*This one is going to be a little longer due to there being no real place to cut off at. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 20:

There was no time to mourn for the dead. The two survivors quickly made their way to the central elevator where the car had sat there waiting for them. They climbed in and watched as the doors slid close before the car began to slowly descend to wherever they needed to be. It was nerve-wracking at how slow it went, but it was also nice to relax even if for a moment. Leon looked over at his companion and sighed at her anxiety-ridden expression. He wasn't feeling that great either. There were a thousand different emotions brewing inside of him.

"Vee?" he called for her. She turned her head to look at him with worried eyes.

"Yeah?"

"Could you just...hold my hand for a second?... Please? I just...need a little reassurance right now." She didn't hesitate to take it into hers, lacing their fingers together.

"Of course." She paused. "Did you really not trust her?" He sighed.

"A big part of me did, but you said something back at the R.P.D. that stuck with me ever since we met her."

"What was it?"

"'Some people put up a facade and sometimes you have to learn that the hard way.' And in the end, I guess we did." His partner sighed sadly at that.

"Yeah, I guess so."

Peeking out of the elevator windows, they watched as they passed a giant mechanical machine that rotated fire and lightening. That must have been the facility's core that kept the place running and now it was destroying it all. It was scary and amazing at the same time. All of this hid just beneath the feet of the people in Raccoon City and they had no idea.

"10 minutes until detonation," the automated voice above them stated. Veronica's heart thumped in her chest. Ten minutes wasn't a lot of time and they didn't know where the exit was yet. She turned to Leon and looked over his face to stamp it into her memory then squeezed their hands.

"Hey, Leon?" He turned his gaze away from the window over to her. There were new tears brimming in her eyes, and it was heartwrenching. "In case we don't make it out of here, I just wanted to tell you that I...really like you. I like you as more than just a friend and definitely more than just as your partner. If I had known you longer, I would probably say that it's even more than that, but-," she was cut off by Leon as he suddenly leaned forward and cupped her face with his free hand before pressing his lips to hers.

She wasn't expecting that and froze for a second before melting into the kiss. It was short and chaste, but sweet even as tears slid down her cheeks. They had to pull apart not even a moment later when the elevator reached the bottom level. The doors slid open behind them, but they made no mad dash out just yet. Gazing into each other's eyes, they couldn't help but look at each other in adoration.

"I think it's safe to say the feeling's mutual. We're going to make it, I promise! C'mon! Let's go!" With a nod of her head, Leon took her hand back in his and led the way out of the elevator and into a control room.

"9 minutes until detonation," the automated voice chimed in. The room was composed of a plethora of monitors on the wall, but no one at the controls. A lot of them had error messages due to the explosions. As they were picking up a first aid spray and a knife from the room, they noticed one of the monitors were still on, and on it was of a girl in one of the rooms in the building.

"Who's that?" Leon questioned as they ran over to the monitor.

"It's Claire! Annette said she was down here! She beat Birkin!" He looked at his partner shocked at her statement before playing with a panel of controls. Through the black and white static, an image of Claire up close began coming into view.

"Claire!" he called for her through the monitor, successfully grabbing her attention.

"Leon? You're down here too!?" She exclaimed, surprised by his sudden appearance.

"Yeah. So is Veronica! But the whole place is coming down," he explained while looking at the other monitors. Then he leaned back in. "Listen to me. You need to get out. Fast!"

"Yeah. There's a way out." The other two looked at each other in surprise while Claire peered over the monitor at this possible exit. "We can make it." She looked back at the monitor. "Where are you both now?" Then the feed began to get interference.

"Claire!? You still there?"

"Leon? Hey Leon, you're breaking up…"

"Forget about us! Just get out of here!" The video cut and was full of static. "Ugh! Dammit!"

"Leon, let's go!" Veronica urged. The two rushed out of the room and began running around the lower parts of the facility o find this train platform they had heard over the intercom. All they could do was follow whatever open pathways they could follow.

Explosions went off around them and after taking a short lift to another floor, they were met with more Ivys. Veronica almost got caught by one, but with a stab of her knife, she was able to pull away in time to get out. In the next room over, they climbed down a tall ladder and were about to make it to the next door when all of a sudden, Mr. X jumped down in front of them.

"Ugh...Is this a fucking joke?" Leon cried as they looped around the room, it following closely behind. They quickly made it past him and through the other door. The next room was completely on fire, but the path was still clear, even when they easily passed by a zombie still lying around and through another door. They were almost at the end of the room after that, which was composed of pipes when suddenly another explosion went off in front of them, causing the way forward to be covered in flames.

They turned, about to find a different way through, when they were caught off guard by Mr. X standing right behind them. It grabbed the both of them by their heads and lifted them into the air. It added pressure that was beginning to hurt as they tried prying at the hands holding them up. Luckily, an explosion went off right next to them in the pipes causing Mr. X to let go of them. The metal grated floor buckled beneath their weight due to them hitting the floor and another explosion.

They held onto the railings even as the floor tilted them downward. Below them, they could see another pipe room that might lead to somewhere, but the drop was still too high. But before they could make any decision to jump down, another explosion occurred causing the grate to fully break off and dropping the pair down into the room below them. They could hear more explosions going off above them then the room was doused in fire.

Veronica felt the wind knocked out of her lungs once she hit the floor. She rolled over and looked up in time to watch as the catwalk above them broke and began tumbling down at her. Leon saw it too and rolled over her, quickly pulling her out of the way. The metal panel slammed onto the floor where she just laid with a loud bang. They both looked at each other, breathing heavily at the constant movement. The young girl swallowed and began climbing off of him and onto her feet.

"Thanks," she said breathlessly while helping him onto his feet. He nodded then looked around and noticed another door.

"Gotta keep going! C'mon!" They quickly ran out of there and found themselves at what looked like some sort of platform. It looked like it lowered down to somewhere, maybe even the exit. The only way to get it to work was with a pair of spark plugs and, luckily for them, they were sitting on a random table. They plugged it in and pulled the lever, watching as the platform began to move. More explosions around them caught them off guard when they noticed weird thumping in the distance.

"What the hell?!" Leon looked around, watching as the building began to fall apart. A large metal tower fell from its place above them and smacked into a bridge. The wall it was connected to broke and to their absolute horror, out of the hole came Mr. X, only it was different. He looked bigger than usual and his right arm was on fire. It looked like it was on some major steroids.

"Oh, shit…" Leon whispered as they watched it walk across the bridge to look down at them. Suddenly, another tower came flying down and hit the railing behind them, causing them to fly forward due to the momentum. Then, the bridge above them took another hit and it crumbled down. Mr. X, the Tyrant, coming down with it. It landed on their platform and looked at them full of rage.

Its body had grown in size and its arm had mutated into a giant claw. The topcoat it was wearing before was now gone, exposing a giant heart on its chest. It looked like it could be a weak spot, but still, he was now more terrifying than ever. His face actually showed rage, even with its lower jaw missing. The two survivors looked at each other then took out their guns.

"Alright, come on!" It roared and began to stalk towards them, so they began firing shots. Every few shots, it would stun it, but it was never enough. It charged at them and pounced, but the two dodged out of the way in time, leaving them on separate sides of the platform. Its claw pierced the floor where they once stood and it was terrifying to see the giant gash in the floor. Deciding on the weaker prey, it stalked after Veronica who was shooting magnum rounds to try and weaken it. It took a swipe at her, but she ducked around him before the hit could land.

Concrete boulders fell down onto the platform, nearly missing them by inches. Mr. X's swings would sometimes hit those rocks and it would destroy them entirely. They would try and stay on either side of the platform so that they wouldn't get stuck against each other and it would give the other ample time to get out a new weapon. With each miss, they were lucky to survive.

Leon took out a flash grenade and pulled the pin. He tossed it over just as it roared in a different way that made it look like it was pissed. It suddenly began to charge and dug its claw into the floor before dragging it towards the young officer. Sparks flew from the ground as he began to draw closer.

"Uh-oh...Not good!" he said, but he was saved by the grenade he just threw. It went off stunning the monster for a good minute. Then a giant slab of concrete came down, cutting the platform short. Things just got a lot harder for them.

Explosions kept going off around them and what made this whole thing worse was the platform was going at a snail's pace. They were stuck with this thing till it reaches the bottom or they somehow destroy it. The countdown would occasionally chime in with every passing minute. All they could do was dodge, weave, and shoot.

Another explosion shook the foundation around them with more rock, metal, and fire exploding all over the place. Veronica was knocked back against the railing on the opposite side of the platform, but kept her footing. Leon, however, wasn't so lucky as he stumbled back over a boulder onto the floor.

More gravel came down as he tried to gain his bearings, but found his foot stuck in a gap between two heavy rocks. His foot was completely fine, just stuck as he tried pulling himself free. The Tyrant wobbled on his feet for a moment before steadying itself and turning towards Leon as he was easy prey.

"Shit!" Leon was done for! Suddenly, as if some goddess was listening, in slid a giant box right into the middle of the platform from somewhere above them. The lid popped open revealing a rocket launcher with four rockets loaded.

"Whoa!"

"Where did that thing come from?!" Both survivors looked at it in surprise, one of them had to get to it! With Leon stuck, it had to be Veronica, but she needed to get the Tyrant away from her friend first. It was too close. If she shot it while it was next to Leon, he could get hurt. Looking around, she quickly made a plan.

"That'll do!" She picked up a rock, ran a little closer then flung it at the monster's head. It seemed to catch his attention by ticking it off as he began walking towards her quickly. "Throw another rock at him!" she shouted at Leon, backing away to the other end to get some space.

"What?!"

"Just do it!" He quickly got onto the one free knee he had, and did the same as her, picking up another rock and tossing it at the monster. Now it really didn't like that as it turned again towards Leon and began walking away. With it being distracted, she ran towards the launcher case and pulled it out while backing up. It was now in the perfect spot, just past the middle.

"HEY ASSHOLE!"

The monster turned its body to face her before beginning to stalk towards her again angrily. Right before it was just in the middle of the platform, she lifted the launcher onto her shoulder and aimed. Just passed the Tyrant, she could see Leon watching her intensely before giving her a nod.

"GAME OVER!"

Her finger pulled the trigger with a click. There was the intense pullback of the recoil before the rocket was projected from the weapon. Both Leon and Veronica turned away before the blast, shielding themselves from the fire. It went by so fast as it hit the Tyrant with a loud explosion, the smoke billowing around itself. After a moment, the smoke dissipated and the two survivors watched in the utmost relief as the Tyrant's lower body fell onto the ground in a gory mess of intestines and lack of an upper body.

But they couldn't celebrate just yet, a countdown was still going down around them. Veronica quickly set down the weapon and ran over to Leon, helping shove the rocks away from his foot. She grabbed an arm and lugged him onto his feet just as the platform finally reached the bottom level, the automated voice system annoyingly telling them so.

"Holy shit, Vee! You were such a fucking badass!"

"Flirt with me later, rookie! We're almost there! C'mon!" she yelled over the rumbling around them. She picked the launcher back up and the two ran off the platform towards the exit. As they were approaching the door, it busted open with a small horde of zombies stopping them in their tracks. Above them, the voice alarms blared that there were three minutes until detonation.

"Ugh! Seriously?!" he groaned. Veronica lifted the rocket launcher up to him.

"Care to do the honors?"

"I'd thought you'd never ask!" He took it with a smirk, before lifting it onto his good shoulder and aimed. That horde was gone in seconds.

"That was so satisfying," he said as they took off through the exit, just as the head of a random train began to chug through. Another explosion around them caused part of the ceiling to come down, slowing them as the train was beginning to pick up speed.

"Gotta get out of here!"

"That's our ride out! Let's go!" They ran alongside the train after tossing the launcher behind them. It was too heavy to carry and the train was getting faster. While it was still slow enough, Veronica was able to reach and grasp a car's side railing. She quickly pulled herself up then reached out for Leon's hand.

"C'mon!"

An explosion occurred behind him, causing him to jump up and grasp both her hand and the railing, his feet almost dragging on the floor. His injured shoulder made it hard for him to pull himself up, but with all the strength either have, they hauled him up onto the car with a loud grunt. She dragged him onto the floor next to her, letting him lie on his back while she leaned against the car as they both tried to catch their breath. He was clutching his wounded shoulder with a pained look on his face, clearly showing that he overexerted himself.

Looking back, Veronica watched as the room they were just in exploded into flames. That was a close call. The two noticed the train enter a tunnel, and for once, they felt safe. They just might make it out of this, if this thing leads out of Raccoon City that is. Was Claire on this train, or anything else for that matter? For right now, they didn't know. They just needed a moment to breathe.

After about a minute, Veronica glanced over at Leon before crawling over to him with only one thing on her mind. He turned his head to watch her sit at his side with curious eyes. One of her hands reached over to brush his hair away from his sweaty face before cupping his cheek tenderly. Eyes gazed into one another's, swirling full of emotions. Slowly, she leaned down with her eyes closing before pressing her lips against his gently. It was a quick kiss that surprised him, but he was happy enough to finish what they started earlier.

She pulled away just as slowly but didn't make it far as Leon followed her by sitting up. He cupped his hand around the back of her neck gently and without hesitation, he leaned forward and captured her in another kiss. She met him with just as much passion, her hands snaking up to cup at his jawline while his arms slid down to wrap around her waist bringing her closer.

Lips melded together in desperation at finally allowing themselves to feel for each other. Allowing themselves to feel the other against them without something chasing them or with no countdown hovering over their heads. It was as if whatever was watching over them that was keeping them alive was saying "finally". They tasted of sweat and dirt, but that didn't matter to them anymore. It was just them being together and alive that was.

Knowing they had to still move, they reluctantly pulled apart breathlessly. Leon leaned forward once more and pressed his forehead against hers with a sigh. She so desperately wanted him to kiss her again, but instead, she just savored the tender moment. He smiled softly at her and cleared his throat.

"We should, um, go check the train." All she could do was nod in response while rubbing her lips together. After they pulled apart and began to stand up, Leon felt something in one of his back pockets that poked him uncomfortably. Reaching behind him, he pulled out the I.D. wristband from NEST. From Ada. He forgot that he stuffed it into one of his pockets when they contacted Claire in the control room. He looked at it sadly for a moment before tossing it out onto the track letting the wind take it.

"I could've saved her," he said, as he watched it disappear. Despite what Ada had done, neither of them wanted her to die, and frankly, a part of Veronica felt the same guilt as Leon did. Ada had saved their lives multiple times and perhaps, given the circumstances could've been a friend. She looked like she was warming up to them near the end. She could have shot them then took the sample and yet, she didn't. But a voice seemed to tell Veronica that things were gonna be fine.

"We did all that we could, Leon. It wasn't your fault. But," she pecked him on the cheek to bring him back to reality, "something tells me that we will see her again. Alive." He gazed at her with hopeful eyes before nodding in agreement. Staying hopeful was all he could do. Finally, they both began to get up from their spots even though their bodies screamed at them to do otherwise. Once they were on their feet, Leon quickly pecked Veronica on the lips.

"For the road," he said, biting his lip, before turning towards the direction that the cars were going in. All she could do was smile dopey with a blush on her cheeks as she followed him.

They carefully walked up to the first car of the train. Peeking into the windows, they were surprised to see two other survivors. One looking very familiar. The doors slid open as they hurriedly walked in.

"Claire!" Veronica beamed. Said survivor turned and smiled happily at them. She looked like she went through just as much shit as they did. Her red leather jacket was on her companion leaving only a dirty black tank top and jeans.

"Veronica?! Leon?!"

"Hey. We made it," Leon declared tiredly.

"Just like I said we would," Claire grinned. Leon turned to the blonde little girl at her side curiously. She was wearing what looked like a blue plaid school uniform and she looked no older than 12. What was a girl like her doing down there?

"Who's this?" he asked. She gently wrapped an arm around the little girl's shoulders as she walked forward shyly.

"This...this is Sherry."

"Ok."

"Hi Sherry," Veronica waved, but before she could get a response the train jerked suddenly causing everyone to stumble.

"Jesus!"

"What was that?!" Claire questioned as she gazed at the doors.

"I don't know."

"We didn't check the back cars. Something could still be on it," Veronica pointed out.

"You two stay with Sherry. I'm gonna go check it out," Claire told them before she walked out of the car into the next. Leon stood next to said little girl as Veronica watched her leave.

"Don't worry, Sherry. We'll protect you," Leon reassured her. After a moment, the car jerked again, this time more intensely.

"We shouldn't have let her go alone. We have to go after her," Veronica implored Leon. Glancing between the doors and Sherry, he thought about it for a moment, before nodding.

"Let's go. Sherry, you stay right behind me, got it?" The little girl nodded then the three of them ran out of the car. Passing through a car full of crates, the doors at the other end led them to a crazy sight. Claire was in the next car over, shooting a giant machine gun at a familiar blob of teeth and tentacles that was destroying the car. The whole train jerked onto its side as it swung its tentacles around banging against the walls. The car would stabilize then start moving from side to side again causing everyone to slam against the walls constantly.

"It's still not dead?!" Veronica shouted angrily.

"Not yet! We have to help her!

The monster broke the ceiling of its car explosively causing Claire to lose her footing as they reached the door. The trio watched helplessly as she was flung against the floor then began trying to get back up.

"Claire!" Another jerk slammed them in the opposite direction. "We gotta lose that car! the rookie stated as he knelt down on the floor near the car connection. If he could just separate them, the car would fall into the building's self-destruction fire that was chasing the train.

"Be careful!" Veronica yelled as she held onto Sherry protectively while keeping a grip on one of the car railings. They watched as he pulled back a metal grating revealing the key to separating the car from theirs. He grabbed ahold of the railing and kicked down repeatedly on the bar.

"C'mon!" he grunted before finally the lever worked, causing a small rift to begin between the two cars. Looking up, they watched as Claire clambered onto her knees with a giant pole as the giant horned eyeball was looming over her. She pulled back then stabbed the thing, twisting and cutting it, causing a waterfall of puss and grossness to spurt out.

"You like that! Ugh!" Claire shouted at it, before twisting one last time. "Goodbye fucker!" She wrenched the pole out, stumbling backward as it screamed in pain. Leon leaned forward, reaching out his arm to her.

"Give me your hand!" She took it eagerly and with a grunt, she stumbled onto their car safely. The four of them watched intensely as the monster known formerly as William Birkin and his car lost speed and fell into the fiery explosion. Hopefully ending its life for good this time.

They all sighed in relief and began heading back to the first car. The fire was still chasing them in the tunnel so they needed to figure out where this tunnel led. Peering through the front windshield, they noticed the end of the tunnel coming up, but the track ended just outside of it. Claire began to tinker with some of the controls on the headboard hastily.

"We have to slow the car down. We could crash off the track if we don't," she explained. She must have done something because the car began to successfully slow down. Eventually, it reached the outside and stopped right at the end of the track. The fire behind them burst out of the tunnel before disappearing into the air.

With a gun raised, Leon carefully opened the train door and peeked outside. After deeming it safe, the four survivors climbed out of the car and began walking. It was barely morning, so it was still cold out, but the sun was shining and they reveled in its heat. The long desert road splayed out across the horizon. Some mountains casting shadows over the dried brush. They could see the doomed city sitting far off in the distance behind them with a dark cloud still looming over it.

Deciding to move as far away as possible from it, they decided to begin the long trek across the desert to safety. There were no monsters around, no zombies, no bioweapons, nothing. Just desert. And for once they were happy with that. Despite being safe, they still kept their heads on a swivel to make sure they weren't being followed.

Emotions were a little rattled as they walked down the paved road. Bodies were a little worse for wear and exhaustion weighed heavily on their minds. Little Sherry knew this so she decided to speak up from between Leon and Claire.

"So...are you guys, like boyfriend and girlfriend?" she asked while looking over at Veronica and Leon. It was an innocent question considering that the two were together all night. They both were stunned by her question as they all stopped to talk. They looked at each other and shrugged before reaching out to hold each other's hand.

"I guess you could say something like that," he smiled sheepily.

"Is that so?" Claire raised an eyebrow with a small smirk grew on her lips. "That must've been one helluva first date, then." Leon glanced over at his partner longingly.

"Yeah, you have no idea-." Suddenly, Sherry pointed down the road.

"Look!" They all turned to see a semi-truck heading towards them. "He might be able to give us a ride." Leon and Claire looked at each other with serious expressions, standing in front of the other two behind them protectively.

"What if it's not just the city?" Claire questioned worriedly. Leon nodded the three of them over to the side of the road.

"Get them outta here." Claire waved the other two to follow her to a spot off of the road while Leon waited with his thumb out. His other hand resting on his gun, just in case. However, as the semi-truck passed them, they were met with loud honking and a middle finger out the window. They all watched as the truck drove off in the other direction. Maybe it was best that they didn't catch the ride. It was going towards where they had just come from.

"Well, he was friendly," Leon scoffed before looking over at the others. They jogged over and followed his gaze towards where the truck disappeared.

"So...is it over?" Veronica asked.

"I don't know. But if it's not, we'll stop it. Whatever it takes."

"Yeah. You're damn right we will!" Claire added boldly. Leon turned to look at his companions and set his eyes on his partner.

"Long as we stick together, we'll be fine. Come on," he nodded her over to his other side then held out his hand to Sherry. The young girl gave a toothy smile and stood between him and Claire, taking both of their hands on either side. Veronica went and stood on Leon's left side to also hold his hand.

"Hey! You guys can adopt me," Sherry suggested, swinging their arms happily. All of the young adults chuckled awkwardly at such an innocent thing.

"Adopt you?" Claire tried to diffuse the situation with a laugh.

"Yeah! I've never had two moms and a dad before! Oh! We can get a puppy!"

"A puppy…"

"And a parrot!"

"Parrot? Great…"

"I always wanted pets but my mom said they're too messy."

"Hmm...Yeah…"

"Oh, and it would be fun to learn piano. Do you guys play any instruments?"

"Veronica here is a musician," Leon suggested, nodding to his partner. Said girl blushed but nodded.

"I know how to play the piano. I can teach you once we're safe," she replied.

"Yay! I can't wait! Hopefully, we'll get there soon," Sherry sighed happily. The adults looked at each other tiredly. This was going to be a long journey.

*This is where the gameplay ends, unfortunately, so if that's all you're interested in and want to move on, you can check the other scenario with Claire. If you would like more, please continue!