City of the Dead

by phantomofthehummus

Carlos Oliveira, a mercenary for U.B.C.S., is sent into the heart of chaos within Raccoon City. Along with his fellow soldiers he prepares to find and rescue survivors. After his encounter with S.T.A.R.S. officer Jill Valentine, Carlos soon discovers that there is much more to this incident than he could have ever imagined.

10. Epilogue

Epilogue

"Barry, you saved us!" Jill cried happily.

"I couldn't leave a teammate behind," the pilot replied with a smile. I put my arm around Jill and pulled her close to me. She didn't shy away this time, and rested her head against my shoulder. I smiled down at her while she slept.

"Let her rest, kid, "Barry said to me.

"Mind if I ask you something?" I spoke with curiosity.

"Shoot."

"Can you tell me about what happened in the mansion?"

"That's one hell of a story." He chuckled.

The city was decimated behind us by the missile. The streets that we had narrowly been able to escape were nothing more than blackened rubble. All the people of Raccoon City were lost in the flames. The flames that would serve as a cover to Umbrella's warped experiments. The sun rose slowly into the cloudless azure sky. The nightmare was finally over.

The wind whipped my hair back from my face carrying with it the scent of the sea. I smiled and inhaled deeply. Arms wrapped tight around my midsection from behind me. I turned and picked Jill up and spun her around once before setting her back on her feet.

"You're such a charmer," she giggled. She stood next to me, placing her hands on the railing of the cruise ship. We peered over the cool blue waters and watched the sun slip under the waves in a brilliant sunset.

"Carlos!" Barry shouted from behind us. He held up a bottle of wine in one hand and nodded for us to join him at a nearby table.

"Much better meeting you under less bizarre circumstances," he said, filling the glasses.

"Same to you," I replied, reaching for my glass. I tried to take a sip, but Jill gave me a look and I lowered the glass from my lips and smirked.

"A toast," she said with a smile.

"To what?" I asked.

"To a better world," she offered shyly.

"To a better world," we all said in unison, clinking our glasses together.

"We're a long way from that, darlin'." Barry said sadly. And somewhere off in the distance, a bird called out once as if in agreement. It sounded like an omen, warning us that there were still more nightmares to come and that this fight was far from over.