Best Laid Plans - A New Thread With A New Story From A New Member..

[Ticklefish]

Hi gang! I wrote this story a few months ago on the request of a friend of mine. She suggested I share it so I thought I'd be brave and risk finding out just how good, or not, it really is.
This is only part one by the way. There are three parts in total. In fact, that said, this isn't all of part one. The ending gets a little NC-17 and I'm keeping that back for the moment.
Let me know what you think!

Ticklefish

**************************************************************

Best Laid Plans I - The Winged Rat
by Ticklefish

Dedicated To Becki

"This is insane.." muttered Chris Redfield, ejecting another empty cartridge from his weapon.
"Oh, I don't know, " replied Sheva, "at least this lot aren't as fast as Majini."
"That's not the point. I'd thought we were finished with zombies. I hate zombies!".
Sheva Alomar shrugged. After the events of last year, she was just happy not to be attacked by her own countrymen. Seeing innocent, happy villagers turn into bloodthirsty monsters was enough to give her nightmares, even to this day. She found it hard to feel much concern for the creatures on the other side of the low wall she and Chris were crouching behind. Yes, they were once ordinary people...but they weren't her people.
"Right, I've got about 10 rounds left," Chris said, "how many of those things do you think are left?"
Sheva peeked over the top of the wall, paused and slowly lowered her head again.
"Er..about a thousand or so."
"This is insane.." muttered Chris.

"This is insane!"
Claire started as the figure crouched over the filing cabinet suddenly slammed the drawer shut.
"There's just nothing here that explains anything at all! Gah!"
"Jill, you need to relax. Getting angry won't help.." began Claire.
"It will help me!" Jill shot back. "Chris and that woman are out there facing who-knows-what and we can't find anything to help him or even say what's going on!"
Claire Redfield stayed quiet. It had been a year since Jill Valentine returned to the normal world. She had been presumed lost ever since she didn't come back from a mission with Claire's brother, Chris. Since her return, Jill had been a little..well, different. Angrier, snappier, her hair bleached as part of her ordeal and Claire thought that, once it had grown out, Jill would be back to normal. But, if anything, it seemed to make her worse. Claire had read the reports, of course, but there was clearly something that they had missed out. Something had happened to Jill that she wasn't talking about and, whatever it was, she was still far from over it. Claire was tempted to try to prise more information out of her but decided it would be safer to return to the task at hand and returned to her computer.

"Chris?"
"Yeah?"
"They've spotted us. And it looks like they can run after all."
"Oh. Great."

"Jill? I think I've found something."
"What? Show me!"
Jill dashed to Claire's side, knocking a pile of papers to the floor as she went. She didn't used to be so..careless, thought Claire.
"So? What have you got?"
Claire pressed a button on the keyboard and a document swam into focus on the screen. The file was corrupted and, for the most part, unreadable. But two pieces of text stood out. 'The Hermit Club', the secretive organisation whose files the two women were rifling through in the middle of the night. The second piece was the significant one. There, in stark black and white, were the words 'T Virus'.
"I knew it! I knew these..these people were up to something! Damnit! Once I get my hands on them.."
Jill clenched her fist and stared intensely at the screen. Claire, not for the first time, wondered just how safe she was when her friend got in these moods.
"Er..there's more. I also found this."
Another button press, another document on the screen. Again, it was corrupted. There was a picture of a sub-machine gun above the words "Unending Shot."
"That looks familiar.." muttered Jill.
"It should, " replied Claire, "that's the exact model weapon you used a year ago."
"You mean the weapon I tried to kill Chris with?" Jill's lips tightened.
Aha, thought Claire. "It wasn't your fault, Jill."
"Never mind that now, why do you think this is important?" Jill snapped.
Claire could feel a flush starting. Chris and Jill had history together and she had been through a lot. Even so, it was hard not to take her attitude without fighting back.
"This may sound stupid, " she said, taking a deep breath, "but how many times did you change the clips on it?"
"Well, I had two so it wasn't.."
Jill's voice tapered off, her eyes focused on another place, another time. Two figures before her, both the objects of her blazing hatred..desperately trying to kill, to hurt, to destroy..then the voice cutting through the fog..Jill, don't you recognise me...it's me, Chris.
"I never reloaded. I was so focused on killing him that I never even thought about it."
"And how many bullets do you think you got through?"
"Hundreds I guess. Why? Where are you heading with this?"
Claire paused. "This is going to sound a bit, well, odd..but Leon and I came across something similar in Racoon City. I think your guns had infinite ammo."
Jill's eyes narrowed.
"That's impossible, " she replied, "I must have just reloaded without thinking about it. It's hardly something you pay much attention to."
"Are you sure?" insisted Claire.
Jill thought to herself. What Claire was suggesting was ridiculous, but she was hardly prone to flights of fancy. Especially at serious moments like these. And besides, she remembered everything from that hateful time. Every last detail. The people she killed, the pain she caused..Chris.. Not once did she ever reload. Not once.
"I'm right, aren't I?" enquired Claire.
"So what if you are?" retorted Jill, unable to believe she was even talking about such nonsense.
"Jill, I know you're going through some tough times right now but even you would agree that is the one decent lead we have. In fact..it's the only lead we have."
"I..No..I suppose.."
"Where did you last see those guns?"
"Africa."
"Well, I guess I'd better pack my sunglasses then.."

*****continued in next post*****

 

[Ticklefish]

In a small corner of a once-proud African nation lies an industrial park. Office buildings, warehouses, factories, depots..all the usual signs of a healthy, productive, successful area. With one exception..there was no success. After the country's economy collapsed, most of the customers left. Shortly thereafter, most of the companies left too. Now, there was only one building that still had staff in it. These staff had long since lost their humanity. Under the influence of a man-made virus, they had become little more than crazed, mindless zombies driven by one thing only. Insatiable hunger. Currently the object of their desire was just the other side of a thin, plywood door.
"How the Hell can you say that we're safe?!" screamed Sheva. "There are still hundreds of the bloody things out there, they know we're here and the only thing between us and them is this..this..thing I could practically spit through!"
"Don't worry, " said Chris, calming dusting himself off, "it's a door."
"So?"
"Zombies don't do doors."
"You're kidding.."
"Nope, trust me," Chris dropped into one of the chairs scattered around the small conference room, "I've done this sort of thing before."
"But it doesn't even have a lock or anything!"
Chris shrugged.
"Well..if you say so.." Sheva was dubious but decided that the chance to sit down was worth taking a risk for. Confident that, for the time being at least, they were safe, Chris leaned back and let his eyes lazily drift round the room. His body was tired but his mind was permanently active. Analysing, considering, weighing up options. Chairs, big table, phone, broken projector, pens, files, a collection of posters..nothing that could really prove as a useful weapon. For a moment, he toyed with the idea of using the table of a makeshift shield-cum-battering ram but decided against it.
"So any thoughts on what's behind all this? I hardly think a publishing firm were making bioweapons on the side." asked Sheva, her eyes still dubiously watching the door.
"None of our business." came the terse reply. "We've reported it, all we need to do is escape it. Jill will take care of the invest.."
Jill. Jill Valentine. Chris was silent, his thoughts shunted abruptly onto a different track. Chris had known Jill for a few years now. They had met when they both joined S.T.A.R.S., a special police unit in Racoon City. They became partners and got on incredibly well, looking out for each other and becoming firm friends. Then Wesker happened.
Albert Wesker, S.T.A.R.S.'s head, betrayed the unit and was responsible for the deaths of all but five of its members. Together, Chris and Jill, now members of the newly-formed BSAA, hunted Wesker down and confronted him. It did not end well. Within moments Chris was left on his own, both Jill and Wesker presumed dead. Last year, Jill returned and, in theory, things were back to normal. But, ever since he had thought she was gone, Chris had had strange, uncertain..feelings, for want of a better word. While she was 'dead', he could just convince himself that it was pain over losing a partner but now she was alive, he found himself unable to fully describe quite what was going on inside his own head. It was, Chris contemplated, almost as though he was in...wait..he was missing something. Something important. There was something just now that was important in some way. What was it? Jill? Thoughts of strange angst and emotional pain but no, that wasn't it. Then what.
"Phone!!" he yelled, startling Sheva who had been staring intently at the door, still unable to believe that a few millimetres of what was practically cardboard could stop a horde of ravenous zombies.
"I can use the phone to ring Jill and get some backup! That's it!"
"But she's miles away!" exclaimed Sheva, "She'll take forever to get here. We'll never hold out that long!"
But Chris had already lunged over the table, picked up the telephone and started dialing frantically.

"You've reached Jill Valentine's cellphone. If you leave a message, I might get back to you."

Leon stood in the shower. His jaw set firm as he adjusted the temperature to his exact satisfaction. When it was ice-cold, he allowed himself a small smile. The water washed over his muscled body. Over his strong arms, his firm stomach, all the way down to his longclaire.
Claire.
"Claire? Wake up, we're here."
Claire's eyes snapped open. In front of her were the kind features of Josh, one of few people who survived last year's 'incident', as the papers called it. Josh was a nice guy who refused to let the massacre of almost his entire team let him down. A skilled pilot and a man who had been very kind to Claire since the day she joined. In ordinary circumstaances Claire would have been more than happy to see him but she couldn't help let a small sigh of disappointment escape her lips. She looked to her side. The other seats in the helicopter were empty.
"She's already gone out to survey the area, "commented Josh, "She's intense, that one."
Claire grunted in assent, got up and started loading herself up with equipment. A few years back, she had the misfortune to arrive in Raccoon City shortly after a mass infection had taken place, turning most of the population into zombies. She had survived, just about, and had ever since swore that she would never set foot in a potential danger zone without taking some precautions. Pistol, shotgun, first aid sprays, a torch, a radio, copious amounts of ammo..all went into various pockets and holdalls. She rattled when she moved but heaven help any creature, zombie or otherwise, who got in her way. When she stepped out, she spotted JIll straight away. She was standing at the edge of the landing pad, looking through binoculars at the valley below. What could be seen of her face looked grim and every aspect of her body radiated tense alertness.
"Everything okay?" ventured Claire.
"Should be. As long as this lot have done their job properly and cleared everything out."
"They do know what they're doing, Jill."
"They'd better."
With that, Jill turned on her heel and headed down the path.
Heaving a deep sigh, Claire shouldered her pack and set off after her.

"You've reached Jill Valen.."
"Dammit! Where is she?"

Just under a year ago, a parasite was introduced into the population of Kijuju, a small African nation. This parasite twisted the people into crazed, mindless killers known as Majini. Strong, fearless, they were incredibly nasty. And it was my fault, thought Jill. She had been kidnapped by Wesker after unsuccessfully trying to kill him and turned into his personal weapon. As Jill and Claire walked through the ruins of a once-thriving market-place, she felt the circular scars on her chest. Remnants of a diabolical device constantly strapped to her, feeding her chemicals to ensure she was strong enough to do whatever Wesker wanted...and compliant enough not to say no. Under its influence, she did many terrible things, not least of which was forcing an innocent villager to take the Las Plagas parasite, kickstarting the whole disaster. She killed for Wesker, she destroyed for Wesker, she did..things which she tried desperately not to think about. And all the while, she was completely and fully aware of what was going on. Watching herself as if through perspex. Seeing her body committ unspeakable horrors and not able to do a thing about it. And then there was the worst thing of all..Chris.

"You've reach.."
"Hell!"

"Seven minutes. Seven minutes is all the time I have to play with you."
Wesker was confident. He was strong, the two before him were weak and pitiful. JIll had no thoughts either way. She dodged, pulled out twin machine-guns and started firing. Her targets were the two who were trying to attack her master. Inside, she was screaming as hard as she could to get her body to stop, slow down, anything. For she knew who she was trying so emotionlessly to kill and yet so passionately to save. In her sights were lined the BSAA agent, Sheva Alomar and her partner...one Chris Redfield.

"You're through to the BSAA. To hear our opening hours, press 1. To hear.."
"GAH!!!"

"This is it, isn't it?"
Claire's voice broke through Jill's thoughts. Jill had been quite distant and snappy to Claire, for which she was sorry. But there was no way the other woman could possibly understand what Jill had gone through. She wasn't there. She had never even met Wesker. And besides, everytime Jill looked at Claire or heard her voice, she was reminded of Chris. At times, it was all she could bear to even be in the same room as her. It wasn't Claire's fault but it didn't help that.
"Jill?"
"Huh? Oh..Yes. Yes, this is it. This is definitely it."
'It' was a medium-size hall. Once it must have looked very grand, two curving staircases, carvings, pillars..all the usual paraphrenalia. However, time had not been good to it. The colours were faded, the walls cracked..and riddled with bulletholes. Jill suppressed a shiver.
"Let's make this quick. I don't want to spend a second here that I don't need to."

Josh Stone sat in the ****pit of the helicopter, keeping watch. In theory at least. In actuality, he was keeping watch on the inside of his eyelids. The occasional snore suggested that he did not find it too trying a task. The BSAA had swept the Kijuju area clean, hunting down and destroying any remaining Majini and similar bio-organisms. It would be a while yet before it was habitable again but, unofficialy at least, it wass considered safe. Thus Josh felt comfortable enough to catch up on some much-needed sleep. If he had not, if he had been a bit less trusting, he might just have seen the dark, shadowy figure scuttling amongst the undergrowth towards the path.

*****continued in next post*****

 

[Ticklefish]

"I'm sorry sir, but Agent Valentine's location cannot be divulged at this time."
"Eric?"
"Why, yes, how did..oh Chris! Hello! How's things, sweetie?"
Chris suppressed a groan. Eric was a data analyst and part-time receptionist at BSAA's North American HQ and not particularly good at either role. However he had long since figured out that no-one dared fire him if he pretended to be gay. Since a big part of his plan revolved around flirting with Chris at every opportunity, Chris found him more than a little tiresome.
"Eric? Just..just shut up and listen to me.."

Heckler Koch. A German firearms company. Renowned for making weapons which work smoothly and efficiently years, even decades, after their first use. These were not the thoughts that were running through Jill's head when she discovered an example of their work hidden in the shadows behind a pillar. The gun, or sub-machine gun, to be exact, glinted in the torchlight. It was dusty, bot otherwise looked to be in perfect condition.
"That's it, isn't it?" asked Claire.
Jill didn't respond, but the look on her face told Claire more than enough. Claire bent to pick the weapon up.
"No, I'll do it." insisted Jill.
Holding the gun between finger and thumb as if holding a drowned rat, but with an expression that suggested a rat would be infinitely preferable, Jill subjected it to a close scrutiny. In truth, it wasn't really required. From her first sight, she knew what it was. But a part of her wanted to put off the moment of truth for as long as possible. As long as the SMG wasn't hers, then she hadn't used it to try to kill Chris. Facing Jill, Claire was the first to see a particular detail.
"Look at the clip." she whispered.
Jill turned the gun round. Protruding from the bottom of the stock was the clip which held the ammo. On the end of the clip were two symbols Jill recognised immediately. The first was an 8 on it's side, the standard symbol for infinity. The second was the distinct logo of the Hermit Club.
"So you were onto something after all. Now how the Hell are a group like the Hermits connected to..to..all this?" exclaimed Jill, gesturing at the hall.
Claire's patience had been pretty much worn out by Jill's attitude and she was about to let rip and tell Jill just what she thought when both women became aware of a low growling emanating from the doorway.
Shilouetted by the flickering electric lights stood a creature. The exact nature of the beat was hard to tell. There was fur, scales, scraps of cloth. Where there was skin visible, it glowed strangely and moved as if covering some strange organs. However all this paled compared to the long claws and even longer fangs the thing was displaying. Claire smiled and reached into her backpack for her grenade launcher. The smile vanished when she remembered that her backpack wasn't on her back. It wasn't anywhere near her back. It was resting nonchalantly in the main entrance to the hall..just the other side of the creature. Her smile faded.
"We could be in trouble.." she murmured.
The beast seemed to take this as its cue and charged. Jill dived out of the way but Claire, her mind still on the backpack, was a second too slow. She was slammed into a pillar and fell to the floor. Lying on the ground, trying to get her wind back, Claire's mind raced. She had enough firepower to kill her attacker a thousand times over..all tucked away in precisely the wrong place. She had on her a decent array of first-aid sprays and herbs but, from the looks of those claws, they probably wouldn't do her much good. The creature was standing almost exactly between Claire and Jill and clearly couldn't decide which one looked tastier. Please just go after Jill, Claire thought. The thought shocked her but she didn't have time to examine it further. As if it had heard her plea, the beast made up its mind, turned and advanced slaveringly at..Claire.

"Josh? Josh Stone? This is Eric Carpenter.."

The creature opened its jaws wide..wider..wider still until Claire wondered if it was planning to bite her head off whole..and a rock bounced off the back of its head. It spun round snarling. Jill stood one hand behind her back, the other tossing another rock up and down.
"Hey ugly! Want another?"
The creature tilted its head back and roared so loudly a fine shower of dust rained down from the ceiling. WIth the echos still ringing, it hurled itself at Jill, claws extended ready to rip and tear and rend asunder.
"Jill, NO!!" Claire cried out, stunned into immobility.
Jill stayed where she was and, just as the beast was close enough to strike, brought her hand around from her back, pointed the submachine-gun held within it squarely at her oncoming attacker, smiled and pulled the trigger.
There was another loud roar. Claire watched as the creature was stopped cold by a torrent of gunfire. It was clearly strong and determined to get to its target but with each second yet more bullets tore into it. Claire watched as Jill relentlessly poured gunfire into her victim. She quickly reached the point where even the biggest clip would have been exhuasted..and kept on firing. When she finally stopped, the mass of blood and bone that, a few momnents ago, was a living, breathing being crashed to the floor. Claire got up and was about to speak when Jill's eyes narrowed, she aimed at the body and resumed firing.
"Jill? JILL!!!" Claire screamed at the top of her voice but it was to no avail. Jill was like a woman posessed. Finally, Claire stepped to her side and slapped her across the face. It seemed as though the slap was louder than anything that had come before. Jill dropped her weapon and slowly raised a hand to her reddening cheek.
"It's dead, Jill, let it go."
"Claire,.I'm..I.."
"It's okay, Jill. We're okay."
Jill nodded and turned to look at the remains of whatever it was that had attacked them. Only then could Claire think about how badly her hand hurt. Is she stone-hard on the outside as well, she wondered.
"I hope there aren't any more of those things."
"It's okay, that's the last one. They're all dead now."
Claire frowned.
"How do you know?"
"They were a pet project of Wesker's," Jill explained, "but they didn't work out so he had them destroyed. One escaped and he didn't bother chasing it down."
"Probably got off on the thought of it causing havoc." commented Claire.
"Probably, " agreed Jill, "but it doesn't matter now. The important thing is this."
She gestured at the weapon lying innocently on the floor. Both women stared at it, lost in their thoughts. The weapon truly did have infinite ammo..which was impossible. Plus the Hermit Club were connected to it. Which means they may have been connected to Wesker. Which means..what, exactly?
Their thoughts were rudely interrupted by the sound of the radio.
"Jill? Claire? Are you guys there?"

"Chris?"
A few moments ago, Chris had hung up the phone and had since stared blankly at the wall in front of him.
"Chris?"
Sheva was worried about him. While he was talking on the telephone, Chris had become more and more animated and intense. Now, with the phone back in its cradle, it was as though someone had simply reached out and turned him off.
"Chris??"
It was as if Sheva's voice had broken whatever spell held him. He turned to face her and the light came back into his eyes.
"It's alright," he said, "we've got backup coming. They'll clear out that lot out there and we can get back to our investigation."
"You spoke to JIll?"
Sheva had missed most of her partner's conversation. She had caught the constantly rising tone in his voice but her attention was focused on the door that led out of the room and into the arms, and teeth, of the horde outside.
"No," Chris's voice was dull, "I spoke to Josh. He's on the radio to Jill now. We shouldn't have long to wait."
He didn't actually speak to Jill, thought Sheva, that might go some way towards explaining his behaviour. But with the door still pressing heavily on her mind, there was one question that needed asking. Where was Jill? Just how long did they have to wait anyway?
"She's with Claire in Kijuju. They're investigating something apparently." came the answer.
Kijuju wasn't that far away. At least the backup wouldn't take too long to arrive. Chris had been using the phone for quite some time and all the while the assembled zombies outside seemed to be putting more effort into headbutting their way through the wall than trying the door. There was nothing to do but wait. Which led Sheva onto the next thing. Chris had mentioned Josh. Sheva and Josh Stone had been firm friends for a very long time. Josh had looked after her and had been almost like a father figure to her. BUt lately, Sheva's feelings towards her friend had started to change. Even hearing his name made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. But she didn't dare ask him if he felt the same way about her. With these thoughts in her head, it wasn't too hard to work out what kind of thoughts were in Chris's. Oh, the hell with it.
"You love her, don't you?"
"Who, Claire? Of course I do, she's my sister."
"No, I meant.." Sheva began.
"This isn't a useful conversation. We need to be going through this room in fine detail and see if there's anything useful."
"Chris, I.."
"Come on, who knows how much time we have."
With that, Chris turned his back and started rummaaging through the various papers scattered on the floor.
For a moment, Sheva stared at her partners back dumbfounded. Chris could so...annoying sometimes!

*****continued in next post*****

 

[Ticklefish]

Claire lay back on the bed. She was naked, save for a black choker with a diamond detail. The silk sheets felt cool against her bare skin but her thoughts were in the room adjacent. There was a man who had just finished his shower. Any moment now, he would step through the door into the bedroom. He would not be expecting any company. He thought that Claire was away on business, little realising that she was just the other side of the door, her whole body tense with anticipation. Because he would think he was on his own he would not be waering a towel and would step out in all his naked wet glory. A small sigh escaped Claire's lips as she thought about it. She had longed dreamed of seeing this man, let alone actually being with him. She sat up, impatient. Her mind was racing, her heart was pounding, her entire soul yearning for that door to open. She ached for him to step out. She had orginally intended to stay on the bed but now Claire thought she would stand by the door. That way she could be near him that much faster. Smell him, hear his intake of surprise, run her hands down his strong, scuplted chest..and down even further. Feel his firm, rough lips against hers. The door started to open. It seemed as though the man on the other side must have known she was there just by the sound of her beating heart. The door opened fully and there, lit from behind by the flourescent in the bathroom and from the front by the candles that Claire had set out stood Leon. AS he stood still in shock, Claire could feel her eyes wander down from his face to cover his neck, his chest, his stomach..and she urged them to go further. Finally they rested on the face of Jill Valentine.
"Claire? Wake up for God's sake!"
Claire's eyes snapped open.
"Jill..let me guess. we're here."
Jill snorted.
"We're about five minutes away. I thought you should be awake for a landing for once."
"But I was about to..erm.."
Jill raised an eyebrow and a faint smile danced on her lips.
"You talk in your sleep." she simply said and sat back in her chair.
Claire turned her face to the window, her face warming despite her best efforts. She found herself a little surprised by the view outside. The grey office building the helicopter was heading towards at high speed was fairly nondescript but somewhere inside it lay her brother, fighting for his very life. Sheva, his partner was capable but the two of them were in serious trouble. With that in mind, the weather should be dark and foreboding. Instead the sun was out, birds were wheeling aimlessly through the sky and a light breeze tickled the branches of the few trees in the park. Against the odds, it was quite a nice day. Nothing about it betrayed the fact that Chris might already be dead. No, Claire corrected herself. They're behind a door. Claire had had her own run-ins with zombies and knew Chris and Sheva were safe. Zombies don't do doors.

The helicopter hovered a few feet above the landing pad. Two figures dropped to the ground and ran to the door leading into the building. One yanked the door open while the other covered the revealed space with a dangerous-looking weapon. Satisfied that it was clear, the figures moved in.

After her experience in Kijuju, Claire was taking no chances and had drawn an automatic triple-barrelled shotgun from the pack slung securely on her back. The weapon was custom-made and packed a considerable punch at an impressive rate of fire. The fairy painted on the middle barrel somehow only enhanced its nastiness. Jill had opted to stick with her sub-machine gun. There had been some discussion about this. Jill didn't really want to carry such a definite reminder of a darkness in her past but it was an effective weapon, there was a cooling body back in Kijuju that bore testament to that, and Claire refused point blank to even touch it. So the weapon stayed.
AS they jogged through the corridors, zombies rose to face them.
The two women fired.
The zombies fell back down again.

Inside the office, Chris shifted uncomfortably. The chairs had at first provided much needed relief. But it had quickly become apparent that they were designed to encourage people to hurry through meetings and get out as quickly as possible. Across the table sat Sheva, stripping her pistol. She sat in the exact same chair that Chris had given up a few hours ago, hoping to find a better one. She didn't look in the slightest bit uncomfortable and, not for the first time, Chris shook his head in bewilderment. Once he had settled into a relatively more comfortable position, he noticed a sound that had been muffled by his movements. A faint sound. No, two sounds. And getting progressively less and less faint. Gunfire. The groans of zombies attacking...and dying..
"Jill!" he cried, springing from his seat.
"She's here?" said Sheva.
She tilted her head to listen just as the distinctive BOOM of a modified shotgun blast sounded from outside.
"That's Claire!" she exclaimed.
Chris grinned widely.
"Pack up, we're leaving."

"This is insane." muttered Claire, ejecting another set of empty cartridges from her weapon.
Jill stayed quiet and looked about her at the trail of devastation they had caused. Neither she nor Claire had ever faced that many zombies before in one go. But, this time they were prepared and the horde hadn't stood a chance. Just like the Majini that she had killed when she was under Wesker's control. Her grip on her weapon tightened as she stared down at it. If the Hermit Club had had anything to do with it, she would stop at nothing to make them pay. With those thoughts still in her mind, she almost didn't hear a door near her opening. She spun round and raised her weapon.

Chris moved slowly. It sounded like the corridor outside was clear but there was no telling for sure. With his weapon aimed in front of him, he grasped the door handle, turned and pushed..

"Jill?"

Startled, Jill fired..