Four days later…

Cindy had a good few days of safety within the police department's walls, but recently she had to fend for herself. She was alone in the dank parking garage since things at the department worsened as the infect grew in numbers. Hours that passed stretched into long days, almost feeling like the outside world never existed.

The entire department was thriving with over a hundred civilians once she arrived a few days ago, but the zombies outside kept trying to breach the walls. If it wasn't the infected trying to break inside that scared the survivors, it was the scattered reports of scarier monsters that lurked the streets.

Cindy made a home for herself, but she couldn't help notice that every few minutes, someone went missing; over the monotonous hours, entire groups of people gradually went missing. There was only around half the people left by the time Friday afternoon came by. That was the life she had to deal with now… lack of sleep and morale.

Every breach in the department's defences always led to several civilians and one or two officers; at least one attack happened every couple of hours. Things like that started happening on the night she arrived. Cindy didn't even have time to sleep before the survivors were pushed underground into the parking garage for extra safety, well, what was left of them. After that, she slowly stopped caring for anyone but herself…

Cindy slept well into Saturday morning, but life wasn't any easier. People still went missing every hour, and the attacks were happening almost on rotation. Even fewer survivors were left in the parking garage; Cindy could do nothing but sleep and protect herself.

Later that evening, most of the R.P.D. went off to set up that blockade outside the national bank, not long after, there were rumours of a great massacre that left no survivors. Upon hearing the bad news, her determination took a mean blow. Not only almost the entire police force was lost, amongst them was Zaac, who, himself, had lost the public trust and got overthrown.

She didn't expect them all to come back from their crusade, but nothing came out of it, no new survivors, no less infected – nothing. No one could stop the officers from taking the situation into their own hands, and they died for their mutiny, leaving the R.P.D. completely hopeless. Cindy cried herself to sleep that night.

Cindy was around to witness another group preparing to go "missing". A few civilians discussed the ethics of the R.P.D.'s damage control and inconsistency; they weren't fans of sitting around waiting to be told what to do. But, even in dire times, they grew restless and banded together to leave the sinking ship.

She didn't even bother trying to talk them out of it; they were gone before she could fall back to sleep. Because of that great massacre on High Street, Cindy was truly alone now. Hundreds of survivors lived in the department; now, they slowly disappeared into the night by the hour…

After she couldn't sleep, Cindy decided to wander the department; she found almost no one was around. Most of the windows were smashed, and the boarded doors were breached open. The safe integrity of the department was flawed now, but there was still hope for a safe evacuation – there had to be...

Officers that weren't killed in the constant attacks went missing, and all of them were eventually found riddled with bullets. They were still human… There was no word coming from S.T.A.R.S. or Chief Irons. She missed Zaac, and the rumours of him and the entirety of the police force being wiped out didn't help at all.

Her tour started making her feel miserable, so she went back down to the parking garage. Dead bodies of the infected and officers littered the halls and rooms up above. Mark and Kevin were helping the last few officers with whatever they were doing, seeing they have more experience in these matters than her, and she was safe below.

Without the faintest reminders of her working life, she only had herself and the memories deep within her mind and body. Things like poor Will or even what became of Jack and his bar were memories she'd never forget...

That cute black bow tie he gave her on her first day? Gone. Her brand new black skirt? Torn so short it barely covered her thighs. The grey vest? Gone. Everything that reminded her of better times was slowly losing interest.

Things got better. The survivors from J's Bar arrived very early on Sunday morning. The employee, plumber, doctor, reporter and student all found sanctuary within the department's walls; that was a delight to hear with all the pain suffering that happened recently. Cindy sat down with them to talk about what happened.

David, Yoko and George followed the same route as she, Kevin and Mark took. The only difference was that they said they passed through the Apple Inn rather than rely on the R.P.D. The inn was burning up in flames from within, really defined the word hellfire…

Jim and Alyssa went out of their way to investigate a possible evacuation at the local Zoo. Cindy knew they had a notice board outside somewhere; they must've seen it. But, she decided not to go for it. If the infection wasn't limited to just humans, then entering a zoo would just be suicide. Probably get killed by a giant zombie elephant or something.

The day before, the five joined together to investigate the Spencer Memorial Hospital. Once they escaped through the sewers, they came across a secret facility owned by Umbrella. It wasn't until recently that they were able to find a way back into the city. Despite all that, there was little hope for evacuation...

Everyone was friends now, but Cindy was too depressed to leave the department; only Scott could convince her to leave. She was safe; for now, however, morale was slipping. They had a nice talk, but in time, all five of them started to leave.

After a bitter dispute with George, David walked back into the city alone, muttering something about finding his way out of the damned city. George talked about something big going on at Raccoon University, perhaps even as big as a vaccine.

Jim, Alyssa and Yoko followed George. No wonder David abandoned them. Going from one zombie-infested dead zone to another must have really irritated him. He never cared for Cindy, and she felt the same way. Such a distant man. She slept alone in the parking garage, hoping someone would grace her with good news.

Cindy woke up the next day to the sound of gunfire. When she went back to the main hall, she found out zombies overrun the operations room, leading to the deaths of four more police officers. The man in charge, Sergeant Branagh, decided to investigate the secret passage under the department in reaction to the recent bloodbath.

Kevin and Mark mostly did the work to open the passage; Cindy just helped here and there underground. Then, all they had to do is wait for the officer they sent out to call back and bring something to escape the city. That was in the afternoon, and now it was getting late.

Later in the evening, a battered man in white shuffled out of the door to the holding cells. Cindy raised her head from her lap and kept her hand close to her handgun, just in case it was just another infected. The man had bloody bandages around his chest and some blood in his blond hair. Then there was a smile. Again, Cindy smiled and scrambled to her feet.

"Scott!" Cindy cried happily. She promptly cuddled Scott with all her strength.

"Cindy," Scott murmured. "It's good to see you."

Cindy's eyes were flushed; she sobbed slightly. Her arms still clutched Scott like there was no tomorrow. "And you..."

"I missed you so much." Scott let go of Cindy; she tried to hug him again, but he held her back. "You infected?"

"Nope. You?"

"No. Glad you made it here in one piece. How're things doing here?"

"People are dropping like flies around; the place's falling apart."

"Oh." Scott frowned and cleared his throat. "Is it that bad?"

Cindy decided not to inform him about the R.P.D. massacre from the lack of evidence, and the rumour was still fresh. However, the attacks from the outside were different. "Zombies have been pounding the walls, and some are getting inside! It's not safe here anymore."

"Shit! Really?"

"The officers upstairs are making arrangements to evacuate the department, but to where I don't know."

"Any place is better than here."

Cindy threw her arms. "I did nasty things to get here in one piece, Scott, and I demand to know what the hell is happening to our town?"

"You might want to sit down for this." Scott directed her to a nice dry section on the garage's floor to sit on, but she pulled him away over to a red car. They sat on the bonnet but didn't make eye contact. Cindy kicked her feet to a jaunty tune.

"Those zombies out there," Scott continued, "are infected with the Tyrant Virus - a mutagen manufactured by Umbrella. It was originally used to create biological weapons." He gave some time for Cindy to digest that information before he carried on. "A few days after the development of a superior virus, the T-virus leaked into the city."

"So that pharmaceutical giant Umbrella is behind all this? Does that mean all those rumours are true?"

Scott frowned. "It would appear that way. Two years ago, I was there to finalise the T-virus and help develop the new G-virus. There was a leak in the Arklay Mountains in July; it only just spread into our city days ago by sewer rats."

"No, no, no… You don't have anything to do with this, do you?"

"I was on the team that developed the viruses." Scott's head sagged.

Cindy pushed Scott off the bonnet of the car. He was thrown onto his side; his wounds bled, and he slowly rolled onto his back. She kicked his stomach in, and just like that, he felt like he was going to vomit. She stopped after she kicked him twice.

"What on Earth were you thinking, Scott!?" Do you have any idea what happened to our city!?" A single lens of his glasses was cracked, and his eyes drifted on and off her. "How can you do something so… horrid!?" She sobbed, "I killed my best friend for Pete's sake!" His stomach started to bleed over the floor. She lost her temper, and some of the redness of her cheeks flushed. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to hurt you, baby."

"I think you did, Cindy. Believe me, I would've stopped while I was ahead, but we needed the money. Even with all our funds put together, the medical bills would exhaust everything we got. We'd lose everything."

"Everything?"

"You were pregnant, my love. The job market was terrible, and everything I did was to pay our bills."

"Not like this, Scott, not like this..."

"I'm not asking you to forgive and forget everything I did in Umbrella; I just want you to understand the truth." He stood up slowly; his legs were shaking under his weight. "I did everything I can to keep the infection from getting worse, even going as far as killing my colleagues-"

"What?!"

"Maybe you're not the right person to talk to about this."

"You're not making it any easier-"

"It's not like that, I mean-"

"No, wait. Listen." Cindy sighed and rubbed her eyebrows disdainfully. "Forget it… I'm thrilled to see you, Scott. As long as we're together, we'll make it out of this."

"Don't apologise; it's my fault. But you need to know I cannot stay here."

"W-Why?"

Scott stepped away from the car and kept his eyes off Cindy. He rubbed his neck a bit. "I have unfinished business with Umbrella."

"You're still working for them?"

Scott turned and faced her sharply. "Hell no, I quit. But… I need to find Sherry."

"Birkin?"

"Annette told her to wait at the R.P.D., can't remember when that was. I never saw her back at NEST. I think she might be here already."

"What are we waiting for? Let's find her then."

"Someone's gonna need to stay here and keep an eye out for her while I look elsewhere."

"Are you suggesting I look for her on my own? Here?"

"Can you? Mean the world to me."

Cindy launched herself at Scott and hugged him tightly. "Don't go, please!"

"I'd love to stay, my love, but I need to be absolutely sure Sherry is safe, even if I have to go back and look again."

"So you check down, and I check up? Why can't I come with you? We've been apart-"

"Please, Cindy..." Scott let go of Cindy. "I just want you and Sherry to be safe. It's too dangerous for you down there."

"I can take care of myself."

"Cindy. They're things down there in the facility that are worse than anything you could possibly imagine. Look at me, for fuck's sake, I worked there for six years, and I barely survived off the leftover scraps. You wouldn't fare much better."

"Gosh..."

"I can't protect you down there. But, at least up here, you're safe, and you can help by keeping an eye out for Sherry."

"While you check down below?"

Scott nodded.

"Fine. I'll call you if I find her."

Scott smiled. "Thanks. She knows you, and she'll feel safer around you."

Cindy folded her arms; her smile finally showed. It was almost infectious. "Once she's safe, we'll find a way out of the city. Won't we?"

Scott smiled. "Of course we will."

"Can finally buy a house, raise Josh and..." Cindy began to rub her shoulders, losing her trail of thoughts. "I cannot wait."

"I should probably mention that there's a slight chance I may never come back. I just want you to do whatever you can to get out of the city alive if it comes to that. Most of this is my fault anyway, and if I don't get out of the city alive, please promise me you will."

"Anything for our son."

"We can only pray it doesn't come to that." Scott pulled out a handgun from the inside of his lab coat - the popular Browning HP. "You should take this, in case you need to protect yourself. Know how to use it?"

"Yeah." Cindy took the handgun and put it in the gap of her black skirt. Unfortunately, she didn't have any pockets, and thankfully there was space since Bob's Beretta ran out days ago. "Aim for the head. Right?"

Scott smiled. "That's my girl." He already had his Browning in his right hand; Cindy never knew he had it in his hand the entire time he arrived. His bloody hands were trembling. "I'm on the clock here; I need to go now."

"So soon?"

"Not making good time as it is."

"We won't waste any, I promise." Cindy placed her hand on Scott's chest, and her hand went towards his ear. Never liked kissing Scott with his glasses on, so she raised them a bit higher over his forehead and let them sit over his ruffled hair. He brushed her hair and rested his other hand on her hip. Their eyes closed, and they leant into a kiss.

Cindy pressed Scott up against the car's bonnet and held him closer; she felt his rugged body grind up against hers. It was getting hot down in the underground garage. They breathed heavily from the kisses. Cindy was eternally alone the last few days; ever since she became a mother, she missed the affection, no more than the average parent.

In what could be their final moment together, she had to make it last. And what better way to do that was some good old-fashioned alone time.

"Oh, Scott." Cindy breathed. "This is just what I needed."

"Me too, Cindy." Scott breathed in response. "I don't remember the last time we were alone like this."

Cindy pulled back and stopped kissing Scott and brushed his hair slowly, putting his cracked glasses back on. "I was thinking the same thing," she said, sounded as sweet as honey, like her always soft tone. Her personality was something to go down in legends. "It's been months since we were close like this." Scott smiled as she went on. "Even a terrible catastrophe like this can rear its beauty once in a while. Ironic… After all this, all I wanted was an intimate moment with the one I love. I just needed my fiancée to be with me. To make me feel better. To give me the power to survive."

"You always had the power, Cindy, and it will never leave you."

"I'm so glad to have you in my life, Scott. I love you."

"I love you too, Cindy, and nothing will change that, not even death. We have the most beautiful baby boy in the world, and I will cherish him and you every day for the rest of my life."

"I know you will." Cindy kissed him.

Scott breathed, unsure of the raw emotion he was feeling. "You know how to take my breath away..."

Cindy giggled. "Would you say I'm glowing?"

"Your personality is beyond glowing. My love, you are positively breathtaking."

"Aw, Scott..." Cindy kissed him once more on the lips and lowered her gentle kisses down his neck.

Scott wrapped his arms around Cindy's waist and held her backside. Though her black skirt was plump and fresh, she fit her clothes perfectly. He lifted her off her feet and heaved her onto the red car's bonnet. The bonnet was at waist height and reasonably long.

It was an old car with little space for an engine and everything else, but it fit the mood. Cindy was placed on the bonnet gently on her back; she didn't stay down and sat up. She kissed him again, her feet dangled off the car.

"Oh, Scott..." Cindy breathed. "You don't know how much I needed this."

Scott breathed outside the kissing; it was the only way he avoided passing out. "Just some positive reinforcements, my love. It can do wonders."

"Look at us. We're so stressed." Cindy ceased her kissing and smiled. "Where did our youth go?"

"What are you talking about? You still got it. Me? I'm the old man here-"

"Aw, you. Always the gentleman." Cindy brushed his hair once more. "You're younger than me."

Scott smirked. "Only a year."

"At least you got your health..."

"Yeah… my health..." Scott thought his bill of health was something of a perk, though to add insult to injury, it wasn't. He has been taking lines of cocaine for some time now, medically, of course.