Chapter V

The Mystery Man

"Just hold on a little longer." Mrs Harris was sat with the officer. He had regained consciousness, and was being given water by the kind woman. She held the cup up to him, whilst he struggled to drink. He kept slipping between states, and she had often feared he had died. However, the occassional cough and groans kept her hopes up. She left him again, and sat on a chair, wondering if her daughter was still alive.

She looked at her watch and found it to be almost eleven o'clock. She was getting tired, and often had to stifle yawns. She wondered when she would next get some sleep, but realised it could be a long time from now. She had even taken to drawing upon scrap paper to keep herself from falling asleep whilst taking care of the dying man. She, too, had a cup of water. It was still fresh, like it had been replaced earlier that day. She wasn't complaining, she was just bored of sitting and waiting, the constant thought of her daughter and her safety.

Mrs Harris jumped when the man on the floor began coughing again. He looked like he was in great pain. The wounds on his shoulder were deep, it was a wonder he had survived for so long. He raised his head and looked at her. She noticed that his face had lost it's colour. It looked very pale, like he had a bad case of the flu. She sat down beside him, trying to help him. He turned his pale face towards her again, and made a long groan which reminded her of the things outside in the streets. Not thinking properly, she leant in closer and spoke to him.

"Are you alright?" The man began pulling on her, pulling her closer towards him. She let out a scream and pushed away from him. She backed away from him, and watched as the officer started to get up. It was then she realised that he was no longer the police officer she was looking after. No, this was one of those zombies, like all those outside. The creature began walking towards her, looking for it's first taste of flesh.

Still backing away a little, she heard a door click open, but was too scared to turn and look at who it was. She screamed again as someone placed their hand on her shoulder.

"Come with me. I'll get you out of here." An unfamiliar, male voice. Out of fear of the zombie, she let the man take her from the room. She just hoped her daughter was going to be alright. She couldn't help herself, she had to protest, all of her fears surfacing at once.

"But, my daughter..."

"Don't worry about her. She's still alive. She asked me to make sure you was alright taking care of that officer." He led her into the next room, where it was clear. "If you want, I can leave her this message to tell her where we are going." The mysterious man pinned a letter to the wall with the name 'AMIE' written across it. "Now, let's go. I'll take you somewhere safe to hide for her."

Reluctantly, the woman let herself be taken away by this strange man. She hadn't even asked his name.

"Who are you?"

"Don't worry about that just now. Let's just find somewhere safe first."

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Amie knocked on the door three times, but didn't receive any immediate response. She tried again, but still no response. She hoped that her mother had just fallen asleep; it was getting late, and all this stress is not good for a person. She remembered from the map that the other door led around to the otherside. Without thinking carefully, she headed for the other door. She opened the door and saw a small statue in the center of the room. A large chest stood against the wall. Amie saw no use for that, and continued onwards. Around the corner she saw a small desk. It was locked. Perhaps that key she found...

The lock clicked and Amie opened the drawer to find a box of bullets for a handgun. Amie had no experience of guns before, but she pocketed it the same. She knew how important they would be in this situation, or if she ran out. Continuing on, she met another door. The door creaked open, and Amie followed the corridor that was on the other side. She had yet to meet any other creature in this building. Perhaps Ada had come through here previously, and that is why there is nothing wandering around. Amie was thankful, though. Not having to fight was still a tense enough situation. Having something that was trying to kill her would be too much to deal with straight away.

She continued around the corner, and found nothing again. She looked at the map and made another mental note of the route she needed to take. Another door laid in wait at the end of the corridor, which Amie ran for. She wanted to be quick. Despite making excuses for her mother's absence, she was worried. Through the door, she found that the windows were heavily boarded up. Amie moved quickly through the corridor. She didn't notice the hole in the boards and was taken by surprise when many hands caught hold of her clothing. She pulled her self free instinctively and pointed the gun at them. The hands disappeared, and Amie walked backwards. She heard a door opening behind her and turned quickly. A zombie came through it. How it managed to do that, Amie didn't know. She had always thought them to be very stupid, that's what the films always showed them as. Without thinking, she began firing her gun. Even though the zombie fell after 5 shots, she continued to fill it with the rest of the clip, until the gun began clicking from the empty cartridge. At first, this took her by surprise too, but then she understood what was happening. She felt stupid herself having wasted an entire round on the already dead zombie.

She found the mechinism which ejected the cartridge and she began inserting more bullets from the box she found. There was enough for one more round by the time she had filled the cartridge. She now had an idea how many were in each round. Fifteen bullets could be put in this gun at any one time. That would useful for her to keep track of what was in the gun, and when best to reload it.

Amie continued on her quest to get to her mother and rounded the next corner to another door. She still had the medicine box in her hands, but it had things in she might be able to use. She clung onto it in her left hand, the gun still in the right. The next room didn't have any threats to deal with, which she found relieving. Carefully, she approached the door which led to the room her mother was in, just in case anotehr creature opened it first. Nothing happened, and she made her way into the other room. She examined the room, and found the door she needed. A letter on the wall with her name on it caught her attention. At first she thought it was from her mother, but she didn't recognise the handwriting.

"What's this?" Amie opened the letter and read it:

Amie,

Do not worry. Your mother is safe. The officer she was looking after didn't make it, and had unfortunately turned into one of those zombies. I have taken her somewhere where she will be safe for now. I have provided you with a map of the area she can be found in. Just follow it exactly, and you will find her. The only trouble I can see you having, is that some of the routes have been blocked off. We had to use the sewers as a means of getting to the underground bunkers. You will find the entrance to the sewers in the basement of the police station. Head for there, and you will find another letter which will help you get to us. I will try to help you as much as possible, by providing you with ammuntion. These can be found in various rooms on the way to us.

Take care.

W.

There was no name, except for a neatly written 'W' at the end. She was glad her mother was safe, but she knew she couldn't be too sure about it. Her only choice, though, was to follow the instructions and get to the bunkers that her mother was being taken to. Amie didn't know that there were bunkers, but then they may have been for use in extreme situations; a little bit like this one. Perhaps this 'W' was getting together any survivors to be taken to a safe place whilst it was sorted out. Yes, the must be it.

Amie took the map that was provided, and looked for the way to the basement. It was on the other side of the building, near to the office she had received the medical box. She was getting fed up with having to carry this box around. She read the map and and saw that the S.T.A.R.S office was located upstairs. Another idea came to her mind. There might be something up there which can help her, maybe even some help. She knew it wouldn't hurt to check it out. She pocketed the maps and the letter, and left the room for the office upstairs. She just hoped that something was there to help her.