Disclaimer: CAPCOM owns 'Resident Evil'. I own my OC and make no profit from this.
The breeze was cool and refreshing as Alma exited the private jet used to fly them across the sea to Spain. It had been a little over a nine and a half-hour flight and she was eager to stretch her legs and get some fresh air.
"You coming?" her partner asked, hefting his duffel bag over his shoulder.
"Yeah. Just stretching," she replied, bending to pick up her suitcase though Leon beat her to it. "I can carry that."
"I've got it. You can repay the favor by chauffeuring me around," he said with a slight smile. "I'll navigate."
Alma rolled her eyes good-naturedly as the pair exited the hangar to where their vehicle was waiting. "Don't blame me if you die."
"I'm not scared. Rumor has it you're one of the best drivers in the Service."
"Oh? Who told you that?"
"Morris did. He speaks very highly of you, Ngyuen."
"He was the one who recruited me to the Secret Service after I left SWAT," she said, showing their passports and badges to the soldier standing beside the SUV.
"You were in SWAT?" he asked, loading their gear into the trunk after they were cleared to do so. "Why'd you leave?"
"It wasn't exactly voluntary," she muttered, a wave of shame and anger washing over her when That Memory reared its ugly head.
"Can I ask why?"
"You can but I don't particularly feel like telling you," it came out sounding a bit ruder than she had intended and she gave him an apologetic look.
"I understand. Sorry if I overstepped my bounds," Leon said, climbing into the passenger seat.
"You're fine. I'm just a bit of a bitch before I've been fully caffeinated," Alma replied, sliding behind the wheel. "Where are we going?"
"Huelva," her partner said, looking through his PDA. "We're going to be stationed there for the duration of our mission. We'll be meeting with the local police and they'll take us around to a few villages located in the region."
"Do they know about the situation?" Alma asked, putting the SUV in drive as they left the hangar.
"I've been told only a few people know about it. Mostly because we haven't determined who the kidnapper is," Leon stated. "It is the President's Daughter we're talking about."
"Don't remind me," Alma muttered quietly, hating herself just a little bit more.
"I didn't mean it like that-."
"I know. I'm just-I'm just mad at myself for letting it happen."
"You couldn't have prevented it. You did everything by the book," Leon tried to reassure her. "You didn't know it was going to happen."
Alma didn't reply, instead focusing on driving and tried her best to ignore the heavy weight settling in her chest.
It took a little over an hour for the two agents to reach Huelva. Alma pulled into the parking lot of the local police department, having been told they were meeting with the chief of police regarding their mission. As the SUV slowed to a stop, they spotted an officer exiting the building, making her way towards their vehicle.
"You must be Agent Kennedy and Agent Nguyen," she said while Alma and Leon climbed out of the SUV.
"That's right. And you are-?" Leon asked, extending his hand to the officer.
"My name is Anita Lopez. I am the Chief of Police here in Huelva. Welcome to Spain, though I wish you were visiting our gorgeous country under other circumstances," the older woman said solemnly, shaking both their hands. "I would like you both to know that I am willing to help with your investigation in any way I can."
"Thank you. Any help you can give us is appreciated," Alma said, allowing the officer to usher them inside the station, nodding to the officer at the front desk before Anita led them further back into the building into an office with her name outside the door.
"Alright then, shall we get down to business?" Anita asked, sitting behind her desk. "Outside of the major cities it's mostly farmland, hills, and rivers. There are a few farming villages in the region and they are not easily accessible."
"Do you have a map that shows the location of these villages?" Leon asked.
"As a matter of fact I do." Anita unfolded a map across her desk with four areas circled in red on it. "These are the villages that are inhabitable, the others haven't had people living there in well over ten to twenty years but there are still buildings and houses standing if you think your charge may be there."
"Which is furthest away?" Alma asked, placing her finger on said-circle.
"That would be Pueblo. It is a small farming village that sits at the base of a large fortress near the Gulf."
"A fortress you say?" Leon stated in surprise.
"Yes. From what I remember, a castellan lives there though he hasn't been seen in years. He may very well be dead in fact. No one knows," Anita shrugged, taking a sip of her coffee.
"Sounds like a good place to start. Secluded, easy access by boat," Alma said, exchanging a glance with Leon.
"Works for me," he nodded his agreement.
"If you'd like, I can arrange to have an officer or two drive you out to the village in the morning. It takes about four or five hours to get there, mostly because of the roads."
"Thank you. We have rooms at the inn for the evening so we'll be ready to roll out around four or five."
"We will?" Alma asked incredulously, giving him a sour look.
"Don't tell me you're one of those girls that need beauty sleep?"
"First off, I'm a woman, not a 'girl'. Second off, so what if I do?" Alma grumbled, resting a hand on her hip and giving him a sour look.
Leon wisely said nothing else, instead thanking the chief and folding up the map she had given them.
"I will have the officers meet you at five tomorrow morning then. I hope you find Miss Graham. I have a daughter her age and would be devastated if something like that happened to her. Best of luck you two."
"Thank you."
"Oh my gawd," Alma groaned, pressing the heels of her palms against her eyes when she heard her alarm clock begin blaring on the nightstand. "Is it seriously four already?"
Rolling onto her side, she glared blearily at the acid-green numbers reading 4:03 AM. Muttering curses under her breath Alma kicked the blankets off, climbing out of bed. She reluctantly went through her morning yoga routine, nearly falling asleep once more in a bālāsana pose.
After completing her routine Alma took a quick shower before throwing her duffel bag on the bed. Rifling through it she removed a pair of black tactical pants, a gray t-shirt, and her undergarments. Once she finished dressing she zipped up the sides of her tactical boots, making sure the laces were snug as well.
Alma smiled grimly down at her boots. They were the only good things she had left over from SWAT in her opinion. Trying not to dwell on That Memory any longer Alma finished blow drying her hair. She twirled a dark brown strand around her finger, looking at her reflection in the mirror. She hadn't realized it had gotten so long, the ends reaching just above her breasts.
Alma dragged a brush through her hair, tying it back in a ponytail before twisting it into a bun and securing it with a few bobby pins. When she felt she looked presentable enough Alma unlocked the attaché case that held her gear, withdrawing her vest, holster, belt pouch, first aid kit, ammunition, survival knife, and beloved Picador.
After fully outfitting herself for the day Alma tugged her dark gray pea coat over her shoulders, making sure her gun was concealed on her hip. She paused, hand hovering over the folder of information Simmons had given them before they left the States. She flipped it open, frowning when she picked up a recent photo of Ashley. Sighing, she tucked the photograph into her belt pouch before flipping off the lights in her room and headed downstairs to the lobby to meet with Leon.
The ride to Pueblo was relatively silent, save for the two officers arguing about what cassette tape to listen to. Alma had her headphones on, listening to her own music while Leon looked out the opposite window.
"Man, why do I always get the short end of the stick?" Officer Rodriguez grumbled, lacing his fingers behind his head as he looked out the passenger side window.
"You two are a long way from home. You have my sympathies," Officer Martinez told them, glancing in the rearview mirror at Alma. "But tell me senorita, what's a beauty like you doing all the way out here in the middle of nowhere?"
"Shut up Gabe. You have a wife, remember?" Rodriguez scolded him.
"I try not to, honestly," he replied with a sheepish grin, turning his attention back to the road.
"You guys know what our mission is about. We're to search for the President's missing daughter," Leon spoke up for the first time since they had begun travelling to Pueblo.
"So two agents was all America could spare?"
"Until we determine who the kidnapper is, we can only initiate very small covert operations," Alma replied. "No sense in letting them know we're here snooping around before we've actually found her."
"Okay, okay. You make a convincing case," Martinez said as the jeep made its way shakily across a wooden bridge. "Just up ahead is the village."
"I'll go have a look around," Leon stated, opening the door when the jeep rolled to a stop.
"We'll stay and watch the car. Don't want any parking tickets," Rodriguez said, getting comfortable in his seat.
"Right, parking tickets," Leon muttered with a roll of his eyes, eyeing the two-story house up ahead. "Looks like there's a truck blocking the road."
"Maybe whoever lives there owns it," Alma suggested, unbuckling her seatbelt. "Either way we won't be able to drive any further until it gets moved."
"You sit tight. I see smoke coming from the chimney so someone's home. Let me talk to them first."
"If you say so," Alma replied. "You're running this little salvage op. You've got five minutes before I come in after you."
"Yes ma'am," Leon winked playfully at her, shutting the door before heading off towards the house. Alma rolled her eyes with a smile of her own, watching him knock on the door before entering a few moments later.
She frowned, an uneasy feeling creeping up her spine as she rested her hand on her gun, glancing at her watch. When the four minute mark hit without any sign of the honey-haired agent Alma withdrew her Picador from its holster and checked the magazine to make sure it was loaded properly.
Suddenly, gunshots rang out from the house before going silent.
"Aw, fuck-," she swore, scrambling to open the door before hearing an engine roar to life.
"Get out of the car!" Alma's head snapped up as she saw the truck that had been blocking the road ahead had begun barreling towards them.
"Fuck-," she swore once more, letting out a startled gasp when the truck slammed into the front of the jeep, pushing it back towards the side of the canyon at an alarming rate. Alma threw her body weight against the door, shouldering it open as she hit the ground with a grunt. Both the truck and the jeep went over the side, taking out the wooden bridge when they did so.
"Rodriguez? Martinez?" she called, tugging her gun from its holster and flipping the safety off. She didn't see either officer and hoped they hadn't been in the jeep when it went over. However, it became quite apparent that she had more important things to worry about as three men, dressed in raggedy clothing and wielding an array of sharp, pointy farming implements came running at her.
"Freeze!" she barked, taking aim. When they kept advancing she called it out it Spanish. "Basta!"
When they showed no sign of doing so Alma inhaled sharply, taking aim and dropped each man with a round through the head. She lowered her gun, frowning slightly before hearing the front door creak open.
"Kennedy?" she called cautiously. A few moments later said-agent came into view, looking about as worried as she felt.
"Are you okay Alma?" he asked, giving her a once-over.
"I'm fine. Are you?"
"Yeah, where are the officers?"
"I don't know," she sighed, holstering her gun. "Someone drove that truck right towards the jeep."
"Shit," Leon murmured, running a hand through his hair in agitation.
"What happened?" she asked while they started backtracking towards the bridge.
"Hostile local. You?"
"Same," Alma replied, nodding towards the men on the ground. "Had no choice."
"Yeah," Leon sighed, looking over the side of the ravine. "I don't see any bodies. Maybe they did get out."
"I hope so. Any word from Hunnigan?"
"Said to keep heading for the village. Guy in there flipped when I showed him Ashley's picture. Maybe that means she's around here."
"I just hope we won't have to massacre the entire village to get to her."
"That makes two of us but we will do what's necessary to save her."
"I know," Alma said quietly, glancing over her shoulder before her eyes widened. "Where are they?"
"Where are who?" Leon asked.
"The men, the bodies. There were three of them but they're gone!" Alma exclaimed, rushing forward.
Leon remained silent, watching her kneel by a small pool of blood, disbelief etched all over her face. "Ngyuen, I have a question for you."
"What?" she snapped over her shoulder, unable to get her mind around what had happened.
He inhaled a deep breath and locked his eyes on hers. "What do you know about the Umbrella Corporation…?"
And it's done. Gosh, sorry for the late update. I've been super busy with Real Life so thank you to those that have favorited/followed this and those that have reviewed. Hopefully it won't be too long between this and the next update. Cheers. Oh, and sorry for any grammar/spelling booboos.
