Chapter 31: No Light

The sun above was high in the sky blinding them a little as they rode on towards the lagoon; the soft crunching of ice and snow beneath the horses feet was soft and delicate adding to the beautiful surroundings. Small tufts of grass protruded the icy ground in places as it struggled for sunlight.

Beams of rainbow tinted light melted patches on large rocks when breaks in the clouds lazily appeared, however, the peace was soon disrupted by Jake sighing heavily.

"What is it Jake?" Sherry asked over her shoulder as she had taken point.

"Seats rubbing my junk..." He mumbled while standing up slightly in the saddle trying to rearrange his parts with no luck.

Sherry couldn't help her mouth twitching into a large smile and a laugh even though she tried hard to keep it in; the expression on Jake's face was too amusing to think about feeling any empathy, and once again for the third time that day the absolute nightmare of the mysterious gangs attack was forgotten... Just for awhile.

Jake on the other hand felt differently but didn't want to voice it, the attack and slaughter messed him up inside. He was so angry and upset, new emotions he never felt before burned in his chest. Violent anger hot and white, like hell had driven a stake through his heart. 'Like when I saw Sherry strapped to that table with Jeeves...'

It was the same anger and pain.

He thought about it more in depth, when he was younger none of this would have affected him; he was on the other side, the one who killed, the one who assassinated people in war and terrorized them, and taught to lose all emotion.

Jake back then, was cold and emotionless... but this, he looked around, his world now, the person he was now... was totally different; killing zombies and BOW's who had no soul, basically no brains, no humanity and were dead... it wasn't right, but it was okay, he was fighting for something good.

He felt sick at himself, remembering those days when he would do anything for money, absolutely anything - like the party who attacked them. He sighed, being thankful he'd never slaughtered minors or families; only the people he was ordered to, bad people or what his country believed bad.

In his sights Sherry rode her horse gracefully, every now and again taking her hand from the riding strap to flick her shimmering golden locks from her face.

"Sherry..." Jake whispered into the soft breeze, again being entranced by her beauty even from behind, and continued to think of how he became the person he was today, riding that horse on the icy grounds because of her: Sherry, the soul person that had saved him from himself - the old nightmare, the thing he never wanted to be again.

Throughout China he felt himself want to be protecting Sherry and helping, wanting to do the right thing, instead of whatever he fancied, like the loose cannon being made a puppet of by the generals and whoever he worked for in the Mercs. He'd changed because of her, he wanted to be the man he always dreamt of being, and now he was.

Protecting the innocent, righting the world, banishing evil with a beautiful woman at his side.

He grasped the reigns tighter as the chaffing prolonged and contained the growl in his throat and looked to the sky, and roared startling not only the horses and Sherry but the birds and wildlife around them.

She blinked delicately looking up at the sun as it was soon covered by huge storm clouds one big cumulonimbus after another, soon the bright crisp sky was gone and only storm clouds remained. Jake mumbled in the background as the heavens threatened to open, as his horse was still rubbing him up the wrong way. As much as she loved the man not far from her, he sure was annoying her with the constant moaning.

"Aww shit..." Jake proceeded to mumble.

"What now?" Sherry asked brows knitted together and a monotone voice, making it obvious she was sick of his complaints.

"It's about to rain Supergirl... that's what." Jake replied sharply, his mood lower than before and immensely irritated.

"We're out in the middle of nowhere, and that Umbrella plant doesn't seem to be getting any damn closer! We haven't even seen sight or sound of this Lagoon people have been talking about!" He raged, stopping his horse jumping off it furiously to shove a hand straight down his trousers, breathing a sigh of relief as he softly grabbed his manhood and massaged it and the scrotum for relief of the soreness.

Sherry sighed and smiled once she'd turned around on her horse that had also stopped, burning a rather dirty image into Jake's mind of the reverse cowgirl position. He raised an eyebrow and smirked, walking over to her with both hands now at his sides.

"Your balls any better?" She asked with an amused grin, puckering her lips slightly waiting to kiss him.
Jake didn't answer just stared into her fascinating eyes until they were face to face, his arms reached out for her then stopped suddenly. The love and affection was gone in an instant and he looked sharply away.

"Wh-!" Sherry was about to ask what on earth was he doing, she wanted her kiss but Jake delayed her with one finger pushed over her lips.

"Mmmm!" She hummed trying to say his name, to watch his head shake in silence.

Sherry watched in silence with deep confusion, what was going on.

Everything was silent around them, even the horses it seemed had stopped breathing, then it clicked she noticed something off about it. When things became deathly silent it usually meant danger, and Jake was probably trying to listen for it.

"Something's out... there." Jake said in a quiet voice wincing trying to pin point the direction but as fate laid the law, the skies opened and the downpour started.

He knew it was something large, almost as big as a horse he reckoned but now was not the time, it was getting dark due to the forecast and reaching 5pm in the evening, it was only going to get darker.

He thought quickly and rationally about the situation; they couldn't head back to town, they'd been travelling all day to get this far, if they found a shack they would stay in it, otherwise, they would have to travel on. 'The plant shouldn't be that far now? Could it?' Jake wondered, as the rain became heavier and cold settling into his clothes and skin.

"Move round Sherry." He ordered her quietly, watching as she turned on her horse to a normal riding position again, then he too mounted it.

"What are you doing?" She asked again confused, but not complaining to have him so close.

"We need to get out of here quietly, and two horses would make too much noise. You aren't going to like my plan but we leave the other as bait Supergirl."

"What about the owner?" She protested in a soft voice almost inaudible over the rain.

"They know where we are going Supergirl, they probably think we won't come back anyway, but when we do return we can pay them for their loss... I think it's more important right now to see what we're up against out here." Jake spoke fluidly filled with much thought.

He felt Sherry nod in front of him, and flex her muscles to grab her pistol, making sure she had a tight grip of it in case the ride got a little rough.

Jake took hold of the reigns and nudged forwards closer to Sherry so she was completely supported by his chest, and even through their rain soaked clothes they could feel each other's heat, and with that he clicked his feet in to make the horse move slowly away from the other one at a slow trot, thankful for the rain masking the horses footsteps.

Jake's horse, the one they left behind didn't even notice its passengers had left them and were now 50 feet away from it, it seemed happy to graze the snow and bits of grass unaware of the fate that would probably come for it sooner or later.

Sherry silently said sorry to the horse as the distance between them increased until it was so far away in the distance it had become a blob in the far-off darkness.

The haunting sounds of rain and virtually nothing else was disturbing, a chilling panic set in to the pair, Jake could sense something hiding in the darkness of the trees and shadows but didn't know the direction of where it was, or how many there might be.

Sherry hadn't spoken since because she was keeping a keen eye on the surrounding area.

It wasn't long before they were in total darkness, no street lights, no moon, no anything; even their tiny flashlights attached to earpieces wouldn't penetrate this darkness.

Just as Sherry was feeling another mild panic attack coming from the darkness, Jake shifted to his left digging something out of the pack on the horse, and cracked the long plastic tube in front of her. A low green light emitted until he shook it vigorously making the light vibrant and tossed it as far as he could into the distance.

Sherry felt for the glow sticks and grabbed a couple herself attaching some to her new utility belt, one much like Jill's. She cracked one and held it tightly in her hand breathing softly at the little light, feeling a little safer already.

"It is a little unsettling out here isn't it, Supergirl?" Jake whispered in her ear, lingering there to breathe in some of her scent. She nodded silently, leaning in to him more.

"Just keep your focus, ya' don't want whatever's circling us to have the advantage when it finally attacks..." She nodded again straightening up.

"You see that light I threw over there, that's where we're going." Jake explained quietly, even though she knew he just wanted to make her feel a bit safer. "When we reach that I'll pop another one, they go out after 30 minutes so we're covering our tracks as we go."

"I've been watching them for some time now." She remarked dryly to her handsome prince on the phone.

"Why?" Leon asked, slight annoyance in his voice. "Is this where you've been for god knows how long?! Monitoring?"

"I can't let the two kids get mauled by the undead can I?" She asked dryly with an amused smile, the rain dripping down her porcelain features and off onto her tight leather trousers. "It's my duty"

"Your duty?" He continued on, trying to press information out of her.

"Leon... He is not far away from where they are, there are traps set out for intruders. They're our friends and comrades... I don't want to see them hurt as much as you do. I know this man well enough, to jump in if need be." She murmured off thinking if Albert would be the same.

Would he have changed much since the last time they convened.

"Why!" Leon shouted to her.

"Because, Leon... I'll see you... On the other side."

"ADA!?" Leon roared down the phone as it went dead.

Sherry and Jake had been trekking for more hours throwing glow sticks out into the shadowy darkness, reaching the spot and repeating the process. The time had to be near 8:30pm and there were no change in their circumstances, nothing had attacked them, and as far as Jake could tell they weren't being followed by the creatures anymore. That or they hadn't gone and his ears had been deafened by the sound of rain and thunder. He knew his body was numb from the freezing temperatures, he was just glad that the rain hadn't turned to snow.

Another half an hour passed until a gentle sound of water lapping reached their ears, it was soothing compared to the unsettling nature that was upon them.

"A bay?" Sherry asked loudly over the rain as thunder clashed above, striking in an ominous colour.

"No. The lagoon!" Jake replied loudly holding onto the reigns slacker than he should have.

"It's so dark! I can't see a thing!" Sherry shouted again as another loud crash above them sounded, "Even with the flares!"

"I know." Jake muttered behind her sensing something unusual, but he pressed his heels gently into the horse once again and they moved closer to the water's edge. Most of the lagoon was surrounded by large amounts of ice due to the cold spell Germany was having, along with large trees and bushes; the majority of the lagoon was now hidden by this vegetation.

"Look there!" Sherry pointed, making known a small gap of dirt that bordered the water edge to the greenery in land so the duo could make their way slowly around.

"The plant must me straight ahead, Jake!"

He nodded in response although she couldn't see and pulled the reigns hard right, the horse silently complying into a slow trot.

"I don't mean to alarm you Supergirl, but if we weren't being followed before, we are now." Jake mentioned in passing as if it was no big deal, nudging his heels and squeezing his thighs tighter and harder into the horse urging it to move faster on the tiny path before them.

Sherry didn't have much time to think or speak as the horse sped up to a full gallop in the almost pitch black, the only light was coming from the streaks of lightning, and they had a couple of flares left which were being kept for an emergency.

Soon she found herself starting to worry about what was following them, she was uneasy at the prospect of stopping suddenly to find themselves surrounded.

In the distance a large building began to appear clearer; the huge conical piece of concrete, and soon the Umbrella symbol huge and looming in front of them, and as the lightning struck the top of the power plant she knew this was not a good idea.

The horse showed its concern at the last strike of lighting and reared hard knocking Sherry right off and into the mud with a loud splat, she yelped as she hit the ground hard causing Jake to look back in panic.

He pulled the lead to the side trying to make the horse turn back, but instead it stood on its hind legs just as it had moments ago, knocking him to the ground also, however lucky for him he managed to fall onto concrete blocks instead of mud.

"Hey! Supergirl! You alright?" Jake yelled to Sherry over the rain and lightning as he saw her slowly crawling onto her front, a large rock sticking into her back. "Oh shit, hang on." He yelled, getting to his feet hastily.

Sherry gasped for breath waiting for him to come to her aid, all she could feel was the pain and cold, but soon she was gasping from the pain and relief of her skin healing once Jake had pulled out the incredibly sharp rock.

"Thank you Jake..." She breathed, taking his hand to stand up remembering the first time this happened, and at how freaked out he'd been. "Are... are we still being followed?" She asked wiping the rain from her eyes.

"Not sure." He replied looking at the surroundings suspiciously, "There's something in the water."

Sherry turned looking into the dark, unable to see whatever Jake could and squinted, before her she could just make out a pair of huge eyes in the darkness in the middle of the lagoon, staring at them, huge glazed almost red... dead eyes.

Unbeknown to the pair large things snaked their way through the wet grass en route for them.

"Forget it, we need to go." Jake grumbled, getting sick of the rain and cold.

Sherry screamed just as Jake walked two feet from her, large slimy tentacles grabbed at her legs pulling her to the ground as one large tentacle slid around her waist attempting to pull her into the lagoon, its suckers hurting her skin.

Lightning flashed once again overhead, giving Jake a short amount of time to see what had caught Sherry, and was unbelievably taken aback to see a huge Octopus sitting sinisterly in the lagoon waving it's half rotting tentacles around, the suckers oozing what looked like black blood.

"You ain't gonna believe this!" Jake yelled as Sherry's screams stopped, she'd taken action with her stun rod.

"It's a giant Octopus!" He continued as a huge amazed smile wound up on his face, "You gotta see this!"

"Jake!" Sherry shouted angrily, "A LITTLE HELP!?"

Jake cursed under his breath, his expression changing back into the cold soldier everyone knew, and grabbed his machine gun swiftly jumping over the tentacles that bound Sherry, and began shooting at the thinnest part he could without hurting her.

The undead creature splashed around in pain, making small waves as its body parts were severed, black fluids spurting everywhere.

"Argh!" Sherry growled as she was dropped back onto her feet, the tentacle that held her shot to pieces laying on the floor, the decaying of its flesh sped up and began to dissolve before them.

"I can't believe this!" She exclaimed taking hold of her pistol tightly. "A sea creature in a lake?!"

"Lagoon." Jake replied quietly as he reloaded, backing up the waters bank a safe distance away from the small Kraken, offering a helping hand to Sherry once he was reloaded.

"Uh, Jake!" Sherry yelled again once he'd turned his back, causing him to growl in anger.

"What is it now?" He asked angrily over his shoulder, but before he could receive an answer he was thrown into the air by a powerful strike to the back of his legs and spine.

"Whoa!" He yelled as he was caught just before hitting a tree by a large slimy tentacle, lightning cracked in the sky illuminating the lagoon once more, showing the infected Kraken for what it really was; angry and hungry, it's freakish beak turning into something Jake hadn't witnessed before.

The small Kraken began to shake causing small waves in the water as its beak began to crack loudly, it's 'underside face' splitting into four, then humongous fleshy tongues with claws on each end came flailing out its mouth pointing skywards before turning their attention to Jake, still stuck in the creatures tentacle.

"Oh shit." Jake said aloud as the tentacle began to reel him in, into the open infected jaws of the small kraken.

"Sherry!" He roared, as he grabbed a hidden knife from his boot and began slashing at the thick tentacle that held him.

"I'm working on it!" Sherry shouted back, she was fraught trying to find her gear that had fallen off her horse not too long ago. "Plaga! Type 3!" Sherry whispered to herself, excited as she finally found the things she was looking for.

Promptly she loaded the best grenades into her launcher... aim... and fired.

Jake closed his eyes and covered his face from the icy blast that hit the creature, he could hear the limb freezing as the nitrogen spread, but it wasn't enough and kept on reeling him in.

He went to shout for her to keep firing but she was already on it, and the creature was bombarded with 40mm Nitrogen rounds.

"LET GO OF ME! YOU SON OF A BITCH!" He shouted his face dark with anger, the tentacle had frozen solid around him, so he kept pounding at it, hoping it would shatter and release him.

"I'm almost out!" Sherry started as she made her way to him, the Kraken arm had still not shattered and held Jake in close range of its new enhanced mouth. "Do you have any ammo for this?!" She asked him as she watched him struggle with his fist and knife.

"...Sherry this thing is gonna eat me!" His frustration and agitation showing at his helplessness.

Sherry nodded and grabbed her shotgun, and began at the weakest point she could see; shards of frozen skin and muscle were flying all around the two.

"Oh god! Finally!" Jake exclaimed with deep breaths, after another few rounds of ammunition was wasted on the creatures limb.

"We need to get out of here Supergirl... You know I don't like to turn tail and run... but... fuck this."

Sherry had to agree, there was no way they could take this big thing down without supreme firepower, so she grabbed his hand and ran in the direction of a path she'd seen whilst looking for her guns.

The large Plaga Octopus glared at them as they made their getaway, still flailing its tentacles in panic and what Jake would assume was pain. 'Could that thing feel pain?' He thought with a frown, 'No... It's dead, only cares about feeding...'

Jake shook his head to rid himself of the ridiculous thoughts, which only brought him back to the moment, 'Wesker'.

Within a few moments Sherry and Jake were safely away from the lagoon and the monster, and were heading through dense forest to a path Sherry had seen not long ago.

Jake sighed internally as his lungs and body still felt like they were being constricted by the mammoth Octopus, 'Why had Umbrella even tested a virus, no, a parasite in another creature other than a human?'

At long last the path the blonde had seen revealed itself; tall ancient looking pillars poked out of the water, some broken some almost completely intact, the path was built just over water, and looked that rugged and cracked it must not have been used in a very long time and been built in the early 1700's.

Jake threw his last glow stick out at the opposite side of this small bridge to find it clear of Zombies or any other malicious creatures, only few bushes and trees greeted them.

"Shall we?" Sherry asked, making him go first.

- YES I'm back after almost 2 years absence =/ my writing flare died and although the ideas have still been coming, and the image of how I want this to end is still in my mind, I haven't been able to put it into words. BUT! Thanks to a good friend and the release of the HD Resident Evil, Revelations 2 - with Alex and Albert coming into the games, I thought I needed to get this out asap!

- I have also spent at least 3 solid days re-reading the whole 31 chapters of this fiction and done minor changes to the spelling, grammar and some story changes, so you will find all chapters up to date, and things in the correct way... Hopefully!