The Man Of Trails And Tales

Chapter 2 - Your Coffee Sucks.

8:00pm Saturday, 5/3/2001

Location: New Hayes, USA

Jill waited patiently in the sitting room of Chris's apartment, sitting in a mouldy brown chair that was barely intact. The drive back from the airport was long, hitting heavy traffic in the city, but at least they managed to catch up on what they had both been doing in the few years that had passed. It seemed that the subject of bringing Umbrella down to its knee's had been consuming most of their time.

Looking around at her surroundings, Jill noticed that Chris hadn't had the time to unpack whatever was in the cardboard boxes stacked against the corner of the small room. The only things that had been set up was a small coffee table, chairs either side, and a desk against the paint scratched wall. On the desk was a laptop, and next to it was a coffee mug that looked like it hadn't been cleaned or used in days.

"Do you still take lots of sugar?" a voice came from the kitchen.

Jill smiled, before replying. "Just like old times."

It was good to see Chris again. But for some reason, she felt she couldn't let him know how grateful she was to see him after all this time. Her only reason, was so she could pretend that she hadn't been affected too much by what had happened. Jill knew she was acting quite cold towards Chris, but she had to make him think she was as tough as the others. She felt guilty for acting like this, but she was way to stubborn to change her ways.

Jill rubbed her arms, feeling quite cold in the damp room, drafts coming in from every crack in the doors and window frames. She was now wishing that she hadn't taken her coat off, leaving her in just a pair of leather trousers and white top.

It wasn't long before Chris came into the room, sporting his jeans and old S.T.A.R.S shirt, a cup of coffee in hand which he placed down on the table in front of Jill.

"Don't you ever turn the radiators on?" Jill asked Chris, who was making himself comfortable in the chair across from Jill.

"Heat costs money, which is very hard to come by when you are in my position." he said to her, shuffling himself into a sloppy position on the cushy chair, his legs hanging over one of the arms.

Jill didn't say anything, but instead picked up the cup of coffee, taking a sip of the thick hot liquid. Unknown to Chris, there was a slight smile behind that coffee cup. His cups of coffee hadn't changed. They tasted awful, but like old times, she found that she still couldn't refuse the offer of having one.

"So do you miss it?" Jill asked, nodding her head at his shirt.

Chris sighed as he stared at the S.T.A.R.S insignia on the right sleeve. There was a small silence, before he looked up at her, staring into her greyish eyes.

"The only thing I miss, is not having us all in the same room together. And that includes the dead ones.".

Jill nodded in agreement. "I know how you feel.".

There was an uncomfortable silence, Chris staring at Jill, whilst she looked down at the floor, drinking her coffee as an excuse to not talk.

"The past is no longer important. It happened, and we now know the truth about Umbrella. I believe its our duty to blow them open. So I think its time you told me your plan."

Jill agreed, placing her coffee back on the table and leaning back in her chair.

"Don't you think we are wasting our time by attempting to sabotage facilities that just get rebuilt over and over again?" She asked him, crossing her legs.

"Well its one less to worry about. When we succeed that is. But we can't do anything about that." he replied to her.

"Maybe we have been going about it the wrong way?" she asked him.

Chris raised an eyebrow, awaiting to hear of a better way. But Jill expected it from him. After all, he was always considered the mans man, strength and weapons, where as she was always more cunning, and knew there was always more than one way to skin a goose.

"Swap explosives for camera's. Instead of blowing these places up, what if we got photographic, or video evidence of these places? I know a woman called Alyssa, who has had her own run ins with Umbrella, I'm sure she could put the footage to great use…"

Jill was soon interrupted by Chris.

"That's a good idea and all Jill, but we have no recent leads to Umbrella. We can find employee's with ease, but they are always kept in the dark, and the ones that do know about the bio-weapons are just pawns that barely know their own locker combinations."

Jill nodded with agreement, but a smile at the corner of her mouth suggested that she still had an idea.

"So what your saying is, the only people we can get to are Umbrella employee's. But they never know enough information, right?" she asked him.

"That's right."

"Well, I have an idea of someone that could update us on everything about Umbrella."

Chris suddenly sat up in the chair, intrigued with what Jill was saying.

"Wait there." She said to him, standing up from her chair as she walked over to the front door, where she had dumped her luggage bag.

Jill felt proud, knowing that she was a part of the team. It was always Chris, Barry, Leon and Claire actually doing something. But now, Jill had contributed, and better yet, it could be her idea that would bring down the corporation that ruined and ended the lives of so many.

Chris watched as Jill rummaged through her black duffel bag, until she finally brought out a plastic clip-bag, the type that they used to use in S.T.A.R.S for bagging evidence.

He watched her as she walked back over, sitting back down in her chair, slowly opening the bag, carefully. It looked like a book of some kind, and she was treating it as if it were a relic, being careful not to damage it. As he had thought, it was a book, with all the pages ripped out. She placed the velvet covered green book in front of him, and he studied it. He sighed as he read the writing on front of it, already understanding her plan.

Diary of Oswell Spencer

Chris cleared his throat, feeling quite let down, and disappointed with Jill.

"Oswell Spencer…one of the founders of Umbrella, and almost definitely died in the Spencer Mansion incident, Jill. How did you manage to get this?" He said to her, as he picked up the book to study.

"I have my contacts too." She said, grinning at him with pride, taking no notice to what Chris had said.

"Still doesn't change the fact that he is dead. Dead men can't talk Jill, and they are even harder to find after being infected with a virus, and finally blown to kingdom come." He replied to her, opening up the diary, to see nothing but torn paper inside.

"Check the back of the book, the writing." She said to him.

Chris looked at her with curiosity, before flipping the book over and staring at its green velvet hard back, and gold writing at the bottom. He read the writing, but could not find anything of interest. Again, he read it, but he couldn't see what Jill wanted him to see.

Jean Fruiar Handmade Diary', 1999 Publishing.

Then, it clicked. Chris froze as he soon realised that Jill was right, and that Oswell Spencer was still alive. Jill had noticed Chris's expression, and she knew that her plan was going to work.

"That's right Chris. We were in the Spencer Mansion in 1998. That book wasn't even made until a year later."

A smile grew across Chris's face, and he suddenly felt a rush of excitement through his body.

"Lets get him." Chris said to Jill, slamming the book back