[TWD x Resident Evil] — Chapter 605 - Take the Red Queen Back

"And besides, didn't you say I was a clone?"

Alice pressed the point.

"If they could clone me, couldn't they have cloned you too?"

"I don't think you're exactly a normal person."

The hell he wasn't normal.

Leon looked at her striking face and tugged the corner of his mouth.

"I'm not some assembly-line product."

Alice was staring at him with the pure, wide-eyed fascination of a child who'd found something she couldn't explain. Leon kept his tone easy.

"As for why the monsters obey me — think of it as a rather special kind of signal. I can connect directly into their brains."

Alice stiffened.

"Like Bluetooth?"

"More or less." Leon set his coffee cup down. "Though considerably more stable."

Jill was beside him, running a cloth down the Remington's barrel. She heard that and couldn't help cutting in.

"Leon, if you could use that on the Walkers outside, we could just march a million-strong army straight across the entire West Coast."

"Maybe someday." Leon answered with total nonchalance. "I'll take the Walkers and plow through the whole world."

Jill covered her mouth and laughed.

"Then you might actually end up ruling it... just don't forget who helped you get there."

"Don't worry. You have my word."

Conversation drifted easy and unhurried. Time slipped by minute by minute.

Half an hour passed.

Leon leaned back in his chair, eyes half-closed.

His brain was processing the flood of sensory signals coming back from hundreds of Lickers at extraordinary speed.

Research sector, cleared.

Nothing left there now but mutilated researcher corpses scattered across the floor.

Residential sector, cleared.

A few Walkers that had been "sleeping" under the beds were dragged out and had their skulls crushed.

Lower-level sewage treatment zone, cleared.

The entire underground Hive, dozens of floors from top to bottom, had been torn apart by these crazed killing machines.

How clean?

Even the rats in the ventilation ducts hadn't been spared.

But something was wrong. None of the feedback contained any sign of an abnormally powerful life form. Every single return signal belonged to ordinary Walkers or extremely low-grade mutants.

No Lisa Trevor.

Not a trace of that wretched creature in chains, the one with the grotesque regenerative ability and terrifying strength.

Leon snapped his eyes open, brow knotting hard.

The coordinates Simon had given him for the electronic shielding field, he'd assumed this was the secret cage Umbrella used to hold Lisa. Now it was clear this was nothing more than the Red Queen's shielding system.

Lisa Trevor wasn't here at all.

Then where had she gone?

After escaping the Arklay Mountains, she had to still be wandering somewhere out there. With her level of intelligence and her obsessive fixation on her mother, there was no way she had simply vanished.

Fine. She wasn't here. No point lingering.

"Sir?" James noticed the shift in Leon's expression and immediately straightened up. "Is there a new development?"

Leon stood and pressed the stub of his cigarette out directly on the tabletop.

"The Hive has been cleared." His voice was flat. "Aside from the dead, there's nothing left breathing in this place."

"Pack up. Prepare to withdraw."

Kaplan immediately clutched his backpack tight against his chest, terrified of losing it for even a second.

Matt stood as well. Despite his fear, his sister had never left his mind.

"Sir... my sister..."

He asked it quietly.

"Go look in the residential and research sectors." Leon looked at him. "It's completely safe in there now. Go search for her."

He paused.

"But I'll tell you in advance — you'd better be prepared."

Matt swallowed, and nodded heavily. He'd clearly already braced himself for something.

James took 2 task force members and accompanied Matt to the residential area.

Ten minutes later, Matt came back with red-rimmed eyes and a blood-stained work ID tag in his hand.

He didn't say what he'd found.

He didn't have to. The hollowed-out, lost look on his face said everything.

"Let's go." Leon offered no comfort.

On this wasteland, the dead were the most unwelcome subject of conversation.

The group reassembled.

Retracing their steps, the carnage in the corridor was even worse than when they'd come through. The floor, already soaked with blood and flesh, had become a dark red swamp. Shredded remains were piled along both walls.

All the Lickers' work.

Those same killers were now resting quietly on the walls and ceiling. As Leon passed, they lowered their grotesque heads slightly, a gesture of absolute submission.

Leon addressed them.

"All of you — after we leave, keep watch over this place. Anyone who dares to trespass gets cleaned up on the spot."

Alice watched these monsters, which had been in a frenzied slaughter just minutes ago, now docile as house pets. The contrast sent a fresh wave of curiosity through her about exactly what kind of person Leon was.

The group moved through the corridor, passed through the flooded observation room, and made their way back to the underground platform where the train waited.

Ada walked straight to the driver's console and began restarting the power. The generator let out a low, heavy rumble. The carriage lights flickered back on.

Everyone boarded one by one.

Leon stood at the door and took one last look at the pitch-black platform.

This whole run, and all he'd walked away with was the Red Queen's motherboard. A bonus at best. The real target was nowhere to be found.

Where in the world was Lisa Trevor wandering?

He'd have to sit down with Simon and work it out.

The train doors slid shut.

Ada pushed the lever.

The massive metal beast shrieked against the rails and began carrying everyone upward toward the surface.

---

Sunlight poured in through the shattered floor-to-ceiling windows of the villa.

The brief underground journey was over.

The group walked out into the desolate ruins of the old processing plant. Chris went and brought the mine-resistant armored SUV around.

With James and the others folded into the team, the interior had become extremely cramped. Several people squeezed into the back row as best they could.

The vehicle started and headed out onto the road they'd come in on.

Leon sat in the passenger seat and pulled out his radio. He switched the channel to Simon's base frequency.

"Simon." He pressed the transmit key.

Static crackled for 2 seconds. Then Simon's familiar voice came through.

"Boss, you guys made it out alive? That's amazing!" His excitement was thick. "I knew nothing could stop you."

"Alright, cut the chatter." Leon stopped him. "Lisa Trevor wasn't there. But I picked up an unexpected bonus, something that might save you a little hair in this miserable world."

"What is it?" Simon pressed.

"A super artificial intelligence. The Red Queen's main host motherboard."

After Leon finished explaining what that meant, there was a very brief silence on the other end.

Then came the swearing.

"Holy shit! You actually pulled that thing out and brought it back?" Simon was beside himself with excitement.

"Get your equipment ready." Leon kept his eyes on the road. "Once I bring it back, you're doing a full rewrite on it. I don't want her taking orders from anyone else, she serves us and no one else."

"Leave it to me, Boss! This is hands down the most perfect gift I've received all year!" Simon was hollering over the channel.

➤ Next: Curious Alice