Following the opening cutscenes, head down the main street in front of you. Nobody in this area will attack you (and you're unarmed anyway), so just walk around them. Once you've made it most of the way to the butcher's shop you're headed to, there'll be another cutscene. Everybody has disappeared, leaving you and your partner alone in a disturbingly empty street.
Keep following the street until you get to the butcher's shop, then head around the right-hand side and go through the door. Once you're both inside, talk to your contact, Reynard.
After the cutscene, open the attaché case on the table and take your M92F pistol. Although the case contains a vest and melee weapons, you cannot pick them up (the knives will automatically be enabled after you complete this section). To progress, you have to equip a weapon (in co-op, both players must equip a weapon). In New Game+, carried over weapons can be confusing. If you already have an M92F, you cannot pick up one from the case. Also, you can equip one of your carried over weapons (such as a shotgun) instead and it will count. If a player does not equip a weapon, Reynard will block the exit and continue to tell you to pick up a weapon.
There's another short cutscene, and then you're finally ready to hunt down the bioweapons dealer Ricardo Irving.
Back Streets[edit]
Head out the door and follow the alley to the right. When you get to the dead goat, go into the building on the right, breaking any crates and barrels you find and picking up the herb on the shelves, and out the other side. You'll hear a scream coming from the next building ahead - run up the stairs to the door and use the Partner Action button to go inside.
After a short cutscene, you'll be attacked by the guy on the floor. Take him down and go through the door to the next room, then jump out the window into the back streets below.
Around the first corner, you'll be attacked by a huge group of locals. When the cutscene ends, you'll be facing back the way you came. If this is your first time through the game, or you haven't stocked up on ammo, there'll be far too many enemies here for you to deal with, so turn around and run down the alleyway until you get into the house. Sheva will bar the door, and Chris gets on the radio to figure out what's happening. If you've got the firepower to take them down, you can stand your ground against the mob. Eventually one will show up throwing explosives - kill him and he'll drop the Topaz (Marquis) treasure.
Grab the supplies in the room while the discussion's going on, then go over and inspect the rusted door, then use a Partner Action to kick it down. In the next room, drop through the hole and follow the tunnel. At the far end, go up the ladder and pick up the ammo and herbs, then go through the door to the next area.
Assembly Area[edit]
Head down the slope and jump down at the end - grab the herb on the table outside the building, then go through the door for another cutscene.
As soon as it ends, run over to the book cases and push them across the window and door - have Sheva push one while you get the other. When you're barricaded in, smash the fruit and vegetables with your knife to uncover some pistol ammo and a grenade, and pick up the ammo on the tabletop near the door you came through, and in the drawer under the TV. If you're playing on your own, make sure to split the ammo with your AI partner.
Eventually, the horde outside will break through your defenses - try to shoot them while they're partway through the window, and go for headshots to be as efficient as possible with your ammo.
After a few minutes, Chris will call for backup and you'll get another short cutscene, showing a group of Majini breaking through the roof. Shortly after, the Executioner from a few cutscenes ago will appear, smashing down the steel gate outside the house you've been defending until now. If you're still in the house, he'll break through the wall too.
Run through the broken gate and all the way towards the large red steel doors at the far end of the area, and you'll find a VZ61 machine gun in an attaché case on a table to the right.
The best strategy to survive this section on early playthroughs is just to hide - the Executioner deals major damage with his oversized axe, but there are some places he can't reach you. The most straightforward hiding place is inside the burned-out bus in the middle of this area. It also has the advantage of having a single, narrow entry point for all the normal majini, who can easily be dealt with using your pistols or even your knife if you start running low on ammo - and as an added bonus, all of the ammo and item drops are in easy reach of a safe place where you can reload or manage your inventory without leaving yourself too exposed.
The buildings in this area also contain a decent amount of ammo and other items - the largest building, directly behind the bus, has a green herb in it.Be sure to collect all the ammo and treasure in this area as you can because after the cut scene with the rocket launcher ALL the treasure and ammo will be gone, so if you want some extra ammo or treasure be sure to keep moving around and collecting the ammo and such.
15
If you do manage to take down the Executioner, he'll drop the Gold Ring treasure. He does take a lot of punishment however, and your weapons probably won't be up to the task at this early stage of your first playthrough.
At a couple of points during this section, Chris will contact or be contacted by Kirk to secure backup. Eventually the support chopper shows up, resulting in a short cutscene that ends the chapter.