Whatever it takes (Claire x Leon)

Chapter 5 - Pep Talk

Looking ahead to where the scream came from, the three of them started running towards the gruesome noise. "What the hell was that?!" Asked Claire a little out of breath while running. "I'm not sure." Said Leon, also desperate for air. "But now we know there's more than three of us here."

Claire saw fear in Leon's eyes. The concern for this mysterious person in pain is the same as it was for Claire all this time. Fear for the people around him. Sometimes Claire wished he wasn't so sweet. She wanted to be the protective, caring one, and she hoped that she could be just that. But sometimes Leon was all that and more.

Heading towards the larger building Claire first arrived at, the group ran for their lives, hoping to reach the person who cried out in pain. On the way, Claire scanned the area, noticing large hooks scattered across the plain. "What the-" She thought to herself, but her thinking was quickly interrupted by another scream.

Reaching the large house finally, the three saw a crawling person right before their eyes, bleeding out on the floor of the large barn house. She cried out quietly, while her arms reached out above her head. She looked like she was in an immeasurable amount of pain.

She wore a yellow jacket, but this jacket was now covered in a large amount of blood, along with cozy looking sweatpants. Her hair had tight curls in a fairly short cut, with red dye starting in the middle of it, and traveling all the way down.

Both Meg and Leon looked down at the girl in complete horror. Meg cupped her hands over her mouth. She looked like she was going to puke at the sight of the girl bleeding out before her eyes.

Claire huffed, and walked over to the girl. She bent down to her level, and started to move her hands, nursing the girl back to her feet. Claire wasn't a medic by any means, but she certainly was learning how.

Leon and Meg weren't much help standing there, so they joined in, healing this girl along with Claire. The girl was finally back on her feet, the group taking it one step further to heal all her wounds after standing up.

"Thank you." She said to all of them. Her voice was shaky, and she sounded out of breath just like the three of them. "No problem at all. Are you still hurt anywhere?" Asked Claire, examining her all over. "No. You patched me up just fine." The girl responded.

"I'm Claudette." She said, "I cannot thank you enough for helping me up." "What happened exactly? Why were you hurt on the ground like that?" Asked Leon. "Well" She started, "He hit me. Once, and then I got injured. The second time I was knocked down." Claudette looked down in terror, most likely from recalling the events that lead up to her injuries.

"Woah, woah, woah. Who's he?" Asked an alarmed Meg. "The killer." Claudette said, lowering her voice slightly. "He hits you once before going down. Then, once you're injured and not able to do anything, he picks you up, and hooks you onto the hook things."

"This doesn't make any sense." Said an angry and confused Meg. "What the hell does that even mean. I feel like I'm getting punked right now. I might die here. This is great. Seriously great." She said with a mix of anger and sarcasm.

"Look, you're gonna be fine." Said a calm Claudette. "We can always stick together and heal each other back like we did just now. We can do this." While the two went back and forth between exchanges, Claire walked towards the front of the barn, looking out a window she saw. She bit her finger, and looked out.

Leon stood there, frozen. He looked at a fearful Claire, but listened to the sounds of two bickering people before him. He walked over to Claire after a while, knowing it was best to check in on her. "You okay?" He asked in a low, sweet voice.

"No!" She cried out. "I'm scared. Did you see her injuries?! What if that ends up happening to me? To you? I just don't understand. What if... What if we die here, Leon?" Claire asked, looking up at Leon. Anxiety was displayed on her face, but she tried her best to tame her panic. But it was too late.

Claire started to cry, and sniffle. Very loudly. She raised her hands to eye level. "I don't wanna die, Leon! I-" Leon grabbed Claire's wrists, and tilted his head down to look at hers. "You're not going to die, because I'm not letting anyone kill you. Not Zombies, and certainly not any crazy killers."

Claire sniffled and cried loudly still. There was nothing in the world Leon wanted most right now than to protect Claire. The fear he saw in her bright blue eyes... It was enough to push him to go out of his way to keep her safe.

He had wanted to keep her in his arms like he had back at the exit gate. She felt safe in his arms, and he felt good keeping her there too. She was too sweet and thoughtful for anything to get to her, never mind her dying.

They only knew each other for one night. So why was Leon so fixed on her and defending her from these things? Why did she matter so much to him? And did she think the same about him?

Leon snapped out of asking all those questions, and moved Claire's arms out of the way, exposing her face. "Leon...?" Claire said, alarmed. "Did you hear that?" Her eyes grew wide with fright. "Hear what?" Asked Leon, not hearing anything at first. But then it hit him. Heartbeat.