[TWD x Resident Evil] — Chapter 473 - What Happens When Rebekah Isn't Around?

Leon sat on the bed, the argument outside the door buzzing in his ears like flies.

One said he was dangerous. The other said they couldn't just leave him to die.

Letting him go? No. Giving him a radio so he could check in with his people? Also no.

This wouldn't do. That wouldn't do.

So what exactly did they want?

Simple. They were scared.

Scared he'd contact his people. Scared his people would come here and tear this little sanctuary of theirs apart.

Leon got it.

In their position, he'd think the same way.

But understanding something and accepting it were two different things. That was the double standard, and he wasn't losing any sleep over it.

The weak talk reason. The strong compare fists. That was the whole point of having force.

He wasn't doing this to bully Tara and her family. He was doing it because he was out of time.

Since leaving the prison for Fort Benning, he'd departed in such a rush that there'd been no chance for Rebekah's treatment. No stimulation. No reset. And ever since, the erosion had been building quietly in the dark, patient and inevitable.

The beast inside him was almost at the bars again.

He needed to reach Rick. He needed to know what was happening at the prison. He needed to get back there and find Rebekah before things went sideways in a way he couldn't walk back.

And not knowing what was happening at home was its own kind of torture.

Fuck.

He was done waiting.

If reason wasn't getting through, fine. He'd switch to a language they could actually understand.

Surely they could understand force.

Listening to the bickering outside, a nameless fire flared up in his chest.

BANG!

The wooden door, which had looked decently solid, exploded off its frame in a single kick.

In the living room, Tara and Lilly froze mid-argument.

They turned, and what they saw was the man who was supposed to be lying in bed recovering from his wounds. Standing in the doorway. Like a beast that had just broken out of its cage.

Wait. Wasn't he injured?

How did he still have that kind of strength? Enough to kick a locked door clean off in one shot?

Leon's face was ice. In his hands, the M1 carbine he'd taken from Lilly.

"Alright. I don't have time for this."

"I told you. I need a radio."

"And I'm not spending another minute in this place."

Tara reacted fast, her hand moving almost on instinct toward her gun.

She was a step too slow.

Leon was already moving.

One stride and he was across the room, muzzle pressed hard against Lilly's temple.

Lilly went rigid.

"Don't move." His voice came from right beside her ear. "Put the gun down."

Tara's hand trembled around her weapon. She looked at Lilly. Then at Leon's eyes.

He wasn't bluffing.

Those eyes held nothing but killing intent, naked and undisguised.

If she didn't put the gun down, Lilly was dead.

"Fine."

Tara ground her teeth and slowly bent down, setting her gun on the floor with deliberate care.

"Don't try anything. Kick it over. Hands where I can see them at all times. The second they leave my line of sight, I shoot. I'm telling you now."

Tara used the tip of her foot to push the gun across the floor.

Leon hooked it with his foot. It slid to rest beside him.

"Now. Go get the radio."

The muzzle didn't move from Lilly's head. Not even a fraction.

"Mom!"

Meghan had been hiding in the corner the whole time. At the sight of it, she finally broke, a terrified shriek tearing out of her throat.

Like a small, furious animal, she threw herself across the room without a thought, tiny fists hammering against Leon's thigh with everything she had.

"Bad guy! Let go of my mom! You bad guy!"

Leon glanced down at the little girl clinging to his leg, kicking and pounding at him.

He didn't even blink.

Every thread of his attention was locked on Tara.

He knew Tara was an Atlanta cop. Before the apocalypse, she'd come to visit Lilly and gotten stranded at Fort Benning when everything fell apart. This woman could shoot. She was a completely different species from the decorative survivors he was used to dealing with. He couldn't give her a single opening.

Tara didn't dare hesitate.

She turned, hands raised, and walked slowly into the other room. Under his watch, she came back out moments later carrying the radio.

"Here! Now let her go!"

Leon didn't reach for it.

He used the gun to nudge Lilly forward, step by step, toward the radio.

"You, step back. You, come forward. Pick it up for me."

Tara did as she was told.

Just as Leon was steering Lilly toward the radio.

Lilly moved.

She drove her elbow back hard and fast, and it connected with Leon's chest.

That was the opening she needed.

She twisted free like an eel, spun around, and went for the gun in his hand.

"Fuck!"

Leon didn't have the patience for this. Not right now.

He abandoned the radio entirely. His free hand cracked across Lilly's face in a sharp backhand, then grabbed a fistful of her hair and slammed her down onto the sofa.

"Ah!"

Lilly cried out. The room spun.

Before she could get her bearings, his weight came down on top of her.

Leon pinned her fully, one leg crushing both of hers so she couldn't kick free, one hand closing around her throat, the gun in his other hand pressing into her forehead.

Across the room, Tara had given up entirely.

Just do what he says. Why did you have to pull that?

Leon's face was inches from Lilly's. Breath against breath.

"I said. Don't. Move."

He kept his voice low, but every word was saturated with a rage he was barely holding back.

"I don't have time for this."

"Then kill me." Lilly's face was going red from lack of oxygen. Her voice came out strangled, but the defiance in her eyes didn't waver. "If you've got the nerve."

"You think I don't?"

His hand tightened around her throat. Lilly's face went from red to a deep, ugly purple. She clawed at his wrist with both hands, trying to pry him off.

His grip didn't move.

"Listen."

His face was almost touching hers now. He spoke one word at a time, slow and deliberate.

"I am in a very bad mood right now. Extremely bad."

"If you move again, or say one more useless word..."

"I can't promise what I'll do."

"Maybe I start with a hole in that pretty leg of yours. Then the other one. And I do it right in front of your daughter."

"You don't want to leave her with that kind of scar for the rest of her life. Do you?"

"You..."

Fear broke through. It was there in Lilly's eyes, finally, unmistakable.

Leon watched the fight drain out of her.

He'd won.

He let go.

Lilly clutched her throat and coughed hard, dragging in breath after ragged breath.

Leon pushed himself off her, hauled her up from the sofa, and used his free hand to straighten his jacket.

The gun in his other hand never left her.

"You. Take the radio into the room."

Lilly walked to the table. Picked up the radio.

Walked into the room.

Leon followed her in.

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