Life After Death

forget yesterday

Vanitas knows he should be keeping a lookout. In the empty police station, all alone with nothing but a knife, being able to hear what's around you can be the difference between life and a zombie bite- the edge of death.

And yet, he decides he's going to listen to music anyway, because he hasn't gotten a chance to even think about his MP3 player.

He tucks one earbud in and continues organizing the leftover supplies he and Marvin were able to scrounge up from the rooms nearest the main hall. Most were locked, so they didn't have much.

Luckily Vanitas had a backpack with some food. Not much though.

In another decision that he doesn't think out, he leaves the main hall and goes into one of the unlocked rooms, seeing if he missed anything.

Brushing chestnut curls from his face, Vanitas puts in another earbud and misses the sound of someone opening the huge double doors at the front of the station.

And when he comes back- it's a race against the clock.

"Hold on!" Vanitas shouts. He dashes to the shutter door to the left of the doors. Someone's trapped trying to open it, with a hungry muerto just waiting to sink its teeth into him.

The man, a blond, is crawling from under the shutters, heaving and desperately trying to escape the clutches of the undead. "Goddamnit!" He exclaims out of frustration- and fear.

Vanitas knows that same fear. It's a blur, but when he finally reaches him, he hooks his hands under the man's arms and begins to pull him out of the muerto's grasp.

To his delight, and relief, Marvin appears next to them and raises the shutter.

"Watch out!" The blond calls. He's still regaining his breath.

"Got it," Marvin replies, and he brings the shutter down with his foot on the zombies head, spewing blood and pieces of skull onto the already bloodstained tile.

The three men collectively try to catch their breath, taken aback by the sudden encounter. Vanitas still holds the man close, not realizing the danger is gone. Guilt begins to set in. But he's at least glad he was there when it counted.

For a brief moment, his eyes glance over the man, who's now shifting away. Vanitas lets him go.

He's young, around Vani's age. Blond, blue eyes. He looks up at Marvin, and sees a glint of recognition in his eyes, which makes Vani curious. He looks back at the newcomer.

"You're safe." Marvin leans against the shutter, almost collapsing against it as he lets it take his weight.

He's covering a new wound on his stomach and the sight of all the blood makes Vanitas' stomach drop.

"For now," he adds.

The newcomer glances between Marvin and Vanitas. "Thanks."

"Marvin Branagh."

"Leon..." He takes a breath. "Leon S. Kennedy."

He's still panting, and for a moment he peers downward in shame. "There was another officer- I couldn't...I couldn't..."

Vanitas stands up and offers Leon a hand. "Here," he says. He pulls Leon up, and he offers a brief but friendly smile he hopes will soothe those worries in his mind. He knows it's too little, too late.

Marvin shifts off the wall and closer to the two. He looks at Leon, and speaks with a firm yet almost sympathetic tone. "I'm sure you did what you could, Leon."

-

"Does anyone know who started this?" Leon asks as he adjusts his new uniform. It's probably the first and last day he wears it, which makes him somewhat angry. Not like anyone could blame him.