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They had been running through the village for a while, Ashley blindly following the man sent to retrieve her. It wasn’t like there was much else she could do, and she’d rather put her trust in an agent sent by her father than anyone else right now.
And it wasn’t like she disliked him. He was nice, respectful, and best of all kept her from getting dragged off by any of the creeps here. And he was funny, finding humor in one of the worst situations. She liked him, like a funny dad or weird uncle.
They were heading to a meeting point that some woman on a device told him to go to, maybe for a helicopter or something to get them? That’s what Ashley had picked up on. She didn’t want to ask to many questions or butt in the way when Leon was trying to have an important conversation.
“Ashley, let’s move.” Leon said, picking up his pace. Ashley jogged to follow him. There were sounds behind them, stumbling and mumbles that sent an unpleasant chill through her. Leon glanced back as the sounds got louder, gun at the ready. Ashley turned to look as well and wished she hadn’t.
There was a whole group of the creepy villagers fumbling after them, holding pitchforks and flaming torches. Ashley turned back to Leon, biting her lip, following him as anxiety crept up her spine.
Leon skidded to a stop at the end of a bridge, Ashley bumping into him with a thump. He steadied her, looking around. More of the villagers were coming from the other way, where they needed to go. Ashely gripped the back of Leon’s chest holster hard, more terrified than she wanted to admit.
“We’re surrounded, we need to—” He cut himself off with a cough into his fist, “We need to get somewhere safe.” He said, continuing to cough lightly into his hand. Ashley looked at the building in the middle of the area. Stuck between the two angry mobs, sure, but she didn’t see anywhere else they could run to.
“The cabin.” She suggested, voice wavering a bit. Leon was busy looking down at his hands, quiet and dazed.
“Leon!” She tugged his arm towards the cabin, more panicked by his silence. The villagers were getting closer and Leon was just idling there. Leon hummed, letting himself be led over and in. Leon went first, checking the room with his gun raised, Ashley locking the door behind them with fumbling hands.
Leon coughed again, rougher this time, sounding like it was tearing up his throat. Ashley turned, watching Leon stumble for a few moments, continuing to cough.
“Leon?” She asked, standing behind him and wringing her hands. He didn’t respond, just kept coughing in a way that had Ashley cringing. He gasped, stumbling forward a final time to hit the ground, knees hitting wood hard.
A sheen of sweat had broken out over his skin, pale. Ashley hurried in front of Leon where he was kneeled on the ground. She grabbed his upper arm as he keeled over, keeping him from falling flat on the ground. Panic bloomed in her chest.
“Leon!” She tried to pull him up, desperately just wanting him to stand normally, to answer her, give her anything. They were being closed in and her protector was collapsing onto the ground.
Footsteps came down the steps, jolting Ashley out of her panic.
She turned towards the sound, seeing a man dressed far more decoratively than anyone trying to survive out here should be. She stood, placing herself between Leon and the strangers. Her hands shook, but Leon was on the ground and someone had to try and stand up for him.
“Who are you?” She asked, glaring at the man as best she could. She could hear Leon breathing erratically behind her. The man looked past her at the agent on the ground, brow furrowing. Ashely stepped to the side, blocking his view. He looked back up at Ashley, throwing on a smile.
“Luis Sera, señora. And might I ask your name?” He started moving forward, a hand on his hip with one outstretched towards her. He had to be taller than Leon, but he seemed slimmer. His voice was accented, would be taunting or charming depending on how he spun his words.
“None of your business,” She responded, “I didn’t ask your name, I asked who you are.” She said sternly. The man smiled, looking amused.
“I’m an acquaintance of your friend there,” He said, gesturing to Leon, “Who… doesn’t seem to be doing too well.” He finished, frowning. Ashley spared a glance down at Leon, still hunched down on the floor. She could see his hands twitching occasionally, muffled sounds of pain coming from him. She turned back to Luis.
“That’s also none of your business.” She said. She didn’t trust this Luis, not in the slightest. The only person she trusted right now was Leon himself. The man raised a brow, unamused.
“Alright princess, no need to be so—”
“Ash…”
Both Ashley and Luis turned to Leon. He reached out with a shaky hand and grabbed Ashley’s ankle, pulling at her. The sounds outside were getting louder and Ashley’s attention was briefly split between Leon, pale and so suddenly sick, and the angry crowd outside.
“Tr—trust him.” He coughed again, blood splattering on his hand and the floor. Ashley jumped away from it, stunned to see the blood coating his hands, scared of it. She turned back to Luis, stress weighing her down.
“Fine,” She said, feeling like she was nearing tears, “Can you help him?” She asked, stepping forward as Leon’s hand fell from her ankle. Luis made to move forward, looking concerned.
“I think I know something we ca—” And once more he was cut off. This time by voices getting increasingly louder outside. Ashley turned, seeing the villagers edging closer through haphazard boards on the windows. There were so many of them…
There was a clicking sound and Ashley turned to see Luis wielding a gun.
“Get him upstairs, I’ll handle this.” Luis said, nodding down at Leon. Ashley went to grab Leon, try to drag him downstairs, when Luis said stopped them.
“Wait.” He said, Ashley pausing, awkwardly holding the agent. She could hear his labored breathing, causing her distress to hear him sound so… unwell.
Luis grabbed Leon’s gun out of his holster. Leon made a weak sound, reaching for his weapon.
Then Luis held the gun to Ashley.
“You know how to use this, right?” He asked. The villagers were getting closer. Ashley reached for it hesitantly, not enjoying the weight of the gun in her hand.
“Point and shoot,” Luis said unhelpfully, “Now go, I’ll be down here.” And then he turned to the window, aiming and starting to pick off villagers. Ashley held the gun awkwardly, adjusting her hold on Leon. She pulled him, trying to get him up on his feet.
He bit back a scream at the tug, agonized by the movement. Ashley bit her lip, not even sure what would cause him such pain, slipping his arm over her shoulders when he managed to partially stand up. He stumbled, weight heavy on her.
Leon groaned and breathed unevenly, hand clutching at Ashley’s hand that she’d ran around his waist to hold him up. Ashley’s heart was tearing, anxiety uncomfortable in her stomach. She dragged him up the stairs with more than a little struggling, out of breath by the time they got to the top.
She leaned Leon against the wall, looking away as he coughed up blood again. Tears touched her eyes, stress and fear hitting hard. The man here to protect her was dying on the ground, and she was holding his gun in her hands with no idea how to use it while relying on a stranger to protect them both.
Ashely sat down beside Leon, listened to his haggard breathing. Uncomfortably, she leant him forward, rubbing a stern hand up and down his back. When her chest felt tight her mom used to do this to help break things up. So… maybe it could help Leon? She rubbed for a few moments, holding Leon’s hand as he gripped tight with each painful cough.
She watched him spit up bloody phlegm, but his breathing eased to her relief.
The fighting had truly begun downstairs, Luis’ gun going off and the words from the villagers ringing upstairs.
“Ash…” Leon huffed out. He groaned, squeezing his eyes tight.
“Leon?” She responded. He shuffled around in one of his bags on his belt, arm jerking and hands uncoordinated. He pulled out something, shoving it at Ashley. She grabbed it uncertainly.
A grenade. Anxiety hit her like a brick wall.
“Leon, I don’t think I—”
“You c-can,” A strained breath, “Do what you have t-to, alright?” He flashed her a pained smile. She smiled back in a wobbly way.
Ashley sat next to Leon, listening, completely on guard. He writhed next to her, agonized. Ashley was unsure of how to comfort him and just sat next to him, holding his hand, keeping him still when his hands spasmed.
She heard a thump on the wall next to her and looked up, alarmed. They were on the second floor, how was there—?
And then there was a pair of hands reaching through the window right above Ashley and Leon. Ashley jumped up, hands shaking where she held the gun. A man leaned through the window frame, trying to slip through the space. Ashley raised the gun, pointed, and pulled the trigger. The recoil knocked her back, hurt her wrist and she hissed with it.
The man screeched, falling back and hitting the ground outside with a wet thud. Ashley leaned over the windowsill, looking down. A ladder, they had propped a ladder up against the wall. Ashley stared down at the body laying still on the ground, shocked that she had just shot a gun, when another thud along the other side of the wall drew her attention away.
She ran over, tripping on her own feet, seeing the top of another ladder peaking over the window. She looked down, another man halfway up. She grabbed the top of the ladder and pushed it back with a grunt.
The man yelled, going down with the ladder, hitting the ground with a garbled sound. Another groan and string of words she didn’t understand had her turning back to the window above Leon.
She sprinted over, going to shove this ladder over too. This time a pair of hands grabbed her wrists before she could reach the ladder. She screamed, pulling back, dropping the gun. She stumbled, hitting the ground with a thud and unintentionally dragging the man into the room with her. The man raised up over her, looking down. And then he screeched and fell to the side.
Ashley pushed him away from her in a panic, scrambling to sit back up and get off the ground. She felt short of breath, panicked.
Leon had dragged himself up and dug his dagger into the man’s back, knocking him off of Ashley. Ashley scrambled for the gun, unloading a few bullets into the villager to make sure he wouldn’t get up again. Leon crumpled back down with a hiss, breathing raggedly.
Before Ashley could check on him, get him comfortable again, more sounds caught her attention. Luis stumbled up the stairs, looking amess but whole.
“Get down!” He called, voice steady. Ashley ducked, and Luis shot right over her head. A thud and someone hit the ground outside. Ashley scrambled up, finally knocking the ladder down. She grabbed Leon under the arms, pulling him back to lean against the wall again. Blood was smeared over his face from his coughing. It made Ashley sick.
“C’mon Miss Ashley, on your guard.” Luis said, standing at the top of the stairs and shooting down. Ashley didn’t even have time to question how he knew her full name.
Ashley noted how Luis held his gun and tried to mimic it on the window with the last ladder. She was able to knock many people off and was more proud of it than she was willing to admit.
Luis had been slowly backing into the room closer to Ashley as he got more and more overwhelmed by the flood of villagers coming into the cabin from downstairs. Ashley had been too inexperienced and busy with her windows to help him.
“Shit!” He hissed, completely backed up against the wall across from the stairs. Ashley turned, seeing the swarm coming up and Luis getting surrounded. Her chest went tight, concern gripping her. She scrambled for the grenade. If ever there was a time to use it, it was now.
“Luis, get back!” Ashley said, pulling the plug like she’d seen Leon do so many times nowand tossing the grenade at the top of the stairs. Luis scrambled to the side, avoiding the small explosion. Bodies hit the ground Ashley crouched down in front of Leon, trying to protect him from anything the explosion might send their way.
And then there was no more noise. Luis recovered from the explosion and hurried to one of the windows, looking out.
“They’re leaving.” He said with a sigh, taking a moment to relish in their small victory.
“Lu-is…” And then he turned, striding over to Leon at the man’s call and leaning down as he choked out his name. More blood spilled out of his mouth, eyes dazed and looking feverish. Ashley shifted on her feet, not sure what to do with herself, with all her fear and emotion.
“How long has he been like this?” The man asked. Leon clung to Luis with shaking hands, breathing raggedly. Luis held Leon back by the upper arms, looking him over. Ashley hesitated before she remembered Leon’s words. Trust him.
“Shortly before we got here. He could have… He could have been hiding it for a while, though.” Luis sighed once more.
“He shouldn’t be this bad yet.” He muttered. Ashley tensed, dread seeping into her.
“What do you mean?” She asked, voice low and nervous.
“You’re ah—” He hesitated, “Leon is not well.” He stood.
“What do you mean?” She asked again, frustrated by him censoring his words, keeping what he knew from her.
“He and I, we were, ah, infected?” He said, not meeting Ashley’s gaze as he lifted Leon’s face to check his eyes. Leon twisted in his grip, trying to pull away. Ashley felt a shiver go down her spine. Infected… if Leon was infected…
Then she was too. They had shot her with something, she knew it. And Leon had been shot too she assumed, but his shot was acting faster…
“Can you help him?” She asked, clasping her hands together, fiddling. Luis let Leon’s head lull back down, being gentle with him. Luis sighed.
“I… might be able to. It’s far along, Miss Ashley.” He said, sounding regretful.
“Then help him now! What are you waiting for?” She asked, desperate. She didn’t want the first kind person she had seen since coming here to die. Not when there was a chance he could be helped.
Luis turned to look at her over his shoulder, searching her face. And then turned back to Leon, carefully moving him.
“Alright, help me lay him down properly. This won’t be pretty.” He directed. Ashley hesitantly helped lower Leon completely to the ground, hands brushing over him in flittery, unsure motions.
“Listen to me Miss Ashley,” Luis said, pulling out a vial from his pocket. He pulled out a needle from God knows where, looking long and nasty.
“Sit on his chest, making sure your knees are on his arms. We don’t want him moving. And cover his mouth.” Luis said.
“Cover his mouth?” Ashley asked, doing as she was told up until the final bit. Leon was barely receptive to any of it, completely out of it. Luis sat on Leon’s hips, keeping his legs pinned. He lifted Leon’s top, exposing his hip and side.
“We don’t want him screaming and luring everyone back, do we?” Luis asked. Ashley covered Leon’s mouth.
“Alright, bare through it. This will suck, but it’s for the better, yeah?” Luis said. Ashley nodded, biting her lip, turning her head so she could watch Luis. He flicked the needle once, twice, watching the little bubbles in it, and then brought it to Leon’s skin. She didn’t need to watch Luis press it in, instead turning to look down at Leon, her hands clasped over his mouth.
Ashley was uncomfortable, hated having to do this. It was already bad, she wasn’t excited for when this inevitably got worse. She heard Luis push the needle in, could hear the grotesque shlllk of it.
Leon’s eyes flew open when Ashley heard the needle clatter to the ground. Luis held down Leon’s wrists, helping Ashley keep him still. Leon stared up at Ashley in a way that showed that he wasn’t truly processing that it was her. He writhed under both Ashley and Luis, pain and confusion and fear bright on his face. He was trying to say something, plead something, but Ashley couldn’t make it out from where she was muffling his sounds as directed.
Ashley looked towards the ceiling. She could barely stand hearing him, much less looking at him like this. It was terrifying, scary, and she was worried.
Leon almost successfully threw Ashley off more than once, Luis having to press harder down to keep everything steady. He was stronger than he seemed even when he was sick, fighting against the both of them impressively, kicking his feet against wooden floors and trying to shake Ashley’s hands off his face.
This was torture. The last thing Ashley would have ever dreamed she would do was this.
Leon settled down far too long afterwards, breathing hard through his nose under the two of them. Luis let go of his wrists when he had calmed and Leon weakly grabbed at Ashley’s hands over his mouth, pulling with little force. Ashley tentatively let go, Leon sucking in a breath quickly.
She moved off of Leon, kneeling next to him. His grip on her hands stayed, holding her.
Really, she could cry. She was shocked she hadn’t yet. She was shocked Leon hadn’t yet. She wouldn’t blame him if he let himself have a full body cry.
Luis sat on the opposite side of Leon, grabbing Leon’s hands to feel along his pulse point, looking down at him.
“Back with us?” Luis asked lightly, letting him go. Leon held up a finger. One minute.
Nothing filled the room but the sound of his breathing and the croak of bugs and toads outside.
“I—I’m back.” Leon finally said. He wiped at the blood along his mouth, smearing some and getting rid of other bits of it. He closed his eyes, just laying there. Tears finally welled up in Ashley’s eyes.
She leaned down, wrapping her arms around him as best she could with him on the ground as he was. Leon made a breathy noise of surprise, automatically wrapping his arms around Ashley. She cried quietly, getting his shirt wet. He rubbed her back, consoling her as best he could.
“It’s okay, Ash. Sorry.” He said, voice rough.
“You better make it up to me.” She said in a wobbly voice. Leon let out a laugh, sounding unpleasant on Leon’s throat but nothing but pleasant to Ashley’s ears. Just relieved that he wasn’t coughing blood right now, that he was conscious.
“Well! This little reunion now that you aren’t, you know, dying, has been great. But you two need to move.” Luis said, standing and brushing his hands off. Ashley sat back up and glared at him. For as unbothered as he was acting, his hands shook. They were having a moment, and had just been through something rough, and here he was trying to ruin it.
“What did you give me?” Leon asked first, slowly pushing himself up on his elbows. Luis looked away, rubbing a hand along the back of his neck.
“I may have been able to acquire something to help with that… cough of yours. You still need something to get rid of it entirely, but you’ll be fine. For a while.” Luis said, waving a hand around. Leon stared him down, reading him. He relaxed, seemingly satisfied with that response.
“You won’t stick with us?” Leon asked next, voice still unsteady. But he was sitting up, he was a little better. Ashley took in his expression. He seemed nervous now… Probably didn’t want to separate, or didn’t want Luis off on his own.
Luis hesitated.
“Are you asking me to tag along?” He asked, voice taunting but the question earnest. Ashley watched the exchange, not butting in.
“Having someone else to watch our backs wouldn’t be a bad thing.” Leon said. Luis looked around for a moment. And then he sighed good-naturedly.
“Alright, fine. But really, let’s get moving.” He offered a hand to Leon, helping him stand. Leon stumbled up, legs weak and Luis was fast to help steady Leon, wrapping an arm around his waist. They stared at each other, impossibly close.
Ashley cleared her throat and they stepped apart awkwardly.
“Anyways,” She said, standing as well and brushing herself off, “If you’re really okay Leon, and I mean really okay, let’s keep moving.” She said. She picked up Leon’s gun from the floor, holding the pistol out to him. Leon waved his hand.
“You keep that. At least for now. I trust you with that thing after all this.” Leon said, instead pulling out his TMP for himself. Ashley felt pride bloom in her chest. She tucked the gun along her belt, not as clean as Leon’s holsters but working all the same.
“Lady, gentleman, vamanos.” Luis said, starting to make his way downstairs. Leon and Ashley followed. Leon was slower than normal, stepping carefully. Luis set his pace to adjust to Leon when he noticed the agent lagging behind, and Ashley absolutely refused to leave Leon’s side.
The group moved on together. Ashley hoped they would be able to stick together until they got out. And maybe after. It was nice to have more than one person have your back.