The Facility Endgame
Chapter Ten
Leon adjusted the pillow and attempted to get into a more comfortable position. After what seemed like hours, the doctors and nurses had finally left him alone, advising him to get some rest. They'd dressed the wounds along his side and his leg and were currently pumping a strong antibiotic into him to combat the infection. He was sore, he was aching and he was tired but for some reason, he just couldn't settle down to sleep. He let out an aggravated sigh as he heard the door to his room swing open.
"There's no need to creep" He snapped into the darkness. "I'm still awake"
"Good cos I need your help" Brad's familiar voice replied. Leon reached up and flicked on the light above his bed. A small pool of light appeared around his bed and he could just about make out Brad in the shadows. When the BSAA agent stepped into the light, Leon could see how frantic he looked.
"What's going on"? Leon instantly sat up.
"It's Chris" Brad said, looking grave. "I need you to come with me"
"I'm going nowhere until you tell me what the hell is going on" Leon answered. "Get to the point and quickly"
"I heard Barry and Chris talking and Barry said something about a sighting of Wesker…" Brad started to explain. "Well, it's probably not Wesker…just some weirdo who has become him…"
"I said get to the point" Leon interrupted. "What part of that did you not understand"? He said acidly.
"Chris has gone after him" Brad continued, ignoring Leon's harsh tones. "Barry told him not to but I heard him sneak out. I was gonna go after him but then I figured I'd need back up and that you'd want to come…" Brad swallowed hard. "Oh man, Chris is gonna kill me"
"I'll kill you if you don't get a move on" Leon threw the thin hospital blankets aside. "Did you bring me some clothes"?
"Oh, yeah, here" Brad held up a carrier bag. Leon snatched it from him and, not giving a damn about modesty, removed his hospital gown and changed into the khaki combats that Brad had provided. He tried to pull on the black t-shirt but stopped when he realised he still had the antibiotic drip in his arm. Brad winced. "Don't rip it out"!
"Do I look that stupid"? Leon said snippily as he compressed the vein with his forefinger and used his thumb and index finger to slowly draw the needle out of his arm before letting it drop carelessly to the floor. As he pulled on his t-shirt, a small trickle of blood started to run down his arm. Brad winced again. It looked horribly stark against his pale skin. "Where are the weapons"? He asked in a low voice.
"In the trunk of my-"
Leon swept past Brad and through the door. He stalked along the corridor as Brad followed close behind.
Brad had parked Barry's battered old pick-up truck at the hospital's entrance. A parking attendant was standing by the vehicle looking irritated. He opened his mouth as Leon stalked up to the driver's side door.
"Agent Kennedy. Secret Service" Leon snapped as he opened the driver's door. Luckily, when they'd driven back to Barry's cabin from the airport, Leon had stowed his old ID badge in the passenger compartment. He reached over, grabbed the ID and shoved it in the attendant's face. As the attendant spluttered nervously, Leon climbed into the car and started it up as Brad got into the passenger seat.
"I was thinking maybe I should drive" Brad suggested tentatively as Leon pulled out of the hospital's car park.
"No" Leon replied simply. "So, fill me in. Where's he heading"?
"Have you heard of New Arklay"? Brad asked, keeping a nervous eye on the speedometer. Although they were going fast, it seemed that Leon was a careful driver. When Leon didn't reply to his question, he continued. "They've built on the remains of Raccoon City, your friend from the Secret Service said that Wesker had been spotted going into the nearby forest"
"And Chris has just gone charging after him"? Leon pounded the steering wheel. "For fuck's sake Brad! Did it not occur to you to stop him"? He sighed heavily. "Rac-New Arklay is miles away! How long has he been gone"?
"About an hour" Brad replied. "I got a few supplies together and came right out. It's not easy to sneak through a hospital in the middle of the night"! He added, sounding a little wounded.
"It's easy enough if you're competent" Leon muttered.
"You know Leon…you're kind of a jerk" Brad said as Leon took a corner a little too sharply for his liking.
"It's been said before" Leon answered shortly. "Personally I can't see it"
"So is this road trip going to be silent and awkward or are we going to make an attempt to get along"? Brad asked. "I know we don't really know each other but it doesn't have to be awkward. You could be, I don't know, civil at least"?
"Sorry" Leon said quietly after a few more awkward moments of silence. "I'm still getting used to this working as a team thing" He explained. "I'm worried about Chris. I know what he's like when he thinks Wesker is around" He raised his hands in the air disbelievingly and slammed them back down on the steering wheel. "What the hell am I saying? Wesker's dead. He's dead. We killed him"
"Barry thinks that it might be some Umbrella psycho trying to copy him" Brad replied. He wondered if Leon could sense just how nervous he was feeling. The idea of going back to where it all began was terrifying. He felt like he had lost everything there. His job, his home and more importantly his family. After his cowardly actions, he'd run away to England and fought to get his life back into some sort of order. It had taken him years and although he would never forget his beautiful family, he felt like he'd been able to move on.
He needed to see it as a chance. An opportunity to go back and make things right. He couldn't run away this time. He had to face whatever was waiting for them and make peace with the mistakes he'd made.
"We'll find him Leon" He said, trying to sound reassuring and confident. "Chris is going to be alright"
"He better be" Leon kept one hand on the wheel as he fumbled around in the passenger compartment. "I want the pleasure of killing him myself" He pulled out his phone, which he'd stashed alongside his ID and quickly pressed his speed-dial. "Dennis? Leon. I need your help. If I send you some co-ordinates can you have a helicopter sent there as soon as possible? Thanks. Yeah, the next drinks are on me" He hung up and pocketed the phone quickly. "That's our transport sorted"
"Just like that"? Brad asked, amazed. "Are we telling the others what we're doing"?
"No" Leon answered shortly. "They'll only slow us down. Kevin's injured and Jill and Carlos seem to have their own problems. Plus, someone has to stay behind and make sure that Ginny's alright" He felt a horrible clenching in his stomach when he mentioned her name.
"Well, I bought enough firepower" Brad tactfully changed the subject. He wasn't really sure what was going on with Leon and Ginny but he certainly knew a sensitive subject when he saw one. Leon nodded, concentrating on the road ahead. Brad fiddled with his seatbelt. He was never good with people he didn't really know. "So, um, yeah…how come you were such a jerk to me earlier"? He mentally cursed as soon as the words were out of his mouth. It wasn't exactly the grounds for a civil conversation.
"Defence mechanism I guess" Leon answered, not taking his eyes off the road. "We've all got 'em. That's why Chris is running off into a fight. He'd rather do that than think. If he can fight he doesn't have to think"
"How did you meet him"? Brad asked, wanting to steer the conversation into more cheerful waters.
"In Spain. He was sent to help the Secret Service with a job. I hated him at first but then…I don't know, there's just something about him that I couldn't help but love even though I tried god damn hard not to" He flashed a brief smile. "So how about you? Got anyone in tow"?
"I did have" Brad replied, feeling that all too familiar sickness stir in the pit of his stomach. It happened every time he though or talked about his family. "The died in Raccoon City and I've not really been all that interested since. I've had a few dates and whatnot" He shrugged, hoping to come across as casual. "No-one's really measured up I suppose"
"Wow…I'm sorry"
"That's why I have to do this" Brad continued. "I ran away last time, left my team behind. I need to prove to myself and everyone else that I can do this"
"Well" Leon said simply. "Let's do it"
Half an hour later, Leon pulled into a desert field surrounded by a half rotten, rickety wooden fence. In the darkness, Brad could make out the shape of a helicopter in the middle of the grass.
"Grab the weapons, I'll get it started up" Leon said as he got out of the car and slammed the door. Brad nodded and followed. He opened the trunk and hauled out an old canvas holdall which contained the weapons and supplies he'd hastily grabbed back at the cabin.
He trotted across the pot-hole riddled field and reached the helicopter just in time to see Leon hand the truck keys to a stranger dressed in navy combats and a black flight jacket.
"Just take it to the nearest motel" Leon was saying. "It's good to see you again Dawson" He added, giving the man a friendly clap on the back.
"You too Kennedy. Take it easy with her ok? I've just given the old girl a full service" Dawson replied, tossing a thumb in the direction of the helicopter. "No repeats of France alright"?
"Wouldn't dream of it" Leon smirked. "Although I don't think I need to remind you that France was entirely Dennis' fault. Thanks for the help by the way. Drinks on me"?
"Hell yeah! Dennis already told me" Dawson offered Leon a salute. "I have no fucking clue what you're about to do Kennedy, but good luck"! He gave Leon's hand a quick shake before disappearing into the darkness.
"Are you up for piloting"? Leon asked, turning to Brad.
"Sure" Brad answered, taking the proffered keys.
Brad and Leon were about five minutes away from the Arklay Mountains when the sun started to rise. The expansive city below them looked odd in the half-light. Although neither of them said it out loud, they both tried hard to ignore it. It was probably completely different from the Raccoon City they'd known but looking at it would bring back too many painful memories, pick at too many raw wounds and open up too many feelings that they'd bought fought hard to bury.
"Leon"? It was Brad who broke the solemn silence. "I'm getting a lot of interference with the equipment"
"What sort"? Leon asked, leaning over and looking at the screens.
"Not sure" Brad replied. "But I think we should land. Whatever it is, it isn't good and if we're not careful we could end up crashing"
Leon nodded and Brad brought the helicopter down in a small patch of grass just on the outskirts of the forest.
"I think someone was trying to make us crash" Brad said as soon as the noise of the helicopter had died down.
"Sounds about right" Leon grabbed his gun belt from the holdall and strapped it around his waist. As well as handguns and ammo, Brad had packed a magnum each which was obviously the firepower he'd referred to earlier.
"There's supposed to be someone watching these woods" Brad said as he prepared his own weapons. "Ours wasn't exactly a subtle arrival"
"Don't worry about it" Leon replied. "I've still got my ID. Should shut any questions up"
"Must've been cool to be in the Secret Service" Brad mused.
"That's one word for it" Leon slammed the cockpit door. "There doesn't seem to be any other vehicles around. Do you know how Chris got here"?
"He took Kevin's jeep but he could've gone to a BSAA outpost and got a copter. There's one near enough to Barry's for him to drive to. They wouldn't ask him any questions if he wanted to take one of the copters"
Leon nodded and tried to slow down the relentless march of scenarios in his head. He had to keep reminding himself that Chris was highly trained and that whoever he was chasing couldn't be Wesker because Albert Wesker was dead.
The forest up ahead looked dark and monstrous. Gnarled old tress twisting and hunching, stopped like the un-dead, their thick masses of leaves blocking dawn's grey fingers, which were slowly beginning to infiltrate the night. Shapes seemed to dance and cavort within the nest of trees, passing in and out so quickly it could've just been a mere trick of the eye. The bushes and plant life on the forest floor looked stiff and dry, like bodies preserved in a museum, so far away from the living that it was hard to believe they'd ever been alive.
Brad's fingers twitched above his handgun. Only, it wasn't 1998 anymore and a pack of crazed mutant dogs weren't snapping at their heels. He was sure that to anyone else, Arklay Forest looked just like any other forest, but for him it was tainted forever. It was a place of twisted and unimaginable horror, like Wonderland in negative. And he'd just fallen back down the rabbit hole.
"Dammit Chris, where are you"? He heard Leon mutter as they slowly inched their way towards the forest.
Brad felt as though he was on high alert as they entered, twigs and leaves snapping and crunching underfoot. Entering the forest was like entering another world, silent and eerie, devoid of life and nature, where not even wild animals dare tread.
"Can you remember where the Spencer Mansion was"? Leon asked, making Brad jump in the midst of the silence.
"Yeah" He replied, swallowing hard. "Why? Do you think Chris might've gone there"?
"Makes sense" Leon shrugged. "That's where he'd think to go"
"Ok…um…this way…" Brad pointed. He was beginning to lose his nerve, he could feel the old familiar panic rising, his instincts telling him to run while he still could. Only he couldn't. He couldn't do that to Chris again. He needed to show that he was part of the team and that this time, he wasn't going to run away from his responsibilities. He mentally shook himself and tried to focus on the task at hand not the forest's grisly past.
"Chris isn't going to find much if he has gone there" Brad spoke again, hoping that his nervousness wasn't coming across in his tone. "They blew the mansion up"
"This is some sort of trap" Leon said darkly. "Some Umbrella psycho is waiting for us to walk into it and that's exactly what we're doing" He sighed heavily. "Damn it Chris"! He cursed.
"He'll be ok" Brad tried his best to sound reassuring. He gasped as he nearly stumbled over a jutting rock. "I never thought I'd be back here again…"
"Tell me about it" Leon replied. "Just seeing the city was hard enough even though it's not even the same city anymore"
"I remember the city…" Brad muttered. He looked shocked as if he hadn't meant to say it out loud.
"You stayed"? Leon expertly dodged around the same rock. Brad noticed that he was walking a little awkwardly and knew that it probably had something to do with the injury to his leg but he knew better than to push it.
"Yeah. After the S.T.A.R.S got suspended I did a few odd jobs. Mainly cash in hand stuff but it brought in the money. My daughter had just started school and my wife didn't want to uproot her"
"You've got a child"? Leon sounded surprised.
"I had a child" Brad said quietly. As much as he thought he'd moved on, the sharp pain always returned when thinking of his daughter. "She died with my wife" He took a deep breath. "When things in the city started to go bad and we realised that we needed to get out. There were looters everywhere, smashing up the streets…people were going crazy and what was left of the RPD were stretched so thin they couldn't keep track of what was going on…it was like the city had gone mad. I've never seen anything like it…" He took another deep breath and swallowed hard. "I needed to go pick up the Jeep. I'd parked it around the corner" He let out a strange, strangled, humourless laugh. "Never any parking near our building. My wife wanted to come with me but I told her…that it wasn't safe, that she needed to stay in the apartment. We'd packed up a few things…Jenny, my daughter, she thought it was all an adventure. She loved Disney. We were going to listen to her Disney songs in the car so she wouldn't be afraid…anyway. Yeah. I went to go get the Jeep. It wasn't easy, there were people everywhere, pushing and shoving, beating each other in the streets. I had to throw a few punches myself just to get to my damn car. I pulled the Jeep around to the building and went up the stairs. I must've been away longer than I thought…it was hard to get through the crowds…they'd got into my apartment. Anna had done her best to protect Jenny but they were like animals…they'd been and gone in the time I'd been out…taken all the money we had in the apartment. Jesus, it was hardly anything. A hundred bucks maybe? And they'd beaten my wife and child to death…they were in the bedroom, I found them in the wardrobe…"
"Brad…"
"So that was it" Brad continued. "Nothing left for me in Raccoon anymore. Nothing really left for me anywhere. But don't tell me you're sorry or that you understand because you really can't" He added, sounding uncharacteristically aggressive.
"I can" Leon said quietly. Brad looked up at him, momentarily startled. He didn't know a lot about Leon but he didn't think he'd ever been married or had a child. "I found a young girl the night I came to Raccoon. Sherry. Her parents, well, they weren't in the picture. I took her in and she became like a daughter to me. I took care of her and she was taken away from me with no warning. They didn't let me see her and it killed me. I found her again in a facility in Antarctica. I had to watch her die brutally at the hands of Wesker"
"And people walk on egg shells around you don't they"? Brad offered.
"And act like you're fragile" Leon added. They glanced at each other and smiled. Not a smile of joy but one that simply said they understood each other and the magnitude of their losses. Brad felt a little easier around Leon now like the brief sharing of their grief had brought them closer together.
"You didn't do anything wrong by running away" Leon said as they moved towards what looked like a large clearing. "I would've done the same thing given the chance. And if anyone tries to tell you that you're not brave or courageous then they're wrong. You lost your family and you're still fighting. If that's not brave then hell, I don't know what is" He pushed a low hanging branch aside.
They moved into the clearing, sweeping the area with their guns. Brad let out a strangled gasp as he spotted the body of a man laid face down by some bushes to their left. Leon spotted it too and raced forwards.
"Chris"!
Brad followed closely behind as Leon crouched down by the body of his lover. He hovered nervously whilst Leon checked the older man for signs of life.
"Is he…"? Brad asked, his mouth suddenly dry.
"He's breathing" Leon replied calmly. "Help me roll him over"
Brad nodded and helped Leon roll Chris onto his back. There was an ugly bruise just above Chris' left eye but apart from that, he appeared to have no other injuries. Leon was gently shaking him, trying his best to rouse him.
"Bugger off Claire…I'm tired…" Chris groaned as his eyelids began to flutter open. Brad sat back on his heels, breathing a sigh of relief.
"Wake up you stupid oaf"! Leon exclaimed, continuing to shake his partner, albeit a little more roughly than before. Chris' eyes shot open and he looked up at Leon, confused.
"Leon"? He groaned as he tried to sit up. "What the hell are you doing here"?
"I could ask you the same question you fucking idiot"! Leon shot back, helping Chris into a sitting position so that his back was resting against the thick trunk of a tree. "What happened to you"?
"Something went wrong with my copter's controls…and it came down just outside the forest" Chris rubbed his forehead then hissed in pain when he came in contact with the bruise. "It may have been a less than satisfactory landing…but I figured I'd walk it off"
"Less than satisfactory"? Leon spluttered. "Less than satisfactory! You're lucky you're not dead"! He grabbed the front of Chris' t-shirt. "What the hell are you playing at? You go running off on some damn fool crusade because someone matching a dead man's description is running around"?
"Well…you're supposed to be in the hospital"! Chris replied, somewhat pathetically. It was then that he noticed Brad, who'd been doing his best to stay out of the argument. "And what did you bring him along for? I bet you fifty dollars he'll run away the first chance he gets"!
"We're leaving" Leon said with a tone of finality as he stood up. "We're going to go back to Barry's and we're going to sit down and discuss what's going on here like rational adults. We can come up with some sort of plan and work out our next move. And if anyone needs a hospital right now it's you" He motioned to the bruise. "You could have concussion"
"Wait a sec…" Chris got to his feet with a little difficulty. He dusted off his clothes. "We can't just leave. We need to find Wesker"!
"It's not Wesker"! Leon shouted, surprising both Chris and Brad. "We killed Wesker remember? It'll be some crazy ex-Umbrella payroll member who's taken his love for his idol a bit too far. That's if what the witness saw was even right"
"Ok. So say it isn't Wesker. Say it is some Umbrella whack-job. Surely they need putting out of their misery before they can put other people's lives in danger" Chris argued. "You know where we are right? The remains of the Spencer Mansion are less than half a mile away. My bet is that this guy went there. I say we go there and take care of things before we have another Wesker on our hands"
"Why are you pushing this so much"? Leon asked suspiciously. He eyed Chris carefully who was staring back at him defiantly. A wave of realisation washed over him. "You think it's Wesker don't you? You think he's still alive"
Chris continued to stare at Leon for a few seconds before sighing heavily. He crossed his arms across his chest and nodded.
"Yeah. Ok. I think it's him" Leon opened his mouth to argue but Chris continued regardless. "He's come back from the dead before Leon. I don't see why this is any different"
"We mutilated his body. We levelled the whole damn facility. There's no way he was ever gonna come back from that" Leon replied, shaking his head in disbelief.
"Look. No offence to you Leon but you have no idea what this is. You don't know what this thing between me and Wesker is. You can't begin to understand…"
"Fuck you" Leon said calmly. Brad blinked in surprise. "I don't know what it's like? He killed Sherry! He killed someone who was as good as my daughter! And you! Look what he's done to you! You've spent years and years chasing him and he's fucked you up! I was there remember? When we first got together? The nightmares you had? Your drinking"? He threw his arms up into the air in disgust. "Yeah! I've no god damn idea what it's like"!
"Well then" Chris approached Leon, placing a hand on the younger man's shoulder. "You've got just as much reason as me to fight"
Leon sighed heavily.
"I guess I can't argue with that" He muttered.
"Guys…" Brad spoke up. "I hate to interrupt but why don't we just go and check out the mansion? If we don't find anything then we can always come back later with reinforcements and if we do find this guy…well, I'm sure we can handle him"
"Well…I really hate to say this but you might actually be right Bradley" Chris announced, giving Brad his usual hard clap on the back. "Well done" He added in his most condescending tone. He turned back to Leon. "And as soon as this is over, you're going straight back to the hospital"
"Yeah and you'll be coming with me" Leon snapped, nodding at the bruise. "Just do me a favour and don't run off again alright"? He sighed deeply and offered Chris the smallest of smiles. "Ever since I met you I don't think my nerves have been the same"
"That's the wonder of me" Chris replied, giving him a cheesy grin in return. It dropped almost instantly and his mouth set into a grim line of determination. "We're gonna finish this tonight. One way or another, it's gonna end" He looked into the darkened depths of the forest in front of them. "It has to" he added quietly.
"Holy shit…" Brad's eyes widened as he took in the crumbling ruins of what had once been the elegant Spencer Mansion. The whole time that Alpha team had been lost within its labyrinthine corridors, he'd been circling above in the helicopter, frantically trying to get into contact with them. He remembered looking down at the mansion and thinking that how, even from the air, it looked huge. He knew that if he'd have been down there, battling through the rooms and hallways, he'd have probably gotten lost.
Now the Spencer Mansion was barely a shadow of its former self. What had once been the crowning glory of Raccoon City had been reduced to a pile of rubble. If you looked closely, you might've seen a fragment of a marble pillar or splinters from a heavy oak door, but it was otherwise indistinguishable as a mansion.
Chris surveyed the wreck, his arms clamped tightly across his chest. Whether he was angry, upset or didn't give a shit, it was impossible to tell. His face gave nothing away. As soon as they'd ascertained that nobody was going to attack them, he'd put his gun away and stopped dead, simply staring at the rubble. Brad watched as Leon moved closer to his partner, his gloved hand reaching forwards to touch the older man's bicep. Chris didn't flinch or acknowledge the touch, seemingly lost to his strange and sudden funk.
Brad bit the bottom of his lip, unsure of what to do or say. He felt oddly unwelcome, like an intruder on someone else's grief, someone else's grave. Which, he supposed, it was. The pile of stone in front of them was effectively the gravesite of his former colleagues who'd bravely laid down their lives in the line of duty.
"It's different" Chris suddenly spoke, startling Brad from his thoughts. Brad turned to look at his fellow former S.T.A.R.S colleague who had finally reacted to Leon's touch. He'd moved the younger man's hand from his arm and was holding it tightly, looking down at it as if it were the only thing anchoring him to reality. "Back in Antarctica when he'd recreated this place, it was different…I knew it was just a fake" He kept his eyes on Leon's hand. "But here…well…it's here"
"This isn't a good idea" Leon reiterated. Chris shook his head and released his hand, seemingly pulling himself together as he did so.
"No. We have to finish this" He replied firmly.
Leon looked over at Brad who shrugged helplessly. Brad knew that there was nothing he could do or say to change Chris' mind. He wasn't entirely sure that he actually wanted to. Chris had a good point. Perhaps it was the time to finally lay to rest everything that had happened since that fateful night when their whole lives had been turned upside down. He wondered briefly if Anna, his beautiful, proud Anna, was looking down on him and willing him onwards. The thought of her rooting for him, pouring all her love into him, gave him the strength to carry on, to want to see it through.
"Chris is right"
"Not you too…" Leon groaned. "Look, we're here. And we're alone. There's nobody here! Whatever that witness said was probably just bullshit to get some attention"
"Do you really think that Dennis would waste his time with bullshit"? Chris asked, one eyebrow raised.
"You got this information from Dennis"? Leon asked, taken aback.
"Barry did" Chris confirmed. "They were in contact with each other while we were exploring the underwater facility. The Secret Service were in the process of launching an investigation into what's going on around here" He explained.
"Well that's all the more reason to turn back!" Leon said adamantly.
"I think we're ok considering we've got one of their former top agents on our side" Chris argued, nodding at his partner.
"A former agent with PTSD" Leon replied bitterly. He inwardly cursed as soon as he'd said it. It was something that had been troubling him for a while now. People like Barry and Dennis were too eager to tell him that he needed to take a back seat, to slow down and get some therapy. It left him feeling weak and damaged, like he was a shadow of his former self. He hadn't bothered to tell anyone, thinking that it would only make things worse and give them even more license to treat him like he was fragile.
"Leon, you can still totally kick ass" Chris said. "I think you proved that when you handled those zombies back in the facility. You're not as weak as what you think you are. Hell, you're not weak at all"
"He's right" Brad chipped in, nodding emphatically. "I didn't know you had anything wrong with you" He added, somewhat clumsily.
"Shut up Bradley" Chris replied good-naturedly. "No-one asked for your chicken opinion" He snorted. "Goose"
"How about I make you a deal"? Leon asked, feeling a little better by the rallying words from Chris and Brad. He needed to break the tension somehow. "I do this for you, even though I think it's a shit idea, and you wear shoes at our wedding" Chris opened his mouth but Leon cut him off. "And you don't hide your trainers underneath the pews" He held his hand out expectantly.
"Fine" Chris grumbled, shaking Leon's hand.
"Great"! Brad grinned, grateful at the light-hearted turn in the conversation. "Now that we've got that sorted, where are headed next"?
"Bradley" Chris sighed. "Let the adults talk" He was smiling but Leon could see the grim determination in his eyes. He was looking at the rubble, his eyes scanning the mess as if he was trying to work out which direction they should head in. "We can go round this side" He said after a few moments of careful consideration. "If we cut through the trees we should eventually end up in a courtyard" He explained.
Chris barely waited for a response before he was off, striding towards the trees, his gun clenched in his hand, ready to fire if needed. Leon followed him, with Brad bringing up the rear. The tension that Leon had successfully broken only moments ago, seemed to have returned. Most of it seemed to radiate from Chris. He dodged around trees and through the bushes expertly, barely making a sound as he moved.
The maze of trees seemed to end suddenly at a small marble wall that was barely at knee height. Leon figured that this must be the wall around the courtyard that Chris mentioned. He watched Chris step over it carefully and followed him, suddenly hyper sensitive to any noise or movement around them. Brad was still bringing up the rear, walking backwards as he swept the forest floor and surrounded trees with his gun. Leon tried to call out a warning but it was too late. Brad came into contact with the wall, stumbling backwards as he tried to regain his balance. He failed spectacularly and crashed to the floor, landing heavily on his rear. He sat up, blinking, before looking expectantly at Chris, obviously waiting for him to make some snide remark about how unco-ordinated he was and how that somehow related to him running away during the mansion incident. Chris however, didn't appear to have noticed. Leon held out his hand and helped Brad back to his feet.
"This way" Chris said, nodding to their right. Leon glanced to their left and saw a pair of bronze gates, twisted and warped from the original explosion. They were mainly rusted now and hanging off their hinges.
Leon followed Chris into a large courtyard, most of which was taken up by a large pool of water, that looked drained, set deep into the ground. The water level had obviously been much higher at one point because the concrete walls of the pool were glistening with oily moss.
"Still drained huh"? Chris muttered darkly. He snorted and shrugged before continuing onwards, striding over to the pool purposefully. He looked down into its depths and saw the two rusted ladders, one at either side, and the short concrete path between them that led from one side of the pool to the other. The path's greyish-blue flagstones shone with moisture and Leon could see that the path would usually be concealed beneath the water. It gave him a horrible sense of foreboding, something he hadn't really felt as intensely since he'd wandered around the seemingly endless labs underneath the city. It was the idea that aspects of the building were hidden, meant only for the eyes of those who knew about it. It gave him the feeling that anything could be around the next corner and that there was a bigger and darker secret that he wasn't privy to.
They climbed down the ladder, one after the other, and ran the short length of the path, boots pounding on the wet stone. Chris set the pace, hauling himself up the opposite ladder and running along the path that wound around the side of the pool. Any sense of humour or lighthearted-ness that Leon had tried to inject into his lover had disappeared and the older man's face was set into a grim, determined mask.
Eventually, they reached an old service lift, rusted with age and wear. Chris seemed to know where he was going as he stepped onto the lift without any sort of hesitation. Leon, trusting his partner implicitly, stepped on. Brad hung back, gnawing at his bottom lip nervously.
"If you're gonna back out Bradley, you best do it now" Chris said. There was no hint of his usual teasing tone. "We're going down to the labs and there's no way out"
"I'm coming" Brad replied with as much conviction as he could muster. Keeping Anna's smiling face firmly in his mind's eye, he stepped onto the lift as Chris pulled the lever.
The lift descended slowly down a darkened tunnel. The gears and motors screeched and squeaked, giving the alarming notion that the lift might suddenly break and they'd be trapped, or else it would crash to the bottom of the tunnel. Luckily, the old mechanics held out and the lift arrived at the bottom of the tunnel safely. As soon as it stopped, Chris stepped off and into the courtyard. Leon moved to follow but felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and Brad whispered in a conspiratorial manner.
"I'm worried about Chris" He said. "I've never seen him like this before" He nodded at Chris, who was currently sweeping the courtyard with his gun.
"He's being professional is all" Leon replied.
"How did Wesker die"? Brad asked delicately. "Barry told me that I shouldn't ask you guys but…well…I want to know" He was speaking as quietly as he could over the noise of the waterfall that dominated the courtyard, partly so that Chris couldn't hear him and fly off the handle and partly so that Leon could choose to ignore him if he wanted to.
"I chopped his body to pieces with an axe wrestled from a fire cabinet" Leon spoke plainly. "That's why I know he's dead" He added acidly.
"You understand why he's doing this though"? Brad said, nodding at Chris who was currently skirting round the two tiny pools of water that were at either side of the waterfall.
"Look Brad" Leon wheeled around so that he was facing Brad. "You're a great guy and all and I'm glad you came along with me but stop acting like you know Chris better than I do. Yes, I understand why he's doing what he's doing but that doesn't mean I agree with it"
"Get a move on"! Chris shouted over the gush of the waterfall. "Through here"! He added as he disappeared through the waterfall without giving them a chance to catch up.
"Idiot's gonna get himself killed" Leon muttered as stepped around the skeleton of what looked like a large dog.
He and Brad ran through the waterfall, getting briefly drenched as they did so. There was a rusty ladder at their feet which seemed to lead downwards into a darkened tunnel. There was no sign of Chris.
"Think he's gone down there"? Brad asked, slipping on the wet stone. All around them, droplets of water dripped onto the stone beneath their feet creating a symphony of noise. It made it hard to concentrate. There didn't seem to be any other way to go other than down.
"Go first. I'll cover you" Leon said, nodding down the hole.
"Careful when you start on the ladder" Brad said as he started to climb down the ladder slowly. "It's really slippery"
"You don't say" Leon muttered as he stared down the ladder himself. The rungs were very slippery from the wet conditions and he could feel flecks of rust coming off onto his fingertips as his hands gripped the sides. He cursed with every single rung. First at Chris for running off and then at himself for going along with what was bound to be a really stupid idea.
"So when you were in the city…" Brad started to ask.
"Are you trying to piss me off"? He interrupted snippily. First it was the question about Wesker, now it was going to be questions about his night in Raccoon City? He briefly wondered whether Brad specialised in being annoying or whether he was just clueless as to what was appropriate to talk about when stumbling into an enemy's blatant trap.
"I just want to get to know you is all" Brad explained when they reached the bottom of the ladder. "I've been thinking a lot since I came along to help you guys back at the other facility and I've really enjoyed working with everyone so I think I'm gonna stay in America"
"Oh" Leon felt wrong footed. "Well, that's good"
"I don't think I'll have trouble convincing the North American BSAA to hire me" Brad continued. "Oh and this whole jerk thing you're doing to me? Trying to keep me at arm's length? I can totally see through it"
Leon muttered in a non-commital way, slightly peeved that Brad had seen through him so easily. The only other people who'd managed it were Dennis and Chris. As much as he instinctively wanted to push Brad away, he was starting to like the guy. He could easily see the two of them becoming good friends if they continued to work together.
From somewhere in front of them came a sudden noise, like someone landing heavily onto a hard surface. Blinking at each other in shock, they snapped into action. They'd climbed down to a long, claustrophobic tunnel that had been carved through the rocks. It had a low ceiling and a low light that came from a string of bare bulbs travelling the length of the wall. The walls themselves glistened with moisture and a damp, dirty smell tugged at their noses, like someone was rubbing their faces with an old, wet flannel. The sound of the waterfall above them could still be heard, but quieter now, all the more ominous, almost as if masses of water could suddenly thunder through the tunnel, flooding it completely. There was a rusty iron door directly to their right but, being that the noise came from ahead, Leon decided it was best to let it alone.
Wanting to get to the bottom of the noise and find Chris, Leon and Brad raced down the tunnel as quickly as they were able, given the slippery conditions. The tunnel turned sharply to the left and them again once more, as if it were a giant 'U' shape. At the end of this 'U' shape was where they found Chris, struggling with another rusty iron door.
"Well don't just stand there" Chris berated. "Get over here and give me a hand"!
Between where they were standing and the door where Chris was, was a gap in the floor. Brad dared to lean over and have a look. It was pitch black and looked as if it could go downwards for miles. He shuddered to think why Umbrella would feel the need to have such a gap like that in one of their constructions.
Leon chose to jump the gap first. It was quiet wide and would need a slight run-up to clear it. It was Chris jumping over this gap, Leon realised, that probably caused the noise they'd heard. He jogged backwards a bit and took a few seconds to judge his distance before running and then leaping, clearing the gap easily and landing lightly on both feet. He let out a small groan of pain as he did so, feeling hot needles flare up his injured leg.
"You need to stop running off" He spat in Chris' ear as Brad started his own run-up.
"Then you two need to hurry up" Chris shot back. "We don't have time to waste"
"Yeah and carelessness costs lives" Leon countered as Brad leapt over the gap, landing somewhat heavily, briefly reminding Leon of the time Chris had leapt over the gate in Africa and hurt himself.
"Are you gonna help me get this door open or not"? Chris asked, ignoring Leon's previous comment. Presumably, Leon thought, because he had a point and Chris didn't want to admit it.
"Of course I will" Leon replied, wrapping his hands around the thick iron handle of the rusted door. Chris put his hands over Leon's and, despite the situation, Leon felt a small flicker of arousal before they started to pull as hard as they could.
With a lot of effort and an ear-splitting screeching sound, the door swung open to reveal another tunnel, almost identical to the one they were currently in. Chris stepped forward and but Leon grabbed him by the shoulder and hauled him back.
"How about I go first" He said firmly. "We're a team right? Not the Chris Redfield show"
"You don't know where you're going" Chris pointed out, trying to push past Leon who was blocking the doorway. Leon moved quickly, grabbing Chris by the front of his t-shirt and slamming him up against the tunnel wall.
"Then tell me" Leon replied, his fists tightening in the material of Chris' t-shirt. "You can't keep running forwards. If there is something out there you're gonna get yourself killed. I know you wanna get this finished but we can't just run into things headfirst" Chris opened his mouth. "And don't tell me I don't understand again. I know how much you want this whole part of your life to be over and it will be, I promise. Just don't go getting yourself killed ending it" He sighed and released his lover who stared at him in shock. "Let's do this together. You, Brad and me ok? We're a team"
"Go team"! Brad announced, punching the air in triumph. Both Leon and Chris turned to look at him. "Or…not"
"You're a fucking nerd Bradley" Chris said, shaking his head. He nodded towards the next tunnel. "Let's get a move on. The sooner we get this sorted, the sooner we can stop talking to Goose over here"
"Hey, I might be joining the North American BSAA…" Brad replied as they moved forward into the next tunnel.
"Oh god…" Chris clapped a hand to his forehead and rolled his eyes dramatically. "I think it might be time for me to retire…"
As they entered the tunnel, Chris immediately turned to the left where there was a large hole in the tunnel wall. It looked as if something had smashed through it. Judging by the chunks of rock at their feet, the thing that had smashed through the wall had been a boulder. Leon shuddered as he stepped over the detritus, knowing that the rolling boulder was probably intended to crush whoever was trying to gain access to the double doors that were beyond the wall.
"Guns ready" Chris commanded as he placed a hand on the double doors.
"Always a promising phrase" Leon muttered sarcastically. "Good old Umbrella"
With a swift kick from Chris, the double doors flew open and the three of them marched into the room, guns drawn.
"Oh god…" Brad murmured, feeling all the bile from his stomach hurtle towards his mouth. He swallowed sickly and lowered his gun. The room they'd entered was small and square and had, at some point, obviously been home to spiders. The walls, ceiling and even the floor were covered in thick webs. Dusty tendrils hung down from the ceiling, brushing Chris' shoulders as he strode through the room, seemingly unfazed. "I hate spiders…"
"Not spiders Bradley. Spider! A giant, huge, hairy spider in fact" Chris explained with a grin as Brad turned pale. "I was kind of hoping it would still be alive" He cracked his fingers. "I was in the mood for tangling with a giant spider. Was kind of hoping they'd replaced it"
Leon watched as Chris strode around the room, examining the webs that were dangling, staring in revulsion at the emaciated skeletons that were trapped in the corners of the room, buried under strings and strings of thick, sticky webbing. At a guess, they were probably lab workers or general Umbrella dogsbodies who'd been unfortunate enough to get captured by the giant spider that Chris had been talking about. Leon shuddered involuntarily. Although Brad seemed to have trouble imagining giant spiders, Leon remembered them all too well from the sewers. He sighed heavily as Chris tossed a web tendril at Brad who shrieked with fear before cursing the older man. Chris was now the polar opposite of the mean, moody, focused solider he'd been only moments ago. Now he was laughing, joking, insulting Brad and although he wasn't running ahead all the time, it was still annoying Leon. He knew Chris well enough to know that his sudden turn around in mood wasn't genuine. He'd done exactly the same thing back in Africa when they were looking for Jill. Chris liked to think that he was indestructible but it was far from the truth. Still, if he had to take some kind of front, Leon would definitely take the laughing joker. At least that way there was less chance of him being so damn headstrong that he would run off and get himself killed.
"God damn and blast it"! Barry cursed as he tossed the phone across the huge oak desk in his office. The small room on the second floor of his cabin had been decked out as a small base of operations for the BSAA. Equipped with a couple of phone lines, a computer, a short wave radio and comfy seating, it was a perfect place to monitor and provide guidance for BSAA missions. He'd long since stopped going on missions and instead made sure he was always the first point of contact for any advice and guidance the others might need. At this present moment in time however, he was finding having to sit back and wait a very frustrating experience indeed.
"Still no luck"? A voice snapped him out of his brief fit of rage. He looked up and saw Claire standing in the doorway, wrapped up in a large towelling dressing gown and thick flannel pyjama pants.
"You should be getting some rest" Barry said gruffly. It had been less than an hour or so since Claire had returned from the hospital and informed everyone that Kevin was being kept in for emergency surgery on his eye. While Claire had fought to stay with her husband, he'd insisted that she head back to the cabin and get some sleep.
"I can't sleep" She replied, taking a seat on the small squashy grey sofa beside a filing cabinet. "I can't stop worrying about Kevin, even though I know he's in the best place possible and Junior in here has decided now would be a good time to start practising the can-can" She added, stroking her huge domed stomach. "That and call it woman's intuition but I know something's going on that you're not telling me" She raised an eyebrow questioningly and Barry inwardly cursed. Claire was too damn smart by half. He supposed that that was one of the qualities that had secured her a top place in Terrasave. "And from the way you're acting, I'd have to guess it's got something to do with my brother"
"It's not something you need to be worrying about in your condition" Barry replied gently. It hadn't taken him long to figure out what had happened when he'd discovered both Chris and Brad had disappeared during the night. He could've kicked himself for opening up to Chris about the New Arklay stuff.
"That's getting old" Claire said as she helped herself to a glass of water from a jug Barry had put on a nearby table. "So what's Chris done now"?
"I'd like to tell you Claire, I really would, but I don't think my conscience will allow it" Barry explained. "Just try and get some rest ok? I owe it to Chris and Kevin to make sure you're taking care of yourself and the little one"
"Ok, Ok, I'll try" Claire groaned as she hauled herself off the sofa. "But if I wake up and you're still in here, we're sitting down and you're telling me what's going on. Deal"?
"Deal" Barry answered wearily. Claire offered him a supportive smile before shuffling out of the office and closing the door behind her. Barry sank back into his chair, rubbing his temples. He'd been trying to contact both Chris and Brad and had so far received nothing. He'd hoped that they were at the hospital visiting Leon but a quick phone call to the local hospital had put an end to that particular hope. He leant back in his chair and wondered what the hell he was going to do next.
END OF CHAPTER TEN