Chapter 4: What a Day May Bring

(JILL)

"Why don't you two stay here, while I scout ahead?"

Those words had a lot of sense to them. They were the sort of words Jill would've used when talking to the Russos, the two civilians she'd managed to keep alive since before dawn. It was a logical suggestion, since Jill had experience with this sort of situation, while they didn't.

But it wasn't Jill talking. In fact, it was taking a great deal of Jill's self control to keep her mouth shut.

Dario Russo knelt down beside his daughter. "I'll be back soon. I promise."

She didn't say anything. She just nodded slowly.

Finally Jill couldn't contain herself any more. "Are you out of your mind? You're going up there alone?"

Dario smiled stupidly, rolling up his shirtsleeves. "I'll be fine."

"But you don't even have a weapon!" Jill pointed out, standing up.

Dario put his hands on her bare shoulders. Jill immediately flinched away, but he held on. "I'll figure something out, doll. Just stay here with Rosa, 'kay?" He turned to leave.

That sent Jill right over the edge. To be more precise, it was an excuse for Jill to jump over that edge herself. "The fuck is-"

She felt a hand on hers. She looked down, to see the girl staring at her, eyes wide. She shook her head slowly, mouthing one word: please.

"Look, I'll call if I need help, alright?" he said over his shoulder. "These things aren't too bright. I'll be fine." Without waiting for a response, the rotund man left the small warehouse they'd taken cover in.

Jill turned to the girl. "Now, what was that all about?"

Her name was Rosa Russo, which seemed like an unfortunate name to Jill, but being someone who'd had to go through middle and high school with a name like Jillian Valentine, she found she really didn't have a right to criticize anyone else for the choices they made when naming their children.

Rosa didn't meet her eyes. "I…I don't want to be left here with him."

"What do you mean?" Jill asked, an edge coming into her voice as she silently begged Dario to give her a reason to shoot him.

"Nothing…just, I always feel guilty when we're together."

"Guilty?"

Rosa still didn't meet her eyes. She just shook her head. "I…I don't want to talk about it."

Jill could tell the girl was uncomfortable. All the same, she didn't have time for coddling. "That's not good enough for me to let your dumbass father run off to get himself killed. So you'd better give me a better reason right now, or I'm going to get him and bring him back."

"I…We…He wouldn't be here, but for me" she managed finally.

"What do you mean?" Jill wasn't piecing things together, but that might've been because, at the moment, she felt like she was doing an upside-down jigsaw puzzle.

"We're here in the city for…a modeling gig I got with Umbrella, back in July" Rosa explained. "They needed a spokes…girl for some new products they're supposed to be rolling out this year."

"Guess they think they can make zombies sexy…"Jill muttered.

Rosa looked at her in confusion. "What?"

"Skip it. You were saying?"
Rosa shook her head. "We're here because of me. He wouldn't be in this mess, except for me! His life is ruined again because of me!"

"Again?"

"First mom, now this…" Rosa wasn't listening. Tears were forming in her eyes and she was shaking her head. Finally, she let out a scream. "The world would be better without me!" She turned and ran in the other direction.

"Hey, wait!" Jill shouted, reaching for her, grabbing her arm.

But Rosa was ready. She turned and swung her forearm at Jill's head. Jill took a step back, ducking, letting go of Rosa's arm. Those freed, Rosa turned and ran from the building.

"Shit!" Jill swore, taking off after her. "Hey, wait!"

Rosa was faster than Jill, though, and ducked underneath the half open garage door, sprinting away down the street. Jill followed, drawing her Samurai Edge when she saw a dim shape crunching forward from an alley as she ran past. Fucking teenagers she swore silently. I'm gonna kill her myself, I swear…

She saw another dark shape sprinting along the roof. A familiar, low slung, reptilian shape, with a loping stride and long, monkey-like arms with a sharkish snout. Oh God Jill realized. Not a hunter.

She quickened her pace. She had to get to Rosa now, because even if she was being a pain in the ass hormonal teenager, no one deserved to be killed by a hunter. Except maybe Wesker she amended.

Rosa had slowed down, carefully picking her way down a steep slope. At the bottom was a chain link fence. Jill could hear a familiar loping sound, rapid, deliberate footsteps approaching from the left. She could just see the hunter emerging from the shadows, the early morning sun glinting off its dozens of sharp fangs.

"Get down!" she shouted to Rosa. The girl spun to face her, a look of confusion on her face, which quickly became a scream as Jill slammed into her, knocking her off her feet.

Jill let herself slide down the hill, dislodging rocks as she and Rosa rapidly descended. She felt gravel scratch at her bare legs and grimaced as she felt blood begin to flow. Then she saw the fence looming closer, and raised one boot.

Her heel caught the bottom of the fence, their combined momentum bending the fence forward, away from them. She and Rosa slid underneath, safely on the other side of the barbed wire. The hunter sprinted after them, shrieking loudly. With a terrific leap, it cleared the fence, landing on the other side with them.

"Shit" muttered Jill. "I really thought that'd work."

Rosa looked at her, eyes wide. Her face had gotten pretty badly scraped up on their ride down the slope. "Now what?"

Jill hauled her to her feet. "Run!"

(DEAN)

For the third time in the past hour, John raised his left fist over his head, dropping down to one knee. Obediently, Mac and Lewis followed suit. Unfortunately, that meant Dean had to as well, and unable to distribute his weight between both legs, that was somewhat more difficult.

"Do you hear that?" he asked, half tilting his head.

Dean strained his ears along with everyone else, and yes, he did hear something. Faint…but definite. Gun fire. Short cracks, so something semi automatic, and not very loud, so probably a mid sized handgun round, meaning either a pistol or SMG. And it wasn't very far away.

"Let's go" John said, standing up. "Double time." Without waiting for an answer, he sprinted off down the street.

Mac followed, matching his pace easily. Lewis followed, too…but not keeping up by any stretch of the word.

"Hey guys?" he called out. "I don't think we're gonna be rushing any time soon."

The others slowed, then turned.

"Damn" muttered John. "Sorry, I forgot all about our friend the cop." He turned and walked over to Dean. "Here, Lewis, set 'im down." He looked over at Mac. "Ya got the stims?"

The younger man nodded, pulling a small bottle from a pouch on his left side. "Yeah. Never go anywhere without 'em."

"Great" said John, unscrewing the lid and dumping a pill out, before offering it to Dean. "Here, take this. It'll make ya feel better."

Dean looked at it skeptically, then at John. "What is it?" he asked. He remembered what he'd learned about Umbrella, and wasn't especially excited about ingesting anything one of their soldiers gave him.

"It's called Safesprin" John explained. "It's just a pain med, buddy. Nothin' to worry about." He rolled the pill around in his hand.

Dean still wasn't convinced. "How is this going to help me?"

John rolled his eyes. "It's pain meds, okay? Just swallow the bastard; it'll make ya feel better."

Dean looked from the pill to the men surrounding him. It didn't look like he had much of a choice. Before he had the chance to talk himself out of it, he took the pill and dry swallowed it.

The taste was…pretty bad. Safesprin didn't have a coating the way a lot of pills did. Dean suspected this wasn't a commercially available version, like an early trial or something. It was bitter and cloying and salty, all at the same time, and he had to fight not to gag, but managed to choke the thing down.

Then a sudden wave of numbness washed over him, and Dean felt like he was floating on nothing. All the pain in his leg seemed to fall away, the stench of burning flesh and decay suddenly hidden behind an invisible wall. "What…what did you just give me?" he managed, his eyes wide.

John laughed, a slightly oily chuckle. "Well, partner, that's the shit right there. It's non-habit forming, although how in the hell it isn't is beyond me. It'll keep ya going for the next few hours. Trust me."

Dean stood up, brushing himself off. It felt good to be vertical on his own, yet again, and he smiled slightly, hefting his trusty SPAS-12. "Now what?"

"Now we get to work" said Lewis, unslinging his M4. He ejected the magazine, checked its load, then shoved it back into place. "You ready to go save some folks?"

Dean nodded, pumping the SPAS. "Yeah. I'm sick and tired of this shit. I'm ready to start hitting back."

"Good" said John. "Stay with Mac up front. Help us navigate this place." He shook his head, looking around. "Whoever designed this city should be shot. Seriously. Wot the fuck?"

Dean, who had a hard time finding his way around the RC himself, was inclined to agree. Still, he'd probably be better off navigating for their merry little group than someone who'd never actually been here before.

He turned to the soldier named Mac. "You ready?"

The other man nodded.

"Good. Let's go."