𝐔𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐘𝐨𝐮 [𝐋𝐞𝐨𝐧 𝐊𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐝𝐲 𝐱 𝐎𝐂]

Marvin

Leon

"This shutter should've led to the east hallway."

I discovered a power button on the wall and reached for the lever, pulling it down. It made a beeping sound, and the red light turned green. Slowly, the shutter door started to ascend, but my heart sank as it abruptly halted just inches away from the ground.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," Mae grumbled.

"Crawling it is," I sighed, realizing we had no other choice. Getting down on my stomach, I started to crawl through the narrow opening, trying to ignore the bloodstains on the floor and the smell of death and gore.

A click sounded, and suddenly, light shone from behind me, illuminating the pitch-dark corridor I crawled into. A few seconds later, Mae crawled out with a flashlight in hand.

"Where did you get those?" I asked.

"It was right next to the typewriter." She tossed me the flashlight. "You take it. I'm going to need both hands to swing my stick."

As we ventured further down the hallway and down the low-rise stairs, I noticed the wetness under my shoes and quickly pointed the flashlight toward the floor. The corridor was flooded, and the water had risen to almost ankle height.

"Tonight just keeps getting better, huh?" I attempted to inject some humor into the situation.

Mae managed a small smile in response, but her eyes still held a hint of unease.

Continuing on, I spotted a red door to my right and a fuse box on my left. Unfortunately, the door wouldn't budge, and one of the fuses was missing. I made a mental note in case we found something that might help down the line.

Turning the corner, we encountered a blockade of toppled lockers and shelves blocking our path. However, the white door on our left was luckily unlocked. I assumed that this must have been a press room of some sort, given all the microphones scattered around.

Near the podium lay a corpse of a guy in a blue police uniform, and I found some much-needed ammunition near his feet.

"Can you check if he has guns?" Mae asked from behind me.

Examining the holster on his hip, I shook my head as I found it empty. "Nothing."

"Looks like I'm going to have to rely on Chad for a bit longer."

I turned to her, raising an eyebrow, "Who's Chad?"

Smirking, Mae showed me her trusty wooden stick and I couldn't help but burst into laughter, "You named your stick?"

She shrugged, "I've named all the bats I've had since kindergarten."

Curiosity getting the better of me, "What kind of names do you give them?"

With a playful glint in her eyes, Mae replied, "Let's see, there was Bat-tastic Brenda, then Swingin' Sammy Slam, Slugger Sally, and my all-time favorite, Homerun Harry."

"Wow, you're really into rhyming, huh?" I chuckled.

"Absolutely! It really gives them a unique personality, you know."

"So, what's Chad's personality then?"

Mae giggled, holding up Chad proudly. "Oh, Chad is the tough guy of the bunch," she explained with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "He's here to whack zombies and knock some sense into anything that gets in our way. No room for playing games when Chad's around!"

Her infectious excitement brought a smile to my face, and for a moment, the weight of the night seemed a little lighter.

As we exited the press room, it became apparent that the only way forward was through the barricade. Fortunately, they weren't too heavy, and with some effort, I managed to push them aside. I gestured for Mae to move ahead first.