The light breeze gently swayed the blond strands that fell in front of his eyes. The sound of the sea was calm, and this caused him to be swallowed up by his own thoughts.

Leon kept his head down. He was sitting on a small rock, the three vials held in his hands.

His eyes seemed unfocused, and he remained motionless, almost as if he were fast asleep.

Now that he no longer had to worry about others sneaking behind his back to kill him, he let the information fall upon him.

When he decided to become a police officer, he always knew that at some point, if he had to, he would have to use his gun, he would have to kill someone, and he was prepared for that.

However, killing someone to protect himself or others, in the name of justice, was one thing. Justifiable. The thought of killing had always been a part of his life, even though he didn't like it, he could see himself doing something like that, especially in a city as violent as Raccoon.

He was used to seeing people killed. He grew up witnessing gang conflicts, most of them fatal.

Now, killing someone like that, on that island was... different.

He felt bad... he felt guilty... no longer just because he killed. Although he felt as if the weight of those lives had been put on his back, he felt bad because he had no choice.

He was forced to kill those people, or leave them to die. This didn't make him feel like he was fighting for the right cause, but rather, that he was training to be someone's private assassin.

Sighing at the thoughts, he ran a hand through his hair, and a moment later, a loud noise made itself present beside him.

Leon watched blankly, but with the slightest bit of curiosity as the ground began to open up. The earth began to move, and soon, huge metal gates became visible.

The ex-cop stood up as the gates slowly opened, and a platform with at least five guards was erected. In the center was William, with his arms behind his back and dark glasses.

All the guards were armed with military rifles with laser sights and helmets that completely covered their faces.

Leon didn't approach. He didn't trust him enough to stay in the least bit relaxed.

William approached at a leisurely pace, still with an expressionless face.

As soon as he got close enough, the guards surrounded Leon, who tried to remain as unimpressive as possible on the outside, even though his heart was pounding with nervousness on the inside.

William bowed his head slightly, seeming to analyze the three vials in Leon's hands for some time.

"... You have potential, Mr. Kennedy. I won't say I'm surprised, but I can be a little more pleased this time. At least someone made it in time." William said, extending his hand towards Leon, who after a few moments of staring at him, handed over the three vials.

"But know that your training will be something you've never been through in your life, and if you're not strong enough, you're going to die. I bet sweet Claire and little Sherry won't like that, right?" Leon clicked his tongue, trying very hard to control his anger and not say something that would result in some punishment. He was already on edge with everything that had happened before.

William seemed to understand the reaction, and almost found it amusing. Asshole!

"... May I at least check on them, sir? Did you contact her brother like I asked?" Leon asked, his expression betraying his quiet words.

"Now, now, Mr. Kennedy, how can I do that when you haven't even started your training? That was our deal, right? You will do as I say, no questions asked. Let my men take care of those two. They'll be home soon." William said neutrally.

If Leon were any crazier, he would say that William seemed to enjoy testing him like that. Almost as if he wanted Leon to react in some way.

Well, the blond would say that he was succeeding.

"You mean they're still on the streets?!" The question came out angrier than he wanted it to. He had lost some of his control for a few moments. But he couldn't stop it, the two of them had suffered too much already.

And just thinking that they could still be on the streets of some strange city. All the possibilities of something bad happening...

Well, he didn't have time to think about it much, because the next thing he felt was a strong blow to his face, sending him straight to the ground.

Leon grunted and spat out some saliva, catching a glimpse of one of the guards walking a few steps away and returning to his original position.

In front of him, William crouched, and the blond raised his head. His blue eyes like two frozen sapphires stared deep into the dark glasses of the man in front of him. If he hadn't been too busy trying to look behind those glasses, he would have seen how his expression really was.

"Mister Kennedy... if memory serves me right, I said that this attitude should disappear, otherwise you would suffer the proper punishments, is that not correct?" William asked, and panting, Leon lowered his head, averting his eyes.

He took a deep breath, controlling the frustration and anger growing in his chest. He had to act as he was instructed.

It was the only thing he could do... for the sake of both of them.

"... Yes, sir." He replied low, still keeping his gaze on the ground.

"Try saying that again, only while looking at my face." William said, still in a neutral voice, and Leon bit his own tongue.

Son of a bitch!

He raised his head again and maintained eye contact, even though William was still wearing his glasses.

"Yes, sir!" He said louder, with more intonation, and Willaim seemed satisfied, although he still stared at Leon for a while longer.

"Good. I'm glad you understand now, Mr. Kennedy. I hope I won't have to remind you of that in the future." William fixed his glasses and turned around, walking toward the platform ahead. "You can get up off the floor now, Mr. Kennedy, I believe you must be feeling rather uncomfortable."

Leon stood up, taking several deep breaths to calm himself. This was humiliating.

He stood up, and with a bitter taste in his mouth, also walked towards the platform, hearing the footsteps of the soldiers behind him shortly after.

"You have shown yourself to be clever, even at a disadvantage. You have quick thinking and a good ability to adapt. And most of all, you have demonstrated that you have the basics we need." William said, with his back to Leon, as the platform descended underground and the gates above closed.

"Despite your hesitation and your stupid soft heart, you did what needed to be done. I just hope you don't make the same mistakes you did." Leon sighed lightly, lowering his head.

"... Permission to speak, sir." William turned his face toward him, minimally, just enough to show that he had heard him and cogitated the request.

"... Conceded."

"With all due respect, I am not a cold murderer. Those people never did anything to me, and I-"

"The point, Mr. Kennedy-" William interrupted him abruptly, causing Leon to shut up. "It is that from now on, you must be a cold murderer. The people you will face in the future will not hesitate, no matter how friendly they may seem. This mercy of you humans is of no use in real life. Part of your job will also be focused on survival."

"... So that's it? What, I'm supposed to act like an animal now?" Leon asked, somewhat incredulously.

"In a way, yes. Lions show no mercy to their enemies. They do not think about the lives of their prey... you must not think about the lives of your opponents, you must not have this mercy. None of the people you will face will have it with you. You may even think otherwise, Mr. Kennedy, but this is only for the best for you." William said, finishing his speech just before the platform reached its destination.

"But if you don't want to listen to what I say, I think it will be better for me. I won't have to spend money protecting those two girls if you die." William said, starting to walk. In response, Leon just shook his head before following him.

He liked to think that William was only mentioning the two girls as a way to motivate him. But the point was that he wasn't dumb enough to really believe that.

"You have one hour to clean yourself up and eat. After that, meet with Doctor Walter. He will be in medical wing b-32 and explain the procedure." William said after stopping in front of a door, and without waiting for a response, he walked away.

Three of the five guards followed with him, and the other two stood one on each side of the door.

Leon watched William walk away down the hall. There were several doors throughout the place, but they were all open, with no guards to guard them.

If those were the rooms, then Leon would say that he was the only one who had passed that test.

Shaking his head, he entered the room and closed the door almost immediately, and as soon as he did, the light went on by itself.

The room was simple and neat. The walls appeared to be made of thick metal, as did the floor. There was a single bed in the upper left corner, a wooden table with a chair next to it. A lampshade on top of the table next to a vial of herbal mixture.

How kind of them.

In the upper right corner, a medium-sized closet with a single open door, showing some towels and clothes inside.

In the lower right corner, right next to Leon, the entrance to a small bathroom. Although small, closed without even a window and somewhat stuffy due to the thick metal walls, Leon would even say that this place was comfortable.

More comfortable than a forest full of people who wanted to kill him, or a city full of almost indestructible creatures, at least.

Leon sighed once more and walked towards the closet already removing his blood and sweat stained shirt, already in accordance with his new reality.

He took the towel and went towards the bathroom.

As soon as he entered, to his right there was a basket, where he threw his dirty shirt. To the left was the sink with some utensils on top and a mirror attached to the wall.

Finishing undressing, Leon went under the shower and let the cold water clean his body. The pain from his injuries hardly even bothered him anymore, he wasn't minding it enough to worry about it, as uncomfortable as it was.

He could have taken the herbal mixture, but he decided against it. As good as those herbs were, he wanted to feel some normalcy for a change. Nothing better than a cold bath, one of the few things he could still enjoy from his past life.

The young man watched the dirt being washed from his body along with the blood, being carried down the water to the drain. It reminded him of the rain in Raccoon.

He shook his head, dismissing these thoughts.

Remembering William's words, he sighs as he remembers that he could no longer talk to his family. Leon Kennedy was dead to the outside world... that was a little hard to believe.

If his name was dead... what was he now? A nobody?

Did a name really matter now?

He was no longer a cop... he was no longer Leon Kennedy... he was simply a being... a ghost training to roam the world once again.

Yes... a ghost.

... He would miss his name.

After a while under the shower, hunger spoke stronger, and he decided to get out of there.

After drying himself off and wrapping the towel around his waist, he looked in the mirror. Jesus, he looked different.

He had a scar on his lower lip. He didn't even remember cutting it, but after all he had been through, not exactly a surprise.

His left eye looked a little swollen, it was darker in color. The wound on his neck was still red, although it had already closed.

His cheek was blotchy, his forehead was bruised, the tip of his nose was cut

Well, all things considered, he should feel lucky since, compared to his body, his face was almost intact.

He turned around, walking with slow but steady steps toward the closet.

The clothes were simple and all black in color. Curious, he thought he would be wearing more military-style, camouflage clothes.

After dressing, he drank the herbal mixture and as soon as he did, he heard three knocks on the door.

Taking slow steps, he walks across the room and opens the door, looking curiously at a guard who had a tray of food in hand.

"Your food. Eat quickly and go see Doctor Walter. William's orders." The guard said, and Leon took the tray, looking for a few moments at the guard walking away.

He then closes the door and locks it, walks over to the chair and sits down after placing the tray on the table.

His eyes ran over the food in front of him. Somehow, he thought that what he would eat there would just be tasteless military rations.

However, he found himself pleasantly surprised to see that it was pre-cooked food with fruit and even coffee.

After eating, he stood up and promptly left the room. He walked down the hallway, following the small map of the facility that was nailed to the wall.

The place was quite large, but it didn't really look like a laboratory. Much less did it resemble the place he had slept the night before.

It was like a military camp, with him as the only member in training. There were few guards on site, but all highly armed. They didn't seem to be patrolling or protecting the rooms, it was as if each one was going to different locations to perform different tasks.

But what were they doing, anyway? Was everyone there an agent fighting biological weapons? That didn't seem to be the case.

After walking for some time, he finally reached the wing where the doctor would be.

As soon as he entered, he arched a single eyebrow in curiosity when he saw that the doctor was the only one in that room.

The blond closed the door, and seemingly surprised, the doctor turned around.

"Ah, Mr. Kennedy. Glad you're here, we need to run some more tests." He said, getting up from the chair he was in and approaching another one further to the corner of the room.

Leon said nothing and just moved closer, and he couldn't help but run his eyes around. That room was large with various equipment, it was a bit curious that there was only one person in there.

"Something bothering you?" The doctor asked, pointing to Leon sitting in the slightly tilted chair with what appeared to be a light fixture just above it.

"Ah... no... no, sir." Leon said, sitting back in the chair and looking up as the surrounding equipment began to move. Some kind of fancy x-ray, perhaps?

"Ah, leave the 'sir' outside, please. I am not a soldier, nor am I your superior." The doctor said with a small smile, pressing some buttons on a screen beside him, seeming to analyze something.

The light above Leon went on, and he closed his eyes slightly.

"Right. What should I call you then?" Leon asked.

"Just Walter... or doc, if you're shy." He replied, writing down a few things on a piece of paper beside him.

"Okay, ahm... where are your people? I mean, do you stay alone in this room?" Leon asked, and Walter looked at him for a few moments.

"Most are in medical ward A-32, the same ward we were in when you woke up before. And others are in C-32 ward, analyzing your blood." He explained, moving the small light above Leon, and only then did the blond man notice the small screen that glowed blue just below the light.

Leon looked at Walter again. The doctor was quite different from William, and seemed to have no trouble making conversation.

This was a good opportunity to satisfy some of his curiosity.

"There are few guards around the halls. Who exactly goes on you guys' missions?" He asked.

"All the guards here can go on missions, depending on the state of the world outside." Walter replied, sitting back down in the chair farther away after turning off the light above Leon, who stood up and approached the doctor.

"So... they all went through the same training as me?" He asked, and Walter stopped writing in his notebook, staring Leon in the eye.

"Not exactly. The physical training you will receive is similar, but heavier. You will not become a soldier like them, Leon. You are special. The missions they do in groups, you will be doing alone." Walter said, and Leon squirmed slightly, a little uncomfortable.

"Ah, what a great thing to know." He said softly, crossing his arms and sighing.

"Well, I'm sorry to have to tell you this. But you'd better already keep that in mind. If it's any consolation, you're not the only one who will be going out on missions alone. We have others. William will explain it to you better if you ask." Walter said.

"... Right." Leon said amidst another sigh, shaking his head. "I've wanted to ask you that for a while. Is there any risk in ingesting these herbs too often?" He asked.

"Ingested crudely and unattended, yes. However, our technology is advanced, we have managed to manipulate these herbs to the point that you can ingest them without fear. Just be careful not to overdo it, otherwise you won't wake up for a few days." Walter explained, going back to writing something, and they were silent for some time.

Until, at one point, Walter sighed and dropped the pen on the table, turning back to face Leon with a puzzled expression, making the agent-in-training somewhat curious.

"Look, take this as advice." Walter began, "I saw you in the forest. You're good, there's no denying that, but as brutal as that sounds, as wrong as it seems, that's the reality, son. There is no way we can defeat Umbrella cleanly. We have to break the rules, play the same game. If some people have to die so that the rest of the world doesn't suffer what Raccoon suffered, then so be it." Walter said, looking deep into Leon's eyes, who, as much as he wanted to break eye contact, remained motionless.

Deep down, he knew that.

"I'm not saying to become a cruel and brutal killer or abandon your humanity. I'm just saying that, as bad as it sounds, know that there is a meaning to it all. There is a reason. Hesitating on the battlefield will result in your death." Walter finished saying, and it was he who broke eye contact first after standing up, leaving Leon stuck in his mind for a few moments, digesting those words.

"William may be cold, yes, but look at all he's managed to do. It's not easy fighting Umbrella, your own corrupt government, and terrorists, Leon." Walter said, putting some papers on a chart, looking at Leon, who ran a hand through his hair.

"Yes... I think you are right. Easier said than done, though. Thanks, Walter." Leon thanked him, and Walter gave a small smile followed by a nod. "Speaking of William... how did he get all this? I saw the map on the wall, this place looks like a small town in the underground." Leon asked, approaching Walter, who was walking towards the door.

"Ah, a lie here, a half-truth there. A deal here, a deal there. William had to fight hard to get all this. But he was smart enough to go to the enemies of his brother, Albert. And with a little manipulation and lies, well, here we are." Walter said, opening the door to the medical ward.

"Well, Leon, we'll be doing tests every two weeks starting next week. There's nothing wrong with your body other than the fact that the virus can't act no matter how hard it tries." Walter said, closing the door behind him and putting both hands in the pockets of his lab coat.

"William is waiting for you in the north B wing. Follow that corridor and you'll find the elevator that will take you there. Good luck in your training." He said, turning in the opposite direction from which Leon would follow.

The blond man didn't answer, but he was satisfied that he had found someone who was minimally normal and who talked to him without dictating orders.

Turning around, Leon followed the path Walter had instructed him to take until he reached the elevator. The way there was very monotonous. He saw almost no guards in those corridors.

After reaching the north wing, he is met by two guards standing in front of the elevator. At a glance, he could see William further ahead.

The guard to his right merely nodded, indicating for him to start walking. Leon did so, walking toward William with large but slow steps.

The place he was in was wide, a large garage. There were two military airplanes both to the left and right, and in front was an airstrip. In the distance he could see the blue of the ocean.

"You are here. A little earlier than I expected. Good. Come on, you have a lot to do today." William said, starting to walk, and Leon followed right behind.

The blond man closed his eyes slightly as he exited the huge garage. He admired the huge landing strip for a moment before turning left and following a small dirt road.

They walked for a while, until finally, they came to an obstacle course. It was a wide runway with another bumpy dirt path that went straight to the left, and in the background, still far away, Leon could see the island on which he had done the test.

A few hundred meters ahead, on the left side, Leon could see what looked like a gym because of the weights lying on the ground.

"This will be the training space for a while. And everything is quite simple, you would just have to complete the training in the shortest estimated time. We need you to have great physical fitness." William said, and as soon as he finished speaking, footsteps were heard behind Leon, making him tense up immediately.

He hated it when someone approached from behind him, apparently.

Turning around, he looked at the man who was approaching. The man was wearing heavy military gear, different from the gear of the other guards.

He had a rifle on his back, two pistols in the holster on each of his legs. A knife in a sheath attached to his chest, a ballistic vest with pockets for ammunition and grenades. On the back, a small black pouch, just like his military clothes.

Leon was intrigued, he had never seen that man there. And the most curious thing was that he was wearing a mask that covered his face completely and dark glasses.

"Sir." He greeted William as soon as he approached, his voice slightly muffled by the mask, and soon, he turned his head toward Leon. "That's the rookie?"

"Exactly. Mr. Kennedy, this is Hunk. Just like you, he is one of our agents on the front lines against biological weapons. One of the only ones who managed to complete the training. And, most of all, our spy." William explained, beginning to circle Leon at a slow pace.

The blond man, in turn, slightly widened his eyes in surprise.

"He will be responsible for part of your training. Dare I say, the most difficult part. Let's just say he will mold the shape of the weapon you will become. I hope you enjoy it a lot." William said, stopping walking and nodding to Hunk, leaving him in charge just before walking away.

"You heard the man, rookie. You will follow everything I say, do everything I order, without complaining or asking questions, understand? I don't want weakness, I can't stand softness. If you survive, you will become one of the best. Any questions?" Hunk asked, coming face to face with Leon, who for a few moments didn't even know exactly how to react.

"No, sir!" He replied.

"Good. Then let's get started." He nodded to another soldier next to him, who in turn approached with a military backpack, along with a rifle and two pistols, and handed it to Hunk.

One of the pistols was a desert eagle.

"Put these clothes on." He said, handing the backpack and guns to Leon, who blinked a few times, a little confused.

There didn't seem to be any bathrooms around there, and the area was wide open. Where-

"Is there a problem?" Hunk asked, looking at Leon.

The veteran was standing still, motionless almost, and yet, Leon couldn't help but feel intimidated. He, without even realizing it, swallowed some saliva, tapped his index finger on the backpack in nervousness. But still, he didn't look away.

"You have ninety seconds. Put your clothes on, Kennedy. "Hunk said again, or rather ordered. His voice was calm, but the imposition it caused was something Leon had never heard from anyone but his father.

Without saying anything, Leon began to undress, until he was in nothing but his underwear. That was humiliating, but... what the fuck could he do.

Opening the backpack, he saw that the clothes were similar to the ones Hunk was wearing, except that the military pants were thinner, the shirt was not long sleeved and was gray, and the boots were smaller.

Leon put on his pants first, followed by his boots, shirt, and ballistic vest. As soon as he did, he stowed his weapons in the same way as Hunk, the rifle on his back, a camouflage pistol, used by the military, in the holster on his right thigh, and the desert eagle on his left.

As soon as he had straightened up, he looked at Hunk, who raised his left arm, pulled back the sleeve of his tactical shirt and checked his watch, and then immediately turned back to face Leon.

"One hundred and twenty-four seconds." Hunk said, falling into an unpleasant silence soon after.

Leon didn't know what to do, and as it turned out, he couldn't even do anything, because before anything else he was hit with a punch to the face.

The punch caught him completely off guard, right in the face, and he fell backwards.

Blood dripped onto the floor, pain spreading across his face, especially his nose.

Jesus Christ. The punch was so fast he could barely see, and his hand felt like a fucking brick.

He could see, if he focused, his deformed nose. Fuck, his nose was broken.

"You think this is a joke?! Huh?! A summer camp?! Do you think a Licker or a tirant or a fucking hunter is going to wait for you to put on your fucking gear?! Get up, agent!" Hunk grunted, his voice doing justice to the order given, and still slightly dizzy, Leon stood up, staring at Hunk and trying to ignore the blood dripping down his face.

"Every second you spend on something unnecessary is one more person infected, one more Licker turning, one more Tyrant being created, more civilians and military dying, more zones falling and the world collapsing, got it?!" Hunk asked.

"... Yes, sir!" Leon replied, annoyed, it looked like he was breathing blood.

"I hope the same thing doesn't happen next time. Every day from now until the end of next month, the training will change. Today we will do something, tomorrow another thing with the same function. There is a white line marked on the floor, go there.

"Yes, sir!" He turned and ran to said white line. Upon arriving, he runs his eyes around the place once again, the sun hindering his vision a bit.

There were a few pull up bars as well as dip bars both to the right and left of the obstacle course.

"I want sixty push-ups! Now! You have two minutes! Let's go!" Hunk ordered, and without even properly processing the information, Leon was already doing the push-ups.

At first, he thought that Hunk would act like every military instructor, shouting at him, handing out insults and purposely mean comments. But Hunk just stood there, arms crossed and head down, watching him.

This was even worse than being insulted, for Hunk had an intimidating aura, he wielded authority.

His arms began to ache, sweat dripped from the tip of his still broken nose. Doing sixty push-ups was not exactly the problem.

The problem was those two minutes... the problem was the extra weight, at least ten kilograms (22 pounds) more. Despite the difficulty, he managed.

"Pull-ups, twenty, one minute!" Leon immediately jumped up to the bar and began to do the exercise as best he could. His arms seemed to burn from the lack of rest from one exercise to the next, which made him more tired faster.

The extra weight seemed even heavier, and that blazing sun did nothing to help but make him sweaty.

"Is that all you can manage? The training has barely started and you're already getting slow?!" Hunk asked, and Leon gasped after doing one more repetition.

"I can't..." He did one more. "Do it faster." He finished saying doing another repetition, and Hunk seemed to snort in derision.

"Let me tell you something, Kennedy, when your brain says you can't do it, you're not even doing half of what you're capable of. Stop being so soft! Come on! This is pathetic!" Leon grunted as he did another repetition.

Again, time was the problem.

He took a deep breath, his heart beat fast, like drums in his chest, his pupils seemed to dilate a little as he felt the surge of adrenaline coursing through his veins.

And moments later, he was already on his last rep.

"Squats! Seventy! Two minutes!" Squatting was the easiest of all, even with the extra weight.

"This is where we differentiate the weak from the strong. See that piece of log on the floor?" Hunk asked, pointing to the fallen log just ahead, at the beginning of the bumpy dirt trail.

"Normally, you would do this with a few other men, but you are alone. This piece of log weighs forty-five kilos (100 pounds), you will carry this log on your back and run along this trail. It's six kilometers (four miles) in total." Hunk said with his arms crossed, watching Leon's incredulous reaction intently.

The blond man, panting, stared at the piece of log. He didn't even know what to say, really.

"Come on! The clock is ticking!" Hunk said, and Leon begrudgingly bent down and lifted the log.

He grunted as he lifted the log with his hands and, with some effort, placed it on his shoulder. He felt as if he weighed twice as much as before.

Without Hunk saying anything else, Leon began to run with the log along the dirt track, hoping that those six kilometers would pass faster than sounded in his mind, and most of all, that he wouldn't faint halfway there.

His heart seemed to beat faster, the blood in his body began to rush through his veins.

He felt warm. Not just from the burning sun hitting his back, he felt almost like he was on fire.

"Twenty squats." Hunk said, and Leon gritted his teeth as he did as he had been ordered. Twenty squats, sweat dripped onto the floor. His already wet clothes did little to cool him from the sun.

He kept running, hearing Hunk's footsteps just behind him, following him silently, just waiting for a mistake or a weakness.

"Put the log on your back! Ten push-ups!" Hunk said, causing Leon to stop suddenly with a grunt for the weight.

After awkwardly placing the rifle on the side of his body and the log on his back, he gasps once more as he tries to do the push-ups, it felt like his muscles were going to tear apart.

And so he went on for the rest of the way, with Hunk stopping him every kilometer for some different exercise.

Although exhausted, in pain, and with numb legs and arms, Leon made it to the end of the trail, where he simply let the log fall off his back and knelt on one leg, gasping, sweat dripping from his face and already soaking his clothes.

Despite everything, he didn't exactly feel weak. He no longer felt like he was about to faint. Curious.

"I hope you didn't think it was over." The Hunk voice brought Leon back to reality, snapping him out of that false hope that he would have a moment's rest.

The blond raised his head up with some effort, looking wearily at Hunk, who was just behind a small inflatable motor boat.

"See that island? It's almost five kilometers from here to there (4.82 km, 3 miles), you'll have to swim from here to there." Hunk said, pushing the boat into the water before climbing aboard.

Already on top of the boat, he looked at Leon, who was staring back at him with a tired face, but inexpressive eyes. "It's highly unlikely but... watch out for sharks. Let's go."

Leon leaned on his kneeling leg and stood up, grunting from the effort in doing so. His legs and arms looked like they had been hit with acid.

But he kept going. Without complaint, without saying a single word, he walked to the water and began to swim, trying to ignore how uncomfortable it was to swim in those clothes and with all that equipment.

Hunk followed behind, following Leon at his own speed, watching him intently.

Of course, the blond's speed decreased over time due to fatigue, yet Hunk had to admit that it was surprising that he showed no signs of fainting. No matter what he was doing before he ended up there, a physical fitness workout like that was not like going to the gym.

And it would only get worse and worse with each passing day.

Time passed, thirty minutes...

Forty-five...

One hour...

An hour and fifteen minutes...

An hour and a half and Leon was crawling across the sand of the island.

This time he let himself stay down, let the water cool him down to his waist. There was a limit to everything, he felt as if he had already reached his.

Hunk got off the boat and walked with the water up to his waist to the sand, without taking his eyes off Leon, lying on the ground.

"Congratulations, Kennedy. You've earned the right to have your lunch." Hunk said, approaching Leon, who, as soon as he saw that he was close enough, raised his torso slightly off the ground, looking deep into the eyes covered by Hunk's glasses.

"Can i... can i... ask for something... sir?" He asked, gasping at almost every word.

"Go ahead." Hunk replied, crossing his arms.

"Stop... stop calling me... by my name... Leon Kennedy is dead..." He said, without averting his eyes, much less letting fatigue take over his body.

Hunk didn't answer him for some time, he just stood still, quiet, looking at him. Until, after a while, he shook his head slightly and crouched down beside Leon.

"Good, agent."


William walked at a leisurely pace down the deserted corridor, saved by the guards following behind him.

He walked through a door that led into a small passage to an iron door that opened by itself the moment he approached it.

After entering, he runs his eyes quickly through the medical wing, before focusing them on who he was looking for.

"Walter. Looks like the research is starting to pay off." He said as he approached, catching the doctor's eye. "Sooner than I expected, I admit."

"Yes, and well, the results were more or less expected. As we suspected, the virus has undergone a small mutation in his body." Walter said, turning to a screen attached to the wall just behind him and pressing a button on the computer next to it.

Soon, an image of Leon's body appeared on the screen, followed by microscoped images of his blood, along with a short video of something moving inside his cell.

"The T-virus has not yet given any sign that it can be activated and remains dormant. Perhaps with the right trigger some reaction will occur, but nothing that will result in the transformation and, consequently, death of Agent Kennedy. The G-virus, on the other hand, was a little different." A graphic of a human body appeared. In that graph, it showed the veins in the body and the blood that flowed with them.

"See, the amount of the G-virus still present in him is almost irrelevant. It doesn't have enough strength to attack Kennedy's strong body, but something happens when adrenaline surges through his body." The virus marked in blue began to run along with the blood on the graph, until at one point, the virus concentrated around the heart and in small parts in the muscles.

"I believe that when his adrenaline level goes up, he is unable to be affected by fatigue, for example, or excessive pain. The virus forces and helps his heart to keep beating, those in the muscles lessen fatigue and keep them from rupturing in activities that would be harmful to any other human." William put both arms behind his back and looked at the graph in front of him.

"I assume that his strength and speed increase by almost ten percent. But what's most remarkable when that occurs is the exponential increase in his reflexes." In front of the graph, a video of when Leon was taking the test on that island earlier.

The video showed the exact moment when Leon dodged an arrow at high speed while running towards his attacker.

An ordinary human would not have this kind of reaction. Even though it was an arrow shot from a wooden bow, the distance was too short, and his reaction time was nothing but unbelievable.

"Can you tell me how much that exponential increase is?" William asked, moving his head slightly toward Walter.

"Unfortunately not yet. We need more tests. Tests that consist of his adrenaline being at peak levels. Hunk can give us that data." Walter said, receiving a small nod from William.

"You have done well, Walter. Now, what about what I asked you for?" William asked, and soon the doctor pressed a few buttons on the computer.

A vial appeared in a mechanism in the corner of the room, and both William and Walter approached it.

"It's not complete yet. The G-virus is extremely volatile and that's what makes both Kennedy, Redfield and the Birkin girl so special. It's hard to handle but... with a little time, it's possible." Walter said, now turning to William, who was still looking at the vial in front of him.

"Regarding humans, what do you think?"

"The same as for animals... which in this case is a painful and violent death. As little as the amount present in his blood is, it would still be strong enough to kill a human. The only ones I think might have a contrary effect would be Kennedy himself, or those two girls for still being infected." Walter replied, shaking his head slightly. "But it's just a hypothesis, I don't know for sure. You can never tell with these viruses. With G especially."

"Well, we have Kennedy to test that hypothesis. Administer smaller samples and apply that stimulant to him every week." Walter's eyes widened slightly.

"What... but... but, sir, we don't know the consequences even with just one sample. Applying it weekly could cause a drastic change in Kennedy's physical structure."

"We haven't come this far without taking risks, Walter. If Kennedy suffers from this, it means he wasn't as special as we thought. We have to use everything we have against Umbrella, and that's all that matters." William said, turning and walking out of there with quiet steps before Walter could say anything.

The doctor, in turn, watched him leave and couldn't help but sigh with a certain regret.

"... Yes, sir."


Claire looked at herself in the mirror once more. Her previously bruised face was now moisturized and hidden with a bit of makeup. She never liked makeup, not that it was bad or anything, it just wasn't her style. But she realized that this was as good an opportunity as any to use.

Still looking at her reflection, her hand slowly moved toward her neck, a place where it was once marked by bulging, pulsating veins.

A sigh escaped her lips marked by a light lipstick. Her blue eyes fell to her red shirt that showed off her shoulders. A gift from Chris.

With the shirt, a pair of dark jeans and a pair of sandals.

She wore gold earrings in her ears and a bracelet on her wrist. Accessories that had once belonged to her mother.

She felt... abnormal. On the outside, a beautiful young woman, accompanied by a tall and charming brother and a cute and gentle little girl.

Inside, she felt... that she was not herself.

Raccoon had marked her, she had brought something strange into her home. And it wasn't just the nightmares or that feeling of constant danger, no, but the fact that she could see a spider devouring a fly on her neighbor's roof through the closed window of the next corridor as if it were right in front of her.

She could hear Chris whispering in Sherry's ear what she did as a child. The two of them were in the downstairs kitchen, but they seemed to be right next to her.

Claire didn't know how to control it. She didn't say anything to Chris... what could she say? That the virus that almost killed her gave her supervision and hearing?

She sighed, being able to hear the giggles Sherry gave. Chris was good to her. He cared for Sherry the same way he had cared for her when they had lost their parents.

Could it be that she was suffering from something similar and never told her? Could it be... that she no longer felt like herself either?

Claire shook her head. That was a movie night, a night to go to the movies together and have a sense of normalcy at least for a while.

"Claire is taking forever." She heard Sherry say, followed by Chris' grunt of agreement.

She bit her tongue. Many people would think that was wonderful... however, that was so... inconvenient.

Loud noises scared her, and quiet noises annoyed her. It didn't seem like she got any good out of it.

Leaving the bathroom after turning off the light, she went downstairs, purposely making noise so that the two of them would realize she was coming.

She could hear them getting up.

"Finally, Claire." Sherry said with a small smile. "Or, should I say, Claire Bear?" She asked, a bastard smile on her lips.

Claire opened her mouth, pretending to be surprised that she knew this, and then, she looked over to Chris, looking at him with a hard expression.

"What? You were taking too long and she asked me to tell a story." He said, and Claire rolled her eyes as she walked to the front door.

"Why precisely that story, though?" She asked after opening the door and waiting for the two of them.

"Because it's one of the best." Chris replied, laughing lightly as he received a slap on the shoulder.

Claire closed and locked the door. She walked down the small stairs and walked to the car, sitting in the front seat.

"There's still time to change the movie." Chris said, looking at Sherry in the rearview mirror.

"Nope, you'll see that Rambo is better than Terminator. I don't know why you don't like it, you and Rambo are soldiers." Sherry replied.

"But unlike Rambo, I don't follow orders like a good puppy dog. Terminator knows his orders, but he sees the flaw that is the world and acts on it, even though he is a machine, he acts on his own choices, that's why." Chris retorted.

"That's an excuse. Admit it." Sherry continued.

Claire didn't even paid attention to what the two were discussing, her eyes were closed and her mind was trying not to think about all that urban noise. On one hand, she liked it, because it was the reassurance that she was in civilization again and not in a dead city.

On the other hand, it was almost maddening, all that different noise, all those voices passing by outside the car.

She couldn't keep her eyes open. She still didn't get used to that supervision, and the speed at which the car was going made her dizzy.

She didn't know how it worked. There were times when everything went back to normal, when the noise was no longer a nuisance, but then it would all go back to being that whirlwind of things thrown at her all at once.

It made her head hurt, her world spin. She felt like she was going to fall over at any moment, and each different sound wave hit her brain like a bag of bricks that-

"Claire!" Chris's voice startled her and she opened her eyes on the spur of the moment, staring at him wide-eyed.

The noise was gone, everything seemed normal, and her vision was no longer as "super" as before.

"What?" she asked, dumbfounded.

"Is everything okay, I've been calling you for a while. Are you tired?" Chris asked in some concern. Even Sherry was looking at her with worried eyes.

"Oh, no, no I... I just... I was stuck in thought. Ah, it's Jane's birthday in a few days and I just... I was wondering if I should go." Claire came up with an excuse. One that didn't seem to convince Chris, but which, to her happiness, he pretended to believe.

"I still think it would do you good to spend some time with your friends, as much as I don't like most of them. Jane is a good girl." He said, looking for a place to park.

"...We'll see." She said, almost in a whisper. Chris listened, but chose not to say anything. It was hard to deal with something like that.

They got out of the car and walked through the mall until they reached the movie theater. Chris bought the tickets and popcorn after Sherry insisted a little.

Claire was strangely quiet the whole time, still not very used to seeing all those people. Very different from Sherry, who seemed very distracted and excited to be in a place she had never been, and especially to see so many people gathered like that.

Sometimes she envied the little girl.

They sat down and soon the movie started. So far, so good, and Claire tried to focus her attention on the story.

She admitted that she was a little suspicious of the movie, which was Chris's fault. But, it wasn't as bad as it had seemed before.

She never really watched the whole movie, she only learned about small parts of it and of course the iconic machine gun scene at the end.

The story of the film was very engaging. A single American, regarded as the best of soldiers, having the mission to rescue prisoners of war in Vietnam, very patriotic. The action scenes were very good and she soon found herself entertained by the film. Not just because of the movie itself, but because at certain moments Rambo acted in a similar way to her brother.

She could imagine Chris threatening one of his superiors if he didn't like any orders or was left behind. Hell, he would probably do that for less.

Everything was going well, and she even forgot about the problems that surrounded her mind. That is, until halfway through the movie.

Her vision became a little blurry, the noise around her became muffled for a few moments, she felt a little dizzy, until the noise of the gunshots hit her hard, the sudden flash of the screen almost blinding her.

Claire immediately closed her eyes and put her hands over her ears, hearing a buzzing sound next to the gunfire that seemed to be taking place inside her head.

With each bullet, a flash of a licker's claw attack.

With each scream, echoed a heavy stride of a tirant.

With each explosion, the roar of William Birkin echoed.

With each kill, Leon appeared dead in her mind.

Chris, beside her, realized this, but she couldn't even process it when he asked if she was all right.

She didn't know exactly how, she just stood up and walked away, letting her body walk without specific direction.

Chris looked at her worriedly, and after telling Sherry that they were going to the bathroom, he stood up and followed her.

Claire walked quickly and briskly out of the mall, and Chris had to run to catch up with her.

He decided to stay a few steps behind her, without saying anything, waiting for her to recover as he realized that she was hyperventilating.

A panic attack.

Claire leaned over the car, trying to control her breathing and trying to ignore the feeling that her throat was closing up.

Chris leaned a few steps beside her, and waited patiently until she calmed down.

When she finally calmed down, the two of them were silent for a while longer. Claire for not knowing exactly what to say, and Chris for wanting her to say something.

But, he soon sighed as he saw that she wouldn't say anything.

"Raccoon again?" He asked, without turning to Claire.

Like him, she sighed.

"In a way..."

"... Are you still not going to tell me anything?" He asked, and Claire smoothed a lock of her hair, eyes focused on the floor.

"It's more complicated than it looks, Chris."

"You need to face it, whether you want to or not. You won't get better, otherwise." She looked at him, and there was the look Chris hated to see.

Wounded, lost, tired eyes. If he could change that, he would.

They were silent again, for a while, until this time Claire is the one who breaks the silence.

"... I said that Sherry and I were infected, right?" She asked, and Chris just nodded, waiting for her to continue. "But I never said exactly how it happened. Nor how I found her." She sighed, bringing her hand up to his neck again.

"Me and... Arh... me and Leon were under the police station... we were trying to find a way out of town. That's when we ran into Sherry. She was... panting, scared, running from something." She paused and crossed her arms, leaning her back on the car. "That's when this... thing, came down from the ceiling. It was an infected man... his arm was... huge, with an eye on his shoulder. It wasn't until we fought that thing that we found out it was Sherry's father."

Chris sketched the slightest reaction on the outside, but Claire could see it in his eyes, surprise, disbelief, concern, anger...

Huh... once a hothead, always a hothead.

"Anyway, this... thing, managed to grab Sherry and me, we were unconscious for a while while while Leon fought the thing. That's when we got infected. It was chasing Sherry so it could breed." She shook her head, not being able to maintain eye contact with Chris for long.

"Some things happened, we found out there was a chance of a vaccine in the lab under the city. Sherry and I... we could barely move... Leon had to fight Birkin again in the sewer, only this time, alone, against who knows what other things were in that place. And he had to carry us in his arms all the way to the lab." She forced herself to look at him, maintaining eye contact as best she could.

"I don't know what happened while Sherry and I were unconscious, I only know that when we woke up again we were healed, Leon was incredibly injured but alive. The lab was as bad as any other place, there were still several infected, and William Birkin was still stalking us, only many times bigger. A real monster." She shook her head.

"Look, Chris, you may think I expected a lot from this guy, but... no matter what you say, I refuse to believe that someone who risked so much and went through unimaginable things to cure us would be a bad person. I refuse to believe that he just got tired of us and abandoned us. What he did..." She lowered her eyes and took a breath, feeling her throat close again and the urge to cry come to her eyes.

"Tell me... is it so bad that I wish he was here with us? With me?" She asked, turning to him.

She looked deep into his eyes, and Chris, in turn, as he looked into Claire's red, suffering eyes, he couldn't really answer.

He admitted that he was on the back foot about this guy. That he was just an asshole, like all the others.

But now... he really believed his sister.

Claire swallowed some saliva, and after not getting an answer from her brother, she looked away.

He didn't need to answer anything.

"...Come on...I hate leaving Sherry alone." She said, and without looking at him once more, she walks back towards the Mall.