Resident Evil: Take It or leave It

Intro

Longtime partners, of not one but two special tasks forces, Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine were walking as briskly as they could down a wide corridor with his younger sister Claire sandwiched between them. Each of them held one of her arms in place over their shoulders. Though they couldn't hear one another's thoughts, Chris and Jill were nevertheless attuned to the fact that this was arguably the most harrowing situation they'd ever found themselves in. Given how stressed the two of them were, they could only imagine what the five highly-trained soldiers accompanying them were thinking.

Chris winced when his sister let out a loud, agonized scream next to his right ear. He swore that he'd likely be deaf if exposed to another twenty minutes of this. However, that was the least of his concerns, in spite of the fact that it would take him and Jill, and their unit, a bit longer than that to clear the facility they'd infiltrated to find and rescue Claire. His sister was in no condition to walk or otherwise support her own weight. That alone was slowing down the group supporting and/or flanking her. Provided the screams didn't cease, they were sure to be heard by one of Wesker's lackeys before the rescue party would be able to get to anything resembling an exit.

"Fuck!" Jill said, stopping to get a better grip on Claire when the latter began to slip away from her. Being forced to halt made Jill face up to the harsh reality of their situation. She shortly caught her partner's eye. Even though he had to know what she was thinking, she still spoke his name in an impersonal but pleading tone.

"No!" Chris barked out, his role as the overprotective big brother overriding his common sense. "We are not stopping!" It was understandable. Claire had been missing for almost two years. No doubt Chris wanted to get her to safety as soon as possible, but no one on the rescue team had expected to find her heavily pregnant and due to give birth at any moment.

Jill squared her shoulders, maintaining an authoritative edge. "If we don't, Wesker will have his claws back on her in no time, Chris! You'll like that even less! Claire's making too much noise, and we're moving too slow. Delivering the baby will increase our odds of getting out quickly and quietly." She panned the corridor, instructing one of the soldiers accompanying them to check the doors for a place to hole up until further notice.

Chris wanted to argue the point, but slowly began to realize that Jill was right. Yet, there was a risk in stopping as well. If Wesker or any one of his men found them, the odds were good that Claire would be taken away a second time. The fact that his sister let out another cry caused Chris to want to pound the wall with his free hand. "Damn it to hell!" he shouted. He couldn't lose her again after he'd just found her!

The third door was unlocked. The only identifying markers that it may have been a science lab at some point were the two metal gurneys shoved against one wall. As he and Jill carefully laid Claire down on an army jacket that one of their companions surrendered to provide her with the barest amount of comfort, Chris prayed that the room had at least been sterilized against whatever experiments, if any, might have taken place within it. Perhaps so; he was sure he was picking up a faint trace of ammonia.

Jill ordered two of their companions, Josh and Sheva, to guard the hallway before kneeling in front of Claire and quietly looking her over. Jill shortly let out a deep breath, wishing that her specialty was medicine instead of bomb defusing, but resigned herself to trying to get through this with or without that particular expertise. She knew enough to tell Chris to move Claire into a sitting position and support her. "It won't be long," Jill stated while gently rubbing Claire's lower leg with one hand in a comforting gesture. "Just hang in there, and we'll be home free before you know it."

A more unwelcome response sounded from the facility's intercom. The cold, crisp tone of Albert Wesker's voice grated at Chris and Jill. "I will assume that you don't know exactly what you've stumbled into here, Chris, but I would ask that you return my property immediately." Though his words implied that he didn't know their exact whereabouts, Wesker's audacity sent Chris' temper through the roof.

When Chris looked down, his worst fears given root by Wesker's statement, Claire was gazing back at him with a mix of pain and fear in her eyes. Though he was furious, he fought to hold onto his sanity and remain calm for her sake. Seeing that she was fumbling for his hand, Chris wrapped his fingers firmly around hers.

"Please," Claire gasped out. "Don't let him..."

That was all she was able to get out before her face scrunched up. Chris felt a pang of sympathy when she tightened her grip on his hand. He sought to soothe her, "I'm sorry we didn't get to you sooner, Claire. But I promise you that I won't let that bastard hurt you again."

Claire was too focused on conserving her energy to offer a response. She had never felt such pain before in all of her twenty-nine years, but she knew by her brother's words that it stood to get so much worse. She hadn't meant to imply that she'd been raped. Chris hated Wesker so much that the misconception would cause her brother to do something drastic. Chris, please, she thought as though it would by some miracle convey itself to him. It isn't what you think... The baby's not his.

There was no recognition from Chris, naturally. Seconds later, Claire squeezed her eyes shut, biting back another scream. It wasn't just the pain that was taxing her. Being forced onto her feet, however necessary, for a short distance hadn't helped at this late stage. It was still comforting to have someone she loved by her side as opposed to Wesker's so-called medical staff. Especially since she'd been convinced she was completely alone. Maybe now, she'd find the strength to get through this, as well as whatever followed. Just before the rescue party had found her, the doctor had said she was almost fully dilated. At least it wouldn't be much longer.

Lolling her head to one side and keeping her eyes closed, Claire conjured a face into view that brought both comfort and anguish. She knew it was the only way she'd ever see him again, and she desperately wanted him with her in some form.