Resident Evil Recall: Operation Arklay

Episode Three: The Grill 13

Part One

Main Hall, RPD, 6:00 PM…

It was always a relief when it came time for shift change, not the Ashwood's job at the RPD was hard to deal with or anything, but going home for the day and getting to take off the uniform was such a nice feeling. Tonight it would be a while before she could get changed since everyone on Liquid's new Task Force was meeting up for dinner, but she felt that her relaxation could afford to wait a little in return for a free meal. Now, the Grill 13 wasn't exactly a place for fine wining and dining, but this was business and not a date, so there was no room for her to complain.

Like she did every night, Ashwood handed her timecard to the Officer behind the desk, and once the familiar click of the clock's date stamp was finished, he put it on the stack with everyone else who was getting off shift. In her opinion it would have been easier for everyone to just clock in and out themselves, but apparently it was believed that not everyone in the RPD could be trusted to be honest about their time. It was great to know that the people in charge of keeping the city safe from crime couldn't even be trusted to clock-in on time, but that was none of her business.

"Good night." She said to the Officer.

He grunted a reply before moving to the next person in line, and now she was free for the night. Usually she preferred to change and jog home from work just like she did in the morning, but that also meant that she left her car in the parking garage at the precinct most nights. She also didn't want to stay in the station for too long for fear of certain awkward social situations, and thankfully the quickest route to the parking garage took her through Homicide instead of Traffic so that she wouldn't run into…

"Hey, Kendra!" A voice called from behind as it got closer, making her let out a frustrated sigh. "Hey, you got any plans for tonight?"

Yep, she had stayed too long, and now she had to deal with the consequences, so a forced smile returned to Ashwood's face as she turned around to see Sergeant Branagh approaching. She really hated going through this since she didn't want to be rude to the guy, but he just wouldn't take the hint that she wasn't interested. He was a nice guy and all, but honestly a relationship with him wasn't what she was looking for. She was trying so hard to not be mean to him, but no matter what she said, it didn't affect him. If she said she wasn't looking for a relationship right now, he replied that he would wait. If she said that he wasn't her type, he replied that he was universal, and so on.

"So, I was thinking about heading over to Bar Jack." Branagh continued. "We could relax and have a few drinks if you're interested."

She was getting nervous. It would be really easy to just go off on him and tell him in fifty different ways that she was never ever going to go out with him, but if she did then it would become really awkward to see him every day at work. But then she remembered that she already had an excuse, and now she was truly glad that she had joined the new Task Force. Not only for tonight, but that kind of work could be pretty demanding, and for all her knew it could be quite a while before she would even have a chance to go out again at all.

"Oh, gosh, Marvin, I'd love to." Ashwood replied while faking sadness. "But… I'm starting a new assignment, and we all have to meet up as soon as we clock out. I'm real sorry, but I'm probably gonna be busy for, um… a while."

"Oh, okay." He answered quickly. "Don't worry, I'll still be here when you're done. See you later, Kendra."

There was still a smile on his face as he turned and walked confidently toward the front door of the station, and Ashwood just shook her head. There was just no getting through to the guy, but why was it always the people she didn't want that had such persistence? Why couldn't Murphy Proske be that way around her? Oh well, at least he was gone for now, and Ashwood decided to continue on her way before Branagh had the chance to change his mind. Moving across the main hall in a different direction, she quickly entered the side door that led through the Homicide Division, and into the parking garage a few doors and hallways later.

The place was full of people who were on the same path as her, meaning that she had to stop several times to wait for other cops who were pulling out of parking spaces before she could get to her own vehicle. One would think that with leaving her car there for so long, that she would have a better spot, but this wasn't the case. Each time she used her car, she always came back at the wrong time, meaning that she had to take one of the spaces toward the back. This made it really easy to get out, but the extra walking was annoying. Eventually she dodged enough of the outgoing traffic to reach her goal, and it was a relief to get into the driver's seat while shutting the door.

"Okay, made it to the car." She said to herself as she buckled in. "Now all I gotta do is survive rush hour Downtown."

The restaurant they were meeting at was only four or five miles away, but with the way traffic in Raccoon City was at this time of the day, that could take a while. But she wouldn't get anywhere at all if she didn't get started, so she started the engine, put it in gear, and slowly made her way out of the parking garage.

Uptown Raccoon City, 5:55 PM…

"This is great." Chambers said as he drove down the street. "Only three weeks on the force, and we've already been hand-picked for a special assignment with Homicide! I mean, sure it's not S.T.A.R.S. or anything, but who knows? If we help solve these murders, we both might walk out of this as Detectives!"

"I don't know, man." Lopez replied. "Don't get me wrong, this sounds like a great opportunity to bust some skulls, but something about this… something about him just rubs me the wrong way. I mean, why would the head of Homicide have so much interest in this case? It's almost like he… oh, hey, get this guy."

Unlike the rest of the cops getting off shift who were forced to fight through traffic, the two of them had decided to just keep their patrol car for a while instead. Sure, they would bring it back before the night was over, but for now it was useful, particularly for the lights and siren. The car ahead of them was going slow, so Chambers hit the flashers, causing them to see the driver jump a little before quickly pulling over. But instead of stopping, they turned off the lights as they kept going, with the two of them laughing before doing a high-five.

"I know what you mean about that Lieutenant." Chambers said to restart the conversation. "He does seem a little off somehow, and what's with that redhead who was following him around? From the way they talked, it doesn't sound like she's on the Task Force, and I thought this was supposed to be all hush-hush, so why was she there?"

"He's probably banging her." Lopez replied with a shrug. "He's got a reputation for that kind of thing from what the guys were saying at lunch, but they also said he went crazy a bit before we got out of the Academy. I don't know how to describe it, and I know that they don't let morons run entire Police Divisions, but my dad always said to never mess with anyone crazier than I am… hey, let's do Confusion with this one."

There was another car up ahead that Lopez clocked as doing the speed limit, so Chambers again turned on the lights, this time pulling over behind the car once it stopped. Giving each other a nod, they both gave a battle cry as they jumped out of the car, and continued doing this for a few seconds after running up to the front windows on each side. The man and woman in the car jumped when they began to jump up and down while smacking their hands on the roof, but then they quickly rolled down the windows.

"Oh, my God!" Chambers screamed. "Do you have any frickin idea how fast you were just going?!"

"Do you?!" Lopez screamed into the passenger's face as he leaned into the car. "Do you?!"

"Well, uh, we were only going about, um, twenty-five miles 'an hour." The driver stammered. "Isn't that the speed limit?"

"Yes, it is!" Chambers continued while smacking the roof, making him jump. "No one in Raccoon City obeys the speed limit unless they got something to hide!"

"So what is it, you got warrants?!" Lopez asked. "You running Crack for your homies!? Do you want me to Mace you, son?! Do you?!

The driver started to say something, but ended up shrieking and jumping again as the two cops started screaming incoherently while jumping up and down while smacking the roof. Then they suddenly ran back to the patrol car, jumped in, and Chambers floored it, causing the tires to squeal loudly as they tore off down the road. Now laughing hysterically and doing another high-five, Chambers slowed down and turned off the flashers once they were out of sight of the car they stopped.

"Oh, that was sweet." Chambers said as he changed lanes to make a right turn. "Anyway, I don't think we should worry too much about Lieutenant Liquid. Obviously he's focused on the case, and we're talking about the Cannibal Murders, here, so we're gonna need everyone we can to close it. And besides, even if our fearless leader goes nuts, there's four of us to handle it."

"Yeah, I know." Lopez replied while leaning back and putting his arms behind his head. "I just don't like feeling uneasy about places, missions, or people. The computer nerd and the old dog seem level-headed enough, but you're the only one that I know I can count on if things go bad, so let's you and me stick together."

Chambers nodded, but he didn't like the whole idea of an us versus them situation. Maybe they were wrong about Liquid… yeah, maybe everything that was said about him was just exaggerated rumors, like how rumors always happen. Either way, they would have plenty of time to figure him out both tonight and tomorrow before the mission actually started, so for now it was best not to worry. After all, the guy was buying them all dinner, so he couldn't have been that bad. At least, Chambers hoped not as they continued down the street toward the Downtown area.