Both women exited the club through the back door, Detective Trevor's car was parked around the back, out of sight. Both women walked side by side, Jill's attention was up at the moon above, which was about the only thing visible in the night sky. "He seemed really pissed." said Alex and she pulled out her keys from her pocket, Jill smiled and shrugged, "He did didn't he? Barry Burton isn't always like that. He's a kind man, big heart, he's a teddy bear really. However with all that's going on, like the civil war in Edonia, and the possibility of B.O.W.s being used there, he has a lot on his plate right now...not to mention his wife is filling for divorce."
Alex remained silent, she did not know Barry, yet felt bad about a falling relationship. Her own parents had once had a falling out, but have since mended. To her, marriage was sacred. Both women approached the Alex's car as two squad cars suddenly set off from the club, an ambulance followed, all sirens blaring. Jill moved to the passenger side, and as Alex unlocked the car, he glanced over to Jill, "Are you married Agent Valentine?" Both women entered the vehicle and buckled themselves in, Jill gave a chuckle to the question, "No I'm not-just to my job. The only commitment I made was to putting an end to Bio-terror."
"Did you ever see yourself getting married?"
Jill found herself dumbfounded by the question, that particular question was something she had not thought about for many years. In fact, thinking of it now brought in regret as well as memories of old.
"I did. It was a long time ago, a different time when things made sense. I mean, this isn't exactly the kind of world I would want to get married in. Imagine having a child in a world where monsters do exist, where a breath of the wrong air could infect you with something deadly that will turn you into some kind of creature. It gets to a point when having a family just does not make any sense in a world so insane as the one we live in now."
Three squad cars rushed by, sirens on. Both women shared of look of confusion before Alex's phone went off, she fumbled for a moment before pulling it from her coat pocket, "It's my CO." she answered as she turned on the ignition.
"Yes sir... Yes... Yes she is." Alex turned to Jill, "Well I was on my way to take her to see her partner at...yes... Yes sir I understand, we'll be right there!" Suddenly Alex's voice was file with excitement, but not a good type, something was wrong, horribly wrong. Jill was able to hear it in Detective Trevor's voice, and see it in her face and body language.
Alex backed up the car quickly, turned on the siren and hit the accelerator at such a speed it had pressed Jill against her seat, "My CO needs you at Union Station immediately. In fact the entire police department in the vicinity needs to be there, Los Angeles has a biohazard situation!"
The woman in the black dress and dagger heels sat at her black leather armchair comfortably, the remained there without a care in the world as she sipped on her champagne. The fireplace beside her was roaring, and the outside city was alive with the sound of police sirens, cars honking at each other, and the sound of approaching helicopters. She was at ease, and it was in this moment that she was truly happy. Soon enough she would be free from all of this.
She had worked her way from the bottom up, it was this position that she had been looking for the entire time, ever since she started working with her former company back in France. She had come such a long way.
There was knock on the door, she did not reply, the door opened and in stepped an elderly man in a tuxedo, "Call on line seven, ma'am." She waved him off, he gave a bow and exited the room, gently shutting the door behind himself. This was it, the call she had been waiting for, the call to confirm, the call that was going to make all of her problems go away. The woman in the black dress, dagger heels, and dark red lipstick, reached over to the stand beside her black leather armchair and picked up the phone, "Yes?" she answered, a coolness in her voice, she wore a smile to go with it. There was a man on the other end of the phone, who's relaxed tone matched her own, "We made the delivery. The BSAA made a cameo tonight, yet, they only proved to be a nuisance. You had me believing otherwise." he sounded disappointed, "Believe me, they're losing their edge. Is everything still on schedule then?" there was a brief pause, "Our contact was extracted, payment delivered. As we speak he is on his way to meet with you now." Her smile widened, "Excellent. Judging by the sound of excitement in the city, I'm guessing Phase Three went off without any mistakes?" the man chuckled, "Child's play." The man ended the call and she sat her phone back into place. She took a sip of her champagne and then gave a soft chuckle, so far this was the easiest biological attack she had ever caused.
Alex and Jill had traffic, but it wasn't just slow, the traffic had come to a complete stop. If there really was an attack at Los Angeles' Union Station then there was no time to waste. Both women had come to this conclusion, and both women had exited the vehicle and were now running down the freeway in a full sprint as cars around them honked in frustration. Up ahead they could see the police had set up a blockade, the 101 Freeway was completely empty beyond that point, possibly a first. Overhead a helicopter swooped down close enough for Jill's hair to be uncomfortable, a spot light followed them for a moment before focusing elsewhere just beyond. Two more helicopters soon came over them, all converging on one location.
Alex and Jill jumped the medium into the oncoming lane, which was empty, and went up the off ramp, it was there they could see what looked like a festival of people, flashing red and blue in every direction. Search lights shinning on the small clock tower at the Union Station, spotlights all over the building and the windows. Outside on the streets, in the parking lot, and even on a small park nearby, squad cars, SWAT trucks, and even a S.T.A.R.S. vehicle had taken residence. The place was swarming with men shouting orders, all of them clamoring about each other. Alex and Jill headed for the Union Station building, near the entrance was a small tent, where Alex had spotted the mayor, the chief of police, as well as a batch of her superior officers, including the one that had asked for her and Jill Valentine. Both women pushed their way through, Alex calling out to her CO, "McKenna!" His attention shot over to her and he ordered men to let her through as he tried meeting we half way, "About time detective!" He barked, "LA traffic Sir, you know how bad it gets when someone launches a biological attack." It was a bad joke, especially at a time like this. A bad joke, one that actually got a brief chuckle from Jill, McKenna brushed off the joke and focused on Jill, "Miss Valentine, we've already called in for more assistance from the BSAA, as well as the CDC, we have officers here from all over trying to keep this situation contained to the station itself-we obviously don't want this getting out!" McKenna had to raise his voice, another helicopter had joined the birds already in flight over the station, it shined a light behind the building, a section Jill could not see from her angle, "What happened!?" she asked, screaming over another swooping helicopter, "A little over ten minutes ago there was an attack here, a security guard that made it out said people started fighting each other near the Amtrack platform, gate seven. It didn't take them long to realize the attacks were not just people fighting, they were eating one another. Security quickly scrambled and got people from the main hall out of the building, yet people coming and going from the transit hall were being attacked, the security sealed the doors from all ends and got in contact with us. Some of our boys blocked off a few other exits, since then as more men have arrived we've been able to fortify these blockades. The people in there, the ones that did not make it out in time...and the train that had just arrived..." McKenna's voice went quiet, he did not need to finish his sentence, Jill knew where he was going. Anyone who wasn't quick enough, even those who were in different areas, and oblivious to the outbreak...odds were they were dead. If not dead, then possibly infected.
Jill looked beyond the line of SWAT officers ahead and noticed the front doors of the Union Station, they were rattling, she knew the infected were just on the other side. Different parts of the building were walled off by large boards, and makeshift steel plates. Items that would hold, but not forever. Jill knew of that first hand. She had seen broken blockades, shattered walls and windows, all hopes of keeping out the hungry dead-gone. Anger filled her, anger at the arrogance of those she had tried to warn, anger at those who refused to listen to her story, anger at those who created the virus. Anger at Umbrella. It was here in Los Angeles, the Tyrant Virus had apparently been introduced into someone. This must have been done in retaliation for the BSAA's involvement in the attempted capture of Esquivel. Jill could see no other reason for there to be an attack, it had to have been meant as a message. She would make Esquivel pay for this, no way in Hell was she going to stand idly by and let another Raccoon City Incident happen again. She would not allow herself, or anyone, go go through that...not again.
"The building has to be destroyed. We have to eradicate the virus, set explosives or-" McKenna suddenly interjected, "We've gone over that with the major, he's not having it, he refuses to destroy this building. It's essential to Los Angeles and the community, we can't have-" Jill protested "There won't be a goddamn community if that virus gets out, if even one of those Things make it out of that building! To save a building you're risking the lives of everyone in Los Angeles and surrounding counties! The BSAA has never had to contain a county like this before! No army has! We can't risk preserving the building while those things are moving around in there!"
"Agent Valentine!" McKenna tried voicing an opinion, but Jill did not back down, "I've seen too many lives destroyed by that virus! Too many people have died because of Umbrella! You can't let this building stand while the infected swarm within that place!"
"Agent Valentine!" McKenna shouted at the top of his lungs, Alex had never heard him so loud, it caused her to flinch, even the other men around them had given McKenna their attention. Jill Valentine was unwavering, though it got her to stop talking, she was obviously still looking for an argument. McKenna gave a brief look around and leaned closer to both women, "I know where you're coming from, believe me, but this isn't my decision."
Alex looked over at Jill, who now seemed to relax, but only a bit, "I realize your mission as a member of the BSAA, and I know you want nothing more than to wipe out those things from the face of this Earth. The mayor is sending in a group of S.T.A.R.S. members via Civic Center, that's the subway station nearest here. That group will go into the tunnels and take down any of the carriers in the tunnels. At the same time we have other groups of officers and SWAT, all of them will converge on the Union Station from all tracks leading in and out of the area. My group of S.T.A.R.S. at the Civic Center, they'll be the first group to head inward from the tunnels, here. I would like you to lead them."
Jill's world had come to a halt, even McKenna could see that his request had thrown her off entirely. Alex looked on, eager to listen to Jill's response. "You've been through this before, my team could use your expertise. You'd be invaluable to us." said McKenna, Jill was very hesitant. To be a member of S.T.A.R.S. again; to be a part of the team that helped shape her, to once again be a part of the team that had first encountered the B.O.W.s, that had been betrayed by their captain, to be a part of the team that had been wiped out. All of her friends who had died in July of '98, all of those who died in Raccoon City. She owed it to them, but mostly to her old team. Even if she was not officially part of this particular S.T.A.R.S. unit, she would make damn sure that no member of this unit would die because of Umbrella.
"I'm in." said Jill, a grin appearing on her face.
"Excellent!" McKenna gave her a pat on the back and waved over a patrolman, "Officer Davila drive both of you to the Civic Center, at which point Agent Valentine will meet with Captain Luis. Detective Trevor, Davila will drive you up to check on Agent Chris Redfield. If he's fit, and all he's got is a scratch, then we need him here as well. His experience is matched only by Valentine, he can be useful to us."
"Even if he doesn't look in shape, just let him know the situation, I promise you he'll leap over here." said Jill, offering advise on her partner. With all said and done, both women were taken to the squad car and were presently on their way to the Civic Center, the roads leading away from the Union Station were empty, and the roads nearest, with vehicles heading toward, were empty. Doors opened, lights on, citizens were evacuated either voluntarily or forcefully. It was for their own good. Anyone who was not armed had potential to become infected easily, and then infect others just as quickly. And with Jill's brain on the subject of infection, she thought back to the moment of infection at Union Station. Something did not quite add up: the speed of the infection was almost impossible. The T-Virus, the virus he had encountered before, it had taken some time to reanimate a corpse. Why had this seemed so fast?
"Thank you Agent Valentine, for helping us like this. I can't imagine what this is like for you, being a part of S.T.A.R.S. again." said Alex Trevor from the passenger seat, Jill remained quiet, she was not about to get into her feelings, not with someone she had only just met. Even if this girl looked up to her, it was not in Jill's reputation to be an open book.
Back to the question in her mind though, how had the virus infected people so quickly? Was it something new? Had the virus been altered to spread in someone's system faster, turn an organism into a B.O.W. at an exponential rate, turn them into a mindless drone quicker? In Raccoon City, she had been infected with a variant of the T-Virus, her pursuer, a Tyrant B.O.W., had infected her with one of its attacks. She had been infected the night of September 28th, and she had lost consciousness. Drifting in and out for almost three days. She was infected for days, and though she was able to feel the humanity slipping away, she had not turned into one of the undead. She was lucky she had someone there for her...yet where was he now? This was not the time to think about old friends, back to the virus. Jill was infected for days, only then, on October 1st was she given a vaccine and saved. Years went by, and she had even undergone experimentation from her former enemy. Jill's body had created anti-bodies for the T-Virus, she was the cure to the thing that had caused so much misery in the world. Yet, it was her which helped Him create a new virus, something stronger, something that almost destroyed the world. Would her anti-bodies fight the virus which had infected the people at Union Station?
The squad car pulled up to a scene similar to the one at Union Station, an armored S.T.A.R.S. vehicle was parked just in front of stairs leading down into what Jill assumed was the subway platforms. Several other squad cars, two S.T.A.R.S. vehicles and four police squad cars blocked off the area. "This is you Agent Valentine." said Officer Davila, Jill unbuckled herself and stepped out, then paused and moved back to the car, leaning over to Alex, "When you see Chris, and when you tell him where I am, he's going to want to come after me. You can't let him follow me, understand?" Alex nodded at Jill's request, "If he insists, tell him to remember our mission, tell him to remember what our job at the BSAA is." with that, Jill turned away and began to make her way to the S.T.A.R.S. vehicle, and the two men in full uniform waiting for her, "Jill!" shouted Alexandria from her vehicle, turn turned on the spot. There was a moment, a singular moment which Jill could see Alex trying to think of something to say, "Take care." said Alex, Jill gave a nod, smiled, and turned back to her mission. No stopping now, this was war.
I want to apologize for how long it took to get this chapter up; the release of Resident Evil 6 has taken up quite a portion of my time. Juggling that, with work and school gave me very little time. None the less the chapter is finally up and I plan to have the 4th chapter up soon. With RE6 out now, I will assure the readers that the story in that game has not altered this particular story, or the direction I wanted to take it. If anything, RE6 enhances what I had already planned and as it turns out, offers a unique opportunity that I had hoped for. If you have any questions, comments, qualms, feel free to leave a comment or send me a PM. I'm not a douche, and I only bite upon request.
