A Sickly Sweet Reverie (Leon Kennedy X OC) [BOOK 3]

Chapter 6: Zombie express

One moment the road was ahead of us, the next I was dangling above it with my head pounding. My hair draped down toward the car ceiling above me as I blinked, trying to dispel the white light dancing along the edge of my vision.

"Mykie," Leon groaned, his voice no longer beside me in the driver's seat but out the passenger window. The door swung open and I blinked, my eyes finally focusing on Leon's scraped face in front of me.

"Can you hear me?" Leon asked, cupping a hand behind my head. I nodded, trying to fight through the ringing in my ears. I was upside down, still strapped into my car seat while fire licked at the car on the edge of my vision. "Hold on," he said, reaching toward the seatbelt clasp.

I pressed my palms into the roof of the car, steading myself as Leon unclipped the belt. My shoulder collided with the ceiling as I slumped out of the seat toward the door. Leon hooked an arm under me, dragging me out of the vehicle onto the damp pavement.

The vehicle was a wreck, all the windows busted and the whole trunk was crunched. Fire was working its way through the back tires when I finally looked at Leon.

"How did you pass your driving test?" I huffed, using my leftover strength to sit up as I rubbed my forehead.

"I wasn't exactly tested for 'defensive driving against zombies'," He said, looking me over for anything beyond surface scrapes and bruises.

"Next time, I'm driving," I said, attempting to rise to my feet. Leon pressed a guiding hand to the small of my back, helping me up until he was sure I wouldn't fall.

"That's fine, I prefer your car anyway."

A bark of laughter escaped me, making shooting pain radiate from my stomach. Helena was a few feet away, a hand on her stomach and her finger pressed to an ear as she listened to Hunnigan on the other end. Her eyes flicked down to the manhole at her feet, and her lips twitched into a frown.

Great, I know what that look means.

"Why is it always sewers?" I whined, fighting against the ache in my muscles as I shuffled toward Helena.

Leon stepped ahead, dipping his fingers into the holes of the metal cover before sliding it aside. The smell wafted out immediately, making Helena and I exchange a grimace.

Snarls sounded from somewhere down the street, where the horde of pursuers from campus must be closing in on us. I groaned as I grabbed hold of the edge of the hole and dropped down.

My feet hit the stone with a wet thud, and I moved aside as Helena dropped down next. I flicked on the flashlight attached to my weapon, casting the small tunnel in a dim light.

Rats scurried away, a few diving into the rushing water in the center of the tunnel to escape from sight. Leon dropped down as the last of the rodents made their escape. The flashlights attached to their earpieces flickered to life, illuminating the winding tunnels ahead.

A groan echoed from somewhere else in the tunnels, making me flinch and turn to face the tunnel looming at our backs. The darkness was almost impenetrable, swallowing my light and diminishing visibility to only a few feet out.

Helena flinched as a rat scurried a few inches in front of her shoe.

"Not a fan of sewers?" Leon sniped, brisking past her to take the lead. I didn't let the surprise at his tone show on my face as he moved past me. It's not everyday I'm the good cop to Leon's bad cop.

Helena looked back down at her feet, her brows pinching together as she took a step to follow him.

My mouth was moving before I even thought about what I was saying. "Don't take it personally. This situation is difficult. Shooting the President and reliving Raccoon City is probably number one on his list of shittiest days imaginable."