Storming out of the storage room, Leon and Ashley descend down the ladder to exit the church. Gwen fell behind when she felt another presence. She glanced down at the altar and saw the robed man she and Leon had seen in countless of pictures throughout the village. The man faced Leon and Ashley as Gwen hovered above him, lowering her body to the ground.
"I'll take the girl," the mysterious man proclaimed, his accent thick with every word.
"Who are you?" Leon hissed, glaring at the robed man.
"If you must know, my name is Osmund Saddler, the master of this fine... religious community."
"It's religious, alright," Gwen sarcastically whispered to herself, peering down at Saddler.
"What do you want?" The blonde agent demands, his eyes narrowing as he pushed Ashley behind him.
"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, and then send her back," Saddler exclaimed.
Ashley's eyes widened in horror. "No..." She placed a hand against the side of her neck. "Leon, I think they shot something in my neck."
Leon tore his eyes from Ashley, hatred burning in his lapis pools. "What did you do to her?"
Saddler chuckled darkly, eyes narrowed under his hood. "We just planted her a little... gift. Oh, there's going to be one hell of a party when she returns home to her loving father." Another menacing chuckle left the man's lips. "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."
"Faith and money will lead you nowhere, Saddler," Leon growled.
"Oh, I believe I forgot to tell you that we gave you and the female agent the same gift."
"When we were unconscious..." the blonde mumbled to himself, eyes wide as saucers.
"Oh, I truly hope you like our small, but special contributions. When the eggs hatch, you'll 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? It's such a shame the woman refused our beloved gift, but she will be dealt with soon enough. The cursed blood shall be purged from this village."
"Sounds more like an alien invasion if you ask me!" Leon barked. "And if you lay one hand on Gwen-"
"Speaking of the woman, she is not with you," Saddler pointed out. "No matter. My followers will find and kill her for me."
Gwen grabbed her knife and emerged from her hiding spot, jumping down and pouncing on Saddler. She drove her blade into his arm just as Saddler's scream was accompanied by the church doors opening with a loud bang. Two men appear, armed with crossbows. "Leon, get Ashley out of here!"
"What about you?!" Leon shouted, grabbing ahold of Ashley's hand.
"I'll catch up with you later! Just go!" Gwen ripped the knife out of Saddler's arm and delivered a kick to the base of his spine, knocking the man off the altar.
Leon and Ashley make a break for it, the two men firing their crossbows and narrowly miss hitting the duo with their flaming bolts. The two jump through a window to escape the church, leaving Gwen behind.
"You okay?" Leon asked as he and Ashley recover from the fall.
"Leon, what's going to happen to us? What about Gwen?" Ashley worriedly asked.
"Don't worry, we got into this mess, we can get out of it. And don't worry about Gwen. She's stronger than you think."
<----------<<<<<<<<<<<<
Inside the church, Gwen used her handgun to kill the two men who bursted through the front doors. Their bodies collapsed alongside the crossbows. The archivist aimed her gun at Saddler, who was smirking at her as he laid on the floor, blood pouring from the wound on his arm. In her other hand, she held the knife tightly. "You're a crazy son of a bitch, aren't you?"
Saddler chuckled, meeting Gwen's fiery gaze. "The woman with cursed blood is quite a sight to behold. It truly is a shame I couldn't make you one of us. I would have adored to keep you by my side."
"So, Saddler, why do you call my blood cursed-the color, the chemicals?" Gwen questioned.
"You do not know?" The man questioned in return.
"I wouldn't be asking if I did," she retorted vehemently.
"A poison courses through your veins. It was brought to my attention when one of my followers spotted you after being captured. You denied my gift and murdered the egg."
Gwen's brows furrowed at the accusation. "Killed the egg? I didn't..." Her mind flashed to when she vomited and remembered the spherical object that was covered in her blood. It popped, something squirming out of it before shriveling up and dying. "That was the egg?"
"Yes," Saddler hissed. "And you killed the Las Plagas before it could hatch."
"So, that's why I felt sick. My blood was attacking the egg and that's why I threw it up. Well, guess my blood isn't only good for healing. It can kill your damn parasites," Gwen growled. "If I were to do this..." She dragged the blade across her palm, silver blood seeping through the lacerated skin. She held out her palm towards Saddler, allowing her blood to drip on his skin.
A low hissing resonated as the silver droplets made contact with his hand. The man yelled as he scooted away from Gwen in a desperate attempt to escape her blood. It was her turn to smirk darkly. "Thank you for the useful information, Saddler. I'll make sure to keep this in mind while handling "your pets"." She left the church, leaving the baffled madman behind.
Gwen followed the trail of destruction through the cemetery and down the ladder in the mausoleum. She ran past the merchant and down the tunnel. In the village, she stormed past the cultists who tried to impale her with their weapons and jumped over the numerous of bear traps.
Through the gate, Gwen arrived at the farm. It was eerily quiet as she searched the buildings. She had found a grenade in a cabinet inside the farmhouse and hooked it to her belt.
"Now," Gwen glanced around the farm. "Which way did they go?" She tried the gate she and Leon passed through earlier, but it was locked. "Damn... Better try the other gate."
Gwen entered the farmhouse, climbed the ladder, and vaulted out of the window. She crossed the bridge and jumped down into the pen. Trying the large, wooden gate, she was able to push it open.
On the other side, the archivist heard gunfire. Once again, she ran into the merchant. She came to a stop, asking the man if he had seen the others. "Did you see where Leon went?"
"That way, stranger," the merchant pointed to a house across the bridge, surrounded by cultists.
Her eyes widened in fear at the sight. "Oh, god..." Cultists were trying to break through the windows and enter the house. The numerous of torches lit up the stormy night along with the cracks of lightning above. An idea came to mind as she glanced back at the merchant. "You've anything I can use to tie something to this grenade?"
The man searched his many pockets and found a small strand of rope. "Here ya are, stranger."
"Thank you." She snatched the rope from the man. Taking three vials of blood from her pocket, she tied them around the grenade. Running as fast as she could, Gwen crossed the bridge to help the others.
<---------<<<<<<<<<
"Small world, eh?" Luis chuckles as Leon jams the front door with a slab of wood. The Spaniard glances at Ashley's chest with a smirk. "Well, I see that the president's equipped his daughter with ballistics, too."
Ashley glared daggers at the man after hearing his sexual comment. "How rude! And I don't believe there's any relevance with my figure and my standing. Who are you?"
"Ho ho, excuse me, Your Highness. Perhaps the young lady might want to introduce herself first before asking someone his name?"
"Her name's Ashley Graham, the president's daughter," the girl responded sassily with a hand resting on her hip.
"Is she... you know?" Luis trailed off.
"Don't worry. She's cool," Leon said as he rushed around the cabin.
"Ehh, nevermind. There's supposed to be some obvious symptom before you turn into one of them anyway." The Spaniard glanced around in confusion. "Where is the princesa?"
"I'm not sure, but I hope she's alright," Leon sighed, knowing the man was wondering where Gwen was.
Ashley peers out one of the windows and gasps. "Look!"
The horde of cultists were surrounding the house and trying to break in. "Ashley, upstairs!" Leon shouted. The girl didn't argue and rushed up the stairs to hide.
"Okay... it's game time," Luis declares, pulling out his handgun.
Leon grabbed his pistol and used the empty bookshelves to block the windows. The Spaniard and agent stood in the back of the room, waiting to stop any enemies from entering. The blonde checked his clip of ammo, realizing he only had a few bullets left. "Shit... Better make them count."
"Use these," Luis said, tossing the agent an unopened box of bullets.
"Thanks," Leon replied, reloading his gun.
One of the bookshelves shattered to pieces, and villagers began entering the house one by one. Leon and Luis killed the ones in the house as another bookshelf was destroyed followed by the third one. "Shit...!" Leon spun around and shot a man who nearly rammed his rustic sickle into his back.
When Leon and Luis were overrun on the first floor, they dashed up the stairs and took a stand. The windows shattered as ladders hooked onto the windowsills. Leon pushed the ladders down, trying to keep the villagers from overrunning them again. Luis killed the men who stormed up the stairs while the agent occupied himself with the cultists climbing through the windows.
"This is not going well!" Luis shouted, shooting a villager in the head.
"There's too many of them!" Leon screamed in reply.
Suddenly, an explosion erupted in the middle of the horde of cultists. A strange liquid accompanied the cloud of smoke and the villagers cried out in pain as it landed on their skin. They backed away from the house while the men on the second floor peered out the window. "What was that?" Luis questioned.
"Not sure." Leon watched as the villagers turned to face the bridge. He saw a figure standing in the darkness and didn't recognize the person until a flash of lightening lit the stormy night sky. "Gwen?"
"So it was the princesa who tossed the grenade, but... what was that liquid?" Luis pondered. "I've never seen the ganados' react in such a way to a substance."
"Hey, bastards!" The men heard Gwen shout. The cultists trudged towards her, but she didn't budge from where she stood.
"What the hell is she doing?" Leon whispered to himself. "Get the hell outta there, Gwen!"
The archivist heard Leon's shout and sent him a reassuring smile. Her smile flopped into a frown as the villagers were closing in. She raised her palm and showed the silver blood dripping from her hand. "A little bird told me about how much you all just love my blood. Correct me if I'm wrong." She stepped towards the cultists, who tripped over one another as they backed away from the woman. "Aw, don't be shy! I've got plenty to spare!" She grabbed another vial from her pocket and uncapped it. She threw the silver liquid at them as they screamed and tried to escape her.
"¡Corre por ello!" A man shouted to his fellow cult members. As they ran, the men and women dropped their torches and weapons.
Gwen sighed in relief, allowing the rain to cleanse the silver from her skin. The cut had finally stopped bleeding, but the wound pulsated in pain. She winced when she closed her palm as she searched her pocket for some gauze but couldn't find any. "Dammit..." She walked towards the house and knocked on the door, knowing it was barricaded.
As the door opened, a grinning Luis greeted her. "It's a pleasure to see you again, bella."
"You, too, Luis," Gwen offered the Spaniard a smile as she stepped into the house to get out of the rain.
Leon and Ashley descended the stairs as Luis took the archivist's injured hand and examined her wound. "I do have some gauze to wrap around your hand, señorita." He grabbed the small roll of fabric from his pocket and wrapped it around her palm. He tightened it before tying it.
Gwen opened and closed her hand, the pain only coming in small waves. "Thank you, Luis."
"You are welcome, princesa," Luis grinned.
Leon approached Gwen and didn't hesitate to pull her into his arms. "Glad to see you're safe."
Ashley watched closely as Leon embraced Gwen, her smaller frame being enveloped by his larger one. She tugged on the hem of her skirt as she spoke up. "You two are dating?"
Hearing the girl's question, Leon releases Gwen and turns to face her. "Been together for six years."
"Wow," Ashley gasped in amazement.
"How did you get rid of the ganados?" Luis questioned, changing the subject. "They were... frightened of you."
"They weren't scared of me. They were scared of my blood. I had a small chat with Saddler back in the church and found out my blood is poison to the parasites," Gwen explained. She was ecstatic to know her blood could help them in more ways than one.
Ashley and Luis were the only confused at Gwen's explanation. It didn't go unnoticed by the young woman and she decided to share the tale about her silver blood. "When I was five, my parents were killed and I was kidnapped by Umbrella. A doctor by the name of Damon Griffyn used me as his guinea pig and injected chemicals into my body, which were all the cures to every virus Umbrella had manufactured. I escaped the underground facility with some help eleven years later. Four years passed and the Raccoon City incident occurred. During the outbreak, Doctor Griffyn recaptured me and injected more chemicals into my body, changing my blood forever. That is why my blood is silver and not red."
"How awful," Ashley mumbled sorrowfully.
"A tragic tale, indeed," Luis said, his own melancholy showing.
"Even though those eleven years were hell, I did meet a sweet boy after escaping," Gwen said, smiling up at Leon. "As much as I would love to tell you the rest, we should head to the extraction point. You're coming with us, right, Luis?"
"I forgot something. You guys go on ahead," Luis said, walking out of the house and back into the downpour.
Leon stands in doorway, watching the Spaniard's back as he walked away. "Luis," he called out but received no response.
"Where are we suppose to go now?" Ashley questioned the two agents.
"Well..." Gwen glanced towards Leon, who met her gaze.
"We'll have to search for a way out of the village," the blonde replied. "Let's go."