[TWD x Resident Evil] — Chapter 496 - Artificial Cultivation — Ascension

Marcus turned and walked toward the lab. Bruce, Sam, and Max followed him in. The automatic door slid shut behind them.

Leon looked away.

Ashley's life was entirely in their hands now.

He reached inside his tactical vest and touched the waterproof pouch. The Leech Queen was still there.

Carrying it around in his pocket was a waste. He needed to find it a proper home.

A place where it could breed without limit. Grow without ceiling.

The stronger it got, the stronger the leech derivatives he could control. When it came to anything that could make him stronger, Leon didn't think twice. He moved.

He needed a breeding pool. A real one, with volume, enough leeches to actually use.

Leon headed for the exercise yard.

Jim was out there directing a few men patching the perimeter fence.

"Jim."

Jim turned, dropped the wire cutters, and jogged over. His eyes tracked down to Leon's chest for half a second.

"Boss, you're looking..." He swallowed.

"Skip it." Leon cut him off. "Is that empty lot on the north side still unused?"

Jim thought about it.

"Yeah, it's just wasteland over there. Soil's too hard to grow anything. Been sitting empty."

"Get the excavator on it," Leon said. "Dig a pit. Deep — 5 meters minimum."

Jim blinked. "A pit?"

"For raising something."

"Raising what?"

"Leeches."

Jim's face shifted.

Those slimy things from the sewers. T-Dog had told him about them.

"Boss. You serious?"

"Do I look like I'm joking?"

Jim shook his head immediately.

"I'll get on it. Dale's still got two crawler excavators running."

"Good. Once it's dug, channel water in from the river outside." Leon kept going. "Set up a circulation system. And weld protective screens over the intake and outflow — nothing inside gets out."

Jim nodded, filing it all away.

"How long?"

"Soil's hard. Excavator work takes time. Two days, at least."

"One day." Leon held up a finger. "I want the pit before dark. Water by noon tomorrow."

Jim's jaw tightened.

"Fine. Dale works through the night."

He turned and ran for the garage.

Merle drifted over, cigarette hanging off his lip, hands in his pockets.

"Boss. You really gonna farm those disgusting things?"

Leon gave him a sideways look. "They can kill people."

Merle shrugged. "Sure, you're Superman. Whatever you say."

"While I've got you — don't stand around." Leon looked at him. "Take a few guys, two trucks, head out."

"Scavenging run?"

"Catch walkers."

Merle stared at him.

"Catch walkers. Live ones?"

"Live, dead, either works. You could strip the flesh off first." Leon paused. "Actually, forget it. Just bring them back whole. Don't bother processing."

"How many?"

"As many as you can get."

Merle spat his cigarette butt on the ground.

"Boss, your tastes keep getting worse. Want me to find you some good-looking ones while I'm out there?"

"Get out of here. Move. I need them fast." Leon didn't even look at him.

Merle turned and hollered at T-Dog and Glenn.

"Let's go, boys. Boss wants to open a farm. We're on walker-catching duty."

---

North side of the prison.

The excavators tore the silence apart.

Dale sat in the cab working the arm. The massive bucket drove into the hardpacked earth, ripped loose a chunk, and swung it aside. Leon stood at the edge and watched the hole grow.

Two large excavators. Nowhere near as slow as doing it by hand. The other variants pitched in on leveling and clearing, and by the time the sun hit the horizon, the pit was done: 10 meters wide, 10 meters long, 5 meters deep.

Jim brought his crew in to start the pipes. Thick PVC ran from the river outside the prison walls straight to the pit. Both the intake and the outflow were welded over with double-layer rebar mesh, each bar roughly thumb-thick.

The pump kicked on. Murky river water pushed through the pipe and poured into the pit, churning at the bottom, the level climbing inch by inch.

By noon the next day, it was full. A small, turbid lake sitting in a hole in the ground.

Leon stood at the edge. He unzipped his tactical vest and pulled out the waterproof pouch, opened it. The core leech lay inside, perfectly still, crystal-clear.

He pinched it between two fingers and dropped it into the center of the pool. It hit the surface and sank, gone in an instant.

Leon closed his eyes.

That strange tether surfaced again. He could feel the Leech Queen somewhere down in the dark water, body unfurling, stretching out.

It was feeding. It was hungry.

Truck engines rumbled in from the distance. Two heavies rolled through the gate and stopped beside the pool.

Merle dropped down from the cab.

"Boss. Delivery's here."

The compartments were loud with snarling. Something inside was hammering the panels hard enough to make them boom.

"Michonne's method is solid," Merle said. "She stuck a speaker in the back. Walkers heard it and walked right in. We just shut the door."

Leon nodded.

He'd give her that. Way more efficient than running them down one at a time.

"Open it up."

Merle and T-Dog moved to the rear, yanked the latches, and hauled the doors open.

Dozens of walkers poured out, shoving and clawing at each other to get through first. They hit the open air, caught the scent of living flesh, and lunged straight for Merle.

One thought from Leon, and they went still.

Another, and they walked to the edge of the pool and dropped in.

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