By: Bloodlover
(Author´s note: This story takes place after Resident Evil 3 and CODE:Veronica.
Disclaimer: All characters are property of Capcom.)
Chapter 1
A restaurant in London February 9 1999
Chris looked up from his dinner to look at his sister Claire. She was very silent this night. She is probably thinking about that Steve… He sighed inwardly.
He had tried to comfort her the best he could, but oblivously she had to take care of the rest herself. Just like always. In the end you´re by yourself…
Chris wished to God that his sister would never had to become involved into this, hell he wished that none of this mess never happened. He remembered back whan he was with the Air Force that sometimes one of your buddies could get killed in a mission. He remembered talking to the shrinks, all they could do was listening and comforting. But it was only he who could defeat the sorrow and guilt and move on.
Now he has to watch Claire do the same. She wasn´t a soldier but thanks to Umbrella Incorporte of dickheads she has to become one.
Which included watching friends die. And by the look of things it seemed like she and Steve had been more than just "friends", or at least that they had felt more for each other.
God Claire! I hope that someday you can forgive me. If I had only said to you to stay away from Raccoon instead of just blowing out of town. Some people wouldn´t come to a totally new town to look for their stupid brother. But she did. And from that moment she became involved. She had to kill monsters that once were real people. She even almost got killed…
And he had failed his friends too. Barry he had heard from but Rebecca had disappeared, nobody knew what had become of her. God only knew what had become of Brad Vickers…
And Jill…
That was maybe one of his biggest failures to protect the ones he loved.
Love… Yes I do love her. But if she´s alive does she still love me?
He had left everybody behind. Jill had stayed because she wanted to investigate Umbrella more. She had even tried to convince Mr. Bastard-Ass Police Chief Brian Irons.
But then there was a leak of the T-Virus in Raccoon City and so it became the city of the dead. To make things even worse the president had the city nuked the day after Claire, a little girl named Sherry and a cop named Leon had gotten out.
That means that Jill, if she didn´t got infected, had to get out of the town before it got nuked. But if she got out shouldn´t I have heard something from her now…? No don´t think like that! God I hope Jill is alive, that she didn´t got infected. That she got out… I hope she is alive. I don´t give a damn if she hates me as long as she is alive. But I hope she can forgive me someday…
"What´s the matter Chris?"
It was Claire. She took a sip on her Cola and looked at him. "You look as if Hell had gotten loose and it was your fault."
He shook his head. "No just thinking."
She pointed her finger at him just like a very annoying teacher they had had in school. "Keeping things to yourself isn´t good Chris! Wasn´t that exactly what you told me before?"
She was right. As always. Well MOST of the time always. "I was thinking about all the screw-ups I´ve made. The people I have failed…"
She put away the Cola and looked at him just like their mother when she had been alive. "Chris I´m pretty sure that your friends doesn´t blame you."
He tried to smile. "Thank you Claire you´re right."
But he couldn´t get rid of that feeling…
At a café in Paris February 10 1999
Jill sighed. She had tried for months now to locate Chris but to no prevail. There had been four months since her escape from Raccoon City and she hadn´t find him yet. She really missed him and was worried for him. She knew that he could take care of himself, but as the weeks and now months flew past and no sign of him…
NO! He is alive I know it! He has to be…oh please God…
She felt with her hand his knife wich was always in her pocket on the inside of her longcoat. She had find it in his hide-out and it helped her feel safe in a strange way.
That is why I don´t fly nowadays. Wouldn´t make it on the plane with this.
But that wasn´t the only reason. Umbrella had a price on her head. That was what Nicholai had said. I wonder if it was a mistake to let him get away. Maybe I just should have blasted him right out of the sky.
But on the other hand if she were lucky maybe he thought that she and Carlos had been wiped out by that nuke that destroyed Raccoon City. She felt pain at the memory, even if she knew that there was no rescue for the citiziens of Raccoon City, it felt like a piece of her died in that blast the city had been totally wiped out…
She forced herself not to think of that now but instead she remembered her loneliness and Chris´s destroyed hide-out. The sight of the lone knife on the floor. And what looked like blood… But he HAD to be alive! She rememebered her joy when she finally found his hide-out. She had missed him so much, wanted to be in his arms… After their "adventure" at the mansion they had became so close, they had always been very close but after that incident they had finally taken steps toward a real relationship.
That was until Chris started acting so strangely, he had only fought by himself, not confided in anyone, not Barry not Rebecca not even her. A short terrible period she has thought that maybe he suspected them to be spies, but then her sensible mind had kicked in. But she had felt so lonely… Then he blew out of town and Barry had sent away his wife and daughters. Rebecca had only disappeared and Brad… Well even if he wasn´t active in their struggle against Umbrella and Police Cheif Irons, he DID help them with information gathering.
And then he was killed by Nemesis.
Thinking of Brad and Nemesis was a mistake, that brought more memories of her time in Raccoon City. Carlos, her infection by Nemesis, Nicholai…
Jill shivered at the memory of the cold soldier of the mercenary unit that Umbrella had sent to Raccoon, the U.B.C.S. The same unit that Carlos had belonged to. Despite her bad mood she smiled a little. Carlos had taken off with Barry Burton, an old friend and former teammate in S.T.A.R.S., he had saved her and Carlos when Nicholai had taken the helicopter they were looking for to escape the doomed city. Barry and Carlos - both had saved her life and she owed them. Carlos wanted to go search some some friends in the U.B.C.S who might help them and Barry wanted to help him find them. They had dropped her off in Madrid. She had left her grenade launcher and some of her other weapons with them. They would have more use for them then she.
I bet he can be good for Carlos, teach him a few tricks.
It wasn´t that Carlos was incompetent, but his tendency to run off at some times was a bit annoying… It wasn´t like he was a chicken like poor Brad…
Well Brad had a few flaws but he was only human. I KNOW he didn´t deserve to die like that… Nemesis running a tentacle right through his head…. God…
It was near that Carlos had freaked out one time too at the Clock Tower, before she slapped him. After that he looked shocked at her, but he had came to help her in the battle against Nemesis. The battle were she had been infected with the T-Virus…. She had been so close to death but Carlos had brought her the antidote. He also managed to destroy the Nemesis´rocket launcher, and later on he saved her ass from a couple of zombies in the factory. No doubt about it, when shove came to push, Carlos Oliviera was a man you could count on.
I really hope that he can find his friends we need all the help we can get.
She sighed and stood up, leaving a good tip to the waiter who smiled happily at her, she had to get going. The night before some mysterious guy had pulled her into some backstreet and told her a few things about the Umbrella HQ in Paris. She didn´t know if she could trust him but it was a clue, besides she knew how to take care of herself. And she couldn´t turn down any shots she got.
That said and done Jill set out, first for her hotelroom to supply herself and then to the big, menacing building in the outskirts of the lively city of Paris. During the day she had entered the building undercover as a journalist writing about Umbrella so she knew the floorplan of the building, some at least. Besides this was only a little sweep, she could hold her own. She only brought her lockpick, the Beretta especially designed for S.T.A.R.S., a First-Aid Spray and a magnum, the very same magnum she had used to blow away the remains of the Nemesis in Raccoon City´s abandoned Umbrella factory, it had became her rabbit´s foot. And Chris´s knife of course.
When she got to the building she hid away until all the employees went home and the building was closed. But she knew how to take out one of the alarms. She just had to make sure she didn´t screw up so her escape route closed. Security had been tight after some incident a couple of months ago. Someone had broken into the HQ but more than that she didn´t know. She just hoped that he or she had gotten away.
This place is spooky. I can just imagine zombies coming at me anytime soon.
The only sound she heard as she walked through the bleak corridors, was her boots silently clacking against the floor. She checked her magnum that she held in her hand. She hoped that she didn´t had to use it.
She stopped at the door that had a plate were it stood DATA ROOM on.
She reached into her pocket and took out her lockpick. The lock was pretty easy to pick, she opened the door and did a quick sweep with her magnum. No one was in there, only a computer and a cupboard were in the room, a typical data/file room.
If I´m lucky maybe I can find clues to where Chris is. Or if I´m very lucky evidence to Umbrella´s crimes. But I take what I can get.
She soon managed to hack into the computers stystem. She then chose a link that said ENEMIES. A lot of names came rolling up the screen, her own name among them. She clicked on the link that led to her file. Her picture, full name, birthplace everything on her was there. There was a notice.
Extremely dangerous but probably dead together with Carlos Oliviera, a former mercenary in the employ of Umbrella, due to the destruction of Raccoon City.
She smiled grimly. "Dangerous"? Hmmm! But I guess that means I´m safe if they think I´m probably dead. But I wonder how Umbrella can know of Carlos switch of sides?
Well that was a mystery for another time. Her eyes had fell on the name "Chris Redfield". Before she headed to deeper territory she should check this.
She clicked on the link…
Suddenly a message appeared on the screen. Jill gasped.
Access Denied. Warning! Warning! You don´t have the authority to use this file. You will be apprehended!
Jill backed away from the computer, terrified. Had this been at working hours the worst outcome would have been that an angry Umbrella supervisor would come barging in here to chew out a careless employee. But now that the building had closed, the alarm would probably go. Damn! I was careful. I´m dead…
As if someone had decided to make her a prophet, an alarm started to sound. Somewhere she thought she heard running.
She quickly turned off the computer in case they could track her that way. That would at least buy her some time. She looked around the room and saw an airwent that she could probably fit into. She took hold of the shutter, opened it, and climbed in. The shutter fell back behind her. She had to hurry to get to her escape route before it was shut off.
Her escape route was an emergency exit that led to some stairs and then down to a back door. She knew it had a simple lock, she could open it easily with her lockpick.
The problem is that I have to get there before the soldiers seal it off, or begin guarding it. Even if I managed to take all the soldiers with my guns, I would alert the others too.
She crept along the airwent. She wished she had been smaller it would have been a lot easiler. She could hear angry screaming and people running. If she couldn´t do this faster she might get caught. A fate that would be worse than death. The Umbrella creeps would probably use her as a guinea pig. That was what had happened to the poor ones that had walked by mistake into the abondoned factory in Raccoon…
She put aside the thoughts and continued.
At last she arrived in a room that seemed to have already been searched. She carefully lifted the shutter and crawled out. The screaming and running seemed to be far away, but she still had to hurry. She took her magnum in a fast grip and opened the door. It was safe. She darted down the corridor. She recognized the area now. Around the corner down another corridor, she was going to make it.
"Going somewhere miss Valentine?"
She stopped and gasped. Right in front of her had Nicholai stepped out, looking as arrogant as ever, cold eyes looking directly at her.
"Nicholai!"
That was all she had time to say before he tackled her. She dropped her magnum and Nicholai shoved it away with his foot.
"Always a pleasure to meet, right Nicholai?" she said acidly as she began to stand up. He backhanded her.
This isn´t good… Soon his buddies will come. I have to get out!
But now Nicholai pinned her down before she could get up again. He took her Beretta.
"Resistance is futile miss Valentine." He said in his typical cold voice. The one he had used after she had seen him shoot one of his own men who was already being turned into a zombie.
Jill felt her fear rising and struggled, but she couldn´t get him off.
Unless… the knife!
She carefully let her right hand slide into her coat and took out the knife. Nicholai was busy smiling evilly at her that he didn´t notice what was wrong until she whacked him on the head with the butt of the knife. He screamed and she managed to get him off her. She didn´t have the time to take her weapons, she didn´t want to take any chances that could jeopordaize her escape. She ran to the left and there it was, her escape route. Her heart pounded in fear but also with triumph. Now she was at the door, her lockpick already up.
But suddenly someone grabbed her shoulder, starting to turn her around. Jill gasped she hadn´t heard anyone, but she drew her knife again and this time it wasn´t just to whack the attacker out…
Her attacker was fast. In just a splitsecond he grabbed her hand holding the knife and squezed. She cried out and dropped the knife. Now she was caught. Her captor´s other hand took a hold of her throat, choking her at the same time as he drew her out in the light. Now she saw who it was.
It was Wesker.
He is DEAD! This isn´t possible this can´t be happening…
That was her last thought before he banged her head into the nearest wall and darkness claimed her.
Wesker looked down at Jill´s unconsionius form and laughed. She had always been a major pain in the ass. Always so righteous and generally annoying. He had looked forward to feeding her to the Tyrant at the Spencer Mansion, but then Chris had come along and ruined his plans. Remembering his nemesis Wesker frowned.
"Wesker!"
He turned around. It was that soldier-mercenary from the U.B.C.S Nicholai G-something. Not that Wesker cared so much of the man that he had bothered to learn his name…
"Yes Nicholai I got her."
The soldier pointed his gun at her head. "Good. The job is easier this way."
"No you fool!" exclaimed Wesker. "We have more use for her alive than dead.!"
Nicholai put the gun away, much to Wesker´s relief. They didn´t have the time for an argument here and now. Nicholai looked down at Jill and puched her in the side with his foot.
"As you say Wesker. But how come you know this woman? Have you a history together…?"
Wesker shook his head. "Not THAT way. She was one of my teammates and subordinate when I was with S.T.A.R.S. Thanks to her and Chris Redfield my plans were spoiled and I was forced to… to sell my soul."
He looked down at the floor and suddenly saw something he had forget. The knife that Jill had tried to stab him with… He picked it up and examined it more closely. It looked familiar in a way. Yes now he knew what had sparked that feeling. Ingraved on it was the name "Chris Redfield". Wesker´s smile grew bigger.
"Much more use than I thought…."
TO BE CONTINUED!!!!!!!
So what did you think? Stay tuned for chapter 2 to learn what will happen to Jill and what the others are up to!