First Contact with L.J. — The Encounter on the Infested Street
The city was dead. Literally.
Abandoned cars, bodies left on the asphalt and the sky covered by gray clouds created the perfect setting for hell. The smell of blood, gunpowder and rot permeated the air.
Daniel walked through the streets with silent steps. His bloodstained sword hung on his back, still warm from the last battles.
It was then that he heard it.
Gunshots.
And then, a shrill scream full of sarcasm:
"Damn! That jacket is limited edition, you disgusting zombies!" — the voice sounded between nearby alleys.
Daniel approached without making a sound. His trained vision soon captured the scene:
A black man, wearing stylish clothes and sunglasses in the middle of the apocalypse, was running from a group of zombies. In his hands, two pistols were firing shots, but the man was clearly running out of ammo.
"Seriously? Don't you guys get tired?" the man yelled, jumping over the hood of a car.
The zombies roared, hungry.
Daniel didn't hesitate.
He advanced like a ghost, and his sword flashed in a clean arc. The heads of the first zombies flew. Others fell with precise blows. In seconds, the alley was filled with silence.
The man stood there, mouth open, watching the massacre.
"Whoa…" he blinked a few times. "Are you like… an apocalyptic samurai or something?"
Daniel cleaned the blade, without changing his expression.
"Are you alive? Are you infected?" he asked directly, assessing the stranger.
The man raised his hands.
"I'm alive, I'm clean, and I'm impressed!" — he replied, trying to catch his breath — Call me L.J. And man… you saved me, so technically we're already friends, right?
Daniel looked around, alert for possible threats.
— If you want to survive, stay close and follow my orders.
L.J. smiled.
— Brother, if I knew a crazy ninja was out there, I would have looked for you sooner! — he put away his pistols — I'll follow you. Better than becoming food for these disgusting zombies.
Daniel nodded, already moving away.
— Talk less. Shoot better.
— Deal, boss!
L.J. followed him, talking to himself:
— I bet this guy can even cut bullets in the air…
And so began the unlikely alliance: the cold strategist and the charismatic loudmouth. But L.J. would soon prove that, behind his loose tongue, there was enough courage to deserve his place by Daniel's side.
Meeting with S.T.A.R.S. — Rescue in the Urban Hell
The streets were in ruins.
Explosions echoed in the distance, sirens silenced and the sky took on a reddish hue, as if hell itself had descended upon Raccoon City.
Daniel walked through the streets with L.J. at his side, still out of breath from the last run.
"I'm starting to think this day can't get any worse…" L.J. muttered, loading his pistols. "Or it can, right? It always can."
That's when they heard the gunshots.
Several gunshots, screams and the unmistakable sound of zombies advancing in a swarm.
Daniel ran towards the chaos.
Turning the corner, the scene revealed itself: a group was surrounded by destroyed police cars and a partially collapsed building. Three people were fighting, shooting accurately, but they were clearly at a disadvantage.
Leon S. Kennedy fired with the calm of a veteran, but ammunition was limited.
Claire Redfield reloaded while covering the rearguard, her blue eyes determined.
And in the center, Jill Valentine fought like a shadow, agile and relentless... but even so, the siege was closing in.
More than twenty zombies surrounded them, and through the alleys, even more were coming.
L.J.'s eyes widened.
"Wow... S.T.A.R.S. surrounded? We're screwed, bro." he commented, already pulling out his weapons.
Daniel just smiled at the corner of his mouth.
"They're only alive because I haven't arrived yet." He advanced.
Like a shadow cutting through the night, Daniel entered the fight. His bloodstained sword shone under the flickering lights of the broken streetlights.
The first zombie fell without even understanding what hit him.
Then the second.
Within seconds, Daniel was in the middle of the chaos, cutting off limbs and heads with brutal precision. His movements were clean, efficient, almost superhuman.
Jill noticed his presence first, her eyes widening as she saw the stranger devastating the zombies.
"Who the hell is that?" she muttered, surprised.
Claire and Leon stopped for a second, but soon started shooting again, taking advantage of their advantage.
L.J. joined the party, unloading his pistols while laughing:
"The man is a machine, I told you! Look at that!"
In less than a minute, the dead were on the ground, inert, while Daniel finished off the last ones with precise blows.
Silence.
The group breathed heavily.
Daniel cleaned the blade, staring at them.
Leon was the first to speak, pointing his gun cautiously:
"Who are you? Umbrella? Army? Mercenary?"
Daniel replied coldly:
— I'm the difference between you dying now… or surviving until tomorrow.
Jill, still in a defensive position, narrowed her eyes.
— We don't trust strangers. Especially around here.
Daniel approached, his gaze firm.
— You don't have to trust. You just have to follow along… if you want to live.
Claire looked at Leon and Jill, clearly divided.
L.J. joined in the conversation, gesturing:
— Guys, trust me… he saved my ass two streets ago. Seriously, this guy is the John Wick of the pandemic, only with a katana.
Jill slowly lowered her gun.
Leon kept his gaze alert, but recognized what he saw: someone efficient… and with skills beyond the ordinary.
— Okay — Leon conceded, putting his gun away — But if you do anything suspicious, we'll solve this the hard way.
Daniel just nodded.
— I didn't come to make friends. I came to destroy Umbrella. And save those who deserve it.
Jill, Leon and Claire exchanged glances. That was their mission too.
Alliance sealed.
The group was now bigger. And the chaos in Raccoon City… was just beginning.