Ada stood motionless, carefully concealed in the shadows on the second floor balcony, watching with interest as the young cop operated the computer in the main hall. He'd obviously gotten hold of a keycard - she heard the loud click of the electronic locks being released below. This was an unexpected development. If anything could be unexpected anymore in this place.
She'd seen the look of fear in his face as he'd bolted out the office door - apparently he'd run into another one of the monsters that seemed to be everywhere. She considering killing him right there - the last thing she needed was a cop bumbling around making things even more difficult. The only thing that stopped her was at this extreme range, the handgun couldn't be guaranteed to score a hit, and she didn't want to draw anymore attention to herself - from him or the things that were roaming the place.
She hadn't signed up for anything like this. The goddamn job had supposed to be so easy, infiltrate the lab then find the sample - probably still in the possession of the Birkin woman - and head to the rendezvous point. Nobody had said anything about zombies murdering half the population. Or that she'd be forced to come here to escape the carnage outside. The shit had hit the fan as soon as she'd arrived and been almost eaten by a group of the walking dead, and things had declined steadily from there. Her mood had darkened more by the minute and she was ready to unleash her fury on the next thing - human or not - that crossed her.
Ada wasn't the type to back out of any assignment, no matter the risks. She had a mission, and she'd be damned if a few walking corpses were going to get in the way of that. She was a pro at her job, and was going to make sure her payment at least doubled for all this mess she'd gone through. The monsters could be killed - her handgun had already seen to that several times. The lab was reachable from this precinct. The company had given her detailed plans of the place, along with the full set of keys needed. Right now that was her priority. The cop could wait. If she was lucky, he wouldn't survive anyway. If he did, then well… that would be dealt with if it happened.
With a last glance at the cop disappearing into the waiting room, Ada set off to find what she needed.
*****************************************
Leon found himself in a dimly lit corridor. Debris was scattered everywhere, ranging from broken office furniture to files and folders. Large windows were periodically placed along one side of the wall, and they made him nervous. Back in the waiting room he had thought he'd seen something, a flicker of movement from the corner of his eye. Something was out there.
He was still shaken by his encounter with the other officer. The man had been infected with whatever it was these zombie things had, but Leon still would have gone back in to help him if he hadn't somehow managed to manually lock the door. All he could do now was hope the guy would be okay.
If one of those things bites me, could I be infected as well? Probably, it's not like I'd be immune. The sooner I find the other survivors he mentioned and meet up with Claire the sooner we can figure out how to get the hell out of here.
Thankfully the waiting room had held no more ugly surprises. He had found something useful though, a memo explaining about a safe that had been moved from the S.T.A.R.S room to another office. It also included the combination needed. That information could be useful later. However, the first priority was to link up with Claire and find out if anyone else was still alive around here.
The only sound in the corridor was a faint hissing and crackling, which he eventually identified as coming from the control panel that operated the steel roller shutters. It was shorted out, the cord a melted mass of plastic. The window covers would have been a welcome comfort, but it was not to be. He rounded the corner and almost tripped over another body.
His stomach stayed firmly down where it belonged as he knelt down next to the decapitated cop. Probably because there was nothing left to throw up this time, because he still felt sick looking at the remains. The head was gone leaving a bloody stump of a neck. The wound was jagged and messy almost as if the head had been ripped off completely. Surely not even those zombies could have done this… could they?
If they didn't then who… what did?
He unstrapped the shotgun from his back and held it firmly with both hands. If the mysterious beheader was still around, he certainly didn't want to be using the puny handgun.
There was a door to his right, which turned out to be locked. Another door beckoned from the end of the corridor and he headed towards it, eyes scanning the floor and walls intently.
He had only a split second warning. A single drop of blood splashed onto the floor in front of him. He looked up and…
Oh shit!!!
Clinging to the ceiling was the strangest thing he had ever seen. It was about the size of a large dog, and had a wiry, muscular body covered with deep red splotches of skin and what almost looked like veins. Its arms and legs propelled it easily across the ceiling, sharp claws clicking menacingly. As Leon stood there stunned, the thing turned it's head in his direction, revealing a gaping mouth full of piranha-like teeth and a long tongue that seemed almost like a lance shot out, the edges displaying wicked barbs. He had only a moment to take down these details before it struck.
It moved fast, so fast! The beast disengaged itself from the ceiling and dropped down directly in front of Leon as he desperately backpedaled. In almost the same movement it sprang forward, the blood stained teeth in full view. Leon rolled to the side, only just avoiding the contact as the beast landed in the space he had occupied a couple of seconds earlier. It whirled quickly around just as Leon took aim at its head.
The Remington blast sounded deafening in the confined space. Leon, not prepared for the recoil, stumbled backwards and almost fell. The shot blasted the beast backward down the corridor, bits of flesh spraying in the air. It flopped around on the floor for a few moments, its agonizing screams filling the corridor. Eventually they too died, and it lay still.
That was too close. Almost lost my head as well.
He prodded the corpse with the barrel of the shotgun. The thing's face was almost unrecognizable from the blast. It wasn't going to be getting up anytime soon. That gave him a chance to examine it further. It didn't resemble any other single creature he'd seen before, rather seemed to be a mixture. Some kind of mutation perhaps? That didn't explain what it was doing here. It had no eyes either… of course it was hard to be sure with the damage the Remington had done, but no eye sockets were visible. The thing must have other senses to rely on.
This is getting too damn weird. If there's one of these things here, there's probably more. I better find Claire soon, can't let her wander around alone with these things on the loose.
He reloaded the shotgun with a satisfying click, and stepped through the door.
****************************************************
Another short corridor later, Leon found himself standing in the briefing room. He had been here before, to be introduced to the majority of his new comrades but had a hard time recognizing it now. Like all the other rooms it was in complete disarray, the small desks and plastic chairs thrown every which way. Benches lined the walls; some shattered and splintered from bullets. Bloodstains marred the wooden floor. There had been a major firefight in here… and it looked like the good guys had lost.
He found another handgun cartridge on one of the tables, which was a welcome addition to his store. A piece of paper lying nearby caught his eye:
Operations Report, 26 September.
The zombies have broken through our barricades and are now roaming the station. They outnumber us at least three to one, and more seem to appear by the hour. Our barricades can't hold them for much longer. We must take action if we are to survive. The communication equipment was destroyed, and we can't rely on any rescue teams, because no one even knows what's happened here. Chief Irons is nowhere to be found and the morale of the men is low. We don't have much time.
Sgt. David Ford
11.00 p.m. - Another attack came late into the night. We lost another five men, including Lance, who had the key to the underground weapon storage. We must have those weapons to stand a chance. Without the key there is no way to reach them. Things are grim. We are fast running out of food and water, and are constantly under siege.
2.00 am - A new creature appeared in our ranks and killed three men before it was taken down. I've no idea what it is, or how many of them there are. The creature has been named the 'Licker' due to obvious reasons. They are even deadlier then the zombies. Our hopes are growing dimmer by the hour. I can hear the screams again already. This will be the last stand.
Sgt. David Ford
Leon didn't feel much better after scanning the report. There must have been a dozen cops or more here before, and they'd all been wiped out. What chance did he have? Sill there was no choice. He couldn't just leave people to die here.
Suddenly, an explosion sounded somewhere in the building. The impact must have been immense, as the roar echoed for several moments afterwards. Something had happened, and he guessed it was the opposite side of the station. For now he had focused on the task at hand, finding Claire.
Leon tried to recall the station layout. The S.T.A.R.S room should be upstairs near the huge library. Claire was looking for her brother after all, so she was bound to go there. Hopefully she'd realize it was the most likely place to find him. It would be a good place to start anyway; he was fast running out of ideas.