Chapter Text
***1998***
The Raccoon City Police Department was never quiet, at least, not while Marvin Branagh had ever worked there. Whether it is from his colleagues, other members of staff at the precinct or even civilians coming in - it was never quiet at the rpd, no matter the time of day.
It is why, slumped over the bench in the empty entrance of the precinct, Marvin found it so harrowing. His shallow breaths echo in the vast halls, every so often being joined by the distant shuffles and groans of the walking remains of those they tried helplessly to save.
Marvin feels his eyes grow heavier, with breathing taking more and more effort. He tries desperately not to remember what has become of those he was supposed to keep safe, those he was once able to call his friends, or even his beloved wife, Amelia, and babygirl.
Meryl, Marvin silently calls out to, too exhausted to able to make a sound. The guilt that has been consuming him since he forced her to stay away eats away at him, taking the last of his energy or ability to try to fight for his survival. He knows that there is little to no chance that his baby would have been able to get out of his hell.
Were you scared, baby? Marvin wonders desperately, were you in pain for long?
Tears fill his eyes, as he forces his mind away from Meryl, wishing the pain would end, while dreading for what he is about to become.
He looks over at the strange entrance Leon had managed to reveal. God, I hope you make it out of this, Rookie.
****
Having become used to the harrowing silence of the rpd, Marvin was shocked by the sudden wave of noise that filled the room.
Instinctively shooting up, he looks over, only to be greeting by the sight of his colleagues and their bloodied remains - only more whole than they were when he last saw them.
"Lieutenant Branagh, I would say it is good to see you - but I think the situation speaks for itself." Deputy Douglas states, his blood coating his shirt and neck from where he was torn into.
"Deptuy Douglas," Marvin exclaims in shock, "how…"
"You died, much like the rest of us in this godforsaken hell." Douglas explains calmly, evidently used to having to explain the situation to those who recently passed. "What remains of you, is still on the bench."
Marvin turns around, only to feel his heart drop at the sight of his own eyes having the familiar cloudy appearance, and the starts of unnatural groans beginning to rip from his throat.
"What the fuck," Marvin murmurs, before forcing himself to turn back towards his friends.
Looking at those beside Deputy Douglas, he spots Elliott Edwards - with his torso hovering over his legs with his organs spilling out between the two - and Rita Phillips - with her neck and shoulderblade torn apart, with bone fragments appearing underneath the blood.
"I told you both that there was a secret tunnel," Rita remarks, her wound stretching open everytime she moved her jaw.
"I have already apologised for not believing you Rita," Elliott sighs, "at least it is helping someone escape this place."
"Never would have thought it would have been the newest recruit, who came even after being told to stay away, and Chris Redfield's very own sister." Douglas adds, glancing over to the others before looking back at Marvin.
"What… are we the only ones here?" Marvin manages to asks, his mind reeling.
Douglas shakes his head, "practically everyone who has died here is around somewhere. We have had some wander to other parts of Raccoon City to find their loved ones, but some of us are staying in the place we died."
"Practically all of us cops are dead, aside from the rookie and that bastard Chief Irons," David Ford informs Marvin as he wanders down the stairs, his body ripped to pieces with his left arm no longer even attached to his body. Following closesly behind him, Marvin spies Meyer, whose mangled face left the remains of his brain exposed, alongside a destroyed eye socket which left the mutilated pieces of his eye hovering grotesquely where it once belonged.
Feeling his stomach roll at the sight, Marvin forces his gaze to turn back to David. "What did he do this time?"
"Remember how we couldn't find him when we got overun in the east wing, and thought most of the officers died in there? Turns out he sent a seperate team of officers to the west storage room and locked them in with people who had already been bit. He was trying to set it up with c4 and gloated about watching them all have to choose between killing their friends or dying themselves. The ghosts of those officers haven't lingered here, unsurprisingly."
Marvin stares in horror, glancing over at Douglas, only to see him clench his jaw in anger as he gazes at the floor.
"I knew he was a shit chief… but…" Marvin manages to force out, losing the words to describe the disgust and fury within him.
"It gets worse." David says, nodding in understanding at Marvin's reaction. "I followed him for a bit after I died, turns out the bastard was a bit too interested in hunting and taxidermy; he had a whole private room attached to his office dedicated to his so-called "trophies". He kept on calling people about the "t-virus" and how he supplied them with test subjects and protection."
"The recent missing cases?" Marvin croaks out.
"Highly likely, even read a journal he had left on display from that secretary he apparently "fired" back in April. She knew he was up to something and was scared for her life."
"He kept her so busy and away from the rest of us, she probably didn't know who to trust." Rita murmurs sorrowfully.
"They aren't the only ones either. This fucking nightmare hasn't stopped him - I followed him to the orphanage, where there is no one but him for reasons I don't want to even think of, and he has Katherine Warren's body set up for his next taxidermy project."
Everyone stares at David in anguish at the monstrous depravity of their police chief, and the knowledge that he may have used them to get away with his heinous actions sinking in.
"He made sure we couldn't investigate properly, or stop him in any way." Elliott whispered - though his words tore through the tense atmosphere as though he screamed them.
Suddenly the sound of footsteps echoed from the east wing entrance, drawing their attention. Racing past the front desk, they see Leon - having returned from the parking lot.
"Leon…" Marvin says, surprised to see him return so quickly, and worried about him being so close to his zombified remains. Leon races past the front desk, oblivious to their presence as they observe him head straight for Marvin's remains.
"Marvin! Aw, no… dammit!" Leon exlaims mournfully, his regret for not being able to save him evident in his voice. Hesitating for a moment before aiming his gun, Leon shoots Marvin's remains through the skull, not even giving the zombie time to move from the bench. Seeing his corpse fall to the floor, Marvin sighs in relief, glad that Leon will not make the same mistake of letting his guard down, while trying to brush off the unease it feels him to see his own corpse being shot by a fellow officer.
"i'll stop this Lieutentant, I promise." Leon states firmly, before forcing himself to turn away and head into the West Office, where the 'Welcome Leon' sign mockingly hangs above the desks.
"The kid has balls, I'll give him that." Douglas remarks.
"If only that was all you needed to get out of this place," David replies.
"Claire is around here somewhere as well, between the two of them I think they stand a chance. They have figured out a way out of the station within just a few hours." Rita retorts.
"According to my old radio," a voice is heard from the east wing entrance. Turning around, Marvin is greeted by the sight of Tony, the houndmaster, and his fellow officers, George Scott, Neil Carlsen, Wes Drucker and Hector, "the government plan to nuke the whole of Raccoon City in a few days to stop the virus from spreading further across the US."
"I can't say I blame them. Even the animals and insects are infected and fuck knows what those creatures with the long ass tongues are." Elliot says, unable to hide his wince of disgust at the sight of Tony's mauld flesh.
"God help those who were near the zoo when the outbreak happened. I would take getting my jaw ripped apart over an infected giraffee or elephant running at me anyday." Hector states, shuddering - his jaw barely attached to the rest of his skull.
"At least there wouldn't be much left of their remains. My hunger after days of us being trapped here with dwindling supplies apparently passed on to my corpse, and the thing won't stop trying to break into the vending machine." Neil grumbles.
"I just hope Leon and Claire didn't open the locker," Wes says, his arms crossed over his chest in discomfort at the idea of discussing his death, "I left a note, warning people not to open it, only for that bloody Umbrella guy to take it when him and that other bloke came looking for something."
"They weren't too bad," George Scott adds, "I followed them into the STARS office. They were finding information about an Umbrella researcher, and one of them was on the phone to Jill."
"Jill was calling one of the Umbrella guys?" A voice breaks out, drawing all of their attention.
"Daddy!"
Marvin feels his heart stop as looks towards the main doors, only to see Brad standing there, his yellow vest still drenched with his blood, with Marvin's little Meryl beside him. He feels his stomach drop taking in the sight of her ghost, with her shoes missing, and chunks of flesh missing from her stomach and neck.
"Oh, baby." Marvin breaths out before rushing over, instantly wrapping her tightly in his embrace and cradling her close, as though he could finally protect her from the nightmare she lived through in her final days. He feels as though his words get stuck in his throat as he tries to think of how to explain why he sent her away, and how he foolishly and helplessly thought it would keep her safe if she wasn't trapped in the rpd like him.
"Marvin, I am so…" Bard starts, causing Marvin to look up, suddenly remembering that everyone else was still there, all with similar sympathetic and pitying expressions.
"Don't." Marvin forces out, his hold on Meryl tightening. "You can't blame yourself for the actions of your corpse Brad. I hesitated, it is my fault, understood?"
Brad nods unwillingly, before directing his attention back to the others, "Are you sure it was our Jill?"
George nods firmly, "best part about being a ghost, personal space doesn't exist anymore to those still living. I pressed myself close enough to his earpiece to hear her voice loud and clear. She was on a train to get out of the city when it derailed; she was the only survivor, besides this guy called Nicholai who left them for dead. She said how this thing was back?"
Brad swear quietly, running his head through his hair in fear and frustration, "Nemesis - it is hunting down STARS members specifically, an Umbrella creation. I called Jill to warn her, and it literally burst through her apartment building. If she is trusting those two guys then that means not everyone at Umbrella knows about their involvement, and the situation is a lot more complicated than we realised."
"Have faith in her Brad, if anyone is going to make it out of this city it will be Jill Valentine. That woman won't go down without a fight and taking a lot of those bastards with her." Rita firmly reassures.
"That's a bad word," Meryl murmurs quietly to Marvin, her hold on him just as tight has his own.
"Yeah, so you better not repeat it." Marvin chokes out, his heart aching at her innocent comment, "We will let them off for it though, just this once."
"So what do we do now?" Elliott asks, glancing around.
"There isn't anything we personally can do," Deputy Douglas states, "whether this is how we will spend eternity or we will eventually pass on I don't know, but for the time being this is it. Find your loved ones, help others find theirs, it is up to you, but personally, I am going to follow the Rookie and Redfield's sister for the time being to see what else I can learn about this mess."
At his statement everyone begins to pair off and plan, though Marvin stays there, soaking in his daughters cold embrace, his eyes wandering back to his remains, his corpse slumped in the empty and abandoned Police Department.
*** 2026***
When the bomb first went off, Marvin remembers the terror that spread through his ghostly body when he saw the explosion and felt the heat rip through the air. It only got worse as he watched the rpd be torn apart, with the roof caving in and parts of the once sturdy walls give way as though they were made out of glass. Eventaully though, after the explosion died down and the carnage of Raccoon City was left to rot, it began to sink in more that they were just stuck as witnesses to the world around them, waiting to be able to move on.
At first, some of the others left to find their loved ones - whether that was to a different city, or finding their ghosts somewhere in the city. They always came back though, whether from not wanting to watch their families move on without them by their side, or finding it easier to accept their fate at the rpd, bringing their loved ones with them. Marvin never left, unwilling to see the remains of his home, and the crumbling remains of the city. Both his beloved Amelia and sweet Meryl found him and chose to stay by his side, understanding his decision to stay and always coming back to the rpd if they ever left.
"You can't blame yourself for not being able to do more, Marv." Amelia once said, gently stroking his cheek, "you did more than countless of others, hell, you did more than your Police Chief and those in charge of this city."
Marvin always argued against her though, refusing to let his guilt go, instead holding onto it and the pain he feels everytime he sees more ghosts with similar grotesque remains visit.
With being a ghost in an abandoned city, stuck within the remains of the rpd, time flew by in a blink of an eye - only being marked by further decay of the place he was once so proud to work at. They rarely hear about the outside world, with only getting updates when a ghost returns, or from the view rare visits they get from members of the BSAA exploring and searching through the rubble.
It all changed, when they were greeted by the sight of two strangers waltzing into the rpd, as though they had been their all their lives.
"Lieutenant! There are people in the main hall!" Elliott's voice calls out, startling Marvin.
"People?" Marvin echoes, following after Elliott. Arriving to the scene, he instantly spots the two figures standing out against the ruins.
"What the hell…" Marvin murmurs, staring in horror at the familiar figure of Albert Wesker, joined by a man with skin so grey and stretched unnaturally across his bones, an appearance Marvin has come to recognise as a similar trait to the undead.
"That can't be Wesker." Brad denies, anger and disbelief flashing across his face. "That bastard was killed in the Arklay Mountains, there is no way that is him."
"I agree, while he bares an uncanny resembelance to Wesker - he does share some differences." Douglas reassures, his eyes not drifting from the man.
"It is possible he had a twin, it isn't like Wesker ever talked about his family or life outside of work." Rita chimes in.
"I'm more curious about the strange dark markings on his face - and whatever the fuck is up with the other guy." David adds.
"He looks like he could be one of the undead before the bomb went off." Marvin says, unnable to stop the shiver running down his spine as his uncanny appearance.
They continue to watch them both wander around the ruins of the rpd, looking over the files and notes left behind by the last BSAA squad.
"So you truly believe that we can somehow convince Grace Ashcroft to come here willingly?" The Wesker lookalike states.
"You need to have some faith in me, Zeno. We will be able to get her here, and he won't be far behind." The other man smoothly replies, a chilling smiling revealing his yellowing and blackening teeth.
Zeno rolls his eyes, typing away on the laptop, ignoring how the strange figure wanders through into the west wing offices.
"Your obession with Leon Kennedy is ridiculous Gideon. If he follows after her, do you truly think you will be able to control yourself enough to put a stop to him?"
Marvin straightens up at the mention of the rookie, remembering how the last time they saw him, he was racing onto the train out of the city, leaving them to stay behind, hoping the mutated remains of William Birkin wouldn't be able to catch up to him and Claire.
Coming back into the entrance, Marvin feels his stomach drop as he watches the sickly looking figure drag the remains of their sign for Leon behind him.
"He will play an important role, but he won't stop us releasing Elpis, I can assure you of that." Gideon lets out a breathy laugh, as he arranges the sign around the BSAA files.
"What the fuck is wrong with these people," Elliott murmurs, his heart aching at the sight of the sign he created - once prepared to warmly welcome a new memeber of their team and make sure that he felt like they wanted him there, only for it to once again be a mocking sign left to remind him of just how much the outbreak had taken from him.
"At least we know they successfully made it out of the city before the bomb went off," David tried to reassure them all, only for Marvin to feel how empty it sounded. Afterall, if he was expected to return, to a place where the aftermath of the outbreak still remains after all these years, was he ever able escape Raccoon City?
After laying out the sign, the ghosts watched them leave, lingering in the entrance for an unknown amount of time, wanting to see if Zeno and Gideon's beliefs about their rookie returning were true. While he may not have been there when the outbreak first started, he was a part of their team, and he came to try and help them.
When the day arrived, they were first greeted to the sound of a helicopter outside, followed by Zeno reutrning once more alongside a young blonde woman, whose nervous demeanor and her bloody clothes instantly causing them all to become alert.
"There is no way she came here willingly," Rita states, hovering closely to Grace, observing her bandages and pale face. "The poor girl looks as though she has been through hell, what the fuck did they do to her?"
"Stay with her Rita." Douglas states firmly, "the rest of us split up. I doubt he came here alone with her, especially if they expected Leon to not be far behind."
Watching the others split off, Marvin lingers in the entrance, his eyes glued to the front door.
"Marvin." Douglas calls to him, "Are you alright?"
Marvin sighs deeply, before shaking his head.
"I should have done more to keep Leon away from this place." He starts, before looking over at the Deputy, "He kept on trying to argue against me to try and get me help, and instead he got forced to shoot me."
Douglas wraps a comforting arm around his shoulder, understanding the guilt he feels, and knowing how long it has been eating up inside of him.
"He would understand, especially if he is used to dealing with zombies. And we did try to keep him away from here, remember? He is just a stubborn fool, and refused to listen."
Marvin nods, his eyes going back to the entrance door.
Suddenly shouts come from the upstairs east wing ring out, drawing their attention.
"Another blue trench coat guy is upstairs over the east wing office where Grace and Zeno are currently located!" Elliott yells down.
"Shit," they both respond, before Douglas races up the stairs to join them in their investigation.
After some time, standing in the empty hall, Marvin hears the faint creek of the rusty gate outside - drawing his attention.
With his eyes glued to the door, he watches the door be pushed open, revealing the tall figure of Leon Kennedy. So achingly similar to how he once looked nearly 30 years ago, only his his hair darker and longer, with pieces beginning to go grey - alongside stubble lining his jaw.
"Fuck me, the rookie ain't much of a rookie anymore." David comments, having observed his entrance from the west wing balcony. Marvin rolls his eyes at his comment, before walking closer to Leon, and noticing the dark marks along his neck.
"He has the same markings like Zeno," Marvin calls out, "an infection of some kind."
"The same thing most of us got?" David asks.
Marvin nods, "I remember seeing it a bit on George, and the skin around my wound had some dark lines."
"Sherry, i'm in RPD" leon states, looking over the BSAA files and staring at the broken statue. "Looks like the BSAA set up HQ here."
Marvin and David watch as his attention turns towards their handmade sign, their sorrow and sympathy growing as they watch his forlorn expression as he looks over its dirty remains. Noticing his attention drawn towards a note, Gideon left, they move closer to look over his shoulder, reading it beside him.
You can't save anyone
"How fucking dare that gross bastard…" David mutters before walking away, heading off to inform the others of Leon's return.
Marvin continues to watch over Leon, observing him use to computer.
"Sherry, I found Grace… and someone's been expecting us."
Once Leon finishes his conversation and tracking Grace's location in the rpd, Marvin follows him as he wanders around the rpd - sticking closely behind as they head into the west wing offices.
Stopping in front of Marvin's old desk, Marvin feels his heart drop to his stomach when he sees Leon hesitate at his name sign, picking up his old journal carefully and reading their plan of action to make sure Leon felt welcomed and like a part of their team from day one.
"Hey Lieutentant Branagh. Kennedy, reporting for duty…" Leon mutters to himself, the pain exivdent in his voice.
Marvin clenches his eyes shut, feeling his stomach drop at Leon's words, before following him further into the west wing, helpless and unable to respond even if he could find the words - before bumping into some of the other officers.
"It is weird seeing the rookie practically my age now," Tony states.
"Shit, I think my corpse is moving up ahead." George worries, rapidly drawing their attention towards the corridor that they once barricades, noticing his skeletal remains stumble around near Hector's jawless body, still slumped against wall.
"Hopefully he is as good as Gideon and Zeno implied," Marvin reminds him, as they observe Leon coming closer. Without any hesitation, Leon rushes at the corpse, giving it no time to react as he slams his hatchet into its neck, slicing its head clean off its shoulders.
"Rest easy, officer."
George feels a small smile grow on his face, relieved to finally not be forced to watch his decaying remains wander around looking for its next meal.
"Oh fucking hell, my corpse is back to the stupid ass vending machine." Neil groans, only to see Leon quickly turn around and deliver two clear shots through his undead skull. As the shots ring out through the hall, silence quickly follows, finally free from the rattling of the distorted groans and stumbling footsteps.
They continue to follow him around, watching as Leon expertly travels through the rubble and figures out how to access the east wing. Quickly reuniting with the others, Rita turns to the others - her fear evident in her eyes.
"That orphange has been working alongside the umbrella facilities for a lot longer than we thought, even before Irons took over. Apparently they used to keep clones there who were their main subjects." Rita explains quickly. "It doesn't make sense though, he is saying how Grace is the original of all of the clones, but that would make her much older than she appears. I recognise her last name from somewhere, I think her mum was a journalist? She would have been around 20 to 30 years old when the outbreak happenened."
"So he is trying to decieve Grace, hoping she doesn't catch that detail." Douglas summarises, quickly working out the situation. "Whatever they want her for, and whatever her part is in releasing this thing called 'Elpis', they are trying to give her as little information as possible to get their way."
Grace's panicked cries and gasps for air draw their attention, alongside Leon's - who quickly ran in and called for her.
"Mum…" Grace whispers out, before collapsing to the floor, the overwhelming situation becoming too much for her already exhausted mind and body to handle.
Leon shoots at Zeno, only for him to move out of the way without any struggle, shocking their unseen visitors.
Suddenly, the ceiling caves in above them - the broken concrete sending a wave of ash and dust throughout the air, making it harder for them to see Zeno quickly grab Grace.
"Have fun," Zeno retorts, leaving Leon with the towering figure.
"I remember you," Leon states, shooting unsuccessfully at the humanoid creation, only to quickly grab his hatchet to try and block its jab - resulting in him being thrown across the room.
"Leon!" Marvin cries out, the group terrified they are about to be joined by their rookie. They all breathe a quiet sigh of relief when they hear him make another retort to himself, shoot the ceiling above the monster and slowly force himself to stand before attempting to head out of the east wing.
The beasts thunderous footsteps quickly follow after him, all of the ghosts helplessly rush after him, hoping desperately that Leon manages to get out before the monster grabs ahold of him, or causes the east wing to collapse on him.
As Leon rushes towards the first floor entrance, diving out of the way of the beast, he turns around in preperation to shoot at the relentless figure, only to be greeted with silence.
"How the fuck has that thing managed to survive after all these years," Elliott mutters.
"More likely that it is a different variation of the one from all those years ago, they are powerful - Umbrella probably makes a lot of money selling them." Wes explains.
"They're taking Grace to ARK." Leon states, drawing their attention once more. "The orphanage is the entrance."
The ghosts all turn to look at one another in concern at his words. While many have ventured throughout raccoon city since they passed, even going to other states and countries, none of them had managed to force themselves to go into the orphanage after Claire escaped with Sherry all those years ago. The ghosts of the children there were different from others, with many victims of Umbrella's experiments having grown up within those walls and hiding inside its familiarity.
Watching Leon head towards the broken rubble leading towards the street, Hector speaks up, "Are we following him then?"
Marvin instantly nods, "we don't leave a member of our squad to face a situation alone, no matter how much or how little we can do to help."
With his determind statement, the others quickly agree and follow closely behind him, refusing to let their rookie face raccoon city alone once more.