Chapter 14

The helicopter's roaring blades were dulled by the headphones that Leon wore. He had been riding in the sage green UH-72 Lakota for the past hour. His drop off point was about 10 minutes away. He unzipped a duffel bag and began to check his equipment.

The whole thing had sounded fishy to Evans. Nevertheless, he ran the cryptic note through all the proper channels. The latitude and longitude scrawled on the note was entered into a GPS. Leon had felt a sense of anxiety as he watched the computer's crosshairs begin to sweep across the computer generated globe. The computer locked onto the coordinates: smack dab in the middle of a jungle in Ecuador.

Leon could hardly believe that was where Claire was being held. It was a hilly area of the rainforest, virtually untouched by civilization. Still, with no other leads, it was the only place Claire could be. Despite this breakthrough, Evans was still not convinced.

"We could be walking straight into a trap," he had said. "Why the hell would they tell us Redfield's location?"

Leon didn't have an answer for him. To be honest, he had thought of the same thing.

"But why would they want to bait us?" Leon had asked. "We don't have anything useful to them, other than the research data. But it's not like we'd drag that with us. If they wanted it, they would demand it, or ransom her for it."

Leon pulled an HK USP from the duffel bag. It was a tactical model, with a precision laser sight mounted to the sight rail beneath the barrel. The barrel was threaded for a suppressor, though he wasn't going to be using one. Waving the muzzle of the gun in front of his hand, he tested the laser sight. He pulled the slide back, and chambered a .45 round into the barrel. He stuck it into his shoulder harness along with two spare magazines.

"The team's ready," Evans had said, "Get set to move out in one hour."

Leon swallowed hard. "Sir, I think it would be better if we sent one operative in."

"You want to go in alone?" Evans didn't bother asking Leon if he was volunteering. He knew he was.

"I just think that sneaking one man in would be easier than a whole team. I get in, find her, and get her out before anyone knows I'm there."

"Kennedy, you're just a rookie...you have one official mission under your belt."

"Yes sir, I am aware of that. But I can handle this sir, I know I can."

Evans saw the look in his rookie's eyes. He wasn't going to budge. Regardless, he still thought it over carefully. He knew that Leon was capable. More than capable.

"Alright. You can go in solo. The rest of us will back you up if it goes to hell."

Leon dug into the duffel bag again and pulled out a small weapon case. He opened it and pulled out the Mini-Uzi inside of it. This would be a sneaking mission, and Leon couldn't be burdened with a typical weapon. If things did get hairy, the Uzi would be his firepower. He unfolded the thin metal shoulder stock from the side of the weapon and raised it. Pleased with how it sat, he loaded the 32 round magazine in, then took two spares and slid them into the holders on his belt. He refolded the shoulder stock and slung the submachine gun across the small of his back.

"We'll all fly to Ecuador," Evans had said. "You and a bird will head to the site. It'll drop you off, and you'll have twelve hours to locate and extract Redfield. If we don't hear from you in twelve, we're coming in."

"Two minutes," crackled a voice in his ear, the pilot's. It was none other than Stark, who raided the plane with Leon earlier that week.

Leon leaned out of the open door of the Lakota, holding a strut for support. He could see the clearing up ahead. After landing in Ecuador, he and Stark had to fly in by helicopter to get close enough to the coordinates. They couldn't land directly on top of it, but they had to land close enough to be within walking distance. Satellite reconnaissance found a small clearing a mile and a half due north. It wasn't big enough to land, but Stark assured Leon that he could get close enough to the ground.

Leon did a final check of his gear. He had his USP, Uzi, combat knife and ammo for both. Tucked into his tactical vest was a flashlight and some medical supplies. He had a radio ear piece, and an emergency beacon that he would activate once he rescued Claire. He pulled the headphones that connected him to Stark.

Stark positioned the helicopter over the clearing. It was a small bit of swampy land. Gently, he descended, the chopper's blades only a few yards from the trees. He brought the chopper within twelve feet of the ground then stopped.

"Close as we're getting!" he yelled over the rotor.

Leon nodded, took a breath, then hopped out of the helicopter. He landed with a small splash in muddy ankle deep water. Thankfully, his waterproof boots kept his feet dry. He flashed a thumbs up, and the chopper rose out of the clearing. Stark radioed one last message:

"Good luck, rookie."

Leon pulled his feet out of the mud, making a loud sucking noise as he did. As the noise from the helicopter faded, he checked the direction on his GPS. He turned and stumbled closer to the tree line and onto firmer ground. He knocked his mud caked boots on the base of a tree, shaking the wet dirt loose, and headed into the jungle, breaking into a light jog.

"I'm coming Claire."

This time, there was nothing stopping Leon from running. It was just him, all alone. He would do whatever he could do to ensure that the mission was a success.

The thick jungle almost enveloped him. Everywhere he looked was green. He had expected the heat, but the dampness in the air was worse than he thought. By the time jogged half a mile, he was sweating profusely.

Leon resumed a slower pace. It wouldn't do to get heatstroke in a place and situation like this. He wasn't overly careful about making noise. This far out, there wouldn't be any perimeter guards, and even when as he got closer, he doubted that their would be any. This place was completely isolated. There was no chance of a stray person getting in.

After about 20 minutes, Leon checked his GPS again. He was almost on top of the coordinates. He put the GPS away and drew his USP, holding it out in front of him in both hands. Now he cautiously moved through the thick foliage. Although the place probably wasn't guarded outside, it didn't meant that wouldn't. Leon pushed away a thick bush and saw where the coordinates pointed.

It was a circular clearing, about fifty yards in diameter. On one end was a small structure that looked like a shed. Leon pulled a small optical scope from the pocket in his vest and peered through it, panning the tree line across the clearing. As far as he could tell, there was no one around.

"That still doesn't mean their aren't any guards or security devices," he warned himself. "Hell, there could be infrared trip wires, good old fashioned claymore mines, or low tech traps. This is probably Wesker's group so why not throw in a few mutant guard dogs?"

Leon noted that the center of the clearing was disturbed. An irregular pattern was etched in the dirt. It looked like something had scraped the dirt away from the land. Beneath it was a metal plate. Leon figured it was a large elevator, probably a turntable for moving large equipment or storage containers. That meant that the rest of the complex was underground.

Leon continued to survey the clearing, but he didn't notice anything suspicious. He placed the scope back in his pocket and contemplated his next move. His only point of entry was apparently the small shed across the clearing. He could cut across it and be there in thirty seconds. That was the careless way. Sneaking around the dense jungle would take a few minutes, but it would keep him hidden. He tucked back into the foliage, and began to make his way around.

A few minutes later, he approached the back of the shed.

"Oh, it's not a shed at all," Leon realized. The 'shed' was actually concrete, and had two metal sliding doors on the front. It was an elevator. Bits of jungle had grown all around it; vines branches and other growth. The call panel was covered, and the cover was free of any growth. It had been used recently. Leon pressed it and waited. Nothing happened. The button was clear and probably should have lit up, but it didn't.

"No power?"

Either the power was out, or the elevator must be controlled from within the complex. Leon wasn't about to let a broken elevator stop him. He unsheathed his combat knife and stuck it into the crack of the sliding doors. Using it as a lever, he pried the door open until he could slip his fingers in. His arms flexed and had no trouble forcing the door open.

Leon sheathed his knife and entered the elevator. It was stopped on the surface level. There were twenty-three simple metal buttons, nothing fancy, twenty-four including the one labeled "S" for surface. None of the buttons responded when Leon pressed them. He looked up and spotted the service hatch that led to the roof of the elevator, and shoved it open. He grabbed the edges and hauled himself up, once again, his strength making the task easy.

Once on top the elevator, Leon pulled out his flashlight. The entire shaft was almost pitch black, save for a few red lights dully dotting every few floors down. Leon's flashlight found a service ladder along the shaft, just within arms reach. He killed his light and began to climb down in darkness.

With only the soft metallic thunk of his boots on the metal ladder to keep him company, Leon made his decent down. He didn't like the situation. It felt like the place was abandoned. There were signs that it had been used, like the elevator panel and the disturbed dirt, but if this place was still being used, why would the power be off?

After a few more minutes of the lonely climb, Leon shined his flashlight again. There was a set of elevator doors just next to him labeled 10.

"Good a place as any to start," Leon thought. He shined his light around the door. There was about a half a foot of concrete jutting from the shaft underneath the door. "Not a lot of room to stand." The fact that he had to make a small jump to get to the ledge didn't help. If he slipped, he would have a brief moment to kick himself, then hit the ground ten plus dark floors below.

"So don't fall," Leon muttered.

He stuck his flashlight between his teeth and released one hand from the ladder. He rocked back and forth, counting down in his head, then jumped along the wall, both feet planting on the narrow ledge. As soon as he landed, his arms shot out and stemmed the inside of the elevator doorway, and he grunted in effort through the metal cylinder in his mouth. He heard a little loose concrete slide off the ledge and into the abyss below.

Leon pulled out his knife and once again pried open the door. He forced it open, then stepped through, pulling his USP out as he did. There was nothing but an empty hallway. He sheathed his knife, then took his light from between his teeth, then held his arms crossed; his left held his flashlight, supporting his firing arm and allowing him to keep the light in front of him.

Like the shaft, the hallway was dark, save for dull red emergency lights dotting the ceiling every few meters. The floor was metal, but was as solid as stone. Leon took a few cautious steps away from the elevator. There was no one around. He hugged the wall and began to proceed down the hall. A door came into view. There was no knob, but a button on the side of it. Leon pressed it, but the door didn't open.

"Must not be powered," Leon realized, and moved on. "If the whole place is like this, then it's going to be tough moving through it."

Every so often, Leon would pass similar doors. None of them worked when he tried them. Some of them had large windows next to them. Even when he shined his light through them, all Leon saw was his ghostly reflection in the black glass.

Leon continued his slow crawl along the hall. Finally, there was a regular door, Leon tried the knob, and found it unlocked. To his dismay, it was a cleaning closet. There was a mop and a bucket in the corner, and the shelves were stacked with various cleaners. He shut the door again.

At the end of the hall was another door. It was labeled 'stairs. Leon tried the door and it opened. The staircase was skeletal, made of slitted metal, and looked more like a fire escape. Leon pointed his light up, then down, catching glimpses of the stairwell as he did.

"Up, or down?" Leon wondered. He almost began to think that he shouldn't have entered the complex on the tenth floor. "Well, if they're holding Claire, they would keep her lower in the facility."

Leon began to walk down the metal stairs, still trying to keep his footsteps muffled. He couldn't shake the feeling that Claire wasn't here. He hadn't seen anyone since his infiltration, and the power was out. Unless they were only using the lower levels of the complex, Leon began to wonder that whoever sent the note had been caught, and the place was evacuated. If that was the case, he would secure the complex, then bring in the team. Then the search would start back from square one.

Leon left the staircase at level 11. Sweeping the complex floor by floor could take hours, but he couldn't miss anything. Like the level above, most of the doors were electronic, and couldn't be opened. There were only a few regular doors, but they didn't hide anything worth looking; only an office, a bathroom, and another cleaning closet. Unlike the level above, the floor layout was different. There were only a few turns to the hall, but they were in different places.

Leon saw another window next to the door. He new it was useless, but he shined his light through it anyway. A subtle flash of movement caught his eye. He swept the light to the source, but the light reflecting the beam obscured it. Leon carefully positioned the light, so that the beam reflected away from him. He caught just a glimpse of the room. It was a lab. Leon could just make out the glossy metal tables and counters. The source of the movement was a cage with a lab rat in it. The poor critter sniffed at the edge of the bars as if it was trying to find the source of the light.

"Just a rat. Weird, I thought I saw something bigger." Leon shrugged it off. The still living rat proved that this place was indeed recently abandoned. Leon headed back to the stairs and went down another level after clearing it.

There was no door for level 12. Leon didn't know why. There was only a blank slab of concrete where the door should have been. The stairs continued down to level 13.

"Maybe it's a private level, like for security." Or a prison. He would have to find a way to sweep level 12 on his way back up. "The elevator is probably the only way to get to it." That meant another harrowing climb in the elevator shaft, or reactivating the complex's power.

As Leon began to investigate level 13, he saw fewer and fewer electric doors. Regular doors were beginning to become more frequent. Some of them were locked, and the ones that weren't were of no interest. Leon found the mess hall, a locker room, an empty stock room, and a room with a small work bench. There was a tool box underneath it. Whatever was below the 12th level must not have been important as to require electronic doors. Finding nothing again, he headed back to the stairwell.

Leon swept the 14th, 15th, and 16th levels clear. It was maddening. There was nothing useful in any of the rooms, nor any information as to who recently occupied the complex or why they left. Even worse, there was no sign of Claire yet. He couldn't even so much as find a holding cell. Of course, there was the possibility that they just stuck her in an empty room. The nervous feeling in his gut returned. To have come all this way just to find that he just missed her. He pushed the thought out of his mind, it was distracting.

Leon pushed open the door on the 17th level. He got a few steps into the hallway then froze and dropped lower into his shooting stance. The door had softly squeaked shut behind him, but Leon was sure he heard another noise. He clicked his flashlight off and waited in the darkness. The hallway was as quiet as a grave. He crept forward, walking heel to toe, the soles of his boots making almost no sound on the metal floor. He waited, but didn't hear the noise again. Not wanting to dismiss it as his imagination, he crept forward, then heard it again.

It was very faint, almost inaudible. Whatever it was sounded muffled. There were only three doors on level 17. One of them was electronic. Leon walked to the first manual door and slowly turned the knob, then opened the door slowly. It was only a bathroom. Leon swept it quickly, using his boot to push open the door of each stall. Nothing.

Leon headed back out into the hall. He heard the noise a third time. It sounded like a human voice. Leon couldn't tell, but his heart picked up speed. It sounded like the noise came from the last manual door at the end of the hall. Maybe the complex wasn't completely deserted after all.

Leon gripped the door's knob with two fingers, his dark flashlight in the rest of them. He could hear the noise, louder this time. He turned the knob and lunged into the room. The room was pitch black. Leon quickly clicked his light on and gripped his gun tightly. The pressure sensitive button on the handle turned the laser sight on, and both it and the flashlight beam fell on something in the center of the room.

Leon instantly recognized the white blouse and the brown hair.

"Claire!" Leon cried.

She was sitting on a metal chair. The something around her waist shimmered in the light. Chains, wrapped several times around her arms and midsection. Handcuffs adorned her slender wrists, which were forced to stay on her lap. Her head was hanging down and her hair, now out of it's usual ponytail and loose, covered her face. Her head bobbed up when she heard her name. Leon saw a thick white rag bound tightly through her teeth and lips. Her eyes were weak and streaming.

Claire gave what sounded like a sob, choked by her gag. That was the noise he'd been hearing. Leon could just barely understand what she tried to say.

"...'eon?"