...C...

...Claire?

...Holy... how long was I out? I just put my head down and...

...My head still hurts. Figures. At least I'm getting better.

Hey, uh... hello?

Claire? Claire-bear, it's Chris. Your big brother's here.

You okay, squirt? We- er, Mister Wesker hasn't hurt you, has he? Come on, quirt, it's time to go home.

I'll even tell you that story you like so much.

I hate my life.

[Chris coughs weakly. There's also the crunch of pavement under his feet. He doesn't sound too good when he speaks. It might just be him being sick from exhaustion. It's nothing a good night's sleep won't fix, right?]

That's over with. Good.

Everyone okay? No bites or infections? All present and accounted for?

Lannister, I'm... I'm taking vacation time. I'm not feeling too hot.

Claire? You okay?

And up it goes, up in flames. It's the dawn of 1998, my friends. That glow off in the horizon, off in the woods? It's a mansion burning to the ground. Good riddance.

I never figured out how you survived that one, Wesker. How'd you do it?

Lannister, sir... as much as I hate this, I'll fall back with you. The RPD is no place to be. I can't save Marvin or Rita or Tony. Will regroup at Shinra HQ and await further orders. And probably prep the staircases for blockading. It's not much longer now.

I hit up my old apartment. Got my guitar, Pop's old model of a Spitfire (remember when we bought him that for Christmas, Claire?), and the last family photo. I regretted leaving those behind. Hopefully this ghostly version of me won't mind them missing.

I know this skyline. The way it looks. The layout of the streets.

It's... it's home. It's Raccoon City.

Everyone! For god's sake, when the time comes, you need to avoid the streets. Barricade the doors and windows. Stay together. Stay quiet. Because the city, it... it was wiped out in my world. Bombed to keep a killer virus from spreading.

The virus that Wesker has. The T-Virus.

Claire... Claire, forgive me. I never wished for this.

Sorry for not showing up at the fountain, Claire. Work got nuts and I got swamped. It's kind of hard being on the task force some days, you know? ...Okay, you don't know, but trust me on this one.

Wesker, you better not get both of you lost. In case you hadn't noticed, I'm a bad search party guy. I wind up halfway across the planet and about 18 hours behind the person I'm trying to track down! (Remember, Claire?)

Man. I feel like an idiot.

All this talk about years spent here kind of...

...It makes me wonder how things are going back home, to be honest. I know Umbrella's gone for good. But I can't help but wonder about something. What happens now? The sort of things they unleashed can't be erased for good, no matter how hard we fight for it. If some other lunatic grabs them, the whole cycle repeats again.

Well. What's hypothetical is hypothetical. All that matters is here and now and keeping this place running. Survival first. Then comes finding a way out.

Ow.

Elena, keep your psychic buddy away from me. I'll wind up punching him in the face for that punch last night. And remind me to mock Atra once my head stops feeling like it's got a high school drum corps doing a practice routine in it. Ow ow ow.

And why's my arm asleep? Who used it as a pillow? Because it wasn't me. At least I woke up with my clothes on.

Uuugh.

[Chris's voice sounds muzzy and half-conscious. He's also got a slight slur going on. Yyyeah. Somebody didn't know the punch at the party was massively spiked until he was sloshed.]

Heeey Elena. Aaron person. Uhm, whoever else I forgot. Who'd I forget? Anywho. Happy anniversary party thing. [He laughs.] Seems like a dumb thing to be celebrating, just a bit. A year of this place! A year of no hot water and monsters and random god attacks. But hey! A year of people. So to you guys!

...Al? Hey, Al, I dun feel so good. Walk me back? I'll probably trip and fall into a gutter if I go it alone. ...Do we ev'n have gutters? Dun wanna clean 'em if we do. Always had to do that when Pop asked.

An' don't drink the punch. 'M gonna punch whoever spiked the thing once I see straight.

...Like the new duds, though. 'Cept the monkey suit.

Elena? E... Elena? You're... you, right? Come on, say something.

Those dreams... I... why does that keep happening? Why us?

Feeling kind of sick now. Of all the times to play pretend down in the sewers, huh?

( Visible to Wesker only )