•Lighter Than Air•

•Chapter 10•

Leon and Claire had been getting ready for their day. They had decided they were going to head to town in the early morning to question some of the people who owned or worked in the shops Rebecca had been previously spotted in. They would go early and scope out the area in case she would show up for another store run. Luckily for them. They would find exactly what they were looking for when they chose this.

"Alright, are you ready?" Claire asked, pulling her bag over her shoulder as she headed towards the door.

"Yep, just gotta grab.." Leon grabbed a few papers and put them in her bag. "Alright, now I'm ready. Let's go." He said.

Claire smiled and rolled her eyes, heading out as they got in the rental car they were provided with for this mission. Considering the area being so desolate and spread out, this was something they needed to get around in. Claire got in the driver's seat, because they both know she would rather be the one with her hands on the wheel. She still hadn't fully trusted him after their crash in Raccoon City... even if it was six years ago. Leon found that bit laughable however. 

"Do you have the map? Let me know where I'm going, co-pilot." Claire told him, switching on the ignition and pulling out of the driveway.

Leon chuckled lightly at her words. This was a common thing for them. Co-pilot was an important job when it came to their car rides.. considering this gave Leon the role of the navigator and music player. He took out the map he had stuffed into their bag, unraveling it and checking it over. It was quite a long time till they got to town. It almost reminded him of home. Considering they too lived far away from the nearest town back in QuarryBend.

"Alright, we've got about an hour till we get to town." Leon said. "Mostly a straight shot till we get to the exit of the highway."

"Got you." Claire said, glancing around at each one of her mirrors before fixating on the road ahead. "Not a ton of people up north, huh? Did everyone flee to the south after Raccoon City?" Claire questioned.

"I'd guess not a lot of people would stay within the vicinity of the midwest after something like that." He told her.

"Well, yeah.. no duh.." she glanced at him briefly. "Maybe that's why Rebecca and Billy came here. They thought there would be too few people to recognize them." She pointed out.

"You might be right." He told her. "Issue is, word can still spread. The fewer people there are, the quicker it'll spread among the people. Soon enough, they'll be getting side eyes everywhere they go in that town." He said. "Would have been easier to blend into a big city crowd. But a higher probability of running into people who have heard of them."

"Isn't that something? Either way it seems they would be screwed." Claire kept one hand on the wheel, resting her hand against her cheek. "It seems like they really just made a bigger problem for themselves. Or at least, Billy made a bigger problem. Maybe he hasn't been thinking straight since the war."

"You'd be surprised at the lengths PTSD can take people. Considering he was killing people for the country." He said. "Probably messed him up in the head. But, it's gone too far now that he's brought an innocent girl into it." He grumbled. "Sickens me."

"Lord knows what she's going through right now... do you think we'll find her?" Claire asked.

"We won't stop until we do, Claire. I swear to you on that." He put his hand up as if to signify a promise.

She glanced at him momentarily, then she raised her hand as well. Leon took the opportunity to take her hand in his, pulling it closer to him while he pressed a kiss to her knuckles. Only then did he let go, letting her set both hands back on the wheel. She laughed a bit, shaking her head at the cheesy yet loving motion. She rolled her eyes as though she thought it was corny, but the smile on her face said otherwise. Leon knew that sort of thing from Claire very well.