𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬 ★ 𝐋𝐞𝐨𝐧 𝐒 𝐊𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐝𝐲 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

Chapter Twenty: Big Cheese Remastered

Up ahead on your path, there's another big gate. You push it open, Leon walking behind the two of you as you walk into it. A few steps past, you hear grunting right by your ear which is muffled by the sounds of rain, you turn around instantly, seeing Leon's arm being grabbed by the thing the man that injected you earlier. Your knife digs his arm, making him let go. He bolts ahead, grabbing Ashley's hand as he runs down the path while you get slammed by his fist, landing on your back metres away.

You get up, looking behind you as he shuts the gate, bending the metal of the bolted gate so there is no way back out.

"Come, child." He says, looking ahead at Ashley on the path. Leon is fighting his way through the battalions of Ganado that are clogging the way forward. You sprint up ahead snatching Ashley's wrist and weaving your way through the crowd.

"There's not enough time to fight." You say to Leon when you run past him. "Run."

"Ashley cover your eyes." He says, taking out a flash grenade and throwing it into the group ahead, making all of them stagger and cover their faces at the bang. You quickly get past them.

"The bridge!" Ashley shouts pointing to a path on the left, you nod and let go of her, letting her go so she can run ahead of you as you shoot the hoard behind, making sure that Leon is okay. Once it becomes too much, you both turn and start to run, seeing Ashley on the bridge with her foot stuck in the wood, trying to get out.

You run next to her, while Leon stands behind you and grabs at the planks of the floor, ripping them off to free her leg. A Ganado comes onto the bridge, and the sound of the bridge's shitty support cracking beneath you starts to kindle. You finally grab her leg and pry it out, with a few white scratches and run to the other end of the bridge. Leon jumps to reach the end as the wood collapses beneath him, grabbing what's left of the cliff you stand on, and you both help him up.

You look up to see the man on the other side, staring at you, until he finally walks off in another direction.

"Ashley's the one he wants." You say, looking at her leg as you didn't get to see if you had badly injured her in that dire moment. She was fine, only a slight scratch on the skin which emitted no blood, only white streaks of flaked skin.

"Next time you see him, run," Leon says.

"What about you guys?"

"We'll do our job. Come on, let's go." Leon goes in front this time, you see him looking at his hand for a second and come by next to him, looking back at Ashley to make sure she's safe, behind you.

"Is your hand okay?"

"Splinters. Should probably get a tetanus shot."

"They hurt?"

"They sting. It's nothing." You hold out your hand for him to place his in, turning his palm to face upward and using your nails to delicately pinch them out. "Thanks." He smiles, flexing out his fingers and then pulling your head closer to press a kiss to your forehead.

You go back to Ashley with a pink tint, walking by her as the path has closed off so that there is only one house that you can go into. There are stairs on the side of it that lead to the front door which is on the second floor.

"So he's not your boyfriend?" She asks smugly.

"Co-worker that likes to try and get me to break company policy."

"Exciting! You guys definitely give me bipolar married couple vibes."

"Yeah, everyone says that." You let out a shallow laugh. "You know, you're pretty happy for someone who almost died."