Resident Evil: End of Days

Back to where it began...

I had planned on going to Raccoon City alone...

Mind you, planned, on going alone.

But when I rejoined Chris, Rebecca, Hunnigan, Sherry and Jake back in Ohio...I had some...issues.

"WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU?!"

"WE HAVE BEEN CALLING YOU NON-STOP! WOULDN'T YOU AT LEAST PICK UP YOUR PHONE?!"

Let's just say that things aren't exactly going to plan...

Packing for Raccoon City is not easy either, especially when you have a friend who's near six feet tall and weighs well over 250 pounds. WITH combat gear...in your apartment...marching step for step after your heels like an anxious puppy.

"You could have at least told us where you went before you took off!" Chris harps at me while I go through my apartment and hunt for my gear. I shake my head and answer him, "I just needed to find some answers. I went to find the Grim Reaper and no matter where I retraced my steps he wasn't anywhere to be seen."

Chris sighs and hounds my heels closely. "Taking off like that was uncalled for, Leon. You had us worried for two weeks. TWO WEEKS! Not a phone call, not a text, nothing to let us know you were all right!"

"Listen, will you...?" I turn and - oh crap, hi Chris! I look up and find myself nose to nose with him, brown eyes glaring down at me.

I'm not supposed to be feeling butterflies like this when a good friend stands this close, right? My face and ears warm just as the sight of him towering over me...

I note not only his height but his build. Bulging and toned under his shirt, and his vest doesn't help with the intimidation factor either. Or the fact that for reasons or another it just riles me up...

Get yourself together, Leon! Stop staring at him!

I shake my head rapidly. And for chrissakes, I really, really, wish my heart would stop thundering in my chest. I go around him and shove my folded stack of shirts into my suitcase.

"Will you please knock it off?" I ask him. "Look, I'm back now, I need to pack to go to Raccoon City, and with your..." Shit, Chris, MOVE! You make it hard as is to not stare at you! " ...ass in the way it's a little hard for me to do my job!"

Chris grabs my arm. My aura ripples in blue flames, flaring up around me as I glare back at him.

"Let me go Chris..."

He frowns. I can see he doesn't want to let me go, but I need him to. Reluctantly though he does. While I move around him, I notice he's keeping a close eye on me, every move I make from the clothes I gather into my arms and press into the suitcase, since I need it to conceal my guns and the cartridges, as well as my laptop. For keeping in touch with Hunnigan and Rebecca, if it helps to alleviate Chris at least.

I don't expect the next words out of his lips.

"I'm coming with you."

I look back at him. I swear my jaw about drops while my eyes half bulge out of the sockets in my skull.

"I'll come with you back to Raccoon City."

...he's serious. SHIT my dinner, he's serious.

"Are you sure?" I ask. Not that I mind him coming with me but is he sure? After what he went through in the Arklay Mountains at the Spencer Mansion those years back?

He nods slowly. I know that's just how he is; once he has his mind on something it's hard to change it. His behavior has been pretty odd, or I'm just overthinking things. But at the same time, I could go for some back-up to cover my six if I come across trouble. I've had his back in New York, as he's had mine too. 

...somehow my heart aches; l I trust him, as he trusts me...but at the same time, I'm afraid. 

Afraid of losing him...
~
After I have everything packed we stop by his own place, also an apartment, and get his things packed. We then head out to his Hummer and hit the road, making way towards Raccoon City.

For reasons or another, we stay awkwardly quiet. I want to talk to him, and from watching him, his cheeks rolling with his grinding, he wants to as well.

...where the hell to start, though?

"...so where did you take off to for two weeks?" He breaks the ice and finally asks. About time...

"...paid a visit to the Vatican City in Rome," I answer.

"Rome?" He asks. "...what were you doing in Rome? In the Vatican of all places? Looking for a guiding light?"

"I needed some insight," I respond. I can't help but feel a smile tug at my lips. "Trying to find out where our good friend Mr. Jolly Roger could be so that I can find out what I needed to do next."

Chris smirks. "But why Raccoon City?"

I frown a little, but I answer as best as I can, "...To keep our people safe, I have to go back to where it all started. If I have to change the future of bioterrorism and bring an end to it all, I need to go back to Raccoon City where it all started."

Chris grimly nods. He then remarks, "...it's possible the Spencer Mansion in the Arklay Mountains could be overgrown, and we may have some issues getting in. Hell, it's going to be jogging bad memory from how much of a labyrinth that place is. But I'll see what I can do."

I watch him from the corner of my eye. Somehow, I want to ask him something. It's gnawing at my mind and I can't push it away.

But I also remember how he reacted when he saw me change for the first time. When he told me I was not me. I frightened him then.

"...why are you insisting on helping me?"

Chris looks away from the road for a moment. I see the look of confusion on his face.

I ask again: "...why?"

Chris stays quiet for a moment. He glances to the terrain to his left, then at the highway ahead, contemplating how to answer me. He then answers, "...maybe I just don't want to risk losing a friend. I lost Jill once, and I lost Piers...I just can't stop the feeling that I could possibly lose you too. I mean...I did lose you. You died on me. This time I'm not going to let that happen again."

I tilt my head at him. A friend huh? From his behavior, maybe I was wrong, maybe I was overthinking things...

He then adds, "Plus you saved my sister's life, time and again. I'd hate the speech she'd give me if something happened to you."

I smirk and nod. Claire...yeah, that would be like her, ranting Chris' ears off until they bled about my wellbeing. I suppose that's one way to keep a sibling off one's back that way. 

I look out towards the road as the outskirts of Raccoon City come into sight, as well as the ominous looming of an ashened Arklay Mountains while the sun sets over its peak. The very ruins of the city itself is quartered off by layers and layers of security fences, inside nothing but a barren landscape with few jutting rubble of where the city used to stand. 

We both step out of the Hummer and peer upon it. While Chris sees an empty wasteland, I see more. I see those shadow things dancing along the stone working and jutting rods of steel. I see the flickering of a handful of demons basking in the summer sun, while inside I see the faint flicker of angels waiting patiently for the cool of nightfall to walk under the night sky. 

Raccoon City...crumbled from her former days of blood and fire.

While Chris and I may be ready for any possible battles that are ahead, I'm not prepared for the sudden changes in my heart. Especially when the life of someone I trust is put on the line...