"You didn't see anyone else on the cameras, Chris?"
"No," he said, "most of the feeds were knocked out."
That didn't surprise Jill; the island had been attacked, that much was obvious from all of the damage. At least half the island was on fire or buried under debris, and smoke choked the air, made it reek of burnt fuel and rubber.
"Whoever that guy on the camera's with, they attacked the island and wanted to cover up the fact they'd been here," Jill said, as they cut across the training yard. "Who do you think he's with anyway?" She looked at Chris. "WilPharma, maybe? TriCell?" Jill frowned, then said, "Hear the Chinese have been interested in acquiring Umbrella's dirty little secrets, too."
"Wouldn't be surprised if they had a hand in it," Chris told her. "Like a bunch of fuckin' vultures trying to pick the corpse clean before there's nothin' left but bones."
A few minutes later, they shouldered through a squeaky wrought-iron gate, and found themselves in front of some ornate, porticoed building that looked like a palace, a stained glass transom glittering above its carved double-doors. The grounds around it were manicured, shot through with flagstone walkways lined with colorful flowerbeds, topiaries, graceful queen palms, and gas lamps. One of the gas lamps, Jill noticed, had been snapped in two.
"This is where you saw the guy on the camera?" she asked.
Chris nodded. "Yeah," he said, looking around. "Let's fan out, see if we can find anything that might clue us into who this asshole's working for."
The doors to The Palace creaked open, and out strode the man from the camera. "No need, Chris," the man said, and smiled. His smile was like something that had been programmed. "And Jill? My, what a lovely reunion this is turning out to be. My two favorite subordinates, together."
"Wesker?" Jill said, her eyes widening. "No. You died."
"I saw you die," Chris said.
"I did die," Wesker said. "You wasted your time coming here, Chris. Claire isn't here anymore."
Chris threw a punch, but Wesker countered, sent him sprawling on his ass. Jill fired a shot, and though the bullet hit Wesker squarely in his center mass, he walked on, unfazed.
"What the fuck," Jill said.
Wesker ran, so fast that her eyes couldn't even track him, and swatted her aside as if she weighed nothing at all. Jill ragdolled across the wet flagstone, skinning her palms and banging the back of her head against something with an impact so loud and visceral that she was sure her skull had cracked. Touching the back of her head, she felt a huge, sore lump there, but no blood.
"Where's Claire?" Chris yelled, launching himself at Wesker and tackling him to the ground, his muscles straining with the effort to keep Wesker pinned beneath him. Straddling his chest, Chris punched until his knuckles turned bloody and bruised, each blow connecting with an audible thud. But Wesker just grinned the whole time with a sort of feral ecstasy, his teeth red with blood.
Wesker kicked Chris away and stood up, spitting blood from his mouth, the bruises and cuts on his face healing as if someone had their thumb on the fast-forward button. His sunglasses were shattered, and now he stared at them through the cracked lenses with eyes the color of molten metal. "She's in Antarctica," Wesker said, removing his sunglasses and tossing them aside. "I found an e-mail while I was wiping the island's data. Pity you won't get to read it."
"You motherfucker," Chris said, through his teeth.
Jill got to her feet, feeling dizzy, a little nauseous. A concussion, she decided. Her legs felt like rubber, her vision fuzzy around the edges. She sagged against a gas lamp and vomited. "Chris," she slurred, "I'm not feeling so hot."
"Guess she banged her head a little too hard," Wesker said.
"I got you, Jill," Chris told her, getting her around the middle and steadying her on her feet.
"Now," Wesker said, and popped his neck, his shoulders, "my business is concluded on Rockfort. I'd kill you both now, but my employer has me on a tight schedule. I need to be in Antarctica by tomorrow. Deadlines, you know?" He paused as if considering something, then recited a set of coordinates. "I'll see you there, Chris," he said. "We'll finish what we started in the Arklays."