13
Leon and Claire made their way swiftly down the flights of stairs, sometimes jumping three or four steps to try and make their decent to floor eighteen quicker. It was only five floors away, but the decent felt painfully slow to Claire, knowing her brothers life was on the line. She pushed herself to keep up with Leon - as he crashed through the doors ahead- but Claire suddenly crashed into his back after the ex agent had come to an abrupt stop. He planted his feet, and brought an arm back to stop her from tumbling ahead
"Claire" he whispered urgently
She followed his line of sight to the hissing mass further up the corridor, and felt her heart miss a beat. A voice crackled over distant speakers
Enjoy the next phase... Wesker taunted
All four lickers turned to the sound, and let out a harrowing screech as they attacked the speakers as one
"Damn it..." Claire cried under her breath, noticing the signs for the control room beyond the deadly creatures.
"Maybe there's another way around" Leon whispered back. The pair slowly turned, and the unmistakable sound of more lickers came from the stairwell entrance
"Are you fucking kidding me!" Claire growled frustrated, then she felt a warm hand take hers, and she turned to face the ex agent. Leon brought a finger up to his lips, and gave her hand a comforting squeeze, then he began to pull her slowly away from the entrance, and faced the crowded corridor
"Are you ready for this?" he whispered so low that she almost missed what he had said.
Claire's eyes fell on his, and she responded by squeezing his hand back.
Chris ran hastily down the corridor, straining his hearing to make sure the tyrant continued the pursuit. He knew by memory that he should be closing in on the pit, and was glad for it after feeling the strain from the chase. As Chris ran, he heard the speakers crackle to life
Are you tired Chris? I hope our little game isn't going to end already...
"Don't worry Wesker, I've got more than enough energy left for you!"
Is that so...I'm willing to bet dearest Claire also has plenty of energy, shall I go and play with her instead?
Chris skidded to a halt, looking for the nearest camera
"If you lay a hand on her Wesker, I WILL tear you apart with my bare hands!"
The doors further down the hall burst open, and the tyrant came crashing through. Chris cursed for allowing himself to be baited so easily, and for losing precious seconds. The tyrant locked it's deadly gaze on its target, and broke into a run.
Chris pushed himself onwards, with Wesker's cold laughter sounding impossibly loud as it echoed off the walls.
Claire lowered her foot carefully, almost forgetting to breathe, as Leon led her slowly around the deadly licker. The thing lashed it's tongue around, as if tasting the air. Claire pushed forward, but flinched and stilled, when the creature let out an ear piercing screech. Claire risked turning her head towards the creature with her heart beating wildly in her ears, and as she did so, the licker lashed it's long tongue around her ankle.
Claire suddenly cried out, catching the attention of the other lickers further behind. Leon sprung into action, quickly drawing his magnum and firing into the lickers exposed brain, and then, immediately firing another round into the tongue that gripped Claire's ankle. The bullet tore through the tongue, and Leon pushed Claire ahead, screaming at her to run when he switched to his rifle, and turned his aim onto the oncoming lickers.
She ran ahead quickly and stormed through the doors, Claire glanced upwards, and noticed the signs for the control room. She took a hard left, and crashed through another set of doors, but cried out suddenly when she felt someone grasp a handful of her hair
"Dear heart!" The voice snarled
Claire fought back viciously, even though pain ripped through her scalp, but halted her resistance, when Wesker suddenly gripped her by the throat. Panic gripped Claire as she struggled to breathe, and saw that Wesker had a syringe pointing towards her in his other hand
"Hold still, my dear. We wouldn't want to scratch up those perfect features..."
The door to the control room suddenly burst open
"Not this time, You bastard!" Leon growled under his breath, throwing his back against the doors, and then bringing the magnum up
Wesker moved quickly at the blast, but the bullet still grazed his cheek and caused him to stumble back slightly. Claire took the opportunity to push away from her captor, and raced towards Leon's outstretched hand.
"I'm glad you've joined us!" Wesker spat, as he wiped the blood from the graze "allow me to rip the beating heart from your chest, and present it to your lady love!"
Claire's hand made contact with Leon's, and he pulled her tight against his body, thrusting himself forwards whilst simultaneously pulling the door along with him, allowing the hungry lickers beyond to stampede through. Leon turned, shielding them both with the door and wall.
Leon hoped his plan had worked amid the sounds of the chaos, and silently worried that if the lickers decided to turn their way, then would the meagre protection be enough to stem the giant claws
Would it be enough to protect Claire
After pushing her into the corner, he realised that if it came down to it, then at least they'd have to go through him first. A sacrifice he'd be willing to make, if it meant he'd never have to witness the horror of losing her again.
The fading sounds of claws on tile pulled the ex agent from his anxious thoughts, and caused Leon to risk a glance around the edge of the door. He let out a sigh of relief that his gamble seemed to have paid off. Wesker had no control over the lickers
"You gonna let me out now?" Claire breathed almost against his chest. Leon brought his attention back to Claire, and realised he had somehow managed to push her further into the small space between the door and wall. Sensing an opportunity to lighten the mood , he replied
"Bored of your new toy already, Redfield?" he quipped with a raised brow, and relaxed his death grip from the door handle
Claire brushed close past the ex agent " Hardly" she grinned "we make it out of this alive, and I'll show you how much I like to play, Kennedy"
Claire smiled to herself upon hearing him clear his throat, and made her way towards the control panel. Claire scanned the setup, and Leon approached her side, hitting a switch. Claire turned her head to the sound, and watched as the control room doors shut themselves, and a latch locked into place.
"Why didn't Wesker lock himself in here if it was that simple?" she questioned aloud
"You and Chris are his only concern. He knew you were close and lured you towards him with the lickers, luckily for us, his plan bit him in the ass"
"Do you think the lickers hurt him?" Claire questioned, as she looked at the black blood splattered on the floor
"I don't think it's gonna be that easy" Leon sighed, as he scanned the control panel " but at least we can take his toys away" he stated, and pointed out a panel that listed all the cells that contained a range of B.O.W's from their past. Several had already been opened, but many more still stood contained.
Claire noticed that each monitor had a button below labelled 'purge'. Claire hit the button below one, and watched in satisfaction as a cell full of pale heads suddenly burnt up. Leon turned back to the main control panel, as Claire continued her extermination.
"Chris is almost at the pit" he called to Claire, and she raced back over to watch the feed
"These buttons control the big doors" she stated, pointing "Im glad everything is conveniently labelled, guess you can't afford to mess up in a place like this..." Claire grinned
The pair watched anxiously, as Chris jumped into the pit, and started picking off zombies carefully. More turned away from the dark tunnel at the sounds of the shots, and started to advance.
Claire. Drop the doors! Chris shouted into the darkness
Claire hit the button, and the mighty doors began their slow decent. The pair watched the feed as the tyrant finally entered the vast room. He approached the edge of the pit and looked down at Chris
"C'mon you big, ugly bastard. Jump!"
Chris quickly decided the tyrant needed a bit of encouragement, so he shot a few rounds off at the beast. It did the trick, and the monster took a leap into the pit, crushing several zombies beneath it's great boots
Chris! Get out, now! Claire's voice called over the speakers as the great door finally closed, crushing several more of the undead beneath it. Chris cut a path quickly and headed for the grated walls.
Claire and Leon watched Chris tackle the wall, as the huge amount of the undead started to overwhelm the tyrant, when a movement from another camera feed caught Leon's eye.
Wesker was making his way swiftly towards the pit.
"Claire, stay here!" Leon stated, and he made his way towards the exit of the room
"Wait...what?" then she spotted Wesker sprinting on the feed "oh no, this is not how it's gonna work now, Leon! Don't you dare start wrapping me up in cotton wool, I have enough of that with Chris!"
Leon turned, and took her by the arm
"Claire, I'm not gonna deny that I don't want you getting hurt, but this isn't about being overprotective. We need someone here, but we can't leave Chris to face Wesker alone either. Wesker doesn't care about me, but he will rip this place apart to get at one of you, which means he'll be completely focused on Chris, making it easier for me to get in a killing shot"
Claire sighed. Leon made a good point, but she still wanted a piece of the asshole that had caused her family and friends so much anguish. But more importantly, a part of her wanted to be there to protect the ones she loved...
"Okay" she agreed reluctantly "I'll offer whatever support I can from here"
Leon went to turn away, but Claire grabbed his arm and turned him back "don't do anything stupid, like dying. Or we're gonna fall out"
"And miss out on what I might have waiting for me later? Not likely..." Leon grinned back, and pulled her in for a kiss to her forehead, which was over far too quickly for Claire's liking when he pulled away, released the locks, and disappeared through the door
"Be careful..." Claire said to herself quietly, as she stared at the empty space Leon had occupied only moments before.
She returned to lock the doors, but swung back, raising her pistol, when a feminine voice and figure emerged from the shadows of the room
"My, my. How easily you let him call the shots, Claire. If I were you, I'd put your foot down sooner rather than later..."
"Ada?" Claire gasped