17. Leon

Orchids. Claire could come out with really unexpected things sometimes. She didn't look like the sort of girl that liked flowers, but he found that little fact amusingly adorable. If he could make out something positive about being stranded in there, it was that he was getting to know Claire better.

Guess now I know what flowers I should buy her. Wait, why would I buy her flowers?

"I think it should be safe to go out. The sun must be out now. Let's wait for Chris and the others outside."

"Yeah. Sounds fine to me."

The pair picked up their weapons and headed out of the tower. Their way outside was calm since they found no hostiles in the building. Leon guessed that they needed to "thank" their cannibalistic friend for clearing the place for them.

The fresh air hit them as soon as they had reached the open space. Monsters aside, the place was actually nice. Suddenly, the sound of an aircraft made them look up, right on time to see Chris and company making their triumphant entrance.

"Well, look at that. We've got a welcoming party!" Barry laughed when his feet touched the ground, "What? No music and fireworks?"

"Sorry to disappoint you, Barry. Guess we must have forgotten to get them while we were trying to stay alive," Claire replied with a playful smile.

"Ah, you can make up for that later, little Red," he replied with a smile.

"Claire!"

Leon stepped aside to let the siblings have their moment. It was almost funny to see how Chris lifted his sister from the ground to pull her into a choking embrace. The man looked so out of character, but Leon knew that the Redfields had a close relationship, and it was heartwarming to see them interact. It almost erased the terrible weight that had long befallen these siblings.

"God...I was so worried," Chris sighed in relief when he finally put her down.

"I know you were. I am fine, but what the hell happened to your arm? Don't tell me you let one of those B.O.W's get you. How disappointing, my dear brother."

"Never mind. I'll earn your pride later today," Chris snorted, "And in my defense, it got it worse than I did. But for real, are you sure you are alright?"

The older Redfield pushed his sister back to take a look at her. Leon knew the man wouldn't find anything more than scratches and bruises adorning her pale skin. Leon knew that because he, too, had checked her for any obvious injury, but the visible wounds weren't what he was concerned about, but rather the invisible ones. He still wasn't sure about the implications of the concussion.

"I am ok. I just hit my head a little, I think. If you got some painkillers in your first aid kit, I'd gladly make use of them."

Chris looked like he wanted to say something, but he seemed to rethink it, and instead, he pulled out a small bottle from one of his vest pockets and gave it to her.

"Here, but you'll need to eat something first. Those are a little strong."

"And I since you made the suggestion, I guess you brought me something to eat," Claire winked at him as she picked the bottle.

"Well, I don't imagine your hosts left your food lying around."

"Well, we did find a storage room with some canned food, right, Leon?"

"I must admit we've had a lot of luck this time. I guess Claire is a good luck charm," Leon smiled, and Claire rolled her eyes.

"Thanks for keeping her safe, Leon."

"Hey, I can take care of myself," Claire said, punching his healthy arm.

"I should be thanking her, for keeping me alive." Leon smiled, "there's no need for gratitude. We are all friends, and we help each other as much as we can."

"Yeah, yeah...that's nice. So how about we get that breakfast and finish this mission asap?" Barry complained.

The so-called breakfast consisted of some protein bars. The taste wasn't bad, but it definitely didn't compare with a real breakfast, but with all his years of service, Leon had learned not to be so picky about some things. The bars would fill the physiological need for energy, and they were easy to carry, so they were a practical meal for missions. Leon had grown used to eating them, but he smirked at Claire when the woman made a disgusted face after the first bite.

As they ate the soldier styled breakfast, Chris and Jill had begun the strategy meeting. Chris had brought eight men from B.S.A.A as a backup, without counting the chopper's pilot. Jill, Barry, and he were from the Elite Alpha, and the remaining five belonged to the Alpha team.

"So...studying the blueprint that you send us, there are three possible entrances to the underground facility. From the basement here; the library here or the common room in here." Jill said, pinpointing the spots.

"The information about the essays should be in the Research Center. We should try the common room's entrance," Claire suggested, "It's the most direct way to it and faster. The less time we spend there, the less likely they'll notice us."

"That is if the thing isn't blocked. What worries me now, however, is the condition down there. We don't know what monsters they kept or how dangerous they might be." Jill said, staring at the blueprints." We can guess we'll find at least one of the B.O.W's on the lists that Claire and Leon found, but there might be new specimens that were not listed."

"We'll stick together all the time. I don't want anyone wandering off on his own, understood?" Chris said to his men, " And that goes for you, too, Claire."

"I know, I know. I won't do anything reckless. I promise."

"Right, keep an eye on her, Leon."

"Get ready, everyone. We leave in 5. You two need proper gear. Come here.."

Leon glanced at Claire with a raised brow, and the redhead winked at him. After receiving a generous gift of gear and weapons, Leon finally felt more comfortable.

"That's right...Chris, we heard that you encountered a new type of B.O.W back in Hughesville."

"You don't miss a thing, huh? Guess Leon's friend filled you up already. I can't tell you much, but the creature was vicious and highly hostile. I took quite a lot of ammo and incendiary rounds to give it a scratch, but Barry's grenade put an end to it. B.S.A.A. The clean-up team probably took samples for study. You can ask about it later."

"Yeah, I was just wondering if there was a chance that it was the same strain that we encountered here."

"To tell that truth, I wouldn't be surprised." Chris sighed, shaking his head, "Ok, people. We are heading down. From here on, we are in high-risk terrain so keep your ears and eyes open. One mistake can cost your life or the team's. I'll be at a point along with Jill and Barry; Clemence and Riley, you two be at the sides while Miller, Hunter and Bailey will be at the rear. Leon and Claire, you two are stuck in the middle."

"Seriously, Chris?" Claire asked, crossing her arms, "You can't really think that Leon and I can handle those things, do you?"

"I don't doubt you can, but it's a strategic position. You two have been in harsh conditions for the past three days. I am sure your bodies won't be as sharp. Take it as a chance to rest."

"As if."

Leon chuckled. He put his hand on Claire's shoulder and smiled with a nod. He could understand Chris's reasoning: putting them in the middle would take a little of the weight from them. It didn't mean they could slack off, but at least they could catch a breath until the situation called for action. Claire let out a sigh and patted his hand.

"Ok, guess I'll let it pass."

The team headed to the main room, and, to both Leon's and Claire's disgust, they found the fresh bloodstains on the wooden floor. The man remembered the footage of the security camera they had seen and recalled that this had been the room where they had seen the B.O.W feasting on its prey.

"Well, someone didn't have much luck," Barry growled.

"Yeah, a bunch of Plaga infected locals." Leon replied, "We saw it through the surveillance camera a little before dawn. It was one of the new B.O.W's."

"So they really eat the other infected?" Jill said, perplexed as she walked to the fireplace and tainted around the bricks until she found the control panel. The woman began working to open the door.

"It seems like it is like that."

"That's crazy. I've seen those things killing each other, but cannibalism is a new thing." Barry said, staring at the bloodstain with disgust.

"They have never been very sane, to begin with, or they wouldn't make these damn monsters. Got it." Jill said, pushing back the control panel and stepping back, raising her gun.

"Trust Jill to open any lock," Barry smirked.

"I wasn't the B&E specialist for nothing," Jill winked at him.

The fireplace let out a screech as it pulled back, revealing a large metal door. The red light on the command box turned green, and the doors began to slide open. Their team had their weapons raised in case a monster jumped out of it, but the only thing beyond the door was a small square space: an elevator.

"Clear, let's move." Chris signaled, and they entered the elevator. The door automatically closed once the last man had stepped inside, and soon, it was moving down smoothly.

Leon couldn't help but feel a bit of deja vu. How many elevators heading to monster-filled facilities had he rode before? He had already lost the count. When it came to an abrupt stop, everyone raised their weapons as they watched the doors slowly slide open.

Chris stepped out with Barry. Both men looked around and then motioned them to move out. The place was clean, with no mutants, no zombies, and no living things either. To Leon, however, the stench of death was definitely in the air.

"At least there's light," Claire muttered to him, "Last time I was in a place like this, I could barely see my steps."

"The energy is still up. I guess our friends left in a rush," Jill commented.

"That if they actually left…" Chris commented.

Most of them probably hadn't. Their theory proved right as the group turned to the second corridor. There was blood splattered in the walls, more papers scattered on the floor, and Leon saw Claire bending to pick one.

"What's that?"

"Notes about a test subject, I suppose." She replied, picking another one, "Physiological changes took place two days after the first inoculation. There was no evidence of mental dysfunction yet and mutation seemed suppressed. Administration through multiple dosages showed up effective to inhibit immediate mutation. Anomalies in the blood seem to be a common treatment of the new strain," she read.

Leon looked at the papers, as well, and the blond raised an eyebrow with surprise.

"You know German?" he asked.

"Took a course during college. I work with an international salvation organization. Knowing many languages is useful."

Claire never stopped surprising him.

"These seem to be study records..." Claire said, looking through another bunch of papers.

"So those fuckers actually made a new strain," Barry growled.

"Does it say anything about the virus?" Chris asked.

"No details, I'm afraid. The report is incomplete. Some of the pages are gone, and they used codes."

Chris nodded.

"Ok, there is no need to find the rest of them if we can find the research data from the main computer," Chris said, "Let's get moving. We now know that we have hostiles down here. Stay sharp."

Leon caught Claire's worried look as she looked at her brother. They headed to the Research room, which was a couple of corridors beyond their current position. As they moved, Leon felt uncomfortable about the lack of monsters and the lack of corpses. They had come across a lot of bloodstains that were evidence of slaughter, but so far, they had not encountered the victims nor the attackers. Leon had a glimpse of Chris, and he knew that the older Redfield was having the same train of thought.

"This is the place." Jill said, checking the map, "Biomedical and Biohazard Department. What a name, huh?"

"It has a VIRUS written all over it." Barry mocked.

They entered the room with their weapons raised, but just like the rest of the facility, the place was empty. There weren't bloodstains, so at least they knew that the lab hadn't been the setting of slaughter, unlike other rooms they had passed. For an investigation department, Leon thought that the room looked simple: white walls, a set of computers, and two shelves- one filled with unknown contents and another one filled with files. There was a glass window that opened to what looked like a laboratory. The place was messed-up, but there was no blood in there, either. One of Chris's men, Clement, if he wasn't mistaken, rushed to the computer and began hacking into the system and copying all the information into the memory drive. The rest stood guard in case anything showed up.

The silence was unsettling as the only sound that filled the room was the typing. It felt unnatural, and it gave Leon the sensation that something was watching him, lurking in the shadows and waiting for its chance to strike. He saw Claire standing in front of the shelves; she was flipping the pages of one of the folders.

"Found something interesting?"

"You could say so. It seems like they were trying to make a new virus from multiple pathogens. These are viral genomes, but these are bacterial genes..."

"Why doesn't it sound new to me?"

"Yeah, I guess you must be sick of hearing it, right?"

Leon pulled out one of the folders and flipped it open. What he found inside wasn't a nice view. The first page had a picture of a woman with blonde curly hair and green eyes. Her skin was sickly pale, and her look lacked life; right next to the photo, Leon read the word FAILED.

Name: Marishka Sekinova, Subject CD:05X345

Treatment: Isolation BS-0314

Observations: patient showed fever in the first 3h after the inoculation followed by signs of mental degeneration that included symptoms similar to dementia. 48h after, she showed signs of mutation: epidermis began to degrade; muscular tissue was elongated, and the apparition of tumors in multiple parts of the body, which developed at an extremely high speed. 72h later, the mutation had extended to all the body, leaving the subject unrecognizable; signs of erratic behavior and high hostility began to appear. The subject had to be put into a reinforced isolation room to continue the monitoring, 96h later, the subject's vitality began to fall, and its body parts began to decay in a phenomenon that we've named "Rotting". The subject was found dead at 17:46 pm on July, 11th.

The file ended with a set of horrible looking pictures that showed up the evolution of the woman, so the photos went from pretty bad to horribly bad.

"Poor woman. These people really don't understand the term Bioethics. " Claire said sadly, "They have the files coded by colors: those white folders are Failed subjects, and the color tags must be the virus they were testing. Check what I found."

Claire handed him a folder. He flipped it open and just like the other file, the front page had a picture attached, this time it was the photograph of a woman with black hair, but instead of FAILED, the words: TO IMPROVE, were written. He turned the page and, like before, he found a set of pictures, but his eyes suddenly stuck in the last one.

"It's...the thing that attacked us."

"Yeah, or at least a primitive version of it, but look what it says. According to this, the mutation caused them to be photosensitive. That explains why they only come out at night time."

"Just like monsters from a nightmare, huh?"

"Yeah…"

The lights in from the ceiling flickered, and he saw Claire lookup with a frown.

"Did you...hear that?" she asked.

"Hear what?" he replied. Leon was puzzled. He hadn't heard anything.

Claire did not reply as she stared back at the ceiling.

"It's done. I've copied all the files from the system captain." Clement said, breaking the silence.

"Good, time to get the hell out of here. Don't let your guard down yet. We still don't know if there's anything ready to attack us out there."

"Yes, Captain!"

Claire pushed the folder back into the shelf and turned to Leon.

"Time for this nightmare to end…" he said, and she smiled.