After Death
Chapter 6
SuperCop
Warning: torture scenes up ahead.
ooooooooOOOOOOOOooooooooo
A couple of hours later, but feeling like just a blink of an eye, the former S.T.A.R.S.'s senses slowly awaken, making her feel disoriented for a moment. She doesn't know how much time has passed by, or if she actually fell asleep or just dozed off, but from the silence inside the hospital, and outside, on the street, Jill assumes it's past midnight. She finds herself thinking about what woke her up when she hears someone sneak into her room. The brunette agent doesn't open her eyes for a moment and forces her breath to remain deep and rhythmic, to imitate the breathing of deep sleep, but she opens up all her senses, especially her hearing while listening to the tell-tale of clothes rubbing, the creaking of shoes approaching her, and she realizes the invader is a man. Not the nurse with whom Leon flirted, because the intruder's steps are rather heavy, quite calculated for her liking.
Her heart starts beating fast.
The agent opens up her eyes a little, just a little, to make them like slits and be able to see her attacker, thanking all the gods her windows facing the street are rather wide and allow abundant moonlight to illuminate the place. Even so, though, the only thing she can see is a black suit in front of her, since immediately after her sight turns completely white, when a pillow covers up her face, at the same time that a sense of panic completely envelops her.
Someone is trying to suffocate her!
Taking advantage of the pressure from the person´s hands against the pillow sinks her deep into the stretcher, Jill uses all her strength to quickly lift her right leg and give a tremendous knee in the man's chest, almost hitting his armpit. The unexpected attack is enough to throw her assailant off balance and, using her palm´s heel, she swiftly hits forward, striking directly upon the man's nose, and forcing him to completely release the pressure on the pillow. As soon as he stumbles backward, Jill throws a new kick, which hits straight into her attacker's ribs, while at the same time she frees herself from the pillow prison, as well as her injured arm from the sling. However, she can feel an intense and sharp pain upon her injury, so, instead of hitting him with that hand, she uses her right fist to hit his enemy's face, causing him to fall to his knees, on his way down knocking off the bouquet of Leon´s yellow roses she had liked so much, the silence of the night increasing the sound of the pot breaking against the floor, creating a resounding echo, a tremendous cacophony that envelops the entire hospitalization room. Despite not moving her gaze for a moment, the scandal behind her makes her shrink a little.
That much noise will surely not help her plight, it will most likely alert the rest of the assailants in case there is more than one.
However, she can't stop thinking about it since her attacker is not defeated, and he quickly straightens up, throwing one punch directly toward her face; but the B.S.A.A. agent is also an expert in hand-to-hand combat, so she manages to turn her face a little, enough so that the blow becomes a scratch on her cheek, and takes advantage of her own inertia to turn on her own axis, this time the left elbow hitting with resounding force the man's ribs, right in the previous place, the surprise blow making his enemy cry an involuntary shout, even when it also produces Jill intense pain on her own injury; thankfully, the final effect is that he´s back on his knees when Jill´s high kick hits him right on his ear.
"Agh! Damn you! You're gonna pay for that, bitch!"
Although the room is enveloped in a semi-darkness, the moonlight coming through the wide window produces a metallic reflection inside her attacker's open sack, a reflection that Jill recognizes immediately. Without giving him time to recover, Jill moves quickly to pull out of its holster the precious Beretta pistol hanging from the man´s harness, and quickly aims it at him, standing tall in front of her enemy.
"Raise your hands! Now!"
The man looks at her with disdain, but notices in her gaze that she is more than unyielding, and, seemingly a smart man, he doesn't want to risk it and slowly obeys her command. Being in that position, Jill finally manages to inspect her attacker carefully: tall, young, corpulent, dark-skinned, and wearing the well-known black suit, her attacker keeps his palms up front, the burglar looking at her with deep contempt through his broken nose.
"Who are you? And why are you doing this? Who ordered it? Answer me!"
The man smiles mockingly at her.
"You just need to know that I'm a gift from an old friend of yours, Agent Valentine."
Jill´s eyes open up wide at his words.
"What do you mean? How do you know my name?"
At her questioning, the young man only chuckles, his smile widening, giving him a creepy look that sends shivers down the woman´s back.
Bewildered, and somehow startled, Jill tries to straighten up completely, struggling to look more intimidating than she actually feels, until she loads all her weight on her left leg, and stumbles, prey to a sudden pain that reminds her, when she turns to look down and find her thigh bandaged, the last bullet´s wound that had graced her leg, and that she had completely forgotten after her shoulder´s more serious injury.
"Agh! Damn!"
Trying to take advantage of her sudden carelessness, the dark-skinned man makes a quick move with one hand, hoping to take her by surprise; however, Jill quickly straightens up and jumps backward, barely evading the fists that try to reach her, while pointing menacingly again at the individual´s forehead.
"I said don't move!"
"Freeze!" With all the ruckus they were creating, it didn't come as a surprise the nurse had arrived, and immediately behind him, a black man, older than the one in front of her but also dressed up in a black suit, appears aiming his own gun at her. Jill redirects her gun´s barrel at the new intruders as well, switching her aim between one enemy and another, as it's more than evident the kneeling man is waiting for his chance to attack, amply ready to jump up and disarm her.
"None of you moves! Or rest assured I'll shoot!"
The younger man smiles evilly at her, as he slowly stands up, his hands still high up in front of him.
"You should drop that weapon, beautiful, you can hurt yourself."
Jill takes slow steps backwards, as the armed man takes a few towards her.
"He's right, Agent Valentine. You should better put down your gun and surrender. There's no way you'll get out of this."
Jill knows, oh, hell! She truly knows! But she doesn't plan to give her life up until the last minute.
Unfortunately, that dreaded minute has come.
Without previous warning, the former S.T.A.R.S. member begins to perceive a cold sweat running down her back, while her hands shake: at first, it's like a fine tremor that becomes more evident with each passing second, while her sight´s edges are covered by a black cloud that advances menacingly towards the front, seeking to blind her. Frightened, as she feels her surroundings spin around her, Jill realizes she's about to pass out.
'No... no no no no no! Please! Not now!'
The first to notice her precarious situation is the kneeling attacker, and, taking advantage of the fact that Jill withdraws her gaze from them just a fraction of a second, struggling to focus her sight, the man moves at astonishing speed, releasing a powerful blow on the woman's hand with such force that it hurts her wrist, forcing her to drop the gun, while a second punch reaches her chest, in the opposite side of the wound, the impact reverberating upon the latter, opening the sutures that were barely healing and making her scream from the lacerating pain that shakes her to the bone.
"Aaarrrgghhh!"
The blow´s force pushes her backward, causing her body to crash against the wall and window, her elbow breaking down the glass into tiny pieces. Jill almost falls to her knees; however, out of sheer will, she forces herself to stabilize, even though her legs are shaking, refusing to hold her anymore, while her free hand desperately grabs onto the windowsill, almost wanting to dig her nails into the wall, not caring that fine crystals dig into her own skin; bathed in tiny pieces of glass, the former S.T.A.R.S. member feels that she's about to vomit, due to the exquisite pain on her injured shoulder, while she feels a warm liquid running down her bare back. Her enemy immediately takes advantage of this unexpected helplessness, standing tall in front of her, intimidating and mocking.
"Did you really think you could defeat me? Now I see my classmates didn't teach you manners." Through the haze that has settled in her eyes, Jill throws him a look full of hatred, which only causes her enemy to widen his smile. "You really look beautiful with all that pain easily read on your face, you know?"
Panting, Jill doesn´t hold her tongue.
"And you really look like a hero... attacking a wounded woman..."
The man laughs mockingly at her words while cracking his fingers with his other hand in anticipation.
"I thought I was facing the world's famous agent Jill Valentine, not just a wounded woman. I see now that yours are only children's stories. From what I can see, you're not even a shadow of what you were in Africa." Jill opens her eyes wide at his words, but, without giving her time to react, the tall man kicks her on the injured leg, making her scream and bend her body on herself, but he still doesn´t manage to knock her down, at least not until a tremendous punch on the face finally sends her down to the ground, and Jill can barely hear the fright exclamation from the troubled nurse.
"I think... I think you should stop playing around and hurry up..."
"Stop doing that!" His companion complains too, purposely ignoring the weak request of the stretcher-bearer. "We came to do something, so proceed!"
But his young companion is not intimidated, and, now smiling at the armed man, takes advantage of the fact that he already has Jill prone on the floor.
"Why? The boss ordered us to kill her, but didn´t say we couldn't enjoy the process." Looking down to see the slim body lying on the ground, the mulatto licks his lips. "Besides, I too have a few unfinished businesses with her." As soon as he finishes speaking, and taking advantage Jill is already on her four with shaky attempts to get up, her enemy throws a rough stomp upon her injury, making her fall with all her weight onto the cold floor, hitting her cheek against the white tiles, some pieces of glass scratching her delicate skin, as she utters a second cry of intense pain, the torment causing her sight to turn all white. "It just turns out I'm now realizing how incredibly entertaining this is." While the tall man gloats at his cowardly actions, the woman lies on the ground, breathing heavily, unable to regain control of her body after the torture that has shaken her to the core.
"I said that´s enough!" The armed man, still pointing his gun at the wounded woman, demands his partner. "Stop doing that! We don't torture people!"
"P-p-please, gentlemen..." The nurse turns his frightened gaze from time to time towards the corridor, where surely his companion will soon appear, attracted to all the commotion they´re making. "T-this was not part of the agreement..."
However, the mulatto only widens his smile, as if his partner´s pleas only increased his pleasure, as he kicks his victim's ribs with the tip of his shoe, trying to force her to turn on her back.
"It's ok... It won't take me long, I promise, and then we can go back to being good kids the way you like it." As if to settle the argument, the man spits on the ground, right at Jill, and the sight of the helpless woman at his feet, in evident suffering, leaves him ecstatic: Jill is lying on the floor, panting in pain while she rests on her right side, her cheek bleeding, her right hand squeezing tightly the bloody shoulder that has soaked much of her arm with the precious liquid, part of her back and left breast, the latter almost showing above the hospital gown´s neck, which is also tainted in crimson; her beautiful blue eyes are shut tight and teeth grinding together, proof the woman is struggling to regain control of her senses, fighting to diminish her torment.
After a couple of seconds of admiring his artwork, the man places one leg on either side of her, his smile full of pleasure widening even more.
"This will teach you not to mess with our brothers in Africa." The burly attacker pounces on her, his hands forming a pair of claws that reach the delicate neck, while he drops on his knees and straddles her, and Jill only manages to open her eyes wide at the sight: the colossal mastodon´s size immobilizing her against the floor causes her so much terror she closes her eyes hard, focusing all her energy on opening the pincers that seek to choke her.
In a single movement, fast and impulsive, both of her hands pull hard her enemy´s thumbs that were already trapping her neck, managing to free her abused throat for a few seconds, and, aided by the arduous training she has, her hands react by pure muscle memory, throwing direct blows to the man´s face, who manages to back down a little, seeking to avoid the gale of punches directed at him.
Jill fights to straighten up while still throwing punches, when a powerful strike, straight upon her jaw, sends her back to the ground, causing her head to bounce off the white tiles, and splitting a couple of them from the impact´s force, stained with her blood almost immediately.
"I´m sorry to tell you it won't be so easy for you to get rid of me." The man, with a bloody nose and lip, leans over her, once again trapping the white skin of her tender neck.
Dizzy from the blow, feeling a haze covering her thoughts, Jill barely manages to feel the pressure of murderous fingers on her throat, when, after hearing two muffled shots, she feels the man's heavy body fall on top of hers, completely languid, crushing her and stealing her breath. Trying to get rid of the weight that imprisons her, the agent opens her eyes and realizes that the man's forehead is bathed in blood, shattered by a projectile. As she struggles to free herself from the dead weight, she hears a third shot that provokes an unmasculine cry of pain that she assumes must come from the nurse.
"Jill!"
Aided by a pair of hands, Jill manages to free herself from the body on top of hers. When she looks up, her sky-blue eyes fall upon ones a shade darker than her own, framed by her new friend´s blond locks. As soon as her mind processes the identity of her savior, the woman can't help it and throws herself at him, hugging his neck tightly, the man reciprocating the gesture.
"Leon!"
Hugging the agent's trembling body to his chest, Leon feels again, after a long time, a scorching despair he hadn't felt since his escape with Claire from Raccoon City. After several seemingly eternal seconds, Leon finally manages to articulate a word.
"Are you okay, Jill?"
The former S.T.A.R.S. member still allows herself a couple of seconds more hugging him, permits herself that moment of weakness, and then finally breaks the embrace, with a huge smile of exhaustion, and at the same time of reassurance, drawn on her pretty face.
"Yes... I... I'm fine. I owe you my life again."
He smiles back at her.
"It would seem that this is becoming quite a habit between the two of us."
She nods, still smiling, but a delicate eyebrow rises.
"I'm concerned about the size of such debt. I have no way to repay you."
Leon makes an enormous effort not to answer what he's dying to suggest, realizing how inappropriate it may be, and prefers to walk through safer grounds.
"Well, you can start by hurrying because we have to leave quickly. I could see through the window they had a van downstairs, and there were at least three other men. Surely, they must be about to come up to check on their teammates."
Jill nods, her gaze becoming hard and determined.
"Let's get out of here, then."
Passing an arm around her brief waist while she wraps hers around his neck, Leon helps her up, noticing the difficulty in her movements and the agent's gesture of intense pain. Now that the initial adrenaline has subsided and he allows himself to observe her more closely, the blond finally notices the blood that comes from her head, from a wound on her cheek and split lip, as well as that which soaks her back, making a lump in his throat at the sight of the frivolous gown that barely covers her breasts and very few parts of her splendid body, cursing in his mind the loathsome man who dared to do this to someone like her, while feeling worried that the bullet wound might've reopened, bleeding profusely, if the huge crimson spot that covers a large part of her left side is any indication of it.
Leon regrets having killed so quickly the despicable man who tortured this beautiful woman so cruelly, but he forces himself to shake his head: they don't have time yet for those thoughts, because the companion he promised to protect is not yet out of danger. It's urgent that they get out of there if he wants her to survive.
"Can you walk?"
Jill squeezes her eyes tightly, while gluing her left arm against her chest, trying to prevent any unnecessary movement, and takes a few steps with her leg. Breathing deeply, she manages to at least partially block the pain out of her mind. And the dizziness.
"Yes, don't worry, that vile man did hurt me, but nothing that would kill me."
"We'll have to find you some clothes. You can't go out like this."
Jill widens her eyes at the change of tone and turns to take a look at herself, finally noticing the blood covering her breast, as well as her hospital gown, precariously hanging over her shoulders and exposing her well-toned legs, much too aware the gown opens at her back, although she knows that, at least, she has her panties on. But, if what Leon says is true, they really don't have time to look for more suitable clothes.
Luckily for her, she can't see the huge clots that cling to her back and injured arm.
Despite the situation, Jill raises a delicate eyebrow and looks at her partner defiantly through her long eyelashes.
"Does it bother you to see my legs?"
Leon snorts, trying to be funny so as not to make her so aware of her troublesome circumstances, while shamelessly sweeping his eyes over her perfect thighs.
"If it were up to me, there would be no need. I had never seen a more beautiful pair of legs than yours."
Jill hits him on the shoulder, albeit without much effort, and he laughs a little before they both become serious again.
"Do you think you can handle a gun?"
"Do fish breathe water?"
Leon snorts again at the sarcasm and points to the bloodied palm.
"It doesn't seem to me that you could hold a weapon with the needed strength."
Without saying anything, Jill tears out with her teeth the piece of glass that was embedded in her palm, which despite the tiny size, kept making her bleed, and then looks defiantly at her partner again.
"Matter solved, may I have the gun now, please?"
Leon smiles at her sideways and hands her one of her enemies' weapons.
"Now I see why in some places they call you Super Cop." Despite his words, he takes a meaningful look at her shoulder. "Are you sure you can?"
Jill returns the sideways smile and evaluates the gun already in her hands.
"I´ll survive." Immediately the experienced B.S.A.A. agent checks the cartridges she has in the magazine and kneels to register the man's suit, finding a second magazine stocked. "This will be useful to us."
The blond nods and holds her forearm to help her get up, as he notices how, in spite of her belligerent attitude, she stumbles a little on the first attempt. Without further ado, Leon takes point, and as she passes by, Jill barely glances at the two men in black lying on the floor, both with bullets in their heads, and the nurse in the corner, crying, as he clutches his bloodied abdomen. The agent sends them her coldest look.
The hallway is still silent, Jill knows the second nurse was most likely occupied with another patient, having left his partner to take responsibility for his own mess, without imagining what kind of disaster he would encounter. Or maybe he´s just dead. Fortunately, Leon's gun uses a silencer, but her own gun doesn't have one, and she doesn't want to spend any more time looking for it, so she hopes she doesn't have to use it, as she would give them away immediately. Hiding behind the nursing reception, Jill searches for the place they could be keeping the patient´s clothes, but at that moment Leon sees a couple of silhouettes advancing in the dark, guns at the ready, so he beckons Jill to forget about the search and move quickly to the other side.
His partner's modesty will have to wait.
Once they reach the emergency staircase, trying not to make any noise, they try to get out through it. To their misfortune, the door doesn't yield after the blond´s efforts.
"We have to push it hard," says Jill, vigilant of the approaching silhouettes, "otherwise we will not succeed. It´s part of its security mechanism."
"Doing that will make too much noise and give us away."
"There is no other way."
Taking a deep breath, Leon nods and this time pushes hard, the scandal rumbles intensely over the corridor's walls, whose stillness and silence cause the sound to be heard like an explosion. Immediately their pursuers are guided by the noise and reach the corridor, pointing their weapons menacingly at the two agents, as soon as they have them in their sights, without worrying about the ruckus they make when detonating their guns. The bullets graze both their bodies, the two agents immediately setting in motion.
"Quickly, Jill!"
Leon pulls his companion by the hand to let her hide behind the door, while he shoots at the men, forcing them to hide behind the walls, and gaining precious seconds for them.
Luckily, they're on a third floor, that way, jumping at the end of each of the railings, the agents arrive almost immediately on the first floor, just seconds before their chasers peek over the railing and empty the magazine over them. But Jill let herself fall down on her knees, her face a mask of pain, after all the jumping had aggravated her injuries. Leon is immediately beside her.
"Talk to me, Jill. What do you need?"
"I´m… I´m okay…" She clenches her teeth and forces herself to stand up, as she hears their pursuers running down the stairs. "Let´s go, Leon." Running as fast as Jill's injured leg allows, she and Leon find the corridor that leads them to the emergency exit, fortunately for them empty of people given the late hour, until they run into a third enemy that blocks their way, shooting at them unceremoniously.
"Look out!"
Leon pushes Jill to one side while he throws himself to the other, managing to dodge bullets that seek their flesh, both hiding behind the wall columns as more menacing bullets graze corners and tear off pieces of concrete that scratch the B.S.A.A. agent's exposed skin, her arms and legs bleeding tiny droplets. Careful not to expose herself to the gunshots that pass whistling in front of her, she lets herself slide down upon the wall until she's sitting on the floor, and then she spins on her own axis in a swift movement, sliding over the cold tiles and coming out exposed while she aims her gun at her enemy, taking him by surprise, the unexpected action allowing her to shoot accurately against the standing man, who receives two shots with magnificent precision: one on the chest and the second over his forehead, killing him instantly.
"Wow ..." Leon whistles, admiring his partner´s ability, who, without getting up, turns her head a little and winks in response, without wanting to confess that the sudden effort has caused her intense vertigo. Trying to hide her relapse, she only jokes while giving the blonde a lopsided smile.
"If you go out with me more often, I might teach you that trick."
"Consider it a fact." The man turns to see her and gets as a prize a wonderful view of the agent´s bare back and perfect butt since the robe had opened up completely after the woman´s reckless action. Despite the blood and dirt that cover her, the bruises from the blows, and the cuts from the broken glass, Leon Kennedy can't help but feel blessed at the opportunity to admire such delicious curves. Knowing that his stare invades her privacy, the D.S.O. agent clears his throat and looks away, at the same time taking off his jacket to offer it as soon as she stands up; however, Jill rejects him.
"No thanks, after all this activity, I'm really not cold."
"It's not gallantry, Agent Valentine." Leon stares into her eyes, trying not to make so obvious the blush that has dyed his cheeks. "A girl showing her legs while riding a motorcycle is nothing extraordinary, but it is so if she also shows a bloody back while wearing a hospital gown."
That said, the man offers the jacket again. Jill stares at him for a few moments but admits that he's right and takes the garment. As soon as she puts it on, the heat that surrounds her and the smell of his manly lotion invade her senses. Unable to help it, Jill closes her eyes for a moment, letting herself be carried away by such a pleasant sensation, and then shakes her head.
'Focus, Jill! This is not the time!'
Once that´s settled, Leon takes her hand and they both run out of the open door, jumping over their attacker´s body and running towards Leon´s motorcycle, while listening for their pursuers' footsteps, who have almost caught up with them. While Leon starts the motorcycle´s engine, Jill shoots at them both, forcing their enemies again to hide behind the metal door, until the motorcycle returns to life and they manage to lose themselves in the city´s lights, but not before passing by their enemy's van, shooting at the tires and thus preventing them from being pursued.
Once they reach the main avenue, Leon exhales, feeling more relaxed.
"Uff! I think we made it."
After turning to check they indeed haven't been followed, Jill allows her curiosity to come out.
"How did you know I was in trouble? And furthermore, how did you get there so soon to help me? Did you go back to the hospital? Or how did they let you in? I know that place, I'm sure the security was very high."
The blond chuckles at her inflamed curiosity.
"Too many questions for one single night, wouldn´t you think?"
But she remains serious in spite of his teasing.
"Don´t get me wrong, I´m very grateful you managed to be there on time. I´m just impressed at your ability to save the day."
He turns his head to wink at her over his shoulder.
"I always live to please, especially beautiful women."
"Leon…"
He shrugs, turning his head to the road.
"If I have to confess, I never really left. Something seemed off, so I pretended to say goodbye to a patient and managed to sneak into an empty room. The only bad thing was that it was much farther away from you than I would have liked, so I couldn't tell when you were being attacked until I heard the pot in your room break."
The agent sighs, grief-stricken.
"I'm really sorry for that, they were very beautiful flowers."
"And they were indeed. But their sacrifice paid off: they let me know when the time had come."
Jill smiles at his words.
"It was something productive then."
"And boy it was!"
She sighs, finally feeling the rush of adrenaline dropping from her bloodstream and fatigue taking the best of her.
"Well then, what will we do now? Where will you take me? I don't think you can take me home."
"I know of a good motel..."
The woman hits him on the shoulder, making him laugh, though he still complains.
"Ouch! And here I thought it was Chris who didn't have any sense of humor."
"Very funny."
"That's what I've been told. But changing the subject, and given the circumstances, I think you will have to accept my invitation to stay in my apartment after all." Before the agent can reject his invitation once more, Leon turns to look at her over his shoulder. "You´re safe with me, Jill, I promise I'm a gentleman. Besides, I've seen your abilities, and really, that last shot completely deterred me from trying something funny with you."
Jill laughs a little, as she settles her cheek on his back, holding his waist in a tight embrace and allowing exhaustion to take over.
"I'm sure you are. If I'm honest, I'm starting to realize that you're very skilled at protecting damsels in disgrace, I couldn't feel safer with anyone other than you. Apart from Chris, of course."
Leon snorts.
"I got a glimpse of the man´s face, the one who was suffocating you. Agent Valentine, you´re far from what anyone might call a damsel in disgrace."
Jill closes her eyes as she relaxes against his back, still not losing her smile.
"Shut up and let me be, at least for a moment."
He smiles too, as he accelerates the bike, making their way back home.
"Whatever pleases you, my lady."
oooooo
A/N: Well, this is in compensation for the boring last chapter. I love the action scenes because it feels like being in the video game! Even though I haven't put zombies in it just yet. I promise they will eventually make an appearance, but not too soon. One of the things I loved about The Last of Us, is that, although there are zombies, the character´s development and their conflicts were always the main plot, something that, perhaps, RE still needs to learn. So, patience! The zombies will arrive!
On the other hand, can anyone feel the sexual tension between these two?
I hope you liked the chapter!