"Claire, it's good to see you." Leon lowered his gun, putting it back into it's holster.
"What are you doing here?" She tried not to glare at him as her words came out icy. He shivered slightly, but regained his composure before meeting her eyes. His face was familiar, yet strangely different, like she was looking at a fractured photograph. His eyes were the same brilliant gray, but now had lines and bags that flowed around them. The sun shone behind him, illuminating his ashy-blond hair that now had a few strands of pure silver sprinkled in. Even the curve of his mouth when he smiled showed new creases in his skin that had not been there the last time she had seen him.
"I could ask you the same question." He beamed at her, much to her ever growing annoyance.
Why'd he have to age so well?
"What was that?" Leon raised his eyebrows, cupping his ear so he could hear better.
She looked at him, astonished. "I didn't say anything?" Even she sounded uncertain. He shrugged, dropping the matter. Instead, he turned his attention towards the little girl who was now cowering in the corner.
Leon sank down to his knees, offering her a warm smile. "It's ok. We're not going to hurt you." The little girl slowly turned to him, her unusually bright blue eyes peeking out from under her blond curtain of hair. "What's your name? Where are your parents?" She looked back and forth between him and Claire as if the answers to his questions were written on their faces.
Claire bent down beside Leon, holding out her hand to the girl. "Come on. We can't stay here. We have to get you to safety." She looked at her for a long time, before sliding her tiny hand into Claire's.
The sound of crunching glass set both Claire and Leon on high alert. Leon swung around, crouching from cover to cover until he was right by the door. Claire was right behind him with the girl in tow. "Stop right where you are!" Leon jumped up and raised his gun, ready to pull the trigger. Claire looked up from where she was to see a surprised Piers standing before her. Leon tensed up on the trigger, about to fire.
"Stop! Don't shoot!" Claire dove for Leon's gun, knocking it from his grasp. It slid across the floor and under the checkout counter.
"What the hell, Claire? Do you want to die?" He staggered back, catching her before she hit the ground. "What were you thinking?" He scolded her.
"You would have killed him!" She screamed at Leon, banging her fist against his chest.
Piers silently joined the feuding pair, his machine gun resting at his side. "Claire, I'm glad you're alright." He put his hands on her shoulders, pulling her out of Leon's grasp and into his.
Leon raised one of his eyebrows. "You two know each other, I'm guessing."
Claire shook her head. "Piers, this is..."
"Leon Kennedy." Leon held out his hand to Piers, a sign of good faith. Piers accepted, showing him he didn't take it personally.
"Piers Nivans. Nice to meet you Mr. Kennedy, though I wish it was under better circumstances." They both exchanged a few words as Claire wondered off to check on the girl. When she was out of earshot, Leon began the real conversation.
"So, how long have you known Claire?"
"About eight months. We met at a party." Leon nodded his head in interest.
"Oh. And how long have you two been dating?" Piers looked shocked.
"How did you know we were dating?" He asked a little over defensive. Leon laughed, lightening up the mood again.
"I can tell by the way she looks at you. She wouldn't give you that look if you were just a friend or a partner. That's the look she gives when she's in love and wants to protect you with everything she has. Trust me. I've known her for a very long time. Plus, I've been at the receiving end of it. Yea, it's pretty obvious." Piers's cheeks flushed slightly. Lucky for him, the light was so dim it wasn't noticeable. They both stood there silent until Claire returned.
"By the way Piers, where is the rest of the team?" Claire had been so caught up that she didn't even notice Chris was nowhere to be found.
Piers sighed. "About that. We found a group of survivors barricaded in the town church. Among them was a doctor who told us what happened. Apparently, a mysterious man came into town and kidnapped a bunch of the townspeople, including his wife and daughter. After a few days, he released them, only they were very ill. The doctor did all he could for them, but they all died."
"Only they didn't stay dead. Yea, yea. I got it." Leon waved his hands in front of his face, skipping over the details.
"One of them survived." Piers continued. "His daughter was ill at first, just like the others, but she got better. She ran off when everyone rose from their graves, but she could be the key to a vaccine. So, Chris had us all split up and search for her." Leon and Claire both looked at each other.
"By any chance, did the doctor describe her to you?" Claire pressed the question.
"Yea." Piers reached into his pocket and pulled out a family photo. "The little girl is in the middle. He said her name was Amanda."
As if realizing her name was being called, the little girl came up behind Piers, latching onto his leg. "Oh. You already found her."
"I saw her when we first arrived and followed her here. She knows how to stay away from the infected." Claire fought back the twinge of jealousy as she looked at the girl cling to her boyfriend. "We should hurry back to Chris. The sooner we wrap up this mission the better."
"He said he'd send out a warning if it wasn't safe to roam the streets. Now's as good a time as any."
A low buzzing emitted around them, gradually increasing until it was clear that it was the town's tornado siren. "WHAT IS THAT?" Claire tried to yell over the siren, wondering why it was going off in the first place.
"THAT WOULD BE OUR WARNING. SOMETHING'S COMING." Piers yelled, searching out the window for what it was that Chris was warning them was headed their way.
"WHAT?" Leon looked confused, even as he yelled. Instead of talking, Piers just pointed out the window to something in the distance. A thick fog was rolling in and fast. In the middle of the fog was a giant shadow, closing in on them fast.