Mid-evening on Friday the 28th, a good few days of safety behind the R.P.D. walls, Cindy was alone down below the Department, in the dank parking garage to be in fact. Hours and hours passed that stretched into long days and Cindy was still sat in a dirty corner by a broken shutter. The garage was thriving with civilians recently the day before, and after some bad news came by all of a sudden on Wednesday, most of all the R.P.D. officers just went off. Then there were rumours of a great massacre outside that Johnson National, that was the bad news. It couldn't be true.
There were separate attacks from the local zombies outside, they breached the department's defences suddenly and attacked a dozen survivors and a few officers. The officers died, but the survivors were only slightly injured and kept underground for their safety. After some recent debate from the small numbers of the survivors, they theorised that the R.P.D. were dying out and were unfit from maintaining order. Many if not all the survivors fled for their lives and scattered, leaving the precinct without notice. They weren't safe, and they all thought the same, to leave the sinking ship and find their way out of the city.
All this happened ever since the hushed talk of the great massacre on the High Street. Cindy decided to stay put for Scott and wandered the department alone and armed; she found almost no one was around anymore. Some windows were smashed and boarded doors were wide open. The safe integrity of the department was flawed now, but there was still hope for a safe evacuation.
Officers that weren't killed in the constant attacks of the infected went missing and turned up dead. Those officers that went missing were found to be riddled with gunfire at the time their bodies were found. No civilians, just the officers. There was no word coming from STARS or the Chief Irons. She missed Zaac, and the rumours of him and the entirety of the police force being wiped out didn't help at all. She didn't know what to do, or how to feel.
She was alone underground. Dead bodies of the infected and officers littered the halls and rooms up above. She stayed underground. Mark and Kevin were helping the last few officers with whatever they were doing, seeing they have more experience in these matters than her, and she was safe below. Not the one to be a battle-hardened survivor, she was just a girl after all.
Without the faintest reminders of her working life, she only had herself and the memories that buried itself deep within her mind and body. Like poor Will or even what became of Jack if he ever finds out what happened to his bar. That cute black bow tie he gave her on her first day? Gone. Her brand new black skirt? Torn so short it barely covered her thighs. The grey vest? Gone. Everything that reminded her of better times was waning over time. Just like everything and everyone.
Things got better. Some survivors from Jack's Bar found refuge up above. The Employee, and the Reporter climber the gates. They had wild stories of finding a possible evacuation at the local Zoo, Cindy knew they had a notice board outside somewhere, they must've seen it. She decided not to. If the infection wasn't limited to just humans, then entering a zoo at this time is just suicide. Probably get killed by a giant zombie elephant or something. Then there was a story that they and the other three, the Doctor, Plumber and Student, all found a secret underground Umbrella facility. And to no surprise there was talk of the Apple Inn hotel, they got unlucky to walk through that hell without any supervision.
The remaining officers upstairs were sure to tell any new arrivals that the R.P.D. may or may not be wiped out, and the department wasn't a safe zone anymore. The Doctor, Student and Plumber never showed up. The Employee and Reporter stayed upstairs with Kevin and Mark. They got along well. Cindy was too depressed to get up and do anything. Morale was slipping.
A battered man in white shuffled out of a door to her right. It was the door to the holding cells, nothing much in there. He walked like he was human. Cindy raised her head from her lap and kept her hand close to her handgun, just in case it was just another infected. The man had bloody bandages around his chest and some blood in his blond hair. Then there was a smile. Cindy smiled and scrambled to her feet and ran to the man.
"Scott!" she cried happily. She promptly cuddled the man with all her strength. He grumbled in response.
"Cindy," he groaned, "it's good to see you."
Cindy's eyes were flushed, she sobbed slightly. Her arms still clutched Scott like there was no tomorrow. "I'm so glad to see you!"
"I missed you so much." He lets go of Cindy, she tries to hug him again, but he holds her back. "You infected?"
"No. You?"
"I'm fine. Glad you made it here in one piece. How're things doing here?"
"People are dropping like flies around here; the place is falling apart."
"Oh." Scott frowned and cleared his throat. "Is it that bad?"
Cindy decided not to inform him about the R.P.D. massacre from the lack of evidence, and the rumour was still fresh. The attacks from the outside were different. "Zombies have been pounding the walls, and some are getting inside! It's not safe here anymore."
"Shit! Really?"
"The officers upstairs are making arrangements to evacuate the department, but to where I don't know."
"Any place is better than here."
Cindy threw her arms. "I did nasty things to get here in one piece Scott, and I demand to know what the hell is happening to our town?"
"You might want to sit down for this." Scott directed her to a nice dry section on the garage's floor to sit on, but she pulled him away over to a red car. Scott didn't know the make of it since it was in repair and over the years he's always been pulled away from various things by her anyway. The good old days of dating her. They sat on the bonnet. They didn't make eye contact. Cindy kicked her feet to a jaunty tune.
"Those zombies out there," he continued, "are infected with the Tyrant Virus. It was a mutagen manufactured by Umbrella Incorporated. It was supposedly used to create biological weapons." He gave some time for Cindy to digest that information before he carried on. "A few days after the development of the superior G-virus, the old T-virus leaked into the city."
"So that pharmaceutical giant Umbrella is behind all this? Does that mean all those rumours are true?"
Scott frowned. "It would appear that way. Two years ago I was there to finalise the T-virus and help the development of the new G-virus. There was a leak in the Arklay Mountains in July. It only just spread into our city days ago."
"Scott…?" She whimpered. "You don't have anything to do with this do you?"
"I was on the team that developed the viruses." His head sagged.
Cindy pushed Scott off the bonnet of the car. He was thrown onto his side. His bandages bed and he slowly rolled onto his back. She kicked his stomach in and just like that he felt like he was going to vomit. She stopped after she kicked him twice. "What on Earth were you thinking, Scott!?" Do you have any idea what happened to our city!?" A single lens of his glasses was cracked, and his eyes drifted on and off her. "How can you do something so… horrid!?" She sobbed, "I killed my best friend for Pete's sake!" His stomach started to bleed over the floor. She lost her temper, and some of the redness of her cheeks flushed. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to hurt you, baby."
"I think you did, Cindy. Believe me; I would've stopped while I was ahead but we needed the money. Even with all our funds put together, the medical bills would exhaust everything we got. We'd lose everything."
"Everything?"
"You were pregnant, my love. The job market was terrible, and everything I did was to pay our bills."
"I can't believe this, Scott."
"I'm not asking you to forgive and forget everything I did in Umbrella; I just want you to understand the truth." He stood up slowly; his legs were shaking under his weight. "I did everything I can to keep the infection from getting worse, even going as far as killing my colleagues..."
"What?!"
"Maybe you're not the right person to talk to about this."
"You're not making it any easier-"
"It's not like that, I mean-"
"No, wait. Listen." She sighed and rubbed her eyebrows disdainfully. "Forget it… I'm thrilled to see you, Scott. As long as we're together, we'll make it out of this. And I'm sorry I pushed you."
"Don't apologise; it's my fault. But you need to know I cannot stay here."
"W-Why?"
He walked away from the car, only a few steps and kept his eyes off her. He rubbed his neck a bit. "I have unfinished business with Umbrella."
"You're still working for them?" She frowned. "Really."
He turned and faced her sharply. "Hell no, I quit. There's the matter concerning Sherry, however..."
"Birkin?"
"Annette told her to wait at the R.P.D., can't remember when that was. I never saw her back at the Research Facility. I think she might be here already."
"What are we waiting for? Let's find her then."
"Someone's gonna need to stay here and keep an eye out for her while I look elsewhere."
"Are you suggesting I look for her on my own? Here?"
"Can you? Mean the world to me."
She launched herself at Scott and hugged him tightly. "Don't go, please!"
"I'd love to stay, my love, but I need to check out the facility in case Sherry isn't here."
"So you check down, and I check up? Why can't I come with you? We've been apart-"
"Please, Cindy..." She lets go of him. "I just want you and Sherry to be safe. It's too dangerous for you down there."
She sighed and shook her head. "I can take care of myself."
"Cindy. They're things down there in the facility that are worse than anything you could imagine. Look at me for fuck's sake, I worked there for six years, and I barely survived off the leftover scraps. You wouldn't fare much better."
"Gosh..."
"I can't protect you down there. At least up here, you're safe, and you can help by keeping an eye out for Sherry."
"While you check down below?" Scott nods in agreement. "Fine. I'll call you if I find her."
He smiled. "Thanks. She knows you, and she'll feel safer around you."
She folded her arms and frowned, her smile finally showed. It was almost infectious. "Once she's safe, we'll find a way out the city. Won't we?"
He smiled. "Of course we will."
"Can finally buy a house and raise Josh and..." She began to rub her shoulders, losing her trail of thoughts. "I cannot wait."
"I should probably mention that there's a slight chance I might not come back at all. If it comes to that, I just want you to do whatever you can to get out of the city alive. Most of this is my fault, and if I don't get out of the city alive, please promise me you will."
"Anything for our son."
"We can only pray it doesn't come to that." He brushed away his lab coat from his trouser pocket and took out a handgun inside. It was a loaded Browning HP. It's a very popular handgun. "You should take this, in case you need to protect yourself. Know how to use it?"
"Yeah." She took the handgun and put it in the gap of her black skirt. She didn't have any pockets, and thankfully there was space since Bob's Beretta ran out days ago. "Aim for the head. Right?"
He smiled. "That's my girl." He already had his Browning in his right hand, Cindy never knew he had it in his hand the entire time he arrived. His bloody hands were trembling. "I'm on the clock here; I need to go now."
"So soon?"
"Not making good time as it is."
"We won't waste any, I promise." She placed her hand on his strong chest, and her hand went towards his ear. Never liked kissing Scott with his glasses on so she raised them a bit higher over his forehead and let them sit over his ruffled hair. He brushed her hair and rested his other hand on her hip. Their eyes closed and they leant into a kiss.
Cindy pressed Scott up against the car's bonnet and held him closer; she felt his rugged body grind up against hers. It was getting hot down in the underground garage. They breathed heavily from the kisses. Cindy was eternally alone the last few days; ever since she became a mother, she missed the affection, no more than the average parent. In what could be their final moment together, she had to make it last. And what better way to that was some good old-fashioned alone time for adults.
"Oh, Scott," she breathed. "This is just what I needed."
"Me too, Cindy," he breathed in response. "I don't remember the last time we were alone like this."
Cindy pulled back and stopped kissing Scott and brushed his hair slowly. She played with it with her fingertips and put his cracked glasses back on. "I was thinking the same thing," she said, sounded as sweet as honey, like her always soft tone. Her personality was something to go down in legends. "It's been months since we were close like this." Scott smiled as she went on. "Even a terrible catastrophe like this can rear its beauty once in a while. Ironic… After all this, all I really wanted was an intimate moment with the one I love. I just needed my fiancée to be with me. To make me feel better. To give me the power to survive."
"I wish it was under better circumstances. You know I will always love you, Cindy, and nothing will change that, not even death. We have the most beautiful baby boy in the world, and I've never felt this much love in months."
"Would you say I'm glowing?" she giggled.
"Your personality is beyond glowing. My love, you are positively stunning."
"Aw, Scott..." She kissed him once more on the lips and lowered her gentle kisses down his neck.
Scott wrapped his arms around Cindy's waist and held her ass. Though her black skirt was plump and fresh, she fit her clothes perfectly. He lifted her off her feet and heaved her onto the red car's bonnet. The bonnet was at waist height and fairly long. It was an old car with little space for an engine and everything else, but it fit the mood. Cindy was placed on the bonnet gently on her back, she didn't stay down and sat up. She kissed him again. He loved her soft lips more than she did his. Her feet dangled.
"Oh, Scott," she breathed. "You don't know how much I needed this."
He breathed outside the kissing; it was the only way they avoided passing out. "Just some positive reinforcements, my love. It can do wonders."
"Look at us. We're so stressed." She ceased her kissing and smiled. "Where did our youth go?"
"What are you talking about? You still got it. Me? I'm the old man here-"
"Aw, you. Always the gentleman." She brushed his hair once more. "You're younger than me."
He smirked. "Only one year."
"At least you got your health..."
"Yeah… my health..." Scott thought his bill of health was something of a perk, though to add insult to injury it wasn't. He has been taking lines of cocaine for some time now, medically of course.
