Chapter VII
Sherry
"Damn it Kerry where are you?"
Making her way through to the secluded house in the forest, alone, was dangerous. Sherry was well aware of that. But what could she do if her partner was stuck there and unable to get out. Sherry tried to take every precaution she could – looking around, walking quickly but silently. She thought that this would help her chances of not getting caught by the Bio-Terrorist sympathizers. But she was wrong.
It was as she spotted the broken down home that she realized that there was no way her partner was in that place. It was too broken down; there wasn't even a front door. How could it possibly be that he was locked in? She realized that he must've been moved out by his captors… And then it was as she heard the male voice cry out 'Sherry watch out!' from behind her that she realized she'd made a dangerous mistake.
Behind Sherry stood one masked man with a gun pointed in her direction.
Sherry shot him quickly, her arm snapping up and the trigger pulled back as the bullet pierced him. As She caught sight of her partner, Kerry (whose name was ironic and funny to her) being punched in the face as a man charged in her direction. Sherry's eyes narrowed in on his and then she felt the explosion rock her body backwards. She fell to the ground and started panting as the pain coursed through her. The bullet would heal inside of her, that wasn't good, but she couldn't just take it out here.
Thrusting herself up against the dead leaves Sherry propelled her body at the enemy. He cursed and reloaded the gun but Sherry had kicked him in the knee already – bending his leg backwards and breaking it.
He screamed and he crumpled and clutched his leg.
"Sherry!" Her partner, Kerry ran up to her. He stared with horror at the blood pouring out of her jacket. The man on the ground was completely forgotten. "Oh my god, Sherry you're hurt." His dark eyes were tense and frightened.
"I know, I just need to get the bullet out." She said through her clenched teeth and pulled her gun out to quickly end the miserable bastards cries at their feet. The bullet pushed through his forehead with amazing speed and silenced his cries. For that she was grateful because there was an annoying pounding at her temples.
"Okay, take the jacket off, I'll help you out." Kerry helped Sherry out of it, noting how she seemed to be struggling to breathe.
"Okay, help me out of this too," Sherry took off her black long sleeved shirt – if Kerry and her were under any other circumstances this would have been almost erotic. But his eyes were immediately pulled to the hole in her shoulder. "Oh shit," she grunted. Realizing for the first time that it was healing.
"What do we do?!" Kerry cried out, his eyes stretched wide, horror struck.
"Put your finger in the wound," she moaned and fell to her knee.
"What? No, that-what?!"
"DO IT NOW!" She screamed at him but he was frozen – looking at her. Sherry growled in annoyance and forced two fingers into the hole in her shoulder.
The pain was amazing, blinding and all her own. Sherry screeched and fell back onto the leaves beside the dead man. She hoped he was not Juavo. She was in no position to fight again. Stay dead, she pleaded.
"Oh God…" Sherry's eyesight was blurring but she knew it wasn't the tears in her eyes.
"Sherry…" Kerry watched her horror struck. It wasn't all the blood that was scaring him. It was the loss of color in her face. He turned his eyes to the gun and noticed for the first time that it wasn't like their guns. It had only one space for a bullet, the man had not gotten the chance to insert the other one, that's why Sherry had been able to even kill them, they were too slow.
And the bullet, which was not really a bullet, in his hand was metal with a very sharp point and an odd blue colored vial in it.
"No way, oh fuck, fuck!"
Sherry could hear Kerry far away and then his hands on her face, shaking her but she couldn't see him anymore.
"Sherry! Oh come on girl, not now, not fucking now! HQ. Yeah, I need a chopper here NOW. Agent Birkin is possibility infected with something. I don't know, her body seems to be… dying – I don't fucking know what it is I just need a chopper here now!"
Jake was always cursing, Sherry loved this about him. There was so much anger in his voice; it always made her laugh how unnecessary it was. "Jake, it really hurts but…. I think if you just pull it out like last time…"
Kerry frowned at his partner, "Sherry, I'm not Jake, you'll be okay though – okay? I'll take you to him." She was getting very pale. He reached for her jacket and threw it over her, pulling her in close as he waited.
So this figure wasn't Jake? But it sounded so much like him… "Where's Jake?"
"He's not here, he's going to be at the hospital. When we get there."
"No… he won't." She whispered dying-ly, looking up at the very purple sky before she noticed a helicopter there. "Oh shit." She muttered realizing she would probably die. She passed out s the medics reached her .
Jake
Jake chuckled at the television. The Office was one of the few shows he enjoyed. But most of his favorites were on AMC. Between The Office, Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, and Hell on Wheels – he didn't know which was his favorite but they all took him out of his shitty reality for at least a little bit. He found himself a bit fascinated with The Walking Dead… zombies, come on – that's so relatable.
It was around 6:30 that his phone rang. Jake reached for it, assuming it was Sherry and picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Muller," The voice was unfamiliar, "I am Sherry Birkin's partner."
Jake stiffened. "Okay. What do you want." He hated when people called and said stupid shit like that. Was he supposed to congratulate him? "What do you want?" He repeated after the long silence. "How'd you get my number?"
"I want you to come down to HQ. I know you know how to get here. Sherry's been in an accident," Jake froze, what had happened… how did this happen? "and I think you should be down here in case things don't go as planned. And you were on her Emergency contact list."
Jake had already been throwing on his boots and his jacket. He didn't even turn the TV or the light off as he spoke to the man on the phone. "What the fuck happened?"
"I think I should explain that when you get here-
"no you'll explain it to me right fucking now." Jake swiveled towards his motorcycle outside. "What happened?"
"She was shot with some… thing. I don't even know what it is all I can tell you is that you need to get down here right now." The voice of the man suddenly cut off. Jake growled in realization that he had broken his phone because of his grip.
He tucked it away and blurred on his bike towards HQ.
His blood was boiling.
Sherry
"Where is he?" She asked again as the doctors hovered over her. They were strapping her down; she lay on the table in a hospital gown. But she didn't know any of this. She muttered drunkenly under the influence of many pain killers. "Please, someone… anyone-
"Birkin, we need you to relax okay?" A very familiar voice told her. She knew it to be Jeff and she turned her face in his direction. He seemed to be in her ear. Her little doctor. "Please relax; we are going to do everything to fix you up, okay?"
"Jake… what happened to me?"
Jeff's eyes narrowed and then he cleared his throat as he commanded the nurses to do different things. "It's Jeff, not Jake…" He told her softly, combing her hair back from her damp forehead and staring at her sadly.
"You can't go in there!" Someone shrieked from outside. "Stop it-
"What the hell happened?" The voice was loud and booming. Jeff turned his head and saw the brute standing there, huffing and puffing, but then his eyes locked on the girl on the table. Who was moaning and jerking weakly. His eyes bore into the grey tone to her skin and he seemed to stumble a bit.
"Jeff… it hurts." Sherry groaned.
"Okay, people, we need to get this bullet out right now."
"What happened…?" Jake repeated with a new horror. She looked much worse than he had anticipated. There was a hole in her shoulder, and her eyes were cloudy and lined with crusty filth.
"Get out of here Jake!" Jeff spit in his direction.
"No! You don't fucking tell me what to do!" Jake wanted to charge at him. And all the nurses looked terrified but they all went to Sherry's aid.
"Okay, we need to get the bullet fragments out; she's going to be screaming a lot –
"Why don't you put her under?" Jake asked, ignoring the people telling him to leave the room immediately.
"If I put her under she could slip into a coma." Jeff announced and without hesitation started digging into her shoulder.
Jake
She released a scream, so loud and pained at it made Jake shake. "You're going to kill her…" he said quietly above her screaming. "Stop it! You're gonna' kill her!" He roared, his hands balling. He didn't know what to do. His mind was going a hundred miles a second.
"No, stop it!" She screeched again. Her eyes were opening and closing with rapid velocity. She seemed to not know what was worse. When they were closed she opened them and when she looked down towards the source of her pain she turned her head away and screamed.
"It'll be over soon," Jake could hear Jeff muttering over and over to himself like a mantra. Working quickly as his fingers pulled and searched inside the wound with a long medal pliers like thing.
"STOP!" Sherry screamed.
Jake thought that it was the end of it but he was wrong. They pulled one fragment out and then went back in for another.
"Jake! Jake! Help me!"
Jake stiffened as he watched with newfound horror as blood jumped up from the wound and another fragment was pulled. Yet again, he was wrong – thinking it was the end.
"One more Sherry, one more come on, you can do it." Jeff gently touched her forehead nd turned his head towards the heart monitor. Jake felt like he was going to choke, he had not breathed and his heart beat was making his chest quake. "Last one."
Sherry arched and twisted, trying to turn from Jeff, her voice had gone hoarse, she couldn't even scream, just wheeze angrily and moaned, not looking at anyone.
Jeff took the last fragment out and laid it on the table. To Jake's revulsion Sherr y went still, her erratic breathing slowed and her body was lifeless and limp on the table. That's just like after the airplane crashed… the way she was so… dead.
He was going to vomit.
"Jake!" Jeff's voice called him to reality, "she's not dead. Calm yourself or get out." He growled at him, "I need you to move so that we can wheel her to another room."
Jake nodded and tore his eyes from her form to leave the room. A few minutes later they wheeled her out of the room and took her to her new room. He followed after them, not looking at sherry instead looking ahead at the white hallway and the many doors.
She couldn't die.
Minutes later as Sherry was being stitched up by Jeff – Jake decided it was time for some answers. But every time he looked at him, with his black hair – all he could think about was Sherry kissing Jeff and touching him. Jeff touching her and thinking he could give her what she needed. She didn't need him, she didn't need Jeff.
"What happened?" His voice was sharp.
"She was shot, by a bullet which held contents that we are still studying. She was trying to not heal around it," Jeff's hand went to her forehead and he gently stroked her hair back from her forehead, "smart as she is."
"How the hell did her partner not stop this?"
"Well Jake, if I remember correctly she got into bigger danger with you. Didn't she." Jeff turned his face to Jake who stood in the corner of the room. Jeff glared sharply, "every time you come around she is miserable. She was crying because of you, sobbing more like it. All you do is hurt her – or do you not realize that. Are you really so selfish to not realize that she cares about you –
"I know she cares about me, cares about me more then you could possibly imagine, fuck this, I'm not explainin' nothin' to you. This is about how you people didn't take precautions –
"Some things cannot be avoided, Muller." Jeff's voice became acidic and his eyes burning silently. Jake raised a brow. Was this puny thing challenging him?
"I hope you realize," Jake said with acidity, "that when she wakes up – we will be alright again. And you'll be out of her life. I'm not going to sit here and pretend that I don't know that you've been sleeping with her –
"We actually haven't slept together. But you two have, haven't you." Jeff marched around the bed now and got in Jakes face, his eyes were dark and glistening, "you need to watch how you speak to me Jake Muller .Your assumptions are not becoming of you, but then again – none of your qualities are. You're a selfish bratty man, well. Hardly a man."
Jake glared at him, he smirked. He could end this man's life so easily, "if you ever get in my face again I will destroy you." Jake shoved him away and went to Sherry's beside. Sitting there and glaring at her, she needed to wake up. She just had to wake up.
One Day Later
Jake hadn't left her bedside much. Every time Jeff opened the door to check on Sherry's monitors he left. He didn't want to be in the same room as that creature, he wanted to destroy him every time he breathed the same air as Sherry and himself.
It was as Jake waited for Jeff that he remembered the fear that had taken over his body when he first realized that she could possibly die. Her eyes had been shut and he had rolled her off of him, at first he feared he had done it too roughly, but then he saw the big jagged metal in her back and the only thing he could think about was her organs. What had been pierced? What would happen?
And then she spoke and he was shocked, and stunned. How was she still alive?
Jake then decided to call Leon, which went just as he expected.
Leon had picked up on the third ring, he was in Sherry's cell-phone and it was easy to find his name.
"Sherry, how are you?" Leon's voice was low and almost monotone like usual.
"This ain't Sherry," Jake answered bleakly, "this is Jake. Jake Muller."
There was a pause on the other line, "okay, what are you calling me for?"
"Sherry's in the hospital. I thought you might wanna' know."
Jake waited two seconds before Leon spoke again, his voice was stronger now and more impassioned, "What happened?"
"She got attacked on a mission, she's stable and her life is out of danger but - I figure you might want to be here for when she wakes up." Jake paused and noticed Jeff walking out of her hospital room, "you'll probably bring all your little sidekicks with you, I imagine."
"Yeah, I'll get in contact with them. Thanks for letting me know, what's the address? I'll be there as soon as I can."
Jake gave him the address and made his way into Sherry's bedroom once again. The lights had been turned off except for one above Sherry's bed that was dimmed. "See you soon." Jake said to Leon who gave him a courteous 'Thank you for the information' and then hung up.
Next Day
The next day was similar to the last with the exception of Leon's appearance and Chris Redfield alongside a dark skinned female who caught Jake Muller's eye.
Leon had walked in quietly and Jake looked up from Sherry's sleeping face. Leon entered first, then Chris Redfield, and the female whose big almond eyes met his immediately. She stared at him oddly – almost sadly, and nodded shyly.
"I didn't think you'd be here this fast." Jake's voice was quiet. Leon smiled at him kindly, he shook Jake's hand courteously and then stared at Sherry, his eyes became sad and he took a sit, taking her hand in his and pressing his lips to her cold skin.
"I made it here as fast as I could," Leon seemed ot be speaking to Leon and to Sherry and to Jake all at once.
"I definitely didn't expect you," Jake didn't bother to hide the distaste from his voice. Chris Redfield was holding the hand of the petite female who introduced herself as Sheva. Her eyes kept penetrating Jake Muller. He started shifting uncomfortably.
"I came on behalf of my sister. She wanted to be here but couldn't make it." Chris sounded stiff as usual; Sheva kept staring at Jake Muller.
Sheva
She knew that this was Albert Wesker's son, but she didn't expect so many similarities and yet so many differences. First, she knew that Albert Wesker's son would look like him. The young man definitely did, he had strong sharp features and narrowed eyes just like his fathers, and he had the same stoic manner and tall body.
It frightened her, but it saddened her. Just as Albert Wesker had killed her family, she had killed his father. And while his father deserved it, it wasn't gratifying. He had lost his father, and she was responsible.
"What?" Jake's eyes cut over to her. She blinked, shocked. "What do you keep looking at me like that for?"
"I'm sorry." She said softly. She was apologizing for both things.
"Sheva, do you want to step out for a minute?" Chris looked at her with worry. He knew what she was thinking, he could read her very easily, just like she could read him.
"No, I'm okay." She whispered to him, looking towards the girl on the bed. While Sheva didn't know her she was still saddened by the news. Leon and Claire had become like family to her, this girl was like Claire's daughter, which made her relevant to Sheva. "When do they expect that she will recover?"
"They don't know. They're hoping soon." Jake answered. Every time he spoke Sheva flinched. She wanted to apologize for what she had ripped away from him.
"Hey," Sheva looked to Jake, whose permanent frown saddened her. "She'll wake up, don't worry."
He nodded sharply at her and kept his eyes on Sherry. He hoped Sheva was right. There was so much left to say to her.
Next Day
Sherry
Sherry started coming to her consciousness almost a full three days later. Her eyes rolled behind the lids and she moaned, her shoulder was stinging her, and it was itchy. She felt sore all over to be honest. Sherry's lids slowly pulled back and she was horrified to realize that there was a light above her.
They'd captured her. The terrorists. They were going to experiment on her. "No.. no.. no.." Sherry looked to her left and to her right. No one there.
Where was Kerry? They'd taken Kerry too she bet.
"No," she cried and tried to sit up but found it almost impossible. "God damn it no!" She screamed again and wept. Kerry… he was so young and so new at all of this. There was no reason why he had to be killed. Sherry looked around, there were two chairs, each at either side, there were also a pair of black gloves on the one to the right. When she looked to her arms and saw a bunch f IV's, some running with red and some running with blue. When she sniffled she realized there was something in her nose and she went to rip at this too.
"Sherry?" A familiar voice struck her as the door opened; there she saw Jake and his steel eyes looking at her with confusion. His eyebrows were pulled tight to the middle and he held a cup in his right hand.
How was he here? Had he just found her?
"Jake? Oh my god Jake…" She whispered and started trying to tear at the IV's but he blurred and stopped her, holding her down easily. "What are you doing?! We have to get out of here they're going to kill us!" she explained hurriedly as he pinned her wrists down.
"Sherry-
"They got Kerry. What are you doing here?" She said breathless as he hushed her and gently pressed her into the bed. His face was so close, and so familiar. She started to cry. The familiarity made her sick to her stomach, in a good way. The thought of never seeing him again made her equally sick, but the fact that he was here made her so happy.
"Sherry, you're okay. He's alright too, now lay back before I make them sedate you again." Jake's voice was hard but it sounded a bit relieved, and even after she lay back and followed his orders, confused still, he didn't move away. Instead he sighed and sat beside her and stroked her face. She was crying, looking at him with a lot of confusion.
"They've got Kerry, Jake." Her little voice stirred anger in him. She shouldn't be crying. "We have to get out of here."
"Kerry is fine, Sherry. You're not wherever the fuck it was that you were – you're in HQ."
Sherry froze her eyes wide. Just then Jeff walked in. Upon seeing Sherry awake he released a hard breath and grinned. "Sherry, you're up!"
"Jeff…" her eyes were wide and shocked as he approached her and to Jakes anger he crushed his mouth against hers. Sherry who was still in a profound state of surprise didn't know how to react except to place her weak hands against his chest and resist a bit. He pulled back.
Jake stomped out of the room.
Outside the room Jake paced. He hated that guy, he loathed him. He just wanted to rip his head off. It was a few minutes before Jeff came out of the room and proceeded to jog down the hallway. Jake entered the room and found Sherry looking around with surprise still.
"You were attacked, and then brought in here," Jake's eyes were on her as if though she would break apart, watched to make sure all the IV's were still in place and that she hadn't ripped any out, she made eye contact with him. "They called me and here I am. They've been taking care of you really well here – you've been out for three days."
The blonde frowned now. What the hell?
"So… oh… oh." She realized suddenly that she could in fact remember the sound of helicopters over her head. Those had been them, not terrorists… "But where's Kerry?" The way she looked at him made Jake release a small chuckle, "he's okay?"
"He's fine." Jake said softly and pulled her hair away from her face. "You're going to be fine too. There's no way you won't." He remembered Leon, "Leon was here, so was Redfield and his girlfriend, they invited us to a get together thing, the thing that you were mentioning, they moved the date so that you can go whenever you're out of here. Now I have to go."
"That's nice of them to do… I'm happy you'll be going." She looked at him with confusion suddenly, "Jake what are you doing here… you…"
"I was being an ass." He muttered, "sorry."
"I was wrong too," she said softly, "I shouldn't… be leading you on like this if other things are going on in my romantic life."
He looked at her sharply, "You don't get it do you?"
Sherry looked at him with confusion.
"I don't want there to be someone else. It's either you and me or its nothing at all." He was drawing his face so close to her that she could feel his breath skating on her face, it made her shiver and she pressed her head deeper into the pillow, sinking, "You're the only one I have, you've gotta' know that."
"Jake… Jeff is… Jeff likes me and I don't think its right of me to also be doing things with you. He really likes me and I enjoy his company, I like him, he's a good guy-
"Stop it. Just stop it." Jake stated sharply, "you know that you don't feel half of what you feel for me for him." His hands went to her face; he really wanted to touch her mouth with his. "How do you go on pretending you do?"
"I-that's not true-
He didn't want to hear anything else. He hated hearing her speak of him. It's so odd to imagine a man in her life, he's always been the one male in her life that she looks to with any sense of friendship.
Sherry felt enlightened and came to a conclusion. He loved her, he had to love her. Whether it was just as a friend, she didn't care, but he loved her, she knew it.
She tried to think outside of this, and found only the purest form of affection. She thought that in that one instant their entire lives were encapsulated, she was everything he had. She knew it. He loved her because she was his everything, and not only that but she understood him. She got his every thought and the way he thought it. "Jake…" My Jake. His hands were skating to her thighs, "oh my God…" his hands were so rough, calloused. They were so different. He was so broken, so perfect and controlled, and she was so in love with everything he put her through.
She knew that this friendship was something else to him, this friendship was an unspoken deal, a platonic romance, and she hated it, and adored it at the same time. Just like she hated him for doing this to her, and adored him for it all at the same time.
"Jake no," her hands went to his hands and she looked at him with tears, she hated to do this, but she wouldn't ruin this friendship with sex. "You… you're my friend, you … we can't. We just can't!"
Jake pulled back from her. She could see the hurt in his face and the rage.
Mostly rage.
"If I do this with you it will be to damage everything we have. You're my best friend, you're the only person who understands me and to have a romance with you, will be to end us. Don't you see that?"
"I don't care about that."
"I care about it! This isn't happening again… I don't want to lead you on. I'm not going to be lying to him. You and I will be like before. I care about us…" The air was thick with tension, "how can you not see it…"
"All I see is him and you .He doesn't even get you." He glared, "he doesn't see you, he sees what he wants to see but thinks of you as some person to protect. He see's you as weak when in fact you could beat the hell out of him. He thinks you are someone to be protected as if you're emotionally unstable-
"And you don't?" She challenged.
Just as she said this Jeff walked in with a bouquet of roses, he ignored Jake as Jake muttered and scoffed at the sight of them. He kissed Sherry once more and then proceeded to run a few tests.
"Sherry, I'll be back later, I'm going to get something to eat." Jake stormed out of the room leaving Sherry and Jeff to make conversation.
He decided that he would win Sherry over in one way or another, Jeff didn't deserve her at all.
But do I?
Wow, this Chapter took a long long time, haha but its probably my favorite chapter because this is the first time I made Sherry more sure of her choices and Jake less sure about his.
I hope you all enjoyed the introduction of other Resident Evil characters - and I hope that you all enjoyed the whole Sheva-Jake dilemma, it was an interesting thing to remember that she lost her parents because of Wesker and because of her and Chris, Jake lost his.
So, tell me what you all think! Love you all.
PLEASE REVIEW, THEY MAKE ME SO HAPPY WHEN IM SWAMPED WITH SCHOOL WORK :)