Chapter Text
Everything aches, and has been aching for days now. At first Leon thought it was because of how long he had been constantly running and fighting. How long has it been now? Too long. There weren’t many more civilians to help now, mostly just decaying monsters left roaming the halls. Leon still can’t stop the microsecond of hesitation every time he faces down another one of those things. They were once people, if only he was better, he could have saved them from becoming monsters.
Before all of this was a bright future of finally fulfilling his dream. Of becoming a cop and helping others. Now he is only hoping the next body he passes stays down so he doesn’t have to kill another person (remember those aren’t people anymore).
Now there is only the strain of being forced into constant vigilance. He was tired, he was hungry, and his body ached, but he couldn’t stop now. You can’t help when you’re dead. And sure enough Leon was still alive and kicking.
But he can’t ignore the full body ache. And there are too few of any kind of first aid supplies to waste trying to fix it. As long as he can still move, still shoot, still help, then there’s no reason to waste resources.
Quick and quiet was the key, however the lack of sleep, proper sustenance, and the ache was getting to Leon. And now? Leon stood in a hallway full of previously dormant zombies waking up to the sound of fresh meat.
“Who put that stack of chairs there anyways?” he grumbled. Quiet was no longer an option here as 4 zombies rose to block the path between Leon and his destination. With only 6 shots left in Matilda, there was no way he was making it through this fighting. And turning back was not an option either.
“C’mon, you can do this.” the rookie whispered to himself, before pushing into a dead sprint (or as close to one as his aching body can manage) towards the door leading to the locker room on the other side of the zombies.
The first zombie was easy to duck around, their arms fully outstretched as they overbalanced into a clumsy lunge where Leon had stood previously. The second one managed to brush his shoulder and Leon struggled to correct his momentum from dodging. Then everything started going downhill, as the third and fourth zombies came lunging at Leon from both the side and the front.
Leon only had a split second to react, and managed to half stumble, half tackle the third zombie in front of him further forwards and out of the stumbling lunge of the fourth. While that had saved him from getting tag-teamed by 2 zombies, that still left Leon with exactly 1 zombie within perfect attacking distance.
Recovering faster than Leon thought possible, the third zombie’s teeth came lunging towards the rookie’s neck. Thankfully Leon still had one of his forearms braced between them as he desperately tried to shove the zombie off and away.
Behind him Leon could still hear the shuffling and groaning of the 3 zombies he had managed to dodge the first time around.
Fully aware that he was out of time, Leon desperately whipped out Matilda and shot the zombie in front of him point-blank in between the eyes as it fought against his arm to reach his throat. 5 bullets left.
The ringing in his ears and the bullet proved worth it as the shot snapped the zombie’s head back, halting its assault, and Leon was able to fully shove it away.
Not risking a glance backwards, Leon stumbled and lunged for the door, throwing himself through it and slamming it shut behind him. He frantically whipped his head around searching for anything to jam the door with.
Luck was on his side with this as he spotted a bench conveniently sitting right next to the door.
Leon threw every ounce of strength he had left to lift and shove the bench under the handle of the door effectively jamming it shut. Settling it into place, just as the pounding of zombie fists began.
“That should hold them.” gasped Leon as his legs slid out from under him and he settled his back against his makeshift bench blockade. He knew that this room was clear of zombies. That had taken 8 of Matilda’s bullets (3 shots wasted) the last time he was here. So Leon let his eyes fall shut as he took a breather and took stock of himself.
No new scratches and no bites luckily. His ears were still ringing slightly from firing Matilda right next to his own head, but that would fade in a few minutes. And then the ever present ache. It made his whole body throb, and maybe he was going delirious with pain but it felt like the ache was getting even stronger, sharper even. But the worst of the aching was throbbing all through his spine. It felt like something was crawling through his spine and crushing the nerves there.
“I think I’m a bit too young to be complaining about back pain just yet.” Leon huffed to himself, trying his best to breathe through the pain.
As Leon braced himself to stand again and opened his eyes, he found himself staring down a mass of exposed muscle, teeth, and claws.
“Oh shit” was all he managed to gasp out before the licker slammed into him immediately digging its claws into his shoulders and down his back as it pinned him to the bench he was previously resting against.
Leon desperately threw his arms up between him and the licker's teeth as its tongue lashed about trying to get a proper feel of its prey.
The only thing Leon could do with his mind full of panic was scream and thrash as he felt the licker’s long claws dig further into his shoulders and slice open his back. All Leon could think was agony as the pre-existing pain in his spine was joined by the pain of new gashes.
I’m sorry Lieutenant, I tried my best, he thought as the licker reared its head back and opened its maw wide in preparation of a devastating bite.
Leon screwed his eyes shut as he braced for the strike. But just as he thought he was about to lose a hand, there was a scrape of something sharp, a squelch of flesh, and all movement ceased.
As Leon hesitantly opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the large clawed hand swaying slightly and dripping with blood (that was his blood). Then his eyes slowly lifted further to behold the licker’s exposed brain completely punctured through by some sort of long bladed limb. The blood and viscera oozed out of the wound and the harsh locker room lights gleamed off the sharp tip. The licker’s body hung limply from the limb as it slowly drew back.
Leon’s eyes widened as he tracked the other end of that bladed limb to somewhere behind his shoulder. But he was too weak (too terrified) to turn his head any farther.
There’s always a bigger fish, he thought as he surrendered to the darkness that had been prowling the edges of his vision.