Wesker’s Personal HUNK

Leon was exhausted. He wasn’t even aware how many hours had passed since he met Claire in that gas station just outside the city. It was probably just two, but it felt like twelve. He’d cleared out about a dozen zombies, and he was finally able to get to the west side of the second floor. From the map he found, the STARS office was up here. Claire said her brother was in STARS, maybe he could find something for her.

Since noise drew attention from the zombies, he was quiet entering the new hallway from the shower rooms. Something on the ceiling speared a zombie on the floor and brought it up to its mouth to eat it. Leon froze, already having learned not to cry out at every new threat. He’d seen the note in the third-floor hallway. This was a “licker”. It seemed to sense him but didn’t attack immediately. It crawled down the wall, its tongue swaying around as if using it to sense him.

Seeing that tongue and those muscles, Leon was sure that thing would spear him like that corpse or jump him if he took a shot at it. A 9mm bullet wasn’t going to do shit to this thing. Before he could decide what to do, that tongue got too close. Instinctually, Leon took out his knife and swiped at it. The thing screamed and jumped at him. Leon dodged and knifed it from the side. It kept shying away from the knife, keeping it from attacking, so he swiped it a few more times. It finally died.

“Shit,” Leon sighed. He doubled over, his hands on his knees and tried to breathe. That was intense.

He straightened and got his bearings. There was the STARS office.

Stepping inside the STARS office felt welcoming. It was calm, bright, and not a single monster. It felt like one of the few safe havens in this gods forsaken city. An island of calm.

He needed a moment to rest. He shunned the desks in the open office for the enclosed captain’s office. There was no name on the door or name plate on the desk. The desk wasn’t set up to be used, just had books and a tape recorder on it. There was a battery on the desk that he needed for the detonator. He pocketed that with relief. Now he could get that Lady emblem.

This room and some of the desks outside looked packed up; only a few seemed like they were in use. Leon had heard there had been a scandal over STARS’ handling of a case that led to a wildfire in the Arklay forest. Perhaps the captain and others had been fired.

Leon sat in the big, cushy office chair behind the captain’s desk. He leaned back, set his feet on the desk, and relaxed for the first time in hours. Just a few minutes. Just resting his eyes. And his body. Just a few minutes.

Clomp, clomp, clomp. Leon sat up, pulling his feet down to the floor. The footsteps were too steady and sure to be a zombie, and too heavy to be Claire. Another survivor?

Still, Leon pulled out his gun. He couldn’t be sure what would come through that door.

The door opened and a statuesque blond man wearing sunglasses stepped in. Leon aimed his gun but did not fire. The man turned to see him.

“Who are you? And what are you doing in my chair?” The voice was deep and resonate, sophisticated and almost British sounding.

Leon bolted from the chair, lowing his gun at the same time. “Sorry. Um, I’m Leon Kennedy.”

The man took in Leon’s uniform. “I don’t remember you being an officer.”

“My first day,” Leon said.

“Hmm. Some first day.”

“Yeah, tell me about it.” Leon laughed nervously. “You’re the STARS captain?”

“I was. Were you the one who killed all the infected out there?”

“Yeah. Well, not all. Some were already dead.”

“All the fresh ones.”

“Yeah.”

“Impressive. More than a dozen infected and a licker.”

“Not much choice.”

“Regardless, most others in the city failed to defend themselves as well as you.”

This was making Leon a little uncomfortable.

“My name is Albert Wesker. Are you familiar with me?”

“Sorry, no. I know there was some kind of scandal a few months ago with STARS.”

“Now’s not the time to explain. Why are you lingering here?”

“I needed a moment to rest. That licker out there scared the shit out of me.”

Wesker hummed and looked around. “Looks like my personal effects were packed up. Disappointing.” There was a box on the floor next to Wesker and he stooped to check the contents.

Leon awkwardly stepped around the desk. “Um, did you see any other survivors? A woman?”

“No. You’re the only uninfected person I’ve come across.”

“Oh.”

“Looking for someone?”

“I came into town with a woman named Claire Redfield. She’s looking for her brother. She said he was a cop.”

The name made Wesker straighten. “Redfield. He was one of mine.”

“Is he alright?”

“I haven’t seen him since July. I was presumed dead and left in the Arklay mountains when the fire broke out. I barely survived. This is my first time back in Raccoon since. I had another place in Kant City on the other side of the mountain range. Chris was very much alive the last time I saw him.”

“She came into town to look for him.”

“She always did have spunk.”

“You know her?”

“Met her twice. College girl. Smarter than her brother.”

Leon let out a nervous laugh. Wesker was so stoic and had just a commanding presence that cowed Leon. “So, you came back to Raccoon City during a zombie apocalypse?”

Wesker looked at him and raised an eyebrow over his sunglasses. “So did you.”

“I was supposed to start last week, but I got a call to stay away. But I felt like I should be here. I should help with whatever happened. Then I met Claire and wanted to help her find her brother. We headed here but got separated. Now I just want to get out of here. The front gate is mobbed by zombies, so I can’t go back the way I came in.”

“Indeed. The crowd out there is overwhelming.”

“The other officers found this other path, but it needs these medallions to open. They open a passage under the statue in the main room. I just need one more. I now have what I need to get it.”

“I’ve been through that passage before. It will take you to the basement and through to the parking garage, jail, and the kennels. Not a bad plan. It’s unlikely that there are as many infected back there.”

“Um, are you going to come with me?”

“I will follow, but I’m looking for some items. Don’t wait for me; look out for yourself.”

“Um, okay.”

Leon headed for the door.

“You should check the desks for resources. Our weapons expert and medic might have things you’ll need.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

Leon checked the desks and found ammo and a medical spray. Ready to leave, Leon came up to Wesker. “Hope you catch up.”

“I might.”

Leon squeezed through the door cautiously and checked the hallway. He walked down it slowly to come to a bolted door. He opened it and found himself back at the Unicorn statue. He hurried into the library, knowing he’d cleaned it out of zombies already. He trotted up the stairs to the attic where the Lady statue was. He inserted the battery in the detonator and attached it to the C4 already on the gate. He ran back into the library to avoid the blast—having no idea how big it would be. The blast was pretty powerful, but when he opened the door, nothing but the gate was really damaged. He did hear an inhuman scream and clatter above, so he was careful heading toward the statue.

He consulted Elliot’s notebook and released the medallion. As he was backtracking back to the library, a licker dropped from the ceiling in front of him. He instinctively took out his knife and swiped. He caught the tongue on his blade and rushed the licker, swiping his blade back and forth until it was dead. He stood there a moment, winded and coming down from the adrenaline.

He had all three medallions now. He headed back to the main hall. He put in the last two and the base of the statue lowered to reveal a gate. Luckily, the gate wasn’t locked, and it opened with a rumble of iron and revealed an office below. “So, it goes underground. Just like Wesker said.”

He turned back to Marvin and ran back up to where the older man was lying on the bench. “Lieutenant Branagh! Marvin! It’s time to go!”

Marvin flinched in his sleep. Leon touched his arm. “Hey, Marvin.” Marvin lurched up with a growl. Leon drew back, but not very far. “We need to get you to a hospital right now.”

“No, no . . . I . . . Save yourself.”

“Come on, I’ve got you—”

“GO!”

“Look, we can still make it out of here together, if you just gimme—”

Marvin turned, his gun drawn, and pointed it at Leon. “It’s too late. I tried Leon . . . But I couldn’t stop it. We can’t let this thing spread. It’s on you now. Just go.” Marvin grimaced in pain.

“I understand.” Leon headed down the stairs. “I won’t let you down, Marvin.”

The office down here was very nice with a compass rose on the floor and heavy desk opposite the door. The lights flickered on as he stepped down onto the floor. There was a miniature of the station to the left and the rest of the walls were lined with books. But there was a short corridor that led to an elevator. Leon got on with trepidation and rode it down.

There was an open door on one of the landings, but he decided to check all the way down to the bottom to see if there was another path. The door at the bottom was locked. But he did find a grenade. Odd, but okay. He went back up to the open doorway. Some kind of maintenance area.

A yell and clanging from above startled him. Something large was walking above him, blocking out some of the light, but unrecognizable from below. “What the—?!” He ran forward to find what he guessed was the boiler room.

His path was blocked by a fallen locker. He pulled it back to the wall and was about to enter the next room when a giant . . . thing dropped down in front of him. It was horrific. The remnant of a human head and an overgrown arm with bone, blood, and muscles bulging and poking out of it. As he stood there in shock, he was grabbed by the more human hand and slammed down into the grated floor. As he lay under the monster, a gigantic yellow eye grew out of the shoulder and Leon only now noticed that this thing was holding a lead pipe in its inhuman hand. It had a grip on Leon’s tactical vest, and it slammed him down again and again until the grating broke and they both fell down in the boiler area. He was relieved that the monster hadn’t landed on top of him, but his chest and back were in agony. He got up after a second. The monster was disoriented but was swinging around apparently to strike him.

Leon pulled out his knife and started swinging, dipping out of the way of its flailing arm. When he got a clear shot at that eye, he slashed and stabbed it. The lumbering of the monster moved them closer to a railing with a vast open space beyond it. As Leon continued to slash at it, the monster lost its balance and plummeted over the railing, screaming in a monstrous baritone and a more human tenor at the same time as if it were two separate identities. Leon stood there panting for a moment.

He whirled around at the loud clang of a metal ladder dropping behind him. Wesker stood up there. “Apologies I wasn’t in time to lend assistance.”

Leon let out a tired laugh. “In time to scare me though.”

Wesker smirked at him.

Leon climbed up the ladder to join Wesker on the catwalk. Wesker led him down the path Leon had intended to take before the monster attacked him.

“What was that thing?” Leon asked even though it was unlikely Wesker would know.

“I have a theory. His voice as he fell sounded familiar.”

“You know that guy?”

“I think that was William Birken, an Umbrella scientist.”

“What happened to him?”

“Infected, obviously.”

“But he’s different than the zombies and lickers.”

Wesker gave him no answers; he likely had none. They came to a ladder. Wesker led the way up. They came out of a manhole into the parking garage. Leon was filled with relief, and he ran to the machine next to the shutters. “Damn. Need a keycard.”

He heard a growl and turned, but the dog that was leaping to attack him was shot out of the air by Wesker.

“Stay sharp.”

“Thanks.” The dog started to get up, but Leon pulled his pistol and shot the dog again.

“Check the jail,” Wesker gestured to the door to his left. “See if there’s a keycard lying around. I’ll check the shooting range and kennel. Obviously, the dogs have escaped.”

“Okay.” He figured at least the jail cells should be locked if there are zombies in them.

They separated. Leon found another map and some ammo. Better than nothing. He walked through the cellblock. He flinched when the zombies in the cells ran into the bars and reached through them to grab him, but he didn’t freak out as he would have an hour ago. He was getting used to the rabid sounds of zombies wanting to bite a piece out of his throat.

To his surprise, he found someone alive in the last cell. A man, sitting on a cot, smoking a cigarette. He looked up when Leon approached.

“Hello?”

“Hey.”

“I don’t believe it. A real human. Hello, human.”

“You been here long?”

“Long enough. Are we the last ones alive?”

“No, no, there’s a few of us.”

“Oh, that’s good news, I guess.”

“Yeah.”

“Unless, of course, Irons sent you.”

“Irons? You mean Chief Irons? Is he still around?”

“Who cares. Hopefully, he’s somebody’s dinner by now.”

Leon took an affronted step back. “What do you mean by that?”

“He’s the bastard that locked me in here.”

“I’m sure he had a good reason.”

“He did.” The man took a long drag of his cigarette and flicked the remainder away. “I was about to blow the whistle on his dirty ass. I’d have done the same thing too, I guess.”

A squeal of metal grabbed both of their attention.

“Hey! I’ll make you a deal. Unlock this cell and I’ll give you this.” The man showed him a police parking key card. “There’s no other way outta that parking garage! Believe me!”

“Sorry, I can’t do that. I have to talk to the chief first.”

Another squeal of metal.

More urgently, the man continued, “Look, we’re both prisoners in this station. So, either we play nice and help each other out—”

The squeal sounded closer.

“Shit. It’s coming.”

“What? What’s coming?” Leon demanded.

The man slowly backed up to the wall behind him. “C’mon—c’mon, don’t be an asshole, okay? You need this! Just get me the fuck outta here!”

A hand punched through the wall next to the man’s head and grabbed it. It lifted him up, the arm dislodging more of the wall. Then the hand tightened, squishing the man’s head in his grip, crushing his skull, then dropped him.

“Oh, my god.” Leon never saw the thing through the brick dust and the darkness behind the wall, but he heard heavy footsteps walking away slowly.

He needed to open the cell. The power was out. He found a note on a table where a guard must have usually sat.

The power panel is out. Can the person in charge of it please take care of it ASAP!?

I assume everyone knows, but since the jail's power panel is old as hell, we're gonna need those custom power panel parts no one makes anymore. There should be a few in the generator room.

Addendum:

I got word that there's only one of those power panel parts in the generator room. The guy that's here to fix the bell in the clock tower should have another, so someone swipe–I mean, ask him nicely for it, please.

There were two components he needed. On the table near the breaker box was a crank; he might need that. He grabbed the crank and turned to go back the way he came. He nearly ran right into Wesker’s chest as he turned around.

“Whoa!”

“Did you find anything?” Wesker asked.

“Yeah, that man in there, he was alive and has a keycard, but this thing punched through the wall and popped his head like a grape!”

Wesker looked over and approached the bars. “Ben Bertolucci, a reporter.”

“How could you tell?”

Wesker didn’t bother to answer. He looked up at the large hole in the wall.

“I need to open the cell. The wiring is shot. I need to find two components to fix it.” He handed Wesker the note he found.

“There’s a shutter in the way to the generator room, past the kennels. I killed three dogs; I don’t know how many are left.”

“Maybe this crank will open the shutters. If so, there were shutters in the station. I explored the whole building that I could get to, so a route to the clock tower must be beyond one of those shutters.”

“Let’s test your theory.” Wesker led him back through the parking area toward the kennels.

“Hey, was it true what that reporter was saying, that Chief Irons was dirty?”

“It’s true. He was being paid off by Umbrella to turn a blind eye to certain things. As I heard, not only was someone at Umbrella paying him off, but they were blackmailing him too. It seems he had other skeletons in his closet.”

Leon was raised to respect authority, so it hit him hard that the chief of police would be corrupt. That was the plot of action movies, something from fiction. He felt so naive for not believing Ben.

They came to a hallway behind the kennels where the shutter blocked their path. Leon fitted the crank and turned it. The shutter opened.

“Excellent,” Wesker said.

They headed into the generator room. There was the box with the component he needed. Wesker headed further in.

“I’m going to turn on the generator. Light would not be unwelcome.”

You could just remove your sunglasses, Leon thought as he followed him.

Wesker turned on the generator and the door they could see through a small window buzzed and the light above it turned green.

“Good,” Wesker said, “now we don’t have to go back through the boiler room.”

There was a clatter and the sound of a dog snarling. Leon was faster this time and managed to shoot it before it could leap at him. He shot it twice more to make sure it wouldn’t get up.

“You are good,” Wesker praised.

“I’m unfortunately getting used to this.”

“Considering what we might face, that isn’t a bad thing.”

They headed back out, but there was another dog trying to squeeze under the barred and blocked way. Leon shot it three times without hesitation. He immediately reloaded his gun. He turned to catch a small smile on Wesker’s face.

“What?”

“I’m just impressed. All things being equal, I would have wanted you in STARS.”

Leon preened a little at the praise.

Wesker led the way, but at the first corner a dog jumped over the barrier of miscellaneous items. Wesker smoothly took out his own gun and head-shotted it in midair.

“Damn,” Leon said. “Now I’m impressed.”

“Long experience,” Wesker explained. “You’re getting there yourself.”

In the kennels, another dog jumped through a vent and both men shot it twice, leaving the dog no chance to survive.

As they headed to the newly opened door, Leon heard the sounds of zombies again.

“They’re in the shooting range,” Wesker explained. “I wounded them enough that they should be trapped in there.”

“Why not kill them?”

“Why waste the ammo?”

Leon silently agreed.

They took the stairwell up and there was a zombie banging on the window. “How long do you think those will hold?”

“Long enough to get past. We’ll deal with it if we must. Remember, conserve ammunition as much as possible.”

“Right. I am getting low.”

Wesker gestured to a room to their right. “Let’s check in there.”

Leon did find a few boxes of parabellum rounds. He also found an electrical part like the one he’d used earlier in the night. It was labeled “Breakroom Hallway”. He grabbed it and they went back out to the hallway where the zombie was banging on the glass. They rounded the corner to find three zombies there. They backed up.

“I have a grenade,” Leon offered.

Wesker considered for only a second. “Save it.” He shot at the zombies’ knees; Leon mimicked him. They fell to the ground making them easier targets to shoot in the head.

Once they were dead, Leon fitted the electrical part in the socket next to the shutter. It opened and there was the top half of the officer he failed to save earlier, Elliot. Leon looked down and saw that his lower half was by his feet. Wesker shot him in the head, killing Elliot for good.

Leon was morose as they came out of the Watchman’s Room.

“From memory, there’s a mechanism next to the shutter upstairs. There’s another shutter near the showers. Go up to the one above us with the crank and I’ll see if I can find a way to open the other.”

Leon just nodded.

“What’s wrong with you all of a sudden?” Wesker asked.

“I tried to save Elliot. I wanted to save Marvin too. That reporter was killed right in front of me. So far, I haven’t been able to save anyone.”

“You’ve saved yourself and you killed some of those dogs that could have bitten me. As long as you can save yourself, Leon, you are succeeding. Get your head back in the game. I need you to be sharp if we’re to get out of this.”

“Right. Sorry.”

Leon took the exterior door and stairs to get to his shutter while Wesker took a right into the building.

The building was nearly silent after he killed dozens of infected. The only sounds were the rain hitting the windows and roof, and the soft creak of his own footsteps on the old wooden floors.

Leon felt a little more alone without Wesker this time. Wesker appreciated him and tried to comfort him. Maybe if he could save Wesker’s life, he wouldn’t feel so hollow. But that man didn’t need his help. He was just letting Leon tag along like a puppy.

But Wesker was right, he needed to get his head back in the game.

He found the shutter and cranked it open. The first door right there was locked with a heart symbol on it. He was familiar with that by now and knew he’d need a heart key. He doubted there was a reason to go down the stairs when he was looking for the clocktower so he went upstairs. He found a few supplies and two doors. The first opened to the outside. He stepped back and chose the second door. It looked like a storage room. He heard the breathing of a zombie and readied his gun.

He killed two zombies and he checked the two doors here. Another heart room and a locked door. But being a storage room, he looked around. He found a few resources and a large gear. He decided to take it since it might be important to the clockwork of the clocktower. This place was so weird, he figured it couldn’t hurt.

But now he didn’t have any options but to either backtrack and find Wesker or check out that exterior door. Out on the balcony he found a ladder that would take him down. What the hell, he decided to see where this goes. He started down the ladder and his luck tonight was just . . . wonderful. The ladder came loose, and he ended up falling half a story onto his shoulder. His back, his sternum, and now his shoulder. Now he was wet again from the rain. This night . . .

He stood and realized he was near the helicopter that had crashed. The fire was blessedly warm right now, but he couldn’t wait around the fire in the rain all night. He checked the hallway and it was on fire and blocked by the chopper.

“Great.” He had to figure a way back inside.

-----

Wesker knew that the other shudder could not be opened from this side. He wanted a little more time to look for his files.

But this Leon was indeed a gem. He was young, a rookie, and he was surviving where a thousand others just screamed in horror and died. This young man had knifed a licker to death, barely hesitated to kill infected dogs, and knifed William Birken to death. A G-Virus infected William Birken.

He was a little regretful that William was dead, but he was genuinely proud of Leon for being able to kill so many T and G infected. He also obeyed orders. What he would have given to have this young man on his STARS? But this was even better. He didn’t have to sacrifice this man. He could keep him.

Wesker smiled. He wanted to keep him as if he was a stray puppy. He did seem eager to please. What a treasure Wesker had found. Didn’t hurt that the young man was quite good looking. Even better than dear Christopher. He would try to keep this one for himself.

-----

Leon found a way to put out the fire and found a club key. He remembered seeing the club symbol on a door in that west hallway with all the, now dead, zombies. Now, he just needed to squeeze past or crawl through the wreckage of the helicopter. He trotted back inside.

He stopped dead as the wreckage moved. It was shoved aside and there stood a behemoth of a man in a trench coat and a fedora.

“Jesus Christ!” He shot him in the face, but the man wasn’t fazed. “What the—!” Leon was not an idiot; he ran back out into the rain. The behemoth followed him. He ran around him and ran back into the newly cleared hallway. He could hear the heavy thump of the thing following him. It didn’t run, but it was walking with a long stride. Leon was able to get a long lead on him.

Once he got to the door to the western hallway, he stopped running. So many of these monsters seemed to rely on hearing. He started walking so it wouldn’t know exactly where he was going.

He was glad that he did stop running, because as he entered the hallway, he heard the clicking of a licker walking on a wall. He slowed to almost nothing. He knew if he killed it, it would be safer, but the noise might bring the behemoth to him.

Something clued the licker into his presence. He did have his shotgun. He could just fill this thing with buck shot and run, but the knife was quieter.

It crawled down the wall and walked toward him, trying to sense him. Leon took a step back and pulled out his knife. He moved into position, and he knifed it like he did the last two. Luckily, this one wasn’t screaming. It died relatively quietly. Leon stood and panted for a moment. The thumping was out in the main hall, but it wasn’t near the door. He backed away from the corpse. A zombie at the boarded window behind him made him jump, but he didn’t cry out. He was learning to be silent.

He opened the club door and found some more resources including another grenade. He also found a lever. He might need that so he took it. He was becoming a bit of a packrat. If he saw something, he took it.

He heard the thump. He stood stalk still. His heart was hammering, but he remained quiet and still. The door burst open.

“Oh, fuck, really?”

Luckily, there was a rack of shelves in the middle of the room. He led it around the shelves and back out into the hall.

He remembered there was another door above the library. He’d fallen through the floor trying to get to it, but this looked like the lever for a car jack which was preventing him from moving those rolling shelves in the library. If he could get those in position, he could walk across them.

He was running from Mr. X—as he decided to call him—so he hoped he could get enough a lead to do what he needed to do in the library.

Sure enough, this lever worked, and he was able to get the shelves in position. Mr. X came into the room as he finished. Leon jumped onto the ladder right next to him and climbed up in a panic. He had a path.

Please let the door be unlocked! Leon pleaded.

He burst through it and ran along the corridor. He stopped at the pair of zombies in front of him. The thump, thump was coming up behind him. Leon pulled out his shotgun and blasted the two zombies and rushed into the first door right there. He turned and reloaded his shotgun and readied it, aiming at the door, waiting for Mr. X to enter. He waited. Thump, thump. Leon was ready. Thump, thump. The thumping was getting quieter. Mr. X was walking away. He’d lost it? Leon lowered his gun and took a deep breath.

He was glad to see that he did indeed need the gear he found in the storage room. He needed to use the gear system to break the component free from where it was left next to the bell. He got the clock working and the bell rang loudly, shaking the supports and breaking the whole thing loose, dropping the box with the component.

“Glad I don’t have to write a report on this,” he said to himself.

He wanted to wait after making so much noise, so he checked the map and the locked door to the storage room where he found the gear was on the other side of the main hall balcony. He stepped out and the coast was clear. He walked toward the storage door and found that he was able to unlock it from this side. He slid the lock open and ran for it, back down to the Watchman’s Room. He hoped Wesker would be there.

-----

Wesker had checked the library and the STARS office. There was still the Records Room on the first floor. It was normally locked with the club key. He decided that if it was locked, he could break it down. He wanted to hide his nature from Leon for a little while longer, wanted to gain his trust more, but Leon was off looking for that power panel part.

He made his way down there.

Thump, thump.

Wesker froze. What the fuck was that?

Wesker walked softly on his way down. The heavy footsteps were walking away, so Wesker was able to get to the Records Room. It was unlocked. He smiled and went in. And there he did find some of his data. It wasn’t everything, but Umbrella probably came in after his ‘death’ and took anything that would incriminate them.

Certain that this was all he would find in the station, he headed back to the Watchman’s Room to meet back up with Leon.

-----

Wesker wasn’t there. Fuck. Leon couldn’t wait for him with Mr. X following him. He ran back toward the parking garage. Zombies broke through the windows. Leon opened fire, aiming for their knees and ankles to send them to the floor and ran over them, aware that Mr. X would soon be on his heels.

He made it back to the basement and didn’t stop running. He ran into the door to the garage, shoving it open.

He was greeted by the sounds of dogs.

Leon couldn’t even curse. He pulled out his shotgun and just started targeting any dog that came into his view, hurrying across to the cell block. He killed all three and made it into the jail. He rushed to the back cell and put the components into the power panel and rewired it. Luckily, it was intuitive.

The cell opened. Leon grabbed the key card. He saw a tape recorder in Ben’s jacket and took it. He also noticed a note on the small table. He read it quickly.

The station's swarming with monsters. Even here I can hear their cries. But it's not the zombies I'm afraid of.

Codename: Tyrant.

The ultimate bioweapon, developed by those bastards in the utmost secrecy. To think that that thing might be wandering around here...

Chances are they've ordered it to wipe out the witnesses.

“Son of a bitch,” Leon whispered.

He listened to the recording on the tape.

“—but that doesn't explain the rumors about the orphanage. I-I just find it way too coincidental Umbrella's one of the benefactors.”

“You told me this interview was about the new scholarship Umbrella set up.”

“Come on, Annette. Nobody cares about this. They want to know about the G-Virus, and the—"

“Where did you hear about this?”

“—and that big fucking sinkhole in the city which, by the way, rumor has it goes straight to your underground lab. Now, are you going to talk to me or are you—"

“This interview is over.”

“Bitch.”

Knowing Mr. X, the Tyrant, was right behind him, Leon got moving. It was a delayed reaction, but all the other cells opened too. Letting out all the zombies.

“That’s not good.” He took off running. There was a lever to open another gate. He pulled it and ran through. Luckily, there weren’t any zombies. But Mr. X was stalking toward him. He backed up into the corner, Mr. X approaching in front of him and zombies shambling in from the side. He waited for the Tyrant to get closer, then dodged to the right, toward the zombies, then shifted to the left around the Tyrant and ran away. Another horde of zombies were waiting for him. He threw a flash grenade to get them to freeze for a moment as he ran through. The police corpse that had been on the ground this whole time and hadn’t moved once the several times he ran past decided that now was the time to wake up and grab his ankle. He shot down at the zombie’s head until it let go, the thumping of the Tyrant’s boots right behind him. Leon shouldered through the two doors between him and the parking garage.

He was running toward the control panel to insert the key card when Mr. X broke through the wall and grabbed Leon by the throat. He was sure this was it; he didn’t know how to get out of this one.

Leon heard a car start. He looked over, blinded by headlights. A vehicle sped toward him and the Tyrant. A large van hit the Tyrant which dropped him upon impact. Leon laid there a moment and coughed, sucking in air desperately. The door to the van opened.

“Wesker,” Leon gasped.

“Looks like I wasn’t late this time.” Wesker started walking toward the gate.

Leon stood and followed him. “Thanks.”

The SWAT van started to move. Leon jumped back and pulled his gun. “You got to be kidding me.”

Wesker sighed. “Nothing dies around here.” He lifted a device and triggered the explosives in the van. The Tyrant stopped moving. Wesker turned to Leon. “I hope you have the key card.”

Leon raised the card. “Yeah, and this.” He tossed the recorder to Wesker. “I was hoping you could explain what’s on it.”

Wesker played it while Leon walked over and opened the gate.

They walked out onto the street. It was still raining, but there wasn’t a monster in sight.

When the tape ended, Leon asked, “Well, what was that about?”

Wesker was silent and came up to the end of the street. There was a huge hole in the street. He hummed. He looked to the left. “Let’s go through here. There’s a back alley that will lead down to that sewer opening.”

“Wesker,” Leon goaded.

“I’m thinking.” He knelt in front of the door to Gun Shop Kendo and picked the lock.  He stood and called out, “Robert!”

Leon looked around. He found a few supplies and took them. The place looked looted. He walked toward the back, looking for more. Suddenly, he had a shotgun pointed at his head. He raised his hands.

“Don’t move,” the man behind the gun ordered.

Leon was about to say something, but Wesker stepped forward. “Robert.”

The gunman looked at him and lowered his gun. “Wesker? I heard you were dead.”

“As you can see, the news of my death was greatly exaggerated.”

“This one of your boys?” Robert asked.

“Sort of. Rookie. Leon, this is Robert Kendo, expert gunsmith.”

“Nice to meet you,” Leon said.

“If you’re looking for ammo, I’m pretty cleaned out.”

“What are you still doing here?” Wesker asked him.

“Well, you know, I had business here to attend to.”

Leon noticed a little girl behind Kendo. “Um, sir.” Leon gestured to her.

Kendo looked behind him. He got between Wesker and Leon and his daughter.

“Emma, sweetheart, I told you to stay put.”

Emma was obviously infected. Her eyes were cataracted and her breathing was the familiar rasp Leon had heard all night.

“Daddy,” she struggled to say.

Kendo turned his back to them and knelt in front of her. “Yeah, Emmie. Daddy’s here. I’m here, okay?” He hugged her. “Those fucking things outside. Look what they did to us. Wesker, what happened?”

“I wasn’t in Raccoon when it happened. But I’m sure it’s an escaped virus from an Umbrella lab.”

Leon turned to face Wesker, his eyes wide.

Kendo looked down. “Umbrella? Those fuckers.”

“We know they have a variety of viruses for study. It’s the most obvious answer.”

“Mommy?” Emma gasped.

“Mommy’s sleeping, honey, okay? And I’m gonna put you to bed too, okay? Emma.”

“I’m very sorry, Robert,” Wesker said solemnly.

Kendo picked her up and walked back to the room Emma came out of. He shut the door without another word.

“You do know what’s going on,” Leon accused.

They heard a gunshot. Leon looked over at the door. He turned back to Wesker.

“I want to find out what’s happening here. And stop whoever’s behind it. Helping people like them, that’s why I joined the force. Are you saying these zombies are from some sort of virus? And what the hell is Mr. X?”

“Mr. X.” It didn’t sound like a question, but Leon was sure it was.

“That big inhuman guy in the fedora you just hit with the van.”

“He’s called a Tyrant.”

Leon attempted a glower. Apparently, it didn’t work because it seemed to amuse Wesker.

Wesker hesitated. “How much do you trust me?”

Leon also hesitated. “I’m not sure. I think you got my back. You saved me just now. We’re both cops. I do trust you to an extent.”

“Well, I’ll try to buy a little more of your trust with what I know. Let’s walk, get out of the rain.”

Wesker opened the back gate and led the way down the alley.