Miss Rika immediately stood up, holding her sniper rifle with one hand while the other reached for her pistol.
"Be ready for any situation." Miss Rika said with a serious expression, and she was looking around us, trying to spot whatever made that sound.
After a moment of tense waiting, Miss Rika sighed.
"It's just a boar," she said with relief.
A wild boar walked out of the bush with a snout on his face. He had two sharp tusks protruding out from both sides of his mouth and he was bigger than me.
"Are we going to hunt it?" I asked.
"No, we don't have time to waste on hunting. We need to move, and fast."
I took the sniper rifle I was carrying with me and put it over my shoulder, readying myself. Then we moved up the steep cliff, carefully avoiding falling rocks and loose dirt. We climbed the cliff, reaching a small path leading up the mountain.
Unlike what I thought before starting, I wasn't too exhausted to move on. Thanks to the daily training and high level of stamina I had. It was easy for me to hike and climb.
After an hour or so of walking through the dense forest and steep hills, we finally reached the top of the cliff. There were plenty of trees surrounding us and I couldn't see very far. I looked around and spotted a huge mansion in front of us.
Miss Rika's voice rang in the air as we arrived at our destination.
A raw scenery of Arkley mountains in the background, a big and imposing mansion with Victorian era design. The garden was beautiful with neatly trimmed bushes, a fountain in the middle. There was no sign of life anywhere near it though.
But there were zombies everywhere. Dozens of zombies roaming the ground in front of the mansion.
I quickly counted the number of zombies on the ground from my binoculars and saw at least thirty or forty zombies wandering aimlessly.
"Wow there are so many of them," I muttered.
Miss Rika smirked and replied with her usual calm tone.
"We won't do anything to them, as long as they are not a danger to Leon and the other team." She said, looking at the mansion. "Our mission is to secure the way and give them fire support if needed."
"Understood." I nodded and readied my weapon, looking for a safe position. "We will be hiding here, I suppose. What kind of enemies should I expect?"
Hearing me, she lowered her binoculars and looked at me seriously.
"A human, most probably." She answered with her serious expression. "Umbrella is involved with all of this mess, and it's safe to say that their security guards will be patrolling the mansion. So keep your guard up. They won't be too much of a threat if you stay alert."
Having humans as enemies meant we would kill. I had already killed a few in the previous mission. Now I would do the same thing again. It was inevitable, I couldn't let them roam freely to kill others. It would be my responsibility if that happened.
So I steeled my mind, and prepared to kill.
"I see, Leader. So the main force will reach here..."
Just as I said that, I noticed a helicopter flying over our heads, heading straight to the mansion.
So our role as sniper would be starting after the team entered the mansion, which would be anytime now.
"Alright. I will take cover at the front gate while you take care of any possible threats from this position. Look around and learn from me." Miss Rika ordered me.
I nodded and started to set up the sniper rifle I had brought.
We were supposed to stay out of sight and only fire when we needed to, so we needed to be very stealthy.
How to do that? The answer was pretty simple. Just lay on the ground with the rifle ready. Make sure you're not seen by anyone. Don't move unless absolutely necessary.
That's how a sniper works, I think. Well, maybe there are other ways to do it, but this one was good enough for now.
When we got into position, Miss Rika's presence felt pretty thin. She didn't move even an inch and positioned her eye behind the scope, following the helicopter's movement.
I also looked through the scope and saw them. Wesker led the team down with a rope while the helicopter hovered over the mansion. There were five members, all men and himself.
Five STARS members and mutant Wesker.
I didn't recognize any of them, mainly because of the distance and I wasn't that familiar with them to begin with. However, their equipment was very good and their clothes seemed pretty sturdy.
They carried some sort of assault rifles and pistols on their hips.
"They are fully geared up for combat. I don't think we need to worry much about their safety," Miss Rika commented.
"True," I replied, watching the team through the scope. "They're professionals, right? I bet they can deal with zombies and hunters."
"Yes. You don't need to worry too much about the safety of the main force. They're tough and can take care of themselves," Miss Rika agreed.
But they wouldn't know that Wesker was a traitor, and the enemies weren't limited to just zombies. If they weren't careful, they would get ambushed and die.
"I will take care of this side," she pointed to her left, where there were some trees. "And you cover your back. It seems like the most likely point of entry for enemies, especially if they want to flank us from behind. Leon will enter through that side too, so we have to secure the route first."
Nothing happened for a while after that.
It seemed that the team had already entered the mansion and began exploring, looking for any sign of suspicious activities or anything out of the ordinary.
Suddenly, I heard something moving around me.
I turned around and found a zombie standing behind me.
It was close. Very close.
Without hesitation, I slashed its neck, decapitating the head.
I slashed its torso apart and it collapsed into pieces. Its head was still intact and I stomped on it to make sure it was dead for good.
But more and more zombies started coming out of nowhere.
There were at least ten or so of them surrounding us, and I didn't know how they appeared.
"Can you handle them?" Miss Rika asked calmly. She wasn't looking at me.
"I can." I answered shortly. There was no need for me to answer longer than this.
Raising my sword, I dealt with them swiftly. I rushed forward to the group and cut them apart. Some tried to bite me but I managed to avoid them all.
After killing a few, I noticed something weird about these zombies. They weren't trying to kill me. They were trying to surround me.
Unlike normal zombies that attacked anything moving in front of them, these ones tried to trap me in the middle. I didn't know how many were still around, so it was hard for me to tell if there were any others besides these few.
However, one thing I knew for sure.
"They are controlled."
Someone hiding in some place controlled them. And I didn't think it was Wesker.
If Wesker could control them, he would be using them to his advantage, sending them against the team that entered the mansion.
Which means... It must be someone else. Or maybe something else. The virus or a mutant.