The drive was an awkward one with Sherry and Jake sitting side by side in the backseat in a vehicle that didn't quite accommodate Jake's long legs. Claire was driving, and Leon riding shot gun and maintaining radio silence but keeping an ear out. Jake honestly preferred the crazy run through China with Sherry to the silence of the four of them in the truck.

Leon kept glancing at them in the rearview mirror his face showing amusement. Claire's showed consternation. Neither Jake and Sherry glanced up front to notice. They had both simply stared out of their respective windows avoiding physical contact as much as possible.

"We need fuel." Claire said pulling off the highway into the next exit. Leon only shrugged and snuck a glance to the back seat again.

Jake had a gun attached to his leg, Leon sighed. He understood the younger man was never going to feel comfortable without a firearm of some sort. Leon got that, but Jake couldn't walk around the streets anywhere in America with a gun strapped to his thigh. Most people were afraid at the mere sight of a gun. Leon grimaced, you'd have to have the barrel aimed at him and even then, he doubted he'd flinch.

"You might want to tuck that in a back holster." Jake's eyes shifted forward. He nodded. He never really felt comfortable without a handgun tucked into his ammo belt, but he was noticing in America a lot of people went without. His jacket hung low over his waist hiding a holster from view. But he preferred the one on his thigh. Sighing he shifted the hand gun to his back before he pulled himself from the truck.

Sherry was armed with a hand gun tucked onto her back. You couldn't see it under her dark brown coat. She hid a smile as she got out of the truck.

They pulled off the road and into a shell gas station. It was pretty much empty except for a bored employee behind the counter. The air was cold and crisp.

Jake sniffed the air, the faint feel of humidity was gently wafting in, which could mean snow or rain. He had no idea for this region. His breath came out in white puffs in front of him so he was guessing snow.

"Don't wander off," Jake said quietly to Sherry as she stretched. She looked around, other than the highway there was nothing but forest and trees here. Her brown coat lined with fur came down to her thighs and she wore the hood on her head over a small black hat like his own.

"Yeah I suppose I'll get far." She smiled at him, turned away and walked towards a picnic table that was off to the side of the parking lot. He sighed, it was the first time she had glanced his way since they'd left the hotel. They really did need to sit and talk a few things out. He hadn't been able to manage any time alone yet. He watched his own breath come in and out for a second. Glad for his own black coat and black hat he studied his surroundings.

Leon pumped gas into the truck and Claire walked inside the store. That left Jake looking after Sherry for a moment. This body guard business so far had not been as exciting his previous job. Better off as a mercenary, he thought. Even one who isn't paid so much.

On the next pump over, Chris was pumping gas into their car while Devon was sitting inside the vehicle sulking somewhat but keeping an eye out. Chris had thought it best if they followed in a nondescript car and not even act as if they belonged together as a team. Normally it wasn't their job to escort DSO agents around but in this case; it had been encouraged.

A stick cracked in the woods behind the gas station. Jake heard it and his face snapped towards the sound as he searched the trees for a sign of movement. It could have been something or it could have been nothing. The trees were unnaturally quiet. He knew there wouldn't be much insect noise because it was cold but even the birds were silent.

Crack. The sound carried over to Jake's senses as if someone had shot a gun. His unease grew as he picked up on the stillness and the simple "out of place" feeling he was getting.

Jake noticed some movement in the trees and then he realized Sherry was sitting on a picnic table there. Her back was towards the woods. He drew his gun and pointed it in Sherry's direction.

"Sherry," he called in a low voice moving towards her. She glanced up and saw him and turned following his line of sight behind her. She looked confused but followed his lead and reached for her own gun under her shirt and backed away from the trees slowly scanning to see what had captured Jake's attention.

From inside the car Devon, still fuming, looked up and saw Jake draw his weapon followed his line of sight, but only saw Sherry.

"Shit," Devon said getting out of the car and drawing his own weapon. Feeling vindicated he pointed his own gun at Jake's back.

As Jake began running towards Sherry yelling at her, Devon pulled the trigger. The shot hit Jake in the shoulder and Jake staggered and fell just as a group of J'Avo burst from the trees. "Jake!" Sherry reached him and turned and started firing her own gun at nearest J'Avo, bringing them down one at a time with quick shots to the head if she could hit it.

Back on top of the hill Chris, Leon, and Claire were all firing their weapons while Devon was frozen horrified at what had just happened. "Move!" said Chris pointing at him, "Keep an eye behind us! There's someone back there!"

He had no idea that Devon had taken that shot. He thought there was another shooter still behind them.

"Oh fuck," said Devon, firing his own gun at the J'Avo. What had he just done?

The "bored" employee was no longer bored but terrified, hiding behind the counter watching the scene unfold through the windows. The J'Avo kept coming, the kid had never seen anything like it in his entire life.

The J'Avo with their deformed faces, some of them mutating as they were hit, extended arms clawing ahead of them converged around Jake and Sherry. Chris, Leon, and Claire simply mowed them down as they tried to get closer.

"You have to kill them with a head shot!" Leon called, "otherwise they just keep mutating into something else!"

True enough some of the J'Avo's arms exploded into much longer limbs as the virus adjusted for the shots just fired into them. Any hit directly in the head stayed down. Others were hardly recognizable as human. One had four legs resembling a morbid centaur crossed with a spider. It's clawed arms waving wildly around. Claire paused and took a shot at its head watching in horror as the whole creature came crashing down close to her. God, she hated Wesker right now. She kept aiming as she knew the others were doing so.

Suddenly Jake was in her sights. She could take him out now, end this whole mess before Sherry got herself seriously hurt. He had gotten to one knee and was holding one arm close to his side and firing with the other. Blood was soaking the back of his jacket.

The similarities between him and his father kept swimming before her eyes as she compared the two physically. Until Jake himself had confirmed the similarity she would never have compared them. Wesker having any children at all was inconceivable. Would they not be just as awful as he was? But since he had mentioned it, the physical similarities were all she saw in him. How else were they similar?

In the seconds she took to sort through these thoughts Sherry was in her sights as well. Sherry had one arm hooked under Jake's good arm she pulled him to his feet and then pushed against him so he was standing with his back to her, and her to him. Blood was running down Jake's back and onto Sherry's coat, staining even the dark brown color. Claire could tell they had taken this position before, it was almost a natural reflex as to how quickly Sherry had pulled him up and turned around firing. She was honestly surprised Jake made it on his feet, as his face looked pale, even as he kept shooting determinedly, protecting Sherry's back as she protected his.

Claire pulled away from her dark thoughts about Jake and starting mowing down J'Avo with a vengeance. She could not shoot Wesker now, he was dead. His monstrosities would have to do for the time being. Wesker's bastard would have to wait.

From inside the crowd, Leon could hear Jake cursing and firing his own weapon. He needed to get to both but the horde of J'Avo was making it impossible. How had they gotten so many J'Avo here?

"Shit," said Leon sprinting as fast as he could at them. They needed to get them both out of there and Jake needed a doctor.

"How did they know?" Claire shouted behind him.

"Just move!" said Leon. It meant they had a leak somewhere in the BSAA, he'd kind of expected it but not this soon.

Leon burst through the J'Avo and grabbed Sherry's arm.

"Take her!" Jake said through gritted teeth. He staggered but didn't go down again. His face was white and his body was tensed up against the pain in his shoulder.

"I'm not going," said Sherry. They'd been in worse scrapes than this and she couldn't believe he was ordering her to leave.

"Go, before I knock you the hell out myself," he yelled at her. Feeling suddenly desperate, he yelled out. "You can't be taken Sherry, just go!"

Leon jerked her back still firing, the J'Avo converged on Jake again but did not return for Sherry. Shit, Sherry's not the only target this time. It made sense that they would be after both of them Leon realized. Wesker was dead and still making a play from the grave.

"Go damnit!" Jake screamed at Leon, not seeing Leon's horrified expression. Leon was frozen in place and had released Sherry's arm watching as the horde of J'avo pulled Jake down.

Jake was dragged towards the trees, yelling and cursing the whole way. He didn't care how injured he was; he was taking as many with him as he could. His strength was fading though and he dropped his gun and bumped helplessly along.

When he got to the tree line a man stepped out. The J'avo dropped Jake at his feet.

"Who is that?" Asked Leon reloading his gun and keeping Sherry behind him. The man pulled out a syringe and looking up at Sherry and smiled.

And then jabbed the syringe into Jake's neck.

Jake stiffened and any fight that he had left went out of him.

The J'Avo picked up Jake and dragged him off at a fast pace, disappearing into the trees, not caring about the scrapes he incurred along the way. The rest stayed around and waited for direction from the man among them.

The blonde man turned and looked pointedly at Sherry and waved, a big smile on his face. See you soon, he mouthed.

Chris was frozen in shock. "Albert Wesker?" He said, "Did you see that?" He drew his gun. It was like Wesker had come back to life, he looked younger but it had to be him.

Behind him Claire too was frozen. And riddled with guilt.

Sherry couldn't move, they just looked at each other. Wesker smiling, and Sherry in horror. Then as suddenly as he was there he turned and walked back into the trees. There were a few J'Avo behind him, but unlike the others these still looked human and were carrying AK 47's. They waited for him to vanish into the trees and then turned and went after him.

Moments later a helicopter roared up into the skies from the trees.

Claire, Leon, Chris and Sherry found themselves staring around in shock in the middle of a bunch of bloody deformed bodies.

Jake was gone.