The group walked through the forest at a slow pace, their weapons raised in their hands as they approached the private grounds. Chris looked to his side, Ghost was walking a few paces ahead of him, his steps were firm and he seemed to know exactly where to go, where to step, even though he had never been there.
What was strange was that he could hardly hear his footsteps in the foliage.
Behind him was Jill, then Sherry, and finally Parker, who had volunteered to watch the rear.
He swallowed some of his pride. He didn't like it when that guy took the lead, he was always the one in front. But he didn't say anything, he knew when to shut up.
A few minutes of walking passed, and Ghost signaled for them to stop walking when the private area appeared in their field of vision.
Ghost leaned against the side of a tree and grabbed a pair of binoculars from the side of his waistband. He quickly looked over his shoulder at Chris and beckoned him to come closer.
"I see a lot of guards at the front. Not many at the back, three in front of the mansion, two in front of the garage, and I counted five more inside the mansion. Too many guards, if you ask me." Ghost said, handing the binoculars to Chris, who observed the area.
"All I see are soldiers... that Astrid girl is nowhere to be seen." Chris said, lowering the binoculars.
"Either she's underground, or she's left the mansion. Or maybe there's no Astrid. That's quite normal, Astrid could just be a cover." Ghost said, leaning on a slightly overhanging branch.
"So, what do you think?" Chris asked, crossing his arms.
"I don't think the real owner has left the mansion. The car is still in the garage, the helicopter is still there... underground, for sure." Ghost said. "And even if it isn't, we can find information there."
"Right, then let's go in. We can get in behind the garage. The problem will be the cameras and the barbed wire." Chris said, looking at Ghost with an arched eyebrow after he snorted.
"Leave that to me." He said, turning to the others and beckoning them to follow him.
Chris stared at him for a few moments, until he shook his head and grunted in annoyance, whispering a "you fucker" on his lips.
They walked down towards the walls, and at a certain distance, Ghost pulled a small device out of his tactical vest pocket, turning off all the cameras that were within his reach. They weren't all the cameras in the mansion, but at least the cameras in the back would be turned off.
Ghost then pulled a small pointed object from the side of his waistband, inside his belt, and threw it upwards. The object was actually a hook, and after checking that it was firm enough, he began to climb.
From the sheath on his shoulder he grabbed his knife and cut through the barbed wire. In a matter of minutes, he was already over the wall with his hand extended downwards.
Chris ran towards the wall and jumped, he took two steps onto the flat surface as an impulse and grabbed Ghost's hand, who pulled him up at the same time as Redfield.
"Help them Redfield... I'll make sure we don't have any mishaps." Ghost said, jumping down and already raising his rifle.
He ran through the small back area. The back door was closed, a few steps in front of him, there was a dumpster with a few bags of garbage still on the ground, and a few steps after that, the wall of the garage that connected to the wall.
He turned around and decided to go to the corner of the mansion wall. There he had a view of the side and part of the front of the mansion, and could see the small road that led to the front gates. He saw some guards near the gate.
On the small stone road, a guard was walking towards the front of the mansion. Ghost took two steps back and knocked hard against the wall, then got into position.
"Эй, что это был за шум?" (Hey, what was that noise?) The guard asked, and Ghost steadied the knife in his hand after climbing over the wall and hanging himself under the second floor window. Russian, huh? If the guard was local, he'd talk in Swedish.
The guard made his way to the back corridor, confusion and seriousness on his features. Ghost jumped down and stabbed him in the neck, pulling his body back shortly afterwards and grabbing what the guy had. Two small grenades... the ammunition wouldn't fit his weapons, they were modified, ordinary bullets wouldn't do.
He heard the footsteps of the others approaching, and could see Chris staring for a few moments at the body on the ground, saying nothing.
"Are we going to kill them?" Sherry asked softly. She didn't really want them to stay alive, but she had never killed in her life... not people, anyway.
"Only the ones we need." Jill said, and Ghost grunted in disagreement.
"Let's find out where they took Redfield's sister and then we'll kill them all." His words caught their attention.
"What? Why? We don't need to kill them all, we don't have time." Jill argued.
"Do you want to risk them following us? Do you think they'll just let us take that helicopter? They're terrorists, scum, and we're going to kill them all." Ghost said firmly, looking over his shoulder for just a few moments.
"You're kidding..." Parker said, eyes slightly narrowed and a somewhat disgruntled expression on his face. In response, however, Ghost simply raised his silenced rifle and fired at the two guards near the gate, killing them with shots to their heads.
"The fewer of them left, the better for us." Ghost said, turning to the group. His eyes were serious, and both Sherry and Chris thought they saw traces of anger in that cold blue. "Redfield, Sherry and Parker, you're going in the back door as soon as I give the signal. Valentine, you're coming with me."
The group fell silent after hearing one of the guards say something inside the mansion. Ghost raised his head slightly and let out an almost imperceptible sigh.
"And why would we do that?" Chris asked, not liking the thought of being separated at all, let alone letting Jill anywhere near that guy.
"We can't all go in together, it would attract attention. We need speed. Don't get me wrong, Redfield, but you're a pretty big guy, as is Parker, and Sherry is capable, but still inexperienced." Ghost explained, putting the rifle on his back and looking up. The second floor window wasn't very high up, but it was closed. He would have to break it.
Chris didn't answer for some time. With a sigh, he turned to Jill and faced her with a silent question.
"Fine with me. Let's go." Jill said, approaching and standing next to Ghost.
"I'll give the signal soon, be ready. They've realized there's something wrong with the cameras." Ghost said, jumping up and holding onto the small ledge above the first floor window. Pulling his body up, he pushes off the wall and jumps to the window above, holding on.
Supporting his body and fixing his legs, he pulls the window glass aside after inspecting the place. The window was at the end of a long corridor. To his left was a door leading to one of the bathrooms, since a bit of the slab, the sink and the mirror were visible through the half-open door.
A few steps ahead was another door, perhaps to a bedroom, since the office was almost at the opposite end of the corridor. The gaps in the curtain didn't do much to prevent the office from being visible through the glass walls, so it was possible to see that someone was in the room. There was a dim light casting a shadow. Probably someone in front of a computer screen. He would say that this was where the cameras were being monitored.
Ghost pulled the window glass aside, slightly relieved to see that the window was open. He carefully entered the mansion, and froze when he saw one of the guards climbing the large staircase from the first floor. The guard didn't see him, but walked calmly towards the office.
Ghost walked slowly down the corridor with his eyes fixed on the guard's back. He heard Jill's grunt behind him and signaled for her to remain silent, without taking his eyes off his target.
As he approached the glass railing that gave a view downstairs, he quickly observed the situation. There were three guards talking in front of the entrance. One guard was leaning on the wall leading to what looked like the kitchen. Two others were sitting on a leather sofa in the living room, facing an unplugged television. They seemed to be resting.
The guard ahead entered the office, and crouching down, Ghost turned to Jill.
"It's very likely that they're using that office to monitor the cameras. Too exposed... the window was open... I doubt it's just one monitoring room." Ghost said almost in a whisper.
"So? What's the plan?" Jill asked, wondering if this guy was as good as everything she'd heard and seen. She was curious to know how he acted. After all, his style was different, but very effective, and that could be very helpful in the future.
"Let's make sure that if there really is a hidden monitoring room, that it keeps thinking things are normal." He said, causing Jill to arch an eyebrow in confusion, but not giving the woman time to ask anything, as he quickly moved down the corridor when he saw that the three guards in front of the entrance were too focused on the conversation between them to notice them there.
They stood next to the glass wall, watching the movement through the gaps and being able to hear some of the muffled conversation coming from inside the office. Ghost picked up his knife and waited, it would be difficult for whoever was in there to notice him out there.
"Проверьте снаружи. Я сообщу в центр." (Go check outside. I'll notify headquarters.) Ghost heard one of them say, and footsteps were heard approaching the door.
He lightly squeezed the handle of the knife in his hand, and the moment the man put his first foot out of the room, Ghost attacked him, piercing his throat and following his body to the ground, making as little noise as possible.
Ghost glanced briefly at Jill and nodded, and they both entered the office, where the woman closed the door immediately after pulling the guard's body into the office.
"Но, черт возьми... камеры на всем втором этаже были отключены..." (But what the fuck... the cameras on the entire second floor are disabled...) The man in front of the computer screen muttered to himself as Ghost approached at a slow pace. "But what..."
The man was abruptly interrupted by a bullet to the head, just before his brain registered the body of the guards in front of the gate. Ghost pushed his body out of the chair and looked at the monitors.
There were many cameras scattered around, both outside the mansion and inside and, just as he had suspected, underground.
There were monitors showing a small hideout beneath the mansion, as well as another monitoring room, this one with two men in front of the monitors, and there was a radio next to the keyboard, probably to communicate.
There were some glass encubations around the place, but it didn't look like a laboratory, it was too small for that.
Whatever it was, he would destroy it.
Jill arched an eyebrow as she saw Ghost plug a USB stick into the computer and start typing something on the keyboard.
"What are you doing?" She asked, not containing her curiosity.
"Making sure they don't suspect anything." He replied, and in a matter of moments, the previously blank monitors came back on, showing the guards he had killed, now alive and at their posts.
After a few more minutes, the flash drive glowed green, and a small loading screen that had been in the corner of the main monitor screen disappeared just before Ghost took the flash drive back.
"I collected the information they had on that computer, it might be useful. And by the time they realize that this is a looping recording, it'll be too late." Ghost said, taking a c4 from his tactical vest and placing it under the table under Jill's watchful eye.
"That woman." He pointed to a figure standing in one of the rooms shown on the monitor to his left. The woman was wearing a white blouse and a black skirt, as if she were a secretary of some kind. "Considering she's the only woman on site, I'd say she's the one who operates here."
She didn't say anything as he passed her, and just followed a few steps behind. Very professional.
Chris waited patiently for the agent's signal, the side of his back resting on the wall next to the door.
Behind him was Sherry, and finally Parker, covering the rear.
He'd be lying if he said he wasn't getting impatient with time. It hadn't been long since Jill and the agent had entered the mansion, but every second he felt anxious. It was no secret that he cared about Jill, she was much more than just a partner, and the fact that she was alone with someone like that agent in a mansion infested with terrorists was not very comforting.
"Ghost to Redfield. The back is clear, enter quietly." He heard the agent's voice, and suppressing a sigh, he slowly opened the door and ran his eyes around quickly before entering.
The door led into the large kitchen, next to the food cupboards. The kitchen was quite large, with a long table in front of it. To his right was a counter with a very large fridge, a stove and a sink next to the wall. To her left, there was a body lying on the floor, and Jill with her back against the wall that was the boundary between the kitchen and the living room.
Crouching down, Chris and the others walked towards her, ignoring the blood staining the woman's knife.
Chris looked at her in a different way, and when she understood the meaning behind that look, she smiled slightly at him and shook her head, answering the silent question he had asked and leaving him a little more relieved.
"We're in position." She said in a whisper into her earpiece, putting the knife back in its sheath and picking up her silenced weapon.
"Good. On three, I'll shoot the guard propped up on the wall next to the door, you take care of the rest." He said, and Chris signaled for the two behind him to hold position while he and Jill got ready off to the side.
"I'll take the one on the left." Chris whispered, and Jill nodded briefly in agreement.
"1... 2... 3!" The three of them fired at the same time, and the three guards fell to the ground in a muted thud.
"Good." They heard Ghost say, just before they heard two more noises coming from the side, followed by the sound of something falling to the floor. Only then did Chris turn his attention to the room, where he saw two more fallen bodies.
"Enemies neutralized." Ghost's voice made the group stand up and walk around the room, still holding their weapons. "There's an elevator upstairs. It leads to the underground laboratory. You'll go down there." They looked towards the stairs, and focused their eyes on the figure of Ghost, standing just above the top step, watching them. Certainly a rather intimidating figure.
"And what do you plan to do?" Chris asked with a serious look on his face.
"Very simple. I'm going to turn off the lights. I should be able to get a minute or two of cut power, enough time for us to get inside and eliminate the guards. The leader of this operation is a woman, the only one on site." Ghost said, watching the small group ascend the stairs at a slightly hurried pace.
"Good. Let's get going then." Chris said, taking the lead and walking towards the elevator at the end of the corridor.
"The operation is quite simple. Get in as soon as the lights go out, eliminate the hostiles and interrogate the head of the operation. I'll be right behind you." Ghost said, not entering the elevator and just watching them with his typical neutral expression as the doors closed.
The elevator began to descend and Chris sighed slightly, glancing over his shoulder at Sherry.
"Are you ready? Jill, Parker and I will take care of the hostiles, but there's a possibility that you'll have to take action." He asked. He didn't want Sherry to have to pull the trigger, but if it came to it, he wanted to make sure she was prepared.
"Yes." Sherry replied in slight nervousness. It was a short and not very certain answer, but Chris had to be content with that. Although, deep down, she was still trying to get used to it all. Of course she was, she wasn't from the military.
The elevator reached its destination, and just as the doors began to open, the lights went out, just as Ghost had said.
Chris and Parker immediately positioned themselves in front of the doors and both forced them open as quickly as they could. Soon, they all grabbed night vision goggles from behind their tactical vests and entered the place.
The two men advanced, followed by both women a few steps behind. Chris and Parker shot the two guards near the elevator, and after eliminating the hostiles, Chris signaled to the door on the left while he and Parker headed down the corridor.
Jill and Sherry followed where he pointed, entering the room that served as the control room. This was where they checked the cameras, and they both heard the two confused men further on, futilely trying to get the system to turn on again.
Jill advanced a few steps and opened fire, killing the two men with precise shots. She turned and briefly ran her eyes over Sherry, who still had her rifle raised.
Without saying a word, the woman just put a hand gently on the girl's shoulder for a few brief moments, before continuing on her way out of the place and right behind the two men, who were now opening fire in the main room.
They heard some screams, both from the guards and from the frightened woman. As they approached, the lights came on again, and they all looked slightly surprised to see Ghost with a knife against the woman's neck, now immobilized.
It had all happened so quickly and simply... they didn't know exactly how Ghost had controlled the lights like that, let alone how he had gotten there without them having seen him, but they would hold their questions.
"You must already know how this works. I ask, you answer, depending on how it goes, you live. Got it?" Ghost said in a cold voice, but loud enough for the others to hear.
The woman looked startled.
"Пожалуйста, не трогайте меня! Я не знаю..." (Please don't hurt me! I don't know-)
"Stop. I know you understand me." Ghost interrupted her, and after a few moments of silence, the woman clicked her tongue. Her frightened expression soon turned into an angry one. She faked it well.
"What the fuck do you want? I'm not going to say anything that-"
"In that case, I'll kill you." Ghost said, taking a USB drive from his tactical vest and extending his arm towards Chris. "Put this in that computer, Redfield. The password is my nickname 703." Chris took the flash drive and walked towards the computer with Parker, leaving Jill and Sherry further back, in charge of watching their backs, even though it was unlikely that anyone would come down there.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?" he asked the woman. He could wait until Chris got the information, but he was running out of patience and that would take time. Time they didn't have.
"... I'm Irina... the men you killed were mine... we were hired to guard this place." She answered after a few seconds in silence.
"Hired by who?" Ghost asked, checking her and reaching for a pistol she had just behind her waist, tossing the weapon away.
"I don't know, we didn't see each other. And whoever it was used a voice modulator. Normally, I'd refuse, but this person paid in advance."
"Guard this mansion from what? From whom? Why?"
"They said that some people might try to find them. To get rid of any strangers. They didn't tell me why, and as long as they pay, I don't care." The woman said, after which Ghost continued to stare at her.
The two looked deep into each other's eyes for a few moments, until Ghost moved a few centimeters away. His blue eyes flashed a little, and the brief relief the woman felt was soon replaced by horror as he plunged the knife into her throat.
"... What? Why?" Sherry asked, uncomfortable.
"She lied." He said casually, wiping the blade on the side of his clothes before putting the knife back in its sheath.
"You said she could live." Sherry argued, and Ghost glared at her.
"I lied." Was all he said before turning and walking towards Chris, ignoring the look the girl kept on his back.
"They've been here for a while. Fuck, for a few years, actually. They've gone under the radar." Parker said, and Ghost crossed his arms.
"Any place they might have taken little Redfield?" The agent asked.
"Yeah... that island." Chris replied, ignoring the 'little Redfield'. "They've been coming and going from there more often than I go to the market. It also mentions taking patients to the lab or testing wing. All indications are that it's there." Chris said, and the image of the island appeared on the screen, along with its location on the map.
"Great." Ghost said, taking the flash drive back. "Then we'll-"
"Well, if it isn't my friend Chris." A man's slurred, thick voice came through, drawing the group's attention to the man who appeared on the screen. "I almost missed you."
"Krauser... you should be dead." Chris said, straightening his posture and adopting a more serious expression.
"I've heard that a lot recently. And as much as I'd like to feel nostalgic, Chris, I have things to do. You're interfering with my work. Not to mention that you didn't even ask permission to use our equipment." Krauser said, his expression serious as he seemed to play with his knife with his other hand.
Chris was silent for a while, staring at the man's smug expression.
"You're the one who kidnapped Claire." He said almost in a whisper, more like a statement than a question, while clenching his fists with some force. In response, Krauser snorted in amusement and disdain.
"You catch on quick, as expected. After all, you and I both know where we came from." Krauser spat on the floor beside him. "I could have kept quiet, but I knew you'd come, and since we're going to see each other anyway, I just wanted to say that I'm dying to end you for good." Chris snorted at the threat.
"Funny you say that only after kidnapping Claire with your little group of mercenaries." Krauser smiled at that.
"Oh, that was just business, it's nothing personal with your little sister. I like her. The talk was good Redfield, but I have things to do."
"If you hurt Claire I swear to God I'll-" He was cut off as Krauser's image disappeared from the monitor, and with a frustrated grunt, he punched the table in front of him and leaned back with his head down.
Before anyone could say anything, the venue's alarm went off. The lights flashed red, and the system went into protection mode.
"Well, we'd better go." Ghost said, raising his gun again and walking towards the exit.
Hello my dears, how are you? So, no apologies for the delay this time. As soon as I finished the chapter I left the site tab to post, but at that moment I decided to make some coffee and went out to buy some things. When I got back, I saw the site tab open and my duck brain thought I'd already posted the chapter xd, and only now have I realized that I haven't posted shit lol.
Sorry about that. A shorter chapter than usual (only 4,000 words, not much, huh?) but, as I mentioned, I don't have much time at the end of the year. Next chapter will have more action, I promise.
And I also promise that the long-awaited reunion will happen soon. Kisses to you, hugs, see you later.
