Chapter 6
The precincts operation room was a mess. Many of the rooms desk were toppled over to the floor and voluminous amounts of papers relating to the city outbreak lay scattered about the room. Reports relating to the polices efforts to eliminate as many zombies as possible in "Operation: Mop-up," road block manifestos, attendance sheets, all pointless, as many of the Raccoon City police officers were already dead.
David and Elliot sat in this operations room. Ever since Meyers death, David's demeanor had taken a drastic turn for the worst. His steel gray eyes were bloodshot from tears and he practically hugged his Mossberg to his body like a mother nestling a new born. He had even succumb to drinking a bottle of whiskey he had found laying around.
"You shouldn't be drinking that..." Elliot said matter of factly.
David would just sit there, completely unaware of what Elliot had said. He took a powerful swig of the dark liquor and continued to stare off into space.
Elliot knew David blamed him-self for Meyer's death, even he felt responsible. Elliot was trying to justify his actions in his mind, telling him-self that Meyer was too dangerous, too much of a loose cannon...too brave.
Elliot felt the tears roll down his cheeks. Meyer had been too brave. He had sacrificed his life to save David, Jason, and even Elliot, and that was why Elliot hated him. Because he will never know why he did it.
He was loyal to the end, never faltering in his duty...
Elliot placed his hands over his eyes and silently bawled. Damn you Andrew Meyer! Damn you for making me feel this way!
What made matters worse was the fact that Meyer's sacrifice was in vain. The shutters only managed to temporarily halt the zombies progress, as they eventually made their way into the east wing of the precinct. Their wretched moans flooded Elliot's mind, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.
Please God. Just let me see one more day. He silently prayed.
"...I could have saved him."
David's voice broke through the silence of the operations room. His voice was flat and monotonous, expelling no emotion. Elliot wiped his eyes and looked at David, still clutching his Mossberg and whiskey, his only two life-lines in the world.
"Don't blame your-self Dave, it's not worth it."
David was rocking back and fourth, still staring at nothing.
"I watched him die..." He continued, ignoring Elliot's plea.
Elliot tried to chose his words carefully, but knew that what-ever comfort he could bring his colleague would be superficial. Ultimately, he were responsible for Meyer's death, and ultimately, he were going to have to live with it.
"Listen Dave...don't beat your-self up over it. Please, it's not worth it. What matters now is finding a way out of this mess, ok?"
David brought the bottle up to his mouth and took another drink. Elliot watched as his throat pulsated back and fourth, rhythmically taking in the strong liquor. He drank until there was nothing left, then tossed the useless bottle against the wall, shattering it on impact. He placed his head down against the stock of his Mossberg and cried.
"I...I, don't...know...what happened...to...me..." He said in between sobs. "I...froze...up...oh God!"
Elliot got up and from his seat and moved closer to David. He wanted to place a comforting hand on his shoulder, tell him that everything was going to be alright. Upon seeing Elliot's close proximity, David tensed, aiming the barrel of his Mossberg directly at him.
"Stay...back...pl...please. Just stay...back!"
Elliot immediately recoiled. "Take it easy Dave." He soothed.
David's eyes were wild and un-focused. He looked like a man on the edge, and the slightest bit of agitation could send him tumbling off. He lowered the Mossberg, and fixed his intense gaze on Elliot.
"Just take it easy man..." Elliot continued. "It's going to be alright."
"No, it's not alright!" David spat. "Don't you see? It's so dark. Our chances of survival are so dark...Elliot...none of us are going to make it out of here alive..."
The way David looked at his Mossberg sent a shiver down Elliot's spine. He knew exactly what was running through David's mind...
"There's always another way...we're going to get through this."
David wasn't listening. He continued to stare at his Mossberg with sick affection.
Elliot tried to come up with the words to empower him, to save him from him-self, when he heard the gunshots. Elliot whipped his head to the doors entrance. That sounded like it came from the main hall...
"David, the others might be in trouble, let's go!"
David wasn't moving. He continued to leer soothingly at his gun.
"David, please..." The gun-shots continued. Elliot made his way to the operations rooms entrance. He took one last look at his comrade.
"Don't you fucking die on me Dave! I'll be back!"
And Elliot rushed out of the room, heading towards the direction of the shots.
Don't you die on me Dave...
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Jason, Martinez, Anna, and George sat with the survivors in the detectives room. Anna was busy applying first-aid to Jason's temple. David's Mossberg had rocked him pretty hard, nearly knocking him unconscious. Unfortunately, he was still alert enough to see the zombies encompass Meyer, hear the sound of them ripping and tearing at his flesh...
Jason fought back tears as Anna swept a reassuring hand gently through his hair. Meyers dead. Jason thought glumly. Andrew Meyer, the best marksmen on the police force, the loose cannon, the resilient, cool headed Andrew Meyer...dead.
"It's ok." Anna soothed. When Elliot brought Jason and David back to the main hall, the shocked, defeated looks on their faces told them the tragic story. The fact that Meyer didn't come through those doors only concreted their fears.
Jason felt himself relaxing at the soft touch of Anna's hand. She applied a head-wrap around his bruised temple and smiled.
"Wow, you must have took a real nasty blow." She said, trying to start conversation.
"Yeah..." Jason replied laconically.
The door to the detectives room opened and Elran came bustling in. He was a mousy looking young man with carefully groomed brown hair and a youthful face. Right now, he had a look of fear etched across his young features. He walked to George, who was busy chatting with Martinez.
"I saw something..." Elran told George frantically.
"What?" George asked, somewhat annoyed by Elran's interrupting his conversation.
"I was going to the evidence room to search for supplies, you know. I went through the receptions room and I saw something crawl past the window in the back. It looked like a human figure, but it was pink. I only saw it for a second but-----"
George cut him off. "Show me what you're talking about." He said, grabbing his Beretta. He took another look at Martinez and nodded. "Tell them." He said.
She glumly nodded as George and Elran left the room.
Tell us what? Jason wondered.
He looked at Martinez and noticed that she her-self was looking worse. Her once tanned complexion had become deathly pale, and dark circles enveloped her light brown eyes. She wore an old Raccoon City University sports jacket over her uniform despite the warm temperature in the room. Upon noticing Jason studying her she meekly smiled and made her way to the two of them.
"Don't worry, I wasn't going to keep it a secret from you guys..." She said, settling down next to them.
"Keep what a secret?" Anna asked.
Martinez slowly raised the sleeve of her jacket up and revealed a make-shift bloody band-aid wrapped around her fore-arm.
"The little girl...she got me."
Oh no...
The pain was evidently clear in all of there eyes. Anna covered her mouth in horror and Jason diverted his gaze, disgusted.
"Oh no...no...no!" Anna trembled. "How did this happen!?"
"I let my guard down. She...she changed before I had time to react. I had...I had to-----"
She closed her eyes, shaken by the events she had gone through.
"Look, this isn't over yet." Martinez said strongly with a gleam in her eyes. "I'm not dead yet, and I want to see this through to the end."
"But what about when the time comes..." Jason asked. Anna eyed him spitefully for being so tactless, but Martinez stayed resolute.
"I haven't thought that far ahead yet. Suicide is definitely out of the question, I could never do anything like that. But when the time comes...I'm sure you all will know what to do..."
They sat around each other, silent. At least the survivors were in high spirits. Jason thought. The air buzzed with the energy of conversation. People were excitedly talking amongst them-selves, recounting tales of how they got to the precinct, finding common interest, and becoming friends. One group of particularly young teens were laughing hysterically as if they were on a night out in down-town Raccoon.
"Wow, these people seem so happy." Martinez said, breaking their private silence. "Do you remember when we first brought these people here? All the confusion, fear, anger---it's gone now."
Jason nodded his head. The situation had taken a turn for the better since arriving in the precinct. The hostility and animosity that was present amongst the survivors when they first arrived had been replaced with a new found sense of trust, and more importantly, hope.
"Every-body, can I have your attention!?" One of the teens shouted. It was a pretty young blond girl in a designer Cashmere blouse and skirt. She spoke with a stereotypical SoCal accent, and despite her disheveled appearance still resonated the image of a typical up-beat blond. Upon hearing her request everyone in the room came to a hush and laid their eyes upon her.
"My friends and I have decided to put on a free concert just for you guys!"
There were a few groans of disappointment from the crowd. The blond looked at them in mock contempt.
"What!? You guys don't think I can sing!?"
"NO!" A voice shouted from the other survivors. A wave of laughter erupted amongst the rest of the people and Jason found himself relaxing at the calm, friendly atmosphere. To be a teenager again. Jason thought sentimentally. Their parents were probably dead, their lives turned up-side down and shattered, and here they were, trying to have some semblance of a good time. The young blond wasn't hearing any of it. She grabbed one of her male friends and they climbed atop the junky table.
"Come on Steve, let's show them how it's done!"
She started singing the lyrics to one of the newest pop songs in an uncannily high pitched voice. More laughter erupted from the survivors, and even some haughty cheers and whistling. Her friend joined her in singing and began to dance in jerky, uncoordinated motions.
"God bless them." Martinez said, trying to catch her breath after laughing.
Thud...
Jason looked at the air vent above the singing teens. He could have swore he heard something just now, but it was hard to discern over all of the cheers.
They continued dancing, lost in their own little world of music. Steve motioned for Martinez to join them on the table, beckoning her with questionable gestures.
"Come on Mamacita!" He urged.
Martinez laughed and politely waved him off. Jason admired her strength. Here she was, a woman facing imminent death, and she still beamed with energy and high spirits.
"That's ok, I'm probably too much for you any-way chico!" She replied.
He heartedly laughed and continued dancing. Every-body was into their performance now, clapping their hands along to their rhythm and singing along, things were starting to look up.
Jason was about to go fetch Elliot and David when the cover to the ventilation shaft blew off. A pink rope like thing darted out of the shaft above the teens. They barely had time to react when the flailing appendage found its mark in the blonds neck, severing her head clean off. It continued through her neck and severely lashed her friend Steve's throat, his head still being connected by a few inches of muscle and bone.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
What-ever serenity that had over-come the survivors was dead, replaced by sheer chaos and hysteria. Jason had time to see the thing emerge from the ventilation shaft. It resembled the thing Elran had said that he saw; humanoid, with pink, rough skin. The characteristics that took Jason totally by surprise was its visible, creased brain set atop its eyeless head and its elongated tongue which had been used to kill the two teens whipped about furiously from its razor sharp mouth. It crawled out of the wall like some sort of demonic spider and let loose a hideous shriek.
Jason could feel arms tugging him to his feet and towards the entrance. The survivors were all running into the main hall, screaming bloody murder at the top of their lungs. As Jason, Anna, and Martinez made their way after them, Jason caught a glimpse of one of the pink monsters fly off of the giant stone fountain and land on a man, sinking its razor sharp teeth into his head.
Shit! There's more of them! Jason thought drastically. Another one climbed over the statues vessel while another crept about in the main halls mezzanine.
"Get the survivors to safety!!" Jason shouted to Anna and Martinez. Their was too much commotion happening for the survivors to be reasoned with. One woman was eviscerated through her abdomen by the impossibly long tongue.
They're being slaughtered...Jason thought hopelessly. He pointed his gun to the closets one on the statue and fired. The thing shrieked in agony as a round tore through its sinewy flesh. It lash its tongue menacingly as Jason fired again, this time tearing two holes through its exposed brains. He could still hear the screams of the survivors as they ran about like mice in a maze, being picked off one by one the the horrid new threat.
Anna and Martinez took cover behind the large receptions desk and fired away at the creature hidden in the mezzanine. Martinez's shots were wide and missing their mark, chipping granite from the balcony.
"Get down!" He screamed at the two of them. Jason had an idea. He was going to try to lead those things way from them, and towards the operations room where David and Elliot were holed up, they were going to need all the help they could get. Anna and Martinez ducked their heads behind the desk as Jason continued to shoot at the thing in the mezzanine. The door to the detectives room creaked and groaned from the pressure of the first one they encountered and the other two in the main hall continued to feast on the remains of the survivors.
4 in all...
Jason raced through the double doors leading to the west wing of the precinct. He could hear the claws of those monsters ripping into the granite as they pursued him. He bounded past the secretaries desk, behind the wooden panel separating the front and back of the room, and stopped dead in his tracks. Juxtaposed on the outside of the window was one of those things, its tongue licking the glass and leaving slimy, yellowish streaks upon its surface. Jason was contemplating going any further when the slash of air directly above his head bolted him into action. He hurried for the door adjacent to the window, silently praying that the monstrosity wouldn't break through.
He made it through the door, the thing on the other side letting out a shriek of anger as its prey eluded it. As he turned to lock the door behind him, thick hands took hold of his body. One of the hands covered his mouth as he let out a muffled yell of surprise. A heavy impact collided with the door on the other side as the three monsters tried to force their way in.
"Shhhhhhhhhh..." The voice commanded. It was George.
He slowly lifted his hand from his mouth and let him go. The door continued to strain under the weight from the other monsters.
"They can't see...they use sound to detect us..." George whispered, almost to himself. "Look..."
George nodded to the hall-way abutting the leading to the evidence room and west side of the building. Jason peered around the corner, and gasped in horror.
Elran was standing in the middle of the hall-way, trapped by one of the things that clung to the ceiling directly above him. Its long tongue slowly lashed the air in front of him, coiling about his body like an organic lasso. Elran was shaking like a leaf; one wrong move and he was dead.
"Why didn't you try to save him?" Jason whispered as silently as he could.
"I dropped my gun when that thing got the jump on us." George said through clinched teeth. Jason could make out the shape of a gun laying further down the hall. He slowly inched forward into the hall and drew his own gun.
"What are you doing!?" George whispered tensely.
Jason targeted the things exposed cerebrum and fired twice. The creature lost its balance on the ceiling and fell to the floor, screaming in agony. Elran ran past it with a burst of speed, heading towards the west side barricade.
"Elran, No!!" Jason screamed.
Before Jason could fire again, the creature lashed its tongue towards Elran, decapitating him in one swift motion. His body fell with an audible thud as his head flew threw the air, landing and rolling to where Jason could see the shock frozen on his face. Another loud thud came from behind the door and this time the wood splintered and broke underneath the bodies.
"We can't hold them much longer!" George screamed. There was no more use in whispering, the thing already knew they were there.
This is it. We're trapped. The three behind us will burst in any second and the one in the corridor was aware of their presence. This is it...
The door at the other end of the hall erupted open, and Elliot bounded inside. He stopped cold in his tracks upon seeing the creature and drew his weapon. The creature arched its back like some sort of monstrous feline and pounced towards Elliot. It would be on him in an instant-----
-----a figure moved behind Elliot. Jason could make out the colors of a Raccoon City police uniform.
"Get down!" The figure demanded.
Elliot ducked just in time as a thunderous boom echoed through the hall and knocked the monster back several feet. Killing it.
David!
He cocked his Mossberg and beckoned for George and Jason to come to him and Elliot. They pushed off the door and rushed into the hall. The splintering wood of the door behind them became a deafening crunch as the creatures knocked the door straight off of its hinges. Jason and George barreled down the hall with the creatures right behind them. David had his Mossberg held high...ready to fire-----
BOOM!!
The round went over their heads and found its mark in one of the creatures that had jumped for them. Jason and George took a diving slide as David continued to un-load on the creatures, splattering blood and gore every-where.
When he finished, nothing that wasn't human moved in the hall-way. David stood there, smoke still lingering from the barrel of his Mossberg and a blank expression on his face.
"I've redeemed myself..." He said flatly. Then, before any-one could stop him, David Ford turned the Mossberg on himself and put the barrel in his mouth.
"DAVID NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Elliot cried.
The shot blew straight threw his head, splattering the wall with blood and skull fragments. The three of them stood there in utter shock as his body fell to the floor, no life present in his wide, gray eyes.
Questions flooded Jason mind by the second, contemplating why his colleague would take his own life.
Why?...we could have made it out of here...why did he do it?...why...?
Elliot was the first to move. He grabbed the Mossberg from David's dead hands and took the barrel out of his destroyed mouth. He unstrapped David's ammunition pouch and put it around his shoulder; David wasn't going to be needing it. He wasn't going to be needing any-thing any-more.
"I'm finished crying." Elliot said through a breaking voice. "We're getting out of here. I swear to God on my soul...we're getting out of here...