RF0 Chapter 4

“Is she going to yell? You know I hate it when people yell,” Rochelle frets, hurrying up the stairs behind Jill.

Jill is back in uniform. “She’s too proud to yell. Orlova isn’t. Whatever happens, it’ll happen after, and it’ll depend on what we find.”

“You think we’re going out?”

“We have to now.” Jill gets the door, and Rochelle ducks through into the S.T.A.R.S. office.

Everyone is present, so the space is uncomfortably crowded.

“We have a perfectly good media room downstairs,” Edna complains as Rochelle closes the door.

Wesker is in the middle with a map of Raccoon City and the surrounding area taped to the whiteboard. She holds a marker and looks pristine in her uniform. “This is everyone. Quiet, please.”

“Are we really going out tonight?” Forest asks, making a face.

“That’s how you respond to the word quiet, please, Speyer?”

“Captain, I have cats to feed.”

Wesker points the marker as a warning, and Forest shuts up. “Today, Officer Valentine interviewed a likely third woman who reported attempted assault or potentially attempted sexual assault in the Arklays here.” Wesker draws a circle. “These are local women, and Officer Valentine believes that they are holding something back. Afraid to say too much. This land is all effectively owned by the Umbrella Corporation, which is why we have to tread carefully. We do have a warrant allowing us to search this area and investigate as appropriate.”

“What’s up there?” Joey asks, leaning against Chris’s desk.

Berry stands up with a sigh and folds her arms. “Forest. Good scenery. The train tracks run through it. It’s the Spencer Estate. There’s a house there, it’s supposed to be huge. Umbrella executives use it for retreats and stuff.”

“But there’s more,” Jill cuts in. “Over the past twenty years, Umbrella’s moved more building materials onto that property than you would believe. And I found old plans for at least one more big structure. There’s a railroad that goes through there too. They could have built anything. When I requested records from City Hall, they sent me an email saying that they were either missing or never existed.”

“I’m sure that’s the training facility,” Berry says with a glance at Edna. “That was in the papers a long time ago.”

“Training? Training for what?” Jill asks.

“Jill,” Wesker says gently. “We have three women who may be victims of a crime. And as you eloquently put it when you sought authorization for this operation, there is evidence to suggest that there may be more people in need of help. Thus, justification for the involvement of a rescue team.” Wesker spreads her arms to indicate everyone in the room. “Our function is rescue first, investigate second. And if we’re investigating anything, it will be a crime. Not a corporation.”

Jill bristles. “If anyone’s been following my work, then you know damn well—”

Kendall Sullivan cuts in. “Jill thinks Umbrella’s ignoring FDA guidelines and doing what amounts to human trials for new pharmaceuticals and targeting vulnerable populations. Which is a crime, captain.”

Jill glares. “Yes.”

Carla puts her hair into a ponytail. “I can believe that. But I don’t see how we get from that to these women wandering around the forest and saying these things.”

“Maybe that’s what we’ll find out,” Chris says.

“Not you,” Wesker tells him bluntly. “Bravo Team is up.”

Jill balks. “What?” She flings out an arm, almost knocking Rochelle senseless, to point at the map. “It’s a ton of territory. We all need to be out there.”

Wesker’s look is withering. “Jill, this investigation and by extension this unit and even the department will already be vulnerable if Umbrella finds out how persistently you’ve been after them. I don’t like the optics, and I don’t trust you with your boots on the ground in this case. It already looks like a vendetta. We can’t risk anything that might make it look worse.”

Jill grinds her teeth. “Will no one consider the constitutional rights of the poor, abused American pharmaceutical company?” she asks dryly.

“Rights are rights,” Chris says.

“Don’t,” Berry warns before Jill can tell Chris to fuck off.

“Insertion here,” Wesker says, pressing her fingertip to the map. “Bravo Team will separate into two squads and begin a circular sweep moving inward with the Spencer Mansion at the center point. We are not covered under this warrant to attempt entry without PC. Team Leader Marini will have operational control on the ground. No one deviates from the mission plan without her authorization. Alpha Team and I will be here on standby and to provide logistical support via radio. Those woods may be difficult to navigate at night.”

Bradlee raises her hand.

“Vickers,” Wesker says with a nod.

“Why are we going at night?”

“Because Umbrella’s lawyers will have squashed this warrant by the time the sun comes up,” Kendall says, examining her fingernails.

Wesker doesn’t contradict her.

“Jill, what do you think we’re going to find out there?” Rochelle asks.

“I don’t know. Hopefully nothing. Hopefully Umbrella really is just cutting corners to get drugs to market, and they got sloppy. That, I can live with. Just watch out for women with gray skin, red eyes, and big dicks,” Jill says with a shrug.

“That’s really what these women say they saw?”

Jill sighs. “Yup.”

Everyone laughs.