Leon stood a moment, stunned, watching Claire get into the car. One moment he had steeled himself, asking Claire to leave him to die if things turned ugly, and the next his head is all out of sorts because of a small peck on the cheek. Man he was loosing his cool. Sure Claire's great, can take care of herself, is great with kids, and you can't forget her looks; even after a night like tonight she still looks great - in that "I've trudged through the sewers and hung out with oozing mutants" sort of way. But he couldn't think of it too much, his head was still filled with tonight's failures; Loss of precinct, the city, Ben, the Birkins, ...Ada...
He watched Claire and Sherry sink down into the car, staying out of sight. If nothing else, I can buy them time to get out of here. Them I can - I will - keep alive. I can't bear failing again.
The sound of the engine, once a distant hum, was now roaring down the road at a fast pace towards them. He put some distance between him and the car, waving his empty, good arm in the air, the universal sign for help. Here I am guys, a single, wounded, police officer of a dead city, come and get me. The vehicle drew closer and started to slow.
Leon recognized muddled greens and browns on the approaching vehicle, quickly identifying it as camouflage. What looked like a large truck before was now clearly an army transport. He sighed with small comfort - enough lives had been lost to prove this was more than the local police could handle. What small amount of relief he felt was ebbed though, by the small nagging feeling growing in the back of his mind. If it is the army - if they had any idea what they're driving into - what took them so long to get here? Raccoon had been in communications blackout for days. Any plead for help would have been heard long ago, and relief should have been close behind. Or worse, he dreaded to think. If the army wasn't willing to help, they would have been quick to put Raccoon out of her misery. So what possible excuse could this approaching force have to offer for being late to the party?
The transport slowed down, and soldiers were exiting from it before it even stopped, each dressed in clean, crisp camo fatigues and carrying a rather large automatic rifle. While they started scattering among the vehicular graveyard on a hunt, his attention was recaptured by the person exiting from the passenger side of the cab, moving to a position in front of the truck. He looked to be about 6' 4" tall, dressed in a similar uniform, save for the pins naming him a Captain. The look on his face told Leon that this guy had something he'd rather be doing; and as the Captain got him in the sights of that big gun, Leon figured out what that something was.
Shit - I live through all this just so the calvary can shoot me? !
"Stop! Wait!" Leon yelled, panicked. He quickly stepped back, ducking his head and raising his arms defensively in front of him, as if somehow they would manage to stop the 20 odd rounds that were about to fly through him.
He jerked at a sudden bang, waiting for his brain to register the pain from the bullet which should have ripped through him, but he realized the bang had been the slamming of a car door. Then there was a pounding of boots as they ran across the pavement followed by a frantic voice yelling, "Hold it, Nicholi! Don't shoot!"
Leon held his breath and risked a glance up in time to see that yet another uniformed person had appeared from the cab. He didn't have the presence that the Captain had. He was shorter by about a foot, leaner, and the fact he was wearing glasses and carrying a clipboard just helped to fill out the almost nerdy nature he emanated. And from what Leon could tell from this distance, his collar seemed to boast the rank of Major.
"Jesus - put your weapon away! What are you thinking? He's a survivor!" the pencil pusher ordered. Nicholi paused a moment, still staring down his sights towards Leon, then lowered the weapon and gave the Major what seemed like a bored look.
The pencil pusher turned and started to head over. Holding his sore arm to his body for support, Leon glanced around at the invading force, weaving through the cars, making their way towards the city. Now Leon wasn't as sharp as he normally would be, the fatigue and pain of the evening catching up to him in full force, but the fact his life was just spared did little to quell his fear once he caught sight of the logo on the back of one of the uniformed soldiers.
Umbrella. The image was small and faded, but it was there.
Wide-eyed, Leon chanced a glance back to the car, no one in view. God Claire, tell me you saw it. He turned back to the approaching bookworm, trying desperately to harness his fear and give the appearance of confidence. The shorter man now stood in front of Leon, looking up at him as he adjusted his glasses. Leon read the name "Steiner" sewn onto the right side of his chest. He looked like a Steiner.
He started to speak, his voice not as nasally and Leon had guessed it would, but it did contain an aire of intelligent superiority, "A survivor - now that's more than we could have hoped for from this mess. And an officer! We'd heard none had survived."
He paused a moment, obviously waiting for Leon to chime in and say some words, but Leon just stood there, looking down at him as he held his wounded arm. Steiner continued, trying to ignore Leon's silence. "You appear to have suffered much, what did you run into, what's roaming around now?"
Leon turned his gaze away from the clipboard weasel and stared blankly ahead. More vehicles were approaching, another transport and a large truck.
"Oh come now officer, we need all the help you can give us to remedy this problem. Any information - "
"What would I possibly say to you?!" Leon asked, his fear quickly turning to anger. "Your evil, corrupt company's byproducts and mistakes have destroyed this city and everything in it. This was my first day. This was my city. This was my LIFE." Leon pointed down the highway. "THERE'S NO ONE LEFT! Not a soul. And you want me to just sit and talk with you? Like it will make everything better and I'll be able to just walk away. Why don't you just have Lurch over there finish the job he wanted to start," he nodded his head in the direction of Nicholi, who's blank, cold face turned even more disturbing. Leon froze a brief second in that gaze, then mentally shook it off, refocusing on Steiner. "You're never letting me out of here alive anyway."
Leon turned away, his body stiff, waiting for the inevitable. It was a bit brash, going off like that, but he'd had enough. No more bullshit. He was tired, of this and of them. Get it over with. He waited for some sort of order, some sort of retaliation for his outburst, but what he heard was a sigh. He turned and saw Steiner shaking his head.
"When I saw you here waiting for us, I had hope that perhaps you were representative of citizens hidden somewhere, awaiting help. That maybe we weren't too late. " His expression grew sadder still. "Yes, the organization here bore the name Umbrella, but that's the closest association we have to them now."
"We had set up a facility here, just like we have all over the country, and for a while it was fine. But then things started leaking out - rumors, stories. Unauthorized experiments, illegal testing, underground laboratories, citywide conspiracies - a whole slew of things better left anywhere but in our company. We make medicine for godsake - we help people."
"The Spencer Mansion incident was the first big tip off to this branch's indiscretions. If it wasn't for the stories leaking out in the paper, the head office would still be in the dark. We ignorantly thought the damage controllable, that things hadn't gotten too out of hand. We sent in people to clean it up, get things back on track and eliminate the problem. Then we lost contact. The internal alarms went off, we organized these units, and here we are."
Leon looked skeptically down at Steiner, but his expression didn't change. "We didn't come out here to cover up anything. We're here to help clean this mess up and rescue whoever we can. Our mission is to find out what happened and make sure this doesn't happen again. "
The new vehicles finally arrived and began unloaded their riders before the wheels stopped turning. Steiner gave Leon a moment to think as he turned his attention to other pressing matters.
"Nicholi, take your troops and proceed with the search and destroy - secure the entrance of any BOWs and bring any survivors out here." Leon watched Nicholi give a slight nod in acknowledgment and bark orders to the surrounding troops. He didn't move his gaze as the Captain walked past, and Nicholi turned towards him. His gaze was dark and empty, void of any emotions. Leon felt like less than nothing in his gaze and realized that the fact he was still breathing was just a technicality that could easily be remedied.
Nicholi finally passed him, and Leon have a shudder, trying to shake the creepy feeling. Steiner had gone on to direct the truck to follow the troops and set up a med tent at the city's entrance. He then turned back to Leon. "Come along, we'll get your wound taken care of."
Leon stood silently, unsure.
"I understand you have no reason to trust me. This renegade Umbrella branch has done a lot of damage to our credibility. All I can do is offer you medical assistance and a chance to rest. You can't leave - this is not a threat, just a simple fact. We're here until the threat is neutralized and there is no other way out of here now." Steiner stepped closer and gently placed a hand on Leon's back, urging him towards the trucks now parked in the distance already setting up base.
Going anywhere with Umbrella affiliates was the last thing he wanted to do. He didn't care what kind of sob story they had concocted to cover their ass, it couldn't hide what they did, not this time. But at Steiner's urging, he started heading back to the city. He had hoped his angry outburst earlier had convinced them that he was alone, and they hadn't spotted Claire's and Sherry's hidden forms in the car - yet.
He wasn't going to make it out of here alive. He knew this. But with luck, Claire would be able to get Sherry out of here.
"Stay down Sherry," Claire whispered. Sherry stayed motionless, face down on the floorboards of the backseat. The voices moved past the car and began fading in the distance. Claire slowly slid into the driver's seat, careful to stay low.
That was Leon - he was yelling.
She gripped the wheel in both hands tightly, glancing in the rearview mirror. Uniformed troops were spreading out all over the area, but they were more concerned with the surrounding woods and empty buildings that vehicles left on the road. At least they caught one break.
Seeing Leon, her heart sank. He was being escorted towards the city by a shorter man in an Umbrella uniform. She couldn't believe it. She couldn't accept it - the fact they lived through everything had Umbrella tossed at them just to be nabbed at the end. It felt like fate was cheating. She watched as Leon's form got smaller, his shoulders slumped, his walk slow - almost as if he'd given up. It wasn't fair! She clenched her teeth and pounded the wheel in frustration.
I promised Leon. Damn him for that.
"Sherry, get in the seat and buckle up" Claire told her. She heard the rustling sounds that confirmed Sherry's understanding. She looked around one last time, making sure no one was around them immediately - she didn't want to be stopped before she could even pull away - and that's when she noticed a large, hulking shadow appear on the road ahead of her. It was obviously a truck, but Claire couldn't tell what type or whose it was until it had gotten a little closer. It was another of Umbrella's vehicles, it seemed, only much larger than the others - and the driver knew it. This massive truck sped down the highway, veering off to the left and right slightly to avoid cars, but it didn't seem to matter to the driver when he smacked into them hard enough to send them rolling into each other across the road.
Shit, Claire thought, He's coming this way!
One by one he nailed each car in his path. There was no time. "Get down Sherry - hold on!" she yelled to the back seat, and turned around long enough to see Sherry flatten herself down against the seat next to her and cover her head. Claire just started turning back towards the front of the car when the vehicle was hit and sent flying across the street. It had already been near the shoulder, but the huge truck crumpled the front left corner of the car and sent it spinning over the shoulder and into the deep ditch off the to the side.
After the initial jarring pain Claire felt as her body was flung around the car, she had little recollection for the few moments after the airbag inflated and snapped her neck back against the headrest before knocking her to the side. Several precious minutes had already passed by the time she came around. She heard the roar of the monster's engine fade as it headed towards the city. Struggling around the roof that was now smashed down just above her, she verified both arms were still whole, and despite what the throbbing pain in her neck was telling her, her head was actually still attached.
She heard movement and snapped her head around to check on her passenger - immediately regretting the sudden, painful action. She was relieved to see Sherry's small form slowly moving to as much of a sitting position as the roof would allow. She said a short thankful prayer when she saw that Sherry came through the crash unscathed. Her relief was short-lived though, when her gaze shifted from Sherry to the side window. Panic set in. A large group of soldiers were weaving through the cars and bodies scattered in the road. There were no doubts to where they were heading.
Maybe the driver had spotted her. Maybe someone had heard her yell - hell, maybe they decided this was a vintage car and were looking to restore it - it didn't matter. They were armed and they were headed this way. Quickly.
Claire turned around and hurriedly grabbed for the keys, trying to start the car. The sudden sound of the engine was startling, but it was the choked attempt after attempt by the engine to turn over that sent fear through her. The damage done was too extensive, this car was dead, and they would be too if they stayed there any longer.
"Sherry, can you get out?" Claire asked, trying to keep the panic out of her voice as she watched the soldiers approaching in the distance. If they had doubts before, the failing engine had certainly alerted the soldiers of their existence.
"I - I think so," Sherry said.
"Good. Honey, I need you to get out of the car now. Quickly, and try to keep quiet." Sherry nodded and, just as she was told, managed to get her door open and step outside.
My turn, Claire thought as she shifted to reach for the door handle and pulled.
And pulled.
And pulled. Panic set in further.
No, don't panic. Claire turned carefully as the roof pressed against her, shifting towards the passenger side door. There was a creak of protest as she tried to push the door open, but otherwise no response.
"Stand back Sherry," Claire called to her as she positioned herself to kick the door.
Once.
Twice.
The car shook, but she couldn't even get the door to budge.
The back door. Claire turned and tried to squeeze herself through the mangled seats and past the crushed roof to get to the door where Sherry now stood, but no matter how she tried to contort her body, she couldn't get through. Time was running out, and she wasn't going to get away.
But Sherry could.
"Sherry, listen to me," Claire called out. She heard rusting and Sherry's face appeared between the seats. Claire reached forward to grasp her hand.
"Sweetie, I need your help. I know it's been a really bad night and you're tired, hurt, and hungry, but I need you to be strong. The men responsible for the monsters are coming over here, and I need you to go hide and - "
"No Claire, I'm not going!" Sherry interrupted. "Come with me, I don't want to be alone again, not here..."
"Sherry, honey, listen to me. There's no time. I can't get out - you have to go with out me. You have to hide until the men are gone, then travel along the road. Stay off the road - there could be more men coming - but keep traveling until you find a police officer or get to the next town."
"But Claire, I don't to go, I want to stay with you..."
"I know, but you have to. You're a very smart and brave girl. I don't know any adults who are brave enough to do what you did last night," Claire told her, trying to build up her courage. Sherry continued to stare at her, her eyes wet with tears. Claire looked out the window again, the forms of the soldiers were getting dangerously close, but if Sherry would just leave, they might not know she was here. Claire placed a hand on Sherry's wet cheek.
"Sherry please, you have to go now. It's the only way. Do this for me please? Get to the next town and I'll meet you there. Leon and I will come for you and then we can put this whole thing behind us. I need you to do this. Please do this for me??"
Sherry sniffed, her eyes conveying the sadness and fear that was consuming her from the inside. She sniffed, then seemed to steel herself as she looked at Claire and nodded.
Claire squeezed her hand, "Good girl. Go quickly, keep quiet, and please be very careful."
Sherry slipped out of the car again, and Claire could just barely make out her face as she spoke one last time. "I'll see you, Claire. You and Leon."
This time Claire wanted to tear up. "Yes sweetie. Me and Leon." And with that, Claire listened as Sherry's soft footsteps padded through the grass into the forest.
Dear God, tell me I did the right thing. She hated lying to her like that - it wasn't likely that either she or Leon would meet her in the next town - or anywhere else for that matter - but in the end it seemed to be the only thing that would get her to go.
Hoping that Sherry found a good non-zombie infested hole to hide in, Claire turned back to her more immediate concerns. She could hear their voices now - they were fanning out around her, their weapons aimed at the car. She needed to keep the soldiers attention on her and not the little girl traipsing through the forrest.
"Thank God you're here!" She called out, trying to hide the revulsion she was feeling. "Help me, please, I'm stuck in here!"
She watched them through the window, feeling the sweat drip down her brow as she stared into the muzzles of the automatics trained on her head. After a few seconds of strained silence, she began to, for the tenth time tonight, mentally compile a list of her sins in the order she'd ask God to forgive them. She had gotten to the part where had cheated on her chem final because she stayed out way to late at the party the night before when the soldier she could see finally made some sort of movement.
He took one hand off his gun for just a moment; just long enough to wave a few men forward and call out, "Get her out of there. Be quick about it."
She couldn't see anything else beyond that, but she did hear some scuffling and moving around her, then flinched as she heard the bending and tearing of metal above her. Twisting her body as far around as she could manage, she watched as these giant metal shears pierced the roof and began biting into the steel of the crushed roof.
Of course, she was just a little nervous at the fact the sharp jaws of the shears were only inches away from her the entire time they tore into the roof, but it didn't seem that they were looking to be the bringers of her premature accidental demise. After a few minutes, fingers appeared in the corner of the newly cut vehicle exit, and the roof was pried open revealing two men straining to enlarge the opening, and a third holding a huge pair of metal-cutting shears. Claire didn't peg those for standard field equipment for solider, but then again, this is Umbrella.
"Give me your hand," one commanded her. She glared at the soldier - probably 5 years her senior with hard, chiseled features and a neck as wide as his head - but quickly changed her expression to that of great appreciation. She mentally chided herself. I'm happy to see them, remember Claire?
He grasped her hand in a strong grip and pulled her up towards the new opening. He pulled her up as the other soldier near him helped guide her around the sharp edges. They set her on her feet, and she immediately turned to the man in charge of this group, putting on her best "damsel in distress" act.
"Oh thank God, I was so scared - I got into town yesterday and then I couldn't leave because these - things- I don't know what they were but they were creepy and were killing people and I was trapped in this building most of the night -" The Captain put a hand up, shushing Claire in mid-rant.
"You've been through a lot ma'am. We'll take you to safety, " He replied in a bored, monotonous tone, completely unsympathetic to her haggard, anxiety-ridden act. That's what's wrong with the world today, Claire thought, no compassion among the hired killers in the world....
The Captain barked some orders and Claire found herself in the middle of the squad, being lead back to Raccoon City. She chanced a glance back to the car and the forest beyond. No sign of Sherry anywhere.
Godspeed Sherry. Don't stop until your far from this hell.