Jill balanced the two juices in one hand, and gently knocked on the door of the bathroom. There was no answer. She knocked again, then turned the knob and poked her head inside. Claire was sitting with her back against a wall, and her head leaned on the linen closet. "Hey there, mind if I join you?" Jill asked. Claire nodded, and Jill blinked. "Is that a yes I can join you, or a yes you mind if I do..." she asked.
Claire smiled slightly, and Jill walked inside, shutting the door behind her. She handed a juice box to Claire, who took it and took a sip. "So, Chris told us what happened, and I'm really sorry," she said.
"Me too," Claire said.
In her head, Jill was smiling. Words, good, we're getting somewhere, she thought. She sat down in front of Claire. "I know how it is, to lose friends for the dumbest causes, and I would never wish it on someone else...but if you want, you can talk to me about it," she said.
Claire sipped the juice, nodding.
"And to Chris, too, I'm sure he's worried sick. Oh, and Leon says he's sorry," she said.
"Aw, I'm not mad at him, he didn't know. I just really wished I could've helped him," she said.
"I'm sure you did what you could," Jill said, sipping the juice.
"Yeah, which is shit all...I'm not trained and professional like all of you, I can't do anything useful when it comes to this stuff," she said.
Jill almost choked on the juice. "Do you honestly think you're useless?" she asked. Claire nodded, and Jill shook her head. "Don't ever think that! Everyone has their own skill to bring to the group," she said.
"Like what," Claire asked, leaning her head on the closet again.
"Well for one, a viral outbreak would've happened today whether we like it or not. Second, if it hadn't been for your quick thinking, you never would've got here as fast and alerted the rest of us. We were all hiding in the damn trees outside, anything could've grabbed us there," Jill said.
"Yeah well, I didn't even know you guys were here," Claire said.
"Maybe not, but you still got us all inside, and fast. If you had stayed at the coffee place and hidden in a closet or something like some of the cowards out there, we'd probably be something's meal right about now," Jill said.
Claire sighed. "I guess," she said.
"We have guns because of you, and a big house to hold up in, so don't ever think you're useless. I won't stand by it," Jill said, finishing the juice.
Claire smiled. "Thanks," she said. "That actually really helped."
Jill nodded. "I'm pretty much awesome," she said. "Come on, how about we go tell the guys what to do? It's always fun," she said, smiling.
Claire nodded and got up. "Man, now I feel stupid," she said.
"Yeah, crying over losing friends? You're such a loser," Jill said, turning for the door. She could hear Claire laughing, and was relieved that the poor girl didn't take that comment seriously. She opened the door and stepped out, followed by Claire. They walked back to the main room, where Leon, Chris and Barry were pressed up against the front door, and Rebecca was aiming Claire's new gun at the patio doors, where several zombies were pounding on the glass. "Holy shit, what happened!" asked Jill.
Chris looked up with a very worried expression. "One almost broke in, we can't hold this forever!" he said.
"They'll break those doors pretty soon, too! Not enough ammo to kill all of them!" Rebecca shouted.
"I think we were safer in the bathroom!" Claire said, running to the kitchen and ducking down to search in the cabinet under the sink.
Jill went over to Chris and took the other gun, then went to join Rebecca. "So, we have sixteen shots loaded, and three magazines, with five zombies...we should be okay, right?" she asked. She saw Rebecca nod uncertainly, and frowned. They both knew that if even one of the zombies got inside, more would keep coming until they were finally out of ammo.
"We need to move now, before it's too late," Rebecca said.
Jill nodded in agreement, and turned to look at the guys. "We need a plan, and fast," she said.
Chris looked at her and shrugged. "I don't know if we can get outside and safely get to a car," he said. He glanced curiously over to Claire as she swore and mumbled, searching the cabinet.
They all heard the sound of glass cracking, and Rebecca yelled out "the glass is about to break!"
Jill kept her aim on the window with Rebecca, and the guys all looked panicked. Leon suddenly ran to the couch, and started pushing it towards the front door. Barry and Chris nodded, and moved out of the way as Leon pushed the couch against the door. The weight was able to keep the door from opening.
"Great, now what about THE DAMN PATIO DOORS!" asked Jill.
Barry and Chris ran over to them and looked around for something to use as either barricade, or weapon. Leon went to see what Claire was doing. He ducked down next to her, and looked at the cabinet. "What are you doing?" he asked.
Claire jumped at his voice, banging the back of her head on the counter. She pulled back out of the cabinet and rubbed her head, looking at him. "Stop sneaking up on me like that!" she said.
Leon winced. "Sorry! Man, I'm such an ass to you today," he said.
Claire shook her head, and kept searching in the cabinet. "Don't worry about it, Leon. Oh, and I'm looking for a key I usually keep down here. If we can get to the basement, I've got tools there that we can use as weapons," she said.
"And we can hold up easier in a basement, too. Are there any other ways to get out?" Leon asked.
Claire nodded. "There's a random sewer access, though I still don't know why. All they told me was that the house was just built over it, and to enter at my own risk," she said. She pulled back out of the cabinet holding a set of three keys, grinning. "Got it!" she said.
Just then the patio door broke and loud growls were heard, followed by gunshots. Five shots later, the growling stopped, but was replaced by the pounding at the front door. Leon stood up and looked over. "Five headshots...you guys are good," he said, but Jill and Rebecca seemed absorbed in the moment and were keeping their attention to the now broken patio doors.
Chris looked over to Leon and Claire. "So, do we have a plan?" he asked.
Leon nodded. "Apparently, there's a sewer access in the basement," he said. He watched as Claire walked by him and headed down the stairs which were right next to the kitchen, then looked back to Chris. "Seems like a good plan," he said.
Chris nodded. "Good enough. If the zombies are there too, we'll figure something out," he said.
"Do we have enough ammo to hold off if we're stuck in the basement?" Barry asked as he walked over. He'd pushed a lounge chair in front of the door to barricade it, and it seemed to be holding well enough.
"We should, as long as the sewers aren't full of them," Chris said.
"Isn't that a bit of a risk?" asked Rebecca, still aiming at the patio doors with Jill.
Chris sighed. "Risks are something we have to take at this point," he said. He didn't like the idea of going in the sewers with no clue as to what was waiting there, but they didn't have much of a choice.
There was a loud 'thud' sound from the bottom of the stairs, and everyone looked in the basement's direction. "What the hell was that?" asked Jill.
Chris took in a deep breath, running several thoughts at once. "Claire?" he called out.
Leon noticed he sounded shaky and terrified, and stuck his head in the stairway. "Claire, are you okay?" he called out.
"Fucking key's not working!" yelled Claire from the bottom.
Chris let out a heavy sigh of relief and walked down the stairs.
Leon looked over to Barry, who was smiling. "What's so funny?" he asked.
Barry finally laughed. "That girl's going to give Chris a heart attack someday," he said.
There was another loud thud, and Jill laughed. "My turn," she said as she walked down the stairs. Barry burst out laughing and walked to the stairs.
Rebecca looked back to the patio doors when a movement caught her attention. A zombie stepped out from the bushes, and she fired a round right between its eyes. She grinned and looked over to Barry. "Maybe we should get moving soon?" she asked.
Barry nodded. "Good thing we always have a spare key," he said.
"I heard that, Barry!" Jill shouted from downstairs.
Barry laughed and walked down the stairs, followed by Leon and Rebecca. They reached the bottom where Claire was sitting on the last step, with Chris standing by her. "Where's Jill?" asked Barry.
"She went to check around and make sure it's clear," Chris said.
"So what was the banging anyways?" Leon asked, sitting next to Claire.
Claire grinned. "Well, the key wouldn't work so I kicked the door. I knew it wouldn't help, but apparently Chris thought it would if he did it too," she said, glancing up to her brother, who stuck his tongue out.
"Hey, you never know," he said. "Brute strength can prove to be useful sometimes."
Claire rolled her eyes. "Please, you couldn't even beat Leon in arm wrestling," she said.
Leon jabbed her in the side with his elbow. "What are you saying?" he asked, grinning.
Claire laughed, holding her hands up. "It was a joke, officer! Calm down!" she said with a giggle.
Chris watched them closely, but was distracted when Jill walked back out of the basement. "It's clear, come on," she said, and walked back inside. Barry and Rebecca followed her, followed by Claire, but Chris stayed behind. He grabbed Leon's arm as he passed, and stepped in front of him. "Hey, I need to talk with you," he said.
Leon blinked, but nodded. "What is it?" he asked.
"Don't get too close to Claire," Chris said bluntly. "She's still sensitive about Steve, and I don't want her getting her anymore than she already has."
Leon was caught off guard. He shook his head and walked around Chris towards the basement. "First off, you've got it all wrong. Claire and I are good friends, and I'd never do anything to hurt her. Plus, I know she wouldn't be happy with you trying to control everything like this," he said.
Chris walked close behind him. "I'm warning you, Kennedy. Don't go there," he said.
Leon glanced back to Chris. "Look, from what I've heard, you two were growing apart before the whole Umbrella mess, so if none of it had happened I'm sure you wouldn't be having this discussion with me," he said.
"You're playing with fire here," Chris said.
They both jumped when Jill stepped out from the basement. "Leon, get in there and help Barry with the sewer cover. Chris, I think you should sit down before you have an aneurysm," she said.
"I'm just saying, I don't-"
"Want your sister to get hurt, I know. And I'm sure Leon knows that too," she said. "But you don't have to scare the poor boy, Chris. He seems like a nice guy, and can obviously take care of himself and others around him."
Chris sighed. "What are you saying?" he asked.
"If they get close just let them," Jill said, smiling.
"We'll see," Chris said. He walked by Jill and headed in the basement.
Jill sighed and followed him. "Big brother mode, activated," she said, shaking her head.