This story is rated T for gore and thematic elements related to death.

Well, lookee what we got here, Pa! A new story (albeit a short one) from yours truly. This one was inspired by a confession that someone (I don't know who) submitted to a Resident Evil Confessions blog on Tumblr. Anyway, I hope it turned out okay and that you guys like it.

And now without further ado, here it is!

APPRECIATION

"Leon, wait."

Ashley didn't turn to see if Leon had waited, though; she just kept staring down at Luis, slack-jawed with a gory hole in his abdomen, lying in a pool of his own blood. His eyes stared unblinking and unseeing at the ceiling.

"We need to keep moving," came Leon's voice from beside her.

She looked up at him. His lips were pressed together in a hard line, and his jaw and eyebrows were set.

"He was trying to help us. That's why he died," she said. "We need to do something for him, at least."

Leon was silent a moment, then sighed and nodded. "You're right. But we have to make it quick."

Behind them was a long decorative table on which set a vase of fresh flowers. On the wall above it hung a large tapestry. Climbing onto the table, they each took one end of the tapestry, unfastened it, and bunched it up. Once they were back on the floor, Leon took a step toward Luis, unfolding his end of the tapestry.

"Wait a minute," Ashley said, handing her end to him. She pulled the flowers out of the vase. "I don't know if he'd like flowers, but…"

Careful not to step in the pool of blood, she kneeled beside Luis and laid the flowers over the hole in his abdomen. Biting her lip, she gingerly placed his hands—the backs of which were wet from lying in the blood—over the stems of the flowers.

Then she turned to his slacked jaw and unseeing eyes. Gently, she pushed his mouth close and moved her hand to his eyes.

"Ashley…" said Leon.

"It's not right to leave them like this," she said, guiding her fingers to Luis's cold eyelids and pushing them down over his eyes.

As she stood up, she wiped her hands off on her skirt and took her end of the bundle from Leon. Together, they spread it out and laid it over Luis. Blood soaked through the cloth on either side of him.

"I wish I knew what to say," she said. "The only funeral I've ever been to is my mother's, and that was when I was six or seven; I don't remember what the pastor said. I don't even know if Luis would want a pastor at his funeral, or if he'd want anything at all. I didn't know him long enough to know what he'd want."

"He was a cop, like I was," Leon said. "He quit because he didn't think anyone appreciated him putting his life on the line for them. That's the only thing he told me about himself."

"I appreciate it," she said. "I appreciate it, Luis. And we're going to find a cure, and we're going to get out of this alive."

She felt Leon's hand upon her shoulder.

"Come on, let's go," he said, motioning towards a door at the far end of the balcony.

"Yeah," she said with a nod.

As they started towards the door, she glanced back at the covered figure, framed by two half-moons of blood, on the floor.

"What's wrong?" Leon asked.

"Nothing," she said. "I've just seen a lot of dead people lately, I guess. Until they brought me here, the only dead person I'd ever seen was my mother."

"Death is something you get used to seeing. But when it's people you know and care about…" He shook his head, his eyes darkening as he focused them on the floor. Something in them told her he was thinking about Raccoon City—about the people he'd risked his life to save but who'd died anyways.

"Leon, thank you," she said, "for coming to rescue me. I really do appreciate it."

One corner of his lips quirked up into a smile. "Just doing my job," he said, opening the door. "After you."

Smiling back, she nodded and went through the door.

the end.

Any and all feedback you might have for me is welcome and-ahem-appreciated. Until next time, true believers! *woosh noises*