The day was growing old, the sun was setting in the east and a small breeze blew through the air introducing the cold night that was to come, the trees rustled as their leaves blew over top of each other. The clouds started to cover the sky as the once light sky became dark and eerie looking. The moon came out on the opposite side of the sun, small misty like clouds covered it and rolled across the sky. The breeze had reached a woman that was walking through out the winding trees of a small forest. Her reddish, auburn hair blew past her shoulders and into her face. Pulling an elastic from her wrist, she pulled all of her hair back and into a mid-high pony tail. Claire Redfield had been doing what most people did now and then, something that was never completely original anymore, but she had taken the liberty of her time off to go back packing across Europe. Sure it would take a long time and a lot of patience but she knew she could do it. A large backpack on her back carried a sleeping bag, a tent for those days where there were no buildings around, she had some food in packages but normally she just ate what she found like wild berries or fruit if she managed to find a tree that grew apples but that was rare.

There was a clearing in the trees just ahead, she could hear noise and cars driving by, she had found a highway which meant that there would be a service station or motel near by. Taking a deep breath she trudged up the small hill, looking to either side of her. For a highway the road was pretty empty. Trudging along the side of the road she came to a sign. Lodging was just ahead by a few kilometers. As she started walking again, she heard people yell at her through the windows, and honk there horns. Claire just rolled her eyes and continued on giving them no reaction. Just a bunch of horny teens that finally got there license, or a few older men who were looking for a good time, either way Claire thought it was degrading and would have loved to have pulled her pistol out and take a shot at one of there tires but she didn’t want to draw anymore attention to herself than she was by walking down the side of the highway. The walk seemed to take longer than she had wanted it to but she was fine, after all she was backpacking across Europe and that meant there would be lots of walking and few rides the way she was doing it. It was always good to keep in shape and do something fun at the same time.

As she came to another road that turned to the service station she walked up it following the curves and such until the building actually came into sight. Then it hit her, she had to use the bathroom super bad. Starting into a fast jog she ran through the cars, weaving in and out of them, and pushing through the doors. A few minutes later she came back out and looked around; walking up to one of the food services she looked at the menu and decided a big juicy burger with fries was in call for. Ordering her food she bent over the counter slightly and asked the man if he knew where the closest lodge was. He replied telling her that there wasn’t anywhere until the next town which was miles away. Paying for her food she found a place to sit and eat. She knew that this night called for a camp out. She could start a small fire and that would keep her warm too, her sleeping bag was huge and had fur on the inside. After finishing her food she left and headed to a forested area. About a half hour of walking she found a perfect little clearing and pulled out her tent setting it up, it was one of those old fashioned ones that just had the two poles on either end and had the wide openings. Laying her sleeping bag out she started to look for some twigs to make a fire.

Taking the lighter out of her pocket she held it to the fire until it started a small flame. Sitting back she looked at it and smiled. Of course Claire was going to have something to eat again, this time it was a tasty little treat. Smores. They were always a great treat to have. Digging through her large backpack she pulled out a chocolate bar, a small bag of marshmallows and some graham crackers. A few more minutes passed and she had stuffed herself of at least six. Curling up in her sleeping bag she looked up at the sky and looked at the stars. It had been a long time since she had been in contact with any of her friends, colleagues, or family. She wondered how Chris was doing, and what he was up to now. Leon, well she knew that he’d probably be doing something for the government or on a mission somewhere half way across the world. She missed both of them dearly but she had no way of contacting either of them, having left all of her technology at her apartment, she hated that stuff anyways, she just couldn’t figure it out a lot of the times. Closing her eyes lightly, she felt herself drift into unconsciousness, and into a heavy sleep.