Chris Redfield glanced around the corner as the zombies staggered across the street seeking their next meal. His grip on his standard issue STARS pistol never faltered even after he killed the beasts that came near him. The shotgun was holstered across his back and he was carrying a bag with as much ammo as he could find. The former STARS member had remained in the city while Jill, Claire, Barry and Rebecca made it out of the place where the people now thought them to be raving lunatics.
Umbrella had branded them liars when Chris and the others tried to tell the city about the Mansion Incident but without evidence of the T-Virus creation by Umbrella there was nothing they could do but be branded dangerous madmen. They where even blamed for the death of Rebecca's teammates along with Albert Wesker. That bastard deserved the fate he got, torn apart by his own precious creation. Jill, Barry, Chris and his sister Claire had been dispatched to the forest to see what happened to Bravo Team. They had been missing for twenty four hours.
What had followed had been a descent into a person's darkest nightmares. Zombies and other horrific mutations because of a virus created by the Umbrella Corporation had dogged Chris and Jill as they tried to find a way out of that death trap laden mansion. Claire had been locked up in the basement by Wesker with the intent of using her as a test subject on the Tyrant creature. In the end the mansion had been destroyed when the self destruct sequence had been activated.
Brad had come back to take them to safety but not before Chris used the rocket launcher to put an end to the Tyrant's pathetic existence. Two months after that nightmare the virus had leaked into the city turning every living thing into a flesh eating monster. The city was lost, taken by the virus within a day. After leaving his apartment Chris had taken to the street come nightfall and was now making his way to the city limits.
The tall brunet scowled when he saw three zombies devouring a corpse at the other side of the road. A few others of the creatures were now banging on the glass of the diner, moaning and crying out. Chris moved quickly through the alleyway. He wanted to conserve as much ammo as possible in case he encountered any of the tougher bio-weapons Umbrella cooked up.
He shivered as he remembered those Hunters, large reptilian beasts with razor sharp talons and fangs that could rip the flesh from the bone in a single bite. The former STARS stopped running when he heard a scream from inside the diner nearby. His heart leapt into his throat. So far he hadn't encountered any survivors since leaving his apartment.
He stopped when another scream came from the diner. The person could already be dead for all he knew. He gripped the pistol as he battled with his internal decision to go and check it out. He didn't need to see what it was because the door leading into the alley burst open and a man with blond hair came running out. His large blue eyes widened in terror when he saw the gun being pointed at him. The guy was frantic, telling Chris not to shoot him. For a few seconds Chris was stunned that another person had survived then he moved into action.
"Get down now!" Chris ordered and the man obeyed instantly, dropping to his knees as Chris fired two shots into the zombie's head.
"What the...?" the blond man gasped when the zombie behind him fell on his back, a pool of blood forming around his head.
"We have to get away from here now." Chris held out his hand. "If you wanna live then follow me."
The man didn't hesitate in taking Chris's hand. The brunet saw the other zombies crash into the diner as more of the monsters came towards the sound of the breaking glass. Running quickly through the street Chris spotted a squad car and yelled at the blond man to get inside. Glancing back he saw that there were at least twenty zombies shambling along the city limits. He couldn't get out that way.
Internally cursing his luck Chris got into the driver's seat then grabbed the keys abandoned in the ignition. If he couldn't get out on foot he would have to take to the air. Hopefully the RPD still had the helicopter on standby. The virus had hit them too fast for a proper evacuation to occur. As they sped down the street Chris noticed that the man was talking.
"What the hell is going on here? I arrive in town and those things attack me!" blond hair partially covered his right eye as he faced Chris. "Thanks for saving my life. Are you a cop or something?"
"I was a member of STARS. The name's Chris Redfield." Chris answered.
"I'm Leon Kennedy." The blond smiled gratefully. "So what the hell happened here?"
"Right now we'll get to the police station then I'll explain." Chris replied. "Look in the glove compartment." Leon did as he was told and he pulled out a gun. "I hope you can use one."
"Ahh...no, not really." Leon shuddered.
"Just point and pull the trigger at anything trying to eat you." Chris took a hard right.
"I'm having a nightmare...I have to be." Leon shook his head.
Leon gulped as he held onto the weapon. It felt heavy and alien in his hands. He had never used one of these things before. Glancing at his rescuer Leon couldn't help but admire him. The guy was wearing a red jacket and Leon had noticed that there was an angel carrying a gun designed on the back with the words 'Let me Live' above the angel. The cop was wearing beige pants, black boots with fingerless black gloves and a shotgun strapped to his back. He had thrown his bag onto Leon's lap, the weight pinching his skin painfully. Chris also had a pistol that was now in the bag. Leon mentally scolded himself when he thought that Chris Redfield was really hot.
"So why did you come to the city?" his voice broke Leon out of his thoughts.
"Oh..." he reached for his wallet and extracted the picture of himself and Hayden. "I came to look for this man. His name is Hayden Swanson." Chris raised an eyebrow at the picture causing Leon to blush.
"You came to find your boyfriend?" Chris questioned.
"My ex-boyfriend." Leon corrected. "He said he had something to tell ne about Umbrella. He said they did terrible things and had to pay."
"This Swanson guy said that?" Chris was intrigued. "What's does he do?"
"He was a scientist for Umbrella." Leon answered. Before Chris could say anything else a hand shot out from the back seats and tried to grab Leon's head.
Chris swore as he tried to keep control of the car while Leon struggled to move away from those horrible prying fingers. The zombie groaned when Leon smashed the butt of his gun into its face. Blood spurted from the broken nose and the zombie fell back onto the seat. Chris reached for his gun moments before the zombie attacked again.
Leon yelled as rotting fingers grabbed his hair and pulled him back. Chris swerved the car to make the creature lose its grip. The sound of bone cracking against glass made Leon cringe. Before either man could react the car slammed into a pole and the zombie flew out through windscreen. Leon was breathing harshly while Chris kept a death grip on the steering wheel.
"Are you ok?" Chris groaned as he let go of the wheel. When Leon nodded he stepped out of the wrecked car. "We're almost to the station anyway."
"Please let this be a nightmare." Leon moaned as he got out of the car. He handed the bag over to Chris. "Where do we...holy fuck!"
Chris turned to where Leon was staring and groaned when he saw a truck careening towards them, clearly out of control. Chris grabbed Leon's arm and pulled him down the street. Both men where thrown off their feet when the truck slammed into the car and the wreckage went up in a giant ball of fire. Leon struggled up as he tried to catch his breath.
The smell of smoke clogged his nose and he started coughing. His brunet companion helped him to his feet and down the street just as more of those horrible moans filled the air. Leon choked when he saw zombies stagger out of the inferno consumed in flames. The smell of roasting flesh and Leon couldn't prevent it any longer as he vomited. Chris pulled the man towards an alley. He almost cheered when he saw the Kendo Gun Shop up ahead.
"Oh god...this can't be happening." Leon cried as he ran after Chris.
"Once we get to the station we'll be fine." Chris yanked the door open. Leon was on the verge of agreeing with him when the sound of a gun being cocked reached his ears. "Can this day get any fucking worse?" he moaned out.
"Relax Mick it's me." Chris held up his hands.
"Thank god..." the man holding a shotgun sighed. The guy was large and his right arm was bleeding badly. "The town's gone to hell Redfield. We should have listened to you guys."
"That doesn't matter now Mick. Have you got anymore ammo?" Chris approached the desk. Mick nodded then he pulled out some red boxes and handed them to the brunet.
"How far are we from the station?" Leon asked.
"We go through the back alley then through a basketball court. We should be able to reach the gates that way." Chris responded. "Take these." He handed some boxes to Leon. The blond stuffed them in his jacket pockets.
Leon made his way to the door at the other end of the gun shop. Chris had finished grabbing what ammo he could from his friend then moved towards the door. He was about to pull it open when the glass window shattered and four zombies staggered in. Leon stared in utter horror as they descended onto the gun shop owner. The man's screams tore at Leon and then the sound of meat
being torn apart reached his ears. He tore his eyes away just as Chris grabbed the abandoned shotgun and thrust it into Leon's hands. The blond didn't have time to speak as he was being pulled out into an empty alley. He couldn't help it as he lurched forward and vomited again.
"They just...tore him apart...oh god." Leon gasped out.
"I know man but we have to move on." Chris motioned towards green steps leading along a building.
Leon nodded then followed he taller man along the steps. They ran along the top then down more steps into another alleyway where three zombies were shuffling about. Chris took aim and fired a perfect shot into each of their heads. Once they hit the floor Chris made his way towards the metal door with Leon hot on his heels.
The blond sighed with relief when he saw the basketball court Chris had mentioned but there were two more of those things inside it. They were wearing police uniforms and Leon didn't miss the look of sadness on the brunet's face as he ended their lives with a bullet each. Moving quickly through the courtyard the two men ran across a street towards a crashed bus. Chris groaned when he realized the wreckage blocked the path towards the station. He prayed that there was nothing on the bus.
Walking into the vehicle Chris spotted two zombies, one crawling along the floor and the other eating the driver's remains. Leon followed the man as he shot the two monsters then pushed open the door at the driver's side of the bus. The path was clear to the side entrance to the station grounds. The building reminded Leon was a museum. The RPD flag fluttered in the breeze and the station emblem shone brightly.
Chris moved towards the small underpass of the station to avoid the zombies in the garden area. Leon swallowed thickly as he emerged from the underpass and into the main courtyard of the station. As they ran towards the large front doors Chris turned back when he heard the gate opening behind him. Brad Vickers stumbled into the courtyard, blood covering his torso as he held onto his left arm.
"Brad!" Chris made his way to his colleague. He had thought that Brad would be one of the first people to get out of Raccoon City.
"C-Chris!" the pilot choked out blood. "Run! It's coming!"
"Shit Brad what happened?" Chris approached the pilot.
Something large and black fell between Chris and Brad. The former air force pilot stopped in his tracks and backed away with his gun raised. The black mass moved towards Brad and Chris felt cold fear pool in his stomach. Even though its back was facing him Chris could make out tree trunk thick arms with purple tentacles as thick as a shotgun barrel lining the arms.
The creature was as large as a Tyrant. Chris saw metal stitches lining the back of its head. Brad was screaming as he tried to run towards the gate. Chris was about to pull the trigger when the creature grabbed Brad's neck and raised him off the ground. Bringing its other hand up the monster enveloped Brad's face with one fist then a tentacle lashed out.
"NO!" Chris yelled when Brad's broken body hit the floor. His head now had a large hole cut through it. The monster turned around.
"What the fuck is that?" Leon cried when he saw the lipless mouth, those large teeth and the single milky white eye. The other had been stitched up.
"STARS." The creature growled. Chris froze up. This thing could talk and it knew its targets?
"Eat this you piece of shit." Chris snarled as he brandished the shotgun and started firing. The Tyrant creature didn't slow down as it stomped towards Chris and Leon, a tentacles shooting out to lash at the STARS member.
"Shit!" Chris swore. He couldn't tell if this thing was bleeding. Before he could react the Tyrant ran towards him. Chris managed to narrowly avoid the incoming tentacle.
"Come on!" Leon screamed as he reached the doors to the station. The creature reached out at Leon when Chris brought up the shotgun and aimed at its face.
After pulling the trigger the Tyrant roared as it stumbled back holding its face. Chris grabbed Leon's arm and pulled him through the doors. Once inside Chris seized the thick metal bolt that could seal the doors shut. Hopefully it could buy them time to escape whatever the fuck that thing was. They waited for a few minutes but nothing came through the door. There wasn't s sound from outside.
Leon slumped against the wall, his eyes wide and his breathing uneven. Chris slumped beside him, his grip on the shotgun slightly looser than before. Whatever that thing was it was here for STARS. Glancing at his companion he sighed before hitting his back. Leon glanced at him with wide blue eyes. Chris smiled sardonically. At least he found one survivor. It gave him some hope that there were others out thee too.
"Welcome to Raccoon City."