A/N: Good day to all! Now we are starting to get into the events of after Raccoon City. This will be the chapter that bridges between RE2 and the next game that Korina will have a hand in. The next game will be set in a similar format to Raccoon City, as in Korina will be interrogated and it will be told in flashback format, but after that, it will be told as if it's happening in the present. I might change that at some point for a particular event, but it'll just make more sense to leave this flashback format behind. That being said, enjoy the Aftermath of Raccoon and don't forget to leave a comment/review!
Korina thought two weeks off from school to move in, get comfortable, and to attend therapy sessions with a counselor Anne hired for her would be enough. She wants her to see someone to get diagnoses, but Korina thinks the talks are going well enough. She still sleeps like absolute shit, but the talking makes walking around easier, reminds her she's not in Raccoon City anymore, surrounded by the dead. It makes coming home easier, it makes grabbing a knife without shaking easier, and it makes her emotionally and mentally available to talk to her best friend. Her only friend now, except perhaps Leon.
Because Jayden has been a trooper. He has taken her mood swings in stride, been there to calm her through the initial terror of waking up after a nightmare, and he always knows when Korina needs to be grounded. Jayden gives her space, but not so much space that she's utterly alone. She can finally walk outside without having a gun on her person, though she has to keep a knife with her. And Jayden has been putting off going back to school so Korina isn't alone on her first day.
Yes, she thought two weeks off from school would be fine.
The alarm doesn't wake her up necessarily, but it does jolt her from the dozing state she typically finds herself in. Not sleep, since that would suggest she's unaware of her surroundings and completely unconscious. She jumps, pulling her knife from beneath her pillow, but the alarm isn't afraid and it doesn't attack. Inanimate, an object that can't attack her. Korina blows out a breath and lays back in her bed, preparing to do the routine she has formed.
Anne, as soon as Korina settled enough, took the girl out shopping. It turns out, Korina doesn't always have to wear her own hand sewn clothes, though she has been working on rebuilding her wardrobe. She doesn't have near enough money to afford all of her materials, but that might be for the better. Whatever she made would be horrendous. But the pastel colors feel strange now, and the frilliness she used to adore doesn't quite fit her anymore. But she asked Anne to buy a few of them anyway, thinking maybe, just maybe, she could settle back into them.
So she puts it on. A white shirt with fringe down the front and a light pink skirt that reaches her knees. A typical outfit for Korina Pachis. But it feels foreign, uncomfortable, and... dare she say it... childish.
Korina smiles at the mirror, a practiced, plastic thing. The bruises and cuts on her face are mostly gone now, except for one that looks it might scar. It's from a window one of the dead burst open, and the glass caught her bottom lip just the right way. Some of the skin on her lip looks misshapen, like something obviously happened, and there's a small line that extends past the bottom. The scar tissue is white against her skin, still new, but Korina finds she doesn't really mind it. It's almost an ornament. A bit of physical proof that she's not insane, despite everything.
But it throws off the whole damn outfit. Korina peels it off and tosses it to the side. She picks out a pair of dark jeans and a grey shirt, plain and relatively baggy, before throwing on the jacket from Raccoon. It survived mostly unhurt during its time in the city, and Korina just feels safer when she has it on. She's still not sure who it belonged to, but it's hers now. Perhaps the only bit of living proof of the officer, and the tear on the shoulder she has stitched back together reminds her it was all real too.
Jayden groans when Korina enters his room, hair an absolute mess and blankets piled around him as he throws them off at night. "Wakey, wakey," she sings, opening the curtains in his room. He hates waking up early, always has, but he's been getting up for her recently. She's not sure why. "Time to get up and get ready for another day of hell school."
"Are you sure you don't want another week?" Jayden groans.
"Positive. I stay in here much longer and I might lose my mind even more," Korina says, reaching into his closet and grabbing his first day of school clothes. "I figure you can wear what you wore on our first day back in Raccoon, so I let you sleep in a little bit more."
She tosses his clothes onto the foot of the bed, and he chuckles. "God, you are the absolute best," he says, sitting up and running a hand through his hair. He squints at her through morning bleariness "And already dressed... couldn't sleep again?"
Korina shrugs her shoulders. She doesn't want to worry him. "It'll be fine," she tells him before leaving. The house Anne's mother has is large and welcoming, a place the woman has lived for the better part of forty odd years. It has raised four kids in its walls, and now it'll be helping two more into adulthood. The decor is outdated, but Korina finds it comforting. It's almost lost in time. There are a few updates scattered throughout, but it remains primarily the same as it always has.
Anne is downstairs, dressed for another day of refresher courses. The nearest college is letting her take a series of tests and reviewing what has either been updated or changed entirely or that she's forgotten, so she can be back at work for the first time in ten years next week. A bit of goodwill for a family who lost such an important piece in such a tragedy. "Good morning," Anne greets, handing her a cup of coffee. Anne had scarcely believed it when Korina drank coffee the first time, but those first few days... black coffee, as awful as it is, is better than sleeping.
"Good morning. Jay is awake and getting dressed," she reports, sitting at the table. Korina picks out an apple. "And I left a lunch for the nurse to give Grandma, so all she has to do is heat it up and give it to her."
"Thank you so much," Anne tells her, kissing her on the top of her head. "I'll be back this evening- eat dinner without me, I'm in for a long day. If this professor doesn't kill me, my husband's family will."
Officer Raymond's family wants to make a gravestone and have a service for him in their hometown, but Anne has been so busy it just hasn't been at the forefront of her mind. Anne doesn't have time to consider where to have a service or when, and Korina has yet to see any of the other families do the same for their loved ones. Some people are hoping their loved ones will return via miracle. But Anne knows he's gone, and she can't process anything but caring for what she has left. Not even the grieving process. Just making sure Korina is alright, learning to live with her mother again, taking care of Jayden, but Korina does what she can. She tries to be self sufficient. Sometimes it just doesn't work.
Anne leaves, and Korina hollers up to Jayden that she's gone. Jayden's reply sounds muffled through toothpaste, and so Korina sits at the table and eats her apple as she waits.
The sun is shining today. Raccoon seemed to be in a never ending darkness those last few days. Or like the sun was blocked. The sky has no clouds today, and the grass is so green in the front yard. Her heart slows down with the serenity, a sort of empty feeling settling in. She knows it's stupid. She knows she should be grateful she's alive, but there's just-
The phone rings. Korina jumps, heart pumping generously for a moment. "Fuck!" she curses, grabbing the butter knife at her side and using it as defense. But it's just the phone. She walks to the landline and answers it. "Hello?"
"Korina," Leon greets, sounding exhausted.
"Leon," she responds. Normally he calls in the afternoon, when he knows she's home and cooking dinner, mostly so she has someone to talk to while she does it. Jayden plays a board game with his grandmother so to keep her entertained and doing something. Why he's calling so early, she isn't sure. "You sound tired."
"Didn't sleep well." She understands completely. He moves the receiver away from his mouth and blows out a sigh before returning, and he says, "So, if I remember correctly, someone is going to be attending her first day of school."
Korina huffs a chuckle. "Yeah. Figured it was time. I can't hide out here forever."
"No one would blame you if you did," he returns softly. Understanding. Because he does, he knows how hard it is. Though they never talk about it, they both know the struggles are shared. There's something comforting in it. "But since you're not, I want to see you this weekend. I head out to my assignment next week, so I don't know when I'll get to visit or how often these phone calls will be."
He's talked about it, coming to visit her in this home, and she discussed visiting him and his parents. Korina thought she might hate it, might even want to run away from it, but excitement bubbles in her chest at the suggestion. And from little she has told Anne and Jayden about Raccoon, both of them are interested in meeting Leon, Sherry, and Claire. But not Ada. Korina hasn't told them about her. She doubts that she ever will. "I'll tell Anne and start planning dinner. No way you'll leave here hungry."
"Mmm, I wouldn't be sure. Feeding me is like feeding a small army," he jokes, and Korina smiles at it. Raccoon didn't take that away from him.
"I'll take the challenge," Korina returns as she hears Jayden stomp down the stairs. "I'll talk to you later. It's time for us to go now."
"Okay. Good luck. Call me if you need me," he tells her, sounding stern for a moment. Like an older brother or something.
Korina hums a confirmation, before picking up the new backpack Anne bought for her. Korina doesn't want to unpack her backpack, not yet. She just needs time before she can do all that. Her new one is mostly empty, only a few notebooks and pens, but Korina finds it a comforting weight nonetheless. Jayden swings by his pack and lifts it up, grabbing his keys from a small bowl by the door.
Outside, the kids climbing onto the bus stop and stare at them, as they have ever since Korina moved in with them. Jayden throws his pack into the back seat, and Korina climbs in with her bag stashed at her feet. "Alright, alright, let's see. What are we gonna play?" Jayden asks, running his fingers over his many tapes. "Don't you like Boyz II Men?"
"They're decent," Korina says, leaning back in the seat and kicking her feet up on the dash. "You act like it's more than three minutes to get to the school."
"Gotta make a statement," Jayden returns, shooting her a smirk. But he picks on and sticks it in, blaring something Korina doesn't care for. She doesn't hate necessarily, but she certainly wouldn't choose it on her own. He throws the car in reverse and drives to school like a maniac, making what should be a three minute trip in one. It's just far enough it's inconvenient to walk, but so close the car ride ends fairly quickly.
Students stare at them both as the enter the parking lot, and Jayden throws his car back into a parking spot without looking, looking smug and like the cocky bastard Korina knows he portrays well. Before the car stops moving, she picks up her bag, opens the door, and steps out, earning more stares and whispers for the two, and ultimately forcing Jayden to share the spotlight. He doesn't mind though, instead blowing her a kiss as he cuts the car and steps out too.
"Ready for it?" he murmurs, pulling his bag on.
Korina tries not to let the sheer amount of people intimidate her. "I survived Raccoon City before it was destroyed," she answers, "so how hard can this really be?"
"You're right. I'm sure these guys are dumber than the dead." Korina smiles, though the mere mention of them makes her stomach clench with anxiety. Jayden and Anne know only because Korina thought they have aright to know the true nature of the hero Officer Douglas, as well as the rest of RPD, was. But he means no harm by the comment, and he tries his best for her, and that's all she can ever ask for. And far more than she could expect. Jayden leads the way, and she allows him to take point. The crowd parts for the two of them, and she can hear that a few of them noticed the Raccoon City Police Department stickers on Jayden's car. She straightens up further.
The murmurs stop as they go further into the school and to the office. Korina, in a moment of complete neurotic control freakism packed both her report cards and her brother's report cards, thinking they might need them for the next school to know where they were at in terms of academics. It hurt to only turn hers in. But the schedule they give her is fairly accurate to her previous one, so close that only two classes are flipped. "Looks almost the same," Jayden murmurs, pouring over his own.
"Yeah... it does," she murmurs back before thanking the woman at the front.
"Oh, wait!" she calls, stopping them before they can go much further. "You both have a guide for your first day, or week. It's fairly far into the semester, so they'll be showing you around and to class. They're seniors who have done well in school and have special permissions to do this for the two of you."
"Thank you," Jayden says kindly, though Korina finds she doesn't care for the idea. But soon enough, two people walk towards them, one of them a beautiful young woman smiling directly at Korina. She's prom queen level pretty, complete with pearly white teeth and perfect hair. "Tell me she's the one I got."
She holds her hand out to Korina. "You must be Korina Pachis. I'm Leah Winters, and I will be your guide for your first week here at Jean Luc High School," she says, and Korina can hear a similar introduction from Jayden's guide, a male. The male is more nerdy, with suspenders and glasses and a pencil behind his ear. Korina halfway wishes she could change with him. "Do you have any questions you'd like to ask before we go to your first class?"
"I don't," Korina says simply, rubbing her palms on her jeans to rid herself of the moisture she can feel building up. The halls are starting to build with more students. It's a bit crowded for Korina's tastes. "Can we... hurry up? I don't like crowds."
"That's no problem," Leah responds, taking a look at her schedule before starting to lead the way. "So welcome to Jean Luc. Where are you from?"
Korina almost doesn't want to answer. "I'm from Raccoon City." The government has been trying to cover it up, but a few other survivors left with photographs and other manners of proof of the things that happened there. There are conspiracy theories abound, but whether you believe the cover story or the theories, all of them blame Umbrella. Which, Korina supposes, is a start.
Leah is interested immediately. "Really? So you made it out before it- y'know?"
"Barely," Korina responds blandly. She doesn't want to talk about it. "Are you from here?"
"Oh, yeah, but nothing ever really happens around here. We're not really big at all, so... But do you know why-"
Korina takes a deep breath and smiles as politely as she can. "Leah, don't take this the wrong way, but if you ask me one more question about Raccoon, I'll strangle you." The senior seems to drop it as they come to a stop in front of her first class. Korina enters and takes a seat toward the back, hoping for the rest of the world to just leave her alone for five goddamn minutes.
It isn't long before other students are filing in, Jayden included, and he takes the seat next to her. "How's the hottie?" he asks, brows wiggling.
"Feel free to answer her questions about Raccoon," Korina responds, a bit of a gripe in her voice. Jayden winces. "God I hope it isn't like that all day."
He takes one of her hands in his and presses a kiss to it just as three boys approach. Two of them appear to be football players, but one of them is definitely into basketball if his shirt is anything to go by. He's easily a head taller than the other two, and his body is lined with toned muscle. And a pretty boy, more so than Jayden, a difficult thing to accomplish. Korina ignores them, opting to trace shapes on the wood of the desk top.
One of the football players with skin the color of wet sand clears his throat. "You're taking up one of our spots," he says when she flicks her eyes up to him. "See, we each take up these three right here."
"Then I guess you need to find another three," she responds. Jayden whips his head at that. Once, a long time ago it feels, she would given up the seat without much of a fight or fuss, but now? Fuck them. This is her spot. The one thing she knows for sure came out of Raccoon City? You fight for your spot, for your right to be exactly where you are, and fuck anyone who dares to try to take it. Even something as stupid as a seat. "I see plenty over there that you can bully people out of. Though I have no idea why they'd be intimidated by any of you."
"What did you say?" The final one is pasty, literally like white glue, though the darkness of his hair suggests he isn't an albino. "You're just the new fucking kid. Act like it and find somewhere else to sit."
Jayden is the one who responds. "That a threat, glue bottle?"
"More like a promise," the dark one says, stepping closer to the desk.
Korina runs her tongue along the front of her teeth. Jayden ducks his head, well aware of and well acquainted with her agitation by now. "It's not worth it," he murmurs to her, a hand on her arm. "You and I both know that. We can move-"
"No." It's final. "I've spent too much time running from fights. They want to try me? Let them." Because there is another thing she learned in Raccoon City: she's stronger than she ever believed. Hunting and shooting were things she knew before it started, how to shoot and how to distract. But fending off things that reach you is something she hadn't known, and Leon taught her a few moves just in case they came across a threat more human. And even if she never used them against humans, it was certainly worth knowing to stun the dead in small spaces.
"Your funeral," glue bottle says, pulling her arm hard enough she can feel it try to snap out of place.
And her reaction is instinctive, built purely on adrenaline and nightmare experiences these boys can never dream of. The punch to his diaphragm sucks the air out of his body, and he falls into another desk, into another student, who says nothing but lets him with a distasteful flare. Korina stays planted in the desk, though the pain against her knuckles makes her feel better somehow, more grounded and at home.
"What the fuck?!" the dark one shouts, reaching for her shirt and lifting her so she's bent awkwardly against her desk to face him. Anger etches his features, but she doesn't give a damn. "Who the fuck do you think you are?!"
"Korina Pachis." Survivor of Raccoon City.
The basketball player has some sense as he halts his other friend's punch, just before Jayden acts too. "Now, now, let's not get too hasty. This girl is the one from Raccoon City. Which means you must be too," he says, gesturing to Jayden. The dark skinned one's grip slacks, and she can easily pull herself out, but she won't. His mouth drops. "So... were either of you there for the explosion?"
Korina doesn't say anything, but Jayden's glance gives her away. Glue bottle seems to have a new appreciation too. Korina sits back down as the fingers fall from her collar, smoothing it out. Luckily he didn't fuck up her jacket. She just might have punched him anyway. "You sure you don't wanna move?" glue bottle asks, a bit more hesitant this time.
Korina's answer is sure. "I'm positive."
The day goes by with little incident. Word of her punching the glue bottle, actually named Lym, passed around like wildfire, and so did her being from Raccoon City. Multiple people ask her multiple times throughout the day about what happened and if any of the theories are true, but Korina keeps her gaze straight and her mouth shut. She's in enough danger as it is, and if she goes around opening her mouth and sharing? No, she would much prefer to not have the government up her ass about that. But they back off, well aware she has no issue with bruised knuckles or knocking out someone else's teeth.
The final class doesn't come soon enough, and Korina gratefully sets her things down in the back. She's one of the last to arrive, so it surprises her that she's in the back. Jayden himself has taken a seat towards the front, and she feels a warmth in her heart for his thoughtfulness. He shoots her a smile as she takes out another notebook and a pen just as the final student of the class enters.
The basketball player from earlier has been in all of her classes, literally, though he's kept his distance. When he sees her, he tries not to react before taking his seat next to her. Korina tucks hair behind her ear and rolls up the sleeve of her jacket. She's been struggling all day trying to get it to agree with her and do as she says versus what it wants to do. Of course, she knows it's inanimate and not actually doing anything.
The basketball player watches her with feigned disinterest. "You know, it'd be easier if you got a smaller jacket," he says, as if it's the simplest thing in the world.
Korina supposes to anyone else, it probably is. "I'm sure it would be, but I won't be getting rid of this jacket any time soon," she says, writing the date and the class at the top of the page. "It's got... history behind it."
"Doesn't mean you have to wear it."
Korina clicks her tongue. This guy is getting on her nerves. "So the first thing you say to me is that I should move because you're entitled to the random seat I had chosen in the first class of the day, and now you're going to try to talk to me by insulting my jacket. You're not setting a good track record for yourself, you know," she says, noticing there's still a couple minutes until class starts, and the teacher certainly isn't in any hurry to start either.
He doesn't seem to care much, but he does raise a brow at that. He says, "I didn't say you should move. If you'll remember, correctly, I was the one who told them to back off."
He isn't wrong, Korina thinks, but her jaw sets anyway. "After I nearly knocked your friend's teeth out."
"I remember he was about to knock yours."
"Tch. He could try."
"And I didn't insult the jacket. I just said you should wear a different one."
Korina rolls her eyes and keeps quiet. He smirks in return. "You said your name is Korina Pachis?" She doesn't answer. "Hm. So I prove you wrong, and you respond with the silent treatment? Interesting way to react." Korina stubbornly remains quiet. "Tell me, does your friend do this too? Or is this just you? Because it seems awfully childish. Are the two of you dating? You're comfortable enough around each other to be dating, but he isn't quite so protective over the guys clearly drooling over you. Is he your brother?"
"Do you ever shut up?" Korina growls.
"Not when I want to be noticed," he returns.
The teacher enters. A middle aged guy with glasses and a pencil behind his ear, with dark brown hair and stubble dotting his lower face. "So I am running a little late today, but no biggie. I heard we have two new students in this class? Well, hello, I am Mr. Wyndham, and I like to have my students introduce themselves on the first day, maybe answer a few questions if you feel up to it. Where are you- there you are! Come, come, you and you."
Korina hasn't been forced to introduce herself even once, and it has been her preference. But somehow, with the way Mr. Wyndham is treating it, she finds she doesn't mind so much. Instead of it being something to satisfy the curiosity of others, it's more like being welcomed to a group of friends. Minus all the staring. She stands and makes her way to the front with Jayden, who starts. "I'm Jayden Douglas, from Raccoon City. My dad was a cop, and my mom is currently working on getting a job as an accountant. Only child. Not much else to say," he says to the class, bumping his arm against Korina's.
"Korina Pachi, also from Raccoon City. Jayden's my best friend, so in the wake of the... tragedy, I've been living with him and his family."
Hands shoot into the air. Jayden points to one. "So were you two there for nuclear incident caused by Umbrella Pharm?"
She huffs and rolls her eyes, but Jayden only laughs. "No, I wasn't. Uhm... you?"
"Is it true the cannibal murders were actually zombies?"
"I'm not answering that. Zombies? Seriously?" Jayden snorts, hiding the truth.
Before he can pick another, Korina says, "If it's about Raccoon City and its demise, put your hand down. For you, it's just some tragedy that happened to someone else, but that's not what it is to us. I was born there, and so was Jay. His father died there, getting people to safety, and my family's gone. Stop trying to find out things that didn't happen."
Slowly, the hands fall back into their laps until only one in the back- her favorite neighbor's- is still up. "What?" she grounds out, wishing it were anyone but him.
"So are you two dating, or are you available?" he asks.
Korina shakes her head. "I'm not even going to dignify that-"
"She is very much single," Jayden cuts in, almost too happy. His hands circle around her shoulders, grasping the tops of her arms, and she tenses up instinctively. He responds by dropping one arm so she feels less trapped.
"Pimping me out now?" Korina asks with a smirk in his direction.
"That suggests I'd get something out of it." Jayden winks at her before the two return to their seats. His gaze lingers on her before he turns to face the front, and Korina ignores the male next to her as class lecture starts. English has always been a fairly easy class for her, and this guy is the same as all her English teachers before- though perhaps a bit more distracted.
A note is set down on the corner of her desk, and Korina ignores it at first. Then another one appears. She ignores that one too. Then a third.
Korina huffs and grabs the sheets, opening them up. The first one he set down has an awful handwriting, almost a chicken scrawl, but she can still make it out fairly well.
I think I like your best friend. He's pretty cool.
You're really going to ignore me when I finally give you a compliment?
Class is almost over, so I'm going to skip ahead on my plan. Name's Aiden Nivans.
Korina rolls her eyes before deciding what to write back to him. She sets it down on his desk just as the bell rings. She stuffs her notebook and pen into a random pocket and gets up, almost running from the room and grabbing Jayden by the arm before he can get some girl's number. Korina only glances back once she reaches the end of the hall to see his reaction.
He's smirking, so much taller than most of the general population and easy to pick out. He doesn't seem to care at all that she basically gave him the middle finger, and she rolls her eyes as she continues to lead Jayden out of the school, back to the car, and to the house.
It's fast. Faster than she remembers.
Korina slides beneath the closing door, but she knows it doesn't offer her a moment to breathe. It'll breath through like it's paper. And it does. Over her panting, she can hear the skittering of claws. Fuck. They're here too, gunning for her life.
Korina grabs onto a handle to help her make a turn. She needs to lose them. She has to lose them. But they're so much faster than her and-
"AHHH!" she screams, something latching onto her ankle and making her fall down. It bites into her leg, and she hears the skittering above stop and lunge. But it doesn't lunge at her, it lunges at the thing that's already bitten halfway through her ankle. And the heavy steps of that thing are coming closer and closer, and he's coming around the corner, and he's holding- he's holding-
She jolts awake with a scream, her hand over her mouth. Korina knows she's in for a rough weekend since she's been dozing more often than sleeping, but it doesn't stop her from hating herself for it nonetheless. Of course she has to catch up on the sleep her body needs, of fucking course. But Leon will be with her tomorrow, and that's something she hasn't known she needed so much. Well, really, she's just ignored it.
The door to her room is opened, quickly but not so quickly as to startle her. Jayden stands in her doorway, shirt forgotten and very much only wearing the first pair of pants he found on the floor of his room. "Korina?" he calls softly, making sure she's awake. It's a reaction from trial and error over three weeks. The only way he can help her in any capacity. Or Anne for that matter, as she pads up behind her son, hand on her heaving chest.
"I'm sorry," Korina murmurs, drawing her knees to her chest. "I didn't mean to-"
"We know," Anne says quietly.
Jayden spares her a glance. "I got her, mom." Anne looks between the two, and Korina knows why. At the end of the day, they are still two teenagers, very much subject to their hormones. And the two have a past. They've kissed before, even tentatively dated, but it's the past. Korina hasn't just changed from the person in Raccoon City only a mere month ago, she's... evolved. She can never go back to the girl who owed it to herself and to Jayden to see if they did have something more. That girl is too far gone. She was gone the moment she saw someone eating someone else.
"I love you," Anne murmurs, and Jayden shuts the door behind him.
Korina makes room for him in her bed. He notes the blankets have been thrown to the bed, so he picks them up before settling in her bed. He sits up beside her, just setting them down for now, and wraps an arm around her shoulder. Jayden presses a comforting kiss to her head, but she remains rooted to her spot, her heart still beating as if she's still there, the memory of her brother's death playing over and over in her mind.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Jayden asks softly, pressing another soft kiss to her head.
Yes, her soul screams. No, her heart whispers back. "I can't," Korina murmurs, her throat thickening.
"It's alright." His hand rubs her arm soothingly. "That's alright."