A. N: It's been awhile, I know, so I won't bother you with a big, long Author's Note.
Chapter: THREE
"Is it true that you were infested with a Las Plagas parasite?"
"What became of Leon after the incident?"
"How is life, now? Are you experiencing any stress?"
Ashley Graham walked quickly, trying to escape from the swarm of reporters that had been hounding her for the past two weeks. They had been asking question after question about what had been commonly referred to as 'The Los Illuminados Incident.' The only good thing she could recall about that experience was the handsome United States agent, Leon Kennedy. If it weren't for Leon, Ashley would have either been dead, or a Ganado. Neither were very favorable options.
Ashley finally decided that the best way to escape the media was to move away from her home in Massachusetts. She needed a change of scenery, anyway. She was going to move to a small town in Oregon named Pineridge. Pineridge was an uninteresting place. Ashley hoped there would be no reporters there. It was for this reason that she was walking to the airport with a horde of newscasters and reporters chasing her as usual.
Her plane to Oregon had finally arrived and she was off to Pineridge.
During the long flight, she thought about her time in Spain, the Los Illuminados Incident. Thanks to the endless sea of reporters, it was the only thing she could think about. There had been too many near-death experiences to count, and Ashley wouldn't have made it through a single one of them if it hadn't been for Leon. Unfortunately, Ashley would probably never see her savior again. Leon had saved her skin more times than she could hope to count. Whether it was being snatched away by a lone Ganado or being crushed by Salazar's spike trap; he had always been there for her.
Enough! Ashley thought to herself, thinking about Leon won't make him just appear out of nowhere.
After several lonely hours, she had finally arrived at the Starcrest airport. Pineridge didn't have an airport and the nearest town was Starcrest, so she landed there.
Her personal things were being sent to Pineridge via U-Haul. It was a long and expensive trip but being the President's daughter had its advantages.
After arriving at the airport, Ashley called a taxi to take her to the nearest hotel in Pineridge. It would be expensive since they would have to drive through the forest, but Ashley had more than enough cash.
The drive through Starcrest Forest wasn't as long as Ashley had thought it would be. In fact, it was only about twenty minutes until the taxi driver pulled up to the Pineridge Hotel. She paid for the ride and stepped out into the lonely town of Pineridge for the first time.
She didn't have any bags. They were expected to arrive at her new house in two to three days. Until then, she would stay in the hotel. She walked up to the front desk, checked out a room, and left. She was going to the store. The latest issue of The Fashion Digest came out that day and she was going to get it. She was also going to buy some snacks. Maybe eating and reading could help keep her mind off Leon.
The store was within walking distance so she didn't have far to go. It was the tiniest little store Ashley had ever seen. Ashley decided to get the snacks first, then buy the magazine as she was buying her things. The store was unfamiliar, but, small as it was, she didn't have much trouble finding the right aisle. She grabbed a box of Chips Ahoy!™ and Oreos™, then went to the desk to buy her things.
The magazine rack was full of things like Sports Illustrated, Electronic Gaming Monthly, and Boy's Life. Just when she thought she was out of luck, there it was: The Fashion Digest's 200th issue. Ashley bought her items and left the store, unaware of the fact that it was already 10:30PM.
Ashley was surprised at the sudden darkness that had suddenly engulfed her.
Now, there was enough sense in Ashley to tell her that walking alone, during the middle of the night, in a strange town was a bad idea, but what could she do? The store had just closed so she couldn't call another taxi, and she didn't have her cell phone on her. It looked like her only option was to walk back to the hotel and hope for the best.
For about fifteen minutes, everything was fine, no strange noises or shadowy figures in the dark. Suddenly, Ashley started to hear footsteps behind her. She knew better than to look over her shoulder so she just kept on walking, hoping for the best.
"Hey, babe! You lost?"
Ashley started to walk faster, trying to ignore the calls of the punks behind her.
"Oh, come on, baby, don't be like that. Come here!"
Before she knew it, the two hoodlums were right beside her. One of them grabbed her arm, turning her around so that she was facing him.
"You look lost, girl. How 'bout I take you over to my place so we can have some fun."
The man grabbed her rear while the other one pulled out a switchblade. Ashley just stood still, too terrified to move.
"Come on, honey. I don't want to use this," the other man said, twirling the knife in his hand, "but I will if you start to be a hassle."
As the two men started to grab her again, Ashley did the only thing she knew how to. She crouched down on the pavement and put her arms over her head, preparing for the worst.
She could have crawled away right then and made a break for it, but her conscious had become overpowered with fear.
"Hey, girl, get up!" the switchblade man said before stabbing Ashley in the arm.
"Stand up and look at me, bitch!"
Ashley screamed as the first guy punched her square in the face. A faint glitter in the darkness revealed that the man was wearing brass knuckles. She let out another scream as the metal connected with her skull once more. The trickle of warm liquid down Ashley's face showed that she was bleeding.
"Get up, you little slut, or me and my friend here are gonna beat the fuck out of you!"
Just as the switchblade man was about to stab her again, the bright light of someone's headlights and the roar of an engine interrupted him. Ashley saw an old, beat up pickup truck pull up beside them.
Oh, god, Ashley thought, please don't let there be more of them.
Switchblade man stepped back, blade held out, as a man emerged from the driver's side of the truck. He didn't look like a thug, but that didn't mean anything.
The man pulled out something from the chest pocket of his jacket, but it was too dark for Ashley to see what it was.
"Starcrest Police Department! Drop your weapon and step away from the girl!"
Ashley nearly collapsed with relief. A police officer! She realized that the thing he pulled out must have been his badge.
"How do we know that badge ain't fake? I don't see no uniform. If you're such a cop, why don't you prove it, huh?"
The officer sighed and pulled a handgun out from its holster.
"The way I see it, I'm the one with the gun, so I suggest you back away. Now." The policeman pointed his gun at switchblade man. Brass knuckles man was backed against the side of a building.
Without warning, switchblade lunged at the man's throat with seemingly superhuman speed.
Before he could react, the officer was being slammed against the side of his truck with one of the punk's hands, and being viciously stabbed in the side with the switchblade hand.
"Argh!" the police officer let out a scream of agony and shot the thug in the head.
BLAM!
He shot the thug again in the chest. He gave one last desperate gasp for breath, then fell to the ground, a pool of crimson blood gushing out from his wounds. The officer was about to help Ashley up, but was brutally thrown to the ground by the brass knuckles man. Ashley noticed the same superhuman speed as before. She screamed in horror as brass knuckles man was mercilessly pounding away at the downed policeman. The officer struggled for his weapon. Once he had a hold on it, he started blasting at the man.
BLAM!
BLAM!
BLAM!
The thug took three shots to the head before falling to the ground, dead like his friend.
The police officer started to crawl back up onto his feet, panting and gasping for breath. He looked at Ashley's terrified figure, just a dim silhouette in the darkness.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Get up and get in!"
Ashley struggled to her feet and began to tentatively approach the officer's, now horribly dented, truck.
"Don't forget your groceries."
During the assault, Ashley had nearly forgotten about her cookies and magazine that she had bought at the store. Then she remembered that it was her stupidity of going to the store in an unfamiliar town that had gotten her into this mess in the first place. She mentally slapped herself for the third time that day.
Ashley grabbed her bag, which was right in front of switchblade man. She thought about taking the weapon but decided that she'd rather not.
She took her things and got into the passenger's seat of the pickup truck. It was a bit high up and Ashley had to sort of climb to get up.
"Um, thanks for saving me back there. I would have been a goner if you hadn't shown up."
The moon started to come out from the parting clouds and Ashley saw, with a shock, that he was covered in blood and mud.
"I'm not surprised you were attacked. This town's a huge hellhole. I was nearly murdered twice today. The people here, they're just not right. Their speed and strength is incredible. If that creep with the brass knuckles had punched one more time, I probably would have been out of commission. Oh, by the way, I'm Alexander Brown. I already know who you are."
"Yeah, uh, I guess a lot of people do, now." Ashley didn't like the idea of everyone knowing who she was. It was why she had moved to Pineridge in the first place. It was such a miniscule place, she thought the media may not have reached the place. Turns out she was wrong.
"Don't worry," Alexander began, "I'm not going to badger you with questions. Must have been one hell of a trip, though. Seems like an interesting character, that Leon."
Ashley swallowed the lump in her throat, "I don't really like to talk about Leon."
"Why? Did he…you know?"
"What? No! Nothing like that. It's just, he was the kindest person I'd ever met before. I probably won't ever get to see him again, though."
Alexander was silent for a moment, before saying, "Well, we can take down these freaks together. I'm telling you, this is not normal, especially for a place like Pineridge. It seems like anyone that comes here is attacked on the spot.
"Anyway, I'm heading for Starcrest Forest. I had minimal problems there and we should be able to camp out. There are camping materials in the bed of the truck. Fortunately, I was a Boy Scout so we should have a good chance of surviving. Well, surviving nature, anyway. I don't know about what else might be out there."
It was a short but silent drive to the forest. Nothing to listen to but the hum of the truck's engine. Ashley had nearly fallen asleep when the policeman named Alexander hit the breaks.
"Wait a minute, what's that?" Alexander asked.
Ashley was about to ask "What's what?" but then saw what looked like headlights coming up in front of them.
"Oh, crap," Alexander muttered, "not more of them!"
Surprisingly, the vehicle slowed down and pulled over right beside Alexander and Ashley. Alexander pulled out his gun and inserted a new clip of ammunition.
"Wait here," Alexander instructed Ashley as he slowly exited the truck. He cautiously walked up to the window of the vehicle. He could see that it was a jeep.
Immediately, Alexander had a gun to his head.
"Hey, whoa! I'm a human! Lower your weapon."
"Oh," the new man said, "I guess you're not one of them, after all."
"Damn right, I'm not. Who the hell are you, anyway?"
From back in the truck, Ashley could already see who the strange man was. She gasped and fell back in shock.
"Leon S. Kennedy."
A. N: Please leave a review. Your feedback is greatly appreciated. By the way, when I was at BSA summer camp at Camp Pioneer, there was a campsite named Pine Ridge. It was cool!