[{ ☣ }] - "Tell me about it. If there was already one this early, that means there's a good chance that anyone else bitten here has also turned, going forward, we should expect to encounter a few more. Remember, no hesitation, because even a second of hesitation could cost you you're life."
He carefully warned, he hated to paint a grim picture, but even if this was her first experience with undead infected, he would much rather be honest about the risk factors. As skilled as Leon was, if they were to run into multiple, even he wouldn't be able to completely protect her from them all.
[{ ☣ }] - "Let's just hope we walk out of this mission with at least a few survivors and not just a truck load of body bags.." He comments, a sigh after his sentence.
Looking over at the dead zombie one last time, he moves on, once again taking point, alongside Naoto instead of in front of her this time, in this position, it was much easier to cover each other should they need to engage in another hostile, he just hoped it was only zombies here, the last thing they needed was the appearance of a Hunter, or one of the different types of Licker, or worse a tyrant.
In is mind, he was crossing his fingers, hoping that it would continue to only be zombies, but they would only find out as they went along, a factor that he wasn't exactly content with, but something told him there would be something more waiting for them just before this mission was over--he hoped to god he was wrong this time.
A nod as she pointed out the option of stairs, and Leon would agree. They had no idea how much infected would be waiting for them, so the elevator definitely didn't seem like a very wise option right now, not until they could confirm the upstairs perimeters were clear of any further threats.
[{ ☣ }] - "You're right, the elevator is not our best option right now. Let's check for the stairwell, the sooner we get eyes up there, the better we'll be able to prepare ourselves." Leon added, walking towards the aforementioned stairwell. During the walk, he finally notices her flashlight isn't on, so he stops to mention it.
[{ ☣ }] - "There should be a black button on the right side barrel of the gun, two flashlights is better than one, if you tap it twice, you get laser sight and a flashlight." He showed her the same exact button on his gun.
[{ ☣ }] - "Just in case we end up completely in the dark for one of the upstairs rooms." He added. Once she was prepared, the duo made their way up. The two flights of stairs, stepping through the open door, they were already here, walking through the stairway door which brought them to the second floor apartment hallways, ironically, the entirety of that hallway was dark.
He signals her to walk with him, but to remain quiet, the more they were aware of their surroundings, the quicker they would be able to fire should they need to.
it was important to pay attention to their surroundings now more than ever, he was glad he showed her the button for the flashlight. Leon moved forward a bit, once again taking point, because this was her first experience with infected, he made sure to be in front of her, should something try to jump out at them, Leon would be the first person it sees. Suddenly, he stops in his tracks, a hand reaching out to quickly grab her arm to get her immediate attention the second e heard the sound of what could only be described as fleshy paw pads padding on the ground, the second her eyes meet his gaze, he puts a finger to his lips, signaling her to remain still in place.
Not long after, a red fleshy creature with chattery sharp teeth and no eyes slowly walks past them, it stopped in place right in front of them, and looked in their direction for a few moments, a long slimey sharp tongue extends from it's mouth, as if scanning the area, Leon had his other hand on his combat knife, ready to use that if necessary, in case there were more around, any loud noise would cause the rest to come rushing in, and then they would be in trouble. Thinking fast, Leon slowly grabbed a glass water bottle, and gave it a quick throw, it landed further down into the darkness on the other side of the hall, the sound of the thrown bottle shattering worked, with a hiss, it turned away from them, and disappeared into the darkness to investigate, thus he finally let go of her arm.
Giving her the signal to follow him slowly and quietly, Leon carefully led the way, it seemed like there was one, but he wasn't going to take any chances, so the best course of action, was to enter one of the nearby apartments to take a breather, thankfully it wasn't too far from them, so long as they stepped quietly and carefully, they would be able to make it. Once they made it inside, he checked both sides, before allowing her inside, quietly shut the door behind them.
[{ ☣ }] - "Shit... I wasn't expecting to run into Lickers, those ugly bastards are blind, so they hunt by noise and sonar with their tongues. Let's take a breather, and take a look around here. But keep your guard up."
