Chapter Text
“Stars shining bright above you.”
Bang
“Night breeze seems to whisper, I love you.”
Bang
“Birds singing in the sycamore trees.”
Bang
“Dream a little dream of me.”
Bang.
Lucy looked at the camera filming her, she couldn’t take its taunting anymore. Its blinking light was like a countdown to her death. She realized at this point no one was coming.
“Let me out,” she cried as she banged her fist against the side. A primal rage built up inside her that she couldn’t keep in any longer. “LET ME OUUUUTTTT!!!!!” shrilled as she threw herself upwards hitting the top of the barrel.
Lucy shot up in her bed, letting out a half scream, half gasp. She breathed heavily and looked around at her surroundings. She was in bed in her apartment. She had been found, she had been saved, she was safe.
She rubbed her hand against her forehead and then through her sweat ridden hair as she looked down at her lap, trying to calm herself down.
“Lucy,” Jackson called out while knocking on her door. “You okay in there?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I just woke up.”
“Well, we need to get going soon. My waze app says traffic is rough right now.”
“Okay,” said Lucy. She threw herself back onto her bed and groaned. Today was going to be a long day.
-
“Chen!” She startled out of her daze against her window and turned to look at Tim who was driving.
“Sorry, what did you say?” She asked as he shook his head at her.
“What color was that truck that passed us, boot?”
“Uhh…” she thought quickly. She didn’t notice a truck so she blurted out one of the most common truck colors. “Gray.”
“Trick question, no truck passed us.”
“Damn it,” Lucy mumbled to herself.
“You’ve been out of it all morning. As cops it’s important to pay attention to our surroundings and be alert at all times, no matter what. Cause when you don’t pay attention, bad things will happen to you.”
“What, like getting drugged and kidnapped?” She snapped. She paused and turned her head sharply, making eye contact with Tim when she realized what she had said.
“I’m sorry—”
“No,” Tim responded quickly. “I’m… I’m sorry.” He looked forward and sighed. “I didn’t mean to imply that. The point is… you need to… Look, There’s no way for me to say this in a way that doesn’t make me sound like a victim blaming asshole, so just be on alert, okay?”
“Yes sir,” she said, voice timid.
Tim gazed at her as she looked down, then turned back to the road.“How are you doing?” He asked sincerely, causing Lucy to look back up at him. “Like really doing?”
“Fine,” she sighed, turning to face forward. “I guess.”
“Is the therapy helping?”
“Yeah, but I thought you didn’t believe in therapy?”
“I don't, but you do.”
“Is there a reason why you are asking all these questions?”
Tim sighed,“Look it’s been barely two months since the… incident, and you’ve only been back a few weeks. At this point in your training and after everything, it’s my job as your TO to look for any bumps in the road that might interfere with you crossing the finish line and help you overcome them so you don’t wash out. Because at this point you've been through too much to deserve that outcome.”
Lucy looked at him in awe at his statement. The TO who once tried to do everything possible to make her wash out, now wants to do everything possible to make sure she stays.
“So, Boot, tell me. What’s really going on? How are you really doing?”
Before she could answer, the radio crackled to life. “7-Lincoln-7, I need help, I just got attacked by a crazed drug addict, he got away, I need an RA and back up.”
Lucy picked up the radio to respond but then the radio crackled to life again.
“7-Adam-16 I have situation going down at Mid-Wilsher elementary, there’s kids and teachers running everywhere! I need back up, now!”
Lucy looked to Tim who nodded at her to take the new call instead, but before she could respond, she was interrupted again.
“7-Adam-14, my partner is down, they got bit in the neck by a homeless person. I need an RA unit now! They’re having a seizure. Oh god! Steve, What are you….STOP, AHHHHH–”
The radio cut off as the officer screamed out.
“Tim.” Lucy turned to look at him, eyes wide in question.
His looked pale as more and more calls came in over lapping each other to the point neither could hear dispatch.
“7-Mary-12, I need help! We have mass casualties!”
“That’s North Hollywood,” said Lucy, hearing the call sign.
“What the hell is going on?” Concern, taking over Tim’s tone.
“Who do we respond to?” asked Lucy. Tim took the radio from her and tried to figure out what to do. “Tim, look!”
He looked up and saw a woman get tackled to the ground by what looked like her boyfriend.
“7-Adam-19 requesting back up for a domestic,” he rattled off their location and pulled over. They raced out with their guns drawn towards the couple.
“LAPD! Put your hands up!” Tim yelled.
The man didn’t listen, so Tim ran in and tackled the guy. Lucy watched as he struggled to wrestle the man who kept trying to bite him. Lucy moved to help him but Tim stopped her.
“Don’t help me, help her!”
Lucy immediately went to the woman and helped her up. She had a dazed look on her face as she held her hand to the neck where the man had bit her.
“Are you okay?” Lucy asked the woman.
“No, my boyfriend just attacked me out of nowhere. And before you ask, no he’s never done anything like this before.”
“Okay,” Lucy said, glancing back at Tim, who finally had the man restrained and in cuffs. Lucy got a good look at the man. His skin was pale, mixed with gray and yellow, his eyes were sunken in and blood shot along with all his veins popped out. She and Tim exchanged a worried look before she turned back to the woman. “Let’s get you cleaned up.” She guided the woman back to the shop. Lucy helped her sit in the back at the edge of the seat. “I’m gonna get you some gauze to hold against your neck.”
The woman nodded. Lucy noticed she started to look pale. She opened the back of the shop and dug through her war bag until she got the gauze out. She went around to help the woman when she noticed she was slumped over.
“Ma’am?” Lucy questioned as she reached forward to shake her shoulders. But, as soon as she touched her, the woman lunged at her. Lucy barely kept her back as she started trashing her mouth at her. Lucy hit the open back door, as she tried to shove the woman back. She slid around the edge of the door, before being slammed into the closed driver’s side door and was met with a sharp pop in her shoulder.
“TIM!!” Lucy screamed.
Tim looked up to see the woman now attacking Lucy and raced towards them. He saw Lucy doing her best to keep the woman back, but no matter what she did, it had no effect on the woman. Lucy got pushed around the shop and then landed on the ground, hard.
“Freeze! Let go of her, NOW!” demanded Tim as he raised his taser. The woman looked towards him and ran towards her new victim. Tim deployed his taser, but it had no effect. He pulled out his gun and jumped back, but she was still advancing quickly and he had no choice, he fired two shots.
BANG
BANG
They hit her square in the chest, but it still didn't affect her. Then, just before she could attack him, he fired again.
BANG
This time, he fired a fatal blow to her head, causing her to drop to the ground. Tim backed up stunned as the blood pooled around his feet. He was in complete shock. His whole career flashed before his eyes. He had just shot an unarmed woman in the head. He could forget about being sergeant, he was gonna be on desk duty for life. That is, if he didn’t end up in jail first. Then he looked up at Lucy. She had a shocked expression on her face too. Then he remembered the women had been attacking her. He ran up to her not caring about anything else as he knelt by her side.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Tim…you just killed her,” she said with a blank expression.
“Never mind that, did you get hurt?”
“I think I dislocated my shoulder.”
As Tim went to help her up, she let out a loud yelp in pain. She collapsed against him and clutched her side. Tim looked and noticed she had broken glass sticking out just above her hip. “Looks like you landed on a broken bottle as well.”
“Great,” mumbled Lucy.
Just then, two shops pulled up with lights and sirens. He saw Angela and Jackson get out, followed by Nyla and Nolan.
“What happened?” Nyla asked as all four ran towards them. Tim handed off Lucy to Jackson and Nolan.
“I don’t know. We saw some guy attacking his girlfriend and when Lucy brought over the victim to help her, she attacked Lucy. Then she came after me. I tried to stop her, but I had no choice.” Tim paused before continuing, “I shot her.”
The group looked over at the woman’s body who was surrounded by a pool of blood. Then they looked over at the boyfriend who was still handcuffed and thrashing around on the ground, snarling.
“Tim,” Angela stated sympathetically.
“I tried to taser her, but she didn't react. I shot her twice in the chest, and still nothing. I had no choice.”
Angela shook her head, trying to school her expression. “I would say wait till Grey gets here, but the radios are overwhelmed with similar calls to this. Plus there are no available RAs.”
“God, what the hell is going on?” Exasperated Nyla as she looked over the scene. “Is this a new batch of drugs?!”
Before anyone could say anything, two military jets flew low overhead. The group watched in horror as the jets fired and a massive explosion erupted from a few streets over. Within seconds, people started running and screaming in their direction.
Angela turned to Tim with a grave look on her face. “You gotta get Lucy outta here.”
“What!? No! We’re not leaving you guys,” Lucy cried out as she made an attempt to move, but stumbled, only for Jackson to catch her before she could fall.
“No, you're in no shape to fight and there’s no available RA, Tim, you gotta take her to a hospital, now!” Angela insisted, staring him down.
“Ang-” Tim protested.
“I can take her,” Nolan offered.
“No, you're staying out with me, boot.” Nyla said before turning to Tim, watching as more and more people started rushing into their area. “Tim, there is no time to argue, Angela is right, you have to take her.”
Tim looked at Nyla and Angela, then back at Lucy. He gave a slight shake of his head before moving to take Lucy from Jackson and Nolan. Whatever was happening there was no time for goodbyes.
“Stay safe,” Lucy told her two friends as Tim took hold of her again.
“We will, and you too,” Jackson said, giving her shoulder a pat before moving to join Angela.
Nolan gave Lucy a soft smile, then flashed Tim a glare before going to Nyla. Tim got Lucy into the shop and shut the door. He rounded the front, but before he got in he looked at Angela. Nyla had already taken off with the other rookies.
“I will be back as soon as I can.” He promised her.
Angela smiled a cheeky grin at him,“You better, Bradford.”
Then he got in the shop and took off.
As they made their way out onto the main roads, Tim blared his lights and sirens, but it almost didn’t matter. People were running everywhere. He tried to make it through without hitting someone, but it was nearly impossible in the uncontrolled chaos. Everywhere he looked he saw people getting run over, thrown, shot… eaten.
He looked at Lucy who was sitting there wide eyed, clutching her side. He was worried about how this would affect her. Given her recent trauma, he didn’t want to make it worse.
“Close your eyes,” he ordered.
“I can handle it.”
Seconds later, they watched as a car drove into a gas station and hit a pump, causing the whole thing to erupt in a ball of fire. A man burning alive emerged from the flames, seemingly unaware he was on fire. They watched in horror as he ran and attacked another man. The burning man ripped the other man’s guts out, while his victim let out blood curdling screams that both know will never leave them.
“Tim,” Lucy’s voice trembled in horror.
“Close your eyes, boot! Now! That’s an order!”
And with that Lucy closed her eyes as tight as she could.
Tim drove through the nightmare in front of him, losing count of how many people he saw attacking and eating each other. He wondered for a bit if he fell asleep watching one of those zombie movies again. He prayed he did, but this felt all too real.
-
When they finally, somehow, managed to get outside of the city, Tim was finally able to pull over. He had decided against taking Lucy to a hospital in the city, knowing at this rate it would just be going into the wall of the storm. He circled around and went to the back of the shop and pulled out some gauze, tape, and an alcohol wipe. With all the necessary items in hand, he went to the passenger door and opened it. Lucy turned her head to look at him.
“I’m gonna clean it out, okay?” She nodded and rolled up her shirt.
Tim pulled out all the little pieces of glass, carefully. “You're gonna need stitches, but you won’t bleed out.”
“What hospital are we going to?” she asked, realizing how far out they were.
“I don’t know. Some place far from the city, that’s for sure.” he took out the alcohol wipe. “This may sting a bit, but it will help in the meantime.”
Lucy hummed in acknowledgement. He placed it on her wound and she let out a hiss.
“Sorry,” he apologized, dabbing it, softly. Tim placed the gauze on the wound and taped it to her skin. After he was done, he stood up and Lucy rolled down her shirt. “I’m gonna try and radio someone, see if anyone knows what’s going on. You stay here.”
“Okay,” sighed Lucy.
He had turned off the radio since it was nothing but calls overlapping one another, so they had not heard from anyone in awhile. He closed the door, leaving the windows down so she could get some air. He walked away from the shop and to the other side of the road. They were in the middle of nowhere so he wasn't worried about anyone coming. He took out his radio and spoke. “This is 7-Adam-19, does anyone copy?”
Static.
He tried again. “This is 7-Adam-19, does any one copy?”
More Static.
He let out a sigh and tried one more time. “This is Officer Tim Bradford, does any one copy?”
He began to lose hope as more static came through and then a crackle and a familiar voice boomed through.
“Officer Bradford?” he heard.
Tim sighed in relief. “Sergeant Grey, thank God.”
“Officer Bradford, where are you?”
“About fifteen miles up in the hills. I have Lucy with me.”
“Are you two okay?”
“Yes, Lucy was injured, but other than that, we’re okay.”
“What kind of injured? Did a sick person bite her?!” Grey asked, as a worried tone took over.
“If you mean one of the crazed people right now, no. A woman who was affected by whatever this is did attacked her. But all that happened was a dislocated shoulder and a cut from landing on a beer bottle. The woman didn’t bite her,” Tim replied.
Grey let out a breath, “Good, that’s good to hear.”
”What is going on anyways? It feels like the zombie apocalypse.”
”Well, I hate to say it, but you’re pretty much right. Someone get’s bitten and then they turn into a blood thirsty monster.”
Tim felt his stomach sink to his feet. There was no way this was real. This all had to be a dream. But he knew deep down inside, he was too awake for this to all be a dream. But some how, some way, what was once a fantasy was now a reality. Tim shook his head before he spoke again.
“Listen, I’m gonna get Lucy to a hospital and then I’m gonna come back.”
“No!” Grey responded sharply.
“Sir?” Tim questioned, surprised by his boss’ tone.
“Do not, I repeat, do NOT come back to the city.”
“Sir, you're gonna need all the help you can get.”
“No, that won’t be necessary, Whatever is going on is out of our hands. The military is here now-”
“Okay, I’m military, I can help.”
“Bradford, these guys aren't looking for help, just stay out if the city-”
“No, I can help, trust me. I’ll come back, I can-”
“OFFICER BRADFORD YOU LISTEN TO ME RIGHT NOW!” Grey wasn't one to raise his voice often, so Tim was shocked to be on the receiving end. “Listen, the military has come and taken over. The place I woke having complete authority over, I no longer do. I’ve lost over half of my officers in just the last few hours. They are starting to block off areas of the city turning them quarantine zones for whatever this zombie like virus is. They aren’t letting anyone in or out of them. I think by the end of the day they’ll have martial law. I don’t know how else to say this Bradford, but this…This is the end.”
That last part hit Tim square in the gut. He took that moment to look out over the city. He saw smoke rising from various areas, heard gunshots going off, various sirens sounding over the distance, and even through all that, he could hear the screams of those still trapped in the city.
Tim bowed his head to the ground, before returning to his conversation with Grey. “What do you want us to do sir?”
“I want you to take Officer Chen and get somewhere safe. I want you to get as far away from LA as possible. I want you two to look out for one another and take care of each other. She’s smart and strong Bradford, if anyone can survive this, it’s her.”
“Okay,” Tim acquiesced. “Okay, we will.”
“I’m sorry things are ending this way.” Grey’s voice was somber as he spoke.
“No they’re not. Once this is all over, we’ll come back, okay, and this will just be one crazy story.”
He heard Grey chuckle at his remark. “I’ve always liked you, Bradford. You would’ve made a good sergeant. It’s been an honor and a pleasure serving with you in my chain of command.”
Tim felt tears start to fill his eyes. “Please sir, all the honor came from serving you. In all my years on the force and the military, you were the best sergeant I ever served under.”
“Thank you, son,” Grey responded, voice thick with emotion. “Good luck, stay safe, and may God be with you.”
“You as well sir.”
“Goodbye, Sergeant Bradford.”
“Goodbye, sir.”
And then the radio went dead.
Tim looked at the shop that held Lucy in it. He knew it was time to go. He had to get her somewhere safe and he knew just the place. Somewhere far, deep in the woods, where no one would find them. He took one last look at LA, his beloved city, then went to get in his shop. When he got in, he heard Lucy listening to a radio station.
“The Emergency Levels are as follows for Los Angeles and its surrounding area.
Los Angeles - Stage 9 - Catastrophe
Santa Monica - Stage 9 - Catastrophe
Torrence - Stage 8 - Disaster
Long Beach - Stage 9 - Catastrophe
Anaheim - Stage 7 - Outbreak
Pasadena - Stage 9 - Catastro-”
Tim turned it off as Lucy looked at him.
“What's going on?” she asked.
“We have to leave and not come back. It’s over, Lucy.”
“But… What about our friends, Tim? Our families?”
“I don’t know. I just got off the radio with Grey. He said it’s over, there's nothing we can do now.”
Tim watched as hopelessness took over her face as it dawned on her how bad it truly was. “Hey, we can survive this, but we’re only going to do that if you listen and do as I say. Can I count on you? If you want an out, the city is setting up quarantine zones. Grey said they aren’t letting anyone in or out, but we can try to find one willing to take you, but I think we have a better chance out here. So, can I count on you?”
“Yes Tim, you can count on me.”
“It won’t be easy.”
“Since when have you known me to be a quitter?” she mused, trying to inject humor into the situation.
Tim smiled softly at her. “I'm gonna take us somewhere safe, okay?”
Lucy nodded as Tim started the shop and drove off. Neither knew what would happen, but one thing was for certain: They only had each other as the fight for their lives and their survival begins.