FOOL → leon kennedy ✔

chapter eleven

CHAPTER ELEVEN
you love i.

...

Lucky didn't want to die here.

It was as simple as that, and it kept her going. She could barely stand, let alone walk, but she refused to let it stop her from helping. The trio, with a newly-rescued and wounded Ada, made it to the cable car and began to descend. Their target? NEST-- Umbrella's underground laboratory.

"Can't wait to tell the boys back at HQ about the wonderful adventure I've been on. Brown'll never believe me." Lucky chuckled into the silence. Leon stole a glance at her and Ada held that signature indifferent look of hers. "That is if... ya know." She looked down to the arm that Leon was bandaging. He frowned.

"You'll be okay. I just have to get in, find the G-Virus and the cure, and get out. Before anyone finds out, ideally." He said it so confidently, Lucky almost believed that it could be so simple.

The cable car was slowing to a stop and Lucky was quickly running out of time. She held Leon's vest with weak fingers, almost pleading for him not to go. His eyes searched hers, but only found desperate pain.

"Leon... I-I..." Her voice skipped. The moment in the prison came back to her, where she was afraid that she would never see him again. Now she was faced with that same panicky fear.

Ada cleared her throat. Leon and Lucky were suddenly thrown back into the present, and now he had to go. They were running out of time, quickly.

"I promise you, Lucky. I promise I'll come back with that cure. I... uh, stay safe. Please." He hesitated, then pressed his lips to her forehead. Lucky closed her eyes and took in the moment, but he was gone all too soon. She watched his back as he stood in the doorway, then he cast a look over his shoulder.

Lucky pressed her back to the wall, suddenly exhausted. Leon's footsteps grew quieter, and her breaths grew more laboured. Ada's gaze slipped towards Lucky a few times and there was a strange look in her dark eyes.

"So, Ada. You're pretty young... for such an important tasking from the force." Lucky said, narrowing her eyes. Ada twitched, looking the other woman dead in the eyes.

"I could say the same for you, Davey. Special Forces, even. Tough." Ada obviously knew what Lucky was getting at, and she wasn't going to crack very easily. She lifted her chin.

"Graduated top of my class. Academics are golden, fitness is golden. A genuine star student. Dumb as rocks when it comes to common sense, though, but what can you do? I'm naive." Lucky shrugged slowly, like it meant nothing. She struggled to lean forward, even just a few inches. "But that doesn't stop me from seeing that there's something weird about you. No offence, of course, but you aren't what you claim to be... are you?"

Ada blinked, then sighed. Lucky's facade of strength wore off and she leant back against the wall again, fighting to catch her breath. Ada's lips curled into a smile.

"What a nosy little detective you are, huh?"

Lucky shrugged coolly as worry worked itself into a pit in her stomach. "I've seen enough crappy shows to know where this was going. You never trust the shady people-- it just never ends well."

Gunshots came from somewhere inside the laboratory and Lucky was suddenly alert. They continued for a moment, then suddenly stopped.

"Shit." Lucky grunted, struggling into an upright position again. Ada watched her intently, a mix of curiosity and concern in her eyes. Lucky forced her legs to be still, then pushed herself up. "Oh, fuck. Okay... you got this, Lucky. Just gotta... learn how to... walk." She inched forward on shaky legs, grasping the wall for support. It was a struggle, but she refused to let Leon be in trouble without her.

"You'll get yourself killed, Lucky. Sit down. He'll be back." Ada was still sitting, but she was clearly ready to get up if the need presented itself.

Lucky rolled her eyes, stumbling forward on her own. She was struggling to hold back from letting out the contents of her stomach onto the cable car's floor. "I'm not letting him die without me. I promised that we'd do this together and... I'm going to make sure that happens. Even if it kills me."

With that, coughs tore through Lucky's throat and raked her body. A long string of coughing that, in her weakened state, caused her to fall to one knee before she wretched. Panic filled her head when she saw, through her shocked tears, that it was mostly blood. The tangy iron taste made her gag again, leading to another round.

"Stupid..." Ada grumbled, but she got up, too, and crouched beside Lucky. This was her body's last-ditch effort before the virus began shutting down just about everything in her body. Before she was left as nothing more than a shell-- a mindless zombie.

"Well... dying's fun. Let's go get that cure." Lucky managed and she spat the remaining taste onto the floor. Ada helped her struggle to her feet, then the pair shuffled out of the cable car.

Lucky was in-between consciousness, stumbling around and passing out in the span of seconds. Then she would jolt awake. Sweat clung to her skin, which was unmistakably paler, sicker. She was dying.

Ada grit her teeth through her own pain as they hobbled along, then came to an open door. Everything was white beyond the layers of doors and Lucky narrowed her eyes against the harshness of it all, sighing.

There was a door off to their left and, after peeking in, Ada determined that it was safe enough to leave Lucky in-- at least until Leon came back for her. "Alright, Lucky. You rest here. Leon's just fine and we'll be back before you know it. Sleep this off." Ada helped lucky onto the bed tucked into the corner.

She didn't expect a response, so she wasn't too surprised when none came.

Curiosity got the better of her and she took a peek at the monitor beside the bed. It showed the vitals of someone, and almost everything was deep orange and yellow. Warning. Caution. Organs were being targeted and Ada realized that it was Lucky. She knew it was bad, sure, but this was... unthinkable.

What had Umbrella created?