It's been a while, I know. I've had some things do to, but I decided that you've all waited far long enough. This is among the last chapters, there will only be a few more after this.
Well, fuck.
Another setup; another red herring. Such had happened to Leon many times before -never to this extent, but he certainly wasn't... well, surprised.
Could be worse. We could be-
The silky computer voice that Leon had come to hate cut through his thoughts.
"Self-destruct sequence initiated. Detonation in ten minutes."
- dead... Great.
He looked over at Ada and she gazed back at him with a distant, knowing stare.
She knew. She knew the information was off. She was fully aware Wesker wasn't here.
The all-too-familiar pain of realization and dismay shot through him like a bullet.
We can lament for time lost later; we really need to go. Right now.
He slowly let out his breath, gazing down at Rebecca. By now the lights that littered the ceiling had shut off, with the only source of light sinking in from the open elevator shaft. The bodies that littered the ground cast gruesome shadows that told a chilling story of the events that took place only minutes ago.
Rebecca was on her knees, sitting up with her head down. Her weapon lay on her lap, the barrel resting on the ground in front of her, and one small, gloved hand rested on the grip. Her other hand was splayed out on the ground, keeping her balance. She was breathing hard.
I told her this would be it. I told them "this was the end of it all".
He kneeled down beside her, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Hey, we gotta go," He said softly. "You fit?" Rebecca nodded in response, standing up and shouldering her weapon. She finally looked up at Leon and he saw the fierce anger that covered her face - It was something that Leon had never seen and much less imagined to see on the patient, warm and loving young woman.
"Let's go," She spoke, a hint of frustration playing though her voice.
"Leon? Come in, are you there? Is he dead? Over." Claire's voice came through the radio in his ear.
"Uh, that's a negative. Red herring. Is everything alright out there, over?" Leon replied, heading for the elevator. He heard Ada and Rebecca in tow behind him.
There was silence for a moment. "Please repeat. Wesker is not here?"
I let everyone down.
"That's an affirmative, Wesker is elsewhere. Is everything alright up there? Over."
More silence. "Um. Copy that. This area is lighting up like a light bulb, I'm seeing spotlights in the guard towers, helicopters, and... is that-" Leon heard Claire move away from the radio.
"Claire, come in."
"Leon, we see a tank. This is bad. We-" There was a sudden cracking of gunfire over the radio. "-Shit, we've been spotted. Listen, we'll try to retrieve you but this area is hot. Call us when you're ready. Over and out."
--
Leon and Ada had done away with the gas masks - they were muggy and hot and not particularly comfortable to wear. Leon waited for the doors to open, which would connect them to the office-room, with his gun on point.
Then through the live chambers, and then the stasis chambers...
The elevator doors slid open with a mechanical hum, and Leon got a good look at the room.
Well, as good a look as a single row of lights could give. Immense darkness consumed the sides of the room, the sides of which Leon couldn't see past the cubicle-esque quarters. He stepped out, looking around. It seemed empty...
The doors behind him slid shut, and the extra light the elevator provided sank away. He took a few more steps forward and stopped, listening for anything.
There.
He knew it wasn't going to be easy as he heard a single footstep on the ground somewhere in the darkness to his right. What he didn't expect was what would happen next.
A second after he heard the footstep he was suddenly blind, a loud crack coming from the now-shorted lights above him.
Leon quickly flicked on the light attached to his weapon, and after a second he saw his shadow in front of him - the others followed suit.
He walked forward slowly, coming to an intersection with four walkways surrounded by the boards that separated the cubicles. He waved the gun to the left, illuminating the walkway - and a black boot that disappeared at the far end of the corridor. Not taking his eyes off of the walkway, he reached behind him, felt a shoulder, and with two fingers pointed behind him and to the right of him - signaling to fan out. His shadow turned and faded, as did the peripheral light around him.
Let's see who's playing hide and seek...
He edged toward the wall, pressing himself against the opposite cubicles as he went. He heard a slight scratching in front of him, the same sound his back was making against the wall.
These could be the TC Hosts from before. Better play it safe.
Leon fired twice at the corner, the two rounds easily biting through the thin material and through the other side of the corner. There was some kind of muffled groan, and he quickly swept around the side. He saw what he had hit, a tallish man with the familiar Kevlar-like skin and bright glowing eyes. He switched his weapon to three-round-burst and fired on his head, and the TC creature went limp. He heard footsteps coming in his direction and whirled around, seeing a bobbing flashlight moving toward him.
"Go for the he-" He started, but was suddenly swept off his feet, flying into darkness. Pain shot through him as he connected with the wall, and as he reoriented himself he raised his weapon - and saw another TC creature coming at him. He pulled the trigger-
Click. Click. Click.
- and found it to be jammed.
Oh, shit-
Leon felt for his sidearm, a P99, and in one smooth motion he flicked off the safety and brought it up to aim with the flashlight from the L85A2 still illuminating his assailant. He pulled the trigger as hard and fast as he could - and the maddeningly quick creature went down, crawling at him. He fired again, but the slide locked out- he was empty. The creature leapt forward using only its arms, jaw open and aiming for his neck-
-And just as fast it flew sideways, hitting the wall with a nasty crunch, then becoming very still. A small, neat bullet hole was nestled right in the temple of the creature, and dark, thick blood oozed out slowly. He looked to his left and Ada stood there, unmoving and with her gun pointed right where she'd fired.
Wow. She's good.
Leon got up and reloaded his side arm, leaving his now-useless assault rifle behind, the flashlight burning out. He shot Ada a quick gaze of thanks, but she didn't return any look that he could make sense of.
Rebecca came from the other side of the hallway and was already striding to the hatch that Leon had blown up with a grenade.
"Area clear." She spoke, her voice slightly more calm than before.
Leon twisted the broken door open and as he entered, he heard the wretched computer voice inform them that they had eight minutes left. He stepped over bloody, smoking bodies and reached for the other door handle.
