Resident Evil 2 #1: The Diary of Leon S. Kennedy
My name is Leon S. Kennedy. I am a police officer. At the beginning of October 1998 I was going to start my work at the police station in Racoon City. It was supposed to be the first stop in my career. A place where I could gather so much needed experience as a law enforcement officer. I didn’t expect it would change my life completely and in the end it will become my greatest nightmare.
Young cop in the city of evil
I came to Racoon City on September 29th. I made some mistakes calculating the time of my trip and so I arrived there already after sunset. My intention was to find newly rented flat as quickly as possible and take the keys from neighbors, who were supposed to wait for me. Soon after passing the sign with the name of the city I noticed a wounded woman in the middle of the road. I stopped and got out of the car. Next thing I saw was the most massacred body that my eyes had ever seen. This was surely the case that police should investigate. I wanted to return to the car, but suddenly I was overgrown with strangely behaving men. They didn’t react to orders and didn’t say anything. Just crumbled and continued heading in my direction. Their bodies were injured and their clothes were dirty, torn and covered in blood. I had no choice, I fired my first shots on duty.
Surprisingly, bullets didn’t make any impression. My only way to escape was a narrow passage between two buildings. I headed there and came across a young woman, Claire, who had just arrived in town, same as me. Pursued by strange creatures, we decided to run together and find someplace safe. We found a parked police car, fortunately with keys left inside. Few seconds later we were on the move towards the police station. I was confused, even slightly scared, but tried not to show it to this strange women I just met. At that moment, as a policeman, I was her only guarantor of safety. Inside I was hoping that the police department was open and inside we will find shelter and learn something more about current situation and these strange beings we just met.
Occupied with conversation, we realized too late that there was a dead policeman on the back seat. Unexpectedly the corpse revived and attacked us. Fight ensued. Trying to push it away, I lost control over vehicle. Car slided and turned around. We hit the roadside lamp with the back. Luckily, the living dead was pulled by force and thrown over the rear windshield. A moment later we noticed a tanker rushing straight on us. It was an impulse. We jumped out of the car and ran a few meters. Truck hit a police car and the building behind it. We were thrown away by an explosion.
Running for life
It was a miracle that I didn’t lose consciousness at that moment. I picked myself up quickly enough to escape a group of strange beings who were already heading in my direction. A makeshift barricade stood in front of me, so I turned left, where other quietly murmuring living corpses were waiting. Quickly I realized that the only way to escape was a gun shop on the right. Everything around me was destroyed and looked like a place of battlefield. Fire covered some buildings, there were broken windows and traces of blood around. I stepped inside the shop, where I met the owner.
I was lucky that the place was run by a military. An ordinary, panicked civilian would probably sent me to the other world with a preventive bullet to the chest. But not this man in tainted tank top. He kept his cool and let me explain that I am a human being. We exchanged a few sentences as he came and closed the door behind me. He declared that we were safe here. I wanted to ask him about the details of this ubiquitous macabre around and invite him to join me in my trip to police department, but the zombies chasing me pushed at the storefront, smashed the glass and invaded the store. In few seconds they took the life of my recent saviour. There were too many of them, so I quickly collected the few boxes of ammunition lying on the counters and ran out the back door.
It was a nightmare. I run past the basketball court and saw three men closed behind the entrance gate, transformed into thoughtless murderers. A narrow isthmus was blocked by a broken van. The driver apparently tried to escape the city, but his plan failed. I could only thank him in my thoughts for that box of ammo he tried to take with him. A moment later I heard the worst sound I could only imagine at that moment. A sound of metal gate opening as a result of another push from a bunch of zombies. I had no options left. I had to shoot them. They were no longer alive, but they were civilians, just recently a healthy members of society of Racoon City. What struck me few moments later was the fact that until that moment I had met almost entirely men’s corpses. Maybe they were victims of a terrorist attack with biological weapon? Or maybe the mysterious disease doesn’t affect women and children? I tried to consolate myself moving closer to the police station.
Luckily, I had studied the Racoon City map for quite a long time before arriving, just to be better prepared and to get an idea of the location of my station. I left the broken vehicles and dead bodies behind me. The city was in ruin, as if someone had bombed it. By necessity I had to go through a broken bus. I passed the bodies of the dead who probably saw the vehicle as a safe haven and their only chance to be rescued. Instead, however, it became their coffin, a trap in which they were stuck for eternity. I prayed that the police station was still all right and that brave officers even now try to protect innocents.
The view of the Racoon City Police Department building comforted me for a brief moment. A minute later, however, I had to run past several officers turned into zombies. They wore blooded and torn uniforms and their bodies had numerous wounds. Marks of the fierce fight they battled for their lives. Fight that they ultimately lost. I came into the plaza in front of the main entrance and with a trembling hand I reached for the front door. They were not blocked. I assumed worst. A moment later I was struck by the penetrating silence. In the spacious main hall there were no traces of fighting, no barricades, no traces of fire or blood. There were no people or living corpses. Each step echoed for a few seconds after placing the foot on the ground. In the central point there was an impressive statue towering over the fountain. Light from the screen of a working computer illuminated wall on the right. I was speechless. Couldn’t shout or call for help. I guess I was afraid that nobody would answer me….
Resident Evil 2 is a classic survival-horror, one of the greatest games developed on PlayStation 1. Recently I decided to once again step into the world of survival-horror and see the adventure of Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield. This fanfic is my diary from this gaming experience. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did during playing and writing.
