•Thicker Than Blood•

•Chapter 20•

Leon leaned against Claire while the whole thing went down. His vision was becoming fuzzy from the blood loss and wounds he sustained during the fight. He leaned his head against her shoulder, turning to bury his face against her skin. Still, despite the sickening smell of blood that radiated off of her, there was a sense of calm within the storm. Claire glanced at him, eyes flicking between Leon and her brother.

He glanced up at Claire, realizing her dilemma. Carefully, he pulled his gun off of his hip and placed it in her hand. He removed his sr, from her and took a slight stumble backward. He glanced back at the situation. Wesker had his foot against Chris's rib cage while Genevieve's mother cradled the horrified girl, who was still kicking and screaming. Begging for mercy at Chris's expense.

"Red. You know what to do. You got this," Leon told her, taking Sherry into his arms and taking a step back.

Claire took a look at the gun in her hand, taking the other one off her own hip. Now with a gun in each hand, she flipped them around. She looked at Leon, a sparkle in her eye while she watched him. A smile appeared on her face as she gave a nod. She had always preferred to dual wield weapons in her time. Felt it gave her more of a chance to hit despite the recoil. Plus, she looked totally bad ass doing it.

"Don't die on me, okay, rookie?" Claire grinned at him.

"You too, Red." Leon nodded at her, turning Sherry away from the scene to shield her from any oncoming threat.

Claire chuckled then raised the guns, aiming both towards Wesker. Since he was preoccupied with taunting Chris, she had the chance to ready, aim, fire. The gunshots rang out simultaneously. Blood spewed out from the freshly opened wounds. One bullet in the head, the other in the side. Despite the clearly accurate shots, Wesker only flinched from the sudden impact. Smiling, his head snapped in Claire's direction.

"Did you really think that would work?"

She froze, staring at the freshly bleeding holes. How the hell did he not die? No one should be able to survive a shot to the head like that. What she didn't know was that Wesker was a mutation. A mutation that managed to keep a semi-normal form while he worked. He leaned  his head to the side, cracking it. Then he did the same thing with the other side as he raised his gun, aiming it directly at her.

Leon seemed to notice this immediately. As soon as the trigger was pulled, he lurched forward. He barreled towards Claire, slamming into her and knocking her off balance. She flew to the side, collided with Leon. She narrowly missed being shot as he forced her out of the way. Quickly, he swung around and grabbed hold of her. Pulling her back up to her feet while he took in a sharper breath. Despite the blurred vision and weakened muscles, he still managed to protect her.

"Oh, how sweet... it sickens me." Wesker seemed to roll his eyes from beneath the sunglasses.

Finally, Genevieve managed to break free from her mother's grasp and she quickly made her way to Chris. She slid beside him and looked down at him. She analyzed his face, realizing he was already beaten and bruised. His breathing was labored and blood dripped down from his lip while he kept himself alive. Tears bubbled up in her eyes once again as she looked down at him.

Then, there was a click.

Wesker now had his gun aimed right at the back of Genevieve's head. If he was lucky, the bullet would go through and hit Chris as well. As the gun was cocked, his thumb began to press down on the trigger. Genevieve's mother noticed what he was trying to do immediately. For once, without thinking, she ran and quickly jumped in front of her daughter. The shot rang out as the bullet pierced her in the stomach.

Time seemed to freeze as she froze. Her white coat slowly turned pink. Then it turned red. The color became deeper and darker as time froze. She coughed, blood spewing out her mouth while she gasped for air. She dropped to her knees and continued to cough up her blood as if she were choking on it. The bullet had impaled her lung. Leaving her with a lung filled with blood.

"Mom!" Genevieve jumped to action, she hadn't believed Wesker would shoot her. Though, that didn't seem to be intended. Even if Wesker didn't give a damn about losing her as an employee.

Her arms wrapped around her mother while she broke down into a fit of sobs. She shook her head, profusely crying while she clung to her. Her mother could barely reciprocate the affectation as she choked. The panic from choking prevented her from doing much of anything. All she could do was grasp her throat with one hand while she tightly held Genevieve's arm. She tried so hard to speak to her, but it was only a gurgled mess thst spilled out.

Before Genevieve knew it, her mother was gone. Dead in her arms. Blood continued to seep out of the body after death. A pool of the crimson liquid surrounded them as the twelve year old cradled her mother. She had been lucky enough to have one parent before... Now she was alone. For real this time. She choked out a sob while Chris pushed himself up, reaching out for the girl. There was still danger right behind her. He already knew Wesker wasn't above killing a child.

Though, while the situation played out, Leon and Claire had disappeared from the scene. Out of focus while they made their way behind Wesker. Together, they held the handle of a knife. Angling it down while they held it above the back of his neck. Chris realized what was happening. He quickly took hold of Genevieve and pulled her close to him.

"You sick bastard! You would really shoot a child?" Chris barked at him.

"It's simple really, I do what is asked of me by my higher ups." Wesker's smug response came to an end as the blade plunged into the back of his neck.

Immediately there was more of a reaction to this than being shot in the head. He dropped his gun first, then slowly dropped down to his knees as the blood seeped down his back. Shakily, his hand moved back and reached for the wound. Once his hand was over it, smeared with blood, he pulled it back to look at the blood that completely covered his own hand. He could barely muster a sound, but regardless there was a smile on his face. A fucking smile. He was quite literally smiling in this face of death, considering he couldn't laugh.

"See you in hell, fucker." Claire sneered, drawing back her leg and propelling her foot into his back.

Wesker fell forward, flat on his face while he continued to make a guttural growling sound. Perhaps that was his feeble attempt at laughing. He reached out ahead of him while he began to cough, blood spewing out his mouth now and splattering on the white ground beneath him. Painting his own bloody canvas in the name of his death. They made sure he would die in vain for the things he did.

Leon rested his arm around Claire's shoulder while she relished in her victory. Sherry clung to Claire's side opposite of Leon. Watching as Wesker took his seemingly final breath. Perhaps he wasn't gone for good. Chris knew damn well this likely wouldn't be the last time they saw Wesker. Even if he was dead now. He always seemed to come back. Whether it be in the form of a clone or built brand new. Truly, it was a mystery.

All they knew now... was that they needed to escape the facility.