Resident Evil Series Fan Fiction ❯ Tenebrae ❯ Scenes from a Waking III ( Chapter 6 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

He felt like he was starring in some sick action blockbuster, complete with the standard goals of killing the bad guys and saving the girl. Yet again she had been taken from him, but this time she was just out of reach in a way that was driving him mad. He knew exactly where she was, but a horde of enemies bogged him down. Locks and puzzles stymied his every move- her plaintive cries were a soundtrack for his frustration.

Help me Leon! Help me!

It tore at him in places he didn’t know he had.

A shaky tremor of breath around the next corner grabbed his attention, pulling him back to the present. It was a repetitive death rattle, a dry husk of laughter dragged from gelatinous lips. The second he emerged into the next corridor it began shuffling towards him, still chuckling wetly. It seemed to feel no need to hurry- but of course it had little reason to.

Fortunately Leon knew the answer to this biological conundrum. His rifle with complimentary infrared scope made quick work of the creature’s lifeblood. It screamed once when the first internal leech was popped like a boil- by the time Leon shot the last, it wouldn’t stop. Whatever pain the thing was in came to a gory halt when it exploded over the white walls, caking them in a nameless grey slime. Leon was long since inured to the carnage. The edges of his nails were stained a deep red, and he smelled like a slaughterhouse. Any additional bodily substances added to him at this point would be purely cosmetic, as he was fairly certain he had reached the threshold of stench.

Leon, please. I need you.

Had that voice echoed in the hall or simply in his mind? The frantic pulse of it beat in the back of his brain. He had to save her.

---

Ashley’s voice was hoarse from screaming but she continued, thinking it might be Leon’s only way of locating her. If he was still alive. She recoiled from the thought, redoubling her efforts.

Leon! I’m in here!

She had no more tears to spare for her situation and fear was slowly merging into anger. Anger was good- it gave her strength. She was tired of being shipped about like baggage. She was exhausted, and filthy, and she wanted to go home. Concentration on this strain of thought prevented her from delving too deeply into the true nature of her circumstances. It was shallow, but it was all she had. Until Leon found her again.

And he would. He always did. He had to.

Help me Leon!

---

The industrial truck rumbled down the track with a plodding certainty. And while Leon could appreciate reliability in a machine, the amount of Ganados closing the distance behind them made him feel that perhaps more speed was required.

“Step on it Ashley!†He yelled, eyeing the approaching force. “We need to go faster!â€

Her blond hair bobbed briefly into view as he turned for a moment to get her response. “This is as fast as it goes! I’ve got the pedal all the way down!â€

“There’s not a lever or anything-“ His haphazard guesses on the nature of the truck were interrupted by the sound and corresponding jolt of a Ganado leaping onto the flatbed. Spinning in a quick 180 he caught the crazed man with a snap shot to the stomach. Although not enough to kill him, the force of it sent him tumbling with a howl back onto the road. Several of his fellow mad men were tripped by his flailing limbs, sending them crashing into a tangled heap.

Ashley winced at the sharp noise of the gunshot, having still not become fully accustomed to gunfire. Still, her hands firmly gripped the wheel, unwavering. Leon had trusted her to do this. She was sure he didn’t fully understand what that meant to her, but she wasn’t going to let him down. He made her stronger than she thought she could be.

“I can do this Leon,†She whispered as the sounds of vicious combat started up behind her. “I can do this for you.â€

---

She was gone again but this time it was so much worse, for she had walked away under her own power. And he had sat there, convulsing, pale and weak. Too weak to stop Saddler. His own body rebelled against him.

And her body- the thought of a parasite, a living wound spreading like cancer into the very flesh, under that porcelain skin made him nauseous. Briefly he tasted bile, but it wasn’t as bitter as what was pouring from his heart. He had failed her. He had betrayed her trust in him. He couldn’t decide which was worse.

She needed him so clearly and so much, but when the time came he hadn’t even been able to save her from herself. He hadn’t even been able to move. He bit his lip hard enough to draw blood, feeling like a Judas.

But his own pain wouldn’t be enough to stop him from cutting the price of thirty pieces of silver from Saddler’s skin.

---

How fitting it was that it should come down to this, Leon thought dimly, him and Krauser. Both betrayers, both responsible for the suffering of an innocent girl. One repentant, one uncaring. A self-destructing Janus, a self-fulfilling prophecy. The knife in his hand slipped lower as the parasite twitched inside of him. He retched, vomiting on the stone blocks as Krauser circled him, laughing.

“Not up to the job, Leon?†Krauser shrugged, as if he had known all along that would be the case. “Can’t say I’m surprised. You’ve always had to live with being second best.â€

Leon couldn’t feel the sting of the words through the pain the parasite was inflicting on him. He coughed, desperately wishing the convulsions would cease.

“Jesus, Leon,†Krauser shook his head. “You’re a mess. I don’t know how you managed to stay alive this long.â€

Slowly, the trembling in his system was fading. Leon could feel some of his strength returning as the parasite returned to rest.

“But of course you had a little help. I can see how a man could drive himself a bit harder with Ashley to cuddle up with at night.â€

Even through the haze of pain Leon looked up sharply. Krauser barked out a laugh.

“You think I don’t know? But really Leon, you’re only human, and she’s, well, the only female human. I’m discounting that bitch Ada- besides, you already had your shot at her,†Krauser leered. “Yeah, I get it. Ashley? I would fuck her.†Krauser made a crude gesture with his fingers.

The rage this sparked inside of Leon surprised even him. He had the sudden mental image of Krauser roughly pawing her breasts through her sweater as he jammed his other hand down her skirt. The shortly imagined sounds of her strangled sighs and the slick whispers of Krauser’s fingers inside her exploded into fury.

Krauser barely deflected the knife blow, shock etched on his face as the blades sparked off each other. Caught unprepared, the follow up sidekick caught the traitor firmly in the side, knocking him into a wall. Krauser recovered with inhuman speed, jumping backwards to stand apparently unaffected.

“Good Leon! For a moment there I thought you were going down easy. But I can see the only one who goes down easy is Ashley,†Krauser took another verbal stab at Leon’s soft spots. “But don’t worry about it- I’ll take very, very good care of her when you’re dead.â€

“No,†Leon said, the rage driving the weakness from his extremities. “I don’t think that’s going to happen.â€