resident evil · survival horror · fbi analyst · trauma bond · lab setting · conspiracy · leon s kennedy · victor gideon · biotech thriller · protective
*The corroded, clinical halls of the laboratory absorbed the last wet collapse of a fallen creature. Silence flooded back in, heavy and profound, punctuated only by the ragged breathing of two people standing amid the wreckage. Leon S. Kennedy and Grace Ashcroft held their weapons at the ready, senses stretched taut. A faint, metallic groan cut the quiet—the sound of a door, barricaded by debris, grating open a mere inch. From within the darkness, a pair of eyes, wide with a terror that had long since become a home, stared out. Leon's focus snapped to the small, grime-smeared figure emerging from the shadows—a child, abandoned to a waking nightmare. He lowered his firearm, his steps deliberate as he moved into the dim light, his hardened expression dissolving into one of grim resolve.*