Spanish translation!
camaradas = Comrades
Chica(s)/muchachas = Girls
Aqui estamos = We're here
Amigas = friend (female)
Vamos = Let's go
Chula = Hot/hottie
They rest at Luis's hotel for a good few hours, trying to ease the aches and pains while also trying to figure out what the hell they're going to do weapon-wise. Luis, inconveniently, only has one gun on him and refuses to offer it to anyone else, understandably. He has more ammo, but his and Claire's guns are too different for them to share anyway.
"You know, there was a merchant on that island. He sold all kinds of stuff, including upgrades." Luis throws out as they pack away their weapons for the ride South. "I wonder where he went to."
"Probably blew up." Ashley says unhelpfully as she finishes off a bowl of some kind of seafood soup that Luis got them. It was honestly really kind of him to do since Claire could've paid but he waved her off, saying "let a man pay for the first date, yeah?"
Apparently, he just likes to flirt and Ashley didn't have any idea if he is being serious or not either. So, they roll with it and assume it's like when Leon askes someone to dinner. He isn't looking to get a steady relationship or even to set up a bond. He just wants some company and a good meal, half the time. Though, some part of her doesn't really believe Luis is just trying to make some friendly conversation with how he looks at Ashley's ass, but it's too late to turn back now.
"So." Claire starts, her eyes locking on Luis as he packs. "What exactly is the plaga? I know it's a parasite that takes control of you, but how does it work?"
That was the big question she's been meaning to ask for a while now. The whole reason they came to Luis in the first place, actually. He knows what the Plaga is and what to expect from it. He also, apparently, was the one who cured Ashley and Leon of their parasites back on the island. How the girl managed to keep that to herself until they arrived at the hotel was beyond her, but either way, it came out. And Luis didn't deny it, which means he really knows what he's doing.
Luis stands up and rubs a finger along his jawline. "It's not so complicated, really." He holds out three fingers. "There are three recessive types and one dominant. Out of those three, you have A, B, and C." He waves his first finger as he continues. "A is the kind that gives you those tentacles when your head explodes." Claire looks at him in slight horror but Ashley nods, seeming to understand that completely.
He waves his second finger this time. "B is like A, but it also has a mouth tentacle that can bite your head off in one shot. Be careful of those, especially." Claire can't imagine not only tentacles replacing someone's head, but also having a mouth on it that can kill her in one lucky shot. How on earth did these three survive in Spain back then? It feels impossible just hearing about it.
"And C is a fully grown Plaga. This one has sharp legs that pop out and, given enough time, it can completely detach from a body too. They're rare to see but hard to handle. I'd suggest killing it while it's still stuck to someone's neck, personally?" Claire nods in understanding. She really doesn't like how this is turning out. Isn't it easier to just have a single virus that does the same thing every time? It's a lot more predictable that way, at least.
After a moment of soaking that all in, Claire dares to ask another question. "If those are all recessive, then what's the dominant one?" She doesn't want to even imagine how much worse this could get, but she needs to know. Her heart aches for Leon, who walked into this last year without even the basic knowledge of what he'd see and it felt safe to say that he ran into each and every type of plaga there is. Again, she can't believe he's still alive and the thing that tripped him up wasn't even the Plaga, but Saddlar himself.
Luis's eyes go serious when he crosses his arms. "The dominant plaga can control the recessive ones with a high pitched sound that we can't hear. It also doesn't control its host so much as it just...gives them guidance. For example, Saddlar always wanted to rule the world but las plaga told him to do it by kidnapping Ashley. Salazar wanted to be seen as high and mighty, but las plaga told him to do it by controlling his camaradas. You get it?"
"I think so." The dominant plaga isn't nearly as involved in what a person actually could do, but it controls how they go about achieving their goals. And from the sounds of it, it usually chooses the more violent path. Claire knows from experience that someone with high ambitions and little morals is dangerous. "I hope whoever has the dominant plaga now doesn't have any big plans."
"That's impossible." Luis's words make Claire look up again in surprise. She's surprised, again, to see no doubt in this gaze.
She stumbles for words for a moment before answering. "W...what do you mean? How?"
He shrugs in response. "It's not possible for another dominant plaga to exist. Recessive ones? Maybe. But not a dominant plaga."
Ashley seems to catch on and sits up, her eyebrows furrowed. "Is that because Leon killed all three priests that had it? Mendez, Salazar and Saddlar." When Luis nods, Claire looks between them, still not sure how they can be so confident in this. "Well, that makes our job easier. Without a dominant Plaga, the Ganados won't have any orders to follow, right? They'll just be standing there."
"Not necessarily." Luis frowns. "Las Plaga is a social creature. They can recognize another infected and they usually get along well enough, but they don't exactly like newcomers. That's why the Ganados attacked you and Leon at first." He points to Ashley and the girl's eyes go wide, like she's just realizing this too. "So they might still attack us, but it's better than what Saddlar had planned."
"Wait." Claire interrupts, her hands going up to stop them. "Wait, how do you know there aren't more dominant? Can't they make more, even if those three priests died?" How do these things reproduce anyway? There has to be some way for more dominant plaga to be born; otherwise, Los Illuminados wouldn't have survived as long as they did. Just take out the leaders and the rest die off? It just doesn't feel right to her.
Luis leans against the small table behind him and taps his fingertips against the surface. Claire isn't sure if it's a nervous tick or just something he does while thinking. "The chance of more dominant plaga being alive is very small, but...I guess it's not entirely impossible."
"What?!" Ashley shouts from her place on the bed. "But you just said it was!"
He shrugs again. "I'm fairly certain the queen plaga died along with Salazar, but I wasn't there. It could've slipped away somehow, but the chances of that are little to none." He smiles at Ashley and waves a casual hand. "I wouldn't worry about it, Chica. Papi's American agents destroyed Salazar's castle, right?" When Ashley nods, he claps his hands together in finality. "There you have it! The queen is gone and so are the dominant Plaga."
It still doesn't feel right to Claire, but she lets it go. Luis knows the most about these anyway, so she should really trust his word for it. Second-guessing everything he says will only make their trust strained and she doesn't need that right now. Instead of worrying, as Luis said, Claire goes back to packing up her things. She keeps it pretty light, trusting that they'll have each other's backs if anything comes at them. Honestly, this should be a quick mission, just going in to get Leon and return him to the safety of America, but she knows not to count on that. Raccoon City was supposed to be a quick check-in with Chris's boss to see where he was and now look how that turned out. It took all night for her to get Sherry to safety and she still didn't find Chris.
Once everyone is packed, Claire does a double-check of everything. Their guns, bullets, water canteen, a knife for Ashley to use, and a simple first aid pack. Overall, it's not nearly what she'd need for a big mission, but it'll do for now. She doesn't want to get a whole backpack's work of items just to lose them later on down the road. And neither Luis nor Ashley look too keen on carrying a bunch of extra weight, especially now that Ashley's lost her military vest that had all the pockets and cool gadgets.
Ashley's current outfit has enough pockets on its own, though, with her green military pants and a sleeveless turtleneck over it. It's an outfit made for mobility and exactly what someone would need for a rescue mission. Claire's isn't too far off either, with her signature red jacket over a white button-up. Her jeans don't have good pockets, just like all women's pants, but she managed to get Ashley's gun holster. The thing is a sleek black with some extra pockets along the right side and the back. Honestly, she might end up stealing it by the end of the day, if it survives that long.
"Let's go, before it gets dark." Luis holds the door open for the two of them, even giving a little bow as they pass. Claire swears he also says something in Spanish, but she doesn't catch it. Whatever. It probably wasn't important anyway.
The three of them catch a taxi that'll take them from AlbarracĂn to the edge of Alicante. It's only a three-hour drive, but they'll be racing against the sun for this one. Luis takes the passenger seat so he can communicate with the taxi driver and the two girls take the back. It's fine by Claire. She can fit well enough and as she looks out the window, she hopes the sun will stay up just a little longer. Trying to find someone with nothing but the light of a flashlight and the moon is near impossible and knowing Leon, he isn't going to be somewhere too easy to find either. It's going to be a long night, she can tell already.
During the drive, Luis chats with the driver in a friendly tone and although Claire can't tell what they're saying, she finds herself enjoying just listening to the sounds. Beside her, Ashley's eyebrows are pinched in concentration, like she's trying to understand them with her own limited Spanish knowledge. She gives up halfway through the car ride and just plays with the flaps of her pant pockets. The atmosphere is nice and relaxing, a much-needed difference from their airplane ride or even the bus trip over to AlbarracĂn.
"Aqui estamos!" The driver announces and Claire can assume it means they're finally in Alicante. Luis makes a few comments before he hands over a large sum of money and leaves the passenger seat. The drive counts through the bills before smiling at them with a wave of his own. Claire returns it as a kind gesture and waits for Ashley to finish scooting her way out of the back seat before she closes the door. The taxi drives off quickly, likely wanting to get another passenger as soon as he can. That's usually how things work around this area, after all. Everyone's trying to get somewhere and a taxi driver has to be there for them.
"Vamos! Leon can't wait forever!" Luis starts walking toward the city, but Claire stops him before he can get too far.
"Um, we're going further South." It would be a little walk from here to the village she visited just a few months ago, but it was manageable. She made the mistake of getting a taxi to Murcia last time and ended up walking back up a good thirty minutes or so. It was, in no way, a fun experience, but meeting the locals and getting to help feed some of the homeless made it all worth it in the end. And the information about Leon was the icing on the cake. Actually, it was probably a lot more than just icing. Like getting a whole new recipe for a new cake.
Luis lets out a dramatic cry as he marches back toward them. "Why didn't you say so?!" He recovers quickly, however, and points in the right direction this time. "Vamos, Muchachas!" And now they're off, walking a little ways into the next village over. Claire still glances at the lowering sun every so often, hoping that they can get some more time before it sets completely. Despite how friendly people were to her, it's also not the safest place to just hang around, especially in the dark. Claire isn't so much afraid of getting mugged as she is afraid of having to use her weapon against someone. Maybe their group is large enough that no one will try anything, but she has her doubts.
They make it into the village just as the sky starts turning a darker pink and they really start stepping it up then. Claire opens her cell phone and looks back at the saved email. It's an address for her contact and he'll escort them to the trail. At least, that's the plan. She looks back up at the buildings and starts making her way through the streets. It pulls at her heart to see so many people laying in the street. She talked to her boss about doing more here, but she knows they don't have the funds just yet.
As they walk, Claire can see that most of the houses have been overgrown with vines and grass covers everywhere it can. The buildings are dark with grime and have mold spots where the paint hasn't quite chipped away yet. The roofs look unstable, some already caved in, but the bricks hold the foundations steady enough. Claire remembers spending hours trying to clear someone's front door after a roof cave in and how thankful that local was afterward. They had very little, but they kept saying that this house was their prized possession. Seeing it fall apart has been hard on them. That one person isn't the only one either. Claire can safely say that everyone in the village holds their homes close because they're the few that have them. And those who don't latch onto whatever's left and never let it go. She once saw an older woman with nothing but a blanket and a bed mat, but the way she defended her area was almost feral in nature.
"Claire Redfield?!" A deep voice calls out to her and Claire immediately turns around. She squints her eyes when she sees a figure walking out from a house but smiles when she realizes who it is.
"Diego!" She meets the man halfway and wraps her arms around him. He holds her back, equally happy to see her again after a few months, but they pull away quickly. "Hey! Thanks for getting us over here on such short notice! I really owe it to you!" He did everything short of booking their flight and paying for their transportation. This man mapped out where they would land, how to find Luis and where to go afterward. He would also escort them up the mountain a little ways, which was far more than he really had to do, but he said it was all to repay her for helping the local children.
"I assume this is Ashley Graham and Luis Sera?" Diego points to each as he speaks and Claire nods to confirm his guess. "My, my. You look like an intimidating group, if I may say. Quite ready for an outbreak."
Claire places her hands on her hips, still smiling. "Well, I wouldn't say we're that prepared, but we have everything we need for the moment." She checks her gun holster again, just to make sure, and relaxes when she feels the gun settled there. Nice and safe.
Diego looks at the other two with that same, friendly smile. "My name is Diego Marcia, but just Diego is fine. I'll escort you to the trail gate and...well, as far past then as I can. I have a wife and two daughters, so don't think I'm just ditching out on your adventure. Their bedtime comes first."
"We totally understand." Ashley smiles back, her eyes bright and slightly pink looking from the reflection of the sky. "We'll make sure to get you back to your family." It sounds almost like a promise, but Claire couldn't agree more. They don't want to waste time, especially if it takes a father from his children. And Leon's already been waiting long enough for them. So, with their introductions covered, Diego starts toward the direction of the trail gate and the three of them file behind him.
At some point, Ashley moves up closer, talking to him with her limited Spanish for some reason. Is she trying to practice? It would make sense, but then why wasn't she practicing with Luis? Either way, Claire ignores their conversation and instead walks close to Luis, who's taking this all in stride. They head up a side path and the slope is a little sharper than she'd prefer, but it's bearable. As they head further and further from the village, Claire turns to Luis, now more comfortable with talking about their mission. "Did Leon know you worked for Saddlar before?" She has to admit that it's something she's thought a lot about lately, the fact that Luis was on the opposite team for a while before deciding to betray them. He's obviously not going to backstab them so soon, but she's too cautious to just let it go.
He seems surprised by the question but doesn't avoid it. "He did- does. yes. I..." Luis goes quiet for a moment, one of his hands patting at his vest, just above his stomach. The gesture makes Claire tilt her head in curiosity. "I was attacked by Saddlar in Salazar's castle. I thought I was going to be impaled but Leon saved me in the nick of time. That's when I told him the whole truth."
"What did he say?" Claire knows Leon at least learned to trust him eventually, since Luis was the one who got Ashley back to America, but who knows how long that took. Leon has gained a thicker skin since what happened with Ada, but he still has the tendency to just trust people without a second thought, especially if they saved him at some point.
"He said he believed me." Luis lets out a chuckle and runs a hand through his hair. "I still don't know if I deserve that trust from someone like Leon, but that's why I'm here. So I can make up for my past." He rolls his shoulders casually and puts on a smile for her. "And what about you? How do you know Leon? Ex-boyfriend or something?"
Claire actually laughs at that one, the sound surprising Ashley and Diego ahead of them. She waves off their confused glances and shakes her head to answer Luis's question. "No, we've never dated. Honestly, he's never seemed too interested in that kind of thing anyway. At least not around the people I know. He just works and works and works." She says it with both fondness and a slightly bitter feeling. It's not his fault he's stuck going back into this kind of disaster. He was blackmailed into joining US-STRATCOM and now, he hardly has time to rest before getting sent out to fight more monsters. Just like Chris.
"Then how did you meet?" Luis's voice pulls her out of her thoughts and she relaxes again. No point in getting upset over something she can't change right now.
"We met through the Raccoon incident. Ever since, we've been pretty close." Claire's surprised to see the recognition cross Luis's eyes. Not many people know about what happened in Raccoon and how someone all the way out in Spain learned about it is beyond her.
He nods and taps his chin thoughtfully. "Leon mentioned that too. It was the first and only day he was a cop, right?" When Claire nods, he chuckles. "He didn't seem the type when we first met, but after a while...I can see it. I can just picture him giving out tickets to those devious speeders."
"Oh man! He'd have to give himself a few, with how he drives!" She swears that she still has tension in her back from that crash. They had a zombie with them in the car and, all things considered, he handled the situation really well, but still. He wouldn't be her first choice of driver.
Luis laughs next to her. "Of course that would be the case." She's about to make another comment, but then Luis's face falls into a sad smile and she hesitates. "I think that's the longest conversation I've had with him, when we first met. Any other time, we were surrounded by Ganados or I had something more urgent to get to than catching up." He shakes his head. "I regret not staying longer."
Claire took a moment to think about that. From what she's heard, Luis was running around the entire village in search of a way to cure Leon and Ashley of their Plaga. He got them to a machine, probably built by himself, that saved their lives and all without Saddlar killing any of them first. That seems like a good enough excuse to her. She wouldn't want to wait around with someone when she knew she was the key to saving them. But here Luis was, saying he wanted just a few more moments with Leon, to know him better. Her hand reaches out and holds Luis's shoulder, giving him a sense of comfort in his inner turmoil.
She's speaking honestly when she says, "You'll get the chance to talk to him again. I promise."
His eyes go wide for a second but then he's smiling again and shrugging off that sadness. "I guess I should start rehearsing, ey?"
Before Claire can say anything else, Diego's voice interrupts their conversation. "Oye! The gate's right here! Let's stick closer together once we get through. I don't wanna lose you guys so quickly."
"Yeah, you slowpokes." Ashley has a mock scowl but she smiles as soon as they get closer. "Maybe you two should go in front, since you have the guns. I can use a knife well enough, but I'd rather not let a Ganado get that close."
"Of course, Chula." He gives her a wink as he steps in front of her and Claire steps in beside him. Diego unlatches the gate and as he opens it, Luis gives her a flirty smile too. She rolls her eyes but huffs out a laugh all the same. It'll probably get really old by the end of the day, but until then, she'll enjoy it as best she can. It holds that same friendly feeling as when she teasingly banters with Jill or purposefully mispronounces words in front of Rebecca. It'll get annoying with enough time, but it's fun for a little while before then, at least.
"Here we go!" Diego announces and they get into formation, with Claire and Luis in front, Ashley in the middle, and Diego in the back, since he also has a gun. Now that they're ready, they march forward in a close group, eyes open and ready for anything.
She just hopes they'll find Leon before anything gets to them first.
If you're reading this all in one sitting, this is a good break time. Get something to eat, drink some water, sleep for the night if it's late. Take care of yourself. This is gonna be here when you're ready to continue
