Leon couldn't quite wrap his head around how everything was happening so fast. As they drove back down the road, it was even more chaotic than before. Now, buildings were on fire. More and more people were running through the streets, infected and non-infected from what he could tell. He just hoped that the Executive Inn was still in one piece. It was starting to feel more and more like he, Rick, and Carl were the only people left alive in this town.
He feared that they would get to the OYO Hotel too late, and Andrea's sister would be long gone- if she was even still alive. And even if Amy was okay, the chances that they would make it back to Lori at the Executive was looking slimmer and slimmer.
"Lori was right about you," Rick confessed. "You can handle yourself. You did the right thing back there. It's not easy, I get it, back when I first started on the force-"
"She was sick," Leon cut in. "I did what I had to. So did you. And we're both here because of each other. When we get to OYO-"
"We need a plan," Rick finished.
"You need to stay in the car," Leon stated. "You got him to look after. I can get the girl."
Carl's teary big blue eyes looked up at Rick. Leon could tell that the son liked this idea a lot more than the father.
Rick was quiet, looking down at his boy and then up at the road. Leon knew exactly what he was thinking. Rick was an easy man to understand. A good guy, but he could make the hard choices. The right choices.
"Are you sure you can handle this?" he asked.
"You said so yourself. Andrea said room sixteen?"
"That's right."
"As long as she's still there, we should be in and out."
In a small town like this, everything was only about two minutes away from each other. They'd made it to the OYO in a little less than that. It was an interesting sight to see. While Jefferson, Texas much more had the climate of southeastern Texas, the OYO had more of a southwestern look. A brown and beige roadstop motel.
Leon could see the number 1 6 ahead of them, labeling the door to the room that Andrea was talking about.
"I'm gonna pull up right next to the door," Rick said. "Go in there, tell her Andrea's with us, then let's go. But listen, if she ain't there-"
"I know. Let's hope she is."
The OYO hadn't been spared from the plague either. Many of the doors were left open, trails of blood leading out of them. A vehicle had crashed in the far side of the building, though it looked like the building withstood the contact more than the SUV. Its engine had been flatted like a cartoon character hit on the head with an anvil.
The good news was that this place was quiet. The sick people- they must have followed all the sounds deeper into town.
Rick did as he promised, pulling the cruiser right up to the door to room sixteen. Leon shot out of the car, slamming the door quickly but quietly. He took one last glance at Rick, seeing a nervousness on the man's face. He suddenly wasn't so convinced that Rick really thought he could handle his own.
But maybe it wasn't that. Rick was a police officer, and a good one from what he'd heard. He probably wasn't used to such helplessness in his abilities to help other people. He'd spent God only knew how many years keeping this town safe for it to crumble in only a day.
He took a deep breath, and Leon wrapped his fists against the room sixteen door, trying for the handle, not surprised to find it locked. Though that was hopefully a good sign.
"Amy? Is Amy in there? Your sister Andrea sent me! Amy?! We got to go now!"
"Who are you?!"
"Uh, my name's Leon. I work at the Executive Inns and-"
The door swung open, air whooshing over Leon's face. A teenage girl who was unmistakably related to the older blonde girl stood in the doorway.
"Let's go," she said.
