Whee, next chapter…

Chapter 8

Leon nearly emptied the whole clip into the face of an approaching Licker, but as soon as he realized it wasn’t doing much damage, he switched over the knife.

It seemed an impossible situation to get out of. Lickers were pouring in from all corners, from the vents, cabinets, wherever they were hiding. They had noticed his arrival as soon as he reached the first floor and had been sneaking around, waiting for the opportune moment to ambush him.

Leon kept his distance, eyeing them warily. Lickers were no new thing to him; he’d encountered a couple of them in Raccoon City, but these were slightly different. Not only were they more resilient to bullets, their muscle mass had increased vastly. They also had an exposed heart in the center of their chests, which Leon presumed to be the weakness.

The problem was getting to it.

Leon sidestepped as a tongue stabbed at him, lodging itself within the wall. He darted in, jabbing the knife into the head of a Licker as he kicked aside another that had attempted to lunge at him.

He threw the knife into the heart of a Licker as it tried to launch itself from the ceiling. He retrieved the knife before the body even hit the floor, and then he speared his hand through the chest of another Licker.

He evaded another tongue stab and sliced at it before it could be retracted. He dispatched a Licker with a spin kick, then grabbed the head of another and slammed it into the ground.

He dodged a swipe of claws and then smashed the attacking Licker into the ground using the heel of his foot. He jabbed the knife into the general area of the central organ, pulled it out, and then sliced at the torso of another.

He eluded anther onslaught of claws and tongues, weaving in and out as his knife drew blood, the crimson liquid spattering on the floor, the walls. The metal, soaked in scarlet, gleamed wickedly in the flickering light, and he shoved it into the heart of a Licker. He spun and lashed out with a back kick, driving his foot into the core of another unlucky Licker.

He picked up his knife and lifted it to block a swiping claw attack from the last Licker. They held for a moment, at a stalemate, until the Licker opened his mouth to pierce with its tongue.

Leon tilted his head to avoid deadly impalement, spun around and slammed his instep into the head of the Licker, which crashed to the floor, dazed by the brutal blow. And then Leon finished it with a final stab to its heart.

Leon leaned against the wall, taking the time to catch his breath.

And then he realized he didn’t need to. He wasn’t out of breath, he wasn’t even remotely tired. He slew a horde of Lickers with a single knife, and he didn’t feel any kind of exhaustion.

It made him think about Steve’s earlier question.

What are you?

He didn’t want to admit it, but it was a good question. Was he still human?

Or are you a monster?

Leon ignored the little voice that had posed that question in his mind, and bent over to reclaim his knife. And then he saw something glimmering underneath the corpse of the Licker. He reached over and picked the green cardkey, helpfully labeled Basement Key B. He scavenged through the other corpses until he found its twin, this one labeled Basement Key A.

He slid them through their respective slots and the elevators doors slid open.

After a short ride, he arrived at the first basement floor, which was merely a circular room, one half of the walls dedicated to monitors that oversaw the entire building. The other side held a platform, and atop the platform was a hologram in the form of a young girl.

“You are an unauthorized figure.”

“Who are you?” Leon supposed he should’ve asked ‘what,’ but he had been slightly taken aback by her appearance.

“I am EVA, the security system for this structure.”

“Well, you haven’t done a great job of that. The place was crawling with Lickers.”

“One of our specimens broke loose and also allowed the Beta Lickers to be released as well. I have managed to contain all other experimental subjects and B.O.W.s as well as the viral samples.”

“Where’s Claire?”

“Claire? I am unfamiliar with that particular employee.”

“No, she’s a girl who was brought here by something.”

“Oh, that girl. Well, it seems the specimen that broke loose is the one who brought her here. I don’t know exactly why he would return…”

Leon suddenly had a bad feeling, “This specimen of yours… It wouldn’t happen to be one of the T-Veronica virus, would it?”

“Actually, it is. How did you know?”

“Shit, I knew we shouldn’t have trusted him.”

“Really, you have me curious now. How do you know all this? And exactly what are you? You’re like no other B.O.W. I’ve seen before.”

“What?”

“The virus inside you probably stems from the Progenitor virus, but even though it is a T-virus variant, it only affects ocular tissue, muscle tissue and the lower organs, leaving your brain and cognitive functions intact. The virus augments your metabolism, amplifying your physical abilities and regenerative facilities to superhuman levels.”

Leon opened his mouth to ask about a cure, but then there was a shrill scream, issuing from the speakers of the monitors. He turned and saw that the scream had come from Claire. “Claire!!!” He shouted at the monitors, watching as she cowered against the wall as Steve advanced upon her.

“Dammit. Which floor is she on?”

“The third floor, but I cannot grant you access.”

“Why not?”

“I must keep all lower levels quarantined in order to prevent the T-Veronica specimen from escaping.”

“She’s in danger, isn’t your job to keep innocent people safe?”

“I have weighed all variables and the safest choice is to keep the basement floors under lockdown.”

A strangled snarl escaped Leon’s throat. While he was standing here, arguing with artificial intelligence, Claire was…

“What if I subdued the specimen? That way I can rescue the girl, and then you’ll have your rogue back under lock and key.”

EVA deliberated for a moment, “Considering your capability, it does have a high chance of success. Very well. Take this.”

A door in the ground slid open, and a table rose from the depths, holding a single suitcase.

Leon opened it to find an oddly shaped gun.

“That is a type of tranquilizer we use to subdue and subjugate B.O.W.s. It should be effective against the specimen, but there is only enough for a single dose.”

Leon holstered the exotic gun, “I’ll be sure not to miss then.”

“Now, if you’ll step into the elevator, I will send you to the third floor, the research level. Please be careful not to kill the specimen.”

“Should I be more careful in trying to keep the specimen from killing me?”

“That’s a given.”

Leon shook his head as the elevator doors shut and the pod descended. Just another reason why he didn’t like the idea of A.I. running security systems. Sometimes, they were just too smart for their own good.

The elevator slowed to a stop, and as soon as the doors were open, Leon was out, his weapon up and ready. But the hallway was deserted…

“Claire?” He called out.

“Leon!!!”

One of the doors blew open, and Claire came flying out, colliding with the wall and then crumpling to the floor.

“Claire!!!” Leon made it halfway down the hall, but Steve walked out, his eyes burning a furious red.

“Steve,” Claire said weakly, “Please, stop.”

“What, so you can go running back to Prince Charming over there?” Steve snarled. He glanced at Leon, “You, I’ll deal with next.”

“You’re not going to be dealing with anyone,” Leon growled, “Not when I’m through with you, you asshole.” Fury seemed to be coursing through his veins; damn what that stupid machine said, he wanted to rip this fucker apart with his bare hands.

“It’s all your fault!!!” Steve howled and lunged at him.

“Right, I’m sure that’s just your perverse fantasies speaking,” Leon grunted as he evaded the attack.

Steve swiped with his hand, which now had clawed digits tinged with green, “If she hadn’t met you, I wouldn’t have to hurt her. If only you weren’t here, she’d love me!!!”

Leon dodged again, “God, that virus must have seriously fucked up your mind.”

“Shut up!!! You don’t understand the hell I went through. But I overcame it all, for her. And yet, she spurns me… Because of you!!!” He sliced again, and Leon surreptitiously reached for the tranquilizer.

Leon grabbed Steve’s wrist, twisted his arm back, kicked him down to his knees, and pinned him to the ground, “You’re delusional. I’d recommend a psychologist, but I don’t think even they’d be willing to serve freaks like you.” He jabbed the needle into Steve’s neck, “Good night.”

Steve struggled, cursing and spitting expletives, but finally settled into induced sleep.

Leon rushed to Claire, gently brushing back her hair, “You okay?”

Claire coughed and massaged her chest, “I’ve been better. He hit me pretty hard.” Her eyes were filled with sadness, “The virus must’ve… He never would’ve done that. He acted tough, but he was real sweet. He wouldn’t…” She trailed off.

“I’m not surprised that the virus changed him. Umbrella has a way of messing with your mind.”

Claire blinked as tears slid down her cheeks, “Oh, Steve.”

Leon tenderly brushed away the salty drops, his golden cat-eyes smoldering with intensity, and Claire felt shivers travel down her spine. His left hand was ruffling through her hair, while his other hand slid up her sternum, all the up to the base of her throat.

“Well, the good thing is you have broken or fractured anything,” Leon said matter-of-factly, “And you’re not bleeding from the head either.”

Claire sighed, and here she was thinking that maybe Leon Kennedy felt something for her. Nothing more than brotherly concern.

Jeez, what was she thinking? But she couldn’t help it. She really liked Leon, like his witty comments, his smiles, his toned, lean body…

Reality check, Claire, he likes Ada.

Even a zombie could see that Leon was in love with Ada, right from when they first met, and Claire could understand why. The Asian woman was tough and beautiful, femme fatale, the kind that men always chased after.

Even now, Leon was still attracted to her, though it wasn’t as obvious as in Raccoon City. When he had told Claire about the run-in with Spain, his eyes went all faraway, clearly occupied by only thoughts of her.

Leon noticed Claire staring at him and grinned, “See something you like?”

Claire blinked, Yes. “Uh, I was just thinking that, uhm…” She fumbled for words, “I’ve never seen you do a hair flip.” Oh, wow, that is so lame, Claire.

“A what?”

“A hair flip. Or a hair toss, I don’t really know the term for it. You know…” She tossed her bangs to the side and out of her eyes, “I figured you’d do it all the time since your hair is always in your face.”

Leon laughed at that, “It’s never really bothered me. You do it like this?” He tossed his hair, but it quickly returned to its former position.

Claire giggled, “Yeah.” Damn, he looked sexy while he was doing that.

“I don’t see much point in doing it.”

“Well, yeah. But it’s like a habit I’ve noticed for people with long bangs.”

“Huh. Well, as interesting as this topic is, I think we better get out of here.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Leon cradled Claire against his chest and lifted her up, carrying her bridal-style. Claire blushed when a little “Oh!” escaped her lips, and told him, “Uhm, I’m capable of walking, you know.”

“I thought as much. But it doesn’t hurt to be chivalrous. Oh, yeah. You’re brother’s here.”

“Here, as in this building?”

“No, on the island.”

“You saw him?”

“Yeah, we met up for a bit, and then we had to, uh, split up to search for you. Jill was with him, so I’m sure he’s okay.”

“Oh, I’m sure my brother can take care of himself,” Claire said, “The thing that bothers me, though, is that it feels like we’re all right where Wesker wants us.”

Leon smiled grimly, “We probably are. But that doesn’t mean we’re gonna let him use us.”

The elevator pinged, and the doors slid open, taking them back to the first floor.

“Well done,” EVA said approvingly.

“Indeed… Well done, indeed.”

Claire stiffened when she recognized the oily tone, and Wesker emerged into view, shades and arrogant smirk in place. “Mr. Kennedy,” he purred, “I don’t believe we’ve actually met. A pleasure.”

“Can’t say I agree,” Leon said, setting Claire down and reaching for his gun.

“Come now, we don’t have to go through all this unpleasantness.”

“I think we do.” Leon brought the gun around and fired at Wesker, who easily managed to dodge each one of them.

Wesker flitted towards Leon, twisted the gun out of his grasp, and landed a well-placed jab into Leon’s stomach.

Leon grunted and quickly recovered. He deflected a punch and thrust the heel of his palm into Wesker’s chest.

Wesker stumbled back a few steps, and Leon took the chance to launch a roundhouse kick, aiming for the head. Wesker ducked and used a sweeping kick to knock Leon to the ground. Then he lifted his leg up for a hammer kick, which Leon dodged by rolling to the side.

Leon was glad he didn’t get hit by that. The devastating blow had left its mark on the floor in the form of a deep hole.

Wesker laughed, “You’ve adapted well, Leon. Frankly, I’m impressed.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Oh, I know all about the virus inside you. In fact…” He pulled off his shades, revealing his eyes to be almost exactly like Leon’s, except his were a blazing crimson, “You could say I have personal experience with it.”

“You’re…” Leon was speechless. He remembered Chris’ reaction when they had met earlier, and now he realized why Redfield had been so tense, so wary.

“I’m afraid we’re going to have to end this game soon. I’m a busy man, after all.” Wesker smirked and darted in.

Too fast, Leon thought as Wesker jabbed an elbow in his stomach, I can’t keep up…

Bang, bang. Claire had taken the opportunity to fire, but Wesker dodged both easily, as if it were merely a walked in the park. Leon lashed out with his fist as he spun around, only to hit nothing but air.

“A valiant attempt,” Wesker whispered into his ear, “But not good enough.” He grabbed Leon’s head and slammed it into the wall.

The last thought that went to through Leon’s mind, just before he lost consciousness was, Claire… Claire… Don’t… Hurt… Her…

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

“It’s secure.” Ada said as she entered the observation room, staring through the one-way window.

“You’re sure this room can hold him?” She asked, “From what you’ve said, it seems he’s gotten much stronger.”

“The walls and the mirror has been reinforced to withstand blows from even Tyrants,” Wesker said confidently, “Mr. Kennedy won’t be going anywhere.”

And then he would become the instrument of Wesker’s revenge.