8. Jill

"What do you mean they are gone?" Chris snapped.

Jill had been trying to put a bandage around his arm as she gave him an update on the situation. Chris had separated from Leon halfway through the chase, and the oldest Redfield had ended up fighting the Ogroman alone until Barry and Jill arrived with reinforcements.

Chris had dealt with the B.O.W. like an expert, but he did not come unscathed from the fight. Multiple slashes and bruises covered his skin, but overall, the injuries were nothing but small scratches. After the battle, Chris got taken to TerraSave HQ to get checked.

When Jill parted ways with Chris and Leon in the basement, she returned to the lab with Barry and the others. She told them the situation, and Wallace, Claire's cybersecurity guard, proceeded to execute one of the security protocols. He explained to Jill that, amid her so-called paranoia, created a series of contention protocols in case of different possible biohazard scenarios.

Jill was not sure how, but as soon as the first B.O.W report happened, Wallace had set several of the protocols into motion. In less than 20 minutes, BSAA biocontrol forces were arriving in the city, and evacuation teams were gathering civilians and taking them to safe houses.

"Chris, can you stand still? I can't bandage you properly if you keep moving," Jill sighed, rolling her eyes.

"I can't," Chris groaned.

"Calm down, Chris."

Jill knew Chris well enough to know how worked up he could get when it came to his sister's safety. Claire was everything for Chris. She was his only family, and naturally, he was very protective of the woman, regardless of her age. In Chris's eyes, Claire would always be his baby sister, and he had to keep her safe.

"How am I supposed to calm down?" Chris screeched, "The fucking bastards have my sister! And hell, I don't fucking know where she is."

"They took Leon, too," Jill tried to soothe him, "I am sure he has a tracking device on him or something. The DSO is probably searching for him now. I am sure he is with Claire."

"Yeah? We don't know that. They could be in separate places for all we know."

Jill bit her lower lip. She knew Claire through Chris, and she considered her a friend, and she had grown fond of the woman after interacting with her few times. She was worried about the woman, too, but for now, they had to trust that Leon would be enough to keep her safe.

"Chris, I understand you are worried, but right now, we need to focus on the attacks in the city," Jill said, "B.O.W.s are crawling all over the place."

"Yeah, it's fucking zombie party," Barry said. "We have to deal with this before we can rescue little Red and superagent."

Chris let out a groan of frustration.

"Damn it. I don't know what the hell is going on here, attacking the city, abducting Claire. What the hell are they planning?"

Jill's guess was as good as his. She had begun conjuring possible theories, but all of them sounded irrelevant. The attack on Hughesville was on a small scale. The viral spread was relatively controlled, and B.O.W.s caused lots of destruction and chaos, but compared to other incidents, it wasn't as bad.

The number of victims was minimal, thanks to Claire's contention plans. Jill was amazed by the woman's work. Jill heard from Claire's colleagues that as soon as she had taken the reins of the NA Branch, she had made several changes in Terra Save's system. To the higher-ups, it all sounded like Claire was acting out of paranoia, but they had accepted her suggestions.

Claire had not only created a direct emergency line with BSAA, but she had also established an evacuation protocol and several "safe rooms" for the people. It was a complex system that Jill wanted to look into later on, and from what she heard, this was only a couple of the changes that Claire had introduced with her promotion.

Jill could see how proud Chris was when she told him, and she had to say it. He had all the right to be proud. It was the first time that they used the protocol, and the results were a success.

"Well, little Red is certainly something else, huh," Barry said, shaking his head. "She outdid herself with this. No wonder she's so busy all the time. If what they say is true, then this isn't the only surprise she left us."

"Well, that's Claire for you. She does a much better job than that Neil asshole," Moira said, crossing her arms. "That bastard was a traitor, and he is the one who left Claire with extra trauma."

"What do you mean, baby?" Barry asked.

"He broke her heart!" Moira groaned indignantly. "Claire was so biased about him, and he had to go and sell us to that Wesker bitch. Now she probably has PTSD with men. That's why she's still single and will remain so for the rest of her life!"

Chris choked.

"He what?" Jill asked, "Fisher and Claire had something?"

"Well, no. I mean," Moira said, "They weren't together or anything, but I think Claire liked him. She was so...sad when we found out he was the one who got us into that stupid island in the first place. Then he turned into that horrible monster and, well, I don't know how Claire managed to stay so calm despite all that crap."

Jill had not heard much about the incident. She knew as much as the reports had revealed, and she remembered that Chris had been a little frantic about it. Most of the details she knew came from Barry and Moira's tales, but Claire had remained quiet about the incident. It was a traumatic event, and they decided not to push it.

"There's nothing wrong about Claire being single. She's perfectly fine on her own," Chris said solemnly.

"Yeah, right. You say that because you're Claire's brother," Moira said, rolling her eyes.

Jill snickered. It was the first time in a long time that she got to see Chris in his Jealous Big Brother mode. It was hard to think that the man standing in front of her was the almighty anti-bioterrorist veteran. Suddenly, Jill's communicator beeped with an incoming call from an unknown number.

The woman looked at the screen with a frown before pressing the button to answer it.

"Valentine," Jill said into the phone.

"Thank goodness," a female voice answered from the other side, " This is Ingrid Hunnigan from the FOS. I am Leon Kennedy's operator."

Jill was surprised. She looked at Chris and Barry, and both men gave her a quizzical look.

"Yes, of course. I believe I have heard of you," Jill answered, "What can I do for you, Ms. Hunnigan? Did you get any news of Leon?"

"Yes, that is why I am contacting you now," Hunnigan answered, "He tried to communicate some minutes ago. His signal was not good, and we couldn't connect, but I think I have pinpointed an approximate location through the satellite."

"That's great news," Jill said, "Where is he?"

"Somewhere in the northern area of Bavaria, Germany."

"Germany?" Jill said, shocked.

"Yes. I can't give the exact position, but it is somewhere in the wilderness."

"I understand," Jill replied, "Please send me the location, and we will deploy a rescue team ASAP."

"Of course," Hunnigan replied, "I have no confirmation that Claire Redfield is with him, however..."

"That's alright. Thank you."

Jill put the phone away and turned to Barry and Chris. Both men stared at her expectantly.

"We can discuss Claire's love life some other time. I just talked to someone from the secret service. Leon's operator," Jill said, " He tried contacting her some time ago, and she has his probable location."

"Told you the guy would pop up," Barry said, "where is he?"

"Bavaria, Germany," Jill answered.

"Germany? What the fuck?" Barry groaned, "how the hell did they get them to another continent so fast?"

"Don't ask me," Jill replied, shaking her head.

"Did she say if Claire was with him?" Chris asked.

Jill looked at him apologetically and shook her head.

"Sorry, she didn't know. The call did not connect, so she didn't speak to Leon."

Chris groaned and punched the chair with frustration.

"I'm sure they're together," Barry said, patting his back.

"Together or not, it is lead," Chris sighed, "alright, team, time to get moving."