18
"Leon!" Claire cried out urgently, her voice tinged with panic.
"Forget about me..." Leon insisted through the pain. "Just go... Stop her before she gets away..." His head slumped back as he passed out.
Ada seized Claire's arm. "Listen!" she shouted. "I can handle this, but you need to follow that woman. Don't let her get away, understand?"
Claire turned to Ada, her voice heavy with doubt. "And I'm supposed to believe you'll actually help him? You haven't exactly been the nurturing type."
Ada set her jaw firmly. "He took a bullet for me. That's reason enough to help him. But I can't let that woman slip away. If you're not going to do what I say, then I'll leave you to it." Ada started to jog away, but Claire called her back. "I'm sorry. Please, help him..."
Ada quickly returned and pointed to a corner. "Go. I'll take care of him."
Claire gave a nod and rose to her feet while Ada retrieved a green box from her trench coat. As she rounded the corner, Claire discovered a small red platform that led into a labyrinth of hallways. She hoped that leaving her vulnerable friend behind with Ada was the right choice.
After a thorough search, Claire found no sign of her target. "This is useless," she muttered in frustration, worried she was failing Sherry. She took a moment to steady herself, thinking of her injured friend, and felt an urgent need to return to him. Claire carefully retraced her steps, making sure not to lose her way, and felt a wave of relief when she reached the small elevator that would take her back to where Leon had been hurt. Yet, her relief was short-lived; upon reaching the corridor, she discovered Leon still unconscious... and unattended.
Claire crouched next to her friend, feeling a sense of relief that his wounds were now treated, though her annoyance with the evasive agent lingered. She rested against the chilly wall, moved nearer to Leon, and clasped his hand with both of hers to keep it warm. "Please be okay," she whispered softly, as her eyes welled up with tears of frustration.
Leon felt a soft warmth in his hand as he slowly came to. Before he could open his eyes, a sharp pain in his shoulder made him gasp.
"Leon," Claire called out, turning swiftly at the sound and squeezing his hand.
He opened his eyes to meet hers and, seeing her tear-streaked face, murmured, "I'm okay."
"Thank God," she whispered, bowing her head. "I thought I'd be alone in this nightmare."
Leon gently squeezed her hand to reassure her, then looked around. "Where's Ada?" he asked.
"I don't know," Claire replied. "She sent me after the woman who shot you while she treated your wound. She patched you up and left! Why help if she was going to leave you for the undead to find?" Claire's expression darkened.
Leon held her hand firmly. "You went after that woman alone? Claire, that was dangerous."
"I know," Claire admitted. "But Ada wouldn't help you unless one of us went after that Birkin woman... and I don't know how to treat a bullet wound. It's something Chris could have taught me, but I never thought I'd need to know."
Claire suddenly covered her face with her hands. "I lost her. I've failed Sherry..."
"No, Claire," Leon said as he struggled to stand. "We'll find her and uncover what's happening. Sherry wanted our help to find her mom, so I doubt she'd harm her." He leaned against the wall, feeling a bit woozy. "We can't give up, Claire."
Claire looked up, feeling a pang of guilt as Leon reached out to her. "I know, but I'm still worried. Did that woman seem stable to you?"
"No, she didn't," Leon replied. "And I'm not leaving Sherry behind, not until we figure out what's going on."
Claire stood up, took his hand, and said, "Thank you, Leon."
The pair maneuvered through the complex maze of rooms in their quest to find Ada, Sherry, or the elusive scientist Annette Birkin. Finally, they reached a room featuring a large glass window that provided a view of what seemed to be Raccoon City's waste management area. Claire moved closer to the glass, while Leon inspected a nearby control panel. Her gaze swept over piles of discarded, rusted metal and other debris. Suddenly, she spotted a small figure curled up on a bare patch of concrete. "Sherry!" Claire cried out, pressing her hands against the glass.
Leon quickly rushed to Claire's side and spotted a glimpse of red fabric from the left side of the window. There, atop a heap of scrap metal, lay Ada, unconscious.
Claire's gaze followed Leon's to the prone woman. "What happened?" she inquired. Leon glanced up at a walkway, now retracted, above them. "It looks like she fell," he responded. Alarmed, Claire looked towards the little girl across the room and said, "Sherry couldn't fall from that height without injury...Where is Annette? Why did she leave her alone and hurt!"
Leon turned to Claire with urgency and said, "We have to get them both out of here." He then eyed the control panel and added, "These switches will open the main door over there so we can enter, but we need a master key to operate them."
Claire searched the room with Leon and cried in frustration, "It's not here!"
Leon inspected the door closer and sighed, "And we can't force our way through. It's reinforced."
Claire stormed across the room, seized a chair, and hurled it at the glass windows. "Naturally, the fucking glass is reinforced as well!" she shouted in exasperation as the chair bounced back, dashing any thoughts of using bullets for fear they might ricochet. Leon's sporadic groans of pain were a clear sign that they both had reached their limit of being shot at for the night.
A distant roar suddenly grabbed their attention, prompting both of them to listen intently. "What was that noise?" Claire whispered. "I don't want to stick around to find out," Leon replied, grasping her arm. "We need to find the key and get them out before it comes any closer." Claire agreed with a nod and quickly trailed Leon out of the room, her heart sinking with the realization that Sherry and Ada were running out of time.
