Jill made way back downstairs and into the meeting room after taking a few moments more to calm herself down from her emotional breakdown. She understood Michiru's uncertainty about the situation, but at heart, she was still an officer and she had a duty to fulfill. Upon reaching the meeting room, she relayed what she had caught on the comms system to Brad and the others.
"Michiru is uncertain about it, but we got to help them. They have civvies down there," Jill added to drive the point home.
Brad nodded in understanding. "You're the best of us, Jill. If anyone can get those civvies out of the city, it's you. I'll stay here then. They'll need what guidance I can give. I might not have been in that mansion like you, but I saw plenty enough, and I've killed my share of these monsters before I found you. Go find Carlos and ascertain if he's here to help. Take this radio so we can keep in contact."
Nodding with a smile, she took the radio and ran out, rod in hand. "I know you said you had misgivings about this, Neptune, but we got civvies in trouble and I gotta help in any way I can. Too many people have suffered already." She said with determination burning in her eyes as she made a beeline for downtown.
Before she made it through the station gates, however, Brad called out to her from the front doors. "Valentine! Here!" He threw a weapon over to her. It was a CQBR Assault Rifle. "You'll need that if that big bastard tracks you down! Ammo is limited though, so use it sparingly."
"Thanks!" Jill smiled back at him and strapped it to her back before taking off again, opening and closing the gate behind her. "Ready, Neptune?"
'Yes, though it would have been faster if you went through the garage… unfortunately, with access cut off, that means you'll have to go the long way around. There's a side street going around the building. I've marked a route on the mirror; follow the road around, then take the side passage by Kendo's Gun Shop. I suggest you speak to Robert as well, if he's still there.'
"Got it." Jill nodded and pulled out her mirror. She began to follow the path that was shown in the reflection, shooting zombies that got in her way as she went. Several abandoned vehicles made her passage difficult, in addition to the undead attacking her. However she was able to use her superior speed and intelligence to avoid having to fight. It was usually only when dogs attacked, that she had to fight.
After eventually looping around and climbing over a fire truck that had blocked the street, Jill was finally behind the station. She thought about going back inside, but with the electronic gate still active, there was no way to access the garage, since Irons had confiscated her pass, along with her STARS badge. So she moved on, heading towards Kendo's. It was rather convenient that their favorite gun shop was right behind the station. She'd have to speak to one of them anyway, because the side gate was locked, and only the Kendos had the key.
"Alright… let's see if he's in." Jill then pressed her hand to the door and entered the shop. "Kendo? Hello! Are you here?" she called out as she closed the door behind her, locking it. She really hoped he was still alive… She didn't receive an answer, so she looked around. The shop was trashed, and nearly everything that had been on display was gone. There was a shotgun part, but without a shotgun, it was useless. Some gunpowder remained that she could make ammo with though.
As she explored, she went around the back of the till, and Robert jumped her. "Whoa, Jesus Jill! Don't sneak up like that. I almost shot you!"
"Robert! Oh, thank God, you're ok!" Jill sighed in relief before the two embraced briefly. "It's good to see another familiar face around here."
"Yeah well, can't be too careful… with everything that's been going on…" He seemed apprehensive, worried… and he kept looking around, like he was paranoid they were going to be attacked.
"I know. Trust me." Jill nodded, but also noticed his anxious behavior. "You alright?" she then asked.
He ignored her at first, looking behind her and watching the doors. He only reacted when she touched his arm. "Huh? Oh… yeah, I'm fine. It's nothing. Just keeping a close eye on things…" His demeanor changed almost immediately. "I... uh, I heard on the radio that some people are using the subway to get out of the city. That's uh… that's good thinking… ahem." His eyes wandered to the shack behind the shop, where he lived with his daughter. He looked worried.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Jill asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Yeah, no I'm good." He cleared his throat again. "Hey, listen, why don't you uh, go on ahead? I'll make other arrangements."
'Something is bothering him… he seems fixed on that shack…'
He walked over the shack door. "Don't worry about me. I'm sure the others could use your skills. You can fight those creatures. That's… that's your job, right? Hehehe…" He laughed nervously as he entered and closed the door.
"You can take whatever you want from the shop, if there's anything left. And if you need to access the alley, the key's on the wall. Good luck out there." He said through the door.
"Thanks, Kendo! Stay alive for us, yeah? It'd be hard to find another badass gunmaker like you!" She called back to him.
"Aw naw, I'm not about to do anything you wouldn't do. That's not really my job, right?"
As Jill was about to take the key and scour for supplies, she heard another voice, soft yet distorted, from behind the shack door. She walked over and eavesdropped.
"...daddy…"
"It's okay, sweetheart… daddy's here… he's not gonna leave you… you're gonna be fine, sweetie… everything's going to be fine…"
"Was that… his daughter?" Jill whispered to Neptune as she listened. But her voice… it sounded wrong. Almost as if…
Her heart sank at that point and Jill clapped a hand to her mouth. Oh, dear goddesses, no… so THAT was why Kendo seemed so anxious...!
'The girl must be infected… it is likely they were attacked, and she was bitten… the poor child… Well, there is nothing you can do to help Kendo. We… should move on.'
A thought crossed Jill's mind. If Robert was the only one here, where was his brother Joseph...?
"... We should go…" Jill whispered to Neptune and began to back away from the door, grabbing the key along the way. If Robert saw that she was still here, he would possibly flip out. So, she took Michiru's advice and left, seeing little of any use inside the shop. She used the key to unlock the padlock on the gate and passed through to the end of the alley, turning and entering a small house. Perhaps it belonged to one of the Kendos? There was no one inside, but there was some useful stuff in the upstairs bedroom; a locked suitcase containing shotgun shells which she picked open, a pack of explosive grenade shells and a first aid spray.
"Definitely should come in handy later on." Jill said to herself as she placed them into the Bag of Holding that Wesker had given to her a while back.
Once the items were packed away, she exited the house, looking around to make sure there were no unexpected surprises. Luckily for her, nothing appeared to be around. The area was clear. Working her way through, she passed by a substation that wasn't currently of interest to her and climbed over a barricade into downtown. To her left was a toy store. Down a set of steps to the right was a donut store at the far end. It was blocked by a metal barrier, which zombies battered on. A small drug store was also nearby, but the doors were barred by metal chains. To get in, she'd need bolt cutters.
"That's just great. Bolt cutters… ugh…" Then Jill blinked for a moment before smacking herself on the forehead. She had MAGIC. "Ugh… why am I so slow sometimes?" She muttered to herself before walking over to the doors. Swiping her wrist, a spear of water slammed into the chains, smashing them apart.
Inside the small drug store, as you'd expect, was a multitude of bottled drugs. Surprisingly, the store hadn't been looted during the zombie attack. Most of the drugs were still on the shelves, including several sprays and healing herbs. There was also a rather ornate box on the till. Where it came from or who it belonged to was a mystery… even odder, there was a large bottle of gunpowder next to it.
"Interesting place to find something like this…" She said as she picked up the box and carefully looked it over, trying to figure out how to open it. There were no special catches or locks. The lid simply lifted up. Contained inside was a diamond shaped gemstone, shining in blue. What was it for...?
"I'm holding onto this for now. Maybe it can be used for something." Jill then placed it into her bag. "Now then… I gotta get to the train station and find this Carlos person." She left the drug store, since she didn't need anything else from here. Although… she decided to take a bottle of pain pills and some hemostatic medicine, in case anyone had bleeding injuries, which was… likely. Back outside, Michiru's map directed her down an alley to her right, which would loop around a building to the left, where the entrance to the station was.
As she reached the shutter, some panicked civilians arrived and rushed past her into the station. It was clear why moments later…
"STAAAAAARS!"
The black trenchcoated monster appeared again, standing at the end of the alley, staring at her. Before Jill could decide what to do, it rushed forward with surprising speed and attempted to wrap a tentacle around her. However, Jill was faster and rolled away from it, causing to almost collide with the wall in front of it.
"Pretty fast for someone your size!" Jill barked at it, hand on her rod. "How about you pick on someone who can fight back!?"
"RRRRRRAAAAGH!" It roared at her, pulling itself out of the rubble like it hadn't felt a thing, then it bull rushed at her and went for a heavy overhead slam.
Once more, Jill backflipped out of the way, landing on her feet. "Viral cultured freak!" Snapping out her rod… "NEPTUNE PLANET POWER!" When the BOW rushed at her again, the blinding light her rod gave off sent it recoiling backwards, using one of its meaty hands to try and shield its vision. As she transformed, she didn't realize that the man she'd come to support was watching her from around the corner… and his eyes went wide in shock when she morphed.
The oversized beast of a creature quickly recovered from the flash and extended its tentacle from its right hand. Now it had a whip-like weapon, which it lashed out at her with. Neptune cartwheeled out of the way, mirror now in hand. "SUBMARINE… REFLECTION!" She fired off, launching the beam of sea green light and water at the monster. But the beam merely bounced off its black overcoat.
"STARS…" It lowly growled at her, stalking towards her.
"That's some tough protection...! Maybe I just need a bit more power!" Gathering her magic into her palms and raising her arms above her head. "NEPTUNE DEEP… SUBMERGE!" She hollered and unleashed the beach ball sized ball of raw energy into the beast, sending it skidding back a few feet. However, the beast had blocked it with its arm, although the energy ball had blown off the shoulder plate of its overcoat.
A deep gurgle emitted from it, as if it was laughing. This beast was mocking her. While she charged up to launch another, the BOW swiped at her feet with its tentacle, tripping her up and dragging her towards it. It reached down with its left hand and grabbed her neck, pulling her up into the air and strangling her.
"Gugh…!" Neptune squirmed before slapping a palm to its face, unleashing a burst of energy into its coating, blinding it and making it let go of her, making her fall on her butt. She coughed a few times, trying to get air back into her aching lungs. As the beast stumbled around, trying to regain its vision…
"HEY! FUCKFACE!"
Neptune looked over and saw the man who was watching her, launch a rocket at the beast, which it caught with its tentacle and threw backwards, blowing up a car. He launched another one, which struck this time, causing an explosion that blew it several meters away in a large fireball. It was heard groaning as it attempted to pick itself up.
"Urgh… STARS… STARS…" It held its right arm, groaned and collapsed onto the ground. Whether it was dead or merely stunned, neither of them cared to find out.
Neptune quickly got to her feet, just as the man came sprinting over, slinging a rocket launcher onto his back. "Are you Carlos?" She asked, slightly massaging her aching throat still.
"Yeah, that's right. And right now, I'm saving you! Come on!" He said, throwing her arm over his shoulder and helping her walk into the station entrance. He slammed the shutter closed to make sure the beast couldn't get in if it suddenly got back up.
"Heh… thanks for the save." Neptune gave a small smile, finally able to regain her strength. "I owe you one back there."
"Don't mention it, just doing my job." He said as he walked through the ticket barrier and down the stairs. The shutter here was closed. "Ah, fuck… who's the dumbass who closed this? Fine, we'll have to go around. Come on." He walked over to a door and shouldered it open. "Seems that guy really likes you. It knows what it wants, and it won't stop until it gets it. Don't you like that in a man?"
"Sorry. A, I'm already taken. And B, that thing is a monster. And I don't do that." Neptune replied with a scoff as she followed him.
"Name's Carlos Oliviera. I'm with the Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service. We're here to rescue civilians and contain the situation. I assume that was you I contacted earlier?"
"Yeah, that was me." Inside, Jill was peeved; she was saved by someone from Umbrella?! But for some reason… he didn't seem like the type of person to be with an organization like them. If he was truly on their side, he could've left her to die to that thing. Yet, her anger for Umbrella caused her to comment about it anyway. "But you're with Umbrella?! Are you kidding me? Are you fucking kidding me?! You guys are the ones who started all this!"
Carlos turned and looked confused. "Hey, whoa, whoa. What the hell are you talking about? We're just here to help out."
Neptune looked indignant. "Bullshit! Your employers are responsible for infecting the entire city!"
Carlos again refuted this. "Yeah… uh… I don't know anything about that." He said, shoving open another door. He paused and turned to face her again. "Look, you don't have to trust me, but I'm going to the shelter. You coming?" He didn't wait for her answer, taking off down the stairs towards the stationary subway train.
Neptune sighed and looked down at the mirror. "What do you think?" She asked. To be honest, she was torn. The man helped her out against that monster and yet… he was working for the same people that caused the disaster. But he seemed so sincere with her.
'I've heard about the UBCS. Most of them are simply mercenaries. Hired hands. I doubt many of them actually care for the company that pays them. You don't necessarily have to trust all of them, but that man, Carlos… he seems trustworthy enough.'
Neptune nodded and followed Carlos through the door, only to find him waiting for her with a small smirk on his face. She noticed his eyes wander to the form she was in before holding up his phone, showing a recording, making her gape a bit.
"A little insurance, in case you decide not to trust me and get physical. With one button press, I could broadcast this across the entire planet. But if you help us, I'll delete it. And before you call bullshit and say I'm blackmailing you… well, yeah. But you're the one who's hostile."
Neptune clenched her jaw and balled her gloved hands into fists, her eyes shining a bit. "... You guys are all the same… I'll help. But not for you…" She hissed.
"Is that so? Look lady, I could have just as easily let that thing kill you. It's not after us." He retorted.
'He's got you there.'
Neptune said nothing but shot daggers from her eyes before stepping onto the train, where she spotted a couple more men inside, dressed like soldiers with the UBCS crest on their suits. One was sporting a rather nasty wound on his side.
"Hey, Captain. I brought backup. Hopefully she chooses to be friendly… she doesn't like us much." Carlos said with a half chuckle. The older man, whose hair and beard were white, looked up at her as she sat down.
"And you didn't even think to ask fine young lady her name?" He stated, a thick Russian accent coming through. "She is a member of RPD's Special Tactics and Rescue Service. Her name is something Valentine~"
Neptune narrowed her eyes before, in a flash of sea green, she shifted back into Jill. Behind her, Carlos's eyes widened for a brief moment. "It's Jill." She spoke in a clipped tone.
"Well, Jill… I am UBCS platoon commander Mikhail Victor. We were sent here to rescue civilians… ugh…" He stopped as his wound pained him, prompting Carlos to pull out a med kit and start putting stuff together. "My team was ambushed and destroyed. You're looking at all that's left. We plan on getting this train moving to get the civilians to safety, but there's no power to the tracks. Reports from command indicate that most of the 100,000 civilians will wind up dead… ah, undead. We are doing all we can… but we need help."
Jill sighed and ran a hand through her hair. On one hand, she wanted to tell them to go fuck themselves. But Carlos had that video of her… dammit, how could she have been so careless!? So caught up with trying to defend the fleeing civvies… then again, maybe he was simply bluffing… she had little choice. She couldn't take the risk.
"Alright... I'll help. But I'm doing this for them, not you." She finally said, keeping her tone even.
"Oh, hey, hey, that's cool. We're all friends here." Carlos cut in.
"Thank you, Jill." Mikhail added, sounding sincere. Carlos reached into his pocket and pulled out a small side pack. "Here, you might find this useful." There was ammo inside. "I see you've already got a radio. Let's sync up so we can keep contact. Then once you head topside, I'll instruct you on what you need to do and where you need to go."
Jill nodded and took what Carlos offered her, storing it away in her bag. Then she turned to the mirror. "... Shall we, partner?"
'Lead on, Jillian.'
As she was about to leave, she overheard a tidbit from Carlos and Mikhail.
"Shit, Captain. Those things really took a chunk outta you…" Carlos said as he sprayed the wound.
"Nothing I will miss…" Mikhail replied stoutly.
"So, Captain… the stories about the Sailor Soldiers… it sure seems like they're true now, doesn't it?"
"It matters not if they are real or not. Powerful as they are rumored to be, they are only human, like us. They can be overwhelmed. They can bleed. They can die. Like us." Mikhail dismissed.
"But Captain, you saw what happened to Jill. She's one of them. I saw her transform into Neptune when she fought that monster."
At this, another Russian voice entered the conversation. This voice was less thick, and more indignant. He sounded like an asshole. "A few fancy magic tricks aren't going to save us from this undead nightmare. We shouldn't trust her. She is STARS, and a dangerous pain in the ass for Umbrella."
"Sarge, that's bullshit. I know Jill. From everything I've heard, she's a damned hero. That mansion was…" Carlos attempted to refute.
"Enough… the walls have ears, gentlemen. We must focus on doing what we're here for, then we can all go home…" Mikhail ended the argument.
Jill looked down a bit in thought, feeling a pang of guilt. Carlos was defending her… and she labeled him as bad as Umbrella. Sighing, she looked back towards the men once more before making her way to the surface, this time for the opposite side of the train. "... I guess I was the one in the wrong about that guy. But I still can't get over that he actually… ugh...!" She groaned.
'Given Umbrella's reputation as of late, can you blame him for covering his own ass? I don't believe he'd actually follow through with the threat. I think he was just trying to get you help any way he could.'
"... I guess so. Still, our main priority is to get the power back on so they can get those innocents out of the city. So we need to head for the power substation." Jill says. "But I know our 'friend' is out there, looking for us. So, Michiru, you're taking the wheel for a bit."
'I'll say again, don't waste my energy unless that creature shows up. You could run around for an hour and not see him. You'll be sorry if you need me and I don't have the energy to transform.'
"Alright, I'll keep you on standby, just in case. But knowing my luck…" She trailed off, leaving her sentence hanging. But the point was made.
'Don't be so pessimistic.'
Nodding in understanding, she started to make her way down the street. And that was when her radio went off.
"Jill, you topside yet? The old tank's got me clearing the tracks. Can you get the subway's control systems back online?"
"I'm topside and I'm heading to the power station now. I'm also keeping an eye out for that beast. I didn't see him outside when I got up, so he's probably elsewhere." Jill replied.
"Lucky you. Well, once you get to the substation, you need to reactivate the startup sequence. You might have to enter the electrical area and manually restore power. After that, radio me and I'll guide you to the subway company's offices. You can map out a route for the subway there. Watch your back, super cop."
"Got it," Jill replied affirmatively before placing the radio back on her hip. Walking out of the entrance, she found herself back in the street again, near the pharmacy and toy store. It occurred to her there was an odd device back inside that looked like a clock, missing some gems. She had one, but there were three needed. Maybe it would be worth hunting them down to see what secrets the device held?
But then, she recalled that she had already had one in her possession. "Oh, wait a minute!" She walked back to the clock, took out the gem and placed it into the correct slot. "Now then… let's see what that does." A few panels on the gem face lit up, and a slot in the bottom of the clock opened, revealing a custom shotgun stock. If she found one, this would be useful.
"Sweet. I better hold onto this for now. Maybe I can find a shotgun around here somewhere." Jill then slid it into her bag for safe keeping. "Well, at least I know now what this thing can do. I better find two more of them if I want to get at what's hiding inside." With nothing else to do here for now, she returned to the street.
Working her way back around to the pharmacy, she wandered over to the toy store. Normally she wouldn't bother with a place like this, but looking through the glass door, she spotted another of those ornate boxes that the first gem was found in. However, the door was padlocked, and she didn't have a lockpick with her. But that was no problem for her. Conjuring her magic once more, she smashed the padlock, breaking it apart and allowing her entrance. "Number two." Jill smiled as she picked up the box and opened it up. "A green gem!" Now there was one box somewhere else to find.
Storing away the gem for now, she left the toy store and went back out to the streets. So far, no sign of that monster that was chasing them earlier. She hoped it was elsewhere in the city, far from her…
A light from an alleyway near the building caught her attention. Given that the other ways off the street were blocked by barricades, this was the only other way to go. As she approached, Jill realized the alley was on fire. "There's gotta be some way to put this fire out…" She said to herself, taking up her radio and paging Carlos. "Carlos, the way to the substation is blocked by fire. Any other way around?"
"Sorry, no can do. All other avenues are cut off from your position. Surely a tall drink of water like yourself can put out a few flames~"
Jill scoffed and swore at him. "Fuck you." Then she cut the connection on him and clipped the radio back onto her skirt. What the hell was she supposed to do now...? As she paced about trying to think of her next move, the barricade leading down to the donut shop began to rattle as zombies pushed against it, snapping her out of her thoughts. She slipped the assault rifle Brad had given her from her shoulder, checked the safety was off and switched to three round bursts, just as the zombies toppled the barricade.
Opening fire, she dropped three of them with precise, calm burst shots to the head. Two more approached, and she removed her sidearm from its holster and shot a red explosive barrel, blowing them up. "That was easy." She said to herself. Perhaps a little too easy… Moving on, she spotted more of them near the donut shop's entrance. She could either fight her way through them or try to sneak around by heading to the metal stairs off to the right of the building.
With little ammo in her possession, Jill decided discretion was the better part of valor, and chose the stairs. She headed up and followed the walkway around the building and inside through a door. She found herself in a small storage room, with a locked safe on a shelf in front of her, and several shelves of boxes off to her left. Another door was at the far end of the room, behind the shelves.
"Alright… guess I'll ignore the safe for now, since I don't know the code. Better just get through here…"
As she made her way through the storage area, she couldn't help but think back to Carlos. Yeah, he was UBCS but… she still felt bad for lumping him with other mercs. He was genuinely trying to help her and yet…
She let out a sigh and ran a hand through her hair. "Fucking hell…" She muttered to herself. Distracted as she was with her thoughts, she didn't sense the zombie shuffling towards her from the corner, nor did she hear Michiru screaming at her to watch out. It was only when she felt damp hands grab her that Jill snapped out of her thoughts again. But it was too late. The zombie pushed her down and bit deep into her neck, attempting to tear out her throat.
She screamed in pain as the undead creature tore a chunk of her flesh out, chomping down on it. Blood poured from her open wound as she tried to staunch it with her hand. After consuming its chunk, the zombie reached down for another bite, only for a blinding light to suddenly shine and distract it. It wildly tried to cover its eyes, allowing Jill to shove it off with her foot.
"Mobius Blast!" A voice shouted from the doorway near her, in which a figure was standing, its appearance shrouded by the light and making it impossible to see who it was. However, that voice was feminine. The figure approached, the blast of light from its hand slamming the zombie against the wall and burning it to dust, even as it moaned at her. Then the figure knelt down beside Jill, who was still trying to stop the blood flow from her neck.
"Relax, Jillian… I am here to help~" The figure said, holding her hand over the wound. Gentle blue energy flowed from her hand, knitting the flesh together and cutting off the flow. As she healed her, Jill noticed the light fading, and a face slowly came into view. "Today is not your day to die, Jillian. This city still needs you."
"... Shiala!?" Jill managed to finally gasp, recognizing the ancient queen, and also the resurrected Redfield ancestor. Smiling in relief, she threw her arms around the woman, sobbing in relief while she felt soft wings wrap around her trembling body.
"My apologies that I could not have arrived sooner, I was… delayed." She admitted, her tone sincere.
"Better late than never, I say!" Jill grinned as the two rose to their feet. Once more, the two embraced for a moment. "I'm just glad that you were here to save my ass. Thanks a lot for that, I owe you one now."
"You owe me nothing, Jillian. You're the mother of my most recent descendant, which makes you family. And that means no one is left behind." She smiled softly. "I have other places I need to go, so you are on your own again. But I will be in the area for a while longer should you require support. You know how to summon me. Try to be more careful this time."
Jill nodded before giving one more hug. "Just… watch it out there. There's this big monster running around, trying to kill the last of STARS. I don't know where he is right now, and I hope he's not nearby."
Shiala frowned. "That… is why I was delayed. I have been hunting it, as it has been hunting you. I encountered it nearby and managed to keep it busy long enough for you to get out of its range of sense. The creature was developed with a super sense that can 'smell' your presence if you're close enough…"
"I kind of figured as much. That big bastard knew where I was, even when I was hiding." Jill sighed with annoyance.
"STAAAAAAAAAAARSSSSSSS!"
"Go, I will distract it again!" Shiala ordered, pushing Jill out the door into a corridor while she went back outside and flew off.
"... Be careful, Shiala. We can't lose you again…" Jill said to herself before turning to her mirror, looking at a very worried Neptune. "So, I guess now we know how that asshole is tracking us."
'So, it would seem, Jillian. It appears it can track your scent particles at a literal anatomical level. No matter where we go, it will be able to follow from a distance, based on the freshness of the scent. We can run, but there is no hiding…'
"Fuck… that means we'll only be safe at the train station where Carlos is at." Jill replied. "I gotta remember to redo the seal on the door when we go back there eventually."
'It's possible that if you could somehow cover up your scent, perhaps with a strong perfume or something similar, you might be able to confuse it and buy yourself some time.'
Jill nodded to herself, understanding Michiru's suggestion. But where the hell was she going to find something that could mask her pheromones…? Hmm… perhaps something at the pharmacy. It was a drug store after all. She'd check it out on the way back. Right now, she still needed a way to put out the fire blocking her progress. A fire hose would do the trick. But then, she could use her water magic to put it out herself instead of hunting around the city on a possible goose chase.
That would be the easy option, however it also occurred to her that the monster chasing her might also be able to track her magic. Using her water powers could attract it to her like a beacon. If she wanted to stay under the radar, she'd have to do this the old-fashioned way.
She groaned and rolled her eyes. Forgetting the idea, she left the corridor and went back outside onto a balcony. Going down the metal steps, she looked up and saw letters spelling out the subway company's office on a building opposite. 'Fine Bros' it said. So, she knew where the office was, but she couldn't do anything without first restoring power at the substation. Still, it couldn't hurt to check it out for anything useful.
More undead blocked her path as she passed another drug store. She quickly dispatched them with her assault rifle, then entered the drug store to look around for something that might help hide her from the monstrous beast hunting her. Her pheromones must be pretty strong if it could track her halfway across the city.
"There's gotta be something here that can cover up my scent…" She whispered to herself before using her mirror like a flashlight. "Let's see… where are the perfumes?" She didn't want to spend too much time here, as she was exposed with nowhere to run if that beast showed up. She silently prayed Shiala had been able to incapacitate it, if only for a while.
After a few minutes, she unfortunately found nothing that could help her. However, she did find a group of numbers on a poster that were circled for some reason. The way they had been circled resembled the way you turned a safe dial… she made a mental note of it and left, heading immediately for the subway office building. It was right next door, so she could be out and in quickly.
Entering the building, she warily kept her eyes on a corpse near the door, in case it moved. Following the hallway from the entrance room, she came to a door, and another hall to the right. At the end was a fire hose attached to a pump, and another door leading into an office.
She pulled off the fire hose and shoved it roughly into her Bag of Holding. Good thing she had this, as it would be a pain to lug the heavy hose all the way back to the alley. The office interested her, so she entered it. Some lockers were of interest, one of which was padlocked, and a sealed cabinet containing a shotgun on a rack. The cabinet was chained shut. Without a lockpick, and with it not being safe to use her magic, Jill instead took her rifle and bashed the lock with its stock, breaking it off the locker. The door opened and a spray was inside.
The chains on the cabinet, however, would be a greater problem. Bolt cutters would be useful, but she had none, and she couldn't bash the thick links. They wouldn't break that easily. She supposed as a Sailor Soldier, she might be physically strong enough to break the links, but was that even worth trying? She'd probably just strain or injure herself.
"One way to find out…" Grabbing the chains, she silently counted to three and yanked hard. Her muscles strained hard against the thick links, which buckled, but didn't break. She lost her grip and fell back on her ass.
'I would suggest not trying that again, unless you wish to throw out your shoulders.'
Annoyed and slightly embarrassed, Jill briefly forgot about not using her magic and smashed the chains with a water pulse. She then ripped open the cabinet doors and removed the shotgun. "Come to mama~" She smirked to herself. She itched to pump a few shells into that beast's ugly face. Then she remembered the custom parts she picked up, so she took a few moments to disassemble the gun and reassemble it with the new parts. "There we go. This'll pack a bigger punch now. Hope I don't blow myself off my feet…"
"...STARS…"
"Shit… he's back… I'd better be careful. If I get trapped in here, I'm done for." She said to herself.
Steeling herself with a few deep breaths, she moved carefully through the office, making sure she was not going to step on anything that would attract that thing's attention. Pluto's time magic would've come in handy right about now… She heard heavy footsteps outside, presumably that damned monster. It seemed to be coming closer, but then the footsteps faded as they got further away. Did it change its mind? Was it setting up a trap? Or had something else attracted its attention...?
"Shit… I wish I knew how to tell if he's still outside or not. He's like a fucking hunter…" She whispers to Neptune, clutching her gun close to her.
'I can reach out with my senses and try to pick him up… ugh no, I cannot sense the creature. Somehow it doesn't have a signature, or at least not one I can trace… Umbrella were thorough in hiding their involvement this time.'
"Dammit… there goes that plan… wait!" Jill then remembered her radio. "Carlos, it's Jill, do you copy?" She whispered into the receiver, which crackled with static in response. Either he was busy, or electronic interference was blocking the signals. Sighing and shrugging, she moved on and left the office, cautiously listening out for the big boy. She heard nothing as she went back outside. Knowing what she did now, she had a choice to make:
She could either go back to the storage room and open the safe, then continue on to the alley, or she could check out the donut shop. She might not get the chance to do both. She decided not to bother with the safe and carefully made her way over to the donut shop. It was abandoned, as was everywhere else. Nothing in the main sitting area was of any use, so she went to the office behind the counter. In here wasn't much out of the ordinary, except another ornate box. She opened it and acquired a red gem. Now she had both of the missing stones.
"Great. Now when I go back, I can place the rest of the gems there, and hopefully get some good stuff from inside the clock. Stuff that I may need later on." Jill muttered to herself.
She then made her way out of the shop and back up towards the toy store, as the alley was near it. Upon reaching it, she pulled out the fire hose and attached it to the hydrant, spraying forceful water over the burning alley and extinguishing the flames. "Progress~" She said to herself, passing through and into a workshop. There was a box here for storing stuff in, some lockers - one of which was padlocked, and a set of bolt cutters on the wall. She considered taking them, since her magic attracted the hunter.
A door led out of the workshop, which was chained shut. Putting her ear to the door, Jill could hear whimpering on the other side, accompanied by heavy breathing. Was someone in there...? Were they injured...?
Using the bolt cutters, she cut off the chains and opened the door to see someone slumped against a car, blood covering his front and a gash in his leg. Immediately, Jill went to his side to check him out. "Hey, are you alright?!" She paused and checked him out, but that only served to unnerve the man.
"Hey, don't look at me like that, okay?! I'm not infected!" He quickly said, defending himself.
"It's okay, I'm not going to kill you. Just let me take–" Just then, her senses went off and whipped around just in time to use her mirror as a barrier, just as a gunshot went off, sending the bullet ricocheting away. "What the fuck!?"
"You again...?" A somewhat deep, male voice answered, belonging to the white-haired Russian man she'd seen talking to Carlos and Mikhail earlier at the station. "You should've shot him. He's clearly injured by the infected, and likely infected himself."
"Give me a chance to look him over, asshole! Let me be the judge of that!" Jill hissed back at him, eyes shining dimly with anger before turning back to the male, keeping the barrier up just in case he tried to pull something while her back was turned. "Alright, lemme look at you…"
The UBCS guy with the white hair scoffed. "Are all of you STARS this soft? It's no wonder so many of you are dead."
Jill clenched her jaw in anger but chose to say nothing as she began to use her water magic to clean off the blood and check out the injured man's wounds.
The white-haired man clearly was annoyed by this. "You're wasting your time. If he is infected, which is extremely likely, he is going to turn. Where is your sense of self-preservation?" He insulted, leaning against the wall.
"How about you shut the hell up and let me work?! Right now, we got monsters running and a big bastard out there, taking out any survivors standing in its way. We need to work together on this, as much as I hate to say it, especially to you since you work with the sons of bitches who caused all this!" Jill snapped back at him.
The white-haired man scoffed again and began walking to the other exit of the garage. "You should not waste your precious time with these hopeless people. They're already lost. Go back to the station and stay there. We don't need a bleeding heart like you getting in the way…"
"Fuck you, asshole…" She muttered angrily and turned back to the other man. As she peeled back the vest… she saw discoloration along the rims of the wound… along with the unmistakable marks of human teeth. "Shit…" Much as she hated to believe him, that old bastard was probably right… this guy showed signs of injury from a zombie, which meant the virus was in his system…
"...I know it looks bad, but I can't just die out here… not like this… I don't wanna become a zombie…" He said, both looking and sounding worried.
"Allow me to oblige!" The white haired UBCS man had returned, and before Jill had a chance to put up her barrier again, the man shot the wounded one in the chest, killing him instantly. Then he left again.
"...I don't like him...!" Jill hissed under her breath to Neptune.
'I confess I am not particularly attached to him either… but he probably saved you the trouble of having to kill a zombie later…'
"Still… something about him rubs me the wrong way…" Jill replied as she followed after the white-haired man. The substation was that way, so she had to go anyway.