Chapter 11
Chris walked up the empty stairwell one slow step at a time, his hand sliding along the railing, his boots making loud footsteps on the cement steps. When he reached the third floor of the apartment building, he pushed open the door and walked into the quiet hallway.
He still didn’t have the heart to tell his family what happened, or what was going to happen next, so he sent impersonal emails to tell them that something came up and he would be busy for a couple of weeks. They would not be able to get in touch with him for a little while. He emailed his parents, his grandparents, and his sister Claire. Telling them over the phone would too difficult, and they would never understand the real reasons. Chris was very close with his family, but somehow, he knew that even they would not believe him if he tried to tell the truth. And he could not bear to lie to them, so he just avoided the problem altogether.
He stopped at the door to Jill’s apartment and paused, looking down at his hands. He came to tell Jill in person that he was leaving town for good, but now he didn’t know if he wanted to break that news to her in person either. She took the deaths of Barry’s family very hard, even harder than Chris had. And Brad already mentioned to Chris that Jill was dealing with the situation by drowning herself in alcohol.
Chris sighed and knocked on the door, tapping it lightly with his knuckles. He waited a moment, and when he heard no answer, he knocked again.
“It’s Chris,” he said.
Almost immediately, he heard the sound of the deadbolt chain. The lock clicked and the door eased open and Jill was there, looking out at Chris with a sad smile on her tired face. She was a mess, but not as bad as Chris somehow expected. Her hair was unwashed and her eyes were slightly glazed. She wore a gray undershirt and a blue pair of shorts, and a blue blanket was draped over her shoulders.
“Hey,” she said. “I didn’t know if it was another reporter or something. That’s why I didn’t answer. You can come in if you want.”
“Okay,” Chris said, and he walked into the apartment, sticking his hands in the pockets of his black cargo pants. Jill closed the door and locked it again.
Chris glanced surreptitiously into the kitchen and noticed two empty wine bottles on the counter. He walked into the living room and saw that the television was on with the sound muted. A news anchorman mouthed out words silently on the screen. There was another half-empty bottle on the end table, next to an open bag of store brand chocolate chip cookies.
“Are you going to lecture me too?” Jill asked as she shuffled back over to the couch. She sat down and crossed her legs, wrapping the blanket around her whole body. It was like she was encasing herself in a cocoon.
“No,” Chris said softly. “We all deal with things differently. I don’t blame you for having some trouble with it.” He took a few steps over to the window and looked outside. The view from Jill’s living room was pretty bleak; it showed an empty side street with a few cars parked along the curb, and a small factory building with no windows across the street.
“So how are you dealing with it?” Jill asked. She shifted position on the couch and tilted her head back, staring up at the ceiling.
“That’s kind of why I came over. I thought about just calling you on the phone, but I wanted to talk to you in person.”
“I unplugged my phone anyway,” Jill said. “I got sick of all the messages.”
“Have you talked to anyone? Have you called your parents or anything?”
Jill shook her head and closed her eyes. “No, I haven’t. I don’t even know what I could tell them. I’ll call them in a few days. I need to think it over.”
“I know what you mean.”
“I’m quitting the force,” Jill said suddenly. She sat up straight and took a deep breath, and looked at Chris with sad, weary eyes. “I can’t go back to work. I can’t be a cop anymore, not after what happened.”
“Me neither,” Chris said.
Jill was taken aback and just stared at him with her mouth hanging open. Chris guessed that she expected him to try to talk her out of it. “You’re quitting too?” she said disbelievingly.
Chris nodded and pursed his lips, giving her a weak shrug. “What’s the point? Going back there to work for Irons, knowing he lied to us? If we went back to work, we’d all be under the microscope. Every cop there would wonder if they could trust us. I can’t live like that.”
“I guess I thought you would be too stubborn to quit,” Jill said. “Are Brad and Rebecca quitting too?”
“Rebecca is. I’m not sure about Brad. I called him earlier today and he told me that he would think about it.”
Jill sighed and looked down at the floor. For a few long moments, neither of them said anything. Jill’s hand came out from under the blanket and she grabbed a few cookies off the end table. She ate one, replacing the calm silence with the sound of her chewing. She swallowed and then looked disinterestedly at the other cookies in her hand, before setting them on the arm of the sofa.
“I wonder if Irons would let me take a medical leave of absence,” she said.
“He might,” Chris said. “I’m sure he doesn’t want any of us coming back to work anyway. Signing off on a leave of absence would be easier than firing us.”
“We’re liabilities now. We know too much.”
“Yeah.”
“Do you think ...” Jill said, and then shook her head. “No, nevermind.”
“What is it?”
Jill sighed again and said, “I wonder if he might try something to get rid of us. If we refused to quit, or if we threatened to go to the press, no matter how crazy it sounded. Do you think he might ... I don’t know ... try to have us killed or something?”
Chris had already considered that. “It would be too suspicious if we were killed all of a sudden. With the other members of the team gone, and Barry’s family gone, if one of us were killed, it would be way too obvious. Irons wouldn’t risk making people more suspicious than they already are.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
“Of course, if Umbrella found out what we know, they might try something. After all, it wouldn’t get traced back to them, since no one but Irons knows they’re involved.”
“Do you think they’ll try something to keep us from telling anyone?”
“Maybe,” Chris admitted. “But I doubt it. No one would ever believe us, and Umbrella has bigger things to worry about.”
Chris had no doubts that Umbrella must know by now that the S.T.A.R.S. teams were involved in the events at the lab. The bodies of seven police officers were still there, not including Wesker. For the past two days, the newspapers had been full of speculation about the events of that night. Umbrella would have to be blind not to put it together by now. The fact that Chris and the others were not silenced already was a good sign that Umbrella was not concerned about them.
“So what are you going to do now that you’re unemployed?” Jill asked.
“I’m leaving Raccoon City. I’m already all packed up. I came over here to talk to you before I left.”
“Before you left?” Jill said. “You mean you’re leaving today? Right now?”
“Yeah,” Chris said with a short nod. “I came over to say goodbye.”
Jill looked up at him with wide eyes, and then slowly looked away. “Maybe I should go away too,” she said quietly. “I should get out of here before it’s too late.”
“Yes, you should,” Chris said.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m heading to Florida first. I have some friends there, some guys I used to know when I was in the Air Force. They’re going to help me get started.”
“What do you mean?” Jill asked. “Get started with what?”
“I made Barry a promise,” Chris replied, looking down at the floor. “And I’m going to keep it. I’m going to make sure that Umbrella doesn’t get away with this.”
Jill
just looked disappointed. She shook her head defeatedly and said, “How are you going to do that, Chris? I mean, I know how you feel. I want them to pay for this just as badly as you do. But you can’t get revenge on them. They’re a huge company, they have millions of employees probably, they have buildings and stuff all over the world. What could you possibly do by yourself?”
“Maybe I don’t have to do it by myself.”
“Maybe you ...” Jill blinked and shook her head again. “No, I’m sorry, but I can’t help you, Chris. I’m not up to it. I just can’t.”
“It’s okay,” Chris said reassuringly. “I asked Rebecca and Brad as well, and they didn’t want to come with me either. I know what I’m getting into, and I know that it’s something you might not want to be involved in.”
“I don’t want you to be involved either,” Jill said. “What do you think Umbrella will do to you if they catch you?”
“I’m willing to risk it. I can’t just walk away from all this. I promised Barry that I would make sure Umbrella paid for their crimes, and that’s what I’m going to try to do.”
“I wish I could help you,” Jill said weakly. “Maybe some day down the road, I might be able to. But not right now.”
“I understand.”
Jill looked away again. She spoke, but her voice was low. “If you’re leaving today, you’re going to miss the funerals.”
“Yes,” Chris said. The funeral for Barry’s wife and children was in two days. “I’m sorry, but I can’t be there. It wouldn’t be right.”
“I know what you mean,” Jill said.
The thought of having a funeral for Barry’s family, while not being able to have a proper burial for Barry himself, was something Chris could not accept. And it wasn’t just Barry. All of the members of the team deserved a real funeral, but he doubted that any of them would receive one. Their bodies were still out at the mansion and the lab, and Umbrella would surely never want those bodies to be returned. They would hide the evidence of their wrongdoing, and the bodies of all the victims would be disposed of or hidden away.
Until Umbrella paid for their crimes, until the truth about the events in the Arklay Mountains was revealed to the public, Chris could not bear to face the families of the deceased. Every dead member of the S.T.A.R.S. teams had families and friends that were demanding answers from the RCPD. They were also demanding answers from the surviving members of the team, and Chris had no answers he was willing to give them. It was only a matter of time until the lawsuits started flying, and Chris wanted to be long gone when that happened.
“I have to leave now,” he said.
“Okay. Good luck, Chris.”
“Thanks. I think I might need it.”
Jill smiled sadly and nodded to herself. “Yeah, I need some too.”
Chris walked over to her and put his hand on her shoulder. “Don’t wait too long, Jill. If you’re planning on getting out, get out as soon as you can. Things are only going to get worse. If I were you, I’d get the hell out of this city in the next couple of days.”
“Do you really think it will be that bad?”
“Yes. Whatever happened out at that lab is going to happen here.”
Jill looked up at him and slowly put her hand on top of his. “Okay,” she said softly. “I promise I’ll get out as soon as I can.”
Chris smiled and walked to the door. Just as he was reaching for the doorknob, Jill got up off the couch, tossing the blanket aside. “Chris, wait,” she said.
Chris turned around as Jill rushed over to him, her eyes glistening. She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest, holding him tightly. Chris put his hands on her shoulders and held her gently as she cried, her body trembling. After a few moments, she sniffed and wiped her face with the back of her hand, but her cheeks were still wet with tears.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“It’s okay,” Chris whispered back.
Jill cleared her throat. “Be careful, alright?” she said, managing a smile even as her eyes blurred with more tears. “And keep in touch. Give me a day or two and I promise I’ll be right behind you.”
“I hope you will. If you can’t find me, I’ll try to find you.”
“Okay.”
Chris touched Jill’s cheek and then leaned down to plant a kiss on her forehead. She closed her eyes and smiled. Another stray tear rolled down the side of her face.
“Goodbye,” Chris said. “I’ll see you soon.”
“Bye,” Jill whispered.
The door opened and closed, and when Jill opened her eyes again, Chris was gone.