September 29th 2:34am
LOCATION: RPD (West Gate)
The intel given to Natasha by Mikhail led her and two U.B.C.S officers Carlos and Tyrell to the Racoon City Police Department,
At the start of the outbreak the RPD had been advertised via the city's Emergency Broadcast System to be a safe place for civilians to take shelter,
Black Widow doubted that plan actually benefited anyone except maybe the Zombies.
Carlos was checking his watch for what felt like the hundredth time
"It's been a while, subways gotta be clear of the city by now"
Knowing that Jill was safe made Carlos feel at ease, but the woman also occupied his thoughts
"Along with your hot date" Tyrell smirked,
His U.B.C.S brother was completely smitten over the attractive S.T.A.R.S officer it was clearly written all over his annoyingly handsome face.
"No she's not like that, hell she's not like anyone"
Black Widow and Tyrell shared a smirk,
The entire way over from the substation Carlos had been non-stop questioning her about Jill.
Natasha made sure to respond with the most unhelpful responses that she would manage, this frustrated Carlos, but Tyrell thought it was hilarious.
Black Widow had been no stranger to playing matchmaker to her friends except, Steve Rodgers who still successfully evaded any and all her attempts at setting him up.
"Alright get your head screwed on Romeo, this is the Police Station"
They follow Tyrell through the west gate in to a... graveyard-
"Are you sure, it looks like a cemetery to me" Carlos stated, every square inch of the yard had been used to bury bodies and it had been done recently too,
"Carlos these are all fresh graves" Natasha looked at each of the makeshift name plaques on the graves-
"Oh, oh shit" Carlos whispered, the use of the RPD as a place of sanctuary had definitely not worked out well.
"BRAD STOP!" a male voice yells causing the three of them to raise their weapons in anticipation of danger.
Carlos and Black Widow watched as a darker skinned police officer fired bullets into a Zombie he knew personally,
Natasha recognised the Zombie in the bright yellow gilet too, Brad Vickers, the S.T.A.R.S pilot that she had earlier saved from being torn apart by a horde of Zombies.
And the African-American Officer was Lieutenant Branagh- Natasha had briefly encountered the officer when she first arrived in Raccoon City-
Natasha growled in frustration as she tried to help Tyrell to break down the makeshift barricade keeping them out of the front yard-
"Come on man not you too" he fired at Brad's legs knocking the once friend to the floor,
"Sorry" the cop said as he raised his pistol to the Zombies head-
"Sorrryyy..." the Zombie seemed to say as if there was still a small fragment of Brad under the walking corpse, the utter of intelligent words by the familiar Zombie caused Lieutenant Branagh to hesitate, which was a big mistake.
Zombie Brad lunched at his work colleague latching its teeth onto the other officers abdomen, Marvin quickly kicked him off and clutching his wound he made a break for the safety of the Police Station.
Tyrell finally succeeds in breaking down the barricade, the U.B.C.S soldier quickly runs for the large doors.
"Shit its locked" he yells to Carlos and Black Widow who were more concerned with the Zombie that lifted itself off the ground and angrily growled at the pair of them
"You stay on the door, we've got this fucker" Carlos yelled as they both fired at the Zombie in the bright yellow gilet-
"Come get some" Carlos taunted whilst Natasha felt a dark regret of not shooting the infected Brad Vickers when she had the chance, but then she supposed that would lower her down to the moral level of the likes of Nikolai.
Zombie Brad quickly went down under the torrent of heavy gunfire, Carlos examined the body and removed an ID card from a pocket on the pilot's gilet
"His name is Brad Vickers, a member of the S.T.A.R.S team here at the RPD" Carlos looked up at her
"You know him?" Carlos motions at the body as Tyrell manages to get the main doors open
"It's open!" he yelled, but Carlos was busy examining the ID card he'd found
"I saved him from being torn apart by a horde of Zombies- didn't actually do him any favours did I?" Carlos shrugged he couldn't imagine not doing the same in her situation.
The interior of the RPD wasn't what Carlos had been expecting and certainly didn't look like any police station he had seen before, it more reminisced of some kind of extravagant mansion with its expensive artwork and warm lighting
"I'll secure the perimeter" Black Widow stated as she went about checking around the large hall for any unsecure ways in,
"Where'd that cop go?" Carlos asked Tyrell as the other U.B.C.S soldier went about setting himself up at the main reception desk-
"Don't know, don't care we've got a job to do, if our intel is still worth a damn then Bards in the S.T.A.R.S office, lets find him a take him in to custody" Carlos takes a quick look at Black Widow who either couldn't hear them or was blissfully ignoring them.
"Custody? I thought this was a rescue" he didn't join U.B.C.S to arrest people if he wanted to do that, he would have remained working for hire in South America,
When Umbrella sought him for employment in their U.B.C.S department he was under the impression that working for Umbrella he would be helping people-
"Carlos take a look at this" Carlos took a look at the screen Tyrell was busy working on Tyrell had always been the brains of their outfit
"I've located the S.T.A.R.S office remember Bard had access to Umbrella's darkest secrets he knows we'll try and keep him under our thumbs"
Carols anxiously looked at the Avenger who seemed busy admiring a large, elegant statue at the other end of the huge room.
Carlos doubted that their mission objective had been shared accurately with the Black Widow whose mission objective was to simply find Dr Bard and get the cure,
Which was all he wanted too he didn't sign up to do work that endangered lives, not anymore
"So this search and rescue mission is really more like find and detain, hmm right good to know"
Carlos moved closer to Tyrell to talk without the possibility of the Black Widow over hearing
"Do you know if the Black Widow was made aware that we're here to arrest Bard, you know her mission is the cure. You really think the Doctor is just going to give it to us when we arrive to detain him" he whispers,
Tyrell craned his neck to watch the red head who was a good distance away from them
"You want to start a fight with the scariest Avenger be my guest, personally I think it's in everyone's best interest to keep on her good side" Carlos understood Tyrell's message loud and clear, keep your mouth shut.
"I'll lift the shutters so you and the Avenger can get through" Carlos looked behind his left as one of the shutters that had been sealed opened
"You stay here and find out what's been going on at this station" the absence of anyone else around unnerved Carlos, were they really the only ones alive in this building?
"I'll call you I find anything and be careful" Tyrell wasn't exactly the easiest U.B.C.S soldier to get on with, but Carlos liked him regardless
"You too man". Carlos went to join Black Widow who hadn't moved away from the feminine statue that was definitely a centre piece
"Wow tax dollars hard at work huh?" he asked her, he wondered what the deal was with the décor-
"You know this Police station was an art museum before it was decommissioned in 1969" she grinned, at least one of them had done their homework before hand,
"Uh yeah it's very- big" he felt like an idiot next to the Avenger, despite her short height and innocent looking appearance there was something about her that easily intimidated everyone in the room, she grinned again.
It wasn't a sweet smile, it was the smile of someone that was capable of tearing out your throat with their own teeth if they had to-
"The thing about big empty rooms Carlos is voices even in whispers, they carry" oh shit- he realised with dread that she had overheard him and Tyrell talking about her,
"Sorry" he wasn't sure what to say after all he had also been mislead in the actual objective of their mission here, he doubted she would trust either of them now.
Natasha glanced at Tyrell who was busy hacking into the RPD'S CCTV to care about what they were doing,
Carlos was genuinely surprised when she shrugged as if she wasn't really that bothered
"Look, I really don't want to fight either of you. I highly doubt you comprehend the truth about your employers yet, besides there's far more to be gained through cooperation over conflict".
It was a valuable lesson that the Black Widow had learned being an Avenger, part of her cringed at her words, she was staring to sound far too much like Rodgers
"But when we do find Bard, Carlos you've got a choice to make"
Natasha internally rolled her eyes, once upon a time she would have long ditched these two and ventured off to complete her mission on her own, but her time at S.H.I.E.L.D had taught her a lot about working in a team.
Even when it went against every instinct inside her- she needed to learn how to trust, even with the possibility of it being thrown back in her face-
"You can either help me find the cure or you can blindly follow Umbrella's orders, your choice"
Carlos softly shook his head, that ultimatum, was really not a choice at all,
"Uh- is the perimeter secure?" he wasn't sure how to approach any conversation with the red head, but she seemed to respond well whenever the subject was professional, kind of like Jill-
"Yes all entrances and exits are secure, although there's a weird ass door over there that needs some sort of 'Spade Key' to unlock"
Carlos laughed "This is one weird city" Natasha smirked, she couldn't fault that logic.
Black Widow took the lead as they ventured in to the area of the RPD that had been previously sealed off, not knowing what to expect bothered her and made sure to keep an extra tight grip on her assault rifle.
Carlos finds a crate with some supplies in the waiting area, that he was able to unlock thanks to Brad's ID card.
"Knew this would come in handy" he remarked as all of a sudden the Black Widow seemed to go into a defence mode, hoisting her weapon and flattening her back to the wall.
Carlos did the same as to him it seemed that the Avenger had an amazing sense of hearing, suddenly he heard it too, the frantic noise of gunfire and screaming coming over from the next corridor.
Carlos immediately took the lead from the Black Widow and booted in the door just in time to see two police officers shooting at something further in the hallway,
Whatever it was it seemed to slice one of the officers throats in the blink of an eye then something long pulled the other shooting officer towards his attacker, then suddenly it was silent again-
"What the hell was that thing?" Carlos asked as they both cautiously approached the deceased cop whose lower jaw was only still on his face via a few ligaments.
"Oh Shit!" Carlos mumbled at the bloody mess,
As they turned the corner, they found the other cop hanging from a metal pole through his face.
The sight was enough to make anyone's stomach turn- but as Carlos watched the Black Widow inspecting the bodies he found nothing in her expression that mirrored his disgust
"This wasn't a Zombie, keep your guard up" Black Widow stated and kept a tight grip on her own firearm.
From the evidence she could find under the torrent of blood was that the unknown attacker was extremely strong and had a set of very sharp claws,
A slight breeze drifted inside through a broken window which had been smashed from the inside-
"It didn't stick around" Carlos supposed which didn't reassure Natasha in the slightest.
Further in the corridor, bodies began to lift themselves off the ground as if being pulled upward by an invisible string.
"Ahh here we go!" Carlos growled as Zombies came for them from every side, more Zombies burst through a set of side doors as the loud sound of their gunfire attracted every Zombie this side of the RPD.
It was the first time Carlos had seen the Black Widow in a fight and for someone that was fighting the literal undead she was remarkably calm and focused.
Every shot the Black Widow made hit its desired target without fail.
Even some of the officers that he'd encountered in training for the U.B.C.S hadn't been as experienced marksman as the mysterious red headed Avenger, he couldn't help but find himself curious about his new partner.
After clearing out the groups of undead Carlos gets back on the comms to Tyrell
"T do you copy, there's something nasty in here, we don't know what it is" he looked up at the CCTV cameras that Tyrell was currently monitoring them on
"Something nasty? Alright I'll take a look with the cameras, both of you watch your six"
Black Widow took the empty clip out of her rifle and replaced it with a new one, she did the motion in seconds as if the action came as easy to her as breathing-
"You know your way around your guns pretty well Ms Romanoff" it was an understatement, Carlos realised it the moment he'd said it, the red head had experiences of someone much older than she appeared to be.
Natasha shrugged "Yeah" the one-word answer was a clear warning to not ask too much,
Carlos wondered what had gone so wrong in Romanoff's early life to place her on this path and considered that he may be better off not knowing after all you don't have skill set like hers if you had a happy upbringing.
They follow the corridor which led into a hall that housed a lot of side rooms and a door into the RPD's main offices, unfortunately the whole place was filled with Zombies.
"Looks like we interrupted a party!" Carlos stated as he threw down a flash grenade, they quickly covered their eyes as the undead were momentarily stunned by the sudden bright flash.
"I don't see how that's a party" Natasha smirked as she proceeded to remove her two Glocks from their holsters and efficiently and quickly proceeded to head shot every- single- Zombie.
Carlos had to practically lift his jaw off the floor "Wow" he whispered, as he looked at his own assault rifle only to realise he hadn't fired a single shot,
Seeing the Avenger fight in real life was almost unreal like watching a character from a video game or an action film-
"Let's search the offices" Natasha suggested as she slipped her pistols back into the holsters on her thighs.
There were more Zombies in the offices, Carlos made sure to dispatch them quickly whist Natasha went about searching for information, he couldn't let her have all the fun.
Carlos looked up at the handmade banner that said 'Welcome Leon' somehow that made him laugh
"Yeah welcome Leon, bet you had a kick ass first day" part of him hoped the rookie cop was ok, starting your law enforcement career in Raccoon City on today of all days was some real shit luck.
They continue clearing the hallways after finding nothing in the offices until they came around a corner and found a rich wooden staircase, a strong reminder of the RPD's prior use as a museum.
A Zombie in a cop uniform suddenly took notice of the living within grabbing distance, Carlos makes sure to take care of it before the Widow can react-
"Kinda fucked up shooting cops" he mumbled, Natasha nodded it was indeed very fucked up, but before they can reach up to the next level a voice came through their comms,
"Carlos, Widow the S.T.A.R.S Office is up ahead" Tyrell informed them-
"Copy that" Carlos responded, but was immediately disappointed when they found that a makeshift barricade prevented them from following the corridor any further
"For fucks sake, why's it blocked" people had clearly been here recently and there'd been a struggle, Natasha looked at the door to her right,
"Maybe there's a cut through in the men's locker room"
Carlos follows her into the locker room, unfortunately there was no cut through, but the wall at the far end of the shower block looked extremely fragile and by sheer luck itself a block of plastic explosives and an empty detonator was already attached to the wall ready for demolition
"Okay, I guess we'll be doing this the explode-y way".
Authors Note: I'm having a lot of fun with this story. OF COURSE the original setting of RE being set in the 90's kind of goes out the window in this FanFic, but for the sake of making timelines coexist- we'll just let it slide.