"𝐈𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧."

- 1 -

Don't stop running. That's all I could think of. If I stopped, I would be dead, and become one of those 'things' out on these streets. How could the world go to shit so fast? Only a few days ago everything was as it usually was, people coming into the library, renting books, studying for their exams. What happened...

A few days ago...

The calming noise of that little doorbell ringing was always such a magical sound. The bell itself was cute too. It was hung just above the door so when customers would come in the bell would ring, as if it was happy to see them coming into the library. That bell made me feel like I was in a movie for some dumb reason.

"Hi! Do you know if you guys have any books on gardening? I'm trying to get better at my plants." a sweet and polite looking young girl asked me with a welcoming smile. Her voice was calm and soft.

"Mhm we do! Follow me, we actually got a few new books on gardening I'm pretty sure." I walked with her down the aisles. Books upon books were organized neatly into their spaces.
Together we turned a corner into an aisle. I looked for only a few seconds before picking out a book.

"Is this something that'll work?" I showed her the cover of the book. She nodded her head.

"Yes! That's perfect! Thank you." she took the book from my hand. She still had that smile on her face as she flipped through the book's pages.

"I can check you out up front, unless you still would like to look around." I gestured towards the front of the library at the checkout desk.

"Thanks, but I'm going to look around for a little longer." she looked around at the other book isles.

"Awesome! Just let me know if you have any further questions." I smiled back at her before leaving towards the front of the library.

The bell rang again as a trio of students entered. Two of them held giant textbooks while the other held onto their tote bag. The trio made it towards the back where the study nooks are located. I sat back down at the checkout desk, grabbing my current book, and began reading.
I felt a strange uneasy feeling rush up my spine.

I tried shaking it off as just some wind coming in from people entering the library, but I couldn't. My eyes drifted over to the handgun that was hidden in some drawers under the desk. Something didn't feel right. Shaking my head and rolling my eyes I went back to reading. 

Later that night...

Rain tapped on the apartment window. It was a gentle rainstorm which wasn't anything new for the Raccoon City residents. Rain was a constant thing, at least that's how it felt for those who lived there.
I was at the kitchen cleaning up the dishes. The living room TV was streaming some talk-show before it fuzzed and switched to the news channel. The sudden change caught me off guard.

"What...?" I walked over into the living room and began to watch the news reporter. They looked fearful and distressed.

"For anyone who may be watching, this is an urgent announcement. Please head to the Raccoon City police station. A sudden outbreak has—" the TV suddenly cut to black. My apartment lights flickered before completely shutting down.

"Are you kidding me...what the hell is— " I was cut off by the sound of screaming and gunshots just a few doors down in my apartment building.
I felt my knees buckle and that shaking feeling you get when you know something's wrong. I quickly went to the front door and looked through the peephole, I saw nothing besides my neighboring door and the hallway.