He had lock-picking tools for every conceivable angle; as a senior agent, lock-picking was a mandatory skill.
Leon fiddled with the lock-picking tools in the truck's ignition for a moment, and soon the engine roared to life. The entire pickup truck started up very smoothly.
Beside him, Helena and Ashley watched Leon's performance with looks of surprise. As a fellow Caucasian senior agent, Helena didn't recall the Secret Service ever teaching such a skill.
In response, Leon remarked that even senior agents have their differences. Back when he was in training, he had learned almost all of these unconventional tricks...
Volume 9 Resident Evil 6: Chapter 18 The Cathedral
"Vroom...!"
"Roar—!!!"
The engine roared as the pickup truck successfully started. Leon gripped the steering wheel and floored the gas, driving the motorized beast forward to continue their breakout from the city center without a moment's hesitation.
As long as they remained within the city limits,
they would inevitably encounter attacks from C-Virus Zombies. It was unavoidable, so Leon's priority was to quickly distance them from the urban area.
As for the young couple and the older pair left behind at the gun shop, things looked grim for them.
The intense gunfire from Leon and the others just now had already drawn the surrounding zombies toward them, including some mutants.
For instance, the Shriekers and Bloodshot encountered earlier.
The most annoying of them were the Shriekers; once one spotted prey,
it would immediately let out a sharp, ear-piercing scream to attract its kind. What followed would be a massive swarm of zombies. They were the type of enemy that had to be eliminated the moment they were spotted.
Led by the Shriekers,
a large horde of zombies was converging on the gun shop. If the survivors still inside were smart,
they would realize they couldn't just rely on their ample ammunition to hold their ground. Staying put was a guaranteed death sentence.
Because that gun shop only had one floor,
it was no different from a convenience store or a supermarket—exposed on all sides.
Once a large swarm of zombies attacked, they wouldn't be able to hold out for long. Even if they managed to defend it for a while, they wouldn't last 24 hours.
After all, there was nowhere to rest. Were they really going to hide in a gun shop filled with glass display cases? That was pure suicide!
Furthermore,
by staying in one place,
the loud gunfire would only attract more zombies. If four or five Shriekers gathered, they would get a true taste of a zombie tide.
Roughly a hundred zombies would frantically converge on them, and some of the mutants would level the entire gun shop. This wasn't alarmism; it was a fact!
Therefore,
the best course of action was to run.
They needed to grab weapons and ammo and leave that den of trouble immediately. To distract the zombies, they could even set the gun shop on fire.
Once the massive amount of stored weapons and ammunition exploded, the resulting commotion would draw all nearby zombies toward it,
buying them more time to escape.
As for the pity of destroying a gun shop... well, Tall Oaks City had over a dozen gun shops and police stations; there was no shortage of weapons.
Moreover, the Resident Evil incident in Tall Oaks City wouldn't last very long. In about two or three days, the Government Forces would arrive to handle it.
So the urgent priority was to save their own lives, not worry about long-term resource consumption, because the crisis in Tall Oaks City simply wouldn't last that long.
"It's fine now."
"Next, we can leave Tall Oaks City safely, but before that, we need to head to the Tall Oaks Cathedral. Helena, I hope what you said is true."
"Now is the time to verify the truth of your words. If you lied, you can speak up and explain yourself now. I'll give you one chance. Don't wait until we actually reach the cathedral for me to find out you've been deceiving me."
He drove the pickup truck.
The tall chassis and thick tires of the pickup truck bullied their way through the streets. Even when some zombies attempted to block their path, they were instantly sent flying by the truck.
Because the front of the pickup was equipped with a bull bar, even after hitting several zombies, the engine remained unaffected.
Turning on the wipers to clear the blood from the windshield, Leon suddenly spoke to Helena beside him.
Even now,
Leon still didn't trust Helena one hundred percent.
The evidence Helena mentioned was at the Tall Oaks Cathedral, which Leon found highly suspicious.
But to find the truth behind the President's assassination and death, he had to accompany Helena on this trip.
However, this was contingent on Helena not deceiving him, which is why Leon issued the warning beforehand.
If Helena really had deceived him, and she confessed her crimes now, Leon wouldn't punish her excessively; he would simply handcuff her and hand her over to the US Government.
But if he arrived at the cathedral only to find she had lied,
Leon might not be able to suppress his inner rage and might shoot Helena directly to vent his anger at being repeatedly deceived. This was something Leon meant, so he wanted to hear Helena's side of the story one more time.
"..."
"I know you still can't trust me, but I promise what I said is the truth. The person who coerced me into helping assassinate the President was Simmons, that senior national security advisor to the US Government. He kidnapped my sister, Deborah, to use as leverage."
"And I didn't directly assassinate the President with poison or infection. During the university speech, I hesitated repeatedly; the moral condemnation made it hard to breathe. I knew what an assassination charge meant, so I didn't compromise with Simmons."
"Instead, I sent a warning over the radio to the Federal Secret Service, saying there was an assassin in the university. Fearing a real attempt on the President's life, the Secret Service directed the security teams to scatter and search for the killer."
"But that very action killed the President. The security presence dropped, leaving only three guards, including myself, by the President's side. When the assassins rushed in, we couldn't stop them, and the President was killed instantly. That is the truth!"
"As for the Tall Oaks Cathedral, Simmons told me that after the job was done, he would place my sister Deborah there. If I can rescue her, she can serve as a star witness to testify against Simmons."
"Moreover, she is a victim of this series of events and can prove my innocence. Furthermore, I suspect that cathedral likely hides evidence of Simmons' bio-weapon research!"
Facing Leon's questioning,
Helena gave a bitter smile. She knew she was still a criminal suspect, but she had no choice.
Helena also knew how serious her actions were, so she could only recount the sequence of events to Leon once more.
Helena wasn't lying.
This was indeed the truth. After all, if her sister Deborah hadn't been kidnapped, she would have had to be insane to agree to help Simmons assassinate the President.
Her status as a senior agent provided a good monthly salary. While she wasn't wealthy, she was better off than most white-collar workers and lived a comfortable life. Why would she throw it away to seek death?
"..."
"We'll see when we get there."
To this, Leon remained silent for a while before speaking indifferently.
He truly couldn't think of a motive for Helena to assassinate the President, but regardless, everything would become clear once they reached the Tall Oaks Cathedral. He wasn't in a hurry...
The Tall Oaks Cathedral
was on the outskirts of the city, which happened to align with Leon and the others' escape route.
After all, it was rare for such a cathedral to be built in the city center. The economic value generated by the high-rises and commercial shops in the center was far greater than that of a church. No developer would waste dozens of acres of land on a cathedral that would just be in the way.
"Vroom..."
"Roar—!!!"
The pickup truck's engine roared.
After driving for nearly ten minutes, Leon's group of three soon arrived at the Tall Oaks Cathedral. It was a secluded place, bordered by a dense forest.
It looked like a perfect spot for conducting secret research into unknown things. In the pitch-black night, it felt exceptionally eerie.
A tall white cathedral stood in the center.
Many vehicles were parked nearby; quite a few civilians had also fled here by car, believing the cathedral would be a good temporary shelter, and had gathered inside.
Seeing this, Leon didn't hesitate.
He quickly drove the truck closer to the cathedral and had Helena and Ashley get out and grab their firearms. Helena took a shotgun and several boxes of ammunition, loading it skillfully.
This weapon was more effective for killing zombies. Leon, on the other hand, took a sniper rifle; certain specific zombies required the high power of a sniper rifle to be killed.
So, to be safe, Leon carried the sniper rifle.
As for Ashley, she didn't take a single large gun. Instead, she sensibly stuffed several boxes of ammunition into her Hermes leather bag.
As the weak link of the team,
there was no need for her to carry a heavy weapon, as it would only become a useless stick in her hands.
Therefore, the best way for her to contribute was to carry more medicine and bullets for her teammates, turning herself into a mobile ammunition depot!
Step, step, step...
Bang, bang, bang—!!!
"Is anyone inside? Quick, open the door! We're survivors from nearby, and we want to take shelter in the cathedral. Sorry, could you please open the door? Please!"
Leon quickly walked to the cathedral doors with the sniper rifle on his back. Seeing the doors were tightly shut, he knew the survivors inside were hiding.
He stepped forward and knocked firmly on the door, disguising himself as one of a group of fleeing survivors, begging the people inside to open up and let them in.
Sure enough,
after Leon's pitiful plea for help,
a commotion immediately broke out inside the cathedral. It seemed some cautious survivors were afraid Leon and the others would lead zombies to them and didn't want to open the door.
But the end times are never short of'saints'.
Not to mention that in the land of the free, America, various 'isms' were everywhere, and kind-hearted 'Marias' were not few in number.
They immediately pleaded to open the door and rescue Leon's group. After all, if they refused to help, these 'Marias' would label them as cold-blooded killers.
Some of the cautious survivors couldn't stand the slander from these 'Marias' and reluctantly opened the cathedral doors.
In normal times, Leon also disliked those talkative 'Marias,' but he had to admit that sometimes these groups were actually quite useful.
It was also fortunate that Leon and his companions were actually good people.
If they were villains, they could have entered with their guns and quickly harvested a significant amount of money through threats.
Clang...!
Without hesitation,
the cathedral doors slowly opened.
When the survivors inside saw that Leon's group of three were all armed with firearms—even large weapons like a sniper rifle and a shotgun—
their expressions changed instantly,
and they hurriedly tried to shut the cathedral doors.
But Leon jammed the muzzle of his sniper rifle into the gap to block them. Facing the roughly dozen survivors inside, Leon directly threatened:
"Don't move. Open the door and let us in. Also, we have no interest in you survivors. As long as you stay quiet, these weapons won't be pointed at you."
In the apocalypse,
the most dangerous things are never the zombies or monsters, but humans. The human heart is more terrifying and vicious than any beast.
Thus, Leon could understand why these survivors were so afraid of them, but he had no choice. To investigate the truth, they had to enter the cathedral.
Sure enough,
after hearing Leon's threat, the people inside the cathedral once again reluctantly opened the door. The looks in their eyes as they watched the three were full of fear and wariness,
dreading that these people might suddenly turn violent.
They feared they would be shot and killed. After all, the Resident Evil outbreak had occurred in Tall Oaks City, and order had temporarily vanished.
It didn't matter how many people died inside. This also gave some desperate criminals the confidence to start taking reckless revenge on society.
However,
once Leon was inside the cathedral, to dispel everyone's doubts,
he quickly pulled out his credentials as a senior agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. After explaining the Resident Evil situation in Tall Oaks City,
he completely calmed everyone's nervous hearts. After all, he was a government official, and his words carried weight.
And upon learning that this bio-crisis would only last about two or three days before the government military arrived to handle it,