Leon was doing a little worse for wear, having patched himself up since the last incident, but had accidentally stepped on a creaky floorboard while under a licker. The slashes were still aching and bleeding, but the bandages were doing their job to soak up the blood. Still, he felt like he could use a little pick me up.

His last encounter with the tyrant still lingered in the back of his mind, still unable to make sense of it. Why was it so insistent on him not eating the plants, that it prioritized smashing them and scolding him over crushing his head?

It still left him baffled, but he was thankful for the mercy regardless. He hadn't seen it since, but he hoped its attitude had not changed.

Speaking of the herbs, as he made his way into the next room, he spotted a pot on a self. A green herb. Leon sighed in relief as he plucked the plant from its pot, and started to stuff it in his mouth.

And then, at the worst possible timing ever, the door at the other side of the room opened, as the tyrant stepped through it.

Both froze as they made eye contact, or well, the tyrant seemed to pause, as Leon found himself feeling like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

The tyrant looked down at the leaves in Leon's mouth, then back into his eyes, his constant neutral expression shifting into one of fury. And with that, the tyrant began to stomp towards him at rapid pace, as Leon broke out of his red-handed stupor and bolted.

He was fucked, he was so very fucked.

Knowing that fighting was useless, Leon tried his best to lose him, taking sharp turns around corners, and trying to put as many doors between them as possible. But no matter what he tried to do, it seemed unshakeable, and moving at a pace faster than usual.

Leon was starting to tire out, and it was gaining on him.

For every footstep behind him, his heart beat times three. He couldn't outrun him. This wasn't some video game where he had infinite stamina, he was just a human, and the tyrant certainly wasn't.

He felt the gloved fingers ghost the back of his neck, and with that found one more surge of adrenaline within him, dashing just out of his grasp. Death was so close, and he was running on borrowed time. He needed something, anything to put between him and the relentless force directly behind him.

He reached for a doorknob, hoping that maybe he'd be able to hold or barricade it closed for a little while, anything to give him a chance to catch his breath, when a huge gloved hand wrapped around his neck. The whole hand was big enough to wrap all the way around, as Leon was yanked back and off his feet. It held him up by his throat with ease, as if Leon was simply a doll, as he gasped and choked for air.

He was barely able to fight back, exhausted from their chase, only giving a few kicks in the air, and weakly grasping at the hand holding him.

This was it, he was going to die, he had used up his last knife on a zombie he didn't want to waste his bullets on. Leon braced himself for it to squeeze, for it to crush him in its grasp.

But it didn't. Instead, it took its free hand, and tried to force Leon's mouth open. He didn't fight it, but still felt confusion despite the stars starting to flicker in his sight. Seemingly pleased with his compliance, it prodded a finger inside, and began to pull out what remnants of the herb it could.

Oh, of course. Leon let out a laugh, which ended up coming out as a choking noise, thanks to his current constriction. Desperate to hopefully be able to breathe again, he tried to spit out what little bits he had left in his mouth. It was hard though, as he didn't really have the breath to properly spit it out, but he hoped the monster appreciated the effort.

It seemed to work, thankfully, just as Leon could feel himself slipping into darkness, the tyrant nodded and prompted dropped him on the ground in a crumpled heap. Leon gasped for air, greedily gulping down the oxygen he so desperately needed.

The tyrant wasn't finished with him though. It leaned down, making sure Leon could see its scowl.

"What did I tell you?"

Leon couldn't help but whimper, throat sore and still lightheaded.

"To, to not eat the plants."

"Then don't."

Leon nodded, now hurting more than he did before he tried to eat the herb. Why, why did it have to care about what he ate? Why couldn't it instead but disappointed with his shoddy barricade job on the windows? Maybe give him a hand with that?

Instead, it decided to not let him eat the only plentiful healing aid he could find. Why?

The tyrant let out a sigh, one that sounded of both annoyance and disappointment.

"Use this next time, alright dear?"

It dropped a medkit on top of him, before leaving out the door Leon had been prevented from going through, leaving him alone in a pained lump on the floor. Leon clutched into the pot, as he let out a broken laugh.

He was alive, again, and this time it had even given him a medkit. What the fuck.