Staring into my coffee cup, my third so far, I sighed and Lucy gave my shoulder a pat.
"Don't worry, Megan. They'll be back soon." Lucy reassured me and I lifted my head trying for a smile but it fell flat when I swallowed a lump in my throat.
"They've been gone for hours. I hope nothing happened to them. What am I saying? They're probably..." I trailed off when Lucy stared back at me one hand going to her mouth and I hurriedly shook my head. "Sorry I'm just rambling."
"Anyone in there?" Dale called out and I froze, looking towards the doorway when I heard footsteps. To my disbelief he poked his head through blood on his white shirt and jacket but I didn't care and he blinked when I stumbled to my feet, wrapping my arms around him the moment I reached my friend. "Wow." He muttered when I hugged him and after a pause he wrapped his arms around me, giving me a hug.
We broke apart when I remembered that Lucy was in the room but she just gave me a big smile, her attention moving to Andy when he entered the room setting down his gun and she rushed over to him. "S...sorry I was just...worried." I stammered and Dale nodded, not hiding a faint smile as I moved a few steps back. "What happened?"
"We managed to get Doctor Hayward and three...two more survivors out of the hospital. I haven't heard from Harry or Hawk so after we get more ammunition we're going to the Double R Diner." Dale answered, holstering his gun and I frowned as his eyes rested on the wall behind me.
"You were going to say three more survivors. What happened?" I asked Dale and he just shrugged turning around. Shaking my head I nodded to Doctor Hayward and two more people who must have been the survivors they managed to rescue before I followed him outside the room blocking his path and he raised an eyebrow at me when I crossed my arms. "You ran into more of the undead didn't you?" I said to Dale who didn't meet my eyes.
"We found a stairwell and one of the survivors she...ran past me before I had a chance to check if it was clear. There was a horde of infected and they pulled her away from us. I shot the one that grabbed her and she reached for me. I tried...I tried to save her but they...they tore her apart." Dale whispered, rubbing his forehead against the growing headache he felt and I sighed. I reached down and his eyes found mine as I gave his hand a squeeze.
"It's not your fault. It happened to me during the outbreak. I tried to save my boyfriend...guess ex-boyfriend now when he left us behind after we found a possible way out of the city. He didn't even look back as he tried to escape on his own only he ran straight into the path of something with a long tongue and claws as long as my arm. It...attacked him so fast he barely had time to scream for help." I explained as his hand shook. "I know you did everything you could to save her."
"I never really understood what you went through but I'm getting some first-hand experience, Megan." Dale commented and I nodded, reaching up and he covered my hand with his own when I touched his cheek. "Come on. We need to help Harry and Hawk." He said hearing the front entrance opening and I froze, Dale gently guiding me behind hm as he raised his gun only to lower it with a faint smile as Hawk and Harry hurried into the building along with two waitresses I remembered seeing at the diner.
"There you are." Dale said as I peeked out from behind his shoulder sighing with relief that two of my friends had made it back and with two more uninfected. "We came back for more rounds." He told Harry who he gave a weak thumbs up.
"Good idea, Coop. We just got back from the diner. Norma and Shelly meet Megan." Harry said and I nodded, wondering how they managed to survive the zombies in the diner though once I saw Shelly's red eyes I decided it wouldn't be appropriate to ask.
"Hello. Would you both like some coffee?" Lucy interrupted and with a quick smile I wandered over to Dale as he started to head towards the back of the station. I followed him and he stopped walking when he felt a hand on his back, turning to find me standing there.
"Dale, I'm going with you." I told him and he started to answer me until I blocked the door. "Or you're not going in there." I added and he sighed, giving me a tiny nod. I followed him through another door the door closing quietly behind us. While Dale pulled down a box of ammunition I looked around the firing range, looking at the targets in the back and after Dale finished reloading his gun he picked up a second box.
Once he saw me staring at the targets he walked over, nudging my shoulder. "Maybe one day you can take a turn on them." He saw, nodding towards the targets and I shrugged, taking a box from him only to nearly drop it and he managed a faint laugh as I struggle to carry it.
"Warn me next time, Dale." I muttered, determined to carry it into the conference room without his help. I barely make it nearly dropping it on my foot at one point and Dale chuckled softly holding out a hand for it when I shift it around in my hands trying to get a good grip. "Okay so I can't carry it." I finally admitted as I handed it back and he just nodded, lightly brushing past me before he led me back to the room.
"Here we go. This should be enough to stop the ones at the Double R Diner." Dale said, setting both boxes down on the table. As the Twin Peaks police force and Dale reload I leaned against the table a slight frown on my face at the thought of my friends going out and risking their lives against the growing undead army.
Sensing the unease Dale finished reloading and I looked up, startled when I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Just me, Megan. We'll be alright." Dale said and I just shook my head at him looking at the floor.
"You go out there and you won't be coming back, Dale. At least not in one piece." I replied and he raised both eyebrows when I finally looked up. "Those won't be the only zombies you face when you go out there. The town doesn't know how dangerous those infected are but you do so what hope do you have to contain the whole of Twin Peaks?"
"Megan, we have to at least try and protect as many people as we can." Harry answered and I groaned, running a hand over my eyes before I stared at him. "I believe you now. You couldn't have done this but now's not the time to argue."
"I'd say get everyone to the station but that would mean traveling through the town with the infected roaming around. Other than us no one else knows what they are or what they can do." I said waiting for someone to argue with me and when no one spoke I shook my head. "Now you listen when it's too late to evacuate the town. Figures."
"How about we get everyone to the Great Northern Hotel?" Andy suggested and I had to agree that this was a smart move. "Strong walls and if we barricaded the doors we might have a chance."
Now reloaded Harry and Hawk drove to the hotel in Harry's jeep while we stayed at the sheriff's department getting everyone settled. I helped make more coffee while Lucy called Benjamin Horne. After moving everyone to the conference room I dashed out finding as many cups as I could find and once I returned I picked up the coffee pot, hurrying back so I could pour coffee for everyone there.
It wasn't much but it helped keep my mind off the gnawing feeling in my gut at what was happening to the town. "Megan, are you feeling alright?" Doctor Hayward asked and I looked up to see him looking at me. "You look a little pale."
"Just a little worried about everyone. I hope they don't run into anymore of those...creatures." I answered and he nodded, sipping at his coffee as I glanced at the clock on the wall. "I wish I could have done more to help my friends."
"Nonsense. You tried to warn everyone about how quickly this illness spreads from person to person. I never thought anything like this would ever happen to Twin Peaks but now I know better." Doctor Hayward answered and I just took a sip of my own coffee using the heat of the cup to warm my hands against the sudden chill.
When Lucy came stopping into the room everyone looked up to see her chewing her lower lip, her hands at her sides. "He hung up on me!" She shouted making two of the survivors flinch. "Sorry but he's a jerk." She added in a quieter voice.
"No need to apologize, Lucy. I've had the displeasure of knowing a few men like that. But they're not always like that. Some can be quite nice." I replied, sipping at my coffee and Lucy raised both eyebrows at me. Looking up I saw the smile she had and I raised one eyebrow in response.
"You mean Agent Cooper don't you?" Lucy pointed out and I coughed, nearly spilling the coffee still remaining in my cup. Carefully setting it down on the table I blinked at her. "You can tell me." She said, pulling up a chair beside me and nearby I heard Doctor Hayward clearing his throat.
"Does the whole town need to know?" I groaned, hiding my face behind one hand as Lucy and Doctor Hayward waited for my response. "Alright already. So I like him okay. Is it that obvious?"
"Well you did hug him the moment he walked through the door. Plus I have seen you two holding hands when you think no one's watching." Lucy counted on her fingers and my face turned red, trying not to react when Doctor Hayward actually laughed.
"Maybe we should be figuring out how to alert the town about this infection and not talk about my love life." I complained, climbing from the table picking up my cup as I did. I walked out of the room heading for the sink to wash the cup out anything to distract me so I wouldn't think about how many people would change or how my friends were facing the undead.
As I washed the cup under the sink I swallowed, unable to get the image of that skinned creature out of my head. "Claws and teeth. Like the zombies weren't bad enough we get that thing." I muttered, rinsing the last few drops of coffee from the cup. "Plus that creature walking around with the rocket launcher. What in the hell was that thing? Some sort of evolved zombie?"
Still muttering to myself I didn't hear the front door being pushed open though when I heard shouting I turned my head in time to see Andy and Hawk rushing into the building, followed closely by Harry and I felt my heart sink as I rushed over. "Where's Dale?" I called out but they didn't hear me aiming at something I couldn't see. Moving closer I peered through the glass jumping back when I saw the undead, so many I couldn't count them all as they stumbled towards us most missing chunks of flesh or limbs. Some were untouched and that sent a chill through my spine as they moved as a herd, heading our way.
"It's airborne. The whole town's lost." I mumbled not knowing that anyone had heard me until Harry reached out and I nearly screamed as he pulled me back away from the door. "Don't do that!" I shouted at him not caring if the things outside heard me or not as I glared at the sheriff. "Where's Dale?"
"We got separated about a mile back when they walked into the path of the jeep and Dale's car. I tried to go back but he shouted at me to keep going and that he'd find his own way around." Harry explained and I froze, looking at the windows in time to see the undead slapping at the glass.
"If something happens to him I'll..." I started to say until we all heard gunfire and I glanced up as the hands slapping at the glass disappeared. I didn't move until I heard someone shouting over the gunfire and with a sudden crash someone shoved the door open with their shoulder. The window shattered as Dale dashed into the building, dried blood splattered across his normally pristine white shirt and his eyes wide as he quickly shoved the door closed.
"Help me barricade this door!" He shouted, running into the nearby room and I nodded, dashing around the nearby offices to grab whatever wasn't nailed down. I went back after dragging as many chairs as I could, getting help from Doctor Hayward and the few survivors they managed to rescue but when I tried to drag the table in the conferenence room I realized it was way too heavy for me to move alone.
Seeing me struggling Hawk and Andy helped, even Harry joining in and together we dragged it in front of the front entrance as the undead pounded their fists and hands against the door not even noticing when they cut themselves on the broken glass.
After we finished I went in search of more furniture, finding more chairs stacked in another office and once I dragged them back I started to stack them against the window not paying enough attention as one of the undead reached in through one of the broken planes of glass towards me.
Dale stood inside one of the offices, reloading his gun with shaking fingers unaware at how close the zombie was to his friend. Once he finished reloading he holstered the weapon, looking around for any furniture that he could shift. He returned to the front entrance with an office chair all he could find and after he carried it to the front door he set it down on the table.
"Harry, have you seen Megan anywhere?" He asked Harry who looked up from reloading his own weapon. At his side Hawk and Andy were doing the same using the ammunition that Dale remembered he and Megan had brought back from the armory. His smile at the memory of Megan struggling with just one box faded when he realized he hadn't seen her since she, Andy and Hawk had dragged the table from the conference room against the door and that was more than two hours ago.
"I think I saw her heading towards the back of the station, Agent Cooper." Andy mentioned and Dale nodded, hurrying towards the back with a slight smile on his face.
Sitting on the cold floor in one of the jail cells I stared at my hand, the infection from the bite I'd received taking hold so fast it was already turning my skin an angry red, black lines spreading across my pale and sweaty skin and I sighed. Covering it up with the sleeve of my jacket I pulled my knees against my chest, wrapping my arms around myself as I heard quick footsteps and I raised my head to see Dale rush into the room.
"Megan, there you are. We could really use your help." He said as he stood near the cell only to freeze when he saw me looking up at him with red eyes. "Megan, are you alright?"
"No...I'm not, Dale." I whispered as he knelt in front of me, his eyes widening when I raised my arm displaying the bite on my wrist. "I was helping stack chairs against the door and one grabbed me. I tried to fight it off but it managed to bite me. You need to lock me in here."
"Megan, I'm not going to do that." Dale replied, reaching for the door only to feel my hand on his. "You need to come out of there. We need your help with the barricade."
"Dale, I'm infected and a danger to everyone left alive. You need to lock me in or I might..." I trailed off sniffing as fresh tears spilled down my cheeks and he slowly shook his head, sliding the door open despite my best efforts in keeping it closed. As soon as he started to walk towards me I stepped back until I was leaning against the wall. "Keep your distance."
"You won't hurt me, Megan." Dale insisted and I froze when he reached out stroking my hair.
"How do you know that? You've seen what those things do first hand. Besides I can already feel the hunger...I can't seem to keep my thoughts together and the bite itches." I mumbled, sinking to the cold floor before I covered my face with my hands. "Please...they need you out there. I'm too much of a risk. If I turn I'll hurt someone."
Shaking his head at me he knelt and I froze when he pulled me into a hug, stroking my hair as my tears fell. "If it comes to that I'll.." Dale stopped when I raised my head, pressing my forehead against his.
"Shoot me. You know what happens to anyone with a bite. I'm asking you as a friend and a favor to me. If...if I try to hurt you or anyone else promise me you'll put a bullet in my head. I'm sorry but the virus is airborne. That's why so many people have turned this fast. Exactly like Raccoon City. I wish I could have done more but...it's too late." I whispered, sliding the gun from his fingers and as he stared at me I pressed the muzzle against my forehead. "Right there okay? Otherwise I'll still keep coming."
"Are you sure you don't want to help us?" Dale asked and I slowly shook my head, scratching at the bite with my fingers as he took the gun from my trembling fingers.
"Skin burns...Dale, please. I don't know how much longer I can stop myself." I begged, pushing him backwards so fast he sprawled on the floor. "Just get out!" I shouted at him and Dale quickly climbed to his feet, hurrying out of the jail cell as I growled at him.
I pulled the cell door closed my injured arm resting at my side before I raised my head, staring at him. "Take care of everyone. Try to save as many people as you can. You need to do this...don't know how much longer I can...stop myself." I gasped, clenching my fists as the bite itched and burned. "Please?"
Silently, Dale raised the handgun and I gave him a weak smile closing my eyes as he pointed the muzzle at my forehead. "Thank...you." I whispered just before the gun went off.