Chapter 40

"Is there a reason you're actually keeping all of your paperwork?" JIll asked as she shredded another personal document.

"I medically treated people," I replied as I taped up the box that I had just finished packing. "I documented everything in case someone tries to sue me for malpractice."

"I never thought that was something that you had to be worried about," Jill said as she finished packing up the last of her personal effects. "Shows what I know."

"It isn't something I talk about a lot," I replied as I stacked the boxes up on a hand truck. "Partly because I've never been sued for treating anyone, and partly because I just never saw the point in bringing it up."

"I'll have to remember that EMTs and SWAT medics have different rules than the Army medics I've worked with," Jill said as she helped me move the documents out to the small that we had rented for our personal effects.

"It's probably something to keep in mind," I agreed. "If a medical professional in the civillian world screws up, they can become the subject of a malpractice suit. If they screw up in the military, they hand you some Ranger candy and tell you to suck it up."

"You're not wrong," Jill laughed as she climbed into the passenger seat after a moment of looking back at the building that contained our offices. "Well, there's one chapter of our life closed," She said with a sad expression on her face."

"Yeah," I said as I started the truck up. "I'm not so sure about that. I think we'll be back here sooner than we think."

–

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"So, you need a weapon with a rail mounted light?" Robert Kendo asked Alice as he studied the frame of the woman.

"Yeah," Alice said with a shrug as she set a pistol case on the gun countet. "I've got this Beretta 92FS that I've had for a little while. I'll trade it for somehting with a weapon light and I'll pay extra cost on top if necessary."

"Let me get my brother Joseph," Robert said as he inspected the Beretta. "He's the gunsmith here after all," Robert walked into the back of the gunstore.

"I hear you're looking for something with a light," A slightly shorter but thinner man stepped out of the back followed by Robert.

"I am," Alice replied. "Looking for some ammo too."

"Well, I can do a trade," Joseph said as he picked up the Beretta and went over it. "But it'd honestly be more cost efficient for me to just swap out the lower receiver on your Beretta with one of my custom ones. It'll cost about $200 for the modification and you can then throw whatever light or laser you want on it."

"That should work fine," Alice replied. "Any idea how long it will take?"

"It should be done by tomorrow at the latest," Joseph said as he placed the Beretta back into its case before closing it and moving it behind the counter. "We take half payment up front for any modifications, and then half afterwards."

"Sounds good," Alice said as she moved to the register. "Mind if I take a look at some of your other stock? I'm curious to see if there's anything else I might want to purchase while I'm here."

"Go ahead," Robert took over and began writing a ticket as Joseph took the handgun to the back. "Just let me know when you're ready to check out, and this slip is what you'll use to get your weapon back."

"Sounds good," Alice smiled as she looked at the various weapons that were in the gun store before her eyes settled on one gun in particular. "What is that?" She asked as she pointed to the strange blocky weapon with a small scope on the top of it.

"That right there is a gun that I personally hate," Robert stepped over to the weapon in question. "The High Point 1095TS, a 10mm Carbine that works pretty decently, but is probably one of the worst looking weapons ever created. And don't get me started on their handguns," the man shuddered. "You're better off getting one of these and having me touch it up a bit if you want something more tactical," Joseph pulled a small wooden rifle off of the rack behidn him. "This is a Ruger Mini 14. This one in particular is capable of firing both 5.56 NATO, and .223 Remington. It's a rugged machine that'll take care of you if you take care of it."

"Anything for bigger game?" Alice asked, trying to figure out what exactly she wanted.

"Sure," Joseph put the Mini 14 away and brought out a lever action. "This is a lever action chambered in .357 Magnum, it'll kill anything you want it to, and will also fire .38 special if you're aiming for something more self defense."

"I think I'll take it," Alice said with a strange gleam in her eye. "Add it to the ticket and I'll buy it tomorrow when I come back for my Beretta."

"You've got yourself a deal," Joseph said with a smile. "It's nice to meet a woman with an appreciation for the classics."

"So you got everything squared away?" Jill asked Alice as we picked her up from a small restaurant.

"I've gotten everything I wanted done," Alice replied. "And I handed the list you made to Robert, he said it'll take a couple of days to get everything together."

"That's fine," I replied as I backed the truck up. "I'm not in a rush for it."

"What did you order?" Jill asked.

"Five or six thousand rounds of various ammunition," I replied. "Even managed to find a case of 5.45x39 for the AK."

"You preparing for a war?" Jill asked as she glanced in the back at the boxes of ammo that I had claimed from the RPD before we left.

"Jill, have you paid attention to the news while looking into Umbrella, recently?" I asked as I took a left and began the drive back to our apartments. "The news looks a lot like it did when we were about to head up into the mountains, and the odds are that whatever it is that Umbrella was working on has made its way into Raccoon City."

"Fuck," Alice breathed out as she realized what that would mean. "If it spreads as fast as I think it does then the city has been slowly infected for weeks now."

"Which means that we are limited on time," I replied. "I don't know how long we have, but we need to start prepping for the worst."

"Before the worst comes knocking," Jill muttered as I slammed on the brakes, the truck screeching to a halt.