Watch Over You

Marvin Branagh

The hallways were eerie, but at least Leon was with her now. Juliet asked him if he knew how the entire apocalypse began. Leon sighed, admitting that he had no clue. When he finally arrived at the station earlier in the evening, everything had gone to hell. He told her that she was the second survivor he had met. He had previously met a university girl at a gas station on the way to RPD. She was searching for her older brother who was a cop. Unfortunately, they got separated and was supposed to meet each other at the front of RPD.

Just as they reached the watchman's room, they heard someone banging on the shutters. Leon quickly entered first, attempting to open it. Juliet assisted him, but the shutters could only be opened enough for someone to crawl through. A man in a uniform struggled to get out. Leon offered his hand, trying to get him out but something was pulling the officer back. When he did get out, only half his body made it through. Juliet couldn't stop herself from puking at the corner of the room. Leon forced himself to look away. He noticed that the officer was carrying a notebook — the same one that he saw through the surveillance camera. He briefly flipped through the pages, coming across diagrams of statues and various symbols. He pocketed the diary before standing up.

"You okay, Juliet?" he asked quietly, rubbing her back.

She simply nodded her head, wiping the side of her mouth. They were both startled by the banging on the watchman's room door. Leon pushed her behind him as he raised his gun. A bloodied uniformed zombie burst through with its arms outstretched. Leon shot three clean shots to its head and it fell back. Juliet held onto Leon's hand before the two ran out. The way was blocked off by more of those things crashing in through the window.

"Jesus! They're everywhere!" Leon yelled, shooting at three of them at one go.

One of the bodies on the floor grabbed Juliet's ankle. She shrieked, trying to get free from its grasp. She stomped on its head with her other foot. Her high heeled shoe went right through its skull, leaving nothing but a bloody mess. Her face scrunched up at the bloodstain on her ankle. She felt her hand being tugged, so she turned back to Leon and kept a close distance to him. They were almost at the exit, but the shutters were stuck and couldn't be opened up any further. Leon covered her, giving her the chance to slip through first. She got out pretty quickly, but Leon wasn't too lucky. Before she could get the chance to help him out, another officer came by and pulled Leon out. 

"Watch out!" Juliet warned.

"I've got this," the police officer said matter-of-factly, pulling down the shutters and smashing its brains out.

Juliet coughed, taking her eyes off the gore. She helped Leon up before the two of them thanked the police officer. She noticed that he was hurt badly on his side and was struggling to stand up properly. She offered to walk him to the stretcher that was left in the main lobby. There was a first aid kit by the side. The police officer didn't want to trouble her, saying that it was useless to patch him up. Regardless, she wanted to at least cover the wound up, which he obliged. Meanwhile, Leon said that he needed to go elsewhere for a short moment. She didn't like that he was going on his own since those things were everywhere.

"I'll be okay, Juliet. I'll be back before you know it," he reassured her with the same warm smile.

She bit her lip then nodded. "...Be careful, Leon."

"I will."

The police officer winced as she tried to wrap him up. While doing so, he looked through the notebook which Leon picked up earlier. She draped her blazer over his shoulders once she was done bandaging him up. Leon then returned, wearing his RPD outfit. She couldn't help but stare at him. The police officer mumbled a soft 'thank you' to her which caused her to pull her eyes away from Leon and stand up.

Strapping his shoulder pad on, Leon said confidently, "I'm ready, sir."

"You're the new rookie, right?" he asked and Leon nodded. "I'm Lieutenant Branagh. Guess you can just call me Marvin."

"What happened, Marvin?" Juliet asked, sitting next to him.

She cleaned her bloodied hands with a rag before wiping her ankle.

Marvin sighed. "Shit happened, all way too fast. Listen, you kids need to get out of here. The officer you met earlier? That's Elliot. Apparently, he thought there's a way out of here," he stated, showing the same page with the diagrams.

Leon took the notebook back and scanned the pages. He turned back to the statue behind him then back at his lieutenant. 

"Okay, we'll find a way out and then we'll bring you to a hospital," Leon said.

"I am not the priority here!" Marvin grunted. "You kids need to go. Here, take this."

Leon looked at the knife being handed to him. He shook his head, saying he couldn't take it. Marvin insisted. Juliet took it on behalf of Leon.

"Be safe around the halls. If anything comes up, we'll be in contact," Marvin said next, handing Leon his walkie-talkie which he accepted.

"Alright. Once we get this statue opened, you're coming with us, Lieutenant," Leon said determinedly.

Marvin simply shook his head, though a small smile appeared briefly on his face. Leon walked away first. Juliet took one last look at Marvin, giving him a comforting squeeze on the shoulders.

"Go, princess. Keep him safe and keep a lookout for yourselves too."

"Got it. And hey, it's Juliet."

Marvin gave her a huge smile. She left his side and rejoined Leon who was peering into the reception area. Juliet used the knife Marvin gave and opened the circuit box, allowing them to enter.

"There's probably going to be more of them in the hallway. Here's some ammo," Leon said, proceeding to give her a full box but she stopped him.

"I don't like using guns," she said, sounding a little cold and distant. Realising that wasn't her intention, she quickly added, "I don't- I don't want to waste bullets on using something I don't know how to operate."

"Okay. You sure you're good with that?" Leon asked, nodding at the knife.

"Yeah, I'm good," Juliet replied.

"Don't worry, I'll watch over you."

Juliet smiled in appreciation. The two of them barely made it out of the room when Juliet gasped, pointing to the window. Instinctively, Leon pointed his gun but the thing they saw was long gone.

"What the hell was that?"

"I don't know and I don't like it here. Let's just keep going," Juliet begged and Leon agreed.