After Death

Chapter 3

Caliber 0.22

The man closes his eyes and settles comfier over the sofa, ready to continue sleeping in such an exquisite place, marveling at the possibility that this piece of old furniture might be more comfortable than his own bed, when his trained ear perceives the turn of the doorknob at the front door, although much too slowly for his liking.

As if the person who is about to enter does not wish anyone to hear them.

Leon opens his eyes completely but doesn't move, forcing himself to remain absolutely still, while his ears clearly perceive how the door opens slowly, with absolute parsimony, and then he hears a pair of heavy boots carefully treading over the floor, evidently striving not to make any noise, the silence of the movement making all his senses jump in alarms throughout his body.

'What the hell...?!'

As stealthily as possible, Leon slips off the sofa, and, leaning over a hand and a foot, drops silently on the carpet, and then crawls with his elbows to be able to observe from over the edge of the furniture: fortunately for him, the large windows of the apartment allow delicious sunlight to illuminate the small room in its entirety, and the agent is able to perfectly see how three men dressed in black, with guns attached to silencers, and all of them pointed menacingly at the front, enter one after the other inside the room, heading to the warm corridor of the place. One of them, the one in the vanguard, beckons his companions to search the place, while he himself goes to the main room, from where Leon can clearly hear the water running from the shower.

'Damn it! Jill!'

Suddenly panicking at the possibility that they might find his partner exposed and helpless, Leon leans a little more against the edge of the sofa, to avoid detection, while directing a hand to his chest, looking for his knife, and closes his eyes tightly remembering that, as soon as he got on the helicopter, he had taken off his bulletproof vest along with all his attachments, including his beloved combat knife... and that they are now comfortably sheltered in the trunk of the car.

'Dear mother of...!'

Clenching his fists tightly, and holding his breath for a moment, he watches the gun passing over him, perceiving the shadow of one of the men peeking over the back of the sofa, looking for anything suspicious. Finding nothing, the man turns around to follow his companions, and Leon manages to exhale, concentrating on the next move.

Which he´s much too aware it has to be fast since he hears that the first man has stopped, probably because he has reached the door of the room.

Slowly, Leon takes the only thing that could be of use at that moment: the small spoon of his coffee, which Jill left on the table for him, and tests the edge of the handle with his fingertips: it is not very sharp, but, perhaps with enough force applied, he can pierce some skin.

After all, he only needs a few inches.

Meanwhile, the first man has already entered the room, and smiles, lecherous, as he deposits his dark gaze on each of Jill's clothes, discarded without much thought on the floor, the bed, and finally, her underwear over the dressing table. Without being able to, or wanting to avoid it, the assailant licks his lips, while he goes to the bathroom door, from where he can hear the water running restlessly.

Jill has already finished bathing but refuses to tear herself away from the embrace of the hot water, from the delicious and relaxing sensation that the heat produces on her sore muscles, so she moves her head backward so that the water falls on her face and her extended neck, dripping all over her skin, making her sigh out of pleasure.

Leon observes that the first man has disappeared inside the bedroom, while the second, one foot already inside the same room, watches attentively something on the floor, making his blood boil.

'Damn them!' Leon screams inside his head. 'How many men plan to subdue an unarmed woman?!'

Forcing himself to remain calm, and knowing that the only way to help her is, first and foremost, getting rid of the last two attackers, Leon walks ever so slowly until, in a few steps, he reaches behind the third man, who was already peeking into the kitchen, and unceremoniously sticks the small spoon in the angle of the neck, while covering his mouth so that he doesn't emit any sound, and she pushes him inside the kitchen, hugging him tightly as he waits for him to bleed out in his arms. His companion, the one in the middle, noticing the noise they have just made, looks back into the hallway but barely manages to see how the kitchen door slowly closes. Taking one last look at his companion who is about to enter the bathroom, and forcing himself to tear his gaze from the feminine garments scattered in the room, the man goes to check on his comrade, pistol in hand, stealthily continuing his walk... which speeds up when he hears the noise of frets falling and breaking inside.

Jill, having already closed the shower, and in the process of drying, also hears the noise of the dishes, and sighs, exhausted, as she yells at her visitor.

"I hope you're not doing anything weird, Leon! Or you'll have to pay me for everything you broke!"

Despite that, she smiles, while putting on her bathrobe, because she knows that she will freeze to death as soon as she goes out to scold that presumptuous blonde, close friend of Claire when she notices how the doorknob slowly opens.

At first, she gets angry, thinking that the blond wants to entertain himself a little, and scolds herself for her naivety: she should never have allowed Leon, someone she doesn't know very well, to enter her apartment. But the moment she hears the ruckus forming over her kitchen again, she realizes that something is not right, and immediately all her senses are alerted.

While her gaze follows the slow movements of the knob, she opens the faucet of the sink, trying to pretend that she´s occupied in it, while stealthily searching for the small .22 caliber pistol that she has hidden under it, and places herself behind the door, squinting when she sees how it opens, just a slit, but that allows a weapon even more powerful than her own, carrying a silencer. Not wasting a single opportunity, as soon as the hand peeks out, Jill kicks the door with all her might, thunderously crushing the offensive hand, making its owner scream, but who still refuses to drop the gun. Jill partially opens the door again, only to lash out a second time with all her weight, clearly hearing how the wood, or perhaps the bones of the offending hand, produce a horrible creak, and finally, the gun falls. With one bare foot, Jill kicks the gun inward, away from the attacker, and comes out to confront him, gun drawn, firing into the man's head. But her assailant is evidently a professional, because he immediately moves to the side, avoiding the bullet, and with a healthy hand, he roughly takes her forearm and, with a fluid movement, twists it forward, hurting her wrist and making her scream, and Jill sees with horror how her hand drops the gun.

But the woman won´t stay still. Using the edge of her hand, Jill punches upwards hard, hitting her enemy squarely on the nose, causing blood to spurt and him to stagger, forcing her to let go. In a quick movement, the officer spins around herself to kick him in the face, but the man raises his arm and stops the strike with his forearm, then gives her a punch that splits her lip apart and turns her sideways, leaving her dizzy. The man does not give her time to recover, though, unceremoniously throwing a kick in the ribs that take the air completely out of her lungs.

Jill can't help it and falls to her knees in front of him, panting, almost out of breath, listening with intense fury as the man laughs at her expense.

"Is this the famous Jill Valentine? Ha! It's definitely more fame than anything."

Without giving him a second to think, Jill gives him a tremendous uppercut in his noble parts, which causes him to shrink painfully, then turns on herself and sweeps him over his feet, causing him to fall next to her. Without giving him time to react, as soon as the man touches the ground, the agent hits him in the face with her elbow, using all her weight against it, and causing his head to bounce. Wasting no time, Jill crawls to the bathroom, looking for the gun the man threw, as she struggles to get up.

"D-damn!"

However, before she can fully rise, her enemy grabs her by both ankles, pulling her back and causing her to fall flat on her face to the ground.

"You're not going to escape me!"

Jill immediately turns to kick him, but the man avoids her leg with the forearm of the injured hand, while with the other hand, he catches her neck, pinning her against the carpet, and manages to straddle over her.

"¡N-no!"

The man, his face completely bloodied, smiles maliciously as his fingers squeeze hard into her throat.

"Nice try, beautiful, but it seems it wasn´t good enough."

However, Jill refuses to give up.

Using both palms, she hits her attacker's ears hard, making him scream and drawing blood from both ears, effectively forcing the man to let go. The woman immediately turns to get rid of him, and shrinks both legs, kicking him squarely on the chest, causing it to move farther away, and in a spin, reaches the bathroom door. Unfortunately, her enemy had fallen very close to her own gun, and after she hears a detonation, Jill feels the flesh on her back burning with intense fire.

"¡Aaargghh!"

However, although she falls to her knees, the pain does not stop her, so she turns again and manages to enter the bathroom, as two bullets chase her body without reaching it, and as she reaches the shower, Jill immediately picks up the man's gun, turning around as fast as possible, a movement that barely helps her to dodge a last bullet, which still scratches the edge of her leg, while she points towards his head, hearing an accurate shot that produces an explosion of blood, shattering the forehead of her opponent.

Breathing heavily, and still aiming at her enemy, Jill awaits in case the man decides to get up. After all, she has very bad experiences with people who refuse to stay dead. After a dozen seconds, when it's evident that the man will not get up, Jill still answers back.

"I don't know how famous I really am... But I guess this means your fame ends here, moron." At that moment she can hear grunts, furniture smashing and gunshots, coming from the hallway, the sound waking her up from her stupor. "Leon!" Making a tremendous effort to stand up for the injury in her leg, and holding the enemy weapon with one hand, she runs out to help her companion.

As soon as she arrives at the hallway, she finds that her blond friend struggles with another man dressed in black, throwing each other hard against the wall, while exchanging punches and kicks, the two occasionally casting significant glances at the gun that lies abandoned on the corridor.

"Jill! Run!" Leon gives a strong punch to his opponent´s ribs, but he returns it with an elbow on the chin, taking him by surprise and forcing him to separate, stumbling backwards. The last enemy standing throws himself towards the ground, reaching out to take the gun and direct it towards Leon, but Jill wastes no time and shoots him directly in the head, killing him instantly. Leon, finally seeing the last opponent defeated, leans on the wall, breathing heavily. "Thanks, mate."

"T-there is no need..." Hearing her tired voice, Leon finally gives his companion a look, opening his eyes wide when he realizes that she also rests her back against the wall, letting her body slowly slide to the floor... Although in her case, she leaves a trail of blood against the white color of said wall.

"Jill!" Leon immediately runs towards her, and, as he kneels in front of her, takes her face in between his hands, cleaning the blood on her lips with his thumb, making her flinch, as he does his best not to see how her robe opens more than it should, which still allows him to see that they really did not give her time to put anything under it, and instead, returns his eyes towards the blood-stained wall. "You're bleeding! Where?"

Closing her eyes and hissing in pain, Jill whispers back.

"On... on the back... towards the shoulder..."

Jill leans a little forward in order to let him see, and, trying not to be so aggressive, Leon gently takes the collar of the robe, to observe the woman's bare back. The man gulps harshly, forcing himself not to think about the delicious skin under his scrutiny until he finds the wound site, still bleeding, whose dry clots already form painful bridges over the fabric that covers it.

"Shit…"

With her eyes still closed, Jill senses the blonde's concern.

"That bad, huh?"

Leon purposely ignores the question.

"I need a first aid kit. Please tell me you have one."

The woman nods slowly.

"There is one... inside the bathroom..." With concern, the man notices that her breathing is ragged. That's definitely not a good sign.

"Wait for me, I'm going to get it." Running as fast as he can, Leon desperately searches for the kit, while calling 911 for an ambulance and the police, while his hands search among her things in the bathroom. The hotline responds immediately.

"911, how can I help you?"

"This is the D.S.O. agent Leon Scott Kennedy speaking, I need you to immediately send an ambulance and police support to the address I'm going to give you. I have a B.S.A.A. officer with gunshot wounds and three gunned-down bodies of her assailants."

"Okay, sir, we´ll immediately send someone. Don't move from the place."

"Understood." Without wasting time, Leon dials Chris's phone, but unfortunately, he doesn't answer, even after two attempts. "Come on, Chris... please!" As soon as he finds the kit, the blond runs back to her partner, finding her with her eyes already closed, as she falls prey to the pain that begins to seize her. "Don't worry, Jill, you'll be fine. An ambulance is already on its way."

The woman nods and tries to give him a smile, but immediately remembers something that makes her open her eyes wide, her healthy hand clinging to his forearm.

"We need to call Chris... This was not an isolated attack... Leon! They had military training!"

The man nods as he uncovers her shoulder and part of her back, making an effort not to discover beyond needed.

"I know. Don't remind me, please. I had a hard time overpowering him." The man sighs, unable to find a way to properly care for her wound without hurting her more. "I need to get your arm out of the robe, can you help me?"

She smiles at him sideways, as she nods, raising her arm slowly, using her other hand to cover her breast, while he holds her sleeve.

"And in the end, the one who really stopped him... turned out to be me." She chuckles lightly at her own joke and then hisses out of pain.

He too laughs a little at her joke.

"Yes, it was very evident that the one who has superior combat skills between the two of us is definitely you. It makes me very proud, you know?" Leon locks eyes with her while showing her a freshly opened dressing, which he bathes in antiseptic. "Sorry, beautiful. This is going to hurt."

She snorts, amused at his declaration of pride, then groans in pain, clenching her eyes and fists tightly as she feels the firm pressure of Leon's hand upon her open wound.

"I'm sorry..."

Shivering and drenched in cold sweat, the woman makes an effort and opens her eyes to look at his face, seeking to give him security.

"Don't worry about me and do what you have to do... Believe it or not, I've been in worse condition."

Her words are getting more and more languid, her tone lower, so he worries.

"Don't stop talking to me, Jill, help is on its way. Or, rather, just talk to Chris, we need to let them know."

At his words, Jill's eyes immediately open out of worry about her friends.

"Oh my god! You´re right! But… I don't know where I left my cellphone..."

"Let's call them from mine then. I have it here."

Wanting to continue working on his partner, Leon places the cellphone in between them, putting it on speaker mode.

To their misfortune, even after two calls, Chris still doesn't answer.

"Damn it! I hope they are well."

Resting her head on his shoulder, Claire takes a deep breath, fighting to endure the pain, as the man continues to clean the wound.

"Try calling Claire instead... I'm sure they're fine."

On this occasion, fortunately, the redhead answers them almost immediately.

"Hello, Leon! Why are you calling me this early? I thought you'd stay there a little longer. At least until tomorrow."

The amusement in Claire's voice is more than evident, and Leon can't help but blush, especially seeing that a delicate eyebrow in front of him rises upon hearing the evidently double meaning of her comment.

"Stop saying nonsense, Claire, you're on speakerphone."

"And why should you put me on speaker?" The redhead's voice is still playful. "Unless you want me to spill all the beans..."

Leon is stunned for a moment, not knowing what to answer, when, annoyed, Jill snatches the device.

"We´re calling you... for an emergency, Claire, where... Where is your brother?"

To her benefit, it's immediately noticeable that Claire is up to the task, changing her voice to one of seriousness, noticing the same tone in her best friend.

"Hi, Jill! Did something happen? My brother is taking a bath, after finally fixing my heater. Are you all right? I hear your voice a little... odd."

Jill moans as Leon tightly squeezes the bandage around the wound.

"N-no, Claire... We're not alright. Three armed men entered my apartment and attacked us."

"What?!" The young woman raises her voice forcefully, and then they hear her shouting at the top of her lungs, demanding her brother to immediately come out of the bathroom, and without wasting any more seconds, she returns with her. "Are you okay, sister? Was Leon with you? What happened?"

At that Leon interrupts her, hearing knocks on the door of the apartment.

"Claire, I'll leave you with Jill, please keep her talking, she has a gunshot wound to her shoulder, I've already stopped the external bleeding, but I can´t be sure whether she's bleeding inside."

"What?! What do you mean?! Jill! I'm going there right away!"

"No! I need you to stay with her!" Leon says, distraught to see the woman's pallor increasing by the minute.

Jill glares at him.

"Don't... worry, Claire, it's a small wound... It was a very small caliber..."

Claire exhales through the earpiece, but Leon's eyes are unwaveringly fixed on Jill's, resting a hand on her healthy shoulder, though she stubbornly shakes her head, almost silently begging him not to ask the question she knows he´s going to ask.

"What caliber was it, Jill?"

The woman slowly shakes her head again, holding his blue gaze, but it is Claire who insists.

"Why? Is that important? Didn´t you say it's a small entrance?"

Leon doesn´t relent even a little and asks the question again, this time his nose almost touching that of his partner, his question with greater emphasis.

"Jill? What caliber was it?"

"Jill, please answer him." Claire doesn't understand what's going on, but she trusts Leon, so she decides to support him.

The woman sighs, exhausted, surrendering to the interrogation.

"Caliber... caliber .22..."

The sapphire eyes remain fixed, without blinking.

"¿Regular?"

Despite the situation, Jill snorts, almost amused, without breaking contact with the accusing eyes.

"You offend me…"

"Jill…"

Feeling more exhausted as time passes by, Jill lowers her head and lets it rest back against Leon's shoulder, struggling to inhale more air, as she feels that every breath is insufficient for her tired lungs.

"Expansive bullets..."

Leon closes his eyes slowly, feeling a heavy weight falling upon him, especially after removing the sweat-soaked hair, uncovering her face and ear, so that he can lower his gaze to the woman's lips, and he notices her breathing even more agitated, sees that those delicious lips have stopped bleeding and, instead, are losing their color.

"Leon? Why is it important? Isn't it good news that it's such a small caliber?" Claire can't cope with the anguish, with the helplessness of not being there. Something that shows in her tone of voice.

The aforementioned turns his gaze to the azure eyes, and although he sees a plea there, he refuses to give in and takes Jill's wrist, the one holding the cell phone, bringing the device to his mouth to answer his friend with the truth.

"Because, even when those bullets produce a small entrance, they bounce inside the body of the victim ... tearing apart everything inside. And the ones Jill has... Well, let´s say they are even worse, and let´s just leave it at that."

Jill gives Leon an angry look because she did not want to distress her friend more than she should, since she knows all too well what a desperate Claire looks like.

"That was... very graphic, and absolutely unnecessary..."

But the man only shrugs, throwing her a wink, as he hears the door again, this time more insistent.

"Stay with her, Claire." Without saying anything else, the agent lets go of his hand and runs to answer the door.

"Jill?" Is that true?

Despite feeling angry at hearing her best friend's distressed voice, Jill has to admit that Leon's idea is not so far-fetched, as she suddenly feels intense sleepiness take over her.

"I think we should... listen to Leon, and keep talking." Jill leans against the wall once more, forcing herself to breathe deeply. "Claire... I'm really cold... Although I´m sure it must be because... I´m wearing nothing but my robe." The agent tries to smile but feels sight start to darken around her.

Jill can hear the desperation in her best friend's voice, and she's really sorry for having to do that to her.

"Jill, please, keep talking to me, sweetie! Tell me, how... How did those men get in?"

"Claire… I…"

"Jill! Wake up! I'm here, with you! I beg you..." Jill hears a sob escaping the youngest Redfield and forces herself to open her eyes which were already beginning to close.

"I'm here, Claire... I'm with you too..."

"Tell me then, baby. How did those men get in?"

Jill straightens up a little more against the wall, as she notices that she has begun to slip, complaining softly at the movement.

"That doesn't matter... tell Chris that... Don't let him go home... They might as well be waiting for him to arrive..."

She can hear Claire's agitated voice through the earpiece, and she is almost certain that the impetuous redhead has left her apartment.

"Yes, don't worry, he'll catch up with me. Only... Keep talking to me, please."

"Rebecca…"

What about Rebecca?

It's very evident that she has a harder and harder time articulating a complete sentence, and her eyes refuse to stay open, but listening to Claire's agitated breathing forces her to stay with her, to answer her. She can't abandon Claire like this.

"Jill? Open your eyes for me, sweetie. What about Rebecca?"

Jill smiles sideways again, proud of Claire, noticing that her voice sounds more confident, perceiving that she has controlled her anguish, at least a little.

"We need to know... if she is okay. She was the first one to descend from the car..."

"Damn! It's true!" Jill smiles tiredly, she can almost see her best friend walking anxiously, first forward, then backward, indecisive about the course of action to take.

"Don't worry, sister. We'll take care of Rebecca, but you need to keep talking. Has the ambulance arrived yet?"

Sister... how she wishes it were true, and that Claire and Chris were his siblings! Jill now barely feels strong enough to move, but at least she manages to turn her head enough to see a group of silhouettes coming through her door, talking to Leon.

"Yeah... I guess..."

She can hear a tired sigh through the speaker.

"I'm really happy..."

"Claire... I'm feeling so sleepy..."

"No! No, no no no, no! Jill!" The woman screams, which sounds almost like a sob when she hears her friend´s words sluggish. "Jill, talk to me! Stay with me! I beg you!"

"Claire... I..."

'I love you...'

Jill tries to say it, but she is not sure if she managed to say it out loud or just thought about it, because she can barely notice that her hand no longer has the strength to hold the phone, and it has fallen limp on her lap. Before closing her eyes, Jill Valentine perceives, in the darkness that surrounds her, a huge silhouette above her, one with blue eyes and beautiful blonde hair.

ooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooo

A/N: Shoot... I don't know what to say, aside from sorry for being so graphic. I hope you still like the chapter.