Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the below piece of fiction, Capcom does.

Warning: Nothing

Authors Note: Chapter 32 is upon us, and you guys helped me reach a new record with the reviews! Almost 40 reviews for the last chapter alone! You're all surprising me every single day! It's like Christmas or something! Just not with as much good food, unfortunately. Whateva, I'll take the reviews over the food any day! But seriously, you guys are fricken amazing, and I really, really appreciate the support you're giving me! I love you all!

Chapter 32- Morning After

"We learn geology the morning after the earthquake" ~Ralf Waldo Emerson~

There are things out there that give a person that false sense of security—things that take someone away; lift them up from thoughts and memories far too painful and real to deal with. They were comforting in their own way...

When Chris finally pulled himself up off the grass at the park, he left his Jeep outside Wesker's apartment and found himself wandering over to Mindy's. Her apartment was far too long to walk to, but Chris didn't care.

Nothing really mattered at that point, nothing but getting to a place where he could just lay his head down for a while and not be alone with his thoughts.

No thinking—no reality checks. Just a place to rest.

When he finally arrived at her apartment, all of the light from the sun was gone, and his feet were sore, blisters even appearing on his heels. He would say the pain was a good distraction from what he had been feeling before, but that would be a lie.

She let him in when he arrived without question, seeing the red around his eyes and the weariness in his stance. She simply sat him down on her couch and went into her small, quaint kitchen to make him something soothing. She had said something about hot chocolate with those little mini marshmallows.

This left Chris alone in her living room with her small, pendulum-powered clock ticking away on the bookshelf across from him. Staring at his hands, Chris listened to the clock and closed his eyes, breathing steadily as he tried to push away the anger, fear, betrayal and sadness, and instead concentrate on the positives.

He still had all of his limbs, he wasn't dying, and Mindy was making hot chocolate... He would be okay if he kept thinking about the positives and not the mind-numbing reality that he had lost Wesker.

That he had lost someone who he hoped to be with for a very, very long time.

Turning his gaze to the clock across from him, Chris watched the pendulum swing and listened to the clicks and whizzes of the gears. A reminder that everything goes on, that time doesn't stop just because you feel it has.

"Here you go."

Snapping his gaze to the right, Chris saw Mindy holding a mug out to him, her smile reassuring as he took the cup from her. The mug was blue with little cows on it...

Sitting down beside him, Mindy curled up and rested against the armrest of her couch, her attention going to the clock just as Chris' did. The two of them stared at it for some time, their minds elsewhere but their attention completely on it.

Chris didn't want to talk, didn't want to say anything about what had happened in fear he'd say or do something stupid. It wasn't time to talk about it yet—it wasn't time to face reality.

Only he found himself opening his mouth after fifteen minutes of just staring, Mindy doing the same as she became Chris' anchor.

"I had... I had given him my everything," he began, voice soft as the hot chocolate cooled. "I had... given him my body... my trust... I had completely changed my perceptions not only about my sexuality, but my entire being.

"I had done so much to make it work—to overcome everything so that we could be happy... we could be more than just physical. I wanted it so badly, Mindy... I wanted it so god damn much."

He finally turned to look at her, his voice strong despite how weak he felt. "But I never once stopped to think if he wanted it, never stopped to think if what I was doing was what he wanted... n-never thought that he'd always just view me as some guy he could fuck.

"I wanted so badly to be with him, even when I knew it was wrong... that it was a bad idea. I gave him everything and was willing to look past so much that he did. Willing to look past the reality to see only what I wanted to see. I refused to realize that he would never give me any of himself because he didn't want to give it."

Sighing, Chris sent Mindy a sad, crooked smile. "I just wanted us to be happy..."

He could see the line between her eyebrows and the tightening of her lips as she reached out, her small hand touching his shoulder gently. "Oh, Chris, I am so sor—"

"No, don't say that," Chris said, pushing her hand away. "I just— I'm sick of hearing that all the time. I don't... I don't want your sympathy, Mindy."

Taking her hand back, Mindy nodded, breathing hitching slightly as she looked at Chris with concerned eyes. She was just trying to help, and Chris had lashed out. Now he felt terrible.

"I didn't mean to push you away," he said, placing the mug on the coffee table, the marshmallows already dissolved in the drink that hadn't even been touched. "I'm just... I just want to sleep. I'll be less of a jerk in the morning."

Sleep was the greatest escape.

"Can I crash on your couch tonight?"

"Yeah, for sure." Nodding her head, Mindy stood up and went to the small hallway in her tiny apartment. Coming back in, she had a pillow and a soft pink blanket in her hands.

"Sorry, pink is all I have," she said, passing them to Chris.

"It's okay, it won't threaten my masculinity if no one else knows," he said, attempting a joke despite there being little to no mirth in his voice.

Putting the pillow at one end of the couch, Chris tossed the blanket messily across it before turning to look at Mindy, seeing the worry on her features still. Maybe coming to her place had been a bad idea—a selfish idea. Telling another person his troubles wasn't like him; he always felt worse after venting because now they, too, had to deal with his worries.

"I'm sorry I came here. I just didn't want to be alone," he said just as Mindy pulled him into a hug, her smaller frame holding onto him tightly.

"Don't apologise. Just sleep and wake up tomorrow when the sun is back up. You'll have your new day soon enough," she said, pulling away to kiss his cheek.

Nodding, Chris sat back down on the couch as Mindy retired to her bedroom, the small light on the side table still on, emitting a soft, golden glow. Fiddling with the pink blanket, Chris took a few steady breaths and prepared himself for the long, arduous journey from alertness to sleep—a journey that left time for free thinking and no escape from one's own thoughts.

Not ready to do that just yet, Chris found himself returning his attention to the clock.

**XX**

In the morning Mindy had offered to drive Chris back to his Jeep before they went to work. She had known the distance Chris traveled to visit her, and knew he probably wasn't eager to repeat it. Besides, he had work to go to, and being late would only further complicate an already volatile situation with Wesker.

But when he arrived at his Jeep, he wasn't particularly thrilled to see a slip of paper resting underneath the windshield wiper. Striding towards it, Chris kept his back to Wesker's apartment and ripped the paper off, scanning the parking ticket.

Seventy-five dollar fine for having his car parked an hour over the allotted time, thanks to a Constable Rick McDonald. Chris was tempted to find the bastard and shove the ticket down his throat, but opted going to work and straight to his office would be a better idea.

Shoving the ticket in his pocket, Chris unlocked his Jeep and hopped in before starting the vehicle and driving away from a place he never wanted to be at again, to a place he usually enjoyed going to every morning—except for today, of course.

Chris had contemplated the downfalls of dating a co-worker when he had been with Wesker, but he had always tossed the negative views aside in favour of the positives. But now that he had to actually deal with the negatives, Chris was beginning to wish he'd thought his relationship through a little more carefully.

Of course, there were a lot of things turning up in Chris' mind that made him wish he had thought things through more carefully with Wesker—many of them running along the lines of 'why hadn't I just said no?'.

Chris didn't know how to describe how he was feeling at the moment. Mindy had asked him in the morning; in fact, it was the first thing out of her mouth, but Chris had told her the truth: he didn't know.

He had exhausted himself yesterday with 'what if' and 'why' questions all night, and had spent all of his anger, sadness, and frustrations out in one night.

This morning he was simply left feeling... numb.

And nervous.

He didn't want to see Wesker so soon, not after what they had just said and done. He had ended things with him; officially stopped their relationship as soon as he came to the realization that Wesker was never going to be in it. Usually when such a confrontation happened he would just walk away from the person all together, sever the ties they had in one swift go in order to ease the heartache and loneliness. He didn't want to be reminded of Wesker so soon.

Too bad Wesker was his boss and someone he saw almost every single day, even before they had been involved. Chris figured this was one of the reasons why people always said not to date a co-worker.

Chris spent the entire drive to the RPD with the radio blasting mindless pop hits as he tried to clear his mind and forget about what had happened yesterday. He was going to work—a professional environment where he was expected, not only from other people but by himself, to act in a civilized manner. He was expected to do his job and not let personal issues get in the way.

So that was what he was going to do. He would go into work, do his job, talk to people he needed to speak to (even if that included Wesker), and then go home and have another break down.

Or possibly go to the gym where he would try and destroy a punching bag.

Parking in his usual spot, Chris turned his car off and took a few steadying breaths before jumping out and continuing forward with his plan 'Act Normal and Everything Will be Normal'. Returning smiles and morning greetings on his way to the office, Chris felt that uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach start to go away as he easily slipped back into the role of dependable, reliable, and grounded Chris Redfield.

Not scared, angry, and hurt Chris Redfield, which was what he had been feeling like for the last twelve hours.

Finally getting to the office, Chris wrapped his hand around the familiar handle and took another steadying breath before opening the door quickly, striding in, and closing it. Giving himself another moment to turn around, Chris relaxed his grip on the handle and went to his desk.

As soon as he had sat down, he took the time to look up and notice that no one else was in the office. Wondering briefly if he was late, Chris looked at the clock above Brad's desk, only to discover he was a minute late—if that. Furrowing his brow, Chris scooted his chair closer to his desk and opened up a report he had started on Friday but hadn't finished. Scanning through what he had completed, Chris rested his chin on the palm of his hand, sighing heavily as the sound of the clock once again accompanied him into thoughts of nothing.

Eyes glazing over, Chris continued to flip sheets despite not really reading any of them. Stopping on the final one, Chris read the last paragraph before the door to the office opened. Looking up quickly, Chris blinked away sleep in his eyes only to see the one person he really, really didn't want to.

Wesker appeared the same as he always did as he strode into the office. He had his dress shirt on, his hair was slicked back, and the usual collection of folders rested under his arm. But perhaps the most familiar thing about Wesker was how much comfort he still brought Chris, despite everything that had happened.

Clenching his jaw, Chris watched Wesker go to his desk before sitting down, booting up his computer. Flipping open a file, Wesker began to scan through it, acting as if there was no tension or unspoken words between the two of them.

"Where is everyone else?" Chris asked, finally breaking the silence.

Raising an eyebrow, Wesker looked up from his papers before scanning the room, as if this was the first time he realized no one except Chris was actually in the room. "I believe Jill and Brad are at court right now, having been dragged into a complicated case. Barry is... well, I do not know exactly where he has gone."

Nodding, Chris tried not to act surprised about Jill and Brad's court date. He was probably informed of it numerous times and in great detail, but having spent the last few weeks thinking of nothing but Wesker left Chris a little out of the loop.

Of course he'd refuse to admit it.

Not wanting to look at Wesker anymore, Chris went back to his paperwork, this time actually paying attention to what he was reading. He wanted to distance himself from Wesker despite them being in the same room together, and decided that throwing himself head first into his work was the best idea.

Minutes passed in the office, nothing being said between the two men as they both worked on whatever it was they had to do. Chris had almost finished up with his side of the report when he heard Wesker pause his typing, and glanced up just as Wesker turned to look at him.

There was silence between the two for a second before Wesker spoke, completely at ease by the sound of his voice. "Christopher, are you working on the—"

"It's Chris," he found himself saying without even realizing it. Taking a deep breath, Chris raised his head slightly. "Don't... don't call me Christopher again."

Rolling with the punch, Wesker didn't even seem fazed by what Chris had told him, and nodded. "Fine—Chris, are you working on the Martin report?"

"Y-yeah, why?"

Chris should have been thankful it was that easy to get Wesker to call him by the name he preferred, that he didn't have to go into detail about why he preferred Chris and why he had let him call him Christopher for so long. But for some reason, the fact that he was just so willing to concede, that he didn't even seem fazed at all, angered Chris more than anything.

Was Wesker not feeling any of the tension and anxiety he was feeling? Did their relationship really mean that little to him?

"She withdrew her charges—do you know why?"

"Yeah, she said it wasn't worth the money for a lawyer and—" Chris was about to elaborate before the phone on Wesker's desk began to ring, and he answered it without even recognizing Chris in the process.

Rolling his eyes, Chris went back to his work, but found it increasingly difficult to stay on task when Wesker's end of the conversation was getting more and more... bizarre.

"... Eaten? Are you sure? They haven't collected dental records, have they? No, of course not... Yes... Just an hour ago? Why hadn't you—no, never mind. I'll get my men there as—... No, no I am going. No, don't get involved just yet, we'll deal with it."

Slamming his phone down, Wesker stood up and trudged off to the Bravo team office, telling Chris to page Barry about meeting them at the Marble River embankment just in the Old district of Racoon. Raising an eyebrow, Chris did as he was told, and finished just as Enrico and Wesker were leaving the office and coming back into Alpha team's.

"Chris, you're coming too," Enrico said as Wesker grabbed a few things from his desk. Standing up, Chris nodded and followed them out of the office, completely confused.

"Anyone going to tell me what is going on?" he asked as they entered the room with the three statues.

Chris could see a slight downturn on the corner of Wesker's lips, and a familiar edge crept into his voice as he answered. "A body was found by a jogger on the banks of the Marble River."

**XX**

When they arrived at the scene of the crime, the area was taped off with the forensic unit already hard at work while police officers stood around, keeping the area clear of rubberneckers and the news crew.

The grass was still covered in dew, and clung to their boots and pant legs as they trudged over to the scene, all three of them feeling more tense than usual. Chris had been on a few missions where he had to see a dead body, but they had all been relatively 'clean'. No huge wounds, no gaping holes... no bite marks.

From what Wesker had said, it sounded like the body that was found had been... eaten.

"There you are, where have you been all morning?"

Hearing Wesker's voice call out snapped Chris from his trepidation, and he looked up just in time to see Barry walking over, civilian clothing still on.

"I had to take Penny to her doctor appointment, I told you that," he said, frowning.

Stopping when he got to Barry, Wesker raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest. "When was this?"

"Last night. I called you up to tell you I had to take her in. She was sick all weekend and Kathy was getting worried..."

Humming slightly, Wesker eyed Barry a moment longer before he took off, obviously offset by something about Barry's message. Chris liked to believe he'd been too wrapped up in their argument and subsequent breakup to remember Barry calling, even though he knew that was probably untrue.

But he would cling to that idea just to make himself feel better about the entire ordeal. If Wesker was upset, then he could feel a little better... Odd how things like that worked.

"How is Penny?" Chris asked as they began to walk down to the embankment, ducking under the police only tape.

"She's fine—strep throat is all. Nothing rest and some antibiotics can't cure."

Relieved that Penny was okay, Chris for a moment forgot what they were going to see, until they walked up to the body.

She was lying face up on the river bank, head still partly in the water. Long hair caked with mud and blood floated in the water, sliding back and forth over her ear... or where her ear should have been. Instead, there was a gaping hole, the entire ear gone with skin and flesh from her cheek taken with it. Her eyes had long since been eaten out by... something. Maybe whatever attacked her, or possibly fish in the river.

Her nose was bitten off as well, and her lips were long since gone, revealing straight teeth that once held a large smile. Now it just looked morbid and horrid, her entire face peeled back for all to see.

The rest of her body faired no better, and if he hadn't been informed earlier that it was a woman, Chris wouldn't have known the gender. The animal that had eaten her before had done a good job at destroying her body, and the fish and other animals in the river had finished the job.

"I... I mean—" Chris stuttered out, not sure what to say. He had never seen anything like it, and he felt bile begin to rise. Pushing it back, Chris took a few steadying breaths, moving his head away to get fresh air. Despite being outside, the stench was overwhelming.

Both Barry and Enrico seemed to be reacting the same way Chris was at the sight; disgust, horror, and slight... curiosity. Of course Wesker seemed completely at ease with the sight, bending down to examine it carefully.

Chris watched Wesker inspect the body, pushing past the disgust from the body and the anger from the night before to simply admire his boss for the critical and analytical skills he seemed to possess. Chris wished he had some of Wesker's intuition and simple deduction skills—things would be so much easier.

"A jogger found her around six this morning."

Snapping his attention up and away from the body, Chris watched as a forensic personal approached them, clipboard in hand. "We can tell more once we get the body back to the station, but it appears as if she was killed with a bite to the neck—probably bled out as she was... well, eaten."

"I assume her identity is unknown?" Wesker said, standing up to face the man.

"With a mutilation such as this and no ID on her, it's going to take a while. Luckily, we can probably do some dental analysis," he said, shaking his head with a frown as he gazed at the body. "All we do know is that she was probably hiking in the mountains."

"How do you know that?" Barry asked, shifting his stance ever so slightly so he was turned away from the body.

"Her shoe... She's got a hiking boot on," Chris mumbled, pointing to her foot that was still encased in a brown, beat up boot.

"What could have possibly attacked her in the mountains around here?" Enrico asked out loud, eyes narrowed as they all looked up the river towards Racoon forest, the trees thick but still allowing light in. Chris had taken a few trips through the forest since he had moved to the city, and to the best of his knowledge the most dangerous thing out there were coyotes.

"We don't know just yet. We're still trying to identify the initial cause of death," the man said, shrugging before he wandered off with his clipboard just as some more men came over to take the body away.

Moving away from the body, Wesker indicated they should follow, and they all trudged back up the bank to stand near the ambulance.

"Wait here," Wesker instructed, not even really looking at the three of them as he wandered off, gate sure as he strode towards two men off to the side who appeared out of uniform.

"Detectives," Enrico said as Chris inspected them. "Surprised you haven't seen them before..."

"I'm not usually called to murder cases," Chris said, voice distant as he watched the three men speak.

Snorting slightly, Enrico ran a hand over his moustache before speaking again, voice lower. "Well if things continue to go how they've been going, you'll see it more often now."

"What?" Chris asked, finding Enrico's tone a little off.

"Nothing," he said, wandering off to speak with one of the police officers who was having difficulty with a camera man.

Turning his attention to Barry, Chris rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. "What the hell is up with everyone lately?"

"He's worried," Barry said, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he and Chris decided to look as useless as they felt at the moment.

"Worried about the murder? I don't know, it just happened and he's been... off, lately."

"Not about the body—well, not just about the body," he began as he shuffled closer to Chris. "He's worried about his job. Figures either you or I will take over Bravo Team from him."

Raising an eyebrow, Chris turned to look at Barry. This was certainly a new development. "How do you know this?"

"I might have overheard him talking on the phone to someone the other day. I walked in to talk to Richard and he was hunched over his desk, talking about how Wesker was making comments about how you in particular were showing great strides in leadership... Sounds like Wesker's lighting the fire under Enrico."

"Why would he do that?" Chris asked, knowing Enrico was doing a good job—or so he thought.

Shrugging, Barry let out a heavy sigh. "Why not ask Captain Wesker yourself?"

"I... I don't think that's a good idea," Chris mumbled, suddenly feeling very awkward. A couple of hours ago Chris would have approached Wesker for answers as soon as he could, but given the feeling of intense anger mixed with absolute sadness whenever he saw Wesker now, Chris figured he'd just pass.

"He's been acting more... unusual, hasn't he? Damn, this town is making people crazy," Barry said quickly as Wesker came back to them.

"I just spoke with the investigators who are dealing with the case. As of now, they do not believe this is a murder, so don't throw that word around carelessly. They've taken the witness to the police station where they'll interview her."

"So what do we do?" Chris asked, meeting Wesker's gaze despite the intense urge to break it.

"For now we do nothing," he finally said before making his way to Enrico, who was talking to the camera man in a very polite, but threatening manner.

Chris found it strange that Wesker had even bothered to come down and then tell them they shouldn't do anything. He knew cases such as these weren't really part of what STARS was supposed to cover, but for some reason Chris wanted to get involved. Not only so he could figure out who killed the poor woman, but because something about it felt strange—like there was more to it than an animal attack.

"Why did we come down here if we aren't going to be involved?" Barry asked Wesker as they ducked under the police tape and started to leave. Wesker had managed to get the camera man to go away after he just approached him—even people who didn't work at the RPD knew how terrifying Wesker could be.

"I found the case... strange. I wanted to see it for myself," he replied simply, taking the keys out of his pocket to the cruiser.

"Is that really the—" Chris began, only to have Wesker turn around, eyebrows drawn in.

"Don't ask any more questions, Christo—... Chris."

Standing his ground, Chris glared back at Wesker before Barry stepped in, his heavy hand landing on Chris' shoulder. "I drove my car here, so I'll take Chris back with me to the station. See you guys soon."

Dragging him away, Barry pushed Chris to the passenger side of his car and opened the door before going to his side. Getting into the car, Chris put his seatbelt on, jaw tight.

Wesker was such a stupid, fucking control freak who Chris should be glad to get rid of.

Should, but wasn't.

"Who does Wesker think he is? I mean, I know he's our boss, but he can't just go around yelling at us and taking us on these trips he won't even explain!" Chris began, his temper getting the better of him.

"Chris—"

"I mean, he did this once before. I wasn't supposed to talk about it, but fuck it. Back in January he—"

"Chris, just—"

"—called Jill and me up and took us on this fucked up mission. And he's just all 'relish in the ignorance I bestow upon you' bullshit. Like I give a damn if I'm too informed—"

"Chris!"

Barry finally raised his voice, and Chris stopped his rant to finally pay attention to him. Eyeing Chris for a moment, Barry seemed to wait and see if he would begin again, before he spoke, eyes downcast.

"Did it look like those bite marks were human?"

BRAAAAAINS! Allll riiiight, we got zombies on the scene now! ZOMBIES! I don't know about you, but I'm pretty damn excited for the zombies. I'm coming up on my ONE YEAR anniversary for this story (I began writing it November 11th- Remembrance Day for my fellow Common Wealth people) and only now have we come to zombies! Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter!