Rating: M
Warnings: Violence, Language, Drug/Alcohol References/Abuse, Mild/Explicit Sexual Content
Disclaimer: All properties related to the Resident Evil/Biohazard series belong to Capcom. Any other products are the intellectual property of their respective owners.
A/N: Chapter 3 final version! Hooray! Special thanks to the lovely xXxRena-MariexXx who helped beta this. So this chapter has been rebuilt almost from the ground up. Give it a read, even if you already have previously, as it may have changed. Thank you to everybody who supported this story so far!
:.:
Rae was no stranger to the lifestyle of a police officer. Her father had been in the academy when he and her mother met, and had been a cop in all the time the college student had been alive. All of his friends were fellow officers and they often hosted barbeques in their backyard where they gossiped like teenage girls. She visited the office with her mother to bring lunches and drinks for them to share. The cops were nice and all knew her by name. She was the most popular little girl in the precinct. After all, most of them had worked with her father upwards of ten years by that point. They considered her family as well by that point. Rae missed her hometown and the pleasant, smiling faces of her father's friends.
Rae's eyes squinted shut at the bright lights around the police station. After navigating the backstreets and alleyways, her eyes had grown used to the dark. They stung. There were people milling about, both uniformed officers and civilians. She was standing in line behind a few other people, waiting to get checked out so they could enter. It was a relief that they'd shown some foresight and examined people for signs of the infection. Hopefully, that meant the officers were aware of the situation. There were two other lines, with the one next to her occupied by a few scared teens and a mother with a crying infant. Rae cast a sad sideways glance at the mother and child; it'd be terrible to have to make the run she'd just done, all while caring for a baby.
The area immediately in front of the station had been cordoned off with a few concrete barriers. The cars past the barricade, all down Staudt Road, were pushed off to the side. The military had been there. From her spot in line, Rae could see that part of Staudt Road was on fire. Everybody seemed to ignore the chaos as it blazed out of control, likely too concerned with the influx of injured people to worry about putting it out. Well, that was an apt metaphor of Raccoon City at the moment: On fire but nobody was able to put it out. It was probably also literal if the explosion she'd heard earlier was anything to go by.
Rae heard a loud gunshot and whirled around to look behind her, only to watch a corpse fall over dead beyond the barrier. She cast her gaze over the police station. A sniper? Then she looked over to where a few officers were collected at the huge front doors. A grizzled looking black man had his weapon drawn and sighted towards the barricade, the tip still smoking. If he'd made it just now with a handgun, that was a hell of a shot! Then again, these people were like her father, she reminded herself. Her dad had gone to the range almost daily to make sure his skills were polished. He'd been able to shoot the cap off a bottle at a good distance, if Aunt Martha's pool party had been any indicator of his prowess with a weapon.
Rae gripped her good hand around the strap of her oversized duffel bag. The other hand remained limply at her side. The fall she'd taken off of the courtyard fence had probably popped it out of place. At least, she prayed it wasn't broken. After the initial agony that'd followed landing on it, it'd been suspiciously numb. Then again, she was flying so high on adrenaline it was probably overriding most of the pain. Even now, her heart was pounding in her chest. She wouldn't be surprised if her blood pressure at that moment was through the roof. At the very least, it'd explain why she'd burst vessels in her eye.
Rae moved up in line as they let another person in. The large man in front of her was being examined, questioned. Nobody got in line behind her. In fact, the lines were dismally short. Truth be told, she'd expected there to be way more people than there were. Raccoon City was huge—with an estimated population of 330,000—so surely there'd be more people to have shown up, even in Murphysboro. She sincerely hoped that she was at the back of a long line and that many other people had already made their way in. There was no way the infection had killed off so many, right? Then again, it'd struck their neighborhood in the middle of the night like a damn freight train. She hadn't known they were in the middle of the zombie apocalypse until she'd literally watched a man get eaten. It made her wonder where the news was in all of this. Surely they'd have reported an outbreak of this magnitude? Unless it'd been too swift, too sudden. But they hadn't even reported on it when it'd started out as a riot in Clements. She frowned. Had there been a cover-up? A conspiracy? Wow, she was starting to sound like Jake.
There were several men in uniform securing the front of the station. They tested the integrity of the metal fence by shaking it, securing the weak areas with heavy yellow chains. Good; they were taking great care to prevent a breach. A few officers had even deigned to start boarding up the doorways at each side of the main entrance, which looked like they lead to a courtyard. Rae peered over the front railing of the police station and was surprised to see that the front entrance was actually some sort of bridge with stairwells on either side leading below. She wondered what was down there. Maybe some sort of guard post? Or maybe a maintenance shed?
"Next," the police officer in front of her hollered. She was startled from her thoughts. She stepped forwards underneath the flood light. "Please raise your arms above your head while I pat you down. This won't take very long. No funny business, I promise. Can you please drop your bag?"
Rae complied, letting the duffel to the ground gently. She swept her eyes over the officer. His nametag read 'K. Jensen'. It was common for officers to be known only as their last name. Her father was known around town as 'Big Colt', though she wasn't quite sure where it'd originated. Obviously it was a play on his last name. The young man was handsome, she noted with a blush. He had those star quarterback looks; blond hair, blue eyes, and a perfect smile. He was just the type of guy her father had warned her to stay away from. Her father always told her to settle down with the bookish, unassuming type.
Rae licked her dry lips. She suddenly felt like her tongue was too big for her mouth and her throat was closing up. Her gaze locked with his pretty blue eyes and she felt her face burn. Wow, she was so stupid. She'd completely spaced out on the poor guy and he was probably going to think she was a zombie if she didn't do or say anything.
She raised her right arm carefully. He eyed her in confusion. "My… Um… my s-shoulder on my left side was dislocated in a fall earlier, so I can't raise it. Sorry," she managed to squeak out. Then she remembered. Always inform a cop when you're carrying anything that could be used as a weapon. Thanks, Dad. "I'm armed. There's a machete strapped to my left thigh?" Why had she phrased that like a question? Idiot.
Rae's father had always been protective of her. It was apparently a cop thing. After her mother died, he'd gotten much more invested in keeping his 'little girl' safe. She wasn't able to hang out with boys her age, or go out without at least one girl friend. She couldn't drive without her father riding along. Oh, and he'd bought her a machete to use in case a boy decided to be too forward with her. Between his meddling and her complete lack of interest in anything other than movies, her interactions with the opposite sex had been limited to hanging out with Jake in Film Club. Not that he wasn't attractive and fun, but he was… weird. People who thought vaccines contained government mind control devices were weird. That was a fact.
Officer Jensen smiled brightly at her. "Thanks for letting me know. We'll get you to the medical station as soon as I check you over. Now, please stand with your feet apart and keep that arm reaching for the sky." He showed her the position, popping his feet apart and shooting his arms above his head. "Like so."
She swallowed thickly. Okay, so he was adorable. She moved her feet apart. If Tiffany had been with her, she probably would've joked about 'spreading her legs for some cute guy in a uniform'. She blushed even harder at the thought. The young man was quick and professional, though he let out a whistle when he saw the machete strapped to her thigh. She resisted the urge to run away when he pulled up her sweater to get a better look at it. He brushed against the pouch at her back and seemed to make a mental note of it, but moved on quickly. That had been surprisingly quick and painless, though Rae was sure her poor heart couldn't take any more excitement. She'd keel over dead before the zombies ever got to her.
The officer gave her an animated thumbs up. "You're good. No firearms on your person. We'll check your bags inside, but first I gotta give you a quiz, see if everything checks out." She was sure he winked at her.
"Alright."
He pulled out a clipboard. Her fingers clenched onto the edge of her sweater. "Name?"
Rae blinked owlishly at him. Name? Oh, right! "Chevelle Rae Colter."
"Cool," he muttered under his breath as he wrote it down. "Any identification on you?"
Crap. Rae had left her wallet at home! It hadn't seemed particularly important, compared to stuff she needed to survive. Wait! Rae reached into the top of her cream sweater, prompting a raised eyebrow from the officer in front of her. Her lanyard had her student ID attached to it. It'd be better than nothing, at least.
He leaned in close to look at the tiny picture on the ID, then looked back up at her to make sure everything was correct. Rae was certain she could see his individual eyelashes, he got so close. He smiled at her, revealing a full set of pearly whites.
"South Side University, huh? My cousin's an alumni from there." It was nice of him to try and make small talk. Rae found that she quite liked to listen to his voice. "Age?"
"Nineteen."
"We're close to the same age! Blood type?" He caught her strange look and clarified. "In case we have to do any emergency transfusions.
"O Positive."
The questions continued for a bit, mostly medical stuff. He asked her if she'd been displaying any signs of illness. No fever, cough, illness. No inexplicable aggression. No heightened appetite. It was strange to get what was essentially a medical checkup from a cop. Though Rae had completely expected it, given their circumstances. He ran a light over her eyes a few times, most likely checking for a film. The light lingered on her left eye, probably him taking note of the burst capillaries on her sclera. She hoped it wouldn't affect her chances of getting in. Her pulse was a bit high, he'd commented, though he'd gone on to amend that it was probably due to the situation. Of course it was high; she'd been dodging reanimated corpses all night! She noted with good humor that he put her through a few field sobriety tests. She walked a straight line, followed his finger, and had to say the alphabet backwards. In a way, it made sense. The zombies and those turning seemed to have limited control of their body. She remembered how Miss Vasquez had dropped the vase and how her hands shook just before turning. God, it still hurt.
Rae closed her eyes and shivered. The rain started up again. It began soaking her sweater at the shoulders. It was stupidly appropriate that this would happen while it was cold and rainy. The weather seemed perfect for the melancholy mood. Now she knew why it rained so often in scary or sad movies: it was fitting. Suddenly, the sprinkle grew to a downpour. There was nobody in line behind her and everybody else had been checked out.
"Looks like you're the last one," Officer Jensen murmured. The street beyond was desolate. There were no more people coming. Rae held out hope that a few stragglers would make their way over or that a few savvy people had barricaded their own homes.
"Do you think anybody else will show up?"
The young man sighed, pulling off his hat and running a hand through his hair. "We've been getting people in for a while, now. Anybody who's going to show up already has." For a moment he seemed defeated, then he plastered a smile on his face and walked over to her.
"Shouldn't we close the gate, then?"
Jensen shrugged. "We've been ordered to take in as many survivors as possible. If we can let even one more person in, we will." And run the risk of letting the infection in? But she was certain they weren't going to bar the gates on her orders. Besides, there were officers stationed at each side of the doors with weapons. "Anyway, you should go inside and get settled in. I'll take your bags to Ford through the main entrance; he'll get them sorted." He held out a hand for her duffel bag.
She stared at the offered hand for a moment. It was odd that this was all done so quickly. Surely there'd be some sort of bite check? Obviously she hadn't expected to be stripped down in the streets, but maybe she needed to talk to a female officer about it. "Who should I talk to about getting a body exam? I-I've been bitten. On my hand." It was best to come clean now.
She was surprised when the handsome officer looked confused. "Body exam? I already checked you out."
Rae's jaw dropped. That was it? Not checking for bites could render this whole place even less safe than the streets outside! They really didn't know that the infection could spread through bites? That was the stereotype in literally every zombie movie ever! She must've looked alarmed because the officer stopped dead in his tracks. A dark shadow crossed over her mind. They really didn't know what they were dealing with. It was like she'd been wondering earlier: how much had they been told? Not enough, apparently.
"Do you know what's happening to the city right now?"
Officer Jensen looked off to the side in thought, probably debating about whether the information was need-to-know. He started carefully. "All we've been told is that we're to establish a safety center to protect the populace from an infectious disease. It makes people incredibly aggressive. We've only been told to check for symptoms, but not what it is. Orders are shoot on sight if we see anything like it. Why?"
Rae stared at him in horror. "Is there any way I could talk to the person in charge? I think I know what's going on." Jensen looked conflicted for a moment. "Please," she pleaded, trying her best to look small and unassuming. "I have information about the outbreak that might be of use to you. And supplies."
"Let's… Let's get out of the rain and sort this inside." He activated the radio at his shoulder. "Hey… Um, Lieutenant? I have a… witness here. She has information."
The receiver buzzed to life. "Bring her in."
Jensen picked up her bag and gestured for her to follow him. He nodded at the officers on either side of the door politely. Rae took that moment to notice that the cop who'd downed the zombie earlier was nowhere in sight. He'd probably gone inside during her check-up. Jensen pulled the heavy doors open and motioned for her to go first. So, he was a gentleman. Rae looked at the ground to hide her red face and continued following him.
Rae stopped and looked up in awe. It was clear that the building wasn't originally designed to be a police station. The floors were a rich marble that would've costed an arm and leg to buy and install. The banisters and front desk were all a dark, heavy wood that was littered with intricate carvings. A huge goddess statue occupied the landing directly behind the front desk, while a fierce-looking lion statue guarded the second floor. Each of the lights was crafted from fine crystal. It was too easy to picture a prestigious art gallery in this building, rather than the police station it was today. She craned her neck uncomfortably to sneak a peek at the third floor, which didn't seem to be accessible from the main hall.
An amused laugh broke through her observations and she turned to where Jensen was watching her. "It's pretty neat, huh? I stared a lot when I started at this precinct. I transferred from the Rhodes office, so this was a culture shock."
She couldn't imagine working in such a pretty building. The orphanage was fairly rough around the edges in comparison, though she admitted that the stained glass window was one of her favorite things ever. It always lit up the main hall with such a pretty array of color. The station was stark and white by comparison.
Rae noted with a small amount of joy that the phones at the front desk were going off wildly. Good. That meant there were survivors who were holding out elsewhere in the city. An older officer whose nametag read 'D. Ford' was answering them to the best of his ability. He was cradling a phone at his ear, writing something down on a large sheet of paper. She wondered if they were planning a rescue effort. Maybe the military was clearing the streets so the police could find and evacuate survivors? That'd certainly make things easier.
Jensen gestured over to their left, immediately after the entrance. "That's the medical area, where Doc Tsu will get that arm of yours fixed. It's not much to look at, but it's all we had time to throw together with all of… well, this." The area was outfitted with a few cots, some rolling dividers, and basic medical supplies. A pretty Asian woman was busy examining a man who looked like he'd fell into a fire. Rae flinched and looked away as the lady doctor began peeling away bits of clothing that'd seared to his flesh. She couldn't even handle seeing wounds in movies, let alone in real life.
Ahead, most people that'd made it to the refuge were gathered at the landing. Rae noted that there were at least thirty-five people, not including the officers in blue. She was simultaneously happy that there were so many survivors and saddened that there weren't even more. Officers were busy clearing out rest areas, moving desks form the landing up to the second story windows. They were probably trying to give the crowd a little wiggle room; it was thick enough that if somebody turned it could be an awful affair. While most had opted to stand near the Goddess Statue, some waited in the lobby off to the left, piling onto the comfy-looking leather benches. Most of these people were elderly, seemed to be sick or disabled, or were tied down with children. Oh, God. She'd forgotten about children. It wasn't often that you saw children as victims in times of crisis in movies. Sure, some had babies or kids to tug on the heartstrings, but they were overshadowed by adult tragedy. In fact, the movie series she'd just watched had no children zombies. It was basically taboo.
Officer Jensen's radio buzzed to life. He placed his ear on the speaker, listening intently. Rae unashamedly tried to eavesdrop but all she could hear was intermitted buzzing and static. Stupid low quality radios. He looked at her thoughtfully and responded to the person on the other end. So, they were talking about her? She felt like a child again, with her parents talking about her in hushed voices. It made her want to stick her tongue out at the young officer, but she resisted the urge.
"Okay Miss Colter, we'll have somebody out to talk to you in just a moment. Lieutenant Branagh has a few loose ends to tie up, but he'll be down in a bit. In the meantime, what do you have in here? Bricks?" The man jostled her duffel back pointedly.
"Um… Mostly canned stuff. You can take a look if you want. Just please leave the red blanket in there; it was my mom's."
The officer gave her a look that landed somewhere on the spectrum between pity and sympathy. And she thought she observed a bit of understanding in his baby blue eyes. "Of course, Miss." He smiled at her. "Let's bust this bad boy open, then! I want to see what presents you brought us."
He dropped the bag onto a nearby table and snuck a peek. He pulled the dismal first aid kit out and set it aside. The he began systematically emptying everything out and laying it to the side. Miss Vasquez had helped her stock her cabinets with goods, so they'd been full of a healthy variety of both goodies that Rae liked and food she'd never touch unless she was actively starving to death. So she was picky; sue her. The officer snickered a little as he pulled out a second can of creamed corn—companion to the one that'd been sacrificed in her mad dash for the station.
"Ah, yes. A delicacy in nursing homes across the nation, so I hear."
Rae arched an eyebrow, suddenly feeling a bit bold. "Maybe I robbed one on the way here?"
Jensen faked a scandalized gasp. "The most depraved kind of criminal—a vegetable villain!"
She rolled her eyes at his dramatics. At least he was keeping her mood up. She actually liked this young officer. Great, she was developing her first crush ever. All it took was the apocalypse. Sure, she'd formed crushes on fictional characters and actors, but real people were unpredictable. And they were much harder to interact with, given that they had so many hidden layers. People following a script were much more accessible; often times, what you saw was what you got. Rae scoffed in mixed embarrassment and humor. She was so weird, comparing a living, breathing man to a fictional person.
She continued on with their friendly banter, feeling more comfortable in his presence by the second. "I had another can of creamed corn, but I used it as a distraction on the way here. If you want, we can go rescue it."
"An absolute travesty. We'll send out a retrieval team right away," he stated dryly before clearing his throat and adopting a much more earnest tone. "Really though, thank you. We weren't as prepared for this as we would've liked, so every little bit helps." He gazed at her with a sincerity that made her heart race.
"Just doing my civic duty, officer."
"You're an odd one, aren't you?"
Yes, she was. Most people had probably brought a change of clothes or precious heirlooms with them. Rae hadn't any valuables that were worth taking, and she could just wash her clothes in the sink if need be. It wasn't necessary for a single person to cramp up the station even more with useless junk. Most people also would've probably not been decked out in leather butt-kicking gear, but she pinned that beautiful mess on her father. God, she was thankful he was a basket case.
Rae was about to ask him about seeking medical treatment when all Hell broke loose. A woman at the landing screamed bloody murder. Jensen's hand went instinctively to his holstered pistol. The people on the landing were frantically moving away from the Goddess Statue, spilling up the stairs, down the ramps, and even spilling over the banisters behind the front desk. Somebody had turned. Rae's stomach did cartwheels.
The young officer raced into the chaos and Rae followed close behind him, hand on her own weapon, though it wouldn't do her much good without her swinging arm. Her curiosity got the better of her and she just had to see. What an idiot, the instinctive part of her brain screamed at her. She pushed that aside. If she knew what was going on, she'd understand her own situation better as well. This could be an opportunity to assess her own situation. If the police station was infested by potential monsters, she may just make the decision to brave the streets in search of somewhere better.
An infected man was kneeling over the limp body of a woman. She was twitching erratically as she bled out, a gaping wound in her neck. Rae gasped and placed her functional hand to her mouth. It was grisly, seeing somebody get mauled in the light. The man outside the phone booth had been in too much darkness to be able to see, and the bartender on her apartment floor had been hidden behind a doorway. The light made everything so much more real. Like black-and-white becoming Technicolor. She almost threw up in her mouth.
Jensen next to her whipped out his pistol and trained it on the infected man. The zombie stood up, excited by the crowd's rambunctiousness, and began shuffling over to a sobbing man. Beside her, Jensen shook. He'd probably never had to shoot anybody before. It was rare for cops with a long career to fire their weapon, and even more so for somebody who was obviously still a bit green.
His voice shook. "Sir! Hands over your head and lay down on the ground!" The zombie kept advancing. "Sir! Down on the ground! Now!"
Rae stepped forward tentatively. "Officer Jensen, he won't listen. He's infected." She gave him a look that was far stronger than she felt. "You have to put him down."
The young man spared her a helpless glance and trained his vision back on the monster before him. The thing had stopped inching towards the other man and had instead decided to shuffle towards the officer's resonating voice. There were other officers in the area, but they were blockaded by the panicking civilians. They wouldn't be able to make a clean shot. Rae bit her lip and watched the scene unfold helplessly. She hid her face in the bulk of her filthy cream sweater as a gunshot sounded. Surprisingly, it wasn't from beside her. That had come from above.
The same older officer who'd sniped the zombie outside with his pistol was at the second floor balcony, weapon drawn. The young man beside her shakily holstered his weapon. He wiped his hands on his black slacks and acknowledged the grizzled man above. "Lieutenant Branagh! Sir!"
The man admonished him with a glance. "Our orders are to put down those infected, Jensen! That was a rookie mistake."
Jensen nodded. He shook his head and sighed deeply, ashamed and horrified at the scene on front of him. Rae wanted to pat the man on the shoulder, but she wasn't in any positon to offer him comfort. Besides, she had something more important to attend to. This must've been the person currently in charge, and he was only a lieutenant. She offhandedly wondered where the upper brass were, specifically Police Chief Irons. Had they been taken by the infection? Or were they behind the scenes having an emergency meeting?
Bravely, she craned her neck up to look at him, taking in his features. The man had obviously seen Hell in his lifetime; the chaos that'd unfolded had done little to shake him. His gaze was steady and firm, without hesitation. It was a bit strange to admit that he reminded her of her father, though she was certain they were nothing alike. He had the same aura, like he could tackle anything. Rae licked her dry lips. How was she supposed to talk to him? It didn't look like he was in the mod for any more surprises.
Behind her, the officers began leading people away so that they could clean the mess up. Rae eyed the body warily. Sure, there was a hole where its forehead used to be, but that didn't mean anything. Her sex fiend neighbor had beat on a solid wooden door with his face until his brain was exposed. Ignoring Jensen's cry of alarm, she sprinted up a clearing in the stairs, aiming to talk to the Lieutenant before it was too late. He was talking with another, older officer when she reached the second floor. She cradled her injured arm.
"Lieutenant Branagh!"
The man gave her an appraising glance and waved her off. "Please wait below with the others. We'll have your living spaces figured out shortly." He turned back to the other officer and began speaking as though she wasn't there. "Now, I want Scott and Slaughessy to dismantle the East Offices. Pull apart the bullpen and use the desks as a barricade. Leave the office intact, we can use it to—"
"Lieutenant Branagh!" Rae was highly aware that interrupting people was rude. But this was an emergency and she was tired of being ignored. "Please listen to me: that man you just shot, he's—"
"Miss Colter! You can't just run off like that." And there was Officer Jensen, rocketing up the stairs. She wanted to tug her hair out. He grabbed her uninjured arm carefully, trying to lead her away.
She cried out, "Don't tug me away. Seriously. This is important!" She whirled on the young officer and gave him puppy eyes. "Please, let me talk to him."
He gave a strangled sigh and looked overwhelmed. Poor guy. He'd just almost had to shoot a man and now he was chasing some crazy girl around the police station. "The Lieutenant is very busy. You can talk to him in a few moments."
"That man is going to get up again. The one you guys just shot. He's not dead." Rae pulled her arm free and stared unflinchingly.
"That's ridiculous! He had a hole in his head!" The young man waved his arms, losing it a little. She'd probably be skeptical too, had she not seen the crazy that'd already unfolded today. Hell, he probably thought she was crazy.
"And my neighbor didn't have a throat, but she still got up and attacked the lady across the hall! Please just hear me out!"
"That's crazy," the young man said childishly and Rae stuck her tongue out, also immature but not quite caring.
Rae turned towards Branagh and flinched when he was staring intently at her. "Can I please just have my moment to rave like a nutcase, then we'll dismiss my claims?"
The older officer raised an eyebrow. His ebony skin was pulled taut around his jawline, signaling that he wasn't amused by their little show. "Very well. But you get five minutes."
Rae sighed in relief. "So that guy was a zombie."
"I've changed my mind. We're done here."
She almost screamed. "Wait! I'm not making this up or a raving lunatic, I promise! I watched a guy get mauled in the street earlier and he got back up with his internal organs literally falling from his body. I know it's crazy, but what do we know about this disease? It makes people sick, they get aggressive, they become unresponsive, they get hungry, their eyes glaze over, they wander around without direction and groan. What else could it be?"
She obviously wasn't making her case. They looked thoroughly unimpressed. It was enough to make her want to emulate her neighbor and bash her head against something solid. Were her internal jokes getting more and more morbid? She shivered under their judgmental stares. Well, until a commotion down the stairs made her case for her. The dead man rose again and tried to latch his teeth into the nearest police officer, a young woman. She screamed and fired three rounds into his skull at point blank range. Rae turned towards them and gestured down at the scene in frustration.
"See? Zombies!"
The officers stared down in shock, then looked back at her with wide eyes. Seriously, did they not know about the zombies? Did they really think it was just some illness? Obviously it was a hard bit of fact to chew on, but they needed to sink their teeth in nonetheless. And now she was using biting metaphors. Classic Rae. She rolled her eyes at her own internal ridiculousness.
Lieutenant Branagh shook himself from his stupor and adopted a serious face. He pressed the police radio to his lips.
"Cole. Did you check John Doe's pulse before he attacked? Was he dead?"
A buzzing affirmative answered him. Branagh cast his chocolate gaze at Rae. He frowned and rubbed his forehead. He asked about the female victim as well, also receiving bad news. Rae knew that it was only a matter of time before she rose as well. He had a difficult road ahead, and this crazy person in front of him seemed to have the only road map. She felt sorry for him. Eventually, after mulling everything over, he turned to her.
"Okay. You've gotten my attention. Start from the beginning."
So she did. She recounted her steps, starting in that phone booth. Seeing a man being eaten, retrieving her goods at home, rescuing Miss Vasquez. Her voice cracked a little whenever she mentioned the woman turning in the courtyard. She shared the discoveries that she'd made along the way: that they were mostly blind, but reacted to light and swift movement; that they were seemingly attracted to sound; and that a single bite could turn you in under twelve hours.
"Whatever this disease is, Lieutenant, it spreads fast. Like, incredibly so. The man I saw get mauled on the streets died and was changed in under ten minutes. And I don't know how long bites actually take to change a person, but they're mainly how this thing passes around."
The Lieutenant hummed in his chest. "So, it uses blood and saliva as a carrier. It's probably spread by other bodily fluids as well. We should secure those bodies, then. Make sure they don't spring up and start biting anybody else." He took to his radio again. "Cole, get tape over their mouths and see if you can't get Hobbs to bring body bags from below. I'll take care of everything from there. Jones, keep the targets contained until we can properly secure them."
Branagh turned to face Rae again and told her escort to get her medical care while he discussed the best course of action for those who'd been bitten. Rae wondered if there'd be a quarantine established. It'd be smartest to separate the bitten from the healthy populace. She rubbed her hand nervously; that'd probably include her as well. The old wound on it was clearly teeth marks. They'd take no chances, not with this.
Jensen led her to the doctor with a gentle hand on her lower back, probably to keep her from running off again. The gesture made her a bit uncomfortable, felt a bit too familiar. Still, she didn't let it show and even rolled her eyes at him when she caught his gaze. He looked much more serious than when he'd first come in. She'd probably be in trouble with him later.
Rae was led to an occupied cot, though the person sitting there had already been checked and taken care of, if the bandage around her lower leg was any indication. She had lovely auburn hair and vibrant green eyes, though they were dulled with heavy emotion. Rae instantly recognized the woman as the mother who'd been in the admission line next to her. She acknowledged the older woman politely and sat down next to her. Rae caught the woman staring at her bloodshot eye a few times, though she never asked about it.
"We came in together," the woman spoke.
"Yeah." Rae held out her good hand for the woman to shake. "Umm… I'm Rae. Colter, that is."
"Jessica Gates." The woman gave her a semblance of a warm smile before turning away and staring of into space. Rae wondered where the woman's baby had gone. Maybe they'd established a safe zone for the children? Or maybe they hadn't let the little one come with her during her medical checkup. A baby would probably only get in the way, after all.
"Do you think this place is safe?" Jessica surprised her by speaking up.
Rae thought for a moment. "I hope so. At the very least, it'll be easier to defend than a regular building."
"I hope so, too. My husband was supposed to meet up with us, but…" The woman stared at her hands for a moment. "Sorry. We've only just met and I'm probably weighing you down."
"I don't mind. Special circumstances and all." Rae smiled at the woman.
It was a pleasant silence that followed. Rae discovered that the woman had a son, whose name was Caleb. He was named after an old family friend. One of the lady cops had taken him to a makeshift nursey to sleep. Her husband had been a worker for JavaTech. Jessica herself was once a nurse, though she seemed to know very little about the disease that was spreading. All she was certain about was that it was incredibly fast-spreading and incredibly deadly.
Rae waited for the good doctor to set her arm. While the woman was busy smearing a strange concoction on some poor man's wounds, Rae's attention was diverted to the second floor, where Branagh stood with a megaphone. Jensen, who lingered a few steps away from her, caught her eye and winked. She responded by sticking her tongue out. From what she could see, the team had already disposed of the bodies. Efficient. The crowd was still tense from the earlier events.
Lieutenant Branagh spoke calmly and carefully. "Please settle down and listen for a moment. I have an important update regarding our current situation. As some of you know, Raccoon City has been placed under lockdown and this building had been designated as a safe zone for the foreseeable future. We have identified the source of this lockdown as a highly infectious disease. The symptoms of this illness include nausea, loss of motor control, impaired judgement, heightened aggression, and the complete absence of pain. It's quite possible that we're looking at a form of Rabies. If you have been exposed to an animal displaying these symptoms or have been bitten by one, please come forward immediately. If you have been exposed to a person exhibiting these symptoms, please come forward immediately. You may be infected.
"We must do all that we can to keep this station secure. I have just been informed that there's a high probability that this infection is spread through contact with blood and saliva. So, in the next few moments everybody will be directed to nearby rooms for private screenings. You will be checked for bites, claw marks, anything that could be used to transmit the infection. Women, please follow Officers Philips and Cole to the West Hall." Two female officers at his right side waved to gain the spectators' attention. "Men, you're with Officers Jones and Slaughessy to my left. Please use the East Hall. After you've been cleared, you'll be given your designated sleeping area. Please leave all possessions in the Main Hall until you've been cleared. Thank you for your cooperation."
The doctor set Rae's shoulder in record time, admitting that the swelling wasn't particularly bad, though the numbness of the area was cause for concern. She might've irreparably damaged a nerve. To her embarrassment, she'd had to strip off her sweater and shirt, so Jessica and Jensen had been shooed away and a rolling curtain moved to preserve the young woman's modesty. It hurt terribly. She was given a few Ibuprofen to soothe the awful pain of the recently-set joint and a flimsy sling that looked like it was made from cheesecloth. The doctor gave her three weeks until the thing was healed fully and she'd be able to move it. It was the zombie apocalypse and she'd messed up her dominant arm for three weeks. She felt so stupid.
God, the thing hurt so bad. And she still had to get her clothes back on, too. That was going to be a struggle just by itself. Doctor Tsu patiently helped her put her black undershirt inch-by-inch. Rae's teeth remained gritted the entire time. How was it that the stupid thing hurt worse after the treatment than it did before? Had it even hurt this bad when she'd injured it in the first place? Yeah, she was being a big baby, but that had hurt! She didn't know how action heroes could just pop stuff back into place and then go back to shooting the bad guys. Movies apparently just assumed that people naturally had the pain tolerance of freaking gorillas, apparently. Speaking of, Rae offhandedly wondered what'd happened to the Raccoon City Zoo. Zombified gorillas and lions sounded terrifying.
They'd decided that Rae's chest harness was too much trouble, and there was no need for her to wear her sweater inside where it was warm. Not to mention the fact that the clothing article was absolutely soaked from the rain and filthy from her tumble. If anything, Rae figured she could use her dad's old sweater as a sling if she tore through her current one. Her dad. She groaned. He was probably home asleep, given that it was about one in the morning, but he'd be expecting a phone call from her to check in. If she didn't call he was likely to come to Raccoon City and mow through the zombie hordes just to find her. She'd have to keep him away somehow.
Rae pushed aside the mobile divider and watched people line up to exit the Main Hall. Her eyes scanned the expansive room for Jensen. The younger officer was standing by the entrance to the East Hall. Lieutenant Branagh was behind the large wooden front desk, mulling over his maps. Rae walked over to lean against the dark wood. It was heavy, solid. She guessed oak. Her father had built a bar in their garage out of dark oak wood and he'd had to have three of his buddies from the precinct come move it; that was half the length of the one in the Raccoon City Police Department.
The lieutenant didn't so much as spare her a glance. She imagined he was doing something important with his time and didn't want to steal him away for too long. Biting her lip nervously, she cleared her throat. "Um… Lieutenant?"
The man glanced at her form the corner of his eye. "I must admit, when you spoke to me earlier, I thought you were crazy."
Jerk! Rae huffed, crossing her arms childishly. "I'm not crazy," she mumbled.
"No, you are not." He pushed aside some of the papers in front of him and scrawled something at the corners in messy writing. "I talked to some of the others. They didn't quite come to the… conclusion that you did: about the zombie apocalypse." Rae raised an eyebrow. "But they did say some eerily similar things in their own statements. People that should be dead moving around, people who'd been bitten suddenly changing." The man looked up at her. "Jensen tells me that you've been bitten. I hope you understand the position that this puts me in."
She shrugged, unworried. If she could help keep the others safe, she'd gladly be locked away. Helping people was always the best course of action. That's what her dad had raised her to believe. "Trust me when I say that one of your cells is probably bigger than my apartment; I'll be fine. Besides, I wouldn't have said anything if I really wanted to fly under the radar."
Stony-faced, the man left his work behind. He sighed, defeated. Rae could see the bags under his eyes. "I'm glad you decided to speak up. We need all the help we can get to face this. Or none of us will make it out of this station." His tone had a sort of weary finality. "Jensen has been ordered to take you directly to a cell. He's waiting for you."
A part of her couldn't believe everything that'd happened. It was too terrible, too ridiculous. She'd much rather be home right now, sipping on a cup of coffee, watching a movie. Her neighbors would be back at it again, screwing like rabbits and shaking the apartment walls. A quick glance out the window would reveal the young Thai man doing his meticulous maintenance on his mother's restaurant. Miss Vasquez would be just waking up in the mid afternoon and would still be lively as ever. A call would come in, telling her to come to the orphanage to fill in another person's shift. She'd have to refuse because she had a college lecture to get ready for. Tiffany and Jake would both be waiting in the tiny room that'd been designated for the Film Club. It was all too surreal, knowing that life would ever be the same again. Rae shook herself, coming back to the present.
"I'm sure if we're careful, we'll make it through this."
The Lieutenant didn't seem to agree with her, but he stayed quiet. It was probably best to leave him to his work, she realized. The older police officer who'd been manning the phones gave her a small smile. She curiously peered at the paper in front of him, the one he'd been writing on earlier. It was all locations, addresses. Maybe a list of people who needed rescued? She averted her attention and retrieved the familiar duffel bag on the upper part of the reception desk.
The police had already managed to clear her duffel bag of all the canned goods and what little medical equipment she'd packed. She was happy to find that they'd left her mother's throw blanket alone, folded neatly at the bottom. It was joined by her father's hand-me-down sweater and the leather chest harness. She balanced the bag precariously on her uninjured shoulder, hissing in annoyance whenever it bumped against her sling.
Rae made her way over to where Officer Jensen was waiting. Most of the people that'd once been in the Main Hall had since cleared out, most likely awaiting their designations. Rae wondered how many had been infected. How many would be joining her in quarantine? She hoped she got a cell to herself so that if somebody changed she wouldn't have to worry about them trying to eat her.
Officer Jensen noticed her approach and a blindingly white smile split his face. "Well, if it isn't our resident loony person!"
"I'm not crazy." Rae frowned at him. Where did he get all that energy from?
"C'mon! Zombies? That's a little crazy."
Jensen laughed good naturedly and led her through the winding halls of the east side of the police station, chatting happily with her. He seemed to be doing well for somebody who just learned that the dead had risen. Then again, it was probably just his way of coping. He probably had friends and family in the city, just like the others. Rae guessed that beneath that smile he was an absolute wreck. She looked down at her feet in thought. She really hadn't had much to lose, not like most everybody else in Raccoon City. Everything she needed, she'd been able to bring with her.
The police station was laid out strangely compared to the tiny building in Huntsville. It was clear that many of the rooms had been added after the initial construction of the building to section it off. The hallways were narrow and oddly shaped, not like they had been planned out. They made a full circuit around the East Offices, according to Jensen. Through the double doors Rae was able to see a large expanse of desks in varying stages of disarray. Their escort gave her a quick verbal tour, gesturing towards the Press Room and the hallway that would've taken them to the bathrooms and Interrogation Room. It was quite a large station. Jensen was only half joking when he warned her not to run off. She winced.
Rae noted that the walls were covered in bulletin boards, which were themselves covered in papers of all shapes and sizes. There were even a few pictures tacked up here and there. They passed through what Jensen called the 'Watchman's Room', where they greeted an elderly cop behind a desk. The man looked weary.
"This is Tyson. He keeps us up to date on the people using the break room." Jensen waved politely at the older man, who was writing in a log. "He's not as grumpy as he looks", the younger cop joked.
Tyson raised a grey eyebrow and huffed. "Don't try my patience, kid. I'll have Hobbs lock you up again."
Again? Rae wondered if Jensen was the trouble maker of the group. He certainly seemed a little mischievous. Also, had they locked one of their fellow officers in the clink for something? She snorted at the thought.
Jensen rubbed the back of his head in faux embarrassment. "Jeez, Tyson! Keep that on the down low. Can't have this lovely lady thinking I'm a menace, now."
"You are a menace, kid. Only person with balls big enough to put a thumb tack on Lieutenant Faulker's chair. I'm surprised she didn't kill you." The older man smiled at the two women. "Anyway, who is this?"
"The first member of our quarantine. I'm sure you heard over the radio?"
"Yup. Bad news, that. Still, got the cells cleaned up for you. The kleptomaniac passed sometime last night, so we moved him to the morgue. Ben's still bitching, though. Don't let him get under your skin."
Rae's nose wrinkled. She wasn't sure exactly what was going on, but she could glean that it had to do with their new accommodations. From what she could gather, one of the inhabitants had passed away. That made her nervous. She hoped that the morgue was secure, just in case he decided to come back to join the legion of the undead.
"M'lady", Jensen acknowledged her with a smile and tip of his hat. "We should get moving before all the best rooms are taken, no?"
They passed the Break Room before taking a flight of stairs downwards. So, the holding cells were underground. Creepy. The stark cement walls of the underground were much more unwelcoming than the decorative ones at the station proper. She found herself gripping Jensen's arm out of anticipation and a bit of fear. The whole place looked like it was home to a slasher film.
They passed by rooms that Jensen pointed out as being the Generator Room and Firing Range. The Morgue was around the hall, according to him. He shivered a little when he mentioned it. Apparently there were bad memories connected with the room. Not surprising. Barking at their left hand side startled Rae. The k-9 unit? Rae shook. Big dogs weren't her favorite creatures. She'd had a particularly bad experience with one as a child. She hoped that the disease couldn't be transmitted between species. The thought of a legion of zombie dogs honestly scared her more than she cared to admit. They met the dog handler on the way past. He was a large-built man with the lovely smile. He was also a few days out from retirement. What a terribly ironic situation. It sounded so familiar. Maybe she'd seen a similar situation in a movie?
The parking garage was an absolute mess. It looked like people had tried to pile into the station in their vehicles before the place was locked down. There were even a few crashed into the walls, she noted. Panic was a powerful thing; it completely overrode logic and rationality. And apparently made people drive like psychos as well. They navigated the empty space between a concrete support and the most hideously bright Mini Cooper she'd ever seen. The gate for the garage was down and the handsome officer at her side informed her that the area outside was inaccessible due to the sinkhole and a few well-placed concrete barriers. God, she'd forgotten about the sinkhole! A section of road had collapsed, cutting off the bus route to the orphanage. It was one of the main reasons she'd even started walking the back alleys to get to work. She was honestly surprised that it hadn't been fixed yet. And now it never would be.
Rae leaned into Jensen's warmth. It was a sobering thought that everything that Raccoon City had been was now reduced to nothing. Even if they managed to clear out the zombies and rid the contagion form the streets, would anybody ever want to live there again? Maybe they'd have to demolish the entire city after all was said and done. She shivered a little. An entire city, erased in the span of only a few days. If this was the plague, it was the worst in human history. If this was a biological weapon, it'd done its job a little too well. She wondered again where the zombies had come from. Her hand itched annoyingly.
"Maybe you're immune?" Jensen spoke up. She didn't really want to correct him and say that there was absolutely no way she was infected. It'd take too long to explain. "I mean, not everybody's changed yet, right? Maybe there are some bitten who won't change. Or maybe there's a way of treating it." He turned to give them a somewhat strained smile.
Rae frowned. Yeah, it was possible for somebody to be resistant to illness, but was Zombieism—Zombification? Zombiness? Zombieitis?—even an actual disease? It could be a virus, or a bacterial infection, or a parasite, or a fungus. She'd once seen a movie where a fungal infection turned people into weird mushroom headed zombies. Those things were the absolute creepiest monsters she'd ever seen. And she'd watched "The Thing". She shuddered a little; body horror movies made her skin crawl. Honestly, Rae didn't have an intimate knowledge of medicine or even the human body. Not like Tiffany—who was training to become a pathologist, like her Uncle Bill and Aunt Nettie. Rae hadn't even considered what the disease could even be, or if people could be immune.
"I hope you're right."
Rae eyed the posture of the officer next to her. His shoulders bore the telltale signs of being heavily weighed down. They were slumped but stiff. His hands were balled into fists as they swung at his side. She'd seen his façade slip more than once, that happy mask he was wearing vanish. Underneath the bright and cheery exterior, he was as terrified as anybody would be. Despite that, he remained like sunshine in the darkness. Rae smiled at the man's back. He was doing it to put her at ease.
"Thank you, Officer Jensen." For everything.
:.:
To Be Continued…
:.:
A/N: And, boom! I feel much better about this version than I did when everybody just talked. I realized how awful boring it was. Like, how did anybody make it through? Anyway, more Jensen goodness. You'll notice that Jessica is now a minor character. It became too difficult to balance everybody's interactions, so I cut her down a bit. She'll still appear as a named character in the next chapter, though her role has been diminished. Sorry, guys! Anyway, check out the next two chapters which were posted with this revision. Don't forget to leave me your opinion about the changes in the comments.
Special thanks to xXxRena-MariexXx for helping out!