Officer of the Dead

Chapter Five

Notes:

Thank you so much for being patient with this chapter!
I found writing a different POV difficult and my wonderful editor has been sucked into inktober, hence the delay!
This chapter is Ronnie summarising the story so far from his POV
I've introduced his POV as it'll be VERY necessary for a big upcoming plot I have planned !!

Hope you enjoy, we'll be back with y/n next chapter :)

**Ronnies POV**

The situation filled you with dread - you were livid with Steve for damaging the fence and not repairing it; if he had, this wouldn't be happening. Even if the horde had still shown up, you could have controlled it. All week you had thought that returning to the factory would be your safest option, that you'd be able to take care of y/n here, that you'd be able to rest slightly from worrying about her. Now, you are trapped by the thing that was meant to protect you - if your plan to get everyone out didn't work and you failed to escape, then that was it, you were all dead. You had never worried about death as much as you had these past ten days; it was overwhelming, exhausting - so much had happened in that time ...

One day you were going to work as usual, and the next you were being called in early about an incident at the local diner. With all the strange things that had been happening around Centerville, like the daylight savings being out of whack and animals going missing, you knew the moment you saw the bodies in the diner that it must have been zombies. Cliff didn't take you seriously to begin with - it wasn't until you found the empty graves at the cemetery later that day that he fully believed you. Things got bad fairly quickly after that - you managed to pick up supplies from the hardware store before returning to the station. Meeting up with your other colleague, Officer Mindy Morrison. She was a nice girl - if things hadn't gone to shit, you'd probably have settled down with her. You didn't love her, but you could have. You would've made a good husband, a good father, provided for them and enjoyed a peaceful life in Centerville. Hell, you would have made Chief too and life would've been easy, good even, but the second Mallory O'Brien arose from the dead, that idea shattered.

When you saw Mallory rise from the dead you weren't scared, you just stood agasp, captivated by her, she was the first zombie you saw. She wasn't threatening in the way you thought zombies would be, she was too small, too slow. Cliff had attempted to eliminate her first by shooting at her, but he didn't aim for the head like you had told him to, so it didn't stop her. You stepped forward, taking the machete from the box of supplies from the hardware store, grasping the handle and swinging it forcefully at Mallory's neck. It took a few attempts to get a clean cut while you perfected your swing but you managed to decapitate her in the end. She was your first kill; you'd lost count of how many zombies you had taken down now, but you'd never forget Mallory being your first.

As you stood watching the horror unfold, you saw the only person that seemed immune to it all approach the station. She was the new, quirky undertaker, Zelda Winston. She had come by the station offering to help monitor the police radio while the rest of you went out to patrol Centerville. You thought it was a little odd but Cliff allowed it, agreeing to meet up with her at the cemetery later that evening. As you, Cliff and Mindy patrolled the streets, it became clear that the entire town had fallen victim to the zombies. There was no one left for you to help, so you all headed to the cemetery, but the moment you got there you quickly became trapped in the patrol car by a horde. In hindsight the cemetery probably wasn't the best rendezvous point, but all you could do now was wait for Zelda. As the zombies thrashed themselves at the car trying to gain access, Mindy began freaking out, having seen her Grandmother back from the dead. You tried to reassure her, telling her to keep it together, but she couldn't take it anymore. She bailed out of the car, leaving you and Cliff - there was nothing you could do to stop her. The only thing you remember doing in response was locking the car doors to protect yourself and Cliff as you sat waiting for Zelda to show up. You had hoped she would be able to help you out of the situation, but as you watched her cross the cemetery towards you, it became apparent why she was so peculiar. She stopped in the center, attracting the zombies' attention away from the patrol car. This meant that you were no longer trapped, but you and Cliff were too shocked to move as you looked up, out of the windshield. Hovering above Zelda ... was a spaceship. An actual UFO spaceship. Cylinder shaped, floating in the sky, lighting up the entire cemetery. Zombies stood frozen beneath it as if they were just as captivated by it as you and Cliff were. It beamed Zelda up, leaving as quickly as it came. You sat in disbelief with Cliff for a moment, noting how unexpected it was. The realization came over you that you only had one option left now, and that was to give it your best shot. You knew it was going to end badly - there were too many zombies for you and Cliff to survive, you had accepted that. As you sat contemplating your final moments, you knew you had lived a good life, but there was a pang of regret knowing there was still so much to live for, places you wanted to visit, people you wanted to meet, love you wanted to experience. You hadn't expected one of those things to appear so suddenly.