"Someone's fighting their way back into the city," Leon called back to them.
"Are you kidding? Is it the police?" Claire asked hopefully. Maybe someone got a hold of them! Maybe they finally got suspicious enough to come over and figure out what was going on! Maybe -
"I don't think so," Leon said, sounding preoccupied. After a moment of thought, he yelled, "If it was the police, they would have roadblocks put up and cops all over keeping people out and searching for survivors. It'd be a zoo."
Claire's heart beat faster, not out of hope anymore, but from the dread she felt growing within her. She gripped Sherry's hand tighter, suddenly very unsure of the deceiving calm of the surroundings. "Who is it then?"
Leon took a step back from the car and turned towards them, his eyes full of concern. "I'm not sure; but whoever it was, they on a mission." He motioned around him, "it appears they came in quickly and took out anything that moved."
Claire shuddered and looked down at the bodies scattered about the road. Some of them spilled out of open car doors, suspended in mid fall. Across the street from her was a Buick half off the road. Inside, pressed against the spider webbed glass of the windshield was a puckered, pale mass she assumed used to be someone's head. Now the cold thin blood had dripped down the windshield remnants, coloring the cracks in the glass a dark crimson. The faint light from the rising sun gave everything an erie cast, making all the carnage before them seem like a faint nightmare, as if the past night never happened. Soon the sun would climb higher in the sky, making the nightmare all to real.
A sudden flash of black caught her eye and she looked to her left in time to watch a single, black feather float down to her feet. She looked at the feather for a moment, then let it's existence fade from her thoughts, knowing a feast of dead meat like this would attract a lot of birds, especially once the noon sun fell over them.
It was just a feather. A black feather.
Wait, something bugged her. Claire looked at it again, getting the exhausted gears of her mind moving again; there was something about this feather.
This black feather.
A crow's feather. Her heart beat faster as she looked up to the sky.
Claire barely was able to let out a gasp before grabbing Sherry and diving to the pavement as a black mass dove where her head had just been. Once the shadow passed over them, Claire looked up at her attacker knowing all too well what it was.
The T-Virus was a bastard of a virus. It's infection spread regardless of sex, age, race, even species; this crow was no exception. From a distance one would disregard the bird as an ordinary scavenger, but her unfortunate run-in with a flock of these T-Virus infected mutants had taught her differently. They craved the rotting dead flesh of the zombies. She had come upon one sitting on the shoulder of one of the many Raccoon City casualties as the mangled body limped towards her. The crow had left her alone then, content with pecking and peeling the skin from the zombies face for dinner. It seemed this one was in for a more lively main course.
Claire felt Sherry move beneath her, asking, "What's wrong, Claire?"
"Stay down Sherry, don't move!" Claire ordered, watching the crow as it turned to make another pass. She watched as it stretched its diseased claws out beneath it, aiming. She spotted Leon a bit down the road turning around with a puzzled look on his face. He hadn't realized what was going on.
"LEON!" Claire yelled, motioning to the circling predator. He looked from her to the sky behind her and she watched as his expression changed from the innocent befuddlement she had gotten used to him wearing to the cold, uncharacteristic stare that she'd only seen on the faces of old cops and war veterans. It was not a look a first day rookie should wear, but it's the price paid for surviving.
He instantly pulled his gun from his holster and dropped to one knee, aiming above her; you wouldn't think he'd been shot through the shoulder as smooth as he moved into position. She ducked her head down, pressing her face into her leather jacket that Sherry was wearing. Two shots rang out, and then she heard a dull thud on the pavement besides her. She looked over and saw the feather body with two well placed shots in its chest. A thick greenish red gel oozed from them, and she could see tiny white objects, most likely maggots, swimming around in it.
The T-Virus was a creation straight from hell.
Leon stood up and jogged over to the two girls as they got up off the road. "You guys all right?" he asked, checking the skies for any other rotting surprises
Claire got to her knees and helped Sherry to her feet. "Yeah, we're fine," she huffed as she eyed the fallen bird. "Nice shooting."
Leon grunted, "Got a lot of practice last night, what can I say?" He rose to his feet, then offered his good hand to help Claire when something caught his attention. It sounded faintly like the engine of a truck driving down the road towards the city. Towards them. Was it help, or was it more of the mystery group invading Raccoon.
"Stay down, somebody's coming," Leon told them.
"What? Who?" Claire asked, standing slightly, trying to look over the deserted cars at the oncoming visitors.
"I don't know yet, that's what I'm going to check out," he said told her. "Who could have found out what happened here and sent someone to clean up the mess?" She looked at him, a fear slipping into her eyes. She voiced what had been at the back of their minds since they found these zombie executions.
"Somebody's had to have heard the noise we were making last night by now. This could be them," he consoled. Leon shifted his weight and pulled his hand from his shoulder, finding more red on it than he'd have liked, "And the shape we're in, we really can't afford not check them out."
She eyed his shoulder, her eyebrows crumpling in concern; he wasn't looking for the sympathy vote here, but if it got the job done... "Okay, I guess we have to try something."
"Good," he smiled, then turned away from them surveying the haphazard parking on the freeway. Next to them was a ninety-eight Lincoln. It looked as if it's seen a few fender benders in it's time he noticed as he walked around it. But it had 4 wheels, an unshattered windshield, and ....as he opened the door and sat down, listening to the car roar to life as he turned the keys left in the ignition ...a working engine. Perfect.
He turned the engine off and climbed out, walking back over and kneeling in front of Sherry. He reached out and placed his hand comfortingly on one of her arms. "You and Claire will be safe in there. Just sit and be quiet while I get them to help us and then we can get out of here, " he told her in as cheerful a voice as he could muster.
Sherry smiled back at him, "Okay Leon, I can't wait," and lean forward, giving him a hug. It surprised him for a moment, and even that small action brought new pain shooting through his shoulder, but it was easily disregarded as he held her tight, ruffling her hair with his hand, thankful she was still here with them.
Of course she's still here, Claire saved her. You would have lost her like you lost everyone else you tried to protect tonight.....
No! Not now, this isn't the time. Get away from here, then you can -
Sherry must have felt him tense during his internal struggle. She let go of him quickly and stood back up, a little wary. Leon flashed her a big smile that only rested on his surface, but it seemed to put her back at ease. She looked back up at Claire, smiled, then climbed into the passenger seat of the Volkswagen
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Claire turned and watched Sherry climb into the car, excited at the prospect of leaving this town and it's lurking monsters behind. She heard a soft grunt and turned to see Leon standing, with much effort. He needs this to be the help we're waiting for more than anybody, she thought. He looked behind her, checking on Sherry before turning his attention back to Claire.
"This will work, we will get out of here," she said with forced cheer in her voice, hoping to pick him up as much as Sherry's hug did.
He flashed her a relieved grin as he moved closer to her, placing his left hand on her shoulder. The movement caught her off guard and she glanced slightly at his hand, then back at him. She remembered back to the beginning of the night; he had rescued her in the alley of the diner and they tore down the street in a police car. Her immediate panic ebbed a bit once they weren't being pursued by the flesh eating monsters roaming the streets, though when she found out he was a rookie on his first day, her new found calmness quickly vanished. But she watched him as he was drove, checked the radio, gave her the gun in the glove compartment; all in all trying to take control of an uncontrollable situation.
And he's cute, she reminded herself. That, she couldn't deny. The hair, the blue eyes -
God, those blue eyes , his face, even the uniform - having come from a family of law enforcers, a police officer's uniform isa definite turn on. At another time, under different circumstances... but that was not the time, not with so much at stake.
Now, with his hand on her shoulder sparking memories ... her body tensed as he lean forward, his face inches from hers, she closed her eyes...
... And felt his face slide past to her left, his lips by her ears. Instead of warmth, his whisper, his tone chilled her with the coldness of its delivery.
"Should anything ....happen, get Sherry out of here. Don't stop, not for anything. Promise me this."
Her eyes shot open, her heart frozen for a split second. He leaned back, looking at her, his eyes filled with that cold, detached determination.
If it's Umbrella, she thought. If he stops them for help and it's Umbrella, he wants me to leave him. How could he ask that of her? He's not asking, she reminded herself, he's telling you.
No! She wanted to yell. She wanted to scream at him, ask him how he thought she could do that after all they'd been through. She wanted to cry, plead with him not to take the risk. She wanted to tell him no -
- but she couldn't. He was right, if things went bad, there wasn't anything she could do but make sure Sherry was safe and drive like hell for help. She could do that, she could promise him that. She nodded, accepting his request, but couldn't help feeling as if it was somehow a failure on her part that she could resolve herself to do so.
He leaned back, looking her in the eyes, rubbing her shoulder reassuringly. She smiled shaking her head, "Hey, it's not going to come to that anyway, I have a good feeling about this," she faked. No sense in focusing on the bad, even if it was the most likely to happen.
He looked at her warily, checking to see if she remember what she had just promised him. She shook of the glare and took his hand off her shoulder, patting it, "We'll do what we have to, but we didn't make it this far to lose. You be careful, " and leaned forward, kissing him lightly on his check. She smiled at him once more, then made her way to the driver's side of the Volkswagen.