Author's Note: The snow fall's a true story as it happened to TheDonutMistress. She also dug out her car until it got dark. Also, a dedication to Lindsay Kennedy who wanted a Resi Christmas story.
Genre: One-shot, angst/little bit o'humor
Rating: T
Summary: No matter what time of year it is, things stay with us. Hanging in the air, like a persistant snowfall.
Snowfall
By: Mazzie May
"Oh, you have got to be kidding…" Leon heaved, glaring out the window.
Sherry came up next to him. "It's still snowing?!" she cried, leaning against the window. She had both hands on the sides of her face as she stared in horror beside him.
"The snow fall will be continuing tonight," the weather reporter went on. "and tomorrow. We're estimating a good eighteen inches and…"
"Oh, Goddammit!" Leon shouted, pushing away from the cold glass.
Sherry screeched. "Nooo!"
"Snow!" Lily chirped, struggling to get her small self above the sill. "Yay!"
"No, no, not 'yay'," Leon grumbled, throwing himself onto the coach. This sucks, he thought grumpily. This is Washington DC, dammit, not Denver, CO. Hell… Truth. The capital got its fair share of snowfall, but this was the worst it's been in decades. They were already at two feet and Leon had to call-in in advance because he dug until dark and still couldn't get his car out. He didn't work until the day after Christmas, but if he couldn't get it now at this rate, he wasn't going to get it out later.
Oh, it'd been cool at first. They'd suited up and met with Jill and Carlos at JFK Park and had some fun. Jill walked Lily around, looking at all the crazy snow sculptures (there were Lord of the Ring characters, battle ships, a Pikachu, etc) while Carlos, Sherry and Leon wailed on each other in a three-way snow ball fight. Before they left, Lily insisted they all make snow angels and they did.
Yeah, that'd been great. Now, though… This was ridiculous. They were all snowed out and it hadn't even been twenty-four hours. Leon rolled onto his side and looked at the clock.
"Bed time, Lily."
She dropped away from the fogged up window. "No!" She looked absolutely aghast to the idea. Leon propped himself up on his elbow and looked at her curiously. She was usually really good about that.
"It's still snowing!"
"And it'll still be snowing tomorrow, I promise." Sherry grimaced across the way, curled up in the recliner.
She stomped her foot and crossed her arms. "I want to watch it!"
Leon blinked at her stubbornness and he and Sherry shared a look. He shook his head and held out his hand, balled in a loose fist. Sherry did the same.
"Rock."
"Paper."
"Scissors."
They matched with paper.
"Rock."
"Paper."
"Scissors."
Leon rock'd and Sherry paper'd. She placed her open hand over his fist and he sighed, pushing himself up. "Too bad, baby; bedtime."
"But…!"
"No buts." He scooped her up and headed for the stairs. Lily squealed and squirmed, but didn't put up too much of a fight. She must be more tired than she wants to admit. All snuggled in her Sleeping Beauty nightgown, she crawled into her bed without protest. He tucked her in, flipped off the light and shut the door.
When he came down the stairs, Sherry wasn't there and her snow boots were gone. Leon was zipping up his jacket as he followed the footprints around the back to the rear yard of the apartments. He pulled on his gloves when he saw her standing in the middle of the area.
Florescent motion lights that made everything look kind of lavender illuminated that back courtyard. The snow was a little lumpy from some children's escapades earlier in the day, but the unrelenting snowfall filled in most of the holes. It reached his mid-shin and came over Sherry's knees.
He trudged over to where she stood and stared up into the sky with her. The flakes were thick and big and fell slowly, sort of floating to the ground, like gravity thought it was pretty enough to allow it to take it's time. It was really, really nice.
And, for some reason, it was really, really unnerving.
Leon grimaced a little. "This is bothering me a little."
"Me too," she muttered.
They weren't moving so the motion sensor didn't detect them. The lights switched off.
"You know…even though the lights are off, it's not any darker," Sherry said quietly.
Leon nodded. "Yeah…"
"Are you thinking about Raccoon?"
"Yeah. You?"
"Yeah."
Silence. Sherry brought her arms up to hug herself and Leon put his hands in his coat pockets. The movement wasn't enough and they remained in the dark.
"No matter where I was," she said. "It was the same kind of light." Leon turned his head to look down at her a little. "The street lamps were broken and the lights in the station were out. The sewers dark and the lab's lights weren't that bright anyway…" She shivered and Leon wasn't sure if it was because of the cold or something else. "What about you?"
He looked back to the sky. "It was cold. The same dead cold as this snowfall. It just fell around you, you know?"
"Yeah, I know."
Leon dropped down suddenly and scooped up some snow. Sherry watched him form the snowball and then he chucked it as far and has hard as he could. She looked at him strangely.
"The first zombie I ever shot."
She waited a second and then did the same. "The first zombie I ever saw."
He grabbed more snow and threw it. "The zombie at the diner."
So did she. "The dog that chased me."
And so it continued.
"The car crash."
"My teacher."
"Birds."
"Lickers."
"Marvin."
"Irons."
"Annette."
"Birkin."
"Claire."
They went on like that for a few hours, throwing their fears and memories away from them with as much force as their bodies would allow. Grass had been revealed and piles of snow were formed far away from them. Tired and a little sore, they headed back for the stairs. Leon rubbed his aggravated shoulder as Sherry stared into nothing. They both forgot their keys and Leon was torn about having left the door unlocked. Sherry stopped in the doorway to take her boots off but Leon didn't bother and headed for Lily's room.
She was asleep in a chair she must have gotten from the kitchen, leaning against her window on the sill. He should've known she'd do that. As he leaned over the chair to pick her up, he looked out the window. Leon stiffened. The window gave a clear view of the area where he and Sherry had been angrily throwing snowballs. She had to have scene it.
He tucked her in, feeling miserable. He and Sherry did their best to keep the dark parts of them away from Lily. What Lily went through was too much for her and they way she dealt with was allowing her subconscious to absorb it and just fill in the empty spots in her memories with Leon and Sherry, liked they'd always been there.
Leon and Sherry themselves weren't so lucky and tried not to subject Lily to any of it. He left the door open a little before he went back down stairs.
Sherry was wiping up the water from the snow he tracked in. He walked past her and took boots off. She wiped up that water, too.
It was almost two in the morning when they finally made way for their rooms. As Sherry closed her door, she stopped, saying, "I bought you a sweater."
He looked at her. "I bought you a lamp." They looked at each other. "Merry Christmas."
Sherry rolled her eyes. "Oh, yeah. Joy to the world, good will towards man and all that?"
"Oh, shut up and go to bed."
--
When they opened presents at midnight, Christmas Eve, they managed to be surprised.
Author's Note: So, there we go. It wasn't supposed to turn out like this. Lindsey wanted something fun. I tried, I started out with the best of intenstions. Yeah, me and the road to hell. Oh, well. Merry Christmas to all! Or whatever the heck you celebrate. Happy New Year, too. Or whenever you start your year.
R&R please, commentary appreciated.