⤿ xiii. in my time of dying

                                    

                                          


                            

                                
                            
                              
                                  
                              
                              
                                
                                  
                                  
                                
                              
                             
                            
                            
                          
                          

┌────────────────────────────┐
𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑡𝑤𝑜: 𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑏𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔
𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑛: 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔
└────────────────────────────┘

Raccoon City Police Department — September 29th, 1998

     Mason stares at the memo for a good few minutes, wondering what the hell they're supposed to do now that they know Umbrella is up to even more fucked up shit than they had banked on. Ben wasn't too far off on the Tyrant being ordered to dispose of any witnesses, especially given that the damn thing has been relentlessly hunting down both Mason and Leon since it first spotted them after getting off the roof.
     Beside him, Leon reluctantly examines Ben's body, nose scrunched in distaste as what remains of the reporter's head squishes with each little movement. A small noise of surprise escapes Leon and Mason looks over to find a tape recorder in the rookie's gloved hands, spattered with a little bit of its owner's blood.
     Ben's voice comes out of the tape recorder, crackling. "...but that doesn't explain the rumours about the orphanage. I-I just find it way too coincidental Umbrella's one of the benefactors."
     "You told me this interview was about the new scholarship Umbrella set up," a woman replies, sounding less than impressed by the direction that their conversation has taken.
     "Come on, Annette. Nobody cares about that. They want to know about the G-Virus, and the—"
     Mason's skin burns at the mention of the G-Virus and he squeezes his eyes shut as images of glass vials and coloured liquids and syringes flash in his brain, tormenting him. He still cannot clearly remember the majority of the time he spent with the Umbrella Corporation, only flashes here and there, but he knows that his time there has something to do with the G-Virus.
     "Where did you hear about this?"
     "—and that big fucking sinkhole in the city which, by the way, rumour has it goes straight to your underground lab."
     Leon looks at Mason, confused. "Lab?"
     Mason shrugs, shaking his head, knowing that it's better he plays stupid right now — especially after what he has just asked of Leon.