Chapter 1: Somethin’ Ain’t Right

[30th September, 1998]

It was a rainy night, the raindrops were falling from the sky and dribbling on the car's paint and windows as Ethan Hunter, a young SHIELD Special Agent, was driving through the road in the middle of nowhere. He seemed out of it, the radio inside his car was humming endlessly it seemed, a voice coming out of the speaker, a human's voice. Ethan's hand is still on the wheel, but his eyes are narrowed, seemingly thinking deeply.

Beneath his solemn expression, there was confusion, for this was not the same Ethan Hunter, someone had entered the body, another soul, from another world. The memories, be they actual memories or muscle memories, are mixed. The two souls seemed to have merged into one being, with the soul from another world possessing control. 'Ethan' almost derailed the car because of the sensation, he went through the memories of the body, and realized that this was indeed happening, not rebirth from a young age, but he was just… thrown into another body of the same age, a body that is much skilled than him in his previous life, all of a sudden no less, while the previous owner of the body was driving.

"What the fuck…" he murmured, massaging his temple as the headache of the merging between two minds have finished.

[Agent Hunter, are you there?] He could hear the radio and it kept speaking. [I repeat, are you there?]

The new Ethan can't even be given time to process what had just happened, and relying on the previous body's memories, he answered the radio.

"Yes. I'm here, sir," he said calmly. "You can continue."

[Very well.] The speaker continued. [You have two missions in Raccoon. One, highest priority, you will investigate what has happened to our facility in the town. Second, you must locate, dead or alive, our special operations team, your senior.]

"Names, sir?" Ethan asked again.

[Listen carefully.] the speaker said. [One, Special Agent Chris Redfield. Two, Special Agent Jill Valentine. Three, Special Agent Barry Burton. And lastly, Special Agent and Squad Leader, Albert Wesker.]

"Noted, sir." Ethan had heard of that name, but he was too unfocused to think about that for now. "I'm approaching the town now."

[Good luck, Agent. While you may be a recruit, you are our brightest rookie yet, so we expect great things from you. HQ, out.]

The radio fell silent, plunging Ethan into his own thoughts, with only the symphony of his car's engine and the rhythmic tap-dancing of raindrops as his companions. The night was inky black, veiled in a wispy shroud of fog, playing tricks on Ethan's vision. But then, a blaze of light cut through the obscurity—a lone gas station.

Glancing at his nearly empty gas gauge, Ethan decided to pull over, seeking solace and a fill-up. With a deliberate turn, he steered his vehicle into the station's embrace, parking it in intimate proximity to the waiting fuel pump. Cutting the engine's rumble, he emerged from the car.

Rain-laden winds clawed at him, prompting him to retrieve his leather jacket from the car's backseat, embracing a feeble barrier against the night's cold grip.

As if by rote, Ethan settled the gas bill and began to fill his car's tank. With the nozzle's trigger squeezed, he had the mental space to finally contemplate the bizarre events that had transpired. Reincarnation? Transmigration? Whatever it was called, it had laid its hands on him, placing him in another man's shoes, figuratively speaking. He should've felt remorse for the previous inhabitant, but empathy eluded him because that man had seamlessly melded into him; an inexplicable fusion where two souls become one, with the new Ethan steering the ship.

He could only chuckle at his occupation. A SHIELD agent, in a world that has all that Marvel stuff, but from the looks of it, all that stuff is still hidden from the public, and he couldn't find anything wrong with that, it's 1998, he didn't know if this is the Cinematic Universe or truly different from it.

In his past life, he probably couldn't get this kind of job, he was a nerd, not some… badass spy/agent that could kill ten men in a matter of minutes, and to be fair, this body is still a rookie as well, a top rookie, though green is green, no matter how polished.

But then his thoughts focused on the mission that he had been given. Currently, he's going to a place called Raccoon Town, a small town in the middle of the midwestern US. He recognized that name, from that game that the female characters were constantly being used for Rule34 animations, he even recognized the name of the missing agents that he needed to locate— Chris Redfield? Jill Valentine? While he never played the games, he knew those names… From where? Well, from online video game essays of course… not from anywhere else…

For now, he should just follow the orders, and maybe he could find something in that town that could give him a way out of this, cause his guts are telling him that this isn't just a normal SHIELD mission...

Ethan's gaze shifted to the gas station store ahead, bathed in dim, flickering neon lights. Parked in the shadows was a vintage motorbike, a crimson Harley-Davidson, its license plate reading 'J2198.' Resting atop it, was a white motorcycle helmet adorned with crimson streaks.

Emerging from the nearby phone booth was a young woman. Auburn hair cascading in a ponytail framed her face, her piercing blue eyes a stark contrast to her fiery mane. She sported a red leather jacket over a dark blue tank top, accentuated by black jeans. She stepped out of the booth, grumbling in irritation until she spotted Ethan nearby. A fleeting smile crept across her face.

"Oh, hi." she simply greeted.

"Evenin', ma'am." Ethan greeted back, he knew this woman, though a 3D mocap is wholly different from a real-life face. "Rough night?"

"Nah, just a friend's trouble," she replied with a nervous chuckle. "Headin' to town?"

"Yep. got some business." Ethan nodded. His gaze turned to her motorbike again. "Nice ride."

"Thanks," she replied, her smile tinged with shyness. "Fixed it up myself, got it on the cheap."

"A girl who can handle her engine, that's a rarity," Ethan whistled in admiration. "What about you? Headed to town as well?"

"Yeah, got a family there," she disclosed. Before their conversation could continue, shouts erupted from within the gas station store. Both of them snapped to attention. Ethan finished filling his car's tank, returning the pump to its station.

"Did something happen inside?" Claire asked loudly as she approached the storefront, peering through the window.

"Only one way to find out," Ethan replied, closing in on the door. "You should stay out here, ma'am."

She didn't listen. As Ethan pushed the door open and ventured inside, she followed suit. The interior lay in darkness, the flickering lights casting eerie shadows. The aisles of food and beverages were in disarray as if a drunken patron had stumbled through, using the shelves for support and sending products crashing to the floor. Ethan retrieved his flashlight from his belt, its beam cutting through the darkness.

"Anybody in here?" he called out, his voice echoing through the desolate store.

Aside from his and the woman's steps, Ethan could hear some ruffling from the back of the store, slowly, the man passed through the messy aisle and found someone. It was an overweight man, lying on the ground against the wall, his neck was ripped to shreds by… something. But he was still alive, trying to close the wound with his hand to no avail.

"Oh my god…" the woman quietly gasped, though she didn't react past that to the gore in front of her. Ethan crouched down to the nearly dead man and looked over the wound. It was dirty and feral as if it was a bite that caused it.

"Sir, are you okay?" Ethan rhetorically asked, trying to find a response, already taking out his firearm.

The man's bloodshot eyes met Ethan's, but these weren't ordinary bloodshot eyes; they seemed tainted, corrupted. Silence hung between them, the man offering no response, just an unwavering gaze.

"Shit." Ethan cursed under his breath, he knew what was going on now… He then stood up from his position and pointed his gun at the man's head.

"Wait, what—" The woman's protest went unfinished as Ethan abruptly pulled the trigger, sending the man's brains splattering across the wall before he slumped lifelessly to the floor.

"Why'd you do that?" the woman whispered, her demeanor oddly devoid of panic or disgust.

"Something's going on. Stay close." Ethan said, his gun ready to fire as he aimed it at the storage room entrance beside the dead man.

Ethan then could see the woman took out a revolver from her holster, which… Ethan supposed that it's normal to just have a gun like that, this is America after all.

Together, they ventured into the storage room, the rustling sounds growing louder, signaling the presence of whoever had cried out. They navigated the maze of shelves, peeking through gaps to survey their surroundings. Finally, they reached the room's far corner and spotted a man in a police uniform, pushing… something… away from himself using a shelf, sandwiching that 'something' in between the walls and the shelf.

The cop looked at the two of them and never looked so happy. "A little help here?!" he shouted.

"What the hell is that?!" The woman's voice carried shock. With swift precision, she squeezed the trigger, sending a bullet slicing through the air. The projectile found its mark, the 'something's' head, snuffing out its existence in an instant.

Drawing near the cop, the woman advanced, while Ethan treads towards the lifeless 'something'. He stooped down, inspecting the body that remained wedged between the shelf and the wall. A humanoid figure, unmistakably human once, now transformed into a monstrosity by some grotesque growth, akin to a malignant tumor.

"What went down here?" inquired the woman.

"Honestly ma'am, I don't know myself. These… monsters just came out of nowhere a week ago," he explained. "One bite from 'em, and you're on your way to becoming one yourself."

Ethan refrained from touching the cadaver, instead rising and retracing his steps to the cop.

"Where does it come from?" Ethan asked calmly.

The cop looked hesitant to say, he looked to be thinking of a way to divert the conversation. So, seeing this, Ethan took out his wallet and showed him a 'fake' card that would identify him as an FBI agent.

"Woah, you're from the FBI?" the woman questioned in surprise.

"The FBI? thank god." the cop sighed in relief. "The research facility. At first, they came from there, and it quickly spread. Now it's just a few people, I'm here to—"

"Ma'am, heads up!" Ethan's interruption cut through, as another entity materialized amid the shelves. The overweight man from before is now a distorted monster. Ethan's weapon locked onto it, a duo of rounds propelling into its head. In a detonative instance, the creature was no more, collapsing to the ground.

"Thought I put it down already..." Ethan's brow furrowed. Shifting his focus to his two companions, he spoke. "First things first, we need to get out of this place. Officer, you're guidin' me to the survivors. As for you, ma'am..."

"I'm goin' along," she asserted. "Got my brother over there. Gotta ensure he's..." Her words dwindled to a hush, the rest left unsaid.

Ethan sighed. "Fine. You're tagging along, too. Seems you're a decent shot with that piece."

The woman smiled appreciatively. "Then let's get out here."