The rain seemed like it would never end, like the sky would be filled with dark clouds forever and the gentle rays of light from afternoon sunshine would be seen again only in thoughts and dreams. The wind was the worst part however, compounding the cold and brutal feel of the rain as it lashed against the windscreen of an olive green 1997 jeep wrangler resisted only by the overwhelmed wipers resulting in a rather bleak view both inside and out of the vehicle.
The man driving could just about make out the blinking lights of a nearby gas station on the side of the road and sighed in relief as his gaze briefly flicked to the dangerously low fuel indicator on the dashboard. The right indicator blinked to life almost in sync with the bright white overhead lights of the station as he pulled into the nearest pump and shut down the engine.
Getting out of the heated vehicle into the unrelenting cold of a particularly harsh late September evening was a task the man procrastinated for a good five minutes as he simply closed his eyes and let his sandy blonde hair rest against the headrest behind him, his fringe slumped slightly closer to the bridge of his nose so he absent mindedly brushed it back over to the right into its usual position resting just below eye level.
Letting out a deep sigh, Leon S Kennedy opened the driver side door of his vehicle and stepped into the freezing September shower. He let out a shiver before closing the door and hurrying to the nearby pump in an effort to spend as little time outside the nice warm jeep as possible. Ensuring he used the correct nozzle, Leon placed it into his fill point and glanced at the numbers on the machine slowly filling, well the fuel amount did anyway, the price always went up much faster than he liked.
It was almost too quiet to cut through the torrential weather when it happened, however Leon's keen ears didn't miss the faint sound of glass shattering from what seemed to be inside the main building of the gas station. A main building that, now that he took the time to inspect, seemed rather dark inside for having anyone still working. Leon's left brow raised ever so slightly as he finished pumping gas and stowed the nozzle back into the holder before beginning his careful approach to the desolate looking building.
The wet splashes of his own footsteps on the soaked concrete were the only audible sound to the rookie police officer next to the howling wind and relentless downpour from which he was mildly shielded thanks to the outdoor roofing of the gas station. Upon further inspection of the entrance, Leon observed a trail of red spots and strokes leading inside.
'Paint?' was the young man's first thought however his gut provided him another soon after that made his stomach churn and a lump form inside his throat.
Shaking his heading to remove himself from a daze, Leon continued forward to the glass pane door that seemed relatively intact. There were no signs of forced entry from what he could deduce and a cautious operation of the handle informed him that it was unlocked. Eager to get out of the biting cold, the rookie cop strained his vision to adjust to the almost pitch black darkness of the station's interior.
Not detecting any immediate threats, Leon pulled the door open wider and slipped quietly inside however neglected to remember that a door can be of the close behind you variety. He winced as the sound rang out into the previously quiet store. Leon's eyes darted around the isles and counter nearby assessing for anything that might have heard his less than subtle entrance.
The rookie breathed a sigh of relief when nothing appeared to change, the fast beat of his adrenaline fueled heart the only thing he could hear until it began to slowly soothe with a few deep breaths. It was then that Leon realised he could hear a muffled commotion coming from his right seemingly coming from behind a sturdy looking door next to the counter.
Leon also noticed a beam of light shining across the floor illuminating one of the many brands of chips on the bottom shelf. As he crouched down to inspect further he took in the sight down the aisle. That same red substance was littered over the floor and smeared along the various goods at random intervals along the narrow space. His gaze hardened as his brain slowly accepted what was definitely not paint before him, retracing his steps and following the source of the beam to a beaten up looking utility flashlight, the rookie picked up the tool and slowly made his way towards the door he saw earlier in the opposite direction to the scene he'd just witnessed.
Attempting to look through the small window in the middle of the door proved a fruitless endeavour due to the even darkness environment behind it, the rookie tried the handle but unsurprisingly regarding his luck it was locked.
'Possible murder scene it is then' Leon resigned himself to turning around towards the chaos that surely awaited him at the other end of the store with a grimace.
In the end, the rookie cop really couldn't be that surprised with the situation he'd found himself in. When he'd graduated with top marks from the police academy he'd wanted to make a difference in the world, this largely stemmed from his nature as an orphan. His parents had been shot dead while out shopping by some thug in a back alley chasing his next high. The last thing he'd ever said to them was something quite nasty that he rather regretted no sooner than they'd walked out the door, let alone seven hours later when an older man with short dark hair and chocolate brown skin in a police uniform had arrived on the doorstep to bare the bad news.
It was a good few hours after that before the man left again having spent that time sitting down with a fifteen year old Leon and his older sister of eighteen. After the inital sympathies and condolenses, the police officer had spoken mainly to the older of the siblings in regard to how they'd continue forward. After a long conversation it was decided that Leon would go to an orphanage until he became of age at eighteen and she would move away from the tragic memories to start afresh in another town being unable to stand living in the same place her parents once resided.
As much as she loved her little brother, she knew raising a fifteen year old at the height of teenage angst was beyond her capabilites so she promised to visit him when she could after settling down in a new location.
Leon clentched his fist hard enough to leave deep marks in the palm of his hand, blood slowly oozed from the small wounds and dripped onto the floor to join the large puddle already residing there.
That had been a lie, she never visited or contacted him again after leaving that night and Leon was left in the middle of his teen's stripped of a family who loved him dearly overnight. The orphanage had been cruel but the other kids were another level and each night felt worse than the last in that place, he felt shame to admit that more that a handful of times in the three years of his stay he'd gone into the bathroom with a pair of scissors.
But he had perservered, he had survived that trauma and although it still clung to him like a tumor some days, he'd learned to live with it slowly but surely over the last six years. As soon as he'd turned eighteen he'd applied for the police force and much to his joy been accepted. He wanted to make a difference, to ensure no kid ever had to go through what he did if he could help it and to honour the kind words and actions of the older officer that fateful evening that provided comfort and warmth he could hold onto even now.
Those were the reasons why in his naive and reckless courage gained from being a fresh top graduate of the police academy, Leon had elected to join the station with the highest rise in recent crimes and a reputation of cannibal murder to match, the Raccoon City Police Department.
However his start as a young police officer had been anything but smooth, about a week before his duty date, he'd recieved a panicked phone call from someone who he thought to be an officer stationed there but never got confirmation as there was too much background noise he couldn't identify. All he did take away from that call before it had been dropped were two words.
"STAY AWAY"
The femenine voice had been so distraught when she cried out those words that a chill still ran up Leon's spine when he recalled them even now. They'd been enough to deter him for a week but eventually his curiosity had gotten the better of him and since no further calls he made to the department were being answered, he'd packed up the belongings he required and began the drive away from his old life and into the new one.
Leon snapped himself out of the daydream and returned his focus to the present, more specifically to the three rows of aisles ahead of him he could now see down. The far left was nearest to the door and the one he'd found the 'blood' all over, he forced himself to use the word and stop being delusional. The two center aisles were trashed but relatively clean which left the far right that he couldn't quite see from his current position.
The rookie stepped lightly and carefully to avoid the slippery floor and discarded products as he repositioned to the start of the far right aisle and aimed the flashlight beam down it only to gasp and begin rushing towards the other end. Slumped on the floor clutching their deep crimson neck was a man dressed in what seemed to be a blue uniform, whether it was the uniform of the gas station or some other company Leon couldn't tell, all he knew was it looked as if had seen better days with multiple patches not to mention the copious amounts of sweat courtesy of the man wearing it.
Leon slowly bent down placing the flashlight beside him to give them some light.
"Are you okay sir? What happened, who did this to you?" the rookie officer fired questions thick and fast now fully immersed in his training to gather the most important thing in this situation besides ensuring the man was treated, information.
The man was shivering and sobbing quietly, he didn't look to be able to respond and Leon was just about to assume he'd slipped into shock and stand up when the man slowly and gingerly lifted a quivering arm to point beside him at the heavy freezer door leading further into the station.
'A way around!' Leon thought as his eyes darted to the locked door behind the counter then back to the sorry state of the man before him.
A moral dilemma raged fiercely within him between continuing on with the chance of discovering the struggle behind the sounds he'd heard earlier in case there was someone who needed his help and the obviously wounded and helpless man in front of him. The words protect and serve flashed in his mind as he reluctantly got up and tried to dial 911 on the store phone above them, unfortunately all he heard was static indicating the line hadn't connected.
"Shit.." he muttered before replacing the useless phone and bending down to face the injured man once more.
"Look sir, I need to go and check out the back real quick, I promise i'll be right back and we'll get you out of he- no no no don't fall asleep stay with me" the rookie officer had begun to reassure the man until he noticed their eyes slowly closing and the hand clutching their neck starting to droop.
Leon didn't know what else to do so he slapped the man across the cheek jolting him away with a grimace.
"Sorry sir I can't let you drift off otherwise you might not wake up, what's your name? Can you tell me that?" Leon asked softer than his earlier questions but with a hint of urgency in his tone as his eyes kept flicking towards the locked door and the people that might need his help behind it.
A long pause filled with deep breaths followed but eventually the man managed to form his name.
"D-david, it's David" the slap seemed to have done some good and snapped the man out of shock for the time being.
"Hi David, my name is Leon Kennedy, i'm a police officer with the RPD, I just need you to stay awake for a few minutes while I check the back and then i'll come back for you. Do you have anyone special back home?" the rookie enquired hoping to keep him stimulated.
"Uh... y-yeah, I have a wife a-and a daughter" David stuttered in response.
"Your daughter, what's her name if you don't mind me asking?" Leon pressed.
"It's uh, Mel, short for Melanie, she never took to the full name but my wife insisted after her own mother haha" David's response was laced with humor as he thought about his family then his face became fearful.
"Am I gonna die, I can't leave them, p-please help me I beg you!" David sobbed again as his free hand listlessly gripped the sleeve of Leon's dark grey jacket.
The rookie officer noted how weak the man's grip was and just how much blood was on his deck, body and pooled around where David was slouched, he forced a smile even so and remembered what a few words could do for someone who was feeling helpless.
"Think of them David, your wife and Melanie, think of everything you want to do when you come back home to them, hold it tight and stay awake no matter what, you'll see your little girl again, I promise" Leon held out his hand as he resolutely spoke with all the confidence he could manage.
David cracked a small smile as he took the rookie officer's hand and shook it weakly.
"Thank you Leon, hurry back" he replied, his voice quiet.
Leon nodded and released the man's grip before standing tall and entering the door beside them.
Once he'd shut the door behind him and was sure he was out of view, the rookie officer gripped his hand over his jaw covering his mouth and nose as the corners of his eyes became dangerously wet. This was why he'd joined the force, to prevent was happened to him hurting anyone else, especially the children, but on the first day of the job he comes across a husband and father and couldn't even do anything to help.
Leon clenched his teeth and punched the wall hard to vent his rising frustration. He would have struck again if he hadn't heard the sound of something breaking behind the door ahead of him.
'Stop being such an idiot Leon, there's someone alive in there, you can help them, just move!' he screamed to himself as he willed his numb body into action.
In front of him was a narrow corridor around the size of one of the aisles back in the main store, it was littered with boxes of products on both sides some on the floor in piles others on shelving racks that alternated down the walls. The light had unsurprisingly not worked so Leon made use of his flashlight once more and aimed it to the ground before him to illuminate the way forward.
Leon's white trainers squeaked slightly on the damp floor as he advanced slowly but surely towards the door, the silence was deafening after nothing but rain for the past however many hours he'd been driving cut only by the occasional sharp sound and muffled words from behind the door in front of him. The corridor seemed to stretch on forever and Leon quickened his pace in response not wanting to be too late a second time. As his hand finally reached the door knob and turned, the air was thick with tension as it creaked open to reveal a tall man dressed in what seemed to be a different law enforcement uniform restraining a man Leon couldn't quite see in the dark shadows of the room.
"Officer do you need any help?" the rookie cop called out causing the man to turn his head towards Leon and unintentionally lighten his grip a fraction.
"Stand back sir i have this under control!" he firmly responded raising an arm in a stop sign to Leon.
A fatal mistake.
Quicker than either of the officers could react, the man being restrained took advantage of only one hand being used on him and managed to bend it at an awkward angle before lunging at the back of the other officer and taking him to the ground with surprising force. However the true and horrible surprise came when the man lowered his head, opened his jaw and bit down hard on the neck of the officer who screamed in pain begging Leon for help as blood erupted from the wound.
Horrified and frozen still for a moment, Leon managed to snap himself out of his stupor and darted his hand to the concealed holster inside his jacket pulling out a silver handgun inscribed with one word along the barrel... Matilda.
"STOP! Don't move or I'll shoot!" Leon roared seeing the carnage the man was making of his fellow officer's neck.
The man seemed to recognise another person was calling to him as he slowed his pace of gnawing on the neck in his mouth and in one revolting pull he stripped a strand of muscle off the bone like gum being stretched out before it snapped. The man's head rotated slowly to face Leon with the disgusting snack still half hanging out his bloody jaw.
Leon realised there was something terribly wrong with the man as soon as he stepped into the dim light of the flickering overhead bulb. The man's skin was a deathly pale grey colour, his eyes bore the darkest circles he'd ever seen and multiple large open wounds oozing blood adorned his face which didn't seem to bother the man one bit. He finished munching on his new snack before groaning an inhuman noise and beginning to unnaturally contort in the direction of Leon in what seemed to be a grotesque imitation of motor control.
The rookie officer was shaking, he'd never killed another person before, he knew there might be a need to eventually if a suspect became a danger to others but not on his first goddamn day.
'What the hell is going on here!' Leon internally screamed before another sobering thought entered his mind.
It happened again, again he had failed in his duty to protect people, he couldn't save the father outside and he couldn't save the officer in here, in fact he may as well have shot the man himself to save the pain of being torn apart by whatever the hell this thing was, he had gotten the officer killed. He had quite possibly according to the shimmer of gold on the officer's finger, done exactly what that worthless thug had years ago, made a poor innocent child's world darker.
The thing in front of Leon was unaware of his internal struggle and it didn't care, all it saw was a fresh prime cut of meat that wasn't running or fighting back. It grew closer and closer to Leon who was currently spiralling unaware of the outside world, he was trapped in the guilt swallowing his mind, sweat dripped down the sides of his face and tears welled in his eyes from the overwhelming situation. No matter what he did his body wouldn't move a muscle, Matilda still aimed in a death grip but unable to fire.
The monster let out a guttural growl as it lunged for Leon as it had moments ago to the now deceased officer ready to devour it's prey, only to be interrupted by a sharp voice that briefly woke Leon from his trance.
"DUCK!" the notably feminine voice yelled as Leon's training instincts overrode his current emotions and caused his body to drop prone just in time to avoid a bullet streaking through the space he used to occupy, before Leon had even touched the ground it had found it's target and buried itself with a mighty squelch into the thing's brain sending it toppling backwards from the force in a spray of crimson.
Leon was stunned, his face whipped around to see who had just saved his life and he was met with the most beautiful sight in his life so far. A red headed woman wearing a red biker jacket accompanied by brown biker boots and light blue ripped jeans. Upon closer inspection Leon could see she had striking emerald green eyes and wore a pendant around her neck of two feathers with the larger of the two being adorned with a circular sky blue gem. The cherry on top was the rugged yet attractive look she wore with her smoking silver revolver still clasped in front of her.
He had no idea if he was blushing or not but it certainly felt like it as his mind stumbled to form a complete sentence.
"T-thanks, who are you?" he mumbled quite distracted.
The woman rolled her eyes upon seeing the young man's distracted face, she'd seen it enough times to know what it meant. However much to her surprise as she took a closer look to check his pupils, she realised his vision was set firmly on her face rather than other assets she'd been gifted with. She raised an eyebrow and allowed a small upturn in the corner of her lips before responding.
"Claire Redfield, ass kicker extraordinaire, you are?" the redhead introduced prompting Leon to snap out of the daydream he'd found himself in.
"Uh it's Leon, Leon Kennedy" the rookie officer answered awkwardly, he'd never been much of a ladies man but then again he'd never really tried given the latter chunk of his teen years were either a pile of crap or training his ass off.
The young woman smiled at his awkwardness and even found it a little cute, however the severity of the situation meant she couldn't dwell on it for long. Checking the body of the thing she'd shot earlier, she found it was already twitching and rising slowly. Claire holstered her weapon and extended an arm for Leon who took it without a second thought being pulled to his feet.
The rookie took another look at the dead officer, then his eyes darted to the groan made from the still alive thing that had just taken a bullet to the head and was now rising back to its feet.
"What the hell is going on!?" he exclaimed looking over to the redhead for any answers however she merely shrugged.
"Only thing I know is these things definitely aren't human anymore, shot to the head and he's still kicking? Speaking of which, we should probably get out of here, better to save ammo since i've only got five shots left and i'm guessing that doesn't hold more than 12 rounds given the model?" Claire correctly guessed.
Leon sighed in aknowledgement, slightly intrigued as to how she'd known, before holstering Matilda.
"Good idea, let's get moving before this guy catches up" the rookie agreed and as calmly as he could moved past the redhead and towards the door that lead to the freezer not failing to snatch one last glance of the fellow officer he had failed to protect, the guilt rose from his stomach once more leaving him feeling sick.
Claire saw the look in his eyes and understood, she knew the feeling of guilt well, she also knew how left unchecked it could eat someone alive and this guy seemed even younger than her. Unfortunately now wasn't the time to handle that particular issue, not with the undead corpse now back on it's feet and shuffling towards her. Claire tore her eyes away from it and followed Leon who by now was just in reach of the door leading back into the main store.
Leon reached out and gave the handle a pull expecting the door to open but was met with nothing. He put more force into it with a second attempt and by his third he was heaving the handle towards him with all his strength to no avail. This was a problem.
"Uhh Claire, you did come this way right?" he asked the redhead now just a few steps away.
"Yeah what's the problem?" she asked back raising an eyebrow.
"The door seems to be stuck, or locked?" Leon suggested as he made a show of tugging the handle, this caused claire to smirk and cross her arms.
"How about you try pushing?" she fought to keep her voice steady but a small chuckle crept in.
At that moment Leon hoped with every fibre of his being the door was actually stuck and not just remaining closed from him pulling a push door, he didn't think he'd be able to live with that kind of embarrassment in front of the first attractive woman he'd met. Steeling himself for the worst, Leon applied pushing force to the door handle and it didn't move. He sighed in relief which wasn't missed by the redhead who gave him a knowing smirk before a familiar groaning wiped the expressions from both their faces.
'Okay maybe the door opening the other way wasn't the worst thing that could have happened' Leon thought as he instinctively drew Matilda once more.
Claire did the same with her revolver as Leon moved up next to her his arm brushing hers briefly in the cramped space. They both levelled their weapons at the thing that stood in the doorway between them and escape, Leon was determined to do something right this evening and it wasn't just because of the attractive redhead standing next to him, no he may not have been able to save that officer, be he could sure as hell put down the beast that killed him.
The rookie cop looked down his sights, grit his teeth, clenched Matilda with both hands and pulled the trigger causing the pistol to bark a shot straight into the forehead of the creature, however his handgun wasn't as powerful as Claire's revolver so instead of causing the thing to fall, it merely knocked it back a few feet. Leon growled and called upon his training and natural quick thinking to deliver three closely grouped shots into the left leg of the creature causing the decayed flesh to split and detach. The walking corpse fell to the floor but continued to crawl towards them.
Claire was impressed with Leon's shooting, she hadn't expected someone frozen at the sight of one of these things to bounce back this quickly, honestly it worried her a little thinking perhaps he bounced back slightly too fast, however right now the important thing was it went down and wasn't getting back up so she quickly moved towards the thing and brought her boot down hard on it's head one, two, three times until the bloody mess of a body finally went limp.
Breathing heavily from adrenaline, Claire looked back towards Leon to confirm he was okay, the rookie cop gave her a thumbs up to which she cracked a small smile. She wiped her boot across the floor leaving red marks and tissue in its wake before pointing towards the now open door.
"I reckon this is our only way out now, maybe we can find a window to climb through or something?" she suggested.
Leon nodded as he holstered Matilda and walked over to join her. The two split up to search each end of the room, it wasn't really splitting up considering how small the room actually ended up being, just a few racks of supplies and an L shaped corridor that lead down to a dead end with walls covered in posters of attractive looking women. If Leon were a bolder man, he might have said Claire belonged with them, however for now that thought remained quite private.
"Leon i've found a door, looks like it leads back into the store but it's locked, needs some kind of key I think" Claire called out from the other side of the room.
Instantly Leon's memory flashed back to the first door he'd tried after entering this godforsaken place. He raked his eyes over the surrounding area for anything that looked like a place to store keys like a safe or a drawer or... a hook right in front of his nose. He rolled his eyes before lifting the silver item off the hook and bringing it up to the small amount of light in the room. The words 'Back Door' were inscribed on the square base.
'Bingo' Leon thought with a grin, finally some good luck.
He made his way back round the L shaped corridor and emerged to see Claire bent over examining the lock to see what kind of key would be required in the event there were more than one lying around. Leon had never really been interested in women preferring to train his body and mind to become the best he could for the police force, but he couldn't deny that Claire's jeans hugged her form in just the right way.
'Stop it Kennedy she just saved your life, give her a little respect' he mentally scolded himself as he averted his gaze and let out a fake cough to gain the woman's attention.
Claire straighted up and saw the blush on the young man's face along side his eyes trying desperately to focus on anything but her, she smirked.
"Seen something you liked?" She asked in a teasing tone.
"I didn't see anything!" Leon replied louder than he would have liked.
"Oh? Then what's that key in your hand?" Claire smugly pressed, her arms folding together as she rested her weight on one foot.
"Oh the key! uh yeah it says it's for the back door, couldn't hurt to try right?" Leon awkwardly fumbled out.
Claire raised an eyebrow.
"My my, how bold of you talking about trying out the back door after we just met" Claire couldn't help herself, the young rookie was just too adorable when flustered.
It took a moment for Leon to understand what the redhead had just implied but when it finally did click his eyes flew open and Claire swore his face turned redder than a tomato.
"Not that! I mean the door behind you" Leon expressed quickly looking quite embarrassed, Claire gave an amused sigh.
"I know Leon i'm just pulling your leg, perks of being a younger sibling, you learn to crack the jokes back instead of just taking them and my brother always did have a rather crude sense of humor" she reminisced fondly.
Leon breathed a sigh of relief.
"Hah, yeah that was a good one, sorry i'm not really the best when it comes to talking to women" the rookie cop sheepishly rubbed the back of his head before extending his hand with the key for Claire to take.
Claire gave him an almost motherly smile as she gently took the key from his hand allowing her's to touch his for a small time. The humble look on the man's face coupled with what could only be described as boyish charm made him seem different to all the bad boys she'd known in her teenage years, Leon seemed younger but more mature, kinder yet more dangerous, she doubted any of the boys she wasted her time with previously would even know the first thing about gun safety let alone be able to keep their cool and dispatch shots so precise in a stressful situation like this.
"Don't worry about it, you'll get there, maybe you're further along that you think but you just can't see it yet" Claire stated with what Leon swore was a wink but it happened so fast that he couldn't be sure, the pink dusting on his cheek was unmistakable however to both parties.
With that said she turned and inserted the silver key into the lock of the door hearing a satisfying click before pushing the handle and watching the door to the main store swing open. Claire readied her revolver and Leon did the same with Matilda covering her rear as they moved into the space behind the counter searching down the aisles using Leon's flashlight. What they saw was not ideal, more of those creatures now lurked around the place and as they looked towards the entrance they saw the glass pane in the door had been shattered coating the sharp edges and floor underneath in blood.
"They must have come in the front door while we were occupied" Leon whispered trying not to alert the things close by.
"Probably, let's just sneak out the hole they made, the sound of the rain should keep our steps quiet" Claire whispered back to which Leon replied with a nod.
Slowly they both came out the other side of the counter and inched towards the front door, the moaning and groaning coming from the other side of the room unnerving them both as they frequently checked over their shoulders each time they thought they heard a sound. Eventually they made it to the end of the first aisle right by the door all they had to do was walk five meters and duck out the hole in the glass, unfortunately as Claire placed a hand on what she thought was a shelf to steady herself, an unwanted face appeared from around the corner grabbing her wrist with it's hand.
"Shit!" Claire let out a little too loudly causing the other creatures in the store to snap onto their presence and move closer down the aisles.
Leon jumped into action seeing they were already rumbled by drawing Matilda with his right hand and grabbing the collar of Claire's jacket with his left, he yanked the jacket back causing Claire to stumble back away from the threat and pressed the barrel of his pistol against the thing's skull before firing point blank sending it crashing back into some racking which unfortunately then collapsed and Leon had to throw himself into a roll to avoid it as it covered the path to the entrance.
Claire was still shocked by the close encounter so it wasn't until Leon screamed at her to move that she finally took in what just happened.
"We'll have to go around, follow me the far aisle had less of them, if we can get to the other side of the store we should be able to run around the back of them and up to the door!" Leon shouted as he took Claire's hand and guided her down the furthest aisle, the one where earlier he'd...
The rookie cop came to an abrupt stop as they reached the end of the aisle, his previous bravado shattered. Claire was about to ask why they stopped but saw the same look as before in Leon's eye as he gazed down solemnly at yet another body in a pool of blood wearing blue.
"He had a daughter Claire, I told him i'd be right back, I promised, maybe if i'd been faster if I hadn't hesitated I could have" Leon's eyes streamed the first proper tears of that night, it didn't matter there wasn't time, it didn't matter those things were closing in, this was another one, another person he'd failed to save.
Claire let go of Leon's hand and brought both of hers up to his cheeks, she turned his head to face hers and gazed directly into his bright blue eyes with her elegant emerald. She took the time even as monsters were coming to rip them apart to wipe away his tears before speaking, something Leon knew he'd never forget.
"I know you think you failed him but you didn't. You gave him hope Leon, in his last moments he wasn't alone, because of you he died thinking of his family and all the love and joy they brought him, you gave him peace before the end and now you need to come with me and live on so you can help others as you helped him!" Claire gave an impassioned plea to the rookie cop who hung to every word.
Leon managed a smile as her voice seemed to banish the darkness hanging over him.
"Thank you Claire, you're right, it's my job to protect people no matter what. I won't let this stop me, let's go!" he stated with determination burning in his voice as he clasped his hand around one of the redhead's and began to run past the aisles with creatures beginning to emerge.
Taking charge once more, Leon pulled out Matilda with his left hand and moved Claire over to his right away from those things as he began firing with alarming accuracy given the situation at hand and his non dominant hand. He hit the first creature in the head sending it stumbling back into another and they collapsed into heap. The second headshot missed but ricocheted into the corpse behind who fell forward knocking them both to the ground a little closer than Leon would have liked. The third shot was the problem as a clicking sound indicated the pistol had jammed after only half a mag, the creature was too close to rectify it and just as Leon was about to go hand to hand with the thing, Claire called out.
"Switch with me!" the redhead shouted to which Leon nodded and swung her round behind him where she then craned her neck and right arm round ninety degrees with the momentum to line up a sideways shot with her revolver. The shot rang out and sent the creature flying back into the wall where it was impaled multiples times on broken racking.
Leon grinned like a child on Christmas after seeing this despite the chaos of it all.
"That was fucking badass red!" he exclaimed as they sprinted down the aisle closest to the door.
"Red?" Claire questioned bemused as they grew closer.
"Because of your hair" Leon called back as he reached the front door and yanked it open sending it crashing into the wall behind causing the already broken glass to crumble even further onto the floor.
"Clever" she replied catching up to him while privately thinking the nickname actually sounded rather cool.
However the two were not out of the woods yet as the commotion from inside had brought many more corpses shuffling into the gas station lot seemingly covering all the exits in a sea of grotesque bodies. Leon and Claire felt their hopes dash as they saw both of their respective vehicles already far behind the front line of corpses. Looking around desperately it was Leon who noticed the car of the other officer parked half round the corner of the building, it's blue and red flashing lights just barely visible still illuminated.
"Claire over here!" he exclaimed as he made a dash for the vehicle.
"Wait!" Claire shouted as he left but it was too late as he'd already committed to making it through the tight gap between the wall and sea of undead.
The space became smaller and smaller between the wall of the building and the grabbing hands of the creatures. Leon pumped his legs harder than he ever had before as a kid or in training, nothing else was like the real thing. The adrenaline in his system boosting his muscles into overdrive when the gap disappeared as he launched himself at the wall and scrambled along it for a few brief agonisingly tense seconds for Claire until he came down hard on the hood of the police vehicle but quickly climbed inside.
The rookie cop hit the gas and rammed through the horde that had just been trying to devour him until the headlights illuminated a familiar beautiful redhead. Claire fired off two shots at corpses too close to the door sending them flying back causing a domino effect she took great pleasure witnessing before climbing into the passenger seat. Leon pressed the pedal to the floor and the tyres of the vehicle screamed as it swung round 180 degrees before shooting out of the lot and down the road like a rocket leaving the hungry monsters behind in the dust.
There was silence after that for a long time while both occupants of the stolen vehicle collected their thoughts and processed what had just transpired.
Claire turned back in her seat having watched the corpses fade into the distance with a heavy sigh. The radio played nothing but static no matter the channel she set it to so she turned it off and decided to stare out the window into the cold gloomy night, the rain still hammering against the windows as the wipers went back and forth doing their job enough for her to see a large green sign approaching that read 'Welcome to Raccoon City, Home of Umbrella' in bright white paint.
Leon attempted to calm his racing heart and mind as he thought of what could have caused such a horrifying event to occur and if it was just local event or more widespread. He silently prayed it was the former because otherwise he didn't know what they'd do if they reached the police station in Raccoon City to find it abandoned or worse...
"So what's the plan now?" Claire asked suddenly startling Leon out of his thoughts.
"I don't know, hopefully they'll have some answers at the police station" he replied optimistically.
"Wait you're a cop?" Claire asked surprised, it would explain the shooting she supposed.
"Yeah, asked to be assigned here but got a call to stay away about a week before I was meant to drive over, might have something to do with what we just saw back there" Leon explained filling Claire with dread.
"Oh god, what if it spread to the city?" she pondered aloud with a worried expression.
There was a brief pause while he studied her face before the rookie responded.
"Well... I guess we're about to find out" he replied ominously, the anxious feeling of the unknown unsettling his stomach as the silhouettes of tall buildings began to loom before them through the wind, rain and fog.
Over a year, 7000 words into yet another new story and here we are!
Sorry i've been gone for so long, personal developments and a busy work schedule have kept me away from you all for far too long, assuming there's anyone left of course haha. Not that i'd blame anyone for assuming i'd gone and dropped dead.
I won't promise a schedule because I never know what's coming up during the weeks, all I do know is my weekends are where the free time is and getting those two days to line up with no family/friends time and the inspiration to write is difficult but not impossible.
I can say for sure however that currently this story right here, as a massive RE2 fan, will be the main focus so if you don't like this or are waiting for another to be updated then please don't hesitate to find another person to fill the void. I feel as though starting and seeing this through to the end to finally have finished a project on this site is important to my development as a writer so that's what i'll focus on for now and after this is finished i'll be sure to dust off some of the old favourites.
Thank you so much to anyone who came this far, if you enjoyed it please feel free to leave a review as it helps me tremendously with what everyone likes and dislikes so I can write the most enjoyable piece for all.
Until next time :)