"Jake! Where are you?" I called out, there was a trail of blood on the deep snow, leading further into the forest. My running was slowed, there was too much snow to actually walk regularly. The trail suddenly came to a dead stop, no evidence of a parachute, or of Jake. "What? Jake please be okay.." I whispered, looking around quickly I decide to take a left until I heard a soft grunt. "Jake?"
"Over here… blondie," I turned back around, but Jake was nowhere to be seen.
"Over where-?" Something had hit my cheek, I raised my hand and touched it. It was blood. Looking up I see the parachute, caught in the tree, Jake was in the middle, tangled in as another drop of blood hit my cheek. "Hang on! I- I'll get you down!" I started climbing the tree as Jake chuckled.
"Enjoy the water?" I ignored him and pulled myself onto the limb that held him in place. Slowly scooting myself along the limb I get inches closer to Jake as he continued, "I bet that water was cold as hell, glad you didn't freeze up and drown."
"Are you being sarcastic?" I spit out as I pulled on the strings, Jake was dangling below me. "You got a knife on you?" Jake moved his right arm, then grunted again, pulling put a pocket knife he hands it to me. I noticed his arm was bleeding. "Thanks, let's look at that arm after I get you down."
"Don't worry about me, I'm built like a tank." I scoffed and cut him free, and Jake landed on his back with a loud thud.
"Oops," I said sarcastically. Jake met my gaze, and he was smiling. I didn't expect that reaction. I jumped down from the limb and knelt down beside him. "Let me see." I reached for his arm, but he pulled away and pointed in the distance.
"Over there, let's go. You'll get ammonia if you stay out here." I followed his eyes and there was a small cabin on the mountain. It looked like it hasn't been used in quite some time.
"You don't have to worry about me getting sick," because it's impossible for me to get any illness. I stood up and Jake quickly got up and he led the way, his blood was still dripping every now and then, but it wasn't spilling out like earlier. There was silence the whole way, and once we reached it Jake laughed and kicked the door open.
"Looks like this cabin is all ours," He called out, walking inside and stopped near the unlit fireplace. "I'll get a fire going, then you can dry off your clothes."
"Or I'll take a look at your arm?" I stated, Jake glanced back at me as a drip of water fell from my bangs.
"No, take care of your clothes first." Jake stood up and walked outside. I watched him as he left and shrugged, he's stubborn. Walking over to the only dresser in the cabin there is a few nightgowns and a large grey shirt. Really? No clothes? The people who lived here most likely took their valued clothing. Looking out the window I see the sun sinking into the earth, the stars were starting to become visible over the horizon. I guess we're going to have to stay here for the night. Jake walked back into the cabin and closed the door, then prepped and started the fire. It immediately felt warmer in the tiny room. He grabbed a line and placed it in front of the fire.
"Hang your shit up here," I blushed and turned my head. Oh god, he'll see me!
"I- don't have anything to wear." Jake paused for a moment, cleared his throat and spoke softly,
"Nothing in the dresser over there?"
"Just a shirt and old nightgowns." Jake's face became flustered but he shook his head and said,
"I guess that's what you get to sleep in tonight, until your clothes dry." I felt my face become hot, I wished my face could be hot enough to dry my clothes so I didn't have to… "I won't look, just go ahead." Jake turned around, looking out the window. I sat still for a moment, but then I quickly stripped off my coat, pulling out my phone and first aid pack and placed it on the table in the middle of the room, then hung my coat up on the line. The white dress shirt I was wearing underneath was now see through, my blue bra was visible. I took off my shirt and hung it up, looking back at Jake he was stilled turned around, and he was deathly quiet. It made me nervous. Continuing I pull off my boots and sat it by the fire, then my black socks and leggings. Not wanting to take off my blue undergarments, I walk over to the dresser and grab the large shirt and slip it on.
"Ok.." I whispered. Jake was still for a long moment, but he slowly turned his head back at me. I flustered, and looked down. The shirt only covered to part of my thigh, showing my legs to their fullest. Jake pulled his eyes away and he sat down against the wall, beside the fire. "You going to let me look at your arm now?" Jake looked into the fire and muttered,
"Sure thing." I nodded and grabbed my first aid pack, walking over to him I sat down. He took off his coat, exposing his arm, I grabbed his arm as he was still looking the other direction. It didn't look bad, a large cut from his elbow to his wrist. Superficial wound, a bandage should work.
"So what happened anyway?" I whispered, opening the pack and pulling out alcohol.
"After I dropped you for the best swimming session of your life," Jake joked, I poured the alcohol on his arm, he made a face, but continued, "I tried to avoid landing on the ground, you know, to not squish myself. So I aimed for the forest, those limbs are fucking sharp." I smiled softly and reached for the large bandage. Placing them both over the wound I grab the gauze and slowly wrap around them, holding it in place.
"Well good thing it was only your arm…the world needs you Jake." Jake glanced at me, then turned away again, putting his arm back in his coat.
"No, not me. Just my blood, well the world can have it, as long as someone ponies up the dough." He stared ahead, as if he was looking into a different world.
"Jake I…I didn't mean it like that." He kept his posture, and stayed silent. "You matter, not just your blood. Everybody is relying on you, I'm relying on you." He looked back at me, our eyes didn't break from each other's for what seemed like forever. Jake…Muller. Muller… that name is familiar, maybe someone I had known in Raccoon before the accident. No…
"Sherry.." Jake whispered, my lips parted slightly and he glanced down at them, then back up to me. My heart was racing, time felt like it was slowing down, my body heated up and my stomach became lightened. His hand touched my cheek and he slowly leaned towards me. "I think I…" My body froze, but a feeling of excitement and thrill shot through me. What's happening? His face was right in front of mine, I felt his warm breath, and I could breathe in his very appealing scent, along with a strong, spicy cologne.
"J- Jake.." I mumbled, he stopped and slid his hand from my cheek to underneath my jaw. He looked…so beautiful. He smiled and said,
"I remember you." I raise my hand to touch his, looking down I whispered,
"I remember you too." Jake Muller, my friend in school right before the whole court issue. I never got to see him after that day, I moved down to where Claire lived and went to school there.
"Why didn't you say something sooner?" His voice had risen slightly, and I let go of him and leaned up against the wall again. "I recognized you the moment you showed your face."
"Why didn't you say anything?" I questioned, he pulled away and stood up, walking over to the window. The silence was broke by my phone ringing, and Jake chuckled and said,
"Pf, that thing still works?" I walked over to the table, and picked up my phone. Simmons was calling in. Well that's strange.
"It's waterproof." I muttered to Jake, then I flipped my phone open and held the phone up, answering, "Yes?"
"Where are you?" Simmons voice spoke over his normal tone.
"I-don't really know. A cabin in the woods somewhere," I looked out the window and noticed that a snow storm had started, "-and I don't think we'll be able to leave for a while." Simmons remained silent and I spoke up, "Jake and I were attacked by a large B.O.W. after Chris and his Alpha team had helped us get a ride out of town. Do you have any information on this creature?"
"A large B.O.W.? I'll make some calls and get back to you agent Birkin." I nodded and hung up. Jake walked away and opened the drawer and begun to scavenge it.
"Shit, don't they have any popcorn?" He murmured to himself. I chuckled and sat down, holding onto my phone.
"I wouldn't be surprised if the place was cleaned out, they took most of their clothes, after all." Jake scoffed at my remark and continues to look for food. After a moment passed Jake had made some sort of victory cry, and I looked up.
"Hell yeah that's what I'm talking about!" Looking up I see Jake holding a can of fruit. He looks around, making a stern face. He then grabs his knife and attempts to pry the can open.
"That's not going to work, you're going to cut yourself." I whispered, Jake ignored me and continued to work on the canned food. Flipping my phone open I pull out my messages. One from Leon that said, 'Going back to work with the president, be back next month.' Flipping to my next message was Claire, 'Tell Leon that I can't go, but I can come next time'. I figured she was lying in the message anyway, but now I know, thanks to Piers, that she went anyway and surprised him. But she did have a bad timing on that… The phone rang and Simmons name popped up on the screen. Answering it I heard him quickly say,
"The B.O.W. you fought was a weapon used by the organization Neo Umbrella, it's given the name Ustanak. Its name is Serbian for Revolution, I'm assuming since it went after you that it's heading after Jake's blood, and it doesn't care if he's alive or not. The BSAA are collecting more information on the organization, but we still don't know who's in charge of the group. I'm giving you a new rendezvous point, it's on the opposite side of the mountains. You have two days." He hung up and I tossed my phone to the floor.
"Who was that?" Jake breathed as he hit the can again. I shook my head and looked at Jake's gun. I had lost mine when I landed in the water, lucky me. A huge creature that is bloodthirsty for the person I'm supposed to be protecting, and Jake's the only one with a gun.
"My boss, it seems that thing we encountered wants you, and it doesn't care if you're alive."
"Damn, I like having fans and all, but no 'die hard fangirls'…or would it be more like an ex-girlfriend?" He chuckled to himself and I smirked at his smartass comment.
"Like you'd be able to get a girlfriend in the first place, Muller." He glared at me and I laughed, he hit the can again, and was able to pry to old metal apart to get at the food inside.
"Finally!"
Jake had quickly eaten the unknown food, he offered me some but I refused, it smelled terrible. We sat there in silence for most of the night, but eventually he had passed out on the floor, and I had fallen asleep beside him. I woke up in the middle of the night, and looked around. The only light remaining was from the moon, streaming into the cabin. Looking over I see Jake features light up, his face was soft, not twisted like it normally is, and I noticed some small skin imperfections on his forehead. It took me a moment to realize I was smiling, then I shook my head and stood up, looking out the window.
"What are you doing?" Jake mumbled,
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." His waves his hand, as if to brush off my apology, and he stood up. "You're clothes are dry, we can leave in the morning and cover some ground."
"Agreed, but if you're not tired, we could leave now." He looked at me for a moment, then quickly nodded and stepped outside.
"Come outside when you're done, and we'll go." He closed the door and I turned on my heel, and slipped off the shirt, and changed back into my now dry clothes. After putting on my gloves I heard Jake call out, "Sherry, hurry up will ya?" I rolled my eyes and stormed over to the door, opening it I say,
"Can't you just hold on for two minu-?" Jake had tackled me onto the ground, his body hovering over me before I could even let out a gasp. He turned his head back and kicked the door closed. "Jake! What are you-?"
"Shh, maybe they didn't notice us." His hand covered over my mouth as my eyebrows raised, looking at him in confusion. Who is he talking about? A moment passed and he lifted his hand from my lips and crawled over to the window. He looked at me, then pointed to his gun on the table. I nodded and rolled onto my stomach, army crawling over to the table. Once I reached it I raised my hand and grabbed it, then slid it across the floor towards Jake. He grabbed it and peeked out the window.
Suddenly, the silence was cut from gunfire, bullets flew and I dropped back onto the floor to avoid getting hit. I heard Jake jump back and knock over the table as a sort of shield as he shouted,
"Sorry, this cabin is invitation only!" I looked up to him as he crouched behind the table, then stood up and fired a few rounds, then ducked back down and met my gaze. "There's a shit ton of them out there!" I opened my mouth, but now words came out. He smirked and shook his head, "You haven't been an agent long, right?" The smirk faded from his lips and his eyes became sincere. "Sherry, I'm going to need you to listen to me, alright?" I slowly nodded, I could hear the invaders voice as they closed in on the cabin. "Okay, come over here." Crawling over beside him he whispered, "There is a cave nearby, if we slip out we can hide out in there until they move on."
"How is that going to help us now?" He chuckled and glances over to the widow, I followed his eyes and saw snowmobiles behind the J'uavo. My heart sank and I looked back to him. "Are you crazy? I don't know how to ride those things!"
"Do you have any other ideas?" He looks over the table once more, then back to the window. "First you had swimming lessons, and now you can take snowmobile lessons." My jaw dropped at his words as the infected banged at the door.
"How could you be joking at a time like this? We could die right now!"
"Have a little faith, I won't let them touch you." The door crashed open and he wrapped his hands around me and he jumped out of the window. Hitting the ground we roll, he releases me and I stagger up as he shouted, "Go!" He stood up and started shooting at the crowd as I made a mad dash for the vehicle, one J'uavo was blocking my way. He leaped at me, I slid underneath him at the last second and climbed onto the snowmobile.
"Jake, come on!" He put his gun into the holster, and quickly turned and ran towards me as the J'uavo I dodged began to stand back up.
"Start it!" I turned my head and looked at the controls, the place where the keys were supposed to go. There wasn't any keys. My stomach became heavy.
"Oh no…"
"Jesus Sherry," He kicked the infected man in the jaw, and knocked him back down as he reached me, kneeling beside the snowmobile he pulled out some wires as I looked back.
"Jake!" My heart was pounding, and Jake stood up and sat behind me.
"Get this thing moving!" I looked back over to the controls and was hesitant to grab the handle. But Jakes hands grabbed mine and set them on the handle, he pressed his foot down and we flew along the hill with lightning speed. I screamed as we neared a tree, Jake jerked the handle and we turned abruptly, dodging trees and getting farther away from the J'uavo.
"The J'uavo doesn't need to kill us, you will!" I shouted over the harsh wind, Jake just laughed and kept driving the small vehicle.
"Thanks! Glad you're enjoying yourself!" I frowned and looked back to him, not saying another word. He continued driving until we reached a large cave, he slowed and jumped off of the snowmobile and pulled me along. He landed upright, and I fell onto my bottom as the snowmobile slid along the snow past us.
"Why did you do that? What if we needed that later?" I asked, standing up and wiping the snow off of my leggings.
"Lose something?" He chuckled and gestured his hand towards me before turning away and walking into the entrance of the dark cave. Damn you…
"Just my balance…" I followed after him and I continued, "So how long are we staying here? We need to get you to the rendezvous point in a few days…"
"I know I know, but hey, I'm looking forward to getting there too. That's when I get my money." My brow twitched at his comment as I glared over to him.
"Is that all you care about? Money?" He isn't the same Jake from school…that's for sure. But…what caused him to be this way?
"Hell yeah it is!" He grinned and raised his hands to the back of his neck as he walked, "Is that such a surprise, I'm a mercenary. Money is all that matters to me." I pursed my lips and shook my head in aggravation, then walked past him and deeper into the cave. I stopped once I couldn't see what was in front of me.
"Whoa, it's dark." As soon as those words left my mouth a bright light shined into the cave from behind me, looking back Jake had strolled up to me and chuckled.
"Maybe you should let me take the lead, before you trip and disappear into one of those holes." I looked down to see a large black hole right in front of me. My eyes widened and I slowly stepped back and nodded.
"Yeah…that sounds like a good idea." The ground softly shook, then after another moment it shook again, the rumbles getting more aggressive, and louder. The snow lining the top of the cave fell as Jake pulled out his gun and looked over to me.
"What the hell is that?" He asked. I went to shrug, but a terrifying cry cut through the air, and echoed in the cave. "Where is it coming from?" He grabbed my arm and dragged me closer to him, our eyes scanning inch of the cave. "Shit! I can't tell!" His grip on my arm tightened and I looked over to him, you could see the slight fear in his eyes.
"Jake, Jake!" He forced his eyes over to me and I whispered, "You're going to be okay." He smiled weakly and shook his head.
"It's not me I'm worried about." The strange noise was heard again, and the echoes rippled in my head. I broke my gaze from Jake and looked back to the entrance. The creature, Ustanak, was charging towards us. "Damn! Alright, time to go." He tugged on my arm and we ran deeper into the cave. Ustanak was gaining quickly, and we didn't have anywhere to run. Looking back as we ran the creature had destroyed the entrance, trapping us in the cave with it.
"Oh God!" I called out.
"Keep your eyes up here will ya?!" I quickly turned my attention to what was lying ahead of us. Fortunately, other people used this place as a mine, so there was a building across the distance, over a pure ice crossing.
"Jake!" I called out as we neared the crossing, Ustanak hot on our trail.
"Hope you took skiing lessons!" He grabbed onto my coat, on hand underneath my hood, and the other at the bottom of my coat and a little bit above my leggings. Oh no…
Jake hoisted me off of the ground and basically threw me across, I landed at the end of the crossing and looked back up the see Ustanak's metal claw reach out for Jake as he jumped, the claw hitting the ice and breaking it, causing them both to fall into the darkness. Jake's hand reached for the edge, his eyes piercing mine as he fell into nothingness with the monster.
"Jaaaaaake!"
Author's Note: Holy crap I'm sooooo sorry it took me so long to update, I'm kinda juggling college classes, high school, projects, work, and home…but I promise I will continue on with this fanfic!
Feel free to leave a review c:
