; blood on my hands [leo]

[LEONARDO "LEO" ACEVEDO]

It had been months since Leo had fired a weapon. As far as the department was concerned he was not even cleared to be in possession of a firearm yet; that apparently came with a mental health clearance...one which he had not obtained as of yet. But what the department did not know wouldn’t kill them, especially since he believed that the act of trying to save himself from being strangled to death by a walking corpse was reason enough to discharge a weapon. He had locked eyes with the other man, searching fro a brief moment for signs of life, any flicker which may have been hidden behind his eyes and all he found was death and fury, so he had pulled the trigger.

The force of the bullet burying itself between the monstrosity above him slammed the man backwards, brain matter and what was left of the man’s skull ruptured out of the back of his head, spraying itself across the floor and wall. Leo rolled to his side the moment the man’s hands released their death grip upon his throat. He curled on to his side several gut wrenching coughs escaping from him as his struggled to catch his breath. His eyes clenched shut for several minutes as he forced himself to drag in ragged breath after ragged breath, the act of breathing itself causing fire to rip through his already damaged lungs. He was doing himself no favors at all these last few hours. After a few moments of forcing breath into his lungs and willing his heart to stop trying to rip its way out from his chest he opened his eyes and pushed himself up to a sitting position. His hands travelled over the skin of his neck, he flinched at the contact, he would no doubt have rather large bruises to remember his encounter with the mangled corpse for days to come.

His hands moved from his throat and rubbed the side of his head and his ears which were ringing insistently thanks to the discharging of his gun so damned close to his own face. But it was either shoot or be strangled and while he had no problem with dying he felt as if he owed it to Rosemary to ensure she was safe and…

Rosemary!

Leo’s eyes darted across the room and he felt immediate relief once he spotted the young woman by the door of the room. With her eyes clamped shut and her hands over her ears she looked very much worse for wear but she was alive and for the moment that was better than the alternative. He pushed himself to his feet and while he found himself shaky he was able to make his way over to her. He crouched down in front of her, his hands gently covering hers against the sides of her head.

“Rosa,” he whispered, his voice was low and raspy as his eyes stared worriedly back at her. He kept himself directly in front of her so that she would be spared from witnessing the carnage which lay in the room past him, she had no doubt seen enough blood and gore for a lifetime.

“Mirame...look at me,” he whispered his thumb running gently over her hands which remained pressed against her ears.

“It’s okay now.”

He cast a quick look around the room to verify that his words were true and since both men appeared to be dead and the crazed woman was missing he felt safe in declaring that at least for the moment things were okay.

His brow furrowed in concern as he took in the blood stains which covered the blouse over Rosemary’s stomach. He shrugged out of his dinner jacket and draped it over her shoulders, pressing the front of the large jacket gently against the scratch wounds in order to staunch the blood flow.

His eyes continued to dart from the vacant hall back to Rosemary’s face.

“Rosa…” he whispered once more his forehead resting against hers for a moment as he spared the fleeting second to take in the silence. Where there had just been chaos there was nothing left but silence and that was something to embrace even for the briefest of moments.

“We should not stay here long. Someone….something may have heard the noise.”

[ROSEMARY LENNON]

T he gentle sensation of warm hands settling over her own cut through her fear, immediately slowing the hammering of her heart significantly. She didn’t dare to move; if she moved - if she opened her eyes and everything remained just as it had been before she’d closed them - she was sure she’d crack into a million tiny pieces. She couldn’t process any of it. She was so, so afraid. “Rosa,” Rose squeezed her eyes shut even tighter, drawing in and holding a shallow breath. His words were nothing more than a whisper, and she barely registered it over the ringing that still resounded in her head, but his voice was unmistakeable… and that - that - was completely unfair. He should have been part of a dream, not part of her worst nightmare. “Mirame...look at me,” The man brushed her hands with his thumbs and Rosemary slowly let out the breath that she had been holding in. She forced her eyes to open, focusing on his straight away. Was she honestly so damaged as a woman that the fact that he had just killed a man - attacker or not - didn’t make her want to recoil immediately from him? Of course it had been in defence of his own life, and probably hers - but he had still killed someone, and with the very hands that were touching her. “It’s okay now.” Was it? Rosie had the distinct feeling that no matter what the hell had just happened or why, she was forever changed from this moment on. She’d never be the same Rosemary Lennon as she was just an hour ago. She’d never be able to go back. Was that okay? No. Of course not - but she was pretty sure this deep, existential crisis was not what Leo was referring to. There was no more immediate danger. No more super strong sex addicts to attack them; at least for the moment, and for that it was a small version of 'okay' that she could build a new foundation on. She was still watching him, her attention in and out of focus as shock attempted to claim her body. She didn’t have to fight very hard to stay in the moment, however, as Leo applied pressure to her stomach injury. She gasped slightly, wincing. “Rosa…” His forehead on hers, Rose couldn’t keep her eyes from fluttering closed again. As a tranquil moment fell over them her hands impulsively reached out to touch him, revelling in the calm after the storm no matter how fleeting it may be. She gripped and released the fabric of his shirt, her hands finally resting on his chest. “We should not stay here long. Someone….something may have heard the noise.” “Wait… just a minute more,” she whispered, knowing very well that they couldn’t. Sighing, Rosie blinked her eyes open once again and sat back before using the doorframe behind her to climb to her feet. Her whole body ached; every single one of her muscles protested against every little movement she made, but she bit back against the pain and exhaustion as survival mode continued to keep her battery charged. Moving back into the hallway, she awkwardly stepped over the corpse of her ex-somewhat-whatever-he-was, her heart sinking into her stomach as she tried to avoid looking down at him again. She was going to hate to have to inform Jeremy’s family of his fate once they managed to sort all of this out; it was going to be a difficult conversation to let them know that he died via threesome-gone-bad. “What the hell is happening?” she asked, daring to speak normally now. She brushed her hair out of her face and placed her hands on her hips, turning to face the man behind her. “Does any of this make sense to you? Because I’m fucking lost. I can’t even - ugh !” Rosie felt a hand clasp tightly around her ankle. Looking down, she saw Jeremy’s eyes were wide and bloodshot, focused directly up at her with a sick hunger behind them. Kicking out at him again, Rose managed to free her leg and stumbled back, pointing accusingly at the supposedly dead guy. “He was dead, right?!” she verified at a yell, her eyes wild.

[LEONARDO "LEO" ACEVEDO]

Leo frowned slightly as he saw Rosemary’s eyes squeeze her eyes tightly shut. He knew she must be afraid and confused and feeling a massive number of emotions, but he also knew that they could not stay on the hotel room forever. His hands continued to brush over hers in what he hoped was a comforting motion.

He smiled softly at her, once she opened her eyes slowly and fixed her gaze upon him.

He knew it was possibly the farthest thing from “okay” that anything had ever been for her but just the same he needed her to trust him and to believe even if it was a fool's errand to do so that things for the moment at least were okay.

She hadn’t said anything, simply kept her eyes trained upon him and while that was progress the silence was beginning to become unnerving and it was taking what little resolve he was still in possession of to not shake her into speaking. That no doubt was an action that would get him absolutely nowhere but having her afraid of him as well as the monsters which seemed to be all around them. He kept his hands upon her, offering himself up as an anchor to help keep shock at bay if that was at all possible. If there ever was a situation where shok would be acceptable this would no doubt have qualified but just the same they could not afford it. Leo had seen people slip into shock many times over his years of service and he knew first hand that they became absolutely useless once they did.


He rested his own hand upon hers as she allowed her hand to rest against his chest. The connection between them serving as an anchor for him as well, as evidence that no matter what sort of hell was surrounding them there was still humanity amongst it as well. At times that was hard to remember even on the best days.

”Wait...just a minute more.”

He wished they could, he would have given nearly anything to grant her that request but they couldn’t and he knew that deep down she knew that as well. She was an exceptionally strong woman and before Leo had even needed to push her to stand she was already on her feet. He pulled himself begrudgingly to his feet, walking over to where his gun had lain upon the floor by the dead body of the bulking corpse, without a word he secured the safety once more and tucked it back into the holster before making his way back towards rosemary.

“Cuidado,” he rested a hand upon her back helping to guide her over the body of Jeremy which lay sprawled in the mouth of the hallway, just past the door of the hotel room.

Once rosemary was safely out of the room and past the body Leo turned and pulled the door shut as best as he could. He wasn’t sure exactly what the move would accomplish but it would hopefully serve to preserve the scene...the crime scene within for when the authorities arrived. They would need to be called, he wasn’t exactly certain what they would tell them when they arrived but they would have to try the truth. Though if he were to be completely honest if he were the one being called to the scene he would be extremely hard pressed to believe zombie stories.

He had the sinking feeling he was going to find himself tossed into a jail cell in a foreign country which would really not serve his case.

“You’ll need to contact the poli--”

“What the hell is happening?”

That was a very good question. Nothing in the last hour made any sort of sense and yet it had occurred, at least Leo was nearly possible it had all occurred. It may have been a slight relief if he found that it had all been some made up situation that his damaged mind had concocted, but this felt wrong and far too real than any of the other delusions he had encountered in the last few months.

“Does any of this make sense to you? Because I’m fucking lost. I can’t even - ugh !”

“No. But these people...Rosa you knew them yes? They…”

They what? He didn’t even know that they could be classified as people. The more resembled demons or some form of ancient witchcraft, which was nonsense...usually.

Suddenly and without warning the lights in the hallway once more surged to life, the tinted red glow of the emergency lights vanishing instantly. His eyes scanned the immediate area and winced slightly the impact of the situation before them falling into focus. The hallway was smeared with blood, the carpets filthy, and the furniture turned every which way than how it had originally been placed.

“We should call down---”

The inhuman sound of breath rattling within a dead chest suddenly filled the small space around them and Leo felt his heart sink as he took in the sight of the recently deceased Jeremy. He took a rushed step forward but Rosemary had already succeeded in pulling herself away from the man’s grasp.

“He was dead, right?!”

“Very much so,” Leo muttered in confirmation, his eyes not leaving the horror scene before them.

“Very dead.”
Leo held a hand in front of Rosemary shielding her as the corpse of the man began to pull himself to his feet. Blood oozed from his wounds and blood the color of tar seeped from his mouth and pooled upon the floor. He had not checked the man, there had been no need to, the man had been dying mere minutes ago there was absolutely no situation which could result in him being well enough to now be standing upon his feet directly in front of him.

“Go,” he ordered taking a step away from the man and pushing Rosemary down the hallway before unholstering his gun once more. He was beginning to think that keeping it holstered was pointless.

He did not want to shoot the man or the corpse or whatever the thing before him could be classified as but they would eventually run out of hallway and options. He kept his gun and his eyes trained on the form in front of him, trusting and hoping that Rosemary had taken his advice and moved down the hallway.

Somewhere behind him Leo heard the now unmistakable sound of growling and gurgling. He clenched his teeth , his breath heaving through his strained lungs. He cast a quick glance behind him and he felt his heart freeze in his chest as he witnessed bloody and mangled hands dig at the floor at the bottom of the elevator door entrance and in the next moment he witnessed the horrifying sight of a woman beginning to pull her broken and mangled corpse up from the elevator shaft and into the hallway.

They were surrounded.

“Rosa---”

There was a bone shattering clap of thunder that shook the entire resort and plunged the hallway into darkness once more.

[ROSEMARY LENNON]

T he power surged and the lights flickered back to life, illuminating the hallway once again. As she blinked furiously to refocus her eyesight, the gravity of the situation was beginning to become clearer and clearer to her. Whether she hadn’t noticed or simply didn’t want to notice it before now, there was blood smeared on nearly everything around them. The rhinestone encrusted mirrors placed strategically on the walls were shattered and cracked, dried blood caked over them. The once pristine furniture that elaborately decorated this area of the five-star resort was scattered, broken and ripped to pieces. It was for all intents and purposes a war zone; a horror house; a death den. At least now that the power was back on the inter-Resort phone lines would be working; she could call security now and finish this. “Very much so, Very dead.” Rose stepped back as Leo placed his arm protectively in front of her, regaining her footing just in time to watch in horror as Jeremy’s body pulled itself into a sitting position like a vampire from a coffin. Blood seemed to pour from nearly every orifice possible, pooling on the carpet in a putrid looking puddle, and she fought against a gag. Just when she thought that Jeremy would topple over again to complete his death sequence (because there was absolutely no way he was going to survive that amount of blood loss if he hadn’t been dead before), the man rose to his feet; erecting himself like a terrifying, demonic monument in the middle of the seventh layer of Hell. Rosie’s eyes widened, once again paralyzed with fear as she stared up at the monster from over Leo’s shoulder. “Go,” Rosemary stumbled as the man shoved her away, fumbling a few steps before regaining her balance again. She turned to face him, her hair sticking to the sweat on her forehead as she whipped back around. Blood thumped in her ears, replacing the deafening ringing, and her mind reeled as she tried to sort out what to do next. She knew she wasn’t going to leave him like this. He didn’t know her well enough yet to know that she wasn’t going anywhere, so she couldn’t fault him for trying to save her, but it still made her relatively indignant. A small fire of defiance burned in her eyes as they fell back upon him; a fire that extinguished immediately when he glanced over his shoulder and stared past her down the hallway. She followed suit, her head turning agonizingly slow in order to see what could have possibly distracted him. She wasn't so sure she was ready to face it. Horrified, her gaze fell upon the twisted, broken and otherwise destroyed body of Carlie as she climbed over the edge of the elevator shaft, falling like a newborn animal to the floor. Writhing and gurgling blood in her throat, the blonde girl hissed and growled before fixating her bloodshot eyes down the hallway at her, her mangled body contorted on the floor as she began to crawl forward. Rosemary turned fully to face the new danger, watching in horror as the woman left a trail of blood and entrails behind her as she dragged herself along the carpet runner. Just as she was about to speak out to Leo - to say what, she didn’t really know - there was a deafening crack of thunder and then the world went dark once again. “Rosa—” “I’m here. I know,” she answered quickly at a whisper, not even certain of what he was about to say to her. What could be said? They both knew that they were more than fucked. Zombies - for lack of a better word - were closing in on them from either side, and now they had lost the light. She knew he had wanted her to run and perhaps a more intelligent girl would have. She knew that this was very likely not going to end well for herself or Leo. She was there, and she knew, and he needed to know that. Rosie stepped carefully backwards as her eyes searched the darkness, the stomach-turning sound of the elevator zombie fast approaching unceasing. Where the hell was the emergency system this time? Why had it failed? In all her years of living at the resort, nothing had ever failed. Nothing ever broke. This was like watching her childhood home burn to the ground; helpless to stop it. She felt herself brush against Leo, the two of them now standing back-to-back as they faced their foes. No matter how terrified she was of the situation, or how scared of him she should have been, knowing that he was with her was enough to keep her from curling into a ball and giving up. But they needed light. Without it, they didn't even have a glimmer of hope. The idea striking her like lightning, she twisted her body and reached around Leo to slip her hand into his front pocket. There had been no time to ask for it, so she pulled his cellphone from his pants without consent and turned back around, her back flat against him again. With a shaking hand she swept up on the screen, hit the flashlight button, and then screamed as the bloody, rotten, flesh-torn face of Carlie appeared just inches from her nose. The phone fell to the floor and bounced away, luckily landing with the flashlight beam facing up to the ceiling. Rosie rushed forward and shoved Carlie away as hard as she could with a grunt of effort mixed with frustration. The zombie stumbled easily on account of the two broken legs, thrashing and gnashing it’s teeth at her, and Rosie glanced down at her slimey, bloodied hands in disgust. She was looking around for somewhere other than her own clothing to wipe them clean (she did have strange priorities, didn’t she?) when she noticed that Carlie was ambling toward the man. “Oh no you fucking don’t,” she muttered. Scrambling forward, she reached out and grabbed the woman’s arm, heaving her backwards and away from the man, but she only managed to knock them both off balance. Rosie fell back, Carlie toppling on top of her and knocking the wind from her lungs. She wrestled against the strength of the other woman, certain that this was her losing battle.

[LEONARDO "LEO" ACEVEDO]

The sight before them was from a nightmare, there was nothing else it could have been from. Leo watched in horrified silence as the woman pulled herself free of the elevator shaft and dragged blood and guts slowly and methodically down the hallway. It was the last sight that was burned into his eyes before the world was plunged into darkness once more.

“I’m here. I know.

Leo blinked his eyes several times in an attempt to try and adjust to the darkness which had enveloped them. There was no hue of red from the emergency lights this time, it was just darkness and the two zombies which moment ago had been on their way towards them both in their own perspective methods. He turned away from the direction he had been turned towards the woman and tried to focus back towards where the man had reanimated and would be shambling his way forward. He attempted to hear over the pounding of his heart in his chest, if he could just hear then maybe he could get a feel as to where the man had gone or how close exactly he was before he was attacked. Having a general idea of that would have given him a lot of peace of mind.

Naturally he could not hear a damn thing.

He felt relief wash over him as he felt Rosemary at his back. He hated the idea that she was still there, still in danger but he was also pleased to not be alone in a hallway full of undead.

Leo felt the weight of the gun in his hands as he trained it forward even if he had no idea where in the hell it was he was aiming. He wouldn’t be able to fire, he could hit literally anyone there could be anyone who could come into the hall and he could kill an innocent person. He was certain that was something he couldn’t handle. He jerked in response to the sudden movement of Rosemary reaching around and pulling his phone free from his front pocket. It had totally slipped his mind that he even had it on him, there had been other pressing items which had occupied his mind.

Leo focused his eyes upon the approaching form of the man the moment the small light from the cell phone illuminated the hallway. He was closer than he would have liked but not as close as Leo had anticipated. Chaos erupted in the very next moment as he heard Rosemary scream and the light go crashing upon the floor. His attention was being pulled in two different directions and he knew he would have to eliminate one threat in order to deal with other. He quickly glanced back just in time to see Rosemary hurl herself at the other woman, both of them crashing to the ground. With a low growl he forced himself to turn back to the other man who was now significantly closer. He found himself unable to shoot the man descending upon them as he had the other. The other man had been moments away from killing him, this man had been attacked, an innocent bystander to whatever hell had been unleashed. All of that aside Rosemary had cared for him, cared for him enough that she had rushed up to see what had been the matter. He felt as if it would have been wrong to simply shoot the man in the head and be done with it.

He shot out his kneecaps instead.

The corpse tumbled to the ground a feral scream ripped from its lips as it gnashed its teeth and desperately stretched its arms out in an attempt to reach Leo. For the moment though the corpse was incapacitated and Rosemary required assistance.

One moment Leo had turned away from the downed corpse on his way to attempt to help Rosemary and the very next moment a door burst open much like the first door at the end of the hall had done at the kick off of their current nightmare. It caught him directly in the face, the world around him exploded and fell into darkness at the same time. The next moment he found himself sprawled upon the floor, blood seeping from his nose, gun having skirted down the hall out of his grasp.

For several moments the world around him swam in and out of focus but he knew he had to get up. Leo attempted to pull himself to his feet when he felt a force slam into him knocking him back down to his knees. In the very next moment he was slammed unceremoniously forward, his head slamming against the wall with a sickening sound which left him reeling and unable to fend off the force which fell upon him. He felt the weight of the corpse pin him against the carpet of the hallway, the weight of the man holding him down, he could feel the hot sticky breath upon the back of his neck, and he felt the sickening sensation of the other man’s regurgitated blood soaking into the back of his shirt. All other thoughts were pushed from his mind as the man’s hands gripped around his head, pushing down upon him like a vice, agony tearing through him. The pain in his head was excruciating, the pressure erupting from the base of his skull where the man’s nails were buried all the way through to the crown of his head.

It seemed as if he was going to die tonight after all.

[ROSEMARY LENNON]

R osemary and Carlie continued to struggle with each other, rolling around in a very unladylike fashion upon the floor like angry felines. Carlie was certainly kicking her ass - scratching at her, slamming her body against the floor repeatedly, gnashing her teeth at her - but when she took a handful of Rose’s hair and tried to pull her head forward in order to take a bite out of her, Rose found the strength of ten thousand raging Goddesses within her. She managed to kick the zombie off of her with a scream of effort, sending the blonde girl into one of the ornately decorated tables that lined the hallway. It broke into pieces with a loud crunch, and this stunned the zombie long enough for Rosie to clamber to her feet. She straightened her skirt as she glared at the other woman as she, too, rose to her mangled feet again. The women squared off once more, but Rosemary was immediately distracted when Leo received a swift door to the face. The distraction was the advantage Carlie needed. She was quickly at Rose’s throat, body-slamming her against the wall and lifting her off her feet. Dark spots danced in her line of vision as she gasped for air, her hands slapping and slamming at Carlie in attempt to harm her enough for her to release her, but it truly seemed as though it were no use. Just as she was weakening to the point of falling unconscious, Rosie saw her chance and she took it. As she scanned the face of this - this monster - this crazed creature who had once been a beautiful woman - she noticed the large, gaping hole in her neck. It looked rather like a bite mark - as if someone had treated her like an apple. Rosie winced, disgusted with herself even before she acted, and then jammed her fingers deep into the wound. It was gross, yes, but it was a success. The zombie Carlie released her and screamed, and Rose dropped the foot to the floor, the wind escaping her lungs painfully. Coughing and gasping, she doubled over on the floor and tried to crawl away, knowing full well that this was very far from being over. She crawled into the now open hotel room, tossing a glance back at Leo as she scrambled. He looked worse for wear, to put it mildly, and since she was the only one of the two that was mobile at the moment it was up to her to eliminate at least one of their problems so they could tackle the next together. She had to move fast, too, because Leo seemed very close to dying. Clambering to her feet and stumbling into the room, Rosie knocked one of her own paintings from the wall, sending the frame crashing to the floor noisily. She fumbled for the door to the bathroom, swinging it open and leaping inside. Carlie followed after her stupidly, and as soon as she crossed the threshold Rose jumped onto the countertop. The zombie approached her, and at the count of three, Rose hopped off of the countertop and hurried back into the hallway, pulling the bathroom door closed after her. Carlie’s body slammed against the door and Rosie knew it wouldn’t hold forever, but it was a temporary fix that she was satisfied with. Rushing back into the hallway, she found Jeremy killing Leo. Her eyes darted around the dark hallway for something - anything - that she could use to either distract or harm Jeremy with, and then her eyes fell upon the discarded firearm. Rose swallowed hard. Stepping through the dust, blood and rubble, she crouched down to pick up the gun. It was heavier than she expected it to be. The metal was cold. She’d never held a gun before, nor did she ever have the desire to, but right now this was the only thing that could possibly stop the monster from killing her new friend. “Jer!” she hollered desperately. A last ditch effort to call him off. “Jeremy, stop - please!” The zombie ignored her and started to lean forward, his teeth bared as he salivated blood. He was going to bite him. The bastard was going to fucking bite him ! Looking solemnly down at the weapon in her hands, Rosie knew what she had to do. She hauled off and whipped the gun at Jeremy like a frisbee. It slammed the zombie directly in the head and ricocheted back to the floor with a crash, and Rosie sucked in a breath through her teeth that showed that she knew she’d made a mistake. Wincing, she scurried forward and grabbed the gun once more, this time training it with shaking hands at the zombie upon Leo. “Sorry -” she whispered. “- not sorry.” Before she could talk herself out of it, she pulled the trigger. The bullet exploded through the barrel and sent a shockwave of pain through her arm, knocking her off balance. She fell to her ass, the gun still in hand. The bullet pierced directly through her ex’s chest, the force tossing him sideways off of Leo. It wasn’t a second before he sat up again, and Rosie could see the bullet-sized hole in his chest. She could even see the empty elevator shaft behind him through the wound. Paralyzed with fear, Rosie clutched the gun and stared with wide, terrified eyes.

[LEONARDO "LEO" ACEVEDO]

Over his 35 years on Earth Leo had pictured his own death in several different fashions. As recent as that very morning he had pictured his own death by his own hand and had spent the day meticulously planning everything out from the note he had left on the dresser for Fiona to the clothes he had worn. Before that day he had always pictured his death at the hands of others, some crazed drug dealer or copkiller; the possibilities had truly been endless considering his line of work. A few months ago it had felt as if he had spent every waking moment picturing what his death would be like and when it would finally come. He had not been meant to walk away from the ordeal, just as Enzo had not but he had and that had been something he had struggled with everyday since. Since those weeks held prisoner it had been increasingly easier to picture his death, it had become a hobby of sorts, a way to keep his mind occupied as it was more dangerous when his thoughts wandered.

Having his skull cracked open upon the floor of a fancy resort by a zombie had surprisingly never made the list.

Until very very very recently.

Leo could feel entirely far more of the experience than one would have hoped. He could feel the talon like finger nails of the man piercing the skin at the base of his skull, he could feel the blood flowing from the wounds there, he could feel the vertebrae in his back occasionally pop in protest in response to the amount of pressure the corpse was putting upon him to hold him still, and he could feel and hear his own frantic breathing as he struggled to push himself away from the death grip upon him, to push the corpse off of him. No matter how hard he struggled the zombie was set in its mission and only forced leo down harder into the ground. His hands desperately fought against the hard floor beneath him gashes being torn into the tips of his fingers as he struggled. Still the corpse above him persisted as if Leo was putting up no struggle at all, Leo felt as if the actions were as simple as if the man...the corpse were trying to crack open an egg for breakfast.

“Jer! Jeremy, stop - please!”

For a moment Leo thought that he had made up the voice, that it was entirely implausible that Rosemary was still there. It was comforting to think even if he was about to die though the fact that she was still there meant that she would no doubt meet the same fate soon enough which was a far less comforting idea. The sensation of stale breath upon the back of his neck and intensity at which he was being pinned down with increasing brought Leo’s thoughts crashing back to his own reality.

For a brief moment Leo felt the force against him lessen and he moved desperately to push up from the ground only to be slammed viciously down upon the floor once more, a sharp cry escaping his lips as the force of his head slamming once more against the ground sending explosions of darkness dancing across his vision.

He wasn’t certain what happened next but he flinched as the sound of a gunshot screamed through the hallway. He found himself bracing for its impact out of habit. He was surprised not only by the fact that he hadn’t been shot but also by the sudden release of the force which had been upon him, pinning him down and killing him. Leo scrambled away from the corpse as it sat hunched upon the ground, an impressive size hole torn into its chest.

Leo could hear his own breath wheezing past his lips and he could feel the pressure in his lungs as he braced his arms against the ground struggling to push himself up to his feet. He blinked his eyes feverishly, trying to clear his vision and force the world around him back into focus. Deciding to push past the double vision and get to his feet Leo felt himself sway on unsteady legs before crashing back down to his knees, the beat of his heart pounding through his skull as well as through every fiber of his being.

There was no time for any of this, he braced himself against the ground once more pushing away the wave of nausea that hit him whenever he tried to move. There was certainly no time for concussions they only had seconds before the corpse would regroup itself and attack again, nothing seemed to stop these things.

Nothing except a bullet through the head.

The man in the hotel room had not gotten up after Leo had put a bullet through his brain, that had seemed like the only way to get them to stay down.

Leo forced himself to look towards Rosemary, even if at the moment there seemed to be 3 of here where he was rather certain there should have only been one. He reached out for her hand, the one which he assumed held the gun and missed her entirely his own hand hitting the wall. He closed his eyes in frustration as a feral moan begin to heighten in volume and the very distinct sound of nails scraping along the ground sounded. He tried to find his words over his own wheezing breaths, he ignored the trickle of blood which fell from his nose; they had run out of time as well as options.

“Shoot hi--- you have to shoot it in the head.”

His words sounded more like a whisper over the sound of his heart hammering in his chest and under the pressure of the wheezing, he could only hope she had heard him.

“Matalo.”

He hated to ask it of her, but it was their only choice, the only option they had in order for them to survive whatever hell they had found themselves in for just a while longer.

[ROSEMARY LENNON]

"S hoot hi--- you have to shoot it in the head.” Rosie’s eyes turned instantly back to Leo, an expression of incredulity and surprise spreading across her features. There was no way he could ask that of her - there was no way she was going to be able to ever do something like that, especially to somebody she knew - no matter how evil they’d become. Rose hadn’t done anything more than punch somebody in the face before, and even then she’d felt guilty about it. Clearly Leo had some sort of training in killing people, and the fact that he needed her to do this made her stomach twist. But she did trust him. There was a very short list of people that Rose could truly trust in her life, and somehow this man had already scratched his name at the end of it within just an hour of meeting him. That had to count for something. He wouldn’t ask her to do this if there were any other choice. Still knowing this, Rosie shook her head. She wasn’t sure she was strong enough. "I - I can’t. I’m not - I - " "Matalo." "I don’t know what that means!" she cried out, overcome with emotion. She could feel the threat of tears stinging at her eyes. It was truly a shock that she wasn’t a blubbering mess yet, what with all the horrible things she’d been through in just the past few moments. It was a miracle that she was still upright let alone not sobbing uncontrollably in the fetal position amongst the rubble and dust. She was tougher than she thought. Blinking furiously to keep the sorrow from spilling down her cheeks, she scrambled to her knees and shakily trained the gun back on her ex boyfriend. It was a terrible power, to point the barrel of a gun at another person. The feeling was unlike any other she’d ever experienced in her life. She watched as the zombie inched his way back toward Leo, his bloody mouth wide open again, and she squeezed her finger. Hesitating at the last second, she lowered the gun with trembling hands, convinced that she was never going to be able to do it. It was when Jeremy was once again upon Leo that Rosie mustered the courage to do what was necessary. It seemed to be always when it counted the most that she truly found the true strength within herself, so that had to count for something. She scrambled forward so that she was kneeling directly next to Leo, dangerously close to the zombie. Breathing heavily, she lifted the gun once more and pressed the end of it directly against her ex boyfriend’s temple so she couldn’t possibly miss. Gathering a deep breath and holding it in her chest for the briefest of moments, she fought to keep herself mentally in the moment. "Adiós, asshole," she said finally, pulling the trigger. The bullet blasted through the zombie’s skull, spraying her with blood. The echo of the gunshot reverberating in her ears, she fell backwards once again, the gun slipping from her hands and crashing to the floor as she scrambled away from what she’d done. Staring at the carnage in horror, her eyes danced between the corpse and the man, searching for… for what? What could she possibly see that could ever make her feel better about what she’d just done, justified or not? She was a damn artist, not a killer, for fuck’s sake! She didn’t have the tools necessary to handle this sort of thing. Despite a valiant effort, a hot tear slipped down her cheek as she stared blankly at Jeremy’s body. Shock pulled at her, beckoning her forward like a piper; an old friend; a warm fire. Matalo. Matalo. It was something she wouldn't soon forget.  "Leo..." she whispered.

[LEONARDO "LEO" ACEVEDO]

The silence which lingered as Leo waited for Rosemary to either act or crumble seemed as if it lasted an eternity. He knew she could do it, knew that she did not want to but that deep down inside of her she had the strength and the will to do what was right no matter how much it might hurt. That had been something Leo had learned the hard way several years back. What was right did not always feel right.

Leo looked from Rosemary’s hand, the gun lowered and pointing to the ground back towards the ascending corpse of Jeremy. If that was her choice he could not fault her for it, they would die but at the end of the day it was what he had set out to do that night anyhow just not exactly how he meant to do it. He was about to beg her to run, to get out, if she wasn’t going to shoot the corpse than she could at least save herself and get out of there relatively unharmed. He turned his eyes back towards him and struggled to pull her into to focus.

“Rosa you---”

Before he could get the rest of the words out, before he could tell her that she didn’t have to shoot him as long as she left and got to safety he felt the sharp talons from the man dig into his leg in an attempt to pull him back towards him and finish the meal the corpse had intended to make for itself moments before. He struggled, pulling his leg out of the grasps of the undead man and kicking him hard in the face for good measure. He was actually surprised and rather pleased with himself that he had been able to connect to the man’s face at all, what with not really being able to see the decaying corpse in full quality.

In the very next moment Leo found Rosemary at his side and his gun pressed firmly against the temple of the corpse. The corpse which was incredibly close to them, Leo would be able to grab the gun from Rosemary if necessary, if she couldn’t and if they had enough time they may have been able to get out alive.

"Adiós, asshole,"

There would apparently be no need for such sentiments as in the very next moment the crack of the bullet leaving the chamber and slamming into the corpse's brain screamed through the hallway. Blood and brain matter coated the walls as well as Rosemary and Leo. The body slumped the moment it processed the grave injury it had been dealt, and much like the other man this corpse...this zombie fell lifeless upon the floor of the hallway nothing more than a pile of rotting flesh and spoiled blood.

Leo brushed his arm over his face in an attempt to clean off some of the blood which had sprayed upon them. He was a mess anyhow so he highly doubted any of that would do any sort of good. He squinted his eyes trying to see where the gun had landed, after misjudging once he was finally able to grab it and tucked it away in his holster once more, more so that for the moment Rosemary did not have to see any additional reminders of what had transpired.

He pushed himself back against the wall just within the hotel room where Rosemary had scrambled too after the deed had been done. His eyes stared out at the carnage of the hallway before he used his bleeding foot to kick out at the door causing it to slam shut and for the moment shutting out the carnage that lay just on the other side. It was a temporary solution yes, but it was something.

"Leo..."

The broken whisper of his name from her lips sliced through him more than any blade or bullet could ever do. She was slipping and he had to keep her anchored, he knew it would be hard but she couldn’t slip away as that would only resort in death. Pushing himself back further until his back hit the wall and he was seated directly next to her. He reached out and laid his hand upon hers, his judgement of the placement of her hand off by several inches but he quickly corrected the blunder.

“I am here with you. Rosa you saved us both. But I am sorry, sorry you had to. I apologize for asking that of you.”

He didn’t know how many other ways he could apologize but he would continue to do so as many times as she needed him too in order to help calm the panic within her that he could feel reverberating off of her. He grasped her hand firmly now, providing a link between them and an anchor for her to latch on to; contact with another living and for the moment breathing human being.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry you had to do that...I would not have asked you---I couldn’t. My um…” He paused for several moments attempting to get the words he needed in the order he needed them to be in sorted out in his mind.

“My eyes were blurry, I see double. More than likely from the slamming my head into the wall incident. I would not have asked if I didn’t have to, please know that. I am sorry.”

And he truly was, killing someone whether they were technically dead to begin with was not something you got over quickly. It was even worse when it was someone you knew or had established a bond with. Over the years he had served he had heard from older men that it got easier. He did not know if he was weak or what it was but it had never become easy for him. Every time he pulled the trigger, took a life he felt as if he lost a bit of himself in the process. He carried the weight upon his own shoulders as penance.

He sat in silence for a moment, his head resting against the wall behind him, the ringing in his ear dulling but still very much there, the trail of blood still dripping from his nose but all of the other symptoms from the head injury were starting to lesson.

"I don’t know what that means!" There had been fear and panic in her voice then, not a sound Leo believed he would easily be able to forget.

“Matalo...It means, kill him. I am sorry. My English is still not the best in the world and every once in awhile I tend to slip back to what is natural. I did not mean to frustrate you...especially considering what it was I was asking of you.”

A loud banging sounded through the hotel room as Leo’s eyes snapped open and fell upon the closed bathroom door across the room. He released her hand and pulled himself shakily to his feet; he glanced over at Rosemary, his vision finally beginning to clear even if he was still a bit wobbly on his feet.

“Rosa...did you---”

He didn’t know why the notion was so improbable but just the same he felt like a lunatic saying it out loud.

“Did you lock a zombie in the bathroom?”

[ROSEMARY LENNON]

 

R osemary could feel a tightness in her chest that she recognized all too well. She couldn’t breathe - well, she was definitely breathing, her chest heaving up and down from the effort - but the oxygen didn’t seem to be reaching her bloodstream. This made her lightheaded, and if she’d been standing she surely would have crumbled to the floor. Every inch of her felt like it was quivering. Every tiny cell in her body had been ignited; she knew that was very much alive, and yet she felt completely debilitated at the same time, like she was trapped in her own body. She was panicked beyond comprehension.  Leo touched her hand, and her eyes glanced downward at it from her fixated point on the now closed door. She was slightly surprised to still see him there, but she wasn't sure why. “I am here with you. Rosa you saved us both. But I am sorry, sorry you had to. I apologize for asking that of you.” She wanted to speak - to tell him that she understood, that she didn’t blame him - but the words failed her. She was still unable to move, sure that if she even made one simple movement she was surely going to just crumble to bits. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry you had to do that...I would not have asked you---I couldn’t. My um… My eyes were blurry, I see double. More than likely from the slamming my head into the wall incident. I would not have asked if I didn’t have to, please know that. I am sorry.” His grip on her hand tightened. It felt like he was holding on to her as she drifted up into the sky - trying to keep her from slipping too far away; reminding her that there was still earth to root herself to. It felt like a lost cause, to her, though. She felt like she was already warm with shock, and thus too far gone. He continued speaking to her, however, and for this she was grateful. She tried to focus on his voice no matter how much his words made her ache. “Matalo...It means, kill him. I am sorry. My English is still not the best in the world and every once in awhile I tend to slip back to what is natural. I did not mean to frustrate you...especially considering what it was I was asking of you.” “You… you didn’t frustrate me,” she managed, giving a small shake of the head. It felt like a triumph to even be able to speak. “I frustrated myself. I had to do it - I know I did - but I just… I was too scared, I… I’m the one who should be sorry.” She felt another tear escape her eye and she immediately wiped it away, blinking furiously to keep any others at bay. The fear still crushed her chest like a vice, twisting her up inside, and she was beginning to think this was just something she was going to have to live and work with from now on. “I failed Spanish in College,” she admitted, offering a weak smile. She decided to omit the part where she only managed a pass because the professor harassed her with obscene text messages and she blackmailed him with them. “I wish I’d paid more attention now.” There was a sudden, loud banging of fists upon a door, and Rose’s head shot up. Any hint of normality was wiped from her face and she found herself automatically spiralling back into fear, which only heightened as the man left her side, leaving her cold and shaking. “Did you lock a zombie in the bathroom?” “Oh. Whoops,” she gave him an apologetic look, wincing slightly. She’d forgotten about that. “Um… si ?” Hissing out a breath of pain, she used the wall behind her to pull herself into a standing position. Her entire body ached in so many more ways than just physical; all she wanted to do was to curl up and to fall asleep, not to have to shoot someone else in the head. “You know, Leo, this really is the worst date ever,” she told him over the sound of the banging.