Chapter 11 – Friend or Foe
As the cargo door shut behind them three burly men approached the cab.
"Please step out of the truck whilst we unload it."
As they all climbed out one of the staff shot Leon a puzzled look.
"Why are there so many of you? There are normally only two people."
Hunnigan interrupted before Leon could speak. "Jessica, Louise and I are new recruits; we tagged along so we could be shown the ropes." She said as she gestured to Claire and Jill beside her.
The man looked seriously at the five faces in front of him; lingering for a second more on Chris as he noticed his uniform almost bursting at the seams, before shrugging and turning away, they all silently released a breath they didn't realise they'd been holding, that was a close call. Just then another member of staff came over to them; a boy that looked like he was right out of high school with dark brown hair that hung in his eyes, and he wasn't very tall or as muscular as the previous men; he didn't really seem to fit in, they could all tell he was the nervous type when he spoke.
"Uhh… C-could you please go stand in the office over there? W-we can't allow unauthorised personnel to be on the work floor as we load and un-load t-trucks."
"Sure thing, kid." Chris spoke.
They all felt a pang of sympathy as they watched the young lad walk with his head down back over to the burly men to help unload the trucks, they could hear them teasing and taunting him as he did his job. Leon and Chris looked over from the office with anger in their eyes.
"Just who do they think they are?" Snapped Leon as he made a move to go back over to the men.
He was stopped as Claire grabbed his arm sending a warm sensation through his body, he instantly felt calmer.
"Leon, don't. We cannot under any circumstances attract attention to ourselves before we even get close to Sherry. I know you want to help everyone but we have to keep moving."
For the first time that day Claire spoke to Leon in a nice, sensitive manner like the way she did before the kiss. Leon let out a big sigh and turned back to Claire
"Yeah I guess you're right." He said as he smiled weakly at her, he was surprised when she returned the smile but much more brightly. "God, she's beautiful… Even when she is pissed off with me." Just then Jill spurred him out of his thoughts.
"Look over there, there are men coming in and out of there, my guess is that's our way to the lower levels."
They all followed Jill's gaze and saw a sturdy metal door just across the work floor opposite the office, without even having to think about it they all darted from the office and hid behind a large, metal shipping container before rushing across to the next one and the next, until they eventually reached the last one. Leon was at the front and waiting for another member of staff to come through the door so he could grab it before it locked itself. Suddenly the young lad came into view and was heading towards it; Leon paused for second, thinking. "Should I chance it? He might blow the whistle on all of us… Ah fuck it."
"Hey kid!" He shouted.
Chris, Jill, Claire and Hunnigan all stared at each other wide eyed in shock, quickly dodging around the other side of the container to remain out of view.
"Has he lost his mind!" Hunnigan hissed.
Claire mentally noted that Hunnigan had barely spoken since she got in the truck. "She only talks when she thinks we're gonna get busted, why does she care so much if we succeed? She's only here because she fancies the pants off of Leon… Bitch."
"Sir, w-what are you doing on the work floor? You can't be here." The boy replied.
"I saw the way those blokes spoke to you back there, why do you put up with that?"
"I got roped into this job by my Uncle and he'd be r-really disappointed if I left… Not that I have a choice really, once y-you start work for Umbrella you never get out. Anyway there's not m-much I could do about them guys even if I had the g-guts to."
Leon sighed. This kid had no confidence and a shit job to boot. He was dangerously aware that they'd been missing from the office for ten minutes now; someone was bound to notice they were gone soon.
"Look, listen to me. I need to get inside that door over there; if I do then I can make all of this go away. If you help us, we'll help you."
The boy looked deep in thought for a moment before speaking. "Who are you guys?"
"Just some people with as big a dislike for Umbrella as you; let's leave it at that eh."
Chris, Claire, Jill and Hunnigan were all peeking around the container at Leon and the young lad speaking in hushed tones.
"Is he really trying to talk his way in?" Jill asked in disbelief.
"I knew it, it was only a matter of time before Rookie finally cracked up, I always had my suspicions about him." Chris said matter-of-factly.
"Shut up, Chris. Leon hasn't "cracked up"; he's simply trying a new, less violent tactic. I like it." Claire said.
"So he's back in your good books now?" Jill asked with a smirk.
"Don't push it, I never said that." Claire replied blushing.
The young lad remained silent for a moment staring at the floor apparently deciding what to do when he suddenly flashed his brown eyes back up to Leon's blue ones; he almost had a pleading look in them as he peered out from under his bangs.
"Okay, I'll help."
Leon smiled gratefully. "You're doing the right thing, kid."
"My name's James b-by the way. I'll let you in the door and I'd better get back to work."
Leon nodded and gave the signal that it was okay for the others to come forward, cautiously they entered the door after Leon. Only one exit was visible at the end of the narrow corridor and that was the elevator. Leon turned back to thank James but he was nowhere to be found, he brushed it off and followed the others to the elevator. Luckily there was no one else using the elevator so they had free reign to pick any floor.
"Which floor?" Asked Claire.
Hunnigan chirped up from the back of the elevator. "You need the serum remember? If you encounter Wesker that'll be your only chance to beat him."
"She's right, it's better to be safe than sorry. Do you know which floor it'll be on Hunnigan?" Replied Leon.
"By my calculations it should be on the fourth floor, that's where all of the viral manufacturing takes place, it'll be crawling with researchers though; you'll need another disguise. I've searched the facility's layout and there's a locker room on the second floor, we should be able to acquire some lab coats there."
Leon nodded and looked at Claire. "Second floor it is then."
The elevator hummed to life and began its descent.
Leon turned to face his friends and spoke. "Alright guys, Ark said there may be more security on the higher floors than the lower so keep your guard up and try to stay as inconspicuous as possible, the last thing we need is an army of Umbrella grunts raining down on our asses too."
Everybody agreed and prepared themselves for the doors to open; when they did they were greeted with an eerie silence.
"So where are all the guards? Has Ark made yet another mistake?" Claire whispered to Leon from behind, she saw him tense up as soon as she'd mentioned Ark's name.
"Now is not the time to be having digs, Claire." Scolded Jill.
Claire shot Jill a sheepish look and carried on silently. As they passed conference room windows and sparkling white labs they didn't see one person, everything seemed to be in order though; there was no sign of a scuffle.
"There it is." Said Hunnigan pointing to a door, her voice seemed too loud in the empty hallways.
"Locker room." Leon said aloud. "Okay guys. Let's go."
They made their way over to the door and Leon entered first, giving the room a quick once over before letting the others know it was safe to enter. As they walked in Hunnigan headed straight for the women's bathroom.
"I'll just be a moment, nature calls." She smiled sheepishly.
Claire sighed and rolled her eyes whilst mumbling under her breath and searching through lab coats to find one in her size.
"You could give her a chance you know? She's a good person and she's helping us out, I don't see what your problem is with her." Leon spoke irritated.
Claire stopped searching and turned around to face Leon. "I just don't trust her." She retorted.
Before Leon could reply the door was kicked open and three Umbrella soldiers ran into the room and began spraying bullets everywhere. Instantly Leon grabbed Claire and dived behind a row of lockers dragging her with him. Jill and Chris ducked behind another row and began returning fire. As soon as the three soldiers slumped to the floor; each with a neat hole through their heads, they heard footsteps thumping down the corridor.
"We have to get out of here now; we're cornered if we don't." Said Chris.
"But what about Hunnigan?" Said Leon panicking as Chris grabbed him by the arm and began hauling him out of the room.
"I'm sorry, Leon but we don't have time to wait for her and we have to go now!" Shouted Jill as she grabbed his other arm to help Chris stop him thrashing about.
Leon looked torn. "She can't fend for herself and she's my friend! But do I risk my own life and the others to save her when our main objective is Sherry? Hopefully they won't search that room and she'll be able to escape." Thoughts raced through his head as Chris was manhandling him down a different route from the way they came; away from the locker room and the approaching soldiers. There was another elevator at the end of the hallway, Claire was already waiting inside as Chris and Jill hurled Leon inside.
"Fourth floor, Claire! We have no time to waste!" Yelled Chris.
"Where did they suddenly come from?" Claire said breathlessly.
"I don't know, but something certainly smells fishy about this. It's like they knew where to ambush us." Chris replied.
Jill gave Chris a worried look as they glanced at a fragile looking Leon still sat on the floor staring into space. "I've never left a stranger behind before let alone a friend." Leon thought. He was brought back to reality by Chris snapping his fingers in front of his face and Jill kneeling down beside him.
"Leon, I know this isn't what you want to hear right now but it's looking more and more like someone is setting us up. Do you really have no doubts about Ark at all? He hasn't got any of his information right up to now… And about Hunnigan, I'm really sorry. But she could have escaped unharmed, they were after us and they may have missed her." Jill spoke softly almost as if raised her voice Leon would crack.
"I didn't want to think that Ark would do such a thing but now I don't know; this is all so fucked up. Hunnigan… I let her down." Leon sighed, ran a hand through his messy blonde hair and stood up again; taking a deep breath he recomposed himself. The strong looking Leon with stoic expression was back again.
"I'm gonna find her after we've rescued Sherry, she's never let me down and I'll be damned if I'm gonna let her down."