[CHAPTER 1.1]
= Outskirts of Spain =
=November 10, 2004 =
The roaring engines of the two black SUVs weren't exactly subtle. Neither was their crossing of a small wooden bridge that spanned across the village river.
The surroundings weren't described as "photo-friendly" ether: Woodlands that reached for miles, an isolated yet apparently peaceful village that existed in the middle of nowhere, a dirty and practically dried up river at the bottom of the nearly 100 ft drop ravine, and a cloudy skyline.
The rickety bridge finally ended and the two vehicles reared off the dirt road and into a brown grassy area.
= Leon Kennedy =
What's going on? Why are we stopping?
The lead vehicle had an officer of the Spanish National Guard police force driving, on orders to take Leon and the FBI to the address of their supposed contact. Leon was riding shotgun and agents Breedan and Kessler were in the back.
Another officer was piloting the second vehicle with agents Hunter, York, and Marciano as passengers.
The driver spoke up with a thick Spanish accent and in Leon's mind, attempted to speak clear English.
= Officer =
Relax cowboy. This is our stop. Go ahead.
= Leon Kennedy =
My team has to explore some of these surrounds. Its part of our government's procedure. We are going to need your help.
The Spaniard laughed.
= Officer =
No. Our orders said we take you here, and then we take you back. That's it.
He opened his door and got out.
= Officer =
Have fun.
The second officer also got out of the car and the two began chatting in Spanish, most likely laughing at the Americans, while they each smoked a cigarette.
Leon just sighed and signaled his team to exit as well.
= Kimberly Kessler =
Look. The house is up there.
She said pointing a little further west of the road. The address and house of the man they were supposed to meet with was an overgrown almost abandoning looking building.
The six-team members gathered around Leon. All were wearing the FBI jackets.
Agent Marciano was holding a file. He handed it to Leon.
= Alan Marciano =
It's the background on our friend here. The guy's a hermit. Lucky to have found even his name, birth date, and native country.
Leon skimmed through it. He had already seen what the FBI had collected on this guy.
= Leon Kennedy =
Name: Robert Gregory O'Donnell. Born on January 24, 1944. Native of Britain. No known family or relatives…still living that is. Wheelchair bound. No known criminal records with the British Metropolitan Police or any other law enforcement office. Come to mention it, there is no record of him holding any kind of job ether. Yeah, I have seen most of this. Thanks.
= Alan Marciano =
Sure.
= Leon Kennedy =
Alan. You and York scout around a bit. Check this place out. See what things are sitting around here.
= Frank York =
Isn't there supposed to a village here?
= Leon Kennedy =
Yeah. I don't know. Go ahead. Take a gander. But both of you listen. Just don't lose sight of the cars. I don't want our trusted friends running off without us. Okay?
= Alan Marciano =
Okay. Fine.
= Frank York =
You got it.
Both agents then began to scout around a bit.
= Leon Kennedy =
The rest of you with me.
The foursome approached the house. All noticed the number of crows present in the area.
= Leon Kennedy =
Don. Stay outside the door. Keep an eye on things.
= Donald Breedan =
But don't you want me to…
= Leon Kennedy =
No.
Donald, although unhappy, obeyed his orders and remained outside the door as the team approached the house and knocked on the door.
= Kimberly Kessler =
Mr. O'Donnell. United States Department of Justice.
Another knock. And another. Still no answer. Leon giggled with handle. The door was open. He clutched his Sig Sauer on his belt as did the other agents. He nodded and pushed the door open.
= Leon Kennedy =
Stay by the door.
He ordered Donald who did so. Leon and the two female agents entered the house, which was a small foyer at first. A ridged, foul smell was the first thing they noticed.
= Leon Kennedy =
Robert O'Donnell. We have a Spanish federal warrant.
The house split into three sections from there: A staircase leading upward. A left doorway leading into what looked like a small kitchen and a doorway to the right, which seemed to lead into an empty room, possibly a sitting or living room.
Leon took the living room. Kimberly took the stairs. And Allison went left into the kitchen.
Leon first stumbled upon some old books. They were written in Spanish along with a ton of others that were sitting on a bookshelf. He opened one of them and it was dated "1864".
Meanwhile, Allison was just overwhelmed by that foul stench. And the further she got into the kitchen and the closer she got to the over, the smell grew more potent.
She opened up the oven and was speechless. It was a dog. It had to have been dead at least a month by the look.
At the top of the stair was another room with a door. Kim opened it and was met with a single sized bed with a rather disgusting stain on the top layer sheet. Flies were buzzing around the room and sitting atop the sheets where the stain was. It was brown in color.
It could have been dried blood but she wasn't sure. The floor behind her creaked.
Without thinking, she immediately spun around and placed her hand over her weapon and unlatched the harness.
She was met by a man wearing an old brown vest, dirty white dress shirt and dark black pants. His face was suffering the effects of aging. This wasn't their contact though due to the fact that the man was not in a wheelchair obviously.
= Kimberly Kessler =
Oh…(catches breath), excuse me sir. I'm an American federal agent. I have an international granted warrant. I'm looking for a Mr. O'Donnell?
The man just continued to star at her. She figured he didn't speak English so she repeated the same phrase in Spanish. He still didn't respond however.
= Kimberly Kessler =
Sir? Can you understand me?
She kept her hand trained on her weapon and her eyes trained on him, unsure of what was happening or what could happen.
Suddenly with reason, the man leaped forward toward her. She managed to draw her gun, but when he tackled her, it was knocked out of her hand and slid across the floor.
= Kimberly Kessler =
Leon!
She managed to scream while the man began to strangle her with one hand and beat her across the face with the other. She countered it with a heavy knee to the groin. The man groaned and flipped over, however he still held a grip around agent Kessler's neck and she was quickly running out of air. She kicked him forward and he finally let go.
She went for her backup weapon on her leg. Her fingers clenched the butt of her Glock .40 and she drew it but was suddenly met with a sudden pain to the chest. The man had stabbed her with a large cutting knife.
Leon and Allison heard her cry for help from downstairs and could be heard running up the wooden planky stairs to her aid. Leon kicked down the bedroom with his weapon drawn.
The man stood up and charged at Leon with the knife. He fired two shots directly into the man's chest. He flew back and started bleeding out.
= Leon Kennedy =
I got him. Check on her!
He screamed. Allison holstered her gun and crouched down next to Kim who was coughing up blood.
= Allison Hunter =
Oh my god.
Leon kept his gun trained on the hostile and slowly approached him and felt his neck. He was dead.
= Leon Kennedy =
How she doing?
= Allison Hunter =
She's been stabbed. Severe artery. I don't think…
= Leon Kennedy =
Can you stop the bleeding?
= Allison Hunter =
(Heavy pause)…(sigh) No.
= Leon Kennedy =
Christ!
She was using whatever was around her to try and stop the blood from pouring out of Kimberly's chest. It was no use though.
= Allison Hunter =
Her pulse is weakening.
Allison started chest compressions and CPR on Kim but she didn't make it. Her life had expired.
= Allison Hunter =
Ahh…fuck! She's dead!
= Leon Kennedy =
Jesus Christ.
The front door could be heard slamming shut downstairs. Leon drew his weapon once again and went to see.
From what Leon could gather, the door was shut and locked.
= Leon Kennedy =
Hey Donald!
No answer.
= Leon Kennedy =
Shit! Allison. Agent Breedon's gone.
She ran downstairs.
= Allison Hunter =
What? Can you see Alan or Frank?
= Leon Kennedy =
No. Plus the doors' jammed. Come on, we'll get out through the top floor window.
Both agents quickly bolted back up the stairs and into the bedroom again. Leon tried to ignore both the bodies of a hostile, he shot dead, and a team member he lost. He opened the window above the single bed and climbed slightly outward to take a look. But he couldn't see anything. The entire cabin was buried deep into grass and tree shrubs.
= Leon Kennedy =
Damn it. I can't see.
Someone was heard banging on the front door.
= Alan Marciano =
Hey Kennedy? What the hell is going on? I heard shots.
= Allison Hunter =
It's Marciano.
= Alan Marciano =
Jesus. Are you guys okay in there?
They both once again ran down to the front door but it was still pried shut.
= Leon Kennedy =
Alan! Get back to the vehicles and get the flak jackets and the rifles.
= Alan Marciano =
What happened?
They continued to scream through the door.
= Leon Kennedy =
Agent…(sigh) Kim's dead. She was attacked by a man in here. The door is stuck.
= Alan Marciano =
Holy shit. All right. I'll get the twelve gauge and blow the hinges off.
Alan began running back to the two SUVs further down the street.
All Leon and Allison heard next was faint and disturbing:
= Alan Marciano =
Don't move! I'm a federal agent. I'm armed.
Then a few gunshots and the chilling sound of Agent Marciano screaming.
= Allison Hunter =
Oh my god! What the fuck! Who are these people?
But that wasn't it. After their ears witnessed the death of Alan Marciano, they heard a loud engine roar right past the house. And then an extremely loud bang and crash. A few gunshots and the sounds of the Spanish officers yelling could also be faintly heard.
Both Leon and Agent Hunter didn't know what to say. They were speechless.
Leon ran into the kitchen and picked up a knife and darted back in front of the sealed door. He started trying to pry the door up and off the hinges.
After some sweat, and a few minutes, the door finally gave way and fell forward. Both agents drew their weapons and slowly walked outside.
Agents Donald Breedan and Frank York were missing, possibly dead. Agent Kim Kessler was dead. Agent Alan Marciano was most likely dead but his body was nowhere to be seen. And the two officers were…
Leon couldn't bear to think about it. They ran down the road to where the SUVs were or where they should have been.
They weren't there. Instead, there were just empty shell casings, and deep tire tracks. Then they peaked down into the ravine. One SUV was there as was another vehicle. It looked like an old pickup truck. From what Leon could collect, the pickup ran the SUV off the road and pushed it down into the side of the river. But where was the other SUV?
= Allison Hunter =
Leon.
Allison was next to the bridge. It had collapsed and the one half was dangling, as was the second SUV. It wasn't going to hold there for long.
= Leon Kennedy =
Here take my hand. Don't let go.
= Allison Hunter =
What are you doing?
= Leon Kennedy =
We need the jackets and the rifles. Hold tight.
Leon used Allison's weight to suspend himself down toward the hanging truck. He was able to get close enough to open the trunk and fish out an H&K MP-5 High-powered assault rifle and a bulletproof flak jacket. He tossed it up to her side.
Next, he tried getting another Kevlar vest out, but the bridge started giving way.
= Leon Kennedy =
Pull me up!
She did so as the bridge finally fully collapsed taking the other SUV with it. A huge explosion and an additional collection of smoke from the fire resulted.
Leon laid on the ground and tried to catch his breath not to mention his thoughts.
= Allison Hunter =
What now?
= Leon Kennedy =
(Sigh)…You don't have a signal do you? On your cell?
= Allison Hunter =
No. I haven't since we crossed into this valley.
= Leon Kennedy =
Me ether.
Leon stood up and checked his Sig.
= Leon Kennedy =
I've got two mags. 13 rounds left in my current mag. And then 8 in my back up Glock.
= Allison Hunter =
Same here.
= Leon Kennedy =
Okay. Here take the vest.
= Allison Hunter =
Leon…
= Leon Kennedy =
Just do it. Put it on. Gimme the assault rifle. Only way now…is to go forward. See if we can find Donald and everyone else…alive, lets hope.
She slid the vest on and velcroed it shut. He steadied the rifle on his shoulder and together they started walking down the road…hoping for some sign of anything. Unbeknown to them, the so-called village, was just that way.