|| Burn Marks ||

An Old Friend

After running, jumping, shooting and protecting Ashley from the villagers you had made it all the way back to where you first started to look for Ashley, and still at this point, you were running, jumping and shooting.
"Leon! I'm getting pretty damn low on ammo!" You yelled back as you had made it to the farm shooting at the villagers. Leon didn't say anything as he was busy shooting. You made it to the bridge at the gate and made your way with Ashley across. "Leon, let's go!" You yelled as he soon followed behind. There crossing the bridge, you had a moment to breathe until a familiar face appeared in front of you. You smiled seeing him. "Hey! Over here." He yelled, and you looked behind as villagers were coming from behind you and from the other trail. You quickly rushed in, making sure Ashley was first in, and Leon was closing the gate behind you guys. "Come on!" You quickly grabbed Ashley, pulling her into the small house, Leon not far behind. The familiar man with his shaggy, brown, ear length hair shut the door behind you both. "Luis!" You smiled, and instantly, you hugged him. "Good to see you (Y/n)." He smiled, hugging you back. "It has been a long time." You sighed. He nodded. "Very!" The moment was broken when Leon pushed passed making Luis back up. "You!" He stated. "Hey... Listen, about earlier, I-" Luis started, but Leon didn't give him a chance to talk. "Yeah, about that." Leon pushed his fist up against Luis's chest, keeping him against the wall. "Hey, i see you found your 'Missing Señorita,' Who looks like to be the person my lovely princesa was looking for." He stated. You looked at him. "Hey, I'm not your Princesa anymore." You spoke, pointing a finger at him. Leon looked to you. "Princesa?" He questioned. "Princess." You shrug. "Yeah, i know what Princesa means. Why is he calling you that?" You could hear the tint of protectiveness in his voice. Or maybe it was jealousy. " After Raccoon city, when you started working for my father. He was... Science guy." You sighed, looking down. "He was the lab guy you were dating?" Leon asks, raising an eyebrow at you, which you nodded. "More reason to break his face then." He stated. "Woah woah woah." Luis put his hands up. "Not in front of your señorita." He tried to negotiate. "The 'señorita' has a name, and it's Ashley." Ashley stepped up into the conversation. "Names Luis... Encantado." He replies. "Great, we all have names." Leon states before pushing Luis up against the wall more. "What are you doing here?" He asks, which now also piqued your interest. What was Luis doing here. "A very good question, unfortunately..." Luis's voice trailed off, and your attention is brought to the window. The villagers walked through the large doors that were closed to keep them out. They just continued to pour in, holding torches. "Hide! Now!" Leon stated and looked to Ashley. She looked to you, and you gave her a reassuring nod. "Well, in that case, here. Help me." Luis spoke, waving his hand at you. He moved to a cabinet and stood at the end. You went to the other end and helped Luis lift it up. "Ash, here." You grunted. She walked over to you with a concerned look. "It's okay. Go." You nodded for her to go into the hole in the wall. She crawled in, and you and Luis let the cabinet down. Now she was safe. You sighed in relief. You and Luis moved to the side of the window, Leon across from you on the other side. The villagers walked around, headed straight for the building you four were in. "Okay, it's game time." Luis smirked, a gun in his hand. You pulled out your hand gun, loading it. You took a deep breath, preparing yourself for the brutal fight ahead. You walked over to the table in the middle of the room, grabbing some supplies as Leon started to board up the windows. "Hoards of them, against three of us. Oh, and let's not forget - this mob is made of monsters." Luis spoke. "Thank you, Luis, very encouraging." You spat sarcastically. "You done warming up? Hope you stretched." He continued talking. Leon turned to face him. "Yeah. Now, if you'd shut up, we'd be good to go." He spat back in a more of a venomous tone. Luis shakes his head. "Lighten up, Cowboy."

Then, after that was history. Villagers swarmed the house. Breaking in through windows. Bullets were going off, and explosions were happening. "Hey Luis!" You spoke after blowing off a villagers' head with a shotgun. "Yes?"  He asked. "Remember what i taught you?" You asked shooting a villager that almost attacked him from behind."Yes, i do. What you want to do it now." He asked, confused. "Luis, 0the combat move!" You yelled as you shook your head. "Please." You stated trying to move on. Luis nodded, and you moved a few feet away from each other. Just as Leon was cornered by two villagers. You quickly moved and ran towards Luis. He grabbed both of your arms, and you jumped as he quickly pulled, flinging you in the direction of the villagers. You easily kicked the first one before punching the second. You easily landed and then quickly shot the two villagers. "You okay?" You asked genuinely, looking to Leon. "Yeah... Thanks." He spoke softly. You nodded and made your way back to fighting the villagers.

"Y/N! This way!" Ashley's voice was heard from the other side of the cabin as a door burst open. You looked over to her before quickly making your way to the door. "Leon! Luis!" You yelled, making your way out the door after Ashley. The four of you quickly ran over wood panels before Leon turned around, seeing a villager following after them. He looked around, scanning the area before seeing a chain to a door being held up. He shot the chain, and it dropped and blocked the villagers from the four of you. You made your way over to Ashley and placed your hands on her shoulders. "Are you okay?" You asked scanning her for wounds. "I'm fine." She spoke to you as you sighed in relief, not seeing any blood. Luis was leaning against a wall, panting hard from the running. Finally, you guys were able to take a second and breathe. Suddenly, Ashley started coughing hard. She put her hand to her mouth. You looked at her concern. "Ash?' You asked, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. You looked to her hand, seeing it stained in blood. "What is happening to me?" She asked, worried. Your eyes widened before looking to Ashley and then to Luis. Luis stepped towards her. "Ashley, is this the first time you've coughed up blood like this?" He asked, holding her hand, before looking up at her. Ashley nodded shyly before looking at Leon and then you. "You wanna start explaining? Before Y/n, here rips you in two." Leon spoke, seeing you glaring daggers at Luis. You were mad that your baby sister was infected with some mysterious virus. Luis started taking steps back slowly. "The cough, the blood-it's caused by something called a 'plaga'." He stated, looking at you. Ashley looked to Leon and her sister with worried eyes. You looked at him, wanting more of an explanation. "Ok, you saw those "people," right? Well, you have the same thing inside you. The same thing that made them like that." he explains all while walking to the door and pointing before looking back at you three. "This, what you're experiencing, these symptoms. They're only the beginning." Luis states now, walking away from the door. Ashley looks at you. " I don't want to become like them." You shake your head and look at her, trying to give her reassurance without saying anything. "You are, well, lucky. You see, at this early stage, the parasite. The plaga. It is possible to remove it with a surgical procedure. All you need is some know-how, and, oh yeah-the right equipment. " He states before unbuttoning his shirt as showing you the scar on his chest. "Wait, you too?" Leon asks, taking a step back. "No worries. See, I have a plan. But you're going to have to trust me." He speaks, taking steps back away from you three. Leon looks to you. You look at Ashley and then back to Leon before nodding. Leon turns to Luis and nods. "Great! We're partners then!" He says.
"Hey, why are you -" Leon starts but is cut off. "No time for questions. The clock is ticking!" Luis speaks, walking away from you. "Why are you helping us?" Leon asks, keeping his eyes trained on him. Luis turns around, facing you three. His gaze lands on you before looking to Leon and turning back around. "Because it makes me feel better, let's leave it at that." He continues walking away. "I will contact you later." And just like that, Luis is gone and out of sight.

Leon walks ahead of you and Ashley as he talks to Roost. You look down at Ashley. "You're gonna be okay." You try to reassure her. "What's gonna happen to me?" She asks, worried. "Right now, let's just focus on getting out of here, alright?" You say, looking at her, and she nods.

The three of you continue down the path and soon run into the merchant. You stay outside while Leon grabs a couple of things before walking out. It was slightly raining out, and your skin was cold, but you didn't care. All you cared about was getting your sister home safe. Leon walks out before looking at you. "You alright?" He asks. You nod. " Yeah, I just wanna get her home safe." You state to him. He nods. "Dont worry, we will. " He tries to reassure you. For the first time in a while, you felt like you and Leon were back how it used to be. You felt every single emotion that you had for him rushed through you. Flashbacks of memories of you two blurred through your mind. You look down at your feet.

You three continue down the path, opening a big wooden gate before hearing voices. "We got company." Leons states. "Okay, Ashley, keep moving, stay behind me, but do it quietly. Got it?" You say to her. "Ok, i'll... i'll try." She states, and you nod your head. You and Leon move forward. Leon takes out the first guy quietly before seeing more ahead. "Okay, plan, you take out the ones up top on the planks, take Ashley with you, I'll stay down here and take out the ones on the ground." You whisper to him. "Ok." He says, backing away as you move your way forward quietly. You hear a gunshot go off as Leon shoots one of the guys up top. You sneak behind a guy, quickly breaking his neck and stabbing him in the skull before lying him down on the ground, slowly moving up the path. You hear another gunshot as Leon takes out the second guy up on the planks. You make your way to the last guy quickly, killing him with your knife before gently lying him down. You turn around seeing Leon and Ashley make their way across the planks before jumping down to you and the wooded gates.