"Uh, Marvin. We've got a situation here..." Jasper spoke to his communicator, staring at the zombies gathering at the gate, throwing their bodies against the wiring. "We're surrounded by zombies!"
He waited for the lieutenant to respond, but all he heard was static, which quickly made Jasper concern for the lieutenant's well-being. Leon silently listened to the conversation as he was also concerned. "Marvin, do you copy? Marvin?" It was dead silent and Jasper knew the reason why. "Oh no..."
He snapped back to reality as the zombies began to hiss and growl at the duo. "We gotta go. Who knows how long this gate will hold," Jasper said with a rushed voice.
Leon nodded before grabbing the bolt cutters, cut the chain on the door, and opened it. The moment they reentered the building through the exit, the window shattered and a zombie crawled through. Leon whipped out his gun and shot it through the head, before it flopped against the bloody tile floor.
They suddenly hear another growl from their right, another zombie was trudging towards them with a groan. Jasper whipped out his gun and shot it twice in the head before it was completely lifeless.
"Come on." Leon used the bolt cutters to cut the chain off another door. He pushed the door open and to his surprise, a zombie almost pounced at him.
"Leon!" Jasper yelled. Luckily, the blonde's reflexes acted quickly as he grabbed the zombie's shoulders before it could take a chomp out of him and pushed it back. Jasper quickly pulled his knife out and kicked the zombie's knees before stabbing it in the head, making it go limp.
Leon panted as he stared at the corpse before another growl was heard from across the room immediately caught their attention. Another zombie in uniform was trudging towards them. Leon shot it through the head before it flopped to the ground. "Shit, they're everywhere," Jasper stated.
The two of them made their quick search around the east office. Leon searched the main office while Jasper searched the desks. There wasn't anything useful for him, until he went over to his desk as he remembered that it provided some ammo in the drawers. He opened the drawer to grab the ammo before he closed it.
However, his eyebrows furrowed when he spotted a flash grenade on his desk. He assumed that one of the officers have left it before their passing, so he decided to grab it.
"Did you find anything?" He hears Leon ask from the main office as he walked over to him. "I found some herbs, some gunpowder, and this fuse," he told his companion, showcasing the fuse in his hand. "I saw a power box down the hall when I first went over here, it was also missing one.
"OK, that should be useful," Jasper nodded. "I found some ammo and a flash grenade as well." He gave the flash grenade to Leon and he puts it in his pocket. "It's best if you hold on to it."
Jasper pulled the chair stacked with boxes that blocked the double doors and pushed it aside. The moment he opened it the doors, a large zombie grabbed him and tried to bite his neck. He yelped as he struggles to fight it off. Thinking quickly, Jasper whipped his knife out and stabbed the zombie's skull, making it flop against the floor.
Leon calmed his racing heart as he sighed in relief. "You OK?" He asked.
"Yeah," Jasper nodded quickly. He stepped out of the room and Leon closed the double doors behind him. "We really need to get you a knife at some point," Jasper spoke. "They're faster and much better for close encounters."
Leon stared at the raven-haired with amazement. "You never told me that you were good at using knives," Leon said.
"Well, I used to take a few knife combat courses on my free time at the academy," Jasper explained.
Leon couldn't help but chuckle when he saw his smirk. They went over to the fuse box and he put the fuse back into place and the power for the east wing has been restored. The shutter gradually retracted, revealing the main hall.
Jasper and Leon immediately ran over to where Marvin was as soon as the shutter opened. Once they reached the lieutenant, he was laying down on the couch. "Marvin!" Jasper rushed towards the injured lieutenant and to his relief, he was still breathing. "Still alive..." He sighed.
"Hang in there, Marvin," Leon said with determination before they left to explore more of the building in search of the third medallion.
Leon unlocked the spade door leading to the west office and they found themselves back at the safety deposit room. The blonde went to the back of the room and used the key card he retrieved to unlock the gun case. Both him and Jasper grabbed the box of shotgun shells and the pair of shotguns themselves.
Jasper used the spare part he found from the portable safe and insert it on one of the missing slots. He typed in the codes and unlocked a single locker, which had a combat knife inside.
He grabbed the knife and handed it to Leon. "Here. Looks like it's your now."
Leon grabbed the knife from the latter and shot a thankful smile at him. "Thanks," he replied and Jasper nodded in response before they left the room.
The duo walked up the flight of stairs to the second floor and back into the locker room. They saw the steam that blocked their path and realization hit Leon. "The valve!" He placed the object in the socket on the large pipe and turned it. The steam shut off, giving Leon and Jasper access to the rest of the locker room.
"Where the hell did you even find that?" Jasper questioned the blonde, astonished by how he was able to coincidentally find a valve in the middle of a station, run down by zombies and who knows what.
"It was back at the east office," Leon told him. "It wasn't easy carrying it around, you know?"
"OK, I'll go check the showers," Jasper notified. He stepped into the shower room and scanned the area. There was water still running from the shower and there was a broke wall in front of them. When he found nothing, he walked through the broken wall.
He found a corpse hunched over on a bench beside a basket. Not convinced he was dead, Jasper approached the body as he slowly pulls the knife out. When he was close enough, it tumbled on the floor, making him jump at the sudden scare. He nudged the body with his foot, receiving nothing in response. "OK. Good riddance," he muttered.
Jasper puts the knife back into the holster and looked behind him to see Leon, making sure that he stayed close with him. "Stay close," Jasper said before he opened the door to the hallway.
The two of them stepped out of the room, taking in their surroundings. There were a couple of bodies on the floor, but none of them were moving. They went further into the hall only to stop once a body at the end of the hall was grabbed from the ceiling and ripped up. A large tongue-like limb held on to it for a moment before dropping it.
The duo shined their flashlights and saw a creature crawling on the ceiling. Leon was frightened at the creature's appearance. Its body was only muscle and bones and it had no eyes with a brain on its head. "What in God's name—" Leon mumbled quietly as the creature got closer, making him raise his gun in response.
"Wait!" Jasper whisper-yelled at the blonde, putting his hand over his gun before he could fire. The creature slowly crawled on the ceiling and lets out a low growl. The two of them noticed that the creature was not aware of their presence, due to the lack of sight. Jasper suddenly remembers the note David left. They can't see, but they can hear.
Jasper and Leon looked over at each other before looking back at the hall. Jasper scanned the hall and spotted a door nearby. The detective turned back to Leon and puts a finger over his lips, to which Leon took the hint. "Follow me," Jasper signed and Leon nodded in understanding.
The duo slowly began to approach the door, cautiously watching their steps and the creature lurking in the hall. Once they were near the door, Jasper turned the doorknob as quiet as he can and successfully opened the door without alerting the monster.
Jasper let Leon step inside the room first before he followed behind him and closed the door quietly. As soon as the door was closed, the creature lets out a shriek. Leon whipped his shotgun out in case the creature barged into the room. Fortunately, the noise faded and the creature didn't hear them.
Knowing this, the two of them let out a huge sigh of relief. "Jesus... Was that supposed to be the licker that note mentioned?" Leon questioned.
"I think so..." Jasper sighed. He turned around to inspect the room and recognized it as the the place they were in. "And it looks like we're in the S.T.A.R.S office."
"Cool, let's go check it out and see if we can find anything," Leon said and Jasper nodded before they split up to search the office.
Jasper had searched the corner office and found a battery. He wasn't sure what he'll need it for, but the detective decided to hang on to it. He heard Leon muttering a small "dammit" and went over to him. "What's up?"
"I can't access the armory," Leon responded, staring at the error on the computer screen. "I need a USB with a high enough clearance, and I suppose you don't happen to carry one around you, right?"
"I would if I happen to be a S.T.A.R.S member, that is," Jasper replied. With nothing else to scavenge around the office, they decided to leave.
As soon as they opened the door, Jasper scoped out the hall and spotted the creature lurking on the far right. He gestured to Leon to follow him as they left the room. They turned left and walked down the hall as quiet as possible. They turned a corner and spotted a door at the end of the hall.
When things are starting to go smooth, however, the floorboard creaked under Leon's foot as he took a step forward. The creature lets out a screech, signaling it heard the minuscule sound.
"Are you shitting me?!" Leon whisper-yelled as the monster hissed and leapt towards them.
"Get down!" Jasper grabbed Leon in his arms and tackled him to the floor just as the creature flew overhead. The raven-haired whipped out his shotgun and shot the monster in midair as it tried to pounce at them. It cried out in pain and scrambled away. Jasper fired another two rounds at its head, successfully killing it.
Jasper panted heavily as he stared at the monster's corpse. Turning towards Leon, he saw the horror written on the blonde's face. He puts the shotgun away and scrambled towards him. "Hey, it's OK," he reassures the blonde as he placed a hand on his cheek, stroking the skin with his thumb. "It's OK. It's all right."
Jasper grabbed his hands and helped him up to his feet. "You sure?" Leon expressed his doubts, eyeing on the corpse. "It's not gonna go back up now, is it?"
Jasper shook his head. "No, it's dead," he confirmed. "Hopefully, we don't bump into one of these things again."
"I doubt that," Leon replied. "If there's one, there's bound to be more."
"Well, in that case, let's not stick around to find out," Jasper said and Leon nodded in agreement.
The two of them noticed that they were still holding onto each other's hands as they looked down. Their faces immediately flushed a crimson red once they realized before they pulled away.
"O-Oh! Oh, I-I'm sorry, I, um... I didn't mean.... I-I didn't know," Leon stuttered out apologetically, looking away from the latter so he wouldn't notice the blush that formed in his cheeks.
"No, no, it's fine. Really, you don't have to apologize," Jasper quickly reassures the blonde with a shy smile. "It's cool."
"Oh... Thanks," Leon replied.
Jasper wondered why he was acting like this around Leon now. He's known him for years and nothing has changed expect for being thrown into a zombie apocalypse. One drastic event simply can't make you feel differently about someone, right?
The two of them quickly brushed it off before they continued. Leon unlocked the door which lead back to the lounge where the unicorn statue was. "So... what now?" Jasper asked the blonde as he closed the door behind him.
"The door in the operation room is still chained," Leon stated. "There might be something in there that we can use."
"Well, what are we waiting for?"
The two of them left the library and headed towards the main hall to check on Marvin. Jasper rushed towards the lieutenant and kneeled beside him to try and aid him. "Marvin, I know you're stubborn as hell, but I can help you if you just—"
"No, that would be pointless," the lieutenant cuts him off with a grunt. "I can already feel myself losing control."
Jasper looked at the lieutenant with desperation. "Hey, don't give me that look," he said weakly to the detective. "You need to focus on getting out of here. I am the least of your concern right now, Jasper."
"Lieutenant, that's not—"
"Yes, Jasper," Marvin cuts him off again. "Just... stop worrying about me."
Leon looked at the both of them with sadness. Even though he had known Marvin for just a few hours, he sympathized him and his friend.
"Go," Marvin ordered weakly. "Just go."
Jasper nodded firmly. "We'll be back before you know it. I promise," he said with determination to the lieutenant before they head back into the west hallway.
Leon and Jasper had their pistols out and shot a handful of zombie on the way to the operation room. Making it to their destination, Leon used the bolt cutters and snapped the chain off. It fell to the floor and Leon pushed the door. The blonde inspected the room while Jasper guarded the door.
"What did you find?" Jasper questioned when he spotted the blonde examining a strange device.
"It's a detonator," Leon responded. He flipped the device over and saw it was missing a battery. "Shit."
"What is it?" The raven-haired asked.
"It's missing a battery. We could use this to detonate the C4 upstairs," Leon replied.
Jasper perked up as he remembered the battery he found from the S.T.A.R.S office and grabbed it from his pocket. "Here. Found this at the S.T.A.R.S office."
Leon accepted the alkaline battery and placed it in the compartment. Flipping it back over, he watched as the detonator came to life with a red glow. "It worked!" The blonde said with joy.
"Be careful with that thing. We wouldn't want to trigger it before we could reach the storage room," Jasper told him.
"You don't trust me, Jasper?" Leon asked with a small smirk.
"Oh, please. You're the only person I trust with explosives," Jasper playfully nudged his shoulder, making the blonde chuckle as they left room. "Remember that time when we made our own bomb?"
"Yeah, and your dad busted us when we blew it up in your backyard," Leon mentioned, laughing as he recalled the crazy memory. "God, why did we even do that?"
"We were 12; we were stupid and reckless at that age," Jasper stated. "Now, let's go blow this son of a bitch up."
The two of them left the operation room and made their way to the storage room, with a couple of zombies along the way. The storage room was just as they left it. There were no signs of zombies wandering into the room, which allowed to easily access the C4 without hindrance. Leon quickly attached the detonator to the C4 and set the timer for 10 seconds. He backed away from the bomb with Jasper and hid behind a wall until the bomb went off.
Ten seconds were up and the explosion destroyed the metal bars. "I'm definitely going on vacation once this blows over," Jasper affirmed, quickly realizing the unintentional joke he just made. "Uh, no pun intended."
"Yeah, I agree," Leon nodded quickly, brushing off the pun. "We should go to the Grand Canyon, just like we always wanted."
"Of course we will. When we get out of here, that is," Jasper replied.
A growl was suddenly heard. The zombie hanging from the ceiling fell to the floor and sprang back to life. "You deal with the statue, I got this fucker," Jasper ordered.
Leon headed into the cage, stepped over the pile of corpses and entered the corresponding code on the dial while Jasper dealt with the zombie that was attracted by the explosion.
"OK, I got it!" Leon said, showcasing the medallion in his hand before Jasper regrouped with him.
Suddenly, a loud screech was heard, catching their attention. The creature from before fell from the broken ceiling and landed on its feet, growling at the duo. "Leon!" The licker tried to grab the blonde with its long tongue, but Jasper tackled him to the ground at the last second.
The duo scrambled away from the creature as it hissed at them. Leon quickly reached for his shotgun and the second it leapt at them, he fired. As the creature wailed in pain before recovering, Jasper pulled out his gun and fired a few rounds into its head, killing it.
The duo's chests were rising and falling rapidly. They still had their weapons aimed at the creature in case any additional movements occurred. When they confirmed that the creature was dead, they both let out a sigh of relief. They turn their heads to each other, a look of horror was visible on their faces.
"You all right?" Jasper inquired with concern as he stood on his feet.
"Yeah," Leon panted. "I'm fine."
Jasper offered his hand to the blonde and he accepted it, lifting him off the ground. Leon eyed on the dead creature. "OK, let's not stick around and just get back to the statue," Leon advised.
"Couldn't have said it better myself," Jasper remarked before they headed to the door, which was blocked by a bookshelf. They worked in unison to lift the shelf and put it back into place.
Passing through the library, the duo headed back to the main hall and the goddess statue. Leon placed the final medallion in the slot and the trinket revealed the entire passageway, granting them access. "I'll go check it out, make sure there are no surprises waiting for us down here," Jasper told Leon.
Jasper took a step forward and turned the knob of the white metal door. The door opened and Jasper raised his flashlight, surveying the underground corridor. "So it goes underground... Huh," Jasper nodded to himself before he turned to Leon. "That's it—that's our way out."
Leon smiled at his companion before turning towards Marvin. "Lieutenant Branagh! Marvin!"
The lieutenant didn't respond to the blonde's calls. "Hey, Marvin—" Leon said quietly, but he was greeted with a loud growl from the lieutenant, making Jasper quickly grab his shoulder and pull the blonde back to avoid him getting bit.
Before Marvin could do anything, he snapped out of it and took a few deep breaths. Jasper frowned as he realized that the man wasn't going to last much longer.
"We need to get you to a hospital," Leon said with concern for the lieutenant.
Marvin shook his head. "No, no... I..." he paused for a bit. "Save yourselves." The lieutenant turned away from the duo while his face twisted into pain.
"Come on, we've got you—" Leon tried to grab Marvin's arm, but the man jerked away.
"GO!" Marvin yelled and continued to avoid eye contact.
"Leon..." the raven-haired grabbed the blonde's arm, but he slapped his hand away.
"We can't just leave him here, Jasper," Leon protested. "Not like this."
Jasper was torn. He wanted to say the same, he didn't want to leave his mentor and his friend either. But he knew that if they brought Marvin, he'd turn in a matter of seconds and they couldn't risk that.
"Hey. Can you give us some privacy?" Marvin spoke up, making the duo look at him. "I need to talk with Jasper. Just a moment."
Jasper stared at the man with confusion, not knowing what the man wanted from him. But if it's something important that he needed to do for Marvin, he would do it.
Leon looked back at his companion with a sad expression. "It's OK," Jasper reassures him with a hand on his shoulder.
Leon glances back at the dying lieutenant before letting out a sigh. "All right. I'll wait for you," he replied, before he walked away and opened the door to the library. The blonde peered over his shoulder to his friend, who nodded, before he closed the door behind him.
"Jasper," Marvin spoke weakly. "Come here." Jasper did as he said and walked over to the lieutenant, kneeling down beside him. "Listen, Jasper: I don't have much time... and I might turn into one of those things at any moment," he started. "So I need you to do me... one last request."
"Yes, Lieutenant," Jasper nodded. "What do you need?"
There was a moment of silence between them, until Marvin spoke up about the request that Jasper would never thought he'd hear him say up until now.
"I need you to shoot me."
Jasper was flabbergasted by the request. "What? Why?"
"I already know how this ends, Jasper. And if you don't shoot me, I'll become one of them," Marvin explained.
"No... No, Lieutenant, I—"
"Please, Jasper," Marvin stops his protest. "Do it for me. You can't let what happened to everyone else... happen to me," he said, following a small cough. "You can use my gun over there. You're gonna need your bullets." He nodded his head towards his gun on the table.
"I don't know if I can..." Jasper expressed his doubts.
"You can," Marvin butts in. "Just take it."
Jasper looked at the man with a sad expression before sighing. He reached for the gun and check the magazine, seeing that there was only one bullet left inside. One to kill him off.
"It's OK. It'll be quick," Marvin reassures the young male. "All you have to do... is point it at my head, pull the trigger, and be grateful that you never have to see me as one of them," he continued. "You can do it. I know you can."
Jasper stared at the man for a moment before nodding. "OK. I'll do it. For you, Marvin," he said, his voice wavered at the end.
"Thank you, Jasper," Marvin whispered, followed with a grunt at the end.
Jasper stood up on his feet and cocked the gun. He stared at the lieutenant with a sorrowful look, realizing that he had to kill his role model, his mentor, and his friend.
"Just promise me that... you two will take care of each other, OK?" Marvin said weakly. "Work together... to stay alive."
"We will," Jasper nodded, shallowing hard in attempt to get rid of the lump in his throat. "I promise."
Marvin shot a grateful smile at him. Jasper took a deep breath before he aimed it at his head. The gun slightly shakes in his hand as he firmly puts his finger on the trigger, enough to not squeeze it just yet.
"I'm proud of you, Jasper," Marvin says softly before he closed his eyes and his chests stops rising, making the raven-haired's heart ache even more. He looked away from Marvin and shuts his eyes, not wanting to witness himself killing his own mentor for his own sake. He didn't want to shoot him, but he didn't want him to become a zombie either. So like he asked him to, Jasper pulled the trigger.
Jasper lowered the gun and lets out a quite sob. The gunshot rang through the station and it was enough for Leon to hear from the library. "JASPER?! MARVIN?! What happened?!" Leon yelled in concern as he slammed the door open.
Jasper was too in shock from what happened that he wasn't able to respond to Leon as he spotted Marvin's dead body. "No... NO! MARVIN!" Leon rushes over and kneeled down to Marvin's body. "Oh god... Please don't, no, no, no..." He chants in disbelief hung his head low as he lets out a quiet sob.
Jasper dropped Marvin's gun to the floor and puts a hand over his mouth to stop another sob from coming out. He couldn't believe what he had done.
Leon slowly stood up on his feet. As he stared at the lieutenant's body, his nostrils flared and his hand curled into a fist. "What the fuck?!" The blonde screams, turning his rage against the raven-haired. "How could you just do that?!" He shoved him, making him stumble back a little.
"He asked me to!" Jasper reasoned.
"Asked you to?!" Leon questioned in disbelief, his face twisting in anger. "He's gone, you know that?! What the fuck, Jasper?!"
"I didn't want to shoot him, all right?!" Jasper said with a raised voice. Leon was slightly taken back by it since Jasper never raised his voice at him. Not intentionally, that is. "I cared about him too. But... he was in pain, he was slowly dying, and... he was gonna turn into a zombie if I hadn't shot him," he explained, this time with a softer volume.
"I did it for him," Jasper added, his voice breaking. Leon shakes his head in disbelief, looking at Marvin's lifeless body, with blood trickling down from the bullet wound on his forehead. "There was nothing we could do to save him, Leon. I'm sorry."
Leon slowly walks over to Marvin's body and kneeled down beside him, mourning the loss. He took a deep breath before he stood up. "We'll stop this, Lieutenant. I promise," he spoke with determination before he looked over at his companion with a serious expression. "Let's go."
The duo walked down the steps to the secret corridor and the passageway sealed behind them, leaving them in a quiet, dark, and cramped room.
"We won't let you down, Marvin."