On the other side of the door, the scenery didn't change very much – more dead leaves and trees. However, Leon could see a building in the distance – another run–down two–story cabin. He could also hear voices a short distance away. He knew he was near Pueblo, the village. Walking down the trail, he saw more buildings. A small fire was in the center of the village. Why do they have a fire going? For heat? It isn't that cold... When Leon looked closer, he saw what looked like a huge stake in the center of the fire. Don't tell me...they're burning someone at the stake?
Already apprehensive, and now with more reason for suspicion, Leon hid behind a tree, took out a pair of binoculars, and zoomed in.
He saw a body impaled on a giant hook, hanging from the stake. It was partially on fire. Zooming in on the face of the corpse, Leon recognized him.
It's one of the cops! Damn...he survived the fall into the river, only to be captured and burned to death. If only he'd come with me...
Leon turned his sights on the rest of the village. He could see several people, both men and women, walking about the village. They weren't doing anything out of the ordinary. One man was carting a wheelbarrow of manure out of a barn. A woman was carrying a pale of water from a well. Another man was using a pitchfork to load hay into a cart. Chickens clucked as they walked around, and Leon could hear the sound of a cow mooing from the barn area. Despite the flaming corpse in the middle of the place, which none of the villagers seemed to be paying attention to, it seemed like an ordinary village where normal people were just going about their business.
However, when Leon listened closely to their voices, he realized that the talking coming from the villagers was all cursing. They spat Spanish swears and profanities every few seconds. Not a single thing they said wasn't vulgar.
Leon's hopes sank. He had been hoping that these people would be different than the ones he'd met before, but it looked like everyone here was no different. Lacking any other options, he reluctantly trudged forward into the village.
As he approached one of the women, she turned to face him. As soon as she saw him, she dropped her pale of water, pointed a finger at him, and screamed at him at the top of her lungs. Leon couldn't even make out what she was saying, but he knew it couldn't be good. The woman reached behind her back and took out a pickaxe that had been held on her belt.
They're all the same! She swung her weapon at him. Leon backed up and aimed his handgun, but the man with the pitchfork was coming at him from the side, and the man who had been carting a wheelbarrow was approaching him with an axe. They've got me surrounded. I need to get to a better spot.
Leon dashed past the woman, barely dodging a swing of her weapon. He saw a house with an open door. Maybe I can hide in there. Then I should be at least a little safer.
Leon ran into the house and quickly shut the door. He heard banging on it a moment later, and also heard the villagers shouting – this time, with purpose, as if they were giving each other directions. "Who are these people!" He dashed to a nearby window and looked around. They were gathered in groups and speaking to each other. "What are they planning?"
Suddenly, the sound of a chainsaw being revved up! "Great...chainsaw." Knowing that with all the banging on the door, it wasn't going to last, Leon pushed a small cabinet up against the door, barricading it. Immediately afterwards, he heard the sound of a window shattering above him. Letting out a curse, Leon realized that they intended to come in through the windows – maybe by ladders.
"¡Tey voy a matar!" A man shouted at Leon. His death threat was almost as intimidating as his beating on the window he was attempting to destroy.
"Son of a...!" Leon saw another cabinet, this one adjacent to the window being beaten on. He ran over to it and pushed it to block the window. I've still got the guys upstairs to worry about.
He ran up the staircase. Right away, he saw something useful.
A shotgun!
Leon grabbed it off of the wall. He looked around the room, and saw a shattered window. He could see the top of a ladder poking into the room. He ran over to it, and gave the ladder a hard shove. It fell to the ground, and so did a villager who was climbing up it.
Glass shattering behind him! Another window, broken open by villagers. They climbed through the window and into the house. A woman was first in. She held a weapon. Still a few feet away from him, Leon didn't fire yet. He severely regretted not firing on her when he saw the woman wind up her arm and then throw her pickaxe at him. Leon dodged to the side, and it missed him by a hair's breadth – instead hitting the man behind him, who had managed to prop the ladder back up again and climb it. She's unarmed now. She can't do anything.
The woman gave an animalistic hiss and lunged forward at Leon. He aimed his pistol at her head and fired. She fell to the ground harmlessly. Even unarmed, they attack like animals!
More villagers were piling in through the window. Leon heard a man's breathing behind him as another man climbed up the ladder. Overwhelmed by the sheer amount of enemies he was facing, he raised the shotgun. Aiming quickly but carefully, he fired a shot at head–level. The shot completely shattered one woman's entire head, and the shotgun's wide blast even hit the people standing behind her, making them stumble back. However, they were only phased for a second, and even hit by shotgun bullets, they continued their approach. Leon emptied another shot into the group, sending them onto their backs, and into their graves.
The man behind him had finally ascended the ladder. A handgun bullet to his chest, and he flew from the windowsill. But, another was climbing up the ladder, more were coming in through the window, and he could hear the sound of his window barricade being broken through downstairs. It's a human flood!
Being at risk while standing with his back to the window, Lack backed up against a wall that provided him a good view of both windows. He raised his shotgun, and when villagers climbed through and drew close enough to attack him, he fired.
Then, the sound of a chainsaw, and of wood being broken into splinters. He used his chainsaw to break through the door! To his right was a man charging up the stairs, chainsaw held high. A bag was around his head, tiny holes poked through it for his eyes. Leon fired at him with his handgun – the bullets weren't stopping his charge. Finally, raising the shotgun, Leon filled the man's stomach with bullets, stopping him for good.
Suddenly, the ominous sound of a bell tolling rang out through the air. Villagers stopped in their tracks, their heads turning towards the direction of the sound. The bell tolled again.
"...Ah...La campana..."
"...Es hora de rezar..."
"...Tenemos que irmos..."
As the bell rang, all of the villagers stood, as still as statues, their bodies and heads turning towards a church far off in the distance.
Then, the sounds of items dropping softly to the ground, and footsteps. The villages were dropping their weapons, and all slowly marching away into the door of a building. Leon watched the spectacle with fascination.
"...Lord Saddler." He heard one villager mutter. That's the second time I've heard that name. I wonder if that guy has anything to do with why this people are acting this way.
Leon jumped out of the window and ran into the center of the village, only to find it completely empty. After the last toll of the bell, the only sound to be heard was a heavy door shutting as the last villager marched through it.
Leon looked left and right, and turned around to check behind himself. The village was not a ghost town – not a soul was in sight. He scoffed and gave a shrug. "Where's everyone going? Bingo?"
Something's happened to the people here. They're not even people anymore – they're monsters. They hiss and growl and snarl like animals and lunge at me, using farm tools or their bare hands as lethal weapons. Then a bell tolls and they all march off like mindless zombies? It's as if...every resident of this village is evil. What the hell is going on here...and what the hell does Ashley have to do with any of this!
Remembering her, Leon took out her photograph again. Seeing it comforted him and made him feel better. He'd look at it whenever things got to be too much for him. This had better not be a photo of a dead girl. Ashley...be alive.