A. N: This is my first Resident Evil fic, hooray! I've only played a few RE games so please let me know if anything I write is incorrect. Resident Evil and Leon Kennedy belong to CAPCOM. Any cities or OC's belong to me unless stated otherwise. Now, on with the story!

Chapter: ONE

Pineridge had never been the most exciting place to live. It was a medium-sized Oregon town who's population mainly consisted of widows, loners, and retired senior citizens. It didn't hold many parades, festivals, or other events and the work there didn't pay all that well. Basically, if you lived there, it was to get away from big crowds, bright city lights, and thugs. Pineridge didn't have a big crime rate due to the fact that practically everyone who lived there was on a first name basis with everyone else. It was the paradise of the lonely. Little did the peaceful citizens of Pineridge know that their tranquil town was about to be shaken to its very core.

Leon Scott Kennedy's arrival had been the first time in years that Pineridge had even seen a U-Haul truck move. It had been two years since the incident at Harvardville and Leon had decided that he had seen enough pain and death throughout the years. He was on leave. What better place to get away from that sort of thing than Pineridge? Nothing ever happened there and the people that lived there were too down-to-earth to cause any type of problem. The crimes there were so petty and so few that the police force rarely intervened. This was just what Leon had been looking for.

Leon woke up unusually early the morning after his arrival in Pineridge. Must be the new time zone, Leon thought as he walked drowsily to the bathroom so he could get dressed, brush his teeth, and start off his first day in new town. As Leon was opening the drawer where he put his toothbrush, something in the mirror caught his eye. Leon turned around to look but the shower curtain was in the way. He moved the shower curtain back so that he could see what was on the other side. He stumbled back and fell back into the counter where the sink was. Blood was smeared across the wall and in the middle of it, there was a message:

Leon Scott Kennedy, the hunt has begun.

Leon immediately tried to find his Comm Screen to contact Hunnigan but then remembered that he had been granted a short leave and was no longer a U.S. government agent. At least not until he could get some downtime in. Leon did the only thing he could think of. He dialed 911.

He explained to the Pineridge police what he saw. Of course, they were very skeptical. This kind of thing only happened in horror movies. Leon finally convinced the police to come investigate, suggesting the blood may be the sign of a murder.

"How could anyone have broken in?" Leon wondered aloud, "There's no sign of a break-in; no broken windows and the door is still locked. There has to be some way."

He wondered what the message meant by, "The hunt has begun." What hunt? Who in Pineridge, or even Oregon, for that matter, would be after him? Leon had never even been to the state before. Umbrella was finished, Osmund Saddler was dead, who would want to hunt him? The word "hunt" made it seem as if whoever did this meant to toy with Leon, drive him insane with fear. Ha, Leon thought, they don't know who they're dealing with. He still had all of his experience from Raccoon City, the Los Illuminados incident, and the Harvardville incident. He had skills to take on whatever was after him.

The police finally arrived to check out the scene in the bathroom.

"Sir, you realize your doorknob is broken," the officer pointed out. His partner looked like he was fighting back some kind of insane urge.

"No, it's not," said Leon, "It was working just fine yesterday."

"Yeah, but wasn't it last night when this person broke in?"

"Yes," answered Leon,

"Then, that's how they broke in. You said there was no sign of entry when you called. That broken doorknob indicates that someone broke in."

Leon cursed to himself. Why hadn't he figured that out?

The officers walked inside the bathroom to see the message on the wall. The looks on there faces suggested that they were thinking, Holy crap! He wasn't lying after all.

While they were examining the crime scene, Leon stood back and watched. He noticed the officer with the strange look on his face turn around and face Leon. He took a deep breath and he looked like a heavy weight had just been lifted off of his shoulders. He stared at Leon for several more seconds. His gaze suggested that he was sizing Leon up, scanning him for…weak points?

Suddenly, with no warning, the officer sprung, knocking him to the ground with a force that Leon had only seen in the Novistadors. The policeman shoved Leon against the hard floor. He then grabbed for his gun and jammed the barrel into Leon's head. Leon struggled but could not get free of the officer's insane grip. The officer's grip weakened suddenly and he went limp. Leon threw him off to see his partner standing above him; his taser gripped firmly in hand.

"What…the...hell?!" Leon gasped as he pulled himself up from the ground.

"What was that about?! Your partner just assaulted me!"

"Uh, yeah, he has…issues," the officer stammered quickly as he walked back outside.

"Call again if you have anymore…problems. It was probably just a prank or something. Good day!"

The officer jumped into his squad car and took off at blazing speed. Soon it was out of sight and Leon was left in the dust.

"Didn't even tell me a thing," Leon muttered to himself as he tried to open his door to go back in. He wondered if that kind of mediocre behavior was due to how little experience the police had in this town. Leon realized that he couldn't open the door. The policeman was right. The knob was broken. Leon decided that after all this, he was just going to take himself out to some breakfast. He didn't feel like cooking or fixing his door at the moment.

He got into his car and put the key into the ignition. Once he was out of the driveway, he began to look for a restaurant to eat at. He was just about to pull up to Marco's All You Can Eat when Leon heard a loud thud on the back of his Jeep. He looked out the window and saw a hand crash through the glass and aim right for his throat. Leon threw open the door, sending the insane person flying right toward the ground. Leon jumped out and grabbed his knife from his jacket. He still carried his knife around with him, just in case.

The man started to get up. Leon looked and saw that he wasn't even a man. He was a teenager, probably only sixteen or seventeen. Leon put away his knife, not wanting to attack a kid. The kid got up and aimed a kick right at Leon. It hit and Leon was sent sailing towards his new Jeep.

Just some no-good punk, Leon thought to himself, although the boy's strength unnerved him.

"Now, listen, kid," Leon started to say, "I don't want to—"

"I know. You 'don't want to hurt me.' You'll have to, though. You'll have to kill us all if you want to survive!"

"He's right, son," Leon turned around just to be smacked in the face by an old man's cane. He felt blood seeping from his forehead.

"One way or another, you're gonna die, youngin'. Even if it takes all of Pineridge to do it, you'll never make it out."

A large crowd of people started to gather around Leon, shouting curses, threats, and everything in between. The kid on the ground began to laugh. It was the most sadistic thing Leon had ever heard.

What's with these people? Leon wondered, I thought this town was supposed to be peaceful!

"Freeze!" Leon shouted to the mob. The mob itself consisted of all sorts: men, women, and even small children. Small children carrying knives and small clubs who, Leon knew, would attack as soon as they got close enough. Leon's word had no effect on the mob. If anything, they just advanced faster.

Deciding that he wasn't going to go as far as to hurt old men and children, Leon bolted to his dented car, jumped in, and started the ignition. The engine roared to life. Leon pushed the gas and started heading towards Starcrest Forest. Before Leon was able to even get ten feet, a knife flew through the window where the teenager broke in and stuck Leon in his right shoulder.

"Damn it!" Leon uttered under his breath. That was his weapon arm. He could hardly aim at all with his left hand. Leon yanked the bloodied knife out and tossed it through the window. He then shot off into the forest at full speed, leaving the crazed Pineridge citizens far behind.

"Just my luck," he muttered as he drove full speed to Starcrest Forest.

After Leon had left, the people reverted back to normal, horrified at what they saw. The old man looked at his bloody cane and vaguely recalled using it to smack a fellow across the head. He was the leader type and when he saw nearly the entire city in disorder, he decided to call them to attention. He may have been old but his booming voice was full of authority.

"Enough!" he shouted. Everyone immediately turned to face him. He examined the crowd. Children cried, mothers held them close, and the others just looked shaken.

"Mr. Miller," a lady spoke up, "my son just threw a knife in that poor man's shoulder. With pinpoint accuracy and strength that not even my husband had ever had! And he was a bodybuilder! Please, tell us what is happening."

"I don't know more than anyone else here. We just need to keep calm and relax. I will call the city government immediately. In the mean time, just tend to your children and try to forget what happened. I'm sure this was all just some sort of strange thing. Like I said, I don't know any more than you do."

But that wasn't true. William Miller knew more about the uprising than probably almost anyone else alive.

A. N: I'm aware that Pineridge is probably a real city name, but the Pineridge in this story is completely fictional.

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