Author's note: Yay! New chapter! I was worried about how this chapter was going to turn out, and I'm still worried. This chapter points the direction in which the story takes. See, I have a lot of events planned, which motivates the theme of the story, but I'm trying to figure out the order they occur in, which is VERY frustrating. I have more characters to introduce, one which was unintentionally added. You'll also see Resident Evil: Outbreak characters mentioned. And since the next destination I have planned for our heroes is the hospital, I'm thinking about having a cameo of a RE: Outbreak character. But I don't know yet. You will see a new character in the hospital chapter though! So I'll shut up and let you read.
When James ran into the main hall, he expected to see Joseph cornered by a monster, maybe several of them.
However, when he ran in, he didn't see any monsters. He didn't see Joseph either.
"Joseph?" he called out. No one responded.
'Where is he?' he thought worriedly.
"Is Joseph one of the survivors you came with?" William asked from behind him.
"Yeah. He's the only survivor I came with. I told him to wait here because he seemed kind of…" he hesitated, "…never mind. Let's just find him."
He walked over to where he saw Joseph last. He bent down and found a small trickle of blood staining the floor.
Did he get attacked?
He looked around, there were no signs that monsters had entered the room. In fact, aside from Joseph missing and the blood, everything looked the same as it had when they arrived. Perhaps he had gotten scared and ran off, but that still didn't explain the blood…
There was a loud noise coming from the outside. The main doors rattled as something was pounding on it from the other side. After a while, it finally died down.
"We need to get out of here," William spoke calmly. James shook his head.
"Not without Joseph."
"We can still look for Joseph, but not here. It's too dangerous," William said.
"Then where do you suggest we look?" he asked. They couldn't go back the way they came and going outside was suicide.
William motioned for James to follow him. He walked past the main doors and turned to his left. Right next to the main doors was another entrance.
"This leads to the less-nicer part of the police station," William said with a smile, "the part chief Irons didn't put as much money into building."
"Thank god. I'm getting sick of seeing all these fancy-ass statues and paintings," James said, half-joking.
The pounding on the door resumed again, startling the two men. The door was beginning to weaken. They couldn't stay there for much longer. William opened the door and went inside.
James saw what he imagined a regular police station would look like. Of course, it was still nicer looking than most. If you didn't count the blood on the tiles, the overturned plants, and mess of papers on the floor. It made him wonder if the mayor had put more money and dedication to making the police look good, rather than making sure that professional, well-trained officers were hired.
There was a soft creak coming from right next to him, startling him.
"This way," William said, holding a door open. James' heartbeat slowed down a little and he nodded.
Inside, they were greeted by two former cops. The first one was already waiting for them when they entered, and the other stumbled out of an office. James reacted by blasting the cop that was closest to them with two shots to the head. It staggered back for a moment, but then continued to come toward them.
'These things aren't dying fast enough,' he thought with worry. The second cop was quickly catching up to them. William was standing next to him, watching the approaching zombie and glancing around for anything that he could use to fend it off.
After several more shots the zombie James was fighting fell. William glanced down and saw a heavy book resting on top of one of the many desks that were in that room. He quickly grabbed it and swung it as hard as he could at the other zombie. He had enough muscle in his good arm to knock it back. James took that opportunity and fired a bullet into its head. It fell to the ground, but was still struggling to stand. He fired again, and it stopped moving altogether. William stared silently at the two corpses.
Am I really the only cop left in this city?
"You know, we still haven't found Joseph," James said, "are you sure about this? I think we should go back and check…"
"And get eaten? There was only one way Joseph could have escaped, and it's through here," William said.
"What about the hallway? We didn't check it all the way," James protested.
"Most of the doors are either locked or boarded up. It would have been a waste of time to check it. Not to mention dangerous," William said.
James sighed, "look, I just don't like the idea of leaving someone behind in this hellhole."
"I don't either, but we're not going to be any help to Joseph if we both get killed," William paused when he saw the disapproving look on James' face, "just trust me on this."
James hesitated. He felt defeated.
"All right. Lead the way, officer."
William had managed to get them safely outside. They had ended up behind the RPD. The whole time James had kept his eye out for any trace of Joseph, but he didn't see him anywhere. It bothered him greatly.
The guy saved my life and I just up and leave him…
James only hoped that Joseph had taken the same path they had. That he wasn't trapped, alone, and dying somewhere inside the RPD. William had seemed more concerned with getting James out rather than looking for Joseph. In a way, he couldn't blame him.
They were on the main road now. They avoided some of the zombies that were wandering aimlessly on the streets outside the police station. The street was big and the zombies were too slow to catch up with them. It hadn't been a problem to get away.
The city was a miserable sight to see. The streets were void any life. It was completely silent, with the exception of the cries of the monsters. Everything felt much darker. Stores were pitch-black, with some of their windows shattered and stained with blood. James thought that they might need a flashlight if they were going to go inside anymore buildings. Some of the buildings had caught on fire, but it looked like there was no one around to put them out.
James looked over to his right. Huddled near a lamppost was a young couple nestled in each others' arms. They were dead.
He suddenly stopped. Once William realized he wasn't being followed anymore, he stopped as well.
"What's the matter?" William asked.
"There's a hospital not too far from here. I think maybe we could get supplies there," James said, "maybe even help."
William wasn't sure, he wanted to get out of the city as soon as possible. He doubted that the hospital was completely safe. After all, that was where the original virus carriers were taken.
But they needed medical supplies.
"All right. We'll stop there," William nodded. With any luck, there might even be some people still around.
Before they could go anywhere, James and William heard a disgusting sound from behind them. They turned around to see what monstrosity was making that noise.
Oh my god.
There were two large dogs. One was a Doberman. Half of its side was decayed and there was dried blood around its mouth. The other dog was a black Labrador retriever. It was very thin and its belly was exposed, showing the tips of its ribs. It was snacking on the dead couple by the lamppost. When it realized it was being watched, it looked up at the men and snarled.
The Doberman charged forward, leaping at James with wildly snapping jaws. He grabbed his gun and fired. The dog yelped and fell out of the air, landing on the ground with a soft thud. He walked over to the dog to fire.
Click.
He swore, he needed time to reload. Time he didn't have, as the Doberman was already getting to its feet, and the Labrador was now abandoning its meal for the fresh meat that was right before it.
He swung his foot into the Doberman. It cried out as he heard its bones crack. It fell to the ground once again. He lifted his foot right above the dog's head.
It whined.
Crack!
Blood splashed onto the street. The dog was dead.
"James!"
He turned around and saw the Labrador lunging at him. He didn't have time to act. William didn't have time to act. Time seemed to slow down as the dog was inches from snatching his neck in its jaws.
He screamed.
The dog's side exploded in a mess of blood and gore. James stumbled back. The dog collapsed dead beside him.
"Jeez! Are you okay?" William asked.
"Yeah, who the-" James stopped as he caught a glimpse of the person who had killed the dog.
It was a woman. She was probably in her mid-twenties. She had long, brown hair that was braided back. She wore a black, long-sleeved shirt over a white tank top with faded blue jeans. She was holding a shotgun.
"Who are you?" William asked, shocked to see another human being.
The woman smiled.
"Bethany," she said, "Bethany Dalton."
