On the Right Side of the Tracks

Chapter Six

(The next set of chapters will not be game based)

It had been a month and a half after Chris returned home. And six months since the tragedy of Piers' death. Chris hung his head, glass of whiskey in his right hand as he shook it lightly. He watches silently as the ice swayed with the liquid, clinking lightly against the glass. The doors opened behind him, and he sensed someone he knew watching him.

He let out a sigh and turned, seeing Jake. Once the orange haired man knew he was acknowledged he walked over briskly and set a newspaper down in front of the drinking man. Chris' brow furrowed as he watched Jake before the male narrowed his eyes and moved the newspaper.

"Just look at it Chris." The brunette turned finally and read the large printed words. He'd lost hope Piers had survived anything, but with this he wasn't so sure. He stood up and paid off his tab, a new determination in his blood.

A few weeks later

Chris and a team entered the Chinese airspace, intent on seeking the location of their lost comrade. Jake had given them coordinates to follow along in hopes of finding clues. As Chris climbed out of the metal bird with his team, they were greeted with a few of the European branch who escorted them to their first destination.

The hospital that had the unconscious man found laying limply on a platform in the middle of the ocean was taken to. On the outside it appeared hagged and corpse-like, but as they stepped inside Chris felt the strong stench of the alcohol used to keep the rooms sterile. It reminded him of the hospital bed he awoke in when he'd first lost his memory. In a blink of an eye he was at the counter, asking the frightened receptionist if he could speak to the doctor who was in charge of the man.

Her shaky, slender pale fingers pushed her glasses upwards on her nose as she pulled the phone up in her hand with her free hand. "I'll call the doctor, but I don't know if he's working today." As she put the phone to her ear the lights in the room flickered off and on, frightening the team. When the flickering stopped the woman at the front desk was gone and the phone was nothing but static. The strong stench of sterile tools and rooms was replaced with a reeking scent which was revealed to be from rotted food.

The whole entrance room was dimly lit and the sound of clicking heels could be heard as a woman with short, black hair approached from the other side of the desk. "Can I help you?"

"What...?"

"Can I help you?" She repeated again, as if what Chris had seen was normal. This intrigued him, so he brought it up.

"What was that just now?" He asked, eyeing her slender frame with curiosity. Her almond shaped green eyes stared innocently back at him as she parted her lips to answer when the flickering commenced once more and they were brought back to the sterile environment.

The original receptionist held the phone to her ear, speaking to the doctor Chris had asked for. Her eyes were glossy and upon further inspection Chris realized her eyes looked dead. As if she were alive and perfectly human, but without the soul that made her alive. He waited however and soon a doctor came around as the woman set the phone back into place.

"He'll be right out."

"Ah, right thank you. Hey what was that?"

"The flickering?" It was as if some unknown force compelled them back to the dimly lit hospital version. The woman still stood there, lips parted.

"The flickering of the lights is caused by the amount of deaths we had back in the early 1900's. You see, this place started as a mental institution for researching the human mind in a less ethical way." Chris noticed the older styled medical uniform she wore, eyes glossy in the same way as the last woman.

"Why do you look so dead?" He blurted, not meaning to and regretting it immediately.

The woman didn't answer for a moment before continuing the last question. "Because of the deaths it caused a rip between the afterlife and the living realm that sometimes makes the old asylum visible to the keen eyes. You must be very special Mr. Redfield. Very special indeed."

"Hey... how do you..." The lights flickered again and Chris was standing in front of the professionally dressed doctor. "Know my... name..."

"The lady at reception told me. Now please follow me to the discussion room." The man turned and Chris began to follow before stopping when the blonde receptionist grabbed his hand, holding it for a moment before slipping her slender hand away. Chris felt the paper left in his palm crunch slightly as he slipped it into his pocket for later, noting the anxious expression of the woman despite her soulless eyes.

He turned and briskly walked after the doctor, who had rounded the corner and entered a conference room. The team followed behind like ducklings, taking seats while the brunette crossed his arms over his chest impatiently.

"So you're here about that young man who was brought in some time ago? Unfortunately I cannot tell you much."

"Why's that?"

"Patient confidentiality." He answered matter-o-factly. Chris sighed.

"Then what can you tell us?"

"I can tell you that he's no longer here."

"What?" Chris furrowed his brow. "Where did he go?"

"It was some woman who took him." Answered the doctor. "Said he would be the solution to something imperative to human evolution."

Chris inwardly grew more and more irritated. 'This woman sounds a lot like Wesker.' He pondered over that, wondering if there could be such a woman as that. "Do you know where she took him?"

"To a lab that's across the city. Just outside the quarantine area. We're still clearing it out even now." The man lamented, glancing out of the large window overlooking the city that had been destroyed by the C-Virus. "I wish things had gone differently that day."

"So do I..." Chris added, looking away guiltily before he glanced at the rest of his team. Half of them weren't even there that day. Some who were, that lost teammates to the zombified creatures or weren't in that close. "Thank you for your cooperation. We'll need to be heading out immediately."

"Of course." As Chris was stepping out of the room he swore he saw the other receptionist standing in front of the blonde one. Staring at one another before he blinked and she was gone. He remembered the note and stepped outside of the hospital before reading it.

Our eyes were soulless because we're trapped in bodies that are not our own. Forced to exist and feel the pain of mortality. While the others lament in silence. But it is not easy to speak about. It's much harder to breathe in this mummified corpse.

He inwardly cringed and put the note back into his pocket as he gave new orders to his team and told Jake over the comms device in his ear, where they would rendezvous.