7: Big Plans
Jake showered and dressed in some new clothes Rebecca brought him around noon. The white v-neck and black cargo pants was a little snug but he flexed and hoped it would stretch throughout the day. Chris gave him a cell phone and there was a text message about meeting in the kitchen at 1pm, everyone's number was already loaded into the nifty gadget, including Sherry's number. Of course, he tried to dial it in the confines of her room and of course it went straight to voicemail, her voice springing brightly on the other end.
'Hey! You've reached Agent Sherry Birkin. I'm not available right now but please leave me a message and I'll get right back to you. Thanks!'
His stomach growled defiantly when he opened the door to the hallway, being greeted with the smell of bacon, and chocolate, and lots of laughter. He followed the smell to the first floor where Rebecca, Billy Chris and Jill were gathered at the table, setting up food and table utensils. They all said good morning to him, and Jill coaxed him to sit anywhere, her stomach protruding much more than the night before it seemed in a pink sundress
"Great, looks like we're all here except for Kennedy and Doc-"
"Present!" Leon sang entering the kitchen with Olivia on his back. She was still dressed in her pajamas and was sleep soundly on Leon's shoulder, her pink furry slippers hugging Leon's hips. Rebecca and Billy cracked up and Jill awed at Chris. He backed her into a seat gently and she stirred, wiping the drool from her lips. Jill placed a cup of coffee in front of her in a hot pink mug with her name written boldly on it and it automatically migrated to her hands. Her hair was everywhere, pushed back by her black ribbon.
"Well, now that we're all here, let's get started. Dig into breakfast while I get us all on the same page and feel free to interject any questions."
Everyone began to make their plates as Chris got everyone up to speed on Olivia and Leon's rescue of Jake, his power point showing maps and details of Mongolia and the camp he was trapped in.
"Dr. Revelle and Leon Kennedy have thoroughly searched the area and confirmed that there's no vital information leading to search and rescue or material recovery. They recovered some valuable files and samples which will review over the next week but our next step is to find Sherry Birkin using the new information gathered by our BSAA hacker friends in South Africa as directed by Sheva who sent these details to me the day before yesterday. The nine locations in her report matches the top nine accounts that submitted for the capture of Sherry. These locations also match the codes decrypted from Leon's report from Hunnigan and the USA's National Security team concerning a cyber-terrorist breach –"
"No shit." Leon cut in, amused at Chris' follow through. He didn't think there was more to the report than the fact that they were BOW plants.
Chris nodded at him and smiled "Yes. That's the good news. The manuscript you gave me months ago was a lead and there was more to it than just new laboratories. These five, one of whom is a spin-off the almighty Tri-Cell, are working together. I sent the documents over to Sheva and her team matched it to their information and the rest is decoded behind me. Mongolia was one of the locations so we have four more to go."
"Right. It would have been stupid to hold Jake and Sherry in the same location anyway." Leon added.
"Wait, what manuscripts?" Jake asked, looking at Leon who was nibbling on a piece of bacon.
"National Security came across a document of codes that included locations and programs sent via email. Once they decrypted it they found that each of the codes were locations and access information to BOW farms, basically. They're underground of course due to the outbreak and the international effort to destroy BOWS. These locations are manufacturing more and more species containing the virus and are being funded by black market companies that just won't stop. We stop one, there's two more baby companies behind them. Bioterrorism is the new black." Leon responded, trying to make it as simple as possible.
"So we have narrowed it down to five major companies and we realized they had a hand in who took Sherry because their IP addresses and access codes matches the ones who submitted her hit."
Jake clenched his fists "So give me the addresses. Why aren't we leaving now?"
Rebecca shook her head "Because it isn't that easy. We need reinforcement, more weapons which are on their way and we needed to be fully educated on what is in each of these five places to be prepared. We're skilled but we're not invincible. Chris, show them the video."
Chris typed something in on the computer and pulled up a video on the screen of soldiers shooting relentlessly at a slimy, lanky figure that was alien like. The more pieces broke off it was the more it regenerated and upon touching one of the soldiers, they immediately burst into flames.
"We don't know how to destroy whatever this is, and we don't want to risk any more soldiers trying. I have no idea what's waiting for us but it's unlike anything that any of us have experienced." Chris followed up, turning the video off.
"I don't care," Jake replied, folding his arms "Why do they want her, then?"
"We think they are using her genes to test on and replicate her special ability, which makes most sense. Her father started the process, but never finished or perfected the chromosome. After researching , I don't think he was even aware what he did to Sherry. They want to finish the work he started, or at least build upon it. Sherry is almost immortal, but they're looking to take her resiliency to another level. That's what I've gathered so far from the test documents I've retrieved on her." Olivia responded gently, now half awake, nursing her cup of coffee. She had her head-on Leon's shoulder and his arm was around her, trying to make their hangovers look less obvious.
"Like some sort of super weapon?," He asked to the Doctor who nodded slowly, before he turned to everyone "So what's the next move?"
"Antarctica. Then Greece. And then the rest of the list. I'm asking Livy and Leon to go for this one since they really won't leave the other behind and Jake to go together on these two places and I'm wondering if I have another volunteer to go along with them." Chris said, expanding the map and route for Antarctica on the projector.
Rebecca really wanted to go but she knew she needed to be close to Jill since she was pregnant and her residing doctor. It was awful that Leon and Liv had to set out again on another hard mission after hardly any rest but they seemed livid. She squeezed her boyfriend's hand and he looked at her, putting a hand on the back of her head.
"It'll be my pleasure." Billy said, raising his glass of orange juice to Chris, who smiled thankfully. Rebecca smiled at him as well, although she felt her heart drop into her lap.
"What a wild team! Coen, you better add some of my vodka in that OJ and toast to what is going to promise to be a wonderful time." Leon said with a smirk and everyone rolled their eyes.
"Alright, looks like we have a strong team to escort Livi and hopefully bring Sherry back. Thanks, Coen. Everyone, let's rest up and get ready for another dispatch. Weapons should be here in around two hours. I've arranged a flight for you all tomorrow at 4am…Class dismissed."
Jake was sitting alone on the porch, armed with a handgun, when he heard the front door open and smelled the scent of cigarettes. He didn't even turn; he knew who it was.
"Yo, Muller. You're being summoned." Leon whistled, a smirk on his lips.
"By who?"
"The Doctor." Leon responded, making Jake rise. He led him through the house and to the basement where there was a setup of multiple gym equipment which made Jake excited. Leon responded with some thumbs up, and headed down a hall to an elevator. They entered and Leon swiped a card from his pocket and proceeded down.
"I didn't think there was any more to this house." Jake muttered, making Leon fold his arms.
"It's a worthy investment to build something like this. I commend Chris for it." Leon responded. The elevators opened revealing a large lab, like the headquarters from that M.I.B. movie. There were multiple large computers and two operating rooms off to the left. Further ahead there was a glass capsule containing a B.O.W. and another one containing a J'Avo. Rebecca was across the large room peering into a microscope, now adorned in a white lab coat. Billy was seated next to her playing on his phone and nursing a can of beer, seeming disturbed by something.
"Jake, welcome to the geek squad." Olivia called, entering from an operating room, also in a white jacket. Her hair was tied back like the first moment he saw her and her eyes gleamed.
Rebecca looked up from what she was doing and frowned "Hey!"
Olivia ignored her and grinned at Jake and Leon "What do you think?"
Jake walked past them towards the sleeping J'Avo looming in water and he put a hand on the glass "Test subjects?"
"Yes," the doctor replied from behind him "We have conducted multiple experiments on these two. I've drugged them so they think Becca and I are their mothers. Kinda weird. Anyway, Chris gave us this space so we could do all the research down here and built it from the ground up. There's over a million dollars of equipment in here, a doctor's dream."
"But you mentioned you are a neurosurgeon, how are you able to work on disease research and all that other stuff?" Jake asked her, glancing at Leon who was over her shoulder. It seemed, after looking at him more closely that he was intoxicated again. He grimaced, this guy didn't like being sober, did he? And also, Jake understood that Leon was very protective of his partner due to her position on the black list but it was a bit annoying how seemed to be almost physically attached to the woman's hip. Every time he spoke to Olivia, Leon would almost glare at him. He couldn't tell if it was out of protection or jealousy, because her response was always welcoming and warm, naturally.
She was a beautiful woman, but she wasn't the one Jake wanted.
He made a mental note to make that point clear to Leon whenever he got the earliest opportunity.
Olivia beamed at him, "Very good, Jake. A lot of people would never bother to wonder that. Yes, I am a neurosurgeon but knowledge in Bio terroristic culture is Rebecca's domain, I just serve as her assistant. Of course, I know a good amount of chemistry but I have learned a lot from her." Rebecca looked up again and winked.
She was listening to everything they said but decided to stay occupied in her current task: observing some plasms Leon snagged from a J'avo they had never encountered before. Over the past months, the two women worked tirelessly to find a combative technique that would work against the destructive B.O.W. Chris displayed earlier in the video. It could destroy human flesh with one touch, reversing the damage and making them combust into flames.
Rebecca never encountered the creatures but Leon and Liv did, and according to them, they barely made it. They got to higher ground and it took an entire case of explosive grenades to subdue it so they could get past and make it to their objective. The very monster caused her to have many nightmares. They discovered that the genome was weak to Sulphur and metal but Rebecca thought if they could create a bullet made to explode once inside a subject, it could destroy the B.O.W. from the inside. That's where military soldiers like Liv and Billy came in. He would stay up with her when Liv was in the field, to assist her in any information she needed to know and encourage her. It was a project the friends had worked on for two months, and after the tests Rebecca ran with Liv after breakfast, she was confident they were ready to test it.
"I think we're ready." Rebecca said suddenly, looking up from her microscope and breaking the chatter between her comrades. Jake and Leon were arguing over something and Liv was between them laughing, a hand on both of their chests. They all froze and a grin crept onto Liv's face.
"For...?" Leon snapped, still obviously offended.
Rebecca grabbed one of the bullets that were in a case besides her and walked over to them.
"This bullet is chemically injected with what we think could kill those things you guys ran into in Rio," She responded, carefully placing it into Leon's hand "Just don't shake it, it isn't trauma proof yet. If this works, we will have a great weapon to aide you all tomorrow. It sure will make me sleep better at nights."
Leon clenched the bullet and re-opened his hand as his friends all gathered around "Can the chemical be injected into any ammunition?"
"Technically yes, we haven't made grenades with this solution but it's probably a good idea when I get back. Rebecca don't attempt it alone." Olivia warned, side eying the girl. Although she appreciated Rebecca's passion for making sure they were more apt to survive, she didn't know what she would do if the other Doctor disintegrated because of them playing 'Mad Scientist'.
"Yeah, don't." Billy echoed from behind Rebecca sternly. She blushed, he sounded as if he was still ticked off from their early argument that would have probably continued had Liv not barged in with a huge case of magnum bullets to inject. Their disagreement rose from a comment Rebecca made to him about not wanting to get married until the entire war was over, which wasn't what she said a year ago. It seemed like the night Chris, Leon, Liv, and Jill showed up to their home changed everything and after the video footage of the horrible acts of violence that was taking over the world pulled the wool from her eyes, she had become someone different. Her nights in the lab were longer, and her days reading and secluding herself extended as well. It appeared she was more attracted to the study of the anti-virus and although he wasn't the jealous type, it was starting to get to him.
An argument ensued, and abruptly ended when Liv walked in the room happily carrying ammunition for them to load. She paused upon entering, feeling all the tension in the room, and Rebecca gravitated towards her as if nothing ever happened.
"So, when are you all going to test if the ammunition works?" Leon asked as if he didn't notice the tension still lingering "Isn't that what's holding us from leaving for our next mission?"
Rebecca answered him with confidence "Tonight. And yes, I'd love for you guys to have this before you leave. That's the plan. We want to inject the B.O.W. and the J'avo in those glass capsules with the prototype and then once it mutates, try to kill it using the bullets. We only have one shot at it."
"Who wants to do the honors?!" Olivia asked throwing her hands in the air, ecstatic!
"Well I thought you might want to since you were the one who thought of it." Rebecca said throwing an arm around the younger doctor. She was truly grateful for Olivia's friendship, especially since she broke up so much of the discomfort in the room. Her friend responded by hugging her waist and laying her head on her shoulder, as she was shorter than Rebecca.
"Leon captured and hauled both those things down here. He should do it." Olivia said to Rebecca.
"Why doesn't Jake do it?" Leon followed up immediately, smirking at Jake who wasn't even really listening. He snapped out of his trance and raised an eyebrow.
"You guys sure? There's only one shot and I might mess it up."
"Don't be silly. That's a great idea!" Olivia gushed and punched Jake in the arm, he winced because he felt something.
"Doc," Jake said, handing her the bullet "There's something I need to talk about first."
Silence fell quickly. Olivia looked at Leon, then Rebecca, Billy and Sherry before turning and heading out the door. She knew what was coming.
Once they were outside of the lab, she folded her arms.
"What can I do for you?" she asked politely.
Jake avoided contact with her "I need to everything about my father. Chris promised me the last time I saw him when we met again, he would fill me in. He said he was responsible for killing him, but seeing as though he doesn't seem to be top five on the friend's list, I want to know everything before I move forward."
The woman sighed "I'll get it done for you. But promise me no matter what you'll help me to retrieve Sherry."
They shook hands "That's why I'm here ma'am. It isn't because I like you jarheads."
I hope you all enjoyed this. Short but sweet. Please do read and review my story, it really inspires me to release more of it. Life has been a lot these last few years and throughout it all I have continued to work on this story (it's actually at 15 chapters right now) but haven't really had the inspiration to post them one after the other but I will do better. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, liked, favorited or followed me so far. Means a lot! :) Until next time...