Anti-C.
It had taken time to make, and an even more sufficient amount of it to create enough so it could be spread as far as possible. It had potentially saved hundreds that gradually expanded into thousands from being infected, but it hadn't been enough. There was always something more that hung over the heads of the B.S.A.A. like a looming shadow or an incoming storm, ready to drench them deep from head to toe until it inevitably swallowed them entirely. Although Anti-C had effectively lowered possible casualties through elimination of future infection, there were simply too many people in too many places to cover. It left them at risk; and beyond that, there was never any full proof way to tell exactly how many C-Virus infectees still existed to date. As it was, remnants of them remained scattered across multiple Countries in wait to present a greater threat than the last.
It was a giant loophole that led the B.S.A.A. around in countless circles, always ending where they started and having to repeat events again and again in a war they could never truly win. At most they set a balance for humanity, trying to keep things strong and stable against the weight of new viruses that only sought to twist and mutilate; to destroy. It was chaotic and unending, but they held a strong line and kept firm.
That was precisely what had led the newly reformed Alpha to their current predicament. Once again, there had been more sightings of BOWs that spread like wildfire, and the B.S.A.A. was fairly quick to jump on the matter; it started with the deployment of SOA Jill Valentine to investigate the situation, but escalated to the point of requiring the assistance of an entire unit. The situation had been much more dire than they'd first thought. Jill had managed to rummage around on the mission for weeks at a time until she'd stumbled upon the schematics for a secret facility, too large for her to tackle alone. That was where Alpha came in, with orders to rendezvous with her just outside the city, barely a few miles off from where they'd be headed.
Jill however had been delayed - she'd contacted the soldiers with the news and that the few hour hold-up would have to be lengthened into an entire night; apologies included. Apparently, she'd found some last minute Intel she wanted to gather before making way to them. That left the unit to hunker down and wait in an old abandoned cabin just on the outskirts of their destination.
It was late; most of the men were curled in on themselves atop the floorboards, left to snore softly in their sleep with little attention given to the cobwebs that encircled the walls and furniture, or the layers of dust on each surface. They were soldiers; it was a minor inconvenience, and little more than that as they'd all brushed it aside rather quickly without complaint. In the far corner, it was only the SOU Captain who had found himself still awake; sleep had only ever come briefly, and each time it was overcome with raging nightmares that tore at his own sanity. Chris sat with both legs bent in upward curls, left arm flat against one surface of a knee while his right elbow perched itself over the other, gloved fingers tucked tightly against the skin of his face. It was always the quiet that riddled him through with holes in the heart.
A meaty left fist kept closed over the weight in its grip, as if afraid of losing the single remaining piece of a man that had made himself little more than a painful memory. Nights were always the worst; when everyone else settled into their restful little dreams without much of a sound but for the soft breathing and heavy silence that hid behind it, making itself known only after each intake of breath just before an exhale. It gave Chris all the time in the world to think and reflect on all the things that haunted him, weaving their way over his shoulders like a tight blanket that slowly squeezed his life away.
The faces of former teammates from Edonia; they'd always been there, always reminded him of their absence in the scheme of reality outside the depths of his mind. Then there were the ones from China, all lost to a thirst for vengeance that drove him into carelessness. He'd thought he finally put those ghosts to rest through the aid of his ATL who persistently demanded he become more than he was, that he kept fighting instead of running away. But that was before the events that took place in the wretched Neo-Umbrella underwater facility. It gave birth to an entirely different ghost of the past in his nightmares, all of them shifting through his mind's view in shades of hazel eyes and storming currents of electricity.
During missions, he'd allow himself the denial of what happened by temporarily brushing the memory to the back of his mind where it would stay, almost erased, until the quiet set in or the dreams took over. He needed that focus, that drive to keep himself from falling back into that old drunken stupor he'd been in long ago. Piers wouldn't have wanted that, he knew. The mission, the fight; saving as many lives as he could from approaching danger. That's what he lived for, what Piers had saved him for. He only wished he could have returned the favor.
Chris sucked in a deep breath and held it there, eyes shut tight behind the flesh of his palm as he struggled with the emotions that coiled around him like a parasite. The balled fist of his left hand gripped tighter around the fabric he held firmly within as he finally allowed himself to exhale. His arm shifted and raised from it's position where he moved it closer so he could gaze down onto it with recently opened eyes. He finally relented his hold by uncurling his fingers, bit by bit the shadows from his digits peeled away to reveal the B.S.A.A. logo stitched perfectly together underneath a trail of red that coated the edges and part of the center in splatters. It stayed with him at all times since the day it was given to him seventeen months ago, the days since then had always drawn out long and hard, merciless.
But he kept going. For the sake of the younger man and everything he sacrificed, Chris Redfield never gave up the fight even after all it had cost him.
With another heavy exhale, this time in the form of a sigh that flared from his nostrils, the Captain reluctantly allowed his eyes to fall closed again as he rested his head back against the wall behind him. The hand that held the bloodied patch clutched the fabric near his chest where it felt more at home close to his heart. Whether he would have liked to admit it or not, the restless days had left him fatigued; he'd only slept when he had to, and the longer the silence dragged on the more lost he became from the touch of reality. He wasn't sure how long it had taken, but his breathing had gradually began to slow along with his heart rate, until inevitably the world around him closed itself off.
It started with a quiet drip, one after the next resounding in the distance. Barely audible, but constant. Somehow it was enough for the Captain to shift in place with eyes that fluttered open to glance around the room for the source. Seconds away from driving him mad, Chris finally saw it - in the center of the room, the ceiling was damp with water that slipped through a small crack in droplets that fell one by one into a puddle that rested where members of his team had been mere moments ago. His brow furrowed; Alpha was gone from sight without a trace or sound, only the echo from the water as it trailed downward from above.
Chris stepped forward, one hand outstretched to rest under the leaking water, forcing it into near silence as it instead collided down atop his gloved palm. Something wasn't right; it didn't feel normal or natural there, and an eerie coil wove itself in his gut that caused his jaw to tense.
A splatter caught his attention and drew his thoughts away from his troubles momentarily. Brown eyes lowered to the floor, where the small puddle lay at his feet just as a second sputter resounded, then a third. Inches away from the small pool were blotches of water that led away from him, shaped too much like the bottom of bare feet for any comfort. Almost as if it was waiting for him, the moment his eyes had taken in the sight more footprints came to life in a steady trail shortly after, appearing seemingly from thin air as they made tracks toward a shut door; visibly beckoning him to follow.
The Captain hesitated at first. He should have been more concerned about his missing soldiers, he should have turned around and went the other way in search for them. But something was off; the world around him was unsettled and indifferent, somehow he didn't feel worry or paranoia despite the occurring events. In place of those emotions was instead a sense of confusion, and the drive to see more. As though tethered to the door on a shortening rope, ignoring what would have been his better judgement Chris found that his feet had begun to follow in the wake of the footprints until he stood before the closed door, watching as the handle dripped with water as though whatever had led him to it had already gone through.
Chris didn't wait this time. One hand rose to grasp hold of the knob and turn it until it opened. The moment the door was given the slightest pull, the weight of rushing water on the other side of it pushed through and flooded in with enough force to knock the Captain off his feet. The liquid closed in around him, quick to rise as it filled into the room. Chris didn't have time to think; his mind never sought to register how it was possible or how the current hadn't slipped through the cracks around and under the door beforehand. There was only a last intake of breath before the entire room was flooded in under a minute.
There were no pockets of air, no way to breathe and no method of escape. He was trapped, floating endlessly at the center of the room. Chris couldn't help the small shudder that trailed under his skin and down his spine, eyes shut tight as the water imprisoned him under its weight. It couldn't be real, he knew it wasn't real. But it felt like it, and that made it even more terrifying.
"Don't be afraid, Captain."
That voice. It was the same one that haunted him daily; always there, always at the back of his mind. His eyes snapped open immediately to dart from side to side, looking - no, longing - for the source of the sound. The was a ripple of movement that brushed behind him, "You can breathe." He was underwater! How could he? But as it was, his lungs could only last for so long without moving, without hungering for oxygen even where there was none. Unwillingly, he did as told and couldn't help the inhale that forced its way inside of him... Only, he wasn't drowning, he didn't suffocate. It was like breathing air still.
It wasn't real. Chris had to remind himself of that as he felt more ripples to his side, and a body swam out from behind him around to his front; familiar BDUs soaked to the skin, the trademark scarf wrapped tight in place along with strong, hazel eyes and an absence of any visible mutation. Even though the Captain could breathe, for a lengthy moment it had felt like he couldn't all over again. The perfect features of the man in front of him curved to form the smallest of smiles; welcoming but sad, and all together a rare sight to see. Chris swallowed, "Piers." The ability to breathe, to talk - somehow, it didn't seem as important anymore as the man before him.
"You shouldn't be here."
The older man wasn't even sure where 'here' was. Another dream? It would be the only logical possibility.
"Neither should you."
The reply to the Captain's statement had been a small shake of the head. Piers moved again, this time toward the door a short swim away where he paused to hover there by the frame and motioned for Chris to follow. Confused, the older man couldn't find it in himself to argue and pushed himself through the surrounding water toward his old partner. The moment Piers slipped through the opening, Chris was right behind him.
The world flashed around him, distorting into something different. He wasn't in water anymore, but instead in a small, enclosed space that brought a familiar pain back to his senses... No, no, he recognized the sight and turned to go back, to get away... But the door back to the room was gone. Instead, the small window of the escape pod was in its place before him and just like the time before, Piers was on the other side out of his reach and standing strong, just like he had seventeen months ago; not talking, just smiling. His arm was back to the way it was the last time the Captain had seen him; mutilated and deformed, buried deep under sparks of electricity.
Chris moved forward, hands tight to the window not at all different from before. Something inside him twisted until it cracked, he didn't need to relive that all over again, not after how deeply it cut him the first time. He was dangling at the edge of sanity and into the arms of helplessness as his world began to shatter piece by piece all over again.
"Damn it, Piers! Not again! Not this!" Just as it had been the first time it happened, the pounding of his fists against the barrier did nothing to damage it as the glass effectively blocked him off from what he cherished the most. He felt something under his skin, something inside the fast paced rhythm his heart had taken to, and he barely contained the wetness he felt at the edges of his eyes, so close to tears. Chris had told himself he could stay strong - he'd promised Piers night after night that he wouldn't give up. But being trapped there, stuck in a tormenting memory that forced itself on him like a predator shredding through their prey, nothing else seemed to matter.
No, no - there had to be another way, one he hadn't found before. He couldn't do this again.
"Chris? Hey!"
It was a different voice with a higher pitch and a softer undertone that echoed around the edges of the nightmare. But Chris didn't care, he didn't listen - he wouldn't let go. He clutched the sides of the window with eyes that stared on the outside, unable to turn away.
"Come on, big guy. Let's go."
Feminine, the sound cut through the air a second time, causing cracks in the scenery that shifted and blackened.
"You have to leave, Captain."
Chris didn't have time to react, to move, to breathe - the world around him shook, and once more he found himself stuck inside the pod as it shot backwards and away from Piers, enclosing him this time instead into a blinding light where the only audible sound was his own screaming.
A hand on his shoulder, a soft grip over his skin and yet it shook him insistently. Chris blinked his eyes opened, slitting them the moment he did to block out the sudden brightness. Jill's face settled in front of him, an almost teasing smile delicately tracing along the sides of her mouth. "There you are." Her hand gave a pat against his shoulder before it moved away and she rose to a stand, offering to help him up despite her small size compared to his.
Another nightmare. That's all it had been, Chris had to assure himself of that even as he still felt the flood of emotions fuel through is senses. At least he hadn't spoken in his sleep that time, it wouldn't have been the only time it had happened. He swallowed, hardening his features in an attempt to cover it up as he took her hand and allowed her to help. Chris shifted himself until he was back to his feet, lessening the stress on her smaller muscles by pushing his own weight up as she pulled. The moment they were both standing, Jill's smile was long gone. She knew; she always saw through him no matter how hard he tried to hide something. "You should talk to someone, Chris. It's been over a year and you haven't said a word about what happened." One of her hands rested at her hip. Still aware that the rest of Alpha hadn't been too far away in the room, her voice had kept low in volume.
Chris could feel the tension rise along his jawline. He respected what she was trying to do, but it simply wasn't something he wanted to discuss. "It's fine, Jill. As long as I'm focused on the mission, it won't be a bother." Was he running away again? He was certainly avoiding the past, still not able to come to terms with the events. He tried to cope with it, but something or another always rose up to drag him back down.
"Chris..." Jill was too persistent for her own good. It wasn't the first time they had a talk like that.
"We have our orders, Jill. Let's follow them." He was firm, but not angry. She had good intentions, even if he didn't want any of them. This time, Chris didn't give her a chance to stop him as he brushed past her and made a beeline toward the rest of his men, leaving Jill to stare after him as he slipped the B.S.A.A. patch from his fallen comrade into one of the pouches that adorned his vest. A heavy sigh slipped through Jill's parted lips as she shook her head and followed after him to the table where the rest of the men had already unfolded the schematics she brought.
The facility itself was huge, with almost too many entry points to cover. Jill glanced between each soldier before her eyes lowered back down to the papers spread out before them.
"There's four different entry points and all of them are heavily guarded, so it's too much for any one person to get in on their own. That's why I needed all of you. My thought is, we can split up into two separate teams with one of them used as a distraction, while the second unit slips through and gathers whatever data they can before it's wiped clean. They're already going to know we're coming, so the first group will lack any sense of surprise. The rooftop is the least guarded, which means they can be dropped off from a helicopter. That should draw enough attention to clear out the lower levels for the second team to move in from the back. It looks like any worthwhile data will be located somewhere down there, or in the mid levels."
Jill looked up, blue eyes once again passed between each soldier as she spoke. "I know it's risky, but from everything we've gathered so far, HQ thinks the Intel in there may be worth it. We still don't know who's behind the attacks. Rumor has it, there are hidden parts to the facility that don't show up on any known schematics, so we don't have a way of knowing what we'll find." There was some uncomfortable shuffling from several of the men nearby that didn't go unnoticed. Even Chris didn't like the direction things were headed in, "That plan has a lot of flaws, Jill. Are you sure about this?"
The woman sighed. She didn't like the situation anymore than the rest of them did. "No, but it's all we've got."
Chris furrowed his brow, considering. The B.S.A.A. was known for taking drastic risks; it was part of the job after all. The idea of losing another team came to mind briefly, but he shook it away before it got too far. He couldn't feel guilt, not now. He'd have time for that later.
The Captain gave a nod after a few moments, "All right. This is your mission, Jill. You get the Intel, I'll do what I can to keep them distracted."