Nemesis: Resident Evil III

Chapter Twenty: Grill 13

Although it had felt like he had only closed his eyes for a moment after falling to the floor of the Grill 13 restaurant, Carlos knew that some time had passed when he opened them again because of how the sun was starting to directly come in through the top of the front windows instead of being too high up. The young man was still sore, and more dust came out of his mouth when he coughed while getting up to his hands and knees.

The Hemostatic medicine for Mikhail was still in his pouch, and nothing had attacked him… or even entered the restaurant during the time that he was unconscious, so he supposed that he should count himself lucky. Reaching up to grab the top of the meal table that had broken his fall through the ceiling, Carlos groaned with effort as he pulled himself up to his feet, reaching a standing position that was actually more like just leaning on the table, when a flash of movement caught his eye.

Thanks to the sun being in his eyes, the young man was unable to see anything more than the shadow of something moving past the front of the restaurant, but it didn't really concern him until it stopped at the glass double doors and tried to look inside for a moment before pulling on the handle. It could have been another zombie, probably a female one based on its small frame, but thankfully the doors were locked, so they just rattled when she tried them. This was good, because now it would just move on without getting any attention from the main horde that was hopefully still over at the pharmacy.

"Just go away, would you?" He quietly asked, standing up straighter. "Toma tu cerebro comiendo amigos en otro lugar."

However, instead of just shambling off, the figure looked like it was crouching down in front of the doors, and after about a minute of soft rattling, he was forced to get down himself, crawling underneath the metal table into the kitchen in order to stay out of sight when the locked doors opened with a hard click. Okay, maybe it wasn't a zombie that was quietly opening the door and then walking into the restaurant… in fact, as the figure moved out of the direct sunlight and started to search around the dining area, he saw that it was a girl.

From where he was hiding underneath the preparation tables and counters in the kitchen, Carlos watched as she looked underneath the tables and inside all of the red colored booth, before checking out the payphone booth that had been installed near the door, the young man found himself staring intently at how her tight jeans hugged against her rear, and how pretty her face was, even though she was tired looking and dirty as if she had been on the streets for a while.

Thanks to Hollywood Movies, the young man had thought that all American women had long blonde hair and huge boobs, so one would think that he would have been disappointed with this girl's brown hair that only came down to her shoulders and boobs that he could see were… not so big through her heavy leather jacket… but he felt like quite the opposite… like Mikhail had been right, and Raccoon City had given him the opportunity to rescue the woman of his dreams… but then he saw that she was armed, and realized that he would have to be careful in case she was jumpy.

Once his dream girl finished searching around the dining area, he had to crouch down in a different place so that she wouldn't see him as she entered the kitchen, herself. But instead of being as thorough in searching around this part as she had done out there, she only did a quick look around, before going right to the nearest refrigerator and pulling open the shiny metal doors. Every few seconds she would look to make sure that nothing was sneaking up on her, but most of the girl's attention was now focused on the bottle of water that she was chugging down after nearly ripping off the cap.

Poor thing was probably starving, Carlos thought as she dropped the empty water bottle and began tearing into the apple slices that were set on small individual places like they had been meant as an appetizer, ignoring the obvious brown spots, and then letting out a powerful belch that would have put even the biggest drinking man to shame. Okay, well it was time for Carlos el heroe to swoop in and sweep her off her feet… yeah, he would act like he was just coming into the building and declare that he was there to rescue her, and this hermosa morena would run into his arms, probably crying with joy after finally finding a man who could keep her safe.

Clang! A metal spatula was knocked to the floor when he grabbed the top of the counter to silently pull himself up to a standing position, and as soon as she heard it, the girl spun around, dropping into a kneeling position with her pistol aimed right at his face like she were an expert marksman or something. She got even more tense looking after seeing his rifle, and it probably didn't help that he was still covered with drywall dust, looking like some kind of albino with really ashy skin… yeah, so much for Carlos el heroe.

"Don't move!" She ordered with a sternness only ever heard from his mother. "I don't want any trouble, so just… just keep your hands where I can see them, okay?"

"Relax, novia, I'm not here to hurt you." The young man quickly replied, keeping his hands up. "Eres tan hermosa con una pistola, uh, I mean… you don't have to be scared, so let's just… put the gun down before someone gets hurt, okay?"

For a while they just stood there, with Carlos genuinely afraid that she might shoot him, since there was nothing more dangerous in a warzone than a frightened civilian with a firearm, except a frightened civilian with a firearm who was female. Keeping his hands up, and speaking to her in a calming voice to show her that he wasn't a threat, while also wanting to do nothing more than take the pistol away from her and hold this girl in his arms. He told her in English that he was there to rescue her, but since Americans didn't speak any other languages than their own, he also told her in Spanish that ella ersa su novia y que deberian estar besa'ndose en su lugar.

"Primero no soy tu amorcita." She answered, startling him and definitely not lowering her weapon. "Mi nombre es Jill Valentine de la Policia de Raccoon City y hablo espanol muy bien."

Oh great, the young man thought after hearing this, not only was the girl of his dreams the only Spanish speaking blanquita in America, but she was also a cop, which made her far less likely to simply fall into his arms when all was said and done. Looks like he was going to have to play nice and follow her lead, at least until she wasn't pointing a pistol at him. This belief was further reinforced when she demanded that he identify himself, since she had never seen him before, and this city was small enough for most people to all know each other.

"Like I said, I'm not here to hurt you." He answered, his arms starting to lower from keeping them up for so long. "My name is Corporal Carlos Olivera, of Umbrella's Biohazard Countermeasure Force; we were sent in to rescue civilians, but shit went all loco from the start, and now I gotta get this medicine back to my Captain before he bleeds out."

Her gaze shifted down when he opened the pouch to show her the large bottle of Hemostatic medicine, and then Jill's eyes moved up to the large hole in the ceiling, chuckling a little after looking back down at him, probably from having figured out how he got into the locked restaurant. The good news was that she was finally starting to lower the pistol, from starting to see that he wasn't a threat, or maybe just because her arms were getting as tired as his were.

"If you came to rescue civilians, I don't think there's many left." She continued, allowing him to sigh with relief when she finally lowered her weapon. "Wait a second, did you say you're part of Umbrella's Army, or…

Thud… thud… thud…

The girl… the beautiful Jill Valentine de la Policia stopped mid-sentence, and now Carlos was starting to become concerned when all of the bravery and sternness faded from her face… replaced with fear as a strange thumping sound started to be heard, coming from outside. The young man asked her what was wrong, but she seemed to be unable to speak, instead just looking up over the counter toward the front doors as the thumping sound got closer.

"You said there are more of you somewhere?" She asked with a shaky voice, suddenly seeming a lot more cooperative. "Are you armed, and do you have a way out of the city? Please take me with you, please."

Thud… thud… thud…

"Jill, what's the matter?" The young man asked, picking up his rifle and moving over to her. "Novia, you're shaking, what… you don't have to be scared of anything; I'll protect you."

"You… you don't understand." She replied, a tear running down her cheek. "He's coming for me… he's coming, and… if we don't get out of here right now we are both going to die."

Unfortunately, they couldn't just run out the back door, since all of those zombies were still probably near the pharmacy and were sure to see them, but maybe the young man was going to get the chance to be her hero after all. Maybe she had seen one of those large insect things from the sewers, but what she didn't know was that they were really easy to kill as long as they didn't sneak up on you. Again reassuring her that he was going to keep her safe, Carlos put his hand on her shoulder in a comforting manner before looking up over the counter again just as something big moved in front of the windows.

Thud… thud… thud, its footsteps were heavy enough to shake the now unlocked front doors of the Grill 13, with the top of its figure reaching the very top of them in the sunlight… and then it slowly opened the door, stepping inside and allowing the young man to get a clear glimpse of its truly terrifying features as it moved into the dining area, following almost the exact search pattern that Jill had done when she first arrived as if… as if it was somehow following her.

"Dios en el cielo." He whispered as the Pursuer started to growl.