And Ross was their number one customer.
The government quickly cut all ties with Ross, and made available many of Ross's assignments to show that they had no idea what he had been up too. Luckily for Bruce, this included the gamma bomb incident, and the entire incident report, including him saving Rick Jones, and the bomb being triggered by his former assistant, who turned out to be an Umbrella employee. Over the next few years, Ross was thrown in prison, Umbrella went bankrupt, and Bruce's name was cleared, being pardoned personally by the President. It became obvious that the Hulk was not as bad as everyone assumed either, because it became obvious that Hulk was provoked, and that he had in fact saved the Harvardville dam from Blonskey's rampage, effectively saving the city. Because of this, Bruce was allowed to walk free, despite his gamma affliction.
Not long after this, Bruce had been surprised to receive a call from Claire, who had survived the Raccoon City incident.
"Hello?"
"Dr. Banner?"
"Who is this?"
"It's Claire Redfield. You taught me in high school."
"Claire! Thank god, it's good to hear your voice! I thought you were dead."
"But we haven't seen each other since my senior year. What would make you think I was dead?"
"I got your transmission while you were in Raccoon City."
"I didn't think that had worked!"
"I'm assuming the government refused to send anyone in to evacuate survivors. I would've said something, but I didn't get the chance. My house was blown up a second later.
"By Four-Star General Thunderbolt Ross, I assume."
"Yep, and another man named Emil Blonskey."
"Who?"
"You may have heard of him as Abomination."
"Wow."
"Yeah. How have you been? It's not often one gets a phone call from a former student."
"Well, I was hoping to meet, actually."
"Oh?"
"I work for a human rights group known as TerraSave. Have you heard of it?"
"Yeah. You guys protest WilPharma's purchase of Umbrella and pressure the government for the truth of Raccoon City. And you guys are also my biggest supporters.
"I'm meeting a fellow TerraSave agent at the Harvardville Airport this weekend, and I was told that you live there."
"Who told you that?"
"Leonard Samson."
"Ah, Leonard. How's he been?"
"He talks about you non stop, now that you're not a fugitive."
"Ouch."
"Oh, I'm-"
"It's fine, Claire."
"So, would you be willing to meet me there?"
"What time?"
"I have to be there by three in the afternoon on Saturday."
"Well, I'm free. I'd be glad to meet you their Claire."
"Thank you. It's good talking to you again, Dr. Banner."
"You're not my student anymore, Claire. Call me Bruce."
"Okay. I'll see you this Saturday, Bruce."
Bruce Banner didn't realize just what he would be getting into.
Bruce walked into the Harvardville Airport, and it hadn't taken him long to spot Claire. He dark red hair was the easiest giveaway. She was standing next to a child, holding her hand, waiting for someone. Someone other than him, he assumed.
"Claire?"
Hearing her name called caught Claire's attention. She jerked her head to the source, and he eyes widened, a smile coming to her face as she spotted the familiar man. "Bruce!" The closed the distance, Claire giving Bruce a hug. "It's good to see you!"
"It's good to see you too! Look at you, you've grown into a beautiful woman!" Bruce smiled, astounded.
"Thank you. You look better than I expected, for a gamma irradiated man in your late thirties." Claire remarked.
"Hey, being on the run can do great things for your body." Bruce joked. "So how have you been?"
"Well, aside from PTSD, great!" Claire said, a joking tone in her voice. Bruce frowned at her words however.
"PTSD?" He said concern evident in his voice.
"A story for another time. So how have you been? Catching up with life now that you're not a fugitive anymore?" Claire asked him, changing the subject. Bruce chuckled.
"Yeah. As good as I can with a green rage monster inside of me." Bruce remarked.
"Do you work for TerraSave, Mister?" The child, a little girl who accompanied Claire, asked Bruce, interrupting their conversation. Bruce chuckled.
"No, kid." Bruce said, looking at Claire. "She yours?" He asked, gesturing to the child. Claire took a moment to understand what he was saying, eyes widening in surprise.
"Oh, no. I don't have any kids. Heck, I haven't had anyone to have kids with." Claire joked. "I'm watching her for her aunt, a good friend named Mary. Her name's Rani."
"Ah." Bruce nodded. He looked at the the little girl with a smile. "I'm Bruce Banner."
Rani's eyes widened at his name. "My cousin told me about you! You're a superhero!" Bruce's eyes widened at the child's words, as did Claire's, who looked to Bruce in surprise.
"Superhero?" The red head asked in with raised eyebrows.
"Yeah! He turned into the Hulk and saved Harvardville from flooding after the Abomination broke the flood wall!" Rani said, stars of wander in her eyes as she looked at the scientist, who was unsure of how to react.
Claire giggled at Bruce's confusion. "Well, Mr. Hulk, how about we take a seat?" She said, gesturing to the nearby waiting area.
Bruce nodded, chuckling. "Yeah, good idea." The each took a seat, Bruce sitting across from Claire and Rani.
"While I'm glad to enjoy catching up, I doubt you asked me to meet you here just for that." Bruce said with a smile.
Claire laughed and shook her head. "No, this isn't a social call, sadly." She looked Bruce in the eye. "I was hoping you'd join TerraSave." She admitted.
Bruce's eyes widened in surprise. "Join TerraSave? What would I do?"
"TerraSave is a human rights group, dedicated to fighting against morally wrong research, and getting the truth about those experiments." Claire explained. "That's why we're so against WilPharma."
"Because they purchased Umbrella and got everything. Including the T-Virus." Bruce spoke up, knowing where this was going.
"And we question what they plan to do with Umbrella's research. And there secrecy doesn't help their case."
"But I have nothing to with Umbrella or WilPharma." Bruce said, his eyebrows furrowed.
"TerraSave isn't exclusively against Umbrella or WilPharma, we just speak out against it more. But the gamma bomb tests, and how you were forced on the run, fall into the category." Bruce's eyes widened once more. He hadn't expected to have this particular conversation. "The Gamma Bomb wasn't right no matter what, but you believed that what you were doing wasn't harmful. You saved a young teen from getting caught in the blast, and you were forced on the run by the government you worked for."
"Wow." Bruce was unsure of what to say.
"You also came extremely recommended by Leonard Samson and Rick Jones."
If his eyes widened again, Bruce was almost positive they'd pop out of their sockets.
"Those two are a part of TerraSave?"
Claire nodded. "Yeah. Samson said he was a good friend, and that he had helped you during the Harvardville chaos a few years ago. I don't know why Rick recommended you, considering he's more of a fun loving dirt bike rider than a scientist."
"Rick was the kid I saved from the gamma bomb." Bruce clarified. "He traveled with me for a few months, before I left him so that he wasn't getting hounded by the government. That was my burden."
"Well, either way, You'd fit right in at TerraSave." Claire remarked. Bruce nodded.
"Maybe. But for now, I just want to catch up with a former student. How old are you now, anyway?" Bruce asked, curious.
"I'm twenty-two." Claire said with a smile, the previous topic forgotten. "How about you, how old are you?"
"Contrary to your belief, I'm only thirty-one." Bruce said with a grin. Claire's eyes widened.
"Wow. Stress sure has taken it's toll, hasn't it?" Claire asked in shock. Bruce chuckled.
"Yeah, being on the run from the government will do that to you."
"Why do we keep coming back to that subject?" Claire asked with a laugh.
"I don't know. How's your brother?" Bruce asked. He hadn't heard much from the older Redfield.
"He's doing what he can. He plan's on starting some government task force against Bio-terrorism." Bruce's eyes widened. Chris too?
"Was he in-?"
"He was in Arklay Mountains. He left a few months before Raccoon City without telling me."
"Was he one of the people who they called crazy?" Bruce asked, before realizing what he had said. "Oh, I'm sorry, Claire."
"It's no problem." Claire waved off Bruce's apology. "It's not like they believed that for long."
Bruce nodded. "True."
"So, what about you? We've talked so much about my life, I barely know what happen with you." Claire said, gesturing towards Bruce, who laughed.
"Yeah, I guess we have. Well, I was able to outrun the military for a while. I remember Rick was always wanting to go somewhere to relax when he was with me, while I was always wanting to research a way to cure myself. RIck did understand that, but he still thought I should be able to relax, rather than so tense all the time."
"Rick's a good man." Claire nodded. "And when he joined, he was just so determined to find you. He and Leonard became fast friends, despite their differences."
"That's good to know." Bruce said with a smile. "Anyway, after an incident at a snowboarding resort in Canada, I dropped Rick off at an airport with enough money to get back to the U.S. Told him to get back to his life after Ross nearly killed him."
Claire's eyes went wide as saucers. "But Ross doesn't have any jurisdiction in Canada! That's not U.S. Property."
"He got jurisdiction from the United Nations to go anywhere to find me, by expressing how much of a threat I am." Bruce explained.
"That god awful man." Claire said, anger flooding through her.
"Claire?" Rani's voice caught the adults' attention.
"Yes, Rani?" Claire asked, her anger immediately forgotten as she placed a smile on her face for the sake of the child.
"TerraSave fights bad guys, right?" She asked, confusing Claire.
"Bad guys?" Claire asked, curious.
"Like him!" Rani said, pointing to the television. It showed a news reporter questioning a senator about testing in India. The news card displayed "Senator Ron Davis" in bold white letters.
"Senator Davis, you serve as a special advisor to WilPharma corporation. After viewing photos of their latest human test subjects, what are your thoughts?" The woman asked, holding the microphone to the senator for his answer.
"That Halloween is celebrated earlier in India than in the U.S. maybe?" Davis replied snidely, before brushing off the reporter and walking on.
"Really, I simply don't understand American humor." A voice from the side caught the three's attention. There was a silver haired man in glasses sitting a few seats down, wearing a white suit. Upon noticing he was the center of attention from the group, the man quickly apologized. "My apologies. I didn't mean to-"
"It's fine, sir, really." Bruce said, holding his hand up to stop the man. "I assure you that American humor is nothing like that man's humor."
"Yeah." Claire said, nodding in agreement. "Believe me, sir. We can relate."
The man smiled, knowing that they were not angry. "You must be waiting for someone as well"
Claire nodded. "I am. I'm just catching up with a friend while I wait."
The man nodded. "So you two know each other then?"
Bruce nodded. "Yeah. I taught this young woman in high school. I taught science to every grade."
"Ah. Well then, I'd imagine it's been a while since you two have seen each other, and I've grown weary of waiting. I think I'll grab a taxi." The man said, standing to his feat and grabbing his suit case. "Good day." He said with a smile, giving a little wave to Rani.
The group waved back as the men took off.
"Who the hell let it leak out that I was coming, hmm?" Senator Ron Davis was having a fit. Somehow, it had leaked to the press that he would be at the airport. And he was not happy about it. "Now those damned agitators are out there stirring up trouble! I don't need this, get them out of here!" He reached over to take his cup of coffee as he finished his sentence. As he went to go take a drink, only to pull the cup away from his lips at the awful taste. "What tar pit did this crap ooze out of?!" He said, holding the cup away as it's mere presence was an insult.
"I'm sorry. I'll get you another." The maid said, almost terrified as she hurried to do just that.
"I don't care what it takes, just get rid of them now! Arrest them if you have too." Davis demanded, glaring at the chief of police, who sighed.
"Sir, we don't have any grounds for arrest. They haven't done anything illegal." The chief said once more, causing Davis to scoff in annoyance.
"Sir, may I make a suggestion?" Davis' lawyer spoke up, catching his attention. "We could slip out through the regular entrance. No one would expect that, so the crowd won't notice us."
"What?!" Davis asked in disbelief. "Hell no. I am an elected official. I will not skulk out of here like some whipped dog. Now, I won't budge from this spot until you," He pointed at the police chief. "get that swarm of vermin out of the building!"
Rani was bored, waiting for her aunt to come back, and she couldn't talk to Claire, because the older woman was talking to her friend, and she had been taught that it was rude to interrupt a conversation. But she couldn't help it when she saw Ron Davis walk by wearing a baseball cap.
"The bad guy! Claire, look! It's the bad guy we saw on TV!" Rani said, pointing to the senator, causing Claire and Bruce to stare at the man in surprise.
"Senator Davis, can I have another word?" The news reporter asked, running towards the senator.
"You can not!" The senator growled as his bodyguard held the reporter back, before everyone stopped in their tracks. A man in blue jeans and green flannel shirt was walking towards the senator slowly. He had on a zombie mask, and a sign hanging from his neck that said 'SAVE HUMANS!'. A low moaning sound was emitting from the mask. "The hell is this?" Davis asked in annoyance.
"Stay here, Rani." Claire told the little girl. "I'll be right back, Bruce." She said to her friend, standing to he feet. Bruce nodded.
"Don't get hurt." Bruce warned.
The man stalked forward slowly, his eyes unable to be seen from under the black holes of the mask. "Did someone put you up to this, or is this stupid costume your brilliant idea, huh? Okay, genius, you got something to say? Get it off your chest, and move on!" Davis yelled, clearly angered. The man raised his arms, almost as if he was a real zombie, before Claire promptly shut down the prank.
"This is too much." She said, glaring at the man. The man looked nervously between Claire and a now grinning Davis, before turning tail, all of his confidence gone as he ran away. He was stopped in his tracks, however, when he ran into the Chief, who glared at him. He tried to run away once more, but the larger man caught the prankster's hand and force it behind his back as Claire approached them.
"Ma'am, are you involved in this?" The cop asked.
"Indirectly, in a manner of-"
"No, she's not involved, officer." Bruce said, laying his hand on Claire's shoulder. "She's been with me and that child the entire time. The only affiliation they may have, I'm assuming, is TerraSave." He explained. He had decided to intervene before Claire had talked herself into a hole. One thing he remembered about Claire from high school is that she had a tendency to talk herself into bad situations.
"So she's not involved in this?" The Chief asked for confirmation. Bruce shook his head.
"No."
"Chief!" One of the bodyguards called to the man. Their was another man in an orange puffer jacket, slowly walking towards senator. With a sigh of annoyance, The Chief approached the man. He grabbed the man by his hair to stop him. He stepped around to get a better look at the man. The man was deathly pale, and his eyes were glossed over.
The chief had no time to process this before the man let out an inhuman snarl and grabbed the man, sinking his teeth into the man's shoulder, to the shock in horror of everyone there.
Claire didn't process anything, her PTSD catching up with her. No noise went into her ears as she watched her greatest nightmare begin. Rani screamed at the site.
"What the hell?!" Bruce's voice shook Claire out of her stupor.
"Stand back!" The bigger of the two bodyguards ordered, while the other one stood in front of Davis, both of them had their guns drawn.
"Move, move, MOVE!" The body guard ordered. "Out of the way!" He said, stepping closer, until he had a clear shot of the man. "Stand back!" He got closer to the two. "Move away from him, now!" When the man showed no sign of listening, the body guard grit his teeth and got closer, wrapping his arm around the attacker and flinging him to the ground. Claire watched the zombie almost immediately fling himself at the body guard, only to receive two bullets to the chest. The body guard kept his eye on the man as he checked the downed police chief's pulse, to no good news. "Too late, he's dead."
Claire knew immediately that wasn't true. "RUN!" She yelled, catching their attention. She bolted away from Bruce, desperately trying to warn the man who currently stood between two zombies. "GET AWAY! HURRY!" The body guard looked at the dead cop, just in time to see his eyes open. The man gasped in surprise, and the surprise was all the now zombified cop needed to sink it's teeth into the man's ankle. The man screamed in pain, and fired off two rounds at the zombie on his leg, unaware that the other one had recovered. The man screamed in agony as the other zombie lunged at him, and and both began devouring him alive.
It became horrifyingly clear that those two were not the only zombies there, as the second body guard found himself made a meal to three more zombies. Panic quickly ensued as zombie after zombie emerged, with more and more people being killed. People outside had to know what was happening, because that news lady was killed on live television.
"Rani?!" Claire asked, looking around in worry.
"She's right there, Claire!" He said, pointing at the entrance to the terminal, where Rani seemed to be looking for someone.
"Rani!" Claire yelled as the two ran in the child's direction. A cry from Bruce behind her, however, caught Claire's attention. She turned to see what had happened, and her eyes widened in horror, her heart sinking as she saw Bruce struggling against a zombie that had it's mouth gripped onto his arm. "BRUCE!" Bruce was finally able to force the zombie away, and looked at the wound. Claire watched in shock as the bite wound closed up. It as if nothing had happened. The only indication that he had been bitten was the blood and his arm, and the hole in his jacket. Bruce immediately dropped to his knee in pain, and began breathing rapidly.
"Get Rani, I'm fine!" He said, pointing to the little girl. Claire looked at Bruce for a few more seconds, before hesitantly nodding, running to recover the little girl. Meanwhile, Bruce was fighting an internal struggle.
'Smash.'
"No! Not now!" He was trying to use one of his breathing techniques. He couldn't turn into the Hulk now. With everyone running around, he would kill anyone, zombie or not. He wasn't on the run anymore. If he changed into the Hulk now, Hulk would be a killer again, and he would be on the run. Not again.
His breathing technique seemed to work, as his heart rate went down. He turned in the direction he saw Claire go, spotting her running towards him with Rani in her arms. He took off in her direction, but staggered when he felt someone grip his arm. He turned to the owner, expecting another zombie, but instead, he found Senator Davis looking up at him with terrified eyes.
"Please, help me!" The man pleaded pitifully. Bruce was about to jerk his arm away, ready to pull the senator to his feet and get him going, when an urgent voice came over the terminal speaker.
"Attention, all persons inside the terminal, evacuate the building immediately! Repeat, evacuate the terminal immediately! The is not a drill! Use all exits! Everyone! Evacuate the terminal building immediately!" It wasn't a recording, it was a live broadcast. Bruce looked around, wandering what could be so urgent if they weren't broadcasting for the zombies. His eyes widened when he spotted an airliner outside the massive window wall on the other side of the terminal. His eye widening, he looked at Claire.
"CLAIRE, GET DOWN!" He yelled, his former student taking his advice. She dove to the ground, Rani in her arms, while Bruce did the same, jerking the senator to the ground. It was deafening as the plane made impact with the terminal building, the screams of everyone along with the sounds of debris crashing, the shrieking of bending strained metal, of concrete and cement breaking. All the noises were the only way Bruce knew what was happening, as his eyes clamped shut. After the noises died down, Bruce waited for a few seconds, before opening his eyes and looking around.
The plane had destroyed most of the terminal, with only debris and zombies left. He looked around for Claire, spotting her slowly climbing to her feet. Upon spotting the red head, and the little girl she was with, he was jumping to his own feet, ignoring the Senator.
"Claire, Rani!" He said, closing the little distance that existed between him and the two girls. He wrapped his arms around Claire, glad to know that she was alright. "You girls okay?" He asked when he let her go.
"Where fine." She said, turning to look at the plane in confusion. "What happened?"
Bruce looked at the crashed plane as well, confusion evident on his face. "I have no idea. The plane came out of nowhere."
A sudden hissing sound signaled that the plane's door was opening. But their surprise quickly turned to horror at hearing the telltale groaning from inside the plane when the door swung open. A zombie fell out of the entrance, followed by another, and another, with no seemingly no end to the zombies in the plane.
"No way." Claire whispered, the terror clear in her face as she saw the entire plane of zombies begin approaching them. "This can't be happening."
Bruce could hardly believe what he was seeing himself. He had only heard the details of what had happened in Raccoon City, but actually experiencing anything even remotely similar was infinitely more horrifying. And it didn't help that if the Hulk were to come out, all hell could very well break loose.
A/N: So that ends that. I wanted to write a fanfic between Hulk and Resident Evil for so long, because honestly, there are so many ways to do it that could work perfectly. I went with this way because it seemed like a decent way to do it. Plus, there aren't enough Hulk fanfictions out there, especially not for the Ultimate Destruction video game, which is the one good Hulk game out there. And since the city in the video game doesn't have a name, I figured I would just say that the game took place in Harverdville. As for the high school teacher bit, not much is told about Ultimate Destruction's version of Bruce Banner, other than he did it to himself, and it's pretty easy to imagine Bruce as a science teacher. To me anyway. So yeah, I decided to incorporate my own elements, and elements from the comics, to give a little more detail about Bruce. Any way, that's the end of the chapter. And I'll see you in the next chapter.