Resident Evil Series Fan Fiction ❯ Resident Evil Blood ❯ Chapter 11 Deceit ( Chapter 11 )

Yoh! Disclaimer: I don’t own nothing’, except a lovely bunch of coconuts... Resident Evil and it’s many AWESOME characters are all property of Capcom and I am simply using and abusing Chris Redfield and the other RE guys because *sings* “It’s so delicious!”

Resident Evil Blood

Chapter 11 – Deceit

East Coast, BSAA Field Camp and Training Facility. Six years after Raccoon City. Present Day.

Chris opened his eyes. He let out a long tired sigh. He hated remembering the past. The waiting room, the white walls, the smell of antiseptics… It brought back too many unfond memories.

Too many…

Jill anxiously paced as they both waited for the doctor to return. She verbally cussed in frustration and slammed her fist into the wall. “What’s taking so damn long!? If he’s awake, we should be able to go in and see him.” She made a face, which on any other day might have passed as a cute pout, but at this moment, her eyes were far too tired to give it any sweet overtone. “This waiting is making me sick,” she mentioned to no one in particular right before finally slumping down in a nearby chair.

“Calm down,” one of the other guys mentioned. “Don’t wanna give yourself an aneurism, do you?” he said giving her a playful smile trying to cheer her up.

“It’s cool, Jill. The doc will be out soon and then we’ll get to see Carlos.”

What was his name..? Jeremy? He was the new BSAA A-1 member… My replacement…

Chris didn’t recognize many of the others.

So many new people...

All around him, they sat in waiting chairs. He could hear several other people quickly making their way down the corridor towards their location. The word had spread quickly about Carlos waking up. He could faintly make out Claire’s voice in the distance chatting away.

All these people, they all care about Carlos. About Jill. About each other.

The people he cared about-

CARE about.

He quickly corrected in his mind, slightly disgusted at his slip.

I still care about these people. Present tense: STILL care about them.

He reminded himself, perhaps a little too forcefully. Since when did he have to remind himself that he still cared?

I still do… I do care…

He let off slowly, allowing his mind to wander in other directions. He didn’t want to think right now. He didn’t want to be here… He hated the smell of medical faculties.

“Can we see him now?!” Jill quickly sprung up from the hard plastic chair as the doctor entered the patient waiting room. “He’s awake, right? Is he alright? Can he talk? Can we see him?”

Chris couldn’t help but faintly smile, even if sadly. The injuries Carlos had sustained, as far as he was concerned, were his fault, for being so reckless with his teammate’s lives. Honestly, if anything irreparable had happened to Carlos, he would never have forgiven himself.

And that’s exactly what I need at the moment: more guilt... As if I don’t have enough of that already…

He thought as he saw Claire walk into the room. Along with her followed that McGivern guy and quite a few others he didn’t recognize. He watched as she made her way towards Jill.

“Jill!” his sister asked, catching the other woman’s attention. “Can we go in yet?”

“That’s what I’m asking,” she answered slightly exasperated and turned her attention back to the man in the white coat. “Well?! When the fuck can we see Carlos?!”

Chris had to laugh at that, as did a few others.

She’s a true friend. Jill. If only everyone could be so lucky as to have a partner like you…

The smile quickly faded, as a deep sadness spread through his thoughts.

I bet you don’t have to remind yourself that you still care…

He glanced at her and saw as she turned beat red and the doctor laughed and they both shares sighs of happiness. Their words were mute as the sounds all faded out and he could see nothing but their joy. As Jill’s eyes lit up, a visible weight lifted from her shoulders as she looked up and mouthed a ‘thank you’ to the heavens.

Chris’ eyes narrowed behind his red tinted shades and he felt a small, but sharp twinge of hate and jealousy at that exact moment run like electricity through his heart. At Jill. At Carlos. At Clair. At himself… At…

Wesker.

“Chris?” Jill called again. “Chris, are you listening? Come on, we can see Carlos now!”

Chris remained emotionless. He didn’t respond for a few seconds before finally getting up and following her into the next room. “Yeah, I’m coming.” He forced a smile on his lips to reassure Jill, but dropped it the moment she turned around.

Thank goodness the shades hid his eyes or else she would have seen the evident pain. The irrational hate. The misplaced jealousy. And the utter self-loathing. He mentally cursed as he had to remind himself once again.

I still care about these people. I do...

Unknown Location… One week ago.

“I don’t know if I can do this,” Chris looked up at the man sitting at a computer display reverently typing.

“You can. And you will.”

“But-”

“This is no longer up for discussion, Chris.”

The brunette lowered his gaze and looked away.

“You leave tomorrow 0600. Take the black jeep. I’ve already assembled your gear.”

Chris swallowed, still hesitant. “I don’t…” he started then stopped. “What if-?”

The blond suddenly turned. “Chris,” he spoke slowly. “You do understand what’s at stake?” he asked rhetorically.

The ex-BSAA member bit his tongue and nodded.

“Then stop making pathetic excuses. You will do this.”

Chris simply starred at the man now, for a few seconds, both of them making eye contact; their glares shielded behind red tinted shades and black sun glasses. He wanted to feel hate. He wanted to feel fear. He wanted to feel anger. He wanted to feel something; anything. But he didn’t . He just felt empty... He felt dead. “What if they find out?” he whispered in a voice so low he wondered if the other man had even heard him.

“If they find out, then they find out.”

Simple.

Chris closed his eyes. He wished life could really be that simple.

“Yeah.” He slowly took in a deep breath and calmly let it out. “Guess that’s life…”

What little we have left of it…

Present Day

Carlos was doing one hell of a magnificent job in milking the nurses for all they were worth. The doctor assured everyone that it was nothing more than a mild concussion and that he should be out of there by morning and yet still, somehow, Carlos was still garnering attention from everyone like he had one foot in the grave.

“Aw, darling,” he called after some pretty nurse. “I just don’t know what I’m going to do. I might just need your help with my sponge bath later today.”

“Hee-hee!” the girl giggled. “Carlos! You’re incorrigible!”

“That’s not all I am,” he growled while smacking another nurse on the ass playfully.

“Ah!” she yelped as she, and several of the other nurses, all bust out in a fit of giggles. “Not in front of everyone!” she squealed as she saw several visitors entering the room.

“What this?” he asked feigning surprise and shock. “Oh, trust me honey, this ain’t nothing like what I got planned to do to you tonight.”

“Eee!” she giggled harder and excused herself, quickly walking past Jill as she entered the room.

“You meanie!” cried another one while still smiling. “What about me?!”

“Hell, you’re already invited! All the pretty ladies are!” Carlos exclaimed. “It’s the Carlos-get-well bash of the century! And I need all the get-well-ing you can give!” he grinned.

“Ahhh!” the gaggle of nurses all swooned.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Jill deadpanned.

“Uh oh!” Carlos quickly composed himself. “The parentals have arrived.”

“You jerk,” Jill smacked him on the head jokingly. “And here I thought you were actually hurt.”

“Hey, not the face!” Carlos made to cover his head. “I need that to make a living!”

“Obviously, you must be talking about your looks, ‘cause heavens knows you don’t have anything inside your head worth any value.”

“Oooh,” Jeremy howled at Jill’s comeback. “Buuurn.”

“Naw, Jeremy,” Carlos waived it off. “See, she just complimented my amazing good looks. I knew it was only a matter of time before you couldn’t resist my Latino hotness.”

Everyone busted out laughing. Jill just face palmed. Chris actually found himself smiling and in a lighter mood. He missed this. Being with the people he loved, joking around, having a good time. He truly missed this. And as badly as dark thoughts wanted to burst his bubble, he kept them at bay with the wonderful trick called “ignore,” which Jill was currently implementing on Carlos’ stupidity.

“Moron,” she shook her head as she hugged him. “I was so worried.”

“You know it’ll take more than that to keep me down,” he reassured her. “I’m fine. Really. We’ve been through worse, right?”

Jill rubbed some stray tears out of her eyes as she nodded. “Yeah, just… Boyd and Kowalski…”

Carlos immediately looked down, but didn’t say anything. The mirth immediately gone from his face.

“That wasn’t ya’lls fault,” Jeremy quickly added. “We all know the risks.” He put his hand on Jill’s shoulder and spoke clearly to them both. “There wasn’t anything else we could have done.”

Neither Jill or Carlos responded, but Jeremy was right though. There wasn’t anything they could have done. They went into the recon mission with limited knowledge – faulty knowledge actually, and they had paid the price for it. Chris knew that such a grave mistake was unlikely of the BSAA. And it was far too unlikely that just coincidentally both Jill and Carlos were sent into such a fated botched mission that was preemptively intercepted by himself? No. It was too perfect. He had just the right gear; the timing was just too good. A rescue by the long lost hero Chris Redfield, where he is reunited with his long lost comrades and is welcomed back home with open arms… It reeked of manipulation.

They were set up.

Chris frowned as he realized this. He knew who the puppet master was. It ticked him off that he was just now figuring it out. He hated being manipulated like this, but he hated it even more that the plan had gone off without a hitch.

What’s an arbitrary death or two if the grand scheme plays out perfectly, right? Fuck.

The brunette cursed mentally, silently berating himself for having been taken in so lightly. He couldn’t have a single moment of happiness. He hated being here, being with his old partners and teammates. Because he now knew it had come at the cost of two innocent lives.

Chris silently watched as countless visitors paraded in front of Carlos. They laughed. They joked. They cried. And they laughed some more. Chris himself smiled and nodded every now and then. He laughed when the others did, pantomiming their actions, but he felt nothing except hate and reviled disgust at himself; at the others; at… That man.

Flowers of every color slowly seeped in and were arranged around Carlos; his bed pretty soon more resembling a sort of funeral arrangement than an actual hospital bed. The wild flowers, carnations, daisies and babies breath mixing and mingling with the smell of disinfectants, creating an over powering stench of unbearable magnitude that only Chris seemed able to detect. It smelled like a grave.

And the never ending flow of visitors only served to further ingrain into Chris’ mind, just how much this reminded him of a wake, with people coming in and stepping out, letting him know just how much Carlos was beloved by everyone. Jill never left his side.

Finally, after what seemed like eons, the doctor entered the room and hustled everyone outside, telling them that they’d done enough damage for the day and that they could see Carlos again tomorrow morning when he’d be discharged.

“Hey, doc, hold up,” Carlos called out as people started to leave. “Come here for a sec,” he motioned for him to come over. “I need to talk to McGivern for a bit,” he spoke catching the colonel’s attention. “If that’s OK with you?”

“You need your rest,” the doctor reminded him.

“Ah come on, we both know I’m strong as an ox,” Carlos waived it off. “Besides,” he suddenly became serious. “It’s important.”

McGivern nodded and glanced at the doctor letting him know that if he objected, he’d simply be overruled.

“Fine,” the doctor sighed as he turned to leave. “Try not to take too long.”

“Carlos, what’s this about?” Jill asked. Carlos didn’t answer, but instead turned to look at Chris with a lingering glace that spiked alarm in the back of the brunette’s mind, but he did his best to disregard it.

“Carlos?”

“It’s nothing Jill, don’t worry. The colonel and me just got some talking to do before he takes off,” Carlos gave his best no-problem smile and laughed. “Damn, you guys must be hungry by now, huh?” he quickly changed the subject. “What time is it? I’m starving! Jill do me a favor? Can you take Chris to the mess hall and get me something good? They got this policy about only giving crap to patients and I need me a decent set of chicken strips, you know.”

Jill frowned. She wasn’t stupid. Neither was Chris. They both knew they were being sent on a fool’s errant. Jill looked ticked off because she didn’t like being kept in the dark. Chris, on the other hand, simply kept up his stoic mask. He wasn’t one to judge. He was keeping things from them too. He knew Carlos wasn’t a fool. He also knew McGivern was sharp. Both had had their brushes with Umbrella and BOWs and honestly, Chris wouldn’t have been surprised if they both suspected him already. Jill though, was also a trained professional, and she knew subterfuge when she saw it. Unfortunately for Chris, her loyalties stood with her partner… Her new partner.

“Yeah,” she answered, still miffed. “Sure.” He could hear the distaste in her words and see the frustration on her face. But she trusted Carlos, evidently enough to play the part of decoy. “Come on Chris,” she spoke as she started to leave the room. “Let’s go.”

Chris nodded and mentally sighed.

And so it starts… Fuck.

“Claire, can you go with them?” McGivern turned to ask the other woman. “Bring me back a cheesecake?”

“But Jill can-“

“Please, Claire.” McGivern added sternly, giving her a pointed look. “I’d really like it if you got me a cheesecake.”

Claire frowned, but she wasn’t stupid either. She knew what was up. “Fine,” she answered making an annoyed face.

“Hey,” As she stood up to go, he reached out and caught her by the hand. “Thanks. I love you.”

A smile immediately plastered itself on Claire. “Yeah,” she responded as she leaned over to quickly give him a chaste kiss on the cheek. “Me too. Play nice,” she warned both him and Carlos. “I’ll be back.”

“I’ll be waiting,” McGivern replied with a smile.

When everyone except the colonel and Carlos himself had left, he turned to look at the recovering BSAA member. “Alright,” he stated in a serious voice. “What was so important it couldn’t wait until tomorrow’s debriefing?”

“Sir,” Carlos began, not sure how to continue. “It’s about Chris.”

McGivern responded with suddenly more interest and slowly asked as his eyes keenly narrowed, “What about Chris Redfield?”





***************************** Author Time! *****************************
Yoh!

Hey guys! I wanted to post this on Sunday, but I had a friend over from Jersey (I’m in TX). We had a big Smash Bros. Brawl tournament on Sat and I was housing several players from out of town so, I had to wait until today. Ah, I love tournies though! So much fun!

Please, R/R!