The horrible truth, and beyond

Going back to the street level felt unreal to him. Abandoned cars were everywhere and luckily there was no vampire to be seen in the area. Ada was listening to the recording while Leon was guarding around her. To be honest, he hasn’t thought much about what he was going to do after escaping the police station, so sticking with an FBI agent seemed to be a reasonable move. Ada, after finishing the tape, was not as satisfied as he thought.

“Is that the intel you needed?” He tried to start a conversation.

“Unfortunately, no. Ben didn’t come through.” Ada actually replied quite nicely this time. But Leon could also hear the tiredness in her voice. How long has she been working on this case?

“Well, what exactly are you looking for?” He was eager to help.

“More info on the people responsible for this mess.” She walked not as fast as usual, and she was gasping, like every step was taking away most of her strength, “What about you? Trying to save the world?”

“I told Lieutenant Branagh I’d bring help.” He answered with resolve, even knowing that Marvin was most likely gone.

“Good luck getting that...” She sighed.

Ada was breathing heavily all the way like she was too exhausted to walk. He almost thought she was going to pass out. Gladly she didn’t. She definitely knew where she was going, however, the road before them was under repair.

“Road’s out.” She said, “Going through that gun shop looks like the only way.”

Leon looked up and saw the neon lamps stating “Gun Shop Kendo”, along with a same trade mark as those on the silver bullet boxes. According from the letter he found in the station, the shopkeeper was a friend to a S.T.A.R.S. member, Barry Burton. He may know something about this incident. With the hope of finding out the truth, he cautiously walked into the shop with Ada.

The shop was totally a mess, as almost nothing useful was left in it. He wouldn’t say it had been robbed, but clearly many people had come to this place to take what they needed. Strangely, he also noticed that Ada stopped gasping and was more energetic once she came indoor. I’m being paranoid, he kept telling himself.

Just when Leon was going ahead to check out the back door, a man in yellow gingham clothes with a shotgun came out of the shadow and pointed it at him.

“Don’t move.” The man said quietly.

“I’m not going to hurt you.” Leon replied calmly.

“I said DON’T MOVE!” The shopkeeper, Robert Kendo, shouted.

“I’m just passing through. I’m going to ask you to lower that weapon.” He tried to calm the man with patience.

“Like hell you are!” Kendo seemed to disbelieve him, “You’re going to turn around, and go right back out the way you came in.”

While being threatened by Kendo, Leon noticed that a little girl was walking out the door behind them. Though her hair was long enough to cover her neck, there were blood on her collar and sleeves, and he could definitely hear the low growling from her throat.

“I think your daughter needs help, sir.” And he was trying to help.

“Don’t tell me how to deal with my daughter.” Provoked, Kendo pointed the shotgun at Leon’s head.

“Drop it!” Ada silently came up and aimed at him with her gun. While Kendo was distracted by her, Leon swiftly pulled out his gun, forming a 2 on 1 situation. However, the moment Ada noticed the little in the background, she aimed at her instead.

“No! Wait!” Frightened, Kendo stood between Ada and his daughter.

“Step aside. We need to terminate her before she turns.” Terrible words came out in such a calming voice.

“’Terminate’? That’s my fucking daughter!” Kendo replied in frustration. His daughter was standing behind him and blanking staring at them this whole time, without movements.

“Ada...Just let them be.” Leon was the first to lower his gun, and compassionately asked Ada to follow. She looked at the man beside her and, after a few seconds of pausing, complied.

“Emma, sweetheart, I told you to stay put...” Kendo was still pointing the shotgun at them, while gently talking to his daughter.

“Daddy...?” Emma, with her remaining consciousness and strength, struggled to spill out one word.

“Yeah, Emmie. Daddy’s here. I’m here, OK?” Kendo completely broke down and turned around to hug her, “Those fucking things outside...Look what they did to us. You’re a cop. You’re supposed to know something. How did this happen!? HUH!?”

Leon, though also heart broken, got no answer to this question. He looked at Ada, hoping to get an answer from her, however, she remained silent.

“She was out sweet little angel...”

“Mommy...?” Emma whispered.

“Mommy’s sleeping, honey, OK?” Kendo cried quietly, “And I’m gonna put you to bed too, OK? Emma?”

The little girl was not responding to him anymore. Kendo hopelessly cried for a few seconds, then held her up and walked back into the room.

“Just go...Just give us some privacy.” Kendo said in despair before shutting the door.

“You know, it’s one thing to keep the truth from me! But why him?” Leon yelled angrily at Ada. Seconds later, he heard the shotgun loaded and fired, which gave another painful strike to his heart, “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 ****!”

Thinking twice, Ada slowly stepped into the rain and looked at him.

“My mission is to take down Umbrella’s entire operation.” She shook her head, “We may not make it out.”

“Whatever it takes to save this city...count me in.” Leon replied firmly.

A brief moment later, she nodded. They both looked at the closed door one more time before leaving through the back door.

“Heard of the Umbrella Corporation? They’re a pharmaceutical company secretly making bioweapons.” On their way to the sewer, Ada started to explain, “They have a virus, which turns people into bloodthirsty vampires, and some other monsters.”

“That explains the horrible things I’ve seen...” Leon was reminded of the tentacle monster, the lickers, the man with a mutated arm that had an giant eye on the shoulder, and of course, Mr.X. If those monsters came out of the city, humanity would face a grave danger.

“And that’s why I’m looking for Annette Birkin.” Ada mentioned the name in the tape, while approaching one of the entrances of the sewer system, “She’s the one at Umbrella responsible for unleashing the virus. I’m going to bring her down. This is how we get to Annette.”

“Based on what you’ve said, the sewer seems fitting.”

“Well said.”

“Can’t imagine a real scientist being down here...” Leon stepped in first.

“According to HQ...this leads right into Umbrella’s secret facility.” Ada slowly followed from behind.

“Come on. Sewers are run by the city.” Leon was confused, “How could they have a facility...without the authorities knowing?”

“Welcome to corporate America.” Ada slightly laughed at his innocence, “Umbrella’s controlled Raccoon City for years.”

The deeper they ventured into the sewer system, the more frequently they could hear horrific screams from unknown entities. To be honest, Leon was a little scared at first. He just escaped from a hell and wasn’t prepared to jump into another. However, thinking of the people that lost to the virus, he strengthened his mind and determined to see to the end.

During the investigation, they even encountered a mutated, giant alligator, which could shake to ground by just moving. Luckily, it didn’t notice them and dived deeper into the system. At the end of the tunnel they found a elevator that could lead them down. This was also a short moment where Leon could ease up.

“So let me get this straight: Umbrella sells monsters like that to who? Our military? Somebody else’s?” He asked.

“They don’t sell the monsters, they sell the viruses that make them. And Annette is who makes the viruses.” Ada smiled, “Scary as that alligator was...Annette is far more dangerous.”

Leon was still trembling at the thoughts about the bioweapons, when the elevator stopped. They found themselves in a large underground system where, covered up as the sewer system, used by Umbrella to test the experiment subjects. The moment they entered the next door, they saw a mid-age blonde in white lab coat in a corridor, examining a corpse on the ground, which had a burst wound on the chest.

“Definitely William’s handiwork...” The lady murmured.

“Identify yourself!” Leon immediately pointed his gun at her.

“Annette Birkin.” Ada came in the corridor and aimed at her too.

“She’s who we’re looking for?”

“Not much time...Need to dispose of it...” The lady, Annette, didn’t seem to show interest in the two of them.

“We’re here for the G-Virus!” Ada kept approaching.

“Huh!” Annette sneered at her, “That’s not going to happen.”

“I’m warning you, doctor!” Ada did not hold back.

“Oh yeah?” Annette threw a lighter at the corpse to cremate it and, using the flames as a cover, ran away.

“STOP!” Ada desperately chased ahead.

“Hey!” Leon also followed.

At the next corner, Annette turned around and rapidly fired at Ada. She had nowhere to hide and was about to get shot, however, Leon jumped on her and took the shot on his shoulder. With no time to care the wounded police, Ada stood up with her sunglasses off and fired back at Annette. But Annette has already hidden behind the heavy door and was closing it.

“You’ll never get the G-Virus!” Annette taunted her before disappearing.

“Didn’t expect that from a scientist.” Ada said irritably. Hearing the painful groan from the cop that protected her, she knelt down to check on him, “Leon...”

When she saw his wound and smelled his blood, she froze.

“Forget about me...Just-”

Leon looked at Ada and, in panic, saw her deep, black eyes gradually turning red. Her lips were shaking. She struggled to keep them shut but eventually failed. And with her lips apart, he could see a pair of fangs growing from where her upper canines used to be. Hunger, was the only thing he could read on her face.

Due to the shock from both the gunshot wound and the horrific scene, Leon was losing his consciousness. The last thing he saw before he passed out, was Ada slowly approaching him.