I'm sorry to leave you hanging, the story continues! The Order has just captured Cheryl Mason, who they want to make the Mother of their demonic God...but if they think Rebecca Chambers is just going to let that happen, they have NO idea how wrong they are! Plus: everyone's favorite gun nut from RESIDENT EVIL, Barry Burton, joins the cast!

RESIDENT EVIL X SILENT HILL: JUDGMENT DAY

written by Charles Spencer,
inspired by Ygure

CHAPTER EIGHT:

"AN ANGEL'S FURY"

-1-

Black Falls, Vermont
4:25 P.M.

At the precise time Rebecca Chambers and Cheryl Mason were confronted by three Order Soliders, Sheriff James Gulager was on Kubrick Street several blocks away. The southbound lanes were still choked with stop-and-go traffic for the County Fair coming from Interstate 89, but in the opposing direction it was mostly clear...Gulager had parked his big truck at the curb on the clear side behind the vehicle of his deputy, a rail-thin yet earnest law enforcer. A few minutes ago, the deputy made an unusual traffic stop, and the Sheriff was there to see about the situation. The deputy was standing next to his truck, taking notes as fast as he could...from behind the deputy's vehicle, a person with bright blonde hair could be seen sitting inside, in the back seat. Gulager approached his subordinate and asked, "What have you got, Barney?"

His deputy, Barney, answered enthusiastically, "One spirited blonde, Sheriff! I caught her just a few minutes ago trying to drive that dirt bike on the sidewalk!" He pointed at the brightly colored red, white and blue motocross cycle sitting on the sidewalk in front of the laundromat across the street. "She was going south, trying to bypass all the traffic. I stopped her, though!"

Gulager nodded. "I can see that. What made her want to do something that stupid?"

"She said she got lost on her way to this big motorcross thing down in Massachusetts - !"

"The word's motocross, Barney."

"Oh! Uh, anyway, she said she didn't want to be late because of the traffic. She should've just stuck to the interstate."

"I'm guessing she's no local."

"No, sir! She's from Burlington."

"What's her name?"

Barney had the girl's Vermont driver license with his notepad, and he offered it to the Sheriff. "Here's her license, sir!" As his boss took it, the deputy began, "Her name's - !" He stopped when he heard a distant yet loud noise, from deeper in town. Cheryl Mason just made a man's gun explode as he held it. "What the hell...?"

Gulager was looking at the license with a frown. "It's nothing, Barney. Just a firecracker. Kids these days."

"That didn't exactly sound like a firecracker, sir!"

The tall, hard man gave Barney a look. "Deputy, I've been doing this a lot longer than you have. You can trust my word it's a firecracker."

The meeker law enforcer finally nodded, but he was unsure. "Uh...okay."

James Gulager gave the lady's license back to Barney. "Anyway, I can see her name on her license for myself. You said she's spirited?"

Barney nodded. "Yes, sir! I'm guessing she's into those energy drinks, like a lot of kids these days - !" He was stopped cold by a loud yet briefer noise from the same direction as the last disturbance. A man was shot in the head because Cheryl wanted it to happen. Barney looked deeper into town, nervous. "Uh, Sheriff..."

Gulager was looking in that direction too, but his expression was neutral. He grunted, "Just another firecracker, Barney." He looked back at his subordinate. "Girl's only 19 years old, according to her license. And she's into motocross?"

"Er, yessir! I hate the idea of a girl as pretty as she is getting into a wreck. I can't tell you how many Internet videos I've seen of extreme sports nuts cracking up and breaking something!"

Gulager was indifferent about it. "Being young means being stupid, Deputy."

"Well, this girl looks pretty smart to - !" A brief, sharp report just sounded again. A woman killed herself. Barney mused, "Good grief, I could swear that's a - !"

"It's nothing. Just some kids getting happy with their fireworks."

"Sir - !"

Gulager's eyes turned hard as he stared at his deputy. "It was nothing, Barney. Take my word for it. You hear me?"

Barney quickly, nervously nodded. "Y-yessir!" He looked reflexively at his truck, at the blonde inside it. "Uh, I ran her license, and she's got a clean record. What should I do?"

Gulager couldn't see the blonde's face from his position, and he didn't care to. "Well, even a village idiot would know better than to drive a motor vehicle on a sidewalk, right?"

"Actually, she was just going five miles an hour, sir! Clocked her on my radar gun before I stopped her. Sorry, I should've mentioned that."

"Maybe you should have."

"Anyway, she said she was trying to be careful. She didn't want to run into any pedestrians, sir."

"Still...take her back to the office and lock her in a cell." Gulager quickly added, "But don't book her or anything."

"Okay! Uh, why?"

"To teach this silly girl she has to obey the law, even if she's late. I'll let her out in a couple of hours with a warning. Understand?"

Barney grinned then. "Ha-ha, yessir! You'd be one tough parent, Sheriff!"

Gulager growled, "I hate kids, Barney. You ought to know that."

"Oh."

"Anyway, get to it, Barney."

"Yes, sir! Uh, what should I do with her bike?"

"Just leave it where it is. Or you can take it back to the office with you." Before he had the chance to say anything else, Gulager and his deputy heard a sudden and dramatic amount of those same reports that Barney thought (correctly) were gunshots from deeper in town. It lasted for a couple of moments before the noises dwindled to silence.

The deputy looked scared out of his mind, absolutely sure that something was terribly wrong. "My god, Sheriff! What's going on...?"

"Barney." The deputy turned to James Gulager, who again gave him a granite-hard stare. "For the last time, they're firecrackers. Don't go and overreact."

"B-but - !"

Then Sheriff Gulager's cell phone rang. He said in a nearly dismissive tone to his deputy, "Hold on a minute." He turned and as he walked away a couple of paces, Gulager opened his phone, hit the green button, and answered, "Yes!"

A smooth voice, like motor oil running on ice, spoke into the Sheriff's ear. "Good afternoon, Sheriff. I just wanted to inform you my people have Cheryl Mason."

Gulager lowered his voice to a harsh whisper...if Barney had seen his face, he would have seen how furious his boss was. "Reeve, I heard a shitload of gunshots! What the hell just - !"

"It was nothing."

Gulager was too outraged to realize he was suddenly in the same place his deputy was a moment before. "Nothing?!"

"Yes, nothing. It would be in your best interests if you didn't ask."

The Sheriff thought in his mind, Goddamn you, Reeve! But...partly out of fear, partly because it would indeed have been better if he knew as little as possible, he told the leader of The Order, "Don't worry, I won't."

"Also, would you kindly collect Rebecca Chambers? The last my people saw her, she's in the alley behind the hardware store."

Gulager said coldly, "I told you killing her would cost you extra, Reeve."

Reeve sighed impatiently, "Then arrest the girl and put her in one of your jail cells, if you want! Either way, it's very important that she is no longer in a position to interfere with with our holy work, especially during the next half hour. When you're done, come see me at the hospital."

Gulager frowned. "For what?"

"Again, it's in your best interests. Things are going to change very soon, and you'll need protection."

"Protection? From what, Reeve?"

"Simply trust in me, Sheriff. Goodbye."

Gulager closed his cell angrily, wondering again why he ever agreed to work for that bastard. Of course he already knew the answer, and it was blood simple: he no longer cared to serve others, and the money he was offered was too much to resist. But at that moment, he wondered if selling his badge to the likes of Reeve was worth any amount of money.

Behind him, Barney asked carefully, "Uh, Sheriff?"

James Gulager finally turned to look at Barney and said, "I got a call from Hank at the hardware store, Barney. It was just kids messing with fireworks, like I said. I've got to go." As he walked to his truck, he glanced back and said loudly, "Remember what I said about that girl, too!"

Barney nodded. "Yes, sir!"

Gulager started up his truck, backed up a few yards, and did a roaring u-turn to drive south down the northbound lanes.

-2-

Less than two blocks from the site of Cheryl Mason's kidnapping, the man known as Reeve shut down his cell as he stood at a window on the second floor of Wyler Community Hospital. He saw the ambulance arrive, turn into the hospital's parking lot and approach the side of the building. It was going straight to the Emergency Room Entrance. He couldn't help but smile.

The ambulance stopped in front of the entryway, where Doctor Burton Young waited...he was flanked by two people on each side of him, their eyes cold and serious. The four Order Soldiers moved from Young quickly to the back of the ambulance and opened the doors. With the help of the 'paramedics' in the vehicle, Cheryl Mason was taken out, strapped to a gurney...the beautiful blonde girl was unconscious.

Doctor Young couldn't help but experience something close to full-blown panic as Cheryl was taken past him and into the hospital...he knew she wasn't going to the ER. He then got a call on his cell, and he took it out of a pocket of his silver suit. He said, "Y-yes?"

Reeve said to him, "Things are going exactly as planned, I see." He sounded supremely pleased with things.

Young, however, wasn't happy at all. He stammered, "R-Reeve, I-I-I know you told me the other day that this would happen, b-but I'm really not sure this is a good idea. I-I mean, to bring that Mason girl h-here, where anybody would see - !"

"And what would anybody see, Burton? A new patient was just brought to the hospital. Nothing suspicious about that." Young had little to say in response, but he was still agitated. Reeve then said, "Thank you again for letting us prepare the room where Miss Mason will be...ah, treated."

That last statement didn't help Young's nervousness in any way...the room in question was on the second floor, and Reeve had asked two days ago that he and his followers 'borrowed' it for this day. "W-we really need to talk about what you've done to that room, Reeve!"

"Oh, you mean the additional...decoration? You need not concern yourself."

"But I nuh-need to be concerned! That room does have an express purpose, and I-I can't predict when it'll need it for - !"

"After this day, you won't need it again, Burton...indeed this hospital, this entire town will be rendered irrelevant." Reeve said that so damned casually. "Remember that you'll reap many blessings because you've been so accomodating to my holy covenant. So relax!"

"B-but what about Agent Chambers?! You said she and Mason were working together - !"

"Chambers will soon be taken care of. Would you please relax, Burton? You get upset so easily."

Inside on the first floor, Head Nurse Gwendolyn Park ran out of one of the elevators after its doors opened and moved with speed and purpose toward the emergency room, in spite of her high heels. By coincidence - or perhaps because of fate? - she had seen the ambulance drive up to the ER entrance from a third floor window, as well. She hadn't been alerted beforehand that a trauma patient was on the way, which usually happened so that both Gwen and the supervising physician on shift could prep the staff and the emergency room! But the Head Nurse knew absolutely nothing about this ambulance's arrival or its purpose, and dropped everything to go down and see what was going on. A truly decent person who was always led by her conscience, Gwen Park thought something was damned strange, and she was right.

Gwen didn't even get a quarter of the way down the wide hall to the ER when she saw the group of people rolling the gurney in her direction at a jog...the expressions of all of those people, including the paramedics she didn't recognize, were full of cold purpose. One of the people leading the group shouted at her, "Stand aside! Get out of the way!"

The Head Nurse slowed to a stop as they approached and began to demand, "What's going on?! If this is an emergency, you can't just - !"

The same man yelled, "Stand aside, dammit! MOVE IT!" They hadn't slowed at all, and Gwen realized they were going to bulldoze over her if she didn't move! The beautiful Head Nurse had little choice but to move to the side quickly and had to almost press against the wall as they passed. Gwen looked at the gurney and had barely more than half a second to see that a pretty blonde woman with freckles on her face was lying on it, unconscious. There seemed to be nothing wrong with her - !

Gwen parted from the wall and strode after the people, suddenly furious. "Stop! I SAID STOP FOR A MINUTE! HEY!" But they flatly ignored her as they reached the elevators...one opened up and a nurse came out to usher them into the car. Gwen recognized the nurse instantly: Brenda Cunningham, who had joined the staff just a month ago. The pale, seemingly humorless blonde had never gone out of her way to be friendly to anyone ever since she joined the staff, but she'd been hired on the recommendation of Doctor Young himself. At that moment, Brenda looked at Gwen...and the expression of the Head Nurse's subordinate was as cold as those who just got on the elevator, and she stayed with them as the doors closed. Gwen put her hands on her hips and said under her breath, "What the hell?!"

"Ah, Gwen!" She quickly turned to see Doctor Young approaching her from the direction of the ER, too. He smiled nervously as he approached. "Fancy meeting you here! Ahem, c-can I help you?"

Gwen looked at him and asked, "What was that all about, Doctor? That girl was just brought in from the ER entrance - !"

He lifted a hand and waved it side to side, disregarding. "O-oh, that's nothing! J-just a patient in urgent need of t-treatment, that's all."

Gwen frowned as she started to get impatient. "What kind of treatment? And where is that girl being taken?! Why wasn't anyone notified except for that new girl, Cunningham?!"

Young's smile faltered a little as he counseled, "N-now Gwen, don't you worry yourself about that. This is happening on my approval, so you may return to your duties."

Frustrated, Gwen needed more than that. She needed to know what was wrong with the blonde girl. "But Doctor - !"

Suddenly, Doctor Burton Young glared at his Head Nurse and said harshly, "Gwen, if you value your employment in this hospital, do not ask me anything more! Do you hear me?! Do you!" Stunned, Gwen could only look at the old man. Young cleared his throat and gave her a level gaze. "I-I'll be in my office, Gwen. Return to your duties immediately." Young then walked past her and to the elevators.

Gwen Park watched the old man walk away...and she recalled again everything that cute agent, Rebecca Chambers, had said not long ago. How both the parasites that plagued Black Falls for months and Doctor Young's supposed solution he'd 'created' to stop them came from somewhere called Silent Hill. And Young had looked like a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar...he only asked at first how Rebecca could have known. And now this, an unconscious girl brought into the hospital by the emergency room doors, but for a purpose Gwen started to realize no one but Doctor Young and only Heaven knew who else knew about. Gwen Park watched her boss go, and her brown eyes were bright with frustration...and distrust.

-3-

As Sheriff Gulager was on his way to the back alley where Cheryl Mason was kidnapped, Rebecca Chambers was still on her knees crying, trembling from the core of her soul as she held the plush Huey the Horse tightly in her arms. Her face was red and her nose was running, the pixie-like brunette was crying so hard. Rebecca felt like dying would have been a step up from the agony she felt losing Cheryl. They had both felt a warm, beautiful attraction to each other so quickly...they brought each other such happiness, their mutual desire could only become adoration. And much, much more. But Cheryl was gone, and Rebecca felt alone, so terribly alone. Worse, as she looked at what just happened, Rebecca needlessly blamed herself. She'd promised to be there for Cheryl, to protect the one she cared for so deeply, and she'd failed. She cursed herself: You stupid, stupid fool...you couldn't do a thing to help her, could you? You had your damn gun, and you still let them take Cheryl! It was becoming difficult for her to breathe as she cried, and she tried to calm down...desperate to help Cheryl, Rebecca focused on that. I failed you, Cheryl...but I can still help you, I can still save you and we'll stop those monsters! I have to, I...oh god, Cheryl, I need you...!

In answer to her desperate need to help Cheryl...and perhaps because of fate or something much, much higher...Rebecca heard the sound of a heavy engine approach from behind, and then a screech of tires. The sound of the engine shut down. A vehicle's door opened. Foosteps on the asphalt. And Rebecca heard Sheriff James Gulager say, "Agent Chambers! Would you mind telling me what you're doing here?"

Slowly, shakily, Rebecca rose to stand...and she turned to look at Gulager, who stood next to his truck with his hands on his hips. The Sheriff looked back at Rebecca, and she was a disarming sight. The petite beauty looked like she just got her heart broken somehow, he thought...she was crying as she hugged a plush Huey the Horse doll tightly in her slender arms. The lady looked like a lost, hurt child looking for her parents...if it wasn't for the Beretta handgun she held in her right fist. The moment he registered that she was carrying a weapon, he immediately unholstered his big stainless steel semi-auto from his gunbelt and held it waist-level. He barked, "I don't care if you're a government agent, you'd better drop that gun! Drop it!" Quietly, without any protest, Rebecca dropped the gun as she stared at Gulager with wide, wet eyes. Gulager then ordered, "Now drop that horse and put your hands up!" She didn't respond at first, which didn't do much for Gulager's patience. He repeated, "I said drop the horse and lift your hands!"

Rebecca Chambers finally responded: she softly said, "No."

"What?"

The girl was almost trembling with primal need...her voice was on the verge of breaking as she said, "Huey belongs to Cheryl. I need to give him back to her."

That was when Rebecca began to walk toward Gulager, who immediately ordered, "Chambers, I didn't give you permission to move! You'd better stop, girl!" She kept walking, as if she hadn't heard him...her wet eyes bored into him. Feeling an unwanted burst of fear, he got much louder: "I said STOP!" But she didn't. She never even hesitated to get closer. She was only a few paces away when Gulager finally aimed his gun at full extension at her face...he said at the top of his lungs, "YOU COME ANY CLOSER, AND I WILL SHOOT!"

Rebecca stopped. Her voice was full of fragile urgency when she said again, "I need to give Huey back to Cheryl."

Gulager stared at her for a beat, and he couldn't help but frown. "That's not going to happen, girl." Deciding she wasn't a threat at all, Gulager holstered his gun as his other hand found the pouch of his gunbelt that held his handcuffs. He got the restraints and drew closer to Rebecca. He dispassionately said as he reached out, "What will happen is this. I'm placing you under arrest for - !"

It wasn't the biggest mistake James Gulager had ever made in his life, thoroughly misjudging Rebecca Chambers, but it was still a whopper.

He didn't keep in mind at the moment that the pixie-cute brunette was part of the Bioterrorist Security Assessment Alliance, and in order to be part of that organization she underwent training that included both armed and unarmed combat for counter-terror operations. In fact, Rebecca was a high-ranking black belt in the Japanese martial art of Ju-Jitsu, a form of empty-hand fighting born over 2000 years ago. Its name translated in English as The Gentle Art, and its central philosophy was to conquer a superior opponent with minimal force.

The moment Sheriff Gulager's outstretched hand touched one of Rebecca's bare shoulders to make her turn around so he could cuff her, she became a blur of motion. The petite girl took the taller and stronger man completely by surprise as her hands took hold of his wrist. Gulager could only register blinding, incredible pain and suddenly he was driven down with harsh efficiency. He felt his cheek pressing against asphalt as Rebecca stood over him, his wrist secured and locked tightly and agonizingly in her hands. He didn't know what the girl did, but he suddenly found himself conquered.

Cheryl Mason had just gifted Rebecca with the memories of her previous lives...Rebecca knew what had been done to Cheryl and to Silent Hill, she was finally given an idea of how evil The Order and their 'god' was, and that knowledge only stoked her building, righteous anger to higher levels. Rebecca spoke, and her voice increased in intensity and hostility with each second that passed. "I said I need to give Huey back to Cheryl, but I can only do that if I save her. Cheryl Mason is all that matters to me, and I don't care if I live or die, okay? I know The Order took her. I know you work for The Order. So what's gonna happen is you'll tell me what I NEED to know! TELL ME WHERE THEY TOOK CHERYL!"

Gulager began to growl, "I don't know what the hell you - AAAGGGHHHH!" He was suddenly in even greater pain as Rebecca applied a harsh level of pressure to the wrist-lock. Bones were about to break.

Rebecca screamed with fury, "The Order just kidnapped Cheryl and drove her away in an ambulance! Tell me where they took her! NOW!"

Full of fear, the lawman yelled, "A-all right! ALL RIGHT! Th-they took her to the hosptial!"

The girl eased the pressure on the wrist-lock - only a little - as she stared down at him. "What?!"

"You just said they used an ambulance, didn't you?! Besides, that's where their leader is now! Reeve's the one who always wanted that girl!"

Reeve. The same one who assaulted Rebecca and Cheryl by thought. But the agent was unsure of Gulager's information. "They wouldn't be so brazen...to take her to the hospital...?"

"Why not?! Doctor Young works for them, too! He runs the hospital!"

Bearing that in mind, Rebecca thought it made a little more sense. "Tell me what else you know, Sheriff! What is The Order doing?! TALK!"

Gulager hated this, but he wasn't about to mess with this crazy girl. "I can't tell you much, just...I've helped them in little ways, covered for them ever since they came into town, and I'm not the only one in town working for them. B-but I have no idea what they're doing because Reeve wanted me to know as little as possible!" Rebecca communicated that she didn't believe that by giving his wrist a twist, and he felt a thunderbolt of searing pain. "AGH - ! I-I'M NOT LYING, DAMMIT! HE SAID IT WAS FOR MY PROTECTION!"

Rebecca said flatly, "No, I'd say it was for their protection more than yours!"

Gulager finally groaned, "M-maybe Doctor Young knows more than I do! Talk to him!"

Rebecca nodded. "Don't worry, I will!" She then kicked the man in the face, driving him to unconsciousness. She finally let the man's wrist go and just like that, James Gulager was prone and unconscious on the asphalt.

The brunette left Gulager and in short order collected from the ground Huey, her handgun, and the handbag she'd dropped a short distance away in the back alley that contained her iPhone and the vial of Aglaophotis she stole from Doctor Young earlier. She got into the Sheriff's truck and saw he left his key in the ignition, which was on a ring with a large set of keys. The agent started the truck, put it in reverse and backed up in the direction Gulager came from.

Less than two minutes later - even the side streets were starting to become busy with arriving fairgoers at this time, delaying her - Rebecca brought the truck to a halt in the back lot of the bed and breakfast she and Cheryl stayed at last night...she'd stopped not far from her motorcycle and Cheryl's Ford, in fact. The agent got out of the truck, slammed the door shut, and had to force herself to stand still and calm herself. Hot tears filled her eyes again as she made her hands into fists to keep them from trembling. It took an incredible effort to focus and control herself, but the loss of Cheryl made her feel like someone stabbed her in the heart with a heavy knife. The Order had taken Cheryl. They were going to do something terrible to her, make her into their Mother of God. And for all she knew, they weren't going to waste any time. If Rebecca wanted to redeem herself and save Cheryl, she had to calm down, even though time for them both might have been terribly short.

Rebecca Chambers barely succeeded and regained her focus. She then got her iPhone from her handbag. Rebecca needed help desperately, and she knew exactly who to call.

-4-

Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance
U.S. Division Headquarters
Washington, D.C.

Barely fifteen minutes earlier:

Chris Redfield happened to be in his office, going over more reports, when he heard a knock at his door. Chris looked up and said, "Come in!" But when the door opened, he quickly saw he had a special and most welcome guest.

The tall, heavily built man looked like a younger brother to Paul Bunyan, he was that big. His clothes were as rugged as his face, covered by a red beard that had the beginnings of gray to accent it. But there was a sunny, bright expression on this veteran law enforcer and survivalist's face when he nodded deeply and greeted, "Hey, Chris!"

Surprised, Chris grinned and almost yelled, "Barry!" He got up from behind his desk and began to walk to his visitor. "I thought you'd be visiting next week!"

Barry Burton, one of Chris Redfield's oldest friends, a former comrade in the U.S. Air Force and former teammate from the Raccoon City Police Department's S.T.A.R.S. unit, closed the door and moved to meet his old partner. Barry enlightened, "I managed to get some extra off time from my job a little early!"

"That's not easy when you work for law enforcement." There was a knowing look in his eyes as he added, "Unless you're the boss, Chief Burton!"

Barry laughed, "Then it's a little bit easier!" After all of the chaos involving Raccoon City, after he assisted Chris and Jill in finding the evidence needed to bring the Umbrella Corporation to justice, Barry Burton and his family moved to Montana...in the city of Billings, partly because of his history and credentials, he joined its police department high in the ranks. It was just recently, because of his dedication and good works since, he'd been promoted to the highest position in the department.

Chris and Barry met in the heart of the office and shook hands with vigor, but it quickly turned into a hug between these comrades in arms. The men broke apart and Chris said with feeling, "Congratulations, Bear. You earned it." Bear had long been Chris' nickname for the big man, and truthfully there was a resemblance...lord knew Barry wanted to give a nickname or something else to everyone he met! The BSAA captain still remembered how Barry liked to call fellow S.T.A.R.S. survivor Jill Valentine 'the master of unlocking', much to her quiet annoyance.

Barry said warmly, "Thanks, Chris."

"Are Kathy and the girls still good?"

"They're still amazing, Chris," Barry answered with a smile nearly a mile wide as he thought of Kathy Burton, his wife, and their daughters Moira and Polly. The girls were in college now, which made him feel old, and earning high grades in their classes. Every day he felt blessed to have such a beautiful, loving family.

"How are things in Billings?"

"Just the way I like them: quiet! What about your end?"

Chris' expression became more solemn. "Quiet...for now. Rebecca's gone to check on something, though."

"No kidding! You finally put her in the field - !"

"Don't you start with me. She's just investigating something she came across."

Barry asked, "What's that?"

"Mass disappearances, a lunatic cult...unusual stuff. Chances are it's nothing serious."

The big man gave Chris a look. "Then why's Rebecca gone if it's not serious?"

"She's using her vacation time, and it's something she really believes in."

"And you don't?"

Chris frowned deeply. "I honestly don't know what to think, Bear. It's strange business. You'll probably have as much luck if I tell you about it."

Barry said, "Then fire away, man." Chris gestured to the big man to take a seat on the couch on one side of the office...he got a couple of canned drinks for them to share. Even before Chris got back to the couch, he'd started in. It took a couple of minutes to enlighten the weapons specialist about Silent Hill and Shepherd's Glen, their never-ending fog, and The Order.

By the time Chris was done, Barry was frowning, too. He said, "Okay, strange definitely covers it! But Rebecca's okay, right?"

Chris nodded, having no idea what was happening at that moment in Black Falls. "So far. Rebecca's getting help from this girl who has a history with the cult, Cheryl Mason."

"When did you last hear from her?"

"Yesterday. If anything comes up, she'll call, though."

Barry nodded. "Then I can ask about other things. How's Jill?"

Chris Redfield smiled fondly. "Jill is doing good, Barry. Even after all of that crap last month."

"That's good." Chris started to take a drink from his can when Barry asked, "So have you and Jill shacked up yet?"

Chris almost spit up his drink. He had to wipe his chin as he stared at Barry, flabbergasted. "What?!"

"You heard me!"

Chris growled, "Barry, that's a little personal!"

Barry grinned and said, "Nope, if I wanted to be personal, I'd ask why you two haven't done the horizontal mambo yet!"

Again, this was as Chris tried to take a swallow from his soft drink. This time some of it sprayed from his nose onto the office floor. "Barry - !"

Barry laughed. "You know you've got a drinking problem? Don't worry, it's not as bad as that guy in the movie Airplane!"

Chris gave Barry a hard look. "What is wrong with you!? Jill and I have always been close, but - !"

But Barry's eyes were comparatively harder when he interrupted, "Chris, don't B.S. me. I know you two have been close since you met, when Jill was the first woman to join S.T.A.R.S. I was there, remember? Damn, that was a long time ago - !"

Chris warned, "Don't make me feel old, Bear!"

"Yeah, I was there, and even then I saw the signals. I saw the same things that Kathy and I felt when we started falling in love."

Chris began to protest. "I have no idea what you're - !"

Barry growled, "Chris, seriously. Don't bullshit me. You know what I mean. You've always been really close, and I'll never understand why the head of the BSAA split you up for a while. You've always been stronger together than you ever were apart. And what about those three years of hell you put yourself through, believing Jill was dead and blaming yourself for it? Each time I visited you, I could see you lost faith in what you were fighting for...worse, you stopped giving a damn about yourself. Taking one high-risk mission after another with minimum support, it's like you wanted to die."

As Barry spoke, Chris' expression became elementally somber...he stared into space as he remembered. "No, Bear. When I thought Jill died...I felt like so much inside me died, too. I'm sorry I couldn't open up to you then. I was in a bad place." He and Barry had always kept in constant touch with each other since the fall of Umbrella, even though they took very different paths.

Barry said sadly, "I just wish I could've talked some sense into you then, helped you somehow."

Chris finally looked the big bear of a man in the eyes and said quietly, "I don't deserve a friend like you, Barry."

Barry's expression softened. "You always did feel too much, Chris. That's the one chink in your armor. You must still feel guilty about the teams you lost last Christmas and a little over a month ago."

Chris quickly said, "I've gotten better since, Barry. Really."

"In some ways you have, yeah."

Chris smiled sourly. "It's strange. Even at my lowest during this damned year, I didn't feel as dead inside, as...lost as I was without Jill."

Barry grinned again. "Yeah, let's get back to you and Jill for a minute!"

The BSAA captain groaned, "Oh, god."

"Relax, this will only hurt for a minute! A month ago, right after all that crap with Neo-Umbrella, you finally got pulled out of Europe so you can start things up for the BSAA stateside. And perfect timing, all of our shouting to get Jill out of government custody earned her a hearing right after that!" Because for three years, Jill Valentine had been under the control of Albert Wesker. And then the truth came out about her once being infected by the T-Virus, and how it changed her. There was a need to observe her, examine and test her repeatedly to ensure she was no longer a threat in any way.

Chris nodded as his mood chilled. "They kept Jill in custody for over three years, but the hearing only took a damn day."

"Because the government finally figured out what her friends and family already knew: Jill Valentine could never be one of the bad guys."

Chris snapped angrily, "It was still bullshit she had to be demoted in rank with her reinstatement! It was like they thought of Jill as...as damaged goods!"

"And if I recall right, the lady didn't care about that." Barry's smile was warm as he said, "I do know who Jill really cared about, though."

Then, the moment the free and reinstated Jill Valentine left the hearing room on Capitol Hill, she heard and felt the explosion of cheers and applause from her family and her closest, dearest friends who were there for her. Chris, Barry, Sheva Alomar, Rebecca Chambers, and others in the BSAA. Jill laughed as she cried tears of relief and happiness, and the first thing she did was rush straight to her partner, Chris Redfield. They held each other fiercely with a sudden, long-denied passion as the others watched. Jill Valentine said with so much regret, "Oh, Chris...it's been like Hell to be without you!"

Chris Redfield felt like the world made sense again as he held that beautiful, amazing woman. He said in a voice deep with emotion, "Nothing's gonna keep us apart again, Jill. I promise."

Chris couldn't help but look down in his office as he remembered...the smile on his face was priceless.

But Barry had to bring him back down to earth by asking, "You want to know how long you two held each other like that? I had to time it - !"

Chris came to and glared at his friend. "Barry...!"

"You could've knocked Rebecca over with a feather, she was so happy for you both!"

"What's your point?"

"And then you and Jill had to ruin it all and not even kiss! You were both suddenly like, 'Uh-oh, friends are watching!' Then you broke apart like you were afraid you'd set each other on fire!"

Chris stared at Barry for a beat. "Are you done?"

"My point is, I've never seen two people so perfect for each other like you and Jill are, but you're both scared to admit it! I can only guess you're scared of...well, being more than partners."

Chris suddenly frowned again. He said reluctantly, "I can't speak for Jill, but I can tell you how I feel."

Barry looked at him. "Honest?"

"Yeah, honest. And you're damn right I'm scared. Do you have any idea how badly things could crash and burn if we took a step like that? And that depends on if Jill feels the same way I do!"

"She does. Seriously."

Chris' expression was dubious. "Barry, we're in exactly the wrong jobs if we want to make a lifetime commitment to each other."

"Then talk to Jill about you both quitting and settling down!"

The look Chris gave him was even more doubtful. "And what would we do?"

"You could always go back to your family's ranch in Colorado. Your dad still wants to pass on the business to you and Claire, right?"

Chris stared at him with a conflicted expression. He seemed to like the idea...and yet there was so much fear in his eyes. "I..."

Barry counseled, "Chris, I can see how tired you are. You're tired of fighting terrorist assholes and their bug-eyed bio-weapons."

Chris looked away as he frowned. "Yeah. I am tired. Losing two teams...losing Piers to Neo-Umbrella made me that way."

"So what's stopping you?"

Chris looked into Barry's eyes. "This. The war."

Barry frowned. "What, and you think you're the only one who can fight bioterrorists? That's pretty damn arrogant." The big man gestured at Chris and said in a joking tone, "Step aside, everyone! Leave this job to Chris Redfield, Zombie Hunter, Slayer of Ass-Ugly Monsters - !"

"Barry, come on."

"No, you come on! Even samurai in ancient Japan knew when to retire when they had the chance! You're not getting any younger either, you know?"

"Oh, thanks a lot."

"I'll ask again. What's stopping you?"

Then...there was a sudden, quiet pain in Chris Redfield's eyes as he spoke again. "I can't just walk away, Barry. I...I owe it to Piers and the men I lost. I lived through all of the shit they didn't."

Barry Burton gave Chris a hard look and said, "So this is about guilt. Remember I know something about guilt, old friend. Hell, I all but helped Albert Wesker feed S.T.A.R.S. to the dogs back in the day - !"

Chris quickly said, "Barry, Wesker threatened your family! If you didn't work with him, he would have killed Kathy and your girls! You did what you did for them, and Jill and Rebecca understood why, too!" They were the darkest moments in Barry Burton's life, and culminated in the Mansion Incident that July of 1998. Albert Wesker, then the leader of S.T.A.R.S. and secretly employed to Umbrella, forced Barry to become part of his dirty dealings...if he hadn't, Wesker would have had agents terminate his family. In that damned mansion, Wesker ultimately made Barry betray Jill, but the weapons specialist realized the madman was working for his own purposes, to steal Umbrella research and cover his own tracks. Barry Burton redeemed himself and was as instrumental in Chris, Jill, and Rebecca escaping the mansion facility before it was destroyed as the belated but timely assistance of the late Brad 'Chickenheart' Vickers. Barry briefly had to relocate Kathy and their daughters to Canada for their safety until Umbrella was brought down.

Barry shook his head, his expression full of regret. "But I still feel guilty, Chris."

"I've told you before you have no reason to, man! I promise you that!"

Barry's eyes turned hard as he gazed at Chris. "Then maybe you ought to listen to your own advice! Really look at what happened to those men you lost! Did you kill them? No, Neo-Umbrella did! And I remember what you told me about Piers, he made his own choice! Those brave men went down in the line of duty following your orders! They had their eyes wide open and knew what the risks were! The last person they would have blamed was you! And on top of all that, you feel guilty about surviving when they didn't? It was just like when you thought Jill was dead, maybe your dying would have made that right, too?" Chris opened his mouth to protest...but there was so much quiet pain in his expression as he turned away, silent. Barry looked at him, worried. "Like I've always told you, Chris, you feel too damn much. You've got to accept that there are some things you can't control and move on. And maybe moving on includes stepping aside, like I did. Walk out with your shield before you get carried out on it." The big man finally challenged, "Think about it for Jill as much as for yourself if you really love her!"

Chris looked at him and began, "Barry - !"

That was when he heard the ringing of his iPhone, which he left on his desk.

With a sour expression, Chris left the couch to move to the desk, but Barry growled, "To be continued!"

Chris glanced back at him and said, "Maybe!" He got to his desk, picked up the iPhone and looked at the screen. He smiled a little when he saw who the incoming call was coming from. "Guess what, Barry? Rebecca's calling!" He hit the answer button and began, "Hey, Rebecca - !"

But Chris stopped cold when he saw Rebecca Chambers on his screen, tears streaming from her frantic eyes, as she screamed, "CHRIS?! CHRIS, I NEED HELP RIGHT NOW!"

-5-

In Black Falls, Rebecca Chambers was already beginning to lose the self-control she fought so hard for before. She couldn't help it. Rebecca cried to Chris, "The Order just took Cheryl, and there was nothing I could do, I failed her! I need you here as fast as possible - !"

On her iPhone's screen, Chris Redfield's expression was one of pure concern. "Whoa!-WHOA! Rebecca, slow down! Just slow down, please! Calm yourself!"

Barry Burton, who had literally launched from where he sat when he heard Rebecca screaming, was partly there on the screen, as well. "Rebecca, it's Barry Burton! What's your situation?!"

"B-Barry?!" Rebecca looked at the big man's image with wide eyes, surprised to see him. "Oh, it's so good to hear you, too! The Order just kidnapped Cheryl! They want her for something horrible!"

Barry was pure business as he asked, "Chris just told me what you're looking into! You must mean Cheryl Mason! Why do they want her?"

Rebecca voice shook as she answered, "I-I'm sorry, Barry, it's too much to talk about right now! I can tell you The Order's leader is named Reeve, and they're...th-they're using these hideous parasites! They're monsters, Chris, like those creatures you and Sheva fought in Africa! They control people, a-and they make their victims do what The Order wants! H-hold on, I'm sending you the pictures I took in the hospital...!" She quickly worked her fingers to do just that, and it took just a couple of moments to transmit the pictures she'd taken of the people possessed in the hospital's ICU.

On the screen, she saw the expressions of both men slacken with shock. Barry Burton almost breathed, "Good lord!"

Chris Redfield's expression was tight and grim. "We're seeing them, Rebecca! How many more people are under the control of those things?!"

Rebecca shook her head. "I have no idea, Chris! All I do know is The Order is about to do something in Black Falls...worse, they're going to hurt Cheryl! If they want to make her their Mother of God...! I-I've got to save her before that happens!"

Barry said, "W-wait, mother of what?"

Chris frowned. "Rebecca - !"

Rebecca's beautiful face became full of soul-aching pain. "I failed her, Chris! I promised I'd be there for her and I failed! I've got to make it right, I've got to save her!"

But Chris suddenly said, "Rebecca, don't do anything for now! I want you to wait until we come to you!"

Rebecca's eyes grew full of shock. "You want me to WAIT?! B-but it'll take you over an hour to get to Black Falls! You don't understand, Chris, I can't trust the local police! Too many people in this town are working for The Order! I know where Reeve has Cheryl, and I have to do something NOW!"

Chris said flatly, "And I'm giving you a direct order to stand by and wait for backup, Rebecca! Do you know how many people have been taken over by those parasites? Do you know The Order's numbers or what kind of firepower they have?!"

Rebecca answered, "N-no, but that doesn't matter - !"

"Yes, it does! Rebecca, you can't just rush blindly in to save this girl, you'll only get yourself killed!"

Rebecca then frowned and stared at Chris and Barry's image. "How many times have you rushed into a situation, Chris?"

She watched Barry frown at Chris as he said, "Touche, old friend."

Chris' expression became hard then and he said loudly, "I'm still giving you a direct order, Rebecca! Stand by and wait for us to come to you, then we'll help you get that Mason girl back! You understand me?!"

Rebecca Chambers stared at the image on her iPhone's screen for a moment. During that moment, her unsure, frantic expression shifted slowly to one of pure, perfect resolve and understanding. The moment passed, and the brunette said, very simply, "Go to Hell, Chris."

Both Chris Redfield and Barry Burton stared at her with stunned expressions. Chris began to ask coolly, "What did you just say - ?!"

But the girl suddenly screamed in defiance at her captain's image, "I SAID GO TO HELL!" And she hung up on him.

Rebecca knew a welcoming calm as she understood. She was on her own. Help was over an hour away...all she could do was let Chris know what was going on.

But the lady was damned if she'd just sit and wait while Cheryl needed her.

With pure purpose, the agent moved to her green sports cycle...it had been customized to hold two secret compartments under its aerodynamic panels, one on the right and the other on the left. The one on the right side held her bag with a few changes of clothes. The compartment in the left side of the bike held contents that were much different, contents she hoped when she entered Black Falls she wouldn't have to access. That had changed, and she lowered to her knees to open it...she took out a small yet heavy case eagerly.

Rebecca stayed on her knees and opened the case, and inside was a light backpack and utility belt with an empty gun holster. She took her vial of Aglaophotis from her handbag and put it with the rest of the contents, which included first aid provisions and medical equipment with which she could perform any number of emergency functions to help someone wounded, including field surgery. She thought fast and moved to the other compartment for a moment to get Cheryl Mason's Colt Peacemaker and the boxes of .45 Long Colt shells, which she'd put with her clothes that morning in case anyone searched Cheryl's old Ford. She put the big Colt and its ammo in the backpack, zipped it closed, and put it on. Rebecca buckled the belt around her lovely waist...like a police officer's utility belt, it held many pouches but was much lighter in material. Besides handcuffs, it held pouches with lockpicks (she'd learned a lot from Jill Valentine), pepper spray and other equipment, including green, red and blue herbal tablets that could heal, increase strength and stamina, and counteract poisons of many different kinds. After Rebecca tied the lower strap of the belt's gun holster around her right thigh, she took from her handbag her Beretta 9mm handgun and its spare clips. After making sure the Beretta was snugly in the holster at her side, she snapped the spare clips in her belt, too.

Rebecca finally focused on what made the case so heavy...the field-stripped components of a much heavier weapon, along with five long magazines.

It took the agent a few moments to put the weapon together: it was an H&K MP5 9mm submachine gun with a built-in suppressor and collapsible stock. She loaded a clip into the weapon and set its safety so it wouldn't fire. For now. She put the spare clips into her belt, too.

Before she closed the compartment to the cycle, she had one more thing to do. She gently, carefully put Cheryl's plush Huey the Horse in the compartment and locked it tight. So he'd be safe until she could give him back to Cheryl.

Then Rebecca Chambers slowly rose from the side of her cycle. The MP5 had a shoulder strap, and she slung it over one of her slender shoulders. She marched back to Sheriff Gulager's truck, got inside, and drove away.

Rebecca thought calmly as she drove to the hospital, I'm coming for you, Cheryl...I'll be right there.

-6-

It was right after Rebecca hung up in Washington, D.C., and Chris Redfield was staring at his iPhone's dark screen. He snarled, "Goddamn it!"

At his side, Barry Burton couldn't help but smile. "Rebecca's become one amazing lady, Chris."

Chris nodded solemnly and quickly punched in a new number as he said, "I'm figuring that out for myself, thanks."

Only a few seconds passed before someone new appeared on the screen. Jill Valentine smiled and said, "Hello, Chris! What's - ?"

Chris Redfield interrupted her immediately: "Jill, I'm going to need your help to mobilize every available agent we have in Washington, and I mean EVERY single one. Rebecca Chambers is in the middle of a possible bioterrorist action in Black Falls, Vermont and she needs our help yesterday. I have no idea what the enemy's strength is, but I do know they're using a form of parasite like the plaga in Spain and Africa. Have everyone prepped for wartime combat, you hear me?!"

Jill suddenly looked like Chris felt...there was a determination as strong as steel in her eyes as she said briskly, "Loud and clear!"

"I'm going to notify the President and the Secretary of Defense, let them know the situation...they'll call the state authorities, hopefully get some State Police support to Rebecca while she's waiting for us. I'll join you as fast as I can."

Jill's expression was full of emotion as she said thickly, anxiously, "I swear to god, Chris, if anyone hurts Rebecca - !"

Chris firmly said, "That's NOT going to happen, Jill. Not on our watch, okay?"

Thinking only of Rebecca, Jill Valentine nodded, her eyes bright with worry for her. "Okay!"

As Chris disconnected, Barry Burton said quietly, "I'm coming with you, Chris."

Chris stared at his old friend. "Barry - "

Barry said in a cold tone, "If you say no, I'm going to knock you the hell out. Do I have to say Rebecca's important to me, too? And you did say you needed everyone available?" The big man spread his arms wide and offered, "Available is what I am!"

Chris finally nodded deeply. "Thanks, old friend." He almost clenched his iPhone in his fist as he frowned, as he felt an instinctive, ominous foreboding. "I have a bad feeling we'll need all the help we can get." The light shifted in his eyes. "In fact, there's someone else I need to call first."

Barry Burton asked, "Who?"

"Someone I trust," Chris Redfield said. "Besides, he has the President's ear, anyway." He then dialed a new number.

Just after one ring, a familiar face appeared on Chris' iPhone screen...Leon S. Kennedy said, "Hello, Chris! What's up?"

TO BE CONTINUED