A/N: So what do you guys think of Jasper and the story so far? I already have a couple of drafts in this book, but I wanted to perfect them before I could publish them. I'll be posting them soon and I'd appreciate it so much if you guys give me some feedback about this story and leave some comments too cuz I like reading them. Also, what do you think the ship name for Leon and Jasper should be? Lasper, Jeon, or Pennedy? Might sound corny but I'd like to hear some cool ideas for the ship name. Anyway, back to the story.
***
"Ugh... What in the world...?" Leon grimaced as he observed the corpse before asking the raven-haired. "Do you think you can lockpick this?"
"There's no key hole on this door and it's powered by electricity, so unfortunately, I can't," Jasper responded and Leon sighed at the inconvenience.
Jasper looked around the area they were in and spotted a power panel beside the cage. He examined it and noticed that there were two parts missing. "There's a power panel here, but some parts are missing," he informed the blonde.
Jasper turned more and found a desk where there was a piece of paper resting on it. He picked it up and began to read it. Leon looked at the desk and spotted a tool. He didn't know what it was for, but he decided to keep it with him for future uses.
"It says the power needs specific pieces, there's a few in the generator room and another in the clock tower," Jasper informed the cop.
"Any idea where to get to those places?" Leon asked.
"Let me see that map," Jasper said and Leon handed him the map that he found at the reception room. Jasper unfolded the map and searched for the room.
"Yeah. From what I remember, the generator room is on the other side of the station and the clock tower is on the third floor of the RPD building," Jasper informed, pointing at the locations on the map.
"OK," Leon nodded, processing all of the information for a moment before he looked at the man. "Should we go?"
"Yeah, we should," Jasper nodded as he folded the paper and gave it back to Leon. "It's better than staying here. God only knows where that thing could wander off..."
Leon nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I'm not sticking around to find out."
The two made it past the long corridor of cells, through the door with the corpse, and into the parking garage. Once Leon went out first, Jasper shut the door behind him. "You said generator room is on the other side of the garage, right?" Leon asked.
"Yeah, there should be a door leading there," Jasper replied and Leon nodded before they jogged to the exit door, where the light above it flashed green.
Jasper took the lead and opened the door quietly, revealing a dark hallway with a red light barely illuminating the area. The two of them turned their flashlights on and scanned the area. To their right, there was another dark hallway.
"Straight ahead or right?" Jasper asked the cop.
"Let's go right first," Leon suggests and Jasper nodded before they went right. They walked a few steps forward, only to stop until they heard a faint howl in the hall. "Shit, there's more of them?"
"If there's two, there's bound to be more, so stay sharp," Jasper answered before they ventured further into the dark hall.
They turned a corner and saw a door. Jasper pressed his ear against the door to hear, there was a lot of metal clanging and howling on the other side of the door. "This is the kennel for the dogs," Jasper informed before turning to Leon. "Stay close with me."
Jasper gripped his weapon in his hand before opening the door. Peering in the room, there were dogs in cages and the red light in the room barely illuminated the area. Jasper stepped into the room and Leon followed behind him. As soon as they closed the door, one of the dogs tried ram through the cage, but the cage didn't budge.
"OK, this should be easy," Jasper nodded, noticing upon the dogs locked in the cages. The two of them snuck by the dogs as they barked and growled at them. They made it to the back of the room, filled with shelves and bags, and there was a door at the end.
Jasper opened the door and they went back into the hall. On his left, there was another door at the end and they went over to it. The next area they entered was a morgue, a rancid smell assaulted their noses when they stepped further into the room. "Oh, hell..." Jasper muttered in disgust.
"Smells like something's been rotting in here for a while," Leon asserted as they passed numerous cold chambers.
"Well, that's probably because the main power's out and the temperatures in the chambers have gone down, making the corpses decompose at a faster rate," Jasper answered.
Leon stopped, eyeing on the detective curiously. "How do you know that?"
"Let's just say that I learned a few things back in biology class," Jasper explained as he was eyeing on the chambers. "Places like this one always makes me think of the worst possible scenarios."
"Then let's start looking around; the faster we do it, the better," Leon suggests and Jasper nodded. He found an autopsy report while Leon checked the cold chambers and begins to read it.
Autopsy Record No. 53477
Name of Deceased: Justin Hanson
Male, Caucasian, 39 years old
Observation:
Found dead in jail cell bed by staff. Hands are still clenched tight due to rigor mortis, which should be coming to an end. It's highly likely that he died just after the lights out.
Deceased was a known kleptomaniac, incarcerated multiple times. Incredibly, he would steal even while in jail, though that was consistent with his clinical diagnosis.
Jasper put the report back to where he found it, not finding any use of information on it yet. He heard a yelp from the cop, making him snap his head towards him. "What happened?" Jasper inquired worriedly.
"Nothing," Leon simply replied and sighed before he closed the chamber back into place. "Just nothing."
Jasper eyed at the blonde confused. "OK...?" He moved across the room where the other chambers were. "Sorry..." he muttered before he began to open up the chambers, one of them was stuck and one had a corpse inside, which he made sure was dead.
He moved to another chamber and read the name tag on it. 'Justin Hanson'. It was the same name from the report he read earlier. He decided to open the chamber to reveal the corpse inside. He examined the corpse and he found a diamond-shaped key beside it. "Hey, you'll never guess what I found," Jasper informed.
"I'm just hoping it's something that'll help us," Leon said. Jasper held up the key in his hand for him to see. When he saw what it was, he couldn't believe it. "What— Where did you find that?"
"It was with this... dead kleptomaniac who had it," Jasper told him, eyeing on the corpse. "Not sure how he got it, but I found something at least."
"That's great. Any idea what we could unlock it with?" the blonde asked.
"I'm not sure," Jasper shrugged as he examined the key in his hand before putting it in his pocket. "But I'll keep it with us just in case—"
The detective was interrupted as the kleptomaniac, formerly known as Justin Hanson, rolled off the table and landed on the ground with a hissing groan. Jasper backed away from the corpse as it slowly dragged his body, but Jasper fired a few rounds at the corpse's head. Leon dealt with the dead man who was resting next to the door.
Jasper and Leon panted as they stared the corpses. "You all right?" Leon inquired.
"Yeah," Jasper nodded quickly and brushed himself off. "Really can't let your guard down around the ones who act dead. Not to mention the ones who appear out of the corner," he said with a hint of annoyance in his voice.
"Between the two of them, I don't know which one is worse," Leon said.
Jasper shakes his head and turns to the blonde. "Let's get out of here. I don't want to find out what else is in these chambers."
"Couldn't have said it better myself," Leon agreed with the raven-haired before they leave the morgue.
Outside the morgue, they glanced down the right hallway. It was dimly lit with a crimson glow. "How about you find out where you can use that key and I use this for the shutter?" Leon suggests to the detective, showing him the tool he just grabbed from earlier.
"Yeah, we can cover more ground if we do that," Jasper agreed before advising to him. "Be careful."
"You too."
The duo split up to do their own missions. Jasper went back into the kennel and past through all of the dogs locked in the cages. He returned to the area where the exit door was and this time, he headed straight. He found two doors at the end of the hall, the one around the corner had a red light, meaning that it was still locked. So he headed to the first door that led to the shooting range.
The shooting range was in disarray, just like most of the places in the station. It was pretty dark as well, so Jasper had to use his flashlight to light up the way. He looked around the room, there were a couple of dead cops in the firing lanes
Jasper spotted a door with a pink diamond on the door. He unlocked the door with the key he found in the morgue and swings the door open. He scavenged the room for supplies before leaving.
Jasper went to the door next to him and entered the firing lane, where two dead cops were. Taking precautions again, he snuck towards the dead cop laying on the ground as he pulled out his knife. He stabbed the corpse's head and took his blade back. He moved on to the next corpse and stabbed its head as well. "Hope I don't have to take care of you guys again," Jasper remarked.
He found some ammo for his shotgun and left the shooting range once he scavenged the whole room. When he was back at the hall, he heard knocking against the glass. He turned his head to the source of the sound and on the other side of the glass, he saw Leon in the generator room, smiling at him. "I can get that door open," Leon signed, referring to the locked door and Jasper nodded.
Jasper waited for Leon while he tries to unlock the metal door. The light above the door changed from red to green, signaling that it was unlocked. Jasper glanced at Leon through the window with a smile, which he returned. Alas, it fell when Jasper spotted a dog sneaking up behind him. "Behind you!" He yelled as he slammed his fist against the glass. Leon wasn't able to hear him well, but the fear on his face was enough to convey what he was trying to say.
Leon spun around just as the dog jumped and pinned him to the ground. "Leon!" Jasper yelled for the blonde. He makes a run to the generator room, but a growl from a distance stopped him. Jasper pulled out his shotgun and pointed it at the hall. Another dog appeared out of the corner and darted towards the detective. Jasper fired at the animal before it could pounce at him, causing it to fall onto the floor.
Jasper continued to run to the generator room where Leon was. When he arrived there, he kicked the door open and pointed his shotgun, making Leon freeze on his tracks. "Don't shoot!" Leon exclaimed.
"Get down!" Jasper warned. Leon quickly did as he said and ducked down. Another dog behind Leon almost jumped at the detective, but he was quick to fire the gunshot at the animal, killing it and making it fly from the impact.
Leon turned around to look at the dead mutt before turning to the male, who was panting heavily. Jasper lowered his shotgun as the blonde male stood up. "That was close," the cop remarked.
"Too close," Jasper added. "You found that missing part we need?"
"Yeah, it's right here," Leon replied, holding up an electrical part in his hand.
"That's great. You should keep it with you," Jasper said. "Now let's get out of here."
The two of them left the kennel and headed to the metal door they just unlocked a few minutes ago. They found a pair of stairs and climbed up it, and found themselves back at the RPD building. "Woah... Didn't think we'd be back here."
Leon lets out a quick breath. "Me neither."
To their right, there was a room they entered and weirdly enough, they found a fuse. They scavenge the room for supplies before leaving. Down the hall, there were two zombies, one upon eating a another body. The two shot them down quickly and Leon put the fuse in the slot it fits in. The shutter gradually opened in front of them, only to reveal another zombie with half of its body gone, crawling on the floor. Jasper pointed the gun at the zombie, but he froze he recognized the corpse when it lifts his face towards him.
"Oh no... Elliot..." Jasper mumbled, taking a small step backward. The zombie, formerly known as Elliot hissed at the detective.
"Jasper, that's not Elliot anymore," Leon remind him.
The two watched silently as the zombie slowly crawled towards them. This was not Elliot anymore. It was just another zombie that had already taken over his body. Jasper sucked a small breath before he decided to take the initiative to kill the zombie. "I'm sorry, pal," he whispered apologetically before he lifted his gun and pulled the trigger.
Jasper stared at the dead corpse in front of him with heavy-hearted look. Elliot was one of his closest friends when he worked at the RPD. Although he had done it before, it was still excruciating for him having to kill off one of his colleagues.
"You OK?" Leon asked softly.
Jasper was silent for a moment before he replied. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Thank you, Elliot."
"Let's keep moving," Leon ordered.
Jasper gave him an understanding glance before following him out of the watchman's room. The duo ran through the east office and back to the main hall. Jasper suddenly froze in his tracks when he remembered who they left behind. "Marvin..."
"We don't have to go see him, Jasper," Leon reminded him.
"Yeah, I know," Jasper replied.
Leon patted the detective's shoulder in reassurance. "You did him a favor. I may not have known Marvin for as long as you did, but he wouldn't want to become a monster."
Jasper nodded in agreement. "Yeah, at least he won't come back."
"You want to keep going?" Leon inquired.
"Yeah," Jasper nodded firmly. "Let's go."
***
They were quite as they traveled through the station. Jasper mentioned the idea to Leon of finding a tool to lower the bookshelves in the library, so they could travel across the gap since he fell through the gap that broke a couple of hours ago. Although, they had no clue where to find the tool, they were determined enough to search the building for one.
Passing the art room, there was a shutter. Leon suddenly remembered the crank he grabbed a while ago and used it to lift the shutter open. When it was opened, he tried to yank it out of the slot, but it was stuck and it won't budge. "Dammit! Won't budge," he murmured.
Jasper heard his frustration and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Just leave it, Leon."
The blonde male huffed in defeat and released the crank. "I guess we won't be using that any time soon," he remarked.
The duo traveled further into the area they entered. Jasper spotted a door to the Chief's Office, but when he tried to open it, it was locked. He clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction. "Figures."
Right next to him, there was a stairwell leading to the first and third floor. "Let's split up. You go downstairs and I go up. Got it?" Jasper suggested to the cop.
Leon nodded. "OK. Be careful."
"Of course I will."
With that, the two part their ways to the stairwell. Leon went down to the first floor while Jasper climbed up to the third floor. He found a room with shelves and lockers with two doors. He scavenged the lockers for supplies before going into one of the doors.
The one he entered led him to the storage room. It was dark inside so he had to use his flashlight. He went further into the storage room to scavenge some supplies and found some ammo for his shotgun. Oddly enough, he found a big cogwheel that seemed out of place with the other supplies in the storage room. He decided to keep it with him for the mean time.
(A/N: Don't ask me how he was able to carry that thing, ask game logic.)
When he was about to leave the room, a zombie appeared out of the corner. Jasper pulled out his knife, kicking the zombie's knee before stabbing the head. But when he took his blade back, another zombie gave him a scare. Jasper was quick to impale the zombie under the chin, making it fall down to the floor as he took his blade back. "Stay dead," he remarked.
As he walked out of the room, he saw Leon walking up the stairs. "Did you find anything?" Jasper asked the blonde.
"Yeah, I found two doors downstairs, but they're both locked," Leon told him. "What about you?"
"I found some supplies that could help us along the way, then I found this," Jasper held up the cogwheel he found.
"What are you gonna do with a cogwheel?" Leon inquired, eyeing on the gear with confusion.
"I'm... not sure," Jasper admitted. "But if it's in there, then maybe we could use it for something else."
"OK," Leon nodded.
Jasper puts the gear away while Leon found a door. He opened at the door to see quick, rapid rain pouring in front of them. "Looks like this is the roof," Leon pointed out as he walked out first, covering his eyes with his hand as he peered around the area. Jasper followed behind him and closed the door.
"So... what now?" Jasper asked him.
"Look around, there should be something here," Leon ordered.
Leon found a couple of tables with umbrellas placed over them and found a blue herb on top of one. Meanwhile, Jasper searched to the left side and found a ladder leading down. "Hey, I found a ladder over here," he notified Leon.
The raven-haired searched the floor below them, making sure there were no threats in sight before he could climb down. Jasper climbed down safely before waving Leon to follow.
Jasper attentively watched as the cop climbed down. Suddenly, a loud creak was heard and the ladder broke under Leon's weight, causing him to fall. Jasper acted quickly, positioning himself underneath and catching him. The ladder clanked to wet concrete floor next to them.
"That was a close call," Leon sighed in relief before he turned to Jasper, slowly realizing the position he was carrying him in.
He was carrying him bridal style, and what's even more surprising is that he kind of liked it. Leon couldn't help the way his heart was pounding against his chest as he stared into the detective's dark chocolate eyes through his wet raven hair.
"Um... You OK?" Jasper asked nervously after a moment of silence.
"Y-Yeah, I'm good," Leon nodded quickly before Jasper puts him down to his feet. "Um, thanks for the catch."
Jasper lets out soft chuckle as he scratches the back of his neck shyly. "Don't mention it," he said before peering around the area around them, not noticing the crimson red that flushed in Leon's cheeks.
Leon looked at the fallen ladder. "Dammit... Now we're stuck out here," he muttered.
"Look, there's the copter from before," Jasper took his attention as he noticed the still-aflame vehicle in the wall. It seemed that the rain was of no help to extinguish the roaring flame. "We need to get past the helicopter to get to the other side."
"Well, we can't go through with the fire still on," Leon pointed out. "How are we gonna get through?"
"Let me think," Jasper mumbled as he observed the area where the helicopter was and spotted a pipe above the vehicle. He followed the pipe and saw a handle. He grabbed the handle and pulled it down. Rushing water was heard through the pipe, but it spilt from the rupture in it, much to Jasper's disappointment. "Shit. We need to redirect the water to the pipe."
"There's some stairs leading down," Leon notified him, gesturing to the stairwell behind them. "Not sure where it leads though."
"Well, only one way to find out," Jasper said.
Without wasting a second, the two of them made their way down the stair and were greeted by the sound of banging. Leon and Jasper reached down for their guns and waited for the door to burst open. The door flew open and two zombies emerged from the room.
"Watch me," Jasper told the cop before he draws his knife and approached the zombie as Leon observes. "Get the knee, like this," he instructed as he kicked the zombie's knee and stabbed its head.
Leon nodded in understanding before facing the other zombie. He pulled out his knife and kicked the zombie's knee before stabbing its head.
"Nice job!" Jasper praised.
"I've got a great teacher," Leon said as he shot a smile at him, which Jasper returned.
Jasper entered the boiler room while Leon checked outside. The detective found a key with a green club taped to a white board. He grabbed it and ran out of the room. "Hey, I found a key," he told the cop. "You think this is it?"
Leon examined the key Jasper had and nodded. "Yeah, this is one has the same symbol as the door I found," he informed. "Also, I found a way to redirect the water pipes." He turned around and turned the valve to the left.
Back to the rooftop, they return to the same spot where the lever was and they were able to put out the fire. They left the roof and headed back to the station, their soaked bodies chilled to the bone. Turning the corner, they spotted the helicopter. Leon didn't see a way through and wondered how they were gonna get through. "OK, now that we put out the fire, how are we gonna—"
Leon was interrupted when the helicopter was suddenly lifted and tossed aside as if it weighed nothing. Jasper put his arm in front of Leon as a large figure was revealed on the other side.
"Jesus Christ!" Leon shouted.