The 0714 Files: File #1 Inferno (Remake 2)

Chapter 26

There's no light beyond what little the elevator shaft provides and Leon has to use his flashlight again to even see where the elevator has taken us. I regret leaving mine on the main desk and wish the path hadn't shut behind us so I could grab it.

He'd ignored what I'd said a moment ago about Raccoon, implying the corruption going on in it. It doesn't bother me though, I suppose if I had never been through that mansion, I'd be right there with him.

Leon shines the light around, showing the area ahead is made entirely of concrete. A staircase leads downward, straight into an abyss of blackness. "Stay behind me," Leon orders and steps out while I absentmindedly glare into his back. Until I remember Marvin's words and the fact I'm injured, that he's not treating me like I'm weak, but instead like...

I'm injured, weak, whatever you call it. He's looking out for me so I don't do something stupid like even Marvin's said I have done before.

It hurts to think of him right now, the acknowledgement of his death so fresh. I do so anyways, and immediately in the middle of my chest is a pang. If only I could prevent his death... Make it so I'm the one who will die, because out of anyone who deserves to suffer that way— It's Umbrella who should suffer, not me. Not anyone else, but them. I didn't shoot myself because of that reason: remember it.

I spot the metal railing and rusted bars with a walkway in the middle, it adds to the unnerving feel of the new location. This place is... creepy. Beyond that. It's admittedly downright terrifying. I've never been here before and something screams at me that this place is more than just a hidden area for Iron's when he needed to relax.

It's soundless besides our footsteps as we make our way down the stairs. Neither of us speak and I think it's more out of tension than anything else. Wanting to be able to hear something and because we're too busy looking around. Discovering a part of the R.P.D. hidden well out of sight until tonight.

We pass some turned-over construction cones as we descend to the next flight of stairs. A gate sits open in front of us beside an emergency fire hose, the red light sitting above the container's door is still going. "She might have gone through here," Leon mutters, what sounds like mostly to himself, but the words echo loud and clear through the stairwell. He stops off the bottom step to a small landing and focuses his gun out in front of him as he slowly steps out in front of the door. Lowering the gun and switching off the light, "Let's check through here," he looks up at me, a glow on his face that says there's light in the corridor.

Descending the last few stairs, he continues through the door with me only a step behind. The clunking of machinery and the heat it gives off are heavy in the air. The warmth is a welcome change compared to the freezing cold everywhere else we've been so far. Pipes and metal grating of the walkway make up the majority of the room, and as we round a corner—

Something metallic clatters against the lattice above us. Accompanied by a growl that's human, but cuts off abruptly into... Something that definitely isn't human.

"What the hell is that?" Leon asks, and instantly we're both on edge. Our guns are out as we stare upwards.

"I... I don't know," I admit to him, and our eyes find each other's with shared looks of worry.

He scans the doorway into the darkness behind us, "Maybe we should find another way?" he suggests then. The fake bravado heard, but even if he let on that he's scared. I wouldn't blame him. "Whatever it was sounded pretty big."

I purse my lips, yeah, it definitely did, but... "I don't think there's another way out of here," I level with him. Begrudgingly advocating for us to keep moving forward in the new area despite the growls we just heard.