We leave the dogs in the kennel and I stay on guard for any others as we exit the room. He's leading even though I know he has no clue where to go, having never been here before.
The space behind the crates is littered with bowls and bags of dog food that'll never be used again... It'd be a lie to myself to say I didn't care about those dogs dying. Without a doubt they'll try to kill us because that's what the T-Virus does to anything it infects, but to see them like that. To know they must have suffered a death alone in those crates. Lacking the thoughts and knowledge humans so often take for granted as they wasted away. Unable to know it wasn't their fault for this and they didn't deserve such a painful death...
"I'm sorry about the dogs," Leon mumbles in the hallway in front of me. Peeking over his shoulder long enough to ensure I'm okay.
Shotgun returned to my bag and my Glock in my holster. I keep my arms wrapped around my chest as I shiver. "It's just one more loss," I reply dejectedly.
"You've gone through a lot," I detect the gravity in his words.
We round a corner and take a few more steps before I whisper to myself. "You have no idea," and stop.
He does too at a shutter that's down, blocking our path. "Looks like this is supposed to be opened with a crank," Leon informs, shining the light on a box to our right. Running his hand over a red sign bearing a diagram for the crank and a red circle above with a square hole in the middle.
"I don't know where we'd find that, these halls were never closed." Another ploy by Irons to keep people cut off from places, I'm sure. Might explain why the gate closest is locked in the first place.
"How are we supposed to get through here?" Leon grumbles as I see there's maybe an inch of space between the ground and the shutter. Maybe Irons did try blocking us off, but I doubt he'd think anybody would be desperate enough or have the help to attempt pushing the shutter up manually. I step in front of the metal barrier, squatting, I slide my hands under the dusty and grimy surface of the bottom. Hoping there's nothing on the other side to grab my fingers.
"What're you doing?" Leon asks, perplexed by my intentions.
Nodding to the shutter, "We have to get it open somehow, or else we're not getting out of here. Help me," I somewhat order the rookie and he promptly kneels beside me.
The muscles in my biceps tighten, and my thighs burn from exertion after a lack of use in the last few days. If the bruises on my chest could speak, they'd be screaming obscenities at me again after pushing the van and now this. I heave the shutter with all my strength, despite Leon's help, in an effort to prove to him, and myself, I'm still capable. I grit my teeth to hide the groaning that's more from pain than the frustration of lifting the heavy door.
I stumble back when it's just a foot past Leon's head. My body cries out, and an arm wraps around my ribs, I gasp and sit down. "I can't push anymore," I tell him with a raspy, dry throat. Water would be nice right now. If we get out of here, maybe I can grab a drink from the sink in the backroom.
"I know you're hurt. I don't think you should be doing stuff like this," Leon protests and I wave a hand.
"No, I'm just tired—"
"You've had an arm around your ribs for the last hour. I saw your face while pushing the van," he walks over and crouches in front of me. "Maybe I should take a look at your ribs?"
YOU ARE READING
The 0714 Files: File #1 Inferno (Remake 2)
Terror"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...
