RE: Inclination
A/N: Short chapter. Thanks to everyone for the reviews. No, there's nothing wrong with the story getting longer, except that occasionally we get chapters that are short like this one. Also, thoughts out to Seto_Takahashi and the fractured bones. Feel better.
May 2006
After the flashiness of their exit from the hotel, the streets outside were almost a let down. The two of them avoided taxis, skipping past the remains that were always dented or bloody. Claire wondered about her mental state if she was thinking less danger was disappointing, but then she remembered that there was a lot of adrenaline involved in this sort of thing.
This sort of thing.
Leon lead the way. Apparently he had some sort of a map in his head. Claire knew if it were her she'd be checking more openly for landmarks that were familiar. They'd only been there what… a day? Two? But Leon wasn't. He seemed at once at home with the layout of the island, and though she hated to admit it, the situation.
Before she could get too annoyed, a quiet voice in her told her that it was his job. Claire wondered about that. She only ever heard that little voice when she was in situations like this… or thinking about them. The quiet voice was the one that kept her from crying out while hiding, from dropping the weapon in her hands even when her fingers were cramping from how hard she was gripping the handle.
And to be honest, there was something calming about having Leon as backup in this situation. Calming and exhilarating, because when he moved, sometimes she'd notice him. But there was an easier feeling about the situation. It was like she knew they would make it out.
He hadn't said anything like it, but it was there. The two of them together were always ok. Apparently, the blue hour was a good time to avoid the zombies.
"It should be just down this street," Leon said as they reached an intersection.
Claire paused beside where he was, and glanced up at him. Leon had a somewhat pained expression on his face, almost like his injuries were bothering him. That worried Claire, but she knew if it was bad enough he'd tense up. He'd tensed up in Raccoon, and again in Orkney. She knew what he looked like when he needed help. Pain wasn't a cause for needing help, she'd learned the hard way, and if she tried to assist when it was just pain she was liable to get her hands slapped away.
"What… are we waiting for a walk sign?" Leon asked, shaking his head. He made a motion towards the street, and the two of them stepped off the curb almost in unison.
It was impossible to call the island silent, even at dawn. At that hour of the morning normally the gulls would be calling one another, bees would be buzzing against the flowers that were blooming decoratively from their landscaped beds, and the shop keepers would likely be heading from the diner where they got breakfast to their stores to get started on the day. The hardcore tourists started early to avoid heat stroke and fatigue.
With what had happened, there certainly were no people moving about. The streets, as they had passed through them, were littered with bodies of those who had not made it, surrounded in a pool of their own fluids. Thankfully the sun had not begun to cook them. The landscaped flowerbeds were devoid of bees. Instead the flying insects were attracted to the corpses littering the ground, just like the flies that seemed to have come from nowhere to join the feast.
Stepping around the puddles of bug-crawling goo around the corpses littering the street, Claire followed Leon through the pre-dawn without saying much of anything. As they headed down the street, zombies came shuffling towards them.