19. False Sense of Security

Yoko sat on the floor with her back against the wall as Rodney lay beside her, Jim tapping and kicking his feet against the hood of a car as if to make a musical beat. Jim hums to himself as Rodney's head droops down. He quickly shakes his head however, waking himself up. He rubs his eyes and glances towards Yoko, who looked at him nervously.

"Don't worry," he said. "I'm not gonna turn on ya', not yet anyhow. I just need some sleep."

Rodney crossed his legs and put his hands behind his head in a more casual position.

"Kinda hard to believe all this is happening, huh?" he said. "I mean, just earlier today, I was literally washing my clothes and on my way to pick up my buds for a cruise and a drink. Now, well, whole town's completely gone to hell."
"You don't seem," Yoko said, nervously. "You don't look very scared. Why?"

"Hey," Rodney said, titling his head back. "Sometimes when the world goes to hell, you just gotta chill, and go with the flow. There's no use in panicking at a time where shit flies all over the place. Why do you ask?"

"I," Yoko said hesitantly. "I don't know. For some reason, I, I'm not…afraid. Of any of this, that's going on."

"You got a strong will then," Rodney said.

"No it's not that," she said. "I feel as if…I've been here before. Like none of this is strange or new to me. I feel….like…I can remember again."

Rodney raised an eyebrow. "Hey, whatever it is goin' on with you, just try and cool it down a bit. No use stressing yourself over, whatever it is that's goin' on with you."

"Okay," Yoko said with a smile. "Thank you."

Rodney titled his cap down with a smirk in the same way a cowboy titled his hat over his eyes for a nap.

Suddenly the door to the back of the room opened and Kevin, George and Cindy walked in with a duffel bag. George and Cindy approached Rodney and administered medicine and wrapped his wound.

"Thanks guys," he said.

"We just wanna help!" Cindy said happily.

"Where are the others?" Kevin asked.

"They should still be at the cells," Yoko said. "They haven't come out, but I thought I heard some noises from there."

"I'll go check on them," Kevin said, pulling out his .45.

Before he could proceed, however, he heard a noise in the distance, toward the back of the garage. He slowly approached and listened carefully, and could make out a low pit pattering of small feet. He then heard low growls and barks from behind the shudder, then loud bangs as the shudder began to spasm from impacts on the other side. Kevin lowered his firearm.

"What is it?" George asked.

"Sounds like those dogs again," he said. "But they shouldn't be able to get past that shudder."

Suddenly the pounding stopped, and for a second the sound of unnerving silence filled the lot. But within moments, the bashing returned, only louder, stronger, and more fierce than before. The shudder began to dent and bend and Kevin became nervous.

"What in the hell is doing that!"

Alyssa stood up and offered her hand to Mark, who was wiping a tear from his eye. He began to glance towards Jerome's body, but Alyssa quickly put her hand on the sides of his and turned his head away.

"Don't," she said. "It will only make it harder."

Mark broke down again for a second and squeezed her hand with his own, a tear slowly sliding down the side of his cheek and against Alyssa's warm hand. She helped him up and hugged him again.

"C'mon big guy," she said. "Let's go."

David began to stand up when he heard a noise from the cell beside them. He looked around the corner and noticed a man sitting on the bench, his back against the wall, apparently listening closely to them.

"Who the fuck are you?" David asked, startling him. The man stood up quickly.

"Oh shit," he said. "I, er, that is, I…"

Alyssa raised an eyebrow. "I know that voice," she said.

After helping Mark out of the cell she stood beside David and peered into the cell.

"Ben?" she said. "Ben Bertolucci? What the hell are you doing here?"

"Alyssa?" he responded, stepping towards the bars and into the light. His clothes were dirty and he looked either very tired or simply paranoid.

"How did you get in there?" she asked.

"I put myself in here," he said.

"Why would you wanna do something stupid like that?" she said.

"If I'm in here, those things can't get to me, and I don't really feel like dying tonight, so if you don't mind could you please just FUCK OFF before you draw them back to me?"

"You didn't answer my original question," she said. "What the hell are you doing here, in the police station?"

"You wanna know the truth?" he said. "I was onto a big, no, HUGE story about the police chief Brian Irons. I uncovered some info about him, really deep dark shit goin' on and has been goin' on. The guy's a lunatic, a goddamn maniac I tell ya', and I got all the dirt on him. But then those, those things started showin' up, and I came here before they could get me. They can't pass through the bars, so hurry up and get the hell out of here before they smell you and come back."

"What did you find out about Irons?" Alyssa said, the reporter side of herself shining through. "What did he do?"

"Why in the hell should I tell you?" he said. "It's my story, why should I just give it to you of all people? You're a fucking bitch, you hear me? And you can burn in fucking hell for all I care!"

"Do not talk about her that way!" Mark roared at him, causing Ben to step backward in surprise. He noticed Mark's bleeding shoulder.

"Hey," he said. "He's been bitten. He, he's going to become one of them! What the fuck are you doing helping him? Kill him before he turns!"

David frowned. "Fucking typical."

Alyssa looked at Mark, then back at Ben. "You may be right," she said. "But there's no way I'm shooting Mark until after he turns. No way in hell."

"Thank you Alyssa," Mark said.

"What is wrong with you people?" he said. "I always knew you were a softy on the inside Alyssa, that's what's kept you back. It wasn't just Stanley, it's cuz you didn't have the fucking balls to push yourself to the next level. You're a pussy in every sense of the word."

"You're wrong," she said. "What you're talking about is exactly what has kept me human through this fucking living hell. Now shut your goddamn mouth," she pulled out the handgun. "Or I'll blow it off your goddamn face!"

"Easy easy," Ben said. "Just, please, go away! What the hell do you care anyway, just don't bother me. What do you care about the story anyway? The whole town's gone straight to hell and back, what difference does it make whether anybody knows the truth about Irons or not?"

"Sometimes truth is the most important thing," she said. "If you can expose Irons for whatever it is he's done, it would be helpful, no matter how small it might seem, to the people he's hurt."

"Are you feelin' okay, chief?" David said, looking at Alyssa. "That doesn't sound like you at all."

"Yeah well," Alyssa said. "You don't really know me very well do you buster?"

"I don't need to know you to notice something out of the ordinary."

"Don' tease her David," Mark said. "She's got a good soul. Ah kin see it, an' ah think ah knew that for awhile. She just weren't ready ta' show it ta' anybody yet."

Alyssa became visibly nervous, as if Mark's kind words actually offended or upset her more than helped.

"Um," she said. "Could you guys, not tell Kevin about any of this, what happened here? The stuff I said. I, don't think I could live that down with him."

David smirked and let out a harrumph. Mark smiled weakly but said nothing.

The group then made their way back through the kennel, when Alyssa noticed something sitting on a table. She left Mark with David and asked them to wait, then grabbed what she had seen. It was a small taser; she switched it on for a second and watched the small, thin lines of electricity dance around on its surface.

"This could come in handy," she said.

"You experienced with small, electronic, handheld equipment?" David said with a smirk.

"I prefer the real thing," she said, pocketing the device. "But I haven't found a man yet who could keep himself useful long enough to make it worth my time and effort, so sometimes a girl's just gotta find some compensation."

The banging on the shudder grew louder and louder until the metal began to crease into itself.

"George, Cindy," he said. "Everybody get to the other side of the garage," he said. "Hurry!"

Yoko and Cindy helped Rodney to his feet and began to carry him to the other side of the garage when suddenly a dog leaped onto the hood of a police car. They stopped in their tracks as the dog howled a blood-curdling howl, then leaped into the air and tackled Rodney to the ground. It then sunk its teeth deep into his neck, ripping and tearing violently as Cindy screamed. Kevin fired a round at the dog, knocking it off of Rodney's body, but as he did the shutter burst open and from it came a group of the undead Dobermans, who slowly approached the group. Kevin fired a few shots, hitting one in the head, when he saw what followed them. An immense Rott Weiler, about twice the size of a normal specimen, lumbered behind them, its skin decomposing before Kevin's eyes and its thick, piercing teeth stained with blood. Its beady eyes were blood red and one of its ears appeared to have been ripped off, the insides of its nose filled with maggots. Every step it took nearly shook the ground beneath, and it let out a horrifying roar that resembled a lion's more than a domesticated animal's. Kevin took aim at the beast when the small army of dogs were quickly upon him. He kicked one away and dodged another, when suddenly one vaulted itself against him, knocking him onto his back with a thud, his gun sliding across the room. He ran to retrieve it only for an undead Doberman to step in his way, blocking his path. Kevin backed off and found himself surrounded by them. They slowly circled him as their undead leader watched in silence, when one leaped into the air towards him, its mouth wide open and ready to sink its teeth into his throat, when a bullet whizzed and cut through the air and penetrated the dog's head in mid flight. Kevin ducked the flying corpse and looked to the back of the room, where Alyssa stood with her handgun drawn.

"Move your ass, cowboy!" she yelled as David and Mark came running beside her with weapons drawn.

Kevin rolled around, dodging the dogs and grabbed his .45, his back lying on the floor. A dog leaped towards him but he fired his gun, blowing off half of the beast's head in a single shot. David and Alyssa fired several shots at the dogs while Mark ran up to a large group and sent a wide spray of shotgun fire into them. The group cleaned house until only the Rott Weiler remained, who seemed to only grow enraged by the display it had seen. It let out a fierce howl that echoed through the entire garage, and within moments more of the undead Dobermans appeared. Kevin checked his gun.

"I'm running low," he said. "We can't hold them off long enough."

"So am I," Alyssa said.

"We need to get out," David said.

"Kevin what should we do!" Cindy said, trying to help the profusely bleeding and barely alive Rodney.

"The iron gates," he said. "They lead outside, but,"

"We have no other choice!" George said.

The group moved towards the gate and Kevin input a security code to get them to lift. Slowly it moved up and the group began to duck under it, with Cindy and George lagging behind, trying to drag Rodney with them.

"Leave me," he said. "Hurry up, I'll keep them busy."

"We can't!" Cindy said.

"Just do it, I'm dead anyway. Give me a gun."

David tossed his gun to Rodney, who caught it.

"I always wanted to go down in a blaze of glory," he said with a laugh. "Just like in the movies."

He sat himself up slightly, blood pouring from his neck and onto his white shirt, and fired at the oncoming group of dogs.

"C'mon you sons of bitches!" he yelled. "Dinner's served!"

The group ran ahead as he fired round after round into the dogs, only a few shots hitting their marks, and soon they were upon him like moths to the flame, engulfing him in a shower of blood. The group slipped under the gate when Kevin tried to push the gate button, only to find the gate would take just as long to lower as it had to rise.

"C'mon c'mon," he said. "Faster!"

The Dobermans turned their attention back to the group once they were done with Rodney and began sprinting towards them. Mark stood in front and fired round after round of shotgun ammo into the oncoming group. He screamed in anger and intensity, when he realized his shotgun was now empty. A Doberman pounced him, sinking its teeth into his forearm. David swiped at it to get it off him, but soon another Doberman approached and David turned his attention towards it. Enraged, Mark screamed and flung the Doberman against the wall, leaving a bloody splotch. Mark then raised his fist and smashed the dog's head into the wall. Another Doberman tried to pounce on David, but David stepped sideways and caught it from the neck, then twisted it around and snapped its neck in half. The gate by then was only inches from the bottom and the dogs tried to slip through, but Alyssa and Kevin kept them at bay with their handgun fire. Soon the gate was down and the dogs were snapping and biting at the gate, when the rott weiler suddenly approached.

Kevin took aim only to find his gun empty.

"Shit," he said. "I'm out."

"So am I," Alyssa said.

The leader dog then wrapped its immense teeth around the bars of the gate and began chewing. Its saliva began to hiss and pop, melting away at the thick metal of the gate. Stunned, the group began to back away as the dog began to slowly tear away at the gate.

"Guess this is it," David said.

"We're screwed!" Alyssa said.

"I don't wanna die! DO SOMETHING!" Jim screamed.

Suddenly the sound of a door being flung across the room could be heard in the back, and into the room strolled a group of hunters. The monsters turned their attention towards the army of undead cerebus Dobermans, who growled fiercely. The hunters answered their challenge with a shriek of their own, and both groups began to approach each other. Within moments the two clashed, and the hunters fairly easily wiped out the army of dogs until on the Rott Weiler was left. The once fierce and intimidating beast was now a sniveling, whimpering bag of overgrown flesh, and within moments the hunters mercilessly slaughtered it.

"Show's over," David said. "Move your asses or we'll be next on the menu."

The eight survivors made their way to the surface, finding themselves back at the front of the police station where the battle with the hunters ensued. They trekked over the sea of bodies, both human and monster, until they found a police van. Kevin checked it.

"No keys," he said.

"What should we do now?" George enquired.

"One sec my crew," Jim said. "Lemme have a look at this shizzle."

Jim stepped into the driver's seat and examined a panel under the steering wheel. He removed it and proceeded to hotwire the van, which within moments began to purr with life.

"See? I'm not that useless, right?" he said. "Yah!"

"Yeah indeed!" Alyssa said, jumping into the side seat of the van. "I'm glad I didn't waste you now Mr. Jim!"

"Rock n Roll!" Kevin exclaimed, sitting in the driver's seat. "Thanks Jim, now get your ass in the back!"

The survivors filed into the back of the van and Kevin drove through the previously shattered gates and back into the city. They passed by large fires and crowds of zombies until they came upon a police barricade that appeared to be absent of any life (or any dead for that matter.) Once there, George readied the virus test. One by one he took a sample of each of the survivors' blood. When it was Kevin's turn, he winced.

"I haven't been bitten though," he said nervously. "C'mon, you can trust me!"

"We all took it," David said. "There's no reason why you shouldn't."

"It's only fair Kevin," George said.

"What the matter tiger?" Alyssa said, lightly punching Kevin in the arm. "You aren't afraid of needles are ya'?"

Kevin smirked and put his finger out, which George quickly pricked. He mixed the various chemicals and after a short time her returned with the report.

"I have already informed all of you that Cindy and I are infected. So is Jim and Mark. Unfortunately, David," he said. "I'm afraid you are infected as well."

"I wasn't bitten," he said.

"Did you come in contact with a large rat?"

David frowned. "Yeah…"

"I'm afraid they were the primary catalyst of this disaster. Very much like the Black Plague."

"What about the others?" Mark said.

"Kevin, Alyssa, Yoko," George said. "Are not infected."

"Well, that's a relief," Alyssa said.

"What happens next?" Yoko asked.

"I'll tell you what happens next," David said. "Those who aren't infected get the hell out of town, and everybody sits and waits to die like everybody else."

"Don't talk like that David," George said. "There is still yet a ray of sunshine to be found in this darkness that envelopes us."

"Aaah a silver lining huh," Kevin said. "I like the sound of that."

"What are you talking about George?" Alyssa said.

"There might be a cure," Cindy interjected.

"What?" Jim said, standing up. "You mean I don't hafta becoming a walking stand in for that Michael Jackson video!"

"Possibly," George said. "But I'm afraid we still have one location let to visit if we hope to procure this cure, and I'm not even positive if it truly exists or not. I will have to put my faith into Peter's words, because that is all we have at the moment."

"Where do you want us to go, George?" Kevin asked.

"The location Peter specified," George said, exhaling. "Is Raccoon University."

"That's in the middle of the city," Alyssa said. "You expect us to go all the way over there on a wild goose chase, when we could be escaping with our lives intact?"

"I didn't ask for your help," George said bitterly. "But I have no other choice. I am going there, without your assistance if need be, and I will confirm whether there is truth in this matter. Those of you who are infected have few options as it is, but I do not expect your support either."

George turned towards Kevin. "You have saved us many times before, Kevin. I think you for that. But if you choose to escape with Alyssa and Yoko, to help them get out of the city, I will not hold it against you. You've saved us all, I cannot ask you to come with us."

Kevin stood there for a second, considering his options. He then smirked.

"George man," he said, patting his shoulder. "You're not gonna get rid of me that easily! I'm a cop remember? Serve and protect. There's no way I'm just gonna abandon you guys! We've all been through too much. You got my .45 by your side."

"Thank you Kevin," George said.

"I'm coming too," Yoko said. "I want to help however I can."

"Good," George said. "Thank you, Yoko."

The group then all looked towards Alyssa, whose arms were crossed. She shrugged.

"Well," she said. "I guess I'll tag along too. Something tells me sticking with George and finding this cure will be the scoop of the year, and I'd be a fool to pass something like this up. I'm in."

Kevin smirked, but didn't say anything, although he didn't buy the "scoop of the year" ploy she tried to put on.

"You better be right about this George," David said. "I'm not in the mood to going all the way up to this place only to become a meat puppet cuz of some stupid letter your friend sent you."

"You have mah support, George," Mark said.

"I didn't doubt it for a moment," George replied.

"Then it's settled," Kevin said. "We're off to the end of the road. It's do or die time. Either we save the world and ourselves, or we die trying."

"Ah didn't survive through the night jus' ta' die," Mark said.

"Then let's get this show on the road," Kevin said. "C'mon everybody. Looks like class is back in session!"