Chapter 11

Just Say No to Dreaming and Driving

The ruins of the city lay out before his demonic gaze. To him, there was nothing more beautiful than this: the ill-fated city, collapsed onto itself in the biggest of 3 adjoining craters, was once again ready for hell to strike.

Freddy missed having this place restored to all its hellish glory in his dreams. Using the city as his realm helped to expose their weaknesses, and now he had them traumatized, almost to the point of no return. And now he had to leave it, all part of his master plan. They couldn't have known that he planned to unleash the army of hell over the earth: the T-virus monsters, the Deadites, and the demons of his own making. All thanks to the Necronomicon that, conveniently enough, lay on his back, compounding his power.

Wait, who was he kidding? Thanks to him, the dreams had crossed over into reality. It would take too long to rebuild the city; by the time he was half done, they'd be on him and find out how to stop him. It seemed like they already had found out, so he'd have to be careful. Getting his bearings by expanding his power around him, he felt the presence of an old and derelict facility…a worn Umbrella bunker built to study the after effects of the outbreak.

"Perfect…let's see that chainsawed bastard and his zombie hunters get past this", Freddy growled, as he teleported himself into the facility, and transformed it. It became the underground that had haunted the brainless cop and his biker-bitch friend ever since they'd escaped. They'd have no idea what they were up against now.

"It's time to let the nightmare loose on the world."

Nighttime had fallen like a dense fog on the world, the moon shining down in all its dreamy, yet nightmarish, glory. Claire checked her watch, stunned at the fact that it was still so early, only around 4:00. Either the effects of late autumn were starting to kick in sooner than usual, or there was something very wrong going on.

The latter thought didn't seem so far-fetched when Steve came back out to the deck, Claire's cell phone in his hand. "It's Leon, Claire…and it doesn't sound too good." Her thoughts and emotions near to the point of running wild, and trying not to show it, Claire took the phone from Steve and put it to her ear. Steve, not wanting anything else bad to happen, stood by Claire in preparation of what was coming.

"Hello?", Claire asked.

"Hey, Claire", the familiar mid-tenor voice of Leon replied over the phone.

"What's going on?"

"Well, I don't know how to tell you this, but-"

"Let me guess: is Freddy Krueger back again?"
There was a very pregnant silence at the other end of the line. Claire could almost see Leon's rugged face as she heard a deep breath, followed by the answer she didn't want to hear: "Yep."
"Who'd he get this time?"

"Ashley Graham—"

"The president's daughter?" Claire remembered her; Leon had talked about Ashley quite a bit. From what Claire understood, Ashley could barely hold her head down in a crisis, couldn't handle any of it by herself, but Leon had said it wasn't her fault.

"Yep", Leon sighed heavily, "…and…your brother."

Claire very nearly dropped the phone, a shocked expression on her face. She regained her grasp on the device, not believing what she'd just heard. There was no way it could be true: her big brother, the only family she had left (besides Steve, of course), was gone after all these years.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm afraid so, Claire", Leon replied, his voice heavy with sadness and understanding. "He put up a good fight against Krueger, but he got Chris in the end…with his own knife." Before Claire could ask how, Leon continued, "We don't know why, but somehow he can blur the lines that separate dreams from reality, all thanks to that damn Necronomicon."

"You mean the Kandarian Book of the Dead? I thought it got lost a few years back; your mentor in the Secret Service told me about that, remember?"

"Unfortunately, Ash told us that Krueger got a hold of it and bound its powers to himself. Now Freddy's waiting for us in the ruins of Raccoon City. "

Claire understood where this was all going, and she knew what had to be done. She looked at Steve, mouthing, "Krueger's in Raccoon", then went back to the phone. "Besides Ash, who else is there with you, Leon?"

Leon replied, "There's Jill Valentine, Rebecca Chambers, Angela, and Jacob Johnson." At the last name, Claire asked, "Johnson…is he related to Alice Johnson?
"Son and mother; they've both fought against Krueger at some point. So…you ready to go back?"

Claire looked at Steve, who wore a determined look on his boyishly handsome face. Obviously he was ready to give some payback for what the Umbrella assholes had done to him; getting Krueger was just a bonus for him.

"We'll be there in a few. Save us a few demon scraps."

At this, she heard Leon chuckle at the other end, his first laugh in quite some time. "We'll try not to kill him too horribly, but with Ash's chainsaw here, that might be tough."

Claire looked up and shook her head with a laugh, before a gritty, angry look came to her face at what Krueger had done to her. "See you in a bit, Leon." She closed her cell phone as Steve brought out his 1970 Dodge Charger from the garage.
"You ready, Claire?" Steve asked, as she barreled into the car through the open window. She then opened the glove compartment, digging out a Glock 17 with a few loaded magazines. She loaded one into the handgun, calm rage set into her face.

"Steve…I was born ready", she answered grittily, as the car pulled away…

Ash maneuvered the Olds steadily through the near-empty interstate that went through hilly countryside, a sight that normally would've looked beautiful had they not been on the mission on their nightmares. Tension was running high through the whole car as his passengers mentally prepared themselves for what was going to happen. Ash spared a quick glance behind him and to his side, seeing Jacob focusing ahead with a battle-ready look in his eyes, Rebecca next to him as she locked and loaded her Beretta. Leon was in the right side of the back seat with Angela, helping her to put her S.R.T. –issued machine gun in order.

Then Ash looked behind his left shoulder this time, seeing Jill look out the side window, a heartrendingly – dogged complexion holding on her beautiful face, framed by the mix of brunette hair with blond tips. The sight of her, to Ash, gave the look of a woman who carried herself through a living hell on earth and came out smelling like roses, guns still ablaze. Ash couldn't help but stare for a little while longer, marveling at how she carried herself through the lurid anguish that had plagued her for so long. And yet, none of that seemed to have any effect on her sanity or her fighting spirit.

He could see that Jill caught him staring, and looked back at Ash, seeing her ready to smack him out of his stupor. But she couldn't bring herself to, her eyes locked on the almost awed look on his face. His eyes now took on an almost soft quality, his mouth shut somewhat tight in a show of hardened acceptance. His windswept black hair framed his complexion just enough to give him a ruggedly striking look that, like Jill, seemed to conceal all the battle hardened years. They locked their gazes against each others' for what seemed like a lifetime, seeing the qualities that they'd missed seeing in each other in the quirks of the living nightmare.

All the ladies that Ash had met over the years hadn't seemed like what he thought of as the 'beautiful warrior' type, and he may have come across as somewhat chauvinistic, but he knew that was only because of all this time-

"Ash, look out!" He gave Jill a quick wink and turned his look back to the road—

-as a red and green striped car drove at - what looked like - full speed straight toward them.

Grabbing a better hold on the steering wheel, Ash swerved away from the car, barely catching a glimpse of a skull-white, once beautiful, female face, a haircut rather like Linda's was, and the top part of an old-looking red cocktail dress.

The Olds took a sharp turn to the left so that it was now facing the way they came, the 6 people in the car very taken aback, but with guns at the ready. "Who the hell was that?"

In response to Jacob's question, Angela replied, "Ada?" She looked at Leon, who nodded grimly, responding with "Yep…but she's turned into one of them."

"Heh….looks like Freddy finally found the girl of his dreams", Ash retorted, in one of his one-liner moments. All these years of fighting for his life against the spirits of hell had left him a bit more cynical, so this came as no surprise.

"What do we do?", Rebecca asked, in a slightly worried tone, her gaze on Ash. He turned to face Leon, Angela, and Jill in the back seat, telling them as he turned, "Load your guns, people…we're gonna kill us a she-bitch." This was meant by subsequent cocking of a handgun, submachine gun and loading of Ash's boomstick after he retrieved it from the floor of the backseat.

Leon, however, was rather diffident, because he and Ada had crossed paths so many times, having an almost demure relationship between them.

"Ash", Leon began, but Angela quickly cut him off with, "There's nothing more we can do for her, Leon. If she comes back afterwards she comes back, but if not…" She trailed off; leaving Leon's thoughts settled over what had to be done. Leon let a round into the chamber, ready to destroy the evil that had taken so many people's lives, some who didn't deserve it.

Ash and Rebecca leaned out the front windows of the car, while Leon and Jill leaned out the back, pointing their guns at the car, which was now bulleting back toward them. "Wait for it…", Leon said, scarcely heard, which was followed by Ash's repetition of "Wait for it…"

The car was only a hundred feet away, the now-dead face of Ada set in a very grotesque grin.

"NOW!" At the yell, Ash's boot-clad foot rammed on the accelerator pedal, and the back wheels of the Delta 88 smoked before gripping on the pavement, and propelling the car toward the Freddy-mobile. As the 2 cars approached each other, all of the guns – still aimed at the car from the open windows of the Olds - fired away at the nightmare machine, riddling the framework, windshield and windows, upholstery, and even Ada's now corpselike figure. And yet, the car kept speeding on, before each of the vehicles turned again towards each other.
"Jacob, take the wheel", Ash demanded as he grabbed his chainsaw from above the dashboard and attached it once again to his right wrist, shoving his mechanical hand in the back holster's pouch. "What are you going to do, Ashley?"

At the mention of his full name, Ash turned toward Jacob with an annoyed look on his face, saying, "Okay, first off…don't call me Ashley. 2nd, in answer to that pathetically obvious question… I'm gonna carve me a witch." The last left his lips, as he opened the door with his flesh hand, and calmly barreled out of the car, grabbing his Remington boomstick from the seat of the car.

"But- but- that's suicide!" Rebecca's cry went thrown away with a reply of "Only if I die, 'Becca. Wish me luck" from Ash. He readied the boomstick with only one hand, the full weight of it comforting in his hand, as the mean red-and-green machine once again shot toward them.

But just as he came close to tightening the trigger, he heard another door of the Olds open and slam shut. Ash looked back, seeing Jill with her own Beretta handgun. "Don't say anything; I'm helping you whether you like it or not." Ash's only retort was a sly grin as they faced back toward the nightmare transport came ever closer. "Ready?", Ash yelled, seeing Jill nod in reply next to him.

"FIRE!"

The deep boom of the Remington rang out in the empty late-night sky, matched with the slightly higher whine of the Beretta, as buckshot and semi-jacketed rounds alike slammed into the engine and the front tires. Pieces of rubber erupted from the now-defunct tires, and an ever-growing plume of smoke rose from the front part of the car. As the car trundled in front of them, Ash gave an almighty leap onto the hood of the car, while Jill ran to the driver's side to keep the demon in.

Tugging on the starter cord of his chainsaw, Ash was soon ready to stop, chop, and roll, but as the smoke cleared, the demon pulled out a grappling hook gun and shot it at Ash. The hook's cord wrapped around Ash's arms and midsection, a stunned look crossing Ash's face as it happened. Jill, switching the gun to her left hand, swung the right down toward the collarbone of the once-beautiful woman, only to have it grabbed, then shoved back with such force that Jill took a backflip and landed hard on her frontside.

But just then, the cord on Demon Ada's grappling gun snapped, Ash managing to sever it with his chainsaw and freeing himself from the cord's bond. With an unearthly yell of "I'LL SWALLOW YOUR SOUL!", the demon leapt into the air, hands spread into claw-like formations. Ash, with a pathetically disappointed look on his face, retorted, "Make mine a double", as another load of buckshot peppered itself onto the demon's face as it fell.

Anyone else would think that that work was done, but Ash knew better. Spinning the shotgun around in his hand before finally holstering it, he revved up the chainsaw before letting it rip on Ada's demon-ridden body, bright red blood spurting from wherever the chainsaw cut into, splashing onto the roads and the grassy ditch beside the road. Some of it even left red, slimy streamers on Ash and Jill's shoes. But at long last, the work was done…almost.
Ash threw his car keys to Jill, explaining, "There's a shovel in the trunk. Get it out for me." In about 5 minutes, the shovel was thrown at Ash's feet. With his chainsaw back in its hip holster, and his gauntlet hand put back, Ash unearthed a small patch of land in the grassy ditch. The shovel gnawed at the ground as it was shoved in, came away with dirt, and then threw it aside. Then, with help from Jill, Ash carried the demon into the dug-up patch before burying it again, the bones now lying 6 feet below the ground.

At long last, a haphazard cross, made from 2 abandoned tree limbs lying nearby, was shoved into the earth a few inches from where Ada's now-discombobulated body lay. As the cross became embedded into the earth, lightning struck as a thunderbolt rumbled off in the distance. What a perfect night for rampaging evil.

But somehow, they found time to gather their thoughts before their inevitable battle with whatever lay ahead. Jill sat down on the lip of the ditch, her arms folded on her legs as she sat, looking out at the horizon. She couldn't believe what had happened over these last couple of days: Krueger returning, breaking into reality, killing Chris…

These thoughts were obliterated from her mind as she heard the grass slightly crunch under the weight of Ash Williams, now sitting next to her; the gritty look on his face softened just a touch. His blue-green eyes kept a caring gaze on her saddened face as he asked, a caring note in the question, "You doing ok, Jill?" Jill broke the gaze that they held on each other, looking down at the ground.
"Well…there's been deep scars cast over these last few years…some of them worse than others…" She trailed off unable to say anymore. Ash finished the thought for her, replying, "But this one was one of the few that hurt the most, if not the worst." Jill nodded miserably before laying her head on Ash's shoulder as he slipped a soothing arm around her shoulders, holding her there for awhile as he rubbed his flesh hand around her shoulders. He then leaned in toward the side of her face, leaving a lingering – and comforting to the point of something more – kiss on her cheek. At this show of affection, Jill put her hand softly on her own cheek, and then looked at Ash with a small smile on her face.

Then, before she could get a hold on what she was doing, her left hand went to his face's right side, her lips mashed onto his, surprising them both. Ash took rein of this surprise by closing his gaped eyes, and encircling her in his arms, taking care to be gentle with Jill with his gauntlet hand.

The kiss – a joyful, yet short eternity – lingered there, in the very air that was slowly becoming thick with a soft rain. Bright green eyes looked into slightly darkened ocean-blue for another moment more before they both turned toward the horizon, still in each other's arms, as Jill said softly, "I'm…sorry about that."

Ash looked at her, slightly perplexed, before a short, easy grin crossed his face as he replied, "Nah, you shouldn't be. Under the circumstances, it's completely understandable."

Jill turned her gaze on him once again, shooting off, "You know, those are the 2 biggest words I've ever heard you say." Ash, still grinning, shot back, "There's more words I can say that'd really get you off guard." She nestled closer to his warm bulk, wondering coyly, "Like what?" Ash looked her square in the eye, and uttered those few words…

"Give me some sugar, baby."