The air is staler and mustier in here, much like in that secret stairwell. For having just entered, it reeks. Nothing will beat the unpleasant and revolting smell of blood and rotting flesh in the halls of the R.P.D. though. Something Madeleine has suffered for days now, and might not even register anymore. That's how long she's been trapped with it.
I suddenly find appreciation to have had the freedom to experience clean air in the long drive to the city at that thought.
After everything I've experienced in the short time of being here. I'm starting to believe maybe this is life's fucked up way of telling me to forget the fallacy I've had of eventually becoming a detective who solves crimes in a big city since I was fourteen. To instead settle down in a small town somewhere back home. One that didn't reek of sewer gases and bodily wastes the way this city does. One that doesn't have people eating each other, or have monsters that should belong in movies roaming around. One that certainly isn't making me question the possibility of escaping this city completely unscathed and whether shooting myself now would prevent the nightmare of becoming one of those things or losing Madeleine or Claire and shooting them.
The thought of that replaces the burning anger and nauseous anxiety in my chest to the thought of happily shooting Irons to punish him for his crimes. But when it comes to the two women... I don't know what I'd do if had to watch either of them die to one of these things.
An easy existence, in theory, never satisfied me. Considering I went straight from high school to college with the sole purpose of becoming a knowledgeable officer. Loans for which I'm still paying off at this time with the job I'd picked up last month in between graduating from the academy and transferring here. A job that at some point offered more than just money to pay the bills and staying alive. It gave me an escape from Grace and our miserable relationship. What was doomed to inevitably fail the day I told her of the potential interview in Raccoon.
An inkling of where we were heading emerged then, because she didn't offer the "Congratulations!" or "I'm so proud of you!" I'd hoped for. No. She'd simply laughed. Laughed for a couple seconds like it was a joke only she'd ever find funny, then looked back at me and said. "You can't leave. What will I do with you so far away?" to which I thought the idea was obvious: that she'd move with me and support my decision. It wasn't like she worked a job herself where she couldn't. She'd worked the last year as a waitress and in a convenience store not far from our apartment.
Her behavior took an unprecedented, icy, turn. The fighting and berating with her was exhausting. It took a hard toll on me. A weekend away, and one hangover later was all I needed to accept it wasn't my fault at all for wanting to start my life. She'd started off sweet and one of the best girlfriends I've been with, but she quickly turned into an abusive person.
When the call came in from the station, from the woman who sounded strikingly similar to the one in front of me. Telling me to stay home on Friday. I almost listened. And as we've crept around the station, trying to find a way out. It's shoved in my face more and more; this is why I should've listened and instead should've gone upstate to visit Mom and Dad instead.
I couldn't believe Grace's reaction of, "That's great!" when she could see me sitting at that kitchen table and know how depressed the information of possibly being fired made me. Five long weeks of hoping, like a devoted and loyal boyfriend of two years should, that she'd be happy for me. That she would express some of the same fucking energy she put towards guilting me into staying instead towards celebrating a new chapter in our lives. It was all for naught.
Searching the basement of an overrun station with no power in the hallway. Zombies, flesh-hungry dogs, humanoid monsters, and whatever smashed Ben's face in like a grape, surrounding us. The thought comes to mind once more that I honestly think I would take this all back. I'd never show for the interview, I'd take one look at the cannibal murder cases in my newspaper, and I'd show it to a friend for a good laugh. Maybe I'd call Ark and make a joke that he should do some sleuthing in the city to figure out what the hell's going on over there. I'd tell him it sounds like a zombie apocalypse is occurring over there. Without ever knowing just how true that statement would become.
YOU ARE READING
The 0714 Files: File #1 Inferno (Remake 2)
Horror"I think you're going to learn a lot of things about this city and the people that you won't want to." Madeleine Sówka has spent the last twelve years of her life believing she knows what monsters look like. They are the people who hide in the backg...
