Chapter 14

September 25, 1998 A Street in Raccoon City
The group slowly trudged back to the police station. It was obvious how tired everyone was, as Tina continued to carry the sleeping Sherry. Suddenly, a gunshot was fired,

"Monsters!" a police officer cried, firing at the zombies.

Tina, with neither of her hands free, started running through the crowd. She stopped as she realized the group was surrounded by a horde of zombies. She carefully put Sherry down before pulling out her gun. While her aim was horrible, there were so many zombies around that even she couldn't possibly miss. She fired an entire round, but the zombies just kept on coming. She put her gun away and picked Sherry back up. Looking behind her, she saw the group was losing out to the endless onslaught of monsters. With all of her might, she began running through the crowd of zombies, pushing them out of the way. Sherry, now starting to wake up, began noticing her surroundings immediately,

"Tina…what's going on…There's…zombies…everywhere…" she told her, still rather groggy.

"Don't worry Sherry, I'm going as fast as I can. I just need to get past all of these zombies. The police station is just a block away, and I'm almost out of ammo."

Clearly still distressed, Sherry nods. She squeezes her eyes shut and grips Tina's arm tightly. Tina, while slowed down by Sherry's weight, was able to reach the police station, covered in bruises and blood. The front entrance to the police station was surrounded by zombies, so Tina, hoisted Sherry onto her back and scaled the stone wall of the police station. After landing on a corner of grass on the other side, Tina and the now fully awake Sherry climbed through an open window into the police station. Once they were inside, they were immediately thrust into a thrall of panicked police officers. Several had already pushed past them when one of the officers finally stopped and noticed them,

"Hey, all civilians should've gone with one of the evacuation groups." she sternly tells them.

For some reason, she looks very familiar. She's not wearing a police uniform like everyone else, but her confident and determined expression informed that she was an officer.

"The US military blocked off all of the exits to the city, we're stuck here." Tina told her.

The officer sighed, and slammed her palm into the nearby wall, "Of course they would. Alright, it's best if you stayed here, where you'll be safe."

"We're sitting ducks if we stay here." Tina countered.

The officer turned around, surprised by this young child's aggression, "Well, you're not going out there, it's a madhouse."

"Look, we just need another way out of the city!" Tina barked back.

The officer, calmly but forwardly stated, "Hey, I'm trying to find a way out too, but until there is one you're going to have to stay here. This is not a job for children."

She lead the children to the police station break room, "If you really want to help, stay calm, and stay out of the way. We'll get through this, we have to. There's food in the pantry if you two get hungry."

"…Thank you." Tina replied after a small pause.

Sherry thanks her too, but is unable to find her name, "Thank you…um…officer…uh…"

"Jill, and I'm no officer, not anymore." she told her.

"Thank you, Officer Jill!" Sherry thanks her again.

Jill smiled, before closing the door.

Looking down from the top of the St. Michael's Clock Tower, Matt watched as zombies and humans alike wandered the streets down below. There was a certain majesty, sitting high above the city. There's a slight wind and the sun is just peaking out of the dense clouds. It's well into the morning, but the dark clouds obscure most of the daylight, with only a brief glimmer of sunlight now and again. He watched as Tina and Sherry returned to the police station. Of course he didn't really leave him, he just wanted it to seem like he did. He sat on the ledge of the building, his feet dangling over the edge.

Now, finally alone, Matt allowed himself some time to cry. His tears rolled off of his face and fell to the streets below. He buried his hands into his palms. Even though he knew he was absolutely alone, he was still worried that someone would see him crying.

He stared down at all of the chaos, the fires and destruction. What would happen if he were to jump? Would he perish, or simply land on his feet like a cat? He fidgeted with his hands, his tears coming to a sudden stop. He took a gulp, swallowing his tears, and falls.