Once reaching the opposite end of the tunnel, Leon and Gwen were spotted by a villager. He had something in his hand and threw it. The archivist recognized the object as it sailed through the air towards them. "Dynamite!" The agents dove into what remained of a shed. The dynamite exploded, shaking the ground.
Gwen peeked through a slit between the boards and saw the man pull out another stick of dynamite and light it. "Oh, great. He's got more." As the man treaded over to the shed, the young woman grabbed her pistol and emerged from the destroyed structure.
"Gwen, stop!" Leon shouted as he tried to stop her but failed. The archivist shot the stick of dynamite before the villager could throw it. Another loud explosion erupted, killing the man instantly. The blonde exited the building with an amazed glint in his eye. "Nice shot."
A third and fourth explosion went off in the house adjacent to the destroyed shed, startling the couple. Leon clicked his tongue in irritation. "More dynamite. We need to be careful."
From the widow, Gwen spotted the top of two heads in the house. She leaned closer to Leon and whispered. "Let's sneak up behind them. That way, they can't use the dynamite."
Leon agreed to the plan and they snuck around the house, avoiding a few bear traps here and there. They found an opened window and each agent stood on either side. "Shoot the dynamite," he whispered to his partner.
Then, the two agents moved from the cover and aimed at the dynamite. Pulling the triggers in unison on their pistols, both villagers were killed when bullets hit the sticks of dynamite. Leon and Gwen sighed in relief, knowing the men were dead. "What're these people on?" Gwen grumbled.
"Whatever the hell it is, they're pissed off to no extent."
They checked the house for ammo and anything else helpful before moving to the next house. Leon saw the lock on the door and kicked it. Gwen's brows furrowed when she saw what he was doing. "Maybe we can find a-" The second kick was enough to break the lock. "Key..."
Leon smirked as he entered the house. "The lock was rusted. Easier to break it than find the key."
Gwen shook her head, unable to hide the smile on her face. "Whatever you say, Leon."
The house was caked in dust compared to the others they've come across. A long hallway opened up into a living room and a pile of boxes laid in the corner of the room by the table. While surveying the dusty, sooty room, Leon and Gwen heard loud thumping. It was faint, but they knew it was coming from within the house. "You think it's a villager?" Gwen wondered, standing beside a bookshelf.
"Wouldn't doubt it. Better make sure, though." Leon took the lead and pushed the bookshelf out of the doorway with his pistol drawn. Gwen followed closely behind, her own handgun resting by her hip.
The couple followed the sound and found a tattered wardrobe caked in dust. Leon gestured for Gwen to take the other side while he covered the left. Pistol raised, he slowly unlatched the lock of the wardrobe and a man came tumbling out. His arms and legs were tied together with tape covering his mouth. He was trying to talk, but the tape kept his mouth sealed. Leon squats down and tears the tape off.
"A little rough, don't you think?" The man groaned, his accent dripping from every syllable. Leon turns the man around and unties his hand and legs. "You're... not like them?"
"No," Gwen responds, grabbing the Spaniard's attention.
Leon was able to undo the ropes and the stranger rolls over, sitting up as he rubbed his sore wrists. "Okay. I have only one, very important question. You got a smoke?"
"Got gum," Leon casually responds.
Heavy footsteps resounded throughout the house as two armed villagers walked around the corner. Gwen aimed her gun at the two men, but she lowered it when the source of the heavy footfalls closing in. "What the hell?"
The large man standing between the villagers caused a flashback to play in her mind. It was of the tyrant who was one of the monsters that stalked them throughout Raccoon City. She remembered the pain of falling from the second floor of the station and how Leon was able to kill the large man in Umbrella's underground lab as they were racing against the clock.
"Perfect. The big cheese," the Spaniard grumbled as the large man glared at the three of them.
"What?" Leon gasped. The agent stood up, returning the man's glare with his own fierce one. He then charges at the large man and tries to kick him. The towering stranger merely catches Leon's foot and with one hand, launches him into the air. His body crashes into the wardrobe, causing it to shatter. He lands on top of the Spaniard, knocking them both unconscious.
"Leon!" Gwen shouted in worry. She fired bullets at the adversary, but he kept stomping towards her. Her gun clicked, signaling she was out of bullets. "Shit!" She didn't have time to reload as the man backhanded her. Her body slammed into the wall, knocking the air out of her lungs and rendering her unconscious.
<-----------<<<<<<<<<<<
With a gasp, Leon finally comes to. He looks around the room, noticing it wasn't the same. A few feet away, he saw Gwen unconscious, her wrists shackled above her head from a chain wrapped around a wooden support beam above. He tried to stand up, but then realized his shackled hands. Leon glanced over his shoulder, seeing he was bound to the Spaniard. He pushed his back against the stranger's, trying to rouse him. "Hey. Hey. Wake up."
The man shook his head as he came to. "Ai yi yi. Crawl out of one hole, and into another."
"You want to tell me what's going on here?" Leon demanded.
The man turned his head slightly, catching a small glimpse of Leon and Gwen. "Americanos, si? Now what brings a bloke like you to this part of the world with a beautiful woman, no less?" Leon tries to free himself from his bonds, but ends up hurting the man. "Easy, whoever you are."
"My name's Leon," he introduced himself before glancing over to the unconscious woman. "And that's Gwen. We came here looking for this girl. Have you
seen her?" The agent managed to get the picture out of his pocket and show it to the man.
"What, are you supposed to be a cop or something? Nah, you don't look the type. Nor does the señorita," the stranger chuckled.
"Maybe."
"Okay, let me guess. She's the president's daughter?" The man turned his head, displaying a smirk.
"That's too good for a guess. Want to start explaining?" Leon inquired.
"Psychic powers." The man paused dramatically before chuckling. "Nah, just kidding with you, amigo. I overheard one of the villagers talking something about the president's daughter in the church."
The agent continued his interrogation. "And who might you be?"
"Me llamo Luis Sera. I used to be a cop in Madrid. Now I'm just a good-for-nothing guy, who happens to be quite the ladies' man."
"Why'd you quit?"
Luis scoffs at the question. "Policia... you put your life on the line, no one really appreciates you enough for it. Being a hero isn't what it's cracked up to be anymore."
Leon reminisced in the horrid memories of his first and last day on the job. "Used to be a cop myself. Only for a day though."
The Spaniard nudged his back against Leon's. "I thought I was bad."
"Somehow I managed to get myself involved with the incident in Raccoon City, on my first day in the force. Ended up dragging Gwen along, too."
"That is the incident with the viral outbreak, right? I think I might have seen a sample of the virus in the lab at my department."
When Gwen finally awoke from her unconscious state, she tugged on her stiff arms. When she realized they were chained over her head and she couldn't relieve her stiffness, she whimpered. "What have we gotten ourselves into this time?" She noticed her jacket was missing along with Leon's.
"Not sure. Are you okay?" Leon asked.
"Besides the massive headache and the stiffness in my arms, I'm peachy."
"It's good to see you are awake, bella. Your friend here was just telling me all your dirty secrets," Luis chortled as he teased the young woman.
Gwen knew the Spaniard was teasing her, but she decided to play along. "I thought I could trust you, Leon, but I guess I was wrong."
"You gonna throw ten years down the drain by believing a complete stranger?" Leon asked, joining in on the teasing.
"Whoa," Luis interrupted. "I was messing with you, bella."
Gwen smirked triumphantly. "I know. We just tagged along for the ride. If Leon did have loose lips, I had dumped his ass years ago and he would be the worst agent in the entire world."
"Ah, so you are lovers," Luis grinned. "I'm quite envious of you, hombre."
Suddenly, the door to the room flew open. Two men dragging axes with them were shouting in Spanish as their weapons scraped against the floor. One of the villagers targeted Leon and Luis while the other focused on Gwen.
"Do something, cop!" Luis shouted as the man closed in.
"After you!" The blonde replied. The man raises the axe with both hands, then brings it down
on both of them. "Now!"
Leon and Luis move so that their bound wrists were exposed. The axe cleanly slices through the bonds, freeing both of the men. The villager pries his axe from the floor and advances towards Leon. The agent kicks him into the wall, where he breaks his neck upon falling on the ground.
While Leon took down the first villager, Gwen managed to kill the second one. She was able to swing her body to the side as the man swung the heavy blade down. Then, she used the chain to jump high and wrap her legs around the man's neck. As he struggled, she quickly turned her hips and snapped the man's neck. She unwrapped her legs from around the man and watched as his body collapsed before disintegrated.
"Damn," Leon gaped in amazement. "Where'd you learn that?"
"Nowhere. I wasn't even sure if it would've worked," Gwen confesses. She glanced around and realized the Spaniard was missing. "Where'd Luis go?"
"He ran off," Leon replied.
"Nice to know. Now, would you be kind and free me?" The archivist huffed, shaking the shackles and chain.
Leon stood in front of Gwen, pulling the silver hair clips out of her hair and causing the white streak to fall in her face. "Gonna need to borrow these for a little bit." She nodded and allowed the blonde to get to work.
It took him a few minutes, but Leon was able to pick the lock on the shackles. Once Gwen was free, she shook her arms to return blood flow to her fingers.
Leon pushed the white patch of hair from Gwen's face and clipped it back to keep it from falling into her face. "There. Told you I would give them back."
"Yeah, thanks." Gwen rubbed her wrists, staring down at the marks on her skin. "Better contact Hunnigan. She might be able to help."
Nodding, Leon pulled out the radio and notified Hunnigan. "It's Leon. Sorry we couldn't get in touch sooner, but we were a bit tied up."
*****
"You're both okay, right?"
*****
"We're fine. There was a male civilian held captive. According to him, Ashley's in a church somewhere."
*****
"What happened to him?"
*****
"Ran the first chance he got," Gwen replied.
*****
"Do you have a fix on the location of that church?"
*****
"No, but apparently, there's a secret passage in the village that leads there. We're heading back to the village." Leon ended the transmission and placed the device into his pocket.
"I've never been a religious person, but I guess we're going to church," Gwen humored the man.
The agents exit the room. Down the hall, they spy a hooded figure peering through the window. Gwen felt her heart stop at the sudden fright. "Over here, stranger," the man cackled. The archivist knew the man was smirking under his mask by the tone of his voice. He then walked behind the house and vanished out of sight.
Leon and Gwen exchanged curious glances before heading out of the house and following after the strange man. Behind the building, they found the man standing in front of a torch lit with a blue flame. "Got something that might interest ya," he said as he opened his coat.
Gwen covered her eyes before he could show what was under his cloak. Leon noticed her strange reaction, but wondered what the man had on him.
<-----------<<<<<<<<<<<<
(A/n: This little conversation is based off of my sister's first playthrough of the game. She thought the merchant was a flasher🤣)
"What kind of reaction was that?" Leon asked the young woman as they walked away from the merchant.
Gwen faced the blonde with a sigh. "Leon, we're in an unknown village full of weirdos. I thought he was gonna flash us."
The man stopped, flabbergasted at her response. "What made you think that?" The archivist nibbled on her bottom lip. Leon knew she was hiding something and pried. "What're you not telling me?"
The midnight-haired woman tapped her fingers together, which was one of her nervous ticks. After pondering mentally if she should finally tell him what happened two years ago while she was returning to her apartment from work, she decided to spill her secret. "You really want to know?"
Leon leaned against the house, his arms crossed over his broad chest. "Not leaving 'til you tell me."
Gwen ran a hand through her short locks. "Okay. Two years ago, I was heading home from work when a man walked up to me. He was wearing a brown trench coat and he, uh... he... flashed me."
"Anything else that has happened I should know?"
"No, that's it. That has pretty much been the highlight of living in D.C. for six years-a naked man."
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Leon inquired.
"Do you realize how difficult it is to tell your boyfriend you saw a naked guy on the street? It's not exactly something you just casually bring up in a conversation."
"You're secretive about the weirdest and most ridiculous shit," the blonde chortled. "Hope you know that."
"Now I do," Gwen grumbled to herself.
"Since we're done telling stories, you ready to head out?" Leon nodded towards the gate in front of the house.
"Lead the-" Gwen trailed off, her surroundings spinning with small dots along the rim of her vision.
Leon turned around to see why she suddenly went silent. "Gwen?" He watched as she took a single step forward, her knees giving out. Lunging out, he caught her before she fell. When he felt her skin, it was clammy. "Shit...!" He scooped her up into his arms and walked around to the rear of the house.
The merchant watched as Leon gently laid Gwen down, leaning her body against the house. He saw her chest rising and falling rapidly as if she were having difficulty breathing. Her eyes were closed as a cold sweat covered her body. He pushed a loose strand of hair from her face, cupping her cheek in his hand. Tearing his gaze away from the suffering woman, he stared up at the merchant. "Think you can watch over her for a little while, pal?"
The merchant nodded. "Sure thing, stranger. I'll watch over her."