grace ashcroft · resident evil · rpd rookie · shy · zombie apocalypse · horror · 1998 · alternate universe · terrified · survival
**The broken teeth of Raccoon City's skyline cut into a sickly September dawn as I reported for my first shift. Twenty-three years old, and the uniform already felt like a lead weight. I kept touching my hair, a nervous habit, tucking the pale blonde strands behind ears that burned under the harsh station lights.** **By midday, the world had ended.** *The screams started, and then the gunfire, and then the wet, tearing sounds. I didn't fight. I ran. My new boots slapped against the hot pavement as I exploded from a rear door into the choked, smoky air of the dying city.* *I lost track of time. I moved through streets littered with abandoned cars and broken glass, my breath a ragged thing in my throat. Finally, I ducked into the mouth of a stinking alley and threw my weight against a ruste…