A/N: Let there be zombies! And violence! And Leon being all stoic!
...
The truck rumbled to a halt and almost as one, the soldiers filed out in two rows, followed by Leon and Chris, followed in turn by Helena. She hadn't worn full combat-gear in a few years and the sudden added weight was throwing her off a little.
As she clambered out she took in their surroundings. The warehouse stood alone, in the middle of a deserted lot, surrounded by a wire fence which was in surprisingly good condition, considering the general…ruin that made up the rest of the area.
The soldiers split into two teams of three and began to circle the perimeter, around the outside of the building. Chris and his sergeant stood by with Leon, listening while the bigger man gestured toward the entrance. Helena noted the heavy metal door was already open, allowing them to see into the dark maw within.
"Remain in radio contact, we don't want to spook them too early, so all teams move in from all sides simultaneously. Goal is to disarm, not kill. The higher the shock factor the less likely they are to freak and fight back."
"Sir." The sergeant nodded.
"Leon, me and Nichols'll take the office entrance. Take Helena and wait by the freight entrance. Go on my order, right?"
Leon looked uncertain briefly, but enough that Chris picked up on it. The latter's silence caught the blonde's attention.
"Where did your tip-off come from?" Leon asked, voice steady but wariness evident in the tone.
Chris suddenly looked serious.
"Anonymous." He answered, bluntly. "But that's why we brought a full squad with us. Just in case."
"Expecting a trap?" Helena interjected.
"I find it pays to expect the worst." Chris turned to her.
"Anything else we need to know?" Leon continued.
"Nichols?" He addressed the sergeant.
"There have been several…disappearances reported in the vicinity."
Helena began to feel uneasy at the expression on Leon and Chris's faces as they shared something in a brief glance.
"Right." Leon nodded, flicking the safety off his pistol and gripping it firmly.
"Got it." Helena agreed, drawing her own gun.
Chris nodded and jogged away, Sergeant Nichols trailing after him. Leon and she shared a look and walked towards the open doorway, cautiously.
"How's it feel?" Leon asked suddenly.
Helena figured he was referring to being back in action, or even just…doing something useful, she mused wryly.
"Good." She replied, simply.
And it did. Her senses were sharp, she could feel, hear, smell, touch, taste everything slightly more, as if the world had become slightly more…alive. Like it had been when she and Leon had fought through Tall Oaks and China. She was expecting danger, ready to fight, prepared for trouble, but she felt more like herself than she had in a long time.
"Hm." Leon smirked slightly.
He raised his pistol and took up position on one side of the entrance. Helena paced quickly to the other side, pressing her back against the near-ancient corrugated walls of the building and sliding up to the edge.
"Team one in position."
"Team two in position." The voices crackled through the handsets on their belts.
She watched Leon take his off his belt and speak into it, affirming they were ready.
"I don't hear anybody." Helena spoke up quietly, catching Leon's eye.
"Move!" Chris yelled.
Leon and Helena swung round either corner, handguns raised, shouting warnings and orders to stand down into the dark.
Nothing.
Helena's first thought was almost disappointment; her second, which followed shortly after, was a growing unease. She could feel something wrong, in the vast gloom that yawned before them.
"Stay by me." Leon muttered, so quietly she almost didn't hear him.
"Stay by me." She retorted, sounding far more confident than she felt, but they nodded to each other and pressed on.
"Can you guys smell that?" A voice crackled over the handset.
Helena could smell something, and it was growing stronger the further they went. The worst thing was, it wasn't unfamiliar. Her mind recalled memories all too recent, of monsters, blood and screaming. She heard Leon fumbling through his jacket before his hand came out holding a torch. The beam flicked on as he held it up, pistol still raised in his right hand.
"FUCK!" Helena swore, clamping a hand over her mouth and stopping in her tracks.
The beam of the torch had cut through the dark, coming to rest on the ground just ahead of them and there, it had fallen on a corpse. She felt Leon's hand on her shoulder, steadying her. She hadn't even realised she'd stumbled.
"You okay?"
"What happened? What-…shit." Chris cut off, mid-sentence, probably having discovered something similar.
"Yeah, fine. Fine." Helena waved him off, annoyed at herself for being so shocked.
She could feel Leon's gaze linger on her briefly, before he turned his attention to the body. On a gut-feeling, he shone the torch around them.
"Sometimes I hate being right." He growled, as the beam revealed more and more bodies littering the ground around them.
"What have we walked into, Leon?"
There were footsteps across the pitch-black expanse and the two of them dug their feet in and raised their pistols, instinctively. The footsteps came to a collective halt.
"Hey, it's us. Stand down." Chris called. "If I'm gonna get shot I'd rather it not be by the rookies."
"Call me a rookie again, Redfield." Leon mock-threatened, lowering his sidearm. Helena did the same.
"I forgot you were so sensitive." Chris appeared out of the gloom in Leon's torchlight, flanked by the whole squad, cracking a forced grin as he and the others looked at the mess around them.
"The hell happened here?" One of the men asked, to the world at large.
"Okay, Miller, Richards, get some light on in here." Two of the men nodded and hurried off.
"Who are these people?" Helena knelt by one of the bodies, frowning.
Most showed no signs of excessive violence on them. Bruises, a few scrapes, nothing major. They were wearing plain clothes, black and greys, clearly they hadn't wanted to stand out.
"I don't suppose they're the black-market dealers we were tipped about?" Chris asked, in a worrisome tone.
"None of them are even armed." Helena noted, continuing her perusal of the bodies while Leon followed her with the torch. "There's something wrong here." She noticed a folded slip of paper in the hands of one of the bodies. Idly, she grabbed it and pocketed it, meaning to check it later.
"You think?" A soldier laughed, nervously. Helena turned and glared at him, resting one hand on the floor as she did.
She was totally unprepared as the ground gave way beneath her hand, and she tumbled forward with a yelp. Leon dropped to one knee and reached forward, managing to grab one of her boots before she disappeared fully over the side but found himself skidding forward after her until several of the men managed to grab hold of him.
"Shit!" Helena swore as she felt her foot slipping out of the boot while she dangled above…well, she tried not to worry about that right now.
"Hang on!" Leon roared as he crawled further forward, still gripped by the struggling soldiers. His gun cast aside, he thrust his hand over the side, grabbing her leg just below the knee, clenching a fistful of the thick pants.
"…the fuck else am I gonna do?!" She yelled back up.
Helena couldn't find anything to hang on to; she was hanging above a space she couldn't even begin to guess at the size of. The dark, coupled with her current position made it a little hard to concentrate. She stopped waving her arms around, and decided to remain still until all those big, strong men up there got their acts together and pulled her up. Idly, she decided to make use of the time she had and, with some difficulty while upside down, managed to pry a bullet from one of the spare pistol clips in her ammo-vest. She dropped it, straining to hear how long it took to hit something. A quiet metallic ringing followed shortly, before it too was swallowed in the darkness surrounding her. She relaxed a little, knowing it wasn't that much of a drop and as she felt a second set of hands find her other aimlessly waving foot.
Then she heard the voice.
She looked below, knowing it was too dark anyway, but she was sure…
Another low moan. Followed by another. Then several more. Then lots.
"…Leon…?"
Leon looked across at Chris, who was on the other side of what they'd found to be a hatch in the floor which Helena had somehow tripped open. They could hear the growing raucous below.
"Hold on Helena." He passed Chris his torch while another of the BSAA soldiers helped him start pulling her up.
Helena looked up, only to be blinded by the beam of the torch as Chris shone it downward. She turned away quickly, trying to clear her sight, then wished she hadn't.
Below her, jostling, pushing, shoving, was a…a…horde of grotesque looking…things. She couldn't look away, realising that they were people…had formerly been people. Their skin was mottled and grey, their eyes dead and pale, covered in blood and dirt.
"Fucking zombies!" She yelled, reaching for her second pistol, having lost the first when she fell. Helena wasn't even sure where to aim, there were dozens she could see, more than she cared to imagine that she couldn't.
"What?" Leon looked over at Chris, who was still peering over the edge.
"She's right, shamblers. Haven't seen those in years, didn't think there was any interest in the T-Virus anymore."
"There was an outbreak at Harvardville Airport in '05, last time I saw them." Leon muttered.
Suddenly, several gunshots rang out. Leon fought to hold onto Helena as her body shook with each shot.
"Stop shooting!" He roared.
"Then stop talking and get me the fuck out of here!" She bellowed back.
With a good deal of cursing and shouting, they managed to pull her back up. Two soldiers stood over the hatch, dropping flares down while found herself hauled backward by strong arms around her waist, collapsing backward into a bigger body. She looked up, head meeting Leon's chin.
"Who was keepin' who out of trouble, Harper?" He smirked slightly and she felt her stomach do a flip.
"Whatever." She rolled off him, putting the strange feeling down to suddenly finding herself upright after spending the last few minutes upside down.
"Guess we found out what happened to the people who…disappeared." Nichols piped up, grim.
"Somebody has a lot to answer for." Chris slammed his fist into his palm. "What the hell is going on here?"
Helena shook her head, struggling to her feet and brushing herself down. She glanced down at Leon, who hadn't moved. He was staring straight ahead into the gloom.
"What is it?" She followed his gaze, ignoring the discussion between Chris and his men.
"There's a light over there, and there wasn't one earlier." Leon muttered.
Helena couldn't tell, it was all just dark to her but…
"No…wait…there is something…"
A dull light was emanating from a spot…no, several spots and it was growing.
She heard Leon get to his feet and stand beside her.
"Whatever is down there, there must be a way back up, if there's something to go down there for, right?" Helena ventured, suddenly feeling sick.
"Right." Leon agreed quietly, checking the clip in his pistol.
"This being a warehouse, I'd guess something like…an access ramp maybe, to make it easier to move cargo."
"Yeah." Leon agreed again.
By now the others had fallen in around them. Whatever light source was below was noticeably being blocked at intervals by things moving past it. The sound of shuffling footsteps getting closer filled the empty warehouse.
Helena noted the sounds of several firearms being checked. Chris appeared on her other side, pulling the stock of an MP5 into his shoulder.
"Okay, we don't know how many there are, but they're slow. Headshots and knee-shots only, kill or cripple, got it?"
"Sir." The squad affirmed.
"Nichols, take two men and lock every exit but the freight entrance. Lock this place down." Chris ordered. "Circle round and wait for us out there. Call in backup."
"Right sir." The sergeant nodded, peeling off with two men.
"Leeson, get a flare over there, let's see what we're dealing with."
One of the men chucked a flare over, bathing a corner of the warehouse in light.
"…shit." Leeson groaned.
Dozens of shamblers were already filtering around, between aisles of racks and crates. More were pouring out of a large and open hatch. Many of them were stumbling together in one crowd and heading their way, seeking the source of the noise that had invaded their previously silent home.
Helena gritted her teeth. She wasn't sure what was worse. The ones she'd dealt with that still looked…mostly like people or these things. Her mind was flooded with images of her sister as she…changed. She bumped into Leon's shoulder while she tried to get into a better position and as he turned to look what was wrong their eyes met.
Any worry evaporated almost immediately, replaced with a fiery determination. Leon had come to her, he'd put his faith in her and trusted her, she couldn't betray that. She wouldn't let him down.
He didn't say anything, and she was grateful. She raised her gun as the corpse-like creatures approached.
"Light 'em the fuck up." Chris growled.
A cascade of gunfire rocked the warehouse, deafening Helena instantly. She and Leon's handguns were drowned out by the chorus of the BSAA troops' machine-gun fire.
Ahead, the shamblers shook with the impact of the bullets, some flying backward, others collapsing on the spot, more simply slowed by the impact and tripping up those behind. But they kept coming on.
"They can't all have been infected here, this many disappearances would have been noted!" She yelled over the shooting.
Leon only nodded, saying nothing in reply.
Gradually, she realised, they were backing away, their firepower gradually losing to sheer weight of numbers.
A cry to her left drew her attention and she turned just in time to see one of the soldiers dragged down by several shamblers who'd circled around them in the still pitch-dark maze. Instinctively, she made to help him but a firm hand fell on her shoulder, pulling her back.
"Too late." Leon barked.
"Everyone back!" Chris yelled.
Helena was still struggling against Leon's grip, ineffectively. The squad retreated outside, with Leon dragging her not far behind. She watched as Chris pulled out a grenade, rolling it into the midst of the oncoming horde, before hurrying after them. She could still see the soldier, lost in the mass of the tearing, snarling, biting throng, she-
"Damn it, Helena!" She heard Leon holler.
The explosion filled her vision, blinding her, just as she felt an arm wrap around her, hauling her backward. The force sent them both to the ground and they rolled to a stop. Her eyes opened again, just in time to see the heavy iron door start to slide down above them. With a last burst of strength she pushed back with all her might, rolling she and Leon mere inches out of harm's way as the heavy gate slammed down, shaken loose by the grenade.
For several moments, there was nothing but the sound of heavy breaths and panting as everybody tried to process what had just happened.
"You okay?" Leon squeezed her arm gently, still pressed against her back where they'd landed.
"Are you?" She asked, rolling over to face him.
They were quite close, she noted. She could see clearly the roughness, the weathered and beaten aspect of his face. A dozen and more old scars and cuts scratches, mingled and faded. It was a hard face, tired. But, she couldn't deny, still handsome. Beneath it all, a piercing gaze and a strong jaw.
The sound of Chris barking more orders brought her back to reality and she pushed away, as Leon clambered to his feet too, expression as frustratingly unreadable as usual.
"Chris." Leon was at his side abruptly. "What happened." It was a demand, more than a question.
"I don't know, but two of my men are dead. We're gonna get to the bottom of this."
Two? Helena looked around, then realised one of the soldiers who'd gone with Nichols was missing. She grimaced.
"This was a setup, I told you." Leon growled, grabbing Chris by the shoulder.
Chris spun, glaring at the blonde.
"I know, I knew it might be, but this is what we do, this is our fucking job!" He shoved Leon back.
"Two of your men are dead!"
"I have to live with that." Chris snarled through gritted teeth. "It was my call."
Leon swallowed, breathing heavily. He turned away, clearly trying to calm down.
"Somebody played us." Leon muttered, half to himself.
Helena wasn't sure why, but the paper she found earlier came to mind. She dug through her pockets, not sure which one she'd left it in until she found it. She unfolded it, hoping for more than a shopping list.
"Treadstone, 14:05." She read to herself quietly.
"What?"
She looked up, not realising Leon had heard.
"I found this on one of the bodies." She held it out so Leon could see. "What time is it now?"
"Three-thirty." One of the men replied.
"Treadstone." Leon repeated.
"Is it a name, or a place, or…?"
Chris came over, and she handed the paper to him. He frowned as he read it.
"Maybe it's nothing, but it's better than no lead at all. I'll get it checked when we're done here." Chris gave it back to her. "Good spot, Harper." He smiled a little, and despite all that had happened, she felt a little more at ease.
Moments later, three more trucks rolled into the lot and more soldiers poured out, encircling the entire lot, along with a larger canvas lorry with about a two dozen national guardsmen and several officers. They set about blocking the road and guarding all the entrances and exits.
She jumped a little as Leon's hand wrapped around hers, guiding the paper between them so he could read it again.
"Redfield has his sources, I have mine."
"Hunnigan?" She looked up at him.
"Hunnigan." He replied, looking back at her. She was surprised when his expression softened slightly. "You…did good today." He said, awkwardly.
Helena realised he was trying to compliment her. She didn't think she'd ever heard him speak like this before. It was kind of…sweet.
"Well, I spent most of it upside down after falling through a hole." She snort-laughed, then blushed in embarrassment while Leon chuckled softly.
"You held up, like you did before. I'm glad you agreed to come, Helena." She saw him hold out a hand. "Partners?"
She looked up at the taller man, placing her hand in his.
"Partners."