RADICALISATION, leon kennedy [1]

iv. treasure isn't just physical

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𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑒: 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑛 𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦

𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑟: 𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑝ℎ𝑦𝑠𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙

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Raccoon City — September 29th, 1998

          Mason's eye twitches as he looks up at the stone lion statue standing upon the second floor of the precinct, a giant crested shield beneath one of its paws. At its base sits a box with engraved dials, each a different symbol. "What does Elliot's book say about this ugly ass statue? It looks like some weird ass puzzle."

     Leon flips open the notebook to crudely drawn imitations of the three statues located within the precinct, and Mason peeks over his shoulder. Below the attempt of a lion drawing there is... "Lion, branch, and bird."

     "A lion, a branch, and a bird... Right." Mason spins the dials until the symbols match what is scrawled in the notebook, jerking back when the box pops open and a lion medallion is revealed. "Shit... Maybe Elliot wasn't as nuts as I thought."

     Leon huffs in amusement, flicking back to the map of the precinct's ground floor. "We should be able to get into the west area if we disengage the shutters between here and the reception area."

     "We're not in a video game, rookie, but I like your thinking. Let's go!"

     They're quick to barricade the windows along the west hallways with a random stack of wooden boards they find, successfully keeping out the infected hissing and snarling outside in the rain. Mason flinches with each shot that Leon fires at the approaching zombies, and his fingers twitch around the hilt of his machete, uneasy at the loud sound. Out of the two rooms that they find, only the Operations Room is unlocked, which is littered with many different reports about what has happened over the past few days.

     An array of objects are found scattered around the room, and Mason is busy reading some of the reports when he catches sight of Leon climbing atop a chair and dropping out of a high window. Cursing, he's quick to follow even though his stitches protest, following after Leon like a lost puppy as the rookie shoots several more infected before entering the Safety Deposit Room. And, honestly, Mason tries to ignore the glimmer in Leon's eyes when the younger spots the shotgun sealed away and requiring a keycard to open.