{Book 2}
When Alpha Team is sent into the dark forests of the Arklay Mountain Range to find Bravo Team, they never expected to face an apocalyptic nightmare. Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine have a long journey ahead of them, and this is where it b...
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Barry pinched the bridge of his nose as he leaned against the dining room table. He was nearly sweating from the flames beating against his face from the fireplace and the immense stress he felt.
He sighed and let go of his nose, rubbing his palms over his face before outlining the shape of his beard with his fingers.
He worried for Jill. Hell, Chris too. He didn't want any of this to happen. Definitely not to this extent. He always knew there would come a time when S.T.A.R.S. would struggle like they never had before.
He just didn't know it would be like this.
Barry's head snapped up as he heard a bang on the door Jill left through, and he jumped up from the dining table as he watched Jill stumble through.
She looked more than disheveled and her eyes were full of fear as she pulled her beret down tightly on her head.
"Barry-" Jill wheezed out as she ran into him, stumbling backwards. Barry felt his heart wrench as he looked down at Jill, before looking back up from where she emerged.
"Jill... what is it?" He murmured, his eyes clouded with worry and guilt as they followed hers.
Jill had a weak expression on her face as she looked up at him, sadness peaking in her blue eyes.
Barry almost couldn't take it. Jill had left her family and home so long ago to pursue a life of law enforcement. She was the closest thing Barry had to a daughter. Minus his own two daughters, to be exact.
And when she looked up at him with genuine fear in his eyes, he contemplated whether this was all really worth it. This terror, fear, and deaths of their teammates.
Or if he should've stopped them all from coming here a long time ago.
Jill and Barry looked up as another bang came from the door. Jill gasped and stepped aside from Barry, whipping out her pistol in an attempt to recompose herself.
Barry gulped and his hand hovered over the magnum in his holster. His wispy eyelids widened when another bang came from the door and it swung wide open.
Jill shuddered as she recognized the zombie from earlier, stumbling its way through the doorway, her knife still protruding from its soggy neck.
Jill narrowed her eyes, finger over the trigger of her gun. Barry watched in shock as the zombie stepped closer and closer to them. He took one look at Jill before knowing what he had to do.
Barry held his breath and lifted up the barrel of his magnum, squeezing the trigger once.
The zombie staggered as it was struck in the chest with a powerful magnum round. Barry groaned in frustration before shooting it again and again.
Jill slowly lowered her pistol as she watched the zombie slink to the floor. Barry's eyes were still wide as he watched the zombie fall down. He looked at Jill with a wild expression after a few seconds of making sure the corpse wouldn't get back up.
Jill was breathing heavily and her gaze broke from the zombie on the ground, up to Barry's shocked expression.
"Kenneth..." Jill whispered, almost inaudibly.
Barry furrowed his brow and shoved the magnum in his holster. "What...?" He murmured softly, taking a gentle step towards Jill.
Jill swallowed deeply before regaining the strength to speak again. "That thing... it got Kenneth... he's dead."
Barry gulped and looked back down to the zombie. Jill was right. The monster had fresh blood covering its dark teeth and bony hands.
Barry looked back to Jill, his heart aching as he watched her take a deep breath and look across the great dining room.
"Barry, something's going on. This isn't... right. This shouldn't be happening." Jill murmured hesitantly, pulling nervously on her belt loops.
Barry cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "You're right. Maybe we should-"
He stopped himself.
He knew he should recommend they look deeper into the mansion, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.
Jill looked back at Barry, giving him a confused look as he remained frozen in place.
"Maybe we should report back to Captain Wesker." He finally finished, giving her a firm nod.
Jill sighed shakily, pondering the thought for a moment before nodding. "Yeah. Maybe he'll know what to do." She spoke, reluctance coating her tongue.
Barry watched as Jill cocked her gun and began taking careful steps across the dining room. She turned around to beckon Barry over with a flick of her wrist, before turning back to the door on the opposite end of the room.
Barry sighed and scratched his neck lightly before following after Jill. He had tried to protect her for so long.
Maybe it was time he realized she could protect herself.
He wasn't sure if that would make this easier or harder for him.
Barry cleared his throat and followed closely behind Jill. She finally reached the door and grabbed the doorknob.
As her fingers touched the cold metal of the door, the two of them froze and spun around at the sound of a door slamming.
Jill's eyes widened and she let go of the doorknob, sidestepping to look back across the length of the dining table. She gasped and her skin went white as she froze.
The dirty tile where the zombie had once laid was now empty, with only a few spots of murky blood staining where it had been. Jill looked warily back to Barry. She gulped before stepping closer to where the zombie had been.
"Jill." Barry called out, causing her to stop walking forward. She turned to look at him.
"Barry... what if there's more of them? More of those zombies that killed our team members? Why are they targeting S.T.A.R.S.?" Jill murmured in frustration, still staring in shock at the empty space on the tile. If Barry wasn't paying so close attention to her expression, he would've almost missed the frustrated tears that were brimming in her eyes.
Barry felt the color drain from his face. He tried to say something but he couldn't.
"I mean, it's like we were all led here at this specific place at this specific time. Could... could someone be behind this? Doing this to us?" Jill continued, turning her entire body to Barry now as her voice inflated with anxiety.
Barry opened his mouth to say something but shut it quickly. He just shrugged plainly, worry displayed across his face.
Jill sighed and shook her head, smiling slightly. "No... that's crazy. This isn't the time for some conspiracy. We just need to get whoever's left out of this hell." She whispered and started toward the door.
Barry's eyes followed her as she gripped the doorknob once more. She stopped and looked back up at him, a sad smile spread across her lips.
"What a horrible coincidence, huh?"
Barry cleared his throat and watched as Jill turned away from him and toward the door, pushing it open.
