Chapter 10: Chapter 10

Chap 10, enjoy! DC:I don't own anything, even though I would love to

`The eyes of a murderer´ Claire thought.

Claire looked away, not wanting to stare into Wesker's unnatural eyes. But the only object that caught her attention was the body lying on the concrete.

The sight made Claire's stomach turn, no matter how many dead corpses she saw walking, it was always horrible to see dead people.

The HUNK man shifted his weight from one leg to another. "What about my payment?" He asked coldly.

Wesker turned his attention to the gas masked man who was waiting for answer and tapping his fingers against the TMP.

"You will be paid the amount we agreed on, as long as you keep Ms. Redfield in your possession" He quickly glanced down to see how the girl couldn't take her eyes off the corpse. "Alive and without permanent damage if possible." He said and slowly trailed his fingers feather lightly down Claire's cheek.

Claire winced a bit when she felt Wesker touch her, but not much.

HUNK cackle out loud "I get paid for babysitting a girl? And they say you are heartless bastard!"

Claire quickly turned her eyes to the man in black. She had never heard anyone talk to Wesker in that tone, well except for Chris.

Suddenly HUNK's voice turned serious. "But why the change in plans? Do you question my abilities to retrieve the sample? You know I'm extremely familiar with Umbrella's security systems."

Claire's brains started to tick. Sample? Was all this about sample? Had the Anti-Umbrella organization come here to retrieve a virus sample?
"A virus sample?" Claire asked out loud and looked up to Wesker´s face seeking answers.

"Quite so, a variation of certain virus strain. I assume you were invited to join your group of activist friends to retrieve it before me."

"Before you? So you don't have it either? That's why you were on the train! You came to this part of the country for the sample, as did I it seems."

Wesker nodded "Yes, you are correct Claire." A faint smile formed on his lips. "Though I must say it was much more pleasant to meet you in the train, believe me, I had not expected your friends to be here."

Claire bit her lip. Because of her, Wesker had learned that the activists were on mission for the sample, and now he had probably reacted more quickly.

"But I thought Umbrella is your company now, why would they keep the sample from you?"

Wesker's face remained calm but Claire could sense that he was annoyed about something.

"Some departments such as the one I'm dealing with right now don't seem to understand that the Umbrella, led by Spencer, is dead and buried. The fools who work on the G-virus variation believe that Spencer will lead the Umbrella again soon, keeping the research data hidden and separated from rest of the Umbrella's data."

Claire couldn't understand this at all. "I don't get it." She confessed.

Wesker helped Claire to move. He led her to a big metal crate. There were several of those in the warehouse, and they were all scattered unorganised across the hall. They seemed to be rather old, and Claire expected that the warehouse was old and forgotten.

As Claire sat carefully down on the crate Wesker said " I'm not surprised Dear heart. The Umbrella is a complex corporation. Involving a great number of different branches. Such as the pharmaceutical and those which aren't so…." Wesker chuckled "resistant to light."

The blonde man turned around to face the mercenary. "Take care of Ms. Redfield, I shall return when I have retrieved the sample."

The HUNK man nodded.

"Try to behave Claire, as much as I hate to leave you here, I'm afraid I don't have any other choice." Wesker said and ran his fingers across Claire's cheek and lips one last time before leaving.

Claire touched her cheek softly. as she watched the man go. Wesker's light touch still lingered there, and the scent of his leather gloves remained in her mind. She had never felt Wesker, or anyone touch her so gently.

For a moment she just sat there, her hand placed on her cheek.

Eventually she felt the HUNK man's gaze burn her and shifted her attention to him. Claire wondered who was the person underneath the gas mask.

Every once in a while Claire glanced the body on the ground and studied the hall. She really didn't know what to say or do in this situation.

Finally, with glance directed to the mercenary man, Claire said quietly "Hey".

The man sitting on a metal crate had his TMP aimed towards her. "Don't even think of trying to do something stupid." The man threatened her and Claire could feel her blood starting to boil.

"Not with this leg." She snapped more frustrated than angry.

Minutes passed, and the man made no motion of lowering the gun, which was starting to bother Claire rather much.

"Could you please lower your weapon!" She asked. This whole situation was ridiculous. She could not walk, and certainly she could not run. And the man kept aiming her with the TMP like she was the biggest threat in the world.

After a moment the man lowered his TMP, clearly the girl wasn't a threat. He gave a calculating glance towards Claire.

"So, you are the famous Redfield?"

Claire was unsure "Famous? You must mean my brother, Chris, he is the one causing Wesker all the trouble."

The man reached up to his gas mask, and pulled it off "No, miss Redfield, I mean you."

Claire was a bit surprised when she saw the man's face. He had sand coloured hair, and dark brown eyes, and needed a shave…. but he was rather handsome even though rough shaped. The man was probably in his mid thirties though Claire wasn't so sure about that.

"You are one of the few survivors of Raccoon city, and you survived the Rockfort Island as well. And that, makes you a remarkable opponent."

Redfield girl smiled at the compliment, even though it was rather terrible.

"To whom?" She just had to ask.

"Wesker of course" The man gave simple answer.

Claire snorted "Me? No, he pushes me around like I'm nothing. I am not threat to him."

HUNK studied Claire closely "I'd say you are wrong if you think that, because what I have heard from Wesker, is that you are quite a fighter. He thinks highly of you."

Claire wasn't sure what to think of this, somehow if felt good that Wesker probably respected her as an enemy, but that really didn't chance the fact that he hated her brother and wanted probably see them both dead or suffering....or worse.

"He shot you?" HUNK suddenly asked, as is such an act perfectly acceptable and normal, and brought Claire back from her thoughts.

"Accident" Claire corrected the man and opened her ponytail to fix it. "It was a metal fragment, luckily it impaled my leg completely so that there is no metal inside." She added.

"Optimist" HUNK snorted, as if despising the word, while searching for something from his backpack.

"I'm not sure how bad the wound actually is. Wesker used some health spray on it, but since the medicine was outdated it wasn't very effective."

"Ah well, that will be fixed soon." HUNK said as he pulled a full bottle of health spray and a syringe out of his backpack.

"Wesker told me to bring one bottle of this stuff." He said rather absent minded while filling the syringe with the liquid and made sure that there was no air inside.

Claire shivered a bit, she hated needles….

HUNK got up and walked over to Claire kneeling down in front of her.

Claire winced in pain when HUNK exposed her wound and studied it.

"Hmh, not very bad wound." He muttered and injected the chemical into Claire's body. The medicine started to repair the damaged tissue right away, making the pain vanish.

The mercenary got up and threw the syringe away as he sat down next to Claire. Searching something from one of the vest pockets.

"Thanks" "Claire said and smiled a bit. Her leg was much better now, and would probably be healed completely in no time.

Finally HUNK found a carton of cigarettes. Claire smiled mischievously when she saw the pack. "Smoking kills."

The mercenary snorted rather amused. "Don't get cheeky ms. Redfield."

Claire noted that the man had problems with getting his lighter to flame. "Allow me." She said and searched her pocket, pulling her old lighter and flared it."

HUNK lighted his cig in the flame. "Thanks" he muttered.

Moments passed, somehow Claire couldn't care less about the stinging smell of smoke, but kept her gaze fixed on the dead body, she just couldn't tear her eyes off it. It sickened her, no matter how many times she had seen dead bodies, walking or completely dead, it always made her feel ill.

She sighted in her mind. It was good thing that she felt so, it meant she had not lost herself.

"Don't worry Claire, it wont get up." Hunk snorted amused "I know the feeling."

Redfield sighted " I know, just a habit." Every time she saw a corpse, she assumed that it would get up and start wobbling towards her, wanting to taste her flesh.

She then realized how strange it was to hear HUNK say her first name. Everyone always called her ms. Redfield to point it made her want to scream `My name is Claire! God damn it!´

"Everyone always calls me ms. Redfield. I so rarely hear my first name these days." Claire mentioned smiling.

HUNK's lips turned into a small smile "Boss often talks about you by using your first name."

"Really? Well, Wesker usually calls me just ´ms Redfield or `Dear heart´" Claire pondered. Even though lately he has started to use `Claire´ more often.´ she thought.

The cig was getting shorter and shorter, so HUNK threw it away. Claire watched how it let out last few trails of smoke before dying.

"I don't know about that then, all I do is follow his commands. He just calls you Claire when your name crosses his plans." The man said as if he couldn't care less.

"Oh" Claire answered "Well, I'm not really sure if I should be happy about that. Being mentioned in plans I mean."

The merc laughed amused.

"You smoke girl?" HUNK asked and offered a cig.

"Nah" she said but took one anyways.

Claire, who had actually never smoked before, started to cough right away.

" Sorry, I'm not much of a smoker. If my brother saw me now, he would probably kill me." She said sadly, remembering the time she had asked if Chris would give her a cigarette, but all she had gained was a lecture about dangers of smoking. And when she had pointed out that why on earth then he smoked, Chris had just grinned and said "cause girls think its sexy."

The mercenary let out a low chuckle as she told the story.

Claire wasn't sure what to think of the man. Certainly Hunk had some sense of humour....and he just didn't seem the type to plot evil schemes and work half of his life in dark room.

"What are you in this for? Money? Power?" Claire asked.

It took a moment for the man to answer, the subject probably wasn't very interesting for him.

"Profit" he gave a simple answer.

Suddenly an idea hit Claire, it wasn't the best one, but it was worth of trying. If the man was in this for money, then perhaps he could be persuaded.

"What if someone paid more than Wesker? Someone like.....anti-Umbrella group?" Claire asked hopefully.

She jumped a bit when the man let out a loud cackle; clearly what Claire had said had amused him. He grinned and pointed the corpse on the ground. "I might be in this for money, but I am not stupid. The ones who have the idea to cross Wesker, end up dead, as you can see. Besides Wesker pays me really well to keep me loyal and my mouth shut."

After that the conversation died for sometime.

Wesker drove the car through the empty streets. His mind kept trailing to Claire, and he could still feel her warm body press against his, seeking support. He wondered, if Chirs was going to show up, and he certainly hoped that he would. He might even get a chance to kill that damned Redfield.

But then again, if he killed Chris, what would he do with Claire? He played with the idea of letting her just go, and see if she would try to seek revenge. Or perhaps he could find some other use for her.

He wondered how she would look like if he killed Chris in front of her. Would her blue eyes look up in horror and fear if he stood over her and Chris? Would she hug Chris' cooling body and yell at him for leaving her alone? Would Claire go so low as beg him to save her brother's life?

Even when he tried to banish the images, new ones would rise. His mind trailed to the time he had first time met Claire.

"This place is full of fools!" Wesker cursed underneath his breath as he left the Chief Iron's office. The man was too arrogant for his own good, perhaps that would change soon. As he quickly walked through the corridors of the police department, dodging busy officers and other people when a young girl caught his attention. Not because she was young and seemed to be lost, but because she reminded him of someone.

The girl sitting next to a vending machine seemed to be rather frustrated and lost. Wesker guessed her to be around 17 or 18. She had her red brown hair tied up on neat ponytail and wore jeans and black T-shirt.

The fact that the girl seemed somehow familiar made Wesker approach her. When the girl saw him coming nearer, she got up from the bench and walked up to him.

"Are you looking for something?" Wesker asked, noting the tag "guest" attached on girl's shirt.

"Yeah, do you know where this "S.T.A.R.S" office is? My brother works in that team." The girl asked.

"S.T.A.R.S? Just straight that corridor and turn left, and then right."

The girl's blue eyes seemed to grow brighter and she gave him a wide warm smile. "Thank you! I was sure I would be lost in this place for eternity!"

The girl had relatives is S.T.A.R.S? Poor girl....."No problem, actually I'm heading for there as well, mind if I escort you miss....?"

"Just call me Claire!" She grinned. "And I don't mind at all!"

When they entered the office, Chris rushed from his work desk to meet his sister. "SIS! Finally you bother to drag your little hide here!" He laughed and ruffled Claire's hair, messing up her ponytail.

"Everyone! Come to meet my sister!" Chris laughed and gesture Jill to come over to him. " Oh, hi Captain Wesker." Chris muttered rather embarrassed when he saw his superior standing in the doorway while he was harassing his sister.

`No wonder she reminded me of someone.....she really looks bit like her brother.´ Wesker thought.

"Oh, I should probably introduce you to everyone sis! Captain Wesker this is my sis Claire...." Chris started but Wesker walked past him

"Yes I know w met already." He simply said and entered his private office, separated from the rest of the team. As he searched the bookshelf for some research data, he could see and hear how the rest of the team was laughing and getting introduced to the young girl. As he sat down behind is work desk, he noticed that Claire was staring him through the class. Chris probably told some horrible tale about the amount he had work overtime because of him.

He had expected the girl to burst out in laughter anytime, but instead she smiled. A warm bright smile, meant only for him. Luckily because he wore sunglasses, the Redfield girl could not read his emotions. But when she turned her attention to Enrico, Wesker snorted and turned the page.

"Ms. Redfield..." He tasted the name. "In few years, you wont ever smile like that again....."

But she had smiled, not as widely, but with same warmth. Back in the old shack when he had given his vest to warm her. The same warm smile he had seen all those years ago, meant only for him. He wondered why, and how she was still able to smile like that after all the horrors she had witnessed.

But it was not time to think that, he needed to be focused on the task at hand. The retrieval of the sample, it was his primary concern right now.

The sample was dangerous to him if it ended up in wrong hands, such as the anti-Umbrella group, it could be able to cause much damage to his achievements.

"So, your name is `HUNK´?" Claire asked bit insecurely.

"No, its actually code name H.U.N.K, but since everyone is too lazy to say it, its just HUNK."

"You are quite a girl to survive Raccoon City incident without any kind of training." The man suddenly said, obviously trying to change the subject, but Claire didn't care, information wasn't really something for her to pry considering the situation.

She just shrugged and smiled "Simple luck"

"Skill" the mercenary corrected smiling. "It is no wonder why Wesker seems to respect you." He said.

Claire gave the man a confused glance. "And what exactly do you mean by that?"

"You are a survivor born person Claire."

"I am?"

"Yes, I saw you few times during my mission back in Raccoon city, and I recognize a survivor when I see one.

"Well, if you think that way." Wait…what mission?

"May I ask what kind of mission you had?" She asked carefully, wishing to get some information, any information that might help her and others.

HUNK pondered the question for a moment and decided that it would do him no harm to answer it.

"I retrieved the G-virus sample from Birkin, but…well, I'm quite sure you know how it ended for him. But I got the job done."

Claire smiled widely "Quite bold of you to claim such thing."

HUNK grinned and lowered his face closer to Claire's.

"Can you prove it?" He asked, voice barely more than a whisper, and Claire knew she would not be able to prove anything.

She shook her head in defeat, red hair waving beautifully. "No, I cannot." She admitted

Both of them turned their attention back to the corpse on the floor.

"Its an magnificent feeling isn't it?" The man asked, clearly thinking out loud.

"What is?" Claire asked, tightening her grip on the edge of the metal crate.

HUNK swiftly gestured towards the corpse. "The feeling that every second might be you last in danger. And once it's over, you can feel your heart beat fast, your sharpened senses pick up even the slightest of movements, and you can feel every inch of your body."

"You can actually feel yourself being alive…..every breath, heart beat…..You appreciate your life when you have almost lost it in, well lets say a zombie invasion."

Claire couldn't agree with this, "That's just horrible!" but she knew that his words spoke the truth.

The Redfield girl always felt alive after danger.

HUNK could tell that body reactions that Claire was lying about her feeling. He just smiled and pulled another cig from the carton and let Claire light it.

She thought of HUNK's words. He was right and even more.

I'm such a horrible person….

She was addicted to danger.

Chris hit the full magazine into his handgun.

"Ok guys! Be ready to leave in 5 minutes!" he yelled and started to march towards the door, it was time to invade the Umbrella facility and retrieve the sample.

He checked his assault rifle one more time before leaving the building.

The team that was going to attack the facility containing the new experimental sample was formed of 6 persons. The group had a wide variety of equipment with them, each person focusing on some area.

Chris, Jill and Leon were most heavily armed. Barry carried his trusted magnum and extra ammo, while Billy and Rebecca were focused on explosives and medical equipment.

2 Helicopters were waiting outside the temporary quarters of the anti-Umbrella team headquarters.

Chris, Jill and Leon formed first team, and Rebecca, Billy and Barry second.

Once everyone was ready and the copters boarded, they took off.

During the flight Chris was rather tense. "Redfield, you ok?" Kennedy asked, he certainly didn't want to get shot by the stubborn man who was gripping the assault rifle rather hard.

" I just hope we are not late, if that bastard gets the sample before us, then all is lost!" Chris growled, the `bastard´ clearly referring to Wesker.

Jill took hold of Chris´ hand and smiled softly "I'm sure we aren't, the good guys always win, right?"

Leon checked his pistol one more time, even though he was quite certain that everything was in order, a habit he had developed in Spain. "We'll beat Wesker in this race and save Claire." He told them both determined.

"If I see that bastard, I'm going to rip his eyes out…." Chris stated in low deadly voice and Leon made a mental note not to mention Wesker and Claire in same sentence again.

He could clearly see sorrow in Chris´ eyes. They had not heard anything of Claire for days, and so they had no clue if she was dead or alive. It was almost as if she had just vanished with Wesker.

Leon missed Claire. He had so been hoping to see the woman again. Claire was so strong and happy, and the former police officer couldn't deny his feelings for the younger Redfield anymore, even though he had tried to tell himself that it was no time for romances.

When Chris had heard one of their phone calls via speaker, in which Leon and Claire had flirted rather clearly, the man had been ready to snap Leon's neck if he caught him doing anything inappropriate. But now Claire was gone, and Chris was boiling inside. Claire was everything to him, the only family he had left.

"We are getting closer" Barry's voice said through the radio. "Be ready to get off"

Chris nodded.
"This is it."

Meh, I'm slow. HunkxClaire anyone? Thanks for the readers and reviewers for support! I wanted to add HUNK into my story, because he is such a great character, and we don't know about him very much :D so, this is what I image HUNK to be like, perhaps I made him a bit too relaxed and all but well....he is still a tough guy!