Chapter 1 - A Vacation
Jill Valentine stared at the pair of ugly zombies that were about to attack two small children. Then, suddenly, two extremely loud BANGS were heard, and the zombies fell dead.
The movie continued, with the stereotypical tough-guy action hero appearing on the screen, a smoking handgun in each hand. He delivered a cheesy one-liner, then collected the scared-looking children. As the scene changed, Jill turned her eyes away from the screen and wondered why the hell the airline officials had decided to show a zombie movie, of all things, on this flight. After escaping the zombie horrors of Raccoon City, she had decided that she was in need of a good vacation. One day, as she was flipping through travel brochures, a letter had arrived from her old S.T.A.R.S. buddy Chris Redfield, whom she hadn't seen in months. In the letter, he had said that he'd become friends with an eccentric billionaire named Rex Wilterfreiss. Wilterfreiss, it seemed, owned a private island in the Caribbean, and he had invited Chris there for a visit, who in turn had invited Jill. With the letter came a plane ticket to Miami, along with directions to the dock in the city where the boat would be waiting to take her to the island. Jill had thought it was a wonderful idea - just what she needed to get away from the memories of monsters. It was too damn bad that the airplane movie that day was about zombies.
She glanced out the window at the lush greenery of Florida beneath her. She had always liked the window seat. However, the bangs and grunts and snarls from the movie were quite a distraction. She closed her eyes and tried to ignore the movie. Drifting in and out of a light nap, she was only jolted back to full awakeness by the pilot's voice coming over the intercom. "Ladies and gentlemen, we will be landing in Miami in twenty minutes. Please fasten your seat belts." Jill fastened her seat belt, rubbed her eyes, and tossed her short dark hair. At least the movie was over.
After the wheels of the plane touched down, it was another fifteen minutes before the plane reached the gate, along with yet another fifteen minutes before the passengers were allowed to begin disembarking. Jill, seated near the back of the plane, was one of the last to get out. After collecting her luggage (one large suitcase and one small one), she went outside, hailed a cab, and handed the driver the directions to the dock.
"You sure you got the right address here, miss?" asked the taxi driver. "This is in a really bad part of town. A young woman like you, alone, could get into a lot of trouble down there and..."
"Yes, it's the right address. And don't worry about me. I can take care of myself," she said. The taxi driver shrugged and began driving. Jill chuckled to herself. So many men who didn't know her underestimated her.
After about twenty-five minutes of driving, the cab braked to a stop near some dingy-looking docks. Rundown, graffiti-covered buildings lined the streets. Various seedy-looking characters were shuffling along the sidewalks. "Guess this is it," said the driver.
"Thanks," said Jill. Gathering up her luggage, she climbed out of the taxi and paid the driver. She then watched as the cab sped off into the distance. Glancing at the scene around her, she wondered why this Wilterfreiss guy, if he was a billionaire, didn't spend the money to have a dock in a better place than this.
A scruffy-looking, middle-aged man approached her, staring at her intently but not saying a word. Jill crossed her arms (which were pretty big for a skinny girl) in front of her and gave him her most intimidating stare. He hesitated, then began walking off in the opposite direction. She smiled to herself.
She then made her way towards the dock itself. Three people were standing there, but there was no boat yet. She went over to them and introduced herself. "Are you waiting for Mr. Wilterfreiss's boat too?" she asked.
"Yeah," said one of them, an athletic-looking Latina woman with shoulder-length dark brown hair. "We all came here separately, but it seems we all know someone who's friends with this Wilterfriess guy. He must be throwing a really big party." She shook Jill's hand. "I'm Monica," she said.
The other two people then introduced themselves. The first was a slightly overweight young man wearing a T-shirt with a green alien on it. "I'm Benny," he said. The other person, a skinny blonde woman wearing expensive-looking clothes, introduced herself as Jennifer.
The noise of a motor made them all turn around. Another taxi had pulled up to the curb. A tall, muscular, dark-haired man got out. Approaching the group, he carried a large duffel bag in one hand and a long, narrow case in the other. "Are you here for Mr. Wilterfreiss's boat too?" asked Jennifer.
"That's right," said the man. He studied everyone's faces carefully. "Humph. So no one recognizes me?" he said.
"Should we?" asked Monica. The man laughed. "I'm Zeke Zarford," he said. "I have my own outdoor-themed TV show on cable. But I guess none of you watches Channel 271." Zeke continued talking, revealing himself to be a confident and loudmouthed man who loved talking about himself." Jill and Monica both rolled their eyes at his speech, but Jennifer seemed smitten with him. She began flirting with Zeke, while the others looked at them, shook their heads, and talked amongst themselves.
"Wilterfriess," mused Benny. "I wonder what kind of name that is."
"It sounds kind of German to me," said Jill. Suddenly, the distinctive sound of a boat was heard in the distance. They all looked out towards the ocean and saw a large motorboat making its way towards them. "Looks like our ride is here," said Monica.
