Chapter 10: House of Cards

Entering the station, I can see that a number of the other officers have returned. Emergency lights and candles provide enough light to navigate our way through the halls. The silence that had once lingered was now gone. In it's place, people screaming in confusion, agony, and anger over the ones that had fallen before them. The whole station was like a house of cards ready to fall at any moment. Walking past the infirmary is where I first hear the words that had been floating in the back of my mind, "Zombie's man...fuckin zombies...". Nicole leads Bev and I to the others. Rudy and Richard are huddled inside the station barracks, sleeping. Nicole whispers to us as she rests her Remington on the railing of her bed, "Claire and I are on watch...It's their turn to sleep." Claire then enters the room. "I'm so glad your okay!" Rudy is awakened by the ruckus, but Richard remains asleep, tired from the night watch. Rudy looks up, scratches his tired eyes, and shuffles his way over to us, "Are yyyou guys okay?" Soon, everyone but Richard is awake. "Yeah, we're okay...how are you guy's holding up?" I ask them.

Nicole: "Those things tried to get in through the front but some guy came, started shooting at them. He took a few down before making us seal up the entrances. He's the one that gave me the gun. He told us to stay here, and then he said something about finding the armory."

Bev puts the little girl down onto one of the beds. She tucks her in, but then, I can immediately see tears begin flowing down her cheeks as she starts walking back towards us.
"What's wrong?" I ask her as she speeds past us with her hand over her mouth, crying. I follow her out to the hallway. She stops, facing the wall. I place my hand on her back, to comfort her. "Hey...It's going to be alright." She turns around and she looks at me with her teary, green eyes.

Bev: Do you know what that little girl just asked me, Pete?...She asked if her daddy was going to be okay.....and I told her no. I told her...that he went somewhere we couldn't follow...the look on this little girl's face, I..."

She begins to breakdown and I hug her for comfort. Nicole comes outside hearing Bev crying. Nicole takes Bev inside as she dries Bev's eyes with her sleeve. "You need to sleep, you've had a long day."
Bev lies down on the bed closest to the little girl and falls asleep. I wonder if it had been the death of Bev's child that had caused her to breakdown. (Two years ago, Bev's daughter suddenly died of an aneurysm. If she were alive today, she'd have been around that little girl's age.) I pick up the Remington and tell Nicole to sleep. Her time as night watch was over; Mine had just begun.