Chapter 10
Rebecca knocked on the door to Leon and Claire's apartment before grasping the door knob and turning it, pushing the door open. She stepped into the warmth of the apartment, her head down as she hung up her coat and pulled her shoes off and then moving into the living room.
She sniffed quietly as she closed the door, and then looked at the assembled group noting that everyone was there, including Barry.
"Hey," she greeted, a little miserably
Leon looked up from the circle on the floor that the group were sitting in "Alright Becca?..." he asked then trailed off, seeing the look on her face "apparently not" he muttered
The rest of the group had looked up when Leon had greeted Rebecca, and each one of them noticed the distressed look on her face, it wasn't hard to though.
"What happened, Becks?" Chris asked
"Carlos" she sniffled out "he had a bad turn, is all. They said he'll be OK, but…." Her voice was so quiet that the group barely heard her. Billy, who was sitting on the sofa, chewed at his lip, torn between comforting his once almost-lover and merely ignoring her because of her distress over Carlos. Then again, he couldn't exactly blame her for being upset by her fiancé's condition.
"Hey, he'll be alright Becca" Barry soothed, or tried to "Carlos is a tough guy, he'll pull through"
She nodded and sniffled again moving over to the group, glancing around the concerned faces of her friends and the newcomers and the group watched her, surprise etching itself onto the faces of her friends when she sat down next to Billy and curled up against him, sniffling quietly.
Billy sat stiffly on the sofa, Rebecca's head pressed to his chest, and he glanced around uneasily. To say he was surprised by the girl's actions towards him now, especially considering her treatment of him a few days ago, was an understatement.
He eventually moved to put his arms around her, gingerly, in an attempt to comfort her, half expecting for her to slap him or move away. She did neither, instead she moved closer to him, mumbling something into his chest about being sorry.
Chris cleared his throat "Well, so we know that we're going to have to be a lot more careful this time around, especially since Aaron knows who we are now, although hopefully Wesker will want to torture us himself, meaning that Aaron won't intercept us if we're found."
"I think it would probably be best if we weren't found or intercepted" Maxi commented, and in return Chris merely gave him a look that said 'Well, duh'.
"So, as to the point that Link brought up a few days ago," Leon started "That the weapons they use are behind, perhaps it would be best if we go in two or three groups, since there are 12 of us, it's too many to go in at once"
"Three groups would be better, at least if there's a problem, the middle group can pass on a message quicker, and we're less likely to be noticed if we're in smaller groups," Suggested Jill
Chris nodded "Alright. Three groups of four….If we sort that out now, we can decide what order we go in"
The others nodded in agreement "K. The team leaders will be Me, Jill and Billy. If any of you have preferences as to who you want to be with, I advise you to say now"
No one responded, but merely looked to each other.
"Are we choosing our own teams or what?" Billy asked, Rebecca still pressed to his side
Chris looked to him "Yeah, if you want. Claire, you're coming with me, and no arguments"
Claire stuck her tongue out at her brother, but moved to sit by him "you do know that one group isn't going to have a second person from this world?"
Chris shrugged "Shouldn't be a problem, that group should probably go second though. Ok, I want Yunsung and Sheik to come with me. Jill, your team?"
"uhh…Billy you choose first"
Billy rolled his eyes "Good leader you are. I'll have Maxi, Kilik and Liam"
Jill nodded "Ok guys, Link, Leon and Siegfried, you're with me…." She suddenly smiled broadly
"What're you grinning at?" Barry raised an eyebrow at the woman
"I get all the gorgeous blonde guys in my team"
There was a universal sigh at Jill's shallow comment, and she gradually turned a bright shade of crimson in self consciousness.
"How do we decide which group goes first?" Link asked
"Ah, flip a coin" Billy commented, earning himself a glare from Chris "oooh, sorry Commander Redfield, Sir"
Chris turned his attention away "My group will go firs, followed by Billy's and then Jill's will take up the rear."
"So how do we get in?" Kilik asked
"Let's run over the plan overall" Chris started "The HCF compound, which includes the office block as well as the more legitimate labs, is about 30 miles out from Washington, in the middle of nowhere, so we'll drive out there"
Leon started to talk them through the next stage "The compound is in the middle of scrubland, so we'll get out about three quarters of a mile from the compound and walk the rest of the way there, circling round to the back, which is where the offices are. Up until this point we'll still be in one group and seen as they don't really guard the back of the compound we shouldn't be caught. Once at this point we'll split up into our groups"
Leon pointed to a map, detailing the layout of the compound and the surrounding area. He had marked out the key points on it, and was currently pointing to a large black spot next to a line which, everyone assumed, was the fence around the compound.
Chris took up the lead again "Once we're in our groups, my group will go in. The fence is about 2.5 metres high, and is lined with barbed wire at the top, which I'll cut when I go up, which'll be first by the way. Once we're over the fence, there's an open space of about 5 metres which we'll have to make a dash across. Hopefully though, shadows will cover most of the ground so we'll be hidden by them. Once we hit the wall of the building, that was literally hit by Carlos the other day because he ran into it, we climb through the window, which should still be broken, that's nearest to Wesker's office. Once we're in Billy and his team will follow and once they're in Jill's team follows. There will be a gap of a few minutes between the entry of each group, hopefully, but the group leaders know where to go, so follow them and you should find your way to the office easily."
The group nodded in understanding of the plan. "I can't believe that it'll turn out that simple though" Billy commented, "You know, if we make it more complicated, it'll probably work"
"Billy, have you never heard of KISS, Keep It Simple Stupid" Jill shook her head as she said it
"Well, yeah. But I've always wanted to do a mission impossible kind of thing. Personally, I would love to get those sink plunger things and walk along the ceiling with them but…." He trailed off, shrugging
Chris rolled his eyes "Ok, ignoring Billy's frankly idiotic comments, are there any questions? And I will not dignify any question that involves sink plungers, with an answer"
The group chuckled at the comment, and Yunsung raised his head
"So, what are we going to do once we're in?"
"We're going to get into Wesker's office, the idea is that we catch him by surprise, and his friend Aaron too. We hold them there, find out what we need to know, get an anti-virus, and get him to administer it if need be…and then…." Chris trailed off
"And then?" Liam raised an eyebrow
"We make sure that Wesker can't do anything like this again" he finished
"You mean we kill him" Siegfried stated
Chris shifted his eyes slightly and nodded. Although he hated Wesker for everything he had done, he still wasn't sure how he was going to feel about killing the man. He knew it was necessary, but no matter how much Chris told himself that, no matter how much suffering Wesker had caused both to Chris himself and countless others, deep down he knew that he wished that there was another way, that he could punish Wesker without turning himself into a murderer. Even if it was to avenge the dead, it was still murder.
"It's for the best," Chris finally answered "At least he can't hurt people anymore if he's dead. Besides, he murdered most of my….our comrades" he glanced to Barry, Jill and then Rebecca, the only survivors of the mansion incident. Brad hadn't been killed then, but he had been murdered eventually, even if it wasn't directly because of the former Captain.
"Death is what he deserves"
"How do you feel about killing a man, Chris?" Link asked, wondering just how much Chris hated Wesker.
"Wesker isn't human," he shrugged "So it doesn't matter, it's the same as putting down a dog that's bitten a person."
"But he is still a person. He has a personality, a soul, it would seem. Have you ever killed a man before?"
"No," Chris answered, his mood beginning to darken at Link's interrogation.
Link noticed the change in Chris's mood immediately, his body had tensed, his voice had changed to a lower level, starting to become tinged with anger and his eyes had darkened considerably.
"Forgive me for asking," Link continued, dipping his head in a subservient manner, trying to show the other man through body language that he didn't mean to anger him "I'm just wondering if you could kill him without being guilty over it"
"Would you judge me, think me a bad person if I could?"
"Yes. But I also think that you probably would have some regrets over it"
"You're saying that I'm weak" Chris's voice had lowered further; irritated that he was being called weak by a person he was trying to help.
"No. I've killed a person, I've killed Ganon, and even now I wish that there could have been another way, that I didn't have to kill him and banish him to an afterlife trapped in a void that he can't escape. I feel guilty over taking another's life….despite what he did. I would be comforted to know that you would feel some regret, even if it faded eventually. If you don't feel sort of remorse for it, then perhaps you're as bad as the person you set out to kill." Link's voice was subdued as he finished his little speech, and he remembered how he felt when he had seen Ganondorf die. He had been almost happy, filled with a sense of deep satisfaction, and to his horror, he had realised that it wasn't because Hyrule and the people were safe; it was because he had killed Ganondorf. At that point he had been filled with such a disgust and terror directed at himself, that some of the tears that he had cried as he sobbed over Zelda's unconscious form, we're from self-loathing, and the belief that he had enjoyed the murder, that he had been consumed by bloodlust. After a while of reminiscing over it, he had realised that it didn't matter anymore, as long as he regretted the fact of what he had done (which he did), and as long as he didn't let that feeling over come him again.
The assembly sat in a sort of stunned silence over Link's speech, and were now staring at him. The young blonde had been sitting completely still for a full minute now, just staring absently at the carpet in front of his feet, and they were starting to get the feeling he had gone into some sort of trance. They had also half expected Chris to try and beat the hell out of him, but it seemed even Chris was stunned over Link's words, for the man's eyebrows looked like if they went any higher they would disappear into his hairline.
Chris was in fact mulling over Link's words, not realising that he still looked totally surprised. The surprise had passed, but he was so lost in thought, that he was completely unaware of the world around him, which Chris himself would later admit was rare for him, because he usually acted on emotion and instinct, barely thinking about what people had said at all. However, the words and slight emotions that had come from Link's voice had struck a chord with him.
When Chris first met Link, just over two years ago, he had thought that he was just a rather quiet teenager, that like most, he didn't really think things over much, just did them and didn't care, even if he did show a little more consideration for others than most adolescents did.
Now though, he realised that Link was far more compassionate than anyone else he'd ever known, of any age. He was fairly quiet, shy and typically quite self conscious. Though he did seem to act on emotion more than anything else, because he was very emotional, he also gave consideration to all situations. He seemed to have more wisdom and maturity than most adults had, despite the fact he was only 19.
Chris shook his head, snapping himself out of his reverie and the motion attracted the attention of everyone else, including Link.
"You're right, and I suppose I agree with you. I've fuelled myself with hatred of Wesker through thoughts of the death of my comrades and friends, but I think that perhaps I do wish there was another way. He doesn't deserve forgiveness though, and there isn't any punishment that will get him to repent what he's done. So the only thing that we can do is to kill him, and he can only blame himself from bringing that upon himself"
Link didn't say anything, just inclined his head towards the brunette slightly, to show that he understood.
Maxi cleared his throat "What if Wesker's not in his office?"
"He will be, trust me, we know what he's like, he'll be there" Chris answered
"When are we doing this?" Sheik asked, from where he was sitting behind Link, and it was the first real thing he'd said since yesterday.
"Late tonight. We'll leave at ten o'clock so that we've got time to prepare ourselves before we go. It'll take us about 40 minutes to get there anyway. Wesker usually stays till twelve, getting his plans sorted out for the next day. Besides he's got work to catch up on."
"That's unlike the Captain" Barry muttered, a sarcastic and almost disgusted tone entering his voice as he said 'captain'.
"Yeah, we know, but Aaron's been giving him some problems I think" Chris grinned up at Barry
"What time is it anyway?" Claire looked to Leon
Leon in turn looked at his watch. "Oh, shit! It's six! I need to go and get Sora from her friend's place" he scrambled to his feet, grabbing his keys from the coffee table. "I'll see you later!" he called before disappearing out of the apartment door.
The group chuckled at Leon's behaviour whilst Claire rolled her eyes and got up from the floor and turned to her brother "Do we have to go in dark clothing again?"
He nodded "Yup"
"Fine, I better go and see if I've got anything and I'll have to sort out Leon's stuff as well. I'm taking a shower first though, so Chris you need to find something to do" she walked off to her and Leon's bedroom, closing the door. A few minutes later the remaining 12 people heard the sound of running water start up.
Chris got up and stretched "Alright, my stuff's sorted, apart from the guns, but I'll sort that later. So I've got about an hour or two to kill first….Billy, what're you doing?"
"Uh," Billy looked down at Rebecca "Well, I have to go and get my stuff found and sorted soooo…I better go and do that"
Rebecca removed her arms from around Billy. "I'm gonna go home, I'm not feeling well, so I'll see you later"
"I'll come with you, if you like" Barry offered. She smiled at him and nodded walking with him out of the apartment.
Billy stood up, rubbing his face and yawned. "I'll go and get my stuff sorted, so I'll be back here at about seven" he picked up his car keys, "See ya… If I see you earlier then I'll just come and irritate you though" he grinned and walked out, leaving Jill, Chris, Link, Liam, Sheik, Maxi, Yunsung, Kilik and Siegfried in the living room.
"So what're we supposed to do?" Maxi asked, turning to Liam.
"Don't ask me! I'm as familiar with this world as you are"
"If you want," Chris started "We can go down to this little deserted place I know, and you can show us your skills…besides, me and Jill don't even know exactly what weapons you'll be using, though I assume most of you use swords"
Link nodded "Sure, I'm up for that. I'd like to get some fresh air and do some training so…."
"Fair enough, but we need to get our weapons from that cupboard" Yunsung pointed out "And we haven't got the key"
"You mean this one?" Jill held up a small silver key. The weapons had been locked away in case Sora found them and hurt herself.
Yunsung tilted his head slightly and nodded at her, wondering how she knew where the key was.
"Just hide your weapons, wrap them up in a cloth or something so people don't get suspicious if we encounter any." Chris advised
Jill walked over to the cupboard, pulling the door open, handing the weapons out to the group while they stood next to the door. Each one had already been wrapped in a cloth, except for Maxi's and Kilik's and Jill sniggered slightly upon seeing them, wondering how the weapons could cause real harm. When it came to the last weapon, Siegfried's, she instantly stopped laughing, awestruck by the size of the weapon. She walked out of the cupboard.
"There is no way in hell that I'm even attempting to pick that up" she stated, watching the warriors unwrapping weapons and swapping them until they had their correct weapon.
Siegfried, instantly knowing she was referring to his, walked into the cupboard, rolling his eyes and hefting the sword easily over his shoulder.
"Wow," was Chris's only comment upon seeing the cloth covered lump.
"Yeah, you just wait till you see them all uncovered and unsheathed" Maxi commented, grumbling slightly as he flung the nunchaku round his neck, not even bothering to try and hide it.
Chris raised an eyebrow "You fight with a nunchaku? How do you kill things with two sticks?"
"Usually shatter bones and try to cave the skull in. Besides, most people are usually stunned by the pain it causes, leaving them vulnerable to attack."
"Right…that's not going to work if we get attacked by Hunters"
Maxi shrugged "So I'll hide behind you guys….can we go?"
Jill nodded walking to the door, grabbing her holster and gun, strapping them on then covering them with a light jacket, and Chris followed suit.
The group filed out, waiting in the hallway as Jill closed the door behind them. She turned to the men, Chris standing by her side "C'mon"
Walking down the hallways and out onto the street, they tried to conceal the cloth covered weapons a little better as they walked quickly, almost trotting to keep up with Chris's brisk pace. He was eager to get to the place in mind before any suspicion was aroused.
Ten minutes later Chris slowed and stopped, gesturing to the enclosed area. It was what looked like a small basket ball court, about half the size of a usual one, and windowless buildings surrounded it on all sides, save for a small gap that was the alleyway that they had come through.
"Why do you know this place?" Jill asked, turning to Chris
"I use it to do training sometimes or if I just want to be alone…I know it's not exactly picturesque but…" he shrugged.
Jill turned to the group "Alright then boys, show us what you've got"
Yeah, bad ending, I know. Hope you review, and thank you in advance!