Here's chapter twenty five. Wow, that's a lot of letters when you actually spell it out like that. A whole lot. Anyway, here's a bit more action- or at least, happenings- that helps me to answer those questions about where Jill's loyalties lie. I should think it will be clear by the end of the chapter. ^^
Mark Foley~ I'm glad you think my story has a lot of potential and thank you for your review! As you will see if you continue reading, it is not the T-Virus at all but a different virus. Of course if you are reading this reponse you already know that. Hmm, flaw in plan! Thanks for reviewing!!!!
Shady777~Um, I don't want to answer your question about stakes and sunlight in case I change my mind but at the moment I'm thinking a 'vampire' as an affectionate name instead of an actual race. Still, might change, especially as some of my friends are waay to obsessed with stuff like vampires and Buffy. Glad you liked my portrayal of the STARS' reaction. I thought it might be too cheesy! But yes, Jill does have a darker side... *atmospheric music plays*
Zarbok~ You may have all the cookies you want! Yes Jill was a bit dramatic, ay? I'm seriously considering her demise but am thinking that evil Jill will add an interesting element... oh well, guess I'll have to make a decision sooner or later!
Mondo202~ yes, I think losing the frilly dress is a good idea too!^^
THANKIE FOR REVIEWS! COOKIES FOR ALL!
Chapter 25:- grim reaper
Victoria smiled wolfishly at Wesker. "Now is the time to earn your keep," she told him, "Down that tunnel is an old hospital ward for when there were threats of influenza epidemics and the like. Naturally it is not public knowledge and vampire usage is low. If you pass through it then you can find your way to where the shooting was. Kill anyone who's been left alive."
Wesker raised an eyebrow. "And you and your crones can't do this yourself because..?"
Victoria looked at him witheringly. "You can't expect me to hunt them down myself! I just got clean, and my role here is as advisor, not battering ram. My own vampires have failed in all their attempts to eliminate this threat. So I place the requirement of their deaths on you. I'm sure you won't fail me..?" she smiled sweetly, managing to show all her teeth. Some were slightly discoloured by years of blood-drinking.
Wesker shrugged. "I think I can manage it."
"Good. Is there anything you need? Back-up assistance, maybe?"
Wesker shook his head. There was no point; he'd have to kill the back-up assistance anyway.
"Well then. Come back victorious or not at all!" she commanded.
Wesker nodded grimly. When dealing with the STARS that seemed to be the rule. It was time for a Wesker victory now.
~*~
Sena hurried to keep up with the unencumbered gait of the vampiress. Jill showed no signs of relenting her fast pace and impatiently dragged the stumbling girl after her. They were almost out of hearing-range for the STARS.
A couple more twists and turns down the dark, stinking tunnels and Jill finally stopped. Sena clutched at her chest, breathing heavily. Uncle Al had obviously been holding back for her. When she had recovered her breath enough it occurred to her to ask why they had stopped.
Jill looked at her with narrowed eyes and placed Ben's limp form on the tunnel floor. He coughed fitfully and then was still again.
"Uh, Jill? What's happening? He's not-" a worst-case scenario entered Sena's head. She listened for the sounds of Ben's breathing. She fancied she heard a whispy sigh and was satisfied.
All that Sena could see of Jill disappeared as the latter closed her eyes in frustration. She was stuck in limbo. Should she really, really kill these children? Or should she show the STARS that she could be trusted?
The question isn't 'should you' but 'could you'. You've been friends with these people through hell several times. You caught the T-Virus in the city and got the anti-virus. Doesn't that mean you'd be immune to the viruses?
She shook her head. "these viruses aren't the same," she told her subconscious.
Your team members should give you the benefit of the doubt. Haven't you proven yourself again and again to them?
Sena coughed nervously. "Huh-hello? Are you still there?"
"Yes," Jill said, snapping her eyes open. "I think something's wrong with Ben though.'
"What is it?" Sena demanded, stumbling towards them, Damn the darkness!
Jill placed a forearm tenderly over the unconscious boy's throat. He stirred and moaned slightly, shaking his head gently from side to side. "His breathing is irregular!" she exclaimed, and pushed down on his neck.
Ben coughed desperately. His eyes opened and he stared into Jill's lavender orbs. They regarded him with a faint hint of amusement and an even fainter hint of regret. He could hear the sound of someone else's voice over the hiss of blood in his ears.
Sena heard the low cough and scrambled closer. Her groping hand closed on his fingers. They squeezed hers futiley.
"He's alive, but he needs some help!"
"I think he's choking!" Jill said, seeming worried but watching the seen quite calmly. She could see what Sena could not; the bare forearm that pinned Ben to the floor and kept all air from his lungs. Ben's rolling eyes and one hand trying to pry the arm off with attempts that became weaker and weaker. Sena, holding on to his fingers and crying, thinking that some cruel twist of fate was taking his life away, perhaps holding onto some hope that Jill would be able to save him.
The body was still. Jill could hear the sluggish pulse get increasingly slower. All ready there were no signs of life. His windpipe was crushed.
"He's... dead," she said, slightly shocked herself, but more pleasantly. She hoped that the faint beating of his pulse wouldn't be felt by Sena. He would die soon enough but Jill didn't want to waste time waiting and let the STARS gain on her.
Sena sat in shock, refusing to admit that some one she'd been imaging laughing with about the whole affair was dead. A boy who didn't deserve either his real death or the fake one that had been assigned to him.
"What do we do now?" She said quietly, recognising that she needed to get herself out of the sewers before she could grieve properly.
Jill closed her eyes again, fighting back a small serge of conscience. " I.."
"Should we go back to the STARS?"
"They'll be too far behind us. We should continue looking for an exit. I'll be able to find one it we go near it."
Sena closed her own eyes and nodded slowly, a rocking movement of the head that carried much emotion. "'kay. What about…."
Jill looked at Ben. She could hear no pulse now, faint of otherwise. She could feel the change in temperature when she put a hand on his chest to check for a pulse. Already the blood was cooling. "We should leave him here," she said sadly, though she felt only a little remorse.
Sena nodded again, acknowledging this little defeat. It wasn't like they had a choice. Jill grabbed her shoulder and pushed her a little roughly down the tunnel.
~*~
Victoria was right. The ward was old and dusty. Ripped mattresses lay under over-turned hospital beds. Green dividing curtains hung rotting in strips on rusty rails. Dust lay thick on the furniture.
Wesker looked at the wreckage and polished a smudge of dirt from his glasses. He looked at them critically, catching a glimpse of his red-eyed reflection in the dark glass. He looked like he'd been run over by a truck.
He sighed and put the aviators back on. Worrying about appearances at a time like this was impractable. He needed to focus on hitting the vampires where it would hurt, The only place he could think of was back where he'd first run into Victoria.
He tried to picture the easiest way to get back to that room. The more he thought about it the more central it seemed. If he could start the explosion there and fuel the fire so it would smoke the vampires out... but he first had to find someway to get back to the room without going past the vampires he'd just left. Lord knew what they'd do to him if it looked like he was going to double-cross them... yes, he thought it was to the right...
Wesker slid silently past the wreckage of the ward and sidled through a sturdy door. The distant sounds of vampires carried through the tunnels before all was silent. Not even the sounds of rats could be heard in this part of the sewers. It was like a lost world.
He made his way gently through the tunnels, silent as a ghost, trying to find a hint of pine cleaner that would lead him back to the main quarters. All that reached his nose was the smell of rotting material and flesh, and the musty smell of stale air. A single step sent a cloud of dust spiralling through the air.
Through these dust clouds Wesker proceeded down the tunnel. It seemed to be a main corridor that linked all the rooms, judging by the amount of doors that led off from them. He halted at one, staring at the wide array of rotting linen.
Taffp.
Wesker froze, listening. The length of the hallway was unnaturally still. He began walking again, ears tuned. He was certain he'd just heard a muffled footstep. After a few metres he stopped abruptly again. Taffp.
He continued, smiling grimly. So he was being followed; seems Victoria actually did have above-average intelligence. He turned into a side tunnel as quietly as he could and dashed into a room on the left. Through the open crack he caught a glimpse of gold and red.
Victoria herself was following him.
He crept away from the door and hurried away. A slight creak told him he was once again being followed. He was uncomfortably aware that he was leaving dusty footprints every time he took a step, but there was nothing for it.
Victoria sounded closer.
~*~
Barry huffed and ran down the tunnels. His shoulder ached and patches of sweat dampened his shirt, stinging any open cuts and abrasions that he had collected in the course of the night. His head was pounding and thoughts were scattered because of it. He couldn't really even comprehend that he was cahsing down Jill before she could kill two children.
What a night.
Through the erratic patches of torchlight he caught a glimpse of an arm. He quickly pointed his beam of torchlight at it and tried not to jolt the torch around too much. The arm was attached the beaten body of Ben.
Barry pushed past and held a hand against Chris's chest.
"I think I've found the bodies. Don't let the kids see," he murmered, and went to investigate further.
Chris nodded briefly and turned to his troop. He motioned for them to move towards the wall.
"What's going on?" Rebecca asked.
James looked
nervously at them before glancing up and down the tunnels. "shouldn't
we continue mobbing? Every second increases the danger, you know, or so I've
been told."
Chris stared at him pityingly.
Barry used as little light as he could, mainly relying on the glow from the group behind him, so as not to cause any more confusion. His questing fingers found Ben's arm. It was lukewarm. There was no pulse.
Barry cursed.
Chris told Rebecca to keep everyone there and went to see what was happening. "What did you find?" he hissed.
"Ben's here; he's dead. I don't know if Sena's here or not. Should I turn the torch on?"
"Yeah," Chris said defeatedly. "I guess we'd better find out."
They turned on their torches and shone them around the dingy tunnel. Ben's body lay flat on the floor, eyes half close and mouth wide open. From the teenagers and James there were series of exclamations and some sobbing. Rebecca rushed to the corpse and checked it, like it would make a difference.
Sena was no where to be seen.
"His windpipe was crushed," Rebecca told Chris and Barry quietly. "I would say it was done by something like a pipe but..."
"So it wasn't a death of natural causes?" Barry asked.
"No, unfortunately not."
Chris looked down the tunnel into the inky blackness and tried to mute his thoughts. Too many things were happening at once. How could he believe that Jill, his Jill, had just murdered this young boy that they had been trying to save?
~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ah, the end of a chapter. I didn't enjoy doing it. I really didn't. But Jill-the-evil-vampire is just that, an evil vampire. What would you do if you were an evil vampire? Bye Ben. Miss you heaps. XOX
Jill: I feel I'm getting a bad rep here. Before this I was the dependable woman. It's like making Chris the bad guy.
Wesker: welcome to the dark side.
Jill: I don't think I'm that dark yet, thank you very much! So I killed a kid, How many people have you killed?
Wesker: 57. None kids. And most of them deserved it. They were evil scientists using people and viral companies for their own unfathomable purposes. I'm nothing like them. I wear shades.
Jill:...
Now it's... *atmospheric music* REVIEW TIME! (please?)