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The crunching of boots on gravel stopped just short of his head.
Chris grimaced up at the one casting a shadow over him. From his sprawled position on the ground where he had been tossed by their recently defeated foe he vaguely made out the pointed silhouette of his partner’s hair.
Piers was chewing gum casually and peering down at him with a subtle air of disappointment only he could pull off.
Chris closed his eyes again if only to spare himself from that look.
“Another job well done, Captain?”
Chris groaned in response, dropping his head back into the dirt and relinquishing the iron grip he had on his bloodied hunting knife. Having run out of other options at the time, Chris had chosen to take on a mid-level B.O.W. the old fashioned way: with brute strength. The rest of the newly-formed Alpha Team watched in awe as the mutated creature screeched its last at the hands of the Legendary Chris Redfield.
The monster had proven a challenge despite its relatively small size. It had managed to toss their leader around enough to knock the wind out of him before it finally gave up the ghost, collapsing into the dirt like a puppet with cut strings.
Now his everything hurt and Chris couldn’t help but notice Piers was enjoying his plight a little too much.
The Special Ops recruit snickered, popping a bubble obnoxiously before bending down to help his Captain unsteadily to his feet.
“You sure know how to demonstrate a poorly executed plan.” Nivans could be real smartass when he wanted to be.
“Do as I say, not as I do.” Chris chastised, pulling off a glove to wipe some dirt from his eye. It was a mantra he’d made a point of drilling into the minds of the new recruits. Heaven knew the last thing the organization needed was another hotheaded, rulebook-burning operative in their midst…or so they liked to remind him.
Before the rest of Alpha Team regrouped around them Piers leaned into his superior briefly to whisper, “You’re welcome.”
Chris scoffed at that, “For what?”
“For saving your butt.” Piers said simply, backing away with a smug look as their comrades approached cheering and whooping over the well-fought victory.
Once the new orders were handed out, Alpha Team continued their mission, pressing on to their next objective with the efficiency of a newly cohesive unit. Yes, they were learning fast.
Chris hung back to examine the body of the B.O.W. he had taken out. If Piers had really been the one to kill the creature there would be proof he had done so.
Sure enough, in addition to the many deep lesions left by his own knife, Chris found the telltale entry mark of a burning twelve plus millimeter round nestled in the folds of stinking grey flesh. The entry wound was subtle, almost invisible to the untrained eye but the exit wound was an exploded fleshy mess that no knife or standard issue firearm could replicate.
Piers’ shot had clearly ruptured the B.O.W.’s vital organs. The fact that he had delivered the final blow while Chris had been in such close proximity was both impressive and unnerving.
“Shithead.” Chris couldn’t help but smile at that.
Piers was waiting for him on the hill when the Captain finally caught up with him.
“Find what you were looking for?” the ace’s grin was infectious and Chris caught himself grinning back.
He reached up to squeeze the younger man’s shoulder affectionately before shoving him ahead down the hill.
“Yup. I believe I have.”
-- End --