As Cold Blood Runs

by Fuuraibou

(Complete Prequel to Eyes of the Beholder) In a short matter of weeks, Leon Kennedy's life will be shattered as he discovers love, hate, fear, and even himself in a struggle for his own life.

3. Rolling Thunder

As Cold Blood Runs

Chapter 3: Rolling Thunder

You all know that I don't claim to own RE or any of their characters, but the storyline and any characters and monsters I create are mine.

Wake-up Call: 2:00 AM

My watch alarm began to sound, and I sat up from my cot on the floor, trying to remember where I was. The previous night's events began to flood back as I saw Claire lying next to me. Chris was crashed on the couch, Sherry and Lily were in Amy's room, and Ark was kicked back in the recliner. Rott, well, Rott decided to sleep in the truck for some reason. I stood up, and walked into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee. I grabbed a cup, and walked over to the pot. As always, I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings and was startled by a hand on my shoulder. One that felt like it would crush my shoulder.

"Good morning, Leon," Chris ruefully said. I was in for it now.

"Uh...good morning?" I stuttered.

"You just couldn't listen to me, could you? You just had to go and get something started, didn't you?" he forcefully whispered.

"What the hell do you mean?" I asked.

"You know damn good and well what I mean! I know about you and Claire," he answered.

"I don't even know what you're talking about," I said.

"Yeah, right. Come on Leon! First, I saw the way she looked at you all night, and when we all fell asleep, she was more than willing to crawl down right next to you," he told me.

"You know what? You're right Chris," I said, moving right into his face.

"If you only knew what she's gone through..." he began.

"You know what. I have. I have had someone that I love die in my arms. I do know what she's going through, and I guarantee that she won't go through it again," I was almost shouting.

"I'm going to ask you one question, and you better be praying to God that you get it right," he warned. Now I was confused. "Do you love her?"

I was held suprised by the question. "Uh...yeah," I said. "I do love her."

"I don't want any of this 'uh' bullshit," he said. "I want to know if you'll be there when she needs you."

"Yes, I will Chris. I love your sister," I told him again.

"You seem like a good enough guy to me, in the short time I've known you. Just, don't disappoint me. But most of all, don't disappoint her," he said as he walked out the front door. I was held aghast. Why wasn't my head rolling in the floor? I turned back to my cup of coffee and walked back into the living room. Claire was still sleeping in the floor. I knelt down by here and cupped my hand around her cheek. She smiled and opened her eyes.

"Morning," she whispered as she sat up.

"Come on," I said. "Let's take a walk before the others get up."

"Where's Chris? We don't need to run into him," she sorrowfully said.

"Too late. I already talked to him. He actually seems fine with it," I cheerfully replied.

"Well, then. Let's go!" she said as she put on her coat. We headed out the door and down the street. It was a typically cold morning in mid-January, but neither of us minded. It was just a great relief to be out with her, and I'm pretty sure she felt the same way. We didn't say too much, we just walked hand-in-hand on the moonlit sidewalk. Finally, Claire said something.

"What exactly did Chris tell you?" she concerningly said.

"Just wanted to know if I truly loved you," I answered.

"Well, you do, don't you?" she asked. We stopped, and I looked into her eyes.

"You know that I do. And that I'll never let anything happen to you," I told her. She didn't say anything. She just moved closer, and I kissed her. It seemed like an eternity: but in a good way. One of those feelings that you don't want to end, but unfortunately, it did. We stood there trapped in each gaze, and I didn't want to move, but the cell phone in my back pocket started to ring. I pulled it out and answered.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Looks like the early bird gets a little more than the worm." Great. It was Ark.

"What's going on, Ark?" I asked.

"Well, everyone's up, wondering where the hell you two love birds are," he answered.

"On the corner of 5th and Mason, near the park," I answered.

"OK, well, we ain't coming after you, so you need to get your asses back here," he said.

"Yeah, we're on our way," I said, annoyed at Ark. He always could ruin anything he meddled in.

"Well, we better be heading back, we gotta meet Stevens in 1 1/2 hours," I told Claire. She nodded, and we headed back, hand-in-hand.

Battle Plan: 2:30 AM

"Well, looks like we're ready to go," I said as I closed the back of the Explorer. Dad stood on the porch, and looked at me concerningly.

"Lee, you sure you going to be all right?" he asked.

"We'll be fine, Dad. Please take good care of the kids until we get back," I said as I hugged him.

"Just take care of yourselves. Remember what I said last night," he said.

"I will Dad. I will," I answered. I turned back towards the Ford, and looked back at my father.

"Those kids better be in good order when I get back," I said. I hopped in the back next to Claire, and we pulled out. Chris was driving, and well, it was an interesting ride. Thank God that we had taken the alleyways and there weren't any police officers out.

"Think you're going fast enough?" Ark sarcastically asked.

"Nope, but I'll happily oblige!" Chris joyfully shouted, as he strained the Ford's V8 just a little harder. I took a peek over his shoulder at the speedometer, and it had cleared 120. Chris was acting like a little kid with a new toy, but he was 28 and had 3 other people in a powerful vehicle. Claire's face had gone pale white, and Ark looked like he was about to crap his pants.

"Slow it down a little, Chris. We're going to have to get out onto the highway here in a minute," I said.

"Jesus, you guys just don't want to have ANY fun!" he shouted as he removed his foot from the accelerator. I breathed a sigh of relief, and sat back next to Claire.

"You ok?" I asked her. Her face was finally getting some color back into it.

"Yeah, Chris has driven this way for most of his life, and I still can't get used to it," she laughed as she curled up against me. But of course, Ark had to put in his two cents.

"No horseplay back there you two," he mockingly warned. Obviously Chris thought he was serious because he glanced in the mirror to make sure. Claire shook her head, and I slid over behind Ark.

"You realize that I'm going to have to pay you back," I warned.

"What the hell? You all ready did, plus more! Don't you remember Kristi Andrews?" he asked. And a memory flooded back to me. Kristi Andrews was Ark's girlfriend back in our academy days. I had snuck into her dorm to try to scare her. But somehow, Ark was mysteriously there, and I snuck up behind her chair(I was all dressed in black), and held a rubber knife to her throat. She freaked, and pushed the chair back and put me into the wall. She grabbed me by my hood, and kicked me in the balls. She then threw Ark and me out, and last I heard, she had restraining orders out on the both of us, thinking he had something to do with it. I began laughing as I remember.

"You shouldn't have given me the key then, dumbass! You knew that I would pull something!" I laughed. Claire looked confused, and I tried to explain.

"So, I'm guessing you two were the class clowns," she said.

"Not to mention 1st and 2nd in our class," I said.

"Do we have to go through this again?!" he shouted. Chris had grown irritated with Ark and I.

"If you children think you can end this squabble, then we just may actually get inside the building," I noticed that the Explorer had stopped, and Stevens were waiting for us at the door. We got out of the jeep, Chris with our weapons in a large duffel bag and Claire had our medical supplies on her back in a backpack.

"Glad to see that you all made it," Stevens said. "We got a chopper on the roof, ready to go." We entered the building, and took the elevator up. Cramped as always. But the ride was a longer, and only God knew when it would end. But, it ended, and we all piled out. A large combat transport chopper was there, and four others (3 guys and a woman) stood in combat camoflague, while our team was decked in all black. I noticed another woman in the cockpit of the chopper.

"OK guys. Departure in one hour. We have also dispatched another team to assist you in the recovery of the G-Virus," Stevens began. "First, to my left," he said, indicating a tall brown headed man, "is Greg Turner. Greg is a specialist in heavy armaments and paramillitary operations." Greg came over and shook our hands.

"Hello," was all he said.

"Next," Stevens began, signaling for a shorter, but not all that short, blonde headed woman, "is Sarah Chase, a paramedic, biochemist, and geographer." She didn't say much, but went over by Greg.

"Then," he said as another tall guy, a Mexican, or some one from South America, stepped forward. "is Carlos Oliveria. Carlos, an ex-weapons expert for Umbrella's Biohazard Countermeasure Service,is our new computer and communications expert." Carlos seemed to ge a good guy and walked over and shook our hands. But Chris looked a little uneasy.

"Nice to finally meet ya," he said. "Heard a lot about you."

"OK," Stevens said, and the last guy, a short redheaded guy stepped forward. "Meet Nicolas Garrett. He is our covert combat expert, and will prove to be to some assistance to you." He gave us a smile and stood over with the others.

"Finally, our pilot is a familiar face, at least to one of you." he said, as the pilot, a medium-height woman with short brownish-reddish hair and paralyzing brown eyes stepped out and caught wind of our group. She saw Chris and amazingly began spazzing out.

"Chris?! CHRIS!" she shouted and ran over to Chris. She jumped up and threw her arms around his neck. He returned the hug, and he looked pleased.

"Jill, how've you been?" he asked.

"Well, none the worst for wear. So you're the guy that Marshall Stevens was talking about," she said. Stevens gathered our little band, which had gone from 4 to 9 in ten minutes, around.

"OK, I'm not going up there with you all, so you're recieving assignments right now. Kennedy, Ms. Redfield, Thompson, and Oliveria will be 'Recovery Team'. They will be the ones who will actually break into the specimin locker and retrieve the G-Virus and the 'Genesis' information," Stevens ordered. Claire and I were excited about the assignment, but of course, ol' Ark had to be Ark.

"I've got my eye on you two," he said in his worst Italian accent.

"Enough with the child's play," Stevens said. "Now, we will have two smaller teams. Chase, Turner, and Mr. Redfield will be 'Backup team.' It is your obligation to stay at the entrance of the locker and make sure that no agents of Bio-Port, in case our guys can't make it out before their first retreval team arrives, enter and have any access to the locker's contents. Valentine and Garrett will stay and man the chopper, in case that an early evac must take place."

"Sir, requesting permission to speak, sir!" Chris said with every sign of pure discipline.

"Granted," Stevens said.

"I've worked with Ms. Valentine before, and I would much rather her work with me than someone I don't know," he said sharply.

"Can't do, Redfield. She's the pilot, and therefore must stay at the chopper in case we have to pull out," he replied just as sharply. "Kennedy, you're designated squad leader. It's up to you to make sure that we get our guys in there and out as fast as possible." I was frightened by the assignment.

"Sir, I'm not necessarily experienced in a leadership role," I said, hoping he would assign Chris or one of these cronies he had chosen.

"You'll do fine," he said. "By the way, Mr. Redfield!"

"Yes sir?" Chris shouted.

"Can you fly a bird?" Stevens asked.

"Yes, I was a trained USAF pilot," Chris answered.

"Act as copilot until arrival. We need your kind of experience," Stevens said as he went back into the building.

"Yes, sir!" Chris said, with a slight hint of happiness in his voice.

Stormin' the Castle: 4:30 AM

"Ten minutes from landing!" Jill Valentine shouted back from the cockpit to us. Stevens four soldiers sat on one side, while Claire, Ark, and I sat on the other side. Claire had her fingers intertwined with mine, and I could tell she was worried. I touched her cheek, and she looked at me.

"What's wrong, baby?" I asked.

"I'm worried about what is going to happen. What if those Bio-Port guys show up early?" she said.

"Hey, you're going in there with me, and I told you this moring, I won't let anything happen to you," I assured her.

"OK, then. Make me a promise." she ordered.

"What?" I asked.

"If something happens in there, we make it out alive...together," she said. "Promise?" Man, she must really be worried.

"You bet," I told her.

"Hey, Leon," Ark said. "How the hell we going to get into Umbrella's main frame?"

"I'll take that one, senor," Carlos told him. "You remember, I was an officer in the UBCS. I'll use my password, and I can get us in."

"Wait just a sec, Carlos," Greg, the brown headed guy said. "You're with us, now. They've probably removed your password."

"No, not yet, amigo," he arrogantly said. "I broke into their company files yesterday, and I'm still listed in their personell database, as MIA."

"But if you use your password, won't it show our location?" Claire asked.

"No, it will just show that I've logged in to the network. It won't even show what I've accessed," he replied.

"2 minutes, get your shit together!" Chris shouted. Greg, Carlos, Sarah, and Nicolas pulled out their issued AK-47's and their Beretta 9mm. sidearms. I got into our weapons bag, and pulled out a double-barreled Remington 10ga. shotgun and my Desert Eagle magnum. I handed Claire a PR-70 grenade launcher with grenade rounds and flame napalms, and the Colt .45 revolver she found in the RPD building. I handed Ark a 12ga. pump Remington and my Ruger .44 semiautomatic pistol. Chris had his sawed-off double barreled shotgun and his own Beretta with him. I didn't know what Jill had, but there were some spare guns in the bag. Claire and Sarah both strapped on packs of medical supplies.

"30 seconds!" I felt the rotors begin slowing as the chopper began to drop.

"Landing!" The chopper touched ground and the engines quit. We all piled out, and gathered. We were about 100 yards from the chemical plant. It looked menacing, and with God-knows-who...or what...in it, why wouldn't it.

"OK, Mr. Squad leader, we ready?" Chris asked. Carlos had joined Ark, Claire, and me, and the others were ready to go also.

"Yep, let's move out." We began trudging through the snow that you knew would just be there in mid-January. I saw Nicolas back with Jill, and turned my attention ahead to the nearing facility. We soon arrived at the gates...the locked gates. I loaded my shotgun, and blasted it. The locks and chains willingly flew off of the gates.

"Shall we?" I asked my team, trying to keep the humor as I kicked the gate open. We stormed the grounds of the facility, but stopped dead in our tracks as we heard a blood-curdling howl.

"Hunters..." Chris said. I had no clue what a hunter was, but I didn't bother asking. I assumed that they were more of Umbrella's creations. I signaled for the team to move ahead. We kept sneaking up through the snow, and quickly arrived at the door. There was a small terminal, and Carlos opened a menu. He typed some stuff in, and pressed enter. The door slid open with a whoosh, and the interior of the facility looked like any other Umbrella facility. Sarah unravelled her map, and we stopped to take a look at it.

"OK, specimin locker is on this floor," she said.

"Thanks, Sarah. But where can we find the terminal to activate the self-destruct sequence?" I asked.

"What? That wasn't in briefing?" Greg shouted.

"No, I'm changing the plans. We'll get what Mick wants, and blow the place. I don't want this place to remain standing. I don't want ANYTHING remaining that can help Umbrella," I ordered.

"Yes, sir." Sarah said. "2nd Floor."

"OK, new assignments. Once Claire, Ark, Carlos, and I get out with the stuff; Greg, Sarah, Claire, and Ark will return to the chopper. Carlos, Chris, and I will activate the self destruct sequence," I ordered. Claire looked upset at the point that I wanted her out of the facility when I planned to blow it up.

"Let's move out," I said. We began walking down the dimly lit corridor, hearing groans of the undead, and howls of something that didn't even sound to be alive in the first place. We moved on through the facility, and finally Sarah stopped us at the door to the specimin locker.

"OK, guys. Recovery Team, follow me. Back-up team, you need to stay here. Carlos, work your magic." I said. Carlos went to the small keypad near the door. He began pressing buttons, and once again, the door swished open.

"OK, fellas. Let's go."

A New Addition: 4:25 AM

"OK, guys. We have 35 minutes to get everything ready and go," I said as I ran over to a computer terminal. I opened up the menu, and called Carlos over.

"OK, input the password," I ordered, and once again, he did. The menu was fully accessible, and I was intrigued by the information in it.

"Ark? Throw me a disk," I said. Ark reached into his bag and pulled out a ZIP disk, and I began copying information. Claire was exploring the viral freezers, trying to find the G-Virus. Carlos was on another terminal, trying to find the 'Genesis' information. Finally, the information from my terminal was copied, and just as I turned around, I heard the radio beeping.

"Yeah?" I asked. It was Jill.

"Hurry the fuck up, because the 1st Bio-Port team has arrived!" She shouted.

"OK, just get the chopper inside the gates. I'll get back up to meet you out there." I said as I clicked off the radio.

"Hurry it up guys!" I shouted. "First Recovery team is here from Bio-Port!

"Got the vial!" Claire shouted as she picked up the vial of the purplish liquid.

"Hey! You guys won't believe this!" Carlos shouted. The three of us gathered around his terminal, and what we saw amazed us. "We're going to rescue this Genesis thing!"

As it turns out, Genesis was a human infused with the G-Enesis Syrusm. As it turned out, once the facility was cleared, his viral infusions were complete, but the BOW programming system was incomplete. I went to a large goo-filled tube, and pressed a button. All of a sudden, Genesis began to rise out of the goo. He was human, looked around Claire's to my age, with black hair. But he was Humongus. His biceps were the size of my head, and he made any professional football player look as small as Sherry. I pressed another button to release the goo, and well, it did. Water jets then began to wash the excess off of him, and the door slid open, and he fell out of the tank. Claire crouched down by him, trying to pick up a pulse. He then sprang to life. Claire jumped back, and the rest of us trained our rifles at him.

"You Bio-Port motherfuckers won't get me. I killed the last bunch of you, and I'll kill you all too!" he shouted. He picked up Carlos, and flung him against a wall.

"Don't worry! We're here to help you escape!" Ark shouted.

"What? Escape?" he asked.

"Yeah, if you want to get the hell out of here, then come with us." I ordered. Carlos groaned as he stood up.

"Hey muchacho, what was that for?" he shouted.

"I'm...sorry." he said. "I thought you guys were from Bio-Port."

"What's your name?" Claire asked.

"Well, according to the Umbrella Scientists, I'm known only known as Genesis, but my real name is Seth. Seth Hartford," he said.

"Well, Seth, how about getting the hell out of here?" I asked.

Escape: 4:45 AM

We barged out of the locker, Seth in a blue t-shirt, blue jeans and leather jacket he had found in a locker, and were met by Chris, Sarah, and Greg.

"Who the hell is that?" Chris asked, pointing at Seth.

"None other than Umbrella's newest attempt at a B.O.W.," I said. "His name's Seth. But don't worry about that now! Bio-Port's bastards are just outside the facility!"

"Well, let's finish this," Chris said.

"The chopper's just inside the gates," I told them. "Carlos, Chris, let's go." Claire came up and hugged me, crying.

"Please, Leon, please don't leave me," she cried.

"Don't worry. I'll be back," I said. "Now, you guys need to get Seth and this out!" I handed Ark a disk. They ran for the door, and we headed for an elevator, but were met by an unfriendly creature...it looked like a giant frog with humongus claws.

"Oh shit! Hunters!" Chris shouted as he began pumping shotgun shells into it. Carlos began firing his assault rifle, and I pumped some 10ga. rounds of my own into it. It jumped up, and it's claw grazed my face.

"Oh fuck!" I shouted. There was a gash down the left side of my face, and it was bleeding profusely. Chris pumped another round into it, and finally, the hunter fell to the ground.

"Leon, get the hell back to the chopper," Chris said. "Carlos and I can take care of this."

"No," I answered as I got into the elevator. "I started this, and I'll be damned if I don't finish it!" We rode the elevator up to the second floor, and filed out. We were met by two lickers, and I saw some zombies further down the corridor. I whipped out my Desert Eagle, and began pumping rounds into the skinless bodies with blades for arms as they crawled around on the ground, trying to lance us with its long, razor sharp tongue. They weren't as difficult to defeat as the hunter was, and were soon writhing in pain in a pool of their own blood.

"There!" Carlos shouted, indicating a small terminal in the hallway. We all ran for it, and he took over by the keyboard. Soon, a raspy female voice announced "5 minutes to self-destruct...repeat 5 minutes to self destruct, please evacuate!"

"More than happy to oblige!" I shouted as we ran back towards the elevator, and rode down to the first floor. As we got out, we saw four black-clad agents entering the specimin locker. We waited until the door shut behind them, and ran out of the exit. Carlos halted to lock the door behind us.

"Let's see those bastards get out of this one!" he shouted. But, we couldn't celebrate for long.

"2 minutes, please evacuate." We were running for the chopper.

"1 minute..." Almost there...

WHOOSH!

"Duck! I shouted. We crouched down, and the plant went up in flames behind us. Once things calmed down behind us, and we walked for the chopper. We climbed up into the carrier, and Chris went into his place in the cockpit.

"Oh my God, Leon, look at your face!" Claire shouted as she saw the wound that the hunter gave me. But I didn't care. As she put a large bandage across the gash on my cheek, I looked at her.

"I told you, didn't I?" I said.

"What?" she asked.

"I told you that you'd be ok," I replied. I looked around the chopper. Chris and Jill were pulling the chopper up, Carlos, Greg, Sarah, and Nicolas were talking about something, and Seth was crashed out on the bottom of the chopper. She finished the bandage, and leaned up against me. I realized that this was just the beginning. There would be more to come, and I would keep my promise. My promise to Claire.

Well, is that the end? NO! What's going to happen as our heroes return to New York, being fugitives from both Bio-Port and Umbrella? Well, you'll just have to wait for Chapter 4 of As Cold Blood Runs- Ease on Down the Road. Stay tuned!