As one story ends for now, another is about to begin as rookie RPD Officer Leon S. Kennedy makes his way to the city, unaware of the nightmare that has engulfed it. Meanwhile, Claire Redfield, Chris's sister, also journeys towards Raccoon, wanting to find out what happened to her brother, who had gone missing some time ago…

However… they will find that their destinies will form a road before them, one they will have to walk together if they are to keep the world safe from the impending darkness threatening the world…

Elsewhere in the city, having arrived earlier to search for her lost boyfriend, a woman in red finds herself in her own desperate escape from the city of the dead…

And a young girl, whose parents are lost to her now, struggles to hide from the monsters and maintain her sanity…

Riding down the highway on her blood red Harley Davidson, Claire Redfield is completely unaware of the horror that awaits her. She left her college a day or so earlier, citing a family emergency as Chris had been reported missing alongside his STARS coworkers. She was granted a leave of absence and immediately packed her bag for her journey to Raccoon City.

After a long ride that lasted several hours, she pulled in at a gas station to fuel her bike and take a break. She was exhausted and needed a pick-me-up. Stopping at the payphone, she called her friends back on campus, just to let them know she was alright. Apparently, dark rumors were already spreading and her friends were worried for her. Claire assured them she would be fine; her brother didn't teach her self-defense for nothing.

She let out a sigh as she finally hung up the phone.

"Why does everyone think I'm gonna get into trouble...?" She said to herself as she exited the booth and looked towards the gas station shop.

Strangely the lights were out, even though the sign said they were open. The RC Sherriff's car was parked nearby, the driver's door wide open. In front of the shop's door was a fallen torch… and a blood trail.

"What the...? What happened here...?" She said to herself, walking over and picking up the torch. It still worked.

Dare she enter...?

Curiousness overtook her self-preservation, and she carefully opened the door, sneaking inside. It was pitch black inside, and deathly quiet…

Cautiously, she made her way through the store towards the back. She heard whimpering and caught sight of a shadow in her torch beam. It was the clerk, and he was badly injured, bleeding from a terrible wound in the neck. She wanted to help him, but he pointed to the open, reinforced door to the storage rooms. Nodding, she promised she would come back for him and entered, following the blood trail. However…

THUNK!

The door slammed shut behind her and sealed. The clerk had locked her in… but why...?

"HEY! What the hell?!" She yelled at him, banging on the door.

But it did not reopen. Her only choice was to move forward into the darkness. She could hear sounds of struggling and grunting. What was ahead...?

Passing through another door, she inched closer and closer to a pair of shadows that were fighting with each other.

"Hey, what's going on?" Claire called out, to which the first shadow, revealed as the Sheriff, barked back.

"Just stay back, Miss! I've got this!"

However, the momentary distraction was a huge mistake, and it caused the second shadow, a horribly disfigured person, to gain control. He pushed the Sheriff to the ground, pounced on him and sank his jagged, blood caked teeth into his neck. Slowly, a huge chunk of flesh was stripped from the Sheriff's neck as the poor man screamed and struggled to get him off, to no avail. Claire would feel a shudder run down her spine at the sound of flesh being torn apart and blood spurting onto the ground as the Sheriff's screams quickly turned into blood choked gurgles. Seconds later, he was silent as blood poured from his wound. Then, the seemingly zombie-like person got back up, shuffling towards Claire.

"What the fuck?!" She cried out, pulling her safety pistol, a small Derringer-style revolver, from its holster. "Don't come any closer! I'll… I'll shoot!"

But the disfigured man paid no heed to her warning as he began to shamble towards her, an eerie moan escaping his now dripping lips, his hands outstretched towards her. Having never shot someone before, and not knowing why this crazed man was attacking her, Claire couldn't bring herself to go for a kill shot, instead opting to put two rounds into the man's leg, sending him sprawling to the floor.

To her shock, his calf blew clean off, like it was a rotted chunk of meat. Unable to stand now, he crawled towards her, still moaning an ungodly sound that chilled Claire to the bone. She backed up more, trying to put distance between her and this… thing. She didn't even think he was a man anymore, judging from the very pale skin, chipped, jagged nails, and…

Was his jaw missing parts!?

She could see his teeth on the right side of his mouth and sinew, which dribbled with more blood! Was he… dare she say it...?!

Was he a ZOMBIE?!

There was no way in hell…! Zombies were supposed to be in horror movies and in video games! Claire felt her back hit a wall and that monster was still crawling close to her. With no other choice, she aimed her revolver and…

BANG BANG BANG!

Three shots to his head popped it like an overripe watermelon, spraying gray brain matter and thick, red liquid all over the floor.

"What the actual fuck… a real zombie...?! There's no fucking way...!" She exclaimed, trying to make sense of what she'd just seen.

But now she had a new problem: she was trapped in the backroom with no way out the way she came, and no bullets left. She only carried the five loaded in her revolver, never expecting to have to use them all, or any at all for that matter.

"Fuck… what the hell do I do now...?"

So, Claire began to look around the back room, hoping to find some way to get out. At last, fortune favored her as she found a key to unlock the door nearby.

"YES!" She nearly cried with relief before snatching up the key and heading for the door.

She jammed the key into the lock and got it open before making a beeline back for the front of the store. But what almost made her stop was more moans coming from that area and quickly her relief turned to fear, making her heart almost stop. But she couldn't afford to, so she put on a burst of speed and bolted for the store entrance. Shelves were shoved over, nearly collapsing on top of her as more zombies suddenly seemed to awaken from their dormancy.

She passed the clerk who'd shut her in earlier and was about to give him a piece of her mind when she realized he too had turned, shuffling towards her.

"Oh my god!" She screamed, barely dodging the zombified clerk as he lunged for her.

She ran around the shelves and sprinted for the door, but someone outside approached and pushed it open, shoving a gun in her face.

"Wait! Don't shoot!" She rapidly said, holding up her hands.

"Get down!" He barked. Claire barely wasted a second to drop to the ground as the officer put a bullet right between the eyes of a zombie behind her.

"Thanks!" She sighed with relief.

"You alright?" The sandy haired man asked her.

"Yeah, I'm okay… for now…" She added as she saw a horde of undead appear, surrounding the gas station.

"We can't stay here! Come on!" The man yelled at her, beckoning her over to the Sheriff's car.

He jumped into the open driver's seat, while she tried to open the passenger's door. She had to shove a zombie away first, but managed to open it and get in. Then the man took off down the street into the city, leaving the horde far behind. In the heat of the moment, Claire had forgotten about her bike, and the man had forgotten his truck. Neither would stop to think about it.

"Thanks for the save." Claire said, relieved to have escaped.

"Don't mention it. We need to get to the police station. They should know more about what's going on." The sandy haired man replied.

"Wait, you're a cop?" Claire asked, surprised as he wasn't in uniform, instead decked out in plain clothes.

"Yeah. Name's Leon Kennedy. First day on the job. Great huh? What's yours?"

"Claire. Claire Redfield."

"Well, I'm glad we met, Claire. Hopefully they'll have some answers at the station… I don't know what to expect anymore…"

"I hear ya." She then heard a meow from the backseat. She looked behind her to see a dark purple, almost black cat in the seat with a small bandage wrapped around its front left paw and a bandage over its forehead. "Awww, you poor thing…" She reached back and gently took it into her arms. "Where did you find this cute kitty?"

"That's Luna. I picked her up a couple of weeks ago, at a cattery outside of town. She got caught in a catfight a few days ago. She'll be fine. Kitty's tougher than she looks. Oh, and I should probably tell you this now… She can understand human speech… and talk back." He informed Claire.

Claire blinked in surprise before looking at Luna, who, to her shock, gave a nod back in return. Then her mouth opened.

"He is correct. It's nice to meet you, Claire~"

"SHE CAN TALK?!" Claire yelped.

Luna winced from the loudness and echo in the car and shook her head. "He just said I could…" She grumbled a bit.

"Sorry about that. I didn't mean to yell like that. It just surprised me, despite Leon saying so. But I like your name." Claire calmly said afterward, to which Luna gave a warm smile. Then Claire reached up and removed the bandage on her forehead, revealing a dark gold crescent moon mark that faced upwards. "A crescent moon mark? Where did you get that? Did someone tattoo it to your forehead?"

"No, it's part of her fur. She said it grew that way as she developed from kitten to adult cat. That's where her name came from as well." Leon said, not looking up as he fiddled with the radio, trying to get a signal through. "Damn… communications with the station must be cut. I can't get anyone on the radio…"

"Oh dear… then I just hope the others are alright…" Luna frowned with worry as she gently hopped into Leon's lap.

"I hope so as well, Luna. I'm looking for my brother, Chris. He disappeared some time ago and I haven't heard from him since then." Claire nodded in agreement. "I just hope I can find some answers in the city."

"Chris...? What, you didn't hear? Chris and the other surviving STARS members left the city weeks ago. They didn't say where they were going though… only Valentine and Vickers stayed behind. They might still be in the city somewhere." Leon said, confused how Claire hadn't heard. "Didn't your brother let you know what was happening?"

"No, not really. I tried asking him what was going on. He just said don't worry about it and he's handling it. He also told me to stay away…" Claire looked out the window, worry clearly showing on her face. "... I hope he's still alive out there."

Leon frowned. "I'm sorry to hear that… I would've thought he'd tell you. But I guess after the Mansion Incident, he probably thought it was safer to keep you out of the loop."

Claire nodded, but she was still a bit frustrated at her brother. Considering what they had gone through in the vault and the possible traps that could've been there as well and their legacy, she'd thought he'd keep her in the loop. What had scared him so much that he couldn't tell her? As they finally entered the city limits, the scene that awaited them threw all other thoughts out the window…

The city was literally in shambles, looking like an apocalyptic scene. Cars were either overturned, in flames, or just abandoned on the road around them. Buildings were no better as flames spewed from different windows, glass lay littered on the ground. Rain was washing away the blood that caked the pavement, the buildings' walls… and also bodies were no shortage either. Most of all, it was dead silent, save for the downpour pounding down.

"Jesus… what happened to the city...? There's so much destruction…" Leon said as they slowly cruised down the street, careful to avoid hitting other vehicles that had been abandoned by their owners.

Luna was silent, her eyes going wide in sheer horror, one paw resting on the window. "By the goddesses…" She whispered, quivering in his lap.

"This is terrible…" Leon concluded, looking around as they pulled up to a roadblock made of destroyed vehicles. "Well… looks like we're walking from here." He then scooped up Luna and carefully slipped her into his jacket, zipping it up to keep her warm.

"Wait… what the...?" He looked into the reverse mirror, then turned around and saw headlights rapidly approaching in the distance. "Shit… that guy's gonna ram us! We gotta move!"

But to their ever-growing horror, as they made to get out, zombies had already begun to converge on the car, entrapping them as they tried to get the doors open.

"I can't open the door!" Claire screamed as she tried to kick it open, putting all of her strength into her legs.

Finally, after a few tries, she managed to get it open and dart away from the car, dodging any zombies that were there.

Leon couldn't get his door open in time and could only watch in horror as the truck slammed into him from behind, sending the car skidding out of control and ramming into a pole. Smoke billowed from the wrecked vehicle's engine. The driver door slowly creaked open and Leon fell out of the car. Fortunately, he wasn't badly hurt and was able to get to his feet, holding his side with one hand and cradling Luna with his other arm.

"...ugh… Claire...? Are you there? Are you okay?" He called out for her.

"Leon! Luna! I'm over here!" Claire hollered back.

"Thank goodness! Claire, find a safe place to hide and stay there!" Luna called back to her.

"Claire! Head to the station! I'll meet you there!" Leon finalized, before turning away from the now burning vehicle and limping away into the night.

Claire however, now found herself alone in the destroyed street, surrounded by the undead and with no ammo to fight back. All she could do was run for her life, and hope she found the station soon. A side alley off the street looked promising and she rushed for it, dodging attacks from the zombies.

'My god… the whole city is infected…' She thought, jumping down some steps and climbing another set. Fortunately for her, the alley wrapped right around to the station, and she saw the main gate not far from her. "Good… the police station… now I just have to make it there…"

She made her way from the alley's exit towards the gates, maneuvering around the mass of abandoned and wrecked vehicles while dodging zombies. Upon reaching the gate, she slipped through and slammed them shut, bolting it after to keep the zombies out. Now she was alone in the front entrance. Approaching the doors, she pushed them open and was appalled by what she saw: the main hall was deserted, but there were signs of a large refugee camp having been set up. There were clothes and supplies scattered everywhere, including bloody rags and footprints…

"Hello?! Anybody here?!" She called out, to complete silence in return.

A computer by the front desk caught her attention, so she walked over to it. There was activity on one of the cameras. In it, she saw an officer fighting some of the undead, and he was desperately waving a notebook.

"Marvin! It's Elliot! I got it! I found us a way out! It's all in here! Send backup to the East Office immediately! Get me outta here!"

He held up the notebook to the camera to clarify his point, then fought off a zombie and vanished out of sight.

"I should help this guy…" Claire said to herself, leaving the computer alone for now. She then saw a chest nearby and opened it.

To her relief, there was some ammo inside, including some that she could load her gun with. "Thank god…" She smiled a bit before reaching inside and pulling out some 9mm ammo boxes, storing them in her hip pouch. "Now, let's go find that officer. Hopefully he'll still be alive…"

As she ran towards where she last saw him on the monitor, little did she know… she had eyes watching her. A spectral form of a woman with long black hair and wearing a red and white outfit observed her and gave a smile.

"There she is… I was wondering when she was going to come."

At the shutter to the East Hallway, she pulled the lever and waited. But the shutter shorted out and stopped partway up. Unable to lift it, she got down on all fours and crawled underneath. She was immediately disgusted by the pool of watery blood that met her, and she was forced to crawl through it as she went under the shutter. Back on her feet, the hall was pitch black. Beneath her, the floor was flooded by inches of water, and she could hear it faintly flowing from somewhere nearby. There was blood everywhere, sleeping bags and old possessions scattered above.

Where had all the refugees gone?

Were they all..?

Forcing herself to keep going despite the obvious danger, she tried to console herself. "...come on, Claire… keep it together… you're tougher than this…" She muttered to herself under her breath. Further down the hall, she found her way blocked by a fallen cabinet. Using what strength she could muster, she heaved the weighty cabinet back up against the wall, straining her muscles as she did so. The sound of flowing water was stronger here, and as she looked around, her torch highlighted the probable cause: a flooded toilet. She walked in to double check, and sure enough, one of the toilets had broken and was gushing water.

"Gross… at least it's clean..."

She grabbed a can of First-Aid Spray from the next cubicle and left, following the hall around to an office. A slam caught her attention, as she heard the officer from earlier shouting.

"OPEN UP! OPEN UP! HURRY UP! OPEN THIS GODDAMNED SHUTTER!"

The officer continued slamming on the shutter and Claire entered the office, rushing over to the shutter.

"Hold on! I'll get it open!"

She began attempting to lift up the shutter as the officer tried to crawl under it. She grabbed his arms and pulled him, unaware that zombies had caught his legs. She quickly found out when blood spurted from his waistline. He screamed in horrified pain as she pulled harder, trying to release him, but she only succeeded in removing his torso…

His legs were left behind.

As his guts spread out onto the floor, the aghast Claire could only watch as what remained of the officer stopped struggling and went limp.

"...tell… Marvin…"

And then he was still, his hand still clutching the notebook. Claire was more than horrified. She had his blood all over his front… and she had inadvertently killed him…

"...oh goddess… I'm so sorry..!" She said to herself, since the officer was already dead.

Her eyes then fell upon the notebook. She took it from the dead man's grip and opened it. There were three drawings inside of three different statues, each with three circles containing images. Some kind of code?

For now, she'd hold onto this. Something told her this was going to come in handy for later. But she'd have no more time to ponder on what these symbols could mean… the door that she came through was being bashed on, making her jump and her heart skip a beat. More of those zombies were trying to get through and she was cornered!

"Fuck!" She cursed as they finally forced their way through. Gun raised, she began to fire into the small crowd, trying to take out some of them so she could make a hole for her to escape. She managed to get out of the office, but then zombies smashed in a window and began to pour through. She didn't have the ammo for this. She had to run!

She sprinted back through the hall, more of the undead appearing as they came back to life, stirring from their hibernated state. The previously boarded door she passed had been smashed open, and zombies came out of there too, almost grabbing her. She kicked one and sent it flying back into the group, then ran for the shutter…

It had closed. Desperate, she got down and tried to force it up just enough to get through. But as she got halfway through, a zombie got hold of her legs and attempted to fang her.

She was stuck… she tried to fight it off, but couldn't move.

Was this the end..? She cried out for help, terrified she was about to die…

And then, a strong hand grabbed her outstretched one and pulled her through the shutter. "I got this…" A voice said, as a black officer slammed it down on the zombie, crushing its head. He fell back against the shutter, holding his stomach in pain, but kept his composure. "You alright?"

"Yeah… I'm… I'm okay. I can handle myself…" She shakily said, gathering her wits.

"Good." The man approached and offered a bloody hand. "Marvin Branagh." He said, introducing himself.

"Claire. Claire Redfield." She answered, finally getting her shakiness under control. "Again… thanks for the save. I thought I was done for."

He nodded and painfully made his way to the benches behind the front desk, taking the small computer with him. He began to fiddle with it, while Claire checked herself over to make sure she hadn't been bitten. Meanwhile, Marvin explained what had happened at the station before she arrived.

"Elliot said he had an idea of how to get out of this place. It was our only remaining plan, with few other options. He wrote everything down in a notebook, but then we lost contact…"

"I… I found him earlier. I tried to save him but… he was dead by the time I got to him. He gave me this." Claire fished out the notebook from her jacket and handed it to him.

"...I see. I'm sorry you had to see that…" Marvin said as he examined the notebook. "Here, look at this… Elliot believed there was a way out underneath the statue. He said three keys were needed to open the passage."

"So that's what these symbols mean. Do you have any idea where these are located?" She asked him next, wanting to get as much info as possible.

"Other than the one right above you? There's another outside the library, but I don't know where the last one is… we couldn't figure out the puzzles to get the emblems. Maybe you'll have better luck." He paused to examine the computer again, then looked back at Claire, sizing her up. "You're really Chris' sister?" He asked her.

"Yeah, I am. I've been here quite a few times during my college breaks. I was here looking for him, but… Leon told me he wasn't here. So… I came on a wild goose chase on that part. But I am also trying to find answers on where he disappeared to." Claire replied.

"Leon? Dammit… I told him to stay away from the city. I sent a letter to his home, but I guess he left before it was delivered…" Marvin winced as pain shot through his torso again. "You should focus on finding those emblems. I'll keep an eye out here…"

"Are you sure? You're badly hurt. I wish I had something to help stop the bleeding." Claire said, examining his wound with a look of worry.

"No no, I'll be alright, don't you worry about me…" He stood up painfully and picked up a knife sheath, which he then pressed into her hand. "Now you take this…"

Claire looked ready to refuse, but a steely look from Marvin immediately shut down any argument she might've had. So she took the knife and strapped it to her jacket.

He then took a hold of her. His grip was surprisingly strong.

"Listen to me, Claire. I got injured because I let my guard down. I stopped to take pity on a friend… and it cost me. Brad… he was a good man, and a good friend. I should have shot him… but I paused for a second. Don't make the same mistake I did. If you see one of those things… no matter who they were… you can't hesitate. You take it out, or you run. You understand me?"

He then sat down, wincing again, without waiting for her reply.

Claire's expression was one of anguish. She wanted to help, but knew she couldn't. Even if she could, Marvin had made it clear he didn't want her help. The poor man would likely die without medical attention, but he would rather do so than put her in danger. It made her want to cry, but she had to let it go and move on. So forcing back the tears that threatened to cloud her eyes, she turned and left Marvin. But she still hoped and prayed she could get him out before he succumbed to his injuries.

'Dammit… if only I knew a way to help him. I wish I had the power to do so! Why am I only human..? I could do so much more if I had magic…' She tried to drown herself in her thoughts, but was forced to push them to the back of her mind, as she opened the shutter to the Western side of the station. She heard something crawling around outside the windows of the reception area, and she immediately fell back into fight or flight mode, forgetting about Marvin.

Cautiously pushing the door open into the hallway beyond, she snuck down the pitch dark corridor, her attention temporarily distracted by the radio chatter on a dead officer's radio. As Claire approached the corpse, her flashlight's beam fell onto the side of his head and she almost retched as she saw the grisly fate. His face had been completely sliced apart by something large and extremely sharp. His jaw almost fell off when she moved his head.

"Oh god… I think I'm gonna be sick…" She quickly clapped a hand to her mouth, forcing herself to swallow the bile that welled up in her throat. The smell of it was horrendous and the sound the jaw made was nauseating.

She got back to her feet and turned back down the corridor. Another officer's corpse was hanging from a broken pipe in the ceiling, pierced through the head. As she passed it, she accidentally brushed the body with her arm and its head split apart, causing it to drop down on top of her. Claire almost screamed and quickly pushed the body off, sending it into the wall with a sickening noise. And that did it. Claire quickly rushed to one of the open windows and heaved out of the window.

Luckily for her, she didn't attract any unwanted attention. After cleaning herself up and making sure she wasn't about to retch again, she carried on. The scent of blood and guts reviled her, but she pressed forward and ignored it. However, passing a corner and reaching the doors to the Operations Room, the hall was blocked by a barricade of materials. With no other way forward, she walked through the double doors into the abandoned room. Papers and discarded journals were everywhere, including a note from one of the officers describing an operation they attempted to escape the station. It failed, and several officers were killed, many more injured.

Another note detailed a crime report, of an officer detaining a male carrying explosives and a broken detonator. The explosives were forfeited along with the detonator, but the suspect managed to escape.

"Hmmm… maybe if I find them, I can blow a spot somewhere and get to where I need to… or maybe find an alternate escape route." She muttered to herself as she skimmed over the report.

Just the thought of explosives and making things go boom kind of excited her a bit. At that, however, she inwardly rolled her eyes.

'Goddammit, Chris, rubbing off on me…'

For now though, it seemed her exit was through a door in the back. Or so she thought. The door was chained, and she would need to cut the bolts to get through. However, there seemed to be another way out through a broken window at the side of the room. She climbed onto some boxes piled by the window and jumped through, landing softly in the hall beyond, which turned out to be the opposite side of the blocked hallway. Here, she could see an access route into the West Office, the Evidence lockers, and a hall beyond it. The opposite end of the corridor was blocked, and featured a zombie banging on a drink machine.

'It would be best to avoid a fight where possible… I don't have the ammo for this…' She thought to herself.

So she attempted to sneak past the zombie, leaving him to keep banging against the machine. Hopefully it would bang its head to the point where it killed itself… However, by focusing on what was eye-level, she missed a corpse on the floor by the West Office door, tripped, and awoke it. The zombie grabbed at her ankles, attempting to pull her off her feet to bite down on her flesh. She panicked and cried out inadvertently, attracting the attention of the zombie she was trying to avoid.

'FUCK! I can't fight both of them at once!' She tried to shake off the zombie clutching at her ankles, its teeth very close to biting. "GET OFF OF ME!" But while she struggled to get it off, the first zombie shuffled over and pushed her down with great force. Now both undead were upon her, and inevitably one managed to bite her, sinking its rotting teeth into her neck.

'GET YOUR ROTTING TEETH OFF MY FRIEND!'

Just then, a bright flash of red would send them flying off Claire, slamming into the wall. Claire clutched her bleeding wound tight with one hand while trying to find something to stem the blood flow. "What the…? What was that?!" She gasped as she staggered to her feet. The glow came again, and something seemed to materialize in front of her. A gold and red three-inch stick with a strange symbol on the top of it, encased in a small red sphere. "What's this? Where did this come from?"

'Are you alright? That was kind of close.'

Claire perked her head up and looked around. But before she could answer back, the two zombies staggered back to their feet. "Oh shit! Whatever you did, it didn't really work!"

'Get out of there and then we can talk! Now move!' Urged the voice.

"Don't need to tell me twice!" With that, Claire bolted away down the other hall, still holding her neck. She stopped at the end, by a staircase leading up. There was a door to a room beneath the upper floor, but while she was contemplating what to do, the window by the stairs banged as a zombie outside attempted to break in. Looking around frantically, she spotted some wooden boards in the corner that she could probably use to seal the window. But with the other two zombies following her, was there time..?

'Use them, hurry! I've got your back!'

"Whatever you say!" Claire then sprinted to the boards and slapped them over. As she tried to figure out how to keep them in place, her hands started to glow red and some kind of seal formed over the window, locking the boards in place. "Wha…"

'No time to explain! They're behind you! Move!'

Rather than risk going upstairs for now, she ran for the door in the wall and shoved it open, slamming it shut behind her. The room was dark, so she used her torch to see. It looked like an office, with a darkroom in the back for developing photos. Given that the evidence room was nearby, this was likely where they developed film and made records of their findings. There had to be a light switch somewhere. She looked about until she spotted it next to the door. Sighing with relief, she would flip it on and the lights flickered on after a moment or two. And just to make sure that the zombies didn't come through, she went back towards the door and placed her hand upon it. "Can you help me?"

'I'll handle it.' Again, another seal formed and there was a clicking noise. Claire immediately felt safe as she heaved a sigh of relief.

"Thanks for that. Now that we have a moment, who are you and how did you do that back there? And where are you?" Claire asked, sitting on the desk.

'Right now, my name is not important. All you must know is that I am very powerful, and I am here to help you. You caught my attention during your rather daring escape from the gas station. And you survived the truck collision. That you continue to survive where many had fallen in seconds, continues to intrigue me. You have more than sheer luck at your disposal, Clarabelle Redfield.'

"I hate that name…" Claire grumbled a bit. "But I can't just keep calling you 'voice in my head'. You gotta have a name, right?"

'I suppose that is fair. For now, you may call me Rei. My powers are vast, compared to your simple humanity. As long as I remain with you, you shall be relatively safe. However, I have only limited strength. If you need my help too often, I will not be able to save you.'

"I understand. Thanks for the save, by the way, back there. And this stick… what exactly is it? Does this hold your powers or something?" She asked as she examined the stick she was given. A vision struck her, and she briefly saw a young woman with long black hair in street clothes. She smiled at Claire.

'Spoilers… Claire Redfield~'

"That was you? Wow, you're beautiful! I wish my hair was long like that. I always wished for my hair to be that long since I was a little kid, so my mom could braid it."

'If we… you… survive, perhaps that is something to consider.'

"Sounds good. I guess that makes us partners, Rei." Claire nodded with a small smile, gripping the stick. "I hope that I can unlock your powers soon."

'Bold of you to presume my powers are restricted… I think you're heading into unknown territory, Miss Redfield. Don't wander too far off the edge of the map… here there be monsters.'