Disclaimer: Resident Evil is property of Capcom and no one else. The only part of this story that I can call my own is the plot and any new characters or creatures I make. Enjoy this story, for soon the end times will come, and fire shall engulf us all.
Written by: Striker
Chris sat on a deck chair in a green polo shirt and tan shorts. He had been unable to sleep well the previous night. After checking up on Kelly and filling in the others, he had gone home to get some much-needed sleep. However, his battered chest combined with a million thoughts running through his mind made it difficult to get some rest. At around eight he got dressed and came out on the deck. The warm, fresh air was something he needed. As soon as he had sat down exhaustion had taken control and he fell asleep. Around ten he heard the door open. He didn't bother to get up to see who it was; he just closed his eyes as footsteps approached him. "Doesn't anyone knock anymore?"
"Not when they live here."
Chris turned to see Jill sit down in the deck chair next to him. "I see they let you out. What time is it?"
"Ten. I would have been here sooner, but I went to see Kelly." Jill said. "You look like shit."
Chris let out a short laugh. "I feel worse." He rubbed his forehead. "I couldn't sleep very well. My chest still hurts and everything's going to hell. How're your little scrapes?"
Jill lifted up her black shirt. "Thirty stitches for each one." She pointed to two white bandages tapped to her abdomen. "Just two more scars to add to my stomach."
"How's my sister doing?" Chris asked. "And how's Rebecca?"
"Despite her constant complaining, Claire's fine. Her injuries weren't as severe as we thought." Jill said. "As for Rebecca she can move her right arm a little, but not much. It should be a few days before her shoulder heals completely. I don't think she can fight now."
"I know." Chris said. "I don't plan on having her fighting anytime soon. In fact, I have an important job for her as well as Eliza."
Jill had a smirk on her face. "I know you're up to something. What is it?"
"Remember when I stabbed Wesker? When I did I got some blood on my knife. We know that Wesker is infected, and that makes him stronger and faster than us. Maybe if we study his blood, we can find out how to kill him." Chris scratched his knee. "At least that's the plan."
Something on his right knee caught Jill's attention. "Hey Chris, what's will your knee?"
Chris looked at a pale scar that ran across it. "That, I got that when I was a kid. I was ten and in my backyard my parents had on of those old-fashion sidewalks that were basically stone slabs stuck in the ground. Well one of them was raised slightly, I was walking towards the house when I tripped and fell. My right knee came down on the raised edge of the slab and split it open. I did what any kid would do, I screamed. My mom came out, saw my knee, panicked, and rushed me to the hospital. I forget how many stitches, but I couldn't bend my knee for weeks." He then pointed to a spot on his left forearm, just above the elbow. "And this I got falling off my bike when I was twelve. I tried to break me fall, but ended up gouging my arm."
Jill cringed. "Reminds me of the time I stepped on a nail when I was eleven. I was walking with a limp for days. It's amazing how many injuries we've had for people as young as we are."
"At least we can bounce back from them." Chris got up and headed for the door. "I need to talk to Rebecca. By the way, where's the stuff you guys had?"
"I dropped my stuff by the door." Jill said. "Everyone else should have their stuff with them."
"Good." Chris walked outside and headed for Rebecca's house.
"DON'T TOUCH MY SHOULDER!" Rebecca yelled. She swung at Carlos with her left fist.
Carlos dodged her punch. "Calm down, I'm sorry. I wanted to put some ice on it." He held up the plastic bag containing ice. "Here, take it."
Rebecca snatched the bag from Carlos and put it on her shoulder. "Sorry, it's just that my shoulder hurts like crazy. It's not every day you get impaled." She walked to the sofa and sat down.
Carlos walked over and sat next to her, making sure he sat on her left side. "If it makes you feel better, I was almost blown up in Raccoon City."
"I almost went up with the Spencer Estate," Rebecca said, "But thanks anyway. You did pull me to safety and you were there during the surgery. And you did make me breakfast when we got here."
Carlos slid his arm around Rebecca's waist. "That's what friends are for."
"Well here's for being a nice guy." She quickly gave him a peck on the check.
"Becky, I thought you were only suppose to kiss on a first date." Carlos said, pretending to be shocked.
"Why don't we skip the first date and to the goodnight kiss." Rebecca said. There was a knocking at the door. "Complete with the overprotective father."
"I'll get it." Carlos got up and headed for the door. "Whatever this is it better be important. He opened the door to see Chris' smiling face.
"I take it from the screaming Becky's here." Chris looked over Carlos' shoulder and waved to Rebecca. "I have two things to say. One is that we're having a meeting in less than a half hour at my house. The second pertains to Becky. There's something we have to talk about in private."
"I guess I'll go tell the others." Carlos walked past Chris, stopping to give some advice. "Whatever you do, don't touch her shoulder."
"Got it." Chris stepped inside and closed the door. "Becky, I have something important to ask you. Do you still have my knife?"
"Wait here." Rebecca quickly walked upstairs. She returned in a few minutes with the plastic bag containing Chris' knife. "You want it now?"
Chris shook his head. "No. Hang on to it. That knife is extremely important. I want you to bring it to the meeting. After that I'm taking you and Eliza to Fort Belvior. I'll tell you more later. By the way, bring something to draw blood samples. See you at the meeting."
Rebecca looked puzzled. "Chris, what's this all about?"
"Remember when I told you that you would be the most valuable member of this team? It's time to prove it." Chris winked and left the house.
Rebecca looked down at the bag in her hand. "Most important member of the team." Suddenly it dawned on her. She smiled and raced upstairs to get some supplies.
Chris stood at the back door. Everyone else was either sitting down or standing. Chris cleared his throat and began. "As you know, our fight just got a lot harder. These new bio-weapons, as well as the Nemesis II, are stronger than the ones we're used to fighting. Sure, we know that Hunters are weak against fire. We know that it a Drain Demon is flipped on its back it can't turn over. But these traits don't apply to the Stalker or Reaper. The fact that Umbrella combined several traits of several B.O.W.s into one creature gives it unique traits that we aren't used to. The question remains, as things are now, can we beat them."
"Obviously not." Jeff said. "Those things are too tough. Your shotgun had no effect on that Stalker. Not to mention the fact that that new Tyrant got up after getting hit with enough firepower to blow a normal man to bits."
"That's why we need some new weapons." Barry said. "Next time we go in with SAWs, LAWs, and M60s. Major Peterson is trying to get some better ammo for us. We just have to remember that they can be killed. And at least we know how these things attack."
Max spoke up. "What about those of us that got hurt?"
"They will be out of action for a while." James said. "Rebecca and Janet are on the shelf as of now. Kelly should be out of the game too. I also suggest that Ada sit out."
"I'm not sitting around while the rest of you get all the action." Janet said. "My shoulder is fine, see." She rotated her left shoulder. He tried to hide the pain, but she did a poor job.
"Your arm is as fine as my leg." Rick said. "It still hurts when I walk. If you're not careful you'll tear some tendons and then you're done."
"And when did you start caring." Janet snapped.
"Enough." James said. "We have to continue."
"The next thing we have to talk about is Wesker. I think we can beat him." Chris looked the room over, seeing the reactions to his statement.
"Are you loco?" Carlos asked. "He could have snapped your neck like a twig. You saw how fast he moved. Now you're telling us that we can beat him."
"Yes." Chris replied. "Every person has a weakness. His is pride and ego. He thinks he's better than us. In believing that, he'll underestimate us. Also, he has a very bad temper if things don't go his way. We can use that and force him to make a mistake."
"The only flaw is that he's too smart to fall for any tricks." Leon said.
"He's right," Jill added, "Wesker is very intelligent. We can't fool him."
"Then why don't we treat him like one of those freaks?" Ada stood up. "He's infected with a virus, so why don't we treat him like a Tyrant. Umbrella developed Anti-B.O.W. gas. If we can make that, we can not only use it on him, but on the other monsters too."
James smiled at Ada. "Great idea, I'm sure Chris has information about that gas on his laptop. Either that or Ark and Rick can hack the information out of Umbrella's network."
"The other thing is Spencer." Chris took a deep breath, even though it hurt to do so. "I think Spencer may be desperate. By joining with the military, we may have unleashed a Pandora's box. Carl found out that Mr. Umbrella had several instillations built as a backup plan in case Umbrella's dirty little secrete was discovered. It was a way to insure Umbrella's future."
"What are you talking about?" Claire asked. "What did Mr. Umbrella have built?"
"Missile sites." Barry said. "Missile sites so he could launch the T-virus and create an epidemic only he could stop. Somehow Spencer found out and had them reactivated."
"I thought you said Umbrella couldn't do this." Jill said. "You told us that Umbrella didn't have the facilities to launch missiles."
"I was wrong." Chris closed his eyes and lowered his head. "When I was collecting information I didn't find one thing about these sites. The reason was that Mr. Umbrella forgot about them. He felt that his company would never get into the position it's in now. I don't know how, but Spencer learned of the existence of these sites. I never expected things to get this bad. The only question I see now is what Spencer will do."
Ark stood up. "He can't launch any missiles. The moment he does, every military in every country will be on Umbrella like flies to road kill. It would be like declaring war."
"I don't think Spencer cares." James said. "He'd do it regardless of the consequences. We've got a time bomb on our hands. If we're not careful, it'll explode."
"We also got another problem." Chris said. "This may be what Wesker wants. That asshole may have been waiting for this to happen. I think he knew about the missiles. That's why he came back. He wants those missiles. If he gets his hands on them, there's no telling what he may do."
"And where does fate fit into this?" Claire asked. "Is this another test, cause if it is, it's one we may not be able to pass. Or is this another sign?"
Chris looked at his sister. "I honestly don't know. I don't know at all."
"The only thing we can do now is hope." Eliza said. "We have to have hope."
"This meeting is over. Rebecca, Eliza, I need to talk to you upstairs. It's important." As the others left, Chris led Rebecca and Eliza upstairs. He led them to the spare room to the right of the bathroom. Once they were in he closed the door. "You have the knife Rebecca?"
"Sure do." Rebecca pulled the plastic bag from a small travel bag. "Now what's with the cloak and dagger stuff?"
"Ada's right," Chris began, "We do have to treat Wesker like a B.O.W. What I intend to do is use his own blood against him. I want to get blood samples from Jill and Sherry."
"Why would you want their blood?" Eliza asked. "They have nothing to do with Wesker."
Rebecca understood what Chris wanted. "I know why you want their blood. You want us to use the antibodies in their blood to make a vaccine for the virus Wesker is infected with." Rebecca explained. "You probably didn't hear this Eliza, but while Jill and Sherry were in Raccoon City, they were each infected. Jill was infected with the T-virus and Sherry with the G-virus. They both received a vaccine…"
"And therefore have antibodies for the viruses." Eliza said.
"Yeah, that's right." Chris pointed to the bag. "My guess is that by studying both Wesker's blood and the antibodies you two can make a cure for the virus Wesker has as well as a cure to both viruses."
"Why would you want to cure Wesker?" Rebecca asked.
"I have my reasons." Chris replied. "We have to keep this low-key. I don't want anyone to know. If anyone asks, you're working on a vaccine, and that's it. We need to get Jill's blood first." Chris led the women downstairs. "Jill, I need you for a minute."
"Sure." Jill approached Chris. "What do you want?"
Chris nodded to the women. "They need to draw some blood. We're sending it down to the CDC. Maybe those people can synthesis a vaccine."
"OK." Jill sat down at the kitchen table. Rebecca took out a needle and drew some of Jill's blood. "Chris, do you think we can win?"
"We'll see." Chris, Rebecca, and Eliza left his house and went next door.
"Look at my jacket." Claire held her S.T.A.R.S. jacket. Light shown through the rips in the back. "If this was my red jacket, I don't know what I'd do."
"Girls and clothes, I'll never understand." Leon heard the doorbell. "I'll get it." He opened the door. "Chris, what are you doing here?"
"I need to see Sherry." Chris replied. "Where is she?"
Leon pointed upstairs. "She's in her room."
"Thanks." Chris led Rebecca and Eliza upstairs.
"I wonder what they want with Sherry." Claire said as she watched the three people ascend the stairs.
"Come in. Oh, hi Chris." Sherry was sitting on her bed, staring out the window.
Chris sat down next to Sherry. "Becky is going to draw some of your blood."
"Why?" Sherry asked.
"Because it's very important." Rebecca said. "It's also a secrete. You can't tell anyone, got it."
"OK." Sherry held out her arm and Rebecca drew some blood. "Owe. That hurt."
"Here's a band-aid." Rebecca put a band-aid covered in balloons on Sherry's arm. "If anyone asks, you got a bad bug-bite. OK?"
Sherry nodded. Chris got off the bed. "Thanks Sherry. I'll see you later."
"Bye." Sherry said.
Chris approached the gate of Fort Belvior. A guard came out of the guardhouse. "Mr. Redfield, how can I help you?"
"I called a little while ago." Chris replied. "I asked for Major Peterson. It's about seeing the medical lab. Is he ready?"
"Major Peterson is unavailable right now." The guard said. "Mr. Simmons will show you to it instead."
"Something's better than nothing." Chris drove into the base to rendezvous with Carl. He spotted Carl standing next to an office. "Where's Major Peterson?"
"He had to deal with a personal issue." Carl replied. "I'll take you to the lab." Carl climbed in the mini-van and gave Chris directions.
"The lab is amazing." Rebecca couldn't believe her eyes. The lab was huge. Technicians were monitoring the high-tech equipment. "This place has everything. How did you get all of this?"
"The CDC gave us most of this. After we told them about this T-virus they offered to help." Carl gestured to the women. "I believe you two are used to this stuff. If you have any questions, ask the guys in white. They know more about this shit than I do." Carl left the building.
"I'm going to find out where Peterson is." Chris said. "I really need to talk to him."
Rebecca watched Chris leave. She then turned to Eliza. "Shall we?"
Eliza looked over the lab. "Let's do this." The two women took out the samples and got to work.
Author's Comments: The clouds keep getting darker by the minute. It seems that all hope is lost to the S.T.A.R.S. However, if Rebecca and Eliza can make a cure for Umbrella's bug, all hope may not be lost. Also, how will the team react to the cloak and dagger shit? Well, at least we know who's not fighting. And what are the new weapons and ammo going to be? Who knows? On a bit of a personal note, the injuries Chris and Jill got as kids happened to me at around the same age. I jumped on a nail when I was young. I also gouged my left arm falling off my bike on an asphalt road. Couldn't bend my arm for weeks. And finally I did split my right knee open. I was at my great-grandmother's house and I fell on the raised edge of a stone slab that was part of the sidewalk. Fortunately my aunt who was a nurse at the time was there. She patched me up with a ton of gauze. Call it stupid, but I did NOT go to the hospital and get stitches. I let it heal naturally. I didn't dare bend my knee out of constant fear of ripping it open again. Enough about me, let's get on with the story.
In the next chapter Chris and Peterson have a rather "spiritual" discussion. Looks like Peterson's into that doomsday stuff. Plus, we find out what kind of new toys the S.T.A.R.S. get to play with. All this in RE Armageddon: Part V, Chapter 6- Question of Faith.