From beneath the improvised blindfold, crimson eyes stared at the aged and powerless spiked contraption before her. The spikes coated with a thick layer of rust, stained by old, dried blood. The scent of which was so strong Lea could nearly taste it in the back of her throat, almost making her gag.
"Oh," Moira's cadence was palpable with disgust, "that looks comfy."
"Yeah, let's take one home." Though Lea couldn't see it, she could hear the smile in Claire's voice. Lea couldn't help but snort out a laugh at the retort.
"Look at this machine! There's something inside of it!" Moira excitedly exclaimed, pointing towards the still sharp spikes. Lea's gaze followed her fingers and locked onto the slight yellow gleam of the surprisingly large brass gear trapped within the device. For a moment, surprise took hold of Lea.
'… How did I not see that...?' Lea's eyebrows scrunched up in confusion before her gaze fell back to the ground, finger tapping against her jawline.
"Maybe there's a switch?" Claire suggested, moving toward the opening in the back of the room. Moira quickly stepped behind Claire, clutching the crowbar and flashlight tightly. Lea, on the other hand, lagged, her gaze flitted between the machine and back at Claire, before reluctantly falling back in step behind Moira. A knot of doubt settled in the back of her mind, which only intensified as she observed the broken, warped ladder that appeared ripped apart. How could this derelict place have any power switches still functioning?
To Lea's surprise, the back of the room appeared better lit compared to the rest of the facility. Neat too, with no stains of blood, minimal dust coating the surfaces, and the utility desk and shelving next to it looked well organized and even had some spare parts. Claire stopped at the desk, holding the parts in hand, closely inspecting it, before pulling out her handgun and started working on it.
The shuffling of feet next to Lea drew her attention away from Claire's mechanical work. When Lea glanced over, she saw Moira averting her eyes non too discreetly, her grip on the crowbar tightening even more. Lea wanted to say something, but her mind blanked on what she could do to comfort her. They weren't friends, Lea had no idea why guns made her so uncomfortable, and she also had no idea how Moira would take to a random stranger trying to comfort her. As her mind scrambled to produce a way to distract Moira at the very least, her clothed eyes were drawn to another platform, its ladder thankfully pristine and intact.
"Hey, Moira, right?" Lea timidly asked, getting her attention. Moira's eyes darted over to her, a wordless question in her gaze. Lea jerked her head over towards the platform behind the pixie-haired woman. "Wanna check it out? I'll cover you." When her amber eyes locked onto the platform, Moira's shoulders visibly sagged with relief.
"Sure, why not?" Moira said, trying to appear nonchalant. She closed the gap to the ladder and started her ascent. As soon as she was fully up onto the platform, Lea started climbing after her, not wanting to crowd the young woman. However, as soon as Lea was halfway up the ladder, the distinct rattle of a locked deadbolt reached her hypersensitive ears. "Fuck nuggets!" Moira none too quietly grumbled. Lea cursed under her breath, moved her hands to the sides of the rungs, and slid back down to the ground.
"What's wrong?" Claire asked, turning away from the desk and walking a few steps towards Lea. The handgun she was working on had been returned to its holster on her hip.
"Fucking door's locked." Moira promptly replied as she climbed down the last few rungs of the ladder. Claire hummed, her cerulean eyes darted up to the locked door then over past the opening to the center of the room. The older woman strode over just past the opening.
"Moira, I'll give you a boost. See if you can climb up." Claire called out, kneeling slightly in front of the warped ladder with her hands cupped, body braced.
"Uh, just me?" Moira asked, her grip on the crowbar and flashlight tightening again subconsciously. Lea's head quirked to the side, wondering the same thing.
"You're the lightest, it'll be easier if it's just you. Unless you hear anything up there?" Claire turned her eyes towards Lea's obscured ones. Lea paused, closing her eyes. Lea tried her best to focus her sensitive ears on above them and not behind. Shuffling feet, muffled rasping breaths echoed in the distance. After a moment, Lea let herself relax.
"I think we're safe." Lea answered, forcing the cadence of her voice to sound confident. When her gaze glanced over to Moira, she noticed how tense her posture was still. Moira closed her eyes and took a deep breath before handing the flashlight and crowbar over to the blonde.
Without another word, Moira walked over and stepped into Claire's cupped hands. Together, the two worked to give the young woman enough momentum to push herself onto the platform. As soon as Moira was fully up, Lea walked over and passed the flashlight and crowbar back to her. Wordlessly she took them, turned around, and with a deep breath walked into the unknown.
Lea waited, anxiously tapping her forearms as she kept her ears peeled for potential hostiles. Not too long after Moira started exploring, Lea could hear the woman stop. For a moment, she wondered what Moira was doing before the sounds of a crowbar being shoved into something metal and closed reached her sensitive ears.
"How are ya holding up?" Claire asked, snapping Lea's attention away from above and back down to her. Lea rolled her eyes and huffed out a sardonic laugh.
"Me? I'm all lollipops and candy canes over here."
"Lea—"
"Lana, remember?" Lea snapped, the burning agitation in her core almost overwhelming. With a sharp inhale, Lea made herself stop. She brought her hands up together, in an almost mock prayer and pressed against her lips. "I'm sorry, I swear I'm fine. Let's just drop it, ok?"
Annoyingly, the concern etched in Claire's face refused to falter. The knowing look in her blue eyes made the young girl feel far more vulnerable than she wanted to be, no, could afford to be. Then, the swift click of the deadbolt unlocking reached her sensitive ears, making Lea snap her attention back to the other platform. The blue door swung open, and the pixie-haired woman stepped forth, waving her arms at the others.
"Guys, this way!" Moira called out, cutting Claire off before she could start her lecture, much to Lea's relief. However, that relief was quickly replaced with dread when she glanced back at the older woman's face, the expression promising that the conversation was in no way over, only delayed.
As soon as the two got to the top of the platform and reached Moira, she anxiously shoved a small red box of handgun bullets into Claire's hands.
"Good find."
"Not really, only has two in there. Who the fuck decided it was a great idea to put two bullets in a big-ass box with two locks on it?" Moira grumbled, flipping off the mangled remains of the lockbox down the hall to the right. Lea couldn't help the snort that escaped her lips at the motion.
'… Ya know… if it weren't for this hellscape… she'd be a lot of fun to hang out with…'
They didn't linger long in the cramped hallway, turning left and walking through the next slightly rusted blue door.
"Maybe once we're outside we can find someone to help us." Moira suggested, anxiety laden heavy with hope. Claire turned her head back as if to respond, but before she could utter a word a loud, muffled roar filled the silence. Moira gasped, pressing herself closer to Claire and Lea as a cloud of debris fell from the ceiling. "I just want to get out of here." Moira softly whimpered to herself. Lea felt a pang of sympathy flood her system at the fearful tone, memories of Africa threatening to rise to the surface.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves." Lea started, trailing off as she saw Moira's already stressed face seem to contort more into an agitated grimace. "Sorry." Lea hastily added, tearing her gaze away from the other woman. Lights, switches, perhaps a control room? She tried the knob of yet another blue door. Locked, of course it was locked. Lea resisted the urge to hiss and fell back in step with the other two as they traveled down the hallway.
Claire carefully twisted the slightly dented knob, and when it didn't give her any resistance, the older woman pushed the squeaky door open. Lea couldn't help her eyes narrowing, switching from that door to the locked one in the hallway. The hair prickled against her shoulders as they passed into the new hallway, this one in just as much of a dirty disarray as the rest of the complex.
Forward, turning right, and slowly traversing down the cell block. Claire kept the handgun pointed up, finger next to the trigger as she checked each open cell. Turning left, through another door, and into yet another ominous hallway. Claire slowly stepped her way over to the right, craning her head in. Slightly lowering the gun, Claire looked back at the two younger women, waving at them to follow. A storage room, one that surprisingly wasn't too chaotic, except for the grim.
'… This place is like a fucking maze… undoubtedly by that bitch's design…' Lea couldn't help but wonder. Aimlessly, she wandered to one of the two storage shelves, rummaging through boxes and papers. Next to her, she could hear Moira's light steps, following suit in a mindless gathering of materials. A venture quickly proving fruitless, until Lea's eyes spied something white on one of the higher shelves.
Leaning up on the tips of her toes, Lea stretched her fingertips, reaching as far forward as possible. Her tiny fingers missed once, twice, then finally on the third try she finally managed to grab the slightly lumpy object under rough material. As she brought it down to eye level, Lea's eyes widened, recognizing the coarse white gauze and little black bar freely lying in the middle. Smiling, Lea pivoted on her heels and turned back to Claire.
"Look, it's a tourniquet! And it's visibly clean!" Lea excitedly informed the older woman. Claire didn't react, head buried in some paper. "Uh, my uh, my aunt showed me now only how to use this but also how to improvise one out of basic cloth and whatever sturdy stick is nearby. Plus, the material here is gauze, great for light wounds!" Lea nervously rambled on, feeling the familiar anxiety creeping higher the longer the older woman scowled at the paper. "What's, uh, what'cha got there, Red?" Lea asked, tone taking a higher pitch with the awkward drawl.
"Um," Lea craned her head back to look at Moira. Her amber eyes decidedly were looking in a far corner. Suddenly, she shot her hand out, holding a small red ammo box. "Found this, there's not much though. Finally, Claire lifted her head, looking between the two. Concern yet again etched her face, flitting back from the paper, down to their wristbands, then back to their faces.
"That's great," Claire said as she grabbed the bullets, taking the two bullets out and shoving them in her pocket. "Give Moira the tourniquet, she has more pockets." Lane nodded, passing the tourniquet over. "Good, now I want both to listen carefully. These cuffs," Claire lifted her own wrist, pointing at the metal, glowing band, "they're measuring how we're reacting to all of this. Green's normal, orange for anxiety." Claire then pointed to the paper she was so engrossed in, "if it's blinking red, we're feeling fear. If it's a solid red, we'll mutate."
Lea's heart numbly sank with every word Claire said. Vaguely she registered Moira gasping and taking a step back.
"So, they're fucking gonna turn us into some fucking Silent Hill freaks because we're scared?!" The words harshly spilled out of Lea's lips before she could stop herself. Her hands snaked up behind her head, tugging at what little hair remained.
"What the fuck." Moira softly exclaimed, voice warbling ever so slightly.
"Hold on, it's more than just being scared. We've all been scared since we woke up here. If it was just that then we would have changed a while ago." Claire cut through, stepping forward. She clasped a hand on Moira's shoulder, and the other on Lea's shoulder. At the sudden touch, Lea couldn't stop how her body stiffened, rigid as a plank board. "Regardless, we are all going to get through this together. We're gonna have to keep each other in check. It's ok to be scared, but we can't spiral. Do you understand?" Claire's eyes danced between the two, her face soft yet stern. A pregnant pause passed, thick with tension as Claire waited for any indication that the two younger women understood the situation.
"Got it." Moira said, thankfully breaking the silence after fifteen seconds had passed. Lea gave a sharp nod, stepping back and away from Claire's gently firm grip. Claire weakly smiled, nodding at the two, and jerked her head in the direction of the opening.
"Come on, let's find a way to get that gear."
And now everything is caught up! I'll try to update, but with job hunting, it may take longer than the monthly schedule I was trying so hard to keep on before I was let go(at least on AO3...). Sorry again for forgetting to update the story here on FFN. But I am trying to AO3 my main hub for fan content, it just seems more secure and creatively free compared to FFN at the moment. It's under the same name. Also, ebitchwriting is my tumblr for creative ventures. If you have questions, theories, or headcanons you want to share, please go ahead. My ask box is open! Just be civil.
Make sure to put down your vote on whether Albert should come back during the RER2 arc or post-RE6 arc! Keep in mind that depending on how you answer, the romantic pairings you previously voted for may not happen as a result.