Disclaimer: Here we go. Resident Evil and everything else associated with it belongs to Capcom. This story however, belongs to me.
Written by: Striker
"What are we going to do?" Jill asked.
"We don't have many options." Jeff said. "We do anything other than pay him and we're fucked."
Eliza buried her face in her hands. "I can't believe this is happening."
Ark put his arm around her. "Don't worry, we'll think of something." He looked at the others. "Tell me we have an idea of what to do."
"What can we do?" Jess asked. "We don't pay him, he launches. We try to run, he launches. We attack, he launches."
"No," Chris said, "He wants us to attack."
"What do you mean he wants us to attack?" Jess asked, startled that Chris said that.
"Wesker said that if any of us attack that base that he would launch the missiles." Peterson said. "And unlike Spencer, he will follow through with that threat."
Chris shook his head. "Tryst me, he wants us to go there."
"And why do you believe that?" Ada asked.
"Because he told us where he was." Chris replied. "And then there was the invitation. Also, any attack on this base with also prompt a launch. However, you can try if you want. I'll be more than happy to have you visit me. He basically invited us. He is expecting us to retaliate. He wants us there when the missiles launch."
Claire realized what Chris was getting at. "He wants us to survive the outbreak. He wants us to live with the fact that we couldn't stop DC from being destroyed."
Chris nodded. "That's right. Most of us have lived through not being able to save Raccoon. That bastard wants us to go through it all over again. I also think that he has every intention of destroying DC. Even if he gets the money he'll launch. Bottom line is that we can't let that happen."
"I agree." James said. "We can't trust that Wesker will cease the launch when he gets what he wants. We have to strike."
"Listen," Peterson said, "I have to go to a meeting at the Pentagon. I'll tell my superiors what Chris said. Until then I suggest you all go home and wait. I'll inform you all when the meeting is over on what we're going to do."
The group got up and silently exited the room. No one said a word as they left the building and got into their cars. The whole trip back to the development was silent. What had just transpired a few seconds ago weighed heavily on everyone's minds. The vans finally pulled up in front of the houses. The occupants unloaded and headed to the houses. James' group when to his house. Chris' group met in front of Barry's house.
"What do we tell the children?" Claire asked.
"Don't tell them what's going on." Chris replied. "We don't need them to panic. But I do think Kathy needs to know."
Barry nodded. "I'll send the girls over to Leon's house."
"Right." Leon said. "Ark, you, Eliza, and the kids can sleep over at my place."
"Thanks." Ark said. "I doubt we'll get any sleep though."
Carl pulled up in front of Barry's house. He got out of his car and walked around to the passenger's side. He opened the door and helped Stan, who was again on crutches, out of the car. The two men approached the group. "Peterson and Monroe just left for the meeting." Carl said. "They'll come here after the meeting ends to fill us in. I'm guessing we have an hour."
"That will be plenty of time." Chris said. "Come on guys, let's at least try to unwind." The group split up. Chris, Jill, and Stan went to Chris' house. Rebecca and Carlos went to their house. The rest went to Barry's house.
Kathy was sitting at the kitchen table when the door opened. "BARRY!" She cried, jumping out of her chair. She ran over to her husband and kissed him. "I was so worried about you."
"I'm fine Kathy." Barry said. "Where are the children?"
"Upstairs." Kathy replied. "KIDS, YOUR FATHER'S BACK!"
The children ran down the stairs yelling. Natalie and Jenna ran to their father. Sherry ran to Claire while Rott and Lily ran to Ark and Eliza. Carl stood back and watched the reunion. For a moment everything seemed all right. Then Barry spoke. "Girls, I want you to go with Leon and Claire. You're all going to have a sleepover at their house. OK?"
"OH BOY!" Natalie shouted. "A SLEEPOVER! COOL!"
Everyone left, leaving Barry and Kathy alone. Kathy was puzzled at what Barry did. "Why did you just send the girls over to Leon's? I thought you would want them here?"
Barry didn't know where to start. "Kathy, we just received a threat from Wesker."
"I thought you got him in Paris." Kathy said. "I thought you got all of Umbrella."
Barry hung his head. "We didn't. He escaped and now he has threatened to launch missiles at DC. I don't know what we're going to do, but we may have to attack him."
"Missiles?" Kathy's eyes widened. "You don't mean missiles with that virus in them?"
"I'm afraid I do." Barry said. "Peterson's at the Pentagon right now. In an hour we'll know what we're doing."
"Are they going to evacuate the city?" Kathy asked.
Barry shook his head. "Wesker says that if we evacuate he'll launch. I don't know what more I can say." Barry limped over to the couch.
"You're hurt." Kathy said.
"It's nothing." Barry said, sitting down. "I've had worse."
"Barry, if you're injured then maybe you should stay here." Kathy said, sitting down next to him.
"I can't." Barry said. "My friends need me. Besides, I couldn't live with myself if I didn't do something. I have to go."
Kathy nodded and leaned on Barry's shoulder. She knew he was right, even though she wished he wasn't.
"I wonder what they'll do." Max said. "This is serious."
James' group was seated around the dining room table. James sat at the end with Ada, Max, and Kelly to his right and Jeff, Jess, Janet, and Rick to his left. "I'm sure they'll come up with something good. I'm sure Washington has dealt with situations like this before."
"They'll probably cave in." Jess said.
"Aren't you mister positive?" Janet snapped. "You have no idea what's going to happen. Personally I hope we do go in. I'm about ready to kick some ass."
Jeff chuckled. "Maybe the Army will drop an A-bomb on that base. One shot, one kill."
"We should." Ada said. "After what happened to Raccoon we should just nuke the bastard. No way in hell he'll survive that."
Kelly was shocked at that statement. "You really can't be serious about using nuclear weapons? We do that and we'll be the ones killing innocent civilians."
Rick agreed. "We can't use nukes against Wesker. We use carpet bombs. Blow him straight to hell." Everyone except Jess, Kelly, and James laughed at his comment.
James knocked on the table. "Guys, let's be serious about this. We can use bombs or nukes on that facility. There has to be another way."
"Jim," Jeff said, "You have to lighten up. We all know how serious this is. We're just trying to take our minds off how bad this really is. Whatever those Pentagon guys come up with will work. Just take it easy before you have a heart attack."
"You're right." James rubbed his forehead. "I am working myself up over this. It's just that I've never been in a situation like this before."
"First time for everything." Jess said. "But just remember that we got your back. We're in this together."
James smiled. "Thanks Jess. I just want all of you to know that regardless of what happens, I'll always be proud of the fact that I had you guys backing me up."
Rick pretended to wipe a tear from his eye. "That's sweat man, I think I'm going to cry."
Everyone, including James, laughed at Rick's performance. Soon they were all acting like everything was fine, forgetting the danger that lurked in the distance.
Chris stared up at the sky. Wesker's words still echoed through his mind. The invitation was obvious; he wanted the S.T.A.R.S. there. If he were on his own he would have already been heading to the base. Instead he had to wait here while other people bickered about what coarse of action to take. Chris lowered his head and closed his eyes.
Jill walked out to the deck and joined Chris. "A lot on your mind?"
Chris took a deep breath. "Just thinking about what we may do. That snake has us against the wall. I just wonder what the Pentagon will decide to do."
"From what Wesker said he asked us to fight him." Jill said. "He's either stupid or sure he can beat us. From the last couple of encounters I can safely say that we can't kill him."
"I plan on proving him wrong." Chris said. "We are going to stop that launch. If the government chooses not to attack, then we'll have to go in against orders. Whatever happens I'm not going to let Wesker get away with this."
Jill put her arm around Chris' waist. "I don't think you should go in."
"Why?" Chris asked.
"Because you're hurt." Jill replied. "Over the last couple of weeks you've been beaten up and thrown around. I'm worried that you may end up getting killed. When Spencer told me he killed you, I almost died."
Chris looked Jill in the eyes. "I'm not going to die Jill, not when I have things I still have to do. Besides, I have a little something for Wesker. If things go right, we can beat him. This time we will win."
"I hope you're right." Jill said. "It's just that I don't want to see you hurt."
"I'll be fine." Chris leaned in and kissed Jill gently. "Now let's get inside. I want to see how Stan is doing. Also Major Peterson will be here soon. I don't want to keep him waiting." Together Chris and Jill went back inside the house.
"Damn, there's nothing good on." Stan clicked through the channels, trying to find something to take his mind off of the situation. "Only thing annoying about knowing the world is going to end is the fact that it's the only thing you can think about."
"Nothing good on TV?" Jill asked, trying to lighten things up.
"There would be if I could focus on the shows." Stan answered. "All I can think about is a really big rocket slamming into the city. If you ask me this whole deal would make a great book."
Chris walked over to the couch and sat down next to his friend. "Either that or some sort of sci-fi movie."
Jill sat next to Chris and leaned on his left shoulder. "Maybe someone will make a game about this."
"Hey, as long as I get a cut of the profit I don't care what anyone does." Chris said, wrapping his arm around Jill. "All I know is that this story will have a happy ending."
Stan smiled as he looked at the couple. Still smiling he leaned on Chris' other shoulder. "Hold me too Chris."
Chris stared at Stan in shook before he pushed him off. "Why the hell did you do that?"
"Come on Chris," Jill said, smiling slyly, "he already proposed to you."
Both Chris and Stan gave Jill funny looks. "Who told you what happened?" Stan asked, his voice panicky.
"What can I say." Jill replied. "Women just love to gossip."
Chris was about to speak when there was a knock on the door. "I'll get it." Chris jumped up and walked to the door. He opened it to find Peterson standing outside. "Major."
"We came to a decision." Peterson said. "Get your people outside. I'll fill you in on the plan."
Everyone with the exception of the children was gathered in front of Peterson's car. Carlos broke the ice. "What are we going to do about Wesker?"
Peterson cleared his throat. "The government will go along with Wesker's demands." This was met with curses and disagreement. "However, that will be a cover. In reality we'll be mobilizing a secret evacuation of the city and surrounding towns. The President, Vice-President, Cabinet, Congress, and Joint Chiefs of Staff are on stand-by. The NSA has a satellite over the missile base. The minute the missiles launch we'll move them to safety. We have also organized an evacuation plan to get as many people out of DC as we can. Our scientists on base are making as much vaccine as they can. Our plan is to move in as soon as possible to treat those that can't escape and get infected. This will happen, however, if you fail to stop the launch. You will leave the base at 1030 hours tomorrow. That will give you one hour to prevent Wesker from firing those missiles."
"One hour is cutting it close." James said. "Why are we going in so late?"
"Because," Peterson replied, "the evacuation is scheduled for 1130 hours. The belief is that Wesker's forces will be so preoccupied defending themselves that they won't notice us getting people out of DC. We also have another bigger problem. We calculated how far the virus would spread and how quickly it would. We just happened to learn that the Jet Stream is passing over DC and we're supposed to get strong winds tomorrow. That means if the virus does get released chances are the wind will push it north towards New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, and just about every major city along the North-Eastern seaboard."
"And if it gets into the Jet Stream…" Jill said.
"It could be carried over to Europe and spread there. It's as simple as this, we only have one shot to get in there and shut that place down. If we don't, then DC won't be the only city to suffer."
"How are we to accomplish this?" Chris asked.
Peterson looked around the group. "By any means necessary. It's all or nothing. One way or another we will end this. I just pray we can stop that launch."
Author's Comments: The decision has been made. In a few short hours the battle to decide that fate of the planet will begin. Everything that has happened so far has just been a prelude to the chaos that will unfold. Looks like everything has been laid on the line. Enough talk; let's see what happens next.
In the next chapter the final battle gets underway. But before the bullets begin to fly Chris will make a decision that may determine the outcome of the war. Also, Rebecca and Eliza will unveil a secret weapon that may be able to bring Wesker down. Find out what these two may be in RE Armageddon: Part VI, Chapter 7- Desperate Assault.