16

Shaking off the disorientation from his brief unconsciousness, Leon sat up, wiping the dust from his face and coughing away the unpleasant sensation of the dry, dusty air filling his lungs. He spat the metallic taste of blood from his mouth. Then he heard a familiar voice say, "That's pleasant."

Still coughing, Leon rubbed more of the dust and debris away from his face and hair with his hands, and his eyes locked onto the elusive FBI agent Ada, who was leaning casually against the far wall. Leon suddenly got to his feet, causing a slight unsteadiness in his balance, when he spotted Claire's body sprawled across the floor.

He rushed to Claire's side, but his panic lessened at the sight of her steady breathing. Leon spoke her name as he gently moved her onto her side, and Claire replied in a faint murmur. The young cop looked around at the devastation in the room as he nestled Claire back into the crook of his arm. He then locked eyes with Ada, who hadn't taken her eyes off the young cop, and he asked "Where's Sherry?"

Ada cocked her head to the side and folded her arms. "No thank you for pulling your sorry asses out of that mess?" she scoffed.

Leon broke eye contact with the woman, and studied the mess left behind from the broken elevator again. Ada pushed away from the wall with her leg and walked towards the crouched cop. "I'm surprised the three of you managed to survive that," she added, then smiled. "Not bad, rookie."

Leon turned his head back toward the woman and smiled back, deciding then that perhaps she wasn't as heartless as she had first appeared to be. "Thank you," he replied.

Suddenly, Claire coughed as she started to regain consciousness, and weakly called out for Sherry.

"Easy, Claire," Leon soothed, and then looked up at Ada. "You said we all made it out of that mess. Do you know where Sherry went?"

Ada crouched down in front of Claire and Leon. Crossing her arms casually in her lap, she spoke. "Do you remember when I told you that I was tracking down the people involved in this mess?" Leon nodded, and Claire sat forward out of his arms, more aware to the situation now. "Well," Ada continued, "it turns out that one of those people came here and took that little girl away."

Claire got up too quickly, making the same mistake the young cop had earlier. Leon stood and he caught her arm when she stumbled slightly. Claire tried to shake off her sudden disorientation as she asked, "Who took her?"

Ada stood back up. Claire got the impression that this woman wasn't the type to have people talk down to her. "Annette Birkin," Ada replied. "That's who took your little girl."

Claire asked, dejectedly; "Why would she do that?" It seemed that every time there was a glimmer of hope for the three to reunite, it was snatched away.

Ada replied, "I don't know." But if you two had listened to me in the first place, then perhaps you wouldn't have delivered her into the hands of that dangerous woman."

Claire suddenly fumed inside at the accusation. "You have no idea the danger that little girl was in at the orphanage," she seethed. "The danger that you told us to ignore! She would probably be dead now if we had listened to you!"

Leon placed a hand on Claire's arm, noticing the fiery young woman had clenched her fists. Ada, however, looked unfazed by Claire's obvious anger. Leon spoke gently to Claire. "We're not going to get anywhere arguing amongst ourselves." Claire looked into Leon's grey eyes, and calmed a little. "I'm sorry." She added, "It's just so unfair..."

"I know," he replied to her softly, placing a hand on her shoulder. "We'll find her."

"Are you done?" Ada suddenly interrupted. "Every second we waste on this chitchat, the further that madwoman gets away with your precious girl." Leon turned back to the agent with annoyance in his features, and asked, "So, are you going to help us?"

Ada raised an eyebrow. "Don't get too excited, handsome," she replied. "You're the ones helping me now…" and she turned away. "Now, try to keep up, and I'll let you know what's really going on here," Ada added over her shoulder. Claire shot a scowl at the woman's back and whispered to Leon, "As soon as we find Sherry, then we're getting out of this goddamn city!"

The elusive agent led the pair through a maze of corridors, stopping occasionally to inspect the floor. Eventually, the trio entered a sewer system and Leon called ahead to Ada. "You said you would let us know what's going on with the city... wanna enlighten us?"

Ada stopped and turned, watching the young couple a moment before continuing onward. Believing Ada would remain silent, Claire got ready to give her a piece of her mind, when Ada began. "Have you heard of the Umbrella Corporation?" she asked. "They're a pharmaceutical company secretly making bioweapons."

Claire stopped, raised an eyebrow and scoffed, "You expect us to believe a company that sells cough mixtures and painkillers is making monsters!"

Ada turned and gave Claire a condescending look. "They have a virus." Ada retorted. "It turns people into indestructible monsters, but sure, hang on to that ignorance; it'll really help you survive." Ada turned away from Claire's scowl and continued on her way.

Claire crossed her arms and huffed as Leon walked beside her. He said, "I know, it sounds crazy. But it might explain the horrible things we've seen." Claire silently agreed with Leon, but there was something about Ada she didn't trust. Hearing Leon's comment, Ada added, "And that's why I'm looking for Annette Birkin. She's the one at Umbrella responsible for unleashing the virus. I'm going to bring her down."

Claire's thoughts turned again to Sherry, and what she had said about her mother working for Umbrella. She hoped the young girl's mother was okay; from what Claire had gathered, Sherry had already lost her father. Claire knew the pain of losing both parents at such a tender age, but Claire still had Chris.

Sherry had no one.

As the trio moved through the sewer tunnels, Leon stated, "Can't imagine a real scientist being down here..." Ada replied over her shoulder, "According to HQ, this leads right into Umbrella's secret facility." This time, it was Leon's turn to stop, and he placed his hands on his hips. "Come on," he said. "The sewers are run by the city. How could they have a facility without the authorities knowing?"

Claire smiled to herself, glad that she wasn't the only one to question the craziness of it all. When Ada replied, "Welcome to corporate America. Umbrella's controlled Raccoon City for years." Claire sighed to herself. The more Ada said, the more it started to make sense, and "crazy" had certainly been the flavor of the day so far...

A sudden, violent tremor shook the slick tunnels, and the trio had to crouch slightly to maintain their balance on the sludge beneath their feet. Leon shouted "Jesus... That an earthquake?"

Ada replied, "I sure as hell hope so."

Leon locked his eyes on a bulky shadow just ahead, as it slid past the bars of a large opening with a rumbling growl. "What the hell!" he exclaimed. Claire gripped his arm in panic after also seeing the menacing shadow. Ada ran into a doorway to her left, calling back, "Stay sharp! God only knows what's down here..." As Leon and Claire stepped through the doorway, the small room trembled and the walls shook once more.

"Again?!" Leon growled as the shaking stopped.

Ada sighed and said, "It's not too late to turn back," as they made their way down another open tunnel.

Claire said, "And leave Sherry in the hands of that woman? Not likely!"