~Forgotten Holiday~

The snow wasn't too heavy today as it fluttered around in the air outside of the Coastland Mall of a small city in the United States. It was December 18th, many citizens scurrying around to gather and buy presents for the upcoming holiday every child screamed for - Christmas. Children ran around, bright smiles plastered upon their faces as the days counted down, greedy to know what they were receiving from their loving parents.

Claire Redfield was walking around, a few bags in her hands from the store Yankee Candle and Godiva. She was wearing a pair of jeans and knee-high brown ugg boots, along with a brown coat and a dark red zip up turtle neck beneath. She wore her hair up in a pony tail as usual, her bangs the same as always. She smiled as she heard the happy giggles from children and teenagers, making her way over to a bench.

She set her bags beside her as she took her seat, crossing her legs and letting out a sigh. It felt good to be off of her feet. Across from her was a line of giddy children as the waited to sit on "Santa's" lap, jumpy and excited. She smiled, her eyes flashing towards the Santa. Something... didn't seem quite right... He didn't look so good. What was wrong? As the child climbed into his lap, he didn't move, making Claire turn her head slightly in confusion. The little boy looked up and smiled, speaking to him. But all of a sudden, the Santa looked up, opening his mouth and lodging his teeth into the little boy's neck, everyone screaming hysterically now.

Claire gasped, slowly standing up and shaking her head. "N-no...No... Not this! Not now!" she shouted, running towards the little boy. But she was too late now - the boy was already dead... Soon to become a zombie. More screams arose in the mall, and when Claire looked up, she saw people slowly standing up and moving slowly. More. It must have spread quickly, meaning that Santa wasn't the only infected!

Leon was walking through the mall. He was looking for something to get himself for the holiday, seeing as to he usually had no time to relax from his job as an agent. He was wearing a black shirt, with a brown leather jacket that had a fur collar and blue jeans. He was searching along the clothing isle but stopped as he heard screams from all around him. People were pushing past him from all directions. He felt something was wrong and hurried to the front of the building where all the christmas decorations were located. He noticed amoung the chaos, many people who stood out. They seemed to be walking and didn't seem to look too good. Just then, Leon was grabbed from behind by he person who was moaning. Out of instinct, He tossed the person over his shoulder and onto the ground, finding them to be a zombie. "Damnit! Not here too!"He exclaimed.

Claire then spotted a little girl who was crouching on the ground, her little hands covering her head and she screaming and crying badly. Claire locked her jaw and looked around, grabbing a bag she found on the ground and whacking the zombie on the head with it. She knew it wouldn't do any good, but at least it would push him away. As the zombie stumbled back, she spin kicked him in the jaw, the zombie falling backwards. Claire swooped little girl, who looked about four years old, and ran to a nearby store, dodging zombies as she did so. The little girl was crying so hard that she couldn't even make any noise. "Where's Leon when I need him!" she shouted as she ran to look for safety.

Leon looked around for anything that could be used as a weapon. He grabbed a rail from the display and broke it off. He jammed it through the zombie's skull from below the jaw. He pulled it back out and backed off, keeping his guard up from all directions. Thee mall was already in a state of ruin with items lying all over the place and the lights flickering dimly. He backed off into a nearby store and heard the words, "Where's Leon when I need him!" He turned focused on the voice that sounded so familliar to him. Could it be Claire? Why couldn't they ever meet under friendly circumstances? He called out for any survivors as he passed through the darkened mall. "Anybody here? Can you hear me!"

Finding a store, she ran into it. the sound of her boots could be heard against the white polished tile, Claire pausing and looking up over the racks of clothes. The little girl started to scream very loudly, patting Claire's head to turn around. When Claire looked over her shoulder, a zombie was right behind them, his bloody mouth wide open as he lunged forward. Claire's eyes widened, and she crouched down quickly and told the girl to crawl under the clothing rack to the other side. The little girl did it without hesitation, turning around to look at Claire. Now was Claire's turn to crawl under, though she wasn't fast enough. The zombie grabbed her by the foot, pulling her back with great force. Claire quickly grabbed onto the rack and pulled it down, the rack smashing into the zombie. He moaned and let go, Claire quickly pulling herself from beneath the rack and stumbled up, picking the little girl up and running the opposite direction. The lights were flickering badly now, the large store darkening now. She then heard someone say, "Anybody here? Can you hear me!" It was a very familiar voice.
"Hello?" she yelled in response, hearing her own voice echo throughout the empty store. She was panting lightly, the little girl hiding her face in Claire's coat. All of a sudden, siren's went off, and the sound of doors and windows being locked and secured could be heard. "Shit!" Claire gasped, realizing that there was a lock down. "No, no, no, no!"

Leon turned around, looking the area over to see that the doors and windows were being locked down. "Damn! The riot must've caused a lock down."He spoke to himself when he heard the hello, he tried to follow the trail. The mall seemed quiet now. Too quiet...and hardly any zombies around....they could be anywhere in this chaos. "Where are you!"He called out. "I'm here to help!"He was hoping for a reply as he walked down the isles.

"Where are you!" the voice called out. "I'm here to help!" Claire quickly turned around, looking down the isle to see Leon. "L-Leon!" she shouted, running towards him. She came to a sudden halt as her peripheral vision spotted something out of ordinary. Looking down, she noticed that she was stepping in a large puddle of blood, something she hadn't payed attention to earlier. It was still, and she could see her reflection in it. Claire squinted her eyes as she saw something else, but something dripped into the puddle from above, causing the image to ripple.

He turned as a female's voice called his name. "Claire!"He called in greating. He started to walked over then stopped, seeing the blood. He approached slowly. "Everything alright?"He asked.

She looked up at him, and smiled in relief. "Yeah, everything's fine. I just don't recall seeing this before," she muttered, referring to the blood. She stepped out of it and walked towards him. "Funny how we always meet up on the wrong basis, huh?" she joked breathlessly, looking around to see if there were any zombies. They were just walking around slowly outside of the shop, soulless monsters.

Leon nodded. "Yeah, no kidding. Next time, how about we meet a day when there isn't a zombie invasion? Guess then we'd miss all the fun."He replied with sarcasm. He looked the area over for a moment. "I think we should head for the sporting goods section. Maybe then we could find a better weapon."He said.

She nodded and said, "That's a great idea." The little girl peeked at Leon, then looked away a moment later due to being shy like any other child. As they were walking out of the store, Claire heard something very familiar...like the sound of something's raw flesh and claws scraping against whatever surface it happened to be along, afollowed by a sibilant hissing sound. When she turned around, she couldn't see anything. Cautiously, she turned around and began to walk with Leon. "I wonder how it got here, the virus..." she said.

"I don't know...but we'll find out."Leon said as he held his pipe, ready to defend himself from any oncomming zombies. His eyes darted around the room as he heard a hissing that was accompanied by a strange scratching noise. He kept his guard up but glanced down at the kid who kept peaking up at him. "Who's the kid?"He asked.

Claire looked at the little girl. "I saved her... I don't know where her parents are or if they are even..." she didn't finish, not wanting to say it in front of the little girl. "What's your name?" Claire asked softly. "N-Nicole..." she said, her voice muffled from digging her face into Claire's coat. Claire nodded and looked up, wondering. "When did you last see your parents?"
"They left me when they saw t-the m-monster come to me," she stuttered.
Claire felt horrible. What parents would leave their child in a situation like that?!

Leon's attention focused now on the girl. He turned to her and leaned down. "Wait...hold on...what monster? You mean there's something here other than those zombies?"He asked and stood up. He turned away to curse under his breath. "Great...and here I thought the fun would never end..."He muttered with a sigh as he crossed his arms.

She nodded. "It was big and scary!" she squealed, shuddering as she thought back of it. "What did it look like, Nicole?" Claire asked. "It was big and black. With needles."
"W-with needles? In him or...?"
"In the monster. They were sticking out. I don't know where he went, but I ran away from him..." Nicole whispered. Claire looked at Leon, looking disturbed. "Great. What a holiday this came to be!" she said sarcasticly, stepping of dead bodies of the innocent. The pungent smell of the dead reaked, perfuming the whole area.

As Leon heard the description he turned back. "Damnit. Not those things again..."He muttered leaning down again. "Where was the last place you saw it?"He asked. He was on his guard now. Last time dealt with those things, he barely got out in one piece. That was one hell of a night for him. He was on a mission to rescue the president's daughter.

"I was in front of the shoe store. But I don't know where he is now," she sobbed, frightened by Leon's sudden alertness. Claire held onto the little girl, she looking at Leon. What was it? she mouthed at him. He seemed to have had experience with these things in the past.

Leon crossed his arms and looked to the ground in thought, remembering the horrors he had seen on that mission."They're monsters that can't be killed unless you destroy all the parasites in it's body...leave just one and the whole thing can regenerate...problem is...the parasites are in it's body. They can't be seen unless..."He trailed off. Then, he looked up to Claire as if he had an idea.He started walking.

"They're monsters that can't be killed unless you destroy all the parasites in it's body...leave just one and the whole thing can regenerate...problem is...the parasites are in it's body. They can't be seen unless..." he trailed off. Then, he looked up to Claire as if he had an idea.He started walking. "W-wait Leon! Where are you going?! Ugh, Leon!" Claire hissed, following right behind him. Unless what? What was his idea?! Claire was now very curious, but also very cautious. How would you kill the thing if you had to obliterate all parasites? Set it on fire and watch it burn to hell? Claire shook her head and rolled her eyes at Leon, following him.

Leon glanced back at Claire as he walked. "Remember when i said we can find better weapons in the sporting goods department? Well, I think we can find a way to beat those things there. All we need is an infrared scope or goggles. Once we have that, we can pick up a rifle or something."He explained.

Claire flinched at what he said. They'd need that?! "Uh, alright. Since you seem to have lovely experiences with these things, I'll let you be in charge... For now," she joked, slightly laughing. "Oh god Leon....!" she gasped, stopping. "T-the pet store is before the gun shop... There's no doubt about it that the animals are infected... We're going to have to be careful. God knows what's in there...." Claire muttered.

Leon gave a concerned nod. "Yeah. I know...just make sure to keep the kid away. I'll take care of it."He replied. His training at SOCOM had prepared him for anything. His grip on the pipe tightened.

"But what if the animals are okay?" Nicole asked, wiggling out of Claire's grip, sliding down her. "No, Nicole, they're bad. They can hurt yo- Nicole!" Claire screamed, watching Nicole run off towards the pet store. "Dammit!" she yelled, running after Nicole. When Claire came closer to the pet store, she came to a halt; the place was a disaster. Fish tanks were shattered on the ground, the water reflecting the flickering lights. The class windows for the cats and dogs had smeared blood on them. The birds cried frantically. Claire cautiously took a step forward. "Nicole...?" she whispered, looking around.

Leon followed after claire. Upon entering the pet shop, he stopped in his tracks t take in the horrific sight. "We have to find that girl."He said, cautiously walking down the isles. His boots crunching down on broken glass and pattering in pools of water from the tanks. His eyes scanned the dark room for anything that resembled the girl.

"Here kitty kitty," a creepy little girl voice spoke, catching Claire's attention. She ran over to where the voice came, seeing Nicole crouching down and holding her hand out to something that was hiding in the shadows. Perhaps a cat as she said kitty kitty. "Nicole, no!" Claire hissed, gripping onto Nicole's sides and yanking her quickly away. That's when Claire saw some sort of... tail possibly, creeping out from the shadows. "L-Leon? You're the one with the gun!" she stammered, backing up away from the area. She bumped into a rack full of dog tags, knocking it over with a loud crashing noise. As that happened, a loud rippling snarl could be heard from the shadows. "Leon!?"