Disclaimer: I do not own any Resident Evil characters or Resident Evil terms but I do own anything else that is original, Kronos virus, everything about the project and much more coming in the next chps.
Chapter Two: The Fortunate Islands
SHE COULD SMELL THE HINT OF GUNPOWDER. Cleaning lubrication. Maintained well but not fired recently. Claire's eyes slowly veered to the corners, spying the corkscrewing hole of the barrel.
Gripping the handle tight with leather gloves was a well-fit man in his late twenties. Caucasian. Dark hair in a fauxhawk style. Tight zippered shirt, simple pants, outdoor shoes. She noted the shoulder holster under the open vintage cotton jacket, the four pockets puffy with perhaps ammo cartridges. No badge in sight.
A wide smirk. Confident amber eyes. Professional body stance.
"Hello, Gorgeous."
New York. Accent was a dead giveaway.
"Now, I'm not here to hurt you."
The man reached out an open palm to her, the other still on the trigger.
"Just need to borrow that jacket and cap off you. We both know that before you scream for help, I'd have to knock your lights out." She could feel his glance quickly move down her legs and then back up, not enough time for her to drop the crate and reach for her gun. "I don't want to do that to a nice-looking lady like you."
Click!
"Drop your weapon!"
The man frowned with a rise of his hands, feeling Rebecca's gun at the hairline. He never saw her circle around covertly.
"Hands in the air!"
It was a familiar voice, one Claire knew all too well.
The man's partner had scuffled into the scene, his weapon pointing at Rebecca. Rebecca made the mistake at turning back to the second man. The first swiftly wheeled round, his free hand seizing her gun out of hers.
"Leon?"
The second man's grip on the gun relaxed. Just a bit. He stared, mouth agape at Claire.
Nothing has changed about this man. Still the dirty-blond-haired government agent, prepared for any worst-case scenarios. Just like the first man, he was dressed to be ready for the field: buttoned shirt, collar open and his typical leather jacket to hide his shoulder holster with sleeves neatly rolled up because of the Brazilian heat. Canvas pants and leather shoes.
"Claire?"
The eyes of both the first man and Rebecca bugged wide.
"Wait, you two know each other?"
Leon ignored his partner. "What are you doing here?"
Claire just smirked. "I should be asking you the same question."
"Leon, what's going on?"
A mechanical voice resounded in Leon's ears, one the girls didn't hear. Once he gave a nod of OK to his partner, all guns lowered. The other man returned back Rebecca's gun, only to have it snatched away from her and be given a glower. Leon reached out a hand to his earbud. "Just an old friend."
The old grumpy voice of a man was on the other end via the comms spoke out. "And pray tell why an old friend of yours is doing at the docks?"
Leon turned back to Claire, his face stern. "Why are you here?"
"If I have to guess, the same thing you're after. Cape Inacio?"
Leon's eyes widened.
Yup, confirmed.
"Wait. You're the girl who got contacted by the hacker?" the other man uttered.
Claire looked with puzzlement. Contacted? The only person who has ever contacted her in the last twenty-four hours was...
It clicked in her head. And she didn't like where this was going.
"You know. The email I got."
Leon fought the urge to unprofessionally facepalm himself and just gave a small shake of disappointment at his partner's loud mouth.
He kept his glance firm against the angry daggers he was receiving from Claire. "Claire, you shouldn't be here. You need to get out of here before you two are spotted."
Claire scowled even more. She wasn't going to get her answers. How they knew, how the government knew that she was given one particular email and only that one. Guess some people weren't paranoid after all, claiming the government was checking in on everyone's emails and phone calls.
"No. I got that email. There is no way I'm backing out after hearing about this island."
"This is outside TerraSave's jurisdiction," the other man exclaimed.
"Doesn't matter. TerraSave should already have the email by now. Now explain. Why are two government agents trying to stowaway on a HELIX's cargo ship?"
"Claire, this is a lot bigger than you think-"
"I already know about HELIX's virus. That there are people on that island," Claire huffed at Leon, glaring progressively at him. "We are not going anywhere but on that boat, Leon. And if you won't let us, then we're leaving without you."
"ENOUGH!"
The voice was loud and strong, piercing through the eardrums of the two men. Leon could hear the frustration seeping through the earpiece.
"Put me through with your friend."
Reluctantly, Leon complied and signalled his partner to hand over two spare earbuds.
"Who am I speaking to?" Claire demanded after nicking one. She mentally prepared herself for an earshot from some government official.
"Jared Blackwell. NCIS."
Ok, she did not expect to get someone like that on the line.
"Now, I don't have time to be calling up TerraSave to ask why one of their members is over there. NCIS already has enough rope being hung by DSO over this case. And we're going to be late the longer this stupid argument keeps on going."
The voice was right. Shouts from far away told the four that the crew was packing up soon.
"I have a feeling you're capable of handling high-risk crisis if you know Leon well enough. So you can tag along, provided that Special Agents Kennedy and Daken keep an eye on you. No vendettas."
She bit her lip. Great, being babysat. Not what she was hoping for.
Then again, with two more means of firepower, it could go a lot smoother than compared to her little vigilante adventures long ago. However, she didn't know or trust the new guy, Daken.
Leon, she could. They've been through a lot, whether or not it was fate playing at them to meet like this.
"I want you boys and girls to play nice. Do I make myself clear?"
"Alright." Also if she said no, she had a feeling this guy on the line might do something drastic. His voice told her that he wasn't deaf but seasonally experienced. It felt like she was facing Director Hopkins all over again. With military background.
"Good, Leon can brief you up to speed once you're aboard. For now, get on that ship." The last sentence was an order. 'Move it or lose it' kind of approach.
"I don't like this," the other agent honestly said. "First the navy and now we letting civilians on this mission. Sounds like a very risky thing to do."
"For your information, I work under BSAA," Rebecca hollered irritatedly.
"Really? And why is a BSAA member coming along too?"
"Vince," Leon called out. "Believe me when I say that these two are a lot more experienced than civilians. C'mon."
"Ok, but if these two are with us, how are we getting any disguises?"
"Your plan?" Claire asked Leon.
The blond shrugged with a smile, admitting it. "You beat me to the punch."
"Well, then in that case, we can help you boys out."
The boss was yelling at his loudest for the day. The schedule was pushed forward by an hour surprisingly and at the very last minute. Workers had to get all the cargo on as quickly as possible so that Titancrest could be sailing off by seven.
Supply kits were still needed to be loaded up. Two employees were enough for that task alone while the rest went to load the rest of HELIX's medicine boxes.
"Wheet-whoot!"
The two workers turned to the sound of a whistle. Waving at them down the end of a lane between containment units were two grinning ladies. Their faces were immediately unrecognizable.
One worker was suspicious. "Hey, do you work here?"
The women didn't answer. Just disappeared behind the ends.
The personnel trailed down the lane. "This is private property!"
No answer.
"Call for secur–"
It went all too fast. They couldn't respond in time against the swinging elbows to their faces. They were then quickly grabbed from the side, one body to the right and one to the left. Arms wrapped around their necks, cutting off the circulation until the poor saps lost themselves into consciousness.
Leon and Vince moved the men to a safe, hidden blind spot.
"They'll be knocked out for a few hours. Won't be long once they learn about us stowaways," Vince exclaimed, tossing over a jacket.
"We'll deal with that when it happens. Jared, we're heading inside," Leon spoke through the comms.
"Leon."
This time was a woman's. A familiar one.
"Read you, Hannigan."
"Once you're on board, all that metal will mess up reception," Ingrid Hannigan, Leon's government contact, explained. "You won't hear from us until you're about to find another form of telecommunications. You'll be alone out there."
"Got it. Adding comms onto the list of things to find." The four hurried to the supply kits, each seizing one into their grasp.
"MTAC has the ship on radar. We'll follow you on this end as much as we can. If we don't hear from you in the next seventy-two hours, we'll send in the Calvary," he heard the NCIS officer speak out.
"You'll hear from us in a day."
"And Leon?" Jared's voice hung in a pause. The serenity was slowly breaking. "Get them out alive... You hear me?"
Leon had stopped in his tracks. Claire noticed that.
There was a sense of responsibility, also put heavily on his shoulders. She could tell there was some kind of connection between the two men through the comms, one she wasn't sure of the details of but it was there.
Why was an NCIS official asking a lot out of him...
"...Will do, Gunnery."
It was a light promise. She could read it in his body that he too wasn't sure if he could keep it. But he had to try.
He turned back to them, the confidence back in his face. "Ready?"
Three nods back. Then out into the open, in a single file, hands on supply kits. Just keep calm and don't give eye contact. Easy said than done– Rebecca was holding her breath as they made their way to the side hatch. One worker was beside their own means of boarding on, with a checklist, clipboard and a pen in hands.
The employee spotted the supply kit boxes, marked down on the list and gave them a quick nod of approval, his attention then turning to a bunch of fragile boxes at the left end. "Hey, hey! Be careful with that!"
Two agents, one TerraSave member and a BSAA medic were in.
"Excuse me, coming through," an Asian woman slipped past them from behind and hurried up the stairs inside. They however, went down deeper.
"Just like old times?" Claire asked Leon.
"Like old times."
Vince Daken glanced around. No workforces and guards roaming around the cargo hold. That was good. From what he had heard from outside three hours ago, the ship had departed, which meant the crew was focusing on the upper deck. Thirty minutes later, ruckus. This probably meant the two workers he and Leon knocked out had either woken up or been found and a warning message was sent to the Titancrest. Men swept across the decks but their search was amateur level. An hour more, the commotion died out. Could mean they found nothing 'suspicious' on board and sent back a reply that it could still be at the docks.
It had been a roller coaster but he was surprised they managed to pull this off.
"All clear," he muffled, returning back to their secret hiding place. "Heat's blown off for the time being."
"Any word from your informant?" his partner asked.
"Nope. But it's not like I can go up to her now. Could blow her cover too."
"I see. Any way of contacting her?"
"Would be the same situation we're in now. Metal hulls." Vince pointed at the grey sides with his thumb. "It's either I go snooping around during the workers' next break or I find her once we reach land."
"We should stay low for now. We don't know how tight their ID checks are now that they got wind of trespassers."
"Aye-yi, captain," he joked and kept a stiff grin even when Leon didn't join in. Always a tough crowd since he partnered with him.
The two ladies, however, had been tense and quiet the whole time, keeping a watchful eye as much as they can.
But that didn't mean everyone knew each other completely, other than to their own partners.
"Um, right. This is Vince Daken. And I'm Leon Kennedy."
During the disorder, introductions had gone out the window.
"Sorry about earlier. Just doing my job, Miss...?"
"Claire Redfield," she said towards Vince. "And she's Rebecca Chambers."
"Rebecca," Leon repeated. "You work with Chris."
"You know Chris?" The young short-haired woman was surprised to hear Chris's name from another stranger.
Leon nodded. "Just as well as I know Claire. You were involved with the mansion incident, right?"
The calm face Rebecca had been keeping on softened. Leon's unintentional prying opened up an old wound. "Yes... You were in Raccoon City?"
Leon nodded nostalgically. They shared that same wound, only different circumstances. "I was a police officer then. I met Claire when it happened."
"I see."
Silence leeched onto the atmosphere of the cargo hold, rigid with the stench of metal and medication. Three survivors from the worst incident in humanity's history, remising to their tender encounters of the past. Now, they were on their way to where possibly another outbreak could be taking placed at any time, or worst possible scenario, be released upon the world.
Vince, the only oddball out of the 1998 incident, felt the nervous need to break it.
"Ahem. Sorry to break this reunion but we have matters to press on?"
Leon agreed with a nod and shook off the remorseful rigidity inside him. "No doubt you have questions."
Claire crossed her arms at the reminder. "I'd like to know why the government was so interested in an email I got."
"It's not so much the email. It's who sent it to you."
"And you know who the person is."
"Yes. Anónimo."
Claire was instantly stunned. No, a better word would be shocked. The name, it was notorious. Well-known only within the confined spaces of the Internet. Comically dubbed as "The Peter Pan of the Net" in several forums.
She never pieced the puzzle together that it would be that person. Yes, she was hacked. But the name never crossed her mind before.
"The masquerade hacker?"
"The one and only," Vince uttered.
Anónimo, the masquerade hacker. An uncatchable, unstoppable force inside the wide web. Almost every agency was after his head, even TerraSave. From what she'd heard, their database was hacked in and various types of information were targeted. After that, online security had been upgraded.
"No real name. No identity," Leon explained. "Absolutely nothing about this person other than the alias and his activities. Only surfaced in 2000 and hacked into over a dozen protected databases since then. He's been under the radar ever since."
"I've heard that name before. There were rumours about someone hacking into BSAA's databank," Rebecca pointed. "Twice."
"TerraSave was cyber-attacked last year," Claire added. "Could it be the same guy?"
"If you couldn't find any clues back then, then it had to be Anónimo. It's impossible to find him, let alone his IP address," Vince exclaimed. "Anónimo's activity used to be infiltrating precious data, stealing millions of dollars and making cyber-attacks in the past but as of recent, there's been evidence of him being involved in bioterrorism. The list goes on and on for this hacker."
"Seriously?" Rebecca gasped.
"There have been some connections with the Iraq war happening now and even conspiracies behind a couple of incidents. Like the Queen Zenobia Incident. The kidnapping of the President's daughter, which our hero so singlehandedly saved the day for her." Vince chirpily directed his eyes at Leon. "One dangerous man this Anónimo is."
Claire's gut feeling pricked again. A person with such a dangerous reputation, using the wide web as his domain, his power – perhaps gathering data like dangerous viruses and selling it off to potential buyers – would indeed be top priority to stop.
But...was that the same person she 'met' on her laptop?
She couldn't call that a human. More like some sort of character from a 90s game. Although there was no emotion when Anónimo 'spoke' to her, what Anónimo 'asked' of her was a pleading request.
Moreover, it was she who was given the data of another virus. She was shown evidence. And that didn't make any sense.
Could it be a trap by a cyber-genius instead? But for what purpose? She has never crossed paths with Anónimo till now.
"Ok. So what does this Cape Inacio have to do with this hacker?" she asked.
"We were given new information NCIS found through a case of theirs," Leon took over the conversation. "Their MTAC was also hacked five years ago. But Anónimo made a mistake and MTAC was about to pinpoint his last known location: in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean."
"Now the location, there's no known piece of land so NCIS heavily investigated on this. Until they were stonewalled by HELIX Foundations," Vince hummed. "Lawyers made a very convincing argument that the navy had no reason to look over the Titancrest's routes."
"Several months back, NCIS joined together with DSO once they found out that there was another link to HELIX – a number of missing people over the last eleven years. Nearly 10,000 in total. And some were scientists."
The girls immediately saw the connection. "Scientists hired to develop a virus," Claire stated and she was given a nod.
Leon slipped out his phone, a special brand fit for an agent like himself and hit the buttons before passing it over to Claire. Rebecca peered over her shoulder. "This is a list of those names. The scientists are at the top. All specialized in medical, bioscience and biotech degrees. And every one of those people on that list shared the same story HELIX explained – they unfortunately passed away in some accident. Families have also been given settlements."
"That sounds too much of a coincidence. Hasn't HELIX been investigated on this?" Rebecca asked.
"Not enough evidence to link them," Leon groaned. "HELIX only admits that they did indeed hire the employees before they went missing and they were in 'condolence' over the losses. Hence, the settlements."
"If it's just employees, then who are these other names?"
"Close family members of those employees. Probably moving homes together."
"Why are they considered missing?" Claire asked.
"A lot of those deaths were registered from boat accidents and overseas. There was never any recovery of any body as well. That is too much of a coincidence."
It was a vague answer. Claire had darted her eyes back and forth from the list, noting the change in Leon's voice.
She was about to point that out, meddle more reasons out of him as to why a number of people, presumed dead, was now presumed missing–
"McLenlan?"
The name was listed in the 459th line.
Iria McLenlan.
"Yes." Surprise tinted Leon's voice and only to that name. "That's one of the scientists. Do you know her, Claire?"
She didn't answer straight away. Personally, she didn't. She only heard of the name from the audio file. "No."
"Wait!" Rebecca suddenly grabbed the phone with the brightest air of disbelief. "As in the McLenlan sisters! ?"
Vince's eyebrows furrowed. "Is that like a name of some famous singing group?"
"Rebecca, do you know her?" Claire persisted.
"No. Only from my professors. But they were very well-known back then and even in the bioscience industry." Rebecca gave a nervous laugh once she noticed all eyes were on her for her sudden outburst. "You could say they were my idols. One of the reasons why I picked biochemistry. I even picked the same college they attended."
"You looked up to them, huh?"
Rebecca nodded. "Carme and Iria McLenlan. I heard more about Carme though, being renowned in biological sciences, genetic studies and psychology combined. She was the most brilliant out of the two, making and proving mindblowing theories." The beam on her face however faded. "But...I heard she passed away years ago. A lot of people said it was a very tragic loss for the medical world."
Claire pressed on more out of curiosity. "What about Iria?"
"Like Carme but more on virology. I heard that she had improvised many vaccines like the influenza."
"And this Iria McLenlan was hired by HELIX? Guess she's a potential evil scientist."
Rebecca frowned angrily at the dark-haired special agent. But the frown twisted to uncertainty as she glanced back at the name.
"What? We had crazy people-in-white creating the t-virus back in the 90s. And so on. Wouldn't surprise me if she turns out to be like them."
Was that the case? Claire wasn't sure to agree with Vince.
The woman in the audio file was begging her to get help. And she knew Steve somehow.
Belief and doubt was on Claire's lap altogether but there was nothing to jump to conclusions. The answers were on Cape Inacio. And she knew that if it was anything like Rockfort Island, getting them would be hard.
"We were able to find some information about an island under HELIX's name, thanks to my informant. No doubt their personal "island of Doctor Moreau"," Vince emphasized the term with causal twitching of two fingers. "But that wasn't enough to break the ice until Anónimo's next cyber-attack."
"The email."
"Yup. And that was after it was decided that the two of us should do a little recon. If we couldn't get more details out of HELIX, then we might as well get more out of this phantom island. With NCIS's cooperation, of course. That guy on the line didn't sound too happy about it," he continued with a roll of his eyes.
Leon, however, was indifferent. Which was strange to Claire. Wouldn't he agree with Vince how problematic it was doing cooperation between two different agencies?
"Anónimo was just the excuse we needed. Although, if that hacker contacted you, I don't doubt NCIS agents have seized your computer by now. With a warrant."
Claire narrowed her eyes at Vince. Great, a broken door and her house invaded...something to look forward to after this trip.
He shrugged his shoulders. "Hey, it's just following protocol. Everyone's on edge about this one hacker."
"Once we get to the island, we'll need to know more about the situation there. And if there really are people, even hostages, saving them will have to be the highest priority. Contacting the navy is next," Leon pointed.
"You two aren't going to be wandering off on your own businesses, right?"
Claire was almost going to say no to Vince. Almost. She stopped herself because it was more of a half-lie.
Instead, Rebecca answered for her. "Of course not. This might be another Rockfort incident. And if what you said is true, there could be families in danger."
The TerraSave side in her agreed with Rebecca. The other was willing to drop everything just to confirm something else. To be absolutely sure she wasn't being fooled again.
To know the one she had lost...was indeed on that island.
She coughed to shake off the disturbing idea of sacrificing over 8,000 people for 1. "I don't know why Anónimo contacted me. But there's no way we can just sweep this one under the rug."
It was also a vague answer. She could feel Leon's stare steady on her, swooshing in to pluck at any sign of untruth.
He let it go. "Vince, see if you can't call HQ again. They should at least know we're doing fine before we lose complete range."
Vince tightened his eyes with a rise of an eyebrow. His lip curled, as though to call Leon out on his thinly veiled bluff, but he turned to leave.
Rebecca tensed on her seat, noting the seeping silence hung between Leon and Claire. On the spot, she could tell this was one talk she shouldn't be involved. "I'm...going to check out the kits. See what we can bring along."
The stillness still stood even after their partners left for their individual tasks.
"You know," Claire broke the silence. "NCIS only deals with crime against or by the navy. You haven't fully explained why they are so fully invested on this one, Leon."
Leon leaned backwards, now crossing his arms back at her. "And you never fully explained yourself why you're going to the island."
"I have my reasons."
He sighed, shaking his head. "I know that face." Eyes squirted on her unhappily. "This isn't one of those searches again, is it?"
She almost flinched on the spot. Damn this man and his investigation skills. Though frankly, she also picked them up from him over the years.
"And what if it is?"
Leon heaved a sigh through his nostrils. "Claire–"
"Before you say it, let me say this. I am not going into this one blind... I just want to..." She tried to find the right words. Not enough to give her reason away but the meaningfulness instead. "I want to know this isn't going to another dead end... And if it is...then I'll stop. For good."
This would make the seventh time. And she knew she couldn't go on anymore pointless hunts. At the third, she had decided it would have been the last.
This...this time...this was the last one she would do.
And finally move on...
"What exactly do you expect to find?"
If she was asked that question eight years ago, she would have immaturely given a hopeful answer. Expecting a miracle but back then...that was denying reality.
"...A body..." she admitted to Leon. "A body to bury."
That was what she was hoping for. No, had hoped.
Before the email, she was hoping to find Steve's body and bury him in a nice cemetery, maybe at his hometown. He was dead. He wasn't going to come back. She had already accepted that fact, having gone through the stages of grief months after her loss.
If he did...it would only mean the worst possible outcome.
She didn't want that. To see him come back like that.
She would only be satisfied once she'd find his body and put it to rest.
Away from that man.
"Now you." She turned the tables around. "I noticed it too, Leon. This mission has gotten you rattled."
"I have my reasons," he explained calmly. "Just as you do."
She bit the side of her mouth but decided not to make a comeback. "Fair enough. But I pretty much gave you a hint."
He chuckled, showing off the first signs of age lines. "I owe a friend a favour."
"This Jared, right?"
Leon couldn't hide his smile.
Claire then connected the dots, staring back at the list of names. "...One of these families is Jared's, isn't it?"
The smirk softly vanished.
"...I don't know what to expect from this island. But if this is anything like Rockfort Island..." He stopped himself. If he said what she expected him to say, it would only jinx it.
For all they knew, Jared's family could be...
"I don't want to get his hopes too high. The only problem is–" He stopped again, this time giving a surprisingly cautious look, first checking his earbud as if his friend would be eavesdropping. "He's an incredibly stubborn man." Leon grinned lightly. "...He believes they're still alive."
"I think I know the feeling."
Another pause between the two.
"Claire, I just want to know," Leon started strongly. "Are you going to be OK?"
There wasn't hesitation. Doubt. The gaze he was getting wasn't predictable uncertainty that would affect her focus in this assignment.
"You don't have to worry about me, Leon. This is like any other job."
"Phew!"
Breaking through the steady silence, the petite woman walked into the hiding spot with a few items, some being standard first aid. "It took a while but these should be useful for us. I never expected finding an axe inside those kits too."
Rebecca then noticed the heavy, thick awkwardness.
"Um... Was I interrupting?"
She was given a lot of spontaneous no's from the two. Whatever conversation they had, it had died under the crashing waves outside.
Oh, this was going to be a long voyage... Rebecca thought.
30 May 2006, 4:23 P.M.
Atlantic Ocean.
A day had passed and the only way of telling time was from the smartphones in the team's possession. Commotion arose from above the steel ceiling, just as loud as that during the ship's departure.
At Leon's order, the four cleared up the hiding spot of any evidence of their presences and carefully climbed out of the lower deck. Their suspicions were confirmed without drawing attention – at the horizontal line of the ocean sat a tiny little archipelago.
Everyone on board was preparing for arrival to one of those islands, the biggest one.
Once preparations were finished, an order yelled out to get ready to haul the cargo out onto a large pier once they docked. A moment later and loud metal thunders told them the anchor had fallen. The four waited a little longer for the opportunity to causally walk out of the side hatch.
"So, what exactly are we expecting once we touch land?"
"If Cape Inacio is like Rockfort Island...a prison camp," Claire answered Vince's question. The voice from the audio had said prisoners were taken there. No doubt the families were locked up too. "And some research lab for the virus. They'll probably have military force too."
Rebecca looked up with worry. "You think we can handle this?"
Leon held in his reply. Nope. This wasn't a rescue mission for one president's daughter. Just a bigger scale, to be frank. "One step at a time."
Another holler from outside and the side hatch opened ajar, daylight slowly creeping through.
"Get ready for anything."
And out they went into the blinding light.
The clear white flare burned to the point Claire was forced to cover her eyes with one hand. Once her vision adjusted to the strong light, she blinked several times confusedly.
What...
Her mind took longer to proceed the surroundings than she had hoped. She had been expecting more of a...dead island.
The blue sky reflecting on the cerulean sea.
The shining sun and glittering water.
The gentle breeze and the calm sounds of waves.
This scenery before them was so stunning that it was unimaginable from the private prison island in the Southern Ocean. It shouldn't have existed. But the heat on their skin, the smell of salt and the cawing of seagulls were telling them this was real.
Why... Why was Claire seeing all this?
Rebecca inadvertently released out a gasp, marvelling at the beauty before her. In a world where ruthless corporates' viruses occasionally distorted it many times to grim ugliness, this one little island's existence – untouched by death, chaos and grief – was defying such odds.
"Do all prison camps look this idyllic where you come from?" Vince dryly drawled.
White sand. Clear ocean water. Palm trees. It was very much different from the grey, lifeless environment of Rockfort Island. What they were seeing before them could be labelled as the perfect Bahamas getaway location for any tourist.
The small team had sneaked off the Titancrest, blending well as part of the crew through the pier they were on – strangely weather-protected and fortressed. Once they were out the docks, they ditched their covers and wandered down the dirt road. Two minutes passing a few warehouses, they found themselves entering a nice community town. Anyone's guess, enough for 8,000 people.
"West Koralo," Rebecca read off a sign. The name of this strange and mockingly-friendly town. Above that sign waved a flag depicting the American flag symbol at one corner and the other side, the symbol of a brightly-colored small bird. A little similar to the Cayman Islands' flag.
No prison walls. No guard towers. Not even barred wire, huge spotlights or BOWs running amok.
"This is so surreal," Claire admitted. It was so alien. Nothing like she'd expected.
She had thought there would be walls imprisoning people, one by one used for sick experiments. There would have been death on the streets. Blood. The dead walking about. But there was none. Instead, there were happy faces and laughter under the loud notes of Cuban music playing from a nearby radio. Faces of civilians freely living a blissful life under the tropical afternoon sun.
The further the four outsiders walked onwards, the more they were seeing types of structures; grocery store, pharmacy, hardware store, clinic, police station, auto shop and many more. The necessities and growth of a town. As far as the eye could see was the ocean of buildings, three-storey apartments and bungalows. Further off the distance into the tropic forest uphill, radio towers.
"Is there really any danger here?" Vince asked quietly. "Doesn't look like anyone's down with an illness or anything."
Maybe the outbreak hasn't happened yet. Claire confined it in herself not to say that.
It was still the 30th of this month. Tomorrow, the 31st, should be the endgame.
"I don't know. But we can't cause panic for these people. The calmer they stay, the better for us," Leon stated.
It was a little harsh but everyone agreed. Especially when it seemed like a majority of the townsfolk was busy.
Since the four first came into town, they've noticed everyone else was retrofitting the buildings. Nailing boards on windows, working on the rooftops and reinforcing doors.
"Well, everyone here looks like they're prep for a storm," Vince said.
"Excuse me."
At a fancy retro diner, named "The Dainty Mermaid" – the sign decorated with an adorable dugong mascot – Claire called out to a woman tending to the windows with each steady whack of a hammer.
The woman wheeled round and beamed. "Oh. Hello. I don't recognize you lot." Australian accent. She stood up and rose out an open hand. "Welcome to Cape Inacio."
Claire shook back. The hand in hers was real. This was no dream she was having. "Thank you. Um, yeah. We just arrived today."
Vince was about to step in, bewildered at the brunette for starting the spilling of beans but Leon stopped him. Better to act causal anyway.
"We don't often get new faces round here. I suppose you also got hired by HELIX to work at the facility."
"Yes." Just play along. "We're looking forward to it. Um, sorry but what's happening here?"
"Oh, right. You wouldn't know. This island has hurricanes every summer. We've all been preparing this week for this year's storm. Weather forecast says it might be the worst one yet in a decade."
Claire fought the urge to groan. A hurricane.
Terrific.
Well, the ship did carry supply kits for storm preparedness. She was just hoping that would come much later in the year, let alone a hurricane.
The woman gave a soft giggle. "You picked the wrong time to start work."
"Could you tell us more about this facility, miss–?"
"Margaret. You can quit the formality, love," she cut Leon short with a stronger laugh. "Everyone here are like close friends. You'll get to know everyone pretty quickly."
"Um, I see. Margaret, could you tell us about the facility?"
"Well, I wouldn't know much about what goes on there. They don't let anyone except employees down at the east. My husband works in security though so he has a better idea. From what I understand, um...the reason for the research facility is because HELIX discovered a variety of natural herbs here and they're cooking up new medicine. Most of the economy here is because of those medications. They should have told you this at the briefings, right?"
"Hey, Marge!" A large middle-aged African-American, partly bald, lightly shaved moustache-beard and wearing what looked like the overalls of a worker at the pier stepped carefully down the ladder. "Roof's done. Should be better than last year–" He had just noticed the new visitors. "Oh, hello."
"Hugh, they just came today. They'll be working over at the facility."
"Pleasure to meet you all." His shake was rough and sturdy to the newcomers but very much welcoming. "Hugh Bernard. It isn't much here but hope you find this place to your liking."
The four had no choice but to introduce themselves too.
This sociable conversation, meeting these new people like Claire had with meeting her next door neighbours back home, it was like she was being ridiculed at.
Was the plea she was sent a joke? Or were these townsfolk playing a trick on her?
All of this was just taunting her.
They had to know, right? About the facility. About the virus. How could they act so causal?
She bit her tongue. Stay calm.
"I didn't expect a town to be here though," Rebecca said.
"It's been here for eleven years now," Hugh explained. "HELIX wanted their workers to bring families along. Have both work and family together."
The missing people...
"Do you work at the facility?"
"Oh no. My sis does. She's the brainy one in the family. I work at the docks," he chuckled loudly. "I'm surprised to see more hire. We haven't gotten any newcomers since..." He stopped. "The new kid, he came when?"
Margaret shook her head. "You know he doesn't like to be called a kid."
"Well, Iria always calls him Kiddo." He clicked his fingers, trying to figure out something in his head. "It was last year, right? Yeah. A year since we had anyone new come to town."
"Say, about earlier, being there's a hurricane and all," Vince started with a weak laugh. "But shouldn't you be, oh, I don't know, evacuating?"
Hugh returned back a bewildered rise of an eyebrow. "I'd like to see you try. Waters round here are too dangerous for most ships to venture out. You came from the Kharon, right?" He pointed a finger off to the distance and the four wheeled back, just barely spotting the roof of what seemed like a large ferry. "That's the only ferry in and out. And it's not fast enough to get away from a hurricane."
"There are shelters around town, though. But all of us just head to the pier. Place's built to withstand the storms for us," the Aussie lady explained.
"Announcement will ring before the hurricane hits us. Anyway, there's a motel three blocks away for you all. Make yourself at home till then."
"Yeah. Thank you," Leon said lightly.
The four then continued on their way after the goodbyes, Claire glancing back a glimpse. A young girl, she assumed was about twelve, had exited out of the diner and hurried to Margaret. A daughter. Same age as Sherry was back then..
She felt her insides turn cold.
She truly and silently prayed to God, wherever the hell he was, that there wasn't going to be an outbreak. Or else that little girl by the diner, any other child on this island, was surely going to be as traumatic as Sherry was back in Raccoon City...
Unknown to the new guests, their unexpected arrival had not gone unnoticed. The black, shuttering lens of many security cameras above any line of sight narrowed at the four below.
Within a fraction of a second, the cameras picked up their faces and wirelessly sent them off to the island's network. The computers of a small military bass ran those identities through a database.
No results.
"Call him. We got company."
"She said east," Leon began.
The crack of the town was only metres away, breaking into the thick jungle with vines, roots and trees twisted about that made it look like a near-impossible feat on foot.
"Hang on." Claire had already drew out her phone and brought out the electronic map. It would prove useful, she told them back on the ship, explaining it was one of the attachments from the email. She had been studying the landmarks for some time, noting eight entrance points and what seemed like the facility near a cresent-shaped lagoon far away. "It's some distance away. May be faster by car."
It was half a good idea, Leon agreed mentally. "It'd draw too much attention though. No choice but to walk to one of those points."
"Yeah. You're up to the task, Rebecca?"
Rebecca wickedly grinned. "Come on, Claire. I may not go on the field as much as you two do but I sure can outrun the two of you."
"Cocky," Leon praised.
"We might need to be extra careful then." The three turned back to the other agent, his attention to a poster on a stoned wall. He stripped it off as they huddled round him.
It was kind of a propaganda poster with the words, "We serve to protect YOU!" and "Jungle Rescue" at the bottom. Three letters boldly conquered most of the spaces, along with sharp cell-shaded designs of body-armoured soldiers in courageous stances.
"HCF," Vince read. "What does that stand for?"
"Host/Hive Capture Force."
Vince and Rebecca turned to Claire with surprise, first at her sudden exclaim and second at her angry face.
She was all too familiar to that name.
Claire grounded her teeth inside her shut mouth. That man's personal army of grunts.
"Leon..."
"Yeah..." The blond tightened his eyes intensely. Reports had told him about this name and only one link to a certain person. "Wesker's here."
The two partners widened their eyes, each with different feelings but still the overall shock.
Of course. The most dangerous man in the world. On this very island.
Rebecca had a hard time believing this since Raccoon City. Granted, she had rarely crossed paths with Wesker within the headquarters of STARS back in the days. That was back then when she was still a rookie and Wesker was a captain.
No one had expected him to turn villain then. He proved them wrong.
"Then this is a lot more serious than we thought. We should contact DSO right away. Get more guys," Vince urged.
Leon glanced up to the faraway radio towers. Right now, the comms through the earbuds were dead. They were too far away to contact anyone without some booster.
Hannigan did say they needed to find an alternative means of communication.
"We better choose then. The facility or the radio towers," he laid out the choices.
"The facility, of course," Claire replied hastily. "It'd take too long for anyone to get here."
"Ok, I give you credit for being brave and fierce but aren't you being crazy to be waltzing over there?" Vince hollered.
"It's only a matter of time before Wesker gets his hands on this virus once it's finished. We should get there before he does."
"And how would you know that?"
"It's Wesker. I bet you on my life he wants this more than anything. Even over the lives of these people!"
"And you want us to take whatever vial they have over there first?"
"Or better yet, destroy it."
"Dear god, this girl is unbelievable," he openly and frightfully admitted, which Claire took no offense to or even accept it as a compliment.
"She's right. The virus's our top priority now," Leon voiced out his concern. "We're going to be making a lot of noise, Claire. Even blind on this one."
"Well. We should get started then."
"Guys?"
Rebecca's call was slowly drowned by the sound of dirt wheels rushing down the open road. Sure enough, they found themselves being quickly surrounded.
With guns.
Four jungle jeeps. About fifteen men wearing black military uniforms, holsters and looking very much unhospitable to the four. Stitched onto the back of each soldier were the letters, 'HCF'.
One of the men, a captain, jumped off the vehicle and approached them. Assault rifle down.
"You rats are far away from home. Any reason why you've wandered off to this island?"
"Taking a vacation?" Vince quietly droned, not loud enough to dare piss off the captain.
No one gave any other answer.
"Quiet lot, aren't you? We can fix that. Sorry this isn't a welcome wagon with coconut drinks and martinis."
Some of the grunts snickered. Others just kept quiet, fingers tight on the triggers.
The odds were stacked against them. Leon mentally counted the trained highly-functional gunmen. Against four. The risk was too high. What was more, in their small group were two women.
Yes, Claire could take care of herself. She has showed that very clear back in the days. But these weren't mindless undead cannibals and like hell, he'd let these men hurt the ladies.
If anything, he could seize one grunt and use him as leverage to give them time to flee.
"Now, come with us. Don't worry. The boss wants you four alive."
"Your boss's Wesker?"
No change in expressions. But Leon knew deep down, it had to be true.
"Eager to meet him, I see? You'll have to wait. He's busy at the moment. Now, drop your weapons. We don't want to draw attention and get civilians involved in a gunfight."
Oh, that was low.
"You'd kill people on this island? Isn't this town your home?" Rebecca yelled.
The captain laughed even harder. "Oh, please. Those people are just leverage for us to keep the staff in check. If we could, they'd make good target practices for us."
Claire's mind flashed back to the little girl, Margaret and Hugh. She desired to put a bullet in the captain's schmuck face.
They were outnumbered, chained on the spot. Once guns were shot, any by-passer from town would come and get injured during the fire.
Quietly, she and Leon exchanged glances. She read the next objective: surrender quietly. For now. Until they were far enough from innocents.
Unwillingly but with more prodding of the rifles at them, the four stripped off their weapons to the ground.
"Welcome to Cape Inacio," the captain said 'warmheartedly'.
It was only a brief moment coming from her left but the bulk end of another assault rifle launched towards her.
BAM!
Darkness quickly swallowed her up. She never had the chance to hear the others call out her name...
Leon S. Kennedy
White Rook
Date of Birth: 1977
Age: 29
Blood Type: A
Gender: M
Race/Nationality: Caucasian/American
Occupation: U.S. Government Agent
Teammate Class: Operative/Field Agent
Weapons of Choice:
Melee – Survival Knife
Primary – Handgun (Government standard)
Secondary – Shotgun
Stats:
Strength: ****
Stamina: ***
Accuracy: ****
Wits: ***
Speed: ***
Endurance: ***
Ability:
TBA
*/*/*/*
Vince Daken
White Pawn
Date of Birth: 1978
Age: 28
Blood Type: B
Gender: M
Race/Nationality: Caucasian/American
Occupation: U.S. Government Agent
Teammate Class: Assault
Weapons of Choice:
Melee – Baton
Primary – Handgun (Government standard)
Secondary – Assault Rifle
Stats:
Strength: ***
Stamina: ****
Accuracy: ****
Wits: **
Speed: ***
Endurance: ***
Ability:
TBA
Game Objections:
-Head to the Dainty Mermaid.
-Leave West Koralo
Vickie: I was really hoping that this chapter won't be too long-winded not only because it'd be lame to hear [explanation] all the time but also because I want to jump to the action as soon as possible (sadly that would only start next chapter). Even had planned that each game chapter is about 3 writing chapters so I fear that this 1st game chapter may go long. Granted, if a game, you can go two ways: have a short start and be thrown into the situation well or build up the tension until you reach a certain point where hell is loose. However, I do want my players/readers/whatever to feel the need to drop their guard down first. This is something I've rarely seen done well, especially at the beginning with the thought, "Oh sure. There are sooo gonna be zombies the moment I step on this island."
Meh, of course, if this was a game, I bet ya the story would be edited than compared to what I wrote. :T
And btw, introducing the fourth playable character (and I do need to make the team number as four per team, as well as being a semi-tank), Vince Daken. Yes, he's an OC. Yes, readers in fanfiction tend to not like OCs. But really, I've seen a lot of you guys go excited over Jake Mullers and Piers. ALL CHARACTERS ARE BASICALLY OCS! Just see any OC I write as playable character. And not some pointless one that serves no purpose (I've seen those in some games, especially Kidman in Evil Within. I'm sorry but I just HATE the fact that one character DOESN'T FAWKING CARRY A GUN in a game where everyone's LIVES depends on SHOOTING).
Additionally, a head's up. Any character that is given a description, that's a playable character for you, as a player, to choose during each game chapter. So you can guess, Hugh the big guy, is playable too. Juuuust, not yet. :P First half of my story, I've already made and picked which will be playable on the get-go and the second half, the rest of the cast. So just be patient but still enjoy the characters. :D Heck, you already start with Claire, Leon and Rebecca anyway.
Another head's up too would be that I'm gonna be listing down game objections in each chapter. And if needed. XD Just for fun. Usually at the end of the chapter anyway, but ideally, gives you an idea what you have to do rather than running headless. There is still freedom, like Dead Island (but no side quests cuz I dun recall coming across those in RE games, I think) and Evil Within, where you can briefly explore to find more items. This part in this chapter, it isn't relatively jumping into the battles yet but I will say you can explore a bit in West Koralo at the beginning to find or be sold items too (I'm thinking of a Cuban vendor who sells stuff and weapon upgrades on the street…yes, inspired by our lovely weird merchant in RE4).
Also, I've made some changes, even in the last chapter: 1. Being Steve's eye color, thanks to Sheenah and her awesome review. :) 2. The name of the cargo ship line, decided to give a ferry the named Kharon instead. Sounds fitting. Yeaaah, a ferry named after the ferryman from Hades' underworld. 3. Each playable character is now labelled with the name of a chess piece. The reason for this comes later and it's just me having fun. :P
I've also made some changes to gameplay for this idea. I was thinking back about what I said on skill points in the first chapter. Scratch that. When I thought more, it sounded more annoying to be finding skill points from exploration, even if some comes from killing zombies. I think the better way for player progression would be instant experience gain like how you get in Battlefield or Evolve (after each round, you get exp from killing and stuff to unlock levels). That would be more easy and maintainable for you all to level up (and not be spending on pointless skills).
Another point is on single-player, I know players would prefer not to always have to need to keep an eye out on their partners, especially in single-player. And that only works well if the AI is done well (which, I will have to say in RE6, the AI's a lot better than I expected). I had thought of this option that as single-player, you can be left behind while the others in your team go ahead like a typical RE in the old days...but sounds weird though. Even when you may get killed alone too. One thing for sure in single-player, you do not need to share your items, especially when items are limited in horror games. In multiplayer, you do have that option but it won't be like one person steals your item away from you. You all equally get the item altogether (but if separated into twos, then not really because I'd say you'll relatively get the same amount of items from each arc so there's no point in doubling items or else it breaks away the item scarcity). Another thing is to keep the horror factor, even when you aren't alone. Revelations, I will say, did that fantastic even when you as Jill had a partner some of the time. You still felt lonely and scared with all the sounds going about, when Parker was right next to ya. Being in a four team would sound like it's killing the horror but as I said before, you won't always be together as a full group in the same game chapter all the time. You'd be separated, you'd have to be through different arcs as compared to other teammates. You'd still be alone and the worst part, you'd be afraid to lose your teammate so that you aren't alone (but not be frustrated by crappy AI or unexpected situations like hey, the monster's eating up your mate, mate). As a die-hard horror gamer, I'd want that over pure action just as it's done well in Alien Isolation. I'd want to be forced to think out my plans carefully to survive long enough over just irrationally shooting like Rambo and wasting bullets. That's what gets my blood pumping. It's the same for some non-horror games like TF2 (yes it's not horror but it's an action game that also forces me to think how I can push my team to victory). Not scared that I'd get frustrated but scared that I need to survive. :)
Also, if you've been reading the dialogues and noticed there aren't a lot of cheesy lines...I'm not very good at those. At all. Sometimes if the opportunity needs it but not as much as RE series have done. Every single second. (If anything, I'd prefer the humour in L4D series than RE series…cough) I will try a bit but not to the point the slapstick will cause me to slap myself at the pointlessness. We had those moments, people. Don't deny it.
Also, yes, Wesker is back.
I found it strange that in Revelations he wasn't entirely involved in it, especially when TRICELL was but then again, would make sense that he doesn't NEED to be the mastermind for every plot of world domination (or whatever the antagonist's plot was in it). I'd say I'd expect Wesker to appear again in any games that take place before his death at least once soooo if Capcom decides to make a game before 2010….hurrah(?). Additionally, I was always wondering what happened to HCF since they never appeared again since CV. I'm guessing at some point in history, something happened to Wesker's little army or they were placed together under TRICELL's control when he started work under them. And this guess gave me some ideas, especially having HCF being used as a private force to keep control over the island.
SO EXPECT HCF TO BE AN ENEMY, BOYS AND GIRLS! AHAHAHAHAHAHA! ! !
Moreover I've made a rough idea of the classes. Note. ROUGH. Don't know if I'll add more or work more on what I have. Expect changes. Classes:
Tank
Assault – Draws zombie attention to oneself and deal more damage
Operative – More firearm variety (from using assault rifles to sniper rifles, magnum, etc), more defended, average speed
DPS (If anyone can give me a better term than this, beep me. I can't find anyway)
Field Agent – Balanced class, excellent on certain skills and firearms, quicker than operative but average defense
Interference – Manipulates zombies to do disorientated things to each other
Support
Recon – Locate and infiltrate enemies ahead for team, does well doing surveillance
Medic – Heals teammates and has knowledge of how to incap zombies using chemicals
Some characters's classes are mixed like Leon's and some are pure.
And before I move on, one last thing. If you notice at the top, I usually put a quote. This one does not. That's because each game chapter has a quote, not my individual chapters. So every time you see a quote above, means we've moved on to the next game chapter...Yeah, makes no fawking sense. But just give me credit for trying to write this like it's a game.
And with that, hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Please r'n'r too! Feedback helps me alot. :D
PS. Claire searching for Steve's body to put it to rest, yeah, you all didn't expect that did ya? Sorry but to me Claire searching for him as being 'alive' doesn't sound like a realistic reason. It sounds too hopeful in a zombie game. I mean, say your boyfriend or girlfriend got turned into a man-eating undead, with no cure, would you really be hopeful in saving him/her? No. You'd put them out of their misery. You'd have to be as sick as the psychos in Dead Rising series to make them endure like that. Also that reason has been used frequent in a lot of Claire/Steve fanfics soooo why should I follow the norm?
Ooooh, you're gonna be seeing me make different choices and hate me cuz I'm not making a typical RE romance. AGAIN, not always my cup of tea.
PPS. (Ooooh is this note making this chapter too long) Got another question which I will also put in my help forum. Wesker worked under a lot of outside companies right? (Geez, how does this guy get around). Just to be clear, these are the ones he worked under so far: the rival company (where Ada worked under and I presume still is in 2006), the organization (that has Spencer in it) and TRICELL, correct? Also if at one point did Wesker stopped working under the rival company since it's never mentioned his continuation with them (the organization, I know he took over in RE5...supposedly(?) and TRICELL, he still worked under or mostly took over during RE5) If I'm wrong on any point, please let me know. This will be helping me on how he has earned a spot under HELIX as well as some possible plot ideas that actually could fill the gaps between points in Wesker's life. :D Imagination galore.
PPSS. Have left abilities empty for now because I really do need to work more on them before I fill them up. So expect this slot to be empty for a while.