Diamond's Evil Journey

The group walked out of the side shed into the rain again. They saw a slight glow around the cemetery. Diamond took a closer to see a group of villagers waiting while holding torches “That's a lot to get through.” she said.

Leon walked up and scanned the mob. He then saw a wagon loaded with barrels at the top of the hill “We won't have to fight all of them.” he said.

He walked up behind the wagon and pushed it. It quickly picked up speed and started running through most of the mob. The wagon then crashed into a cabin and broke apart. The two villagers that were left charged them with their torches.

One villager tried to attack Leon but he was able to block it and grab the torch. He then used the torch to light the villager on fire. He writhed in the pain before falling to the floor.

Diamond took her knife in her teeth and ran under the other villager's legs as he attacked. She then stabbed him in the leg causing him to fall to his knees. She rammed into his back making him fall onto his stomach. She then finished him by stabbing him through the head.

Ashley caught up to the two when she saw that the villagers were wiped out. She walked up to Diamond who was still standing on the corpse of the villager “I still think you should leave the fighting to Leon.” she said with worry.

Diamond glared at her “What? Didn't you see what I just did. I can take care of myself.” she said.

Leon got between the two “We don't have time for this. We already have a evac coming, we have to hurry.” he said.

The two agreed and they all continued on. They left the cemetery and entered the cave again. Once they entered the room with the blue torch they saw the merchant waiting for them “Ah, welcome stranger.” he greeted.

Ashley hid behind Leon at the sight of him “Leon, who is that?” she asked.

Leon just casually walked up to the man “Don't worry, he's just a merchant. He provided a lot to us on our mission.” he said.

The merchant nodded “Indeed. I mean you no harm young lady.” he then turned to Leon “will you be making a purchase this time?” he asked.

Leon shook his head “No, our time here is almost done.” he said.

The merchant chuckled “No harm in playing it safe though.” he said.

Leon held a hand up “No, thanks for the offer.” he then turned to Diamond and Ashley “Come on let's go.” he said.

They made it through the cave quickly and climbed up the ladder back into the house. They walked towards the door to the village but Diamond suddenly stopped. She then started coughing into her hoof. Leon turned towards her and his eye's widened. He knelt down next to her. He watched as she coughed some blood onto her hoof.

She stared at her hoof in fear “Does...does this mean that what that saddler guy said was true? Is this a symptom?” she asked.

Leon put a hand to her shoulder “We don't know that. But even if it is true then we'll find a way to stop it. Okay?” he said.

Diamond nodded slowly “Y-yeah. I definitely won't turn into one of them.” she said.

They then continued into the village. They immediately saw many villagers waiting for them. Leon started running “To the ranch! Hurry!” he said. Ashley and Diamond ran after him.

Leon shot a few villagers who were in his way as he neared the door to the ranch. Suddenly he was stopped as he felt a sharp pain in his leg. He grunted in pain and looked down to see it in a bear trap. Diamond gasped and ran to him. She helped him open it back up. Without missing a beat Leon continued running towards the door with Diamond and Ashley following.

They made it through the door and Leon jammed the door with a large tree branch. He then sat down next to the door and took a few deep breaths.

Ashley knelt down next to him “Oh my god! Leon are you going to be alright?” she asked.

Leon nodded and rolled his pant leg up to reveal the wound. Diamond cringed at the sight “How can you say that you'll be alright. That looks like it hurts.” she said.

Leon took out his first aid spray and bandages “It does hurt but it's not unmanageable.” he quickly sprayed his leg and bandaged it up before standing back up “I won't let something like this stop me.” he said.

He then started scanning the area and saw some more villagers that were waiting for them “We might have to take these ones out.” he turned to Ashley “Find somewhere to hide while me and Diamond take care of this. I'll whistle for you when it's safe to come out.” he said.

Ashley nodded “Right.” she said then started looking for a good hiding spot. She saw a red metal box. She climbed in and lowered the lid.

Leon then turned to Diamond “Ready?” he asked.

Diamond nodded and took her handgun out. Leon walked into the barn to see one villager. He quickly took care of him and scanned the nearby area for anyone else. When he saw none he headed to the other building.

He saw that Diamond had already taken out two in there. They climbed up the ladder and jumped out of the open window to see two villagers on the raised platform.

The female villager charged Leon with a kitchen knife. Diamond ran past her and towards the male village wielding a hatchet. He threw the hatchet at her but she sidestepped it and jumped towards him with her knife ready. She plunged the knife into his chest to kill him.

She then turned back to see Leon finish the other villager with his knife. Another villager climbed up a ladder but was quickly shot by Leon. They then climbed down that ladder and saw a path filled with bear traps leading to a tall door.

Leon started moving the traps aside with his foot “I'm starting to get tired of these.” he said. Once they were out of the way they walked up to the large door and tried to open it. It wasn't budging.

Diamond growled “Is this locked too?” she asked.

Leon shook his head “No, there's no lock. It must be barred from the other side.” he said.

“What are we gonna do about that?” she asked.

After thinking for a few seconds, he turned around and whistled loudly. After a few seconds Ashley made her way over to them “I'm glad you two are okay.” she said.

Leon nodded then turned to the door “I'm gonna need your help. This door is barred from the other side. If I help you up, can you get over and open it?” he asked.

Ashley seemed unsure “I don't know. I wouldn't want to be alone.” she said.

Diamond rolled her eyes “It would just be for a few seconds. Just do it.” she said.

Ashley sighed and nodded. Leon knelt down in front of the door “Stand on my shoulders.” he said. Ashley did as he said and Leon slowly stood up. Ashley then climbed over the door. After a few seconds the door opened.

Leon gave her a nod as he walked past “See? I knew you could do it.” he said.

Diamond scoffed as she walked past “Didn't have to be such a foal about it.” she muttered under her breath.

While walking on the path they saw the merchant with his signature blue fire near him “Greeting stranger.” he said.

Diamond raised an eyebrow “How do you keep ending up in front of us? There is no way you could have gotten here before us.” she said.

The merchant laughed “I know my way around. I know a good few shortcuts.” he said.

Diamond didn't seem convinced but decided to let it go. Leon walked up to him “Well as you might remember we won't need anything since we're leaving soon.” he said.

Then he got a call from his communicator “Leon, I have some bad news.” Hunnigan said.

Leon sighed “I'd rather not hear it.” he said.

“Well I'm afraid I have to tell you anyway. We've lost contact with the chopper. Somebody must have shot it down, though we can determine who.” she said.

“Great...” Leon said sarcastically.

“We're prepping another chopper for you. Meanwhile I want you to continue to the extraction point.” she said.

Leon nodded “Got it.” he said before putting the communicator away. He then looked back to the merchant “We'll take some more ammo, just in case.” he said.

While Leon was making the purchase, Ashley walked up beside him “What was that about the chopper going down?” she asked.

Leon finished the purchase before answering “Nothing to worry about. They'll just send another one.” he said.

They then continued and started crossing a bridge. Once the reached the other side they saw a large amount of villager walking out of a gate wielding different weapons. Leon turned around towards the bridge to see just as many villager coming from that direction.

Diamond started to look nervous “Where are they all coming from anyway?” she asked.

Ashley tried her best to hide behind Leon “What are we gonna do?” she asked.

Leon saw a two story cabin nearby “I hate to say it but we're sandwiched alright. Quick, into that cabin!” he shouted and they all hurried inside.

Once inside Leon shut the door and looked for something to jam it

“Leon.”

Leon turned around and caught a plank of wood that was thrown to him. He then saw that it was Luis who had thrown it. He then quickly jammed the door with the plank.

Luis chuckled “Small world eh?” he then glanced over to Diamond “and nice to see you too filly.” he said.

Diamond glared at him “I still don't trust you.” she said.

Luis then turned his gaze to Ashley and looked over her “Well, I see the the president equipped his daughter with ballistics too.” he said with a grin.

Ashley put her hands on her hips and glared at him “How rude! And I don't believe there's any relevance with my figure and my standing. Who are you?” she asked.

Luis held his hands up defensively “Ho ho, excuse me your highness. Perhaps the young lady might want to introduce herself before asking someone his name?” he asked.

“Her name's Ashley graham, the president's daughter.” she said with some attitude.

Luis turned to Leon “Is she...ya know...” he asked.

“Don't worry, she's cool.” he answered.

Luis sighed “Ehh, never mind. There's suppose to be some obvious symptom before you turn into one of them anyway.” he said.

Ashley then looked out one of the boarded up windows to see the large group of villagers approaching “Look!” she said while pointing.

Leon ran to look out the window before turning back to the others “Ashley, upstairs! Hide!” he ordered quickly.

Diamond took out her handgun. Luis smirked at the sight “Do you...know how to use that thing?” he asked in amusement.

“I'm sure I could use it better than you.” she shot back.

Luis had a quick laugh “You talk a big game, I like that. Alright, let's see how well you play.” he said as he took out his handgun.

Leon pointed to the two other boarded up windows “Diamond, Luis, I want each of you on a window. We'll pick off as many as we can before they reach us.” he ordered.

With no arguments, everyone ran to a window. Diamond had to stand on her hind legs to be able to aim out the window.

They all started firing into the seemingly endless horde. After a few seconds Luis glanced to Diamond “How ya holding up kiddo?” he asked.

Diamond shot a quick glare toward him “Call me kiddo again and one of these bullets will be coming your way.” she said.

Luis chuckled “Great, keep that fire. You'll need it.” he said.

Leon kept his eyes on the horde closing in on them “Focus you two! They'll be on top of us in seconds!” he warned.

Soon they all backed up from their windows. Then the villagers started breaking in with their hatchets. Once they broke through Leon's window, he pulled the pin out of a frag grenade and threw it out. It exploded and took out a large chunk of them.

The villagers then started getting through the windows. Leon dodged a swing by a hatchet then slit one's throat and shot another. A few started cornering Luis but he was able to shoot them all before they could get too close. A villager tried to hit Diamond with his torch but she dodged and got behind him. She then fired a shot into the back of his head before turning around and stabbing another through the heart.

They then heard the sound of windows shattering upstairs. Leon turned towards the stairs “That's probably ladders. Ashley's in danger.” he started running towards the stairs “I'll take care of it. You two handle things here.” he said.

Luis dodged another attack and fired a shot into the villagers head before turning his head towards Diamond “Of course Leon would stick me with the babysitting job.” he said with a smirk.

Diamond was backing up while shooting a few villagers closing in on her “If anyone's babysitting, it's me.” she said.

Luis was about to reply but was grabbed by one of the villagers. Diamond ran past a few of them to ram into the back of the villager choking Luis causing him to drop him. She then shot him in the head.

Luis recovered quickly and killed the closest villagers “I guess I owe you one.” he said.

Diamond took out an incendiary grenade and threw it into a group of villagers to take a good number out.

Luis noticed that there were significantly less entering the cabin “Their numbers are thinning. Keep this up and we'll be done in no time.” he said.

The two continued fighting for a few minutes. Diamond fired a shot a a villager's head causing it to explode. After a few seconds a fleshy mass emerged from it's neck. Diamond backed up slightly “It's one of those again!” she said.

She fired more bullets into it but it stayed up. It's sharp tentacle came towards her. Luis stepped in front of her and blocked the tentacle with his arm. He winced from the pain but fired a shot point blank and killed it.

Diamond gasped “Are you hurt?” she asked.

Luis held his wound but smiled “Now we're even.” he said.

They heard a voice from outside “Vomanos!” they shouted. Suddenly all of the villagers stopped attacking and left.

Diamond watched on with confusion as the villagers retreated “Why are they just leaving? After all that?” she wondered.

Luis shrugged “We probably shouldn't question it and just celebrate the victory.” he said.

Leon walked down the stairs with Ashley behind him “Good to see you two still standing. Are either of you hurt?” he asked.

Luis looked down at his bleeding arm “Just a few scratches.” he said.

Ashley knelt down in front of Diamond “How are you? Not bleeding or anything?” she asked while checking her for any injuries.

Diamond rolled her eyes “No, mom.” she said sarcastically.

Ashley nodded and stood up “What should we do now?” she asked while turning to Leon.

“We should continue towards the extraction point.” he answered.

Luis chuckled “You three go ahead. I forgot something.” he said before walking out of the cabin.

Diamond narrowed her eyes at the retreating Luis “Forgot something? What does that mean? Now that I think about it, what is he even doing here?” she asked.

Leon snapped her out of her thought “We don't have time for questioning Luis. We have to get to the evac point as soon as possible.” he said.

Diamond nodded “Right.” she said. They all then exited the cabin and walked towards three gates. The two gates to the left and right were both closed. The middle gate was open and held a lever in the middle.

Leon walked up to the lever and noticed that it could be pulled to the right or left “This is probably used to open the gates.” he said.

Ashley glanced between the two gates “Which one will lead us to the evacuation point?” she asked.

Leon rubbed his chin in thought “I'm not sure. But we'll never get anywhere without moving forward.” he said.

Diamond raised an eyebrow “So you want us to guess on which one is right?” she asked.

Leon nodded “It's a fifty-fifty chance. Unless you have a better idea?” he asked.

Diamond sighed “Fair enough. But which gate should we choose?” she asked.

Ashley turned her head to the right gate “Let's go right. I have a good feeling about it.” she said.

Leon nodded then pulled the lever to the right. A few gears started turning and the gate raised. They all walked through and entered a door. When they emerged they saw a path with tall cliffs on both sides. There were some wooden structures around and a wooden blockade ahead.

Diamond smiled when she noticed there were no signs of villagers around “At least it seems deserted...So far.” she said.

They started walking to the wooden blockade. When they got half way there they heard the sound of something large crashing into the ground. They looked back to see a giant in front of the door they entered through. Leon took out his handgun and took a few steps back “You may have spoke too soon.” he said.

Diamond facehoofed “We just can't catch a break.” she said. They both opened fire on the approaching giant, doing minimal damage.

Ashley scanned the area frantically for anything that could help. She then looked up and saw a weak wooden platform on the cliff with a large boulder on it. She quickly pointed at it “Maybe that could help?” she asked.

Leon looked up at it and quickly came up with a plan. He looked down at Diamond “get the door on that blockade open. I'll keep the giant busy.” he said.

Diamond nodded and ran off the the blockade. Leon fired a few more shots at the giant as it drew closer. Once it was in position Leon aimed at the wooden platform. He broke it with a single shot and the boulder came down towards the giant.

It smashed down on the giant causing it to stumble back and roar in pain. It then fell to it's knee and a fleshy mass emerged from it's back just like the last one. Leon wasted no time climbing onto it's back and slashing at it.

While he was doing that, Diamond quickly broke the chains on the door with a few shots from her gun. She then knocked the door down with a buck.

Once the giant started getting back up Leon jumped off of it. He then grabbed Ashley by the wrist and ran through the blockade with her to meet up with Diamond.

They then turned around just in time to see the giant break through the blockade as if it were made of paper. Diamond reached into her saddle bag and pulled out a frag grenade. She pulled the pin and threw it at the giant's feet.

Once it blew up the giant was almost knocked onto it's back but it caught itself. They backed up as it started moving towards them again.

It closed in on them but Diamond spotted another high wooden platform with another boulder. She quickly shot it and the boulder crashed into the giant again. While it was stunned Leon took out his shotgun and gave it a few blasts to the chest.

Those brought the giant to it's knee again and the fleshy mass emerged. Leon and Diamond both climbed onto it and got on opposite sides of the mass. She both started viciously attacking it with their knives. Eventually the mass fell limply against the giant's back. They jumped off and watched as the giant roared in pain before falling over motionless.

Leon wiped some sweat from his forehead “I wonder how many of these things they have.” he said.

“I hope they only had two.” Diamond said.

Ashley smiled and clapped “Great job you two.” she complimented.

Leon stopped her “You can compliment us when you're safe at home.” he then walked over to the next blockade “Now let's get moving.” he said. He started kicking at the door until the chains snapped and the door fell open. They then continued down the path until they found a door at the end.

Leon tried the door and sighed when it wouldn't open “Locked.” he then turned to Diamond “They probably keep the key nearby.” he said.

Diamond nodded “I wouldn't doubt it, these freaks aren't known for their smarts. I'll go back and search along the path.” she said.

Leon agreed and started searching near the door when Diamond walked off. Diamond walked past the wooden barricade and stopped when she saw the body of the giant that she killed. She stared at it with indifference. She found it strange how desensitized she had become to the sight of death. She started to wonder how her life would change when she returned home...if she returned home.

She shook off the thought and walked past the corpse in search of the key. She eventually found in a small shack on the path.

She returned to Leon who gave a small smile when he saw the key in her mouth “Thanks.” he said as he took the key and used it to unlock the door. They then walked through the doorway.