Chapter 78: Resident Evil 3

September 28, 1998, 6:17 PM. Jill Valentine's rental apartment.

The curtains were drawn tight, completely shutting out the darkening sky and the sporadic gunfire outside.

Scattered on the table were empty bean cans, drained mineral water bottles, as well as oilcloth for cleaning guns and loose ammunition.

The Beretta 92F lay within reach, its magazine fully loaded and the safety off. Beside it sat a silver metal thermal box, its latches locked tight.

Inside it contained the S01 Inhibitor, something Chloe had exchanged her life to bring back.

The safe in the corner was shut tight, locking away all the incriminating evidence against the Umbrella Corporation: the laboratory data from the Nest, the records of Irons' collusion, and the sample reports of the G-Virus.

Jill Valentine curled up on the sofa; she was too exhausted, having barely closed her eyes for the past few days.

Whenever she closed her eyes, those hideous zombie faces would flash before her, followed by the sight of that massive eyeball covered in blood vessels from the G1, finally settling on the moment Chloe was torn apart.

That little girl with silver-white hair, the one who was always impossibly calm, the one who had thrown herself over to push her away without hesitation, even though she herself was trembling with fear.

The look in her eyes when she last saw her carried apology, reluctance to part, and those unspoken words: "Run away quickly."

Jill Valentine's fingers dug deep into her palms, her nails piercing her skin and drawing beads of blood, but she couldn't feel the pain. The agony in her heart had long since overshadowed any physical sensation.

She hated the Umbrella Corporation, she hated William Birkin, and she hated herself even more.

If not for her insistence on going to the Nest together to find the S01 Inhibitor, Chloe wouldn't have died saving her. If her reaction had been just a little faster, if she had discovered the G1's tracks sooner...

There were no ifs.

Exhaustion finally washed over her like a tide. Jill Valentine's eyelids grew heavier, her consciousness gradually blurred, and she finally sank into darkness.

She thought she would sink into a dreamless sleep, but what greeted her was an even more terrifying nightmare.

She was back in this familiar rental apartment. Outside the window, the sun was shining brightly, there were no sirens, no roars, and everything was as peaceful as if nothing had ever happened.

A figure sat on the sofa, silver-white long hair draped down her back, wearing the blue dress she had given to Chloe.

"Chloe?"

Jill Valentine's voice trembled; she walked forward cautiously, afraid of startling the person before her.

The figure did not turn back, just sat quietly, looking out the window.

"Chloe, it's me, Jill Valentine." Jill Valentine reached out, wanting to touch her shoulder, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry... I failed to protect you."

Just as her fingertips were about to touch Chloe, the figure slowly turned around.

Jill Valentine's breathing stopped instantly.

That was not the Chloe she knew.

The girl's face was as pale as paper, her eyes devoid of any luster, her pupils murky. The corners of her mouth were torn to the ears, revealing ghastly white teeth, and black blood dripped from her chin onto the floor.

Most terrifying of all was her chest, where there was a huge, gaping wound; the flesh at the edges was constantly writhing and rotting, exposing the ghastly white ribs inside.

"Jill Valentine..."

Chloe's voice was as hoarse as sandpaper rubbing together, carrying a hair-raising, low growl.

Her body began to twist, something was constantly surging beneath her skin, sharp bone spurs grew from her arms, and her nails turned long and black, flashing with a cold light.

She was mutating.

Jill Valentine retreated repeatedly, her back hitting the wall, with nowhere left to retreat. She looked at this familiar yet strange monster before her, her heart feeling as if it were being tightly gripped by an icy hand, aching so much she couldn't breathe.

"No... Chloe, it's not like this... Wake up..."

Chloe slowly stood up and walked toward her; with every step, a black bloody footprint was left on the floor. Her body was still constantly distorting, a small tumor bulging on her shoulder, with something seemingly writhing inside it.

"Jill Valentine... come with me..."

Chloe reached out her mutated hand, grabbing toward Jill Valentine's neck.

Jill Valentine subconsciously reached for her waist, pulled out the Beretta, and aimed it at Chloe's head with trembling hands.

"Don't come over... I beg you... don't come over..."

Her voice was laced with tears, her finger was on the trigger, but she couldn't pull it no matter what. That was Chloe, the little girl who had died to save her. How could she shoot her?

Chloe walked closer and closer, that twisted face only a few centimeters away from her, the smell of rot rushing toward her.

Jill Valentine closed her eyes in despair.

She couldn't shoot.

Jill Valentine abruptly turned the muzzle, aiming it at her own temple.

"I'm sorry, Chloe. I'm coming to join you."

She pulled the trigger with force.

"Bang!"

A violent gunshot rang in her ears.

Jill Valentine bolted up from the sofa, gasping for air, cold sweat instantly soaking through her clothes.

Her heart was pounding wildly in her chest, nearly jumping out of her throat. She subconsciously reached for her temple; there was no wound, no blood.

It was a dream.

Just a nightmare.

Jill Valentine held her forehead, her body still trembling uncontrollably. The sky outside the window had turned completely dark, and only a small desk lamp cast a dim, yellow light in the room.

She looked across the sofa; it was empty.

No Chloe, no monster, nothing at all.

Only endless darkness and silence.

Jill Valentine took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. She glanced at the wall clock: 6:23 PM. She had slept for less than half an hour.

Her clothes were soaked with cold sweat, sticking stickily to her body, which was very uncomfortable. She stood up, stretched her stiff shoulders, and decided to take a shower. At least hot water might help her relax a little.

She walked to the table, picked up the silver metal thermal box, and held it tightly in her arms. The cold metallic touch made her a little clearer-headed.

Cannot fall.

Absolutely cannot fall.

The thing Chloe had traded her life for was still in her hands, the Umbrella Corporation hadn't fallen yet, and she hadn't avenged Chloe.

She couldn't just die like this.

Jill Valentine placed the thermal box at the bathroom door so she could see it at any time. Just as she turned on the hot water faucet, preparing to enter the bathroom, the phone on the bedroom table suddenly rang.

The sharp ringing sounded particularly harsh in the quiet room.

Jill Valentine's movement paused; she immediately turned around and rushed out of the bathroom, grabbing the phone.

The caller ID was Brad.

"Brad?" Jill Valentine answered the phone, her voice still somewhat hoarse.

"Jill Valentine! Thank god you're still alive!" Brad's voice on the other end of the line carried extreme panic and urgency, with dense gunfire and roars coming from the background, "Listen to me, the situation is bad, very bad! The people Chris sent..."

Before Brad could finish his sentence, a deafening roar suddenly came from the wall!

"Boom—!"

Bricks and cement fragments splashed everywhere, and dust filled the entire living room. Jill Valentine was knocked back a few steps by the shockwave, hitting the wall behind her heavily.

She raised her head and, through the pervasive dust, saw a massive figure walk in through the hole in the wall.

It was a monster over two meters tall, wearing a tattered black tactical suit covered in bullet holes and dark red bloodstains, clearly having just gone through a brutal slaughter.

His skin was a dead gray, his muscles knotted like they were cast from steel. He wore a rusted metal helmet on his head, covering most of his face, revealing only a pair of emotionless, murky yellow eyes.

He exuded a thick stench of blood and rot, mixed with the smell of gunpowder, which was nauseating.

"S.T.A.R.S.!" the monster known as Nemesis roared.

Jill Valentine's pupils constricted sharply, and every hair on her body stood up. Before she could react, Nemesis had already rushed in front of her in one stride.

His massive, vein-covered right hand suddenly reached out, grabbing Jill Valentine by the neck and lifting her entire body up.

A sense of suffocation struck instantly; Jill Valentine's feet left the ground, and she kicked desperately. She could feel Nemesis's fingers tightening like iron pincers, nearly crushing her cervical spine.

"Ugh..."

Jill Valentine reached out with difficulty, groping for the Beretta at her waist, pulled it out, aimed at Nemesis's helmet, and pulled the trigger repeatedly.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The bullets hit Nemesis's head precisely, creating a few shallow dents on the metal helmet and making a harsh metallic clashing sound. But Nemesis seemed not to feel it at all; the hand gripping Jill Valentine's neck didn't loosen in the slightest.

He slowly raised his arm and then violently threw her down.

Jill Valentine was thrown heavily to the ground like a rag doll, her back hitting the hard cement floor with a dull thud. She felt her internal organs shift, and a mouthful of blood surged up her throat.

Nemesis took heavy steps and walked toward her; with every step, the floor vibrated slightly.

Jill Valentine endured the intense pain, rolled on the ground, and dodged the giant foot Nemesis stomped down with. The floor was stomped into a deep footprint, with cement fragments splashing everywhere.

She scrambled to her feet and saw the silver metal thermal box placed at the bathroom door at a glance.

The S01 Inhibitor!

Jill Valentine didn't hesitate at all, rushed over, grabbed the thermal box, and held it in her arms. Then she turned and ran, heading toward the apartment's emergency fire exit.

Nemesis roared behind her, punching the adjacent wall, and the wall was instantly punched through, creating a large hole. His speed was astonishing; in a few strides, he caught up to Jill Valentine, and his massive fist smashed toward her back.

Jill Valentine lunged to the side; the fist grazed her shoulder and smashed into the ground, shattering the floor. Leveraging this momentum, she rolled to the door of the fire exit, pulled it open, and rushed in.

She ran desperately down the stairs, with Nemesis in hot pursuit behind her. The stairs groaned under Nemesis's trampling, on the verge of collapsing at any moment.

When she reached the third floor, Nemesis smashed the stair railing with a punch, and a huge chunk of cement fell, blocking Jill Valentine's path.

Jill Valentine immediately turned and ran toward the nearby window. She shattered the glass with the butt of her gun and leaped out.

She landed on a balcony on the second floor, then jumped from the balcony to the back alley on the first floor.

Upon landing, she twisted her ankle, causing her to gasp in pain. But she dared not stop; clutching the thermal box, she ran desperately into the depths of the alley.

Behind her came the angry roar of Nemesis, along with the loud crash of a wall being smashed. But he seemed to be trapped by the falling bricks from the apartment and didn't catch up for a while.

Jill Valentine ran for several hundred meters until she could no longer hear Nemesis's voice, then leaned against a wall, panting heavily.

Her body was covered in scrapes and bruises, and her back ached as if it were about to break. But the thermal box in her arms was intact.

Thank goodness.

Thank goodness the S01 Inhibitor was okay.