The gun shot sounded from inside the building, like someone was in there with them. Leon drew his eyebrows together in a stern expression. "Some of your guys?" He whispered.
"I have no idea." Claire responded equally as quiet. "You didn't bring anyone?" Leon shook his head.
"You know me. I like to fly solo." A sly smile spread across his face.
"Trust me, I know." Claire snapped back, not meaning to put as much bite into her words. Leon chuckled softly, but didn't retort.
They both edged their way to the door, flashlights off and in total darkness. The only light beaming through the small opening they had left, in case Amanda needed to get to them quickly. One thing Claire had learned the hard way; closed doors are the absolute worst obstacle when trying to escape. She had had way too many close calls. As they reached the door, Leon went first, peering out to see if the coast was clear. Much to their relief, it was. Unfortunately, Amanda was nowhere to be found. "Do you think the gun shot scared her?" Claire knew she had been on her own for a while, and that she knew when it was time to run.
"I don't think so. Look." Leon pointed to the ground. Amidst the thick dust covering the floor, two pairs of footprints were extremely visible. One was a small pair, obviously belonging to Amanda. The other pair were far bigger, matching the size an average male. The footprints were fresh, given how they had kicked up all the dust around them, and how neither Claire nor Leon had seen them when they first entered the lobby. One thing was clear to Claire, whoever had took Amanda had known her. She must have trusted him too since she went with him so quietly.
"These shoes don't look like the B.S.A.A. issued apparel." Leon thought out loud to himself. "Could it the the mystery man that abducted the townsfolk?" During his mental questioning, he turned to Claire, silently asking for her input.
"It would seem so. I don't see anyone else she'd go off with willingly. He would be a familiar face to her." She followed the footprints up to a door leading further inside the structure. Resting her hand of the nob, she turned around to a still processing Leon. "You coming, or not partner?" She smiled playfully at him. Being in this situation was just like old times. Leon's gaze met her's and he chuckled.
"Like always. I've got your back." Positioning himself behind her, she took point while he covered the rear. The next room consisted of a long hallway with two doors on both sides and one at the end. The door on the far left was slightly ajar, blood pooling out onto the hallway carpet. By now, the blood was an awful tinge of copper that stained everything; crusting over with time. A hand was just barely visible, keeping the door from closing off the room. The rest of the rooms were shut, nothing abnormal about them. Following search and clear procedure, they went for the door closest to them. Opening it, they slowly made their way inside. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, they did a full sweep for anything useful. "So, are we just going to ignore the elephant in the room?" Claire was taken aback. What was he talking about?
"Elephant?" Genuinely confused, she cocked her head to the side.
"Oh. I see. You just disappear on everyone and then act like nothing happened the next time you see them. You even go as far as to blatantly run away from them when you spot them at a social gathering. Got you. Totally normal." Leon's sarcasm was so thick, Claire almost thought he was being serious.
"You want to talk about this now?" She was in complete disbelief at his horrible timing.
"Why not? We never talk to each other now a days unless we are in a life or death situation." He started getting a bit defensive, which was very out of character for him.
"I'm sorry? I thought we were both adults. Adults, with cellphones." She reached into her pocket and pulled her's out, even going so far as to wave it at him.
"Tell me honestly; if I would have called you, would you have picked up?" His face was stone cold as he looked at her. She shrinked away, feeling a bit guilty. "I didn't think so." Sighing, he turned his whole body towards her, softening his tone. "I know I messed things up, and I'm admitting it. I was stuck in the past instead of focusing on the future. You deserved better than that." His eyes scanning the surroundings, a habit for him that was made more obvious when he was uncomfortable. "I just..." In the middle of his thinking, a loud thunk pounded from the other room. Jolting to attention, they both made their way out into the hall. Unsure of where the sound came from, they stood at the doorway. Planning out their next route, Leon looked down at her. "Ladies first?"
Unable to hold back her smile, she swept her arm out in front of her. "Be my guest." She flashed her teeth at him, clearly thinking her joke was just so funny.
"Mature." Leon rolled his eyes at her. "You never change." Clearly, she didn't think that was humors. She stared daggers at him as he led the way. "I also see you still can't take a joke." He whispered to himself. Knowing the situation they were in, Claire let the comment go without retribution.
Checking the remaining rooms without incident, they came to the one that was the most suspicious from the get go. As Claire went for the door nob, she noticed the body was no longer there. Giving the signal, she started counting down. On three she ripped open the door with her gun drawn. Shelves littered the open room, giving their adversary the advantage. With each shelf they passed as they made their way inside put them more and more on edge.
It was almost like a maze, twisting and winding to empty dead ends. "I know I saw a.." Claire heard the groans of the undead. "That."
"Like music to my ears." Leon's smug expression was too much. Claire just rolled her eyes at him.
"Yea. I knew you had a shit taste in music." She scoffed as she readied herself. To their right, two walking corpses fumbled around, wandering aimlessly back and forth. Without a word, they both took a target and shot. Simultaneously, both dropped down; each with a bullet between their eyes.
"Nice shooting, Kennedy." She whistled, selling her amazement.
"Like wise, Redfield." He smiled, which faded the minute he heard a moan from behind. Before he had a chance to react, hands reached around him, pinning him in a life or death struggle. As the infected beared down on him, Leon used all his strength to put a much distance as he could between them. Not sparing any time, Claire fired her gun again, hitting its mark just like the last one. "Where did that one even come from?" Leon shook himself off. "The only thing behind us is that wall. Wait." Upon closer inspection, it became apparent it wasn't a wall at all, but some sort of door. Hidden by the shelf beside them was an ID scanner, only allowing access to authorized personnel. Putting two and two together, they realized the bastard they just put down was wearing a badge. Claire bent down and snatched it off his torn suit.
"Thank you... Mr. Greene." She nodded to his body in appreciation, scanning the badge and, in turn, opening the door. What lay beyond them was a massive lab; test tubes and computers organized in neat rows on the desks.
"Someone has been using this until recently." Bending down to look a one of the screens, Leon went to work reading all the files. As he did, Claire checked out the rest of the room, glancing at the labels that were wrapped around each test tube holster. Of course they would be full of variations of the T-virus. That had been apparent from the get go. Brushing her fingers along the table, her eyes wandered to a room adjacent to them. I seemed like another mysterious hall way, made of concrete walls and flooring. A single chair sat at the end, facing towards anyone who entered. In the chair, an envelope sat untouched, with cursive letters decorating the white paper with swirls of dark red. Unable to read the letters from where she stood, Claire's curiosity pushed her forward into the room. The moment she reached her foot inside, a trap door opened up underneath her, swallowing her into darkness.