Hi guys. Sorry this look so long, I was working on other things. This chapter is one of the longer ones, though. Thanks to 'jess' and 'Jill valentine' for their anon reviews.
Red
Jill was having the most fantastic dream. She was floating on her back in a limitless expanse of crystal clear water. The sun was bright, and the sky was the most potent blue she had ever known.
She felt a gentle tug at her wrist, and looked over to see a smiling man, stood in the water next to her. He was tall and muscular, with short brunette hair and chocolate brown eyes. She felt a rush of affection for this man.
'Chris.' She thought suddenly, 'His name is Chris.' Of course. She loved him.
Jill smiled widely as she stood up, and then threw her arms around him. She was so happy he was here.
Unexpectedly he was gone, and she was looking up at a helicopter in relief. It was going to take her out of Raccoon City. She was saved.
A sound made her turn her head in time to watch the missile fly towards the helicopter.
"No!" she exclaimed as the missile hit, exploding on impact and causing the helicopter to fly into the clock tower, smashing it to pieces.
"No." she muttered again in dismay. Jill turned to the source of the projectile to spot Nemesis. The monster jumped down from the building it had previously been stood on.
"S.T.A.R.S..." It rasped out, stalking towards her.
She dodged the swing from the missile launcher and backed up quickly, but she was cornered.
Nemesis sent a tentacle shooting towards her, piercing her shoulder. She grunted in pain and pressed a hand to her wound as dread overtook her. That was it; she was infected with the T-virus. Even if she managed to escape from Nemesis, she was going to die.
She was going to die. But that was okay as long as Chris lived. Jill hadn't really thought about tackling their enemy out of the window. They clearly didn't stand a chance against him, and it had been obvious the blonde was going to kill Chris. So she'd acted on instinct, and had thrown herself at him. She remembered falling through the air, past the cliff face and into the waters below.
When she next opened her eyes, she was submerged in what felt like water, but she was upright. Her body ached terribly, and her eyes stung at the green glow surrounding her. She noticed the blonde man standing in front of her, observing closely.
'Wesker.' She remembered, 'Albert Wesker.' Of course. She hated him.
She hated Wesker so much. If she could ever be free of his influence, she was going to make him pay.
Jill winced internally as she sent another roundhouse kick in Chris' direction. He stumbled back, clutching his jaw, and she elbowed Sheva in the face when she tried to restrain her.
'Oh god, I'm so sorry.'
"Oh god." she muttered, shooting down the nearest J'avo. There were so many infected, they surely couldn't fight their way out.
"Run!" Chris ordered, dragging her along by the hand. She complied and ran with him, weaving around the various infected.
Jill felt the shot before she heard it; it ripped through her chest mercilessly, and she screamed. She fell forward and smashed into the floor. There was blood everywhere.
She was going to die.
Her eyes flew open. She gasped as she looked around wildly, dazed and confused.
"Jill." Chris said, touching her cheek reassuringly, "It's okay, you're in the hospital."
She relaxed and sank back into the pillows. He smiled at her.
"Just rest for now." he told her, "The doctor said you might have post-traumatic amnesia."
"No," she muttered, staring at him, "I think I remember everything."
Her hand shot out to curl around the back of his neck in order to tug him towards her. Chris made a noise of surprise that was abruptly cut of when his mouth crashed into hers. She kissed him with everything she had, and he didn't question it. Instead he placed a hand on her cheek and kissed her back.
Eventually he pulled back for air, "Wow. Okay."
His partner smiled at him, "It was a close one this time, hm?"
Chris rested his forehead against hers, and spoke softly, "Yeah. I was scared."
Jill closed her eyes and didn't reply. She'd had a lot of close calls; too many, perhaps.
Leon and Claire had left the dogs resting near the inn, before heading over to the bar. It was late, and anyone still awake would be there, most likely. It was questionable whether they would be able to get any reliable information about Sherry from half drunken patrons, but it was a start.
"Finally, we're close to finding her." Claire said happily, "I can't wait to see her."
"Me neither," Leon responded, "Then we can decide what to do about her situation."
A gust of comforting warm air hit them as they entered the bar, shutting the door behind them hurriedly. They glanced around, and the DSO Agent had to do a double take when he spotted a man in the corner. His partner sent him a questioning look, "What is it?"
"...Jake?" Leon asked quietly.
Jake downed another shot before slumping over the table again. He was struggling to think clearly, which was exactly what he wanted. He didn't want to think about her, about the look of horror on her face when he watched him kill those people.
The mercenary frowned, before picking up the bottle of vodka and pouring himself another shot, throwing it back quickly.
Maybe she was right though, a part of his mind whispered. He needn't have killed them; he should have at least kept one alive as a hostage, and questioned them. Another part of his mind suspected he killed them all just to spite Sherry for hurting him...
"Ah shit." he mumbled, drinking straight from the bottle.
Inebriated as he was, he could still sense someone heading straight for his table in the corner, but he refused to raise his head.
"Table's taken." he told them unpleasantly, his speech somewhat slurred.
"Yeah, I can see that." Leon replied. Jake finally looked up.
"Well, if isn't the hero. Made it huh?" he acknowledged nonchalantly, sparing a look for the woman with him.
"We ran into some complications." Leon explained flatly.
"Where's Sherry?" Claire asked, cutting straight to the point, "We thought she'd be with you."
The mercenary scoffed, raising the bottle to his lips and taking another deep drink before he responded sullenly, "She doesn't need our help."
"What do you mean?" Claire persisted, sitting down beside him. Leon did the same on his other side. But Jake's coherency was wavering under a topic he didn't want to think about. He waved a hand dismissively.
"She don't need protecting from nothing." he told them bitterly, "'s all a lie."
"What?" The Terra Save member enquired, obviously confused.
"She lied!" he exclaimed loudly, slamming down the bottle. The other patrons gave him some strange looks.
"Calm down, Jake." Leon warned, placing a hand on his shoulder. Jake shrugged it off.
"She's got some nerve..." The mercenary rambled heatedly, "How dare she! Looking at me, looking at me like I'm...but she's just as bad! No, she's worse!"
Claire shared a bewildered look with Leon, starting to get frustrated, "What on earth are you talking about?"
Jake seemingly ignored her, leaning back into his seat, eyes glazed, "I could hate her, I really could. She's still...she saved me, ya know? Or I thought she did. Maybe not. Maybe I can't be saved. But she...she smells like vanilla and snow..."
Claire sighed in irritation, "Leon, is this making any sense to you?"
The Agent didn't respond, as he had stood up and began to walk over to the bartender. Claire shook her head and turned back to Jake.
"Listen, Jake, we need to see her." she told him clearly and succinctly.
"She ain't goin' nowhere." he replied obnoxiously. He made to raise the bottle to his lips again, yet a splash of icy water harshly hit him in the face before he could. Jake gasped involuntarily, standing up.
"What the fuck was that for?!" he yelled as Leon set down the glass.
"To sober you up!" The Agent retorted, "Listen to us Jake. Where is Sherry?"
Before the Mercenary could respond the sound of yells and screams erupted from outside, combined with barks and howls. Claire stood also, drawing her handgun as Leon readied his. The civilians in the bar seemed unsure of what to do.
"Sounds like we have a problem." Leon noted hastily heading for the door. His partner followed, and Jake grabbed his shotgun from under the table.
The DSO Agent burst open the door, and paused at the sight before him.
"Oh no." he mumbled in shock. He could see the infected already outnumbered the townspeople, and with just one bite the T-virus was spreading rapidly to others.
Claire gasped in horror once she'd caught up to him, "Leon-"
"We have to help any survivors." he told her, before turning to the people inside the bar, "Stay in here and barricade the doors and windows. Try and grab a weapon if you can."
"What's goin' on, hero?" Jake asked, his shotgun resting in his hands.
"You ever fought Zombies before?" Leon asked. The mercenary shook his head.
"Aim for the head." The Agent advised, before raising his gun and heading outside. Claire covered him from behind with her back to his. Both of them began shooting down the horde efficiently.
'They're a good team.' Jake thought absently, before joining the fray. He only had a few bullets left, so he used melee attacks whenever he could. It was difficult to pin down the infected wolves and dogs with his fists though.
"Damn it, go down ya slippery fuckers." he said, managing to land a hit on a wolf with the butt of his shotgun, caving in the animal's skull.
Claire was disheartened to note that most of her huskies had been infected; only the more cautious members of the group remained, steering well clear of every other creature. She regretfully put one down as it lunged for her, before glancing at Jake to see how he was doing.
"Jake, behind you!" Claire exclaimed.
Heeding her warning, he instantly dodged the swing of a metal bar from a male Zombie by rolling forwards. A well aimed bullet from Claire broke open its head, and the Zombie fell.
"Thanks." he said. She smiled slightly.
Meanwhile, Leon countered an attempted grab from another Zombie, kicking it in the stomach before finishing it off with a sweep kick that cracked its skull.
The Agent turned around, ready to fight the next creature, and his eyes widened, "Shit."
The creatures didn't appear to have skin, just pink, raw flesh that sometimes gave way to expose their heart. Their teeth were long and dangerous, and their enhanced strength allowed them to pack one hell of a punch. In a horde like this one, they were practically unstoppable without some heavy duty weapons.
"Bloodshots!" Leon yelled, warning the others, "Back up!"
Claire did as she was told, but Jake raised his shotgun and fired at the nearest creature. It didn't react, just weaved to avoid the next shot as he pulled the trigger again.
"Jake!" Claire called, trying to provide some cover fire, but the creatures didn't halt in their advance.
The mercenary focused on his targets weak spot as the Bloodshot readied itself to pounce on him. He pulled the trigger once more; the gun clicked hollowly. Out of ammo. The Bloodshot pounced and Jake was defenceless.
Suddenly the creature was propelled back by an unseen force. It landed on the ground hard, and began to disintegrate. It was then Jake noticed an arrow protruding from its chest. He moved to back away from the rest of the Bloodshot hoard, when another arrow struck one of the creatures in the middle of the group. This arrow flashed red.
"Get down!" Leon shouted, and Jake threw himself back as the pipe bomb arrow exploded, blasting the entire hoard to smithereens.
Leon tried to ignore his accelerated heart rate and the warmth in the pit of his stomach as he stood, before looking around for her.
"Ada." he murmured once he spotted her, standing casually on the roof of a nearby building. She waved almost lazily, before jumping down and making her way towards them.
"What would you do without me, hm?" she asked, smiling slightly. He couldn't help but smile back. Claire watched the exchange suspiciously, a strange, uneasy feeling gnawing at her insides.
"Who the hell are you?" Jake broke in rudely. Ada turned to him.
"Ada Wong." she answered candidly, "Believe it or not I saved your skin back in China, and Sherry Birkin's too."
"Oh!" Claire exclaimed, "Sherry! We need to make sure she's okay. Jake, where is she?"
"About forty five minutes away from the town. This way." he told them, leading the way. Claire followed immediately, while Leon and Ada hung back.
"I won't ask what you're doing here." he stated softly, edging towards her.
"Good." she agreed, "I wouldn't want to have to lie to you."
Leon shook his head, attempting not to let his interest show, "Are you coming with us?"
"Sure, why not?" she replied. They shared another look before he turned away and began to trail Jake and Claire. Ada followed slowly, taking out her issued cell phone. Typing in a quick message, she hit send before tucking it away again.
Sherry started slightly at the knock on her door. It was very late, but she couldn't sleep. Conflicting thoughts about Jake flitted through her mind endlessly. Had he finally come back? After what she'd witnessed, she wasn't sure if she was ready to see him, or even if she wanted to.
And yet, a small swell of hope bubbled in her chest at the thought of him as she got out of bed, still clad in the clothes she had donned to go after him. Sherry took a deep breath to steady herself as she reached the door, before flinging it open.
Her heart stuttered at whom she saw, "Tobias."
He raised his head to look her in the eye, and smiled, "Good evening, Sherry. It's so good to see you again."
There we go, another chapter. Hope you enjoyed it. Any advice for improvement? Or words of encouragement maybe? It would be awfully nice of you. :)
Thanks for reading!