10. Claire

The sound of the alarm pierced Claire's ears painfully. The sound was much louder than normal, but Claire was too busy thinking about the mess they were in now to pay attention to her apparent sharpened sense of hearing. So far, the duo had managed to go unnoticed by the monsters, but the alarm had thrown overboard all the secrecy and care they had had. Why the hell was there an alarm on the roof door?

"Shit! " Leon cursed, "Run, Claire...RUN!"

The pair climbed the set of stairs shoulder to shoulder. The climb felt endless, but Claire was aware that the creatures had already noticed her presence. The woman began to sense her surroundings, looking for their hunters until she heard the grunts and the heavy breathing that she disliked so much. Claire was not sure how far they were, but she had no intention of waiting to find out. She saw that Leon had pulled out his handgun, but she already knew the bullets would not harm unless he could hit them in the only vulnerable spot located inside their mouths, and that would be hard, even for an expert shooter like him.

"Think, Claire, think… you need to come out with something to help Leon..."

You've done this before. You know you can't beat them. Remember? No one knows what's their weakness.

"Their weakness….what's their weakness...think…"

Claire's inner monologue kept going as she followed Leon through the darkness. She had fought them before, and she had managed to escape alive. The question was how she had done that. What had she done? She couldn't remember.

Leon was running right beside her, and she could hear the creatures running not too far behind. They reached the door to the roof. It seemed locked, but Leon shot the doorknob and kicked it down. Hospital roofs were usually used to hang the drying bed sheets from the laundry, but today there were none. The sky was still dark, and in other conditions, Claire would have appreciated the fresh air.

The creatures had finally caught with them. The triplet jumped through the doorway and landed on the ground, growling as their nasty mouths kept opening and closing as if they were tasting the air. Claire knew they were trying to track them; the monsters were aware of their presence, but they had no idea where they were.

She quickly grabbed Leon's hand and pulled him behind one of the nearest ventilation towers. Claire had quickly put her finger on her lips, warning Leon, and she was glad that the man had understood the situation immediately.

Think about it. How did you defeat it before?

A painful flashback hit her head. She was running down a dark corridor chased by the same creatures; she was running out of breath, but the adrenaline kept her moving until she reached a dead end. She made a quick turn and hid behind a small piece of furniture, holding her breath. The creature was by her side now, listening, and trying to find her. Claire looked around in panic and noticed the darkened window at the end of the corridor silently. She picked a small base from the table and threw it with all her strength through the window. The noise caught the monster's attention, and it jumped after the vase through the window. It was sunny outside, and the creature groaned in pain as the sun burned down its flesh.

"Sunlight!"

Claire looked at Leon's wristwatch, and it read 06:58. Chris had said they were in Wales, and she had been gone for what? Eighth months? It meant that they should be in November; if she was right, at this side of the world, the sunrise should be around 7 am. If they could stay alive for two more minutes, the sun would take care of those things.

But, like always, things never worked the way she wanted. One of the creatures was standing right over them with its head bent between Leon's and her face. She could feel the fetid metallic breath blowing at her, and both Leon and Claire were paralyzed to the point that they were holding their breath. Claire scanned her surroundings, trying to find something she could use to take them out of this mess, but there was nothing, not even a stone.

Chris might help…

"Chris?" she thought, wondering what her inner voice was trying to tell her, and then it hit her. The pen, the one she had teased Chris about.

She took the little object and with a fast and silent movement, threw it with all her strength; the thing flew over to the other edge of the roof. The little object crashed against the metallic fence with a loud shriek that immediately caught the monsters' attention. The three things jumped over the edge as the first rays of sunlight fell over them. The result was exactly as Claire had seen in her memory. The light began to burn the creatures as they touched the pale skin.

This is it. The armor is gone...

"Leon, now. Shoot them!"

"I thought you'll never tell me!"

Leon pulled out his handguns and began shooting at the monsters. The bullets penetrated the flesh sending pieces of muscle, skin, and blood in all directions as the creatures cried. Suddenly, the second wave of shots resonated like an echo of Leon's. Claire looked around and got greeted by the roar of a helicopter's propeller.

"Sorry for making you wait!" Chris shouted from over the banging of his machine gun.

"Having fun on your own, Kennedy?" Jill greeted him, "Care if we join?"

"Be my guest…" Leon smirked.

Claire watched the creatures die quickly under the rain of bullets that lashed them. Without even realizing it, her back slid against the wall of the ventilation tower until she finally fell on the floor. Her legs were no longer able to sustain her weight as the adrenaline began to fade.

And ashes they become.

As soon as the last creature had stopped moving, and his body began to burn as he just finished lighting the place. Chris and the others jumped from the helicopter to the roof. The elder Redfield rushed towards his sister and grabbed her shoulders, looking for injuries.

"You always take your damn time. One of these days, I will run out of patience..." she said softly. Her voice completely mismatched the words. She immediately saw Chris smile.

"Sorry, again..." he replied, and then, he hugged her.

His grip was strong and filled with a full combo of emotions that went from fear and anger to relief and happiness. Claire knew Chris's worried hugs. She had received so many of them in the course of her life, and she was comforted by the fact that they were as nice as she remembered them.

"Chris...you're squishing me…"

The man let go of her and looked at her, concerned.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"I am fine. I really I'm. Otherwise, your bear hug would have killed me..." She smiled, "You know..this wasn't exactly the way I pictured watching a sunrise in Wales…"

"You'll get another chance. Come. Let's get you out of here. BSAA is about to launch an operative in the building…"

"They won't find much." Leon said, " those three were the only large B.O.W's in the place, and they pretty much took care of any moving thing down there, alive or dead..."

"We must check anyway…" Chris said, shaking his head," Just in case. How are you, Kennedy? Any injuries?"

"I'm fine. As usual, your sister saved my ass."

Jill approached them with a small blanket in her hands. The woman wrapped it around Claire's shoulders, and suddenly the young Redfield noticed the cold that was brushing her skin. It was late autumn in Wales, and the winds were icy; unlike the rest of her friends, Claire was only wearing a thin hospital gown.

"Thanks, Jill…"

"No need to thank me…" the blonde woman smiled, "We are happy to have you back and safe…"

"But you still need fat over those bones…" Barry snorted from behind Jill " So I suggest we get our asses out of here and let the children take care of the cleanup. How about we get you that breakfast we never had, little Red?"

Claire chuckled. How she had missed this.

"I'd like that…"

Chris put an arm around her shoulders, and they headed to the chopper; but Claire made a sudden stop, and under everyone's questioning look, the woman walked to the spot where the three monsters laid now as a pile of scorched meat and bowed to pick the small black pen from the ground. The woman looked at it and smiled as she walked back to the awaiting group.

"What's that?" Barry asked curiously.

"This? Well, let's say I apologize for teasing you about the pen stabbing thing, Chris…" she said, "It seems that your pen is a life-saving thing after all…" she added, showing them the small office item in her hand.

"Well, at first look, everything seems in place." Saya said, passing Claire some clean clothes, "No new injuries, at least…"

Claire's happiness when she arrived at BSAA base and found Saya standing at the heliport waiting for them was immense. The woman had gone to BSAA with Chris to discuss the conditions of Claire's transport back to North America, so the woman hadn't been in the medical center when the attack had taken place.

"Is your head still hurting?"

"No, at least not now," Claire replied as she got dressed behind the curtain. The clothes she had been given were pretty plain, but comfy enough and much more practical compared to the white hospital gown she'd been wearing before. She had never favored flashy looks, anyway.

She buttoned up her white shirt, which she guessed was most likely Saya's, and put on the black pants that she assumed were Jill's. Perhaps the clothes would have fitted her better some time ago, but with her current state of undernourishment, both pieces were a little too loose. She came out from behind the curtain, brushing her hair with her fingers, and found the Asian woman grinning.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing. It's just that you look more like yourself now, but maybe Burton is right. You do need a little more fat..." she replied, shaking her head, "Here, a little present from BSAA. It's pretty cold out there after all…"

Saya handled one of the organization's issued jackets, and Claire quickly put it on and was relieved that it fitted well.

"Great, I was worried that I'd have to use one of Chris's."

"Oh, please...I am a good friend. Do you think I would allow you to fall so down as to wear your brother's oversized jacket? Maybe I'd accept Kennedy's, but not your brothers…"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Heh, nothing…"

"Anyway. Did you call the team? I expect to start with testing as soon as we get back home."

"Ease down, workaholic…" Sayo replied, rolling her eyes, "I already called them. I think Wallace dropped dead at the news, but Irina was kind enough to take the rest of the call. They'll set up everything..."

"Great. The sooner we figure out what's wrong with me, the better..."

"Enough about work, young lady. Breakfast time." Saya pushed her out of the room and smiled, "You need some time with your friends and family, for a change...and one good meaty European breakfast. I think you deserve it after all the crap you've gone through…"

"That's the doctor talking?"

"No, that's your friend talking. Come on. I am hungry, too."

Claire shook her and followed the Asian doctor out of the room. It was nice to have some normalcy after all the things she had gone through the past months. She looked at the busy courtyard filled with BSAA members running under the sunny west sky; the smell of the sea and salty air filled her lungs.

"You look like you had an epiphany…" Saya teased.

"Not quite…" Claire replied, "I'm just...my memories of the past months feel...weird, but I know I haven't had fresh air in a while..."

"About that…" Saya said softly, "Don't push it. I already told your brother that they shouldn't force the details out of you…"

"I know Chris is dying to interrogate me…" Claire said quietly, "but even if he did, I can't remember. All I have are pieces of events and ghost sensations; the things are in my head, but I can't make sense of them anyway."

"You were heavily drugged, Claire. It's not rare that this would happen."

Claire didn't answer. She suddenly smiled as she saw the group of people walking to them.

"Nice to see the clothes suited you, Claire." Jill smiled.

"Yeah, thank you, Jill."

"How are you feeling?" Chris asked.

"Never better...relatively speaking. I am fine, Chris. You don't need to get so overprotective over me…"

"Oh, I think I get the right to get overprotective after all the crap that's happened, Claire."

"Yeah, sorry about that. I guess I've been hanging out with the wrong guys…" she sighed.

"There are a lot of things to discuss…" Chris said sternly, "But, first things first...breakfast."

"That sounds nice…" Claire nodded, "Where's Leon?"

"Oh, he'll catch up with us later." Chris answered, waving his hand, "He's talking to his boss about a new assignment."

"Oh…"

A sudden pinch of disappointment hit her gut, but she quickly chastised herself. Leon was a busy government agent. She couldn't expect him to put his work on hold just because she had decided to pop out from her grave. For some odd reason, Claire wished she had had a little more time with him.

"Why am I even thinking like this?" she thought.

"All right…" Barry said, cheerfully, "How about some toast and bacon, Claire?"

Claire smiled. For today, she wouldn't think of anything more than spending some time with her family. That was all she wanted.