Chapter 57
“Stay low and stay quiet,” I whispered back as I pushed forward, the setting sun setting the background for the task ahead. “We’re going to bypass any closed doors, so just clear the ones that are open.”
“Copy,” Ed responded as he moved in behind me. “On your six.”
We moved down the side of the building and opened the door that led into the precinct proper, moving inside and clearing as we went.
“That’s a lot of blood,” Louis observed via the light of my flashlight. “But where are the bodies?”
“I think that is a question that’s about to be answered,” I replied as I pointed my flashlight up to the ceiling where some sort of new creature was perched.
“What the hell is that thing?” Ed asked.
“No clue,” I replied. “But it seems dormant for now, so let’s not wake it up.”
“If the thing’s nocturnal then it could be waiting for the sun to set fully,” Louis said as he glanced at the monster.
“Then we need to move now,” I responded as I glanced down at my watch. “We’ve got maybe thirty minutes before the sun sets, and I don’t want to be anywhere near one of these things when it does.”
“On you then, lead,” Louis nodded.
Turning, I began navigating us toward the motor pool, hoping that we would make it in time.
“Fuck, we’ve got zekes,” Ed whispered as he pointed down the hallway to our right.
“We won’t be able to push past them without that one alerting the rest of ‘em,” Louis whispered back.
“Grab my Sig,” I told Ed. “It’s suppressed and has a mag of subsonic ammo in it, use it on the zombie that is most likely to give us away.”
“Copy,” Ed slung the SKS and grabbed my sidearm out of the holster on my right thigh, bringing it around so he could aim at the closest zombie’s head.
“Zeke down,” Ed reported. “We’re clear to move.”
“Taking point,” I replied as we moved past the hallway filled with dead police officers. “Louis, strip the weapon and magazines off of the zeke as we pass, we might need the extra weapon.”
“Aye,” Louis paused to grab the extra magazines for the Beretta 92F that had been clutched in the zombies’ hand. “Weapon secured.”
“Motor pool should be on the other side of the next couple of rooms,” I replied. “We might have to make some noise to get the vans out though.”
“Weren’t we planning on hitting the armory?” Ed asked.
“We were,” I sighed. “But that was before we saw that it looked like Shelob’s lair in there.”
“The people back there might want to have the extra weapons,” Louis replied. “I’d certainly like to have more than a shitty pistol in my hands.”
“There is an evidence locker that we’re going to pass by,” I replied. “There might be something we can use in there, but the armory is on the other side of the building, and I don’t want any of us to get trapped in here.”
“This is your party,” Ed shrugged. “You know where to go, we’re guests here.”
“Then I might as well make you welcome,” I snarked, pushing through the next few hallways, checking the corners before pushing on.”
“Motor pool’s behind this door,” I told the two veterans. “You two go in and get the vans ready to go. I’ll head to the evidence locker and grab whatever looks useful.”
“You might want this back then,” Ed handed me my Sig.
“Thanks, try not to die while I’m getting some extra firepower,” I told the two of them.
“Don’t get caught by spiders,” Louis snarked back. “I’d hate to have to pull a Samwise Gamgee for someone I don’t even know.”
“If you hear grenades going off, go ahead and take the vans and leave,” I ordered. “I’ll make my own way out if it comes to it.”
“Buses are here and ready to go,” Jill told Chief Douglass. “But we brought a small crowd of Zombies with us in the process.”
“We’ll handle the zombies,” Douglass dismissed Jill’s worries. “I need you to supervise loading up the civilians into the buses, we’re going to have some SWAT Vans escorting them on their way out.”
“Copy that,” Jill replied. “Children first?”
“Yeah,” Douglass sighed. “If the parents are with them send them out too. The last thing we want is to separate families and have kids disappear on us in the process.”
“Got it,” Jill replied. “I’ll get on it,” Jill turned to leave but paused before she left the room. “And Chief, you might want to get some rest. It’s going to be a long night if my hunch is correct.”
“Come on sweetie,” Annette told Sherry as they were loaded onto the bus, the space crammed with as many people as could possibly fit. “We’re getting out of here.”
“What about dad?” the younger blond turned her head to look into her mom’s eyes.
“Hopefully he manages to make it out of the city,” Annette said with a sad smile. “But he would want us safe and away from the city anyway,” The older scientist laid a kiss on her daughter’s head. “Now try and get some rest, we’re going to get out of here and go spend some time with your grandparents.”
Underground Lab in Raccoon City
The monster stirred, now awake after having rested for a short time. Then, looking down at the naked form of Goblin 1, he roared. This mate was not compatible!
Sniffing the air, the creature looked around, it could smell something, there might be someone who was fertile still in this area.
Standing up, the creature growled in pain as it began to shift, a giant eye appearing in one shoulder as the arms began to grow, the mutations coming more rapidly now that the creature was fully awake.
Moving around, the creature began to follow the scent of the fertile one, maybe this one would be a compatible mate.