Irritation was beyond what Chris was currently feeling. He and the Alpha team had been preparing to leave for Leon's location point when the second wave of B.O.W.s attacked the city. The emergency call required their immediate response, and the Alpha team's departure was pushed back, much to Chris dismay. His sister was somewhere in the middle of nowhere at the other side of the planet, most likely in great danger, and the damn mutants were preventing him from going to her rescue.
The second wave of attacks was on a bigger scale than the first one, but with the civilians evacuated, B.S.A.A had received permission to use any force necessary to stop the attackers. The city got engulfed in a sea of fire and destruction that brought him a bunch of bad memories, and what he hated the most was that his little sister would return to find her home destroyed.
"Fuck those terrorists," Barry's annoyed growl sounded somewhere close to his side. They had barricaded themselves in a building as they shot a horde of j'avo that had decided to open fire on them, "Can't I just throw them a grenade and end with their pathetic zombie asses?"
"More like mutant, insect asses, Barry," Jill corrected him.
"Who cares? It is all the same to me..."
"What's our status?" Chris groaned as he replaced the cartridge of his machine gun.
"Surrounded. These bastards won't give us a break," Jill replied.
"Have they ever done such a thing?" Barry spitted in annoyance.
"Get down...I'm using one of these."
Following a previous suggestion from Barry, Chris pulled off one of the grenade's security locks and threw it against the j'avos. The thing exploded, sending the foes flying in pieces.
"Well, that surely worked," Jill approved.
"Yeah, why didn't we do that from the beginning?" Barry growled.
Chris was about to articulate a response to that when the sizzling of his radio interrupted him in mid-sentence.
"HQ to Redfield, do you copy?"
"Redfield here."
"Redfield, a large scale B.O.W has been spotted north from your position. We sent the Betta team to size it, but we lost contact with them 10 minutes ago. We need you and Alpha Team to check on the situation."
"Understood. We will take a look. Redfield out."
Chris pushed his radio back into his utility belt and turned to the rest of the team. Barry looked at him and shook his head grumpily.
"So we get to do babysitting, huh?" Barry sighed, "Soldiers these days are useless."
"You sound like a cranky old man, Barry..." Jill teased.
"I'm stating a fact. I don't remember our men being such a joke when we started at this..."
"Not everyone can be like you or Chris, Barry."
"I should suggest some new training plans when this shit is over..."
" I am sure there are a lot of things we can do when this shit is over. For now, let's deal with this crap first. I still got to get Claire back."
"Relax, big brother. Claire is a tough cookie who knows how to take care of herself. The girl has survived three zombie apocalypses" Barry chuckled, "She might even be tougher than you despite being a girl."
"Hey, don't underestimate a woman," Jill smirked, faking an offended glare.
"Of course, I do not. Don't forget that I live surrounded by four. I am always on the losing side..."
Jill laughed, imagining how life in the Burton house probably was.
"Either way, Barry is right, Claire won't die so easily, she's a Redfield, and Redfields are hard to kill."
"And don't forget Kennedy is with her," Jill added.
"Yeah, I bet Kennedy will take care of her," Barry nodded, "So let's focus on cleaning up the city, shall we?"
"Huh," Jill snorted, "When Claire comes back and finds this mess, she won't be too happy with you, Chris."
Chris snorted. He could picture Claire's pissed look as she complained about him rushing to rescue her and leaving her beloved city at the mercy of a B.O.W. attack. Jill was right, Claire would be angry at him, and he knew better than to provoke his little sister's fury.
"Well then, let's clean up this city. If there is anything I fear in this world, that is Claire when she's angry."
He wasn't lying, and he found it amusing. He could face a war, survive a zombie apocalypse, fight horrifying mutants, and yet, Chris couldn't stand his sister's glare, tears, or anything she did to persuade him. Barry had always laughed, saying that he had a sister complex, but more than a sister complex, it was a soft spot for her. She was his baby-sister no matter how old she grew, and she had certain privileges that no one else in the world would ever get from him.
"Heh, I wonder how scary can the little Redfield be if she can make the almighty Chris Redfield scared., Barry laughed, "Is she that scary? I've never seen her mad."
"That's because she's the sort of woman who wouldn't get mad unless you did something truly despicable," Chris commented.
"Ow...and what exactly did you do to anger her?" Jill asked curiously.
"I am her brother. I am an exception. She always gets mad at me at the minimal thing," he said as he shot a couple of mutated j'avos that had been chasing them.
"So, you get the privilege to feel her anger for small things," Barry asked, shooting another group of infected, "I don't envy you at all, pal, and wait till you get married. Your wife will team up with Claire and make you miserable. I know what I tell you. When my girls team up against me, it is worse than fighting off zombies."
Chris wondered about that. He couldn't imagine how bad that would be, and he heard Jill amused laugh.
"This might be the first time I'll see Chris scared at all."
The two soldiers broke into a fit of laughter, and Chris rolled his eyes.
"You two….stop it already." Chris growled grumpily, "Focus on the mission!"
"Well, excuse me for trying to lighten the mood," Barry said with a chuckle," "I think this is the place," Jill said, checking her intel.
Chris looked around. The place was deadly quiet, and there were no signs of the soldiers or zombies. He signaled Jill and Barry to be alert, and both of them nodded as they took a position with their weapons ready. Chris walked into the place, looking around with his gun raised. So far, there were no signs of the B.O.W., but he noticed something lying a couple of feet from him.
"Redfield here. I've found the members of Team Betta. The situation is bad. I'll look for survivors."
"Understood, be careful, team Alpha."
Chris walked cautiously around the bodies, feeling disgusted. It looked like a slaughterhouse; something had torn the soldiers into pieces, and their body parts laid scattered all over the place. It was a massacre and a horrendous one. Chris was sad to say it, but he doubted that there were any survivors from Team Betta.
"Chris, watch out!" Jill's voice shouted out of sudden.
Chris turned around in time to dodge a reddish blur that jumped over him. The man rolled over his side and got back up with his gun raised. He shot the B.O.W. that had just attacked him, and he could hear Barry and Jill shooting, too.
"Watch out! I think this thing might be the one who slaughtered the whole Betta team."
The creature roared and vanished into the surrounding darkness.
"What the fuck is that thing?" Barry growled.
"I have no idea," Chris said, reloading his gun, "but I don't think it is good news. Alpha Team to HQ, do you copy?"
"This is HQ. We hear you, Alpha Team."
"We have a situation," Chris said, aiming his gun. He could hear something moving around them, but he could not see it. "Unknown B.O.W. Most-likely, the one responsible for Betta Team's slaughter. Requesting back-up."
"Copied. Hang on in there, Alpha team."
There was a screech, and the red blur jumped out of the shadows, trying to tackle them. The trio rolled over and evaded it.
"What the fuck?" Barry said, shooting.
Chris had no idea what it was, either. The creature in front of them was something they had never encountered before. It looked like a giant meaty caterpillar with four long paws that ended in curling tentacles. There was a long slash on its face, filled by long yellowish fangs. The drool was dripping disgustingly from it. The three of them were shooting endless at it as the thing jumped from a wall to the other, roaring.
The trio rolled over the ground dodging the whipping tentacles. The creature, despite lacking eyes, was easily tracking their movements. Chris had showered the meaty body with a wave of bullets, but the thing didn't seem to be affected. The creature roared once more, showing the second row of yellow fangs and a bifid black tongue.
"What an ugly face. Makes me wanna punch it."
"You are welcome to blow it up, Barry," Jill said.
"Heh..thought you'd never say it."
Barry pulled out one of his grenades and threw it into the B.O.W. The first grenade barely missed the creature, but the explosion effect managed to hurt it and throw it on the ground. Taking advantage of its vulnerable position, Barry threw a second grenade directly at it as Jill and Chris kept shooting at it. The explosion raised an intense flame, and when the fumes had dissipated, the monster laid dead and half scorched.
"Well, there you have it. Nothing can do against a well-aimed grenade... "
"What the hell is this thing?" Jill said with a disgusted look.
"Guess it is Neo-Umbrella's new toy, " Chris said, kicking the corpse to take a look. "Team Alpha here. We took down the B.O.W that attacked Betta Team. It's been taken care of, but we found no survivors."
"Those are unfortunate news. Understood, team Alpha. Return to HQ, let clean-up to the back-up team. You've received new additional orders."
"What new orders, sir? If I may ask..." Jill said, looking at Chris with a frown.
"We've received intel from a member from the F.O.S, concerning the location of agent Kennedy. The place might be testing grounds for developing B.O.W.s"
"Just great, another Santa's factory of B.O.W." Barry mumbled bitterly. Chris knew the man was still bothered by what had happened to his daughter two years ago. Heck, he was mad, too. They had taken Claire once, and they had taken her again and right under his nose. Those fucking bastards would have to pay.
"You've been ordered to rescue and investigate the place. An aircraft is waiting for you at the power building. You are to depart asap."
"Understood. We are on our way."
Chris looked at his companions. His face twisted in an angry look. Those damned terrorists would pay if they touched a single hair of his sister, and he wasn't kidding.
"Leon...Claire. We are coming for you."
