Several hours later Dale looked up at a a sign a few feet above him, staring up at it with a tiny smile on his face.
"Raccoon City, ten miles." He said as Harry walked over glancing at the signpost shielding his eyes against the sunlight as he peered into the distance. "Ready for a hike, Harry?"
"Dale, you're not serious are you? If the city really was destroyed there wouldn't be anything left to hike to." Harry countered and Dale just grinned, starting to head past the signpost when they both heard a groan. "Perfect timing."
Cracking my eyes open I peered at the seat in front of me, unable to understand why I was lying on my side. Rubbing at my gritty eyes I started to sit only to feel something digging into my shirt and I looked down finding a seat-belt digging into my stomach. Slightly confused I fiddled with the seat-belt until I managed to free myself, climbing from the seat and when I stumbled from the truck I saw Harry and Dale standing at the edge of a cliff.
"Afternoon." Dale said, waving me over and after pushing my hands into my jacket in an effort to keep warm from the autumn air I stumbled towards them. Once I reached them I yawned, rubbing at my eyes before I turned to see where Harry had driven us to. "Does anything look familiar?" He asked and I tilted my head to one side, peering at him then at the signpost. Once the fog cleared from my mind I slowly blinked, my eyes widening.
Dale and Harry had expected me to be annoyed at being dragged back to the city I once called home. They weren't expecting my reaction; I let out a scream that caused them to take a step back as I stumbled backwards, losing my footing before I landed hard with a thud on my backside. "Megan, are you alright?" Harry asked heading my way as Dale raised an eyebrow at me watching me on curious as I tried and failed to stand.
Instead I ended up smacking my probably bruised backside on the hard ground but I didn't even notice the pain too busy giving the area directly past the signpost my best horrified stare. I would have stayed there had Dale not waved his hand in front of my face and I cried out, expecting to see one of the undead lunging at me. Seeing me hiding my face behind one arm Harry looked at Dale who raised both of his eyebrows this time, more curious than ever at my reaction.
"Dale, this was a bad idea." Harry sighed, hooking one arm under my armpit and with some difficulty Dale did the same. Pulling me to my feet I pulled my hoodie down, hiding my face though I couldn't hide my trembling shoulders.
"Megan, is that Raccoon City?" Dale asked and Harry blinked at him, crossing his arms as the FBI agent tried to pull back my hoodie. I quickly stepped back and without looking at them I hurried back to the truck, climbing into the backseat before I pulled my hoodie down further. "I believe that's a yes. I've never seen Megan get so emotional like that. That proves she did flee the city."
"You jerk." I growled and they looked towards me when I lifted my head giving Dale and Harry a good look at my tear-filled eyes. "You drugged me and dragged me out here against my will just so you could find out for yourselves if I was telling the truth." I snapped, turning my head away when Dale took a step towards me. "First chance I get I'm leaving."
"Where are you going to go? Raccoon City's gone." Dale pointed out and I sniffed, my head snapping around with my eyes narrowed and my lower lip quivering.
"Coop, maybe you should give her some space." Harry suggested already noticing the way I had my eyes narrowed at the FBI agent and my hands curled into fists. More interested in why there was a crater where a city used to be Dale was more determined to find out as many details as he could not knowing how frustrated I was.
"Megan, who bombed the city? What are the symptoms of the virus you told us turns people into the living dead?" Dale bombarded me with questions and I growled, climbing from the truck with one hand held at my waist.
Harry didn't have time to warn Dale who stepped too close and I raised my fist punching his left cheek so fast and hard Dale stumbled back, eyes widening slightly as I glared at him. Not speaking I stormed past him, shaking my hand from the sudden pain. Glancing down I wasn't too surprised to see that my hand was a bright pink now.
"Wow, she hits hard. Coop, maybe you should leave Megan alone for a while. Just some friendly advice." Harry suggested as Dale raised his head to his stinging cheek.
I wandered away from a while, trying not to look off into the distance at the crater. I could feel fresh tears springing to my eyes but I swept them away with my sore hand not caring where I was going just as long as it was as far as I could get from Dale Cooper.
I finally planted myself on a log I found, pulling my hoodie around me to fend off the autumn chill sniffing when it finally dawned on me that I didn't have anywhere to run to. My home was gone the crater all that was left but even without seeing that other than me and a handful of survivors there was no city left. I didn't even know where the other survivors fled to after we parted ways but I silently hoped that they were alright. Without any way of contacting them I could only hope they were safe now as I wiped at my streaming eyes, staring off into the distance.
Eventually I heard footsteps and I sighed to myself, acting like I didn't hadn't heard them until someone stepped into view. Standing in front of the log Dale cleared his throat and I tilted my head back enough to stare up at him, slightly amused at the red hand print on his left cheek. "Megan, you can't stay here. It's not safe." He began and I rolled my eyes, lowering my head so he couldn't see my eyes though he did catch the tiny smirk on my lips. Shaking his head when I didn't respond he gestured at the spot beside me. "May I sit there?" He asked and I let out a snort waving towards the log.
"Not like I can stop you." I finally answered, feeling the log shift slightly as he sat beside me. "What exactly do you want now, Agent Cooper?"
"Agent Cooper now, huh?" He joked and I turned my head slightly giving him a blank stare for his trouble. "I just want the truth about what happened. That's all. I know it must be painful but you're the only one who can help us understand what you faced."
"I told you what happened! My city was overrun by the living dead and I barely escaped being eaten alive. Why do you keep making me relive that? Is my pain a joke to you?" I snapped at him raising my voice when he raised a hand.
"Megan, I was only trying to make sense of what happened to you and hopefully prevent the same tragedy from happening here." Dale answered, keeping quiet when I straightened. Pacing I ground my teeth not even glancing when Dale climbed to his feet brushing pine needles from his knees before he placed both hands on my shoulders. I finally stopped pacing lifting my head when he cleared his throat.
"When will you leave me alone? I told you everything I know. The virus spread through the city so fast...no one could stop it so a few of us who weren't infected chose to take our chances and try to escape. Most of the city was overrun by the living dead and we barely made it out, the sounds of screaming as the undead tore people apart..." I swallowed, tears slipping down my cheeks as I covered my ears with my palms. "I can't go through that again."
"Relax, Megan. No one's going to hurt you." Dale soothed and my eyes widened giving him a clear view of my red eyes and the dark circles under my eyes. "You haven't been sleeping."
"Of course not! Each time I close my eyes I see them, the zombies roaming the city looking for more people to consume and infect. The lucky ones die before they change. No one could help us, not the police or the army. The army trapped us in the city, they left us to fend for ourselves so I made a choice. Escape or be torn apart." I told him, swallowing a lump in my throat while I focused on the red mark marring his cheek. "Now everything's gone and I have nowhere to go now."
"You can always stay in Twin Peaks. We could get you a room in the Great Northern Hotel and go from there." Dale suggested and I nodded, lifting my hand to wipe my eyes with the sleeve of my hoodie. "We should see about getting you some more clothes. The truck you borrowed didn't have anything in it and you can't sleep in your clothes."
"I...didn't have time...to pack, Dale. I was too...bu...busy...trying to run away from the zombies. Don't even have a toothbrush or a hairbrush." I sniffed, trying to find some humor at stealing an army truck of all things but the joke fell flat and I started to sob once the truth dawned on me that I was homeless and alone. Softening, Dale tugged me into a hug and I buried my face in his jacket my sobs muffled as I clung to him.