Jill knew her previous actions had left a psychological shadow on Aiden, so she could only weakly wave her hand.
Of course, the so-called reason of not wanting to repeat the same mistake was just an excuse. Aiden knew that shadow was Wesker, which is why he fired without hesitation.
'Now, Enrico won't die.'
Enrico was just a minor supporting role in the original plot, his biggest function being to advance the story. Since the existing plot had already changed, Aiden decided to try saving his life.
So he took the initiative to shoot, acting ahead of Wesker and the others.
However, just when Aiden thought Wesker had escaped and wouldn't come back, a round object was suddenly thrown from deep inside the passage and landed right in the middle of it.
"This is..." Jill's pupils shrank sharply upon seeing the object. It was actually a rare defensive-type grenade from the Raccoon City Police Department—an MK67.
She didn't have time to think, stepping forward to try and kick the grenade away, but Enrico reacted even faster. He directly pushed Jill aside, then lifted his leg and kicked the grenade away.
But his movement was still too slow. The grenade didn't fly far before it exploded. Although it was a defensive grenade that mainly relied on shrapnel to injure, the blast force still threw him away.
"Vice Captain Enrico!"
Jill immediately got up and rushed over, flipping over the Enrico lying on the ground, only to see that he was covered in blood.
But fortunately, all S.T.A.R.S. team members were wearing bulletproof vests before departure, which protected their vital organs. So even though Enrico looked bloody all over, he hadn't sustained fatal injuries—he was still alive.
"Thank goodness." Jill let out a long breath of relief.
On the other side...as a former professional soldier, Aiden didn't immediately go check on Jill and Enrico after the grenade explosion. Instead, he raised his gun and moved deeper into the corridor to drive off enemies and expand their survival space.
He advanced nearly a hundred meters. After confirming that Wesker had indeed escaped, he hurriedly rushed back.
Then he saw Jill kneeling beside Enrico, using the bandages from the first-aid kit to wrap his wounds.
Seeing this, Aiden also sighed in relief. Although an accident occurred, Enrico at least survived.
"Is it serious?" Aiden asked, back facing Jill, while holding his gun.
"It's okay. The shrapnel didn't cut any blood vessels. Just some bandaging will do, but his mobility is affected," Jill said.
"That's good," Aiden nodded.
"By the way, did you see clearly who attacked us?" Jill asked.
"Sorry, the lighting in the passage wasn't good. I didn't see clearly."
Of course Aiden knew who it was, but he couldn't say it directly. Besides, since Enrico was still alive, there was no need to say it.
Sure enough, Enrico, who had regained some strength, said, "It was definitely Wesker, because the traitor in our team is him."
"You're saying... the traitor is our captain?" Jill was stunned for a moment, then blurted out in shock.
Enrico nodded, "Although I also couldn't believe it, this is the truth…"
At this point, he paused and his eyes couldn't help but glance at Aiden, who had his back turned to them, full of doubt in his heart.
As for Aiden, although Enrico, being a seasoned cop, felt very suspicious of his identity and had many doubts in his heart, he had to admit to himself that maybe Aiden truly didn't have bad intentions toward them.
Like now—he actually left his back completely exposed to them without any hesitation. This kind of trust, Enrico didn't expect to see in a stranger.
Enrico's eyes flickered a few times, and suddenly he understood a little why Jill was willing to travel with him. Maybe she had already come to trust this stranger.
Meanwhile, Jill was still immersed in the shock of Wesker being the traitor, even starting to wonder if Barry's strange behavior was also connected to Wesker. It wasn't until Aiden nudged her with his elbow that she came back to her senses—this wasn't a good place to be lost in thought.
"We need to go. Maybe we can find some clues in this underground lab... But, Vice Captain Enrico, you..." Jill looked at Enrico and said hesitantly.
Enrico's injuries weren't severe. Of course, the many wounds on his body had caused a lot of blood loss, making him look scary, so he nodded and said, "Just small injuries. I just gave myself an injection of medicine, should be fine."
As he spoke, he supported himself against the wall to stand up. But the dizziness that followed made him stagger at first, though he still stood up strong.
Then he said to Aiden and Jill, "Let's go. Let's uncover the true secrets of the mansion."
———
[July 25, 2 AM]
[Mansion Underground Research Lab - Corridor]
Intense gunfire shattered the stillness of the corridor. The flames from the gun muzzle and sparks from bullets hitting the steel-cast walls looked like an unusual kind of fireworks.
But Aiden and Jill had no mind to enjoy them—or rather, they didn't have the time.
"Jill, not yet?"
Aiden fiercely pulled the trigger, shooting down a zombie dog that had lunged at him. But before he could relax, two more zombie dogs appeared in his field of vision.
"Just give me a little more time, Aiden, hold on a bit longer."
Jill was burning with anxiety. Not only was she upset from being separated again from Vice Captain Enrico after finally meeting him, but also the door in front of her just wouldn't open.
She kept swiping a card—found on a zombie corpse—on the electronic door's scanner, but the indicator light kept showing an error in red.
"Please, hurry and open…" Beads of sweat started to form on Jill's forehead. From Aiden's anxious voice, she could tell things weren't looking good.
"Damn it!" Suddenly, she heard Aiden's angry curse. Worried for his safety, she turned around and saw a zombie dog had pounced on him while he was changing magazines.
"Aiden!" Jill exclaimed, about to help, but Aiden shouted, "Don't worry about me! Keep opening the door!"
His voice was followed by the sound of constant barking and monster growls from deep in the corridor—the number of creatures was increasing.
Save him, or open the door?
Jill decisively chose the latter. She knew what would happen if the door didn't open. She turned back and kept swiping the card, silently praying, "Aiden, please don't die!"
In truth, a single zombie dog wasn't much of a threat to Aiden. He grabbed the dog's throat with one hand, and with the other pulled out the Glock pistol with an extended magazine and fired several shots into its head.
At such close range, even a 9mm bullet with low penetration was enough to blow open the zombie dog's skull. Blood and gray-white brain matter splattered all over him.
He holstered the pistol and reloaded the rifle. Just as he changed the magazine, Aiden noticed several greenish monsters crawling on the corridor ceiling.
They were Hunters.
This was one of the BOWs Aiden least wanted to encounter. These creatures were not only harder to deal with than zombie dogs but were also social attackers.
Seeing them, Aiden couldn't help but give a bitter smile.
'Looks like I'm gonna die here. I really overestimated myself…'
But just then, he heard the crisp "ding dong" of the electronic door's recognition system.
The door opened.
Hope reignited. Aiden immediately turned and ran. Under Jill's anxious call, the two of them dashed into the room.
Once inside, Jill frantically pressed the close-door button while Aiden fired outside to push back the Hunters trying to get in.
Finally, the door shut. They escaped once again.
The two of them looked at each other, then almost simultaneously slumped against the wall. After fighting and running all night, they were exhausted.
"Want some brain-awakening rations?"
After resting for a while with his eyes closed, Aiden's craving for a smoke hit him. He pulled out the half-finished pack of cigarettes from his pants pocket. After a thought, he handed one to Jill too.
"Uh... sure."
Jill hesitated, but still took it. She usually didn't smoke, but right now she didn't mind having one. Her nerves were too tight—she needed to relax.
"Wonder how Vice Captain Enrico is doing." After lighting the cigarette, Jill took a puff and frowned at it. She was worried about Enrico, who had gotten separated from them.
"He should... he should be fine." Aiden took a deep drag and exhaled the smoke. "His injuries weren't serious. As long as he's careful enough, he should be okay."
Of course, that was just to comfort Jill. A wounded man in a crisis-ridden underground lab had very little chance of surviving—especially since Enrico was someone who was supposed to die.
Aiden was even thinking that maybe some kind of "world will" was forcibly trying to correct the plot. Otherwise, how would they run into hordes of zombies and zombie dogs so soon after separating?
"Let's hope so." Jill knew Aiden was trying to reassure her. She sighed, threw away the burnt cigarette butt, stood up, and began examining the room.
"Aiden, come over here, look what I found."
Soon, she made a discovery—a slide projector.
"You know how to use it?" Aiden asked Jill as he walked over. He had never used such an old relic.
"Of course. Our police department uses this."
Jill nodded, placed the slides beside the projector, turned it on, and various images started appearing on the white screen on the opposite wall.
The first few slides were data on monsters, including the ones they had just fought. The slides showed their characteristics and attack methods.
Jill frowned and kept flipping through the slides. When she got to the last slide, she noticed its contents were completely different.
It was a group photo of people in white lab coats. At the bottom of the image, there was a line of text.
[Biological weapon research organization. Development team.]
Suddenly, Jill's expression changed drastically, because she discovered a very familiar face in the group photo.
—Albert Wesker.
"It really is him."
Although she had already learned from Enrico's mouth that Wesker was the traitor, when she actually saw this scene, Jill's eyes finally dimmed.
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through Patreon.
https://discord.gg/bYAfGyp98y