Adam Luck - Thanks, dude! I knew you were gonna like that heated moment of David shooting and killing Irons. I actually debated whether or not he should get killed, not by David, but by the G embryo or even Birkin himself. Though I think it was a bit more interesting to have David kill him instead before the G embryo finished him first. Plus, it served its role as some major character development that would be important for David's character later on.

Recommended BGM:

1. Resident Evil 2 (1998) - The Marshalling Yard (The First Half)

2. YouTube Channel: Cool Kid Roy - RatchetEvolution - Lily's Theme [Slowed & Extended] - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Mashup

3. Silent Hill 2 (2001) - Promise Reprise

Chapter 14

Annette had not a single doubt in her mind that her husband had finally managed to escape the NEST. Many of the security gates inside and outside the lab had been unsealed somehow, and the fences that surrounded the abandoned factory in the marshaling yard had been in complete disarray, breached by what she could only hope to be other BOWs roaming about the area. If it had been her husband, that would mean he could be anywhere in or out of the city by now, which she hoped wasn't necessarily the case. The sewer tunnels should've been mostly empty, but there had been various human carriers that had wandered inside the sewer system. Even as advanced as they were in cellular deterioration, she had been forced to put down at least five of them just to get herself through. Not to mention a couple of frog carriers she had suspected would be wandering inside the dark waters. One of them had managed to surprise her, but at least they'd croak every time any of them got close to her.

After having spent what seemed an eternity going through the labyrinth of tunnels inside the murky waters of the sewer system, Annette climbed up into a small concrete tunnel, gazing tiredly at the closed door a few meters in front of her. The door was closed and undamaged, which was seen as a good sign so far, but what if he still retained some form of human intelligence as he made his way out of the laboratory? It was a possibility, but also pretty unlikely as he had been infected with the G-Virus for over a whole week by now. If their studies on the virus hadn't lied to them, the virus takes over the host within hours, days, or even a whole week, slowly destroying any memories prior to the host's mutation. The truth of the matter was, she still did not know. The virus hadn't had any form of human test trials yet…

…what if he did go through? What if he finally reached the police station and went after Sherry?

No. It couldn't be. Not even willing to entertain that possibility as a scientist herself. The G-Virus' only goal after the host's mutation would be to procreate, but even the thought of him going through an uninfected population was still… unbelievable. Irons was as thick as they could get, but his police force was the complete opposite. They had helped both her and William to keep Sherry safe at all times and even with this whole outbreak in mind, she knew their daughter had to be in a safe place. Whether William had breached the police station or not, the cops would never allow him to get past them. It was all she could think about. Sherry was still there, and besides stopping her husband from ever getting out of the confines of this city, she was all there was left of importance for her.

Annette knew that time was running out, but she couldn't help but rest against the damp wall, leaning and pondering on the various possibilities running rampant inside of her mind. She'd been counting on her husband's internal instincts, to smell the scent of her human self, to lure him to her, keep him close near the NEST… but all she could think about at the end of the road was that there had been many ways in which he could have escaped and break through the police station.

And either Umbrella or Perseus will be here soon, to retrieve him at all costs. I have to get back to the NEST and activate the fail-safe as quickly as possible before any of them try to stop me.

Annette closed her eyes, thinking about what William must be going through right now. It was nearly impossible to put herself in his position and think about the agonizing feelings her husband must be feeling deep inside. He deserved to be at peace, but even beyond that, there was an unnerving feeling about what if she blew the entire lab and escaped, only to find out that Kravchenko or Umbrella themselves have managed to capture him and extract the virus from him.

But even with this in mind, there was also no guarantee that they would ever find him or were even aware of his transformation since…

…no. Not Kravchenko. He had some of his own inside the USS. If any of them had survived, they could've easily let him know about it. But at least William isn't here. Not anymore…

She shoved herself away from the wall, walking slowly toward the door. There were the last few tunnels inside that she needed to check first. Then the conference rooms at the upper level, to see if there were any signs of damage or dead bodies relating to G. After that, she would go back and finish what Umbrella started themselves.

Annette sighed before pushing the door open…

…and there were sounds of echoing footsteps through the lonely, almost dark corridor from somewhere up ahead; the entire hall shaped like a "T". The sounds reverberated all around, making it harder to distinguish where the footsteps were coming from. The footsteps were firm and deliberate, something only an uninfected person could do, perhaps more than just one, which meant only one thing to her.

Umbrella, Perseus… they finally arrived. Possibly CIA if otherwise…

Rage boiled through her veins, making her hands shake, her body shivering in turmoil as her lips curled back from gritted teeth. It had to be them, it had to be one of their spies from either party. Besides Irons and a few city officials, Umbrella and Perseus knew these tunnels were still in use, leading to the NEST itself. If the CIA was involved, the only one who could've been close to discovering everything in this whole affair would be Alex Mason. His old partner is believed to be long dead. Even if he had survived his test trials and hadn't woken up from his comatose state by now, he would've been zombie food inside the hospital, or possibly died of starvation. The other small possibility that it would've been an innocent survivor merely trying to escape the city alive didn't cross her mind. She simply raised the handgun in front of her, waiting for the heartless, murdering bastard to appear in her sights. STARS or not, she did not care whether Mason was one of them. She wouldn't risk it, especially if the possibility of him being used by Umbrella as a sleeper agent was a real thing.

A humanoid figure stepped into view, a woman in red, and Annette fired to kill…

…but her aim was off. She was trembling, her mind and gut screaming in rage, and the shot knocked down the woman's weapon to the ground. It ricocheted off the handgun itself and the woman hid on the other side of the corner she had come in from…

…and then there was a concerned voice raised by a man that was out of view from her position.

"Ada!" He screamed out.

Annette did not have the time to recognize the man's voice. For all she knew, it could've been Alex Mason himself, but it did not stop her from keeping her weapon aimed in front of her.

"There's nothing here for you, thieves!" Annette cried out, the rage still burning inside her like a wildfire out of control.

The woman in the shadows moved back into view again, trying to grab the fallen weapon…

"Ada, NO!" The man's voice begged on the other side…

…and Annette fired again, her aim slightly off, but once again, she shot the handgun away from her grasp, and the woman scowled at her, enraged, but also looking somewhat terrified. Annette couldn't help but smile smugly, the gun still aiming directly at her, ready to pull the trigger at the thief who thought they could live to see another day.

"Farewell…" she said coldly before shooting directly at her face this time…

…and a blurred, flying shape leaped in front of the woman, knocking her out of the way, both of them grunting at once…

…and Annette heard the man's cry of pain, a pain she surely felt satisfied to have inflicted as a burst of roaring triumph followed inside her.

Got'em! I got that bastard…

But she wasn't out of the woods yet. There could be more than just those two and she hadn't hit the woman yet. Whether they were all from Umbrella, Perseus, or the CIA, all of them were still trained killers.

Annette turned and ran, her dirty, lab coat flying behind her, her shoes wet and slapping against the dry cement. She had to get back to the NEST as soon as possible. There was not a single chance she'd let them have to steal the G-Virus.

They can have it over my dead body!

David Mason had barely turned five just a few months prior and was barely in his first few weeks of Kindergarten. For David, it had been a nervous wreck, but at the same time, he didn't think it was all too bad in reality. He's made a few friends since the first day of school, and even the few he had before the school year began, one of them was in his class and nothing could have been anything better than having them close to him. David's mother would make his own lunch for him every morning and drive him to school. Whenever his father was at home, he'd be the one driving him instead and say his goodbyes whenever he could. His mother would then pick him up after school was over, asking him how his day was, and David would always answer her back happily.

That was, until one day, his father had woken up much earlier in the morning, and left the house without saying goodbye or ever coming back for days or weeks that followed. Every time David asked where his dad was, his mother would always say, "Daddy went to work, protecting our country, just like he's always done in the past, but he'll be back soon."

Even as a five-year-old, David felt confused. His dad would always tell him goodbye before he would be absent for a long time and come back to stay for a little while before leaving again. Initially, he thought he might've gone on a hunting vacation with Uncle Woods, but even that wouldn't take more than a whole week at most. Plus, he'd take him on hunting trips whenever possible, especially if they'd go out camping in the wilderness.

In December of that fateful year in nineteen eighty-four, just a week before Christmas, David had been playing in the living room with his toy train and building blocks near the Christmas tree, just like he'd done almost all month long when his mother was on the phone having a conversation with someone. She sounded progressively worried as the conversation went on.

"— Yeah, what's going on? — No, Frank isn't here. Hadn't seen him since… — What-are-you —? —Wait, what!? — How do you know if he's —?!"

CRASH!

The front door immediately burst open, revealing to be David's uncle, scaring him and his mother. He was still wearing his military uniform, his face and hands covered in war paint, and his boots and uniform left a trail of snow inside the house. He turned to David, his face swallowed in worry.

"You okay, Dave?!" he asked quickly, crouching down for a brief moment as if to see if he was hurt somehow. David merely nodded his head, feeling scared inside, but also glad to see his uncle as he hadn't seen him since his father first disappeared. Frank immediately turned to his mother as he stood up, his mother walking closer to David, clutching him in front of her. "Are you hurt?! Is he here?!"

His mother shook her head slowly. "No, but could you at least tell me why the hell didn't you—?"

"No time for talk!" Frank interjected. "I need you and David to get out of here. Your—!"

BAM!

A gunshot was heard, breaking through the window glass, and Frank was hit in the left shoulder from behind, blood spraying over the wooden ground. He yelled out in pain as he quickly turned around and began shooting blankly in the general direction from which the shot came, staggering backward.

"Dammit!" he exclaimed, ignoring the pain as he continued to shoot back, the gunshots loud enough to leave David deaf, the fear overwhelming him as he ducked down next to his mother from behind the kitchen counter. Frank ran and sat next to them on the edge, his wound still seeping blood as he began to reload his large, semi-automatic weapon, the shooter outside the house still giving them a hail of raining bullets.

"Oh my God, Frank your shoulder!" Grace said in worry, her voice barely audible from the sound of heavy gunfire and objects being destroyed all around. "You're gonna need that patched up!"

"I've had worse, believe me!" he shouted back as he finished reloading his weapon. "Take David upstairs! Go! Run! I'll handle'em!"

"Wait, but—?!"

"I said - GO!" Frank commanded before standing back up and firing back at the shooter, grunting as he felt the burning pain flow all over his shoulder through the intense rumbling of the semi-automatic.

Grace turned to a frightened David, grabbing him as she immediately carried him upstairs with her, gasping in terror. David had tears dripping down his cheeks and on top of his mother's shoulder as he looked back, seeing his uncle being left behind as the shooter from outside did not stop to shoot back at him.

"Uncle Woods!" he cried out, his sorrowful voice overcome by the shots being fired across the house inside the living room. "Uncle Woods! Don't leave us!"

Frank turned his head towards David one more time as he ducked back to cover. David could tell his uncle was also scared and tearful, his eyes watery and his expression showing a sense of unease and extreme sorrow.

"Keep your mother safe, Dave!" said Frank, his voice barely above the sonorous echoes, but David had a terrible feeling that he wasn't going to see him again for a long time, if ever. His uncle was about to go for good, just like his dad had before.

His mother had carried him all the way back to the door leading to his room and quickly burst it open before closing the door behind them, locking it in place. She sat him down on his bed, giving him his favorite teddy bear she has given him on his fifth birthday. David began to cry out to his mother.

"Mommy, please get Uncle Woods to come here," he wept, trying to wipe his eyes as he hugged his teddy bear tightly. "I'm scared he will leave like daddy did. Please?!"

His mother slowly shook her head, her body trembling as she began to caress David's left cheek, wiping away any remaining tears.

"Uncle Woods decided to stay downstairs and fight off the bad guy outside, just like daddy would've done for us," she said in a quiet, drowned voice, trying to suppress her own growing distress.

Not long after, the shots had stopped suddenly and there was an intense struggle between him and the attacker downstairs. Objects were thrown around, grunts were heard, and loud thumping noises were created against the kitchen counter and the furniture inside the living room. After a whole minute, the sounds suddenly stopped and both Grace and David could no longer hear anyone downstairs anymore, the house as silent as a tomb.

Grace was weaponless and unprepared, her gun safe inside her wardrobe, already inaccessible at this point as she could not risk going back outside and leaving David behind all by himself. It didn't take long before she decided it was best for her to stay put with David. She was desperate to protect her one and only son. Deep down, she knew Frank was just as strong-willed as her husband was, but there was always a breaking point for everyone. Frank was already injured when they left him behind and if he had been overpowered by the shooter, there was a chance they could come upstairs and finish them off next.

David had been hugging his teddy bear as tightly as possible, his head hanging, knowing that his uncle may no longer be around. He could not stop his tears, the fear and isolation becoming too overpowering, his family seemingly having broken apart by events he could not explain. Everything had been going fine, and he barely coped with his father being absent for months on end, but now, his uncle would be the next one in line, and the only other person he had was his own mother, fearful that she too may be gone just like the rest of them.

Quietly, he wept, trying not to make as much noise as he could when his mother crouched down in front of him, caressing his cheeks, and began to give him a small speech he will never forget for the rest of his life.

"Dave," she began softly, whispering as low as she could. "Dave, you are so loved, sweetie. So loved… No matter what happens," her voice began to break, tears falling like rain droplets, "you'll grow up to become a wonderful adult, make so many good friends along the way, and I want you to have the best time of your life, okay sweetie?" She swallowed deeply, struggling to keep her composure. "I want you to know that mommy loves you… Daddy loves you… Uncle Woods loves you… Dave, honey, be safe. Be strong, my baby boy…"

A series of muffled footsteps echoed inside the landing, coming in their direction as her mother turned quickly to face the only door out of David's room. Her face was contorted in fear, terrified at the sound of deliberate footsteps coming closer to their direction, knowing whoever had attacked Frank was now coming to them to finish the job. The anxiety on his mother began to rise quickly and as she turned to look at David once more, she made no effort to hide her horrified expression any longer.

"Under the bed, hide!" she ordered David in a whisper. "Don't ever come out or make a single noise until I say so. Do you understand me?!"

David gave her a quick nod and complied without another word, taking his teddy bear with him underneath the bed. Several seconds later, the door burst open with a violent force that left him afraid to see everything from underneath for a moment. As he opened his eyes back again, his mother stood still, and David became even more confused when looking back at who it was that was standing near the opened door.

Daddy? Is it really him?! He came to save us!

David felt an intense wave of relief when he saw his dad. He wore a thick, brown jacket, and a black shirt underneath most of which had been sprinkled with dark spots of blood and snow. He also had a dark, green beanie covering most of his head, but something didn't seem right about his expression. His eyes were fixed on his mother, but it looked as though he was… confused. As if he did not know who his mother was. His mother seemed paralyzed, possibly just as shocked as he was when he took a few steps closer toward Grace and she started pleading with him.

"Al… this — this isn't you! Please, you don't have to do this!" she begged, her voice shattering in dismay. "For the sake of our son, please! You have to remember who you are!"

David was baffled. He did not know why his mother was acting the way she was towards him, but then there was something else from his father that made him even more puzzled. He spoke a language he was entirely unfamiliar with.

"[Step aside…]" he said in a foreign language, coldly, raising his gun towards her.

Even though David did not understand what his dad had just told his mother, it seemed like his mother understood what it was that he meant, but made no effort to do anything but stand in front of the bed he was hiding underneath. His dad looked back in the general direction of where he was hiding and although David could only see his face through a mirror that stood standing beside the doorway, it almost seemed like he knew exactly where he was. His dad quickly darted his green eyes toward his mom once again, now aiming his gun directly at her without any display of emotion on his face.

"No," she responded, her voice shaky, but firm. "Al, please… we are husband and wife. You wouldn't want your own child to see you like this… This isn't who you are… You can fight this! I know you can!"

The sounds of his pleading mother frightened David beyond anything he's ever come to comprehend in his small years of life. He did not understand what was happening anymore and all he wanted right now was to hug his parents. It was the only thing he could think of that might be able to make them happy again. Hugs always worked like that for him at least.

Alex did not move a muscle. He stood frozen, eyes unblinking, deeply staring directly at his wife for a long moment, his weapon still raised. Grace begged one more time, trying her best to take her husband back from the trance he was stuck inside.

"Alex … please …"

His dad stepped forward, saying nothing as he gazed at his mother for a moment. His face was still emotionless, indifferent - insensible of his own actions, yet his green eyes seemed to glisten brightly from the reflected light of the window across his position, as though he was on the verge of tears… struggling to fight something unseen, something powerful and incomprehensible underneath his soulless expression…

…and a short moment later, three thundering gunshots were fired from the raised barrel of his gun, and Grace toppled to the ground, landing on her back. Blood had sprayed just inches in front of a frightened five-year-old David. His mother was now bleeding intensely from her abdomen, clutching to life for as much as she could when she turned her head slightly to face David, tears dropping as she tried to say something to him in a whisper before finally being shot squarely in the chest, killing her instantly.

David's eyes widened, not being able to fully grasp what just happened. His scream of horror and fear never left him; silent and unmoving, he was forced to watch his mother being murdered by his own father as he instinctively covered his mouth with one hand, pressing it firmly as much as he could. His father's boots were seen coming closer in his direction, the same man who was supposed to be his hero, the same guy who was supposed to protect him from the bad guys, and just as his mother had said, he stood still, as quiet as he could be, his heart thundering as loud as the gunshots prior.

However, it did not last long before the man that killed his mother crouched and began pulling him out with a powerful and hurtful grip. David struggled to fight him off, but it was all in vain as he was thrown against the side of the bed in a harsh manner, and his own dad began aiming the gun directly at David's face.

"Daddy! No!" he cried out, still holding onto his teddy bear, which was now partially covered in spots of his mother's own blood. "You're a good guy, daddy! Not a bad guy!" he hugged his teddy bear tightly, curling himself over as he sobbed, pleading to his dad not to do the same as he had done to his mother.

As he closed his eyes tightly shut, David heard the gun cocked and ready, feeling scared to death, having completely lost the ability to understand anything anymore. A brief moment later, someone sneaked behind his dad and knocked him out in the head with a heavy glass vase that used to belong to his mother.

It was his uncle, his face beaten up with one eye swollen, blood showing across his groggy expression by small lacerations.

"David!" he shrieked out of concern as he skipped over the Masons' bodies and began to console him as much as he could, soothing words being whispered to his ear as tried carrying him out to safety. "You're okay, buddy, you're okay… It's all over now…"

David sobbed uncontrollably over his uncle's shoulder. As he looked back inside his room while being carried away, he saw a horrible and dreadful scene of violence that no child should have ever witnessed. His mother was laying in a pool of her own blood, her face frozen in agony and despair while his father was laying face down right next to her, completely motionless. The atmosphere inside the whole house became so oppressive, David felt a huge sting inside his stomach and chest as he watched his own parents on the ground fading out of view, his home in ruins, destroyed by meaningless circumstances, unable to find any reason to the senseless violence around him.

"Don't look back, baby. C'mon. No need to look back," his uncle warned him, slightly staggering as he began to take several steps through the stairs. "I'm gonna get you to Jenny's. Hang in there, buddy."

With that, David fell limp on his uncle's right shoulder, sobbing and weeping over his blood-covered military clothing as they went out in the freezing cold of Fairbanks, Alaska…

Claire Redfield stood silently next to David, listening, watching over him, who was still kneeling in front of Irons' body as he spoke about the nightmarish day of his mother's murder. She didn't know just how much David went through in his childhood up until this point, so much so, it almost felt like he had a similar experience to what Sherry's gone through in the entire outbreak they were stuck in. Everything he'd told her was too painful to hear, so tragic and heartbreaking, she found herself dripping a couple of hot, trickling tears, giving no effort to wipe them off her dumbstruck face, being incapable of moving a single muscle as she felt David's bleak words paralyzed her in place.

And I thought I was the one who needed therapy after all this time…

"Oh, David…I'm…"

"Save it," he interjected sharply, his voice already broken from the emotions he had been feeling since he started explaining how he witnessed his dad murdering his mother in front of him. "I know it wasn't his fault. I saw him crying … even if he didn't show it. I just… I just know it." He wiped his eyes, not daring to look directly at Claire, already feeling shameful for showing his most vulnerable side. "I found his diary back in the STARS office, explaining how — how he had been having trouble keeping his sanity as he was hearing … things. Something about seeing numbers everywhere. Maybe that had something to do with …" - he took a short pause to take in a deep, shuddering breath - "He had to be under the influence of something on that day; maybe ever since he had been imprisoned in Vorkuta. But I wasn't… I … I killed the Chief when that — that darkness took over me… when I used that rage I had buried deep inside against my dad for so long that I blamed him for everything… never really knowing why I truly did, other than him avoiding me for reasons that I know fully understand."

He tilted his head, finally looking back at Claire, his expression entirely destroyed by grief and guilt.

"And now he's being hunted down by pretty much everyone in the world, still probably believing that I hate him for…"

David couldn't formulate words any further, his throat shutting him off from being able to say anything else as his last words died down to an unforgiving silence. He turned to face the ground next to Irons once again, breaking down and sobbing in despair.

Claire didn't know what else to do to comfort him. Having your parents killed in an accident was one thing. Seeing your own father mutated into a monster was another…

…but seeing your father kill your own mother in front of you in cold blood … and as a five-year-old…

…what if what Chris said in his diary had something to do with all of that? Was Wesker also involved in Grace's murder somehow?

She didn't have any answers to go with, but if Alex was really under the influence of something, she was sure enough that some human experimentation might've happened in Vorkuta, even before Umbrella became the giant pharmaceutical company known today. After all, before she lost contact with Chris last month, he had told her some things about what Alex went through during his escape from that Soviet prison.

At first, she thought Chris made it all up as he started to become close friends with him before their suspension began. Many of the prisoners did not make it out alive and he was one of the very few that did, but not without having endured something that Chris might've known what really happened, but never told her himself. Probably to keep her from becoming worried about Alex pulling the trigger behind his back somehow.

And what about this Kravchenko guy that Irons mentioned? And what is this "Perseus" group anyway? Could they have had something to do with any of it too?

Again, she was out of luck. There was no point in trying to solve any old mysteries from the past when she needed to do something to ease David's mental breakdown and help get Sherry out of this whole mess.

Claire kneeled down next to David and brought him under her grasp as he gave himself in, hugging her back gently as he tried getting himself under control. The warmth from David made her develop some strange feelings that she hadn't felt in a long time, or ever…

…and Claire did not bother to understand why she felt the way she did and simply focused on calming David as much as she could.

"It's okay…" she said softly, although she knew better than to say that everything was okay for him. It was all she could tell him, wishing she could say that none of it actually happened, that every single trouble they'd faced in their lives was just merely a nightmare they had in their sleep. The truth of the matter was that there was nothing else they could do but try to move on past it. Life moves forward, a one-way street, and for every traumatizing experience, there's always a resolution to cope with, learn from them, and become a better, stronger person.

And to think what Irons was going to do to me had David not come to save me in time…

She briefly looked at Irons' corpse past David's shoulder. Even though David had killed him in a way that even left Claire shocked and terrified, she could not find it in herself to feel sorry for the Chief at all. He had been ready to assault her in ways she did not want to find out, to torture her as well. He even laughed when she'd pleaded for her life, and now he was dead. She wasn't feeling happy about it, but she also wasn't going to lament about it either.

…and what the hell even was that thing that burst out of him anyway?

"C-Claire…?" David struggled to speak her name, his voice rough and dry as he sniffled afterward.

Claire backed away slightly, raising one knee as she kept the other on the ground, looking into his teary eyes sympathetically. "I'm still here…"

"I…" he paused for a moment, still frozen in place as he broke his gaze for a brief moment elsewhere, "I-I just wanted to say… I'm sorry about —"

"David? Claire?"

The pair looked across the room to follow the voice's point of origin as they stood up, and saw that it was Sherry, standing just behind the entrance to the room from where they had first entered. She looked terrified, clutching her locket as she looked around them, slowly bringing herself into a smile as she had finally found both of them, safe from harm.

"Sherry!" Claire ran quickly toward her, putting her arms over her shoulders as Sherry put hers around her waist, returning a quick hug. "I thought I said to wait for me upstairs."

Sherry looked back up at Claire, her smile fading away just as quickly as it came. "I heard the monster that followed David and he told me to go down here in case it would come back. And it did. I was scared so I used the elevator and ran here when I heard David crying…" she then looked past Claire, seeing David walking just behind her, his eyes bloodshot and teary as he quickly wiped any remaining tears away. "Are you okay…?"

David got closer to the girls and put a hand over Sherry's shoulder, forming a smile through his grieving expression.

"I'm built like a tank," he muttered, trying to sound more jovial, despite his voice still slightly breaking. "I just… I was only remembering my parents, it's all. No need to worry, kiddo."

"Are they…?" Sherry asked, the unspoken word filling the stench of the air inside the dreadful room.

"My dad's still out there… somewhere," he replied, trying to hold back the flurry of emotions that Claire knew he was still trying to fight off inside. "My mom … she's … gone. Happened so long ago."

"Oh… I'm sorry," Sherry said, the apparent embarrassment of having asked such a question becoming obvious in her eyes filled with concern. "I really didn't know…"

"Don't be," he said softly as he patted Sherry on her shoulder. "At least we have something in common, right?"

"I lost both of my parents when I was a kid too," Claire added. "It's been just me and my brother ever since."

David briefly raised an arm in Claire's direction. "See? All three of us have lost something in our lives. We're basically like siblings," he cocked his head to face Claire briefly for a quick response. "Right?"

"Yeah," she nodded back. "Like siblings."

Claire had started to feel differently about David, however. Her last boyfriend was an entire mess of his own, a troublemaker she deeply regrets having dated, but David seemed like the complete opposite, and since then, had started to grow on her as well. He needed someone to support him emotionally after all.

And both David and Sherry need me now more than ever…

…I have to be strong and help them get through all this. Maybe after we finally get out of the city, I could help them get the therapy they both really need with the little money I have left to spare. Hopefully, Elza can help me out as soon as we are out of here.

"We should get going," said David in a slight hurry, walking past Claire and Sherry before pausing in front of the opened hatch across the corner of the room. "The sooner we get out of here, the better."

The girls nodded silently in response and followed after him.

Author's Note: I kinda spoiled it at the very beginning of this chapter, but yes, the whole David backstory is heavily inspired by Harry Potter, if that wasn't obvious enough. I just felt like it perfectly matched what I imagined happening to Alex's wife in her last moments, but instead of being directly targeted by a popular villain like Wesker, Kravchenko, or Voldemort, it was her own husband, Alex Mason, all along, brainwashed, with implications that he never remembered or knew anything specific about that fateful day…

It may not be fully explained in this story or the next, but it will definitely have a more in-depth look as this entire crossover progresses later on.

I hope you enjoyed the read! See you all next chapter!