3 Chapter 2 - The RPD

"The police station..! Almost there..." Claire says to herself as she finally leaves behind the stairs and the rest of the nightmare filled horror behind her. She jogs past the cascade of empty cars. Luckily for her, there was a narrow clearing for her. She freezes in her tracks as a fat man sloppily staggers across the clearing. He disappears into the rows of cars unseen again. Claire drops her gun to her side and continues down the clearing until she sees a bus filled with more crazed men. One of them catches a whiff of her scent and begins clawing his way out of the window. She quickly turns the corner to find multiple people scattered around the entrance of the RPD. She makes a break for it running past them all. Claire grunts as she pushes the gates aside and quickly closes it behind her, locking it for good measure. The zombies lunge towards her only to get caught by the gate. Their hands desperately reach for her twat but the sounds of the gate rattling causes Claire to back up from it.

She turns around to the main doors to see a dim lightbulb luminating the sign "R.P.D. Raccoon Police". She pushes against the double doors to reveal the museum like police station. A statue of a goddess stands in the middle of the main lobby and to the sides were grand pillars housing 3 levels. Claire was in awe at the sight before she noticed the medical beds and curtains on the side. Her eyes peer to the ground with a mixture of bloody and muddy footprints that stain the marble floor. Claire takes a deep breath before taking in a few steps into the lobby.

"Anybody here!?" Claire calls out as she sheepishly explores the empty lobby. By the main desk, a laptop catches her eye. Without wasting a beat, she rushes towards it. "Come on, Chris, where are you?" She whispers to herself as she inputs buttons into the device. She manages to pull up the CCTV Control Service only to find a cop running from another one of those crazed people. "Shit... They 're inside too..." She follows the man on the cameras to a narrow hallway.

The man stops by the camera and begins talking to it. "David! Marvin! You there!?" He shouts. The cop reaches for his back pocket to reveal a notebook in his hands. "I found a way out! It's in here!" He quickly puts the notebook back into his back pocket before pulling his gun out. He shoots the crazed man that was chasing him into the shoulder, but the man does not care of the pain. The crazed man lunges for the cop but the cop pushes him back, losing his flashlight in the process. "Send reinforcements! East Hallway!" He shouts out one more time before running out of the frame and the crazed man follows out. Claire presses a button to pull up a map of the right side of the station. East hallway isn't too far from her current location.

"I should help this guy." Her thoughts wander to Chris and she could only pray for the best. Hopefully, this guy can help me. She quickly breaks away from the laptop and heads over to the entrance towards the east wing.

There is a gate with a "Keep Out!" sign on it but this wasn't going to stop Claire. She needed answers and she needed them now. She pulls the lever down and the gate slowly comes to life, only to go up a few inches before dying again.

"Ugh." She sighs out as she gets down on all fours. She shines her flashlight through the gap to see a mess of blood all over the floor and walls. "Great." She shines the flashlight down the gloomy hallway to find no sign of life. "Where are you...?" Claire crawls out under the gate into the dark hall. The air was stains with the smell of blood and the floor was wet with a mixture of water and blood. The lights above were dead save for the occasional spark.

Each step she takes was cautious. Each breath she takes was ragged. Every time she flicks her light towards something, the shadows followed. Her pulse rose and so did her paranoia. She then came to point where a metal cabinet cut her off from the rest of the wing. The sound of wood creaking caused her to flick around with her gun drawn. There was nothing behind her but darkness. The floor near the janitor's closet, that is boarded up with planks of wood, is drenched with white liquid that slowly diluted itself into the puddle of water.

"Focus, Claire... Focus." She takes a deep breath before addressing the fallen cabinet in front of her. She certainly wasn't weak, and she knew she could lift heavier. But rather than just crawling under it, having the path cleared would allow her more eased movement. And plus, if she ever did meet more of these crazy people, having this out of the way would definitely help her out. She quietly pushes the metal cabinet back against the wall and continues down the hall.

She turns a corner once more to be horrified with the scene in front of her. "Ugh, oh my god..." She wanted to gag the sight of the bodies missing limbs and the copious amount of red painted all over. She rests on one of the walls and covers her mouth ready to puke when she heard banging.

"OPEN UP! HURRY! OPEN UP!" A desperate man calls out. His voice is strained, and his shouts were filled with panic. Claire jumps back onto her feet, unable to let herself be weak. She rushed towards the desperate man's cries. "OPEN THIS GOD DAMN DOOR!" He screams out. Claire enters the room to see another metal gate separating her from someone.

"I'm here!" She shouts back at the man on the other side. Rustling could be heard from the other side of the medal gate, but Claire did not care. This man was in trouble and she needed answers.

"Open the door! Hurry up! HURRY UP!" The man calls out, each time sounding more urgent than the last. "OPEN IT!!!" He cries out. Claire struggles to lift this gate up. She grunts and pulls it up with all her might, but it would barely budge. But her efforts were not in vain, she manages to open a small gap for the man to crawl through.

"Here, give me your hand!" Claire reaches down into the small gap.

"Here, HERE, HELP ME!" He yells out as his hands finally reach over to the other side with the small notebook in hand. Claire pulls him with all her might, but she was losing grip.

"Hold on, Give me your- Give me your other hand!" She calls out desperately as the struggles against the gate. She takes both his hands and attempts to pull him in but then he started screaming in pain. Blood spews out from the other side of the gate and the man's cries of pain grows louder. His hoarse voice breaks as his screams tear through his throat.

Claire refuses to let go and keeps on pulling him to the other side. Her mind scrambles but all she wants is another sane human to be with her. To help her through this god damn crisis. She death grips the cop's hands and pulls him in harder. "It's okay! I got you!" She pleads with him as she drags him in. The man's scream fills the room and the sound of chomping and flesh tearing echoes from the other side. With one final eternal scream, half the man finally breaks free of whatever was holding him there. Claire drops down on her glutes as she pants in distress. The man's organs spill out in a fantastical trail of red gutty paste. Claire drags the half body as far away from the gate as possible. Hands from the other side hungrily reach over for another bite but find nothing else to pull. "Oh- Oh my god..." She finally gets out as she tries to process the events that unfolded in front of her. She as little time to process as the legless cop reaches for her with the last of his strength.

"Tell... marvin..." His voice fades away into the void as he drops the notebook into her grasp. Claire pants and cries as she tries to listen to the cop but nothing else came.

"I'm so sorry-" She weeps out.

The metal gate bulges as something from the other side pushes against it. Claire gasps and jumps back against the wall as horrific sounds of groaning and grunting leaks past the closed gate.

"Oh god..." she whispers to herself, just imagining the horrors of what lies behind this gate and what they could have done to her. Claire's heart races but she forces her breathing to slow down. She needed to calm herself if she was going to survive. She cannot let this death shake her or else she will end up like this cop. "Huh?" She finally notices the notebook by her side.

The memory of the officer saying he found a way out flashes in her mind. She flips through the pages to notice a cryptic drawing of a statue and few boxes labeled "???" and "Parking" with an arrow pointing to a big "WAY OUT" circle. She flips the page to find weird figures that resembles the statue she saw earlier. She looks back down at the officer's body. Her eyes water but she stands up. She will not be week. She must be strong. That is what Chris would have done. Chris... where was he. Claire's expression darkens at the thought of Chris. No. Chris will be fine. He always was fine and if he ever did get into trouble, he knows how to handle himself. Her resolve steels itself as now, she must focus on her survival.

It doesn't take long for her resolve to shake. The door she came through shakes as someone or something bangs against it. The creaking sound of the lock banging fills Claire's mind with dread. The banging grows harsher and more savage as the man behind it bangs against the door with all his might. Claire readies her gun at the door but there was silence. Eerie silence that chilled her bones. The silence that suspensed everything. Her palms grow sweaty as her heart races again.

*BOOM!* A decaying officer bursts into the small room. But Claire is ready this time. Without missing a beat, she pulls the trigger. *BANG! BANG! BANG!* The decaying cop falls to the ground with a terrific thud. Claire makes a run for it out of the small room. She does not stop to admire the corpses that are plastered all over the area. She needs to move on. For all she knows that cop she just shot will rise back up. Claire hears the window break to her left and turns her head to find a group of zombies dumping themselves into the building. She needs to move, and she needs to move fast. She turns the corner back to the hall where the cabinet previously blocked her way. The zombies behind her groan a few feet away from her as they get back on their feet. She runs past the cabinet. Thank god she moved it to the side.

The splashing of her boots dulls as she hears the plank of wood finally giving up. Chucks of wood falls to the ground as several zombies flood out form a small janitor's closet. They were stained with blood and white fluids, but she did not have time. The zombies behind her were catching up.

*BANG! BANG!* She unloads 2 caps at the closest one and makes a run for the gate leading for the main lobby. She gets there to find the gate and slide down considerably. Fuck! She gets down on all four and flatten her body down to the blood stained floor as much as possible. She manages to get her head through, but her shoulder and breasts were stuck between the gap. The sloppy splashes of the zombies' footsteps grow louder. Claire pushes against the metal gate with all her will, grunting at the discomfort and pain but not letting it stop her. The gate gives only a little bit but enough for her fit. She is almost out when she felt a pair of wet hands grip around her right ankle. She screams and looks down at the fleshy man. Chucks of his cheeks were missing, and his teeth were yellow with a bit of red. His cloudy white eyes meet hers as he grunts to pull her back into the darkness.

"Get off! GET OFF!" Claire commands as she tries to kick and thrash, but his grip is too strong. The zombie's hand lands on her plump ass and squeezes with its same death grip. Claire yelps as she tries to shake him off, but he is crawling up her more. Before she knows it, his face is buried in her butt cheeks and she feels a slimy sensation across her crotch. "Help! HELP!" she pleas to whatever being was still out there. The zombie's hands were about to reach for her bust, but she was pulled out last second. The zombie tries to drag her back in, but she was out of reach. "Watch out!" Claire calls out but her savior is a step ahead of her.

"I'm on it." He says as he slams the gate down onto the zombie's head, crushing it to bits of gut. The zombie's movements crease and its hand still stretched out to reach Claire. "You alright?" The man grunts out as he grips the right side of his stomach.

"Yeah." She says as she finally catches her breath.

"You're safe..." The man says as he steps away from the metal gate. A harrowing memory flickers in his mind glooming his thoughts. "... For now." He adds as he approaches Claire. He tries to extend a hand out but the pain on his side pushes him back. He moans out in pain as he rests his back against the metal gate. "Marvin Branagh." Claire looks at him, remembering the cop she failed to save. Her eyes look like it is about to break into tears, but she holds it in.

"Thanks." She musters out.

The man pushes off the gate and stand up once again. "Obviously someone taught you well."

"Yeah, I know how to take care of myself."

"Come on." Marvin extends his bloody hand out to her, but Claire doesn't think twice about accepting his help. She might as well be as bloody as him, if not more. Marvin helps her up to her feet and they both look at each other for a while, just catching their breath. They both know that there is a lot more hell to go through, and if they were to survive, they needed each other.