Resident Evil:
The Whole Story.
Chapter Sixteen.
Jill sighed as gathered up all the papers on the desk, in the past three weeks the police force had suddenly got a lot of attention thrown on to them due to the increased amount of disappearances up in the mountains and the forest. People going missing up there wasn't unusual the forest was massive and there dozens and dozens of trails that weren't on any map and people went missing every year.
But there was usually a few weeks before a missing person report was filled but now there were only a few days between people going missing and there were multiple people going missing each time instead of just one or two and the people of Raccoon city, and the other towns and cities in the Arklay region were starting to panic.
But it hadn't blown up completely unti about a week ago when a distraught couple came in to the police station to report that their two teenage children, Samantha Jones and Jacob Jones, had gone missing. Apparently they had gone with a large group of other students from Raccoon High School up to a lodge in the mountains and none of them had come back.
A pair of police officers went up the lodge and they had radioed for help as soon as they arrived, in a matter of hours dozens of officers were on the scene.
Samantha Jones's mutilated body and severed head were found on the path the lead up to the lodge but aside from a severeved limb here or there, there was no sign of the other students but given that there were severed limbs and large amounts of blood found at the scene, the conclusion wasn't good.
Jacob Jones, Talia Thompson, Aaron Thompson, Emily Nara, Tamora Masters, Meg Simpson, Eric Chapman, Isaac Thompson, Kendra Summers, Ian Wright, Nicole Hassel and Natalie Caulfield were all missing presumed dead, as were dozens of hikers and campers from Raccoon, Lathem, Stoneville, Allenville and even one family had gone missing from Harvardville, a city on the other side of the mountains.
Raccoon wasn't a small city but the news spread like wildfire and it didn't take long for the press to find out about them as well as little Jenny Mitchell and her family. There were loud and frequent demands for the police and the local government to do something now that there were actual causalities.
Today Chief Irons was holding a press conference where he would officaly announce that the RPD, and S.T.A.R.S, would officially began an investigation into the murders.
Jill honestly thought that it was about damn time, something odd had been going on up there for weeks and the police had barely done anything about it. Which it's self was odd because the RPD was not known to sit on it's hands but for some reason Irons had been very nervous to commence an investigation despite several senior officers putting pressure on to him.
At least something was finally getting done, if only because Irons didn't want any negative press.
Jill looked up as the S.T.A.R.S office door opened and Chris walked in, he smiled at Jill and walked over to his desk. "You managed to find those maps yet?" He asked as he began to search his own desk for his paperwork. "Wesker seems to be getting real antsy about this, it's kind of weird you know? He's usually so calm and collected."
"By calm and collected do you mean like an emotionless robot?" Jill asked with a grin and Chris laughed and grined widely, Jill looked back down at her desk and sighed. "I swear to god if I find out that Joseph has been moving my stuff around again I am going to punch him in the eye!"
"I don't think so, remember that time he put a tack on your chair? No way he's going to get on your bad side after that." Chris laughed as he remembered how Jill had gotten her revenge.
Jill laughed and sighed in relief when she finally found the maps she had been looking for, the Arklay mountains were huge and they would need every single map they had, just to be safe she decided to put the maps in her locker. "When's the press conference starting?" She asked as she bent down to open the safe.
"About fifteen minutes, we should probably get down there right now actually. Wesker probably wants us there right now, I rather get there early than run the risk of being ordered to scrub the toilets with a toothbrush...again." Chris said while scrunching his nose at the memory.
"You were in the air force and given what your sister and Barry told me, you should be used to that." Jill teased as she exited the S.T.A.R.S office with Chris on her trail.
"Excuse me? I never did anything too bad that got me scrubbing toilets, Wesker's just a massive dick and Claire always overreacts." Chris said as they walked down the corridor, dodging their co-workers. "Speaking of annoying siblings, how's the family reunion thing you were planning going?"
"Not too bad but it's difficult, you know? When one of your brother's is oversees and the other is real busy with his job and I need to make sure I've got time to go and meet up with them, at least Chris, my Chris, is usually in one place so I don't have to worry about scheduling around him." Jill spoke as they walked down the main staircase to the first floor.
"I'm just surprised you can handle three siblings, I mean I love Claire more than anything but that girl can be a massive pain in the ass." Chris said but his tone made it clear that he really didn't mean it. As the two of them stepped into the main lobby of the police station a man with cropped brown hair and dressed in an orange shirt rushed forward to meet them.
"Chris! Jill!" Richard Aiken shouted with a grin as he held up his hand in greeting. "There you two are, your both running late." He smirked and crossed his arms. "Wesker isn't happy with both of you, you know? the men's bathroom on the third floor really needs a good cleaning."
"Screw you Richard!" Chris said with a smirk of his own. "There's still ten minutes, and if you don't get there then god knows what Enrico's going to dish out for you."
"Okay boys, put them away and lets get going. I am not washing any toilets so lets go." Jill said as she walked over to the doors that lead into a corridor. The three of them walked down it until they arrived in front of double doors which lead into the large conference room.
Inside the room was a large stage with a podium where Chief Irons was standing, his pudgy face red and sweating from the intense lights. Standing next to him was Wesker who looked as cool and composed as ever, as though he didn't even feel the heat from the lights, as well as his new secretary, a young redhead.
There were dozens of chairs in front of the stage and almost all of them were full with reporters from the city's various newspapers, TV and radio stations. Jill was happy to see that Alyssa Ashcroft, a journalist from Raccoon Daily News, was sitting right near the front.
Alyssa was dressed in a smart black pantsuit with a red collar and her blond hair was styled into a smart bob. Alyssa was a hardass but she was also a very fierce supporter of the S.T.A.R.S and that had come in handy more than one, Jill would never have thought that she would ever find a reporter useful but Alyssa had proven herself time and again.
Going by the look on her face there was no way that she was going to take it easy on Irons, the public had questions and Alyssa was going to get some answers.
Jill, Chris and Richard walked over to the side of the room where the other S.T.A.R.S members were sitting and took their own seats, Jill next to Barry, Chris in between Rosa and Forest and Richard next to Rebecca.
Joseph was sitting in the row behind Jill and Barry and poked his head between them. "What was the hold up Jilly?" He asked with a grin.
"If you moved those maps Frost I swear to god you'll need to blend all you meals from now on!" Jill said through her teeth, not wanting to shout in case it drew too much attention.
Barry made a shushing noise as the conference started, Joseph kept grinning and pulled his head back. Jill bit her lip and turned her attention on to the conference, she would get how own back later.
Chief Irons stepped in front of the podium as Wesker and his secretary stood at either side of him, he cleared his throat and began to speak.
"Ladies and gentlemen of the Press, I am here to speak to you today of the sudden murder of Samantha Jones, the death of Jenny Mitchell and the rash of disappearances in the Raccoon forest and Arklay mountains."
"We have reason to believe that all of the disappearances are malicious in nature, due to this the RPD and the S.T.A.R.S will commence an investigation to locate and apprehend the perpetrators of this violent and despicable crime, we also be working closely with the police departments of Stoneville and Lathem."
"Are they any questions?" He asked and then pointed a finger at a ginger man with his hair tied back into a messy ponytail, "Yes Mr Bertolucci?"
"Chief Irons, you say that the SPD and the LPD will be assisting in the investigation? I'm sure I don't speak for myself when I say that I find myself a little confused and concerned. Are we to take it that our police force isn't capable of handling this investigation?"
Jill founded herself sneering and looking around she could see that most of the other S.T.A.R.S members were as well. Ben Bertolucci was a shit stirrer and if he could prove that the police force was incompetent or corrupt than he would do anything for that.
"The Arklay mountains and the forest are a lot of ground to cover Mr Bertolucci and Stoneville and Lathem have had their own citizens go missing as well, we don't have any claim on the forest or any authority on out neighbouring cities police departments. I can assure you however that the RPD will be taking the lead." Irons finished and waited for Ben to sit back down before he pointed at Alyssa. "Miss Ashcroft?"
"Chief Irons, several days ago a young woman came into out offices and told us she was attacked by a woman with, and this is a direct quote: "A woman with half a face." Now this was nearly a month ago, do the police believe that this incident and the disappearances and murder of Samantha Jones are connected?"
Irons looked surprised and Jill felt so as well, she couldn't believe that Miss Anderson had gone to the press. She seemed like that all she wanted to do was forget what had happened, the daily news most have heard what happened to her and offered her a lot of money for her story. Jill was surprised that it wasn't in the papers yet.
Irons coughed into his hand before he began to speak. "We are not ruling out that there maybe a possible connection between what happened to Miss Anderson and these recent disappearances ...that's all for now, good day ladies and gentlemen." And just like that Irons was off of the stage and leaving the room in the flash, despite all the reporters shouting at him to try and get his attention.
Wesker looked annoyed...Jill thought he did at least, it was always so hard to read Wesker unless he was really angry. Without a word or any kind of acknowledge meant to the rest of the team he got off the stage and followed the chief out, Irons secretary trailing after him.
The S.T.A.R.S members glanced at one another before getting out of their chairs and making their own way out of the room, before Chris and Jill could get out of the room however they were stopped by Alyssa, who was holding what looked like a brand new, and very expensive tape recorder.
"Officer Redfield, Officer Valentine, I was hoping that I could maybe get a quote from you two about these disappearances...You know what? I think we can call them murders given what happened to poor Miss Jones." She held the tape recorder out. "Any comments?"
"I think that it's a little too early to assume that all the disappearances are murders, the autopsy of Miss Jones revealed that the teeth of the animals that attacked her were some kind of dogs, it is possible that everyone else who has disappeared is alive." Chris looked up when he heard Enrico shouting his name. "Excuse me Miss Ashcroft."
As Chris walked away Alyssa pointed the tape recorder at Jill. "And what about you Officer Valentine, do you have anything to add?"
"The RPD and the S.T.A.R.S will do everything in their power to make sure that justice is done." Jill decided to walk away then, if you gave Alyssa an inch then she would take a mile.
She just hoped that they would get to the bottom of this before they did have another confirmed death on their hands.
XXXxxxxXXX
Irons swallowed his brandy down in one gulp and placed his glass back on his desk before slumping down into his chair, he glanced up at Wesker who standing behind his desk with his arms crossed. "What?" He snapped.
"You panicked and ran off, the press are going to pick up on that." Wesker said bluntly, quite like how he said everything else Irons thought with a grin, that brandy was real working through him. Mind, it was his fourth of the day.
"Of course I panicked, because of you and Umbrella it's like night of the living dead up there and all those people are dead which means there are more of them wandering around." He poured himself another glass of brandy. "Have you discovered the source of the leak yet?"
"Not quite yet, we're working on it but we have a great deal of facilities near by and it takes time to check them all and we can't send men in to clean up until we find out where the virus leaked from." Wesker said as he stared down at Irons's glass with disdain. "How many have you had?"
"Do you honestly care?" Irons asked. "Just...deal with this now, I will mitigate the investigation as best I can but Umbrella has to do something now!"
"We have it in hand, good day chief." Wesker said before turning on his feet and leaving the room.
"They had better." Irons whispered darkly to himself after Wesker had left. "This is my town, I made it what it was! I won't let Umbrella ruin everything I've built!"
End of Chapter Sixteen.
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