Pueblo de Valdelobos, central plaza. Flames roared skyward, and the acrid stench of burning flesh hung thick in the air.
"Goddammit, so much for my vacation. Hell of a welcome party!"
Bang!
Leon's pistol was running on fumes. He booted away an infected villager lunging at him and threw himself behind a half-collapsed stone wall, sucking in ragged breaths.
The entire village square was swarming with over a hundred bloodshot-eyed villagers armed with pitchforks and hatchets. Worse, a heavy chainsaw screamed to life somewhere close, its operator a hulking brute with a burlap sack over his head, carving through wooden crates like butter as he bulldozed straight toward Leon's cover.
"A chainsaw? That was not in the mission briefing!" Leon hissed through clenched teeth.
Bang! Bang!
He dumped his last two rounds into the kneecaps of two charging villagers, dropping them to the dirt, then followed through with a savage spinning kick that snapped both their necks. But more poured in from every direction like tireless zombies, axes and farming tools raised high.
Official backup is at least four hours out... guess it's hand-to-hand from here. Leon drew his tactical knife and braced for a last stand.
The chainsaw man raised his weapon overhead.
Pfft.
A muffled crack split the fog. The chainsaw man's right wrist exploded into red mist, and the heavy saw dropped from his ruined hand and clanged against the cobblestones.
Before the surrounding villagers could react, two flashbangs landed dead center in the crowd.
BOOM!
Blinding white light sent every villager reeling, clutching their eyes and howling. Under that cover, two dark shapes vaulted from the rooftops.
Sherry opened up with both pistols, heavy Magnum rounds punching four of the closest villagers clean off their feet. Becky closed on the disarmed chainsaw man like a ghost, her tactical kukri finding the gap in his neck guard and driving deep, then twisting, severing the spinal cord.
The whole rescue took seconds. Clean, surgical, no wasted movement.
Leon stood frozen with his knife in hand, staring at the two girls who'd dropped out of nowhere. A full three seconds passed before his brain caught up.
"Sherry? Becky?!" His eyes went wide. "What the hell are you doing here? Don't tell me you're the backup they sent."
"Official channels can't afford us." Sherry flashed him a grin. "Uncle Ryan intercepted your distress signal and sent us to bail you out. Oh, and grab some technical data while we're at it."
She slapped a fresh magazine into her pistol and winked. "Long time no see, Uncle Leon. Looks like your 'business trip' hit a snag."
"Quit calling me uncle, I'm not that old." Leon let out a long breath, the tension finally draining from his shoulders. "Ryan sent you?" He knew Star Fire's capabilities inside and out. With these two monsters Ryan had personally trained, what had been a suicide mission just downgraded to a cakewalk.
"Where's Ashley?" Becky wiped the blood from her blade and sheathed it.
"Intel says she's locked in the church behind the village, but the road's completely blocked off." Leon snapped back into agent mode and pointed at the map. "We need to find the insignia key to get through."
"Leave it to us." Sherry clapped him on the shoulder. "You lead, we kill everything in the way."
...
Meanwhile, on a hidden mountain trail behind the village.
Ada leaned against a tree trunk in her red turtleneck sweater, murmuring into a compact communicator. "Wesker, Leon has linked up with two unidentified young female operatives. Extremely capable. They're pushing toward the church. I've pinpointed Luis's location. The Amber should be on him."
Wesker's voice crackled back, cold and arrogant as ever. "Two little girls. Irrelevant. Let Leon and his friends draw Saddler's fire. You stay on Luis. Remember, I want the Amber. Don't disappoint me."
"Understood."
Ada cut the connection. She was about to turn and resume tracking when a voice, perfectly calm, spoke from less than two feet behind her.
"He's still that full of himself, huh? Your boss with the sunglasses, still loves ordering people around."
Ada's pupils contracted. Years of living on the razor's edge kicked in and she spun, drawing her weapon in the same motion. But a strong hand had already caught her gun wrist, and another arm slipped around her waist with practiced ease, pinning her back against the tree trunk.
Ryan stood right in front of her, close enough that she could count his eyelashes. He'd gotten there without tripping a single one of the infrared perimeter lines she'd set up around the area.
His grip was firm but precisely placed, more control than force. They were close enough that the faint trace of her perfume mingled with the damp mountain earth and filled his nose.
Ada was about to deflect with something clever when she noticed his expression change.
His eyes narrowed, something sharp flickering deep in those dark irises. In a spectrum Ada couldn't perceive, Ryan's gaze had already cut through the red sweater and the skin beneath, locking onto a shadow near her spine.
There, a dark red parasite curled like a dormant spider, clamped tight to her nerve cluster, pulsing rhythmically with each breath she took.
"Looks like you brought home a tenant who doesn't pay rent."
His voice dropped low, carrying a certainty that sent a chill down Ada's back. He freed his left hand and tapped lightly on the spot where her right arm was injured.
Ada's whole body went rigid.
She recovered with a dry, self-deprecating smile, reaching up to smooth the wrinkled collar of her sweater. Her voice betrayed nothing. "Even pros slip up once in a while. I'll handle it." The tension left her frame, replaced by a languid half-smile. "I figured you'd be sipping coffee in that bunker of yours. What brings you out to the middle of nowhere?"
"Came for some technical data." Ryan released her and stepped back. "And to check whether my best partner's been run ragged by that stone-faced boss of hers."
Ada gave a soft scoff and moved to stand beside him, shoulder to shoulder. "You heard my report just now? On paper, I'm Wesker's operative."
"Exactly why I came to you." Ryan's gaze sharpened. "Wesker wants the Amber. Saddler wants it too. Leon wants to save the hostage. The muddier this water gets, the better."
"What do you need from me?" Ada knew Ryan too well. The moment this man showed up, it meant he was running the board.
"Keep playing double agent." Ryan slid his hands into his coat pockets and looked toward the towering silhouette of Salazar Castle looming against the dark sky. "Shadow Leon, feed Wesker bad intel. I'm heading into the castle. I'll have a little gift for you when I'm done."
"You'd better not screw this up." Ada eyed his confident expression and let out a skeptical hum. "Wesker came to Spain personally this time. If he finds out you've been playing him, he'll lose it."
"Lose it?" Ryan's eyes went cold, radiating a pressure that was almost suffocating. "Then I'll break his spine and take away the option."
Ada studied the profile of his face, that absolute confidence etched into every line of it, and felt an inexplicable wave of calm settle through her. She knew that as long as this man was operating in the shadows, all of Wesker's schemes were a joke.
Crackle.
The bone-conduction earpiece in Ryan's ear hissed to life. Jill's encrypted channel from headquarters: "Ryan, Carlos reports Sherry and Becky have linked up with Leon. They're moving on the church now to extract Ashley. What's your status?"
"Made contact on my end too." Ryan glanced at Ada, his tone easy. "Tell Carlos to hold the perimeter tight. I'm going to borrow a few things from the castle."
He killed the comm, gave Ada a casual wave, and dissolved into the mountain fog in an instant, leaving only a parting line floating behind him:
"Catch you later, Ms. Wong. Keep an eye on those two girls for me."
Ada watched the direction he'd vanished into, shook her head, but couldn't quite keep the corner of her mouth from curling upward.
"Same terrible sense of humor as always." She turned and headed toward the village. The real show was only getting started.
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