Here's chapter two... I got it done faster than I expected, due to a sudden break in the wall that was Writer's Block (amazing what a playthrough of RE3 will do for you)
some actual plot in this one, in case you're wondering... And I promise that there will be zombies and horribly mutated monsters soon.
Thanks to whoever favorited this... Though a review would be nice hint hint
Anyone else who's reading... please please review? Reviews keep me happy. Me + Happy more writing.
And to anyone who may be offended by it, there is blatant Jill/Carlos goodness in this chapter... But, as they're not the main focus of the story, it won't be a problem in later chapters.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. I'm broke, and if I SHOULD be making money off of this, it sure as hell isn't working. All characters, except for Eben, Tandy, and Caine, belong to capcom. I'm just borrowing them for my own dishonorable uses.
Chapter Two
Somewhere beneath the Nevada desert
July 23rd, 2008, 6:00 pm
Eben Caldwell trudged through the halls of the underground facility, black eyes observing only the floor directly in front of his feet. He was pondering his own mental health; not a very strange past-time for him. Eben was well aware that he was insane, despite popular belief that crazy people don't know they're crazy. He knew all too well that he wasn't quite right in the head. That wasn't to say that he was an outright psychopath, who walked around with a butcher knife hidden in his jacket, waiting to catch some unsuspecting big-breasted blond who would waste precious seconds screaming, instead of running... No, he wasn't that kind of crazy- besides, he preferred brunettes, or red-heads.
His brand of crazy was more subtle, easily passed off as simply being a little eccentric. However, most 'just eccentric' people didn't have a trail of corpses stretching from their seventeenth birthday, to the present. No, Eben Ethan Caldwell was no stranger to killing people. And it was his lack of remorse over this, his lack of sleepless nights, that caused him to believe he was far from sane. Of course, he'd never killed without provocation, or without at least a simple reason... even one so simple as following orders. The woman he'd killed as a teenager... there had been good reason for that. Not that anyone would have listened to him, if he had stuck around. After all, who was going to believe that a teenage boy, with a list of loved and left girls a mile long, had been assaulted by a well-respected psychiatrist? If anything, people would have accused him of raping her before he'd killed her...
The people after the shrink? Well, he had his reasons for all of them. Most of them were the easy one: just following orders. He did that a lot; following orders. Even if it meant killing someone. He found he sometimes enjoyed it; another clue that he was off his nut. The key word was "sometimes"... He never felt remorse... ever. But he didn't always enjoy his work.
He was Wesker's one-man clean-up crew. The one who tied up the loose-ends that the boss saw too trivial to take care of himself. Wesker pointed, he shot- or stabbed, or poisoned, or beat- then took care of the mess. That was his job, it had been his job ever since he'd stumbled across what was going on behind the scenes, with Umbrella. He had the feeling that it would continue to be his job for as long as he lived- which considering the survival rate of most of Wesker's personal employees, wasn't likely going to be that long.
He'd heard Wesker's "conversation" with Ada. He'd called him a rookie... Hah! Maybe as far as actual field work was concerned, but only then. He wasn't a rookie when it came to doing Wesker's dirty work.
And boy did Wesker have some dirty work for him this time. Kill his most disloyal, untrustworthy agent... The same agent who happened to also be the best of the bunch... That was probably why Wesker hadn't wanted her dead before. Yet he seemed to think she had out-lived her usefulness, now. And he wanted Eben to take care of it. Too bad really. Eben liked Ada.
Las Vegas, NV
July 23rd, 6:02 pm
The first thing Rebecca noticed upon stepping into Jill and Carlos' living room was Claire Redfield, looking like she was in quite a hideous mood.
"Hey Claire," said Rebecca, cautiously, waving to the older woman, "How's life?"
"Shitty," Claire mumbled in response, "Very very shitty..."
"She's just upset 'cause Chris took off without her... again," said a voice from the hall: Jill, "I wouldn't want to be him when he gets back..."
As if to further justify Jill's statement, Claire began muttering angrily about dismembering her sibling. Jill ignored the pouting woman, and moved out of the shadows to reveal herself in all her heavily pregnant glory. She grinned at Rebecca, then promptly proceeded to ignore her, just as she had Claire, choosing instead to focus her attention on Billy.
"And so the mysterious soldier finally makes his appearance," she said, holding out her hand for the man to shake, "Jill Oliveira."
"Billy Coen," Billy replied, taking Jill's hand.
"You're shorter than I thought you'd be, from what Rebecca told me."
Billy threw a smirk in Rebecca's direction, at that, replying easily, "Any descriptions of height should be taken with a grain of salt coming from someone who still can't reach the top cupboards in her house."
Jill laughed aloud at that, while Rebecca glared at them both. "Sure, make fun of the short person," she said, crossing her arms, "Just wait, one of these days, my being so small is going to be an advantage..."
Beneath the Nevada Desert
July 23rd, 6:10 pm
Ada paced about her quarters like a caged tiger. What am I going to do? She knew why Wesker was sending her with Eben, and it wasn't because he was a fucking rookie.
She knew what Eben was; Wesker's personal lapdog-assassin. Probably the only man in the entire facility who shared Wesker's sheer lack of emotion, when it came to killing... Something Ada found both intriguing and immensely disturbing at the same time.
But it wouldn't matter what she found interesting, or creepy, if he was going to kill her. He would, too, if Wesker ordered it. Eben had killed people he'd said were friends, just because Wesker told him too. And if Ada was being sent into Vegas with him, it would likely mean one of them was going to die. One of them, because she wouldn't go down without a fight. Eben was good; Ada liked to think that she was better... But that was beside the point. The point was that Wesker had finally tired of her, and wanted her dead. Worse, he likely knew that she was aware of his reason behind sending Eben with her. Which meant he would anticipate her trying to leave before Monday, and would likely do something to... "persuade" her to stick around. Persuasion meaning threatening a certain ex-cop.
And if she stuck around... Well, Eben would try to kill her... possibly succeed, and Wesker would win anyway.
None of her options were sounding very appealing.
Las Vegas, NV
Carlos and Billy were introduced, and thankfully seemed to get on quite well. Claire might have liked the newcomer, if she had even bothered to say anything other than a mumbled "hi" and the occasional insult thrown at Carlos, whom was making not-so-veiled hints that she should cheer up, or be gloomy elsewhere. One such hint even earned the man quite the rude gesture from the woman, after which he decided it was best to leave her be.
Whilst Claire kept to herself, and remained totally silent once Carlos stopped pestering her, the others talked amongst themselves, avoiding any topics that might lead to talk of Umbrella, or Raccoon City. The "dinner" part of it all turned out to simply be pizzas, which, upon delivery, were getting chilled, and had to be reheated. No one really cared. Oddly enough, Billy found he didn't feel uncomfortable in the slightest, which he should have. After all, he was in a room with two ex-cops, and worse, a former Umbrella employee. Yet here he was, actually laughing at something Carlos had said- or maybe he was laughing at the fact that the "something" had resulted in a quick slap on the back of the man's head, from Jill- and generally enjoying himself. Something he hadn't done in a long time.
Eventually, Claire left, apparently annoyed with the cheeriness that was threatening to pull her from her dour mood- this was evident from the way she would start to smile every so often.
"She'll be back to normal by morning," Jill commented, once Claire was gone, "Well, as normal as she can be when she's plotting her brother's death."
"He takes off a lot, then?" Billy inquired, curious about the younger Redfield's hostility towards her sibling, after Rebecca had described them as being quite close.
"Enough to make Claire watch him like a hawk," Carlos answered, "He still manages to sneak away. I'd rather face a horde of zombies then deal with that woman when she's pissed at Chris."
"You'd always rather face zombies that deal with Claire," Jill said, getting up from her chair, with a bit of difficulty, "Don't blame it on her bad mood."
"Well, she still accuses me of stealing you from her brother..." Carlos protested.
Jill rolled her eyes at the obviously over-used excuse, and changed the subject, "Come on, thief, I need you to help me get something out of the attic." As she spoke, she tugged on Carlos' shirt, in a mock-attempt to pull him to his feet.
With an exaggerated sigh, Carlos got up, "Fine... But you can just tell me what you need... I'm not lifting you up there."
"Was that hinting at me being fat?" Jill turned towards Rebecca, one eyebrow raised.
"Why, I think it was, Jill," Rebecca replied, not bothering to hide her amusement.
"And so do I," Carlos chimed in, earning a glare from Jill, "You can hit me later. For now, upstairs."
"Good idea," Billy heard Jill say as the couple headed for the stairs, "I can shove you over the railing, when we get to the top."
Snickering, Billy spoke, without looking at his companion, "There's walking on the wild side, and then there's just plain stupid."
Rebecca turned towards him, and grinned, "I didn't tell her he was an idiot for no reason."
Billy, unaware of Rebecca's movement, turned as well, intending to ask her if the quest for something from the attic was a hint that it was time to leave. He stopped short, however, when he found that he was no more than a hair's width from the woman. Rebecca looked equally surprised by this turn of events, but despite that fact, she made no attempt to turn away... In fact, she leaned closer. Billy might have admired her boldness, if not for a total loss of all intelligent thought as he felt her lips collide with his. Momentarily stunned, Billy didn't respond right away. Noticing this, Rebecca pulled away abruptly, going slightly pink, and attempting to force out some sort of apology. Billy fought the urge to laugh at the idea that any apology was needed, and chose instead to save the woman at least some of her dignity by shutting her up with another kiss.
Rebecca's eyes remained wide open for a moment, as she tried to process what exactly was happening. For the love of God, stop thinking please, part of her mind screamed at her. Thank you! it added, as her eyes slid shut, and both hands moved to pull Billy as close to her as she could...
"Jill, Carlos, you guys- whoa! O-kay... Not what I was expecting...You?"
As they had been otherwise occupied, neither Billy nor Rebecca had heard the door open. Hearing the voice, which Rebecca recognized as Leon's, they parted... though it was done slowly, and reluctantly. She saw out of the corner of her eye that Leon wasn't alone.
"Activity-wise," said his companion, Jonathan Caine, dryly, "yes... People-wise, no."
Rebecca felt her face grow warm, as she glared at the two men... whether for interrupting, or for their comments, she wasn't sure. She almost smirked in triumph when she noticed Billy had gone slightly red as well. He just hid it better than she did. Her train of thought was interrupted when Caine cleared his throat loudly. Both Billy and Rebecca re-focused their attention on the intruders.
"So," said Leon, arms crossed, "Is there something wrong with your couch, Becky, or do you enjoy putting disturbing images in my head?"
Rebecca grabbed one of the pillows off the couch, and gave new meaning to the term "throw pillow" when she chucked it at his head, speaking as she did so, "Leon, Caine, this is Billy. Billy, Leon, and Caine."
Billy gave the men a two-fingered salute, as they responded with simple nods. "So you're the reason Becky won't go out with me," Leon said, with a playful grin, "I'd been wondering." Billy raised one eyebrow in Rebecca's direction at this, as the woman rolled her eyes. She was saved thinking up a comeback by the reappearance of their host and hostess.
As Leon proceeded to tell them exactly what they had walked in on, Rebecca was dreaming up places where she might hide a body. Jill was never going to let her be, now. Billy, to his credit, took the teasing, and jabs in stride, and even made quite a few stinging remarks of his own. All in good fun, of course. Rebecca tuned it all out, choosing instead to dwell on that kiss. That she had actually been bold enough to start. That was odd in and of its self; just because she'd imagined it didn't mean she'd actually thought she'd do it. Yet, she had... And suddenly the prospect of going home, and being totally alone with her companion was totally different than it had been only five minutes before. A more appealing one, yes, but also terrifying. Though, the possibilities of what could happen lessened the terror...
She was pulled from her train of thought- probably a good thing, since much more of that track, audience or no, and she might have tackled Billy then and there- by Caine and Leon finally getting around to the reason for their sudden visit.
"Got a message from Chris just as me'n Tandy were heading out," said Caine, ignoring the sudden signs of interest at the mention of him and Tandy together, "Says he's found somethin', where-ever he is. Didn't say where. He just said it's lookin' like Umbrella's got somethin' planned for good ol' Sin City."
Out of the corner of her eye, Rebecca saw Jill's hand immediately search for her husband's. They'd thought, like everyone else, that Umbrella was mostly gone... That at least there wouldn't be another incident like Raccoon City. It had only been recently that news of Umbrella resurfacing had reached them, and even then, the information had been so vague, it was hard to tell if anything would come of it. But Chris wouldn't have said anything if he didn't think it was really going to happen. The question was, what exactly did Umbrella have in mind? Were they going to set up shop there, or where they going to turn it into another Raccoon?
Rebecca found herself hoping that Jill and Carlos would get out the city the moment everyone was out the door. It would kill them to cut and run, she knew, but with Jill barely a month away from having the baby, no matter what Umbrella had planned, they couldn't afford to take chances.
"Any idea what's being planned?" Carlos asked, squeezing Jill's fingers.
Leon shrugged, "Chris was rather vague- he sent me the same e-mail- he just said anyone who wants to leave needs to do it soon."
"I reckon Tandy'll want to leave," said Caine, "She's not keen on tryin' her luck in another outbreak. I'll stay... See if I can't find somethin' on all this. Maybe try to stop it from happenin'."
"I'm staying," said Leon, "If Umbrella's planning something here... Well, I've got... and old friend... Who might show up to help us out."
"What about Claire?" Jill asked, avoiding the issue of whether or not she was leaving.
"She took off half an hour ago, cussin' up a storm, sayin' she was gonna find her brother, and drag him home by the ear, if she had to," Caine informed her, suddenly laughing, as if the mental image the statement produced tickled him. Though, when Rebecca thought about it, it was funny. Unfortunately, worry didn't allow her to laugh. She managed a slight smile though.
"I'm staying," she said, interrupting Caine's chuckle.
"Rebecca-" Billy began, speaking for the first time since they'd been informed of possible trouble.
"Don't," Rebecca stopped him before he could tell her it would be smarter to leave, "I'm staying... Leon and Caine will need all the help they can get." She paused for a moment, and heard Carlos start to speak. She'd been expecting that. She turned to face him, and Jill, cutting him off before he could finish even the first word of his protest, "Don't say you'll do it. You and Jill need to be as far away from here as possible."
Carlos snapped his mouth shut, as Jill said quietly, "I hate it, but she's right..."
Having nipped the idea of Carlos playing hero in the bud, Rebecca turned to her other obstacle: Billy. Leon and Caine knew it was pointless to argue with her, so she'd get no resistance from them. "You can leave if you want," she wasn't sure if she wanted him to, or not, "but I'm staying."
Billy sighed, and was silent for a while, before finally saying, "Well, Miss Do-It-Yourself, if I leave who's going to keep you out of trouble if the shit hits the fan?"
July 23rd, 8:00 pm
"We'll leave in the morning," Jill said to Rebecca, as she hugged the younger woman goodbye. "If you change your mind..."
Rebecca shook her head, as she was released, "Nah... Just wait... In a couple of days, you'll be getting a call to let you know we got the bastards before they did anything."
"Looking forward to it, Shrimp," said Carlos, as he too hugged Rebecca.
Once she was free, Rebecca turned and headed down the sidewalk to where Billy was leaning against her truck, waiting for her. She tossed him the keys, as he had assured her he'd made note of the way they'd taken to get here, and knew how to get back to her place, and since she didn't particularly feel like driving... Sighing, she climbed into the truck, practically slamming the door.
"You okay?" Billy asked, as he got in.
"Yeah... Just hoping this turns out to be a false alarm."
"Me too, Sweetheart, me too..."
As they headed off, Billy's hand found Rebecca's, and she allowed herself a small smile as their fingers intertwined... But that was all. The panic bells ringing in the back of her head prevented her from fully enjoying just having phsyical contact with the man, after a decade of nothing but words printed on a screen. As she tightened her grip on Billy's hand, she sighed again. It was going to be a long drive home...
NOTE: before anyone starts saying the Billy/Becca thing happened to fast: Remember that they HAVE been in constant contact since Raccoon City, and both fully admit to having an interest in the other...
also, it's really hard to start a believable romance AFTER the zombies are loose... trust me, I've tried... And since it won't be much longer till the zombies are loose on the streets...
now... push the little purple button next to submit review, and I'll give you your own personal fully trained Zombie... Goes after brains on command! :p