Resident Evil: Unloved [ENG]

Capitolo 6

The automatic shutter of the underground parking lot lifted, allowing the truck to enter it smoothly, parking between a couple of service cars in the area.
The area was dimly lit, but already more welcoming than the thick rain outside.
"I didn't think I was going to say it, guys..." Kevin chuckled, stretching after getting out of the car; "But I missed this hole!"
"Me, not so much, after last time." Vince replied, helping Cindy carry Megan, who had fallen asleep peacefully on one of the seats, out of the truck.
"What do you think?" the waitress asked Alyssa; "Should we wake her up?"
The reporter nodded.
"I think that would be best."
"Wake her up and tell her we're safe. I'll go report in the meantime."
As she said those words, Liz had made her way to a door in the left corner, which led to the Station's inner structure.
"Always hard to report." Kevin commented with his hands on his hips, then turning around to look at the others; "Well, we can tidy you up any way you want. Come on, it's better upstairs."
Meanwhile, Cindy was shaking gently the high school student to alert her that they had arrived at their destination, asking her among other things if she was feeling better.
"A little bit... I've calmed down," she replied, crinkling her eyes, still half asleep.
"What's more, we're soaked, too," Vince commented; "If we don't get warm, no one will get pneumonia out of us."
"You have baths and towels, right? I'll kill someone if the cold wrinkles my beautiful skin!" Alyssa complained wearily.
"Oh, well. There's no shortage of showers and toilets." Kevin retorted, chuckling with his eyes closed and pointing to the upper floors with his thumb.
"Well, you can always accompany us, can't you?" the reporter asked Ryman.
"With pleasure. This way..."
With that said, Kevin asked them to follow him as they passed a long underground stone corridor, past a barred gate and up a set of stairs.
The environment changed dramatically from there:
Refinished upholstery, well-maintained parquet floors and paintings on the walls....
Each area that characterized the wings of the Police Station could be called special in its own way....
Certainly, though improbable wooden barricades on the windows to the outside abruptly spoiled the atmosphere.
"Um..." Cindy quipped shyly; "This ... is a police station, isn't it? It's not like we ended up in the museum without realizing it, right?"
"The police station has been like this since they rebuilt it from an art museum," Vince replied, following Kevin down a U-shaped corridor that passed by the office devoted to local investigations....
Before emerging into the lobby:
A huge three-floors room adorned with a central statue depicting some Greek female goddess and various sculptures portrayed near the walls.
"You have to say... it has its charms," Alyssa commented, as she glanced sidelong at the central statue.
Kevin muttered through tight lips.
"You think so? It screams 'pretentious and cumbersome' to me!"
"I thought that was Irons himself, given his potbelly," Vince replied.
"And doesn't that sound like a good reason why he would want the station to properly reflect him?" Ryman asked sneeringly.
"Touché..."
"Come on, come on! I'll take you all straight to a shower. Stay near m-!"


THUMP!


"OUCH!"
"Watch where you're going!"
Without doing it on purpose, Kevin stumbled into one of the officers present:
A dark-skinned man with short black hair and well-kept stubble.
When Ryman noticed him, he perked up on the spot, giving a military salute.
"Chief Director Branagh, sir! I beg your pardon!"
The man he clashed against, Marvin Branagh, snorted loudly.
"Are you always so easygoing, Ryman?! What do I have to do with you?!"
"Hah... Kevin being serious for once... that's a scoop." Alyssa murmured.
At the sight of the reporter, Marvin put his hand to his forehead.
"Whoah... and here's the police's favorite nosy reporter... and Archer troublemaker. The day was black enough as it was..."
"As black as you?" Vince asked, sarcastically.
"Hey! Vince, you meanie!" Cindy scolded him, puffing up her cheeks.
The policeman nevertheless gave a short, bitter laugh.
"Honestly, it doesn't bother me. Officer O'Connell told me all about it."
He then approached Vince nose to nose.
"And by the way, just be thankful there's a riot out there, otherwise you'd already be down into the jails, keeping company with a couple of inmates with the urge to play with a soap."
"I'll remember that." he replied.
"Apart from this, you're welcome to this temporary shelter from the hell that's out there." Branagh commented in a firm tone.
"Thank you for the help you are offering in the first place." Meg replied, lowering her head for a second.
"Duty of every policeman, miss." retorted the man; "Now excuse me, but I have a meeting with the other officers ahead of me. Ryman, take care of guarding the four of them. Make them stop by doctor Moreau for a medical check."
"Yes, sir! I'll take them to him right away!" exclaimed Kevin in response, as the officer walked away from there, heading to the second floor.
"Alright, change of plans! I'm afraid we have to do a medical security checkup first..." Vince finally replied, sighing.
"Well, that boring Moreau's office is near the showers anyway," Kevin added; "Second floor, then. Follow me."

The policeman led them through the entire area above, taking the lobby balcony to enter the left wing of the District.
They passed a lavish and well-maintained library and another hallway, passing by the door with the now much-maligned STARS symbol engraved on it.
The door next to it read simply:
"Dr. Pierre Moreau. RPD medical officer."
"Hey, Officer o'Connell... can I ask you a question?" asked Megan, quickening her pace a bit to get close enough to the policewoman to be discreetly heard only by her; "Do you know why they kept that engraving? I heard at school about STARS and that it hasn't existed since the scandal..."
The woman sighed.
"Just call me by my name, Meg..."
After that, her gaze darkened.
"That stupid incident... they said the agents were drunk and drugged and caused that fatal accident at the mansion, didn't they?
Bullshits! Barry had warned me and told me everything that had happened in that damn Spencer Mansion!
I know some of the members all too well. They would never do such a stupid thing.
I was also about to join STARS as an IT expert."
"You... knew someone from STARS...?"
The girl felt guilty, fearing that she had crossed the line with the agent.
"I did not know... I apologize..."
"Yes, three of them to be right. Anyway, don't worry! I'm not angry with you.
The STARS office wont be dismantled for quite a while, I don't know why either." commented the policewoman with a more relaxed manner.
"Maybe because there are still people like you at the station who believe in the good faith of those officers?" the little girl wondered naively.
"Maybe, Meg... now let's go for this checkup, at least we can all rest easier." she replied with a smile as she headed in front of the doctor's door.
Rather than knocking, however, Liz snap opened the door....
And from inside a cry of surprise from someone spreaded out.
After that, there was a bang, as if something had fallen hard to the ground.
"Doctor, are you here?" asked Liz.
"No! I'm not!" exclaimed a male voice in an annoyed tone....
Before from inside the office, behind the desk, a person stood up, holding up his head:
Messy dark hair, doctor's coat over a smart suit, unkempt stubble....
The perfect archetype of the stankanoid doctor, albeit all scruffy.
"Elisabeth O'Connell! Knock first, next time!"
"Sorry, Dr. Moreau... we came for a checkup, since we were out all night long for a tour." she commented in response, nodding apologetically.
"Argh, more work on my hands... come on in, come on." the scruffy doctor in his forties ordered immediately afterward, adjusting his gown better after his fall and putting back a stack of paperwork on his desk.
"You start first, Megan.... don't worry, he won't bite, despite his temper." the policewoman then urged, motioning the girl forward.
A sarcastic chuckle started from the mouth of the doctor, Pierre Moreau.
"Um... okay..."
The young woman took a big breath and went to the man with a curt nod.
He led her to the back of the office and then asked her to undress completely without any restraint.
Rather than undress, Megan stared at him appalled and then turned right toward the door to walk away.
"Miss! Where do you think you're going? I have to check if you're infected!" exclaimed Pierre authoritatively.
The girl dropped her shoulders with a sigh and began to remove her uniform, though clearly embarrassed.
"It's just a visit... a visit ..." she repeated to convince herself.
"Don't worry... I'm keeping an eye on him," Vince reassured her from the doorway.
"Thanks for the confidence, both of you..." bellowed Pierre; "As if school-age bimbos attracts me..."
"Call it precaution. I don't trust doctors." retorted Archer; "So don't be a smart ass and start off unceremoniously."
"Look at this prick... just came in and starts barking orders... I can't believe it..." the doctor continued to grumble as he prepared the stethoscope and blood pressure monitor.


After a few minutes of careful examination, the doctor gave a slight sigh and removed the stethoscope from his ears.
"You are all right! Put your clothes back on! Officer O'Connell, you're next!"
"All right, I'll be right there!" she exclaimed in response, as she was approaching the back of the office.
Megan walked past her, and Liz could see that she had chills all over her body.
"Slimy... he's slimy..." she muttered in a low voice.
"Come on, let's make it quick... I want to take a hot shower so bad." asked the policewoman, stripping off her clothes without any problem of modesty.
"Don't worry, it'll be over before it even starts..." hissed Pierre, stethoscope in hand as she sat up.
"Sure... I know your skill."
Same procedure:
After a few minutes, the doctor urged her to get dressed and go outside.
"Next."
Alyssa sighed heavily, noting how still Megan complained about how slimy that Moreau was.
"Ugh... alright, let's just pull the Band-Aid off."
At the worst, she thought, she'd plant the heel of her shoe right in his balls...
But that did not happen, and Cindy's turn came quickly as well.
The Jack's Bar waitress was far more hurried than anyone, though the boredom of carrying more than one layer of clothing.
"Ryman... and you, Archer. It's your turn."
"Both of us together?" asked Vince; "Are you gay or what?"
"No... and to hurry up! I have to get back to my work!" replied Pierre unnerved at Archer's impertinent question.
"You may laugh sometimes." replied Vince, but got no further response.
"Ladies, don't look, if you please." Kevin jokingly resumed to the girls in the group.
The girls made several reactions in response, but in the end they did not look, thus allowing that follow-up visit to end.
"Perfect, you're all clean. You can go now." commented Moreau, then waving for them to clear the area.
"All right, we're going away. Now calm down." commented Kevin; "The broom doesn't fit in there yet, you know? It hurts enough and you'll just end up angry."
Cindy blushed upon hearing that comment, not knowing whether to laugh or scream, while Alyssa glared at him for that comment.
"GET OUT!" blurted Moreau at last, forcing everyone to quickly exit his office...
Before the latter slammed the door, muttering insults from inside.
"What a nice guy. So much for a broom! That dude has a whole vacuum cleaner canister stuck up his ass!" joked Kevin with his hands on his hips.
"Yeah... with its engine on, maybe," commented Vince.
"You two!" resumed them Alyssa; "Stop act like a pair of babies!"
"C'mon, maybe the doctor is just nervous about the bad situation, poor guy... and how can you blame him?" tried to calmly reassure them Cindy.
"Meh... he was slimy, and not a little bit," retorted Megan; "It wasn't a good experience."
"He may have all the faults in the world... but he's a great doctor, nothing gets past his sight." Liz commented, shrugging.
"Now, I guess ladies want to get out of wet clothes and sweat with a shower. Suit yourselves, the bathrooms are just up ahead. "
With that said, Kevin pointed with his thumb to a door at the end of the hallway on which the locker room symbol was stamped.
"Follow me. I'll take you to the showers," Liz urged them as she began to walk toward the point of interest.
"You guys better stay outside!" admonished the two men Alyssa, who stood in the middle of the hallway, before closing the door for the locker room.
"Phew... I might have wanted to take a shower too, but that's okay," commented Vince.
His eye was drawn to the wall clock nearby:


2:03 A.M.


"Less than seven hours since everything happened? Geez..."
"Yeah... time goes by when you're trying to run around town, escaping from a herd of mindless undead!" commented Kevin, trying to downplay the moment.
"Pretty much... I'm just pissed I lost my bike," added Vince, shrugging; "That baby was like a precious reminder."
"We can see if we can get some weapons for our damsels, what do you say?" Ryman finally proposed to him in a friendly manner.
"Police service weapons? Not that you have much of an arsenal."
He then looked at Kevin's holster and smiled slightly.
"Colt .45 ACP. That one certainly isn't service issue."
"This little one knows its stuff! I'm not the only one who goes out of the ordinary, though... for example, our dear Liz holds a rare Samurai Edge specimen jingling in her armpit!" retorted Kevin in his lighthearted way.
"What about the STARS office? Don't you think they have better equipment in store than the Police patches?
"Maybe...but I don't have the key to open that office, and only members possess it..."
Kevin paused for a moment from continuing....
Before snapping his fingers.
"Wait a second... Liz said she knew some of them. Maybe they told her some secrets!"
"I know one of them, too-at least, knew. We used to shoot together at Kendo just a few weeks ago, before he disappeared. A guy named Barry Burton." explained Vince.
"Ah, yes! Barry Burton! Nice guy!" exclaimed Kevin.
"Huh... but where the bloody hell are they? Did they just vanished completely?"
"After the scandal, they disappeared... I hope for their sake they are not here in town." commented the policeman...
Before the door to the locker room opened back from the inside, and their direct stakeholder, Liz, came out first.
"We really needed a nice icy shower..." slyly commented the policewoman.
"Icy, seriously? It's not midsummer here anymore," retorted Kevin with a smirk, crossing his arms; "Rather, are the others still inside?"
"Let them take their time. They need to relax." replied Liz, much quieter than before.
"Liz." then Vince interjected; "The key to the STARS office.... where is it?"
The policewoman signed him not to raise his voice too loudly.
She then pointed to the pocket of her belt.
"Have you always had it on you?" asked the former mechanic in surprise.
"Typical o'Connell. She carries everything with her." commented Kevin with satisfaction.
"I'm a cautious type and ready for anything," she replied.
"You can tell..." muttered Vince; "So? Who gave it to you?"
"Chris Redfield... with the approval from Jill Valentine and Barry Burton. They gave it to me for emergency cases." replied Liz without flinching.
"You know Barry too, then..." chuckled the former mechanic; "Robert Kendo attracts particular clients around him, not bad."
"Yeah, how else could I have this gun?" asked the policewoman, bringing a hand to her armpit holster.
"A Samurai Edge, you said, didn't you?" asked the former mechanic; "I remember how Robert used to keep them under glass to brag about him and his brother's creation."
At the same instant, the other three 'women,' who had already been out of the locker room for a few seconds without even being noticed, smiled and nodded, admitting that they did not understand anything about firearms. It was like they were speaking Arabic to them.
"Silent, huh...?" Vince commented after seeing them.
"Um... Yeah, we didn't want to interrupt you." Alyssa replied.
Understanding their fears, especially on the part of Meg and Cindy, Liz chuckled.
"Don't worry... I used to be like you during the Police academy, then all it takes are two basic lessons and everything seems slightly clearer." she commented; "So... are you ready to take a tour inside the 'scandal STARS office'?"
"Sure. I want to figure out what really happened, too!" the little one of the group replied, resolute.
"Well, that might be an interesting story to write," Alyssa commented, smiling to herself.
"Do you think they would let you put it in the paper? Wouldn't they try to cover it up or censor it?" Megan asked.
"In that case, I'll find someone interested. It's about news that can make a big scoop." the blonde reporter replied with a confident smile.
"Alyssa is right!" Cindy nodded; "The truth has to come out, it's not fair for people not to know!"
"Come on, then! Let's go investigate!" Kevin exclaimed cheerfully, positioning himself in front of the door dedicated to what used to be the HQ of STARS.
He almost took the key from Liz's hands after the latter rummaged through her purse and, without another word, inserted it into the lock.
When the thick wooden door got unlocked, Kevin opened it almost suddenly, quickly motioning for everyone to get inside quickly.
Cindy, the last to enter, turned around to see if anyone was approaching...
But when she saw that no one came by, she went inside and quickly closed the door.
Liz pressed the light switch on the wall.
They showed several desks at the bottom of a rectangular room, with computers and various paperwork on them and some personal effects such as photos in small squares.
"Here we are, sorry about the dust..." commented the policewoman sarcastically.
"More than dust, I'd talk about the mess." commented Vince, looking around:
Apart from the desks leaning against the edge of the room, there was a detached office on the left used by the STARS captain, an area for military transmissions on the right...
And an iron gate in the upper left corner, which separated from another small room, probably used as a storage for the squad's armaments.
"This is the office of the famous RPD special corps... very interesting."
The reporter poked around almost immediately.
"I would avoid making too much noise..." Vince advised; "If it's been closed and placed under a ban, there must be a reason."
"Don't worry, we'll be very quiet." replied Kevin.
"I wonder if the key to open the locker isn't right under our noses..." Liz retorted instead, as she looked through the keys hanging in hooks attached to the wall.
"Isn't that maybe... it's already open?" asked Vince, approaching the separating grate....
Only to open it with one hand.
"What, are you kidding me?! How can you be so distracted?!" blurted out Liz in a restrained voice, pointing out her cautious nature to say the least.
"We're in a Police station. I guess they thought it was pointless to worry about thieves?" replied Kevin with a playful smirk.
"Besides, the key to the office is kept under lock... and you have a copy of it," added Cindy; "Could it be that maybe... they thought you might need that equipment someday?"
"Yes... but... the basics..."
Liz seemed dejected in her own soul, but quickly recovered to check what was contained inside the armory....
And she was purely amazed at how much better weaponised it was compared to the rest of RPD:
Well placed, there were several Samurai Edge pistols on a shelf, two Remington Wingmaster .870 12-gauge shotguns hanging on the wall; in the gun cabinet, a German Heckler & Koch G36 assault rifle and an M-79 single-shot grenade launcher.
Inside the cabinets, boxes of various ammunition for the calibers needed.
"Wow... so these are the weapons of the pros... if Tyler was still alive, he would have been amazed to see them! He used to buy gun magazines, you know?" commented Megan.
"Alas, we lost a man of culture." commented both Kevin and Vince at the same time...
Before looking at each other in surprise.
"However, the quality of the weapons given to the special teams comes into play... don't you agree?" tergiversed Officer Ryman, after looking away.
"It's obvious that the Police have to make do with service pistols and shotguns," commented Archer, picking up the G36 assault rifle, pulling its bolt and checking the sights.
"These are fancy weapons! Do you think we're good enough to handle them?"
The question came from Cindy, overwhelmed by all the paraphernalia.
"They can't be too complicated." replied Alyssa, undecided on what to take.
She then settled for one of the Samurai Edge pistols, and Vince smiled slightly to see how accurately she could control it, wielding it with mastery.
Vince warned Liz to grab the G36 on the fly, which the former mechanic threw straight into her arms.
"A weapon that knows what it's doing!" exclaimed the policewoman, all pleased.
They then turned to see where the other two girls stood, but seemed to be eternally undecided, with Cindy pleading for help with her eyes.
"I don't think anyone will be upset if we take two more Samurai Edge." commented Liz, as she looked at the guns one by one.
"Okay... but I warn you... I've never handled a firearm! I didn't even do soft-air with Tyler and the others..." the high school girl said, unconvinced.
"We have the shooting range for that, but ammunition is like bread at this moment." commented Kevin, then showing the two girls how to hold the gun safely.
"And remember. If you don't want to shoot, push the safety on to activate it. Pull it off if you want to, instead."
"No problem!" replied Ashcroft confidently, then asked the other two if they knew how to do it.
Meg looked carefully at the weapon, noting the small side button to move to turn the safety on and off, and nodded.
"It's not a difficult mechanism."
"No, not at all, anyone want a Remington? And let's take a few boxes of ammunition just in case," Liz asked.
"We'd better take one with us, I guess," commented Kevin, grabbing one of the shotguns from the wall; "I'll take it with me."
He then started checking for a bag around where to stick any ammunition, noticing then how Alyssa was firmly grasping the small grenade launcher with interest.
"Be careful with that! You don't want to blow us up, do you?" asked Vince, checking a bit in the other cabinets there
Only to be stunned to find a weapon he never imagined he would see:
A Smith & Wesson 29 revolver, .44 Magnum caliber.
He whistled, then unceremoniously taking it in his hand.
"Here's something that will come in handy."
"Did you find anything interesting?" asked O'Connell, noticing his gaze.
"I think I've seen that firearm before in one of the magazines I was talking about," commented Megan; "But I don't really remember..."
"It's a superior caliber revolver." Vince explained; "Perhaps one of the finest in existence. Impressive impact power with each bullet."
"It can even pierce two dead pumpkins in one shot!" Ryman commented jokingly.
Alyssa chuckled.
"And if it pierces pumpkins, imagine what it can do to those dead pumpkins!"
A stony silence plunged into the office, with her reiterating that it was a joke.
"Alright. I say we leave this office before anyone notices we're disappeared." the reporter then suggested, dropping her shoulders with a sigh.
"Everyone put the biggest weapons and ammunition in the bag... it would be a problem if they see that we have... settled ourselves." Vince then replied; "The guns hide them in the clothes."
With that said, he dropped his own Glock, abandoning it on the table....
Only to insert the newly found magnum into the armpit holster hidden under his leather jacket.
"For big problems, you need big guns."
"Cindy, go check outside for a moment to see if the field is clear." Alyssa asked, hiding the pistol under her red blouse.
"Right away."
The maid quickly moved towards the door, slowly peeping out to check the hallway.
A sound of footsteps rang an alarm bell in her mind, and she immediately went back into hiding in the room.
"Someone's coming!" she whispered, the others.
"Stay down and don't make a sound!"
Listening to the policeman's advice, everyone remained in religious silence, waiting for the sounds of footsteps to fade away.
"Looks like they're gone..." Cindy sighed with relief, then peeked through the keyhole.
That is, until she noticed a detail that got everyone scared:
The STARS office communications station had begun to emit a peculiar alert sound.
"W-What's that?!" Megan asked.
Kevin raised an eyebrow, approaching the terminal.
"Is someone... calling?"
"Funny, I thought the machines were turned off except for the light." commented Liz, trying to turn off that signal.
"Zombies wouldn't have... got inside already... would they?" whispered Megan, beginning to shake with fear.
"Let me hear, I said." retorted Liz, putting her hand on the communications....
And the shrill static of the radio began to encompass the office, followed by the worst sounds of mankind:
A battlefield.
A distraught voice of one of the officers outside followed them:


"This is the South Barricade! To anyone listening, lock yourselves in the Police Station and do not leave!
Under no circumstances in the world, stay in there, and do not come out!
They don't stop! we can't stop them....
They get back up, the bodies get back up....
I'm going to die... I don't want to..."


Those last words were followed by muffled screams and guttural cries that they knew all too well.
"Shit... They're coming here too..." commented Liz, slamming a fist on the radio terminal.
"I guess someone didn't tell the Swat Team to incinerate them or shoot them in the head," commented Vince, as the communication dropped at the same time.
"They never know how to sit still and shut up, those... damn!" blurted Alyssa, pulling out the previously concealed gun.
Probably, the time to use it would come sooner than anticipated if she wanted to survive.
"From the South... that means they're coming through the main gate." explained Liz; "If they break through, they'll do it from the lobby."
"We'd better help out the other officers! Otherwise we won't last another day here..." commented Kevin, checking the magazine of his gun.
"I knew you would say that." muttered Vince.
Cindy and Megan looked at each other....
Then nodded.
"We've got your backs! We'll have to take more time to aim and shoot!" exclaimed the waitress with a determined manner; "Megan... do you think you can help me take care of the wounded at the worst?"
"I don't know much about medicine, but I can help." she replied.
"You just have to help me carry the medical supplies and pass them to me when I ask for them. That way we can help more people!" Cindy tried to convince her.
"Okay."
Megan nodded, noticing how the others were getting ready to leave the office.
"Come on! We don't have time to waste!" the policewoman exclaimed, leaving the room first.
The first to follow her was Alyssa, followed by Cindy and Megan in the middle and Kevin covering their backs.
Vince took weight of the entire bag of weapons, following the group.


They quickly sprinted down the previously traveled corridor, re-crossing the library with the archive room, and finally reached the lobby's balcony.
On the ground floor, they saw some police officers getting ready for an extreme resistance.
"Come on! Get moving! Time is short!" Marvin exclaimed, issuing orders left and right.
The black policeman hoisted a barricade made of tables along the rise near the Greek statue, and he had shut down the grates leading to the two wings of the RPD.
"Sir! Reinforcements have arrived!" Kevin announced, running down the stairs like a madman.
Marvin looked doubtful when he saw even ordinary civilians coming down the stairs, but given the situation they were in, he would not even have the authority to impose bans around.
"I'd say a couple of extra fire mouths would come in handy in this case," he then replied, "but I'm not sure if we're going to be able to do that."
He was forced to move away from the front door when it was beaten from the outside. It sounded like a battering ram hitting over and over again.
"They're breaking down the door!" one of the policemen warned, running behind the barricade of tables.
Some officers attempted to press the barricade with their own bodies...
Only to be violently knocked to the ground by the next impact, when the main door gave up...
And everyone saw a sea of the undead coming at them, which inexorably began to engulf the interior of the lobby, intending to drag anyone still alive in there inside Hell.
"Here they come!"