Chapter Text
Chapter 1
September 29, 1998
10:08 P.M.
“You know, it’s not really surprising that this happened.”
Judith glanced over at Marvin, incredulousness and concern blending into his expression.
“What are you talking about?”
The lieutenant chuckled, and then winced, earning him a look from Jude. “Raccoon City is a pretty shit place to live in. Always had an aura of bad luck.”
Judith huffed and shook his head. “Well, even if you’re not surprised that there’s a literal zombie invasion, that doesn’t mean you should be reckless. Look where that got you.”
He gestured at Marvin’s side. The lieutenant sighed heavily, moving a hand instinctively to the wound.
“You’re right, I should’ve been more careful. It’s just... Brad, he...” the man rubbed at the bridge of his nose, sighing again.
Judith was silent for a beat. His mind wandered back to everyone who he was worried about: all his friends, some of his family, and especially... his son.
“It’s not your fault, Marvin. I... probably would’ve hesitated, too.”
And Judith had hesitated. Only once, though. He could remember the sound of bloody, snapping jaws, and his own desperate pleas in the face of his infected partner. All the way down in the lab. But then a huge, shadowy figure had whacked the zombie away, and Jude hadn’t wasted any time fleeing the spot.
He went on to remember arriving at the dark, empty house. Yelling for his son, only to arrive upstairs to an abandoned colorful bedroom and an open window. And the remnants of blood on the sill, nearly washed away by the rain pouring in.
“You’re pretty good with stitches, you know that?” Marvin’s voice broke him out of his depressing thoughts.
“I do know,” Jude hummed, smiling up at the man.
He glanced with distaste at his fully blood-soaked denim jacket, then decided to ball it up and toss it in the bin.
“Thanks, kid. For... everything,” Marvin’s voice was hoarse, now.
Jude looked somberly up at the lieutenant. Studied his blue police shirt that was soaked with both infected blood, and his own blood, and at the tear in the side that showed the bandages. Bandages that hid stitches, which were practically the only thing holding the man’s insides inside.
“It’s no problem, sir. Just don’t get yourself killed, or we’ll have a lot to sort out.”
They were... allies, of sorts. Maybe not friends, not yet, because Jude had only met Marvin when he had chancedly shot a zombie off the lieutenant (even though Jude mostly sucked with guns).
But there was no hostility. Only the supporting of each other, keeping each other alive.
Jude had never really had a father present in his life. Sure, he had a father, but the man... the man had been absorbed by his own work. Marvin has acted more caring toward him in those few hours that they’d known each other, than those 15 years that Jude’s dad had been in his life.
And Jude went to live with his mom, outside of Raccoon, for a while. When he found his dad’s body, hanging over the edge of his desk, and blood dripped from the hole he’d put in his head. Yeah, his parents had been pretty distant, but his dad had the money and won Jude over.
And then... then came the opportunity. Working as a supervisor in the lab, his job was to make sure everyone else was doing their jobs. And sometimes filling it at the pharmacy, sending out prescriptions to those who needed them. It was amazing. Everything he’d literally dreamed of.
Of having a deeper voice. Flat chest. Masculinity. Confidence. And they had given to him, just for working for them.
Those dreams he used to have; walking around his old college campus, with a man’s body, muscles, everything, and flirting with every guy in his line of sight. Those dreams where he sat in his family’s kitchen, with his mom and dad at his side, talking about what an amazing son he was. What an amazing man he’d grown up to be. Umbrella made it work. Made those dreams real, fucking tangible.
And yet, if anyone else knew, apart from the indifferent employees at the lab, that his body wasn’t natural... well, they didn’t, did they? Outsiders didn’t have to know. They saw a man now, and that was all Jude needed.
He rolled his neck, and then rolled his shoulder. There was a dull pain deep in the center of his shoulder, probably cramping from working so long and holding it in a fixed and uncomfortable position while stitching Marvin up. Or... something else. Probably not, though.
“You alright?”
Jude held his shoulder for a moment. “Yeah. Small price to pay for patching you up. Haven’t had to do that in a while.”
Marvin grunted in response.
Jude glared at the garbage bin. He would love to keep the jacket, seeing that he’s had it since he was fifteen. But unless there was a washing machine somewhere in the police department, he doubted that it was salvageable.
Besides, there’s no telling what could be out there that’s drawn by the simple smell of blood, even dried. And his jacket was soaked. Nearly dyed red, which was quickly turning an ugly brown.
Jude sighed and scrubbed a hand down his face.
He and Marvin were holed up in the waiting room on the second floor.
Jude sat against the desk holding an nonworking computer, unable to bring himself to relax on one of the plush leather seats. Marvin did the exactly opposite, one leg up on the sofa, leaning his head back against the wall.
As for a plan of what the hell were they going to do? No clue. Jude just needed time to process all that was happening. He was still in a minor state of disbelief, eyes constantly unfocusing as he kept staring off into space.
He drummed his short nails on the floorboards, absently yet a bit anxiously humming an Iron Maiden song to himself. Honestly speaking, with the way zombies reacted to any noise, he’d be dead out there. Humming had become his stilling tool for nervousness.
“You know, Irons wanted me to become the next police chief.”
That hit close to home. They both had plans, had their lives to live out, and that was interrupted by this goddamn mess.
Jude took a breath and smiled up at the man. “Yeah? You‘ll probably do great.”
Marvin let out a wheezy laugh that didn’t sound promising given his current state. “Kid, this city is fucked. If we get out, they’ll probably... I dunno. They might bomb it.”
Jude felt a spike shoot up in his stomach like a stalagmite. A cold feeling worked its way up onto the warm back of his neck, and he was filled with dread at the very thought of losing the city like that. Losing his... home.
And most importantly, he still hadn’t found his own kid yet. He didn’t know what he’d do, how he would forgive himself if he just... didn’t do anything.
“Well, then, let’s pray that any and all survivors make it out alive,” Jude struggled to keep his voice steady, but it still shook with the weight of his emotions.
There was a very thin tether keeping him from just breaking down and sobbing on the spot. Possibly going manic and smashing things in a delirious rage.
Maybe it was just the shock that was keeping him from getting the full emotional experience, if so then he was kind of glad, because he never signed up for that. Or maybe it was the fact that it wouldn’t help Abe, his little boy, to break down over the thought of him out there, all alone.
“God, I just...” Jude exhaled before he could stop himself.
Now that Marvin was looking inquisitive, he couldn’t stop. And maybe... maybe he didn’t want to stop talking.
“I- I have a boy, Abe. He’s... he’s five, and he’s already half my height. At this rate, he’ll shoot up past me before I can blink,” Jude let out a broken chuckle, trying to gather the pieces of himself as best he could and hold onto them tight, like nobody had ever done for him. “He’s... I don’t know... I don’t know what happened to him. All this bullshit went down while I was at work. I’m... I wasn’t making the best decisions, choosing to stay at my workplace for a few day at a time. And when I finally came back, he wasn’t there.”
Jude let out a quick, trembling sigh. “I’m so scared, Marvin. I... I don’t even know if I care about my own life as much as I care about his. I’m just... I hate imagining how he’s out there, all alone.”
“Hey, now, being reckless with your own life never did anyone any good. I’m... I’m sure he’s alive, somewhere out there. Maybe he found another survivor who’s keeping him safe as we speak.”
Marvin had a somber glint in his eyes, despite his kind words.
Jude knew that the possibility hung between them, but neither of them wanted to say it out loud: it was more likely that Abe was dead.
It was pure, pure luck that let him find Marvin in the entryway in front of the station. Pure luck that he managed to nail the zombie that was once Marvin’s friend straight in the head with a bullet, when he was about to maul the lieutenant. Pure luck that the thing stayed down, because those things never died.
Jude took a deep, wobbly breath. “Thanks, Marvin.”
Marvin nodded gravely, peering down at Jude.
He wondered if Marvin did have any kids.
“Hey, tell me something, do you—”
They were interrupted by a loud slamming sound outside the room. Somewhere inside the main hall.
Marvin immediately tensed, while Jude stood, hand on his gun holster. Lucky that he managed to swipe it before the zombies in the house noticed him.
He fixed Marvin with a serious look. “Marvin, I, uh... think you should stay here. You’re in no shape to deal with any more of those sons o’ bitches.”
Marvin gritted his teeth, as he repositioned himself to sitting properly upright. “I think... you’re right. Ngh, just be careful.”
Jude smiled, but it was kind of sad. “I’ll try.”
He approached the door, readying his 1911 EMP. Okay, maybe he wasn’t that bad of a shot, but it was his nerves that made his hands tremble. He was a nurse, a pharmacist, a supervisor, not a gunman.
He pushed the door open, and approached the railing. There was nothing out of the ordinary from what he could see so far.
Aiming his gun at the ground, he walked swiftly along the upper walkway, approaching the stairs round the banister corner. There were no monsters in sight, the main hall completely clear.
Jude had been shaking, but the fear was dying down a little. According to Marvin, a lot of the doors leading out of the main hall were locked, apart from two shutters. So the place had to be secure. And none of the doors seemed busted open or anything.
He descended the stairs, keeping one hand on the railing because he didn’t trust his feet at the moment.
The only sound was the occasional grunts of zombies outside, and the whirring of the computer at the front desk. Nothing seemed out of place.
That’s when he looked toward the shutters on the left.
The light next to the lever was green, and there was a gap between the door and the floor. Somebody had been in there.
Jude ran back up to the waiting room, once again feeling his heart beating up into his throat like it was grown helicopter wings and was trying to slice its way out. Even he knew it wasn’t a good idea to yell out and about, because who knows what could just suddenly appear around the corner.
Marvin looked anxious when Jude burst into the room.
He managed to get the words around the heartbeat that was fighting with his vocal cords, “Somebody was here.”
Jude was breathing heavily.
“Did you see who it was?”
He shook his head. “No. But the east shutter is open. Not all the way.”
“Shit,” Marvin muttered.
He stood, while Jude protested. “Marvin, what are you doing?!”
Marvin heaved a sigh, steadying himself on his feet. “There’s no telling what could happen. If whoever it was comes back, they might need help.”
Jude couldn’t help the fear and anxiety that grew so strongly, it made tears prick at his eyes. He nodded, after a moment of silent, petrified pondering.
“D-do you need help? I don’t want you to tear your stitches,” Jude’s voice sounded weird to himself.
“No, no, it’s fine. I’m fine.”
Marvin limped out the door, and down the walkway, with a pale-looking Jude watching over him nervously. Jude was prepared to rush to Marvin’s side in case the man was overcome by pain.
He decided to help Marvin down the stairs, not trusting the stitches to hold without support.
He only took two years of medical school, before dropping out after being offered an even better job opportunity that didn’t require much in the way of college. It was really his mom that had wanted him to become a nurse, for her own classified reasons.
Anyways, he didn’t trust his skills enough.
He and Marvin reached the bottom of the stairs, and the man insisted Jude let him go.
“You... holding up okay?”
Marvin waved his hand aimlessly, before placing it on his bandaged side. “I’ve been better. A lot better.”
The older man chuckled. “Just because I’m not surprised this shit went down, doesn’t mean it doesn’t suck. This is Hell we live in, now.”
“A Hell that we will live in for the shortest time possible. I... I’m gonna try and find a way out.”
Marvin shrugged. “There’s bound to be a zombie-free exit somewhere. It’ll be okay, kid.”
“I hope you’re right.” Jude looked up at the man.
Marvin stared off to the side, leaning against the wall to take a breather. He opened his mouth, presumably to try and re-reassure Jude—
—but he was cut off by a commotion at the shutter.
Jude heart skipped a beat, and looked at Marvin in alarm as the sounds of struggle became apparent.
“Hurry,” Marvin hissed, and he limped as fast as he could handle to the shutter.
Jude followed suit, gun ready, because there was no telling. As he went up the few stairs to the raised area, he saw a man struggling back under the shutter.
And a zombie was latching itself onto him.
“Jude! Get him!”
Jude saw that the zombie was dragging itself forward, trying to snap at the man’s neck. Aiming for the jugular, like a predator. He sprang into action, aiming a kick at the zombie’s face.
Blood spattered as the rotted, weak skin on its face tore, and it screeched in presumable pain. Jude was nearly panicking, but he used this advantage to loop his arms around the other man’s chest and drag him away from the potential horror scene. He fell over, because humans were heavy.
“Marvin!”
“I got it,” the lieutenant growled.
He placed his foot on the bottom edge of the shutter, and slammed it down on the zombie’s head. The skull gave way with a sickening crack and squelch, and brains flooded everywhere.
Jude sat there, panting, not daring to believe that he’d actually saved someone. There was the pressure of a head on his thigh, the other dude, the guy who he had saved.
But that pressure was soon gone, as the man sat up with a groan.
“Thanks,” the man panted, blond hair falling over one eye.
“Not a problem,” Marvin panted, letting out a groan when he leaned against the shutter with a slam of his back. “Marvin Branagh. That’s Judith.”
Judith smiled awkwardly as he stood.
“Leon Kennedy,” the blond panted. “Th-there was another officer, I couldn’t... I couldn’t...”
“I’m sure you did what you could, Leon,” Marvin reassured.
Jude wiped blood off his hands, rubbing them on the sides of his pants.
“Judith, I don’t know if you’re aware, but this is the rookie.”
Jude raised an eyebrow, watching as Marvin pulled Leon up.
“Glad to see another survivor,” Jude spoke quietly. He was still shaking, fiddling with his fingers.
“Me too. I... I thought the whole city had turned.”
Jude hung his head. Marvin clapped Leon on the back.
“Well, rookie, you’re not far off. By the way, I have a spare uniform for you. Come on, let’s get you changed...”
Jude stood aside to let the men pass him, and he didn’t miss the way Leon shot him a curious look, for some reason. But he pretended not to see. He needed a moment to just... process.
That had only been the second time he’d saved someone’s life. First Marvin, now Leon. And if he remembered correctly, they hadn’t been the first survivors Jude had come across.
His thoughts shifted to his boy, and he wanted to fucking cry. He’d left his five-year-old son with Sherry—who he very much trusted since she was twelve—but he’d left his son for so long.
Five days, he realized. The outbreak had apparently started on the twenty-fourth. Now it was the twenty-ninth.
Marvin and Leon had gone up to the waiting room, and Jude was unsure of whether to follow them or not.
He ascended the ramp slowly. And he sank slowly into one of the sofas, depressive thoughts seeing free roam in his head. His heart was literally aching, and he just wanted to wake up from this goddamn nightmare.
And it was so hard to just catch a break for five minutes. Something always had to go wrong.
Like when he’d been making his way to the police station and he had taken a moment to rest in the backyard of a fancy house. And a couple of zombie children were trying to claw their way up out of a hole in the ground. Clearly they had died and the parents, or whoever, had abandoned an attempt to bury them.
Then the zombies started trying the knock the fence down on one side. And he’d had to hop the fence on the other side.
His shoulder twinged suddenly, and he shuddered. Looking up to make sure the two men were still occupied with the whole uniform thing, Jude stood and looked for anything reflective. He found a piece of a broken mirror by the west shutter, behind a green stretcher.
Easing himself back on the couch, because for the moment he was starting to feel a bit woozy, he held up the mirror.
He definitely looked like shit, to say the least.
His hair was noticeably matted with mud, blood, and other nasty substances, visible even though it was dark brown. There was more of the same smeared on his face, and his lower lip had a small cut that he hadn’t even noticed until now.
Luckily all his ear piercings were still in, none having been torn out by all the action.
His mismatched eyes unnerved even him: one was aqua, the other hazel. Albeit, he’d started to hate them less when he transitioned, for unidentifiable reasons. He stared into them and realized that it must’ve freaked people out because he must’ve literally looked like he was peering into their souls.
His shoulder twinged again, and he pursued his lips anxiously.
Hooking a finger under the collar of his T-shirt, hand trembling, he slowly pulled it back. The feeling of the T-shirt passing over the skin was more painful than it should’ve been.
He saw a flash of red, and further pulled at his shirt, until his entire shoulder was bare. And... shit.
A bite mark. Clear as day, slightly bleeding from where the teeth had broken the skin. It was developing a horrible blue-red-and-purple bruising. The veins under his skin around the bite were turning a dark purple. Shit.
Well... he had used the DEVIL antivirus on himself. Remembered it clearly, stabbing it (not really) into the visible vein in the crook of his elbow. It had felt like he’d injected pure fire into his veins, which then turned to ice. He’d been shivering when he was steered out of there, climbing up an emergency hatch to emerge in a road filled with undead.
Jude blinked himself out of the memory. If he had the antivirus in his blood, then that must be what the strange coloring around the wound was: the virus battling with the antidote.
He looked idly up at the waiting room door, on the second floor. Debated how—or if he even could—tell the two men that he had been bit.
There wasn’t really any way of knowing how powerful the virus was, whether just a bite would be enough to kill the person and turn them. That most likely was the case, unless the receiver of the bite was already naturally immune.
Anyways, there was a very low chance he would turn, because Marvin was already experiencing the effects of being infected only thirty minutes after he’d gotten bit. Jude’s bite was only a bit sore and stung a little, but otherwise he felt fine.
Besides, if he told them, he would either have to say he thought he was immune (which wasn’t a very valid or plausible theory), or he would have to explain that he got the antidote. Which would mean that he would have to tell them he worked at Umbrella. Which would mean that Marvin would become distrustful (with valid reasoning) and Jude couldn’t afford that.
So, he decided to let it go. If someone brought up that he was holding his shoulder a bit weird, he would explain that he had tripped a few times on his way here and hadn’t exactly left unscathed.
He slid the mirror shard under the couch, and jumped when the door slammed open overhead. For just one insufferable and illogical split second of panic, he wondered if they were coming to get him, but then he heard the two men in deep discussion and Jude relaxed.
He hurriedly pulled his shirt back over his shoulder, and realized how cold he was. He was still shaken by all those events, so he wasn’t sure if it was genuine cold or shock.
“. . . not how I imagined breaking this in.”
He heard Leon’s statement, accompanied by a nervous chuckle from the rookie.
“It’s as good an opportunity as any,” Marvin said, gripping heavily onto the banister, leaving bloody handprints in his wake.
“Wait, do these have thermal lining?”
“Sure do. You won’t be too hot or too cold, but I’m sure that won’t really affect your zombie-killing abilities.”
Leon huffed a laugh, though it sounded more like a scoff. “Hey, sweaty hands aren’t good for gun-wielding.”
“Okay, you’re wearing gloves so that shouldn’t be a problem. Stop complaining,” Marvin sighed, shaking his head.
“I wasn’t complaining!”
Jude only realized he’d been staring when Leon threw him a glance and he found his face growing warm. How embarrassing; Jude was feeling worse than he thought.
Goosebumps were prickling along his arms now, but it was impossible to tell if it was affecting the other two men or not. He still didn’t feel feverish.
“Is it j-just me, or is it freezing in here?” his lips wouldn’t stop trembling, and everything felt weird and stiff.
His brain felt weirdly empty, like everything was just a dream that he couldn’t wake up from.
Leon furrowed his brows, exchanged a look with Marvin, and knelt in front of Jude. He took Jude’s wrist in his hands, which were covered in fingerless padded gloves, and placed his thumb over the pulse area.
“Well... for one thing, you look soaked to the bone. And it’s weirdly cold for September this year. Uh, here, lemme...”
Jude hadn’t even noticed that Leon had brough his civilian clothes down and had set them on couch. He really was out of it, huh.
“You also may be in shock, son. You’ve been through a lot already, tonight,” Marvin spoke gently, sympathy reflecting in his brown eyes.
Even if the man hadn’t said it outright, Judith knew that the lieutenant was talking about Abe.
Leon sighed, holding up a dark blue-gray windbreaker. His jacket. “This’ll have to do, it’s warm and waterproof. Here.”
Jude saw a light pink tinge on Leon’s pale cheeks, and wondered if the other man was cold, too. He accepted the jacket with a quiet “thank you,” pulling his arms through the sleeves. It was warm, and the polyester was softened slightly from use.
He now turned his attention to Marvin, who was examining the pages of small brown notebook.
“Officer Elliot was determined,” Marvin murmured. He paused on a page, lips moving silently as he presumably read the words. “He theorized there was an underground passageway through here.”
Leon peered curiously over his lieutenant’s shoulder.
“Underground? What kinda police station is this?” Jude couldnt help himself, as he peered at the men and wrapped the jacket tight around himself.
“The kind that used to be a museum. They didn’t tear everything down, you’ll probably still find things leftover from it’s artifact days.”
Jude furrowed his brows, repressing a shudder when his shoulder tingled. He stood, stretching his sides.
“So we find the passageway, and we get out. Easy.”
“Not quite,” Marvin groaned as he shifted on his seat. “It’s not that simple.”
“Seriously?”
“What now?” Jude approached the two men.
“That goddess statue there,” Marvin pointed at said sculpture, to his right. “Has a set of three missing ornaments, like keys. See the indents below? They never had to be used before now, I guess. But I’m pretty certain that those ornaments are scattered through the police station.”
“So— so we have to...” Jude’s voice was shaking. “Go through the very parts of the police station that... what, that we’ve been avoiding this whole time?”
Marvin nodded gravely. “It won’t be easy.”
“It’s suicidal!”
“Hey,” Leon grabbed Jude’s upper arm, steering them both a few feet away. “Cut the lieutenant some slack. It’s not his fault we’re stuck here.”
Jude choked back a cry right there. Of course it wasn’t Marvin’s fault. . . . It was his own fucking fault. For working at Umbrella and not realizing it sooner, what they were up to. It felt like he had been the producer of this horror film nightmare.
However, there was no hostility in Leon’s eyes. He was just trying to restore order, and make sure no one became manic during their escape, Jude realized. Now he felt worse.
He hung his head, chewing the inside of his cheek. “Sorry. You’re right, I’m not helping.”
Leon’s expression became surprisingly gentle.
“No, no, that- that’s not what I—“
“It’s fine,” Jude wanted to get out of there, because he felt an unavoidable breakdown coming. He knew it had been on its way but he had figured that maybe he could push past it. Oh, how wrong he was for attempting a bypass of his emotions.
He tugged his arm out of Leon’s grasp with more force than necessary. Ignoring Marvin’s inquiries and Leon’s protests. Trying to control his breathing that was becoming rapidly uneven, and his heart that was beating into his throat again.
His eyes burned with the tears that he had been pushing back for hours now.
Every single strong emotion that he had forced back whilst he’d been trying to survive was coming back in full charge, and each one felt like a punch in his neck. A sob teetered at the back of his throat.
He pushed through the waiting room door, having no recollection of staggering up the stairs.
Then his legs gave out and he collapsed on the nearest couch, losing all composure.
Despite being too tired to move, he managed to curl into himself.
He buried his face into his knees and pressed his palms into his eyes.
Next came burning hot tears. Like all the panic and frustration he’d suppressed had swirled into a volcano and was now erupting. That probably wouldn’t have been good for his wellbeing if he turned into a volcano, no doubt.
He was such a failure. Having been so obsessed with paying Umbrella back for giving him what he wanted, so obsessed with making the perfect life for himself, he had failed to see what had been truly important.
And now Abe was gone.
The small child who he had allowed himself to be split open for, was gone. Gone, dead, maybe mauled by one of the hellish lurkers outside.
Next came the guilt.
He had allowed Umbrella’s deviltry to push the whole city into collapse. It wasn’t even on the brink, like it used to be. It was full-on carnage.
Yeah, sure, he hadn’t been in on any of the virus-making going on. He had just been stationed in certain rooms to make sure no-one was slacking off or jacking off, and then he could call it a day.
But he’d turned a blind eye, assuming that they were trying to find the cure to cancer or something. And maybe they had.
But a company that big couldn’t possibly accidentally make a virus so horrid. They had to have at least partially been aware of it.
It was becoming hard to breathe. It felt like his volcano had broken out and was flooding the room with warm vents.
His face felt sticky with tears now, and snot was pooling uncomfortable on his upper lip. He must’ve looked like a mess, no doubt. And he didn’t want to be seen by anyone.
Jude found he could move again, now. His limbs hurt from actively curling in on himself as tightly as possible.
He spotted a box of tissues on the curved desk across the room.
Jude slowly stood, afraid of getting a dizzy spell. It always happened when he cried, because somehow he always managed to bottle things up for far too long and he expended a shit-ton of energy when he finally broke.
He also felt a bit warm with embarrassment, from the way he acted in front of the men. It flooded up to his face and made a few more tears stream down, because why not! He was already emotionally compromised.
They didn’t need a guy who had spontaneous emotional breakdowns, and now he felt a bit uneasy. What were the two men going to say whenever he came back out?
Jude slouched over to the tissues and cleaned up his face, as well as blowing his nose. He must’ve gone through at least four tissues before he felt remotely dry. But even then he kept tearing up.
There was a crack in his dam. Actually, he wouldn’t be surprised if it broke altogether. It was like he was standing in the middle of the highway (completely unwillingly) and all this shit happening was hitting him like car after car after goddamn car.
There was a knock on the door, effectively startling Jude into dropping the tissue box.
“Hey, it’s, uh, Leon. You... you okay?”
Jude froze completely, his system doing a complete rewire. Was he imagining things? Or was Leon concerned for his wellbeing, instead of being pissed that there was an emotionally unreliable person in the group?
“Uh,” was all Jude could say. His voice was more nasally than usual and he sounded sick.
“Can I come in?”
“Uh!” this time Jude managed to put some feeling into that one. Real good job, Jude.
He tried again. “Um... yeah? Come in, I guess.”
The door creaked open and the cautious-looking blond poked his head in. He fixed Jude with an ice-blue stare, lips pursed in thought.
“You alright?” Leon’s voice was quiet.
Jude nodded quickly, wiping his face once more. He sniffled, cringing when he realized his nose was still running.
Leon opened the door, stepped inside, and shut it gently.
“Did Marvin send you up here?” Jude let a small laugh into his sentence, turning around and replacing the tissues.
“No, uh, but he was worried. And I was, too. But... is anything going on?”
Jude scoffed. “What isn’t going on tonight, Leon?”
He fixed the man with his own stare over his shoulder, though he figured his mud brick-colored eyes were nowhere near as intimidating as a blue or green gaze.
Leon quirked the corner of his mouth, lowering his head and shaking it. “No, you’re right. Sorry.”
“Don’t be,” Jude felt bad, now. He couldn’t think clearly, so he couldn’t tell if he was being an asshole at this point.
He sighed, pinching the aching bridge of his nose. Whenever he cried, his sinuses cried, too.
“It’s just... well...” Jude couldn’t get it out.
He sighed again, plopping down on the couch and burying his face in his knees once more. Trying to force back the tears. Trying to... oh, why was he even trying?
A second later, he felt the couch dip beside him.
“I... I don’t know what you’re going through, and I can’t even imagine how it feels for you, right now. I don’t have anything important in my life that’s been... lost. This city isn’t even my home, so I have nothing here to leave behind.”
Jude raised his head, eyes burning once again. Leon had his head lowered, one leg up on the couch.
“But... well, we’re in this together. Whether we like it or not, we all have to stick by each other to survive, watch each other’s’ backs. And I know we don’t even know each other that well, so... well, you don’t even have to tell me anything or talk to me, because I’m not entitled to any information—“
Leon paused, looking lost for a moment. “Sorry... my point is, well, we need to be here for each other. And... I’m listening, if you wanna talk.”
Jude rested the side of his head on his knee, eyes pointing away from the man.
“I... have a kid. Abe. He’s... uh, five,” Jude’s voice trembled dangerously, and he pressed his fists into his eyes. “I went on a— a work trip for a few days. I came back to this. He was staying with a friend and I thought everything was going to be fine. But I came back and he was... he was gone.”
Despite his efforts, Jude felt tears start streaming down again. He wished, so badly, that he could tell the two men everything about Umbrella. But he knew they would blame him for everything that was happening. And hell, he blamed himself. But he was too much of a coward to face being left behind to face his mess.
Choking back a sob, he continued, “I tried, but I- I couldn’t find him. I looked everywhere but he- he was gone, disappeared and then the zombies came and I almost died and now he might be dead and—“
Multiple things happened at once: Jude’s voice broke off with a small sob, more like a whimper, and it felt so shameful in front of somebody else but he just couldn’t hold it back.
At the same time, he was being wrapped in a warm embrace. So warm that it felt like maybe he was dreaming and sitting in front of his fireplace, all safe and at home. No zombie apocalypse to worry about.
But no. That warm embrace was Leon’s strong arms, pressing against his sides and back, Leon’s chest pressed against his own. That embrace was one of Leon’s gloved hands moving up to the back of Jude’s head, so he had no choice but to lean his head on the man’s shoulder.
Something... okay bloomed inside of him. This was a nice feeling. There was... hope, now, as if Leon’s good-boy vibes were leaking into Jude’s depressing vibes and wrapping them in a hopeful embrace, exactly like what was happening between the two men.
Jude wasn’t sure he’d ever been hugged like this before. And that thought brought more burning tears leaking from the corners of his eyes, so he squeezed them shut.
He realized his arms were sat stiffly at his sides. He changed that, wrapping them around Leon’s waist.
This was... significant. Nobody had ever hugged Jude like this before, and he never wanted it to end.
He just never expected a hug like this to be with a complete stranger. He always imagined it to be with someone who made his heart sing; a significant other, basically.
“I’m so sorry, Judith,” Leon’s voice was muffled in Jude’s own shoulder. “I hope we find him.”
Jude sniffled again, and it became easier to breathe. Leon’s touch was really comforting, for some reason. He really never wanted to let go, but he wasn’t sure if it was because of how nice the embrace was or... yeah, it was probably just the nice embrace.
But he forced himself to pull away, because he didn’t deserve someone so kind like Leon was.
He wiped at his face, aware of how close Leon remained, fiddling with his padded gloves, hands resting in his lap.
“Thanks, Leon.”
Leon shrugged, corners of his mouth tugging downward nonchalantly. “I figured you, y’know, needed that. Least I could do.”
It was only then that Jude noticed the pink spreading across Leon’s cheekbones again. It couldn’t have been from the cold, because Leon was, like, really fucking warm.
Before he could think anymore on that, though, the com on Leon’s shoulder crackled.
He exchanged a quick glance with Jude before pressing a button on the side.
“Leon, sorry to interrupt whatever may be happening, but we don’t have all night.”
The pink on Leon’s face intensified a bit in color. He spoke into the com, “Yeah, I’ll be there right away, sir.”
He released the com and stood up.
“What was that about?” Jude stared up at the blonde.
“He wants me to scout the station and look for any statues that might hold medallions. There are three in total, so... should be simple, huh?”
Leon adjusted the straps on his vest a little, and offered his hand to Jude.
Jude took it firmly, allowing himself to be pulled up. His legs wobbled a little, because even though he was completely fine, he’d expended way too much energy on resolutely sobbing until his eyes melted.
“Hey,” Leon said. He pulled Jude a bit closer, hands still clasped. “We’ll get out of this. We will.”
Jude just nodded, staring up at Leon, eyes still wet with the tears that he missed.
They made their way back downstairs, not uttering a word. It was... a strangely comfortable silence. Leon wouldn’t keep his eyes off Jude, whether it be from concern or something else, while Marvin explained some more about the medallions.
A lion, a maiden, and a unicorn.
The statues you need to look for. Pretty sure they’re all on the west side.
Marvin gave Leon a combat knife, for cutting away the tape that sealed the west shutter’s lever box. And for, well, general combat-against-bloodthirsty-monsters purposes.
Leon pointed out a statue on the upper floor, between the two sets of staircases. The lion statue. That would be for later, since it was right there.
Jude felt a small flutter of panic when Leon was actually ducking under the slowly-rising west shutter. Something didn’t feel right... something hadn’t been said.
He ran over there, and found Leon examining the papers left abandoned on the check-in desks. The remnants of the last-ever appointments and whatnot made before the outbreak hit.
Leon looked up, eyebrow lifting with surprise. Jude raised his own scarred eyebrows.
“Hey, I...” Jude struggled with his thoughts. He had wanted to come in there to talk to Leon one last time before potential disaster, but what else was there to say?
Leon turned to fully face Jude, and something finally clicked. He was starting to care for the rookie.
He went up to the taller man and pressed one awkward hand over Leon’s shoulder.
“Be careful out there, alright? Don’t get yourself killed on your first day. You might get written up, or something.”
Leon laughed. Actually laughed, beyond his huffs or chuckles. And Jude’s weird-ass joke wasn’t even funny but he found himself smiling too, and his face felt a bit warm now. It was a nice feeling.
Leon peered down at Jude with a sparkle of amusement in his eyes, now. “I’ll come back. Promise.”
“I’m holding you to it!” Jude said, backing away. He couldn’t help but smile, even thought Leon was walking straight into a danger zone.
Leon gave a two-fingered mock salute, disappearing behind a wooden billboard, where Jude guessed a door was. He sighed, shoulders slumping now. He was worried, that couldn’t be denied.
Jude shook his head, trying to rid himself of any more bad thoughts before he started breaking down again.
Pulling Leon’s jacket tighter around himself, he made his way to where Marvin was resting.
“You’ve been through a lot, Judith. Get some rest.”
Jude realized he did feel really tired. It felt like he hadn’t slept in days, and he had been running nonstop. Literally, though.
He made no attempt to protest, instead removing his arms from the sleeves of the jacket as he lay down, and draped it over himself. It was... surprisingly comfortable, resting his head on a soft pile that he realized was Leon’s clothes. But alas, he was comfortable and his eyes were already closing.
There was no room for shame at the moment, not when trying to survive an apocalypse. And everything was just... comforting.
He realized there was a unique scent on Leon’s clothes, a masculine musk and a hint of cologne mostly faded from zombie-battling. He was quickly beginning to feel that, yeah, this is nice.
The background noises faded, and everything drifted into a peaceful blackness.