Bring Me Home

Chapter Four: Finding Ashley

I jolted awake hearing Leon yell. I looked over at him.

"Leon!" I ran over and knelt down beside him. "Baby, are you alright?" I asked. He sighed, rubbing his face. 

"Yeah, I'm alright." He said. I frowned. 

"You didn't seem alright when you collapsed on the ground, coughing!" I said. He sighed, as I pulled him up. He sighed.

"I don't know what that was, but I'm fine now." He said. I bit my lip, not really believing him, but handing him the note that Luis had left. "He left some gear too. I'm ready when you are." I said. He looked up at me.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

"I'm perfectly fine now. T-Virus did it's job." I said. With that, we headed out of the cabin, and fought our way through groups of Ganados, before finally finding the piece we needed to get into the church. With that, we headed back across the lake and got to the church. Once we got inside, we got up to the second level, but there was no way to get to the controls on the other side! At least, that's what Leon thought. I smirked. "Hang on, I've got this!" I said, then jumped over to the chandelier.

"Carter, what are you doing?" Leon asked. I didn't answer, instead I began moving my body back and forth, causing the chandelier to swing back and forth, then once I was close enough to the other side, I jumped off the chandelier and to the controls. I smiled back and Leon.

"Ta-da!" I said, giving him a mock bow. He snorted and rolled his eyes, but followed my lead and made his way over too. Once he solved the puzzle, the bars covering the door that led to Ashley had been removed. We slowly walked in, only to be hit with a stick!

"No, don't come! Leave me alone!" Poor Ashley was huddled in the corner of the room.

"Hey, hey, easy! My name is Leon, I was sent by the President!" Leon said. Ashley looked up.

"My Father sent you?" She asked. He nodded.

"Yeah. This is my wife, Carter. We're here to rescue you!" He said. I gave her a smile.

"Come on, Sweetheart, let's get you home!" I said. We had gotten her out of the room and down to the main floor of the church, when we heard someone say:

"I'll take the girl..." We looked at the altar and saw someone wearing a hooded robe walk out from the shadows. His voice made my blood run cold.

"Who are you?" Leon asked.

"Osmund Saddler." I growled, placing myself in front of Ashley. Saddler laughed.

"I'm so glad you remember me, Mrs. Kennedy! Yes, I am Osmund Saddler, the Master of this fine religious community!" He said, and I scoffed. 

"What do you want?" Leon asked, already on High alert.

"To demonstrate to the whole world our astounding power, of course! No longer will the United States think they can police the world forever! So, we "kidnapped" the President's daughter in order to give her our power, then send her back." He said. There was that mention of their "power" again. What on Earth was he talking about? 

"No..." I heard Ashley whisper, and I looked back at her. "Leon, Carter, I think they shot something in my neck!" She said. I growled. She was a CHILD!! Leon glared at Saddler.

"What did you do to her?!" He growled.

"We just gave her our...gift. Oh, there's going to be one hell of a party when she returns home to her loving Father!" He laughed. "But before that, I thought I might bargain with the President for some...donations. Believe it or not, it takes quite a lot of money to keep this church up and running." He said, and I rolled my eyes. A church my foot!

"Faith and money will lead you nowhere Saddler." Leon said. Saddler smiled.

"Oh, I believe that we forgot to tell you that we gave you the same gift!" He said, and my eyes widened in horror. Leon looked down.

"I was unconscious..." He muttered. I began to shake.

"No..." I muttered. Leon and Saddler both looked at me. "No, you didn't!! You didn't, YOU'RE LYING!!!!" I screamed, as Leon grabbed ahold of me to keep me from rushing Saddler right then and there. 

"I truly hope you like our small but special contribution. When the egg hatches, you will become my puppets. Involuntarily, you'll do as I say. I'll have total control over your minds. Don't you think this is a revolutionary way to propagate one's faith?" Saddler asked. I could feel the tears falling down my face. What had he done to my husband?!

"Sounds like an alien invasion to me!" Leon shot back. Saddler looked over at me then.

"I am truly sorry, Mrs. Kennedy, but as we were unable to give you our gift, it would seem that you will have to put your loving husband down like a dog when the time comes. Such a shame..." He said.

"Shut up!! Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!!" I screamed. However, that's when a bunch of Saddler's goons showed up with cross bows! Leon grabbed my waist, then grabbed Ashley's hand and ran us all to the window, jumping out of it and into the courtyard outside. I sat on the ground, physically shaking with the effort it was taking for me to hold in my sobs.

"Are you guys alright?" Leon asked. 

"Leon, what's going to happen to us?!" Ashley asked, fear laced in her voice.

"Don't worry, we got into this mess, and we'll get out of it too!" He said. I hadn't said anything, I was still trying so very hard to reign in my fear, but it wasn't working. I stood abruptly, and began pacing, a habit I often did when I could feel a panic attack coming on. Leon stood too, and walked over to me. "Carter? What's going through your mind?" He asked. I didn't look up at him, but I began to ramble.

"They put that thing inside you...you've been infected...I don't know how long we have, but if we don't find a cure, you'll turn on me, and I'll have to...I'll have to..." I couldn't take it anymore. I began to sob. Leon wrapped his arms tightly around me, something he always did to help ground me when I was having a panic attack.

"Hey, hey, take deep breaths Carter, okay? Deep breaths. In." He took a deep breath. "And out." He said, and kept doing it with me, until I was able to calm down. "Great job, Hun. Now listen. You will not have to do that. We'll get out of here, and get rid of the parasites before that can ever happen, alright? Everything will be just fine." He said. I sighed and nodded.

"Okay...okay." I said. He gave me a kiss, and with that, we all headed out to the church courtyard.