Pandemic: Resident Evil VI

Chapter Twenty Two: The Captain

"I told you, Lieutenant, we're not terrorists." Sherry said as she and Jake were marched back into the city. "I'm Agent Sherry Birkin of the American DSO, and this man with me is under federal protection."

"Right, of course you are." Lieutenant Nivans replied, patting her on the head. "I might have been born at night, sweetheart, but it wasn't last night, so keep quiet or this'll be a real long walk for you, got it?"

God, people like this frustrated the hell out of the blonde; stubborn soldiers who refused to believe what anyone but their chain of command told them, and he sure looked the part, too. Short hair, a stern gaze that made him look a lot older than he actually was, and anger toward Jake that looked like it was barely contained. She couldn't really blame him for that, since the young man really was one of the mercenaries who attacked the city, and… technically a terrorist because of that, but Sherry needed to make him understand the importance of her mission.

"Real tough guy, picking on a girl like that, huh?" Jake asked, immediately making the situation worse. "How about you…

Whump! The young man's words were interrupted when Nivans slammed the stock of his rifle into Jake's stomach, making him gasp and cough while falling to his knees, and the other soldiers seemed pleased by this course of action. Back in the United States if a cop had done that while arresting a suspected criminal, he would have been immediately relieved of duty and possibly arrested himself, but… as this was Sherry's first assignment outside of her home country, she was quickly realizing that things were a little different with soldiers at war.

"So the terrorist wants to tell me about right and wrong, huh?" The Lieutenant replied, standing over him with his rifle aimed. "How many innocent people died in your little coup, huh, scumbag? And what were you people gonna do with all those women you took to your hideout, huh? Girls, like this one, here. Once we get to town square, the Captain can deal with you, but if you say one more fucking word… you're gonna get shot trying to escape."

The young man looked like he was about to say something back, but Sherry franticly shook her head at him, and Jake seemed to get the message. The other soldiers picked him up to his feet, and the march continued a few seconds later, bringing the two of them back toward city hall, and… the whole city was a mess. Thanks to the bag over her head, the young woman hadn't actually seen the place since the mayor's staff took shelter in the basement, but now most of the buildings were either blown apart, on fire, or a little bit of both.

For the most part, the fighting inside the city seemed to be over, and the BSAA had established a small basecamp about two blocks from city hall, in the middle of a very large parking lot. Another two dozen soldiers were there, most of them forming a security perimeter while a smaller group was gathered around what looked like a map that had been set out on the trunk of a wrecked car. These men must've been the unit's officers, since that was where Nivans was taking them. Ordering all but two of his men to join the security perimeter, the Lieutenant quietly warned the two prisoners what would happen if they tried anything stupid, before making them get down on their knees a short distance from where the other officers were standing.

Approaching the group, Nivans made his report to the others, and it didn't exactly put Sherry and Jake in a favorable light. According to him, they had been captured in the aftermath of a firefight between his team and the infected mercenaries, and the Lieutenant believed that they were the ringleaders of the whole operation. He suspected the young woman of being a foreign scientist who was using the people or yet another innocent third world country as a test site for her twisted experiments, and Jake… Jake was clearly a greedy terrorist warlord who dicked over his own men for an exchange of the profits.

Okay, the young man was a greedy terrorist, but he wasn't a warlord or anything, and the last thing Sherry wanted to be was a scientist, after what happened to her father back in Raccoon City. Damn it, they couldn't stay there forever or be permanently detained by the BSAA; the young woman had to get Jake to the extraction coordinates, and yes, the whole world literally depended on that happening. Her only hope was that the mysterious Captain of this unit was more reasonable than his Lieutenant.

"All right, let's have a look at these war criminals of yours." A gruffer voice said once the report was finished. "As prisoners of the BSAA, you are both subject to protection under the Geneva Convention, and will at all times, be… Sherry?"

"Oh, my God." The young woman replied as a wave of relief passed through her body. Chris, is that really you?"

Yes, it was… Claire's brother looked a lot buffer than last time they had seen each other, but right now Sherry had never been happier to see anyone in her life. She had known Chris Redfield for years, and he immediately ordered the handcuffs removed from her wrists, although not doing the same for Jake. Once on her feet, the young woman hugged him, and although her orders were not to divulge the details of her assignment, an exception had to be made if there was to be any hope of making it to the extraction point.

So she told him everything about her undercover assignment as part of the mayor's staff, and the importance of getting the young man back to the United States, although without giving away any more details than necessary. The Captain didn't like the idea of letting a terrorist go, even for a good reason, but thankfully he decided to trust her, at least enough for him to take the cuffs off Jake. Helping the young man to his feet, Chris used his key to unlock the restraints, but then stopped in the middle of warning the young man not to try anything stupid.

"What?" Jake asked, rubbing his now freed wrists. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"This might sound strange, but… have we met?" The Captain asked, looking a bit unsure of himself. "I don't know, but… I swear I've seen you somewhere before."

The young man made a snide comment about all you jarheads looking the same to him, and of course Nivans didn't like that, but Chris very politely asked his Lieutenant to chill the hell out. No, the Captain dismissed it as just being one of those faces, and it wasn't like they could've met in some major battle or anything, since the kid didn't look any older than about twenty. Wanting to get them off the topic of Jake, Sherry asked if there was any way his unit could spare a truck or something; they didn't need to be at the extraction point for another day, but a vehicle of any kind was better than walking.

"Yeah, Claire would be pissed if she found out I made you walk that far." Chris replied with a slight smile. "We still have more of the city to secure, so I can't give you any of our trucks, but sit tight for a second… maybe our support unit can give you a hand."

With that, the Captain walked back over to where the map was sitting, while activating his personal radio and trying to contact someone. The wind was picking up again, with too much noise for the young woman to hear the conversation, even on his end, but hopefully the BSAA could help them out somehow. Would her supervisor be upset that she broke the no contact rule? Yes, but so long as Sherry was on her way to the extraction coordinates, she didn't se any reason for him to know about it.

"You don't know how lucky you are." Nivans said, causing her to look over toward where he and Jake were talking. "If the Captain didn't know your little friend, here, you'd both be headed for Guantanamo Bay for the rest of your life."

"Didn't your boss just tell you to chill out?" The young man asked with an irritated tone. "I thought you jarheads were supposed to be good at following orders."

The Lieutenant gritted his teeth while starting toward Jake, but the radio conversation must've been a short one, because the Captain came back at that exact moment. Chris wished that he could escort them to the extraction point himself, but his unit still needed to secure city hall, so Echo Team was sending one of their transport helicopters in a few minutes. Sherry and Jake were to stay at the small basecamp with the rear security detail until the helicopter landed, and then she could give the pilot the coordinates for a drop off.

"Well, as fun as this was, we gotta get moving." The Captain said while starting to walk away. "It was nice to see you again, Sherry… come on, Piers, we gotta finish planning for city hall… so weird, I'm sure I've seen that kid before somewhere."

I guess its good to have some friends in high places." Jake told her after the officers were gone. "But you don't seem like someone who sees a lot of war, so… how do you get so tight with Captain Chris over there?"

"His sister, Claire, is my best friend." The young woman explained, leaning on one of the other wrecked cars. "She saved my life in Raccoon City when I was just a kid… her and Leon Kennedy, they were like second parents to me. Hey, look… over there, the helicopter's coming."

The CH-47 Chinook helicopters that the BSAA used for troop movements were a lot bigger and louder than the smaller ones the US government used, so it was visible from a good distance away, sort of… sort of looking like a giant bumblebee that slowly got bigger until the powerful wind of its rotors nearly knocked the young woman over as it landed. Using their arms to protect their faces from the blowing snow and super-heated exhaust, Sherry and Jake ran toward the lowering cargo door, only to have it start raising back up again as soon as they were inside.

At least things were quieter once the door was sealed, and warmer, too, since the heaters were working… probably a first for a military aircraft… so Jake was instructed to have a seat on one of the fold-down chairs against the wall, while the young woman went up to tell the pilot where they were headed. He commented that it was pretty far away, but that was probably why there was another whole day before they were supposed to get there.

"Getting there early is a lot better than running late." Sherry said before starting back to her own seat. "And thanks for this, I really appreciate it."

The pilot gave her a thumbs up, and then the whole aircraft vibrated heavily as the rotors spun up, allowing them to lift up into the air only a second after she was sitting down. Okay, good… they were finally on their way, the blonde thought as the ground was seen getting smaller through one of the small side windows… now she had to report in to her supervisor and let him know that everything was back on schedule.