If she tried hard enough, Mabel could still visualize life before zombies erupted from the depths of a fiery hell.
Mabel could still see herself resting in the tickly pool of all the flowers one could imagine with her two best friends, Candy and Grenda. The said flower field was located deep in the narrowing forest, but the journey it took to get there was always worth every step. The flowers stretched up to their knees, embracing their legs with soft pedals.
Mabel could fall face down and swim in the brightly color flowers of red, yellow, purple, and pink if she oh so desired. Yes, this was by far her favorite place in the forest. The least creepy and monster infested area.
"GUYS, YOU WANNA MAKE WADDLES A FLOWER CROWN?" Grenda asked, her voice extra loud with glee as she gestured towards the overweight pig inside her giant green backpack. Waddles oinked with annoyance.
"Grenda, puh-lease. Is that even a question? Yes, definitely, absolutely!" Mabel had pulled the bottom of her sweater upwards, having it act as a pouch for the daisies, violets, dandelions, and carnations that she'd adopted. The carnations were her favorites, she had forced Candy to stick pink, purple, yellow, and red ones into her long french-braided hair.
Candy, the pickiest one in the group, only picked dandelions, "Unlimited wishes," she whispered, a sly grin on her face.
"OW, FAIRY BITE!" Grenda slapped her neck, dropping her collection of daises and violets in the process, "UGH, NOT AGAIN!"
Mabel snicked, when suddenly she spotted an unusually long dandelion in the field. Immediately attracted to it, she rushed over towards it and bent down. Once she got her grip around its stem, she pulled as hard as she could. It wouldn't budge. However, Mabel did not give up, and continued to tug the weed, pulling harder and harder.
Startling, but not distracting her, a deep gravely moan erupted from in front of her as something large cast a shadow over her. Mabel shivered a bit, the owner of the groan had intercepted her sun waves.
"Grenda, you're blocking my sun!" Mabel said, not looking up as she continued to pull on the weed.
"M-M-MABEL!" Candy and Grenda's voices called out from behind her, sounding further away than they were previously. Even Waddles squealed a warning. Mabel paused at the sounds of their voices. If that was Grenda's voice behind her, then what was...
Mabel flew backwards as she finally detached the dandelion from the ground. She landed on her back, and in front of her view of a beautiful blue sky was a mutilated corpse standing over her. Its eyeball dangled dangerously low, threatening to wack Mabel in the face.
She swiftly stood up, but that was all her legs could do for her as she stood frozen in fear.
Its jaw hung from his mouth, obviously broken, but the only skin attached to him was around his mouth. Its face and body was nothing but peeled brown flesh with the occasional visible bone.
Mabel dropped her flowers.
"MABEL, RUN!" Grenda called, her voice now even further away.
Her legs finally absorbed the situation and she turned around to run. However, another zombie had intercepted her. Mabel screamed, this walking corpse was more mutilated than the last. The zombie raised its arms, saliva leaking from it's mouth like a faucet.
Mabel faked left and went right, a trick she often used on Dipper whenever they played tag. The zombie fell for it, as Dipper always did, and stumbled over as Mabel dashed past it to join her friends. Mabel rushed towards them, leaving mushy mud-prints and squishing the beautiful flowers that surrounded her.
The three exited the flower field, the place they once considered to be the safest spot of all. They entered the woods, swerving through an army of trees, sprinting through the forest. To their horror, a collection of zombies had taken the woods as their new home, and they were right in the middle of it. As the trio tried through, dozens of deformed staggering bodies came out from behind the trees like they had just lost a game of hide and seek.
The zombies all turned towards them, staggering in their direction while letting out loud war cries. Mabel screamed, her tears blinding her vision, making the cold hand grasping her arm with the strength of a body builder all the more terrifying.
"GET OFF ME GET OFF ME GET OFF ME GET OFF ME!" Mabel sobbed, her voice scratched and raspy.
"Mabel, duck!" A familiar voice called behind her. Mabel threw herself onto the ground as an axe swung over her head and punctured the skull of the zombie that grabbed her. The zombie fell, smashing into pieces as it hit the ground.
Mabel shook with fear and cowered near Candy and Grenda as the scarlet haired owner of the ax continued the massacre. She swung left and right, zombies falling under the impact of her now red soaked weapon, spinning it around her fingers as a way to show off before taking down another zombie.
"Wendy!" Mabel cheered, hopeful that she'd just ax all the zombies to death and then go out to lunch.
Wendy raised her ax into the air, swinging it like a golf club as she slammed it into a zombie's head. The head flew off its body, falling down into a tea colored puddle that splashed Mabel in the face.
"Gross!" Mabel gagged, "But still, go Wendy!"
Wendy's movements seemed so animated, so swift and ninja-like it almost seemed unreal. All Mabel could do was watch helplessly.
Another hand grabbed Mabel, but the one was slimmer and more noodle-like.
"Dipper!" Mabel threw herself towards her twin brother. After giving him a massive hug, she took a closer look at him. His vest was all scratched up, cotton spilling out of it like water. His face was covered in cuts, decorated with a purple bruise on his left cheek.
Dipper grabbed Mabel's hand, Mabel grabbed Candy's and Candy grabbed Grenda's. Before she knew it, Dipper was dragging the chain out of the woods towards the Mystery Shack. They maneuvered around each tree and each bush, tumbling over thick tree trunks and scarce gnomes. The dirt path took sharp turns every which way until it disappeared. All Mabel could see was a flash of brown and green as her poor legs grew number by the second until she felt like collapsing. She only had a tube of sprinkles before this, not enough energy provided to run a marathon away from the undead.
"Come on, Mabel! We can do this!" Candy encouraged her, noticing her begin to lag. Mabel squeezed her hand with gratitude, inspiring her buckling knees to stay strong. Dipper, however, was holding up fine. He was going so fast, he almost pulled her arm out of her socket. Mabel would always tease him for being unathletic, but he was holding up a lot better than she was. Mabel would have been impressed if she weren't running for her life.
Finally, Mabel could see the familiar building of the Mystery Shack.
Mabel wanted to collapse with glee at the sight of it. She could go in there, keep her sprinkles from the zombies, and the apocalypse could be fun! As they got closer and closer to the shack, Mabel grew confused as to why Dipper had swerved and approached the door of the rusty RV instead of the door to the shack.
The four almost barreled into the door, Dipper juggled with the doorknob in an anxiety filled moment before pushing them all inside.
The inside of the RV smelt like B.O, and it was no wonder why. Soos was on the ground, bruised up and bleeding. Suddenly, Mabel had the feeling she and her friends were not the only ones attacked by zombies.
Soos smiled at the sight of Mabel, "Oh, thank goodness you guys are okay!"
Lee, Nate and Thompson were all sitting in the torn-apart booth right next to the window, the shades closed to escape the horrible monstrosities around them. Tambry was under the table, hugging her knees as she tried to contact her mother. Old Man McGucket seemed unfazed, digging into his invention bag and pulling out numerous weapons.
After Dipper slammed the door behind him, he pulled his sister into an embrace, "MABEL, THANK GOODNESS YOU'RE ALIVE!"
Mabel buried her head in his shoulder, struggling to catch her breath. Candy fell on her knees, panting like a dog. Grenda put her backpack down, allowing Waddles to run out of it.
Between pants, Mabel asked, "What happened? I know zombies exist in Gravity Falls, I'm even close friends with the one that lives near the arcade. But, why is there so many?"
"Wendy, Lee, Thompson, Nate and I were climbing trees and throwing pine cones at by passers when we saw an avalanche of zombies crawl out of the ground. We ran away from them, and took cover here. We were going to take off right away, but I didn't want to leave you." Dipper explained, panting between each breath.
Mabel smiled at her brother, "Awh, thanks."
"OPEN UP!" A muffled voice came from outside, Mabel sprinted to the table Wendy's friends were sitting in, jumped ontop of it and opened the shades.
Wendy's gang looked up, all screaming in terror as they watched Wendy running with Robbie away from an army of the undead. Mabel hadn't realized there was such a large sum, the zombies seemed to bleed out of the forest like a flood, the amount of them stretching as far as Mabel's eye could see.
"IS THAT WENDY?" Tambry bumped her head on the table, crawling out to see the action.
"WENDY, WENDY, WENDY!" Her friends chanted, but the chanting stopped when they noticed Robbie stop running.
"What does he think he's doing?" Thompson yelled, banging on the window.
Wendy stopped too, gazing at Robbie in confusion. Robbie dug into the pocket of his hoodie, pulling out his cell phone.
"Don't tell me he's gonna..." Nate shook his head in disbelief.
Wendy started towards him, then started towards the RV, knowing her time was slipping away but also not wanting to leave Robbie behind. But when Robbie extended his hand and proceeded to take a selfie, Wendy gave up and sprinted toward the RV. Dipper opened the door, allowing Wendy to catapult in.
"Close the shades," Wendy wheezed, slamming the door behind her, "Before you see-"
But it was too late, the audience safe in the RV watched as two zombies grabbed Robbie by the arms, crushing them. Tambry turned away, sobbing loudly into her palms.
An undead woman that resembled Lazy Susan a little too much bit Robbie in the shoulder, her teeth breaking his skin and bone. Robbie's eyes rolled up in the back of his head, the whites of his eyes growing as the blood from his body drained and he became one with the dead.
Mabel's stomach dropped to her feet, and Dipper winced, closing the shades. Wendy dropped her head, her eyes getting misty.
"Pity," Soos shook his head, "He didn't even get to finish his selfie..."
For a moment Wendy looked like she could take on the entire world, she was wearing a blood soaked tank top, a sleeve of her usually flannel button-down wrapped around her forehead, and the other sleeve acting as a band aid to her wounded arm. Her eyebrows narrowed and glared at the approaching zombie army in a look that would boil eggs. When suddenly she fell on her knees, a small yelp escaping her chest as her frame shook. Soos bent next to her, rubbing her back in a comforting way.
Out of the shadows in the corner of the vehicle, a weird small goblin man appeared and began petting Wendy's back as well.
Wendy screamed, spinning around and aiming an ax at the owner of the unfamiliar hand.
"Toby Determined?"
Dipper rolled his eyes.
"I was on the roof of your RV and crawled through the sun roof because one of the zombies wanted to take me as its wife!" Toby explained.
Wendy raised her ax to Toby's throat, "You cannot just break into our RV and pet me like an animal! Touch me again, and I'll dig my ax deeper into your throat and watch you slowly drown in a pool of your own blood."
"Wendy, you can't do that!" Soos gasped, "Stan would be furious if you stained the carpet with blood!"
Mabel's heart sunk deeper, "Oh my god, is Stan alright?" She grabbed her brother by the shoulders, shaking him, "Please tell me he's okay!"
Dipper pulled from her grip, his expression turning cold. "I don't know," he admitted, "He said he was crossing the border to sell some illegal pugs this morning and left. I just hope wherever he is, he's escaped this mess." The twins shared a look of worry, hoping they'd see him again.
Sighing, Mabel changed the subject, "I know it's useless to play the blame game right now, but I have to ask. Did you raise the dead?"
Dipper took a step back, offended, "No! It wasn't me this time, I told you I was with Wendy when it happened. I think it might've been-"
"Um, not to interrupt, but-" Tambry opened the shades, gesturing to the zombies approaching the RV less than three feet away. They were now led by an undead, blood soaked Robbie V that gave them lewd hand gestures.
Dipper stood on the rickety table in front of the booth, "Wait, first we need a plan. We need a place to go!" he proposed.
"YEAH, LIKE RIGHT NOW!" Thompson squeaked. The zombies had surrounded the RV, banging on the window, but not figuring out an entrance.
Wendy gasped, running to the driver's seat and stepping on it. The RV in motion caused everyone to tumble over. Dipper fell off the table, landing on his stomach as the RV reached full speed. Mabel couldn't help but wince, as she felt the cracking bones of the undead Wendy was running over.
The corpses Wendy ran over made the ride bumpy, leaving a trail of mutilated zombies with tire tracks on them littering the floor. Mabel worried one of their ribs would pop a tire, or even worse; the bumpiness would make Dipper car sick.
Dipper struggled to stand up, his body bouncing with every zombie Wendy hit.
"Everyone, listen to me!" Dipper yelled, his voice cracking, "We need a plan to get out of here, a way to escape the zombies."
Mabel bit her cheek, her body falling to the side as Wendy swerved. There were a lot of amazing locations in Gravity Falls, but none she could think of that was zombie proof. Dusk 2 Dawn? No. Gnome garden? Ew. Wait.
"I have an idea!" Desperate eyes turned to Mabel. "In the Enchanted Forest, the unicorns have their own barrier that can be summoned by the deepest chant."
"BOO! HATE THAT PLAN!" Wendy called from the front seat. Mabel nodded with understanding, she knew how much Wendy hated unicorns.
"Don't worry, we'll kill the unicorns for food!" Mabel promised, "But we'll be safe, no one will know how to enter. It'll be zombie free."
Dipper grabbed the edge of the table, trying to hoist himself up, "Well, if there's no other option, take over the unicorn's spot it is!"
"TO THE ENCHANTED FOREST!" Wendy chanted, using her wind shield wipers to sweep away the blood and limbs from her view.
Thanks for reading!
There will be more passengers joining the gang on their road trip to the Enchanted Forest, and there will be upcoming answers on how the undead rose in the first place.
There's this famous short story called 'The Flowers' by Alice Walker. I read the short story in English class a few years ago, and it's about a 10 year old little girl named Myop who is walking back home with flowers in her hands, and she steps on the skull of a lynched man. She drops her flowers and the story ends with the sentence 'And the summer was over,' both representing the loss of innocence. I kind of liked the idea of dropping flowers being a symbol of loosing innocence, so I kind of put that in my story.
Leave some feedback, I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas on upcoming chapters!