Got Smoke?

Partner

The two of us made our way further into the village and finally stopping at what looked like the village square. I wanted to tell Leon that we should be sneaking past them since all of them could be dangerous and possibly hostile, but before I could get the chance, one of them spotted us. Leon grabbed my hand as he dragged me into an unoccupied two-story house. He pushed one of the cupboards to block the door. I spotted a sniper rifle inside a glass case on top of the fireplace.

"Well, hello there..."

I smashed the glass and grabbed it, checking the magazine. There wasn't a lot of bullets, but I knew how to make my shots count. Leon covered the front door while I made my way upstairs. The villagers were all closing in, and some of them had brought ladders to get through the second floor. I pushed the ladders down then used my sniper rifle to shoot at the ones running towards the house with grenades. The grenades blew up and my side was cleared. Leon, however, wasn't so lucky. I heard the front door smash open. Leon shot a few rounds before coming up the stairs.

"We need to leave!" he exclaimed urgently.

Both of us jumped out through the window and ran back to the village square. There was a villager with a chainsaw coming towards us. Leon hit a couple of good shots right in his head, but the thing still wouldn't die. I shot next using my sniper rifle since it had more firepower. Thankfully, the thing stayed dead this time. Leon and I were back-to-back as the villagers started to circle us. I was going to take the next shot when the clear sound of church bells interrupted. All the villagers seemed to be in a daze as they stopped trying to kill us and instead entered one of the buildings. As soon as the last of them entered, the door closed, revealing an insignia on it.

"Where's everyone going? Bingo?" Leon asked, looking around in the empty village.

"Saved by the church bell..." I muttered. I then took out my own radio and called Hunningan. "Hunnigan, we've got some bad news. The cops that were with us are dead, and the villagers here are all hostile. It's like there's something up with them."

"Amara, you and Leon need to get out of there. Look for a tower. Follow a trail near it."

"Okay," I said, ending the call and placing back my radio into my holster. "Come on, Leon. We're heading that way."

We reloaded our guns and tried to find ammo along the way. I even found a box filled with grenades and took some of them.

"Is this the kind of thing you'd sign up for?" Leon asked, making small talk with me as we continued to go through the empty houses.

"Been doing this all my life," I answered, shrugging. "Being a US-STRATCOM agent just made whatever I've been doing look more professional. I mean, at least this is on the papers."

"Why are you doing this?"

"...I don't know," I mumbled. I turned to face him, and he knew I was telling him the truth. "I guess it's because I don't have anything."

"You don't have a family?" Leon asked quietly.

My mind drew a blank. I didn't know if I had any, but all I knew was that I had been alone for the longest time. "No."

"It's scary, right? Having to do all this at a young age."

"No," I said and he looked at me surprised. "Guess I'm just... numb. Whatever things that are out there don't scare me. I know they're all out there to kill me if I don't get to them first."

When he didn't say anything, I continued, "I'm probably the coldest person you've ever met."

He sighed, "I'm sorry."

I tilted my head in confusion. "Why did you say sorry for?"

"I'm sorry that you have to go through all this."

I looked away from him and stared down at my shoes instead. "You don't have to be. Maybe it's just unfortunate that I stumbled onto this path. But maybe that's just fate."

"But you're-"

"I can take care of myself, don't worry," I interrupted him before he could mention my age again. "Look. We've both been through tough situations and I'm sure this wouldn't stop us. Hell, you've survived Raccoon City."

"To be honest, I wasn't sure what I was doing half of the time. I was a rookie cop who didn't even get through his first day. I could've gotten killed if not for the help of the other survivors. I got lucky."

"But luck wasn't the only thing that helped you get through. You're tough, and your skills and determination made you the man you are today. Why else would you be a US-STRATCOM agent, right?"

He nodded, giving a brief smile. "Well, you're right. Maybe I'm just getting paranoid."

"You mean about this mission?"

He nodded once more. "Don't be mad at me, but initially, I thought you'd be needing a lot of help."

I snorted at his answer. "Gee, I wonder why, Agent Kennedy."

"I was proved wrong. You handled yourself well back there. You're a tough girl."

"Girl?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

He laughed, shaking his head. "Women..."

We finished taking whatever we could and made our way to the path Hunnigan had pointed out. Suddenly, two villagers jumped in front of us and blocked our way. One was holding a pitchfork while the other had a beer bottle. I took out my knife and attacked the one with the pitchfork first, slicing my blade across his neck. I gave him a hard kick and once he was on his knees, I stabbed my knife into his skull. The one holding the beer bottle lunged at me next, but I sidestepped and gave him a slash across his chest. I kicked the back of his skull and crushed it with a stomp. I gave my knife a flick, removing the blood before I placed it back into its sheath.

"Wow Amara, I didn't know you have a fetish for knife play," Leon teased but the look on his face showed that he was still in awe.

"I told you I can handle myself. There's more where that came from, by the way," I chuckled, giving him a wink.

"Well, damn. You're making me look as if I'm the one needing the rescue," he said, a huge grin on his face. "I'm glad to be your partner."

"I'm glad for me too," I teased next. "Come on, Ashley's waiting for us."