Chapter 09: Lucky Charms

They blocked the door on the shutter side with the broken chains Claire had cut earlier. After finding an antiseptic spray in the bathroom and killing a zombie crawling there, they blocked the corridor with metal shelves. Three more zombies were dealt with in the conference room, where they found a half full 9mm ammo box, and a full one along with another wood plank inside a small closet. The fuse had been put to use, and the shutter was opened, clearing the way to the Reception Hall.

On the way to the West Office, Claire checked on Marvin. His skin looked more grey white than brown, and Rick had been ready to put the man down for good. He decided otherwise because of Claire. He knew she would not have liked it, and that would have created unnecessary tension between them, tension they did not need considering the hell they were in.

In the office, Claire wrote another note for Leon while Rick tried to open the safe with the code they had found earlier. To his surprise, it worked, and he thanked God for cops being stupid or just lazy. Inside the safe was a pouch, which he left right next to the semi automatic magazine on Leon’s desk.

Afterwards, they went to the Safety Deposit Room as they had intended. Claire used the keycard on the reader, and they finally got access to both the shotgun and the grenade launcher. She took the latter and the pack of incendiary rounds, while Rick picked up the shotgun and went back to the West Office to lay it down with the rest of the gear. He took all the shells for it from his backpack and put them next to the weapon, too.

They had given Leon all the help they could, and it was now time to return to the search for the last medallion. Getting back to the corridor, they walked toward the broken window up the wall. Rick laced his hands together and pushed Claire up when she put a foot in them.

Once she got to the other side, he handed her the bolt cutters.

“See you in a sec.”

Nodding at her, he shouldered his bag and moved in front of the locked door to the right of the vending machine the zombie Officer Ryswell had been brutalizing earlier.

Rick never let his guard down. All the zombies in the area might have been dealt with, but the lickers could crawl on the walls and the ceiling. This ability of theirs allowed them to go pretty much wherever they wanted, undetected. He would not get snuck up on by one.

He heard a lock turn behind him and on instinct took a step back, cleaver and gun in hand. The door opened slowly, revealing Claire behind it. Only then did he lower his arms.

“Everything good?” he asked her.

“Yeah, but there isn’t much.”

She invited him inside, and Rick looked around. The door to the Records Room had a huge red heart on it, meaning it needed a heart key to open. He found it strange, since the other door, the one from the corridor where he found his radio, had a green club. Different keys? He did not know and honestly did not care. He needed to find a statue, and he doubted its location was among records, reports, and files.

Nevertheless, he put the wooden planks next to the door into his backpack. When he turned around, Claire handed him a green herb and something else he had only seen in action movies.

“Is that…”

“A detonator?” Claire finished his sentence with excitement. “Yes, sir. It’s missing a battery, though, but—”

This time Rick completed hers. “We found one in Wesker’s office.” He took it and put it inside a side pocket of his backpack. “Not very useful unless there are some explosives around.”

Claire cut to the chase then. “That leaves only one location available.”

The West Storage room, where lickers probably waited for anyone unlucky enough to make some noise. Neither of them wanted to go there, but they did not have much of a choice. Or so Rick thought, until a memory crossed his mind.

“Wait, there is… No, never mind.”

At the prospect of a proper alternative, Claire was on him. “What? Do you remember something?”

“Yeah, but it’s useless.” Rick shook his head. “There is a door on the second floor of the library. It leads to the clocktower. Jugs told me there was nothing there. We would have to make a detour or pass by the Storage Room anyway.”

She deflated, her hopes dashed. It was not enough to keep her down, however, and she marched out of the room. As Rick fell in step, he noticed the word ‘CAP’ written on a whiteboard and circled frantically multiple times.

“Did you notice the word?” he asked her while walking down the corridor at her side.

“You mean ‘cap’? I did.” Claire saw him nod positively. “I think it may be the code for one of the locks upstairs.”

“That’s what I thought, too.”

It turned out it was the one in the showers. Inside the locker they not only found more incendiary rounds but a belt for them, along with a harness. Claire immediately put it around her waist and filled all the empty slots. She pulled the grenade launcher from Rick’s bag, attached the harness to it, and hung everything on her back. It was perhaps the best find they had made in the precinct.

Going through the small room where Rick found the Spade key, they arrived at a very narrow corridor with a wooden floor. Not the best with lickers around. Should a single plank creak and they might be done for.

Regardless, they needed to go forward, so they went forward. They barely even stopped when they saw a licker crawl over the window outside. They simply exchanged a silent look and kept moving. Taking a necessary turn at a corner, they reached a door which was thankfully not locked. Lady luck smiled on them as the door made no sound when Rick opened it.

Claire was able to see with her own eyes how much of a mess the room was. Rick had not lied one bit. It was like a tornado had wrecked the place. Debris everywhere, a destroyed ceiling with holes all over. It looked bad. Rick bumped her hip with his elbow and pointed to the left. A door with a zombie hanging from the ceiling right in front, just like her partner had described it. The difference was that the corpse was moving.

More than that, it was gesticulating. Hard enough that soon it would fall to the ground. Quickly, Claire moved as fast as she could without making any sound and stabbed the undead’s brain through an eye. It stopped moving instantly but still fell on her. Thankfully, Rick was right behind her and caught it.

He signaled her to open the door, which she did, and went through. Without a second thought, he threw the zombie over the wooden rail to the floor below.

“That was close.” A sigh of relief escaped Claire’s lips. When she noticed the door in the corner of the library, she could not help but ask Rick about it. “Are we trying it?”

He pointed at the door they came from with his thumb. “Didn’t you see? The statue is back there.”

Taking a deep breath, Claire resigned herself. “Nothing can go our way today, can it?”

“Today?” Rick snorted. “Try the whole week.”

Knowing perfectly well that Rick had been living this nightmare for seven days, Claire found the laugh that escaped her very morbid and dark. It still was good humor in her opinion.

“Still, we got a grenade launcher, so that makes today the best day of all of them.”

“Wow… That is so…”

“Sad? I agree a hundred percent.”

“We better stay together, then. I mean, we met, what, a few hours ago? And already your luck has improved drastically. I’m like… Your lucky charm.”

Rick gave her a flat look while her facial expression was one of amusement. It lasted a dozen seconds before Claire cracked. It was him who spoke up, though.

“You sewed your name onto my flesh.”

Her protest was both immediate and loud. “I did not!”

“Uh huh. I will believe it when I see it.”

Claire smacked his arm to show her annoyance and followed him back into the storage room. They went straight left, and her eyes caught the statue behind thick metal bars. Looking around, they found a box of 9mm ammo and another pouch. Rick picked it up and settled it on her lower back with the others, while she stayed vigilant.

From the side pocket of his backpack, he pulled out the detonator and showed it to Claire. She gave him a quizzical look until he pointed at a small brick stuck on a wooden fence with the word ‘C4’ on it. It was obvious to both of them they would need to blow it up to get access to the medallion.

“Do you know how to use it?” he whispered as low as he could.

“I think so.” She nodded. “But once we blow it up…”

“The lickers will show up.” Rick sighed. Thinking for a moment, he shared an idea. “It is on a timer, right? Why don’t we get back inside the library before the explosion? We will let the lickers miss us.”

“I like it. Let’s do that.”

Claire took the detonator while Rick drew his semi automatic. He began walking back to the door, opened it, and kept it that way for her. Every second that passed increased his stress and made him doubt. What if Claire could not get it to work? What if the timer was too short?

His fears faded when he saw her reach the entrance. Unfortunately, the C4 blew up right at that moment, and the deflagration made the bookshelf right next to the door fall on her. With inhuman speed, he grabbed her arm and pulled her to him. Rick had put so much strength into it that Claire collided with him hard enough to tackle him down and take her along.

“Ugh!”

“Are you—” The eerie scream of a licker immediately made Claire lower her voice. “Are you alright?” she asked while straddling his thighs.

“I will be once… you stop gripping my waist.” He grunted in pain.

“Huh?”

Looking down, Claire saw where her left hand was positioned. Right on his injury. Out of panic and concern, she released it.

“Shit! I am sorry!”

“It’s fine. At least you’re not heavy, so there is that.”

Only now realizing she was basically mounting Rick, Claire got off him with a smirk on her lips.

“I bet you liked it.” She offered her hand to pull him up.

Rick shot her a murderous look. “I don't know. Let’s try again when I am not feeling like I am being stabbed?”

Her amused expression turned into guilt. “Sorry.”

A sigh escaped his lips. “No, I am sorry. It’s the pain talking, and I should have kept my temper in check,” he replied apologetically.

Her walkie talkie at her hip crackled. “Claire… Are you alright? I heard an… explosion.”

Claire picked it up and answered. “Yes, Marvin. I am… we are fine. Mostly.” She shot a silent look at Rick. “We just blew up some C4 to get to the last statue. We will be back soon.”

“Alright. Be careful.”

“Got it!”

She spoke with forced enthusiasm. Had Marvin been able to see her face, he would have seen she was anything but. Putting the radio back on her hip, she saw Rick carrying his bag in front of him.

He explained himself when he saw her confused look. “If a licker charges, I have a shield. Flimsy, but… don’t have much else.”

“I’m getting the medallion, then. I’m alright with this. I have the code anyway.” She pulled a small piece of paper from her back pocket and opened it. “Marvin gave me the page when I told him we would be radio silent.”

Rick gave her a nod and opened the door. He left his bag on the ground and pulled up the shelf he had forgotten in the commotion before arming himself again. Once inside the storage room, he looked around from top to bottom to catch sight of a licker, but there was none.

Stealthily making his way to where the C4 had been, he was pleased to see the way was now unobstructed. Claire went around him to get the medallion.

“Shit, the carvings are almost gone. It’s difficult to see,” she whispered to him.

Rick was more alert than ever. ‘Great. As if we needed to spend more time in here.’

Right as he heard the now familiar sound of a medallion being freed, the scream of a licker echoed in the room. Claire grabbed the item with one hand and drew her revolver with the other. She silently got behind her partner, a hand of support on his shoulder.

Slowly, he walked forward. They went through the hole in the fence when a licker fell down seven feet away. Its tongue darted out of its mouth like a whip straight for Rick. Using his bag to protect himself and Claire, Rick was just in time to block the appendage, which stuck into it.

Without thinking twice, he grabbed the tongue with his bare hand and with all his strength pulled the licker toward him. With excellent hand eye coordination, Rick used his backpack to hit his target mid air, sending it colliding violently against the wall. He did not stop there and stomped it right on its mouth, breaking its jaw, tearing away the tongue, and pinning the licker down.

Claire used the opportunity to get out from behind Rick and knifed the monster in the brain multiple times until it died.

“That was impressive.” She looked at Rick with an expression he could not decipher.

“Who’s whose lucky charm now?”

“Oh, shut up.” She chuckled.