Chapter 19
Claire opened her eyes and then closed them again, taking a deep breath and fumbling at the blanket tangled up under her arm. Dim morning light filtered in through the closed blinds, casting the room in a grayish hue. The digital clock on the desk read 6:23.
Carefully, Claire wiggled her way out of bed, trying not to shake it too much. Leon was still sound asleep beside her and she didn’t want to wake him. Not quite paying attention, she nearly stepped in the spaghetti that she spilled all over the floor the night before, but she managed to notice at the last moment and moved her foot out of the way. She giggled at herself and then picked her shirt up off the floor and pulled it over her head.
Each room had its own phone, so Claire took a seat by the desk and dialed her parents’ house. Her father had probably already left for work, but she knew her mother would still be home.
She spoke as quietly as she could so as not to wake Leon. “Hey Mom, it’s me. Yes, I’m fine, I know it’s early. Listen, I was just calling to let you know that me and Leon are both flying in to Roanoke together this afternoon. Yeah, I really wanted you to meet him, so I talked him into it. Oh, it will be okay. Actually, I’m not sure what time the flight is, we haven’t checked yet. They’re paying for the tickets, so it doesn’t matter. I know, Mom. Just a few hours, probably. He said he’ll just take another flight out later, he said it was okay. His family lives near Tampa, so I was thinking that maybe I could …”
She smiled. “Mom, of course we’re just friends. I’ve only known him for a few days, after all. But we went through a lot together, and he’s a really great person. You’ll like him, trust me. I’ll give you a call when we find out what time the flight is, okay? Okay, sure thing. Love you, bye.”
She hung up the phone and then crept back over to the bed. She climbed on very carefully and took a seat at the foot of the bed, folding her legs under her and setting her hands in her lap. She resisted the urge to wake Leon up, and just contented herself with watching him sleep.
He wasn’t going to stay at her parents’ house long, she knew. His own family was waiting anxiously for his return, so he would have to leave soon and go back to Florida. Their original plan was to say their goodbyes at the airport, but Claire talked him into coming to Virginia with her, at least for the day. She knew that once he left her to return home, she would not see him again for a long time. And once he rejoined the military, she might not see him for years.
She wanted to ask him to stay, to maybe hold off on his plans for just a few months. He didn’t have to join the military again right away, did he? She wanted to stay with him for at least a little while, but she could not ask him.
She had her own plans anyway, and being with Leon would delay her. She had to go track down her brother. That had to be her priority right now.
Deep down, she knew that neither she nor Leon could put their plans on hold, even if it meant not seeing each other again. Their experiences gave them a bond much deeper than friendship, but she knew that it would take time to let that blossom into something more. And time, unfortunately, was something they did not have.
When 7:00 finally rolled around, she shook Leon’s arm gently. “Hey, mister sleepyhead, it’s time to wake up,” she said with a smile.
Leon blinked open his eyes and grumbled something, rolling onto his back. He yawned and stretched his arms over his head, then rubbed his hair. His eyes focused on Claire and he smiled awkwardly. “Um, good morning. What time is it?”
“Seven.”
“How long have you been awake?”
“About half an hour. I called my parents to let them know that you were coming to visit.”
Leon sat up and rubbed his head, mussing up his hair even more. “Did you, um, sleep well?”
Claire laughed. “I slept fine. You slept a like a rock though. You’re not hung over, are you?”
“I have a bit of a headache, to be honest.”
“Want to go get some breakfast?”
Leon nodded sleepily. “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.”
They dressed and went downstairs to the cafeteria. There were only a handful of people left in the recovery center, so the workers there didn’t bother to serve breakfast anymore. All they had to eat were single-serving boxes of cereal.
They chose to take their cereal out to the main recreation room. Claire flopped down on one of the couches while Leon set his bowl down and turned on the television.
“ – later this morning,” a news reporter was saying. “And now, a special news exclusive. One of the survivors of the Raccoon City Disaster is here with us, ready to tell her story. She is the first survivor who has come forward to give us a first-hand account of those terrible hours –”
Leon clicked the television back off.
“I don’t think we need to see that,” he said, taking a seat next to Claire.
“I wonder when they’re going to start pestering us for interviews,” she said.
“My parents said that they’ve already had calls from reporters trying to find out about me.”
“What did your parents tell them?”
“They told the reporters it was a wrong number and hung up on them.”
“Good plan,” Claire chuckled.
“It’s not going to hold them off for too long, though,” Leon said. “Pretty soon, they’ll be camping out in my parents’ front yard. I’ll have to change my name to keep them from finding me.”
“God, I hope that doesn’t happen to my parents,” Claire said, shaking her head.
“They’ll start calling our other relatives, friends, people we went to high school with,” Leon muttered. “I don’t know if we’ll be able to avoid the media for very long.”
Claire sighed. “Hopefully the other survivors do enough talking that everyone pays attention to them, and the reporters get bored and leave our families alone.”
After they were done eating, they tracked down one of the Umbrella administrators still working at the recovery center and got him to make their travel arrangements. Umbrella agreed to pay for the plane tickets to take them wherever they wanted, so they scheduled a flight that morning. Leon would have to pay for his own ticket from Virginia to Florida, but their settlement money was already in his bank account, so he could afford it. Claire called her parents to let them know when they were due to arrive.
They were already packed for the most part, so they didn’t have anything important to do in the couple hours until they had to leave for the airport. Claire took Leon by the hand and led him outside so they could take a leisurely stroll around the premises.
“Thank you for coming to my parents’ house with me,” she said.
“You’re welcome. I can’t stay too long, though, maybe just a few hours. I’ll have to fly back to Florida this evening.”
“I understand. I would love for you to stay, but I know you have to see your family.”
“They wanted me to fly back right away. They’re upset that I stayed here as long as I did, they wanted me to come home the day after the outbreak.”
“My parents did too. I convinced them to let me stay here at least a few days. Once they learned about what happened, they realized maybe it was better this way. Besides, we couldn’t just leave Sherry here by herself.”
They walked around the side yard of the compound, among the scattered trees, and then headed back toward the rear doors.
“Listen,” Leon said uncomfortably, “About last night.”
“I wondered when you might bring that up,” Claire said with a warm smile.
“I just … I don’t want you to think that –”
Claire put her finger against his lips and said, “Shhhhh.” Then she quickly leaned into him and planted a quick kiss on his lips.
Leon stood there, surprised for a moment, and Claire said, “It’s okay, Leon. I know that you’re going away and I might never see you again. I kno
w that.”
“I wish it wasn’t so,” Leon said softly.
“Don’t feel bad about it. We had our one night together,” she said, placing one hand on his chest as she looked up at him. “I think we were both there for each other when we needed it most. It meant the world to me. But we both have things we have to do. I have to find my brother. You have to go back to the army.”
“Maybe I don’t have to.”
“Yes, you do. I can see it in your eyes. You have a goal now, a mission, just like I do. I wish we could stay together, but we would only be putting off the inevitable.”
Leon placed his hand on Claire’s and gently touched the side of her face with his other hand. He moved closer and kissed her softly, romantically at first, and then put his arms around her and kissed her more passionately. Claire let herself be swept up in his embrace.
“I love you,” he whispered, almost painfully.
“I love you too,” Claire said, her breath on his cheek. “That’s why it hurts so much. Because I know that love isn’t going to be enough.”