A Breath Of Life

With the shell of the former Appleridge apartment complexes in front of him, Leon studied the work being conducted. More pieces of trash and fallen debris were still being removed from the inside, as he watched the growing pile get bigger. It had to be around twenty feet, as from what he was told, only forty percent of it was cleaned out. Once it was all cleaned out, they could really make this place their secondary headquarters, as Leon could envision the better communication and planning that would be beneficial.

"Yo, Leon!" a quick turn revealed to be Brat waving him down from the street.

Making his way towards him, the man took some more looks around the rebuilding process of the city. Spread out what were once buildings and homes, became either small huts and shacks or pieces of tarp to put a roof over one's head. At least from their reporting, around ninety-five percent of the citizens from the western side of the city had luckily evacuated in time, although the remaining five were either missing or counted for dead. That was around six hundred unknown or fallen people due to Jamal's work, which Leon couldn't help but be disappointed in.

"What's up?" he finally made it to Brat, who was pointing towards the former communication headquarters that the Reserve Guard had established.

"The advisors need us." Brat was transforming into a dog as he spoke.

Again, Leon couldn't help but nod up and down slowly in agony. It's been a week since Jamal and Alice had left the city back to Port-O-Bea and these people could not just leave him alone. Those damn advisors were always begging for the next fucking step, as if they didn't have more local issues to resolve. He didn't even notice his clenched fists, until Leon could feel his unclipped nails digging into his skin. 

Releasing the tension, he hadn't even realized that this was the first time in days that he had the opportunity to rest with little worry about anyone attacking. The last of the Reserve Guard were finished off around three days ago in some small shop in the far eastern side of the city. Just the thought of a vacation helped invigorate his steps, as Leon and Brat had finally made it to the brick building. 

Two guards armed with rifles noted the pair and gave them a nod. Even still, they had to be under alert for anything that was possible. This was a world where even the most random powers could be used to end even the strongest of them all, as Leon had seen it all. The steps underneath them were finally void of trash, as they moved through the sole opening and the remains of the molten floor.

"Who else is here?" Leon turned to the dog, as Brat was slowly shifting back to a human.

"Everyone." his gruff voice was softening, as the transformation was finishing the shift.

The final opening led them back to the despised room, as pieces of wood were covering the holes overhead. Most of the trash was now either removed or shifted to the room's corners, as it started to look a lot more like its original condition, excluding working machines and a large cell to imprison the world's strongest rebelling force. Yeah, it was something all right. That was of little concern, as the pair could see all the other Viligantes of Power in the room, as well as some of the advisors, including the cheerful one, Rose. Great.

"Leon!" Heskins was the first to greet him, dabbing him up, "You enjoy watching that apartment complex, it's all you do."

"I wish," Leon made eye contact with Sera, who had her back against the wall and only nodded at him.

"It's better than what I'm doing. Transporting box after box to the other side." Hops wrapped his arm over Brat's shoulder, "I mean this too, when this is all over, let's get a drink."

"I can't drink yet," Brat muttered.

"Oh, you and Fonda can have something else. It'll be on me regardless," he gave the girl that was making her way behind Brat, as she cracked a smile.

"Well, it looks like the whole gang is here!" Rose chimed in, her bright attitude did the opposite of making the vibe better, "Excluding several of your teammates."

"What is it?" Leon took control for the team's response.

"Oh, yes. We got word back from Port-O-Bea. About something very important," she motioned for them to come closer.

The group huddled over to a radio they transported from their part of the woods, which they somehow figured out a way to hook up to a caller. What could it possibly be, Alice was awake now? That was the most important news they could bring?

"Alright, hello?" she picked up the caller, before clicking on some buttons.

They waited a few more minutes until Rose started talking again in a bit more of an ecstatic manner. The Viligantes could only watch with patience as Rose clicked another button, which Sera saw was the speaker.

"Uh-" she was about to say, before Rose lifted her hand up to stop her.

"Alright, they're all here." Rose handed the caller for Leon to hold.

"Uh, hello?" Leon spoke up.

"Hey guys! How's the city holding up without me?" a feminine voice broke through.

"Alice." Hops was quick to rush to the machine, as Leon wasted no time giving it to him, "Are you okay?"

"Ryan, you already know the answer to that. But as for everyone else, I have someone else you haven't heard from a long time." They heard some muffling in the background, before a deep breath broke through.

"What's up?" a recognizable but harsh male voice shocked the entire team.

For several seconds, not a soul in the room took a breath, until Heskins was the first to break it.

"Ja-, Jamal?" he sputtered out, clearly in shock.

"Impossible." Sera straightened up, "We all saw him, and he was-"

"Dead." Hops stared at the caller, trembling in his hands. "We thought you were gone."

"I'm sorry y'all. I messed up." Jamal started to speak, before coughing broke out, "It's a long road for me, excuse me."

"No, take all the time you need." Leon couldn't help but smile at his former rival's voice, "We didn't think you would even wake up this quick, if at all."

"I know."

Those words stung the entire cast, including the advisors themselves. They had to keep reality in their minds, as they knew the extent of the damage they all witnessed on Jamal, an unpretty sight. The truth hurt them more than they wished, but his voice gave them nothing but hope.

"Did they say how long it'll be, or if you will even be able to com-" Fonda looked at her feet, as she stopped herself from finishing.

Silence filled the air as everyone was waiting for the dreaded response. That was possibly the biggest news the entire army had, as his ability to fight would decide just how well things would go from here. A deep breath through the machine alerted them of their upcoming answer.

"I-, I can't exactly say so. I'm doing whatever it takes, but I'll try to be back. I'm going to make sure I'm able to fight once more."

A sigh of relief came from the advisors, as the Viligantes remained silent. Just how well would Jamal be, and how strong was he compared to his downfall? Even if it was a fraction of it, would it help make a difference, although his usual intensity against someone like Youden would be a major weakness. Leon could definitely take that role, as he had power similar, if not higher at moments, than Jamal. He'll just have to work on building better control and stamina, which Jamal had excelled over him throughout the years.

"You see, we'll come back stronger! We just had to believe!" Rose cheered on, despite coughing breaking in the background through the radio, "Just how much longer?"

"Only one person can control that," Brat broke his silence since Jamal's voice rang through the room, "And that's on Jamal. We can't change anything but hope for the best, else we'll have to carry the load that he brought forth for us. And that'll be quite the time, for all of us."