Author's Note: I originally posted this in 6 parts on the Director blog. After getting questioned as to why Jill wasn't in Edonia looking for Chris and not wanting to use the reason from All That Remains, this is what I came up with. Because of how I posted it, I suspect it reads a bit different than my usual stuff.
Edonia
January 6, 2013
She ran. Lungs struggled to keep up, the air in them hot, burning, not enough. Muscles screamed in protest but she didn't stop. She pushed harder, eeking out every bit of strength they had left.
It was getting away.
The textured grip of the Beretta dug into the fleshy part just below her thumb but she didn't dare holster it. If she did she might not be able to draw it again in time. Claws had already caught her, though thankfully she'd managed to dodge and avoid major injury. Blood had mostly dried up in the two furrows on her right arm. Once it was all said and done it wouldn't even leave a scar.
Not for her anyway.
Pushing just a little more she leaped, clearing the space between the rooftops easily. Landing hard on her feet she winced slightly as the impact jarred her ankles and knees. Damn she was getting too old for this.
If Chris has just come home she wouldn't even be here.
Her resignation as Director hadn't been accepted but she refused to stay home and let the other teams look for him. That was her job. His partner's job.
But she hadn't expected this.
Technically it was too cold out this time of year for much of anything to be moving around this late at night but as she cleared another rooftop she swore she heard a large bird of some kind take flight. The frantic flapping of wings throwing her off for just a second, losing the sound of heavy foot falls she was following.
Right now she had to catch up. An untold number of lives were on the line if she didn't.
Edonia
January 7, 2013
The beast still lived inside of her. Wesker was to thank for that. She felt it shift, move under her breast bone as she stalked her prey. So far she had managed to keep the body count to a minimum. But she hadn't been able to save them all. And the beast shifted every time one of them died.
Truth be told, she wasn't sure if it was aware of the deaths because it felt responsible. Or because it enjoyed them. She kept this part of herself locked away tightly, never daring to let it slip free for fear of what it would do to her.
For fear of losing herself entirely.
The years hadn't changed that.
A clattering of loose stone to her left made her turn, weapon drawn. Mentally she went over the motions she made, loading the magazine, making sure there was one in the chamber. She did this every day and it was second nature to her. A process that didn't really require any thought. But she thought about it anyway.
Easing around the corner of a crumbling building she peered through the debris, hoping to spot her target. Until this was settled she couldn't continue looking for Chris.
Foot slipping, she caught herself, stumbling forward. Cursing, she almost missed the movement. From the corner of her eye she saw claws descend.
Jill dove for cover as the thing attacked.
Edonia
January 8, 2013
Christ there was so much blood.
The thought flickered through her mind like some kind of worn movie. It wasn't all hers. But enough of it was. More than enough. Furrows on her arm had torn open, blood freely rolling down, dripping off her fingers. Leaving behind big fat splats of it. The thought of leaving it behind worried her. She was never one to leave her blood about. Too many of the wrong people could benefit from it in the end. No thank you.
Burning in her side reminded her she'd taken another hit. That seemed to be soaking into her shirt. Good. Trying to figure out how to clean this mess up was hard enough without adding more to it.
Two large, mutated bodies were sprawled across the black rooftop. Glittering in the moonlight, blood pooled behind them, a river of it finally stopping halfway across the roof. Wiping the back of her good hand across her forehead she realized her heart was still pounding.
With three steps back she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. The beast had almost risen. Cost her precious seconds. Eyes opened, taking in all the spent casings scattered about. Hers. It had taken all her rounds to take both of them down. Too many of them considering all the direct hits she'd landed. These things kept getting deadlier, harder to kill.
Bleeding had slowed to almost nothing and she flicked her fingers, clearing them of the crimson droplets. The spatter was almost black in the light. Indicative of what was inside of her maybe?
A deep sigh and she checked the clearance of the buildings around her. Thankfully this part of town was run down, more deserted than not. She'd burn it. Stick around long enough to make sure it would destroy everything, then move on.
There was one last creature to track.
Then she could find Chris.
Edonia
January 11, 2013
Screaming.
Soul shredding, gut wrenching screaming.
And it was hers.
Claws pierced her skin, dug into fat and muscle, scraping against bone. Lung collapsed and then she couldn't get enough air to scream. The coppery scent of her own blood hit her nose and her gorge rose. Were there anything in her stomach she'd have lost it without any ability to stop it from happening. But she'd been too busy to eat much so all she managed were heaves.
Those were worse, jerking her against those razor sharp talons. Jill looked down, seeing the bone white tips exiting a few inches below her breast.
A whimper, tempered with the sound of pain, leaked from her somehow. Struggling, she pulled fruitlessly at the spikes running through the right side of her chest. Two of them. Streaked with her blood.
The sun wasn't quite down and the orange-red light cast her skin in a deadly shade as it lowered on the horizon. There was no comforting feel of a Beretta in her hand. It had been knocked aside somewhere along the way. No combat knife, even as a last resort. Sharp bone lacerated her hands, leaving them torn and bleeding.
With a flailing kick she tried to shift herself, give herself just a little room, but the thing shook her in retaliation and she slid even further down. Claws against ribs and she let out an agonized cry.
This one was different than the other two creatures.
This one had obviously been human at some point.
Not that it mattered. Coughing, blood stained her lips in a fine mist. Vision blurred, blackness seeping in from the edges. Fingers tingled with the oncoming numbness and they slipped from the weapons that had impaled her. Arms went limp, hanging at her sides uselessly.
Never in a million years did she think she'd go out like this. A faint smile touched her lips as she thought of Chris. The cocky smile he'd given her before he'd left for this hell hole. His assurance he'd be back in time to give her the Christmas gift he'd spent a lot of time picking out.
"I'll leave when I'm good and ready."
The rough, angry voice came to her from far off. A whisper in a dream.
But she knew it. As well as she knew herself.
The beast uncoiled itself and rose, rearing its head once more. This time she was too weak to stop it.
A bellow of rage and frustration tore through her as she ripped herself off the claws with new found strength. Hands and knees stung as she hit the pavement hard, bits of concrete digging into the raw flesh. With a feral growl she looked up, the beast in full control.
Snarling like a wild animal she hurled herself at the creature, grabbing hold of one of the offending protrusions as it swiped at her again. This time she was ready, holding tightly and snapping it off as it tried to pull away. One leg swung up as she spun, connecting with the the side if it's head with a satisfying thunk. Moving before it had time to react, she plunged the broken claw into the thing's chest. Blackish-red spewed from around the wound. The smell was vile, full of wrongness.
It shrieked with rage and pain backing away from this new opponent it suddenly faced.
Fire flared in her chest and she was still unable to take a deep breath. Unable to fully use her right side. But it didn't stop her. The noise would draw people in. This had to be finished now. Before there were more casualties.
Launching herself off the ground, body flipping in mid air, she landed on the thing's shoulders. Knees gripped the misshapen head tightly and she twisted, using torque from her whole body. Perhaps it was a good thing it had once been human. Humans all had the same basic vulnerable spots.
Neck snapped under the pressure and the mutated form went to it's knees. Shoving herself up and using the thing as leverage, she back flipped and landed unsteadily on her feet.
Wobbling, she lost her balance and fell into the wall on her left, sparing her injured side a direct hit. The beast growled, wanting more. The battle ended too quickly and it wanted to fill that hole it always had inside.
Knees shouted in protest as they met the rough hard surface once more. Fingernails snapped as they tried to dig into the alley floor. Breaths came as pants. She shook, body quivering, begging for more.
"No," she whispered. "Not like this."
The beast roared, unwilling to go back into the carefully built cage she'd kept it in for so long.
A battle raged but it was all inside. She hadn't moved, forcing her muscles into lock down, denying the beast the thing it wanted most.
Rampage. Carnage. Damage.
Quivering, body shaking, she ground her teeth together. She would not let this happen. She had worked too damn hard to move past this.
Jill Valentine was not what Wekser had tried to make her.
With a howl of fury she thrust herself up from her crouch. Fingers clawed at her chest without finding what they sought. The device was long gone. Coming up empty, hands went to her sides, fists clenched. The few nails she had left dug into her palm, drawing half moons of blood.
Blood loss made her head swim and she stumbled, landing against the wall as she moved. Pain shrieked at her, bolts of electricity firing along the nerves of her body. Shifting so she could do it again, she threw herself into the wall once more.
More pain, but this helped clear her head. Gasping, breaths coming in shallow pants, she leaned against the wall, letting the rage drain, replaced with a physical pain. Unable to take a deep breath thanks to her collapsed lung she could feel the decreased oxygen levels effecting her head. Vision swam, darkness teasing the edges like a black fog. Still using the wall for support she turned, looking at the body lying in the alley.
It had to be disposed of. Gathering her strength she pushed off the wall and staggered to the corpse. As before she'd burn it. Digging into one of her pockets, she produced the lighter Chris had given her many years ago. Never know when you might need it, he'd said.
A handful of shaky steps as she looked for some kind of accelerant.
As the flames reached into the sky she collapsed. Body hit the crumbling pavement with quiet thud. It was done.
"What's going on down there?"
Once again that voice leaked into her consciousness and she wearily lifted her head from the ground. Sight was down to two pinpoint spots directly in front of her but she knew him anywhere. His stance, the way he held himself, the way he moved.
"Chris," she whispered, reaching feebly in his direction.
He took a few steps into the alley before the shouting started. Another couple of hesitant steps in her direction before a group arrived and chased him out.
"No..."
World went dark and she welcomed it.
Epilogue
BSAA Europe Hospital
Ow. Ow. Ow ow ow.
It was the only thought in her mind as her eyes peeled themselves open. Hospital smell hit her first, then the soft sounds of mechanical beeps. Both things she hated.
"You're awake." The words were simple but the relief in them couldn't be hidden.
With a grunt she turned her head, looking at him as he leaned back in the chair next to her bed.
"You almost died." It was delivered in a matter of fact tone that would have amused her under other circumstances.
"Chris..." Barely a whisper.
"Still MIA."
"Saw him." Even to her the voice that came out of her wasn't her own. Hoarse, raspy, she obviously hadn't spoken for a while. "What day is it?"
Eyes watched her a moment, his expression tight. "It's February second Director."
Three weeks? She'd lost three weeks? Weakly she tried pushing the sheet off of her. Chris would be gone from that place by now. But maybe he left a clue for them to follow.
"Sit still." Now he was angry. "What the hell were you thinking? Going after that thing like that? Why the hell didn't you call a team?"
"I resigned." The table to her left held a small pitcher of water and a cup that had been filled at some point. Fumbling, she nearly knocked it over before the solider moved around the bed to help. Holding it for her, keeping the straw still until she was finish. "No team to call."
"Bullshit. You shouldn't have been there alone."
Jill wasn't going to argue. Certainly not with him. She didn't take orders from this man. "I found Chris."
"I'm not surprised." If anyone could track the missing Captain down it would be her. "One more reason you should have called for back up."
Grumbling, she shook her head gingerly. "I don't take orders from you Piers. If I remember correctly you take them from me."
There was the Director he knew and loved. Nivans offered a small smile. "No, you don't. I've already got people on the ground where you were. We haven't found anything solid yet, but several bar owners knew his face. They haven't seen him since the night you nearly died."
"Dammit." Sleep was wrapping itself around her, pulling her under. "The body of the BOW?"
"I took care of it. It was mostly burned by the time I arrived, but what was left went to the lab. I made sure your blood was also destroyed." Grey-blue eyes snapped to his face in surprise. It must have shown on her features because he answered, "Chris told me. Thought someone else should know in case something happened."
Heavy lids fluttered closed. "Thank you."
"That's what I'm here for Director. As soon as you're well enough to travel you'll be going home. Another week or two according to the doc." Piers retook his position in the chair by her bed. "I'm staying until then. Someone has to make sure you stay put."
"Too tired to go anywhere..." The words were slow, starting to slur.
"Good, then you can't argue." His hand touched hers, holding it a moment. "We're going to find him. I promise."
Unable to answer, sleep already taking her under, stronger than she was just then, Jill gave a small nod then let out a deep breath and succumbed to slumber.
Rising from his seat, Nivans rose, brushing a few strands of hair from her face. "Just sleep Director. I've got this handled."