Disclaimer: see part 1 for disclaimer.
The More Things Change…
By Random1377
Part 5 – Narrow Margin
Jill raced down the steel and linoleum corridor at top speed, bringing her feet down with such force that the padding on the sneaksuit's feet almost created audible noise. Damn it! she thought angrily, Damn it, damn it, damn it! How could we have been so stupid?
She rounded a corner, surveyed her options, and decided that her best bet would be to slip into one of the small labs lining the corridor she was in. As quickly as she could, she tried each knob, letting out a shuddering breath as she finally found one unlocked.
"Thank you, God," she gasped, pushing the door open and all but diving inside.
Taking a glance around to ensure that no one was in the room with her, she stepped under the single security camera so that its lens could not quite see her, and pulled the sneaksuit's mask off, drawing in deep, ragged gasps of air.
Screwed, she thought immediately, looking around belatedly to see if there was a second camera in the room, we're soooo screwwwed.
Finding that she was marginally safe, for the time being, Jill put her head back against the wall and tried to think. The last thing she had seen while standing just outside of the circular room the other S.T.A.R.S. were no doubt still trapped in was the madly rolling eyes of the girl sitting in the chair.
"She's been infected," Jill whispered, shaking her head and pulling the sneaksuit's mask back over her face – just in case. "Not sure what she has, but that girl's been infected with something."
Taking another deep breath, she asked herself what would happen when Wesker and that Ada woman realized she was not in the room with the rest of the team. She had thrown the knife from the safety of the doorway, though she knew well enough that Ada would have spotted the un-protected gleam of steel if she had tried to draw her handgun.
I should have gone for her forehead, Jill lamented angrily. My mistake for thinking she still had a heart, I guess.
Dropping suddenly to the floor, she whipped out her gun, popping the clip out and counting the rounds. She knew exactly how many were in it, of course, but by focusing on something small, she was able to keep the growing panic from overwhelming her.
"Seventeen," she whispered, "an extra in the pipe… two more clips in my pouch. Fifty-two bullets – one for each card in a deck… one for each state, with two left over… one for each… damn, we're very, very screwed…"
Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes. Damn suit's too tight, she thought, tugging at her throat for a moment. Or am I freaking? Yeah… I'm freaking – and I have every goddamn right to! We were set up BIG time…! Damn it, Ambrose!
She tried to think, tugging at her throat as she went over every angle of their situation, ultimately coming back to one, simple truth – they had been compromised in the worst possible way, so none of the information on the installation could be taken as gospel… and unless she rejoined her fellow S.T.A.R.S. she, and they, would end up like Ambrose probably had.
"And the only time I'm going to be drooling, moaning, and shambling around is when I'm sleepwalking."
Feeling a bit better that she was able to crack a joke – even an incredibly stupid one – Jill edged to the door and pressed her ear against it.
She had come in only a few minutes prior, but in a situation like this, nothing could be taken for granted.
"…m thirty minutes," she heard Wesker's voice, sounding dangerously close. "Even if they kill the beta, we've got a half dozen gammas and two deltas down there – plus the normal toys. They don't stand a chance."
"It doesn't pay to underestimate," Ada's voice countered, sounding even closer (they're right outside! Jill thought suddenly), "we've both seen the damage S.T.A.R.S. can do to a place."
Wesker snorted. "They're only effective if they have a cause to fight for," he said dismissively. "Missing sisters, saving civilians – anything that would make a bleeding heart weep, S.T.A.R.S. are all over it."
"All I'm saying is that we can't slack off on wat-"
"I'm not entirely stupid, you realize," Wesker cut in sharply. "I don't get paid what I get paid to do a half-assed job. I… wait…"
Jill's heart sank.
"…do you smell that?"
Stepping away from the door, Jill barely avoided having it slam into her as it was kicked open. She bit back a cry as she found herself eye to barrel with a firearm that looked like it weighed roughly a hundred and forty pounds – yet the arm that held it barely even flexed as it swept from one side of the room to the other.
"Do you have to break things everywhere you go?" Ada grumbled, glancing into the room – and right through Jill. "I smell… shit."
"What's wrong?"
"No, that's what I smell – there's a bathroom across the hall."
There was a brief pause.
"…how much do you get paid, again?"
Wesker bared his teeth, a frightening sight for Jill, considering he was baring them more or less at her. "Thought I smelled gunpowder," he grumbled, finally slinging the cannon he was carrying over his shoulder. "Must be smelling things."
"There are far too many comments I could make at this point," Ada said flatly, "so I'll just leave it alone."
"Good idea."
Leaving the door hanging open, the two HCF enforcers continued on down the hall. Pausing long enough to make sure the smell Ada had identified was not coming from her own pants, Jill slipped off after them, keeping a healthy distance to avoid being smelled again.
God DAMN those are some good senses! she marveled, creeping down the corridor as fast as she could. If I had breathed too hard, they would have just started shooting – and this suit isn't bulletproof.
Through a long series of passages, she followed Wesker and Ada, glancing nervously over her shoulder several times as she spotted shambling forms just vanishing around corners at every turn.
They must be able to program them to avoid a certain place, she thought suddenly, or maybe… I don't know, maybe they know just enough to be scared of these two. Can't take anything for granted, I guess… but hopefully this hallway will stay clear.
Glancing over her shoulder as Ada and Wesker stopped to open a locked door, Jill gritted her teeth.
Damn…
Every door up and down the corridor had unlocked and sprung open… and from each room, a host of the undead began to fill the halls, moaning as if confused by their sudden freedom.
From the state of decomposition, or rather, lack of it, Jill guessed that these people had only been dead a day – two at the most – and all of them, she could see… were civilians. Scientists in lab coats. Janitors. Businessmen. Even a rather heavy looking zombie in a white apron could be seen in the mass.
They… killed everyone, she thought incredulously. No one's hurt, so they must have… God, they locked them down and gassed them. Good Lord, they ARE worse than umbrella!
A noise from up ahead made her whirl back around… and she barely managed to sprint through the door Ada and Wesker had passed through as it hissed closed, locking with a rather loud thump as huge bars of steel shot into the frame.
Guess we won't be coming out that door…
Redirecting her attention, she inched forward, concerned that she had lost sight of Ada and Wesker. She found them in the very next room, both wearing identical expressions of neutrality as they stared down at a body on the floor.
"Stupid idiot," Wesker muttered, shaking his head from side to side. "How the hell did he get out of the cuffs?"
Jill angled for a better view, wincing as she found herself staring into the blank, empty eyes of Nick Ambrose. His throat, it seemed, had been cut from ear to ear… and in his right hand was the sharpened edge of what looked like a plastic spoon.
'Anything that gets the job done,' as her father used to say.
"Boss won't be happy," Ada mused. "He still had intel."
"Boss's never happy," Wesker grunted, kicking the corpse out of the way. "Let's see how our friends are doing."
Waiting for a few seconds to ensure that the duo had moved on, Jill quickly stepped forward and crouched by the body. Yeah, that's not stage makeup, she thought grimly. Rest in peace, you poor fool.
Crossing herself, Jill continued on, finding Ada and Wesker just walking into another room off the main corridor. She slipped in before the door could swing shut, positioning herself in the corner as the two approached a row of monitor screens.
Security room, she thought immediately, scanning the rows of switches on the console under the monitors. Same one I was in earlier. If I could have gotten back here before them, I could have made sure every lock between my team and the exit was open.
It was, of course, an impossible and pointlessly self-abusive thought. She had been too preoccupied with getting to her team to warn them to think of popping all the locks… not to mention the fact that she would have released all of the BOWs before Wesker and Ada had, effectively killing herself. But it was still easy for her to say 'if only' when shown that, had she only a few extra minutes, she could have saved her friends unimaginable time and effort.
And possibly their lives.
Well, she thought suddenly, straightening her back and trying to angle for a better look as Wesker began cycling through the security camera images, Daddy always said half of thieving was being in the right place at the right time. I'm in the right place… I just need to FORCE the time to be right.
"Hmm," Wesker hummed, finally stopping on a screen full of blank snow. "Guess we've missed the party."
"Check the other angles," Ada suggested. "Could be that this camera just got knocked out in the fight."
Fight? Jill thought with some concern. They're already fighting. Damn, I need to help!
"Yes, yes," Wesker grumbled impatiently, "I know – I wasn't born yesterday. No, all the cameras are out. Very thorough, Redfield… very thorough."
"I suppose we'll have to keep one step ahead of them on the monitors," Ada observed, "if they're professionals, they'll be taking them out as they go."
"Indeed," her hulking companion agreed, giving her a sideways glance. "You look sick," he said abruptly, "take your stabilizer."
Ada turned to glance at the man, and Jill's eyes widened behind the sneaksuit's mask as she spotted a patch of blackened, dead skin covering the right side of her face. What the…?
Removing her glasses, Ada revealed one, snake-like yellow eye. "You're due for yours too," she said coolly, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a small air hypo.
"I'll take it in a few minutes," Wesker said dismissively. "I don't need it as much as you."
"No," Ada said, tilting her head to the side and pressing the air hypo to her throat, "you need it more."
"Just shut up and take your medicine like a good girl," Wesker sneered. "I won't take advantage of your while you're down."
Ada gave him a sour stare.
"Administration would have your head, if I didn't get to it first."
Wesker grinned brutally. "And do you think I'm scared of them, or you?" he snorted.
"Them, yes," Ada shot back. "Without the stabilizer, you-"
"Shut your damn mouth and take the shot"
Ada's nostrils flared, but she held her tongue, pushing the button on the air hypo and sending whatever the 'stabilizer' was into her bloodstream.
Jill watched in fascination as the woman began to shake, grabbing the back of a chair and swinging the seat around to face her before collapsing into it. Her eyes rolled up, showing the whites, as every square inch of her body broke out in tiny drops of mingled blood and sweat.
"Hhkk…"
Small choking sounds issued from the woman's throat as she shuddered and twitched, and much to Jill's disgust, Wesker turned to watch, resting his chin in one palm as his eyes drank in the sight of his coworker's seizure, his lips curling up in an amused smile.
"Sucks, doesn't it?" he whispered, reaching out and ever-so-casually fondling the woman's breast. "Won't be like this every time… ha, who am I kidding – this is the best it'll ever be, Wong. Better get used to it."
Ada, Jill decided, must have been too deeply in the thrall of the drug to even notice that she was being groped… though, and it might have been her imagination, she thought that maybe the corners of the woman's eyes tightened ever so slightly. Of course, that could have been just an aftereffect of the black patch fading away.
When Ada's eyes fluttered back open several minutes later, Wesker was once again facing the monitors, with only a faint smile to show for his illicit actions.
"Where are our little friends?"
"Same floor, stocking up," Wesker said absently, "looks like they're one short, but I can't tell which one got nailed."
Jill's heart leapt into her throat.
"Why can't you tell?" Ada wondered, slipping her sunglasses back on and folding her arms over her chest. "Don't you recognize the faces of the people you betrayed and dishonored?"
"Oh, sure," Wesker yawned, "but they took out all the cameras at eye-level. I'm just going by the one under the munitions table and counting legs."
"Ah."
Ada leaned over the seat Wesker was sitting in, studying the screen closely.
"There's Kennedy," she said immediately. "I can see the bandage on his hand…"
"And the shape of his ass, no doubt," Wesker said dryly. "Maybe we should capture him so you can… interrogate h-"
"Shut up," Ada cut in flatly. "And there's… Chambers – small breasts. Burton – thick arms. Redfield's sister – the jacket." Her eyes scanned the others for a moment. "It's Valentine, you idiot," she muttered. "You can't see her because she's still wearing that damn suit."
"Why would she?" Wesker wondered. "And how do you know they didn't peel Redfield's sister's jacket off of her dead body and give it to Valentine?"
Ada pursed her lips, but made no reply.
"Well," Wesker shrugged, "I see blood on a couple of them… can't tell from here if it's theirs or the beta's, though."
"Probably the beta's," Ada said dismissively, "if they're wounded just from one beta, then they're not worth the effort of keeping alive to test the others – might as well just gas them now."
"Patience," the big man advised, rising to his feet and turning for the door, "you'll get your chance, if they make it past floor five."
Five? Jill thought, you son of a bitch! You said we-
As if sensing her ill-will, Wesker suddenly spun on his heel, driving his fist into the wall inches from Jill's head.
"What are you doing?" Ada wondered.
"Valentine," Wesker rumbled.
Jill held perfectly still, trying her best to will her heart to stop beating as Wesker stared directly at her.
"…what about her?"
Wesker narrowed his eyes, slowly pulling his fist back and brushing plaster dust off of it. "She's here," he muttered, "I can taste her."
"Oh?" Ada hummed, moving to stand next to Wesker and joining him in staring at the spot Jill was occupying. "Funny, I don't taste a thing."
Praying with all of her heart and soul that the sneaksuit was better than HCF's finest biotech weapons, Jill – still holding her breath – stepped sideways, her heart now hammering in her chest as she waited for Wesker's reaction.
It came in the form of his other fist pistoning forward and ramming through the air she had just vacated.
"Can I ask you something?"
Wesker bared his teeth. "What?" he snapped, pulling his fist back and staring at the knuckles as his eyes bored into the empty air.
Speaking very clearly, Ada slowly said, "Do you really think it's possible that Valentine could have gotten out of that room before we closed it, followed us from there to here, and snuck into this room without running into any of the carriers, and without us even suspecting it?"
Giving her a nasty glare, Wesker spat…and thankfully for Jill, failed to notice that the glob of spittle never quite touched the floor. "She's a thief," he said coldly. "And she's wearing a sneaksuit. Yes, I think she could do everything you just described and more."
Ada shrugged. "Then go ahead and tear up the walls, if it makes you feel better," she said dismissively. "You know her better than I do, I suppose… but honestly, I think you're giving her way too much credit."
"Didn't we just talk about underestimating?" Wesker said dangerously.
"And didn't I just say to go ahead and trash the place if you wanted to?" Ada replied archly. "I honestly don't care… but I don't plan to tear up my knuckles flailing around like a two-year-old on the off-chance that one lightly armed woman might be in the room with us. We know she doesn't have anything heavier than a pistol on her, so what would she do if she was here? Bore us to death?"
Wesker stared at the woman for a moment before turning on his heel. "I'm going to take my stabilizer," he said flatly. "If you're dead when I get back, I'll know I was right."
"Fair enough."
As soon as the man had left, Ada examined the wall, shaking her head at the two, fist-shaped dents in it.
"Miss Valentine?" she said clearly. "Are you with me?"
Jill felt that replying to this would be tantamount to suicide, though in the wildest corner of her mind, she suddenly had an urge to shout, 'Yup, good one, huh? ha ha!'
Ada snorted, shaking her head as she turned back to the monitors.
"Man's a loon."
Surveying the room, Jill decided that it would be in her best interest to get out as fast as possible. If Wesker feels like taking a closer look around when he gets back, I'm as dead as Ambrose.
A chill ran through her as an inhuman howl reverberated through the room.
"Have fun stabilizing," Ada muttered under her breath, "our friends are on the move."
Shivering from head to foot, Jill came to the conclusion that she must never, ever be near Wesker when he took his stabilizer.
Definitely need to get the HELL out of here, she told herself, lamenting the fact that she had not slipped out when Wesker had left. Guess I'll have to do it when he comes back in.
Easing herself over to stand by the door, Jill waited. One slip-up, she reminded herself, would result in Wesker finding her, seizing her, and tearing her into little pieces – possibly after having his way with her, if his treatment of Ada was any indication of his libido.
So, no pressure, she thought, shaking her arms to work the tension out of them. Then again, I always did do better when there was something to lose.
Considering what would happen to her and her friends if she was caught, 'something to lose' happened to be everything she valued. Closing her eyes and stilling her breath, she waited for her chance.
Continued…
Author's notes: after almost a year and a half of being dead, this story once again rears its misshapen carcass. Kind of fitting for a Resident Evil story to be resurrected, eh? Here's hoping it was worth the resuscitation. Look for chapter 6 sometime before the release of Resident Evil 5. Probably. Oh, and that reminds me – this story was created long before RE4 came out, so it takes none of its plot into account. Anyone murmuring about Ada or Leon's characterization keep in mind that it's not a continuity error if the continuity hadn't been written yet. heh.
P.S. if anyone really can't stand continuity conflicts, they are more than free to send me a Gamecube with RE4 and RE0 so I can play them and make absolutely sure I'm getting every nuance down. Yes, I know it's a lot of gaming to do for a few character quirks and plot backgrounds, but it is a sacrifice I am willing to make.
I did not use a pre-reader for this story since… well, the person who usually does it for me seems to have vanished from the surface of the internet. Adiabatik, where have you gone? Come back to me! Sadness…