With each of the two men staring at the other their tensions were practically tangible "And you are?" Jay asked lowering his gun. "Chris Redfield S.T.A.R.S Alpha team" the man replied also lowering his weapon. Jay cursed in his head "Nice to meet you Chris. See ya around" he said quickly moving by the Stars member and continuing down the hall. Chris confused shrugged his shoulders after Jay left the room before he continued on his own way.

Entering the next hall Jay looked over to a staircase and decided to descend it. Arriving at the bottom Jay looked around and smiled in annoyance "I just went in a huge fucking circle". Walking back up the stairs he went around the small guardrail and through the door on the wall, out on a small balcony Jay heard gunshots. Reading his pistol Jay quickly ran around the corner finally running into Chase.

"Boss" Jay said holstering his gun and running over to Chase. "Jay I'm glad to see you're still alive," Chase said reaching down to the zombie dog he just killed and removing its collar. "This whole place is like a giant puzzle box," Chase said removing the fake key from the collar. "Yea I've noticed that, take that key down the hall go through the first door and take the door on the far side of that hall. Continue down that hall until reach a mirror the door past the dead body has a room with stone statues that key goes in the pedestal at the end of that room" Jay explained before he checked the remaining ammo in his pistol.

Chase grunted with surprise "I'm impressed Jay we're two hours into this mission and you've already got most of this place mapped out in your head". "I'm a recon and small arms specialist remember" Jay said loading another clip into his pistol. Looking over the rail of the balcony Jay stared at the dark forest that spanned for miles "This is far worse than that incident in Miami" he said following with a quick laugh.

Chase found that remark amusing as he too began laughing "At least we don't have to worry about urban terrorists and snipers this time". "Well Chase should we split up or search together the radios are out again?" Jay asked as the two reentered the hall. "I think its safe to split up most of the monsters on this side have been taken care of knowing you" Chase replied with a gently punch to Jay's shoulder.

"Very well, oh and be careful I've spotted two STARS members already. One of them saw me, but I fled before she could do anything" Jay said before he took the next door in front of him. "She?" Chase said to himself as he watched Jay exit the hall.

Back in the dinning hall Jay looked at the zombies that were lying on the floor "Chase's handy work I trust" he said seeing the single bullet hole in each of their foreheads. Still being careful Jay quickly hopped over each of the corpses before exiting the empty dinning hall.

On the second floor of the lobby Jay heard a door slam on the other end. Crouching down next to the rail Jay waited for another sound before he moved around the railing. Hearing something heavy fall to the floor with a grunt Jay quickly moved around the railing staying down, finally making it to the small set of stairs Jay looked over and slowly scanned the other side. Seeing a body sitting against the railing Jay readied his gun before he descended the small stairs quickly climbing the other set. Aiming his gun around the corner Jay froze when he recognized the body "Stephen" he yelled running over to his injured friend.

Kneeling next to him he immediately saw the wound on his right shoulder, "Stephen what the hell happened?" Jay asked removing his equipment pack and retrieving the bandages and first aid kit. Stephen coughed violently "Small room, it was booby trapped gas vents on the floor" stopping to cough Stephen's eyes began rolling back "Got out, but I was ambushed by one of those things".

"Stop talking and hold on all right," Jay said keeping his voice down. Hearing the door behind them open Jay spun around with his pistol aimed at another injured ally. "Jay" Joe said stumbling forward holding his arm across his abdomen his left arm riddled with small bite marks his torso had two large marks in it. Collapsing on the floor Joe dropped his gun as his blood began seeping into the carpet.

"Joe what happened to you?" Jay asked rolling him onto his back. "Jay don't go into the attic, there's a giant snake in there, watch the rafters" he said before his head dropped back. "Joe. Joe" Jay yelled shaking his downed partner. Grabbing hold of Joe's wrist and placing his fingers on his neck Jay checked him for a pulse…nothing "Dammit" he yelled.

"We shouldn't have split up" Stephen coughed forcing himself up against the railing and limping towards Jay. "We have to get out of here no amount of payment is worth this" Jay said as he removed Joe's dog tags and I.D. card from his pocket. "Without communications we can't issue a backup or retreat request to base" Stephen said as he threw a damaged radio forward. "Figures" Jay said as he stomped his foot down on it.

Turning to face Stephen Jay helped him back to the stairs "Hold still" he said as he began treating his wound. Hearing the door below them open Jay spun around aiming his pistol at William "Kid good to see your still alive" he said running over to them. "Where's Sam" Jay asked quickly standing up. "We got separated" William replied before he looked down at Stephen.

"What about Joe?" he asked. "Dead sir, he said something about a giant snake in the attic" Stephen coughed. "We need to regroup and…" William stopped when he saw the bandaging on Jay's forearm. "That wasn't done by you was it kid?" he asked. "No I was surprised by one of those monsters and got knocked out. When I came to some girl was tending to my injury," he explained rubbing his hand along the bandaged wound.

William turned his head and sighed, "Was it a STARS member?" "I'm not sure sir I left without speaking to her," Jay lied. "All right, there's a possibility our mission has been compromised so your new order is if a STARS member sees you terminate them" William ordered. "Is that really necessary? We could use their help" Jay argued. "If they spot you terminate them, we are not to be seen by anyone outside the contract" William barked.

"Very well, I'm going to continue searching. I ran into Chase he's still alive he's somewhere on the second floor" Jay said pointing at the east wing before he climbed the stairs and entered the hall Joe came from.

"I hate this job," he said to himself as he began walking down the hall. Quickly dispatching a zombie ahead of him Jay took the first door on his right, entering a small white hallway Jay quickly ran to the other side before approaching the corner he heard the door behind him open. Turning around Jay saw the same zombie slowly advancing towards him "Just die already" he grunted as he began firing. Backing against the wall Jay quickly looked to his right seeing Chris Redfield and Rebecca kneeling next to a body in the corner.

Turning back to the zombie Jay waited for it to lunge at him before he crouched down and pushed it forward "Piss off" he yelled turning his gun around and slamming the handle into its skull. Loading his last clip into his gun Jay tightly gripped the handle before he turned to face the two STARS members.

"Jay good to see you're all right" Rebecca said before she turned her head back to the man lying on the floor. "Likewise" Jay said walking over to her and Chris. Looking down at the man on the floor Jay saw the same bite marks that Joe had "This must be it then" Jay said as he pulled the hammer of his pistol back. "Rebecca" the man coughed before he passed out from his pain. "Richard" Chris yelled quickly falling to his knees to check on his friend.

"He's fine he's just unconscious," Rebecca told him with a relieved sigh. "Wait here I'll take care of the snake" Jay said as he walked past them and towards the door. Closing the door behind him Jay walked forward and jumped around a small corner aiming his gun down the corridor next to him. Immediately being attacked by a zombie Jay was pinned against the floor his gun knocked out of his hand.

Holding the zombie by its neck Jay struggled to keep it from biting him as he reached for his knife. Taking the stiletto knife from a pocket on his vest Jay flipped it open and stabbed the zombie in the head several times. After convinced it was dead Jay pushed it back with all his strength quickly rolling to the side before pushing up.

Retrieving his gun Jay placed the knife back in his pocket and climbed the small stairs entering the attic. Taking a single step forward Jay looked around the musty room, then up at the rafters "I see you mother fucker," he said throwing a small cup from a nearby shelf at it. Hanging down from the rafters the snake stared at Jay flipping its tongue at him.

"What's up?" Jay said nodding his head at the snake. Opening its mouth the snake hissed threateningly before attacking him. Rolling to the side Jay took aim with his pistol and began firing. Avoiding another attempted bite from the snake Jay turned around only to have the snake's tail slap him against the wall. "That all you got" Jay grunted as he got to his feet avoiding another strike. "Come on" he yelled before firing the last shot from his pistol, luckily hitting the snake in its eye.

The snake turned away quickly retreating through a small hole in the wall at the back of the room. Grabbing his knife and flipping it open Jay slowly approached the hole and snatched something that was lying in front of it. Backing away Jay quickly exited the room "What is this?" he asked himself staring at half a wooden object that had what looked like a star imprinted on it.

"Are you all right?" Chris asked walking over to him. "I'm fine, but the snake fled so be on the look out" Jay said before he handed Chris the object he found and left the room. Continuing down the hall Jay opened a set of double green doors seeing nothing, but statues in the room Jay walked forward, but stopped when he noticed a switch on the ground. "Gas room" he said after he spotted the vents on the floor.

After pushing the two statues over the vents Jay flipped the switch holding his hand over his mouth and nose. Watching as the showcase at the end of the room creaked open Jay quickly retrieved what was in it and exited the room. Turning his head he saw Chris entering the hall "Here" he said throwing the half object over to him "It's a match". Catching the other half of the crest Chris looked on as Jay continued down the hall.

"I won't kill them unless I have to" Jay said as he opened another door. Walking down the narrow hall Jay looked over the railing seeing a zombie directly below him. "Well this might be fun," he said placing a hand on the railing and jumping over it. Falling onto the zombie Jay grabbed his pistol and slammed its handle into the zombie's skull killing it. Getting to his feet Jay ran into a small supply closet that was nearby, "Finally some ammo" he said seeing several clips on top of the chest in front of him.

Grabbing the ammo Jay quickly reloaded his gun before he continued to scout the mansion, exiting the room Jay entered another dark hallway. Turning to the right he walked down until he saw a door to his left and another door a few yards to the right. "Hi oh that way" he said to himself pointing to the right. Opening the door Jay was now in an outside hall, ivy wrapping its way up the walls and pillars, crickets chirping in the nearby shrubbery and wolves howling in the distance.

"This would be comforting it weren't life threatening" Jay scoffed as he began running down the hall. Opening a steel door Jay entered a tool shed coming face to face with a man in black leather and dark sunglasses, pointing a gun at his head.