Silent City

Chapter 6

  They'd had to duck into another room so that the man could pass before getting into the library and Leon began to use the tool to lower the bookcase so they could move it. As Leon lowered it, it hit the ground with a loud thump causing both of them to pause before they quickly set to work to move the bookcases down so they could walk across the tops.

  "Hurry!" Scarlett said as she felt the man coming closer just before his loud clomping footsteps could be heard. Leon rushed to move the last one into place just as the door to the main hall slammed open and it ducked through the doorway and began heading down the stairs toward them. Scarlett drew her pistol from her right hip and trained it on the man, walking backward slowly while Leon went to the ladder.

  "Scarlett come on!" He called once he got to the top but the man had began to walk back up the stairs to Leon and she cursed before shooting it in the side again.

  "You go, I'll lure it away and double back!" She said as she moved to the bottom of the steps and continued to fire shots at its back until it turned to face her at the top of the stairs. It seemed torn on who it wanted to go after.

  "Damnit Scarlett, hurry! Don't get yourself killed I'll meet you in the clock tower!" Leon yelled as he ran across and the man started down toward her. She didn't reply to Leon other than a stern nod as she walked backward toward the door leading to where one of the medallion statues was. She knew there was a way out there so that's where she was going to go.

  "Come on big ugly! You want to chase? I'll give you a chase." She hissed at the fedora wearing man as it got closer, it seemed to grow angrier when she shot him in the head and his hat fell off, and she went through the door, crossing the room and through the other into the hall. She could hear it following and took off, unfortunately there was still the licker she had to deal with in this hall so she went fast. She ducked the skinless creatures claws and slid in blood and crashed into the railing of the staircase by the darkroom.

  She turned in time to see the large man grab the licker and crush its head, his beady eyes trained on her as it did so. She didn't wait around and hopped the railing and ran up the staircase. She heard him throw the body and it hit the wall behind her as she ran. She kept going all the way to the top and through the broken wall to the west and through its door before shoving the bookcase in front of the door.

   She didn't stop though she kept going and made it back to the library and rushed through the door Leon had went through. She moved quietly and slower now, walking around the wrapped walkway to the clocktower door, seeing dead zombies that Leon had taken care of.

  "Leon?" She called out softly when she got into the dark clocktower. She was surprised when his light turned on, blinding her momentarily, and her empty left hand shot out to strike him before she thought about it.

  "Ow fuck!" Leon hissed staggering away from her as she blinked and looked at him before turning her own light on. She didn't remember turning it off but she figured it may have happened when she hit the railing earlier.

  "Sorry! You surprised me." She apologized quickly as he rubbed his shoulder and shook his head with a laugh.

  "It's alright, I should have thought about it before doing it. You ok?" He asked looking over her for injuries but she just shook her head and gave him a thumbs up. At this point she realized that despite running through the station and up three flights of stairs she wasn't the least bit winded.

  "I got away from it surprisingly easy actually, I blocked from coming through the west storage room with a bookcase." She said softly as they began looking around for whatever could help.

  "Ah, when I got the last medallion it fell and I had to set it back up. I even killed a licker there." He commented as he looked at a gear box and picked up a small gear that didn't fit there. She frowned and pulled out the large gear from the pocket and handed it to him. This caused a set of stairs to drop which allowed them up top and they spotted the parts box they needed in the corner next to the bell.