𝐔𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐘𝐨𝐮 [𝐋𝐞𝐨𝐧 𝐊𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐝𝐲 𝐱 𝐎𝐂]

The Police Station

Leon

Glancing over my shoulder, I made certain that Mae stayed close behind me. The weight of responsibility settled heavily on my shoulders. I may have been just a rookie, but it was always ingrained in me to serve and protect. And right now, Mae was my responsibility. I would not let anything happen to her, not on my watch.

As I moved ahead cautiously, I noticed I couldn't hear her footstep any more. I turned back to find her crouched near some debris from a collapsed building.

"Look what I found," she said, brandishing a weathered, thick wooden stick with jagged edges as if it was torn or broken from a larger structure.

"What are you going to do with that?" I inquired.

"Well, you have your gun," she pointed at the 9mm polymer handgun in my grip, "and I have this."

I doubted the stick would do much against the zombies. But hey, at least she had something to fight back with, and that counted for something.

With a nod, I replied, "Alright, let's keep going. Stick close."

I started to move towards the main street, but Mae stopped me, saying, "We'll get there quicker if we go through that alley." She tilted her head towards a narrow passageway nestled between a diner and a gift shop.

I followed her lead. "You seem familiar with this place."

Her expression softened, but there was a hint of sadness in her eyes. "I spent almost every weekend for the last four years in this city with my boyfriend. Well... ex-boyfriend." Her shoulders slumped as she spoke the last words.

Curiosity stirred inside me, but I didn't want to be nosy. So, I let it go.

As we exited the alley and stepped onto the street, a sudden movement caught my eye. A zombie lunged forward with startling speed, bony fingers stretched out, aiming for Mae.

"Mae!" I yelled, my grip tightening on the handgun as I took aim. But before I could pull the trigger, Mae moved with a lightning-fast reflex that left me momentarily awestruck. With a fierce battle cry, she swung that wooden stick like a force of nature.

The makeshift weapon connected with the zombie's decaying skull in a bone-crushing impact, causing the creature to fall backward, its grotesque features contorted in agony. Despite the devastating hit, the undead fiend continued to twitch, refusing to just die.

Mae wasted no time, charging towards the fallen zombie. Without hesitation, she stomped down on its head, causing its skull to burst open. Brains and bone fragments scattered everywhere. This time it was dead for sure.

I had to admit, she looked like a total badass. I might have fallen for her, just a little bit.

"Boy, am I glad my father didn't let me quit baseball," Mae said, wiping a smear of zombie goo from her cheek.

"I take it, you're a pretty mean batter?"

"The best," she boasted, twirling the wooden stick in her hand like a seasoned pro.

"Well, thank God for that," I replied, unable to hold off my smile.

We continued down the street, cautiously avoiding the zombies. Mae stopped and whacked a few to slow them down so we could make our run, insisting I conserve my ammo. It almost felt like she was the police.

When we finally caught sight of the iron gate, the letter RPD shining brightly above it, I couldn't help but exhale in relief.

"We made it." Mae looked like she could cry.

We ran as fast as our legs could carry us, zombies hot on our heels. I shoved the gate open, and once Mae and I were safely behind the bar, I slammed it shut and locked it tight.

Gasping for air, we took a moment to collect ourselves. The police station loomed before us, and I couldn't help but feel a mix of comfort and apprehension. The RPD was supposed to be a safe haven, but after everything we had witnessed in the city, who knew what awaited us inside?

Mae leaned against the wall, her chest heaving as she tried to regain her composure. "Damn, that was close," she muttered, wiping sweat from her brow.

I nodded, still trying to steady my breathing. "Yeah, that could have gone way worse. But hey, we're still alive."

We exchanged a weary smile, grateful that we had managed to make it this far. But we knew this was probably just the beginning.

Mae led the way, pushing open the front door as we cautiously entered the police station. The reception area stretched out before us, with an imposing and seemingly out-of-place statue of a goddess at its center. The room was cluttered with chairs, makeshift cots, and empty boxes of medical supplies, giving me an unsettling sense of abandonment.

The air felt stale and heavy, carrying a faint scent of decay, and our footsteps echoed in the silence. Distant groans from deeper within the station only added to the eerie atmosphere. Nervously glancing at each other, we remained on high alert.

The watchful eyes of the goddess statue seemed to follow our every move, giving me a shiver down my spine. We made our way toward the reception desk, where a gray laptop caught my attention.

With a few clicks of the keyboard, the laptop booted up, revealing surveillance footage from inside the station.

"Hey, check this out," I called out, drawing Mae's attention away from the typewriter she was inspecting. She joined me at my side.

"Can you spot anybody?" she asked, her eyes scanning the surveillance footage.

I shook my head. "Not yet."

Suddenly, movement on the lower-left screen caught our attention. A man was sprinting away from a zombie. He paused, firing a few shots at the relentless creature before taking off again.

I moved to zoom in on the image, hoping to get a closer look.

The man came to a sudden stop and locked eyes with the camera. "David! Marvin! You there!?" he yelled, his head swiveling between the camera and something ahead of him. "I found a way out. It's in here!" He waved a small notebook at the camera. But just then, a zombie lurched closer. He fired at it, but the shots only slowed it down for a second before the zombie lunged at him. With a powerful shove, he managed to push it away. "Send reinforcements. East hallway!" were his last words before he sprinted off again, disappearing from the camera's view.

Mae and I watched in horror as the zombie followed in pursuit.

"I gotta go," I said, noticing a map of the station on the desktop. I quickly opened it up, making sure I knew exactly where the east hallway was. "You stay here."

"What? No. I'm coming with you," Mae protested.

"It's dangerous in there," I warned.

Mae crossed her arms, her expression determined. "Exactly, that's why you need all the help you can get."

I sighed. "I don't want you to get hurt."

"And I don't want anything to happen to you either. We're in this together, okay? Besides," She proudly raised the stick in her hand. "I can use this thing pretty damn well if I said so myself."

I couldn't help but chuckle, remembering all the zombies she had whacked. "You're really stubborn, you know that?"

"Yeah, well, you haven't seen the half of it," she quipped.

Despite my reservations, I knew there was no convincing her otherwise. And honestly, having her by my side did make me feel better.

"Alright, but promise me you'll be careful," I said, giving in. "We watch each other's backs, no heroics, deal?"

Mae held out her hand, a mischievous grin spreading across her face. "Deal."

I shook her hand, unable to hide a small smile of my own. "Alright then, partner. Let's get moving."