"Carlos! I need you over here," Sarah called from behind the car door, red hair whisping in her face and falling out of her ponytail.
He turned to see there were at least six zombies trailing up to her, he turned away from the door and quickly took out three with a shotgun. "These things never stop. They just keep coming, someone must really have it out for Arkansas," he shouted over gun fire, as an explosion near by shook the ground. He fell forward a little, taking out a zombie's knees as it fell to the concrete and Sarah finished it off with a knife to the head.
"You're telling me, I thought we'd have them down in numbers by now. Something isn't right," Sarah yelled, ducking down behind the car just as those last ones were finished and the remaining police took over.
"Someone needs to find out where they're coming from," Carlos agreed, shaking his head as he reloaded his shotgun turning to face her.
"No one can still get through the barricades, too many are coming from that direction," She said, nodding his head toward the long standing barricade that protected the safety shelters from zombies on too quickly.
"It'll have to be us," he said with affirmation, and Sarah quickly agreed. "It'll be tough, but we can make it, dollface."
"You got it, baby," Sarah said with a wink, smiling with dirt smudges all over her face. Heart shaped face, full of mirth and sweetness. He really liked her admittedly.
If Carlos' heart wasn't still attached to Jill, he'd be racking that in with love and devotion but still his heart was set on her and finding her. It didn't help, that transmission this morning from her. It had changed his heart in the wrong direction, he'd like to call it. Jill had actually spoken with him, asked for help and somehow gotten his information. She looked tired, run down and her hair was half blonde and half brown. Long hair worn and strangled. It wasn't a look that fit his lady. Not one bit. She had told him that she couldn't tell him much, just gave him cordinates to come save her. Told him she had all the information as to what was currently going on, after she had seen the news and her heart was aching for the new survivors that were to be had. That was all she could get out before the transmission cut and a strange male voice could be heard before it entirely faded out.
He sighed, he'd make due and get in contact with Chris once this mess was over. Information was to be had before ... before this whole thing blew skyward.
"You got a plan?," Sarah's voice, broke his thoughts bringing him back to reality.
"Cut left of center, split and make it to the middle. Think you can handle a little separation before we meet up again?," He asked her, reaching into the seat and grabbing a handgun and a few boxes of ammunition.
"It's no problem for me, but I'd be questioning you klutzy. You always seem to get in a scrap or two," She teased him, grabbing the knife out of the zombie's head and wiping it off on her black cargo pants before holstering it.
"I'll be fine, woman. Just be careful when we go. At least this way we'll find out why so many are coming from that direction," Carlos told her, standing up as he turned and shot a few zombies dead center in the head.
"I have a feeling it's the Plaza, ... some people were talking, we should take gas masks just incase," Sarah suggested, filtering in the car, on bended knee as she pulled out two and handed one to him.
Carlos placed it over his head with a nod. The Plaza was the oversized Milltown Mall, it had at least a thousand vistors on a regular basis if not more. If that were the case, it only confirmed that this had been done on purpose. But for what inane reason, the Brazilian could not figure out.
"Good, that gives us a place to start. Let's head out, on the count of three," Carlos told her, voice heavy from the mask, stepping away from the car. She followed suit, heading on the opposite side already suited up and ready to go, she nodded. "1... 2... break!"
Before Carlos knew it, they were heading side by side with the same destination in mind, making way, there were bullets and zombies flying and dropping to the ground as they made a pathway, eventually splitting up and heading down different streets. It would be a matter of minutes before they met up again. Carlos jumped the barricade with their police officials questioning them from afar, but there was no time for them to be stopped as more zombies were on them in a flash, they turned their attentions from Carlos as he made his way down the street and turned on the other cops instead. It was another few minutes before he met up with her again, the mall hovering in the distance as the mega center it was.
"Any trouble?," Carlos questioned her, as not to their surprise they could see zombies coming out of the entrance, crawling over each other, some were children, while others were security guards and mall employees.
"Almost got bit but nothing I couldn't handle." She held her gun at point, looking toward the entrance with a smug smile. "This looks like our trouble. I'm ready to go if you are."
"Let's," Carlos affirmed, as the two took off toward the the mall. It was another few minutes later that they managed to make it inside, via side entrance. For the most part this part of the mall was clear save for a few lost zombies that needed a bullet or two to be put down, it alerted no others as they stayed back to back checking out what was going on. It was a mess, there wasn't much here other than dead bodies that would get back up at any minute along with knocked out carts and ransacked stores that looked like people tried to make off with the stuff but zombiefied half way through and dropped most of it. Carlos sighed, what a fucked up day this was turning out to be.
"We should split up and try to find the culprit before they notice fresh meat is in the building," Carlos said, looking toward where the waterfall still sprouted, when he heard a sudden call for help in that direction. "I'll go find out who our survivor is. You search this side."
"You got it." Sarah ran off in the direction of the right side stores, leaving Carlos alone to fend for himself.
He made way down the long hallway, it felt like a ghost town compared to the last time he was in here. It had been full of happy and disgruntled shoppers, who were more than willing to spend a little money on artificial happiness. That was only two weeks ago. It'd be awhile before they could clean this place up in the aftermath. Carlos called out to the person in distress. "I'm here to help. You still with me?"
"Yeah! YEAH! I'm here, over here in the Radioshack," the person yelled, it sounded like a man, maybe an older man. Carlos took off running, watching his back every few steps until he made it to the messy store and found the man behind a counter. The man had a gunshot wound the size of Texas taken out of his rib cage, but still managed to keep breathing, the only thing that made sense was that the virus was keeping him alive even though he looked worse for wear. "Thanks, thanks for coming but I'm done for."
"I can see that, partner. Tell me, do you know anything?," Carlos questioned him,m bending down behind the register with his eyes still on the mess outside. Waiting for anything to pop up.
"I... well," he coughed, gray hair matted to his forehead in sweat as his beady black eyes looked far away and glazing. "There was a man here with two women, they ... looked suspicious but I didn't think much of it. They were wearing all black looking at the ... cellphones. Yeah, the cellphones. Then they just... opened fire. On everything and everyone."
Carlos adjusted his gas mask, shaking his head. "Sounds terrible, chief but I have to ask one more anything. Anything besides that? Maybe information on what's going on around here."
The man chuckled, beginning to wheeze. "Yeah, those things out there walking. I think it had something to do with them, they mentioned a device... some kind of... virus. They said another man ... Jonas, was setting it up not too far from here. It would cause mayhem and destruction. That was all I heard."
"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind," Carlos said, mauling over this piece of information, it wouldn't be surprising if there was some kind of device like that. Though he wouldn't know what to look for. "Is there anythig I can do to help?"
The man shook his head, looking hopeless. "No, I'm ... I won't be here for much longer. You can see that, buddy. I just need a few last words. Maybe about God, maybe about hope, maybe about there being something else besides turning into one of those things. If you see me after this, shoot me."
Carlos nodded, he could do that without hestitation. "Alright. God loves all creatures, no matter what we might have done in our lives. He loves us. God is great. Keep that in mind as you die, and he bless you. Anything you want to confess?" Carlos didn't know why he cared, but he gave him information that could be valuable and no one wanted to be left alone without a care in their last moments. Maybe that's why he did care afterall.
The man nodded. "Thanks... I left a girl once, long ago, pregnant. I was a young man back then but I feel guilty about it to this day. Never talked to her again, might have a kid out there that's been looking for me and answers for who knows how long. I hope he can forgive this old sack of shit for leaving him and his mother high and dry."
He reached around, grabbing the only first aid spray he had on him. "We all make mistakes, but remember forgiveness is for everyone. Forgive yourself as you go, feel remorse and that's all that matters and take this. It'll lessen the pain as you go and I promise, if I see you. You won't be walking around for long. Take care and good luck on dying clean."
"Bless you, you've been kind," The man said, coughing up blood as he took the spray and sprayed it over the wound with a hissing sound. "Feels better already. Go find that thing and put a stop to this."
Carlos patted him on the shoulder as he got up and left the store, making his way back to the right side to find Sarah. Here he had to be quiet as many zombies were standing around and leaving the mall at the same time, quietly making his way toward the gunfire he heard. When he spotted something that almost made his eyes do a double take, in the middle of the mall there was indeed a heavy metal looking device with several blue and green filled tubes in it. Dispensing what looked like steam into the air from the top, and heavy looking straps in place. Thank God for the gas mask he was currently wearing. Once he started making way to it, Sarah came upon him, covered in blood and brain matter.
"Already saw it, I don't know if destroying it's a good idea," She commented, lightly, making way out of sight of approaching zombies that finally noticed them. "Call the team."
Carlos pulled out his walkie talkie, and spoke into it. "Charles, we found the source of the virus."
Static came over the radio then a voice. "Good. Where are you? We'll get a hazemat team in there pronto."
"Milltown Mall. Hurry before this gets any worse, maybe we'll be able to contain this mess afterall."
"Alright."
Carlos looked to his partner as the zombies closed in. "One more round before we get out of this hell hole?"
"Damn straight, best stress reliever I've had in a long time," Sarah answered, putting her back toward his as they began firing. Now all that was left to wonder who were those people who decided to unleash hell on poor innocent people and why.
xxxxxxxx
Leo hung up the phone on the other end as Ashley walked out of the dressing room, wearing a red leather jacket, a light brown shirt that shone in the light and a pleated white skirt that accented her legs perfectly. With the beige boots she was wearing, it was a knock out buy. He grinned despite his worries and crossed his leg over the other leaning back. "That's a steal. One you'll have to buy."
Ashley smiled, spinning in the outfit for extra measure. "Really? It looks good?"
"Beautiful," Leon stated, and it was true. She did look like a knock out in it. It was her style.
She blushed, turning her eyes away from him, smile getting even wider. "Thanks. It's the one I want."
Leon watched as she disappeared back in the dressing room, with a little pep in his step and thought about what he and Claire had just got done talking about. She was right, it was hard for him to sit here shopping in a comfortable atmosphere when people were struggling to put down dangerous creatures that cared for nothing than the nature of eating your flesh. He should be doing something, he and Claire could meet up somewhere and figure out what's going on. It was what he did now, it was what he was trained to do. Much as he cared for Ashley, he didn't know he could just here protecting her without helping out elsewhere. He sighed, taking a piece of gum out of his pocket as he chewed on it and thought about a cigarette. He had taken it as a nasty habit for a few months after the Raccoon incident, one of the only things that kept his mind racing from the horrors he had witnessed but he wanted to quit. It was not only addicting but expensive and he had a hard time breathing during his government training for his agent rights.
Leon had smoked. That much was true, but it wasn't him but even now he had a dull ache in his mouth to buy a pack and keep from going nuts. He wasn't sure what he wanted to do, he couldn't just sit here, call in the President and resign and as for that, he didn't want to leave Ashley behind either. When she came back out with the clothes she had picked hanging from her arm, he patted the seat next to him and scooted over. "Remember this morning when we were addressed about the current problems going on in our country?"
"Yeah, I remember," Ashley said, her perky mood going from peppy to solemn.
"How angry would your mother be if I took a leave to find out what's going on?," Leon asked, turning to face her.
"I don't know... but ... oh what am I thinking. You can't stop thinking about it can you?," Ashley questioned, thumbing a button on the jacket she loved so much.
"No, I can't. I'm specialized to deal with these kinds of things and that's what I was trained to do. Handle strange messes that need my attention," Leon told her honestly, feeling the need to gnaw on his lower lip.
"It's hard to say. I won't stop you from trying but maybe lunch and a breather might help you think things through," She offered, looking up at him.
"Maybe you're right, I could use something to eat. I'm famished. Let's head out, then I'll call Chris and see what's going on," He told her as they both stood up and made way to the register. Leon just didn't know how long he could breath before he stopped.
xxxxxxx
Chris stared at the computer screen longer than expected, reading Carlos' message felt like something had clicked home and missled on his heart. Jill was alive. Jill was alive after all this time and his searching wasn't in vain. Carlos and he had been keeping in contact for awhile to find out where Jill had possibly been, given the guy had been her boyfriend of some sorts he owed him that much. It was a troubling experience not being with someone he considered his partner in non-crime for the last two years just before she disappeared. Even though they had some murky feelings about each other, ones that never really got off the ground, besides Barry, she had been his bestfriend. The only girl who could go toe to toe with him without breaking a sweat.
Barry who was drinking his evening coffee with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, watching the news as it went on. It showed Milltown police finding the culprit of the current mess that was going on over that way, Chris, Billy, Rebecca and Barry had decided they weren't going to try and help with the situation until they got more information. "Anything good with Olivera," Barry asked, turning his attentions on Chris.
"You won't believe this but Carlos received a message from Jill this morning," Chris said across the way, making Barry get out of his seat and hoover over his shoulder to read the e-mail.
"Great news! Maybe we'll get a reason behind everything going on here," Barry said with an estatic voice, he put his cigarette on the ashtray on the desk and looked into the hallway of their small hide out to see Billy and Rebecca speaking amongst themselves. They were in the living room part way, talking over their own cups of joe.
"Now all we need is to... I have to call Leon back actually, he was concerned about Claire and the possibility she'd try to do something," Chris commented, turning around his chair as he crossed his arms over his brawny chest. "I don't know if I want her on this mission or not but if it's an island like Rockfort we'll need all the man power we can get."
"Rockfort. That was a hell of a place like you said it was, wasn't it?"
"If I never see a bandersnatch again, I'll be happy," Chris said, chuckling. "But it was hell. Scariest place I've ever been besides the mansion and Lakeston."
"What's this new island called anyway," Barry asked walking away to turn off the news and put down his coffee.
"Manifreed."
"Then get to calling your crew so we can get out of here, I'm tired of waiting around to help or something to happen already... besides, something tells me Wesker might be there. Knowing Wesker, he had information we need."
"Given Umbrella isn't behind all this," Chris said, standing up as he wrote down the cordinates, deleted the e-mail and logged out.
"Given. Right now we need to head there, pick up Leon and Claire," Barry answered, sitting down again.
"I don't know if Leon will be able and Claire... I don't know about bringing her on this trip," Chris said, taking out his cellphone as he walked toward the back of the room.
Barry shook his head with a look of amusement on his face. "Chris. Give the girl credit, she's been through just as much as you have with this crap and made it out alive each time. She's smart as a whip and one tough chick, I'd want her batting for my team."
Chris let out a sigh, leaning against wall. "You're right. You're absolutely right. I'm wasting my time sitting here acting like she's a helpless little girl... that's not what I raised at all," he admitted, turning around to slide against the wall and sit down. Infact, he had raised a well self-sufficent pre-teen with a knack for guns like her brother, paintballing on weekends and plenty of ways to cook chicken on a short notice. She was well equipped to come along, and get the work done much like them. Instead of deciding to call Leon, he was getting ready to dial her number when the phone rang.
The ring tone had a little dancing beat, which sounded an awful lot like techno. Flipping the phone, he spoke into it. "Hello."
"Big brother. How dare you keep me out of the know, I'm dying here waiting around," Claire's voice did something like a half whisper over the phone, but it had an all over playful tone.
"Claire? How...," he started, but it dawned on him. Displeased but somewhat glad. "Leon. I should have known."
"He said not to tell you but since you figured it out," Claire said innocently, making him smile.
"I won't grill him about it. Figures you'd be worried."
"Yeah, figures. It's not going too well here on the news, but they found the cause of one of the outbreaks."
"I seen that, but let's not talk about that right now. I have something else we need to do. Something I want you to come along on."
"You want me to come along? Shock me, and color me surprised. Chris isn't trying to shield my poor innocent eyes," Claire joked, which made him smile bigger. He really missed hanging out with her.
"No, no more shielding. Barry made a good point, you're tough and we need you on this with us," He stated, even though Rockfort had worried him something special, he needed to let her be herself. "Carlos Olivera, the ex-umbrella worker turned S.T.A.R.S. police officer e-mailed me this evening. He says he's received a distress call from Jill. She gave him the cordinates and he wants us to go check it out."
"That's wonderful news... but I thought you were sure she died? Isn't that what you were starting to decide?," Claire asked, seeming a bit apprehensive.
"When your partner's body doesn't show up, it's hard to say whether she died or not," Chris told her firmly. "We couldn't find it anywhere, and it's never turned up, this is proof that .. Wesker must have something to do with her still being alive. She dropped at least thirty feet, no other way she could be," Chris explained, receiving a mmm sound from Claire.
"Then ...he must be alive too. He never gives up, does he?," Claire mused.
"Never. I'd wonder how he does it, but we'd be wasting time."
"Valuable time."
"Exactly. Alright, we'll set up a meeting in the Chicago area, I'm thinking hotel, maybe the Chariton End?," Chris asked, playing with his knife idly as he picked at his nails.
"Sounds great. I'm not too far from there. Time? Day?"
"Tomorrow, eight in the evening. Gives us all a little time to be prepared and Carlos and Leon to find a way to come or be there in some other way," Chris explained, standing up as he started pacing the floor.
"Good. I'll be there, make sure to leave your name at the desk so I know how to find you," Claire told him.
"I will. Take care until then."
"Gotcha. You too, can't wait to see you. Bye." Claire hung up on the other end.
Chris stopped pacing and looked over at Barry who grinned.
"I can't wait to see your sister's sweet ass," Barry stated, receiving a death glare from Chris.
"Don't talk about her ass in my presence," Chris berated him, walking over to get him in a headlock.
"Ouch, ouch! Alright. But she's real nice looking. If I wasn't married, I'd consider her," Barry admitted, as he received another tight squeeze. Choking as the grip tightened.
Billy laughed from the doorway, arms crossed. "She is a looker, Chris."
"Don't you start too," Chris pointed a finger at the ex-marine.
"No worries here, I know better," Billy told him, throwing his hands up in mock surrender. "What's the stitch?"
Chris let go of Barry, who rubbed at his neck. "Well, looks like we have a lead on Jill. We're heading to Chicago tonight by plane. We'll meet up with Carlos Olivera, Claire and Leon Kennedy there."
Billy nodded. "I'll go pack my things and tell Becky."
"Good thinking," Chris said, sitting down across from Barry as Billy left the room.
"Got any other plans besides that?," Barry questioned,
Chris placed his knife back in shoulder holster. "None, we'll figure that all out tomorrow."
"Great, until we figure it out...I can't wait to see your sister's ass," Barry teased.
"Stop saying that!," Chris almost yelled, placing his hands over his ears like a child. Barry chuckled, it was good to be among friends.