The moment that Ryan left Alice's side, he knew that he was at a huge disadvantage. The fact he couldn't talk aside, he was in unfamiliar territory, surrounded by unknown people, and being watched from the buildings around him. One wrong move, and his head would be taken clean off.
So, he kept his cool and walked with the crowds, but once he reached the corner, he just changed his course and went with the next stream of people in the direction of the deadzone he could detect.
However, he kept a close eye on any open windows in the upper floors as he walked. In the first two blocks alone, there were eight snipers inside windows, and at least four watching the intersections from the roofs. He was mildly impressed by the forces at Michelle's disposal. Maybe she was formerly a high ranking officer - possibly either from the U.S military or a police force - that had quite a bit of experience and authority before the end of the world.
When he reached the end of the block, he was met with several guards on the ground, standing outside of a chainlink fence - topped with barbed wire - that spanned the width of the street. Beyond the fence was an open field, devoid of any buildings or lifesigns, even infected.
"Judging by the guarded fenceline, this might be undeveloped land, or there could be a break in the wall somewhere, thus making the area unsafe for anyone... well, anyone except me, Alice and Katie, that is..." Ryan kept his theory to himself, so that Alice or Katie didn't pick it up. Until he could confirm it, it was just that: a theory.
Scanning the roofs nearby, he spotted two more snipers, each facing into the fence, further solidifying his theory that there was a breakage in the wall nearby.
"Hey! You with the armour!" A voice called out loudly, causing Ryan to search the crowds until he spotted a guard approaching him with an MP5 in his hand. "Hold it right there!"
"Fuck... Might have to run, I clearly can't touch him without causing a scene... Think, think..." Ryan scanned the nearest possible escape routes; an alley to the right... maybe... another closer one to his left, but that lead right towards the wall... shit. Turn back? No, he'd be shot by a sniper...
"Put your weapon on the ground, hands on your head! You are trespassing!" The guard leveled the MP5 at Ryan's head, and Ryan growled audibly.
"Hold your fire, Sergeant! This one is new here."
"Oh for fuck sake!" Ryan put his hands onto his head anyway as he turned in the direction of Michelle's voice.
"But Mistress! He almost came..." The guard scowled, still aiming his SMG at Ryan's head.
"That's enough, Sergeant! He's under my special orders, he has clearance to enter the quarantined areas. Inform the rest of your squad of that, for the next time I send him here." Michelle silenced the guards voice menacingly. "Itoshii, come with me. Your wife sent me to find you."
"Mistress, huh?" Ryan thought, but slowly approached her, still keeping his hands on his head.
Michelle grabbed him by his unarmoured wrist and pulled his hands down, taking that brief second to whisper. "What the fuck is your real name?"
"Ryan." He replied, following Michelle back to the main street and into a crowded marketplace area.
"So... Ryan, just so you know, that fenced area is quarantined due to a discovered tunnel that leads through the wall. We think that it was made by someone on the inside. Consider it a construction zone... but with guards, okay?" Michelle grabbed his hand to pull him out of the way of several children running through the marketplace.
"I'm immune, remember?" Ryan pointed out in the moment of skin contact they had. "Besides, that Sergeant clearly wanted to disarm and arrest me for something completely different."
"He's a trigger happy and reckless man, there's nothing to worry about." Michelle replied, still dragging him through the market. "Now, I wasn't lying when I said your wife sent me to find you. She's over here, with your daughter, come along."
Ryan sniffed the air and realized how strong the scents of food surrounding them was. He quickly honed in on his T-Virus sonar and detected Alice and Katie nearby.
"Speaking of which, how did you actually find me so quickly?" Ryan asked, his eyes narrowed into slits.
"I take it you're a former soldier, yes?" Michelle commented.
"Yes, you could say that." Ryan replied somewhat evasively, still watching her closely.
"Then you are likely aware of my snipers, yes? They relayed your location to me via radio, and I was tailing you for that last block before I caught up to you. You kind of stand out with that metal armour, black clothes, and your hidden face." Michelle replied, leading him around a turn and coming in sight of Katie, Alice and surprisingly, Taylor!
"Hey, Mom! I see you've met Ryan already!" Taylor commented, eating something out of a bowl. "You hungry, Ryan? Want some scrambled eggs?"
Ryan's eyebrow shot straight up at the questions, but a glance at Alice giggling into her hand at the sight of his severe confusion made him quickly narrow his eyes.
"It's still the breakfast schedule for the food vendors, that curry I smelled earlier isn't finished yet. The vendor promised us a plate though, come noon when it finishes. Here, try to eat something." Alice explained while Taylor practically shoved the bowl of scrambled eggs into his hands.
"What about payment?" Ryan asked as he tugged down his mask entirely, which exposed his scarred throat to Michelle and Taylor. They both displayed surprised expressions at his mangled neck.
"Public food stalls. There's no payment here in the marketplace for a meal. They use bottlecaps as their main currency here, but barter and trade is also accepted in most of the businesses." Alice replied Telepathically, indicating Taylor with a jut of her chin as the source of the information. "Good thing about their economy here is the lack of taxes, rent and fees. They accept caps, bullets, even actual labour in some places."
"Interesting. Still trying to retain their humanity by emulating what society resembled before the outbreak." Ryan commented to Alice before he slowly began to eat, while Michelle stared at his throat, biting her lip nervously.
"Um... Ryan, if you don't mind me asking... What happened to your throat? Is that the reason you can't talk?" Michelle asked with concern in her tone.
He held out his hand, and she took it with noticibly growing confidence. She was getting used to talking to him like this. "Yes, it's why I can't talk. I was stabbed in the throat, but thanks to the T-Virus, I managed to heal... MOST of the damage. My vocal cords are still severed, thus I am now a mute."
"And how do you do THIS? How do you communicate with people by touching them?" Michelle asked, clearly looking at his Electrokinesis with an academic approach.
"By tapping into their central nervous system. I form an electrical link to their brain, which allows me to speak to their minds directly. But, since it originates from the T-Virus, I don't need to do that for Alice or Katie." Ryan explained, smiling slightly towards Michelle.
"Katie? Is that your daughter's name?" Michelle asked, which received a nod from Ryan. "Ah, I see."
Katie gave Michelle a glance at that moment, and realized that Michelle was staring at her intently, almost as if she was searching her face for something incriminating. She took a step closer to Alice, who right away noticed.
"What's the matter, kiddo?" Alice crouched down to her height. "Something wrong?"
"N-nothing." Katie mumbled, but then Taylor joined them with a huge smile.
"It's okay, Katie. Do you want to have a look around town for a bit? I think that our mom's want to talk about something important."
Katie gave Alice a questioning look, to which Alice gave a nod. "Go on, kiddo. But stick close to Taylor. I'll call you when we're finished."
"O-Okay..." Katie mumbled, allowing Taylor to lead her away from them through the marketplace.
"So... What was it that you wanted to talk to me about?" Alice immediately turned back to Michelle, holding a bowl of eggs in both of her hands.
"I want you, and Ryan if he agrees, to be a special recon team. There is something inside of Sanctuary that will quickly become a severe problem, if it is left unresolved." Michelle began to explain.
"Define 'problem' Michelle." Alice raised an eyebrow as she resumed her task of eating breakfast. Even Ryan was eating as he listened to her words.
"Something only a handful of people here know, myself included, is that this place was unknowingly built right over top of what we THINK is an underground Umbrella laboratory. The entrance was discovered about a week ago, but the squad of guards I sent inside wasn't heard from since then. If it's really an Umbrella lab, then there might be some escaped experiments and zombies inside, so I want to send you two in to check out what happened to my guards, and if possible, clear out the place."
"I assume you won't make us do it for free." Ryan commented, shoving more eggs in his mouth. "This is something we have experience with, but hasn't shown a trend of good results."
Alice repeated Ryan's words, and added. "Last time we did this, we fought and killed an infected scientist that had mutated into a monster. Ryan died during the fight, but that was how he acquired the T-Virus."
"I remember you mentioning that." Michelle nodded. "Anyway, there is something else I wanted to talk to you about, but this time it's far less dangerous in nature."
"Oh?" Alice's eyes became riveted to Michelle, and Ryan spared her a glance, but continued shoveling eggs into his mouth.
"You still need a place to call home, so I wanted to inform you that there is an entire apartment building availible for your whole group, the one lead by Miss Redfield. Could you inform them that it is the one right there." Michelle pointed towards a nearby building, which appeared to be uninhabited at that moment. "You can decide which apartment belongs to you, before anyone else."
"What's with the special treatment?" Ryan asked, finally finishing his eggs and pulling his mask back onto his face. "What I had in mind when I mentioned payment was more along the lines of weapons, ammo, or even that bottlecap currency you use here. I didn't think you'd give us an apartment."
Once again, Alice relayed his words, but this time, Michelle frowned slightly. "Personally, I only have about a thousand caps at my personal disposal. But... If it's guns you want, I have plenty of those to just toss around. I take it that your husband prefers firearms to caps."
Ryan gave a nod at the comment, pointedly shifting his G36K on his chest.
"Tell you what, I'll give you six guns... Two for each of you, plus your daughter. Then will you investigate the lab for me? You can still keep the apartment, that's just something I forgot to tell you about earlier."
"Itoshii? This is your call." Alice said quietly, which Ryan sighed and gave a nod.
"Let's get started." Ryan said as he cracked his neck. "Guns first."
"He said he wants the guns first, then we'll infiltrate the lab right away." Alice relayed his response to Michelle.
Michelle was slightly surprised at their eagerness to get started, then she smiled widely.
"Right this way."