In pursuit. That is what her life had become. Always chasing something that was either light years out of grasp, or that she missed just by the tips of her fingers. The pursuit of what exactly? The end of...Umbrella? The tests? The viruses? The suffering? That would never end. It was a relentless self destructive pursuit, and Claire Redfield would not concede defeat.
It had been years since the initial breakout in Raccoon City. Years since she had last seen Leon, although she speculated they may have crossed paths in Spain much later. It seemed like an entire lifetime when her only goal was ensuring the safety of her brother, Chris. Her goal had transcended into something greater. Securing the safety of a child, whom was pulled in to the entire conspiracy. Chasing the virus all over the globe until locating its source. And finally, the mission that she was sure would end in her demise: the final destruction of the project. And it would end in her demise. Even if Claire were to succeed it would mean destroying the man who had stolen her affections. Or was he a man? More of a monster, that had treated her heart with a light fingered contempt.
Though the rocks were slippery and sharp, Claire's honed ability allowed her to scale the cliff with some ease. Her pursuit of the virus and its trail had led her to a remote island in the Atlantic Ocean. Although her lead was solid, the outlook was dismal at best. The island already seemed to have succumbed to the virus entirely. No...it wasn't a virus. It was some...parasite? Claire's contact had also given her a detailed anatomical sketch of the stages of something called the las plagas. Claire knew little about it, but Wesker's involvement told her that it had to share some characteristics with the T-Virus and it must have had some roots in the project.
A stark and cold smile came to her face at the thought of Wesker. It had been in her pursuit of Umbrella that they had met, and it was in her pursuit of Umbrella that they had fallen for each other. The memory came back vividly as the rhythmic movements of scaling the cliff required little thought.
She had been in a desperate situation, one that would precede the worst 6 months of her life. Claire stood on the roof of a bioexperimental facility that was located in the middle east. She held in her hand the only known sample of what she now recognized as the beginnings of the las plagas. Wesker faced her, menace in his eyes but he was forced to treat the situation with a certain amount of finesse. He tried negotiating, but knew before he had even begun that it was useless, Claire held the only thing she wanted. He threatened taking the lives of Sherry and Chris, Jill, Rebecca, Leon anyone who she had known in connection with the incident at Raccoon City. But still, Claire refused. Wesker couldn't merely use his brute strength, if she were to drop the vial years of painstaking research would be lost. He was at a loss, completely taken aback by her new found passion and ability. She had once been just the concerned little sister of his sworn enemy. Now, however, Wesker was forced to regard her as a formidable enemy.
Claire stood, his life's word in her hands, threatening to end everything he had worked for. The cold of the night plagued them as they stood at a deadlock. Until Claire made one fatal mistake. The wind whipped at her and for a moment she glanced behind, to ensure she was a safe distance from the edge of the roof. He dove at his opportunity. Her lapse of judgement had costed her her only bargaining chip. He was upon her now, pinning her down. Claire looked up at the hate radiating from his eyes and saw her own mortality. It was in that instance that, with a surge of adrenaline and strength, she pushed him off one of her arms and injected herself with the sample. Wesker's eyes flooded with a momentary terror. They hadn't had enough time to test the sample yet. They didn't know its capabilities, they didn't even have an antidote. In fact, they knew very little about the concoction. And the girl had just injected herself.
Claire doubled over, feeling pinpricks of pain radiate through her arm. It was as if needles of fire were pulling at her muscles. She slipped into delusion, and didn't even realize Wesker had picked her up, thrown her over his shoulder and started back into the facility.
It took 6 months of painstaking research. They had caused the sample to lie dormant in her blood with a series of injections. It was there, just inactive. She was a human vessel, and the only hope for the sample to be successfully recreated. Her blood was tested, DNA, genes, her reactions to chemicals. Everything. It was painful and a terrible hell everyday for weeks. Until Wesker, in an admiration of her steadfastness, forced the doctors to treat her with at least a little empathy. They didn't question him, but found the request odd as he had never before shown any compassion.
Claire suffered still, but now it was a bittersweet hell she occupied. Wesker was her great protector and her worst enemy. Their bond grew over time, it was unmistakable. And when she escaped, after the majority of the tests were completed, no one went after her.
Claire had pulled herself up over the cliff, and laid in a small cove that sheltered her from view. The cold smile still played with her lips. She finally forced herself up, the weight of her memory making it the act more difficult than scaling the entire cliff. Slipping over the rocks and into a series of underground paths Claire looked down at her GPS. It was providing her with no signal. Claire scoffed in irritation. Didn't Global mean all over the globe? Apparently not.
The labyrinth of caves seemed to stretch on for miles. Claire could easily get lost. Or ambushed. Or eaten, she supposed. But her relentless pursuit had taken her this far and it would take her the rest of the way.
With a heavy sigh and her finger on the trigger of her Broken Butterfly magnum revolver Claire started in, the winding and weaving underground paths offering no clue as to what the end may hold.