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This day could not get any shittier.
That was the only string of words Bryan was able to stream together for the past twenty minutes. Bryan had stumbled out of the RV and almost lost his lunch. He spent longer than he’d like to admit leaning against the wall of the tunnel dry heaving, images of the gore he had just caused flashing behind his eyes every time he closed them. The cold concrete stinging his palm where it rested was one of the only things grounding him back to reality, along with the bite on his arm that throbbed in pain; a wicked reminder of why he had to pull the trigger. It didn’t make it any easier to pull himself together.
When Bryan finally managed to steady his breath and stop gagging, he turned to see a sight that nearly made him cry. There were headlights, actual real headlights, and they were moving towards him. The first sign of life that wasn’t a terrible monster since he had first been pulled over at the beginning of the night. He shouted as loud as he could, waving his hands above his head like a maniac to get the car’s attention. That relief lasted only for a moment.
A terrible noise came from the forest next to Bryan, and his heart hammered behind his ribcage. He almost didn’t want to look - A horrible amalgamation of limbs came rolling out of the darkness; he could recognize it as the bodies that had intertwined right in front of him on the bedroom floor from the bright red dress still attached to one of the pairs of legs. Bryan screeched and fumbled with his shotgun, trying his damndest to load a shell into it. His clumsy hands slipped into his pockets where he had shoved the shells haphazardly, but they shook so violently it sent half of them tumbling out. They trailed behind him on the ground as he stumbled forward frantically. He didn’t notice. The bullets dropped silently into the snow, and all other sounds were drowned out by his own frenzied breathing. His foot landed on a small patch of snow-covered ice and he nearly lost his footing. Unfortunately, Bryan is the most uncoordinated person he knows, and his grip completely slipped on the gun. In an attempt to hold on tighter, his fingers squeezed the trigger. He had forgotten there was still at least one shell left in it, and was cruelly reminded when it went off directly into the ground. The unexpected recoil was enough to launch the gun out of his hands and knock him backwards onto his ass in seconds.
He couldn’t even feel the cold sting of the snow under him over the swelling fear in his chest. He had been so distracted with his gun he lost track of where the monster was. More curses and yelps fell out of Bryan’s mouth as he scrambled backwards on the ground, and his eyes shot up to see the limb creature tumbling directly towards him at an alarming speed. He would hardly have a chance to pull his stolen pistol out before it was on top of him.
“Stay down!” A man’s voice shouted a few feet away from Bryan, and he sure as hell didn’t need to be told twice. Bryan dropped his head, covered it with his arms and squeezed his eyes shut. Shots cracked from the gun Bryan could only assume the man was holding, the noises echoing sharply through the empty forest around them. Then, a screech from the monster and the sound of it crawling away. Bryan didn’t move for a long moment, listening carefully for any other noises from the monster. When he heard none, he slowly dropped his arms and cracked his eyes open.
There was no monster in front of him anymore. A sob of relief fell from his mouth before he could tamp it down. Bryan took a few moments to steady his breath, which came out in quiet and embarrassing whimpers when he tried to get ahold of his terror. Bryan looked up to his savior approaching him, holstering his gun.
“Are you injured?” The man, which Bryan now noticed was wearing a cop’s uniform, asked with concern written all over his face. He looked a bit younger than Bryan, which didn’t instill much confidence, but he fended off the monster much better than Bryan had against anything else he had encountered that night so he couldn’t really judge. After staring open mouthed at the cop for longer than socially acceptable, Bryan pulled himself together and managed to shake his head.
“N-no I’m good.. Mostly. Holy shit, you just saved my ass officer,” Bryan stuttered out. The cop’s eyes trailed over him once, seemingly looking for any sign of injury. When he couldn’t spot anything too concerning his shoulders dropped slightly and his expression relaxed.
“You have a license for that gun, sir?” He asked, and Bryan’s stomach dropped. Was he being serious?! Did he not just see the crazy ass monster in front of them seconds ago?
“Uh- no? But I swear officer, I only grabbed it to defend myself, I mean, have you not seen the crazy shit- I don’t even like guns!” Bryan held his hands up in the air frantically.
“You shouldn’t be using a firearm you’re not familiar with, y'know. You could hurt yourself,” The cop gestured to the gun that was laying between them on the ground. Bryan still couldn’t tell if he was being genuine. He then approached Bryan, and he was sure he was about to be arrested. He was pleasantly surprised when the officer only offered his hand out. After Bryan simply stared at the offer, he added on a slightly awkward introduction. “Name’s Leon.”
“Uh.. I’m Bryan.” He accepted the hand, and with strength that genuinely surprised Bryan he was pulled up to his feet. He let out a small ‘woah’ as he steadied himself. He did a once-over on himself, making sure he still had everything. He gave the cooler that was still around his shoulder a light pat, confirming that it hadn’t gotten smushed during his fall. The motion caught Leon’s eyes, and his face seemed to light up at the sight of the cooler.
“You’re the courier,” He stated, pointing at the bag.
“Uh.. yeah, I guess I am?” Bryan said. It came out more confused than he meant it, but he had no idea why this random cop would be calling him the courier or have any idea about what he was delivering - even if it was a priority A.
“I was sent out here to look for you. I need to escort that package to the hospital,” Leon explained.
“They sent an escort!? What, is this organ for like, the mayor or something?” Bryan let out a small chuckle, but the cop only frowned at him.
“It’s not an organ. That’s supposedly the key to making a cure for everything that’s going on in the city,” Leon explained way too calmly for someone that just blew Bryan’s mind.
In seconds, Bryan was scrambling to pull the cooler bag off himself, which he struggled to do in his rushing, and shoved the bag into Leon’s hands suddenly.
“Why the hell am I the one carrying this around?! Fuckin sending me through hell for a cure- should’ve had that shit air lifted or something! Do you have any idea what I’ve been through tonight?!” Bryan shouted with a huff. The guilty look on Leon’s face almost made him feel bad.
“I know- Look, I didn’t have anything to do with that decision. I don’t know all the details, but I think it was Umbrella’s sick idea of a ‘backup plan’... I’m starting to learn that they don’t really value people’s lives.” Leon’s bitter tone quickly made Bryan backtrack in his feelings.
“Shit- I’m sorry man, I shouldn’t be yelling at you.” Bryan rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. Leon was probably having just as bad of a night as him if the city was just as crazy. He had been too quick to snap at him, especially after he had just saved his life.
“It’s alright, I think a little yelling is warranted after everything you’ve been through.” Leon assured him with an expression of steady patience on his face that made Bryan feel just for a moment that he would be okay. Leon turned his attention to the bag in his hands, inspecting it to see if there was any damage. Despite the rough shape Bryan was in, it seemed that the worst the bag had gone through was a bit of scuffing on the outside of it. Leon began unzipping the package, which made Bryan sputter out a string of noises.
“WUH- Hold on, you can’t just open it!” Bryan’s hands shot out to hold Leon’s hands still and keep the lid shut.
“Why not? I need to make sure it hasn’t been damaged,” Leon raised an eyebrow at Bryan’s reaction.
“Well.. it’s against protocol…. I have to fill out a form….. if it’s opened during transport…” Bryan’s voice fizzled out the further he got in his sentence, his brain seemed to catch up too late. Why am I complaining about forms right now? We are way past any protocol.
“Right…” Leon sounded completely unconvinced. His eyes flicked down towards where Bryan’s hands were still resting, then back up to Bryan’s face. His expression was carefully neutral, but Bryan could feel the judgement lingering underneath it.
The silence that followed was mortifying, so reluctantly Bryan pulled his hands away from Leon’s and allowed him to finish opening it. The noise of the zipper felt piercing to Bryan’s ears. Never in his many years of being a B-plus courier had he opened the bag, or even seen it opened. It wasn’t his job to know what was inside. It felt strangely surreal to have it happen in front of him now. Bryan’s eyes were locked onto the lid as it was cautiously opened, revealing a vial of mystery liquid in the bag’s cooling system. Leon let out a hum.
“Looks intact, which is a miracle. Is there a feedback form I can fill out for you?” Leon smiled at Bryan. One corner of his mouth turned up slightly higher than the other which made it almost look like a smirk, and Bryan’s mouth hung open at the absurdity of making another joke in their situation. Bryan breathed out a quick laugh, as if he hadn’t expected himself to be so entertained by the comment. It felt good to laugh. He smiled back at Leon.
Leon re-zipped the bag before the vial could get too warm and offered the bag back to Bryan. He took the bag back and slipped it over his shoulder, his brain moving on autopilot. The slight weight of it over his shoulder and against his side felt natural. He gave the side of the bag a little pat once it was secured without even noticing what he was doing. Leon’s eyes flicked down to the movement before going back to Bryan’s face.
“Soooo, what happens now?” Bryan asked.
“Now,” Leon began as he leaned down and picked up the shotgun Bryan had dropped. He had completely forgotten about it up until that point. Leon popped the barrel down and checked to see if there were any leftover shells in it. Seeing there were none, he clicked it back into place and pressed it into Bryan’s hands. He smiled, something so confident and sure that had Bryan believing every next word out of his mouth. “We finish your delivery and save the city.”
“Lead the way, officer Leon!”
-
Foolishly, Bryan had believed his luck was finally looking up for him. He had been separated from Leon for what felt like over an hour at least. They had made it into the city together in Leon’s banged up jeep, but the area around them had been in ruins. Buildings were on fire, cars had crashed and blocked up a number of roads and groups of infected people were blocking the other roads. They didn’t make it very far into the city before they were forced to continue towards the hospital on foot.
Bryan had been terrified of the idea. He was hardly able to handle one infected person on his own, but Leon shut down his doubt quickly by taking out three infected running at them in a matter of seconds. Bryan had said something stupid in awe, Leon had laughed, and a feeling of safety washed over him as he was led further into the city.
He had been so dumb.
The multi-limbed monster came back, this time with more bodies than Bryan could count tangled into it. The mass of flesh moved quicker now; the added limbs gave enough purchase for the creature to roll over the terrain around it. If Bryan hadn’t been so terrified when he saw it, he would’ve taken a moment to complain about the absurdity of it still following them. There hadn’t been any time for that though. Seconds after they spotted it, they were running. Bryan kept looking behind them, letting out a number of terrified screams each more embarrassing than the last when he saw how quickly it was gaining on them.
Leon was a quick thinker though. Before Bryan could get a chance to understand what was happening, Leon had shoved him down a side alley and screamed at him to keep running towards the hospital. The echoed promise that he would meet him there still rang in Bryan’s ears long after he watched the monster follow after Leon instead of him. Bryan had stood there clutching his bag in both his arms, the safety he had felt fading quick as Leon and the monster got further and further away from him. The bite on his arm throbbed again as the feeling of helplessness took its hold on Bryan’s heart. His chance of making it out of this night had gone just as quickly as it came. Regardless, he continued on. He had a reason to, knowing that someone else in this damned city was breathing.
After a long trek through the most foul smelling sewers Bryan had ever entered, sprinting down a street of plummeting bodies that nearly crushed him, a missed shot at a padlock three feet in front of him that almost made him cry, a pain so searing in his arm that did make him cry, four flights of stairs up the hospital, a botched elevator trip with a barfing infected and the same monster he saw chase Leon down, the maternity ward he was trying very hard to block out of his memory, and nearly falling to his death on the broken skybridge where he defeated the limb creature, Bryan was just about ready to give up.
He had crashed through the doors on the other side of the skybridge and collapsed against the nearest wall. His arm was burning worse than anything he had felt so far. With a whimper he couldn’t quite bite back, he pulled up his sleeve. A choked sob broke out when he saw his arm. His infection site was an ugly scene, the flesh that had been bitten was puffy and bruised with dark black veins trailing all the way up and down his arm. It was almost more veins than flesh at this point, and there were some splotches of raised bumps around the bite mark. They squished when he poked at them with his other hand and he let out a gag. He didn’t have time for a pity party, but there he was throwing one anyway. Bryan didn’t think he could work up the strength to lift himself back up anyways. He had really tried - he hoped Leon would know that.
As if just by thinking his name summoned him, Leon burst through the doors beside Bryan. He was out of breath, bloody and so very alive. Bryan couldn’t help but weep. A horrible, broken sound tore out of Bryan at the sight of the man that had given him hope. Leon was by his side in seconds.
“We need to get you out of here,” Leon’s voice carried so much urgency. He was staring right at Bryan’s uncovered arm. Cat’s out of the bag now. Leon’s arm reached behind and under Bryan’s shoulders, trying to pull his weight up and off the floor. Bryan pushed away from him weakly, he would only slow Leon down.
“I can’t- it’s too late for me,” Bryan babbled. He tried pushing the bag that had started all this into Leon’s hands, but it was shoved roughly back into his chest.
“No- It can’t be too late. I can’t let another person die in front of me tonight,” Leon pleaded, his voice plunged a knife right into Bryan’s heart and twisted it. He was so tired, but here Leon was giving him just an inkling of hope again. “Please, you’re so close. You can’t give up yet.”
Bryan didn’t fight against the arm heaving him up this time, letting himself ride off of Leon’s determination to save him. Maybe it was selfish, but Bryan thought he deserved a bit of selfishness if this would be the end for him. Leon pulled Bryan’s arm over his own shoulders and tried to take a step forward, but Bryan pitched forward and almost landed face first on the ground in front of them. Leon’s hold on him remained strong - he wouldn’t let him fall. With some careful maneuvering, Leon shuffled Bryan so he was entirely on his back, situated piggyback style, and he began to move.
To Leon’s credit, he only seemed to slightly struggle to carry Bryan’s weight up the stairs. It couldn't have been easy; Bryan knew he wasn’t light, and was practically dead weight at this point. Bryan wasn't what he would consider to be 'in shape', and the lord knew if he was climbing these stairs alone, it would've taken far too long to reach the lab. Despite everything though, Leon managed to get them to the top floor.
“Let us in!” Leon yelled into the intercom, gently sliding Bryan off his back and easing him onto his feet. Leon was mindful to keep most of Bryan’s weight leaning over his shoulders. This time, Bryan willed all the strength he had into keeping himself upright.
“Is the sample intact?” An unbothered sounding scientist asked through the speaker. Bryan almost rolled his eyes.
“It’s intact, now open the door.” Leon ordered, and Bryan thought it was the most authority he had heard in Leon’s tone all night.
The door in front of them slid open, and the scientist standing behind it flicked his eyes over Leon and Bryan.
“Hand the sample over, he’s not coming inside.” He demanded, holding his hand out expectantly.
“Like hell he’s not,” Leon mumbled under his breath. He shouldered past the scientist before they could even react, dragging Bryan along with him. His feet struggled to keep up with Leon’s pace, stumbling with every step.
“Hey- You can’t bring him in here! He’s infected,” The scientist chased after Leon, but they had no hope of stopping him. He stood stubbornly in the decontamination room, glaring daggers at the scientist. He seemed to realize if he wanted any chance to have the sample, he would just have to comply with Leon. He sighed and stepped into the room, keeping a healthy distance from Bryan as he slipped a pair of latex gloves on. The room sprayed the decontamination chemical on them, and the doors to the lab in front of them opened up.
“Sample, please?” The scientist asked through gritted teeth. Bryan fumbled with the strap for a moment, getting it over his head and handing the bag to him. The second it was in his hands he rushed into the lab, the others in the room swarmed around him. There was more conversation, but Bryan couldn’t focus on it anymore. The only sensation he could register was Leon dragging him into the room and settling him on a stool off to the side. His hand stayed firmly on Bryan’s back, as if he was nervous he would topple over at any moment. Bryan didn’t mind, he was worried about the exact same thing.
“What are they doing in here?” One of the scientists snipped from where they were rushing around the room.
“Hurry it up. We don’t have all day.” Leon snapped back at them. The scientist’s mouth snapped shut and they continued fretting around the room.
Bryan could feel himself slipping away slowly, and he was terrified. He had come so far, didn’t that mean something?
Cheering sounded out in front of him, and his head whipped up to see a bright green syringe being held by one of the people in lab coats. Leon left from beside him and crossed the room in quick strides.
“Give it to him already- He’s almost out of time,” Leon reached for the syringe, and the scientist flinched away from him.
“No way, man- You need to get him out of here! This is for the national guard, we need to mass produce this vial,” The scientist backed away rapidly from Leon as they spoke, inching closer to the floor-to-ceiling window behind them.
“He needs it now, he crossed his entire city to get it to you!” Leon argued. He was faster than the scientist, and they grappled for the syringe for an excruciating moment. Bryan felt his heart in his throat as he watched. Without realizing it, he had stood up out of the chair and began shuffling towards them. He had to help Leon.
Leon managed to wrench the syringe out of their hands, but the moment he did he was pushed back. He lost his footing, and his back crashed into the window behind him. Leon tipped backwards out of the now broken window, and time seemed to slow down.
There was a gasp and a scream from somewhere beside Bryan. Half of his body felt numb, and his heart was still beating in his ears. Absently, Bryan recognized the tendril of flesh that shot out and launched him out the window was connected to him. That should’ve set off alarm bells in his mind, it should’ve terrified him, but nothing scared him more in that moment than what was about to happen to Leon. The only thought he could seem to understand was that he had to save him.
Wind whipping against his face, Bryan was sent tumbling down through the air after Leon. There was screaming. He couldn’t tell if it came from him, or Leon, or from both of them. Leon was flailing wildly through the air, the syringe somehow still gripped tightly in his fist. Their eyes connected and Leon’s flailing stopped. His mouth moved as if he shouted something, but the wind drowned out the sound. Bryan reached out desperately towards Leon, the space between them closing rapidly. Leon looked terrified, but he reached back to him. Bryan couldn’t tell if the fear came from the fall or the sight of him. Their bodies collided, spinning them so much that Bryan wasn’t sure which direction they were falling anymore. Leon’s arm wrapped around his shoulders, so tight it almost hindered his breathing. The tendrils suddenly shot out from Bryan’s arm again, a terrible sound of tearing flesh accompanied it. The pain only registered after he realized what was happening. It was unbearable, like every muscle in his arm was being torn continuously. They pulled him hard towards the nearest roof. Bryan wrapped his still-human arm around Leon’s back and braced for impact.
They landed in a heap on top of each other. Every part of Bryan’s body screamed in agony, but mostly his back. Leon had landed on top of him, which Bryan wasn’t sure he would’ve survived if he wasn’t in the process of mutating. Small victories.
Leon stabbed the needle hard into Bryan’s mutated arm and pushed the plunger down. He watched as the green substance disappeared into Bryan’s flesh and prayed it would work. Prayed he wasn’t too late.
They stared at each other’s faces breathlessly. Bryan let out a disbelieving laugh.
He then promptly began screaming bloody murder.
Leon jumped off of him as he writhed on the roof. Half of his body felt like it was just lit on fire. He could literally feel his skin bubbling as the antidote began its work. It was pure agony, and he was convinced he was dying. If his mind wasn’t so occupied by the pain, he might’ve laughed at the irony of being killed by what was supposed to cure him. All he could do was try to breathe through the sensation.
Finally, after what felt like hours, but in reality was only a few minutes, the burning subsided. Bryan could feel something other than the pain, and realized that Leon had hauled him up to a sitting position and was lightly rubbing his back. His face was screwed tight with worry. Bryan met his eyes with a bewildered look.
“Did it work?” He asked, his voice sounded hoarse and out of breath even to his own ears.
“I,” Leon cut himself off before he answered. His eyes trailed over Bryan’s body again, and his expression didn’t loosen at all. “I don’t know. How do you feel?”
“Uh… My skin doesn’t feel like it's burning anymore.” Bryan said. He certainly felt like the antidote had done something to him. He was too exhausted to tell what exactly it was, though, so much that his eyelids felt heavy and wouldn’t allow him to look himself over. He couldn’t even stop slumping against Leon. “Does it not look like it worked?”
“The mutations didn’t go away entirely. They aren’t getting worse though,” Leon sounded unsure.
“Oh.”
“But you feel okay?” Leon stressed.
“Just peachy.” Bryan nodded weakly, his head still leaning heavily against Leon. He tried to ignore how frail the lie sounded, he knew Leon noticed it too if the nervous shifting was anything to go by. Bryan let his eyes flutter shut for a moment, all the energy felt like it had been sapped right out of him.
“Hey, hey, don’t fall asleep yet,” Leon shook Bryan gently by his shoulders. Bryan let out a petulant noise, like a child being denied a candy. He couldn’t find it in himself to be embarrassed.
“M’ okay. Just tired,” Bryan sighed out, hoping that would quell Leon’s worry. He looked up at Leon’s face lazily, and he could see a thin sheen of unshed tears in his eyes. Leon searched Bryan’s face for a long moment, as if he would disappear if he looked away. Bryan couldn’t tell what he was looking for, but he must’ve found it since Leon’s face finally relaxed. His shoulders dropped and he tackled Bryan in a hug. If he wasn’t already sitting, Bryan would’ve fallen over.
“Thank god,” Bryan pretended not to hear the watery tone in Leon’s voice.
“You saved me,” Bryan hugged Leon tighter, reality finally setting in.
“And you saved me,” Leon let out a wet laugh. After spending the entire night fighting to save everyone he could with failure after failure, here Bryan was. Beaten and battered, and so very alive. Leon had done all he could to help him, and Bryan had returned it by saving his life. Leon believed he had failed Bryan too when he fell, the syringe still clutched in his hand, but then, the crazy man dove right after him. Now, living, breathing proof that Leon had saved someone was sitting in his arms. He hadn’t failed. The realization brought sobs that wracked Leon’s whole body. Bryan’s arms tightened around his back.
“I got you.” Bryan whispered softly. It was the only thing he had felt confident about the entire night.
“We’re gonna be okay.” Leon wept. It was the shakiest Bryan had heard his voice the whole time he had known him, yet felt that same hope Leon gave him burning bright in his chest. It wouldn’t be going away anytime soon.
