Chapter 75: A Brief Encounter

September 24, 1998, 21:12. Jill's Apartment.

The sirens outside had thinned out considerably, replaced by intermittent gunfire in the distance and the low, guttural moans of zombies.

Jill sat on the floor, pressing the last magazine full of bullets. The crisp, metallic clinking sounded exceptionally harsh in the silent room.

The walkie-talkie at the corner of the table was still buzzing with static. Occasional, scattered dispatches came through the RPD's public channel—mostly cries for backup from officers that went unanswered.

She had just finished mentally cataloging her entire ammunition supply; the Beretta at her waist had only seven rounds left.

Just then, the phone on the nightstand suddenly lit up, a string of encrypted gibberish dancing across the screen.

Jill's pupils constricted instantly as she snatched up the phone.

"Jill?"

Chris's familiar voice came from the other end, accompanied by the crackle of static.

"Chris!" Jill's voice relaxed by half in an instant. She gripped the phone tightly and lowered her voice.

Chris's voice was steady and powerful. "I've received all the encrypted emails you sent. The experimental data from the Mother Nest, the evidence of Irons' collusion, and the records of the G-Virus samples are all intact.

I've already forwarded the backups to an internal contact at Interpol. The Umbrella Corporation's good days are numbered."

He paused, his tone becoming urgent. "A four-man strike team I arranged has already infiltrated Raccoon City. They're all veterans from the SAS and Delta Force. The captain's code name is 'Raven'.

They will arrive at the parking lot on the west side of the Raccoon City Police Department on the night of the 28th. Everyone will be in black combat gear with S.T.A.R.S. patches on their left arms. The contact code is 'Alpha calling Bravo'.

They've brought enough ammunition and medical supplies, along with a modified armored SUV capable of breaking through from the southern suburbs, which the Umbrella Corporation hasn't blockaded yet."

"You must arrive on time and leave with the documents. Do not trust anyone wearing an Umbrella Corporation uniform."

"And what about you?" Jill asked, her fingertips unconsciously stroking the edge of the phone.

"I still have to go to Paris. they have a biological weapon research and development center there." Chris's voice held a hint of apology. "I'm sorry, Jill, that I can't come to get you personally. But you must make it out alive. We'll meet in London and nail the Umbrella Corporation to the pillar of shame ourselves."

"I know." Jill nodded, taking a deep breath to suppress her surging emotions. "I'll get out with the evidence. You be careful too."

"Yeah, take care of yourself."

The call ended, and the screen went dark again. Jill held the satellite phone, which still retained a trace of warmth, and a faint glimmer of light finally broke through her heart.

Chris's extraction had been arranged. As long as she could hold out for these two days, everything Chloe had sacrificed her life for would not be in vain. She picked up the walkie-talkie and tuned it to Marvin's encrypted channel, her fingertips still carrying the warmth from the phone.

"Marvin, it's me."

"Jill? Thank God you're still safe." Marvin's voice was even raspier than it had been in the afternoon. The background was filled with the sound of heavy hammering and the scraping of wooden boards. "We're boarding up the police station windows. Some of those monsters are already wandering around the perimeter."

Jill leaned against the wall, looking out at the pitch-black street. "I'm heading to Kendo's Gun Shop now to restock. My ammunition is almost gone."

"Kendo's Gun Shop? A patrol team lost contact on that street just this afternoon. Be extremely careful." Marvin's tone paused before turning somber. "There's something else I have to tell you. Deputy Chief Raymond has fallen."

Jill's heart sank instantly, and her hand tightened around the walkie-talkie. "What?"

"In the ambush on Ennerdale Street, the remote detonation wire was torn by the horde." Marvin's voice carried an unmistakable tremor. "He ordered everyone to retreat and stayed behind to manually reconnect the wire, using his body to block the incoming horde. The explosion was too intense; we only found his badge. If not for him, not one of the thousands of survivors in the South District would have made it out."

The room fell into a sudden, deathly silence. Jill opened her mouth but couldn't make a sound. That man, who always had a stern face but stood by them when they were framed by Irons, who stepped up to organize the ambush when everyone else was panicking, had ended up as a scorched, deformed badge in the ruins of an explosion.

She remembered Marvin saying on the walkie-talkie that afternoon that 'all hell is breaking loose.' It turned out he had already prepared himself for sacrifice then.

"Irons has completely lost it." Marvin's voice pulled her back to reality. "He's locked himself in the Chief's office, dead drunk. He just shot and wounded an officer who knocked to bring him water.

I'm in charge of the station now. Jill, why don't you come here for shelter? We've set up a temporary refuge, and most of the remaining officers are planning to hold the station."

"I won't be coming." Jill's voice was a bit raspy. She blinked hard, suppressing the stinging in her eyes. "I'll find a place to lay low once I get the ammo from Kendo. Contact me anytime if something happens."

"Take care."

Jill hung up the walkie-talkie, chambered a round in her Beretta, tucked it behind her waist, and shouldered her tactical backpack.

She took one last look at the locked safe in the corner of the table. It held the evidence against the Umbrella Corporation, as well as all her lingering obsession with Chloe.

The moment she pulled the door shut, she whispered in her heart: Wait for me. I will make everyone who hurt you pay the price.

Raccoon City under the cover of night looked even more hideous than during the day. The streets were deserted, and the streetlights cast a dim, yellow glow, stretching the shadows of buildings into distorted shapes.

Occasionally, stumbling zombies would pass by alleyway entrances, their throats emitting thick, low growls. Jill moved quickly along the base of the walls, her footsteps as light as a cat's, avoiding all wandering infected. Twenty minutes later, she arrived at Kendo's Gun Shop.

The rolling shutter was halfway down, and a dim emergency light glowed inside. Jill ducked in and locked the shutter behind her.

"Who's there?"

The crisp sound of a Shotgun being chambered came from behind the counter, carrying undisguised wariness.

"It's me, Jill Valentine." Jill raised her hands and walked slowly into the light.

Robert Kendo stood up from behind the counter, holding a Remington M870. His face was as pale as paper, his eyes bloodshot, and his chin covered in a messy stubble. He looked like he hadn't slept for at least three days. Seeing it was Jill, he slowly lowered the gun and leaned against the counter, exhausted.

"What are you doing here? It's like hell out there now."

"I'm here to restock on ammunition." Jill glanced at the empty shelves and frowned. "Where are the guns and bullets?"

"All given out." Kendo rubbed his face, his voice raspy. "Starting yesterday afternoon, people kept coming in to buy guns. Later, money became useless, so I gave whatever I could to the neighbors. At least it gives them a chance to protect themselves."

He turned and went into the back room, returning a moment later with a heavy metal case. He opened it on the counter. Inside lay a perfectly maintained M16A2, five full magazines, two boxes of 9mm Parabellum rounds, and twenty 12-gauge Shotgun shells.

"I was keeping this for myself and Emma, but you take it." Kendo pushed the case forward. "You need it more than we do."

"Thank you, Robert." Jill packed the weapons into her bag and looked up at him. "Go to the police station. Marvin and the others are reinforcing the defenses. There are high walls and heavy weapons there; it's much safer than here."

Kendo's eyes dimmed instantly. He looked down at his rough hands and remained silent for a long time.

"What's wrong?" Jill sensed something was off and softened her tone.

"My wife... she's infected." Kendo's voice was a whisper, trembling with despair. "She started running a fever yesterday morning. I thought it was just the flu. By the afternoon, she was talking nonsense, and her strength was terrifying—she almost bit Emma. I've locked her in the master bedroom."

He looked up, his eyes bloodshot. "I can't take her to the station; I can't put others at risk. But I can't leave her here alone, either."

"What about Emma?" Jill asked. "She's only eight."

At the mention of his daughter, Kendo's shoulders trembled slightly. He looked toward the back room, where the sound of a girl softly turning pages could be heard.

"Listen to me, Robert." Jill's tone was firm yet gentle. "You must take Emma to the police station. Your wife could fully turn at any moment; you can't protect Emma on your own. Nail the master bedroom door and windows shut, and leave enough food and water. Once we find a cure, I'll come back with you immediately. Right now, Emma's safety is the priority."

Kendo was silent for a long time, his fingernails digging deep into his palms. Finally, looking toward the back room, he nodded slowly.

"Alright. I'll pack some things."

"Remember, absolutely do not let Emma near the master bedroom, and do not open that door," Jill urged.

"I know." Kendo turned and walked into the back room, gently closing the door.

Jill stood at the counter, looking out at the dark street, her heart aching. Kendo wasn't the first, and he wouldn't be the last. In this disaster manufactured by the Umbrella Corporation, every ordinary person was suffering through a catastrophe.

Meanwhile, in the main municipal sewage network of Raccoon City.

Cold sewage reached up to the ankles, emitting a nauseating stench. In the darkness, a silver-white figure glided silently, making no sound of footsteps.

Chloe's matte-black Reaper armor covered her head and torso, revealing only a pair of lifeless, iridescent eyes.

The carbonized blade-claws on her hands glinted with a cold light in the dark. Symmetrical bone blades at her elbows slightly extended and retracted with her movements, and her waist-length silver-white hair hung down her back, stained with scattered flecks of dark green blood.

A faint crawling sound came from a fork in the pipe ahead. Three Lickers were hanging upside down from the walls, their bifurcated tongues flicking rapidly to sense prey.

Chloe's body froze for an instant before she turned into a streak of silver-white lightning and charged. Without warning, after the sharp whistle of blade-claws cutting through the air, the foremost Licker was precisely split in two, its red innards splashing across the pipe walls.

The other two Lickers screeched piercingly and lunged forward simultaneously.

Chloe sidestepped the first one's claws, the bone blade on her elbow extending to pierce its skull. Immediately after, she swung her hand back, her claws severing the second one's tongue. Before it could retreat, her fingertips had already plunged into its chest cavity.

The entire combat process took 3 seconds.

Chloe withdrew her claws, not even glancing at the corpses on the ground. Her nose twitched slightly, catching that extremely faint yet unmistakable scent belonging to Jill in the air.

The scent was like an invisible thread coming from above ground, guiding her forward. She turned and continued moving northwest. Any infected, giant cockroaches, or mutant rats she encountered along the way were instantly eliminated, leaving no survivors.

Six hundred meters behind her in the shadows of the pipe, six soldiers in black nano-combat suits and panoramic night-vision goggles were following silently in a tactical formation.

They were the Umbrella Corporation's USS Theta Team, each an elite handpicked from various national special forces, specialized in recovering high-value B.O.W.s that had gone out of control.

"Target confirmed, code name 'Valkyrie'. Movement speed 42 km/h, no obvious visual blind spots, sensing radius approximately 150 meters."

The Theta-1 Captain lowered his voice and spoke into the encrypted headset. "Everyone switch to tranquilizer mode, virus S01 Inhibitor, three-round bursts aimed at the torso. Test effective dosage, lethal strikes are prohibited."

"Theta-2, copy."

"Theta-3, copy."

The squad members fanned out like ghosts, taking up high ground on both sides of the pipe. Their movements were perfectly synchronized, making no unnecessary noise as their muzzles steadily tracked the silver-white figure three hundred meters away.

"Countdown three seconds. Three, two, one, fire!"

Twelve injector rounds whistled through the air, accurately striking Chloe's back and limbs. The needles easily pierced the gaps in her armor, injecting the pale blue virus S01 Inhibitor into her body.

Chloe's body jerked to a halt. She slowly turned around, her silver-gray eyes scanning the direction of the shots without emotion.

"Dosage effective?" Theta-3 whispered.

Just as the words left his mouth, Chloe's body merely swayed slightly. The bones at her joints made a faint clicking sound before she returned to normal. The twelve Elpis bullets had only caused her to pause for less than 0.8 seconds.

"Ineffective?!" Theta-4's tone carried a hint of shock. "That was a triple dose designed for a Tyrant!"

"All units, free fire, continuous injection!" Theta-1 ordered decisively.

A dense hail of injector rounds rained down on Chloe, each one accurately hitting her torso and limbs.

The virus S01 Inhibitor was continuously pumped into her body, causing extremely brief lags in her movements, but they were merely lags. Her speed did not drop significantly as she continued to close in on the squad steadily.

"Captain, forty rounds have been injected! Still no suppression effect!" Theta-2 reported. "Her metabolism is too fast; the S01 Inhibitor is being broken down as soon as it enters her system."

Chloe had already charged to within fifty meters of the squad, her blade-claws glinting with a lethal light in their night vision.

"Retreat!" The captain ordered without hesitation. "Target combat assessment S+, current dosage cannot suppress it. Requesting reinforcements from HQ, apply for unconventional weapons. Everyone use alternating cover, do not engage!"

The Theta Squad immediately executed retreat tactics, switching to lethal weapon mode and retreating in pairs with alternating cover fire.

Their coordination was seamless, maintaining a safe distance from Chloe and giving her no chance to close in.

Chloe pursued for less than two hundred meters before stopping. Her nose twitched again, re-capturing Jill's scent from above—the scent was moving toward the police station.

Without a glance at the USS members disappearing into the depths of the pipe, she turned and continued moving northwest. The skirmish just now was nothing more than an insignificant distraction to her.