Disclaimer: I do not own the Resident Evil series or the characters, I am just a fan who likes to write the kind of stories I like to read. It's taken a little longer to update as I had to do this one handed - I had a small 'accident' that involved me and my bike parting company. Ouch is all I can say. Thanks loads for being patient and coming back though. Anyways, there are a few bad words in here, so if you're easily offended…you have been warned!!

Chapter 9 Sympathy for the devil

Chris reached up and touched his chest with his left hand. It was warm and wet. He looked down at his hand and saw that it was covered with blood. It was his blood. He dropped heavily to his knees, the shockwave as he hit the concrete passing upwards through his spine. Simultaneously, his hands fell limp at his sides and he dropped his gun. The small red stain on his chest grew bigger and bigger until viscous scarlet fluid began to collect in a pool below him. He opened his mouth but he couldn't speak.

Jill heard the thud of Chris's rifle hitting the floor and she turned around to investigate.

''Chris!'' she screamed in horror as she ran across to him, a bullet missing her by inches. She caught his limp body as he fell forwards.

''I've got you. It's okay, it's going to be okay.'' She tried to soothe him as she gently laid him on his back and looked down into his glassy, unresponsive eyes. Chris was staring straight through her. He looked like he was dead.

She reached for her radio.

''Emergency! Chris has been hit - it's bad. Rebecca, we need you, now!''

''Where are you?'' a female voice responded.

''The north end of the docks, near the watch tower.''

''I'll be there in two minutes. Hold tight. Keep him talking, don't let him go into shock.''

''Please hurry.'' Jill pleaded. She shifted her attention back to the man lying wounded on the floor. ''Talk to me Chris, please.'' she cried as she gently shook his shoulders.

She squeezed his hand. It was cold and clammy. His pulse was rapid but very faint. Jill knew this meant he was going into shock and he probably didn't have long.

''Please Chris, talk to me. You're tough, fight through this.'' she whispered into his ear.

He blinked and swallowed hard. His breathing was ragged, but he was breathing. She moved her face closer to his and looked right into his eyes. ''Chris, look at me. Look into my eyes. It's important.'' She commanded him.

There was some clarity in his eyes now, and he focussed on her. His mouth twitched, but he was still unable to talk.

Suddenly, Jill felt strong hands grab her shoulders and push her to the floor. Her arms and legs were quickly bound, even though she struggled hard. Chris could sense what was happening, but he lay prostrate on the floor. As Jill was dragged away, she could just make out a pair of legs walking across towards Chris and kicking him hard in his side.

''Leave him alone!!!!'' she screamed, kicked her legs as hard as she could, trying in vain to free herself.

Chris coughed up blood that splattered on his face and dribbled down his cheeks towards his neck. His body convulsed three times, the strength of each successive convulsion decreased. His hands twitched and then his body loosened as his head fell to one side, his eyes open. He was still. She was sure he was gone.

Jill opened her eyes and shot forwards.

''Chris!'' she cried out. Her clothes and sheets were drenched with sweat. Jill scanned the room. Her vision was blurry but the room seemed familiar, it smelt familiar.

''It was just a dream, it's okay, you're safe.'' a disembodied voice said.

Then a face came into focus as it approached her side.

''Chris!'' She said, her eyes widening in surprise. ''I thought you were dead …..you were shot.'' Her voice was hoarse, but Chris could hear the relief. He nodded and smiled.

''Technically I was, but only for a few minutes thanks to Rebecca. Not an experience I would recommend though.'' Without realising, he placed his palm against the healed wound on his chest. He remembered the pain - it was excruciating - as it coursed through his body like lightning, paralysing him. He remembered being unable to scream. He wanted to let go, he was ready to let go, but it was only Jill's voice that had kept him there.

Jill lay back down on the bed.

''Do you remember anything? Anything at all?'' Chris asked her, his voice was full of concern and almost reduced to a whisper.

Jill coughed and then swallowed, attempting to lubricate her throat which was uncomfortably dry and sore. ''The last thing I remember is being on the quayside. We were under heavy fire. We were trying to get into a lock-up. You were covering me while I was laying explosive charges.''

''Jill.'' Chris began as he sat on the side of her bed, one leg bent under him, looking her straight in the eyes. He placed one hand on her shoulder. ''That was over six months ago.''

She looked at him blankly. It couldn't be. It felt like it was only yesterday.

''Six months? It can't be that long.'' She shook her head firmly, disbelieving, laughing nervously.

''Trust me, it's been six months.''

''I've been unconscious in here for the last six months? What happened?''

''You weren't here.''

Her eyes widened. ''Then where was I?''

Chris shifted uncomfortably. ''Do you remember anything else? Anything at all after the quayside?''

''Nothing. I don't remember a thing…what happened to me Chris? Where have I been?''

''Listen, Rebecca said you may have some memory loss, but I'm sure things will come back to you sooner or later. You just have to be patient and not force it, okay?''

''Tell me what happened to me. You don't have to protect me.'' Her voice cracked. ''I need to know. Please.''

''I'm not sure that…''

''Chris. How long have we known each other? I would tell you if you asked me.''

''You were taken.'' He closed his eyes and looked down. ''There was nothing I could do…''

''By whom?''

''We don't know who they were exactly. We were looking for you for months, but there was no trace. It was only when we received intelligence a few days ago from one of our undercover operatives that we were able to locate you and get you out.''

Jill then looked down and reacted with horror to the drip attached to her arm. ''What is this?'' she shrieked. Her body stiffened as she pushed herself upwards onto her elbows.

''It's an anti-virus.'' He began.

''An anti-virus? For what? What have they done to me?'' Her voice was raised. She sat up and tore the drip from her arm. The blue fluid sprayed across the white sheets.

''You're fine, completely fine, there's nothing wrong with you.''

She ignored him, and dragged her weight towards the edge of the bed. Her legs were numb, so she pulled them from under the single white sheet and swung them over the edge. She pushed herself off the bed and tried to stand, but her wasted muscles were unable to take the weight. She began to fall, but Chris caught her and placed her back on the edge of the bed.

''You haven't used your legs for six months, you're going nowhere I'm afraid.''

''Chris.'' She whispered, looking down at her hands that were clasped in her lap. ''Am I different?''

''What?''

''Have they changed me somehow?''

''No! You're perfectly fine…you're…..''

''Am I still human?''

Chris raised her chin with his hand, bringing her face in line with his. ''I promise you, nothing is wrong with you. You're perfectly healthy.''

''Because if there is something - you know what you have to do Chris.''

''Jill.'' His eyes were full of concern. ''I promise you, it will never come to that.''

She nodded.

There was a gentle knock on the door. The door then opened and Rebecca Chambers walked into the room. She was wearing a white lab coat over a pair of jeans and white t-shirt. She looked slightly dishevelled, like she had got dressed in a hurry. For a moment, she just stared straight at Jill. She smiled uncontrollably, unable to hide her happiness at the return of her friend.

''I heard voices and figured you were awake!''

''Rebecca! Am I glad to see you.'' Jill replied.

''Chris, I need to spend some time alone with Jill now. Just a few tests, that's all.''

''Okay. I'll be in operations if you need me for anything. Anything at all.''

Chris stood up and walked towards the door. Just before he left the room, he turned his head. ''It's great to have you back Jill.''

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dr Elisabeth Badley was sat on the floor in her room, her back pressed against the wall. She was staring into space, almost catatonic. Her face betrayed no emotion. The curtains were drawn tightly and the room was lit only by a dim lamp sat on a small bedside table. There was an open folder on the bed, the pages it contained were scattered across the sheets. Some had fallen onto the floor. Some were torn and screwed up into a ball.

There was a hard knock on the door. She barely flinched.

There was another knock, more impatient this time. Elisabeth looked up towards the source of the noise.

''Badley?'' a voice shouted. ''It's time for you to go to work.''

She stared at the door, and then across to the scattered documents on the bed and floor. Elisabeth recognised the voice - it was Chris Redfield. She didn't know how long she had been sat on the floor - it must have been all night. She didn't feel tired though. In fact, she had probably never been so awake.

She took a deep breath and swallowed hard. ''Please give me five minutes and I'll be ready.'' She spoke with no emotion.

''Okay, you've got five minutes. Make you way to the operations room.''

''I don't know where that is….'' she replied, as she pushed herself to her feet and began to gather the scattered papers into a small pile. She hastily stuffed them back into the cardboard folder.

''Someone will show you. Five minutes.'' he repeated.

Elisabeth then heard his footsteps as he walked away from her room and down the tiled corridor.

She wandered into the small en-suite bathroom and scanned the floor and ceiling. She noticed a small ventilation duct in the corner of the room, above the white ceramic bath. Balancing on the edge of the bath, she pushed the metal grille aside and stuffed the folder of papers into the duct. She then replaced the grille and jumped down.

She moved across to the small pedestal sink and turned on the cold tap, holding her fingers underneath the running water to check the temperature. She splashed her face with water and then filled a small plastic glass. She took a large gulp, but she struggled to swallow - it was as though her whole body had tensed-up.

She stared at herself in the small mirror situated above the sink.

She spat the water at her reflection.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Claire Redfield was sat alone at a computer terminal in the operations room. The operations room was situated in the west wing of the old boarding school building and consisted of a number of adjoining classrooms where the dividing walls had been demolished and a number of rectangular support columns had been erected in their place. The windows were blacked out, although the room was well lit by bright fluorescent strip lights linearly arranged on the white washed ceiling. There were rows of desks arranged in crude semi-circles around a large screen on the back wall. Computers were sat on each of the desks. On the opposite end of the room to the screen was a large white board upon which numerous names, dates and places were scribbled in different coloured ink. Boxes and arrows appeared to link certain pieces of information.

Except for the constant hum of the computer fans and air conditioning units, the room was quiet. Claire was frantically making notes on a sketch pad sat on the workspace by her computer terminal. She was so focussed in her task that she didn't hear Chris enter the room. He walked across to her and looked over her shoulder at her computer screen.

Chris broke the silence. ''Mexico? Why are you are reading that again?''

Startled, Claire jumped in her seat.

''Chris, I didn't hear you come in!''

''Sorry. I didn't mean to make you jump.'' he said, putting his hands on his sister's shoulders and squeezing gently. ''She's awake.''

Claire swivelled her chair around to face Chris. ''Jill? Really? Is she okay? Can I go and talk to her? Does she remember anything?''

''Whoa - one question at a time!'' he teased. ''She seems fine. Like Rebecca said, she's a bit disorientated, but there doesn't appear to be anything lasting.''

''Can I go and see her?''

''I'm sure she'll be pleased to see you.'' Chris then gestured towards Claire's computer screen. ''So, what are you looking for?''

''I thought I would read up on the Mexico incident. Maybe there's something I missed. Something that seems unimportant but..''

Chris stiffened, his eyes became dark. ''You're still thinking it's related to what we saw at the facility last night?''

She nodded. ''Based upon what Leon and Elisabeth saw in that freezer, yeah. There might be something we missed in the case files that can help us figure out who and where these people are - and exactly what their plans are.''

''That's everything I remember in that file Claire. I chased down every lead and got nowhere.'' Chris said, almost defensively. It was Chris's persistence with the case five years ago that had almost led to a second discharge from the armed forces. However, it brought him back to the attention of General Oscar Keller who, at the time, was looking to re-establish the S.T.A.R.S as an elite force to combat a number of gruesome 'phenomenon' that were occurring with increasing regularity across the continent.

''I know, I know, but maybe we can cross check some of these names and faces with the files we managed to download from the server last night. The only problem is, a lot of that data is encrypted and I can't unlock it. Yet.'' She leaned back in her chair and stretched her arms. ''I just know there's a link, and I'm going to find it. We're going to end this.''

Chris noticed a number of empty and part coffee-filled polystyrene foam cups scattered across the desk. It looked like she had been at the terminal for some time.

''How long have you been in here?''

''I couldn't sleep.'' she groaned. ''I'd rather spend my time doing something more useful than staring at the ceiling all night.''

Chris understood - she was his sister alright. ''You take a break. Go see Jill, and I'll take over here for a while.''

Claire nodded. She stood up and made for the exit, but before she left the room, she turned to face Chris.

''It's weird isn't it?'' she began. ''To get the team back together again, the way things were.''

''I'm sure things won't be exactly the same as they used to be.'' Chris replied.

''No.'' she replied, almost sadly. ''But I think this is probably as close as we'll get.''

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Elisabeth walked backwards out of her room and closed the door. She didn't notice the young S.T.A.R.S operative who was waiting for her outside in the corridor. She recognised him - he was the helicopter pilot from last night. His back was pressed against the wall and his hand was hovering over the weapon holstered by his hip.

''Follow me.'' he said curtly, before he straightened up and began to walk.

Elisabeth nodded and did as instructed, surreptitiously studying her guide. He was young, early to mid-twenties, with brilliant green eyes although he had the demeanour of someone much older. He had a slight limp - she inferred an old leg injury that had never quite healed - and a weary gait.

''Justin.''

His pace slowed. ''What?''

''That's your name, right?''

He nodded.

''That was pretty good flying last night, with Carlos. For a minute, I didn't think we were going to make it.''

He stopped, and turned sharply to face Elisabeth, his face inches from hers.

''Look, let me save you some time. I don't want to talk to you. I don't want to exchange pleasantries, I don't want to accept your compliments, I don't want to be your friend. Just follow me.''

She nodded, taken aback slightly by the abruptness of his reply. ''Well, lead the way.'' she said, gesturing down the corridor with one hand.

Justin breathed in heavily. He hated every moment he had to spend in the company of Elisabeth Badley. To him, she was a symbol of evil, nothing more, nothing less. He felt that although she had never had her hand on the trigger, she was one of those responsible for the deaths of hundreds - if not thousands - of people.

Further down the corridor, they passed two other S.T.A.R.S members, both male in their early thirties. They had a grizzled, battle weary aura and perhaps looked a little older than they really were. The two men had stopped walking abruptly and their eyes followed Elisabeth as she self consciously walked past them. She couldn't help but see the look of contempt they gave her. This was going to be hard work. She knew she would have trouble convincing them that she wanted to help, but she didn't think it would be so hard, so humiliating. Maybe she would have been better off on her own afterall? She'd helped them retrieve Jill Valentine at great personal risk, but they still doubted her motives. What would she have to do to finally convince them?

''You were a police officer at that town that had the explosion at the fertiliser plant, right?''

Something inside of Justin snapped. He turned and drove his body into hers, knocked them both off-balance and to the ground. He clasped his hands around her neck and began to squeeze. Choking, she desperately tried to push him away but he held her down firmly with his weight.

''You have no idea what you've done, do you!'' he screamed. He released one of his hands from around her neck and yanked his handgun from its holster. He pressed the gun against her forehead.

''Why are you here? Are you a spy? Is that it? Or have you just come here to kill the ones that got away?''

''No!'' she gurgled through her constricted throat.

''I'm going to kill you, right now.'' His face was twisted and red with fury. He cocked his weapon. ''I've lost my family because of you. God damn you!''

Elisabeth squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the end, but suddenly the weight was lifted from her chest and she could breathe again. She coughed as her lungs filled with air. She pushed herself up to her elbows and saw Leon Kennedy grappling with Justin on the floor. Leon wrestled the gun out of his colleague's hands.

''Just let it go Justin, let it go.'' Leon said, trying to calm the other man down.

''You don't understand Leon. She did it.'' He pointed at her accusingly. ''You can't trust her.'' He spat through gritted teeth.

''No we can't, but we need her Justin. For now, we need her.'' Leon had easily overpowered Justin, and he had the younger man in an arm lock.

Justin stopped struggling on the floor and Leon released him. They both pushed themselves to their feet.

''Look, why don't you go to the chopper. Evaluate the damage from last night. We need it operational within twenty four hours.''

Justin's chest was heaving and his hands were clenched tight. He scanned the floor for his gun.

''Get this out of your system.'' Leon said firmly as he grasped Justin's shoulders. ''You're no good to us in this state of mind.''

Justin looked down submissively at the white tiled floor for a moment before he nodded. He looked up first at Leon and then across at Elisabeth, before he turned and walked away in the opposite direction.

''Thanks, Leon.'' Elisabeth croaked, rubbing her throat and staring down the corridor after Justin. ''He was going to kill me.''

Leon held his hand out to Elisabeth and helped her to her feet.

''You've got to stop pissing people off.'' he said earnestly.

''I just commended him for his piloting skills last night.''

''Yeah, sure you did.'' Leon replied dismissively. ''Anyway, it's time to go to work. A lot of the data we downloaded from the server last night was encrypted and I'm guessing you can decrypt it.''

''What do I have to do Leon?''

''Well, I was hoping you'd know how to decrypt the files.''

''Not the files. I'm talking about you, all of you. What do I have to do to get you to trust me? I've made mistakes, and I know I'm going to be punished for them one way or another, but I came to you because I thought ...''

''You came to us because you had no choice.'' Leon said. ''Everyone makes mistakes Elisabeth, but not all of those mistakes cost lives. You've done some pretty bad things, unforgivable things, but if you've turned your back on that life now, well, maybe that counts for something.''

''The way everyone looks at me here…..like I'm some kind of……devil.''

''We're a tight group. We don't tend to trust people.''

''And I'll never earn their trust.'' she said sadly, bowing her head.

''Probably not, no. But that shouldn't stop you trying.''

Elisabeth sighed. For the first time last night, she felt like she was part of something special, a team of selfless individuals working on the right side. What could she have made of her life if she had chosen the right side all those years ago? But life wasn't like that for her. She never the luxury of choice.

''After everything I did to help Jill, why don't you believe me?''

''One selfless act can't erase a lifetime of bad deeds. Besides, it was partially your fault that she was there in the first place.''

''Could you learn to trust me? If I really proved to you, to all of you, that I have changed….''

''Maybe.'' he mused. ''I like to think there's good in everyone. Maybe even an ex-Umbrella employee.''

''Thank you. You don't know how much that means to me to hear that.''

''I still didn't say I trusted you. There are just too many things about you that don't make sense.''

''Like what?''

''I've seen you do things that no scientist can do. ''You've had training - military training.''

''I lived on a military base for five years. I learned as much as I could. About everything.''

Yes, I'm sure you did Leon thought.

They walked the rest of the way to the operations room in silence.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Claire was stood with her arms crossed by the window, looking wistfully out at the slightly unkempt lawn to the rear of the medical wing. Her red hair appeared to be on fire due to the reflection of the early morning sun. ''Have you ever thought about what you're going to do when all this is over?'' She turned to face Jill.

''No. Not really. I guess I'm a career soldier. I can't see myself doing anything else.'' She laughed. She was rubbing and stretching her legs, hoping to get some feeling back in them. She had only been restricted to the bed for a few hours, and already she was beginning to feel stir crazy. Even though she felt perfectly okay, Rebecca wanted her to stay in the medical wing for a couple of days, just to be sure. She was grateful for Claire's company.

''I want to go back college, finish my degree.'' Claire said longingly. ''Get a job, pay my taxes, go on vacation twice a year, and maybe hit the road on my bike.'' She smiled, but her eyes suddenly narrowed and her voice became quiet. ''They've taken so much from me. From all of us. I often wonder about the life I might have had if Chris hadn't moved to Raccoon City. If I hadn't followed him there. If I was completely ignorant of all this…''

''We can't change anything that's happened Claire. This is the way it is. I wish I had some sage advice to give you. I've thought about this too, but you know what?''

''What?''

''How many more people do you think would have died if Chris hadn't destroyed the Arklay Mountains lab, or if you and Leon hadn't been in Raccoon City that day?'' Claire sighed as Jill continued. ''I wouldn't have met Chris, or you. I probably wouldn't have met any of you guys. So in one way, some good has come out of this.''

Clare walked across to Jill's bed and perched herself on the edge. She suddenly looked very sad.

''That day - when you disappeared and Chris was hurt. I thought my heart was going to break.'' She looked at Jill, nodding her head. ''Really. Seeing him lying there - pale, lifeless, cold - I would have given anything to take his place. Or for someone else to take his place….'' A single tear escaped from her bright blue eye and cascaded down her cheek.

''Oh Claire.'' Jill soothed as she lent forward and hugged her friend.

Claire pulled away gently and looked into Jill's eyes. ''I felt so bad for thinking that way, for wishing you…any of you…were lying there instead of him.''

''Don't feel bad, really, don't. We've all lost people - friends, family, lovers…and the pain doesn't go away. But it's that pain that drives us on, to finish this fight. That pain is there to remind you that you have had someone special in your life, and that we have to do this for them. For all those people who don't have a voice anymore. We're doing this for them.''

Jill hugged Claire again, and gently stroked her hair. ''Have you been torturing yourself with this?''

Claire nodded.

''Well, no more!'' Jill ordered.

''There's something else.''

''What?''

''I….I thought you were gone, I tried to stop Chris looking for you. If he'd have listened to me, we wouldn't have found you.''

''Claire, it's okay.''

''You don't understand Jill. I didn't want to go looking for you anymore. I wanted you to be dead because not knowing was so much worse.''

''Claire…''

''They were using you to get to us and…''

''Claire, stop it! You have nothing to feel guilty about. I know the risks, every mission we go on, we know it might be our last. There are things going on here that are more important than me, you, Chris…we have to accept that.'' She smiled warmly at Claire. ''The important thing is that no one was hurt this time.''

Claire relented. ''I just feel that we've been lucky so far. I feel like something terrible is about to happen.''

''Then we'll deal with it. Whatever comes, we'll deal with it.''

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Leon and Elisabeth entered the operations room. Elisabeth spotted Chris Redfield sitting at one of the computer terminals. He looked up. Elisabeth noted an immense physical change in him from the previous few days. He was now cleanly shaven, and the eyes that had previously been dark and menacing were now bright.

''Where's Justin?'' he asked.

Leon coughed nervously. ''He went to check on the helicopter. He wanted to make sure there are no problems. We took a few hits a last night.''

Chris nodded. Something had obviously happened, but he had other things to think about right now that were much more important. ''Elisabeth, a lot of these files are encrypted and our standard decryption programs don't work.''

''That's not a problem.'' She walked directly across to where Chris was sitting and gestured towards the keyboard sat on the desk in front of him. ''May I?''

Chris stood up and made way for Elisabeth, holding out the chair for her to sit. ''Be my guest.''

''Just give me one minute.'' She sat down and rolled the chair closer to the desk. She typed feverishly on the keyboard. Less than a minute later, she smiled and stopped typing with a self satisfied flourish. ''Done.''

Chris looked over her shoulder at the screen. ''So, what am I looking at?''

''Everything seems to be here. Personnel - that'll be staff and associates. Anybody that has had anything to do with the facility. The financial records are here too. Science, communications…'' she laughed quietly. ''Looks like they're still checking everyone's email and telephone calls.''

''Right, I'll take communications. Leon, you take personnel. Carlos….''

Carlos Oliveira walked into the room, closely followed by Rebecca Chambers, clutching a large steaming mug of coffee.

''You take financial.''

Carlos looked bemused. He turned to face Rebecca. ''Do you ever get the feeling you're walking in on something?''

Chris ignored Carlos's attempt at humour. ''Elisabeth's decrypted the files. I want you to go through the financial records - focus on names. I want to know where they get their funding. Rebecca.'' He changed his focus to the young woman. ''You take science. Elisabeth - I want you to work with Rebecca. Answer all her questions.''

Chris looked at the computer screen again and noticed an icon for another folder that Elisabeth had not mentioned.

''What's this?'' he said, pointing to the screen.

She clicked on the icon but an error message denying access appeared.

''I don't know.'' she replied, seemingly confused. She began typing, but shook her head. ''I'm sorry, I can't access this.''

''Okay, we'll deal with that later.'' ''By tomorrow morning, I want to know everything about that place. I want to know who is running the show.''

Everyone nodded in unison and went to work.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Several hours had passed and it was very late in the evening. Rebecca had returned to the medical wing to check on Jill, and Elisabeth had gone to bed. Chris was reading through a seemingly endless number of printed documents. He was leaning back in his chair; his crossed legs were balanced on the desk in front of him. Suddenly he yanked his feet off the table and sat bolt upright.

''I knew it! I knew that bastard would be involved in this somehow.'' He said excitedly.

Carlos and Leon both looked up from their monitors.

''Listen to this.'' Chris commanded their attention. ''An email dated Monday March 26th. The samples and prototypes are with Methuselah. You may have the date and timing of the exchange when the funds are received. Signed A.W.A.W. It's him. I know it.''

''Albert Wesker''. Leon snarled. Just the mention of his name made Chris tense up.

''What's Methuselah?'' Carlos added. ''Is it a codeword for someone or something?''

''I don't know, but this email was sent less than a week ago. He got a reply. Tuesday March 27th. The funds have been transferred. Awaiting a date for delivery. This email is a week old - this was sent just before Jimmy broke cover.''

''Do you think that was way he was killed? Because he stumbled onto something to do with Wesker?''

Chris unconsciously rubbed his chin and nodded. ''Well, I don't believe in coincidences. This exchange - whatever it's for - may not have been made yet. Concentrate on Methuselah. If Wesker's going to surface, I want to be there waiting for him.''

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Elisabeth's eyes opened abruptly. Her pupils enlarged as she attempted to focus in the darkness of her room. She rolled onto her back, stared at the ceiling and sighed. Her bed was too soft, giving her an ache in her lower back which went into a spasm as she reached across and switched on the small bedside lamp. She flinched as her eyes re-adjusted to the brightness, and then looked at her wrist watch. It was 3am. She sat upright on the edge of her bed, her bare feet planted on the worn dark green carpet. In an attempt to stretch out her back, she reached forwards with her arms and rolled her head from side to side.

Standing up, she padded across the room to the bathroom and poured herself a glass of water. She took a sip of the water and looked at herself in the mirror. Superficially, she looked the same as she always did - mousy blond hair, green eyes, pale skin - but there was something different. Maybe not in the way she looked exactly, but something was different. Knowledge was a terrible thing.

Her stomach grumbled. She realised that she had subsisted on coffee that day and she was hungry, so she decided to go down to the kitchen in order to find some food. She walked barefoot from her room through the dark and eerily empty corridors of the S.T.A.R.S headquarters building towards the kitchen. The floors were cold and her feet quickly went numb.

When she reached the kitchen, she walked straight across to the industrial-sized stainless steel refrigerator. Opening the doors, she was suddenly bathed in a crisp white light. She surveyed the shelves that were crammed with leftovers in tupperware boxes and on cling film-covered plates. She settled on a plate of cold chicken drumsticks.

With one hand, she unwrapped the chicken, discarding the cling film on the stainless table that ran the length of the room. She picked up a drumstick with the other hand and took a bite. As she swallowed the chicken, there was a sharp pain in her stomach. She ignored it at first and the pain subsided, but then her stomach went into spasm again but with more intensity. The shock caused her to drop the plate which smashed, scattering shards of white ceramic all over the kitchen floor. She doubled over, her arms wrapped around her middle, tightening around her stomach.

''Dammit.'' she said through gritted teeth as she took slow, deep breaths.

The pain subsided a few moments later and she stood upright. She groaned as she looked at the mess on the floor that was illuminated by the refrigerator light. There was a dustpan and brush in the corner of the kitchen by the sink. She took a few steps in the direction of the sink when the pain in her stomach returned, more intense than before. Falling to her knees, she doubled over and retched repeatedly. When the nausea subsided, she shrieked in horror as she realised that the linoleum floor around her was covered in blood. There was blood all down the front of her white t-shirt and trousers. There was blood on the ends of her hair. She reached up and wiped her face - she looked down and realised that she had wiped away more blood from around her mouth.

''Somebody!'' she shouted. ''Help me!''

Panicked, she crawled across the kitchen floor, her knees slipping on the blood, her hands and feet were cut by the shards of the broken plate. She reached the sink and pulled herself up. She retched again, and semi-coagulated blood splattered across the stainless steel and the pristine white tiles on the wall. She ran the tap and scooped up cold water with her left hand. She poured the water in her mouth, swilling it around, trying to get rid of the metallic taste. She retched again, and collapsed back onto the floor.

''Somebody….help me! Please!'' she wailed.

She then looked down at her stomach. It was undulating - it looked like there was something in there, trying to push its way out. Reaching up blindly, she felt the draining board next to the sink. Her hands came to rest on the handle of a large cook's knife. She picked up the knife and brought it to her lap. The angle that she held the knife was such that she could see her reflection in her blade. Her face was puffy and yellow, her eyes were red. Blood was dripping down her chin and congealing in the corners of her mouth.

Holding the handle with both hands, she rotated the blade so that the pointed end was directed towards her midriff. She held her breath, closed her eyes and then plunged. She leaned backwards, her mouth open in a silent scream. She withdrew the blade and plunged again. And again.

Elisabeth sat bolt upright in her bed, out of breath and sweating profusely. She flicked on the bedside lamp and looked down at her front. Although wet, there were no bloodstains on her white t-shirt. She got out of bed and rushed across to the door. She opened the door and took one step out into the corridor.

''Is everything okay?'' a gentle female voice asked. Elisabeth turned to her right and came face to face with Rebecca Chambers. ''You look a little…well…pale.'' Rebecca added. ''Chris said you didn't seem to good earlier so I thought I'd come and check up on you.''

''Everything's fine.'' Elisabeth said without emotion as she closed the door.