Leon was about ready to erect a full emotional wall to block these girls out, because he knew full well what he'd find when he finally caught up to them.
It was obvious that these guys no longer had orders to spare the youngest Graham. That ship had long since sailed, and if he'd needed a refresher, it was the boulder they'd tried to drop on her head not twenty minutes ago. He figured the best-case scenario was that she'd get her brains bashed straight out by one of these hammer-wielding, armored giants, but he figured it was more likely that she'd be cooked to death with a cattle prod or skewered with crossbow bolts, both of which were sure to be excruciating. And then, of course, there was that delightful image Luis had managed to instill in his head earlier, of one of these faceless Regenerators chewing someone's head off.
And Ashley? God, she'd be so badly damaged when he finally got to her that there was no way she'd ever fully recover. He knew well enough what they were doing to her now, and it was killing him inside. He couldn't blame Aurelleah for bolting like she had…but because she had, the only thing the president would get when he got them all home was a single damaged daughter.
But he couldn't afford to let himself care. If he let himself get worked up over it, then he'd stop thinking rationally, which was what Luis had done.
He was conducting himself more or less like a wild animal, blasting everything in his path and tearing his way through enemy after enemy, all the while howling, "AURELLEAH! AURELLEAH, COME BACK! COME BACK, DAMNIT! PLEASE, COME BACK!"
Leon didn't bother to tell him that if she could still hear him, she would surely have returned by now, whether because she'd hit a locked door or because she was walled off by enemies. If she wasn't responding to his calls, she was either out of range or…
He took a deep, steadying breath and forced himself to check their route. Luis had mentioned a spare card key, which they'd need to get into both the freezer and the waste disposal area. It would be in the operating room, if he was correct.
Elleah's flight had had an added drawback, aside from the fact that she was probably already dead. It had alerted the entire facility to their imminent attack, which was unfortunate because Leon had, up until then, been able to take most of his enemies by surprise to some degree. Not so now, as was evidenced instantly by the string of enemies operating the blast door in the very next room, all armed with dynamite and crossbows and ready to fire at the next thing that came in sight. It had taken nearly two minutes to get through them all, which was more than enough time in itself for Aurelleah to have been killed.
And as for Ashley – hell, I know guys who last about two minutes.
He shuddered at the thought and pushed it aside as they approached the operating room. In the hall outside of it was a pair of corpses, both of which had had their heads chewed off.
Neither was Elleah, thankfully, but now he had a more concrete image to mentally photoshop her into, and he wondered if they were about to find a third, smaller corpse in the next room.
Luis glanced down at the bodies and continued onwards. No telling where the thing that had done that to them was, but he really hoped they weren't going to find it hunched over a familiar carcass up ahead.
They did not. As they entered the operating room and looked around, all they saw was desks and chairs and windows showing the two theaters. Inside one lay a lumpy purple corpse on a table.
Luis glanced at this, carelessly said, "Regenerator," and pushed on to quickly punch the code into the door of the second theater.
He ran in and started rifling around. Leon looked about the room while he did. Grimy white tiles, multiple beds, long white surgical lamps, some med tech, and on a table in the middle of the room, lit up like the Fourth of July, a truly gruesome sight.
It was a Plaga, one of the spider-like ones he'd seen for the first time in the battle with the Queen. It was all long, skinny legs and mandibles. It was partially attached via several long, thin fibers to a corpse that was arching out of the bed, seemingly frozen in rigor mortis. The man looked to have died in horrible pain.
Thankfully, Leon ended up not having to look at it for long as Luis grabbed what he was looking for and said, "Got it. Let's move."
Behind them, the door to the smaller operating room opened.
Leon saw that the Regenerator had rolled off the bed, and he drew his magnum. Everything about this enemy set his hackles rising. It was fleshy and smooth, and its skin was stretched tightly as though every muscle had just recently swelled with cancerous growth. Its skin was a bluish-purple color, veiny and blotched and mottled, and was completely void of hair. It had no genitals, which was just as well since it was naked. Its mouth was too long and flat, and was covered in fresh blood, as was most of its front. Seemed like it had made a snack of those two Ganados, then come back in here to lay down for a nap. The rest of its facial features were equally flat, including its nose and forehead. Sharp, jagged teeth jutted out of its mouth and had dug into its own lips, which had regenerated around them. As they approached, it opened its jaw like wide as a snake, tearing the flesh open again.
Luis just pushed past and slipped by the door, totally ignoring the thing, and Leon did the same as it began to stagger after them.
The sounds it was making were horrible, a sort of dry, rattling gasp. Something about the quality of it made Leon's skin crawl, and, combined with its overall appearance, triggered a small, icy dose of fear to trickle down his spine. It was interesting to note that the fear of the monster drowned out some of the fear of what he'd find up ahead, and also dulled the pain and despair. It was probably selfish, but he found himself preferring that fear to all the alternatives, and embraced it.
Unfortunately, there was another Regenerator up ahead of them when they turned the corner, though Leon could not for the life of him figure out how it had gotten there. He raised his Butterfly, said, "Down," and when Luis ducked, Leon blasted the thing's head off.
Eight seconds, he thought as small tentacles burst out of the part of the thing's head that the round hadn't quite managed to take off. They started twisting into vaguely brain-and-muscle shaped structures, and in moments began forming teeth as well. It reared back like it was going to fall, and Luis actually drew up to a halt before they reached it.
Leon saw why. It flung its body forward in a smashing blow, which would have hit them dead on if they'd kept going. Luis jumped out of the way and continued, but Leon was surprised by the move, and the thing clipped him going past.
The brush was enough that he could feel the strength and weight of the thing's body. It was like a living mass of hardwood, and would probably hit like a truck. He resolved not to get hit by one, and continued on.
They got to the freezer. As they reached the crossroads, Luis's face twisted up once more and he yelled, "AURELLEAH! PLEASE, COME BACK! PLEASE!"
Nothing. He clenched his jaw and forced himself to keep moving. They went to the freezer, using the key card to get in.
Leon didn't want to think about how Luis would react if they found Aurelleah dead. And dead was bad enough. Butchered? Decapitated? By something he'd made? Oh, no. Leon was resolved to keep ahead of him moving forward if possible, and deal with whatever he found as best he could, preferably before Luis could see it. He'd had to do it before. He supposed he'd do it again.
Luis spoke as they entered the room, voice slightly hoarse from yelling, and lacking much in the way of hope or humanity. He may as well have been a chatbot. "The scope is in here, and the machine to change the key card is in that little room. The door is frozen closed, though, so we'll have to quick-thaw the room to get in. It'll take a couple minutes."
A couple more minutes of delay. Great. "Got it. You want to take the scope?" He asked.
Luis nodded listlessly, pulling out his rifle and hitting the controls on the wall. Leon didn't question the decision, even though there were no less than five Regenerators strung up from the ceiling like choice butcher's cuts mere feet away. No thaw meant no card, no card meant no Ashley.
As Luis opened up the case containing the thermal scope, red lights lit up all along the floors and ceilings, and heat began gushing out of vents around the room. He began affixing the scope to his rifle like he'd done it a dozen times before, and as he did, Leon figured he ought to at least try to maintain a flicker of hope.
"We haven't seen her yet," he said calmly. "And all the doors have been locked. She can't have gotten through without the key cards, so clearly she must have been let through, right?"
Luis made a noncommittal noise as he tightened one of the clamps on the scope, using a screwdriver he'd pulled out of a nearby drawer. Beside them, one of the Regenerators twitched on its hook.
Leon continued. "I think odds are better than even that they captured her when they saw she was separated from us. Maybe stunned her with one of those cattle prods and dragged her off—"
"To suffer the same fate as Ashley?" Luis finished tonelessly, finishing the scope off just as one of the Regenerators started growling and jerking around on the hook. The others were all starting to twitch as well, but only the one looked to be an immediate threat.
"Better that than dead," Leon said bluntly.
Luis couldn't contradict him, but he still looked like he wanted to throw himself in front of a train. Or a Regenerator.
As it happens, he did, but he did so with his rifle raised. The Regenerator thrashed itself off the hook, straightened up, and let its jaw drop as it started towards them, eyes glowing red.
Luis lined up the shot carefully and fired. Leon could see immediately that the shot, which had only pierced its abdomen, had done far more damage than his earlier headshot had. The thing's flesh rippled up and down its body, and it groaned loudly.
Luis fired again as soon as the Regenerator had stilled. It seemed to have an even greater effect, but Leon didn't get to admire it. "Door should be open," Luis said. "Rewrite the key for Waste Disposal. Hurry."
Leon took the key card and opened the door. He heard the crackling of remnant ice as it slid open. He slid the card into a little slot on the front, and a few options popped up on the black screen.
"Uh, Luis…?" he called back over his shoulder.
"Deposito de basura!"
Leon checked, saw that option – they were all, obviously, in Spanish – and pressed it. The machine started humming, and while it worked, Leon looked around the room. He spotted a box with a familiar logo on it – that of a dragonfly similar to the one on all of Luis's rifle round cases – and he went over and opened it up.
It had a few boxes of ammo. He grabbed them and stuffed his pockets full, and a moment later the machine behind him beeped and the key card slid out again. It was now a different color. Yellow.
"Got it," Leon said, and came out just as Luis fired the last shot.
The Regenerator quite literally exploded. Not in the place Luis had shot it, even. Its entire upper body just swelled up and burst almost the instant Luis had shot the last parasite, splattering them with cold, revolting red and purple goo. All that remained intact was the hips downward, which fell over.
Gross.
"Got you some ammo," he said, wiping himself off and handing the boxes to Luis, who pocketed them with a short nod. They rushed out of the room before the rest of the Regenerators could come to life, Luis punching the freeze button on the way out to re-cryogenize them. Hopefully it would work before the things got out of the room. Going by the unfathomably cold burst of air that began crusting the moisture on the walls to frost almost as soon as it started up, it probably would.
They exited the freezer and made for the garbage room. As they rounded the corner, they saw the first two Regenerators lurching towards them, and Leon glanced at Luis questioningly.
He raised his rifle, then decided against it and turned away. "No time. Let's go."
Leon thought that was probably for the best. Damage control was all the could hope for now with regard to the girls. They needed to move fast.
Leon knew that nothing good was waiting for him up ahead, but he really was beginning to feel marginally more hopeful as they continued to not stumble across a slain Elleah. He did feel a stab of unease as they entered the waste disposal control room and looked through the window, though. There was a large dropoff on the right side of the room below. The garbage pit. Had they killed her and tossed her body in there? Would he see her lifeless form sprawled out on the trash heap when they went down?
God, he hoped not. She didn't deserve that. Before he went, though, he eyed the buttons and levers. They looked to control a massive dumpster crane in the room below…right where four Ganados were hanging out, all armed and ready to start fighting.
"Luis," he said, nodding at the controls, and Luis scowled at the soldiers down below.
He took the joystick and the crane beyond roared to life with a few switch flips. The Ganados all looked around nervously, not understanding what was going on until one of the clamps had brushed two of them clean off the side in a single sweep.
"Play stupid games, win stupid prizes," Leon remarked as Luis brushed another one off. The last one finally realized what was happening and ran for the ladder that led up to this room.
Luis ran over to meet him, and Leon winced as the Ganado got a face full of boot. He heard the sound of a nose breaking under the blow, and Luis only slid down a few feet before jumping off to land directly on the soldier's chest before putting three bullets in his face.
He was getting preemptive justice for what they'd find moving forward, and Leon couldn't blame him. Luis ran off towards the next area, but Leon took a moment to check the dump.
He poked his head over, expecting the worst, but felt a small rush of relief when he spotted no Aurelleah. All he saw was the three soldiers they'd brushed over trying to stand up on the mountain of soft, gushy trash.
They continued along, taking out Ganados here and there, and finally rounded the corner on the door they'd been looking for.
Now Leon really paled. Not because of the two armored giants standing guard. Rather, because if Ashley was in there, she should have been screaming her head off. He couldn't hear a peep coming from the room. Either she wasn't in there anymore, or she wasn't in any fit state to scream.
Finally, a sliver of real rage broke through the calm façade he'd just barely been maintaining, and he walked straight up to the pair and pulled out his Striker.
It took two shots to the knees to get them to topple towards him, at which point he put the gun against the top of each one's skull and pulled the trigger, effectively blowing their heads off. It wasn't too hard.
Luis had already moved on. Leon took a moment to run up to the bars on the doors and look through, but he saw nothing.
"Ashley?" He called in. "Aurelleah?"
No response, and his stomach dropped. It sounded like they weren't in there.
Why the guards, then?
Well, there must have been something in there worth guarding – maybe a clue as to where they'd been taken. He turned and went through the next door after Luis, who had already managed to leave a trail of corpses in his wake, their cattle prods still sparking, their crossbow bolts still burning.
He ran down a few more halls, catching up with Luis in the next major room, which looked to be a lab.
He was looking around, frowning, and Leon said, "It doesn't sound like they're in there. I think they've been moved. Anything wrong in here?"
Luis winced. "Used to be one of my personal labs. Had a few personal effects. Looks like they threw out everything that belonged to me. There was one thing I'd been hoping to salvage out of here, but…"
He shrugged it off. "Nevermind. I guess we don't need the card to the storage room, do we?"
"There were two armed guards in front of the door," Leon said. "You tell me."
Luis didn't look like he really cared, but he pressed on through the lab…until they heard something rasping up ahead of them.
He paused, stepped back to a computer on one of the desks, and pressed a few keys. A security feed popped up, and on it, something was lurching down a hall. Obviously nearby.
Luis's jaw set. "I do not know what that is."
Leon checked. "It looks like another Regenerator, but spiky."
"It shouldn't be spiky. If it's spiky, it's different."
"Well, does it still have those leeches?"
"Let's find out, shall we?"
It was getting closer. If they'd run down the hall without checking the monitor, they'd have very nearly crashed right into it. It was about to round the corner, so they backed up and let it come.
Come it did, and Leon saw one other difference in its appearance besides the spikes jutting out of every inch of its body, seemingly at random, and its decidedly jittery movement, which reminded Leon of an NPC glitching out in a videogame.
Its face was…different. Namely, instead of an upper lip, a nose, and eyes, it had a sort of…pair of…cheeks…ringed with teeth for an upper jaw. Under any other circumstance, Leon would have had choice words for that thing.
Luis had nothing to say about it. He just lined up a shot and said, "Yup, still has leeches."
He fired, and Leon saw one other thing that was different about this ugly motherfucker. The second Luis's bullet landed, it rippled, but all along its body its spikes extended out like a cartoon porcupine's quills, some of them reaching nearly four feet before retracting.
Luis fired again and swore. He'd missed. Leon could tell because its spikes shot out only a little, it didn't ripple, and it wasn't staggered. It did lean back, though, pulling its arms back as though it was going to…
Leon saw a certain stretch in its tendons that reminded him of past B.O.W.s he'd fought – ones that could extend their limbs well beyond the norm. Luis was lining up a shot, but there wasn't time to warn him. He shoved him to the side just as the shot went off, and the spiky Regenerator's arms shot forward.
Luis swore as the limbs spanned the twelve foot gap between them, missing them both by inches before retracting. The spikes shot again out as its arms flapped back, likely an automatic response, and Leon was willing to bet they if they hadn't dodged, they'd have been pulled back into a warm, fuzzy hug of impalement.
Luis lined up another shot quickly, fired, and this time hit. "I would love to know who the fuck has been messing around in my lab! Who made this shitstick?"
This shitstick took two more shots, then Luis frowned and backed away as much as the room would allow. "I got them all, and it's not dead yet."
Leon suggested, "Maybe there's one on its back?"
Luis nodded and aimed at its foot. He fired, the foot exploded, and Luis scanned its back. "Good call. There it—"
He swore as the thing started wriggling across the room on its belly towards them. It was fast, way too fast for Luis to accurately shoot at. They both jumped up onto desks as the thing came at them, and barely got out of the way before its spikes shot out, piercing the metal tables like they were made of papier-mâché.
It began turning around the moment they were past it, and Leon pulled out his magnum and blew its head off. It stopped just long enough for Luis to level his rifle at the Plaga on its back and blow it to kingdom come.
SPLAT!
They'd seen the explosion coming and had both ducked behind some desks in anticipation. The walls were smeared the goo and hard, spiny shards, but they'd been spared.
Luis checked the monitors again, saw nothing, and went into the next room without a word.
This room was truly interesting, and Leon really wished he had a moment to look it all over. Tall glass tubes with tiered platforms extended out of the desks and reached up to the ceilings. On each tier was a sample, many of which were pulsing with life.
"So," he said as Luis went over to another card rewriter as inserted their card. "Was this where you made the Plaga monsters?"
"Some of them," he said quietly. The rewriter was working.
Leon checked one of the samples. It was a dark bluish-purple. "The Regenerators?"
Luis walked over and looked at the glass tower. Then, abruptly and alarmingly, he pulled his rifle off his back, took it by the barrel, and swung the stock at the tube.
It shattered, sending glass flying everywhere, and Luis roared as he began repeating this with every other large glass object or structure in the room. He didn't stop, even after the card reader had finished, and Leon tried to calm him down.
"Luis, man—"
But he wasn't listening. He just went on kicking, stomping, and generally exercising all the anger and frustration he'd been building up.
Leon's temper broke, and he stormed out the opposite door and down a short hall leading away. He couldn't keep dealing with this. Did Luis really think he was the only one who was angry and upset? And did he really think they had time for this shit?
He went through one more door and was hit with a blast of cold air as he ended up outside. A long platform stretched in front of him, and at the end of it, a ladder leading up to an extremely tall tower.
A radio tower.
Leon blinked with the surprise of stumbling across something like this, but ran forward anyways and began scaling it. Maybe this was where they'd been jamming the signal. Maybe he could get through to Hunnigan.
God knows I could use someone else to talk to right now…though I'm not looking forward to updating her on the situation.
He reached the top and saw no one. The machinery was still lively inside, though, so he went in and began tapping away at the console.
He couldn't make heads or tails of any controls but the very basics, so he wouldn't be able to stop the jam. He turned the transmitter to his emergency frequency and began broadcasting. "This is Leon, requesting backup! Leon, requesting backup! Do you read, over?"
He let go and listened, but got no response. He swore and tried again. "I repeat, this is Leon, requesting backup!" He pulled out his own radio, checked the coordinates on it, and relayed them, over.
No response, and he slammed his fists against the console. He didn't have time to monkey around with this. He needed to get going.
He left, heading down the ladder, and went back to the lab to see Luis hunched over one of the desks, breathing heavily. Every surface was covered in broken glass.
Leon forced his own emotions down, walked over, and said, "Luis…I'm sorry, man. I'm sorry I let Aurelleah run off like that. I'm sorry I couldn't keep her safe. I know what you're going through. Trust me," he emphasized as the man jerked his head up, mouth already open to contradict him. "I know. I know how it feels to lose people because you weren't strong enough to save them. Even loved ones." He wasn't going to add that his loved one had actually survived, because he didn't want to get into their extremely complicated and toxic-as-hemlock relationship.
He continued as Luis deflated again. "But if there's even the slightest chance that Ashley and Aurelleah are still alive, they need us more than ever right now. We need to get to them. Now. Are you with me?"
Luis took a deep, shuddering breath…then nodded. "Okay. Let's go."
He stood up, Leon retrieved the key, and they started back upstairs.
More Ganados had flooded in behind them during their delay, and they fought them back without hassle, Luis taking down the crossbowmen while Leon dealt with the cattle prodders. They made their way back upstairs and to the storage room. Leon slid the key card into the lock, pushed the door open, and prepared for the worst.
The worst was…not what he'd been expecting. Luis walked in behind him, lip curled in disgust, and said, "Dios mio, what happened to—"
His eyes widened and he walked over to the decapitated Ganado laying in a thickening pool of his own pool, his head several feet away. A small Plaga had flopped out of his neck, and in it was buried an axe.
Luis picked it up and inspected it. Leon couldn't for the life of him read his expression. "What is it?" He asked.
Luis said, "This is the axe Aurelleah picked up earlier, I'm sure of it. But…"
He frowned and tossed it carelessly down into the corpse on the floor, looking around with a sharp expression, noting in particular the pair of partial footprints in the blood, and following them closely in the limited space. The smears didn't last long, and they were fairly clustered, but…
There was a tall storage shelf separating the room into halves. Luis went over, poked his head around it, and gasped.
"Aurelleah?"
Leon darted over and checked. Sure enough, Aurelleah was lying curled up on the floor. With Ashley.
Ashley's eyes fluttered open, and she cringed away from the figure bearing down on her, putting her hands up in a defensive gesture.
"Ashley," Leon said calmingly, reminded of the first time they met. She'd been scared then, too. "It's us, don't worry."
"Leon…?" She said tentatively. "Luis…?"
"Hola, your highness," he said, hunkering down next to the pair. His voice was soft and contrite. "Sorry we took so long getting to you."
Leon came over as well. Aurelleah wasn't waking up. She barely even moved as Ashley extracted herself from her sleeping sibling and forced herself to her feet. Luis stepped past in her wake and went to tend to Elleah. "Oh, my God. Leon," Ashley said.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
She nodded, though she looked pained. "Elleah…Elleah found me. And she…um…she stopped them from hurting me."
Leon's looked back towards the decapitated man, then to Ashley, who nodded confirmation.
Leon felt sickening pity for the girl. For both of them. Ashley for everything she'd been through, Elleah for having to put a stop to it herself.
He didn't really want to know any details, but he needed to make sure his charges were okay. "Ashley, are you sure you're alright? I can see some bruises forming."
She crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked away, which wasn't a good sign, but after a moment of contemplation she forced her gaze back up to him and nodded. "They knocked me around a little. Maybe got a little…grabby. But Elleah stopped them before things went too far."
Leon closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall, feeling weak with relief. Thank God, she was okay.
Well, okay was a relative term. She hadn't been raped, but she'd also watched her little sister decapitate a man. Nothing was okay here.
But things could have been a hell of a lot worse.
Ashley was alright. Elleah was…alive. For now, that was enough. He could deal with the rest.
Salazar had his chance. Go get the girl. And…dispose of the swine while you're at it.
He had his new orders – retrieve Ashley, kill Leon. He'd succeeded in the first part. She was currently under guard in the eastern lab, and after his meeting with Ada, he'd dash back, grab her, and transport her to Saddler. Once that was done, he'd head to the Ruins to finish preparing the arena for his match with Leon.
He'd just arrived, and was already flipping his knife impatiently. Leon wouldn't be able to get through the lab easily, not with those Regenerators running around. He knew that Leon didn't have a thermal scope with him. Not only was it not standard issue for his type, he also would surely have used it several times by now if he'd had it. And he hadn't. Without one, he'd need to pump those things full of enough lead to double their weight. That would take time.
Still, the sooner he got back to the elder Graham, the better. He could not afford to lose her again. Also, the Ganados he'd left her with had struck him as unruly. He wanted to make sure they weren't doing anything they shouldn't be.
The radio tower door opened, and he tensed, relaxing only marginally when his 'ally' walked in.
He'd gotten word from Wesker about her saving Aurelleah. Now, he had no qualms against that. Oh no, that he was fine with. The only issue was why she'd done it. Neither he nor Wesker had a suitable theory, which made the act that much more suspicious. It had been a very conspicuous move on her part, considering she wasn't supposed to be having any sort of contact with Leon's group. If they hadn't known about the interference of a foreign party before this, they did now. They'd seen her. Possibly even recognized her.
Of course, Krauser had taken the time to block all military radio frequencies he was familiar with, effectively cutting Leon off from the outside world; and since he had no intention of letting his old comrade leave here alive, odds were slim of word of them getting back to the U.S. Still, it had been reckless on her part.
He would have liked to know why Ada had saved Aurelleah Graham, but if she hadn't given a straight answer to Wesker, she sure as hell wasn't going to give one to him. He wasn't even going to bother asking about it. All he said when she walked in was, "What's the news?"
He knew Leon had reached the island. The Spaniard had, too. He'd learned as much when he'd heard them calling for their charge to return to them after she'd dashed on ahead to try and help her sister.
And what a pleasant little surprise that had been. She'd been so focused on reaching her sibling that she'd nearly run straight into his arms. The temptation to approach in spite of his presence had been all over her face.
They'd be making their way through the labs soon if they hadn't reached them already, so it wasn't them he was interested in. No, he just needed an update on the rest of her mission status.
She crossed her arms and leaned against the wall. "Saddler's goons haven't been making it easy, but I've managed to set the charges across this facility. I'll move onto the next one after I've scanned Luis's lab for good intel. The Sample?"
He caught the knife and slid his thumb along the flat of the blade. "Saddler's still got it. I'm pretty sure he's sniffed out our little game. Still, I'm staying in his good graces until I'm sure. If he doesn't change his tune when I deliver the girl, I suppose I'll just have to take it by force."
"Sounds fun," she said, turning to go. "I'll leave it to you."
Well, wasn't everything about this woman just short and sweet? But he still had a few things to address, and he was going to have his say before she went her way.
When he spoke, his voice was low and deadly. "Just so we understand each other, I don't trust you, and neither does Wesker." He flipped his knife as he said this, sending it spinning fast enough to whicker softly in the still, quiet air. He caught it and pointed it at her. "If you try to do anything clever, I will kill you."
He hadn't expected this statement to elicit much response. He wasn't disappointed. She just laughed. "Is that so? You know, I met Wesker long before you."
She didn't even turn around to say this, so he couldn't get a good read on her expression. Probably wouldn't have done him much good even if he could, though. The woman likely didn't have any obvious tells.
As for her claim, Krauser figured it was anyone's guess how long this bitch had been in the game. But how long she'd been around didn't matter – when it came to years of service, quality counted far more than quantity.
"We'll see soon enough if you did," was all he said as she walked away, raising a hand in farewell.
"Yeah," she said, and her tone suggested her mind was already somewhere else. "We'll see."
Krauser stared after her and scoffed. What a piece of work. He wouldn't mind killing her in the slightest.
That said, he had other things to think about. Other targets.
He'd made his peace with killing Leon. Though he'd been resistant to the idea initially on account of their past camaraderie, he'd come to accept that his old ally was simply another cog in a machine far too broken to produce anything of value. No, their partnership was a thing of the past. It was time to look to the future.
Then there was the doctor. It was pretty obvious he'd thrown his lot in with Leon. Furthermore, he'd no doubt been made aware that he'd been dealing with bioterrorists, and given the man's sudden trend towards moral behavior, that could be problematic for them if he was allowed to escape and spread what he'd learned. Oh, no. If he wasn't for Umbrella, he was a liability, and would need to go as well. No tears to shed there, though Krauser had to admit the man could have been a worthy ally.
He didn't like the idea of killing the girls. While he had grown largely callous to the inevitability of civilian casualties through his years of service, he had always tried to avoid it when possible. Of course, Salazar and Mendez were both dead, as would Saddler be by the end of all this, so it was possible the Grahams wouldn't need to die after all. Hell, given how far Leon had gotten them, and if Saddler went down soon enough, it was possible they could even have their Plagas removed before the things reached critical growth, and be dropped off on the mainland once everything else was wrapped up here. And he didn't see why he shouldn't be able to squeeze in a little alone time with the youngest before returning to base.
Oh, he wouldn't mind that at all.
She won't want you. She'll be terrified of you, and she'll hate you for killing her protectors. Are you really willing to—
He shook his head as he made for the exit. He'd dash over to his weapons cache on the roof of the lab and grab his spare shotgun before retrieving Ashley. He'd been forced to leave his Striker behind when Leon had ambushed, which really fucking rankled him. He swore to God, if any of those Ganados had touched it, he'd be using them for target practice. He dropped from the radio tower to the bridge, not bothering with the ladder, and sprinted for the building. He launched himself into the air, grabbing onto a windowsill about three-quarters of the way up the building – a good twenty foot jump – and used this to propel himself the rest of the way to the roof.
He savored the sensation; that raw, brute strength was intoxicating. With the power of the Plaga at his disposal, all of them…Ada, Leon, Saddler, Sera…all of them would be a piece of cake. Then, once they were out of the way, the Sample. Then the girls.
Then her.
Wesker wasn't happy to hear about Ada's intervention on the girl's behalf. What makes you think he'll be more understanding of your sudden, merciful impulses?
"Shut up," he rumbled quietly as he reached his supplies, kneeling to flip open the bag and sort through it.
Face it, he'll order you to kill them just to simplify things. So what then? You reach the girl, covered head to toe in the blood of her friends and sister, rape her, then—
"Shut up—" he snarled quietly. He was no longer rooting through his bag. He wasn't focusing on what was in front of him. His pulse was beating thickly in his ears, and he got the sudden urge to start flipping his knife. It was a tic.
You didn't kill Salazar because Wesker wanted you to. You killed him because he disgusted you. How are you any different?
He raised his left fist into the air to bring it down on the stone beneath him. He hadn't thrown a blow in anger since his youth, but he was ready to do it now, because his inner fucking monologue would NOT SHUT—
He spotted movement out of the corner of his eye, and froze himself. Someone was climbing the radio tower.
His lip twitched. He couldn't for the life of him figure who that was, unless…
Unless the doctor had a thermal scope stashed somewhere. And why wouldn't he? He'd known what he'd need to kill the Regenerators if they ever got loose, and you knew full well he favors high-precision rifles.
Krauser retreated behind a ledge to survey the new arrival. Even if the doctor had a thermal scope stashed in the lab somewhere, he and Leon shouldn't have been able to traverse the facility that quickly, not with the girl in tow. Try as she might to keep up and help out, she slowed them down by simple dint of being precious cargo. They had to check their every move, scout out every position before allowing her forward. Their ability to move in combat was greatly hampered by their need to keep her covered and protected, which increased overall fight time. Not to mention the fact that they had to keep their default speed to a walk instead of a run. She was a tough, ballsy, resourceful little civilian, but she was still a civilian.
The figure had reached the top of the stairs and slid around the corner before Krauser could get his binoculars out. And because of the tint of the windows, he couldn't see inside as the figure worked the controls. He'd just have to wait until they came out, and when they did…
Krauser pulled out his knife and started flipping it. If it was Leon, then Ashley was temporarily out of his reach again. There was no way to loop around to the storage room and retrieve the girl without running into his old comrade, and while he could theoretically just fight him here and now, it would be problematic for several reasons.
First, mobility. They'd be confined to fighting in a series of small rooms and hallways, and close-quarters combat was where Leon really shone. The man was as slippery as an eel, and that magnum of his was nothing to scoff at. Hell, even his knifework was something Krauser would have to be wary of, though he was reasonably certain that, with his newfound powers, he'd finally be able to outdo his old ally in terms of speed.
The doctor was also a complicating factor. He'd proven himself to be far more combat capable than could have been expected, and Krauser wondered where in the hell he'd acquired his skills. He was deadly with both a pistol and a rifle, and would be on the sidelines providing Leon with support through the whole encounter.
There was also the girl to worry about. He'd been having trouble controlling the Ganados in this area, and they were under orders to kill the girl. If Leon and Luis were both distracted fighting him, and she ran off so she wouldn't get caught up in the crossfire, then there was a very real possibility of her being killed. What's more, she might even step in to try and help her heroes, in which case a stray bullet from any of them could take her out.
And then there was all the valuable data. Bullets flying everywhere, flash grenades going off left and right, not to mention the hand-to-hand combat…yeah, every room or hallway they entered would end up trashed, and Ada was under orders to extract as much data from this place as possible for Wesker. Krauser didn't care about the bitch's record, but he wasn't about to compromise the data she was after on account of his personal distrust of her. Wesker wanted that intel, Wesker was going to get that intel.
The figure came out of the building. It was Leon. And as he turned to slide down the ladder, Krauser saw his Striker on his back.
He ducked further behind cover and swore. Somehow, Leon had managed to rip through the base faster than he by all rights should have been able to, which effectively put Ashley back in his custody. As the man slid down the ladder and ran back towards the lab, Krauser found himself positively fuming with frustration. Frustration over Ada, frustration over Leon, frustration over the mission, frustration over his shotgun, frustration over the girl – he was supposed to have her delivered by now—
Well, you knew Saddler wasn't going to give you the Sample in return for her anyways. What's the loss, really?
"SHUT UP!" He roared into the wind as it whipped across the rooftop. "SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT—"
Beep!
His radio was going off.
He took a moment to collect himself. Just a moment. It didn't do to keep Wesker waiting. He sucked in a deep breath, expelled it, and picked up the call.
"Krauser, report."
He did so without inflection. "The meeting with Ada just concluded. I had the oldest Graham held in a storage room in the lab, but Leon intercepted before I could get back to her. I can't kill him without causing excessive damage to the lab, which Ada has yet to scour for information, so I'm allowing him to regain custody of the girl. I'm setting up an ambush for him in the Ruins, and following that I'll track down Saddler and retrieve the Sample myself if I can't get it in exchange for the Grahams."
"Excellent. Though if you have a chance to kill Leon beforehand, please take it. He did beautifully in disposing of Salazar for us, but he's outlived his usefulness. As for Ada, what is your take on her?"
Krauser's expression did not shift. "Unchanged. I still believe she's duplicitous, and if she has any reason to double cross you, she'll take it. I'll have difficulty keeping her in line with everything else on my plate."
"I knew you two would make a wonderful team. If you come to blows, do be sure to retrieve her equipment. The data she's gathering will prove useful to my research. Oh, and as for the doctor…"
Krauser said, "Leon's undoubtedly informed him of us. He knows too much. I'll take him out as well."
Wesker nodded. "Though do be sure to make him a final offer. His expertise on las Plagas would be invaluable. Let him know that death isn't his only option."
"Yes, sir. Anything else?"
"Yes. That girl, the youngest one, Aurelleah…"
Krauser's eye twitched. "Yes?"
"Kill her sister, but bring her back alive. I want her for the lab."
Krauser hesitated only a beat before replying, but in that beat he really considered what that order meant. Ending up in one of Wesker's labs was a fate infinitely worse than death. Indeed, death was the best thing you could hope for in most cases, and while his experiments did tend to have an extremely high mortality rate, most of them were far from quick or painless.
"Yes, sir."
Wesker paused, staring at him for a long, quiet moment. Then he said, "Did I detect a hint of hesitation in your answer, Krauser?"
Damn. He'd thought his hesitation too short to be noticeable. Evidently not. He did not reply.
Wesker tilted his head curiously, then began chuckling. "Heavens, everyone seems to be falling head over heels for this girl. What is it about her, I wonder, that makes people so utterly want to preserve her?"
Krauser scowled and protested. "I'm not—"
But Wesker raised a hand to silence him, still chuckling, so he fell silent. "Never you fear, she isn't going to end up like the last batch of lab rats. In fact, if my theory is correct, I daresay she'll have quite a life ahead of her. And if I'm wrong, well…such subjects won't be uncommon. If she suits your fancy, perhaps I'll just leave her to you. All the more reason to bring her back alive. Any questions?"
"No, sir."
"Very well. Good hunting."
Beep!
Krauser stood, overlooking the compound for several minutes, processing. This game was drawing quickly to a close. By day's end, it would likely be over.
He returned to his pack. He'd intended to grab his spare shotgun, but instead he found himself picking up his trusty TMP. Probably a good idea – it wouldn't be a good idea to underestimate his old comrade.
He took this, leapt down to the walkway, and dropped down to the ground beyond that. He knew where the group would most likely head if they were going the way Krauser thought they were going. He'd wait for them up ahead.
He took a moment to look at the sky before ducking into the next building. The clouds were so thick that he hadn't the foggiest idea where the sun was…but where it was now didn't really matter, did it? No, all that mattered was where it would fetch up. It was sinking, and sometime within the next eight hours, it would dip below the horizon at last.
Krauser was tired. This mission had gone on long enough, and he intended to be in his own bed at some point tonight.
And where will she be when that happens?
He rubbed his brow. When the sun set, Aurelleah Graham would be spending the rest of her life firmly under someone's thumb: His…or Wesker's.
As he walked into the next building, shoving a Ganado off a catwalk out of nothing but weary, bitter pique, Krauser realized that he didn't know which one was worse.
OoO
Yay, Regenerators! They do just want hugs. Too bad Leon isn't a huggy person. I was tempted to just title this chapter 'Yandere' for multiple reasons.
I'm very happy. I'm writing the epilogues of the story now. Still lots of minor changes and edits I want to make to the last few chapters, but those won't take long. Then I'll be off to the next one. I do have a pretty busy schedule for next week, so I don't see myself getting tons of writing done, but that's alright. I have nearly a month of chapters stored up still. Maybe.
Anywho, I'm glad everything's been going well so far! Thank you, Phoenix, for your newest review, and welcome to my newest followers :D I'll see you in a few days for more fun stuff!
Best,
The Topaz Dragon