These main roads are too dangerous, I'm far too exposed out here. Better to stick to the alleys when I can, less chance of being spotted.
His plans changed somewhat as he shot down a zombie directly in his path and found himself standing outside a store. The road ended here in a dead end, a large black station wagon blocking the way. He barely noticed that as he gazed at the shop. What attracted his attention was the large sign on top, proclaiming it as 'Kendo Gun Shop'
A gun store! There's bound to be some weapons in there, and some more ammo. About time I caught a break in this place
He tried the door and was a little surprised when it opened easily. He stepped inside and closed it again. However he hadn't taken more then a step when a voice halted him.
"Freeze!"
Leon spotted him then, a large, burly looking man with black hair behind the sales counter immediately opposite him. The owner he guessed. He had a thick blood stained bandage around his lower right arm and crimson marks over his dirty white shirt. The guy was holding a shotgun, which he loaded with a sharp click and aimed at Leon's chest as he barked out another question.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?"
Leon kept his hands at his sides and his gun pointed at the floor, careful not to make any quick movements that might set the already nervous fellow off. "Don't shoot! I'm R.P.D, I'm not one of them!" The guy looked him over for another couple of seconds before slowly, to Leon's relief, lowering his weapon.
That'd be perfect, to survive this mess only to catch a bullet from a trigger happy civilian
The guy walked around the counter towards Leon. "Sorry about that. The whole place is crazy, it's hard to trust anyone who even looks human anymore."
"Never mind. Can you tell me what the helL is happening around here? I only just arrived in town, and I've almost been killed twice already!"
"Hold on." The owner replied. He glanced nervously out the large front window before locking and bolting the door Leon had just come through. He was gripping the shotgun so tight his knuckles were turning white.
"I don't know Mister. Things have been strange around here for a while but not like… like this! These zombie things, they've come from nowhere. Every time they bite someone eventually they turn into one as well. I've seen it myself. You go out there, eventually you're dead!"
That's why there's so many of them. At that rate there must be hundreds.
Leon felt sickened by that revelation. Until then he had just been thinking of them as monsters - bloodthirsty, mindless beasts. He realized that they had once been people, regular men, women, even children. That made the whole situation even worse.
"So you're a cop? You have to do something! They've got to get the army in here or something. Somebody needs to get us out!" He almost yelled the last few words. Leon was sure he was in shock.
"I'm not sure what's going to happen." He replied, purposely keeping his voice calm. "But I do know for now we need to look out for ourselves until they can get the proper people in here to clean up this mess. What weapons do you have?"
The question seemed to sooth the other man somewhat, and he apologetically gestured to his shotgun. "This is it. When these zombies first started appearing there was a mad rush for weapons. I was lucky not to be killed by looters! This is the only weapon I could grab, and I was lucky to get that!"
Leon cursed under his breath. That didn't bode well for either of them. "Ammunition?" he asked hopefully, looking around at the empty racks and display cases in the store.
The owner nodded "Plenty of that under the counter. That's a VP70 isn't it?" He nodded to Leon's handgun. "I've got some 9 millimeter parabellum rounds. You can take them, I don't have any H & K's left"
At least that was something. Leon quickly searched the counter he had indicated and sure enough, the bullets were there. It wasn't much but it was better then nothing. He loaded his gun again, giving him another eighteen rounds, and stashed the spare couple of cartridges into one of his uniform pockets. Now he had to get this guy to safety.
"It's not safe here." Leon said, eyeing the huge front window behind his new friend uneasily. There was no way they could barricade this place with that there. "I'm heading for the precinct. We can make a stand there if we have to. You'll need to come with me."
"Are you crazy? Do you know how many of those things are out there! I'd rather take my chances here!" The man was looking at Leon with wild eyes. "You can do whatever the hell you want, but I'm staying!"
"You don't understand." Leon said, taking a couple of steps towards him, determined to convince him that it wasn't safe here, that it wouldn't take long for those creatures to sniff them out… then it was too late.
The huge glass window imploded, showering the owner with a rain of broken glass. Leon watched in horror as four of the zombie creatures burst in, throwing themselves at the man. He managed to get one shot off, and one of the zombies staggered back, its arm blown clean off. The appendage flopped around on the floor like a fish out of water. Even that couldn't save him however, and he went down under a mass of writhing bodies. Teeth sunk into his stomach, and chest. Leon started forward to help him and then clearly saw one of the monsters bite deeply into his neck. Blood sprayed over its face and the man's screams were abruptly cut off.
No! You bastards!
Rage washed over Leon as he watched the brutal slaughter. Without even thinking of his own safety, he brought his gun up and fired over and over, intent on destroying these… things. Most of them didn't even notice him, too intent on their fresh kill. The bullets smashed through their decaying flesh easily, the force making them twitch and jump like demented puppets on strings. One went down immediately, it's jaw shattered from a bullet that knocked it backward through the window. He pulled the trigger again and again until a few seconds later they were all down in pools of blood. Their death moans eventually stopped and the only sound to be heard was the crackling of fires in the distance, and his own heavy breathing.
Leon didn't realize he was still pulling the trigger until the clicking of the empty cartridge finally registered in his head. That brought him back to his senses.
They killed him right in front of me, ate him damn it! He didn't stand a chance.
He didn't want to look at the body of the shop owner - or what was left of it - but something shiny caught his eye in amongst the corpses. The shotgun. The thought of going in amongst those bodies to retrieve it revolted him, but it could prove to be an invaluable weapon. He reloaded then holstered his VP70 and took a deep breath.
The wind blew softly through the shattered window as Leon carefully picked his way through the corpses. His boots slid a little on the fresh blood and he carefully averted his eyes from the horrible wounds the owner had suffered. He snatched the shotgun up and quickly retreated back to the counter. He took a few moments to familiarize himself with weapon. Leon had been given all sorts of weapons training at the Academy and recognized it as a late model Remington 1100-P. Pump action with a shortened barrel for easier aiming. He checked the barrel, only to discover four rounds left. Still, that was better then none. The gun felt cool and comforting in his grasp. He felt a little safer already.
Going back out onto the street was a bad idea; it wouldn't be long before more zombies started showing up. It was then that he finally noticed the gray door on the far side of the room. A back door maybe? Opening it revealing a dark - and thankfully deserted - alleyway. That was his way.
Leon quickly went over the store making sure he hadn't missed anything valuable. Once he was certain he had everything he needed, he paused to take one last look at the owner's body. Remorse filled him from another life wasted.
I'm sorry. But they won't get away with this. Whoever caused all this will pay. I promise
He closed the door behind him, leaving the bloody scene behind.