Categories > Games > Resident Evil > Before Things Fell Apart
A twinge of pain made Cass gingerly grab her shoulder. Maybe she should have taken the time off. Doing the filing for the department wasn’t straining, but that didn’t stop her from finding ways to hurt herself. She walked to her desk to find that Chief Irons had left a stack of papers with a note to deliver them to the S.T.A.R.S. office.
“Bastard,” she mumbled under her breath but grabbed the files as best as she could. The S.T.A.R.S. office was in the same building as the chief’s office. Had he gotten his secretary to carry them all the way here, just so Cass could carry them all the way back? Clearly, he was taking out his stress on her, but she refused to let it get to her.
Putting the papers in her briefcase, Cass left the Animal Control Building and walked toward the main building. The tall buildings here blocked out the wind. This city made Cass feel claustrophobic, and if Chris hadn’t moved here, she would have been long gone by now. At least she would get to say hello. With a newfound pep in her step, she opened the door and strode inside. As she rounded the corner, she nearly bumped into one of the officers.
“Oh, sorry,” she said and backed away quickly.
“No problem,” the messy haired officer said with a smile, and Cass instantly remembered his name, Kevin Ryman. It was a name she avoided.
“Well, excuse me, Officer Ryman. I have something to deliver to the S.T.A.R.S. office,” Cass said matter-of-factly and quickly walked past him.
Unfortunately, he didn’t take the hint and followed cheerfully. He asked, “Are you coming to the Fourth of July party? I heard it’s going to be a blast. Chief Irons got some special fireworks.”
“Maybe, I’m not sure,” Cass replied breezily.
“I heard your buddy Chris is going. Wouldn’t want him to hook up with some babe, would you?” Kevin asked with an interested glance at her.
“It’s not like that,” Cass snapped irritably.
“Woah, now. No need to be so serious. Just joking. You should come with my group. Maybe relax a little. Learn to lighten up.”
Cass stopped just to glare at him and said with a measured tone, “I know how to ‘lighten up’.”
“Come on. I was just joking. You’re not really proving me wrong though…” he said, and Cass started to hurry up the staircase, trying to leave him behind. “So that’s a no?”
“Brilliant skills of deduction.”
“You know… you’re not this uptight when you’re with Chris and his friends. I’m trying to get along with you, but you don’t make this easy. Joseph and I aren’t really that different. What is it about me that you just don’t like?”
Cass looked at him with irritation and responded, “Joseph has a sense of professionalism and doesn’t come to work smelling of booze and cigarettes.”
“Is that it?” Kevin asked with a laugh. “A bit puritanical, huh?”
“Off-time is your time. Work time is not. I even heard that you drink on the job. What happens when your lackadaisical nature gets someone killed because you were too impaired to read a situation fast enough?!”
“Hey, I’m still a good enough shot even with a couple drinks,” Kevin retorted defensively.
“One day, that might not be enough,” Cass said and walked toward the office.
“I am sorry,” Kevin said, and Cass stopped and turned to see him looking at her with a sympathetic smile. “I heard about your partner. He’s at the general hospital, right? Do you think he’d mind if I paid him a visit?”
Cass nodded reluctantly but replied gratefully, “I’m sure Jack would appreciate it.”
She quickly opened the S.T.A.R.S. door and walked inside the office to find it empty.
“Figures,” she mumbled and walked to Captain Wesker’s private office to open the brief case. After setting the papers down on his desk, she turned around to see Captain Wesker standing in the doorway with amused look on his face. She involuntarily jumped but soon relaxed.
“Apologies,” the captain said quickly. “So… the chief sent you to deliver something to me?”
“Yes…”
“I believe someone would call that ‘petty’ when his office is on the same floor,” the captain said with a knowing smile, and Cass laughed. “Thank you for your time, Miss Walker.”
“No problem. They’re actually running out of things for me to do at the office. I suppose this is the chief’s way of creating work for me to do.”
“If you wouldn’t mind, may I ask for you to be transferred here? Not as a field operative… yet. But we do need someone to help us go over the paperwork. Chris is currently trying to bury himself in it.”
Captain Wesker looked irritably at Chris’ desk, which was stacked with papers. No doubt that it was an unorganized mess with no sense of logic whatsoever. Cass nodded and replied, “I’d be happy to help, but I don’t know how Chief Irons would react to the news. Who else will run his pointless errands?”
Captain Wesker laughed and said, “You let me worry about the chief. If you don’t have anything else to do, I’d appreciate it if you could help out with Chris’… workload. They’ve just been called out. A house in the suburbs was ransacked, and one of the children is missing.”
“No problem, sir. Chris’ shift will be over in a few hours. Poor Forest… He’d have an absolute fit if he had to deal with this… And Chris would use getting called out as an excuse.”
Captain Wesker nodded, and Cass got to work. Sorting through the files, she organized them back into a semblance of order then put them into folders with new labels. She continued arranging them by animal attack, disappearance, or potential cannibal attack. Grim news but that was the current state of Raccoon City. No wonder Chief Irons had been more on edge than usual. The news teams weren’t all fond of them, and there was a reporter among them known for being ruthless. Perhaps that was what Irons had been talking about when he had said an “united front.”
The opening of the door caught Cass’ attention, and she turned to see Bravo Team entering the door. Forest grinned when he saw her in Chris’ chair and said jokingly, “Stealing Chris’ position? How sneaky.”
“More like cleaning up Chris’ mess,” Cass responded and gestured to the now organized and presentable paperwork. “Unless you wanted to go through this mess… I could always put it back to the way it was.”
“No! No, no, no. Thank you very much,” Forest said gratefully and picked up one of the files. “I swear, Chief Irons made me share a desk with Chris just to drive me insane. OH! You’ve even made neat little notes. Thanks.”
“So, it’s good enough for you, Mr. Perfectionist?” Cass asked playfully and got out of the chair.
“I know what it looked like before you got here. That mess has been sitting here for a few days now. I refused to clean it up this time. I was hoping Chris would get the message.”
“Oh, so I should have left it then?”
“No! Once again, thank you. It was driving me crazy, but I’d made a promise to myself.”
“Chris doesn’t understand ‘subtle.’ Just tell him to put things back where he finds them.”
“If I try to order him around, he’ll just challenge me to a shooting match. Loser does the cleanup, and you know how that goes,” Forest replied wearily.
“If it comes to that, I’ve got an idea,” Cass said with a smirk. “Or I could just tell him off. I’m now the S.T.A.R.S. secretary, so I’ll have plenty of time to yell at him.”
Forest laughed excitedly and asked, “So how long are you with us today?”
“I still have about two hours before I can clock out. Need any help?”
“Aren’t you injured?” a small voice asked, and Cass looked to see the new member of Bravo Team Rebecca looking at her worriedly. “A dislocated shoulder isn’t the worst thing that could happen, but it’s still no walk in the park.”
Cass gave the girl what she hoped was a reassuring smile and said, “I won’t do anything too stressful. Just filing and running errands. If you guys need something heavy moved, ask elsewhere.”
Rebecca seemed reassured as Jill made her way into the room. Cass met Jill’s eyes with a worried look, and Jill smiled a tired but happy smile in return. They’d found the child. Cass relaxed as Chris walked into the room with that stupid grin.
“Oh, Forest, you finally cleaned the desk,” Chris said, and Cass watched anxiously as Forest tried to suppress his rage. “I was going to do it, but we got called out. Sorry about that.”
“I didn’t clean it; Cass did,” Forest said, already sounding tired.
“You made Cass clean it?! With her injured shoulder?!”
“First off,” Cass interjected before it could escalate. “I did it of my own free will. Secondly, it’s only one shoulder. I’m not impaired… that much. And lastly, if you know the mess is hard to clean, then why make it in the first place? Put things back where you found them. Got it?”
Chris sighed and replied awkwardly, “Okay, that’s fair… Sorry about that. I’ll try to keep my mess contained in the future.”
“Thanks, man,” Forest responded.
“After all, Cass is scary when she’s mad, and I don’t need that kind of negativity.”
“Chris!” Cass yelled and chased him out of the office, but she could hear Chris laughing all the way down the staircase as he ran.
“Idiot,” she murmured with a smile before walking back into the office.
“Bastard,” she mumbled under her breath but grabbed the files as best as she could. The S.T.A.R.S. office was in the same building as the chief’s office. Had he gotten his secretary to carry them all the way here, just so Cass could carry them all the way back? Clearly, he was taking out his stress on her, but she refused to let it get to her.
Putting the papers in her briefcase, Cass left the Animal Control Building and walked toward the main building. The tall buildings here blocked out the wind. This city made Cass feel claustrophobic, and if Chris hadn’t moved here, she would have been long gone by now. At least she would get to say hello. With a newfound pep in her step, she opened the door and strode inside. As she rounded the corner, she nearly bumped into one of the officers.
“Oh, sorry,” she said and backed away quickly.
“No problem,” the messy haired officer said with a smile, and Cass instantly remembered his name, Kevin Ryman. It was a name she avoided.
“Well, excuse me, Officer Ryman. I have something to deliver to the S.T.A.R.S. office,” Cass said matter-of-factly and quickly walked past him.
Unfortunately, he didn’t take the hint and followed cheerfully. He asked, “Are you coming to the Fourth of July party? I heard it’s going to be a blast. Chief Irons got some special fireworks.”
“Maybe, I’m not sure,” Cass replied breezily.
“I heard your buddy Chris is going. Wouldn’t want him to hook up with some babe, would you?” Kevin asked with an interested glance at her.
“It’s not like that,” Cass snapped irritably.
“Woah, now. No need to be so serious. Just joking. You should come with my group. Maybe relax a little. Learn to lighten up.”
Cass stopped just to glare at him and said with a measured tone, “I know how to ‘lighten up’.”
“Come on. I was just joking. You’re not really proving me wrong though…” he said, and Cass started to hurry up the staircase, trying to leave him behind. “So that’s a no?”
“Brilliant skills of deduction.”
“You know… you’re not this uptight when you’re with Chris and his friends. I’m trying to get along with you, but you don’t make this easy. Joseph and I aren’t really that different. What is it about me that you just don’t like?”
Cass looked at him with irritation and responded, “Joseph has a sense of professionalism and doesn’t come to work smelling of booze and cigarettes.”
“Is that it?” Kevin asked with a laugh. “A bit puritanical, huh?”
“Off-time is your time. Work time is not. I even heard that you drink on the job. What happens when your lackadaisical nature gets someone killed because you were too impaired to read a situation fast enough?!”
“Hey, I’m still a good enough shot even with a couple drinks,” Kevin retorted defensively.
“One day, that might not be enough,” Cass said and walked toward the office.
“I am sorry,” Kevin said, and Cass stopped and turned to see him looking at her with a sympathetic smile. “I heard about your partner. He’s at the general hospital, right? Do you think he’d mind if I paid him a visit?”
Cass nodded reluctantly but replied gratefully, “I’m sure Jack would appreciate it.”
She quickly opened the S.T.A.R.S. door and walked inside the office to find it empty.
“Figures,” she mumbled and walked to Captain Wesker’s private office to open the brief case. After setting the papers down on his desk, she turned around to see Captain Wesker standing in the doorway with amused look on his face. She involuntarily jumped but soon relaxed.
“Apologies,” the captain said quickly. “So… the chief sent you to deliver something to me?”
“Yes…”
“I believe someone would call that ‘petty’ when his office is on the same floor,” the captain said with a knowing smile, and Cass laughed. “Thank you for your time, Miss Walker.”
“No problem. They’re actually running out of things for me to do at the office. I suppose this is the chief’s way of creating work for me to do.”
“If you wouldn’t mind, may I ask for you to be transferred here? Not as a field operative… yet. But we do need someone to help us go over the paperwork. Chris is currently trying to bury himself in it.”
Captain Wesker looked irritably at Chris’ desk, which was stacked with papers. No doubt that it was an unorganized mess with no sense of logic whatsoever. Cass nodded and replied, “I’d be happy to help, but I don’t know how Chief Irons would react to the news. Who else will run his pointless errands?”
Captain Wesker laughed and said, “You let me worry about the chief. If you don’t have anything else to do, I’d appreciate it if you could help out with Chris’… workload. They’ve just been called out. A house in the suburbs was ransacked, and one of the children is missing.”
“No problem, sir. Chris’ shift will be over in a few hours. Poor Forest… He’d have an absolute fit if he had to deal with this… And Chris would use getting called out as an excuse.”
Captain Wesker nodded, and Cass got to work. Sorting through the files, she organized them back into a semblance of order then put them into folders with new labels. She continued arranging them by animal attack, disappearance, or potential cannibal attack. Grim news but that was the current state of Raccoon City. No wonder Chief Irons had been more on edge than usual. The news teams weren’t all fond of them, and there was a reporter among them known for being ruthless. Perhaps that was what Irons had been talking about when he had said an “united front.”
The opening of the door caught Cass’ attention, and she turned to see Bravo Team entering the door. Forest grinned when he saw her in Chris’ chair and said jokingly, “Stealing Chris’ position? How sneaky.”
“More like cleaning up Chris’ mess,” Cass responded and gestured to the now organized and presentable paperwork. “Unless you wanted to go through this mess… I could always put it back to the way it was.”
“No! No, no, no. Thank you very much,” Forest said gratefully and picked up one of the files. “I swear, Chief Irons made me share a desk with Chris just to drive me insane. OH! You’ve even made neat little notes. Thanks.”
“So, it’s good enough for you, Mr. Perfectionist?” Cass asked playfully and got out of the chair.
“I know what it looked like before you got here. That mess has been sitting here for a few days now. I refused to clean it up this time. I was hoping Chris would get the message.”
“Oh, so I should have left it then?”
“No! Once again, thank you. It was driving me crazy, but I’d made a promise to myself.”
“Chris doesn’t understand ‘subtle.’ Just tell him to put things back where he finds them.”
“If I try to order him around, he’ll just challenge me to a shooting match. Loser does the cleanup, and you know how that goes,” Forest replied wearily.
“If it comes to that, I’ve got an idea,” Cass said with a smirk. “Or I could just tell him off. I’m now the S.T.A.R.S. secretary, so I’ll have plenty of time to yell at him.”
Forest laughed excitedly and asked, “So how long are you with us today?”
“I still have about two hours before I can clock out. Need any help?”
“Aren’t you injured?” a small voice asked, and Cass looked to see the new member of Bravo Team Rebecca looking at her worriedly. “A dislocated shoulder isn’t the worst thing that could happen, but it’s still no walk in the park.”
Cass gave the girl what she hoped was a reassuring smile and said, “I won’t do anything too stressful. Just filing and running errands. If you guys need something heavy moved, ask elsewhere.”
Rebecca seemed reassured as Jill made her way into the room. Cass met Jill’s eyes with a worried look, and Jill smiled a tired but happy smile in return. They’d found the child. Cass relaxed as Chris walked into the room with that stupid grin.
“Oh, Forest, you finally cleaned the desk,” Chris said, and Cass watched anxiously as Forest tried to suppress his rage. “I was going to do it, but we got called out. Sorry about that.”
“I didn’t clean it; Cass did,” Forest said, already sounding tired.
“You made Cass clean it?! With her injured shoulder?!”
“First off,” Cass interjected before it could escalate. “I did it of my own free will. Secondly, it’s only one shoulder. I’m not impaired… that much. And lastly, if you know the mess is hard to clean, then why make it in the first place? Put things back where you found them. Got it?”
Chris sighed and replied awkwardly, “Okay, that’s fair… Sorry about that. I’ll try to keep my mess contained in the future.”
“Thanks, man,” Forest responded.
“After all, Cass is scary when she’s mad, and I don’t need that kind of negativity.”
“Chris!” Cass yelled and chased him out of the office, but she could hear Chris laughing all the way down the staircase as he ran.
“Idiot,” she murmured with a smile before walking back into the office.
Sign up to rate and review this story