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Shattered fragments shifting to form a whole, attempting and failing to restore what was broken.
Years of training fought for control of his reflexes, for control of his actions, but he remained frozen in space. It didn’t take him long to realize that Ashley had it worse, however. Her movements were shaky as she reached for his gun. He figured that she wasn’t taking it to shoot Saddler.
Her hand trembled as she brought the gun up, aiming forward.
Was this the end?
He was locked in place. Not even the slightest movement from his limbs, not an inch of yield from the parasite infesting his body.
Was this what it felt like? When his body was more parasite than human?
Concentration and concern clear on her face, she struggled. Her finger tightened on the trigger and a gunshot rang out.
A thud behind him.
Was this the first creature she ever killed? The first person, infected or otherwise?
Her aim shifted.
He wanted to reassure her, to tell her something, anything, but his jaw remained locked in place, any words held prisoner by the cage created by his uncooperative body.
They’re no longer human, Ashley.
Another gunshot. Another thud.
Her aim shifted again. This wasn’t his first time staring down the barrel of a gun…
Would it be his last?
And that was it… No second chances, no last-minute rescue.
Leon rarely entertained the idea of growing old. A part of him had long since then accepted that he would likely die on the job, in a mission that proved to be too much for him. Facing enemies much greater and much more powerful than himself…
Or betrayed by someone he thought to be his ally.
Leon was not a stranger to betrayal.
Maybe sometime during this particular mission, a part of him had accepted the possibility of turning into one of them. He had sworn to himself that the moment he began to slip, if he found he didn’t have enough time, if his mission failed, if all hope was lost… He’d be the one to end his own life.
Was this a mercy? To have someone else do it for him?
To live every moment not knowing who to trust, to walk through every room not knowing if Ashley would turn at any second, to have to work alongside someone he met along the way, someone with a past tied to the corporation root of the chain of events that led Leon to that place, to work on his mission not knowing if he’d see Ada along the way again… Not knowing if she’d…
But Luis was dead… Krauser was his enemy… Ada…
One more uncertainty…
Was it worth living through the day for? Perhaps the chance that maybe…. Just maybe… Something had changed since Raccoon City?
His immediate answer was not affirmative.
Was that his thinking? Or was it the parasite in his body?
Was this a mercy?
Was this a mercy?
Did he want Ashley to pull the trigger?
Did he want just… Peace?
Did he want to die?
Ashley pulled the trigger, but the gunshot never rang out.
Was it relief that rushed through his body?
Or was it…. Disappointment?
That gun had never jammed when he used it. It had never failed him up until that moment… Why had he been spared?
The gun slipped out of her grasp. Would Saddler finish him off then?
No. Leon had no choice but to watch as they left. Knowing that the odds had just stacked up higher against him, that they both now had less time, and that there were many loose ends he had yet to address.
No peace. No rest. He had to go on. Maybe not for his mission, maybe not for the government that had taken advantage of him back then… But maybe for Ashley. For that innocent girl that had been taken against her will to be a pawn to a much grander scheme.
If he could save just one person…
Just one.
Leon picked up his gun. And how many people was he condemning every time he tried to save one? He took a deep breath. These thoughts couldn’t be his own. The parasite must be messing with his head.
And yet…
Holding the familiar weight of his gun in his hand, he couldn’t help but… Think about…