[TWD x Resident Evil] — Chapter 568 - Wesker's Fury

Wesker's head snapped up. His eyes were shot through with red, and the ferocity Leon had kept caged in him blew open all at once.

This time, though, his hatred had a new target.

"Spencer..."

He forced the name out through his throat like he meant to chew it up and swallow it.

"That old bastard."

He thrashed hard. The alloy handcuffs rang out with a sharp, rattling CLANK.

He was going to kill Spencer.

He was going to wring that old man's neck with his own hands.

To avenge himself, the self that had been manipulated for half a lifetime.

He was going to tear Umbrella Corporation out by its roots.

Leon watched him sink into the frenzy. A satisfied smile crept onto his face.

Good. Smooth.

This blade was finally properly sharpened.

Being under someone else's thumb was one thing. But give a blade a shared enemy, and it became something far more useful.

Wesker stopped struggling.

He dragged in air in heaving gulps, slowly bringing himself back down. His eyes locked onto Leon, and the resistance that had been there before was gone. What replaced it was something colder. Harder.

Resolve.

He was a smart man. If he'd already become a piece on Leon's board, he might as well borrow Leon's reach to settle his own score.

"What exactly do you want?" Wesker said.

His tone was flat and measured. He'd recovered his reason fast.

"You didn't tell me all this just to watch me lose my mind." It wasn't a question. "You want Umbrella brought down. You want Spencer dead. I can help you."

Leon walked back to the iron chair and sat down. He looked at Wesker.

"Good. That's the attitude you should have. I'm satisfied."

He fished the crumpled cigarette pack from his pocket, pulled one out, tucked it between his lips, and lit it. Smoke curled upward in lazy wisps under the cold fluorescent light.

"H.C.F. — you've already made contact with them." Leon exhaled a slow ring of smoke. "I'd assume."

Wesker nodded. "They want live combat data on Umbrella's bioweapons. In exchange, they'll give me technical support and a senior position."

"Then carry on with your plan." Leon held the cigarette between two fingers and pointed at him. "Go to H.C.F. Infiltrate their upper ranks."

"I need you to be my eyes."

"Whatever technology they have, whatever new virus they've cooked up, whatever operations they're running against Umbrella — or against me." He paused. "Everything. All of it. Full detail. Not a single word missing."

Wesker studied him. "You want to go after Umbrella and H.C.F. at the same time?"

"Is there a problem with that?" Leon said.

"The resources they're sitting on interest me."

Wesker was quiet for a moment. "Spencer's whereabouts are extremely well hidden. His precise location isn't in Umbrella's core database."

"I'll use H.C.F.'s intelligence network to track him down."

He raised his head.

"But if I find him — I want to skin him myself."

Leon flicked the ash off his cigarette.

"Suit yourself. As long as you behave and bring the intelligence back, Spencer's life is yours. I have no interest in that old relic."

Leon stood, walked around behind him, and reached down to undo the alloy handcuffs.

They hit the floor with a sharp, clean CLANG.

Wesker rubbed the red marks bitten into his wrists and slowly rose to his feet.

The look he gave Leon now held none of that insufferable arrogance from before.

This world had gone completely insane.

He'd thought himself a wolf, only to find out he was a sheep, and the man in front of him was the monster who'd simply flipped the whole table over.

"When do I leave?" Wesker rolled his neck.

"Tonight." Leon turned. "Rick will get a vehicle and enough supplies ready for you. I'll return the combat data too, something for you to hand over."

"Don't try anything clever. You know what happens."

Wesker drew a slow breath. "I understand perfectly."

He glanced down at the marks on his wrists.

"I'll come back to you with H.C.F.'s highest-level clearance."

Leon said nothing more. He walked out of the Solitary Confinement Cell in long strides, and the heavy door eased shut behind him.

➤ Next: Sherry Birkin