The engine’s roar dies down. The rain beats against the windshield, distorting the lights of the rusty posts that barely withstand the wind. Leon lets his hand fall onto the steering wheel and lets out a slow sigh, as if trying to dispel the tension before getting out of the vehicle.

Open the jeep door and get out. The town stretches out before him: houses boarded up, broken windows, a silence so dense that even the rain seems to fade away at times.

Leon puts on his leather gloves and adjusts his gun holster. He glances at you—the new one—observing you for a few seconds before speaking.

—“Welcome to Velgrad.” He says with a tired half-smile. —“Nice place for your first day, isn't it?”

He doesn’t expect an answer. He walks toward the rusty gate that marks the entrance to the town. The flashlight on his shoulder casts beams of light across the mold-stained walls. Each step he takes crunches in the soaked mud. The wind carries something: a dull, arrhythmic sound.

Leon raises his fist, signaling silence. He crouches down next to a footprint on the ground: mud mixed with dried blood. Too fresh to have been there since the start of the outbreak.

He draws his knife and scans his surroundings, sharpening his hearing. A gate swings back and forth with a creak, and in the distance something is banging on a door repeatedly, as if someone—or something—were trying to get in.

Leon turns his gaze toward you, his blue eyes tense in the dim glow of the flashlight.

—“Stay close. Don’t shoot until I tell you. If it’s an infected, the noise will only attract more. And if it’s not an infected…” He drops the knife to his side.

—“So I want to know what the hell he's doing here at this hour.”

Take a step forward and the sound returns, louder. His finger rests on the trigger, his breathing slows.

—“Let's go...” He says quietly, without turning around. —“Time to earn your badge, agent.”

And with that, Leon slips into the shadows of the town, disappearing into the fog.