Listening: Theme of Laura, Silent Hill 2 OST. A melancholic, very bittersweet guitar riff that I think best suits the ending.
Sherry looked between the 8-foot tall B.O.W standing before her and the legion of BSAA, at the front of which was Chris. Leon was growling, his arm still put out in front of her protectively. Helena was growling as well as she glared between the BSAA soldiers, as if sizing them up individually. Jake appeared conflicted about the whole issue, his face scrunched up in some unreadable but still clearly stressed expression. His arms were crossed as he moved to the side. Chris continued aiming his rifle at them as he slowly edged closer.
"Mother of God…" he quietly whispered.
"No! Wait, stop it, don't shoot!" Sherry cried out as she ran past Leon, whose growl rose even higher. She then splayed her arms in front of the two B.O.W.s, ready to protect them at any cost. Chris' eyes widened as he stepped forward and yelled.
"Sherry! What the hell are you doing?!"
"Just listen to me, Chris!"
"Jesus Christ, get the hell out of the way! Don't you know those are two freaks of nature behind you?!"
"YES! THEY ARE FREAKS OF NATURE! GENETIC FREAKS OF NATURE!" she admitted, her face full of desperation. There was a short pause, as even Leon, Helena and Jake stared at her.
"…but they're still themselves, Chris. They can still think for themselves. Please don't shoot them," she pleaded, trying to fight off the tears in what seemed to be a losing battle.
Chris appeared lost for a moment. Then, he shook his head in disappointment. He had seen this kind of thing before, countless times. Including himself.
"Sherry…I've been in your place before. I thought I could reason with an infected friend. But there's nothing left of them in them, Sherry. You have to understand-"
"NO! THEY ARE STILL THEMSELVES, AND NONE OF YOU ARE GOING TO TAKE THEM!" she screamed in defiance.
"...Sherry," he said in a warning tone. Sherry remained in her spot, not budging as she stared pleadingly at Chris. In fact, she seemed to be more resolute in her posture.
"Chris...please listen to me. Your sister trusts me, so why won't you?"
"Leave Claire out of this. She's got nothing to do with it,"
"Then you have something to do with it? I'll handle them, so why don't you just not shoot them now?!"
"Standard BSAA protocol calls for the elimination of any and all B.O.W.s found on the site of the biohazard," he ratted off the list he had a part in making, before continuing, "And you're not BSAA. I trust you and your skills, Sherry, but this is still within the jurisdiction of the BSAA. American National Security agents should not have a part to do with foreign biohazard matters. Why can't you just go back home?"
Sherry said nothing, but continued staring at Chris with her big blue eyes.
"What would Claire think if she knew you just chased me away from...from Leon? Who, let me remind you, is still himself?"
Chris' eyes narrowed.
"She would understand," he simply replied. "And once again, leave my sister out of this. These are just standard BSAA matters, and I do not want this to turn into something personal,"
Anyone with a good sense of people, however, could easily tell that Chris' patience was wearing thin, that all the matters of the day were threatening to make him lash out at the closest thing he could use as a punching bag to release his fury.
There was suddenly a low rumble.
"C-Chris Redfield,"
The man who was called out in question stared at the B.O.W behind Sherry. It was the source of the raspy voice, or was it?
"I was the…one who told you a-about your sister Claire in Antarctica. 1998. Couple…months after Raccoon City. Still remember it. The name's Leon…I saved your sister's life, Chris," he spoke.
There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment. Chris simply stared at the B.O.W, his iron blue eyes boring into him.
"Uh, permission to speak freely, sir?" a voice said in a meek tone. Not averting his gaze at the mutated monster who claimed to be Leon S. Kennedy and who knew impossible information, Chris said, "Permission granted."
A familiar-by-now scent came as the young soldier who drove the APC with Leon and Helena came out from the group. Still nervous, he said, "I believe her, sir. I've, uh, personally interacted with these B.O.W.s, and I've just seen too much information to deny the fact. They're sentient beings, sir. They can speak, they're not hostile to any of us, they can coordinate with normal humans to take down mutual foes. And, uh, just a few seconds ago the big one just addressed you directly, Captain Redfield,"
Chris said nothing for a long time. The general opinion of the BSAA seemed to be drifting; some were murmuring things about it all being a ruse, some were pointing out that they were yet to attack them and had spoken to Captain Redfield directly.
Then, a hand shot up.
"I-I believe them too, sir, if I'm not interrupting,"
"Me too. I've seen enough with my own eyes. We shouldn't terminate them like we did those other B.O.W.s. We should help them,"
"You…you were the one who gave me that flamethrower, right? And you didn't kill any of us too…I guess I'm sorry we shot first earlier,"
The wave was now growing in favor of Leon and Helena. Sherry looked from the group to Chris, and stiffened when she felt Jake's leather-gloved hand on her shoulder.
"I hope you know what you're doing, Sherry," he said cautiously, as Leon growled at the sight of his surrogate little sister being touched, only amplified by the constant hunger he had been resisting all this while. The one thing he had yet to tell them all.
Chris, however, was yet to make a reaction.
He knew Sherry was right. He knew his comrades were right. These two B.O.W.s should be given a chance, for they could still think for themselves, were still themselves, mostly. Almost nobody else knew about the Rockfort Island and Antarctica Incidents save for him and a select few others, including Leon, which the monster had provided irrefutable proof he was. And even without that fact, his moral conscience was all but yelling at him to just accept them.
However, there was also something else in his mind. The memories of his men. The memories of what happened to Finn and Marco.
Of what happened to Piers.
They were all infected with the virus. He remembered the creature Finn became going berserk at the sight of him, going on to pummel him senseless and roaring at him repeatedly, as if he was attempting to speak. He remembered how the swarm of insects Marco became simply 'stood' there for several seconds, as if in a trance, before they opened fire on him, which prompted him to attack.
He remembered how Piers allowed himself to die so that the fate of becoming a mindless monster would not befall him.
These two were infected with the C-Virus, the very same virus that infected his men. And if they were still themselves…
Hang in there, Finn!
The sudden, painful flashback came, and he groaned as he grasped his temple.
Cap..tain..!
He actually fell to his knees now, gritting his teeth as he closed his eyes.
No, Piers, what are you doing?! Piers!
Piers sacrificed himself so that he could still be himself while he died. Chris needed to make his death mean something.
Leon and Helena were sentient, even though they were infected with the standard C-Virus. If it was just one of them, it could be explained as a random fluke in the virus, but two of them at once was simply too great a coincidence. Not to mention the J'avo that had assisted them in taking down the giant beast.
All these facts simply pointed to the fact that, most likely, the virus was actually intended to work this way.
And if these two were able to think for themselves, that meant all his men were able to do just that too. They were still themselves when they died.
To accept them would also be to accept that his men, his friends, Finn, Marco, Piers, they all died in vain.
He knew what he had to do now.
He slowly rose up, brushing off the soldiers that had come near him to see what was going on. "S-Sir?" one of them asked.
To accept them would be to mean Piers' sacrifice was pointless.
Quietly staring at the two mutated people- no, the two monsters, he uttered, "Open fire."
He couldn't live with that kind of guilt.
"W-What?" Sherry gasped. Jake's eyes narrowed as he walked to Chris. Behind them, Leon started clicking his mandibles, secretly bracing for the worst, while Helena was slowly starting to back off.
"Now buddy, I know we haven't been on the best of terms, but you better-" Chris had roughly shoved him out of the way, coldly saying, "BSAA business. Get out of the way, you goddamn mercenary. Now open fire!"
And the only way to get around it was to reject the notion completely.
"CHRIS! PLEASE DON'T DO IT!" Sherry cried.
"B-But sir-" the APC soldier protested. The next thing he knew, his idolized Captain Redfield had grabbed him by the collar and was lifting him up to eye level. The other soldiers uttered shocked gasps and backed away from the fight, while Chris angrily growled, "I gave you a direct order! Are we clear?! OPEN FIRE!"
He then threw him onto the ground, before spinning around and firing his assault rifle into the trio.
Sherry cried out in pain as she was hit by bullets that were intended for the two B.O.W.s she was shielding. Something else happened to the two mutants behind her, however.
All this while, they had already been resisting the sheer hunger that was compelling them to hunt, to eat. The willpower they had gained during their human careers allowed them to just barely resist it as they waited, but all it took was a little for them to be pushed over the edge.
In this case, seeing Sherry hurt, and being pummeled by bullets. Getting wounded by an external source, combined with the hunger and resisting of instincts, caused something to kick in that overwhelmed all their other thoughts.
Defensive instincts. The very same ones that overtook Deborah after she was shot in the head.
Leon roared and barreled into the group, smashing aside with his fist just as Jake got up and held onto Chris' assault rifle, causing it to spray out of control. He hit Jake, however, causing him to hurl into the group as he roared and prepared to attack Chris.
He was interrupted by the gunfire released by the nearby panicked soldiers, and immediately shifted his attention onto them. Some of them fired on Helena, and she too screeched before moving in, slashing with her claws at the group.
Nothing but an animalistic fury and desire to protect themselves guided them.
It all happened so slowly. Leon pummeled soldier after soldier, each and every one screaming and terrified as they tried to get away from the monstrous abomination. He picked up pieces of debris, throwing them at fleeing soldiers or picking up the soldiers themselves to either throw at walls or at each other. Jake recovered from his throw and could only stare, mutely horrified by the events that were transpiring. Helena ripped off the soldiers' combat armor so that she could slash and stab at them for maximum damage, her flailing tail cutting down those who tried to flank her.
Sherry could only look on in horror.
"No…"
As she watched, Chris moved in with his combat knife, drawing it out and preparing to stab Leon. Leon, however, whirled around and smashed Chris to the ground, the knife landing several feet away. He walked closer as he extended his arm blades, and Sherry realized what her beloved surrogate brother intended to do.
"NO!"
She ran forward and pushed the recovering Chris out of the way, only to be met by a powerful blow to the side. She screamed in pain as she was smashed several feet, landing on her back, and as her eyes opened she saw Leon racing forwards, apparently thinking she was Chris and he was intending to finish her off.
Her mouth opened in silent terror as the towering shadow loomed before her, his arm raised up, preparing for a fatal strike. There was nothing left of Leon in those yellow eyes, only a desire to cause death.
A death that never came.
She continued breathing erratically in fear as she looked up. Leon was frozen in position. His eyes were wide with shock and recognition, his arm still shuddering.
As if he realized what he had been about to do.
Then, he broke off. Leon turned around and saw the madness that had transpired. Because of them…and he had nearly killed Sherry…nearly killed Sherry...
What the hell had he become? He looked around, seeing the many soldiers surrounding him with horrific wounds all over their bodies, blood pooling out from them, their chests not breathing...
He bolted off, trying to resist the urge to lash back at the sources of the gunfire peppering his body. He saw Helena screeching as she continued fighting the soldiers, several limp bodies in pools of blood already around her. He couldn't tell if they were dead or not, and he did not want to find out, especially when one soldier started screaming and rocking another back and forth, her eyes empty and lifeless as blood flowed down her mouth.
He grabbed Helena by the shoulder.
"We gotta move!" he roared in her ear, and she shrieked in alarm before blinking several times. Her eyes flashed in horror as she saw the massacre before her. The massacre that she and him had caused.
Still under a hail of gunfire, they both retreated from the scene. They ran off, sprinting as fast as they could, trying to get away from the mob of humans.
They disappeared into the city.
It was around noon when they arrived back at the place.
Several hours ago, they had left this little apartment after spotting Ada, and after that, were distracted by hunting Simmons. That did not mean they had forgotten about the girl who had mutated into a snake-like B.O.W, and whom they befriended and last saw in this apartment.
She was not there.
The entire place had been thrashed, stuff lying all over the place. Blood splattered the walls, and bullet holes were everywhere. The girl's scent had gone cold at the place.
Helena fell to her knees, weeping as she realized she had failed again. Leon could only offer a sorrowful look, guilt from many sources also spreading across his mind as he looked around.
He spotted movement.
A man crept out from behind a wall. He was dressed like a professional mercenary, with a combat vest and a belt of ammo around him, along with a heavy pistol, but he was bloodstained, and clearly wounded as he limped along. What appeared to be festering giant bite wounds were on his leg, almost like huge fangs had pierced his left leg. Like he had been bitten by the jaws of a giant snake.
He was human.
He froze upon seeing Leon and Helena. Helena had looked up, and seeing all the signs, started growling and snarling as she rose up. They stood there staring at each other for several seconds, the man frozen in equal parts fear and awe.
Leon acted first.
He ran forward and tackled the man to the ground. He screamed for mercy, but he paid no heed to it as he opened his jaws and mandibles before biting into his shoulder. Helena had raced forward and ripped open his belly with her claws, burying her face into it even as he continued screaming.
The taste of blood was in their mouths. Their torturous hunger made them unable to resist anymore.
Even when she realized what was happening, Helena couldn't stop herself as she pulled out and started feasting on the man's intestines, eating him alive even as he still tried to feebly push her head away. Leon had tasted it already, and crunched down, crushing the bones of the shoulder before tearing it clean off, biting down on the severed but still twitching limb.
Even when the man's screams had long faded and his corpse had stopped breathing, they continued feeding on him, needing, craving more to satiate their hunger. The flesh was warm, and it was delicious. Leon finished his morsel and tore open the man's chest, pulling out the heart and lungs to eat while Helena dragged out his hanging tongue with her teeth and chewed on the soft tissue, instinctively enjoying the taste even as she felt horribly sickened and revolted at what she was doing.
Eventually, there was not much left of the man anymore. They had finally eaten their fill. It was then that the full implications of what they just did set in. The horrific fact about what they did.
They had gotten their first taste of human flesh.
Their infection was only the beginning of a period of darkness.
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