•Thicker Than Blood•

•Chapter 16•

It didn't take too long after the girls' disappearance for Leon to finally wake up. Leon shifted slightly, yawning and stretching out just a bit before opening his eyes. He glanced down, seeing Claire was asleep once again. She had her arms laid over him, face pressed against his collar. His face warmed up at the sight of her.

"Hey, red. Wake up.." Leon nudged her gently with her shoulder.

"Hm? Leon?" Claire opened her eyes, lifting her head up off him slowly as she woke up.

"Morning, red. Or, afternoon rather." Leon glanced around the room, seeming to notice how quiet it was right away. "Did you pick up Sherry from school?"

"Mhm... I brought her home. Her friend, Genevieve, came as well." Claire took her arms off of Leon and glanced around.

"I don't hear anything.. Do you know where they went?" Leon got up, fixing his outfit while he poked his head out of the doorframe.

"I think they went outside. We can go check." Claire was quick to follow, going downstairs and peering out the window.

The girl took a glance around, confused when she saw no sign of the girls anywhere. Leon was just as confused, considering he couldn't find them anywhere in the house itself. Soon, they met back in the dining room. Both were shocked to find out the girls were missing. Claire's chest tightened and she booked it out the front door, Leon trailing right behind her.

"Leon! Look! There's footsteps on the path!" She pointed to their dirt driveway, where somewhat fresh indents in the dirt were present.

He jogged over and took a look. "They seemed to run to the road-."

Before Leon could finish that sentence, Claire had started sprinting down the path. Dust kicked up into their air and lingered, leaving a foggy looking trail behind her. Leon didn't skip another beat, running after her as they made their way to the road. That's when they saw the glare of something shining from the sun. In the middle of the road.

Claire ran over and picked up the object in the road. Immediately, she was frozen dead in her tracks. The necklace laid in the palm of her head. Umbrella Corporation's symbol displayed proudly on the chain. Leon looked over her shoulder, plucking it from her hand. He inspected it, then cracked it open. The mechanical bits became exposed to them.

"It's a tracking device." Leon looked at Claire, who already had fresh tears forming in her eyes.

"They- They took Sherry..." Claire gasped, her hands clasping over her mouth. "Where was this supposed to be hidden? How did they get that on her?"

"Judging from the fact it's on the same chain as a necklace would be..."

Claire suddenly gasped. "Genevieve! It was on Genevieve! Her mother works for Umbrella- oh god! How did I not see it from the beginning?" Her hands grasped the sides of her head, tugging against it.

Leon quickly set his hand on her shoulder. "Genevieve was just a kid. There's no way it would be anyone's first thought. If anything, she was a pawn in someone else's game... come on. We have to search for the nearest facility..."

"...I can find it on my map."

Quickly, both of them ran back down their driveway. Leon got into the pickup truck while Claire ran inside to get her map of all the Umbrella Corporations facilities. She ran back outside once she had it and jumped into the truck. For once, she even allowed Leon to drive while she maintained the map.  Leon started up the car and they sped down the road like never before.

"Okay, there's a big medical facility in Oklahoma City... biggest town in the state. Do you think they would have taken her there?" Claire questioned.

"Is that their only facility in the state?"

"There's smaller ones, but those are mainly doctors' offices or experimentation grounds. Our best bet should be Oklahoma City."

"Then we're going to Oklahoma City."

Leon drove through the city while Claire gave him the directions. Once they got into the straight shot bit of the highway, considering they were a longer distance from Oklahoma City. Claire folded up the map and set it down on the dashboard, leaning back against her chair and pulling her knees up to her chest. Her arms laid over the top of her knees while she laid her head against them.

How could she have let this happen? The one thing she promised to do for Sherry was protect her and she couldn't even do that. Not only that, but she couldn't even manage to keep her brother safe. She couldn't even find her brother on her own. How come she managed to fail everyone in her life? Why was she doomed to harming her loved ones? With that thought, she turned her head and looked at Leon.

When was she going to fail him too? It was already bad enough that she had dragged him out to the middle of nowhere to start a new life with her. What about his goals and aspirations? There's no way he would have wanted to settle with her, right? Once all of this was over, she was sure he was going to leave his separate way. That thought made her heart drop into her stomach. She held back the tears that formed in her eyes. Holding her breath to avoid making a sound.

Leon caught a glance at her from his peripherals. Of course, he could immediately register the anguish written in her face. He took a deep breath and reached over, setting his hand on her knee. She jumped and looked back towards Leon, who kept his eyes on the road. Though, she realized his expression had softened with his touch.

"It's not your fault, Claire. We're going to save her. I promise."

It was almost as if he knew what she was thinking. Quietly, she shifted her body towards him. Leon glanced over towards her for a moment, then moved his hand, and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. She leaned against his arm just a little bit, a small smile appearing on her face. Her face erupted with a warmth she hadn't felt in forever, her heart nearly skipping a beat. She closed her eyes quietly, waiting for them to arrive at the Umbrella Facility.