Resident Evil: End of Days

A Visit from Death

I don't pay attention to the amount of time that passes...

Minutes? Hours? I don't know. All I feel is the numbing sensation of a sedative pumping through my blood, my mind getting heavy and cloudy. 

I think I fell asleep, because I remember waking up the next morning to the patter of rainfall outside. I still feel somewhat numb, and I don't want to wake up yet...

I hear Chris and Rebecca outside the room. Their voices are muffled, but I can tell they're talking about me with a doctor. Something about keeping me on a 48-hour watch so that I don't do anything stupid...

Why do they care so much? I take some time to think it over. Just...why?

"If you're done ruing over your self-pity, I'd like to talk with you."

...That's not Chris or Rebecca...

I sit up slowly, and I find myself sitting across a man in a sharp white suit. His lapels are black, which I find peculiar, with a navy blue button-up shirt underneath the coat bound in a cream tie about his neck and collar of his shirt. He has fairly tanned skin, with a cross-shaped scar on his left cheek, and eyes of sky blue. His hair is a bit weird for my tastes: they spike towards the back like the bristles of wolf fur, slowly sinking against his back with two locks over his shoulders and one over his right eye. 

...who is this guy?

"You don't remember who you are, do you?" He asks me.

"...I know I should be dead," I answer back bitterly.

"Every Revenant says that," He explains to me, "But you're a special case. Your memories are temporarily lost, which means you're able to get all of them back. Some Revenants get half their memories back, or some never get them at all."

Temporarily? 

"Huh?" I ask.

The man exhales. "Let me get to the main business. I'm the Grim Reaper. I came here mainly to escort souls to either Heaven or Hell, but lately my jobs has been difficult. Do you know why?'

I frown and shake my head.

"Corporations like Umbrella, WilPharma, Tricell, Neo-Umbrella and plenty others are experimenting on your kind," He states, "Corroding them, turning them into the walking dead, and damning them to roam the Earth, never to rest in peace nor to pay for the crimes committed during their living time. I can't escort the dead to the Afterlife if the dead are walking among the living now can I?"

I pay closer attention to him. "And what about me? You called me a...a Revenant. What is that?"

"I guess the better term would be soulless," He explains, "Revenants are the dead who come back from traumatic experiences and fight to regain their memories, to bring peace back for themselves or to avenge the ones they loved for them to move on. They are my creations. I've never had a need for one for several years up until now, and trust me when I say I need you."

I frown. "How can I help? I'm practically useless. I'm dead to my Division, I can't remember jack shit, and now I'm going stark raving mad by talking to the Grim Reaper..."

I hear the door knocking, and both the Reaper and I look over. Chris' voice ask, "Leon? Everything okay in there? Who're you talking to?"

I look at the Reaper, and the man promptly answers, "It's all right. You can come in."

The door swings open, and I see Chris has his rifle drawn up. Rebecca hurries over to me, as if acting like a secondary guard whil Chris levels his gun on the man in the suit.

"Who the hell are you?" Chris asks.

"I'm the man who brought your friend back," He explains, "And someone I need help from."

Chris looks at me, then back at the stranger. "How did you get in here?"

"I have plane-travelling means," The Reaper answers. "And not by your human-standard aerial vehicle means..."

"What, like are you some ghost or poltergeist?" Chris jabs. "Like that's real."

The Reaper arches a brow. He reaches to the empty space and seemingly grabs hold of something that materializes in his very hand. Black like obsidian stone, yet with a graceful but deadly curved brade that arcs over his head.

A Scythe...

Chris lowers his gun as the man sits down.

"Now do you believe me?" The man asks.

Chris and Rebecca look at one another. They don't know what to make of this, but they sit down as well.

"Now that I have your attention," He states, "...let's get to the main reason why I'm here. I need Leon's help to put an end to these...outbreaks that are happening across your planet. Corporations and Cults are corrupted by demonic entities sent to Earth by the Devil Lucifer himself to create the undead to kill your race. Those who die and are turned become the walking dead, which means there's no place for them to go, neither Heaven nor Hell. His Highness Above, of course, cannot send any of his angels down to counter the dark influences that the Devil's instilled in humanity. Those he has sent down are dead or succumbing to the influence of the Devil. The Balance needs restoring."

Chris, Rebecca and I listen on.

"I know that Leon is a capable shot of handling these outbreaks," he goes on, "But I see that, at the cost of dying, he's lost some of his memories."

He points his rounded end of the scythe at me. "If you can take care of the undead for me and give them the peaceful death they rightfully deserve, your memories will return to you piece by piece. Furthermore, I will extend your life however long possible until the outbreaks completely disappear, and every corporation or cult has been exterminated and erased from the history of mankind."

I find my heart somewhat lifting. My memories? Can I truly have them back? I pause. "But...what's it going to cost me?"

"I don't expect anything from you other than the dead staying dead, and the souls moving on into the afterlife," The Reaper explains, "I'm not the Devil; I don't give loopholes to trick those into making a deal. However, fail to do so, and your race will be seeing an end much sooner than Doomsday."

I frown and look at Chris and Rebecca. 

"Even your friends will not survive the Apocalypse," The Reaper states. "There are no promises to survival. You either fight for it or you die trying."

I frown a little. I don't know what to think. Regain my memories by helping the Grim Reaper and putting an end to these outbreaks? But if I end up failing...I lose everything more valuable than just memories alone.

But the existence of my race. Nothing left of us will survive Apocalypse...the End.

I need to find out who I am. I want to find out who I am. I need to remember all that I was if I'm to stop hurting inside...

I can't die again...I won't die again. I can't leave anyone dear to me behind. Not yet.

I nod slowly.

"Fine then. I'll do what you ask of me. I'll put an end to the infected, and I'll make sure they're given peace to move on. If it means I have to live a damned life then so be it."

He nods as a smile works its way on his face.

"...Keep to that promise...LEON SCOTT KENNEDY."