Surviving Raccoon City

The King to her Queen

"That wasn't that long of a story," Leon joked after I filled him in on Claire and my journey. "Felt long," I grumbled massaging my sore neck as we walked. Climbing up the rusted ladder, I shook myself, desperately trying to rid the sewer water that clung to every inch of my body. Having been soaked head to toe in the filth I was in a sour mood. Leon went first up the cement stairs and through the door, his light guiding our way.Pink and gray muck lined the floor and lower walls of the hallway, leaving a sickly smell, or maybe that was me now. I shivered wanting nothing more than to jump into a pool of clean water just to wash this muck off."You good?" Leon asked stopping at the top of the stairs, aiming the light towards me. I didn't even realize how far ahead he had gotten. "Yeah sorry, just tired is all" I answered running up the stairs to catch up, my wet sneaker slipped on some of the pink mush. Before I fell flat on my face and down the stairs, Leon caught me, his arm coming to wrap around my waist while his other comes to rest on my chest. "Woah, easy. This stuff is everywhere" he warned, only letting me go when I was stable. "Thanks"Now in a large storage room, we stalked past the towering yellow steeled shelves, all full to the top with cardboard boxes labeled as all sorts of chemicals for treating water. Down the short set of stairs, our path was blocked by an old chain-linked sliding gate. A circuit breaker, similar to the ones with the chess pieces upstairs hung next to the gate, its piece missing. The picture on the box was the Queen, which I didn't have. "Fuck" I grumbled getting pissed about having to go look for the piece. "Wait," Leon said, stopping me in my tracks as he held up the Queen. "Figured it might come in handy" he explained shrugging as I looked at him in shock. "Wow," I said not knowing what to say as he unlocked the gate. He just saved us tons of time looking for the damn piece, it's a good thing he came looking for me. The door slide open and Leon headed in first. I took the piece with me but the door slid shut before I could follow. "Seriously" I muttered kicking the gate, scaring Leon in the process who whipped around shining the light into my eyes. "Ah! Shine that somewhere else please!" I yelled shielding my eyes from the blinding light. "Shit, sorry" he apologized running over to see what was wrong. "What happened?" he asked grabbing hold of the gate. "Just about everything" I joked bitterly rubbing my eyes to rid the black dots obscuring my vision. "Sorry again Lara, I didn't mean too-" I cut him off by waving my hand with a little laugh. "It's alright, its no big deal" knowing full well that I've done the same to people in the past, so I couldn't really get annoyed. "The gate closed as soon as I took the piece out" I explained opening the gate again and heading through, this time leaving the Queen behind. While Leon checked the lower area of the locked room, I went upstairs, it was lite enough to see with a flashlight. The only thing upstairs was another circuit breaker with the King. "Bingo!" I silently cheered grabbing the piece hoping the door wouldn't close. It did, leaving me wondering how to get out, luckily for me though, there was a ledge for me to jump down. Not wasting a second I sat down and scooted off, landing in a crouch. "Superhero landing" I whispered to myself, trying to entertain myself. "Leon! I got the last piece!" I yelled watching his light stop moving before heading over my way. There were now two gateways for me to chose from, one Queen and the other King. Leon came up to the Queen lock, as I headed through the now unlocked gate using my new king piece.On the wall sat some type of gun, or at least it looked like a gun. "The hell is this thing?" I wondered picking it up and almost dropping it from how heavy it is. "Woah" Thankfully it had a strap I could loop around my neck and left arm so I didn't have to carry it in my hands.The door behind me was locked, but with a quick flip of the latch, I was able to unlock it. Heading through I was back to where the Queen door was Leon still trapped on the other side of the gate. "What kind of room is this" he wondered aloud waiting as I placed the queen into the other circuit breaker giving me access to grab the king as well as the queen freeing me of this cage. Leon, not so lucky. Deciding to lighten the mood with a joke I waved goodbye to Leon who titled his head in confusion. "Well, I'm grateful for your help, I'll be seeing you!" I teased turning to walk away from a bewildered Leon. "Wha- hey you can't just leave me!" He called out, reaching for me through the gaps in the fencing. "Yes, I can!" I called out from the top of the stairs trying to stop myself from laughing as he shook the gate. "Lara!" he called out, laughing nervously not knowing if I was serious or not. Turning around I jumped down the stairs, and unlocked the gate, laughing as Leon let out a sigh of relief. "Last time I ever help you!" he grumbled, lightly shouldering past me and up and the stairs. "Oh come on, it was a joke" I spoke, stuffing the items into my bag and coming to walk in step with him. He looked down at me, playfully shoving me with his shoulder, an amused smile on his face. "Brat" I scoffed, feigning hurt by his words. "How rude" "Rude! you're the one who locked me in a cage!" he shots back, jumping into the sewer water. I stood at the edge hesitant to go back in. "Well come on now." he beckoned. "Your already covered with this crap, what's the worse that can happen?" he asked, trying not to laugh. "You already smell" he teased biting his lip to keep from laughing as I yelled at him to shut the fuck up. "I do not!" "My nose says otherwise" I launched myself over to him as he ran away from me, not worried about any other monsters attacking us since this area was clear. I knew I smelled like shit now, but he didn't have to remind me!Just as I was about to reach his dumbass, he was climbing up the ladder. "Coward!" I called out, shaking my fist at his retreating figure before following him up. He offered me a hand which I angrily slapped away, refusing his help. "See, no more sewer water," he said as I stomped on his foot before heading back to the control room. He grunted, bouncing up and down as he cradled his injured foot, that'll teach him a lesson.We jogged back to the room in silence, our childish antics over now that we were able to free Sherry. Claire and Ada were sitting in silence, waiting for our return. Claire, looked a lot better, no longer pale and sluggish, the rest doing her good, Ada, on the other hand, had a huge gash in her leg, limiting her movement. "Good to see you still alive, barely" she joked nodding towards me. "Oh? you look worse than me" I joked pulling the pieces from my pack and heading over to the doorway. Claire hobbled over with me, I offered her my shoulder to lean on, noticing how it hurt her to stand. She accepted, thanking me as she braced herself. It took us a few minutes to place everything correctly. The locks sealing the door slid open, the six red lights turning green. "Alright, I'll go get Sherry, you guys stay here," I ordered helping Claire into the worn-out office chair, she went to protest but I held up a hand. "No, you still can't walk, what if something happens?" I said giving her a warning look. "Fine, fine. Just be careful" she grumbled crossing her arms across her chest."Hurry up" Ada called out as she massaged her injured leg. I deadpanned, as she smiled amusingly at me. A screech of metal came from behind me, ending Ada and Is staring contest. Leon was already opening the large vault door, before beckoning me over. "Let's go get Sherry"