Author Note: Continuation to Secret's and Flies that starts Three months after the end of the last one. Love, betrayal, suspense and action are on the menu for this story as we watch our favourite band of Umbrella renegades give it there all to hopefully bring a final end to there hellish lifestyle once and for all. To do that, assistance will be required from some, unconventional characters.

I do not own the characters & this will be very different from any RE movie and/or video game plot (to date)

Please read & review as you wish!

B

Updated 30-Jun-2021: Updated based on latest edits to Secret's & Flies.

Calm Before the Storm

- 5 -

- Twenty Four Hours Ago -

Sleep eluded her night after night. She would lay awake on her back, Chris on his side snoring, his back turned from her as she stared up at the ceiling, eyes wide and brain on overdrive. Every time she closed her eyes, all Jill saw was death and blood. Her dreams were nightmares, but not fictitious ones that would be found in the pages of a Stephen King novel. They were memories, snip-its of a life before The Arcadia, a life before the world went to shit. Sometimes they were happy, like when she was a little girl and playing hopscotch on the sidewalk outside her family home, or when she received her badge from S.T.A.R.S in Raccoon City. Overtime, even these memories would transform into something sinister. Her neighbourhood would be overrun by the undead, or Raccoon City transformed into an empty crater in the ground. It wasn't just seeing the grotesque images, but she relived the feeling of dread and fear that this time she was going to die.

Since Alice left three months ago, her sleepless nights had only become more and more frequent.

Jill didn't like keeping secrets. She hated being "that girl" people referenced all the time in her life before this. Being a cop, you got used to finding out whose husbands were cheating on their wives, or sometimes, even with each other. Deception was not how she handled relationships, but when Chris started to treat the people of The Arcadia as an army instead of a a rag-tag group of survivors, sneaking around was the only way to not get caught in the proverbial cross-fire. This power he's embraced has gone to his head with his ego now inflated to the size of the ship. Chris was convinced she went to go rejoin Umbrella. That was the misinformation he fed to the mindless followers, desperate for someone to become their charismatic leader, and enforcing the fear that she was never to be trusted again.

Thankfully, no one on the crew believed a word he said. However, Jill and the others would be damned if they expressed any sort of resistance. They all played their parts, completed their tasks while silently praying that Alice would return soon and put Chris in his place.

The person Jill confided in the most was the least likely of all; Claire. They had gotten off to a rocky start with Claire being apprehensive that Alice's "feeling" of Jill's changed personality was a bit premature. When she saved Alice's life in the Mexican jungle from a few foolish survivors who tried to have her killed, the young redhead began to warm up to the idea of having another femme fatale on the team. That act of valor seemed to have done the trick, but a mere twenty-four hours later, Claire learned of Jill and Chris hooking up on the boat deck. Anger and hostility were back in full swing, and did not leave until Angela recounted to the entire group of Alice's departure and the child growing inside her.

Jill felt a slight stir beside her as she remained still, as if she had awoken an irritated grizzly bear. After a few moments, Jill heard Chris snoring once more, indicating that he was still fast asleep. She took a deep breath, her mind still burning the midnight oil. In the hopes of calming her mind, she began to think about the things that have changed since Alice left. First and foremost, Angela's pregnancy.

No one knew that the young girl they rescued from the Mexican jungle was infected with the T-Virus except for the Alice, Jill and eventually K-Mart since the young girl felt the need to confide in someone her own age. Angela kept that secret, disguised with bright green eyes and a cheerful smile for fear of what would happen, and rightfully so, it was exactly why those men targeted Alice in the jungle. Angela had no tell tale signs of infection, no special powers like Alice to exemplify her supreme being status, or grotesque limbs or craving for human flesh. She had only joined The Arcadia for three days before Alice up and left. Being a person of Jill and Alice's past, she was instantly made a crew member, which is why everyone listened to her on the bridge that morning when she told them Alice had left. Chris was about to blow a gasket on the young teen, demanding to know answers when the young woman broke down and confessed that she was with child. Chris instantly stopped badgering the poor girl, deflecting his anger and hostility towards Claire instead.

Following a screaming match that left their throats raw with rage, it was evident to everyone in the room that Claire was just in the dark about Alice's departure as the rest of them. Jill felt bad for the woman, she was clearly distraught, beside herself on why Alice would have just up and left in the middle of the night. Chris was convinced that this was an act of defiance and proceeded to filter that propaganda throughout the ship. He took over Alice's roll as commander of The Arcadia and no one attempted to challenge his authority. It wasn't until K-Mart and Angela overheard the speech he gave to the survivors that they pleaded with Jill to make Chris stop saying spreading lies about Alice. The teen girls assumed she had some weight she could throw, being they were a couple and all, but instead Jill found it easier to keep quite than to battle for control.

As Chris grew stronger, Claire was slowly vanishing before their eyes. She refused to do her duties, locking herself in her cabin most of the day, barely eating, and when people did see her, she looked like she was barely sleeping. The woman was like a lost soul, wandering the ocean for her lover. Jill knew the only way to snap the young woman out of her trance was to tell her about the slander her brother was spewing. She cornered her one day on the boat deck, telling her how badly The Arcadia was in need of a real leader and that Chris needed to be knocked down a peg or two.

After some persuasion, and many conversations, Jill had wrangled Claire into getting back in with the crew. She began to do her assigned tasks, take real care into the welfare and safety of the survivors instead of wallowing in her own pity. A recent example of this was the emergency evacuation plan for the non-combative's on board. It was the one and only point she and her brother never went head to head on. Claire was also the only one brave enough to challenge Chris's authority. With Alice gone, she had nothing to loose. K-Mart even complimented Claire's tenacity to Jill one day while they were in the mess hall. The young girl said she had not seen Claire so committed to a cause since the Nevada desert. Of course, Jill was intrigued, and asked the young Redfield about it, learning of how she and Alice first met, about Alaska, and about the people she led to Umbrella's doorstep. This was a second chance for her to do it right this time.

For the most part, Angela's pregnancy was seen as positive, celebratory news, however to a few, she was looked at as a liability. The Arcadia was a warship not a hospital. They did not have a sterile room for delivery when the time came, no hospital equipment to check on the baby's progress, and no nutritious food for mother and child to eat to keep healthy. As soon as news hit the passengers of a new life coming on board, women stopped Angela on her patrols to tell them about home remedies and old wives tales. They treated this like a miracle, like it was a sign that the human race was ready to rebuild once again. Angela took their advice with a grain of salt, her mind preoccupied with the only question that was of any value; was her baby going to be a mutant of Umbrella?

Jill shifted to her side, looking at the strip of yellow light that was coming in from the crack at the bottom of their stateroom door. She closed her eyes, imagining that some day, hopefully soon, Alice would be standing on the other side, triumphantly returned from whatever her plan was. Jill's thoughts drifted to her friend and comrade telling them Umbrella was dead, the undead were no longer a threat, and humanity could finally begin to build a new. With those thoughts Jill smiled, feeling drowsy and finally able to get a few hours of shut eye before breakfast.

- Present Day -

Seeing Alice again was unexpected. She'd never doubted her methods, but as more time passed it was hard not to think that the woman had run off for good. She and everyone else began to make excuses, this was just Alice being Alice. For her to have done what she did, Alice had to have good, sound reason, whatever it was. When Claire brought her up to the bridge, for a second Jill had thought her prayers were answered. Maybe there was a God or some other higher power really watching out for them. Finally they might be able to end this once and for all. When Alice met Jill's eyes however, a cold shiver went down her spine. Instantly, she was transported back to Raccoon City, back in the desolated streets that were crawling with the infected and those God awful Lickers.

Her demeanor was different. The humanity that was once in Alice's eyes was replaced with revenge. Every word she said, every action she made was calculated. Like the Terminator she would stop at nothing to bring those responsible to justice. Without Alice even uttering a single word explaining her whereabouts for the past three months, Jill knew she had become a weapon once more. Project Alice was back, and ready to take down anything in her path. The desire to stand side by side with the greatest warrior Jill had ever known was like a surge of adrenaline. Umbrella was going to wish they never started this war.

"What are you thinking about?" Chris asked as he punched in the code to the armory, unlocking the door.

Jill shook her head, "Nothing," she replied sheepishly as the alarm began to sound, echoing through the empty halls.

Soon the volunteers would be lining up outside, awaiting their rifle and two clips of ammo. Chris had his back to Jill, grabbing rifles off their racks, loading them, and then tossing them to Jill. She lined them up on the table, ready for the volunteers to pick them up. Within moments young men and women started filing down the hall, grabbing a weapon and two extra clips before heading up the steps towards the boat deck. It was like a morbid bucket brigade, an assembly line of people preparing to fight. The hall was silent aside from the alarm, everyone could sense that this was not a drill.

"I see them on the radar, they are about five miles out." K-Mart's voice echoed over the walkies, "Shit, there are lots of them, copy."

Jill looked back at Chris, "Looks like they brought reinforcements."

Chris scowled, "I sure hope Alice knows what she's doing. I can't believe I am blindly following this woman once again."

Jill lined up more rifles on the table for the impatient volunteers to scrounge for like vultures looking for a piece of meat on a carcass. They were down to their last ten rifles when a young boy, no more than sixteen years old, approached the grated wall awaiting his weapon. He reached for one of the rifles as Jill placed her hand on it, locking eyes with the boy. It was evident he was putting on a brave front, his hands shaking. Even Jill who was once a cop, knew that her sixteen year old self would never be prepared to go to war.

"What's your name kid?" Jill asked.

"J-Jimmy." the boy replied, clearing his throat to mask the nervousness. "I mean, Jimmy Ma'am." he pulled the stock of the shotgun, but Jill refused to let go.

"You're just a kid, you should be with the others below deck."

"I'm not a kid, I'm a man. A man ready and willing to protect his vessel and what remains of the human race."

Chris, who had been watching the whole exchange happen walked up behind Jill and placed a comforting hand upon her shoulder. He could feel how tense her muscles were beneath the thin fabric of her shirt. He nodded to signal for her to let go of the shotgun. Instead, she returned with an iced glare, wanting to stand her ground. If Chris let him go into this war, he was more delusional than she thought. Kids with machine guns, kids killing, looting, doing anything possible to keep themselves alive was a thing of the past. There were enough adults on board to avoid an innocent child from dying at the hands of Umbrella.

"You're a brave man Jimmy." Chris stated, ripping the shotgun out of Jill's hands and thrusting it into the palm of the boy.

Jimmy nodded as an older man pushed the kid out of the way with a grunt to get his weapon and disappeared into the sea of volunteers, the alarm still sounding in the halls. Jill was beyond furious at the stunt Chris just pulled. She finished lining up the remainder rifles as they were picked clean within seconds. The armory was now empty of all weapons The Arcadia had at its disposal. Chris was about to lock up the armory once more when Jill shoved him against the steel cage as it rattled.

"What the hell was that about!" she yelled, flames blazing in her eyes.

Chris just smirked, "If Alice wants to play ball, let's see what she does when the innocent blood of a teenager is on her hands."

Jill slammed the metal grating a millimeter from Chris's head, the cage rattling once more, "Are you fucking insane! People are going to die out there. Alice gave us a warning of the attack, she is on our side. Get your head out of your ass and stop being a pretentious prick."

Chris watched Jill stalk off, duel pistols strapped to her thighs and a shot gun in hand.

It was finally time to see what side Alice really was on.

T.B.C.

The battle is coming I assure you! Hope you enjoyed, please R&R and I will return the favour! :)