Growth

Chapter 3: Death

Sherry couldn't believe how fast Christmas day came after the night Jake visited. Sitting in the passenger's side of the car, she stared out the window, her mind elsewhere other than the reality she was in.

She wished she was thinking about the presents she had bought for all the guests at Claire and Chris' Christmas get-together. Her thoughts were occupied by with Jake's unexpected visit. She regretted lashing out at him, missing the opportunity to invite him to a Christmas party like this. Even though Chris, the man that killed his father, was present, he would've had a chance to have a taste of the Christmas spirit.

"Hey Sherry, is something wrong?"

Sherry was startled by her driver's voice. She turned away from the window, giving her attention to her younger colleague, Helena Harper. Despite being three years younger than Sherry, Helena was an amazing agent and showed she could hold her own. Sherry first met her in China during their last mission, but barely spoke until after the eventual aftermath. Since then, they became fast friends and supported each other during their suffering.

After all, the two women had one major thing in common. Both their entire families were dead, except for themselves. Helena's last surviving relative, her younger sister Deborah, died during the Tall Oaks Incident almost six months ago. It had rocked Helena's life, because she was extremely close to her younger sister. Sherry was more than happy to provide emotional support for Helena, empathising with her situation.

"I'm fine."

"You don't sound fine. Ever since that discovery we made your life hasn't been the same."

"I could say the same about your life."

"Yeah, but that's different. What happened after China... I can't imagine what went through your mind back then."

Sherry didn't want to focus on the aftermath of her last field mission, especially on this day. It was the reason why she had become so cold towards everyone around her. She absolutely detested the way she had been acting around them, but she couldn't help it.

Recovering from such an incident though was never going to be simple. She appreciated the support from her friends, but seeing the psychologist once a week made sure she was on the right track on defeating her mental illness.

The psychologist had been made aware of her history, including that she was one of the survivors in the Racoon City Incident. After the first session, Sherry was diagnosed with clinical depression and something had to be done to help her. With special permission from the new National Security Advisor, the psychologist was allowed to give Sherry a break from work until the start of October. During her time off, the agent had been assigned with some relaxation activities to reduce the anxiety and stress on her body and mind, along with increasing time spent with friends. When she was back at work, she and her psychologist worked with others to produce balanced work schedule so she could recover at home.

Sherry had made a lot of progress since the first session, with her psychologist deeming her fit enough to go on a field mission again. The incident with Jake though made her doubt that she would be capable of going on a mission anytime soon.

"It's hard for me to describe what I felt, and I don't even want try. I just want to make a recovery from this. I haven't been sent on any field missions and the psychologist said I've been making very good progress," Sherry responded.

"That's good to hear."

"How about you? Has everything been fine on your end?"

"I'm still... recovering from losing my sister. Other than that, you, Leon and everyone else has been supporting me. You're my new family now, and it's wonderful to be a part of it."

Sherry grinned, glad that Helena was coping well with everything. She had been seeing the same psychologist as Sherry too, pleasing Sherry that this psychologist was doing his job properly with each client.

The death of a family member caused a lot of grief, but when it's the only family left, there was no one close Helena Harper could lean on. She was thankful that she had close friends such as Leon and Sherry to support her and sympathise with her.

She found herself relating to Sherry since they both lost their families. They alleviated each other whenever they were on the verge of having another traumatic episode or a breakdown, and kept in frequent contact with each other. However, the main reason that spurred Helena to comfort Sherry was because of what happened when the dust had settled from their last mission in China, six months ago.

Abruptly, Helena spotted Chris' house from the corner of her eyes, turning quickly into the driveway. Sherry was startled, feeling her heart jump out of chest. Helena parked the car as soon as it was in a good position, pulling up the handbrake and turning the ignition off.

"Gee Helena, warn me next time you do that!" Sherry shouted.

"Sorry about that. I was going to miss the turn if I didn't do that," Helena apologised.

"Don't worry too much. At least I'm not half-asleep anymore."

"All right. Let's get the presents out of the trunk and head inside. Today's going to be a great day."

Sherry couldn't agree more. Today, she was spending Christmas with her closest friends and their friends. It would be the first Christmas she got to celebrate with the people she loved since she was eleven years old.

"Merry Christmas Sherry!"

Before she could utter a word, Sherry had been wrapped by the arms of Claire Redfield. They hadn't seen each other in a while because Claire had been on a mission for her company, TerraSave, and had to prepare the house for the Christmas party today. Claire was excited to see Sherry, being her mother figure and her close friend since the Racoon City Incident.

"Merry Christmas Claire."

Claire let go of Sherry, immediately noticing the large bag in her left hand. She quickly assumed they held the presents Sherry and Helena had for them and the guests. However, she ignored the bag for the time being and greeted Helena.

Once the introductions were done, Sherry and Helena followed Claire into the house. Noticing that Claire had her shoes off, they quickly removed them and left them at the entrance. To catch up to Claire, they made a turn to the right to be walking into the lounge room. Instantaneously, the women saw the large Christmas tree in the corner of the room, with a few presents around it already. Most likely, they were from Chris and Claire.

Other than that, there were large windows letting in a whole lot of sunlight in and two couches surrounding the coffee table. It didn't appear like a lot, but the space left in the room allowed a lot of people in the room, so Sherry assumed it was when they gathered together to open the presents.

"Do you mind if I put our presents around the tree?" Sherry asked.

"Go ahead. I'll be showing Helena around the house," Claire stated.

Sherry approached the Christmas tree and kneeled near the base, while Helena followed Claire to the next rooms. Just by looking at the presents, Sherry could tell Claire and Chris really went out of their way to buy gifts for everyone. She hoped that all the Christmas shopping didn't affect their hip pocket too badly considering how expensive some items could be.

Helena walked behind Claire, seeing what was the T.V. room to her left. It had a large forty inch television on a long horizontal stand with drawers and sections underneath. There was a larger coffee table than the one in the lounge.

To the right was the kitchen, which had all the essentials and a lot of bench space. There was also a man who was checking the oven. The man had to be the one and only Chris Redfield, wearing a santa hat to get into the Christmas spirit for the day.

Helena had only met Chris once, but the memory stood out. They were in China chasing after Derek Simmons, when they were diverted when they saw an Ada in a blue dress. But she had two other pursuers in Chris and the soldier under his command, which she didn't get the name of. Leon had a deadly tussle with Chris, to protect Ada until they identified each other. However, this Ada used a flash grenade to escape, and they had to go their separate ways.

"Hey Chris, we have our first guests here," Claire declared.

Chris shut the oven, turning his attention to his younger sister and the younger woman next to her.

"Oh hey, you were in China with Leon. I don't think I caught your name," Chris stated.

"Helena Harper," Helena introduced herself.

"It's good to meet you. I'm Chris Redfield, Claire's brother."

"I'm wondering, why do you have such a big house for only two people?" Helena enquired.

"After China... me and my fiancée, Jill, planned to settle down and have children. But... my comrade I wanted to promote to captain died, so I have to take his place for the time being."

"That was the soldier who was with you, right?"

"Yes. His name was Piers Nivans. He was a valiant soldier, right up to the end."

"I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thank you."

Claire suddenly felt uncomfortable hearing about her brother's comrade's death. It was around this time of year, fifteen years ago, that she was taken to prison on Rockfort Island, where a viral outbreak occurred. There, she partnered with a teenage prisoner named Steve Burnside, in an attempt to escape the island. However, they ended up in Antarctica, and in the hands of their captors.

Steve was infected with the T-Veronica virus but managed to regain control of his body to protect Claire from Alexia. Shortly after, he died. Claire felt emotional whenever she thought of Steve. He was only seventeen years old and was dragged into this mess by his father.

Since saving Sherry and working with Steve, Claire decided she wanted to rescue innocents involved in bioterrorist incidents. It was because of these two individuals that she was determined to try to save anybody that she could.

Hearing about her elder brother's losses saddened her, as she wished she was there to save those poor soldiers from their deaths. But it was beyond her control, and she accepted there was nothing she could do but honour their memories by saving victims of those attacks.

"So why is Claire here?" Helena enquired.

Claire piped up cheerfully, "It's a good place to crash while I look for a house to live in. Besides, my brother wouldn't let his baby sister remain homeless."

Chris smiled slightly, responding, "As long as you don't disturb us. Anyway, we wouldn't have this get-together if it weren't for you."

"Thanks Chris."

After Claire's thanks, Sherry entered the kitchen, holding a large empty bag in her hands. She finished placing the presents she and Helena brought under the tree, which took a little longer than expected. Then again, Sherry had eyed the gifts that were already under the tree, wondering which ones were hers and shaking them if she heard anything of value inside.

Sherry looked up at Chris, having not seen him since China when Jake confronted him about his father's death. For some reason, Chris had looked a lot more peaceful from the last time she saw him briefly.

"Merry Christmas, Chris."

"You too. And it's good to see you again."

After the introductions were finished, the group killed time by talking about their activities in the last six months. Chris had proposed to Jill two months ago, and expects to organise a date for their wedding soon after Christmas and New Years. He also mentioned that Jill was visiting her elderly parents and would return home soon.

Claire had been doing several missions for TerraSave, going to places around the world where bio organic weapons had affected civilian life. She had been to several countries in Europe and the Middle East where major hotspots occurred. Sherry wondered if Claire actually crossed paths with Jake at one point, but she'd rather not bring it up as it reminded her of her outburst.

Sherry and Helena had very little to say about their last six months. The Redfield siblings knew of the significant event and what actions the mentally ill women took to recover. It was also a topic they didn't want to bring up on the day, as the four wanted to celebrate Christmas and enjoy the day.

However, Chris wanted to bring up something important before the other guests had arrived, and it would bring up those horrible memories to the poor ladies. He looked at Claire, hoping to convey what he felt to Claire silently. Claire could immediately read his mind, nodding slightly to go ahead with the talk.

"Ladies, I have something important to discuss. Follow me to the table," Chris declared.

Helena and Sherry were stunned by the sudden announcement, but followed him around the kitchen. When they turned the corner, they saw a dining table that had been hidden from their sight. It was large enough to seat ten people easily. In the centre of the table, was a wreath with Christmas themed decorations.

Chris sat at the head of the table, with Sherry and Helena sitting to his right, next to each other. Sherry looked down, seeing a Christmas cracker placed above the area where the lunch would be eaten. She hoped she would sit next to Claire and enjoy a bit of friendly competition of obtaining the larger end of the cracker.

Nervous, Chris glanced at Claire, who was watching from the behind the kitchen bench. He then looked back at the women, took a deep breath and began to speak.

"As you are aware, what we all have in common is that we've been involved in outbreaks, both accidental and on purpose, and we survived. However, it wasn't without the sacrifice of some of family, friends and comrades. Me, Jill and Claire had decided that we should remember a person, who was close to us, that died because of bioterrorism. We want to hold this before we have lunch, but I wanted to approach you two about it in particular. It's only been six months since the Tall Oaks Incident and the Tatchi Bioterrorist Attack, and you two can decide to opt out of this if it's too much," Chris explained.

"What about you? Didn't your comrade sacrifice himself to prevent Haos being released?" Sherry enquired.

"Yeah. But sadly, I've gotten... used to death. And I've already grieved his death. But I don't know you two well enough, and I'm just saying that option is there for you two."

Sherry assumed Chris knew what happened after China, after all no one close to her had died. He also must have assumed that incident had devastated Sherry's mental health. Sherry had to admit he was right that the aftermath did make her psychologically unfit to head on missions for the Division of Security Operations, but incident did not involve the death of somebody close to her.

She didn't feel like she had any right to have that sort of option, compared Chris and Helena. Yet, she was given it. However, she didn't want to avoid it. It might give some finality to the incident, and she could move on.

"I don't want to get out of it. I didn't experience any death recently," Sherry declared.

Chris was about to speak, but Helena interrupted him, "It'll help me recover from my sister's death, especially knowing others have lost somebody close to them."

Sherry looked over at Claire, who just shut the oven. She was hoping the younger Redfield sibling was listening into their conversation while taking up Chris' duties for the time being. Sherry's attention however was quickly returned to the table as Chris was able to speak what was on his mind.

"That's fine Helena. I'm just not sure about you Sherry. I consider it a fate worse than death," Chris responded.

"Sherry's grown up, Chris," Claire suddenly proclaimed, "She's made her choice for her own reasons. You told me you'll accept their decision no matter what."

Sherry was relieved Claire stepped in when she did. She didn't want to explain why she wanted to go through with it, even though it could be stated in a few words. Sherry remembered that Claire once told her Chris was very stubborn, and would not give up easily. All the more reason why she was glad Claire was here.

Chris sighed, knowing there was no use arguing against his sister. As much as he wanted to know why Sherry wanted to see her choice through, he had to respect her decision.

Before Chris could get a word out, the doorbell echoed throughout the house. Another guest was coming, and Chris had to end the conversation with the girls abruptly. Claire told Chris that she'll answer the door, and began to walk briskly towards the front door.

The older Redfield sibling leaned slightly, and declared, "I'm happy we told you this beforehand. I know it's strange to talk about death at Christmas, but this is the only time we're all together. I believe it'll put in perspective that there have been other people that have suffered due to bioterrorism, even those who have fighting it face to face for fifteen years."

It made sense for the ladies that it was the best opportunity to have a bunch of friends who had fought against a common enemy to share their grief, even during a festive time. Additionally, they knew it would help them recover from their grief.

However, death wasn't the greatest topic to have on their minds at the moment. They had to live in the present, with their friends around them, as they were the closest thing to family. Time to remember their deceased loved ones would have to wait a little while longer.

Following Chris' suit, Sherry stood up from her seat and decided to check who had arrived. She only had to turn the corner from the table, and spot the new arrival sauntering through the lounge room. She almost burst into laughter seeing him wearing a fake white cotton beard and a Santa hat to represent Santa Claus while lugging a sack over his shoulder.

The only person with that sort of humour was Leon S. Kennedy. She was glad that he had made his amusing entrance. His presence, along with Claire, both who had saved her during the Racoon City Incident, would keep her mind off the darkness of death.

It would only be a matter of time before the other guests arrived. The previous conversation with Chris lingered on her mind, and now that Leon had appeared, Sherry was reminded of her life before freedom.

No author's notes this time around! So I hope you guys like the chapter and look forward to the next one!