Chapter 2

Cody and Jill both fired at the pack of zombies that were waiting for them in the office. After dropping the pack of zombies Cody scanned the area as Jill collected a few items, Jill turned and the two both headed into another door to their right. This room was filled with safes and. . .

"ZOMBIES!" Cody screeched, pointing his gun and firing, Jill following up soon after, the bullets tore into the zombies flesh and still they came. Cody backed up against a wall as one of the zombies grabbed him, Cody pointed his gun to it's head and began to fire, and fire, the bullets blowing pieces of it's skull across the room. By the time his gun clicked empty, the zombie had no head on it's shoulders and fell down in a pile of decaying flesh and bloody gore.

"Talk about over kill" Jill smirked, all the zombies were on the floor and covered in their wet, crimson, sticky blood. Jill proceeded forward as Cody stood there shocked, she opened a safe and pulled out a blue gem, she walked to another and entered a code and took out a key with the S.T.A.R.S insignia at the top. Jill smirked and made her way out the door to the left, Cody hurried after to find Jill dropping the last of a pack of zombies. Cody followed her up the stairs, dropping another pack of zombies at the top of the stairs, and finally heading down a hallway and past a statue and through another door. Cody and Jill headed straight then turned and finally reached the S.T.A.R.S Office, Jill unlocked the door and they stepped in. The place was small, it had a few desks, but other wise it was a mess. Jill picked up a paper from out of the fax machine and Cody took off his black vest and looked at another jacket on the wall, he took it down and-

"That's Chris-" Jill started,

"Redfield's" Cody interrupted,

"You know him?" Jill asked,

"Yea, he was my instructor in the JR. S.T.A.R.S program, me and him used to talk a lot at Emma's and he's the one who busted me and sent me to the orphanage" Cody explained,

"Busted you, for what?" Jill asked,

"Well, since before I can remember I lived on the streets, I was told my mother was only fourteen when she gave birth to me, and she abandoned me, I was raised in a really cruel government run orphanage till I was five when I ran away to here, I lived on the streets and used to steal to live, I know this city like the back of my hand. But when I broke into Chris's home he caught me, he was going to arrest me but decided my knowledge of how to break into places could help. So he put me in the JR. S.T.A.R.S program and sent me to the Raccoon Orphanage which is a really nice place. And at different times we'd meet at Emma's and talk, and he'd drop by the orphanage all the time to check up on me" Cody explained,

"Woah. . . . ." Jill said,

Cody put the jacket on, it was a little big for him but not by much,

"Just exactly how old are you?" Jill asked,

"Fourteen" Cody replied, Jill smiled then made her way to the gun locker, she opened it and pulled out a grenade launcher and a Colt Python. She threw Cody the Colt Python and used a belt to create a strap for the grenade launcher as she slung it over her shoulder. "All right lets get out of here" Jill ordered, her and Cody both turned for the door when,

" . . . . Is Carlos . . . Raccoon. . . Were cut off . . . platoon. . . Help. . . . assistance. . . If you can hear. . . Respond. . ."

Jill snatched up the headset and pressed down on the transmission switch,

"This is Jill Valentine, Special Tactics and Rescue Squad! You're not coming in very clear, repeat, what is location? Do you hear me? Over!"

Cody and Jill waited for a response but after a few minutes they were sure there wouldn't be one. Cody and Jill exited the office and made their way back down the way they'd came.

"I don't think me and you are the only people in Raccoon alive, but we might just be all each other has so, from here on out we don't leave each other's sides no matter what OK?" Jill said, as they walked. Cody could tell she didn't want to be alone in this nightmare, I guess, when you are with someone you don't feel as scared as you do alone.

"Yeah OK, deal" Cody said willingly, as they made their way down the hallway,

"You know that thing that killed Brad? Well, I have seen something like that before, I am sure you heard about the Spencer Estate incident, well in side the mansion we ran into the same virus that did this to these people. It had turned the people there into zombies, and other freaky experiments, well the most dangerous thing there was a monster called a Tyrant, that thing that attacked us seems to be an evolved form of the Tyrant. and-" Jill started as they walked down the stairs,

CRASH!

The window exploded and shards of glass shot at them as the window exploded, a sharp piece cut into the side of Cody's arm. And at the same instant a massive black creature hurtled in. Cody lost sight of Jill behind what ever had jumped in, Cody finally focused on it and recognized it, it was the-

-Nemesis-

that's what Cody's mind had nick named it, it stood up as Cody fell back against the wall, Cody could hear glass crunching under it's feet.

"Sttarrsss" The beast bellowed out, Cody aimed the magnum and shot it once in the back of the head. It's skin exploded as it spun around, pointing a-

"ROCKET LAUNCHER!" Cody screamed, jumping up and kicking off the wall, hurtling over the railing of the stairs as the wall exploded, brilliant light and smoke jutted past him as burning hunks of wood shot forward. Cody slammed into the ground hard, ignoring the pain that washed over him Cody raced to his feet. Him and Jill broke into a full run, into another hallway, that's when Cody heard another explosion and the door behind them exploded. Cody and Jill ran faster, pumping their arms for speed.

Sshh-boom!

The door in front of them exploded and Cody and Jill raced through the flames, into another room, they didn't stop running, out the next set of doors and they were back in the main hall.

Sshh-boom!

The double doors leading to the outside exploded,

Sshh-boom!

This time the explosion was right behind him, as Cody heard the explosion he jumped, this adding to the force of the blast catapulted him through the air. The scenery outside was a blur, Cody barely noticed the fact that Brad's body was gone. Cody instinctively tucked and rolled, hard concrete biting into his shoulder. Cody tried to stop himself but ended up smacking face first into the ground. The Nemesis blew past him, the force of its own weight and size made it hard for it to stop. Ignoring the pain Cody scrambled to his feet, searching around, he could feel blood running down the side of his face but ignored it. He spotted Jill and she grabbed him by the arm, he let out a small scream of pain as she pulled him by his sore arm. Jill snatched up a led pipe as they ran, the Nemesis right behind them, Jill swing the metal gate open and they slammed it behind them. She rammed the pipe through the gates' hoped handles, and continued to run. The Nemesis trapped inside the gate for the time being, as they ran they could hear the monster scream in blood lust. A Demonic rage.

* * *

They hadn't stopped running until they made it into a small office in the parking garage, that's when Cody stopped trying to catch his breath. His heart was pounding like a jack hammer. Jill placed one hand on his shoulder and Cody pulled away,

"Sorry but it hurts" Cody said,

"Yea I saw your fall" Jill commented, she looked at him for a moment, he'd guessed all women had mother like instincts because when she saw the gash in the side of his head her eyes widened. "Sit down" Jill ordered, Cody sat down and Jill dug a medical kit out of a trunk a few feet away. In her hand she held a bandage and some medical spray, first she whipped the blood away and sprayed the spray on the cut. Which stung like hell, then she covered the cut with the bandage. "There, that should do it" Jill said,

"Thank you Jill" Cody said, this time he turned and looked at his shoulder, it was bruised to hell, and hurt like hell to say the least. But the important thing was that they'd made it out alive. After a moment of breathing hard Cody and Jill were ready to go, they went out another door and into a parking garage which was filled with zombies. Cody and Jill dropped them as they ventured on. They hurried and exited the place and walked into another alley, which was trashed like the others. They quickly made it to the next door and into what looked like a construction site. Cody walked in front of Jill, moving quickly down the hallway when-

CRASH!

A crate fell from the roof and slammed into the ground, spitting splinters of wood at him. Cody's eyes focused and he saw what looked like a spider with razor sharp claws. It let out a scream like none other and slashed at him. Cody jumped back as it cut into his pant leg, just missing his skin.

BOOM!

There was a brilliant flash of light and once again Cody found himself flat on his back. Jill lowered her grenade launcher, looking over the now crispy monster. She looked down at Cody and gasped slightly, helping him to his feet.

"Thanks" Cody said, rubbing his head

"I am so sorry" Jill apologized,

"Nah that's OK, I like the experience of being knocked over by fire, its invigorating" Cody joked, Jill laughed slightly and the two hurried on, not wanting to stay in one place to long in fear of the Nemesis. They pushed open another door and headed into yet another hallway, walking forward and going inside the shopping district. They continued forward and as they came to a intersection in the hallway, a zombie tore around the corner, scaring the hell out of Cody. Jill shot it a few times with her Beretta and it fell backwards, Cody and Jill hurried over it and up a small flight of stairs, through another door and into what looked like the back area of a restaurant. That's when they saw a young solider, dressed

for battle he had a very serious look on his face. The man turned and looked at them.

* * *

Carlos stood looking at the girl and guy that stood before him, the boy looked like he was in his mid teens, and the girl looked like she was in her early twenties. They didn't look enough alike to be mother and son, or sister and brother. The boy was clad with marks and cuts, and girl pretty much had the same. The two studied him for a moment,

"My name is Carlos" He said, "I'm no zombie take it easy, huh?" the two looked at each other then looked at him and nodded.

"Jill Valentine" the girl said,

"Cody. . . ." That's when it accrued to him that he had no real last name. Because no one was really certain who his mom or dad was, "Redfield. . . . Cody Redfield" Cody added, Jill looked at him oddly but didn't say anything about it. Carlos was about to say something else when the doors to the restaurant exploded, followed by an inhuman scream. The sounds of loud footfalls filled the area and Cody and Jill heard the one thing that scared them the most:

"Sttarrsss"

The trio ducked behind the service bar and Cody began to shake, that's when he saw Jill grabbed an oil lap. Cody's eyes widened as she heaved the lamp at the Nemesis, it slammed into him and covered him with fire. A lake of fire spreading out in front of him, that's when Cody heard the hissing noise of gas coming out of the tank. Carlos yelled out and Cody's eyes widened, Cody dove On top of Jill and pulled Carlos down with his free arm as-

The entire restaurant shook with a loud explosion and a brilliant flash of light and heat. Cody pushed up off the ground and looked at the surroundings, the kitchen was toast, acrid smoke curled off the charred body of the Nemesis which laid smoldering on the ground. Not moving, the walls around them were charred black,

"No offense, but are you nuts!?" Carlos yelled, "You could have killed all three of us" Carlos added, that's when the Nemesis twitched, life shooting back into it's body.

"Jill lets get out of here!" Cody cried, Jill grabbed Cody by the wrist and yanked him to his feet. Once they were outside Jill broke into a full run, holding Cody by the wrist tightly. Carlos hurrying behind them, they hurried through the dead city and didn't stop until they were a full block away. They ran completely down hill, and they finally stopped right outside a newspaper office.

"I'd like to ask you something" Jill said, turning to Carlos,

"You want to ask me out, right? Its the accent, chicks love the accent"

Cody stared at him for a moment as did Jill,

"The events that have unfolded have changed a few things, but not my judgment in men" Jill snapped back, Cody laughed a little at her weak come back. "Your with umbrella right?" Jill asked,

"Yeah they sent us in to rescue the civilians" Carlos replied,

"Cut the bullshit, Umbrella is responsible for all this! Why would they send you guys in?" Jill snapped, she was obviously pissed,

"I'm just a grunt like I said, just guns-for-hire, do you think the master would tell the dog why he threw the stick? And while we are on the subject, why are you here?" Carlos said,

"Me and Cody here are trying to get out of the city, that thing back at the restaurant is one of Umbrella's monsters, and it's hunting me and I doubt very much that it is dead, which is why me and him are trying to keep moving." Jill explained, Carlos stared at her for a moment,

"look, once I find the second gem to the gate over there we can all head to the cable car and use it to get the hell out of here?" Jill recommended,

"I wouldn't feel right leaving with out trying to find some of the others" Carlos explained, "Why don't I meet you at the gate, or better yet, how about at the cable car?" Carlos added,

"Okay, I'll find the other gem and we can meet back at the cable car in thirty minutes OK?" Jill said,

"I think I saw a green gem in the basement back at the restaurant" Carlos said,

"really!?" Jill said excitedly,

"Yea, you go back for it while I search for some survivors" Carlos said,

"All right" Jill said, Carlos half smiled and ran off, disappearing into the darkness, "It's just you and me again kiddo" Jill said, turning to Cody who had his eyes closed, she placed a hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong?" Jill asked, Cody looked up at her slowly, opening his eyes,

"Two days ago I was with my best friend Wesley, we witnessed everything that happened from the roof top of a building, but when it was over I told Wesley to go back to his house while I went off and got us some weapons. He didn't want to, but I forced him, when I came back. . . . . . He hadn't made it to his house, he was dead, a pack of zombies had killed him, I sentenced him to death, it was my fault" Cody explained, Cody's story made Jill's heart melt,

"Poor kid. . . ." She thought, "It wasn't your fault, most people will never have to make such big decisions in their lives. Or in your case give such big orders, you were put in a panicky situation and you followed your gut instinct. How were you to know that he'd of been killed? That wasn't your fault, this is all Umbrella's fault. You can't dwell on the past though, you have to move on and try and forget, and remember you have saved my life more then once today" Jill explained,

"Yeah. . . . I guess so" Cody sighed,

"You guess so? Come here kiddo!" Jill said playfully, hugging him and trying to comfort him. Cody smiled back at her,

"Lets get that gem and get the hell out of here" Cody said,

"Yeah, now your talking" Jill said, and with out further talking, the two hurried off.

Cody and Jill both returned to that restaurant, the Nemesis was gone. That was the scary part, as Cody searched the restaurant for items Jill was busy picking the lock on the safe next to the door.

"Bingo" Jill said, snatching up a fire hook,

"Got it open?" Cody called from across the restaurant, Jill hurried over to the man hole and used the fire hook to pry it open. Jill smiled with success, she could hear Cody doing his best to stay quite as he rummaged through the items in the front of the restaurant. She wasn't one to really rely on people, but she'd grown pretty found of the kid. She hadn't known him long but she knew that from the moment she asked him to go with her, her became really attached to her. Well, she'd guessed that when you are in a life or death situation like this that you become attached to anyone who is willing to help. She also found it kind of funny how the kid had dropped his last name and taken Chris's. She knew that even when you are in an orphanage you get a last name, the government gives you one. It didn't really matter to her, a new name would do him good. If Umbrella knew anyone survived they'd try and "eliminate" that person. Cody would be no exception.