Chapter 71: Third Floor
Returning to the warden's office, Shawn finally took a good look around.
A walnut desk faced the door, not much different from before the apocalypse. In front of it was a transparent coffee table and a black leather sofa. Against the side wall were three solid iron filing cabinets, side-by-side, covered in a thick layer of dust.
In the center of the office, an 'indoor mini golf' set was placed quietly. Golf balls were scattered on the floor, and the clubs had spilled out of a black bag, looking a bit messy.
Shawn stepped over the golf set and walked around to the desk. He picked up a photo from the corner of the desk and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. There was only one person in the photo. She was wearing the same prison guard uniform as the group from yesterday, but the epaulets and the badge on her chest were slightly different.
That's right, it was a woman. Tanned skin, full lips. She looked to be about 30 years old. In the photo, she was smiling at the camera.
"Hiss—"
Shawn looked at the photo, then back at the one-way mirror leading to the deputy's office... and then back at the photo. He suddenly felt like he understood something again. The classic scenario he had imagined seemed to have taken a 360-degree turn.
"She really knew how to live," Shawn said, once again revealing that knowing smile.
With the muzzle of his shotgun pointed at the ground, Shawn sat down with a 'thump' on the thick leather chair. It was soft and comfortable; he sank into it the moment he sat down. But before he could narrow his eyes and reveal a look of enjoyment, he was suddenly startled, his whole body tensing up like a cat with its fur on end.
"FUCK!" Shawn roared.
He erupted with what felt like all the potential of his life, pushing his Strength attribute to max, and practically 'leaped' up from the office chair. But even after successfully getting up and away, the memory of what had just happened still made him shudder.
With his hands, he tremblingly cupped himself and took two steps back.
And after Shawn had moved away, a female walker in sexy purple lingerie peeked out from under the desk. She contorted her body, the sexy lingerie tearing with her movements. The female walker staggered out, a pair of 10-denier black stockings on her thighs, paired with black high heels. The rest of her was barely covered.
Looking at her, it finally dawned on Shawn, and a look of astonishment crossed his face.
"Is this the warden?"
"No... that's not right. She's a completely different person from the photo. This one is obviously younger and had a better figure."
"She was under the desk, doesn't that mean..."
"Hiss—"
Shawn sucked in a breath of cold air, suddenly feeling like he understood something again, and again. He looked at the female walker, then back at the one-way mirror... and then back at the female walker. The idea that had just been turned on its head was now flipped 360 degrees again.
"Could this woman be the deputy from the office next door?"
Just now when he sat down, this damn woman had come up and taken a bite! His critical part had almost zero defense. If she had succeeded...
Shawn couldn't help but shiver. Having it but not being able to use it, and not having it at all, were two completely different concepts. Whether he turned into a walker or not was irrelevant at this point. The key was that he didn't want to become the first man in the apocalypse to... you know. And if he got bitten there, antibiotics might not be able to fix it... Would he have to make a fake one out of wood?
The thought made his scalp tingle. Even when facing the second Blood Moon, facing those dozens of crazed Ferals, he had never shown such an expression. But at this moment, he was filled with lingering fear. The hair on his back stood on end, and a chill spread from his stomach, moving straight down!
"Go to hell."
"Open your mouth! I told you to open your mouth!"
After the initial shock, a surge of anger washed over him, and he became unusually irritable. He took two steps forward, shoved the Remington into the walker's mouth, and roared.
The female walker didn't hesitate either. Seeing the gun barrel, she bit down with a 'chomp', without the slightest hesitation. Shawn shoved the shotgun barrel in deeper.
'BANG—!'
The walker collapsed with a 'thump', a 'blooming' hole in the back of her head. But one shot wasn't enough to quell his anger. Shawn strode forward and fired two more blasts into the corpse.
'BANG! BANG—!!'
Shawn looked at her body, raised a trembling hand, and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "I knew 7 Days to Die couldn't have changed its ways. So this is what it had in store for me."
From a certain perspective, this also counted as 'hiding'.
But Shawn quickly realized something was wrong. "Eh—"
"If they were doing 'that' when everything happened, then where was the warden?"
Shawn frowned, walked to the desk with the Remington, and stopped. In the reflection of the glass of the wooden bookcase behind the desk, he saw a figure under the desk, its ear cocked as if listening to something.
This time, it made him laugh with anger. He knocked the desk with the butt of his gun.
The former warden had just raised her head from under the desk when Shawn grabbed her by her long hair and dragged her toward the stairs. In his hands, she was like a broken toy, completely powerless. Shawn dragged her to the edge of the stairs and kicked her in the ass. The walker tumbled down the stairs.
Shawn spread his arms like a great roc and leaped down from the step, landing on the turn and smashing the warden's head with his foot. He ground his boot into her skull a few times for good measure before finally letting out a long breath, a desire-free and slightly satisfied smile on his face.
"That's better."
Back in the office.
Shawn kicked the cabinets and checked under the sofa. Only after confirming that there were absolutely no more walkers did he finally lower the Remington he had been clutching. He didn't want another walker popping out to bite his little brother while he was halfway through searching.
Returning to the desk, Shawn pulled at a drawer.
'Click—'
The drawer didn't move. Shawn was taken aback.
'CLICK—!!'
The drawer flew open. A pile of colorful objects was revealed. Shawn pushed them aside with the muzzle of his gun in disgust.
"And she's the warden? Guarding such a large prison full of men, and she's still using fakes."
Under a row of colorful objects in the drawer, the dark muzzle of a gun was revealed. It was a rather small ladies' handgun, one that could be easily tucked into a cute little cat-themed handbag.
Shawn casually stuffed the gun into his pocket. He could give it to Carol later.
Besides that, he also found some expired, unopened food and 2 boxes of coffee capsules in the office. And a warden's keycard, which was obviously needed to enter certain areas of the cell blocks.
And on the wall by the office entrance, there was a schematic of the prison. Looking at the prison layout, Shawn rubbed his chin.
*****
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