PVZ Life vs Death

by DareDreamer

Nathaniel Timely was once an ordinary kid until Z-Day back in 2009. He's been fighting the zombie menace ever since. In this post-apocalyptic landscape, rescources are dwindling down and humans are dying one by one. Nate must do whatever it takes to survive and win this war with the undead alongside his botanical buddies. And every mission brings a new adventure.

Journal of Nathaniel Timely

June 15, 2017

I remember when it all began. I was just an ordinary 11-year-old kid living the good life. Then…it happened. Z-Day, Dawn of the Dead, Day Zero, whatever you want to call it. It was May 12, 2009. I was in my tree house when I heard a scream of horror. I looked outside to see a gray-skinned person with a nice tie, torn shirt and pants and one shoe missing. He was stumbling and moaning. That's when I realized he was no longer human. He was something else now. A monster. An abomination. Seconds later, there was a second one. Then a third. Then a fourth. Soon, there was a whole horde of those things. Some wore cones and buckets on their heads, others had ladders and javelins, some were football players, and some were huge and strong enough to rip telephone poles out of the ground and swing them like clubs. The apocalypse had begun.

Luckily, on that fateful day, I had also found some allies. Patricia Blazing and her crazy uncle, Dave, were the first to respond to the brain eaters. Their answer? Plants. I know, I know. You're probably wondering "Why the heck would someone use plants to fight the dead? Some of them can barely even move!" Well, these plants are special. They can move and they can fight. Some can shoot peas, some can generate sun, some can straight-up explode and some can even eat zombies for lunch.

From the start, it was just defense, defense, defense. Every front yard became a frontline, every backyard a battlefield and every pool a raging ocean. Then in 2013, Dr. Edgar George Zomboss, the leader of the zombie horde and their creator, sent zombies back in time, and the plants took the fight to prehistory, history and even the future! After that, all-out war broke out on my hometown of Neighborville, Suburbia. Plants grew roots, allowing them to move around instead of just lying there in the dirt, and the enemy grew smarter, allowing them to use weapons and guns, and even drive and operate machines! The first Garden War ended in 2015, with the Zombies victorious. They expanded their territory, transforming Suburbia into their own. They called it…Zomburbia.

Since then, in 2016, a second Garden War erupted, with the Plants going on the offensive, willing to take back their home. I'm not alone here in the fight. Other survivors had come out of their hidey-holes to put the dead back where they belong. We had discovered new plant and zombie troops ever since. I'm 19 years old now, 8 years after the whole thing began. Thinking how everything once was before the apocalypse used to give me hope. But now…I'm starting to lose faith.

END OF ENTRY

I wake up in my treehouse to the sound of birds in the distance. As I expect, they're crows, cawing over a dead, decaying body. I yawn and rub my eyes. I've made some renovations to my home over the years. On a wall is the map of Suburbia. I crossed out "Suburbia" earlier and written "Zomburbia" there instead. I also have a walkie-talkie for communication, an armory, crossbow and spike defenses, and a place to hang out. Normally, I have daily assignments from Dave. They include driving to the greenhouse to get Plant reinforcements and take them to Dave's house, which is a base for Plants and survivors.

At the start of the second Garden War, he planted a tree under his house, which grew. The base has main entry gates, 2 cannons above the front door (for shooting plants to the nearby battleground where battles take place or for defense), a command room in the tree and 4 potted plants for defense. 2 are near the main gate and 2 more are on balconies. He also has his flying RV for transport. But what's ironic is that a Zombie base is directly across from it, with the same stuff. So yeah, fights happen a lot in the Backyard Battleground (what survivors call the entire area).

In my garage, I climb into my post-apocalyptic pickup truck (armed with a minigun on the roof after the arrow turret was destroyed by a missile strike, a Gargantuar battering ram, chained tires, reinforced windows, cages for Imps and a storage compartment in the back along with a bin) and gun the engine. I drive off to Dave's house, running over some Browncoats (basic zombies) along the way. They're nothing but speed bumps to me. The streets are filled with them, along with Coneheads and Bucketheads. When I arrive, I head into Dave's garage and down the secret stairs into the LEAF HQ (League of Extraordinary Action Foliage), our main base of operations, founded by Dave himself. It's indicated with a green leaf symbol. We must match the enemy's every move. Most of the survivors here can be seen training, making new weapons and vehicle combinations or researching the newest Zombie type. Some might call this a post-apocalyptic war. I call this the ultimate battle between life and death.

I see someone giving a speech to other survivors, along with Peashooters, Corns, Cacti, Sunflowers and Gatling Peas. "I look at each of you," he says. "And I see the marks of this long and terrible conflict. Do any of you, even today, know what you fight for?" No one answers. "Our children. Our children's children so they want to carry these marks." He says, gesturing to a scar on his left arm. "So, they will know who we are and what we did." Some guys pick up weapons. I get an assault rifle and load it. Whenever a speech like this is given, a huge battle normally happens afterwards. The speeches are for inspiration. "We will not bow down! We will not give in! We rise up, at this moment, at this hour, willing to sacrifice everything so that they can live in freedom! From this night, we take back our world!" "HURRAH!" everyone yells at once. "Let's go, let's go, let's go!" Everyone scrambles into vehicles and arm themselves with their own gear. Plants also mobilize with them. I hop into my truck with Patrice in the passenger seat (I need someone to operate the weapons in that seat). We nod as I slam on the gas.

Since I was late to the meeting, I'm briefed on the way. Some of our boys in the city have been overrun and it's up to us to evac them out. I talk to the guys via walkie-talkie in my truck. To get in the mood, I have my radio programmed to play the Terminator theme. When we arrive, I gasp at the scene. Most of the buildings are torn, battered and barricaded while skyscrapers have vines and leaves growing out of them. I screech to a stop and unload my "passengers", 5 starved Chompers who skipped breakfast to save their appetites, 4 Bonk Choys ready for some pounding, some Sunflowers for medics and solar energy and 10 Gatling Peas who are eager to knock some zombie noggins clean off their shoulders. "Let's do this." I say, my trigger finger itchy.

The battle is intense. Air support arrives within minutes. The chopper pilots had written the words "Death Bringer" and "Death from Above" on the tails and have flaming skulls on the body. I see a Foot Soldier zombie take aim with his ZPG and fires at a chopper. BOOM! The chopper goes down engulfed in flames. Browncoats and Coneheads are sent to take care of the pilot if he survived the crash. My Chompers are engaging Engineers and All-Stars who stray too far from the others. They also hack out Spikeweeds in grassy areas to ensnare enemies. Bonk Choys are pummeling away at Imps-small, mischievous zombies who are extremely fast. I hear a roar and see a Gargantuar smash his telephone pole on some poor guy taking cover. "Hey, bulks-for-brains!" I yell. The monster turns in my direction. I point upwards and he looks up to see Butterhawks rain down buttery destruction from above.

After I lose sight of the beast in the smoke the Butterhawks create, I turn and run, leaping over fallen debris as Patrice covers me with a mounted turret. A Zombot drone notices me and prepares to laser me to death, but I gun it down as I crouch behind rubble. I look out at the area below. This is a great sniper spot, but I don't have a rifle. I pull out binoculars and peer through them. Nice, some of our guys are down there, pinned down by some Z-Mechs blasting away. One of them fires a green flare gun to signal their location. Seconds later, one Z-Mech sees him and fires, scratching one more human off the face of the earth. Cars zoom off to where they saw the flare. The evac has started.

I freeze as I hear the roar of an engine. A dual-engine dropship with a purple skull symbol on the sides appears over the horizon. No one's ever taken one down. I drop to the ground, playing dead. I get back up only after I feel the light of its spotlight pass over me. It's looking for survivors to pick off. I dive for cover as it shoots down another chopper. It spirals right for me. The crash makes me black out.

"Timely? Timely! NATE! WAKE UP!" someone yells in my face. "Are you all right?" "Mmf…alive and kicking, sir." I grumble. "Good news. We found our guys. I assume you were heading back to report that you saw them. The evac is in progress. We need to cover their retreat. Here, take this. You probably need it more than I do." I stare at the ammo pouch he just handed me. "Good luck out there, soldier." He revs up his weapon-two chainsaws attached to an oar paddle-and charges into approaching Browncoats.

As I arrive at the evac zone, Wall-Nuts and Tall-Nuts are holding their ground, not even flinching as zombies gnaw away at them. I shoot at their heads. The brain is basically the only thing that works, they keep coming if they're hit anywhere else. Except the smarter zombies, which can be hit anywhere to kill them. I jump into my pickup as the last survivor is carried into a transport truck. All Plants are then ordered by Crazy Dave to retreat, since our job here is done. "Patrice, let it rip!" I yell as I stomp on the gas. "On it!" She swerves around the minigun and fires at any living corpse that has the stupidity of following us. I just have one regret though. We normally don't have enough time to get all plants to safety. Those we leave behind will either find their way back to base on their own, or they go down fighting as heroes for Suburbia.

Back at home base, I'm at the infirmary watching our men get patched up. They're getting bandaged and inspected for bites and scratches. I'm sure that if you're familiar with zombies, you know that if you get bitten or scratched-poof! - you die and come back as one of them. An announcement comes on through the base's speakers calling me to the briefing room. While I'm heading there, I check up on Patrice, watch some Peashooter and Cactus training, and even some Sunflowers recharging with solar panels. In the briefing room, Dave and our base commander greet me. Dave speaks gibberish, so I can't understand a word he says. The commander decides to do the talking. "I suppose you know of the incident on Walter Road?" "Yes sir," I reply. "Weeks ago, Zomboss launched his newest Zombot there. Before we could act though, a malfunction destroyed it, decimating the entire block." "Correct, Mr. Timely. But here's something you should also know. The blast had some unfortunate… side effects." "I'm sorry, sir?" I ask, confused. "Shortly after the blast, we've had some new LEAF agents join our ranks." He turns behind him. "Recruits?" Figures emerge from the shadows. There's a Peashooter with a hood and a purple face mask, a flaming Sunflower with goggles, a mushroom ninja, a bulky Potato Mine with a body, a Wall-Nut with a blue, spiky suit of armor, a blazing blue Torchwood with a yellow faceplate, a mutated giant Chomper and a Bonk Choy with spiked knuckles and red-green armor. I smirk at the newbies. It was time to take the fight to the enemy. We'll put them back in their graves where they belong!

BRRRAAAIIINNSS….