Henry stepped out of the diner and onto the cold pavement outside, enjoying the cold, refreshing air that hit his face. The parking lot ahead of him wasn't a big one, but first, he needed to find out what car the original owner of his body used.

Honestly, he found the entire process a bit confusing. Taking over someone else's body and not knowing a thing about their personality, family, friends or any of their assets... Wasn't this actually pretty much a handicap?

I sure hope this guy has a car.

Henry couldn't help but think, looking at Raccoon City in the distance. There was still probably at least a two or three-mile drive to get there, and walking didn't appeal to him in the least.

So, without wasting any time, he began to search through his pockets. Nothing was in the left one apart from a pack of chewing gum. "Might as well take one for the road, I guess." He popped one into his mouth and commented, "Not bad, classic bubble gum flavour..." and went on to the other pocket.

Ah, here they are.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Henry took the keys out and examined them. They were rectangular in shape, apart from the metal key sticking out of the end, with two buttons sitting under a familiar rounded logo on the top half... "Wait. This is... BMW?" He paused, recognising the sleek design.

I own a BMW?

A smirk appeared on his lips as he walked forward and pressed the button. Finally, it seemed that there were some perks to being brought into this game world.

Well then, let's take a look at this new ride of mine, shall we?

The pebbled floor of the lot crunched under his feet as the silhouette of a navy blue luxury sedan came into view. And all he needed to do to confirm it was his was click a button again.

Hmm... I think it's this one?

Henry clicked one of the buttons with an expectant look on his face. As if a child on Christmas Eve.

*Beep*

Yup, this one's mine, alright! And damn, what a beauty she is. Look at those sleek, sculpted lines... and the way the sun reflects off the glossy paint. It's even in navy blue, my favourite colour to boot. This isn't a car anymore. No, it's a form of art!

He ran a hand over the surface and enjoyed the cold, smooth feedback for a moment. This was the kind of car that he would never have gotten to drive back in his previous world.

And I'll probably not get much time to enjoy it here either, now that I think about it... That asshole Wesker will definitely send me into the mansion, and I can't let on that I know, either.

His smile soon turned upside down at the thought.

Things were about to become very... violent, and there was a lot to do before the coming struggle. Even if the original Henry had a lot of money and a cool beemer, none of it would matter if things went south.

Dead people don't get to enjoy anything. They're just dead.

And Henry refused to go down without a fight. Therefore, he got into his new vehicle with a newly determined glint in his eyes and prepared to make way for the city. Putting the key into the ignition, the radio automatically started to play its previous station.

A voice, mid-conversation, sounded throughout the car, "-really, and what makes you say that?"

"I'm tellin' you, I saw it with my own two eyes!" Two people were having a rather heated exchange. The former sounded young, probably a man in his early twenties, while the latter had the gravelly voice of a heavy smoker in her later years.

Henry felt a bit surprised as he looked down at the station. Raccoon 107.5 FM? Before now, he genuinely didn't consider the fact that there would be things outside of his knowledge.

However, now that he'd thought about it, there were probably tons of things that changed upon his arrival here. A game wouldn't be able to show the size of an entire world, after all.

I wonder what else I missed?

Henry began to question, feeling a bit uneasy while putting the car into gear and driving off. The game definitely never showed the whole picture, only small snippets of the happenings.

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The dense woods and tall mountains zipped by in a flash as the conversation on the radio continued in the background.

"Alright, Raymond." The lady, who Henry figured was the host, began with a short pause. "You've got our listeners' attention now. Let me get this straight... you're saying that you saw people, not animals, acting like rabid dogs?"

Raymond breathed a bit heavier, "That's what I'm tellin' ya!" He all but shouted out. "They weren't actin' at all. I was out in the outskirts, you know, near the woods just off of Route 5, and there's this... guy. He's totally covered in blood and wanderin' around like hes outta' his mind or somethin'. At first, I thought he was drunk, but then... he lunged at me."

"He lunged at you?" The host's voice raised slightly as if in surprise. "Are you sure? You didn't just make this up, did you? We've had enough wild stories coming out of the Arklay Mountains as it is." She sounded somewhat sceptical, which Henry could understand to an extent. But if there was so much smoke, then there had to be a fire, right? In other words, he found it a bit strange that there were so many reports, and people still couldn't believe it.

However, considering Umbrella's reach, this wasn't all that surprising.

Letting out a sigh, he continued to listen to the conversation as Raymond became somewhat defensive, "You think I'd make somethin' like this up? I barely got outta there! That... guy chased me to my truck. He was pounding on my window so hard—totally forgettin' the meaning of the word pain!"

The host took a longer pause this time before slowly questioning. "Are you sure he wasn't just... disturbed or high on something?"

"It wasn't just him!" Raymond became erratic as if recalling a nightmare. "I drove through the backroads, and I saw more of 'em. Wandering, stumbling... All of 'em looked mauled or something. It's not normal, I'm telling you!"

Henry's grip on the steering wheel tightened at the description. He'd seen it all behind the screen but never in real life. Now that this guy began to describe what was happening, everything felt threatening to him.

As if the trees had grown eyes.

Knowing that it was all real made everything much much worse in his mind.

Hopefully... I don't encounter any zombies on the way in.

Henry couldn't help but comment as the radio continued, his eyes similar to a hawk, watching anything and everything around him with more focus than ever.

....

Meanwhile, standing on the rooftop of the R.P.D. was a certain man looking to be in his mid-50s with brown hair and a moustache. His round belly and gruff demeanour matched that of one Brian Irons, the current police chief of Raccoon City.

He looked out across the city, his city, stroking the rat-like moustache on his face.

"You're late." Irons grumbled towards another man who had just arrived.

The new arrival was obviously much younger than him, with a pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses covering his calculating gaze. A gaze similar to that of a serpent, with his blonde hair and a lithe physique that contained a hint of muscularity. Every step he took seemed measured and calm as if everything was in the palm of his hand.

If Henry were here, he would instantly recognise this man, as he happened to be one of the greatest villains of the game: Albert Wesker.

Standing next to Irons without saying anything for a while, he calmly took the view in without any sense of urgency. Before finally opening his mouth, "You summoned me."

The words were as emotionless as ever.

This was something that had always annoyed Irons. Wesker always remained too calm, too detached. It felt as if the man was always trying to gain control somehow, and he didn't like that. Still, he had to swallow his pride to get out of the latest mess.

So, taking out a cigar, he took a puff before squinting. "We've got a problem." He began, emphasising the words 'we' since it involved all of the station, including S.T.A.R.S., and he needed to make that clear in front of this annoying guy. "Those damn murders up in the Arklay mountains. The press won't stop talking about them, and now even the mayor is breathing down my neck..."

Wesker didn't respond for a while. Instead, he just raised a hand and strategically pushed his glasses further up his nose. "And what do you want from me, chief?"

Irons wanted to strangle him, but he held back, letting out a long, drawn-out sigh. "Look, you're the one in charge of S.T.A.R.S., and I, we, need answers. If we don't get them soon, this whole fucking city is going to turn into a giant circus as the bodies keep piling up." He finished with the look of a good Samaritan. However, Irons didn't mention the main reason behind his request. Because the truth was, he didn't want the feds coming in and taking over. God knows what they would discover if that happened...

Of course, Wesker also knew all of this clearly. The sides of his mouth twitched for a moment as he enjoyed watching the squirming fat worm in the palm of his hand. Everything was going according to plan, and he only needed one final push. Although Wesker technically didn't need the man's explicit permission to act, since S.T.A.R.S. was semi-autonomous, what he really wanted was a pretext.

A useful excuse to cover up particular actions.

Considering everything, he purposefully remained quiet in an attempt to increase the pressure. Only after seeing Irons take an exaggerated puff on his cigar again did he lay down the final piece of bait, "So you want S.T.A.R.S. to handle this?"

Of course, Irons took the bait as if a gigantic carp in the ocean on the end of a fishing line, both eyebrows scrunched together in a grimace. "That's your job, damn it! S.T.A.R.S. was brought in to handle special cases, and I'd say this one easily qualifies. The sooner we deal with it, the sooner we get the press off our backs and, most importantly, the mayor off mine."

He frowned while remembering their last... conversation. If you could call it that. Nowadays, he couldn't even go out into the city without getting verbally assaulted.

Wesker crossed his arms as if in thought, "I'll send in bravo team soon. They'll head into the Arklay Mountains in the next day or two. As for the alpha team, I'll remain on standby and go in when and if needed."

Chief Irons nodded, looking down at a certain luxury brand navy blue BMW that had just passed the security gate into the underground parking lot. A young, handsome-looking man sat behind the wheel wearing the STARS logo on the left shoulder. "Fine, but just make sure you bring back results. I need something to show the mayor or this shit is really going to blow back in our faces..."

Glancing down at the man as he drove into the R.P.D., Wesker held up one hand to his chin for a moment before walking away, "You'll get them soon enough."