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In this chapter: when it comes to survival, two important words immortalized by the Boy Scouts of America must be remembered if you want to live through the worst -- BE PREPARED.

That's exactly what our heroes must be as they start the last leg of their journey, and it'll mean everything if they want to win. One of them must begin a unique quest that will absolutely resonate for you fans of the original SILENT HILL. Even as she proceeds with some much-needed support, a spotlight will be shone on two of the most legendary members of this story's cast...!

---

RESIDENT EVIL X SILENT HILL: JUDGMENT DAY

written by Charles W.S.,
inspired by Ygure

Chapter 45:

"SEALING THEIR SALVATION"

--1--

Cheryl, Rebecca, Regina and Rain returned to the teacher's lounge in a quiet, somber mood. The rest of the survivors were curious, but one could virtually sense that none of these four women would ever want to talk about what they shared with anyone else. The redheaded operator Regina looked at Chris and Leon and declared, "Cheryl said she has some things to do before we really take the fight to Meyers and seal the gateway." She looked at the girl from Silent Hill...

...and Cheryl quietly nodded. She had a lot to explain, and as Rebecca stood close by her, the blonde got into it. "What I had in mind will ensure I can bring everything back to normal. If we can even reach him." She thought softly, And only if I'm right about a lot of things.

As she held Claire Redfield's hand, Sherry Birkin asked, "What did you have in mind? Maybe there's something we can do to help?"

Barry Burton groused, "Just as long as it doesn't involve looking for keys and crests."

Jill Valentine purred, "Or searching for the right kind of switch!"

Chris Redfield looked disgusted by the idea and grunted, "Ughh!"

Leon S. Kennedy had to appeal, "And please, no puzzles."

Cheryl smiled a little -- she hated those sorts of things, too. She told everyone, "What I'm thinking is as simple and straightforward as you can get...considering where we are, simple won't help much. It'll even open us all to some risk we don't need, but..." How could she even start to explain how important this was...?

But the angel Claire said warmly, "We're already in trouble and everyone is counting on us. Please tell us, Cheryl."

The girl from Silent Hill got right to the heart of it. "It boils down to the Seal of Metatron. That can ensure I'll end this."

Rain stared at Cheryl and said, "Wait, you mentioned that before. You said you almost used the Seal of Metatron to destroy Silent Hill!" Well, the half of her who was Alessa Gillespie did.

Douglas Cartland wasn't the only one to show concern when he asked, "Do we really have to go that far? I was kind of hoping we'd make it through this shit -- !"

Cheryl quickly urged, "Easy, old timer! You're all misunderstanding what the Seal of Metatron is. Claudia Wolf made the same mistake. The Seal doesn't contain anything good or bad. It doesn't unlock any kind of spell..." She finally revealed, "...it amplifies the power of whoever uses it!

"Metatron himself told me his Seal can create great destruction or work miracles depending on what someone wants to do with it. In the end..." The blonde briefly paused and remembered something else the Voice of the Creator said. Something Rebecca sweetly reminded her of. With a much more thoughtful voice, she finished, "...it's that person's choice."

As Cheryl approached the assembled heroes with her pixie close to her, Rebecca asked, "What does the Seal of Metatron look like?" Only Elza Walker, Leon and Helena Harper couldn't draw closer to the pair in turn.

As the lovers approached a table, Cheryl said, "You still got that map from the sheriff's office?"

"Yeah, I'll get it!" The pixie moved to her duffel...it hardly took a moment for her to fish the city map out of the bag.

As Rebecca came back to her, Cheryl asked awkwardly, "Uh, anybody got a pen or pencil...?" In a heartbeat, Cybil, Douglas, and several more had one to offer her. The blonde took the lady cop's. "Thanks!"

Cybil Bennett asked softly, "How well do you remember it, Cheryl?"

Cheryl answered, "Like I saw it yesterday." When one half of her lived as Cheryl Mason up to 1983, she had developed a love for art her father Harry Mason couldn't help but encourage. That appreciation and humble desire to express herself carried over into her new life after her fusion, rebirth and growth into the woman she was today. It was because of all of the ghosts of her past and her guarded, conservative nature that she didn't go out of her way to express herself in artistic ways. Cheryl began by carefully drawing a big circle on a clear part of the backside of the map. As everyone huddled around her respectfully to watch, the girl added more and more details as she explained, "I obsessed over every detail of it in my life as Alessa, when I..." A quiet pause for many beats. "When I had nothing but pain and my own thoughts to live with. Having that much time alone won't just drive you out of your mind...it'll burn things in your memory you'll never, ever forget."

But most of those things had been so terrible to remember, she tried to cast away her memories and leave them in the infernal dark of Silent Hill. That didn't help in any way because like the Memory of Alessa said, she couldn't deny what would always define her very self. But in trying to deny her past two lives, Cheryl Mason was realizing something with greater and greater clarity since she and Becca encountered the Memory at that diseased church. She was really understanding the many desperate meanings behind that wraith's visitation...

...and that in denying her memories so desperately, she had made the worst mistake ever, one that others must have been taking advantage of.

But she couldn't dwell on that. And she had to keep what she suspected was true to herself for now. She couldn't even share what she was thinking with Becca because it might be dangerous to even try. With a deeply troubled frown, Cheryl looked up at Regina briefly and asked with hope, "It is possible to heal from such things...?"

Some of the others were surprised by how soft Regina's expression had become...the operator reassured, "It takes time. It takes love. How much of both you'll need depends on you."

Cheryl nodded and it didn't take much longer for her to finish her drawing. She straightened up and announced, "This is it. The Seal of Metatron." Everyone who could looked at the Seal with fascination. It immediately gave an ancient, ominous feel. It was absolutely something that had to be created in an earlier, primal time. When magic was everything.

Chris asked, "How exactly will you use it...?"

Cheryl told everyone, "If I want to ensure that I can close and seal the gateway permanently, I need to establish this Seal at three points across Black Falls. Three points..." With her pen, she softly touched the three points of the triangle at the heart of the Seal. Such a shape had a LOT of meaning in many ways in many parts of the world. "...to form a triangle." With that understood, Cheryl turned the map over and everyone saw the layout for Black Falls, Vermont. At least, the way it should have been in their world. The blonde explained further, "My idea was to start right here in this school..." She indicated a point in the southeastern part of town, still quite a bit away from the County Fairgrounds. "...then create another here..." With her pen, she touched another location about a mile to the northwest. Cheryl frowned and finished, "...and the last one will be City Hall." She touched a point much further to the north, in the heart of the town's business district. "I need to get there anyway to deal with other shit and regain full access to my powers. I won't be able to use the Seals until I do."

Elza Walker was full of curiosity as she asked from not much further away, "Why do you need to create three Seals? And why like that??"

Regina was gazing at Cheryl with a MOST thoughtful expression then...and she said with pure certainty, "You want to create an array."

Douglas asked, "Uh, what???"

Alex Shepherd said with understanding, "I think I get it, Douglas! You want to be totally sure you can close the gateway, right?"

Cheryl answered, "Yes, Alex."

Barry and the rest started to understand, too...the police chief asked, "It isn't so important that the three Seals cover as much area of the city as possible, is it?"

Cheryl gently shook her head. "Not so much, sir. The gateway Meyers made me open isn't exactly something you can define by how much space it occupies or even physical form. It's much like the one I created that engulfed Silent Hill, but it's not a stable thing, and Meyers didn't care if it was stable. All that mattered to him was the affect it would have. I'm pretty damn sure he didn't want to keep it sustained for so long, but as long as he can't get me, he'll need to keep it up."

Anne Cunningham said, "And you said someone's helping the bastard keep Hell on Earth. Maybe we can just find that piece of shit supporting Meyers and put an end to them?" The hard, cold way the prison guard said that got everyone's attention.

Cheryl sighed. "I wish it was that simple, Anne. If I'm right, his help is

(!be careful what you say!)

...kind of out of our reach, especially with my powers muzzled the way they are right now. I swear, all I need to do is get these Seals down and then get ahold of Reeve." Yeah. That was ALL she needed to do, but all things considered...! "After that, I'll uh, broadcast my power into the three Seals, and after my power is amplified enough, I can direct my will into closing the gateway."

Sheva Alomar asked the logical question, "How will these Seals amplify your power, Cheryl?"

Cheryl explained to the warrior, "Well, it's much like the amplification of a sound system. Each Seal would increase my power logorithmically."

The last person in the big room anyone expected to immediately understood...Elza Walker said with enthusiasm, "You mean like decibels!"

"Yeah."

Everyone looked at the girl who loved motocross, and Elza told them, "My dad runs a shop where he repairs sound systems. He's told me a lot about how decibels work." Elza suddenly frowned. "W-wait a minute, Cheryl. If we're talking about that kind of amplification..." With building surprise, the girl who loved motocross said quietly, "Holy shit...!"

On the verge of being dazed and confused, Douglas griped, "Ah, a little help here for those who don't know squat about that kinda stuff?"

Christine Yamata was the one who gave the old timer and everyone else who didn't quite understand enlightenment then: "Logorithmic progression means that decibels don't simply build in units...for example, if you were to increase a sound by ten decibels, that also means you'd increase the intensity of the sound tenfold."

The old P.I.'s eyebrows perked up. "Dang!"

Elza said with amusement, "Only instead of sound, you'd transmit your magic to the Seals and they'd act like...um, amps!"

Regina looked at the map with care...and then at Cheryl. The operator was really gauging the girl from Silent Hill as she said quietly, "You'd become much, much more powerful."

Cheryl clarified, "Only for as long as I'm using the Seals, and only for this specific task." Regina kept looking at Cheryl. A pregnant tension was there again as everyone felt the redhead was making an important choice. Hell, even Chris could feel it. Cheryl said with pure honesty, "All I want is to make things right again...if you're ready to trust me that much."

The blonde truly hoped, and if she was right, using the Seals in this way might help her achieve so much more than saving Black Falls...!

It was a lot for Regina and everyone else there to think about, and for the most understandable reasons in the world. Finally, the redhead said, "For the sake of everything...I'm pretty sure we need to take a leap of faith for you."

There were those there who knew that to be a perfect truth...but there were others who had their doubts, and they could only pray they weren't wrong. At the moment, all everyone knew for sure was this. This might be their only chance.

That was when Elle Shepherd said, "I hope this isn't too dumb of a question. If this Seal can amplify someone's power, then wouldn't Meyers want to use this, too? Wouldn't it make him more powerful?"

Cheryl looked at Alex's gorgeous wife and illuminated, "He'd know all about it, but he wouldn't be able to. Meyers was never powerful enough to use the Seal of Metatron." She looked at her pixie Rebecca. "Just imagine trying to simply start your motorcycle with nothing but a AA battery." Becca immediately understood, and the comparison didn't faze her. That got everyone else's attention, though. Cheryl was really that much more powerful...?

The blonde looked down upon the map, and her brow knitted deeply as she felt a building revulsion and fury toward the last leader of The Order. Cheryl growled, "Up to now, that heartless bastard has been preying on my own insecurities, used his soldiers to bushwhack and drug me, and now he's getting support to retard my powers and keep me from stopping this. Every damned step of the way, he's done his best to rig everything in his favor." The clarity that came from her understanding that more and more made her righteously angry.

Cheryl finished with quiet strength, "I will fix that."

--2--

A group of them entered what should have been a gymnasium where students exercised and basketball and volleyball games were played. Now it looked like a hellish arena that would have made the bloodiest day of gladiator games of ancient Rome look charming. Cheryl and her adored Becca were together leading the way for the others, who included Chris, Jill, Leon, Regina, Caroline Floyd, Karena LesProux, Rain, Alex, Elle, Cybil, and Anne Cunningham. They reached the heart of the diseased wood and Cheryl gestured to it...she told them all, "Here is as good a place as any to establish the first Seal. I'll burn it into the floor like a brand, and I'll do the same at the other two locations." She looked at them all. "This is where things start getting risky. Up to now, I've been cloaking us from any threats, especially Reeve. The moment I shift my concentration from that to this, I hope using my power this way won't be enough to act like a sonar ping and get his attention." She carefully thought, And maybe another's.

Chris asked, "How long will this take?"

"Not even a minute...like time matters right now."

Jill asked pensively, "What about the Red Pyramid?"

"If I'm cloaking Captain Redfield from him, it'll still take the Red Pyramid a little effort to get a fix on him again. I should be done before he does." Cheryl really, really hoped that!

With a grim expression, Chris nodded and said, "Okay. Do what you need to do!"

Cheryl gently took a couple of steps from Becca and lowered to one knee. The blonde became very serious in expression as she reluctantly dropped her passive protection from everyone. By this time, the effort had been giving her a legitimate headache, but that droning pain eased. But she couldn't afford to rest for a second and began to use her will in a different way, and she really prayed as she used her magic.

Everyone else was quietly astonished as they watched the girl from Silent Hill literally burn the Seal of Metatron into the floor. The fire was a bright and surreally blue color that hardly gave off physical heat as Cheryl used her will virtually draw it upon the surface. That did take about a minute. (Maybe? It felt longer or shorter depending on who you asked in retropect. That was how weird perspective of time had become in a place where time had become irrelevant.)

Then it was done, and the great Seal about five yards wide was a part of the floor. It issued a subdued, unearthly glow. Waiting for the one worthy enough and powerful enough to make use of it.

--3--

The group returned to the teacher's lounge and Cheryl told everyone who had stayed, "I think we're okay. I need to go to the next location right now."

With concern, Becca immediately thought of Elza and Helena, who were still recovering from their ordeals...she said with a burst of worry, "Not all of us might be able to come with you, honey." Leon's lady seemed to be stronger, but could the same be said for the girl who loved motocross? The pixie moved to Elza and asked, "Are you well enough to walk?"

Christine, who had been ministering to the girl, told her dear friend, "That wouldn't be a good idea right now, Becky. She's still pretty weak."

With a burst of annoyance, Elza growled at Christine, "Um, I'm right here! I can get up and...and...!" The ponytailed blonde wanted to get up off the couch, she tried to, but she immediately looked like that was the last thing she should have done and nearly collapsed in her seat again.

Becca urged with love, "You still need time to rest, Elza. Take it easy!"

"I-I can't! I'm gonna slow Cheryl down -- !"

Jill quickly ordered, "Not if you stay with some of us while you get your strength back. That's all you have to do right now!" Elza looked depressed as hell in reaction, but she couldn't think of a way to argue with the beauty.

Cheryl looked at everyone and said, "I'll only need some of you to join me. I will be likely to run into something really bad along the way." Lamely she added, "And I've only got my Peacemaker, shotgun, and not many bullets to my name."

That was when Elza absolutely did want to argue, and asked, "Seriously? You're really suggesting that??? Cheryl, I've watched enough horror films to know splitting up is NEVER a good idea!"

The girl from Silent Hill shrugged heavily. "I can't think of a better idea right now. Can anybody else?" She looked around her...everyone else was giving it serious thought too, but it was a no brainer. Cheryl had to go. Elza would only slow her down. But Cheryl needed help and they sure as hell couldn't leave the girl who loved motocross alone, either.

Douglas said sheepishly, "I've got nothin', kiddo."

Rain sighed, "Me, neither." Even her far experienced mentor Regina quietly conceded. They had to divide their forces, at least briefly, for necessity's sake...but none of them liked this.

Karena had all of the hope in her heart as she told the girl who loved motocross, "This is different from a horror movie, Elza. We've had experience fighting monsters."

Barry affirmed positively, "And we're heavily armed!"

Elza managed to smile and purred, "Y-yeah, there's that...!"

Then Caroline moved to Cheryl and volunteered, "My specialty is recon. I'll join you, girl."

Karena said softly, "I shall accompany you and Caroline, mademoiselle." Her own heart's yearnings for the former Ranger demanded that. The lady with the tribal name Willow felt so much in return for the lady from France.

Regina nodded and quietly ordered her protegee, "Rain, you'll be going with Mason. Defend her with your life."

Absolutely determined, Rain responded, "Ten-four!"

Leon, Barry, Claire, Sherry, Sheva and Anne all volunteered to go with Cheryl in turn...Leon was the only one clearly reluctant to do so since it would mean leaving Helena. The lady was still pretty weak herself, but she absolutely didn't want to slow them down. It was totally okay if Helena and Leon had to be apart as long as it was only for a while.

When everyone was agreed on how to divide their forces, Regina noted, "We'll still need to carry Walker to another location just in case we were detected by anything."

Jill began to say, "That's all right, me or Chris can carry her -- !"

But then Chris interrupted with a bleak tone: "Jill, it wouldn't be a good idea for me to be around any of you." Everyone else looked at him. "As long as the Red Pyramid's hunting for me, anyone else around me will be in danger."

Cheryl counseled, "Only if any of you try to fight him, but you really don't have to! I've got enough of a sense of the Red Pyramid to know he's completely single-minded in his purpose. Marking you, he's disregarded everything and everyone else."

Caroline frowned and argued, "But that monster killed Hector...and he really tried to kill Regina!"

"You were standing in his way and tried to defy his judgment. Fighting him will provoke him, and you don't want to do that! All you have to do is stay clear of him, don't do anything to get his attention in the wrong way, and he will ignore you. I wish I could give you that advice, Captain, but...!"

Chris looked down, and the veteran survivor growled, "But I'm the one he wants. That's why it makes sense that I should separate myself from the rest of you."

Jill suddenly said firmly, "You're not gonna do that."

Surprised, Chris began, "Jill -- !"

Absolutely NOT in the mood to hear another damn word, Jill drew closer as she stared at Chris and said with force, "You are not going to do that. We're in this together, and that's the way it's going to stay no matter what. If that monster does find you, even if you have to run, we'll run with you." If it was possible for her striking eyes to literally bore into her partner, they would have.

Barry then said mildly to his best friend, "Chris...I wouldn't argue with her if I were you." Chris sighed heavily, soundly defeated with no shots fired!

Cheryl asked Rebecca to stay with Christine so they could both watch over Elza and Helena, ensure they were getting better. The pixie HATED the thought, but was too sweet to argue. Helena Harper felt just as bad as Leon knelt before her and she lamented, "I wish I could go with you...!"

Leon reassured with care, "You don't have to go far to find another place with Elza and the others. As long as Cheryl's looking out for us, we should be all right. I need you to be all right, too."

Helena frowned as she said, "The moment Cheryl starts working on the second Seal, she'll have to take her focus away from us...!"

"That won't be for long, but when she does...yeah. That's when you might need to move again. So will we." The man nodded and said with confidence, "One way or the other, we'll see you soon."

Answering an absolutely primal impulse, the brunette suddenly leaned forward and kissed Leon's mouth fiercely. The man answered his lady, and those who noticed were stricken warmly by the sight. Helena broke the passionate kiss, and her eyes communicated so much as she purred with sheer need, "I'd better!" Leon grinned in response. They'd definitely see each other again.

They all had the highest of hopes in spite of the Hell all around them. Two siblings drew close to each other. Chris said with feeling, "Take care of yourselves, Claire. Please."

With as much love, angelic Claire answered, "You, too." Then a most special agent was by the woman's side as Cheryl's group came together not far away. Claire asked her supergirl, "Ready to roll?"

With naked adoration, Sherry Birkin nodded and said with an intimate tone, "Yes, Claire."

Chris stared at them both and grunted, "I've got questions."

Claire shot her big brother a grin and purred, "I'll bet you do. See you later." She and Sherry simply moved to join Cheryl, Leon and those with them.

Douglas sidled up to Chris as he looked at Claire and Sherry and commented, "Seein' those two together, I've got exactly zero questions!"

Chris looked at the P.I. and growled, "Who asked you?" And he stalked off!

Douglas blinked and looked at Rebecca and Sheva, who watched it all. The P.I. asked them, "He's all serious all the time, huh?"

Becca could barely contain herself as she answered, "Yep!"

Much more quietly amused, Sheva said, "Absolutely." The bronze warrior kissed Rebecca on her cheek and gently told the Medical Specialist, "You and everyone take care."

Becca cooed, "You, too!" But dammit, she didn't want Cheryl, Sheva, Barry and so many more to go...!

Jill then moved to Elza and told the girl, "I'll help you, Elza." The beauty began to stoop forward to scoop up the girl...!

Elza blurted, "W-wait, wait...!" Before she knew it, the girl who loved motocross was cradled in Jill's unexpectedly strong arms. Elza groaned, "Dammit, I feel like an asshole making someone else carry me."

Jill said with a matron's care, "You can't help that, so hush."

"A-are you sure you can carry me??"

"I'm stronger than I look, girl." Jill thought sadly, I'm trying to look that way. I really am.

With innocent curiosity, Elza asked, "How did you get so strong...?"

It took a few beats for Jill to answer. "You heard Rebecca mention Albert Wesker?"

"That terrorist asshole? R-Rebecca said he got ahold of you...!"

Much more quietly, Jill said, "Just remember that because I really don't want to say anything else. Okay?"

Elza could see the pain in Jill's eyes...she said with true regret, "I-I'm sorry, Jill."

In spite of things, Jill really smiled. "For what? Don't get too used to this because I have no intention of making carrying you my side job. Besides..." With a bit more mirth as she began to move to Chris, she told Elza, "...the only thing I don't like more than fetch quests are escort missions...!"

The forces separated...both Cheryl and Rebecca felt awful as necessary, increasing distance separated them. But they all needed to focus. Chris' group mustered themselves to go to the location they all agreed to travel to. At first, Helena looked strong enough to walk on her own, but the lady was putting more and more effort into each step she took.

It was no sweat for Alex to carry the lady, but he was mindful of the amused look his wife gave him every step of the way. Naturally, Elle didn't seriously mind. But Alex was HER man, and everyone could feel that beyond a doubt!

--4--

Secure (or at least they hoped so) in an antique store one street over, it was thankfully vacant of any threats. That didn't bring them any comfort because like everything else around them, it was bleak and full of threat in its pure atmosphere. There was what seemed to be a green lion statue on one diseased shelf that looked so ugly, no one wanted to even give it a second glance. And regrettably, they didn't find anyone normal or alive here, either. They all had to wonder how many of the thousands of people in Black Falls had survived the fog and now the darkness thus far. How many of them could be as resourceful or just plain blessed? They really had to wonder.

After some of the survivors ensured every entryway to the place was locked up tight, the waiting began in this makeshift holdout of a place...and honestly, for the least experienced of them, that was worse than the certainty of being threatened by monsters.

Talking to one another helped immensely, but they kept their tones hushed as Elza slept on the floor...the girl who loved motocross was watched closely by Helena and Rebecca. Elle was curious to know more about Christine, mostly because she seemed the most mysterious of them wearing her biohazard mask. Christine saw no harm at all in taking her mask off for a while, and both the wife and her husband Alex were struck by her beauty. Elle remarked warmly, "You must have been a popular girl in high school, at least with the guys?"

Christine smiled sourly and told Elle, "I was the opposite, actually. I've always been a pure nerd burying my face in books from science to chemistry to biology. I was the girl who didn't even flinch when the class had to dissect dead frogs. I didn't have a lot of friends then. The way high school was, I didn't care to have any."

"I can guess what 'way' you mean."

"You don't have to. Most nobody wanted to be my friend, either. Other teens kept calling me Four Eyes. I had to wear corrective glasses then, and that might as well have made me a target." Christine sighed. "Damn, I was glad to be done with high school! Still feel like I escaped it." Her eyes kindly examined Elle. "Beautiful as you are, you must have been the popular girl?"

Elle shook her head softly. "Actually, I was a lot like you, Christine."

That honestly surprised the (currently unmasked) specialist, and Alex illuminated, "It's strange but true!"

Elle giggled a bit and explained, "Back in high school, I didn't have the slightest idea what I wanted. It didn't help that me and Alex's parents cared more about...the worst things than really guiding us." The couple had told Christine and everyone about their troubled pasts before and didn't want to go into it again. The lady who once had the last name Holloway went further in a quieter tone. "I've got to admit I did the wrong things just for fun, and since it seemed like my parents didn't care, some people thought I was a spoiled brat who could get away with anything. They just didn't know me...not like Alex did.

"Alex was the only friend I had in high school." Elle gazed at her beloved husband in a way that nearly made the guy blush. Not far away, Rebecca nearly gushed in reaction to the sight. Elle finished with a much more haunted tone, "After...some things happened to Alex, I was really alone because I couldn't relate to anyone, not even my sister Nora. Got to calling the library computer my best friend for a while. That's strange but true." Her slender shoulders shrugged helplessly. "A lot of horrible things happened since, but Alex came back into my life...he saved me...and now I know what I want."

Then...Elle began to really express all of the anxiety she felt in these quiet moments as she looked into the dark and said sadly, "It's bad enough Meyers pulled me and Alex into this nightmare again...our unborn child being threatened is too fucking much." Everyone looked at her gently as Elle spoke into the dark: "I'm hoping Cheryl can save us. Please, god...whichever true god is up there who created Heaven and Earth and everything...please give her the strength to save our baby."

Alex held her close in his loving arms as they sat together, and no one else could think of anything to say in that emotional moment.

An unmeasurable time later...maybe a few minutes?...Jill moved to Chris. The beauty said to her longtime partner, "Chris, I need to talk to you. In private. Please." Her words were measured. Careful. Yet full of so much need.

There was only one way the veteran could answer her. Chris nodded and said to Becca and the rest, "We'll be right back." Together, the pair moved down the hall to another room not far away.

Alex looked after them...he knew what he saw when it was achingly obvious, and he asked Rebecca, "She really loves him, huh?"

Her heart so hopeful for Chris and her dearest friend, Rebecca Chambers answered, "Yes, Alex...I'm sure she always has."

Not far away. Jill closed the door behind her as Chris was deep in this isolated, forbidding room, and they had their privacy. For a moment, they could only look at each other. Chris asked with a note of nervousness even he didn't expect, "Why did you want me alone, Jill?"

Jill slowly began to approach as she said, "We've got a lot to talk about." Only a few steps away from him, the beauty said with building emotion, "First, I love you. Seriously, completely, I love you. I've always been worried about saying that and you might not react positively, but...this might be the only chance I'll have to tell you if..." So awkward, so lovely, Jill couldn't quite look at him as she said much more softly, "If everything goes to Hell." She regained her strength and looked into her partner's eyes. "If I'm going to be damned, I don't want my greatest torture to be that I never told you how I feel." If what she was told was true, she might not remember herself at all if that happened...but the way Hell worked, taking the worst in people and using it, you never knew what could be part of being damned.

Every hard line in Chris' face softened instantly the moment the beauty declared her love for him. The moment she finished, he began, "Jill..." He stopped himself. It took him another moment. He was that overwhelmed by the woman's feelings. "I couldn't have a negative reaction to that. You have been my partner for years, for so much longer than some people have been married in this..." An awkward pause. "I mean, in our world. When you first came to S.T.A.R.S., we were assigned to support one another. That decision was arbitrary, but sometimes...I really have to wonder if our being together was meant to be.

"If it was our fate to be together, then I owe whatever's in charge of everything a debt I could never repay. I've always been honored to know you, and I can't even tell you how fortunate I am to know you've always watched my back. I'd give everything to support you always. You are the kind of woman who makes a man like me thank whatever god is up there that I'm alive. I'm grateful in ways I couldn't even measure, and it would be uselss to try..."

Chris' expression softened further as he continued, "...but it wouldn't be useless of me to say that I love you, too." It was Jill who was so quietly, wondrously overwhelmed as her lovely body relaxed in the gloom. But that was when Chris added with a darker tone, "But...I don't deserve your love, Jill. I hardly deserve to be your partner."

It was Jill who was shocked then...god, she feared Chris felt terrible, but she didn't expect this. With a burst of concern mixed with a healthy amount of anger, Jill said emphatically, "'Deserved' doesn't have a goddamn thing to do with our being partners and how we feel about one another. It's been a process where we've both been through trials, faced so many challenges, and we've both come out of them stronger. We will always be our very best together, and that's what we earned through experience!"

Chris shook his head slowly. "We didn't win every trial. Dammit, I don't want to remind you of shit that you won't want to hear, but..."

"You're thinking of that night we faced Wesker right after the bastard murdered Ozwell Spencer. When he took me."

Chris Redfield said bleakly, "You say you love me, but...I can't see why. I was supposed to be your partner then, and I couldn't back you up. I let Wesker take you away."

Jill Valentine became more beautiful than ever as her eyes seemed to virtually brighten in expression. The extraordinary woman said with power, "Chris, you need to cut the shit right now. You feel guilty, that's why the Red Pyramid wants you, but you don't simply feel guilty for what happened to me! You feel guilty for failing men under your command in Edonia and China, you hate yourself for losing Piers Nivans, but even those events aren't at the core of all your guilt! Everything has a starting point somewhere, just like when the higher ups first assigned me to you. You've felt guilty for so much longer than even Barry must think!"

The woman finally asked, "You've felt guilty ever since Raccoon City...haven't you?"

TO BE CONTINUED
---
All I can say is, stand by for serious feels again in the next chapter! ^w^

Giving credit where it's due for the models I used in my art!

XNALara created by Dusan Pavlicek; XPS by Dusan and XNAaraL

Models:
Chris Redfield by !
Jill Valentine by !
Cheryl Mason by ! :333
Rebecca Chambers by !
Alex Shepherd by !
Scenery by !

Description
In this chapter: when it comes to survival, two important words immortalized by the Boy Scouts of America must be remembered if you want to live through the worst -- BE PREPARED.

That's exactly what our heroes must be as they start the last leg of their journey, and it'll mean everything if they want to win. One of them must begin a unique quest that will absolutely resonate for you fans of the original SILENT HILL. Even as she proceeds with some much-needed support, a spotlight will be shone on two of the most legendary members of this story's cast...!

---

RESIDENT EVIL X SILENT HILL: JUDGMENT DAY

written by Charles W.S.,
inspired by Ygure

Chapter 45:

"SEALING THEIR SALVATION"

--1--

Cheryl, Rebecca, Regina and Rain returned to the teacher's lounge in a quiet, somber mood. The rest of the survivors were curious, but one could virtually sense that none of these four women would ever want to talk about what they shared with anyone else. The redheaded operator Regina looked at Chris and Leon and declared, "Cheryl said she has some things to do before we really take the fight to Meyers and seal the gateway." She looked at the girl from Silent Hill...

...and Cheryl quietly nodded. She had a lot to explain, and as Rebecca stood close by her, the blonde got into it. "What I had in mind will ensure I can bring everything back to normal. If we can even reach him." She thought softly, And only if I'm right about a lot of things.

As she held Claire Redfield's hand, Sherry Birkin asked, "What did you have in mind? Maybe there's something we can do to help?"

Barry Burton groused, "Just as long as it doesn't involve looking for keys and crests."

Jill Valentine purred, "Or searching for the right kind of switch!"

Chris Redfield looked disgusted by the idea and grunted, "Ughh!"

Leon S. Kennedy had to appeal, "And please, no puzzles."

Cheryl smiled a little -- she hated those sorts of things, too. She told everyone, "What I'm thinking is as simple and straightforward as you can get...considering where we are, simple won't help much. It'll even open us all to some risk we don't need, but..." How could she even start to explain how important this was...?

But the angel Claire said warmly, "We're already in trouble and everyone is counting on us. Please tell us, Cheryl."

The girl from Silent Hill got right to the heart of it. "It boils down to the Seal of Metatron. That can ensure I'll end this."

Rain stared at Cheryl and said, "Wait, you mentioned that before. You said you almost used the Seal of Metatron to destroy Silent Hill!" Well, the half of her who was Alessa Gillespie did.

Douglas Cartland wasn't the only one to show concern when he asked, "Do we really have to go that far? I was kind of hoping we'd make it through this shit -- !"

Cheryl quickly urged, "Easy, old timer! You're all misunderstanding what the Seal of Metatron is. Claudia Wolf made the same mistake. The Seal doesn't contain anything good or bad. It doesn't unlock any kind of spell..." She finally revealed, "...it amplifies the power of whoever uses it!

"Metatron himself told me his Seal can create great destruction or work miracles depending on what someone wants to do with it. In the end..." The blonde briefly paused and remembered something else the Voice of the Creator said. Something Rebecca sweetly reminded her of. With a much more thoughtful voice, she finished, "...it's that person's choice."

As Cheryl approached the assembled heroes with her pixie close to her, Rebecca asked, "What does the Seal of Metatron look like?" Only Elza Walker, Leon and Helena Harper couldn't draw closer to the pair in turn.

As the lovers approached a table, Cheryl said, "You still got that map from the sheriff's office?"

"Yeah, I'll get it!" The pixie moved to her duffel...it hardly took a moment for her to fish the city map out of the bag.

As Rebecca came back to her, Cheryl asked awkwardly, "Uh, anybody got a pen or pencil...?" In a heartbeat, Cybil, Douglas, and several more had one to offer her. The blonde took the lady cop's. "Thanks!"

Cybil Bennett asked softly, "How well do you remember it, Cheryl?"

Cheryl answered, "Like I saw it yesterday." When one half of her lived as Cheryl Mason up to 1983, she had developed a love for art her father Harry Mason couldn't help but encourage. That appreciation and humble desire to express herself carried over into her new life after her fusion, rebirth and growth into the woman she was today. It was because of all of the ghosts of her past and her guarded, conservative nature that she didn't go out of her way to express herself in artistic ways. Cheryl began by carefully drawing a big circle on a clear part of the backside of the map. As everyone huddled around her respectfully to watch, the girl added more and more details as she explained, "I obsessed over every detail of it in my life as Alessa, when I..." A quiet pause for many beats. "When I had nothing but pain and my own thoughts to live with. Having that much time alone won't just drive you out of your mind...it'll burn things in your memory you'll never, ever forget."

But most of those things had been so terrible to remember, she tried to cast away her memories and leave them in the infernal dark of Silent Hill. That didn't help in any way because like the Memory of Alessa said, she couldn't deny what would always define her very self. But in trying to deny her past two lives, Cheryl Mason was realizing something with greater and greater clarity since she and Becca encountered the Memory at that diseased church. She was really understanding the many desperate meanings behind that wraith's visitation...

...and that in denying her memories so desperately, she had made the worst mistake ever, one that others must have been taking advantage of.

But she couldn't dwell on that. And she had to keep what she suspected was true to herself for now. She couldn't even share what she was thinking with Becca because it might be dangerous to even try. With a deeply troubled frown, Cheryl looked up at Regina briefly and asked with hope, "It is possible to heal from such things...?"

Some of the others were surprised by how soft Regina's expression had become...the operator reassured, "It takes time. It takes love. How much of both you'll need depends on you."

Cheryl nodded and it didn't take much longer for her to finish her drawing. She straightened up and announced, "This is it. The Seal of Metatron." Everyone who could looked at the Seal with fascination. It immediately gave an ancient, ominous feel. It was absolutely something that had to be created in an earlier, primal time. When magic was everything.

Chris asked, "How exactly will you use it...?"

Cheryl told everyone, "If I want to ensure that I can close and seal the gateway permanently, I need to establish this Seal at three points across Black Falls. Three points..." With her pen, she softly touched the three points of the triangle at the heart of the Seal. Such a shape had a LOT of meaning in many ways in many parts of the world. "...to form a triangle." With that understood, Cheryl turned the map over and everyone saw the layout for Black Falls, Vermont. At least, the way it should have been in their world. The blonde explained further, "My idea was to start right here in this school..." She indicated a point in the southeastern part of town, still quite a bit away from the County Fairgrounds. "...then create another here..." With her pen, she touched another location about a mile to the northwest. Cheryl frowned and finished, "...and the last one will be City Hall." She touched a point much further to the north, in the heart of the town's business district. "I need to get there anyway to deal with other shit and regain full access to my powers. I won't be able to use the Seals until I do."

Elza Walker was full of curiosity as she asked from not much further away, "Why do you need to create three Seals? And why like that??"

Regina was gazing at Cheryl with a MOST thoughtful expression then...and she said with pure certainty, "You want to create an array."

Douglas asked, "Uh, what???"

Alex Shepherd said with understanding, "I think I get it, Douglas! You want to be totally sure you can close the gateway, right?"

Cheryl answered, "Yes, Alex."

Barry and the rest started to understand, too...the police chief asked, "It isn't so important that the three Seals cover as much area of the city as possible, is it?"

Cheryl gently shook her head. "Not so much, sir. The gateway Meyers made me open isn't exactly something you can define by how much space it occupies or even physical form. It's much like the one I created that engulfed Silent Hill, but it's not a stable thing, and Meyers didn't care if it was stable. All that mattered to him was the affect it would have. I'm pretty damn sure he didn't want to keep it sustained for so long, but as long as he can't get me, he'll need to keep it up."

Anne Cunningham said, "And you said someone's helping the bastard keep Hell on Earth. Maybe we can just find that piece of shit supporting Meyers and put an end to them?" The hard, cold way the prison guard said that got everyone's attention.

Cheryl sighed. "I wish it was that simple, Anne. If I'm right, his help is

(!be careful what you say!)

...kind of out of our reach, especially with my powers muzzled the way they are right now. I swear, all I need to do is get these Seals down and then get ahold of Reeve." Yeah. That was ALL she needed to do, but all things considered...! "After that, I'll uh, broadcast my power into the three Seals, and after my power is amplified enough, I can direct my will into closing the gateway."

Sheva Alomar asked the logical question, "How will these Seals amplify your power, Cheryl?"

Cheryl explained to the warrior, "Well, it's much like the amplification of a sound system. Each Seal would increase my power logorithmically."

The last person in the big room anyone expected to immediately understood...Elza Walker said with enthusiasm, "You mean like decibels!"

"Yeah."

Everyone looked at the girl who loved motocross, and Elza told them, "My dad runs a shop where he repairs sound systems. He's told me a lot about how decibels work." Elza suddenly frowned. "W-wait a minute, Cheryl. If we're talking about that kind of amplification..." With building surprise, the girl who loved motocross said quietly, "Holy shit...!"

On the verge of being dazed and confused, Douglas griped, "Ah, a little help here for those who don't know squat about that kinda stuff?"

Christine Yamata was the one who gave the old timer and everyone else who didn't quite understand enlightenment then: "Logorithmic progression means that decibels don't simply build in units...for example, if you were to increase a sound by ten decibels, that also means you'd increase the intensity of the sound tenfold."

The old P.I.'s eyebrows perked up. "Dang!"

Elza said with amusement, "Only instead of sound, you'd transmit your magic to the Seals and they'd act like...um, amps!"

Regina looked at the map with care...and then at Cheryl. The operator was really gauging the girl from Silent Hill as she said quietly, "You'd become much, much more powerful."

Cheryl clarified, "Only for as long as I'm using the Seals, and only for this specific task." Regina kept looking at Cheryl. A pregnant tension was there again as everyone felt the redhead was making an important choice. Hell, even Chris could feel it. Cheryl said with pure honesty, "All I want is to make things right again...if you're ready to trust me that much."

The blonde truly hoped, and if she was right, using the Seals in this way might help her achieve so much more than saving Black Falls...!

It was a lot for Regina and everyone else there to think about, and for the most understandable reasons in the world. Finally, the redhead said, "For the sake of everything...I'm pretty sure we need to take a leap of faith for you."

There were those there who knew that to be a perfect truth...but there were others who had their doubts, and they could only pray they weren't wrong. At the moment, all everyone knew for sure was this. This might be their only chance.

That was when Elle Shepherd said, "I hope this isn't too dumb of a question. If this Seal can amplify someone's power, then wouldn't Meyers want to use this, too? Wouldn't it make him more powerful?"

Cheryl looked at Alex's gorgeous wife and illuminated, "He'd know all about it, but he wouldn't be able to. Meyers was never powerful enough to use the Seal of Metatron." She looked at her pixie Rebecca. "Just imagine trying to simply start your motorcycle with nothing but a AA battery." Becca immediately understood, and the comparison didn't faze her. That got everyone else's attention, though. Cheryl was really that much more powerful...?

The blonde looked down upon the map, and her brow knitted deeply as she felt a building revulsion and fury toward the last leader of The Order. Cheryl growled, "Up to now, that heartless bastard has been preying on my own insecurities, used his soldiers to bushwhack and drug me, and now he's getting support to retard my powers and keep me from stopping this. Every damned step of the way, he's done his best to rig everything in his favor." The clarity that came from her understanding that more and more made her righteously angry.

Cheryl finished with quiet strength, "I will fix that."

--2--

A group of them entered what should have been a gymnasium where students exercised and basketball and volleyball games were played. Now it looked like a hellish arena that would have made the bloodiest day of gladiator games of ancient Rome look charming. Cheryl and her adored Becca were together leading the way for the others, who included Chris, Jill, Leon, Regina, Caroline Floyd, Karena LesProux, Rain, Alex, Elle, Cybil, and Anne Cunningham. They reached the heart of the diseased wood and Cheryl gestured to it...she told them all, "Here is as good a place as any to establish the first Seal. I'll burn it into the floor like a brand, and I'll do the same at the other two locations." She looked at them all. "This is where things start getting risky. Up to now, I've been cloaking us from any threats, especially Reeve. The moment I shift my concentration from that to this, I hope using my power this way won't be enough to act like a sonar ping and get his attention." She carefully thought, And maybe another's.

Chris asked, "How long will this take?"

"Not even a minute...like time matters right now."

Jill asked pensively, "What about the Red Pyramid?"

"If I'm cloaking Captain Redfield from him, it'll still take the Red Pyramid a little effort to get a fix on him again. I should be done before he does." Cheryl really, really hoped that!

With a grim expression, Chris nodded and said, "Okay. Do what you need to do!"

Cheryl gently took a couple of steps from Becca and lowered to one knee. The blonde became very serious in expression as she reluctantly dropped her passive protection from everyone. By this time, the effort had been giving her a legitimate headache, but that droning pain eased. But she couldn't afford to rest for a second and began to use her will in a different way, and she really prayed as she used her magic.

Everyone else was quietly astonished as they watched the girl from Silent Hill literally burn the Seal of Metatron into the floor. The fire was a bright and surreally blue color that hardly gave off physical heat as Cheryl used her will virtually draw it upon the surface. That did take about a minute. (Maybe? It felt longer or shorter depending on who you asked in retropect. That was how weird perspective of time had become in a place where time had become irrelevant.)

Then it was done, and the great Seal about five yards wide was a part of the floor. It issued a subdued, unearthly glow. Waiting for the one worthy enough and powerful enough to make use of it.

--3--

The group returned to the teacher's lounge and Cheryl told everyone who had stayed, "I think we're okay. I need to go to the next location right now."

With concern, Becca immediately thought of Elza and Helena, who were still recovering from their ordeals...she said with a burst of worry, "Not all of us might be able to come with you, honey." Leon's lady seemed to be stronger, but could the same be said for the girl who loved motocross? The pixie moved to Elza and asked, "Are you well enough to walk?"

Christine, who had been ministering to the girl, told her dear friend, "That wouldn't be a good idea right now, Becky. She's still pretty weak."

With a burst of annoyance, Elza growled at Christine, "Um, I'm right here! I can get up and...and...!" The ponytailed blonde wanted to get up off the couch, she tried to, but she immediately looked like that was the last thing she should have done and nearly collapsed in her seat again.

Becca urged with love, "You still need time to rest, Elza. Take it easy!"

"I-I can't! I'm gonna slow Cheryl down -- !"

Jill quickly ordered, "Not if you stay with some of us while you get your strength back. That's all you have to do right now!" Elza looked depressed as hell in reaction, but she couldn't think of a way to argue with the beauty.

Cheryl looked at everyone and said, "I'll only need some of you to join me. I will be likely to run into something really bad along the way." Lamely she added, "And I've only got my Peacemaker, shotgun, and not many bullets to my name."

That was when Elza absolutely did want to argue, and asked, "Seriously? You're really suggesting that??? Cheryl, I've watched enough horror films to know splitting up is NEVER a good idea!"

The girl from Silent Hill shrugged heavily. "I can't think of a better idea right now. Can anybody else?" She looked around her...everyone else was giving it serious thought too, but it was a no brainer. Cheryl had to go. Elza would only slow her down. But Cheryl needed help and they sure as hell couldn't leave the girl who loved motocross alone, either.

Douglas said sheepishly, "I've got nothin', kiddo."

Rain sighed, "Me, neither." Even her far experienced mentor Regina quietly conceded. They had to divide their forces, at least briefly, for necessity's sake...but none of them liked this.

Karena had all of the hope in her heart as she told the girl who loved motocross, "This is different from a horror movie, Elza. We've had experience fighting monsters."

Barry affirmed positively, "And we're heavily armed!"

Elza managed to smile and purred, "Y-yeah, there's that...!"

Then Caroline moved to Cheryl and volunteered, "My specialty is recon. I'll join you, girl."

Karena said softly, "I shall accompany you and Caroline, mademoiselle." Her own heart's yearnings for the former Ranger demanded that. The lady with the tribal name Willow felt so much in return for the lady from France.

Regina nodded and quietly ordered her protegee, "Rain, you'll be going with Mason. Defend her with your life."

Absolutely determined, Rain responded, "Ten-four!"

Leon, Barry, Claire, Sherry, Sheva and Anne all volunteered to go with Cheryl in turn...Leon was the only one clearly reluctant to do so since it would mean leaving Helena. The lady was still pretty weak herself, but she absolutely didn't want to slow them down. It was totally okay if Helena and Leon had to be apart as long as it was only for a while.

When everyone was agreed on how to divide their forces, Regina noted, "We'll still need to carry Walker to another location just in case we were detected by anything."

Jill began to say, "That's all right, me or Chris can carry her -- !"

But then Chris interrupted with a bleak tone: "Jill, it wouldn't be a good idea for me to be around any of you." Everyone else looked at him. "As long as the Red Pyramid's hunting for me, anyone else around me will be in danger."

Cheryl counseled, "Only if any of you try to fight him, but you really don't have to! I've got enough of a sense of the Red Pyramid to know he's completely single-minded in his purpose. Marking you, he's disregarded everything and everyone else."

Caroline frowned and argued, "But that monster killed Hector...and he really tried to kill Regina!"

"You were standing in his way and tried to defy his judgment. Fighting him will provoke him, and you don't want to do that! All you have to do is stay clear of him, don't do anything to get his attention in the wrong way, and he will ignore you. I wish I could give you that advice, Captain, but...!"

Chris looked down, and the veteran survivor growled, "But I'm the one he wants. That's why it makes sense that I should separate myself from the rest of you."

Jill suddenly said firmly, "You're not gonna do that."

Surprised, Chris began, "Jill -- !"

Absolutely NOT in the mood to hear another damn word, Jill drew closer as she stared at Chris and said with force, "You are not going to do that. We're in this together, and that's the way it's going to stay no matter what. If that monster does find you, even if you have to run, we'll run with you." If it was possible for her striking eyes to literally bore into her partner, they would have.

Barry then said mildly to his best friend, "Chris...I wouldn't argue with her if I were you." Chris sighed heavily, soundly defeated with no shots fired!

Cheryl asked Rebecca to stay with Christine so they could both watch over Elza and Helena, ensure they were getting better. The pixie HATED the thought, but was too sweet to argue. Helena Harper felt just as bad as Leon knelt before her and she lamented, "I wish I could go with you...!"

Leon reassured with care, "You don't have to go far to find another place with Elza and the others. As long as Cheryl's looking out for us, we should be all right. I need you to be all right, too."

Helena frowned as she said, "The moment Cheryl starts working on the second Seal, she'll have to take her focus away from us...!"

"That won't be for long, but when she does...yeah. That's when you might need to move again. So will we." The man nodded and said with confidence, "One way or the other, we'll see you soon."

Answering an absolutely primal impulse, the brunette suddenly leaned forward and kissed Leon's mouth fiercely. The man answered his lady, and those who noticed were stricken warmly by the sight. Helena broke the passionate kiss, and her eyes communicated so much as she purred with sheer need, "I'd better!" Leon grinned in response. They'd definitely see each other again.

They all had the highest of hopes in spite of the Hell all around them. Two siblings drew close to each other. Chris said with feeling, "Take care of yourselves, Claire. Please."

With as much love, angelic Claire answered, "You, too." Then a most special agent was by the woman's side as Cheryl's group came together not far away. Claire asked her supergirl, "Ready to roll?"

With naked adoration, Sherry Birkin nodded and said with an intimate tone, "Yes, Claire."

Chris stared at them both and grunted, "I've got questions."

Claire shot her big brother a grin and purred, "I'll bet you do. See you later." She and Sherry simply moved to join Cheryl, Leon and those with them.

Douglas sidled up to Chris as he looked at Claire and Sherry and commented, "Seein' those two together, I've got exactly zero questions!"

Chris looked at the P.I. and growled, "Who asked you?" And he stalked off!

Douglas blinked and looked at Rebecca and Sheva, who watched it all. The P.I. asked them, "He's all serious all the time, huh?"

Becca could barely contain herself as she answered, "Yep!"

Much more quietly amused, Sheva said, "Absolutely." The bronze warrior kissed Rebecca on her cheek and gently told the Medical Specialist, "You and everyone take care."

Becca cooed, "You, too!" But dammit, she didn't want Cheryl, Sheva, Barry and so many more to go...!

Jill then moved to Elza and told the girl, "I'll help you, Elza." The beauty began to stoop forward to scoop up the girl...!

Elza blurted, "W-wait, wait...!" Before she knew it, the girl who loved motocross was cradled in Jill's unexpectedly strong arms. Elza groaned, "Dammit, I feel like an asshole making someone else carry me."

Jill said with a matron's care, "You can't help that, so hush."

"A-are you sure you can carry me??"

"I'm stronger than I look, girl." Jill thought sadly, I'm trying to look that way. I really am.

With innocent curiosity, Elza asked, "How did you get so strong...?"

It took a few beats for Jill to answer. "You heard Rebecca mention Albert Wesker?"

"That terrorist asshole? R-Rebecca said he got ahold of you...!"

Much more quietly, Jill said, "Just remember that because I really don't want to say anything else. Okay?"

Elza could see the pain in Jill's eyes...she said with true regret, "I-I'm sorry, Jill."

In spite of things, Jill really smiled. "For what? Don't get too used to this because I have no intention of making carrying you my side job. Besides..." With a bit more mirth as she began to move to Chris, she told Elza, "...the only thing I don't like more than fetch quests are escort missions...!"

The forces separated...both Cheryl and Rebecca felt awful as necessary, increasing distance separated them. But they all needed to focus. Chris' group mustered themselves to go to the location they all agreed to travel to. At first, Helena looked strong enough to walk on her own, but the lady was putting more and more effort into each step she took.

It was no sweat for Alex to carry the lady, but he was mindful of the amused look his wife gave him every step of the way. Naturally, Elle didn't seriously mind. But Alex was HER man, and everyone could feel that beyond a doubt!

--4--

Secure (or at least they hoped so) in an antique store one street over, it was thankfully vacant of any threats. That didn't bring them any comfort because like everything else around them, it was bleak and full of threat in its pure atmosphere. There was what seemed to be a green lion statue on one diseased shelf that looked so ugly, no one wanted to even give it a second glance. And regrettably, they didn't find anyone normal or alive here, either. They all had to wonder how many of the thousands of people in Black Falls had survived the fog and now the darkness thus far. How many of them could be as resourceful or just plain blessed? They really had to wonder.

After some of the survivors ensured every entryway to the place was locked up tight, the waiting began in this makeshift holdout of a place...and honestly, for the least experienced of them, that was worse than the certainty of being threatened by monsters.

Talking to one another helped immensely, but they kept their tones hushed as Elza slept on the floor...the girl who loved motocross was watched closely by Helena and Rebecca. Elle was curious to know more about Christine, mostly because she seemed the most mysterious of them wearing her biohazard mask. Christine saw no harm at all in taking her mask off for a while, and both the wife and her husband Alex were struck by her beauty. Elle remarked warmly, "You must have been a popular girl in high school, at least with the guys?"

Christine smiled sourly and told Elle, "I was the opposite, actually. I've always been a pure nerd burying my face in books from science to chemistry to biology. I was the girl who didn't even flinch when the class had to dissect dead frogs. I didn't have a lot of friends then. The way high school was, I didn't care to have any."

"I can guess what 'way' you mean."

"You don't have to. Most nobody wanted to be my friend, either. Other teens kept calling me Four Eyes. I had to wear corrective glasses then, and that might as well have made me a target." Christine sighed. "Damn, I was glad to be done with high school! Still feel like I escaped it." Her eyes kindly examined Elle. "Beautiful as you are, you must have been the popular girl?"

Elle shook her head softly. "Actually, I was a lot like you, Christine."

That honestly surprised the (currently unmasked) specialist, and Alex illuminated, "It's strange but true!"

Elle giggled a bit and explained, "Back in high school, I didn't have the slightest idea what I wanted. It didn't help that me and Alex's parents cared more about...the worst things than really guiding us." The couple had told Christine and everyone about their troubled pasts before and didn't want to go into it again. The lady who once had the last name Holloway went further in a quieter tone. "I've got to admit I did the wrong things just for fun, and since it seemed like my parents didn't care, some people thought I was a spoiled brat who could get away with anything. They just didn't know me...not like Alex did.

"Alex was the only friend I had in high school." Elle gazed at her beloved husband in a way that nearly made the guy blush. Not far away, Rebecca nearly gushed in reaction to the sight. Elle finished with a much more haunted tone, "After...some things happened to Alex, I was really alone because I couldn't relate to anyone, not even my sister Nora. Got to calling the library computer my best friend for a while. That's strange but true." Her slender shoulders shrugged helplessly. "A lot of horrible things happened since, but Alex came back into my life...he saved me...and now I know what I want."

Then...Elle began to really express all of the anxiety she felt in these quiet moments as she looked into the dark and said sadly, "It's bad enough Meyers pulled me and Alex into this nightmare again...our unborn child being threatened is too fucking much." Everyone looked at her gently as Elle spoke into the dark: "I'm hoping Cheryl can save us. Please, god...whichever true god is up there who created Heaven and Earth and everything...please give her the strength to save our baby."

Alex held her close in his loving arms as they sat together, and no one else could think of anything to say in that emotional moment.

An unmeasurable time later...maybe a few minutes?...Jill moved to Chris. The beauty said to her longtime partner, "Chris, I need to talk to you. In private. Please." Her words were measured. Careful. Yet full of so much need.

There was only one way the veteran could answer her. Chris nodded and said to Becca and the rest, "We'll be right back." Together, the pair moved down the hall to another room not far away.

Alex looked after them...he knew what he saw when it was achingly obvious, and he asked Rebecca, "She really loves him, huh?"

Her heart so hopeful for Chris and her dearest friend, Rebecca Chambers answered, "Yes, Alex...I'm sure she always has."

Not far away. Jill closed the door behind her as Chris was deep in this isolated, forbidding room, and they had their privacy. For a moment, they could only look at each other. Chris asked with a note of nervousness even he didn't expect, "Why did you want me alone, Jill?"

Jill slowly began to approach as she said, "We've got a lot to talk about." Only a few steps away from him, the beauty said with building emotion, "First, I love you. Seriously, completely, I love you. I've always been worried about saying that and you might not react positively, but...this might be the only chance I'll have to tell you if..." So awkward, so lovely, Jill couldn't quite look at him as she said much more softly, "If everything goes to Hell." She regained her strength and looked into her partner's eyes. "If I'm going to be damned, I don't want my greatest torture to be that I never told you how I feel." If what she was told was true, she might not remember herself at all if that happened...but the way Hell worked, taking the worst in people and using it, you never knew what could be part of being damned.

Every hard line in Chris' face softened instantly the moment the beauty declared her love for him. The moment she finished, he began, "Jill..." He stopped himself. It took him another moment. He was that overwhelmed by the woman's feelings. "I couldn't have a negative reaction to that. You have been my partner for years, for so much longer than some people have been married in this..." An awkward pause. "I mean, in our world. When you first came to S.T.A.R.S., we were assigned to support one another. That decision was arbitrary, but sometimes...I really have to wonder if our being together was meant to be.

"If it was our fate to be together, then I owe whatever's in charge of everything a debt I could never repay. I've always been honored to know you, and I can't even tell you how fortunate I am to know you've always watched my back. I'd give everything to support you always. You are the kind of woman who makes a man like me thank whatever god is up there that I'm alive. I'm grateful in ways I couldn't even measure, and it would be uselss to try..."

Chris' expression softened further as he continued, "...but it wouldn't be useless of me to say that I love you, too." It was Jill who was so quietly, wondrously overwhelmed as her lovely body relaxed in the gloom. But that was when Chris added with a darker tone, "But...I don't deserve your love, Jill. I hardly deserve to be your partner."

It was Jill who was shocked then...god, she feared Chris felt terrible, but she didn't expect this. With a burst of concern mixed with a healthy amount of anger, Jill said emphatically, "'Deserved' doesn't have a goddamn thing to do with our being partners and how we feel about one another. It's been a process where we've both been through trials, faced so many challenges, and we've both come out of them stronger. We will always be our very best together, and that's what we earned through experience!"

Chris shook his head slowly. "We didn't win every trial. Dammit, I don't want to remind you of shit that you won't want to hear, but..."

"You're thinking of that night we faced Wesker right after the bastard murdered Ozwell Spencer. When he took me."

Chris Redfield said bleakly, "You say you love me, but...I can't see why. I was supposed to be your partner then, and I couldn't back you up. I let Wesker take you away."

Jill Valentine became more beautiful than ever as her eyes seemed to virtually brighten in expression. The extraordinary woman said with power, "Chris, you need to cut the shit right now. You feel guilty, that's why the Red Pyramid wants you, but you don't simply feel guilty for what happened to me! You feel guilty for failing men under your command in Edonia and China, you hate yourself for losing Piers Nivans, but even those events aren't at the core of all your guilt! Everything has a starting point somewhere, just like when the higher ups first assigned me to you. You've felt guilty for so much longer than even Barry must think!"

The woman finally asked, "You've felt guilty ever since Raccoon City...haven't you?"

TO BE CONTINUED
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All I can say is, stand by for serious feels again in the next chapter! ^w^

Giving credit where it's due for the models I used in my art!

XNALara created by Dusan Pavlicek; XPS by Dusan and XNAaraL

Models:
Chris Redfield by !
Jill Valentine by !
Cheryl Mason by ! :333
Rebecca Chambers by !
Alex Shepherd by !
Scenery by !