"How'd it feel?" Lilly asked softly. "Killing Nick."
Wesker blinked. A faint laugh slipped out. "You're not wasting time, huh?"
"Neither did you," she said, her tone calm.
To say he was shocked at her reaction would be an understatement. He scoffed, placing his hand on her cheek, as she sat between his legs, "Aren't you scared?" he asked her.
"What do you think?" she said, and began to unzip his pants, grabbing his length with little difficulty. "Let's calm your anger," she said and placed her lips around the head, her tongue making circles around it.
Wesker placed both his hands at the back of her head, pushing himself deeper inside her, until the tip touched the back of her throat.
He let go of her head as she pulled it out of her mouth. Now, it stood erect. A smile appeared on her lips as she took it inside again, with more enthusiasm than before.
3 days later.
Three days had passed since we settled at St. John's.
I kept Carley, Lilly, and Clem, inside the house most of the time when I wasn't around, there was a reason, a lesson was to come.
Katjaa spent most of her time tending to the animals. The cows were healthy, the chickens louder than they needed to be.
Madison and Alicia still moved like ghosts. But some of the weight had started to lift. Not much. Just enough to let in a little light. At least they could stand still in each other's presence. It was better than nothing.
Kenny stayed busy with Duck or the broken-down tractor, rarely venturing far from his son. While I hadn't left the property once. My gaze was always turned outward. Watching the fence lines. So I could 'move' before the enemy.
When the paranoia quieted, I read books on soil and seed, irrigation, and climate adaptation. I marked pages with pencil nubs and dirty fingers. We planted potatoes—simple, hardy, and resistant—the kind of food that could carry us through a hard month or worse.
The third day was unremarkable. It was a complete 180 from the previous days, or maybe it was the calm before the storm.
The sun began to dip below the western hills. Shadows lengthened across the field. The animals stirred restlessly. I had just stepped off the porch when it happened.
Bang.
A single gunshot tore through the quiet like a bolt of lightning.
Then, screams.
I turned in time to see Kenny sprinting across the yard, Duck in his arms, blood trailing from the boy's leg. Katjaa was behind him, her voice raw and broken, tears in her eyes.
I dashed inside, brought out a sniper rifle, and took out one of the Save lot's guys. I shot the second one in the leg.
And as fast as it began, it stopped.
They had escaped.
I headed inside. The front door slammed behind me as I pulled the rifle strap off my shoulder. Before I could step into the hallway, Lilly jumped in front of me, her eyes wide, face pale, hands shaking as she gripped my arm.
"What's happening? What was that?" she whispered, her voice despite the fire she casually carried.
The fear in her eyes irritated me more than I expected. Not that she was afraid, but because I was the cause of it. I pressed my hand gently to her head, brushing her hair back. "Don't worry. I'll handle this," I said with a faint smile. "Just some bandi—"
Bang!
I was slammed into the hallway wall. Kenny's hand gripped my collar like a vice. His face was twisted in rage, his other hand trembling at his side.
"You son of a bitch!" Kenny roared, spit flying. "What kind of place is this? You said it was safe! You said it was better than that goddamn motel! Is this your idea of better?"
I just looked at him dead in the eyes and grabbed hi wrist, hard enough to loosen his grip on my collar. "I'm not the enemy here."
"You want to blame someone?" I continued, voice low, calm. "Blame the world. Blame the people who shot your boy and ran."
Kenny let go, but he didn't back off. "You brought us here."
"I did," I said, fixing my shirt, "I also kept all of you alive longer than you would've lasted out there."
I watched the weight shift in his face. He didn't want to admit it, but he knew they all did.
I wanted this. The false peace needed to break, and I made it happen.
The motel had rotted them from the inside, given them the illusion that fences and rationed food meant safety. They had forgotten what kind of world this was, and I wanted to remind them.
And now… now they would remember, and change, for the better.
The moment Duck got shot, everything was bound to change. I saw it in their eyes. In the way Alicia clutched onto Carley and Clem. in the way Madison eyes kept wandering to the windows. In the way Clementine stood beside me, afraid.
I kept them inside for a reason. I didn't let them outside, so they wouldn't become the subject of my lession, I wanted someone else, someone smaller, someone useless. Duck was perfect, it could've been Alicia, or Madison.
But they kept inside the house, while I made excuses to Lilly and Carley, to to take care of them, forcing them to remain inside without saying those words.
The risk was worth it.
This wasn't carelessness. This was the lesson I had designed when I first heard St. Brothers speak of the Save Lots.
I wanted them cautious, paranoid, even if it meant their mental health deteriorated, it was worth it.