ꜰᴇᴀʀꜱ (ᴸᵉᵒⁿ ᴷᵉⁿⁿᵉᵈʸ ˣ ᴿᵉᵃᵈᵉʳ)

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 22

Nikola looked around, trying to orient herself in the police station. "The other half of David should be around here," she whispered more to herself than to Leon. He only grimaced in disgust.

They walked along the long corridor after searching a room near the stairs, and there he was, indeed. With him were a few zombies, but Nikola took care of them with her Desert Eagle. "Hey, looks like you're getting the hang of this after all," Leon remarked approvingly, and she just looked at him annoyed. "Shut it, or next time I'll let them feast on you," she snapped. "Oh no, if I'm not protected by you, I'm doomed!" Leon exclaimed dramatically in a sarcastic tone. "Ugh," Nikola hissed and continued on her way.

Not much had changed, but there was one thing that frightened Nikola. She couldn't stop thinking about Marvin.
Did he already turn?
They took a shortcut through the east office and finally squeezed through the shutter under which Nikola had almost died a few hours ago. Soft growls already filled the room. "Marvin," Leon finally voiced what had been swirling in her mind the whole time. "I got it," Nikola began, edging past Leon, but he held her arm firmly. She looked at him. "It's okay.", he said; his voice calming. She trusted him and stepped back again.

She said nothing because she knew he was right. She wouldn't be able to do it; he had saved her life. Even though she always thought mean things about him, she was just an asshole in theory, not in practice. She watched Leon move up the elevation, and barely five seconds had passed before shots rang out. At the first one, Nikola flinched, but then she held her ground, the sound of dead flesh hitting the ground. Then Leon's footsteps echoed again. "Let's search the Clocktower; I haven't been there yet," she immediately suggested, to prevent Leon from mentioning Marvin.
He seemed surprised but agreed.

They climbed the stairs of the library, and memories of past... complications flooded back to Nikola. "Quite nostalgic here," Leon commented after a while, letting his hand slide along the railing as they walked. "I haven't tried that door," Nikola said, pointing to a door. "Why not? You can just—" Leon began, already heading towards the door. "NO," Nikola screamed and grabbed Leon. In the same second, the floor collapsed beneath him. Just in time, she pulled Leon back by the collar, and both landed unceremoniously on safe wooden planks. "You idiot!" she exclaimed and lightly slapped Leon's shoulder. Leon just stared at her in shock. "How about waiting?" she scolded and got up. Leon also slowly got up, dusting off his clothes. "You'd be dead if it weren't for me," she hissed and walked ahead in the other direction. "I'm sorry," Leon muttered. Nikola sighted."It's okay; help me here instead."

"We can't go this way.. as you've seen so we have to go over there", she said and pointed to the bookshelves. "So you wanna jump over there?", Leon asked and smiled. "No I wanna fly you know", she replied sarcastically and looked at him with a light smile. "I hate you sometimes"
"No you don't", Leon said softly and looked at her. "No I don't"

⋆｡°✩

She looked down the gap between the bookshelves. "We have to cross over there; I've moved the bookshelves around as much as I could, but that's all. I don't know how to get rid of that jack thing; the handle's missing," she explained. Leon also cast a scrutinizing glance into the abyss. "Quite a jump; you think you can make it?" he asked amusedly. "Haha, very original; I'm hearing the joke about my height for the very first time," she said ironically, threateningly waving her hand again. "Alright, alright," he said, stepping back again.