"Well. Well. Officer Kennedy's here and ready take on Raccoon City's undead."
Leon's lip twitched as he looked down on himself now that he was clad in an R.P.D police uniform. The uniform consisted of a navy blue police shirt with attached white sleeves and the emblem of R.P.D sewn into the sleeves on both his shoulders. He wore matching navy blue pants and a pair of black combat boots. He had black elbow pads, fingerless gloves and knee pads. The Rookie also wore a tactical belt with a drop leg holster and pouches as well as a black ballistic vest over his shirt with the letters R.P.D on the front and back.
"Here's a little something to finish it off."
Alan handed the rookie a black cap with the letters R.P.D stitched on the front.
"It's also there to keep that mop on your head you call 'hair' contained." The former cop joked much to the Rookie's embarrassment.
"Whatever."
Despite that, Leon still placed the cap on his head. The other three laughed before Alan turned serious and looked to Leon.
"Okay, Kennedy. I'm gonna brief you in on our little situation. Right now, we're looking for a way out of the station without going out there and wasting all our ammo just to clear out the zombies surrounding the area. See that statue over there?"
Alan pointed at the giant statue in the middle of the room.
"That statue has a secret passage underneath and we need three medallions to get that thing open. I know it sounds crazy but it is what it is, Rookie. So far we have two and we only need one and it's on the other side of a barricade that we have to blow up with a C4 but we're missing a detonator. That means we'll have to find a goddamn detonator somewhere in this fucking building and hope that it has a battery with it. Otherwise, we'll be looking for the correct battery. You still following me?"
"...yeah?" Leon replied with uncertainty.
"That sounded more like a question, Kennedy." Alan crossed his arms.
"Look." Leon shook his head "I'm sorry but this all sounds- "
"Crazy?" Sara cut in before snorting.
The U.B.C.S Medic was standing in front of one of the gurneys and was checking on her medical supplies that she laid out on the bed. She needed to make sure that she had enough for four people and more if they ever regroup with Carlos and Tyrell.
"Join the fucking club, Kennedy. We have to place a book on a statue's hand just so we could take the scepter it was holding which contained a ruby that we have no fucking idea what it's for."
Sara stopped what she was doing as a look suddenly crossed the U.B.C.S Medic's face before she looked at Alan.
"You know in hindsight, we could've just taken the ruby without all the hassle of getting the statue to let the scepter go. We could've just flipped the switch on the scepter while it was still in the statue's hand and take the ruby."
"Good point." Alan muttered "Let's make a mental note of that."
"Wait a minute." Claire cut in "That's what took you guys so long?"
The two pointedly ignored her and Alan turned back to Leon once more.
"Once we have all the medallions and placed it in that statue, a passage will open up and would lead us somewhere underground. We don't know what to expect down there but we do know that the exit would lead to the station's Parking Garage."
"When we passed the Parking Garage last night, there were barely any zombies there. We can find a way out of the station safely and head for Spencer Memorial Hospital." Sara continued.
"Why are we going to the hospital?" Claire asked as she leaned back on the front desk with her arms crossed and Sara answered.
"We got confirmation that one Doctor Nathaniel Bard has research for a vaccine against the virus. His research is vital. We already have two guys headed there and we're hoping to regroup with them before finding a safe way out of the city." Sara sighed.
"Unfortunately, we can't contact them. We've had nothing but static so far. They could be at the hospital and we're out of range."
"What if they're not there anymore?" Leon questioned, garnering looks from Alan and Sara "What if they already left?"
Sara didn't answer and looked to Alan who shrugged and shook his head before rubbing the back of his neck and sighed.
"We'll cross that bridge when we get there. For now, let's focus on getting the hell out of here first. Everybody ready?"
Sara packed up her supplies before grabbing her rifle she set down on top of a weapon crate nearby. She released the mag before weighing it on her hand before slapping it back in the rifle.
Alan pretty much did the same with his rifle before checking how many clips he had left for his side arms.
Claire was good to go with her weapons despite giving Leon the shotgun the other two handed her but she was more comfortable with something smaller and preferably, something that shoots rapidly.
Leon loaded one shell inside the shotgun before switching to his Matilda and reloading it. Claire had handed him the shells she had and Sara gave him five spare clips for his side arm.
All geared up and ready to go, the group began their mission to look for a detonator. Hopefully, it was somewhere nearby.
~Line Break~
"You know what would be good?"
"What?"
"Donuts. Could use a good 'ol donut right about now."
"Oh, Jesus. Would you shut up? How can you even think of eating at a time like this?"
"What? A man's gotta eat."
"Ugh."
Ignoring her own rumbling stomach, Sara took out the battery they found and threw it at Alan who then proceeded to attach it to the detonator before setting up the timer.
"Ten seconds. Clear the area!"
The four quickly created some distance between them and the C4 before waiting for the device to do it's job. A few seconds later, the bomb exploded and Alan quickly took point before making his way over to the statue. The former cop put in the combination and took the medallion before throwing it over to Sara who then placed it inside one of her pouches.
"That's it. Now let's get the fuck outta here and- "
"Look out!"
Alan turned around only to find himself pinned by a Licker. The former cop unsheathed the knife from his vest and began stabbing the thing on the side of it's head.
"Get this motherfucker off me!"
Leon fired his shotgun pointblank at the Licker and it threw it on it's back. Claire and Sara then opened fire on the thing as it rolled to it's front before jumping to the ceiling. Alan, still on his back, unholstered the pistol on his vest before shooting the Licker.
"Don't let it get away!" Sara yelled as she chased after the Licker.
"Sara. Wait. Sara, get back here!"
Alan growled in frustration before getting up to his feet. Claire and Leon helped him up and the rookie handed him his rifle back. Nodding his thanks, the trio went after the U.B.C.S mercenary and followed the sound of gunfire down the corridors. They were about to turn the corner when Sara's body landed in front of them.
Alan quickly dropped to one knee and looked the mercenary over before hearing loud footsteps to his right and saw a large thing, there was no way it was human, wearing a trench coat and fedora approaching. It's face didn't have an expression but that didn't matter considering what it just did to Sara. Claire and Leon immediately raised their weapons and opened fire on 'Trenchy' but the thing was shrugging off their bullets like it was nothing.
Thinking quickly, Alan took out one of the Flash Grenades on Sara's vest and pulled the pin before throwing it at Trenchy's feet. The Flash Grenade managed to stun Trenchy and Alan placed Sara's arm over his shoulders before pulling her up to her feet and made his way back to the Storage Room while Claire and Leon covered them.
"We'll have to cut through the Library!" Alan yelled over his shoulder before stopping as he saw the shelf blocking the door to said library "Fuck!"
"Oh shit." Leon cursed once he saw the problem and quickly tried to get the shelf out of the way. He doubled his efforts once he heard the Trenchy's footsteps outside.
The rookie managed to get the shelf out of the way and kicked open the door before letting Alan and Sara go first. He grabbed Claire, who was aiming her newly acquired GM 79 grenade launcher to where she heard the footsteps coming from, by the arm and dragged her with him through the door.
"C'mon!"
Sara, who was leaning back on the wall, finally came to and shook the dizziness away before looking up at Alan.
"What the hell happened?"
"You tell me. What's the last thing you remembered?"
"I was chasing after the Licker and when I turned the corner and some big motherfucker sucker punched me."
"Alright. That's just about it." Alan nodded "On your feet. We gotta get outta here before Trenchy catches up."
"Trenchy? Oh, that guy."
Sara stood up with Alan's help before walking over to the ladder. She slid down until she reached the ground floor before realizing she had lost her rifle. The U.B.C.S Medic cursed herself and took out her G18 before waiting for the others to join her. Alan dropped in first and took point while Claire and Leon covered the rear.
The four quickly made their way out of the Library and into the Main Hall before running down the second floor and into the statue in the center of the room. Sara took out the last medallion and placed it in the final slot. The front part of the statue lowered into a small set of stairs that lead to another staircase leading down to who knows where.
"Whoa."
Alan looked over at the rookie and smirked.
"I know right. I'm pretty sure every cop working in this station didn't even know this thing existed."
The former cop quickly opened the door and turned on the flashlight attached to his rifle.
"Down the rabbit hole, people. And keep your fingers on those triggers. God knows where this fucking thing leads."
Turns out, it lead to an office. Weird place to put it if you ask Alan then again R.P.D has always been weird. It looked like a museum instead of a precinct. Anyways. The office has a large desk with a typewriter and a comfy chair which Sara was lounging on. Behind the chair were two bookshelves and one shelf filled with framed certificates. Alan didn't bother to find out who they belonged to. He was more focused on how the hell they were gonna get out of the station.
"Hey, guys. Over here."
The three went over to Leon was and saw the rookie cop standing in front of an old fashioned elevator. Alan whistled.
"Alright, people. Let's see where this shit goes."
He opened the lift's door and let everyone inside first before walking in himself. He shut the door before pressing the down button and the elevator descended to who knows where.
~Line Break~
"Hello? HELLO!?"
"Redfield, get back here! Ah shit."
Alan cursed as Claire ran ahead of the group. Before they could catch up to her, something big ran on the floor above them. The former cop then turned to the rookie with a serious look.
"Go after her. Watch her back and keep your finger on the trigger, Kennedy. God knows what the hell that thing is."
Leon nodded before running after Claire while Alan watched him go. He then turned to address Sara.
"That thing wasn't Trenchy. It's something else." Alan began "How many grenades you have left?"
"Three."
"Flash Grenades?"
"Two." Sara grimaced "Pray to God we have enough to stop whatever the fuck that was."
"Yeah. C'mon. Let's catch up to the two lovebirds."
Alan led the way with his rifle while Sara followed closely with her pistol. That rocket launcher Carlos took would have been very fucking handy right now. Loverboy just had to lose it. Sara shook her head before focusing back on the situation. She and Alan cautiously made their way past some generators and into a room filled with pipes and other machinery. The U.B.C.S Medic's eyes landed on the crouched forms of Leon and Claire before the two made their way over to them.
As they drew closer, they could hear hushed tones coming from the two but they couldn't see who they were talking to. Then they heard something behind them. Alan and Sara quickly turned around with their weapons raised but reeled back at th sight before them. The thing in front of them was barely human anymore. Nearly everything on it's right side and it's chest was mutated. From the looks of it's torn clothes, the guy was either a scientist or a doctor judging by the labcoat around it's form. Then it's mutated shoulder opened up to reveal a massive eyeball.
"What the fuck!?"
Before they could react, the monster swung the metal pipe in it's hand and sent the two flying over the catwalk and into the floor below as the metal pipe slammed into them.
~Line Break~
"Hey, it's OK... We won't hurt you. Promise."
The little girl poked her head out from behind the boxes she was hiding behind. Blonde hair tied into a low bun and a red headband nestled on her head. She wore something that could be a school uniform but Claire wasn't sure. A white blouse underneath a light blue plaid vest with a blue ribbon. A pair of black shorts and matching knee length socks as well as a pair of white sneakers. Claire felt Leon crouch next to her and the redhead handed him her flashlight before holding out her hand for the little girl to take.
"Do you need help? Here. You can take my hand."
"You... need... help." The girl stuttered out.
"What?"
The girl then ducked back into her hiding spot as Claire and Leon suddenly heard Sara curse and turned around just in time to see a monster send Alan and Sara over the railing. Leon quickly stood in front of Claire with his shotgun aimed at the thing.
"Stay back!"
"Uh, Leon. I don't think talking is gonna work."
Claire aimed her revolver at the monster as it roared before running towards them, limping really quick actually. Leon saw that it was headed for Claire and pushed her out of the way only for the monster to grab him by the neck. It lifted him up high before slamming him down on the walkway. The rookie cop screamed in pain and Claire began shooting the monster in the head but it ignored her in favor of it's current victim. The monster heaved Leon up and slammed him against the walkway once more.
Down to her last shot before she needs to reload, Claire aimed at the massive eye on it's shoulder and pulled the trigger. This caused the monster to let Leon go and turn it's rage to Claire who had her back against the railing. The monster roared as it raised it's weapon before bringing it down on the redhead who rolled out of the way of the attack. Unfortunately, the section of the walkway gave out as soon as it's attack landed on the railing and sent the three of them one floor down.
Claire was the first to recover and quickly ran over to Leon before dragging him away from the monster that was slowly rising to it's feet. Leon, with Claire's help, got to his feet and aimed the shotgun at the monster as it stood to it's full height. Claire unslung her grenade launcher and aimed it at the monster as it charged. She pulled the trigger and sent a Flame Round right into it's head. Flames licked it's body as the round exploded but this proved to only anger the monster as it closed the distance between them.
Leon fired his shotgun once the thing got close before dodging to the side to avoid it's swing but he couldn't avoid the monster's mutated claw as it grabbed him by the head.
"Leon!"
Claire aimed the grenade launcher at the monster but couldn't risk having Leon get caught in the blast zone so she switched to her Hp3 and opened fire though it didn't do much. Struggling against the monster's grip, Leon reached for the combat knife on his person before unsheathing it then stabbing it right into the monster's shoulder eye. This caused it to let him go and Leon backpedalled towards Claire while shooting the staggering monster with his Matilda. He hoped he was actually doing some damage to the thing.
Now that Leon was in a a safe distance, Claire switched back to her grenade launcher and fired another Flame Round at the monster before reloading with an Acid Round and fired once more. The flames and acid burned through it's skin and the monster roared in pain as it fell to one knee. Claire switched back to her pistol and joined Leon in shooting the monster.
Unfortunately for them, the flames had died down and the thing was slowly rising to it's feet. Once it was upright, it's gaze fell on the two before roaring. It charged the two with it's weapon raised above it's head. It swung wide but Claire jumped back before the monster swung down at Leon who rolled out of the way to avoid the devastating blow. Claire began shooting at the shoulder eye and wasn't able to dodge as the monster's mutated claw grabbed her by the head and threw her towards Leon.
The redhead slammed into the rookie cop and the two fell into a heap. The monster approached them with it's weapon raised to deal the finishing blow. Leon saw this and quickly placed his own body over the dazed Claire in hopes of softening the blow for her. Lucky for them, a stream of bullets struck the monster's shoulder eye and it turned away from them to face Alan who emptied the remaining bullets in his mag before reloading. Fresh mag loaded, the former cop began shooting at the monster once more as it ran towards him.
Alan rolled to the side to avoid getting his head smashed in but the monster's strike punctured the large pipe and caused steam to blow out from the hole on the pipe. The steam obscured the monster's view of him and Alan took this as an opportunity to displace.
Meanwhile, Sara knelt down over Leon and Claire before looking them over for injuries.
"You two alright? Anything hurting?"
"My back." Leon answered before wincing after he tried to sit up straight.
Sara handed the rookie cop a First-aid Spray and gave him a brief explanation on it's uses before turning to Claire.
"What about you? You good?"
"I'm fine."
Before the mercenary could reply, they heard the monster's roar echo around them and the trio began wildly looking around for any sign of the monster. The steam slightly impaired their vision and this added more to their nerves.
Claire finished reloading her revolver before reloading her pistol then switched to her grenade launcher. The redhead loaded a Flame Round before backing up until she felt her back against Leon's own.
Leon had risen to his feet and never felt better after he used the First-aid Spray on himself. The rookie cop reloaded his shotgun before keeping his finger on the trigger while looking around him.
Sara had taken out her Samurai Edge along with her G18 and looked at her surroundings with narrowed eyes. She heard something to her right and fired off a shot.
"Jeez Louise! Check your goddamn fire!"
Alan ran out from behind the pipe he took cover and made his way over to them. He dropped into a crouch and reloaded his weapon before eyeing their surroundings.
"Anybody got eyes on it?"
"Negative." Sara replied "But that fucker is around here somewhere."
"Hadn't seen it either."
"Guys." Leon called out "Quiet down."
The four silenced themselves and listened intently. Then they heard it. Footsteps... behind them. The four turned around and opened fire. Claire fired off a Flame Round and hit the monster in the torso. Now that the flames were licking it's skin, they can see it clearly through the steam and concentrated fire on the thing. This, however, only served to enrage the monster further and it ran towards them.
It used it's shoulder to bash Alan away and send him flying before swinging it's weapon and hitting Leon in the gut and sent him flying across the room too. Claire rolled under the monster's attack but couldn't evade the second swing before it faced Sara and grabbed her by the head with it's mutated claw. The U.B.C.S mercenary struggled against it's grip and dropped her pistols before unsheathing her knife and began stabbing it wildly but to no avail.
The monster roared and dragged Sara over to the railing, intent on throwing her over to her doom. Before it could get a chance, Leon, who had managed to recover from the attack, ran towards the monster and fired a pointblank shot at it's back. This forced it to stagger forward and drop Sara who was then pulled to safety by Alan just as a Flame Round struck the monster and forced it over the railing. Screaming and roaring as it fell to who knows where.
It wasn't until they couldn't hear it screaming that the four sighed in relief. Alan was crouched next to a sitting Sara and had his hand on her back. Leon let out a sigh before placing his hands on his knees and leaned on them. Claire walked over to him and patted him on the back before giving him a smile. Alan chuckled and looked at Sara who was still looking st the railing where the monster fell over.
"Rookie, remind me to buy you a couple of drinks when we get outta this city."
"I owe you one, Kennedy." Sara said "You too, Redfield."
"Glad to help."
"Don't mention it."
Alan patted Sara on the back before helping her up her feet. The two of them walked over to her pistols and the mercenary picked it up before holstering them. They soon joined Claire and Leon who were looking up at a platform with a ladder. The ladder dropped down to their level and Claire was the first to go up before Leon followed. The rookie cop made an effort not to look up at Claire's tight jeans. Alan nodded his head for Sara to go first before looking back to where the monster fell.
Somehow, he had a feeling that thing ain't dead yet. They put God knows how many bullets in that thing, shot it with Flame Rounds and an Acid Round yet it still managed to get up and fight. It's durable that's for sure. He just hoped they wouldn't encounter that thing anymore. Shaking his head, the former cop climbed up the ladder and into the platform.
~Line Break~
"How you holding up?"
Sara over at Alan and shrugged. The two of them were still underground and had let Claire, Leon and the kid, Sherry, go while Sara checked her gear to see how many mags, grenades and First-aid Sprays she had left. Alan stayed behind to accompany her.
"Honestly? I can't wait to get out of this place. Scratch that. I can't wait to get out of this fucking city."
"Heh. You and me both."
The U.B.C.S mercenary finished looking over her equipment before nodding at the former cop.
"I'm ready to go."
Alan nodded and opened his mouth to say something but stopped when they heard gunshots above them. Sara let out a frustrated sigh and took out her side arm.
"We really can't get a fucking break, can we?"
~Line Break~
"Damn. Looks like we need a key card to open this up."
"You wouldn't happen to have one of those in your fancy pockets, do you?"
Leon shook his head and turned to face the other two before rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish grin.
"Sorry."
Claire let out a mock pout "Oh boo."
Leon smiled but his lips quickly set into a thin line and slowly reached for his pistol on his drop leg holster.
"Claire. When I say run, you grab Sherry and run."
"Leon, wha- "
"Just do it. Please."
Claire saw the rookie cop reaching for the gun on his hip and realized there was something behind her and Sherry. The redhead placed her hand on the young girl's shoulder who stiffened when she heard an animalistic growl behind her. Claire nodded at Leon who nodded back just as his hand hovered over his pistol.
"Run!"
Claire grabbed Sherry and bolted while Leon unholstered his Matilda and fired at the zombified Doberman dog. The bullet hit it in the head and the dog staggered back before shaking it's head and growled at Leon. It then ran towards the rookie cop and Leon fired off a shot but missed. He pulled the trigger again but the dog had already pounced. The zombie dog pushed Leon to the ground and tried to tear off his neck but the rookie cop held it back with his left arm while trying to reach for his pistol with his other hand.
Claire saw Leon struggling with the zombie dog and quickly told Sherry to stay low before taking out her revolver and aiming at it. She was about to shoot the zombie dog but someone else beat her to it. The redhead looked to where the gunshot came from abd expected to see Alan and Sara but instead saw a woman wearing a beige coat approach with short black hair and wearing a pair of shades that obscured her eyes from Claire. The redhead quickly pointed her gun at the newcomer while Leon did the same after retrieving his pistol.
The woman looked at Claire then to Leon before scoffing.
"Stay sharp next time."
She fired another round on the zombie dog and was about to turn away but froze when she felt the barrel of a gun on the back of her head.
"Maybe you should listen to your own advice, lady."
The woman scowled and raised her gloved hands in surrender. Sara stepped out from the shadows and began checking the woman for any concealed weapons or identification. The U.B.C.S mercenary took out a Broom Hc pistol and a wallet before opening the latter then showed it to Alan who kept the rifle trained on the back of the woman's head.
"She's a Fed."
The former cop's eyes looked at the badge on the wallet as well as the ID before lowering his weapon. Sara handed the pistol and wallet back before turning to Claire who helped Leon up to his feet.
"You OK?" Claire asked.
"Other than the blood and brains that got splattered all over me after she shot the dog, I'm good." Leon replied before pinching his collar and sniffed only to wrinkle his nose at the scent "Ugh. Great. Now that's gonna stay there for a while."
"Yeah. You definitely need a shower." Claire jokingly punched his arm.
"Claire?"
The redhead turned around to see Sherry had left the pillar she was hiding behind and took to crouching next to the squad car close to the two.
"I-Is Leon alright?"
Said rookie cop smiled and gave Sherry a thumbs up.
"Don't worry, Sherry. I'm fine." Leon held out his arms "See?"
The young girl smiled before standing up and walking over to Claire and Leon, keeping herself close to the two while Alan and Sara talked to the woman.
"So what the hell is a Fed doing in the middle of all this shit?" Alan asked as he stared down at the Federal Agent, Ada Wong.
"Classified."
"Bullshit." Sara was quick to retort "We're in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, lady. You think 'Classified' means anything around here?"
Ada grimaced before taking off her shades and tucking them inside her coat. She then turned her head to regard the mercenary before looking her up and down.
"U.B.C.S, huh?" She then turned back to Alan "Do you know that the company she's working for is involved with this whole disaster?"
"I do and they're just following orders. Search and Rescue. That's their mission." Alan defended as he stepped between her and Sara. Mostly because the mercenary looked like she wanted to punch the federal agent in the face so bad.
"So where are they? Because I haven't seen anyone else from U.B.C.S other than her."
Alan had to physically keep Sara back before answering.
"They've done more than the Feds have. Where the hell is your team? The rest of the Feds? Where were you when the city went to shit? Last I checked, it was R.P.D and U.B.C.S that did all the work and rescued civilians. Where the hell was the F.B.I? The Army?"
"...classified."
And without another word, Ada walked past them. Sara glared at the woman's retreating back before shoving Alan's hand off her shoulder.
"Bitch."
"It's not worth it, Sara." Alan sighed before shaking his head "Come on. Let's just get that garage door open."
"Whatever."
The two made their way over to the trio who were waiting for them to finish their talk to Ada. Alan saw the three were standing by the console and easily figured out what was wrong. If he knew they needed a keycard to open the garage door, he would've brought it with him.
"Let me guess. Keycard, right?"
"Yeah. You don't happen to have one on you?" Leon asked.
"Negative. Left mine at my apartment. We had Brad's ID but I think Carlos still has it." Alan replied.
"Where'd that lady go?"
"Looked like she was heading for the cells. I wouldn't go in there if I were you."
"Why?" Claire asked.
"R.P.D's arrested a lot of people before shit really hit the fan. Rioters, looters, arsonists, even a few infected but they didn't know that. If she's looking for someone in there, they're probably dead or an undead by now." Alan answered casually as he checked his rifle.
"Shouldn't we at least keep an eye on her?"
Alan raised an eyebrow at the rookie's question but frowned upon realizing that they may figure out what the Fed was looking for if they follow her.
"Alright, here's the plan. Sara, Redfield. You two stay here and keep an eye on Sherry. Maybe look around and see if you can find anything useful. Spare mags, bullets and the like. Rookie, you're with me. Let's see if we can find out what little miss Fed is looking for."
The others agreed and Alan and Leon moved to follow after Ada while Claire and Sara stayed with Sherry. The two women looked around the parking garage but found nothing of use before Sara took a seat on the hood of a squad car and took out a stick of cigarette. She took out her lighter and lit the end of the cigarette before puffing out a smoke. Claire shook her head and made sure Sherry didn't breathe in the second hand smoke.
"What is it with people and smoking?"
"Hmm?"
"My brother smoked a lot after serving in the Air Force."
"You're brother served?" Sara asked. Surprised.
"Yeah. After he came back, he started teaching me how to shoot and how to defend myself in hand-to-hand." Claire shook her head with amusement "Never thought the things he taught me would actually be useful."
"Hey. When you serve in the military, you pick up a lot of useful things that you can use in your civilian life."
"You served too?"
"Yeah. I was a Corpsman in the Marines before I got a job working for U.B.C.S. Before that, however, I was homeless."
"Wait what?"
Sara shrugged and blew out a smoke.
"After I served, I went back home only to find out my idiot of a brother basically bankrupted us."
Her fist clenched and she spat the half spent cigarette to the ground.
"Didn't even have enough money for a proper funeral after he got shot up by people he owed money. If I hadn't met up with one of my buddies back in the day, he wouldn't even be buried in a cemetery." Sara shook her head "Anyway. I was homeless after that. Drifting from here and there and just looking for a job but no one in my hometown was hiring until Umbrella scouted me. Then I became one of U.B.C.S Delta Platoon's Combat Medics under Captain Mikhail Victor. The rest is history."
The mercenary's eyes glazed over as her mind went back to much simpler times before her life turned into a fucking mess.
"Did you ever find who killed your brother?"
"Half were killed by the cops from a raid. A couple OD'd and the rest... I put a bullet in their heads personally. Fuckers don't even know who I am or who my brother was. They said they just wanted what was owed."
Silence fell and the only sound that came was from the rain outside. Sherry looked between the two women before spotting the logo on Sara's sleeve.
"What's U.B.C.S?"
Sara blinked before looking at the curious face of one Sherry Birkin.
"Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service. In all honesty, we're just a bunch of mercenaries. Hired guns. They pay us and in return, we don't ask any questions. The biggest one of them all is why a Pharmaceutical company need their own little military force? Hell. After we joined, we were immediately put to Basic Training. Facilities were military-grade and they gave us state-of-the-art weaponry and equipment or at least that's what they said when they handed us our CQBR Assault Rifles and U.B.C.S Standard Issue G18 Pistols."
She tapped at the pistol on her hip.
"A lot of good it did to my platoon. We expected to be nothing more than beefed up security for Umbrella. Raccoon City is their home. We didn't expect this whole nightmare to fucking happen."
"I don't think anyone expected this."
The mercenary could only nod in return before hopping off the hood of the car and faced Claire. She opened her mouth to speak but stopped as Sara saw something behind Claire and Sherry and reached for her side arm. Just as her hand touched the pistol, Sara felt a stab of pain on her right arm and another on her temple before everything went black.
~Line Break~
"Hey, buddy. You alright?"
Alan and Leon looked over at the man behind the cell who stood up from the bed and made his way over to the cell door as the two approached.
"I can't believe it. Real humans. Hello, humans."
"Jesus. Buddy, how long have you been in there?" Alan asked.
"Long enough." The man replied "Are we the last ones alive?"
"There's still some people alive somewhere in the city." Leon replied "We have two others back in the parking garage."
"Oh... that's good news I guess. Heh. Unless, of course, Irons sent you."
The man in the cell narrowed his eyes at the two and looked cautiously at the rifle in Alan's hands.
"Irons? He's here? Where is he? Where the fuck is that goddamn fat bastard!?" Alan demanded. When he gets his hands on that fucking asshole...
"I-I don't know. But he's the one that locked me in here and I haven't seen him since." The man backed away from the door "Look. I was about to blow the whistle on Irons when he found- "
They heard something down the hall, likely the doors opening, and Alan quickly raised his weapon and aimed it down the corridor. Meanwhile, the man in the cell began asking Leon to unlock the door and in exchange, he'll open the parking garage for them. They heard another sound and the man was beginning to be desperate.
"We'll get you out of there, man." Alan said to the man without looking away from the corridor "We're gonna find the key to that door and get you out."
"But the chief- "
"But nothing, rookie! You remember the bodies by the statue in the West Storage Room? Did you ever wonder why there's a block of C4 there? Brians locked people in there. Including our own cops and the sick bastard toyed with them! This guy's about to blow the whistle on his ass. He's got something on Irons and I wanna find- "
The former cop was interrupted when a loud crash came from the cell and the two looked inside to see a large, gloved hand held the man inside by the head. The man screamed as the hand lifted him up off the ground before proceeding to crush his head like a melon. The hand let the body go before the two heard the loud thuds of Trenchy's footsteps leaving. Alan looked at the mess inside the cell and shook his head.
"Damnit." He cursed "Fuck it. Let's just find a way to open that cell before Trenchy finds us."
Alan moved to leave but stopped when he saw Leon was still looking at the man's corpse with wide eyes and jaw dropped.
"Hey. C'mon." Alan shook the rookie's shoulder "Let's get outta here before we end up like him."
They heard lighter footsteps approaching from the way they came and the two quickly aimed their weapons in the direction of the sound only for Agent Wong to reveal herself.
"It's just me, boys."
The federal agent made her way past the two and stopped in front of the cell before shaking her head.
"Damnit, Ben."
"You know this guy?" Alan demanded.
"Ben Bertolucci." Ada calmly replied before looking at the former cop "He is- WAS an informant. Had information I needed for my investigation."
"Investigation of what exactly?"
It was Leon who asked this time.
"Classified."
Ignoring the two, Ada walked away. Alan looked at her retreating back and wondered if he should just shoot her then and there. It's the middle of a zombie apocalypse. ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE. And little miss federal agent still wants to play the 'Classified' game. Sara was right. The woman was a bitch.
"Should we go after her?" Leon asked.
"Forget it." Alan replied with a shake of his head before looking back inside the cell to Ben's Parking Permit Keycard "Let her do her own thing and we'll do ours. First things first. We gotta find a way to open this cell and get that card."
And without another word, the two made their way back to the parking garage. Unaware of what happened to the others while they were gone.
~Line Break~
"OK, Claire. No need to panic. He just grazed her head. He didn't hit anything important. Damnit, guys. Where are you?"
Claire sat Sara against a pillar before looking over the wound on the side of the woman's head. The bullet might have only grazed her but Claire still needed to clean and bandage the bullet wound on Sara's arm. The redhead rummaged through the many pouches Sara had on her vest before finding a disinfectant and a bandage. It would be been easier if she used a First-aid Spray but the mercenary was out. Claire had checked every pocket and pouch but found nothing so they'll have to settle with the old fashioned way.
After cleaning and bandaging the wound on Sara's arm, Claire moved to the woman's temple and the redhead repeated the process of cleaning the wound followed by the bandages. Once she was done, Claire let out a sigh before getting up to her feet and looking out the parking garage door. If she's that fucker again, she... she didn't know what she'd do but she's gonna make sure that it would hurt and it would hurt him real bad.
"Redfield!"
Claire turned around to see Alan and Leon running towards her. Well, Leon was. Alan crouched in front of Sara and began looking over the wounded mercenary.
"I did the best I could to patch her up. I wanted to use a First-aid Spray but she's out."
"Who did this?" Alan demanded through gritted teeth "Who's the sorry motherfucker that did this so I can kill 'em myself?"
Claire described the man as best as she could and Alan punched the pillar in frustration. The former cop stood up just as Claire finished retelling him and Leon what happened. Meanwhile, Leon tried his best to calm both her and Alan down. It's bad enough that Sherry was kidnapped. What's worse is that said kidnapper was Chief Brian Irons.
"Guys. Calm down. We need to think this through." The rookie reasoned before looking at Claire "I know you want to go after Sherry. I do too. But we can't do that unless we get this door open."
He then turned to the former cop.
"I know you want revenge, Alan. But like I said. We can't do with the door closed. So let's all calm down and think for a second."
The two calmed down and for that, Leon was thankful.
"I'm fine. I'm calm. I'm cool. I'm fine." Alan muttered as he ran a hand through his hair before taking deep, calming breaths "OK. First things first. We find a way to get Ben's key card. To do that, we need to get power in the cells back online. Right now, it's only running on emergency power and we can't open the door with that. Once the power's back up and running, we open the door, get the keycard and get out. We find Irons and kill him then we look for Sherry."
"But we don't know where he is." Leon retorted "He could be anywhere in the city. And we can't leave Sara here until she wakes up. I'm thinking we should split up. One stays here and keep an eye on Sara while the others look for a way to get the power back up."
"I'll stay." Alan immediately stated "I'll watch her back and keep an eye out for anything suspicious. You two go on ahead and find us a way out of here."
"Yeah. Let's go."
And with that, Claire briskly walked away with Leon and Alan watching her leave. The former cop sighed and looked at the rookie.
"Your girlfriend's feisty. I'll give you that. Go after her before she does something stupid."
Leon nodded before running after Claire but not before picking up the pendant he found on the ground. The rookie looked at it before pocketing the thing and ran to where he last saw Claire. Taking out his shotgun in case it was needed... who was he kidding? Of course it was needed. It's a zombie apocalypse for God's sake.