Chapter Twenty Eight
Jill had such a bad feeling. She'd learned to obey those feelings under Wesker's tutelage, oddly enough. Police training didn't say much about gut feelings and instincts (it casually acknowledged their existence, but stressed going by-the-book and obeying the eternal law of cover your ass instead). Wesker's training, on the other hand, put as much emphasis on instinct as it did on hand-to-hand combat. A good cop, he'd once told her, is 90 instinct and 10 skill.
Not that Wesker had turned out to be a good cop per se, but nevertheless.
And 90 of Jill's instinct was telling her to get the hell out while she still could.
She supposed Chris' instincts must have been swallowed by fear and worry. She could understand that. Barry's nerves were clearly jumping; you only had to look in his eyes. Leon himself was jumping, but Jill was getting used to that.
She was worried about Hunk.
He was really relaxed. Too relaxed. She hated the guy; she hated mercenaries in general -- real mercenaries, people without morals or brains who sold themselves to the highest bidder like prostitutes at a slave auction. Still, she had some small respect for his abilities. And she couldn't believe Hunk's instincts weren't running as wild as hers.
As if reading her mind, he flashed her a grin. "Buckle up, sweetheart. We're heading in."
Jill fingered the comforting weight of her Glock. She had a feeling she'd need it.
------
Barry strapped his bulk into a seat and maintained a stony silence as the plane descended. He'd seen it too, the squat Umbrella facility hidden in miles of snow and... well, and nothing, really. Didn't matter. So it was there. He still didn't trust Hunk further than he could throw him. The idiot was going to get them all killed, and what good would they do Claire then?
He shook his head in annoyance. He barely knew Claire Redfield. Oh, he'd met her once or twice when visiting Chris, and she seemed like a nice enough girl -- albeit a Redfield through and through. Sassy, sharp, intelligent, and talented, that summed up the Redfield siblings. Clearly the girl idolized her big brother, a fact Chris paid far too little attention to. He needed to wake up, pay more attention to her and give her a little more credit. That stunt he'd pulled, taking off without a word of explanation -- no wonder that had backfired. Barry had tried to warn him at the time, but once Chris thought he was protecting his sister there wasn't much you could do to stop him.
Case in point.
The plane lurched unpleasantly as it lowered into the storm. "Hang on tight, kiddies," Hunk sneered from behind him. "Might get a little rocky."
Barry glanced around. Jill gripped the armrests, keeping the palm of her hand on her sidearm, her jaw set and tight. Leon's right eye twitched non-stop. Even Chris was beginning to look worried, although that worry was balanced with relief -- to finally, finally, be doing something.
And in the midst of it all, Hunk just kept grinning like an idiot.
Oh, this was going to go great.
-----
They'd landed without dying. Chris supposed he ought to be grateful for that.
The second the door swung open the arctic fury caught him full in the face. He actually staggered, very conscious of his friends behind him, their eyes boring holes in his back. He wasn't stupid. He knew what they thought of this plan, of Hunk, of him. Truth be told, Chris was having second thoughts about Hunk too. The guy was just way to cocky in the face of danger. Either he didn't realize what a threat Wesker could be, or he didn't particularly care if they succeeded or failed.
Chris, on the other hand, had already made up his mind. Either he came back with Claire, or he didn't come back at all. Sure, that was giving Wesker what he wanted. Who cared? Chris was tired of running. He was tired of sleepless nights, of imagining what twisted things his former Captain might be doing to his baby sister. A tower, he reminded himself firmly. The second he got her back he was building a tall tower and walling her up inside. She could grow her hair really long and he'd send her food and she'd be safe.
He was thinking crazy, he knew that. If he let Claire grow her hair that long, she'd find a way to escape with it.
Jill squeezed his hand, and he cast her a grateful smile in the plane's shelter. "Ready?" she asked.
God, what was he doing? He could be leading his friends, his family, into Wesker's mousetrap. But he didn't have a choice. Not while Wesker held Claire.
Suddenly he grabbed Jill's wrist, imprisoning it in his hand. She let loose a squeak of protest as he tipped her into his chest, his free arm circling her waist and his mouth covering hers in a vicious, desperate kiss. After a second she relaxed into him, wrenching free to cup his face in her hands.
"Aw," Hunk drawled from behind them. "Ain't that cute. Now come on, you two; time for lip rasslin' later."
Jill glared over her shoulder. Her face turned beet-red, and she didn't meet his eyes. "Be careful, Chris."
Later he wouldn't believe the words had come out of his mouth. "I love you, Valentine."
Her gaze snapped to his as though she'd been jerked, her jaw dropping. He could have kicked himself, but he waited with bated breath to see what she would say -- anything she said had to be better than nothing, than standing here in the freezing cold and waiting...
"Let's move, kiddies!"
The moment broke and they fell into line, following Hunk and his broad-shouldered cronies toward the bunker.
If Chris hadn't hated the man before, he sure did now.
-----
"I think we can safely assume Wesker's aware of us." Barry cocked his Magnum. "Not much point in subtlety, is there?"
"I'm in charge here, big boy." Hunk kicked the hangar door. "Wet snow, you see that?"
"As opposed to dry snow?" Jill demanded, irritation plain in her voice.
Hunk chuckled. "Melted snow."
"So, water."
Suddenly the big man's humor vanished. His gaze snapped to Chris. "Shut your girlfriend up. This is serious business."
Quickly, Chris and Leon stepped between Jill and Hunk. "Later," Chris hissed out of the corner of his mouth, praying the mission wasn't about to start with friendly fire.
Not that there would be anything too friendly about it, judging by the expression on Jill's face.
"Melted snow," Leon prompted gently, although his right hand kept twitching in a circle. Chris cast him a confused glance. The younger man was acting strangely, even given the situation. "Melted snow, water, wet."
"Means they came through here recently, or one of 'em did. They might not know we're here. If they just got in themselves, they might be kinda busy."
Chris had to admit the mercenary had a point. "We can't assume that, though."
"Course not." Hunk cast him a derogatory sneer. "Just stick with me, Redfield. You'll be all right. You did the right thing calling me -- shows you're the only one here with a brain -- and I've got it all taken care of."
Chris was beginning to understand why Jill and Barry were so damn mad at him.
-----
He was so sick of deja vu. If he never saw another Umbrella facility it would be way too soon for his liking.
Besides, he kept expecting things to jump out of shadows. Hunk promised this was a dead facility, but Chris didn't trust Umbrella further than he could track it.
"Hey," he hissed, noticing Leon half-bouncing on his heels. "What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing. Nervous. Excited." Leon blinked several times. "We're gonna get Claire back, Chris."
"Yeah, I know that. Take it easy." Chris shook his head and tried to catch Jill's eye, telegraphing his concern, but for some reason she seemed to be avoiding him. He shrugged. Time to worry about that later.
They advanced into the loading dock, all Umbrella utilitarianism without so much as a nod to human comfort. Hunk cocked his weapon and gestured his accomplices ahead; they slid silently into the shadows. Chris felt a weight relax on his shoulders. Hunk was an arrogant bastard, but he was a competent arrogant bastard. They could trust him.
Falling into step with Barry and Jill, he automatically took point, trusting them to watch his back. It was good, working with people you knew so well, trusted so completely. They didn't have to discuss their options, they just did things. He'd never felt closer to his friends than he did at this moment. Of course he wouldn't say anything. No one knew that Chris Redfield always got choked up at the beginning of a mission, choked up by the sense of camraderie and belonging. They didn't need to know it now either. He considered it the equivalent of stage fright, and like stage fright, it would be gone by the time the action started.
Which it apparently had. Someone shouted from up ahead and Chris broke into a run, the STARS and Leon on his heels. He cursed himself for letting Hunk get out of sight; what was he thinking?
And then he rounded the corner and something collided with his head, and he wasn't thinking at all anymore, just going down, down, down.
The last thing he saw was Wesker standing over him with a satisfied smirk, Hunk grinning behind him in the shadows.
