Chapter 9: Present Day

I don't own anything. Resident Evil belongs to Capcom and Tomb Raider belongs to Core Design, Crystal Dynamics, and I think Square Enix. The only thing I own is the changes made to the stories of the Tomb Raider games/comics and Resident Evil games/comics/CG movies, the Government branch S.P.E.L.L., the person that has taken over Kathrine Warren's life, and Rose Warren. This story also will be bloody, violent, and have cursing. It's rated T for Teen.

Country: Russia, State: Siberia, City: Siberian Wilderness, Place: Near Kitezh, Area: Mountain Border, Month: November, Day: Saturday 25th, Year: 2000, Time: 07:17 KRAT…

The snow was frigid as Kat came back to concusses. She hissed as she turned her head in the snow. She opened her eyes then struggled to dig a bit. Just a small bit around her head to give her a little room, it was hard but she managed. As she did this, she welled a glob of spit in her mouth. When the hole was big enough, she spat. The spit, thankfully fell downward. That meant she was upright in the snow, the surface was above her head. But how far? If she didn't get an opening, she could suffocate. She lifted her left arm and started to push up at the snow as she wrapped her right around her face and took a breath to expand her chest. She felt her arm poke through snow. That was good news. She wasn't buried too deeply. She nearly cried with relief. At that moment all she could think of was her girls and that she was going to come home to them.

She pushed her other arm up and followed her right arm to the surface. Both poked up and out. She then started digging. She had a small hole now so she could breathe fresh air. She wasn't panicking. She was too focused on survival. She couldn't panic yet. She started to kick her legs, like she was trying to go upstairs, trying to pack the snow under her feet so she could stand on it and push herself up and out the hole. The snow had settled a bit, so it was hard work. Snow kept settling around her legs burying them again. She switched where she was digging and started digging down and around her lower half to give her legs some room to lift. Once her knees were free, she started to pull herself from the snow. By then her teeth where chattering so much, she sounded like one of those wind-up teeth toys. She was out and looking around as she shivered violently.

"Sh-shi-shit…" She hissed then looked around the snow. "L-Lar-Lara!" She called out.

A hand burst from the snow. Kat trudged quickly over and grabbed it. It took a few moments, but she helped Lara dig out of the snow. Lara was as shaky as she was and gasping for breath. She held her sides as Kat rubbed her back from the coughing. They stood up and looked around.

Trees were destroyed, cracked, snapped, and some uprooted. Snow was soft in some areas and rock hard in others where large slabs of ice had broken off the shelf with the snow. The air was so cold that it hurt to breath. The sky was so gray they couldn't tell what time it was, and their watches were under their gloves. The snow that fell from above them was hard to tell if it was regular snow fall or if it was blowing off from the mounds of snow around them.

Their radios buzzed then. "Lara, Kat, are either of you there?" Jonah's voice asked with a scratchy under tone.

"We've made it to shelter, what about you two? Please answer." Leon's voice said sounding as worried as Jonah's did.

The pair pulled their radios as they looked back up and at the mountain.

"J..J…J…Jonah?" Lara asked into the radio.

"Leon?" Kat asked into hers as the pair shivered, their hats lost in the snow.

But all they got after that was static.

"Guys, if you can hear us…" Lara began as she looked to the only path they head. "Go back."

Kat looked at Lara as they breathed out the visible hot air.

"Please don't try to find us." Lara said then let go of the talk button.

Kat shook her head. "If you do come looking, be vigilant…be careful. Trinity soldiers will…" She took a shaky breath. "They won't hesitate to kill you or if they have orders, capture and torture you." She swallowed then shook her head. "Stay safe."

"Kat, you should go…find a way back too." Lara told her as she put her radio back to her belt. "I need to do—"

"Don't fucking start with that bull-bullshit." Kat interrupted. "You were…Lo-loo-look, let's ju-just find sh-shel-shelter. And get-get a fire go-going."

Lara sighed as they hugged themselves. They started trudging down the hill, the snow up to their knees moving up their thighs as they walked.

Kat coughed then looked up at the sky. "I wish we had Skywalker with us. Or at least a Saint Burnard with one of those little barrels of Whisky."

Lara nodded as she wrapped her arms around her chest to hold in her heat. "Remind me again why we don't."

Kat shook her head. "Sherry wanted to, but Skywalker is not that quiet. We really need stealth on this mission. At least we have the bags she made for us. Once we find a camp, we can eat and check for injuries. I don't feel anything broken or bleeding, but it is hard to tell."

Lara nodded as she walked, slid, or sunk into the snow, moving forward slowly with each step. 'Keep moving…' Lara thought as she and Kat struggled through the snow. 'Come on…you can do this…move…'

They came to the bottom of the first hill, the snow becoming firmer and easier to move through as they got to the last deluge of the avalanche. They half climbed and walked up the next hill. But Kat smiled shakily.

"D-down there…See th-that. An old-old camp…" She pointed with a shaky gloved hand.

Lara nodded as they struggled down the hill. Lara tripped on a buried tree or bush and fell into the snow feet from the camp. Kat helped her back up, more snow sticking to her frosty stiff hair. Lara thought about what they needed as she looked around, the old camp itself had a fire pit that needed to be dug out, a tall tree for wood and a woven cloth strung together to make a small shelter from the falling snow, sun, and, if warm enough, rain. It was badly frayed and really not much to keep in the heat.

"Okay, I-I'll get firewood, you-you get this ready for it." Lara said as she scanned the area.

Kat nodded and moved to the pit and started digging the dirt and ash out to get it back to a usable level. Lara trudged away and about twelve feet, she found a dried-up sapling. She grabbed it and shakily broke it to three pieces.

"Okay…this might work…" She panted as she looked at the pieces, breaking them up to six. "Not enough to…last the night…" She hissed as she trudged over to another sapling. "Need to gather more." She broke this one down to four. "Dry enough to burn…I hope." She wheezed as the sound of wolves howling sounded off. "Sh-shit…not again…" She gasped and moved to a deer carcass she saw about ten feet away. "A fresh kill…no meat left but…" She dropped down into the snow and looked at the sharp point of one of her axes. "Maybe something else I can use…"

She got the antlers from it. She could make arrow heads with them. She also got some skin. Only enough for a small bit of padding. They could use it as padding for that shelter. It would hold the heat better than just lying on the snow.

"Back to camp…" She muttered as she turned around.

Kat hissed as she looked at her glove seeing a cut in it. That was why her hand started feeling colder than it should've, it was a chilling burn. She hissed and started digging with one hand, putting her torn gloved hand to her chest. Once she got the pit ready, she found what looked like the remains of an old tent. She took off her spear and whispered a soft Sorry to it as she moved over to the tall pine tree next to the fire. Under it the snow was not as deep and looked like it had been sheltered by the tree. As she stepped up to the trunk her feet slipped into a hole about as deep as her knees. She took the spear and used it more as a balance point as she began to stomp the snow down around one side of the tree, about three feet from the trunk and only three feet deep. She then used the spear to chop off some branches so she could make a bit of a lean with the fire at the opening, that way the heat from it would warm up the ditch she had made. She stepped out and went to the back side of the tree and with another soft apology to the spear, she used it to push up the snow on that side to make a wind break behind them. She took the tent fabric and did the best she could to cover more of the makeshift roof and pushed more snow on top of it She used the polls to make a rack of sorts to put their cold and wet cloths on near the fire to warm them up. She took off her backpack and got out the Mylar emergency blanket. She had one and Lara had one. She could use them to make a cocoon for them. She looked up as she heard Lara approaching. Lara stumbled over and sank down to her knees for a moment. She was shaking so bad that it was hard to stay standing.

"Move, damnit." She hissed to herself.

Kat stood and helped Lara back up to her feet. "Let-let's get that fire going, yeah? Fire gives us the option to purify water, add warmth to our shelter, and warm our clothes. Fire also gives us a psychological edge, there is just something uplifting about the dancing flames. Fire helps improve our morality and give us a sense of control." As she talked her Norse accent came out and with it, her teeth stopped chattering.

They walked slowly back to the camp, the wind was harsher, and the air was getting hard to see through. Snow stuck to their lashes heavily and their eyes stung. The storm was now in full swing. They reached the camp and sank down to build the fire. They built the wood in layers, first layer pointing north and south, then the next layer to the east and west. That way the bottom layer would be off of the snow a bit and the wind would not blow it out.

Lara looked at the shelter and was amazed. "When did you l-l-learn…th-th..that?"

Kat nodded at the shelter as she dug in her pack. "Thing's are com-coming to m-m-me… from b-b-before." She didn't try to explain more, she figured Lara would understand that she meant the Valkyrie side of her life.

Kat then pulled out a lighter she got from Claire last Christmas. She thumbed the wheel a few times as the wind would blow out the flame. Kat growled though her chattering teeth. She turned herself to the wind, so she blocked it and allowed the flame to stay lit. She pushed the lighter into the wooden pyramid. It took to the flame in seconds. Despite the cold wind, the fire burned and started to warm them, pushing back some of the cold.

Kat sighed then started to take her things off.

"What the hell-ll-ll are you doing?" Lara gasped as she held her hands to the fire. "need to keep our layers on."

"The fire won't be enough. Need to use…body heat…too." Kat told her as she moved to the shelter. "Skin to skin is best. Hand me the emergency blanket from your pack."

"I think we'll be fine, Kat." Lara said as she pushed the deer skin into the ditch with the fur facing up, the bloody side of the skin down into the snow to keep down the smell of blood.

"It's not sexual, it's survival." Kat told her as her voice went Norse and she rolled her eyes.

Lara's face burned red. "Jesus, Kat. That's not what I was talking about. The more layers we have the better. We shouldn't strip."

Kat shook her head. "We wouldn't be naked." She chuckled. "Just take our coats, and pants off and hang them by the fir to warm them. We huddle under the Mylar. It will trap in our body heat but not through the jackets and pants. In a few hours, they will be warm enough to put them on again."

"Oh." Lara nodded.

"What? Not curious about how my body's changed?" Kat joked. "Ouch."

Lara laughed a bit. "I'm sure we've both changed in the last three years." She winced as she put her jacket on the makeshift rack. "More scars that is for sure. You certainly have more tattoos."

Kat sat next to her and wrapped one emergency blanket around their legs and the other around their shoulders as they cuddled next to each other. "Sooooo…Know any good campfire stories?"

Lara shook her head. "No. I think we both have been through enough scary shit that normal ghost stories would be put to shame." She gave a small shutter.

They both fell silent and were still as they each knew each other so well; they really didn't need to fill the quiet with small talk.

Country: Russia, State: Siberia, City: Siberian Wilderness, Place: Near Kitezh, Area: Mountain Camp, Month: November, Day: Saturday 25th, Year: 2000, Time: 19:40 KRAT…

Lara finished adding a bit more branches to their shelter. Once they warmed up and were not half frozen, they got their jackets and pants back on and had something to eat from their packs. They had alternated throughout the last few hours who would peek out and add wood to the fire if needed to keep it going and who would go out and grab more branches or anything else they could find for their shelter. They had also tried their radios again and again. They were completely cut off from Leon and Jonah. Kat tried her Satellite phone too, but the weather and mountains seemed to block the signal. They had taken some care of the scrapes and scratches they'd gotten from the falls and tumbles they took. They had made a small batch of arrows from sturdy sticks and feathers from bird nests that they had found.

Lara came over to the fire as Kat stoked it with a stick and started to warm her hands. She opened her mouth to speak when their radios buzzed. But as they pulled them out, ready to call out to Leon and Jonah, it wasn't either man's voice that came through.

"…men are securing the ruins in the mountains." Said the voice of the man Lara had run into in Syria. "If the artifact is there, we'll find it."

"And what of the Remnant?" Asked a different male voice.

"They continue to resist us." Konstantin informed darkly. "But we'll have the situation in hand soon enough."

"Good. Trinity has faith in you." The other man said.

"Trinity." Lara breathed darkly. "We need to be ready." She popped her radio to her belt and got to work on her makeshift bow.

"I'm going to try Leon and Jonah one more time. If we can hear Trinity, they can hear us too." Kat voiced as she put her radio to her lips. "Kat to Jonah or Leon. Over."

Buzzing static.

Kat gritted her teeth as she pushed the button again. "If either of you can hear me, listen. Lara and I just heard Trinity over the radio. I know for a fact they can hear us all too. They will be recording Jonah's radio calls. Be careful of what you say. Never give a location. Just your health status. Don't even say what you're doing. You know my thought process so you know what I know." She paused. "Kat over and out." She hoped that was enough of a clue for them to know she knows some of what they are going to be seeing and doing.

"Feel like keeping journals? Like before?" Lara asked as she strung her new bow.

"By writing or by audio?" Kat asked her as she started making her own bow.

"I have plenty of tapes." Lara said. "I've finished my bow. I'll start. Just…tune me out."

Kat nodded as she continued with her wrapping of branches. Lara pulled out a tape recorder from her pack then popped a blank tape in. She took a breath, getting her thoughts in order. Then hit record.

"I wish this pain wasn't so familiar. Like looking an old enemy in the eye. It wants to take me down. It wants me to just lie down and die. But I won't. I can't." She paused a moment then continued. "There's something here, there must be, or Trinity wouldn't be in this snowy hell. I just hope that Jonah and Leon are okay. That they found a way back. I...I just couldn't risk having them with me. Not again, in Jonah's case. The pain of losing him. That would be too much to bear. This is my path and mine alone. It's bad enough Kat's with me." She sighed then hit the stop.

"I'm sorry about this." Kat voiced as she finished stringing her own bow.

"I thought you'd tune that out." Lara voiced as she took the tape out and wrote on it, 'Familiar Pain, 1 L'.

"I tried." Kat said and pulled out her notebook of the current events. "If I had started writing about this part sooner, this" She tapped her finger on the old leather. "Would be more detailed. Less like tiny notes."

Lara shook her head. "None of this is your fault, Kat."

Kat sighed as Lara put a new tape in the recorder. "I know. But the guilt Ferrets don't care." She took the recorder form Lara as she put the book on her lap. "I know you'll listen, so…" Kat took a breath. "I'm sorry with how honest I'm gonna be."

"Wait, what the heck is a 'Guilt Ferret'?" Lara asked puzzled.

"It is from a book I read, the main character feels guilty and he describes it like a Ferret wiggling around and squirming, you can't get a hand on it to control it."

Lara nodded as she held her hands to the fire. "Ah. Makes sense in a weird way."

Kat lifted the recorder and pressed the button. "Is there a world record for most times being in a survival situation? If not, the universe thinks I should have that record. It's been almost three years since Yamatai and Raccoon. But then there was that ship. Finding out about what I am or was. All leading to me being here, in the cold snow. But it's not just that." She paused and looked at the fire, thinking about the events she'd listed. "It's that I knew. I knew we'd end up here. It's such a total and complete DeJa'Vu. I had actively chosen to go to Yamatai. My reasoning at the time was to gain the survival skills for Raccoon, to keep Sherry and Rose safe. But what's my reasoning now?" She asked partly wondering, but she knew, she closed her eyes feeling a touch of shame. "The thrill. I hate to say this, but I'm finding I need the thrill of something. Something to get my blood pumping. Amusement Parks work great for a short fix, but this? This is the thrill of survival. The only thing that is better, is battle." She looked away from Lara, knowing that she'd have something to say. "The only guilt I have is Leon, Lara, and Jonah being here for these events. I'm sorry." She stopped the recording and popped the tape out and labeled it, 'Thriller Survival, 1 K'.

"So, the Valkyrie side is really affecting you?" Lara asked.

Kat sighed with a nod as she handed Lara the player and tucked the tape into her own pack. "It is. I've been getting more restless. I can push it back with small things. Something to get the blood pumping. The easiest one I've taken to doing is watching horror movies when Sherry and Rose are asleep and training. Pushing my body to get that endorphin high." She confided.

Lara spotted the small smile. "Training? With Leon?"

Kat looked at Lara's teasing smile and shook her head slowly. "Lara…"

"What? I remember that blush you had back on Yamatai. You hadn't even met him yet." Lara pointed out as she stood up with her bow and some of the arrows she'd made. "You've known him now for nearly two years, almost three. And from seeing you two interact, you like each other."

Kat shook her head. "N-no." She denied as her face turned red, not cold red, embarrassed red.

"Kat, why haven't you asked him out in the last few months. I understood before why you didn't. You were dating Luella; he was dating Claire. But you're both single now." Lara pointed out.

"I wouldn't want to saddle him with Sherry and Rose more than I already do. I mean, He's 22 going on 23. He's young." Kat said as she stood up. "We should get to hanging some deer or something."

"Kat, you're only 24." Lara reminded Kat how young she was. "It's not that big of an age difference. He also loves Sherry and Rose."

"Can we please focus on hunting and not my crush on my friendly co-worker…" Kat groaned. "How do you get me to say this stuff?"

Lara chuckled. "Because you want to. You want to talk to people about your feelings." She sighed. "But you bottle it up so much."

"I kinda have to. And when it comes to Leon…It's weird…I can't explain it without sounding creepy or crazy." Kat told her as she grabbed up some of their arrows.

Lara sighed as Kat and she started down the hill to begin a small hunt.

Country: Russia, State: Siberia, City: Siberian Wilderness, Place: Near Kitezh, Area: Mountain Cave, Month: November, Day: Saturday 25th, Year: 2000, Time: 19:40 KRAT…

Leon hissed as he leaned on the icy wall, rubbing his hammer pendent. "Kat?" He asked into the radio for the, how many times had he called out? He lost count. "We heard you and Lara for a bit, but then nothing. Please say something." He asked as he tightened his hold on the radio.

"Might as well try a longer message. There might be a dely." Jonah said from his fire.

"Yeah." Leon nodded trying to think of something.

Jonah started before him. "Lara. Lara." He sighed. "Laaaaara." He dragged out. "Answer me. Last time I saw you and Kat, you two were..." He paused and shook his head at the blur of red and purple. "Damn it, Lara, you better not be dead. You better not have let Kat take you to those mead halls she's talked about." He partly joked but was also serious. "After the Avalanche, I got one little blip. One brief echo, but I'll be damned if it wasn't your voice and hers. I know I heard them. I know you both survived. At least the avalanche." He looked to the fire. "I haven't heard a peep since. But I'll keep trying. I know you told us to leave, to get somewhere safe, but...did you really expect me to leave you here? Come on, you should know me better than that." He smiled sadly. "Kat seems to get it. We aren't going anywhere."

He looked at Leon and nodded at him.

Leon took a breath then pushed the talk button. "Kat." He began, then swallowed. "I'm really hoping you can hear us. Maybe it's a thing like you can hear us and we can't hear you. We heard what you said. About Trinity hearing us. Do you think a change in channel would work? Kinda like back in Raccoon." He frowned though, remembering that Kat had to switch channels to avoid hearing Irons. "Jonah and I made it to a different cave then the one we all went through. Bit beat up. Nothing we can't handle though." He hissed as he tapped a cut on his nose. "I know you are alive. You and Lara. It's gonna take more than an avalanche to kill you. But call it a gut feeling. We'll all meet up again." He said slowly. "Stay safe. Please. For the girls." He opened his mouth a moment but stopped himself and let go of the radio.

He walked over and sat by Jonah, looking outside the cave with a shiver. Jonah sighed as he looked at Leon.

"You like her." Jonah stated.

Leon jolted and looked at him. "Lara? I mean she's cool—"

"Not Lara. Kat. You like Kat." Jonah smiled.

"W-what?" Leon asked shaking his head.

"Lara can see it. Sam could see it. Hell, I'm sure everyone can see it." Jonah snorted at Leon's reddening neck and ears. "The way you both talk to each other, act around each other, it's pretty clear Bro."

Leon swallowed and shook his head as he warmed his hands by the fire. "Okay, yeah, I like her. she's…" He thought for a bit. Finding it hard to find the right words. "Amazing?" He shook his head. "Strong, compassionate…" He sighed. "I don't know."

"Why not ask her out? From what I've seen, she's got the same feeling as you do." Jonah stated.

Leon shook his head. "I don't wanna ruin anything. Things with Claire and I are a bit awkward now after dating. I wish sometimes we just didn't date. I don't want that awkwardness to happen with Kat." He looked to Jonah rubbing the back of his neck. "Also…Rule #12: Never date a co-worker. That's what she's always said. I…She's one of the liaisons between our agencies, I'm not sure if that counts to her or not." He looked back at the fire. "If we were cops, were partners and started dating, one of us would have to transfer to another department or quit being a cop."

Jonah smiled. "But you both work for different government branches. Yes, she might a liaison, but I'm sure that wouldn't bother her." He poked at the fire with a stick. "You like her. She likes you. That should be enough."

Leon sighed, running a hand down his face. "Okay, yeah, say we start dating. What does that do to Sherry and Rose? They're like the nieces I've never had. How would they react to their mom and me being together? The last guy Kat tried dating, they pulled pranks on him."

Jonah laughed. "I'm thinking they did that because they don't want their mom to be with a stranger. Or they knew the guy was a jerk. Kids have really good intuition." He smiled kindly. "I'm sure they'd be just fine with someone dating their mom. Especially you."

Leon sighed. "…After this whole thing…maybe I'll…" He sighed looking back at the fire. "Look, we need to focus on survival, not Kat and my love life's."

Jonah's expression turned grim as he nodded. "I know. It's good though to keep a moral compass. Sort of something to look forward to. But you're right." He poked the fire and stretched as he stood. "I'm going to gather some snow to melt for water. What did Kat pack us for food?"

Leon took off his pack and took out a metal canister with a tight-fitting lid. Once it was taken off, there was two inner metal cups to hold food or liquid. "She gave me two. One is some kind of herb broth with a chicken base and some kind of seed. Chia seeds? The other is a tea for helping us keep awake."

Jonah perked up at the mention of the Chia seeds. "Chia? Nice. Did you know in ancient times, runners would run miles to carry messages? They were the first marathon runners. They would eat Chia seeds for strength and nutrition. They are packed with good stuff." He gave a wicked grin. "If you can get past the slime."

Leon's head snapped up after sniffing the contents. "Slime? What slime? I don't do good with slime. Dude." He looked dejected as Jonah tuned and moved to the entrance of the cave to get snow.