Resident Evil: Exodus - The Tale of Elza Walker

Chapter 4 - Respite

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The three survivors, two RPD officers and one collegiate motorcycle racer, slipped into the East Stairwell and proceeded to head up the stairs. The sounds of the zombies in the Lobby feeding on their own grew softer the higher they ascended. None of them said a word, each apparently too busy with his or her own thoughts. They could hardly hear the noise below by the time they reached the second floor stairwell door. Kevin stopped just past the door, waiting until all three of them had entered the second floor stairwell hallway. He turned to Elza even as the door was closing. "Miss Walker, I owe you an apology."

Elza looked surprised. "Me? What for?"

"For saving my ass." The words sounded as if Kevin were forcing them out, and his face was set as if he were undertaking a task he did not relish. "I got on to you earlier for letting yourself get trapped in the Lobby Office with all those zombies. Well, I did almost the same thing and in almost the same location. That's why I owe you an apology." He shifted on his feet, then suddenly offered a hand. "Accepted?"

Elza looked at him for some time. Rita glanced at each, unsure of what was about to happen next. After a while, Elza reached into one of her racing firesuit pockets. She fished out a full SiG ammo clip and placed it in Kevin's hand. "Accepted. Here. I think you need this right about now."

Kevin nodded and actually smiled at her, even as he swapped her fresh clip in his gun with his empty one. It was an honest and genuine smile, with no trace of the snarkiness he had displayed towards her earlier. "Thanks. You know, I was down to my last round when you guys came through that door down there."

"I figured as much." Elza returned his smile. It was also an honest one on her part. "Consider it a loaner – the clip, that is, until we can find more ammo and you can reload your own."

Well I'll be ... Rita thought to herself. It's about time those two started getting along. She thought this was a good opportunity to step in, and did so. "I'll bet we can find more in the SPF Office. It's the only room up here I hadn't had time to search yet."

"Well then," Kevin said, "I'd say now's the time. Care to lead the way?"

To Rita's great relief, as well as that of the others, there were neither zombies nor any other kind of infected in the SPF Office once they went inside. The room looked deserted, but only recently so. "I'll bet nobody's been in here since Captain Denham and the duty crew left to join the street battle earlier today," Kevin said.

"How do you know?" Elza asked.

It was an honest question, and Kevin gave an honest answer. "Because I was there. Because I was one of the few survivors. That's how I wound up at the new station, and ultimately here as well."

"Oh ..." Elza said. She could only imagine what had happened, although rumors of the disaster which had been the RPD's last big battle with the zombies had reached even Raccoon University. Both Denham's Special Police Force and the regular officers assisting them had been all but wiped out, overpowered by hordes of zombies too numerous to bring down by shotgun, submachine gun, and machine pistol fire alone. Only a handful of officers had escaped, it was said, and Kevin .... "Look, I'm sorry—"

"It's all right," Kevin said, cutting her off. "Don't worry about it." He moved quickly to the desk at the head of the room. "This is Captain Denham's," he said. "I'll bet what we need is in here."