project: eden | leon kennedy

▪︎ Chapter 5 ▪︎

She was useless. And now she's going to pay with Leon's life for her weakness.

She watched with horrified eyes as the tyrant's hand shot out, grabbing Leon by his neck and lifting him in the air. His gun landed on the ground with a loud clank, his hands desperately clawing at the large hand around his throat.

Pulling herself into a half-sitting position, she pointed her gun at the tyrant, releasing two shots into its back, but seemingly it did nothing. So, Thea fired off a few other shots, desperately trying to catch its attention but it only turned its head to the side, looking into her eyes as it tightened its grip around Leon's throat, a choked gasp escaping him.

What do I do what do I do what do I do

The loud roaring of a motor caught her attention, headlights shining their way. Thea had to shield her eyes to try and make out what it was. Before she could succeed, the car ran at full speed into the tyrant, ramming it straight into the wall with the sickening sound of metal pressing against concrete.

And Leon was nowhere to be seen.

"Leon?!" Thea called out, way too tired to try and hide the panic in her voice. Biting down on her bottom lip, she finally gathered the strength to push herself onto her feet, her knees buckling slightly under her weight.

With her right-hand tightly wrapped around her gun and the other holding her side where the tyrant landed its blow, she stumbled around the SWAT car that just rammed into the tyrant, her heart beating so fast it might just jump out of her chest.

Just as she got around the van, the door of the driver's side opened, and the woman in the trenchcoat - Ada, as they learned her name - jumped out from the car, her heels clanking against the floor.

"This is getting old..." Ada sneered at Leon, her head turning to look at Thea's crippled form, leaning against the side of the van. Ada continued to walk away, pointing a finger at him and the girl. "Saving your asses - that's twice."

"We were handling it just fine," Thea bit back, making a face as Ada walked past her. She watched with a frown as Leon sprung to his feet so easily, jealousy deep down eating her heart. Maybe she wasn't as tough as she thought.

"I didn't realize you were keeping score," Leon commented, following Ada. But instead of walking past her as the woman did earlier, he stopped by Thea's side, dipping his head down to look at her. "Are you okay?"

She really wasn't. Her entire body hurt like a bitch, breathing was hard and she was pretty sure she got a concussion. Maybe even a few broken ribs. But her ego took the biggest bruise out of all of them.

"Just peachy," Thea forced a smile on her lips, which looked more like a frown. "I'll be fine, pretty boy."

His head tilted to the side, his hair casting shadows over his face as he did so. The fiery glint in his blue eyes made her smile a little more genuine. Even though he towered over her hunched-over form, she didn't feel threatened.

"I told you to not call me that," Leon grumbled, his eyes searching her face. She decided to taunt him more as she let her head fall against the side of the van, the dim lights putting her smirk on full display.

"No, that was 'golden boy'. You lost your veto the moment you didn't flee when you had the chance. Which was fucking stupid, might I add."

"That's your way of saying 'Thank you'?" he furrowed his eyebrows, his voice getting lower with an octave. She didn't notice when did he got so close, their feet almost touching as she looked up at him.

"What you did was stupid," Thea said, her voice barely above a whisper as her eyes scanned his face. There were a few scrapes and cuts, some blood now dried under his jaw, previously dripping drown his neck. The hand of the tyrant already left its print on his skin. "And stupid gets you killed, pretty boy."