Chapter 2: Something's Off
-The next day-
"Alright, I think I'm ready." Leon stated as he strapped on his black combat boots. After zipping up his suitcase and putting on his tan bomber jacket, Leon combed his hair down and deemed himself ready to leave out. Once he left his room, he walked across the hallway to knock on Michelle's door.
"Hey, Michelle, you ready?" He called out as he heard the sound of footsteps.
"Yeah," Michelle called back out, "just a second."
Leon leaned against the wall next to the door and waited for a few seconds before the door opened. Michelle stepped out, wearing a black bomber jacket, dark gray shirt and black jeans along with black boots with, what looked like, a sharp heel.
"What?" Michelle inquired as she noticed Leon's looking at her boots.
"Are you going to be able to walk in those?" Leon inquired as Michelle chuckled.
"You'll be surprised, when I first started training, they trained me in heels specifically. Usually works best for impromptu situations." Michelle informed before she closed her door. "Let's go." Michelle said, her black eyes gleaming in both mischief and small excitement. Leon smirked before they began to head downstairs with their suitcases.
After a boring car ride, they arrived at the local police department and they exited to see the chief waiting for them. They picked up their cases and walked into the building. Following their guide, they finally were lead to a locker room where they could store their stuff while they were gone, making Michelle scoff.
"Do you expect me to change?" Michelle asked as she opened her case, so did Leon. To their guide's surprise, their suitcases was full of weaponry. Michelle immediately retrieved her two custom, golden Mark XIX Lightning Hawks. She pulled out two magazines filled with ammo to examine them before slapping them into her gun and keeping a few more in her holster.
"What kind of ammo is that?" Leon asked as he pulled his own Beretta, which he called the "Silver Ghost."
".50 Action Express," Michelle answered, to which Leon whistled, "one of the most powerful carriages rounds in the world." She cockily stated before pulling out two Bowie knives and slid them into sheaths on her ankles. After slipping on her black tactical vest and putting her small Beretta into her ankle holster, Michelle strapped her Ithaca M37 sawed-off shotgun on. "Little memento from Umbrella." Michelle told him as she placed spare magazines and shells into the small containers in her belt. "I'm ready."
"Same here." Leon said as their two police escorts led them to their car.
-1 hour later-
"Yo, who are you two really?" The officer riding in the passenger seat asked, looking back at his silent passengers; the first attempt to make conversation this entire ride. "Come on and tell us."
Neither agents dignified him with a response, rather they continued to stare out their respective windows into dark and dreary sky.
"You two are a long way from home." The officer continued, turning around to look at the agents. "You have my sympathies."
"I guess that's the local's way of breaking the ice." Leon told Michelle, who rolled her eyes.
"You know what this all about," Michelle said while continuing staring out the window, "the assignment is to search for the president's missing daughter."
"Right," the officer replied, "all by yourselves." He said before he chuckled a bit.
"I'm sure you boys didn't just tag along so we could sing 'Kumbaya' together at some boy-scout campfire." Leon said before he considered it for a second. "Then again, maybe you did."
"Ha, oh you crazy Americans; it's a direct order from the chief himself, I tell you it's no picnic." The police officer said sarcastically.
"We are counting on you guys." Michelle said, still refusing to give them the time of day.
The comfortable silence from before returned as no one dared to say anything until the car came to a stop so the passenger officer could get out and "relieve himself". The driver offered a cigarette, but both agents declined. The officer got back into the car and the long car ride began again, but they were told they were arriving soon. After crossing a rickety bridge ten minutes later, the driver stopped the car at a large cliff.
"Just up ahead is the village." He informed them, pointing them towards the dark forest.
"We'll go have a look around." Leon said, gesturing for Michelle to come with him.
"We'll stay and watch the car." The officer in the passenger's side chuckled, earning him glares from both agents. "Don't want to get any parking tickets."
"Right, parking tickets." Leon scoffed, getting out of the car and slamming the door shut.
"Fine then, stay here." Michelle said, rolling her eyes as she got out of the car, happy to get away from these two idiots.
"Who does that bitch think she is?" The passenger cop grumbled in Spanish before Michelle, giving them a look that would kill them multiple times over if possible, pumped her shotgun, making the officers cringe in their seats.
"What was that?" Michelle demanded in Spanish, bending down to look into the passenger window.
"Nothing." Both officers said quickly as Michelle glared at both of them before standing up.
"Let's get this one thing straight: call me a bitch again and the next shot will be in your asses." Michelle growled as she strapped on the M37 and walked over to a snickering Leon. Before they start their journey, their communication devices went off in their pockets.
They pulled out the small device, complete with dual screens for video calling, and accepted the call to see a black woman, also wearing glasses, pop up on the right screen.
"Leon, Michelle, I hope you both can hear me." She called out, getting her answer when they raised their thumbs.
"Loud and clear." Leon answered.
"I'm Ingrid Hunnigan, I'll be your support on this mission."
"For some reason, I thought you would be older." Leon added with a seductive smirk as Michelle rolled her eyes at his comment.
"Anyway, the subject's name is Ashley, right?" Michelle inquired, trying to get back on topic.
"That's right, and I'm sure you both know she's the daughter of the President." Ingrid answered, earning a nod of affirmation from the agents. "So behave yourself, Leon."
"Hold u-wait, why me specifically?"
"We'll try our best." Michelle chuckled. "Whoever this group is, I sure hope they knew who they kidnapped."
"I'll try to find some more information on my end."
"Good, talk to you later." Leon said before he and Michelle dropped the call. They glanced at each other before nodding and started walking down the trail. The crows on the trail flew into the air and the branches parted to reveal a two-story house up the path.
"I think I see something in the window." Leon muttered before the figure retreated further into the house. "Let's go check it out."
The lack of a front door meant the house was open to all visitors, it seemed. The house itself smelled of mildew and the floorboards let out a creak at every small step they made. After reaching the end of the front hallway, they turned to corner to see a man, wearing what looked like a brown vest, an aged white shirt, and gray slacks in the dining room, shoveling coal into his burning fireplace.
"Excuse me, sir." Leon called out politely, but there was no response.
"Sir." Michelle commanded slightly louder, but still, the man didn't acknowledge them. Leon, deciding the man may be deaf or an asshole, walked over to him with the picture of Ashley in hand. Only once Leon was right next to him did the man finally acknowledge his presence.
Something doesn't seem right about him Michelle thought.
"I was wondering if you have seen the girl in this photograph?" Leon inquired, holding out the photo.
The man looked at it and spat at the agents in his native tongue, "What the fuck are you doing here?! Get out, asshole!"
Leon scoffed at the vulgar tone and muttered, "Sorry to have bothered you." Asshole it is.
While Leon was busy putting the picture back into his pocket, the man walked off to the side and picked up something that had a long handle as far as Michelle could see. Leon looked up for a second just to see the man swinging the ax down at his head, but a hand caught the blade before it could slice into Leon's head. Michelle glared at the man while holding the blade between her index finger and thumb.
"Yep." Michelle scoffed before she slammed her foot into the man's chest, knocking him back into the wall with enough force to crack the wood before he slumped down to the ground.
"Thanks." Leon said as Michelle threw the ax to the other side of the room. Before Michelle could respond, the man rose to his feet and began walking to the agents. Leon and Michelle immediately trained their handguns on the man.
"Freeze!" Leon shouted in a commanding tone, but the villager kept walking towards them menacingly, so Leon took it a step further and cocked his hammer back. "I said freeze!" It didn't even faze him.
Before he could get into arm's length of the agent, a .50 Action Express round ripped through his chest and exited out his back. The man fell down to the ground, not moving. Just as Michelle and Leon began to inspect the body, the roar of a truck engine turning over roared throughout the quiet area. Just as there was yelling, there was the crashing of metal into more metal. It all culminated in the sound of a rhythmic crashing, which sounded very much like the car crashing down a cliff.
"Oh fuck." Michelle muttered before their communicators began ringing.
"Is everything okay?" Hunnigan asked once her image appeared on the screen.
"There was a hostile local." Michelle explained, holstering her pistol and withdrawing her shotgun. "I had no choice but to neutralize him."
"There are others surrounding the area." Leon added, looking out the window at the approaching crowd of people, all carrying various weapons.
"Get out of there and head towards the village." Hunnigan instructed. "Take whatever measures necessary to save the subject."
"Understood." Both agents said in unison before they cut the transmission. The two agents searched the house, making sure the president's daughter wasn't on the premises. The search turned out negative, but they found a few gold coins along with ammo for Leon's pistol.
"Let's get out of here." Leon said as they opened door to hear yelling behind them. They turned to see five men descending on them. Michelle aimed with her shotgun and fired a shell into the group, managing to kill a few and Leon picked off the rest. With the rest of the villagers dead, the agents ran to where they left the car but found only skid marks on the ground leading to the cliff and a black plume of smoke coming from the chasm beneath. They looked down to see the cop car and truck in the bottom, completely destroyed, but no signs of the officers.
"Damn it." Michelle muttered, annoyed. "There goes our way out of here."
"Let's keep moving, they may be out here somewhere." Leon told her, to which she nodded. They left the cliff and continued down the path to the village. After passing the fence of the crazed man's house and inspecting a small shack, collecting ammo and bandages, they heard whimpering coming from the forest. They investigated to see a wolf, its leg was caught in a bear trap and struggling to get free.
"Poor guy." Michelle said lowly as she holstered her Desert Eagle and walked over to the wolf. Leon got the bandages ready and sprayed it with their first aid spray as Michelle bent down and pried open the trap. Once the wolf pulled out its leg from it, Leon quickly bandaged its leg around the wound. The wolf let out a happy bark before it hopped over a fence and scurried off into the forest.
"Wow, you do have a heart." Leon said as Michelle scoffed with a small smirk.
"Humans, I sometimes don't care; animals, barring those attacking me, I'll help any day." Michelle corrected as she unholstered her Desert Eagle and they continued down the path.
"Who do they think they're fooling?" Michelle asked in both amusement and a little bit of offense. In front of them was the very obvious line of rope used as a tripwire for a blinking C-4 explosive.
"I'm starting to think there is more than what meets the eye here." Leon muttered before firing at the explosive, quickly blowing apart the tree.
"Same here." Michelle replied, detonating another explosive. Walking through the now open part of the forest, they heard a Spanish shouting behind them. They turned around to see a random villager with a pitchfork charging at them with his weapon, ready to stab them. Before he could accomplish his goal, Michelle flashed forward, slamming her palm into the temple of the man and sending him flying into a tree. The man crumpled to the ground before his body bubbled and disintegrated, something new that caught their attention.
"Do you know of a virus that does this?" Leon inquired; Michelle glanced over at him to shake her head.
"That's new." Michelle muttered. Quickly snapping from their stupor, they pressed forward down the dirt path before them. They found another shack that also contained ammo and gold from the locals. Michelle emptied the box into the small pouch she carried on her holster belt.
"Why do you keep stealing their gold?" Leon asked in an amused tone as Michelle shrugged.
"I guess you could say it's our payment for constantly trying to kill us." Michelle said as she threw the box and zipped the pouch. "Besides, I'm sure we'll make a pretty penny off of it once we get back to the States." Michelle walked out, a disapproving Leon following behind. There were two villagers waiting for them at the bridge that Michelle simply pushed over the barrier into the rapids below. Crossing the rickety bridge, they found yet another small hut. Michelle entered first only to almost be hit by a hatchet in the head by the hiding man inside. She rolled out of the way while Leon quickly shot the man in the knee before snapping his neck from behind.
"Nice." Michelle complimented as she stood up and brushed off her jacket.
"Thanks. I may not have superpowers, but at least I can still handle myself in the field if I must say so myself." Leon 'humbly' bragged, receiving an eye roll from his partner.
They entered into the empty hut and grabbed some more ammo for Michelle's Desert Eagles, along with Leon's Silver Ghost. Up ahead was a gate with a strange insignia around it. The doors were heavy, but they could still easily make it through. Just as they crossed through, their communications devices rang.
"How've you two been holding up?" Hunnigan inquired.
"Bad question, Hunnigan." Leon responded, Michelle only gave a sigh.
"Well, the village is just ahead, so be careful you too." She said before they cut the transmission.
Hopefully, she'll be there Michelle wished in her mind, wanting to hurry and get out of this place. They continued down the path until they came upon the village. The two quickly took cover behind trees before Leon took out his binoculars get a closer look.
"What do you see?" Michelle whispered, noticing the disgusted look on Leon's face.
"They're roasting one of the cops from the car." Leon muttered in disgust.
"What?"
"Come on, we can probably sneak around them and check out the houses." Leon recommended as he put his binoculars back on his side and pulled out his Silver Ghost.
They quietly snuck around the side and began moving through the alleyway between the houses. After looking through one house and determining she wasn't there, they began to walk out only to be caught by a woman looking their way. Just as she raised her hand at them and screamed for reinforcements, Michelle flashed towards her and drove the knife into her throat. Breathing a sigh of relief, she heard someone else scream. A man from the side saw the whole thing and alerted the village of intruders.
"Well, so much for the pacifist route." Michelle muttered as she dodged a hatchet thrown at her head and returned with a bullet through his eye. Leon, appearing next to Michelle to stop a man from bringing his club down on his partner's head, began firing as well. However, they soon began to swarm from all angles and it began to become hard to fight them off.
"There are too many for us to fight!" Leon shouted over the yelling, kicking away villager before slamming the butt of his gun into another's temple.
"There's a house over there, follow me!" Michelle shouted as she quickly withdrew her shotgun and fired, making a clear path for them to run into the house. They slammed the door shut and secured it with the 2x4 drop down lock. The villagers viciously slammed on the door before suddenly stopping. Leon and Michelle looked outside the small window to see a villager shouting out orders and gesturing in different directions, confusing the agents.
"What the hell are they planning?" Leon muttered just as a man wearing a burlap sack over his head came from behind another building, starting up his chainsaw.
"Oh great, a chainsaw!" Michelle shouts as she kicked a dresser in front of the door only to hear the sound of the window upstairs shattering.
"Damn it!" Leon shouted. "I'll take down here, you take upstairs." He instructed, earning a nod from the woman. Michelle hurried upstairs and pushed the ladder down, knocking down the many villagers climbing up. However, just as Michelle sighed a breath of relief, the unmistakable sound of an engine kicking over caught her attention. She turned just in time to dodge the incoming swing from a chainsaw. Michelle looked up and saw the chainsaw villager staring at her through the holes in his mask.
"Come on then, fake-ass Leatherface." Michelle said as she flashed forward and dodged the chainsaw again, but earned a cut on her right arm. She grasped it and flashed out of the way of another blow. Deciding it was time to end this before she possibly lost a limb, she flashed forward before slamming her foot into his chest, sending him flying through the window down to the ground.
"I'll give you an "A" for effort," Michelle grunted as the skin regrew around the cut, healing itself. With her arm fixed, she grabbed her shotgun and the shotgun mounted on the wall before running downstairs to see Leon, who was slowly making his way upstairs with the countless villagers converging on them. She quickly handed him the shotgun and a few shells before she took the lead.
"Is there an end to these bastards?" Michelle angrily questioned as she fired down into the crowd, knocking back a good few, but they were quickly replaced by even more of the villagers. Just as they reached the last step, a church bell rang through the air. The villagers stopped and gave a blank look at them before they muttered something. Michelle and Leon exchanged a curious look as they watched the villagers leave the building. Following after them, they saw the last remnants of the mob disappear into a small house, even more confusing the duo. They looked around to see if anyone remained for a possible sneak attack, but the village was empty.
"Where's everyone? Bingo?" Leon quipped as Michelle rubbed her hand through her hair.