Chapter 4

-Red Team-

Nine Years Earlier

Southern Europe- exact location unknown

The villagers were running every which way, fear and panic abound. Four pairs of eyes tried to take in as much as possible, as quickly as possible. There was a building being absolutely swarmed by a mob of people dead ahead. To the right, a girl was screaming bloody murder as a woman crouched over her. Chris couldn't figure out why until the blood began to stream from beneath where the young girl was lying. He didn't waste any time running over to shove the woman off with the bottom of his boot.

Leena was right with him. Together they realized in horror that the woman had been feeding on the girl's neck. The woman spat a piece of flesh out, blood dribbling down her chin, and stared at them in what could only be described as a deranged manner. Her eyes were reddened, badly irritated, dark and very visible veins showing on her bare arms, neck, and face. On closer viewing, her arms and legs appeared somewhat contorted and elongated as well, neck hanging awkwardly to the side while she stared.

"What? Is this what a zombie is like?"

He shook his head confusedly. "I..don't know... This looks like the majini I saw in Africa but.." His eyes went from the woman directly in front of them to the immediate area around. "Look at the way they attack, so vicious..almost animalistic."

The two of them watched as the woman slowly turned away again, back to the girl who was now motionless in the dirt with eyes of glass. She leaned over the body, dropping to her knees. Placing her lips to touch the puddle of blood, she began to slurp it up. Chris gaped at the disgusting sight.

"This isn't a zombie. This is something else. Zombies hunger for flesh. There's clearly something wrong with her but it's.."

"Whoah. Ew! Nasty! It's like a vampire." Billy remarked, coming up to stand at Chris's other shoulder with Rebecca.

"My God..."

"Hey Rebecca, remember those giant leeches on the train? Must have wiped those poor suckers out in-"

Rebecca interrupted the reminder of a nightmare long past. "I remember Billy."

She didn't sound like she was too fond of the opportunity to be reminded of that particular portion of her past.

"What's happened to them?" she wondered aloud. "Who could have done this?"

No one answered her because they didn't know. Well, maybe Chris knew.

"I don't know what this is, but it is definitely something Darius Greene could be capable of. Keep your eyes open and help these people. Billy, Rebecca, head to the left and help anyone you can. Leena, you're with me. Make sure your comm. device is on at all times and search for any evidence that this is Greene's handiwork."

"Chris."

He paused to turn back and meet her eyes. "This won't be like last time, like Raccoon. We're all getting out of here."

She gave him a weak smile and then jogged off to catch up with Billy, who was being attacked by some of these strange looking people. So they were violent.

"Chris!"

The tone told him everything he needed to know. Chris didn't even look. He dove and rolled sideways, in time to avoid the long freakin' arm slamming into the ground where he'd stood a moment ago. This guy was even further gone than the others. One arm appeared a tad longer than usual but the other was so overgrown and thick, it dragged behind him as he stalked towards Leena now.

The not-person slathered at her, an overly lengthy tongue hanging out of its mouth. It released a growl and then used the extensive arm to propel itself up from the ground to leap atop her. Leena took a couple steps to the side, avoiding the person who had once been a man, and aimed her weapon at him. She hesitated, staring at the horrifically deformed human.

"What's happened to him?"

"Some kind of mutation. Shoot it!"

"But..could there be a cure?"

The thing came at her again before he could answer and she didn't hesitate to put it down with a brief spray of bullets from her machine gun. She looked shaken but quickly composed herself. A first time in a situation like this, he couldn't blame her. Seeing people reduced to near mindless monsters was never easy. But Chris learned long ago that his survival usually depended on his ability to shoot them dead before they got to him.

"No time to worry about the possibility of a cure," she concluded on her own, speaking out of breath even though she hadn't exerted herself physically.

He could understand that, too. Together, they spread slightly out, clearing the area of the violent people obviously infected with something awful. The infected people were agitated and murderous, latching on to the uninfected to drain them of their blood. Unfortunately, when they'd gotten through the area, everyone was either dead, exhibiting rabid-like behavior, or else had been bitten and fed off of partially. And the ones who had been fed from, had begun to turn themselves, within minutes. A little boy seemingly fine one moment, was found in the next, tearing open his older sister's wrist with his teeth. Teeth that had somehow become sharper almost instantly after the infection had completely taken him over.

Chris put a bullet in him and the rest of the turning survivors himself, Leena beyond unnerved by what she was witnessing to do much on her end. Before moving on, he'd waited until she was ready. It was a shocking scene to suddenly stumble upon. She deserved the time to grasp the present situation. What could be afforded anyway.

About five minutes after he no longer heard the helicopter blades spinning in the air, having moved on no doubt, he knew they had to move.

"Leena, get it together. Do what you've always done. Breathe deep, keep yourself moving, and focus on the mission. We came here to find a potential new member to our cause. And what we did for these people, was put them out of their misery. They weren't who they used to be. None of them. I've had a lot of experience with viruses and infections. Just look at me."

He waved a hand in the general area of his eyes, referencing the green specks in them.

"When you become infected, you're altered. Sometimes the virus is sophisticated enough to leave the infected near human, just..better improved in some areas. For me, I heal wounds within a few hours and I'm more resilient to injury than the average human because I was infected with something called the Regenerative virus, then put through actual time travel which rearranged my cell structure. Wouldn't recommend that by the way. Now, this girl I'm looking to bring to our team, she can heal, too. She can heal better than I can, even faster, a side effect of once being infected with the G-Virus. These people here... I don't know what infected them but it was something that changed them more than either me or the woman we're looking for. They are changed more than Wesker. They have no rational thought. They only thirst for violence and for some strange reason, also for blood. That's made them a threat to others. Do you see?"

"Of course I do. It's just..." Leena sighed and pushed herself to her feet. "I guess."

He accepted it. "All right then. Let's move."

She smiled at him and nodded. "Yes. Come on."

Together the two of them scoured the main roadway they were traveling upon, making their way further into this small village. Every so often they came upon an infected who tried to attack them, but there was no major trouble. It was a welcome change to the usual crap Chris was used to enduring on his missions. He supposed this could be considered a minor one. A mission precluding the true mission to put a stop to Darius Greene and his people.

There was a somber atmosphere to this day though. It was already getting dark. Perhaps they'd left a tad later than was safest, but the information had come when it came and they'd left once they got it.

"Listen." He held up his hand as a signal for his partner to stop behind him.

There was a sound drawing near. His eyes scanned the ground where he noticed slight trembling at the surface. Something big was coming. Something he very much doubted would be friendly. Chris lowered his arm and picked up the pace, jogging to the side and placing his back against one of the buildings. Leena followed his lead and plastered herself beside him just as the source of the noise came into sight.

"What..What is that?" his female counterpart gasped out.

"That's a big ass mother fucker is what it is."

Chris and Leena's firearms came up to aim at the unidentified male voice in a synchronized fashion. There was a young man, probably in his late teens at the most. Somehow his face made him appear older though. He had close shaven hair, a solid jaw, a scar on one cheek, and a hardened face. His clothing included army combat pants, boots, a belt, a black shirt and a black leather jacket. He wore gloves and he was armed. What business he had here was anybody's guess. The guy also gave Chris a feeling of familiarity he couldn't shake. The words came out before he could think about it.

"Do I know you from somewhere?"

"What? Chris do you know this man?" Leena questioned.

The guy was looking at him like he was insane for asking the question. "Nah, you military type all look the same to me."

He reminded Chris an awful lot of the way Eva was: Confident, self-assured, intelligent, and cocky all at once.

"That's who you are, yeah?" Jake continued. "Clearly Americans, and being all the way out here, gotta be."

"Sorry to disappoint." Chris told him.

He took a moment to check out the jacket he was wearing more closely. It could be that it was a type of uniform of a less legitimate organization. Maybe he should be asking him if he was a member of some military group.

A roar shook the ground and the building he and Leena had their backs against, reminding him of the matter at hand. The creature that was stomping through the pathways of a couple of buildings very close to their present location was big, and that was an understatement. It stood maybe fifteen feet high, lanky, but with long trailing arms and legs. The dragging arms had razor sharp fingernails and the head was huge, lolling, skin dark and almost black. The eyes were practically bugging out of its large head, mouth wide and brimming with lines of sharp teeth. The mouth was creepy, lips forming an almost upturned "O" shape, lined with the pointy rows of incisors.

All the better for drinking human blood. He shuddered at the thought.

Surprisingly, the much younger man started the introductions. "Name's Jake Muller. And you are?"

"Chris Redfield. This is Leena Goessing."

"Well, Chris, Leena, I've been hired to get rid of this freak, so whatd'ya say you help me out while you're here?"

He didn't wait to see if they followed. The kid was reckless. He went running for the big creature before Chris even knew it was happening. The former agent took a breath and then raced after the guy to try and prevent his getting himself killed.

Chris heard his partner trailing behind. She stopped short and then released a burst of gunfire from her machine gun. It seemed she didn't want to get too close to the monstrosity towering over them with that insanely creepy, permanent razor-tooth smile. Perhaps his partner had the right idea. He found himself dodging swipes from the tree trunk sized limbs. The thing could move them amazingly fast for his large size.

Finding his moment, he ducked under the creature, raising his weapon above him and firing as he moved below it.

The monster howled with pained rage and lashed out with a giant clawed foot. He managed to avoid it by diving over and behind a stack of cut wood. Then Jake was on it, unloading an entire clip of his handgun into the creature's face.

It served as a distraction, but that was about it. Chris took advantage, using the opportunity to fire at the back of the large head and neck. Leena followed his example, shooting at the actual face of the probably once human thing attacking them.

Continuous bullets pelting its face and head really seemed to be pissing it off. Chris shifted around to the front of the creature and took aim. Two perfect shots managed to blind it in both eyes. The move had placed him directly in front of the monster and unfortunately, it left him vulnerable and in the path of its literal blind rage.

He jumped backwards to avoid one deadly trunk-sized appendage and never saw the other coming until it slammed into him full force. Bones in his body broke upon impact and the pain was instant and intense. His back smashed onto the roof of a building and he rolled roughly down and off, to the ground. The last thing he recalled was a woman screaming his name. It had to be Leena. Everything went dark.

/

When he woke, it was dark. But a different kind of dark. Night had fallen. He sat up and then stood, remembering what had happened to him but fully aware he was healed. He checked himself over and was impressed. There was no sign of any damage to his body that had felt completely useless and broken right before he'd lost consciousness.

"Thank God you're okay."

He turned around to find three sets of eyes on him. His partner had been the one to speak and even though she'd known he could heal, she must have doubted it just the same. It was a pretty crazy thing to even be told, and to see it happen was another thing entirely. The other two present were looking awfully surprised and in awe. She must not have told them what he could do.

The guy, Jake Muller, walked up to him and grabbed his arm, then pressed a hand to his ribs. Okay... Intrusive much. He put a hand on the young man's shoulder and pushed him gently away.

"Impossible. Your ribs were shattered, your arms and legs broken and bent all out of shape." He glanced over his shoulder at the third person in the room. "Do you think he's like you?"

Room. He was in a sparse room where he'd been lying on a table until he'd woken. Possibly he was in the very building he was thrown into. Chris glanced around Jake to his partner and the other individual in the room.

"Well, I don't know. I heal instantaneously while it took him nearly twelve hours to recover from the severe damage his body endured."

"Sherry." He smiled with relief. Then comprehended her words. "Twelve hours!"

His hand went to the ear where his earpiece was and found it absent. He must have lost it when he was thrown onto the roof of a building, then dropped to the ground. Leena didn't have a comm. device of her own which meant he'd lost touch with his people and had no idea where they were. On the bright side, he had found Sherry Birkin.

She looked rightly suspicious. "You know me?"

So Jake and Leena hadn't introduced him. Just what had those twelve hours been like while they held vigil over his motionless and broken body? Must have involved primarily silence and a whole lot of awkward. He wasn't too bothered he'd missed it.

"My name is Chris Redfield. I've come with an offer for you."

"Your partner's already filled me in on your group and what you're trying to do. But Chris Redfield? As in Claire Redfield? You're Claire's brother?"

He nodded in confirmation. "Yeah. She's the reason I decided to come looking for you to join really. She told me about your special condition and how you were growing up, adopting a similar attitude to her, or so she tells me."

The young woman laughed a little. "Yeah, it's true. Claire's kind of always been my great big hero, you know? Saving my life and risking hers to get me out of that city when I was a kid. Spending all that time with me when I was..you know..having tests done for all those years."

He returned a smile to her. "Yeah, she has a soft spot for you big time."

Sherry came closer and for a moment she appeared almost shy about what she said next. "You know, you're her hero. She looks up to you and tries to be like you so I suppose in a way, you are my hero too."

"Wha-I don't know about that," he stammered in surprise.

He'd never expected to hear that from Sherry Birkin, a woman he'd never even met.

"I know," she insisted.

Chris remained stunned but another thought occurred to him. "Wait, that creature out there. Where did it go? What happened after I blacked out?"

Jake shrugged his shoulders, walked over to the door of the place, and pushed it open. The dark of the night was gradually beginning to lift as the day approached.

"See for yourself."

Chris did go out to see and found himself staring at a puddle of black goo not far from the entrance.

"Is that what I think it is?"

"Yup. Whole thing up and mostly evaporated into thin air after the three of us managed to take it down. It was actually kind of like it was melting away. Gross stuff. Sherry here swooped in to the rescue. The rest of it splattered into what you see there after. Freaky, but it's just like those other messed up people once you kill them."

"Okay, well we need to locate our people. I have no idea how many more of them could be out there. Leena-"

"Relax, Chris. I found your comm. device and it was still intact. I told them we'd found the target, mission accomplished. Renny said Wesker and the others were working on some clean-up and then they'd be around to extract us. They probably just ran into a bit more than they were expecting. I'm sure they're fine."

She truly seemed to believe what she was saying, which comforted Chris somewhat. As if on cue, the sound of rotating blades cutting rapidly through air reached his ears. The noise was coming closer and he visibly relaxed this time. If only missions always would work out so smoothly.

Chris returned his attention to Sherry. "I understand you work for a different organization and that they only recently let you out into the world, but I think you should take my offer. I won't experiment on you or run tests, and you know Wesker wouldn't let anyone lay a hand on you."

"Wesker?" Jake asked.

"Yeah." Chris looked at him curiously. "Why?"

The other didn't say anything and then Sherry was speaking to him. "Well, Simmons is alright. He tries to do what he can to protect this country like I do. Oh trust me, I'd love to work alongside someone like you though. Someone who I trust to never try and use me... I'll join on a conditional basis."

Chris and Leena looked at one another, then at the young woman, Chris asking what they were both wondering.

"What conditional basis would that be?"

"I'll join as long as Jake can join too. He's a good fighter. Strong and fast because he's been a mercenary since 15. He's special sort of like me. Jake took an injection that turned his fellow mercenary buddies into those things you saw out there while he remained fine. We could use him on our team."

"Well, sheesh, let's just go tell everyone my dirty little secret."

He frowned at Jake. "What was he infected with?"

"No idea. You ever find out, clue me in," the young man told him. "Some bitch said it'd give us more energy. Imagine my surprise when my buds became murderous and came after me, red eyes and all."

Chris sighed tiredly. Great. Some new virus unleashed on the black market. That was the last thing they needed. He wondered if this was Darius's work.

"Yeah? Well imagine their surprise."

He and Jake stared at one another for a long moment. Sherry smiled at them both. "So we're a part of your team?"

"Sure. From here on out you're both part of the team."

The helicopter was landing further down the street from the building they were occupying. Leena seemed all too happy to see it and started for the aircraft with the other three following after her. When they made it to the helicopter, Wesker wasn't there. When Chris asked, all Renny could tell them was that he'd gotten a call about two hours earlier and said he had to go. He would meet them at the airport when they headed to France on the private jet Renny had landed them through a connection of his.

Chris wasn't surprised. He knew Wesker couldn't be trusted. Still, knowing that didn't really upset him any less about the perpetual lying and sneaking off to attend to "private affairs". He kept hoping, against all odds, that Wesker would change, for Eva's sake. Even Eva must have given up on him though, because as far as he knew, she'd cut off all ties with anyone from this life that meant danger and unhappiness for her. That definitely included Wesker. Unfortunately, that included him, too.

Before turning to get on the chopper, he took one last lingering look at the sunrise breaking out across the sky. He liked sunrises because to him it felt like time was giving him another chance. It was about to be a new day and with a new day, there was always the hope that things could get better. And there was nothing wrong with a little hope.