Chapter 4

July 23, 1998 Raccoon City

It seemed like hours of crawling before I saw light, and a small piece of paper. It read: Ecliptic Express 7268-563-M23 Station 3. It was a train ticket. I had read of them in books, but I had never thought about actually seen one. Now that I think about, I've never even seen a train before. I thought about what one would look like as I crawled through to the small ring of light. I pushed up the manhole, and realized where I was. I was right next to the entrance of the Umbrella Headquarters and the building across the street must be the train station. I hurried over to the train station and pushed open it's glass doors. Inside the station was beyond anything I had ever seen. Small shops and stalls lined the entrance. The walls were decorated with exquisite carvings of winged babies and clouds. There was a grand staircase similar to the one at the Arklay Mansion going to a single door. The station was bustling with people. Not like the madness at the Research Facility, but innocent business. People selling flowers and toys, men and women sitting on wooden benches, people in sharp suits. It was so different from anything I had ever seen, and I loved it.

"Hello, little girl. First time at the station, huh?". I turned around and a police officer was standing next to me.

"Um, yeah, I'm just kind of lost." I said, stumbling.

"Well, maybe I can help you." the police officer offered.

"I'm looking for Station 3." I said as clear as I could.

"Oh, Station 3? That's Umbrella's private station. You must be a very lucky girl. Speaking of lucky people, where are your parents?" the police officer asked.

Good thing I already had an excuse prepared.

"They're already at the station. I left school early to meet them there." I said, hoping he would fall for it.

"Oh alright then. It's the door the staircase leads to. Right up there." the police officer pointed to the rotating glass double doors.

"Thank you very much….." I began to thank him but realized I didn't know his name.

"Ford. Officer Ford." he corrected, smiling.

"Thank you very much Officer Ford." I completed as I ran to the staircase.

I looked back one more time at Officer Ford, who was still waving. I waved back thinking, I should have done this a long time ago.

July 23, 1998 The Ecliptic Express

"Ticket please?" the man in the blue suit asked.

I handed him my ticket that I had found in the airshaft.

"Thank you." he said, and I boarded the train.

"There you are!" Matt cried as I was about to take a seat in the second cart of the train.

He was sporting a new pair of sunglasses similar to Wesker's and a black vest over his usual white t-shirt.

"New clothes?" I asked as we sat down at one of the tables.

"Yeah, there's a stall at the train station that was just giving clothes away. So I thought, why not?" Matt explained.

Funny, I don't remember a stall selling clothes, or maybe Officer Ford interrupted me before I was able to see it. We began talking about our trip here. I told him about my confrontation with Annette and about meeting Officer Ford. Matt told me that he went straight to the station and he was the one who had left the shaft covering open. He told me that he waited for me at the station, that's when he found the shop where they were giving away old clothes. He told me he grew impatient and went to the station, where he would wait for me. I nodded as he told story, but I had a strange feeling he wasn't telling me everything. After all, Matt's never waited for anything, or anyone for that matter. Why start now? The sun was just beginning to set as the train left the city. I looked up at Matt, who was staring blankly out the window. That's when I smelled something funny. The smell of blood.

"Hey Tina! The mansion's right up ahead!" Matt whispered as loud as he could.

I looked out the window and saw the mansion's roof peaking through the emerald trees.

"Let's go to the roof!" Matt whispered to me.

"Can't we just wait until the train reaches the station?" I asked him, still smelling blood.

"No, we've got to go now!" Matt commanded, pulling my arm.

I followed Matt as we slipped to the roof entrance. The minute we reached the roof, I felt the wind whip my face. Matt helped me up with an unusually strong pull that easily lifted me to the roof. I felt the slippery roof of the train, trying to keep my balance. Once I had found my balance, I looked to Matt, who was having no trouble standing what-so-ever.

"We jump from here!" Matt cried as loud as he could.

I looked down. It was already dark, and I couldn't see a thing besides the blur of trees. Was it really a good idea to jump off a train?

"Ready? Three, two…..mmhf!" Matt's word was muffled by a large black leech attaching itself to his face.

I ducked as multiple other leeches launched themselves into the air, landing onto the train. I reached for my handgun and shot at the surrounding leeches. I pointed my gun at the leech attached to Matt. I crept closer, trying to get a better shot. Before I could shoot, Matt yanked the leech off of his face with an strength that was almost inhuman and pushed me off of the train. In desperation, I grabbed the edge of the railing. Through a window, I saw the horror of passengers panicking around the train as the leeches broke through the other windows and were surrounding the passengers. I gagged as I saw one of the leeches devour a man's face. The train was slowing down at a fast rate and I knew that if I could just hold on until the train stopped, I'd be alright. Suddenly, I felt a painful nipping at my fingers. I saw one of the leeches had attached itself to my fingers. I winced in pain as the leech continued to nibble on my fingers. Suddenly the pain stopped. I saw Matt had stabbed the leech with a wicked looking dagger.

"Thanks." I called to him and took the dagger.

Funny, I don't remember him ever getting one. Once the train had come to a screeching halt, Matt and I jumped off of the train. We saw that the leeches had devoured the other passengers and were receding under the train, waiting for a curious soul to come along. Matt and I decided that it would be best to leave the train be. In case the leeches decided to try and attack us again. But as we walked through the woods to the mansion, I began to wonder. How did Matt know to climb to the roof of the train right before the leeches attacked? And where did they come from anyway? And that certainly isn't normal leech behavior. I glanced at Matt, who seemed unfazed by the fact that we were just attacked by giant leeches while I was still shivering from the thought of that monstrous leech biting my fingers. Matt, what the hell happened to you?