Thread: Light Casts Shadows [RE4: DavetheHuman+Candentia]

Men. Always deciding things for her. The blond ditz act could wear down the nerves sometimes but it got her a gun, even if she almost blanked out at hearing the instructions that included a phrase like 'actuates the laser', almost blurting out 'what laser oh my God I just wanted a normal gun ' but managing to pretend she understood everything. Which she did. Just not as quickly as she would have liked. I'm not worried. She tried to sound confident. This was long past worry. They'd zoomed right past panic but the gun was in her hands, both of them, holding it tightly with her finger outside of the trigger. This wasn't her first rodeo holding a gun but she was accustomed to the hunting rifles that her father used, particularly when she'd been young and summer camping trips always seemed to end with a dead buck strapped to the top of their car, much to her mother's disgust. The stranger barely seemed to muffle a laugh at her declaration. She studiously ignored him. Ashley thought they should have run. Wouldn't it be easier for them to set the house on fire and force them to come out, without even risking an all out gun fight? Nobody was listening to her, though, so she took a deep breath and with shaky fingers tucked the magazines into her bra, awkwardly, because skirts didn't have pockets. And if that leach made another unwarranted comment she was going to be sorely tempted to aim her first shot at his foot. The door was holding up surprisingly well under the determined blows. The windows... not so much. Ashley flinched as glass shattered inwards and the bookshelves began to tip over, crashing into the floor loudly. Her gaze fell to the side and settled on the chimney. Tall column. Thin. Nothing coming down or out unless they were either Santa or an 19th century chimney sweep. But the fireplace was surprisingly large, with a wide, round entrance. Strange people began to pour in through the broken windows she called them strange because there was something immensely off about them Swollen features. Dirty, sallow skin. None of them had seen the inside of a bath in years. Their stench was almost as bad as the blank expressions set in rigid hatred. Luis got off the first shot, nailing one of them in the head. Something gray and slimy burst out backwards in a spray. Ashley nearly dropped the gun in shock and then it was on, bullets all the place. Leon had told her to stay with him and she tried, right up until a thrust pitchfork nearly gored her arm when Leon dodged and pushed her to the side a hair shy of being too late. As good as his intentions were, she was a big gaping liability behind him, and she couldn't get the gun up to aim long enough to shoot without being afraid that she'd shoot Leon -- or even the perv. Ashley made a tactical decision and dove for the mouth of the fireplace. Sooth and ash that had lain undisturbed for who knew how long flew up into the air as she squirmed inside and lodged herself in a corner at an angle where no nasty little pitchforks could easily get her and brought up the gun with both hands, back braced against rough brick. Barely two seconds later an ugly face and a portly body filled the entrance and it was a matter of physics and ratios -- she was a novice who didn't know guns, but at that distance there wasn't a single chance in hell that she'd miss. Boom. The impact jolted back unpleasantly on her wrists but she squeezed off another shot immediately. The body swayed, seemingly uncertain whether it was dead or not, and then fell over. Ashley bit her lip and brought the gun up again, hearing all the yelling and the other shots rocking through the house. She didn't even dare reach out and kick the body away, despite the horrible face staring at her lifelessly. She did notice the eyes were too red, but it was an unconscious observation, and she was more interested in waiting for the next religious whacko to come and try to get her. Come on, Leon, you better survive this. She whispered to herself, not knowing what she'd do if he didn't.