Chapter IX

Wesker had grabbed Jill's arm the moment the crossbow arrow penetrated the snow, roughly pulling her out of the small clearing, behind a snow-laden tree. It wouldn't be of much protection, not with Havel's good aim, but it might give him enough time to come up with a way to get them out alive of this mess.

Havel disagreed to that. He sent another arrow into the tree they were using as cover. Jill scraped the bag off his shoulder and Wesker desperately tried to unholster his weapon with frozen fingers. He barely felt his hands enclosing around the Samurai Edge, everything a big ball of pain shooting up to his brain.

Behind him Jill's eyes frantically searched the trees and Wesker pointed the gun into the general direction the arrows had come from. His mind was racing, just as his heart, but whatever way he shifted around the benefits and disadvantages, he couldn't see how they would be able to avoid this confrontation.

Jill pressed her back against his and he could see the glimmer of a knife in her hand. Her weapon was still with him, but it was useless in its current condition.

The forest around them fell into muted silence again. The wind roared between the trees, shifting snow from boughs and concealing whatever movement Havel was contemplating. Both STARS had their eyes in thousand places, waited, anticipated and hoped for a mistake on their enemy's side, but Havel was no amateur. He played on professional difficulty.

Suddenly Jill pushed him forward and he followed her judgment without question. She leapt into the opposite direction herself and true to her intuition another crossbow arrow ate into the ground they had stood on a second ago.

His gaze shot upwards instantly, and although Havel's form was no more than a shadow moving to a new position, it was enough to let two bullets lose on it. There was a yelp from up in the trees, a triumphant smirk on Jill's pale face and their opponent's crossbow dropping out of height at the same time.

Jill ran towards the weapon and confiscated it, while Wesker kept his gun trained on the many branches above them.

"No ammo," Jill noted as she jogged up to him, but kept a hold of Havel's crossbow anyway. They couldn't allow it to return to its master.

Wesker gestured for her to move on slowly. They took careful, silent steps, eyes focused on the trees and their deceptive shadows, trying not to be deceived by the wind's misguiding sounds. It seemed to be on Havel's side this fight.

Eventually Wesker lowered the gun, but held on to it with both hands. The hunter might very well wait for the moment they lost their patience. Jill glanced at him from her position, the combat knife still in her grasp. She nodded silently, understanding his tactics. They walked, Jill covering the way ahead, Wesker securing their back route. Both of them kept observing the treeline from the corners of their eyes.

Five minutes they walked like that, high on adrenaline and tense muscles. Slowly the cold crept back in though, the muscles began to soften and ache and a centre of throbbing settled in the side of his chest again. Despite it all, both remained vigilant. It could decide over their lives and neither of them were willing to give it away that easily.

Neither did Havel. Although they had robbed him of his favorite weapon, the hunter had not come unprepared. A projectile missed Wesker's thigh just barely and once again both he and Jill sought cover behind trees.

"Bullets," Jill hissed from her position and gripped the knife even tighter. It wouldn't help her much as long as Havel kept to long distance combat. Wesker exhaled, a new wave of adrenaline coursing through his body. He clicked off the safety of his Samurai Edge, gave Jill a silent nod, then leant against the frozen trunk of the tree, risking a glance at where the shot had come from.

Unsurprisingly, there was no sign of Havel. He was playing cat and mouse with them. Or rather predator and prey.

"Watch out!" Jill suddenly screamed, her eyes going wide.

Wesker's did too as the butt of a rifle connected with his head, sending him stumbling backwards, clawing at the offended spot with his hands. His vision went black instantly and he fought for balance and consciousness for a moment, using a tree for support.

The fight raged on without him. Havel had descended from the tree, growling maliciously at Jill as he wielded the hunting rifle. He must have ran out of ammunition, for he held it like a piercing weapon, rather than a shooting one.

He caught one worried glance from Jill and did his best to nod that he was ok, standing against the tree for another moment. Havel had stopped minding fhim. He was concentrating fully on his new target. Jill was only armed with a knife, but being trained as STARS she could deal lethal blows with just that weapon.

The two opponents circled each other once, before Havel plunged the tip of the rifle towards Jill, using it as a spear. She evaded the strike with an experienced sidestep, rushed forward and slashed for Havel's throat.

The knife almost touched, but Havel managed to save himself with a clumsy backward leap – jumping directly into Wesker's arms. The STARS captain quickly slung his arm around the hunter's throat, pulling, cutting off his air supply.

Havel tried to ring free, punching the rifle into the direction of Wesker's head, but this time Wesker was fast enough to push the weapon away, throwing it to the ground. Havel adopted a new technique then and bit into his captor's arm, only to be punished by a knock to the head. It didn't send him into unconsciousness, but elicited a pained groan from his lips.

The next move caught Wesker off guard though. When a sharp elbow pierced his ribs he let go of his hostage immediately, bending forward in pain. Havel used the momentary freedom to tackle him and both went flying to the ground, Havel on top.

Wesker managed to land a punch in the other man's face and turned the tide. His Samurai Edge had gone flying during the fall, but from the corner of his eye he could see Jill picking it up from the ground already.

The next thing he realized was Havel's fist in his ribs again (he must have listened in on their conversation earlier) and the man fighting to get on top. As Wesker struggled, Havel groped for his belt and for a moment, this act seemed confusing. In the next though, Wesker realized with horror what the man was up to, but was unable to stop him.

Havel sprung to his feet, Jill's frozen Beretta in hand. He pointed it at its rightful owner, who in turn has Wesker's discarded weapon trained at the hunter.

Nobody moved.

There was heavy breathing and steam rising from agitated bodies. Wesker held one protective hand over his side, still lying in the snow. Movement would only provoke Havel. Jill exchanged questioning glances with him. His answer, silence, told her to stand her ground and wait.

Havel had his finger on the trigger. He didn't press, but it was there, ready to pull.

"Drop your weapon," he hissed and turned the gun away from Jill, to Wesker. "Drop it, or he drops."

It was the first time they had actually heard him talk. His voice was barely a whisper, marked by exhaustion. But even like that, it held authority to it.

Jill's gaze searched Wesker's again. She could follow the command or shoot. The odds were against them. Slowly, Wesker nodded, and Jill did too, in response. She bent down slowly, placed the Beretta on the ground and took one step back, out of its reach.

A grin developed on Havel's face. "Smart move." The frozen gun moved from Wesker, back to Jill. Apparently he considered her the bigger danger at the moment.

"Now, turn around," he commanded.

Without even asking Wesker for advice, Jill shook her head with determination. "No."

Havel's grin faded instantly. His expression dropped in disappointment. When he spoke, his words were flat and cold, like the wind whipping through the trees.

"Fine," he said. "Have it your way. Take the bullet between your eyes, instead of the back of your head."

Jill's muscles tensed, Havel's finger closed in around the trigger and Wesker put all his strength into a kick, catching Havel in the back of his leg, bringing him out of balance.

The shot went off nonetheless and there was a piercing scream, silencing even the wind for a moment. In the next, Havel dropped to his knees and in that moment horrible, agonizing pain mirrored in the depths of his eyes as he clutched the bloody pulp that had once been his hand. The warning Wesker had given to Jill earlier, about the gun exploding if the barrel was frozen with ice, had become reality.

Wesker threw the screaming man to the ground, restraining him as he lashed out blindly, now driven by blind agony and rage. The bloody appendage brushed over his throat and left a bright red streak in its wake. Jill was at their side the next moment, her combat knife in hand. With one swift blow, she knocked the handle against Havel's temples and the wreathing man went limp in Wesker's arms.

"We need to tie off his arm, or he'll bleed to death," Wesker stated and looked at Jill.

His teammate gave him an almost disbelieving look.

"He might be a killer, but we have orders to bring him back alive," Wesker elaborated. "Bring me the bag."

At that Jill moved and was back a second later, dropping the desired item beside their unconscious captive. She fumbled for the first aid kit and lay it out in the snow. It was mostly empty apart from one roll of bandages. Wesker quickly applied them to Havel's hand, then sat back in the snow, exhausted.

"Are you alright, sir?" Jill asked, bereaving Havel of whatever extra weaponry he might carry.

Wesker nodded, albeit slowly and touched his side, grimacing. "He must have known they were cracked. He hit right on, every time."

"The asshole did his homework. No more of that though. As soon as we're meeting up with the Bravos, this guy is seeing prison bars for the rest of his life."

"I'll personally see to it."

They proceeded to tie Havel's hands behind his back, collecting scattered items and after a short rest, they contemplated on how to carry the unconscious man. Lifting, let alone carrying anything heavy was extremely painful for Wesker, and Jill couldn't handle both the bag and the criminal.

"Should we wait until he wakes?" Jill asked, not able to come up with other possibilities.

"We don't have much of a choice. He's hardly dangerous anymore. We'll keep the gun pressed to his head. He'll cooperate."

Jill nodded and slumped back in the snow. She was shivering lightly. When she noticed that Wesker watched, she smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "I was actually warm, while it lasted. I think the teeth clattering is going to start soon again. Aren't you cold?"

"I give it little thought. There is not much we can do to change it."

"Too true."

Jill wasn't actually done with speaking, her mouth still half open when they heard a sound behind them. Instantly, both of them were on their feet, Jill training Wesker's weapon on whatever danger had come to face them – or was it just the wind?

No, neither of both. Seconds later Chris Redfield appeared and the expression on his faced matche the relief both Jill and Wesker felt.

"I found them!" he yelled, as he ran towards them and soon after Chris, various members of Bravo team filled the perimeter. They were given two blankets and Joseph Frost properly handcuffed Havel, who slowly awoke. Joseph sent him back into the darkness with the butt of his gun.

"You look dreadful," Chris stated gleefully and pinched Jill's cheek. "You're almost blue." He got a slap and a curse for that.

Wesker walked alongside Enrico Marini, briefing him quickly about the events that had occurred.

"So Alpha team reaps the rewards again?" the Captain of Bravo asked.

Wesker nodded, but only a little pride showed alongside the exertion.

"The car is not far from here. I'll send one of the boys to get it closer and inform the other group that the mission is over. We'll be home in no time."


One more epilogue-y chapter to go, ladies and gentlemen. Although the action is almost over, stay tuned for next time, where you will get to read the final chapter, the ending quote, the 'END' sign and a small preview on the next work!

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