Afterlives
"He's gone!" Daphne cried, walking back into the basemen where Fred had just been killed by a monster.
"He's gone! They've taken him!" She screamed.
The bodies of the monsters were still lying dead on the ground where Daphne had shot them, but there was a puddle of blood on the floor where Fred's body had been, his gun was still there, Daphne picked it up. It had blood splatters over it, Fred's blood.
"Daphne." Shaggy said, putting a hand on her shoulder, the others watched, still shaking. "No Shaggy!" Daphne exclaimed swatting his hand away, "They've taken him!"
"Come on." Shaggy said, putting his arm around her shoulder again, and leading her out of the basement, the others followed, staying close together.
Daphne was slightly startled when she felt something touch her hand, she looked down and saw Cliffy holding her hand.
The gang went out to the Mystery Machine. "What happened, Daph?" Shaggy asked, as they walked out of the mall, Daphne sniffed. "He asked me to marry him, he said it would be the last time." She began, wiping her eyes, "I said yes."
Shaggy felt his heart sink, Fred had wanted Daphne to accept his proposals for years, and when she finally does, he dies.
"Cliffy was right, they were breeding in the basement, I killed them all but I…I missed one." She cried again, "And it killed Fred." She said.
Daphne sat in the back of the Mystery Machine, her knees pulled up to her chest, she was shaking. The others were outside, but Scooby stayed with Daphne, he put his head on her shoulder and he sighed softly.
"Velma, like, we've known Daphne for nearly three years, I've never seen her like this before." Shaggy said. "We've got to do something."
"There's nothing we can do, Shaggy." Velma said, Shaggy sighed, "She's our leader, the strongest of all of us, we've got to do something for her." Shaggy said, Velma sighed, slightly annoyed, "Shaggy. Fred is dead, there is nothing we can do." She snapped.
"Keep your voice down, she'll hear you." Daisy snapped at them, Cliffy watched the grown-ups arguing, he missed Fred as much as they did, he couldn't believe he was gone, but he couldn't imagine how sad Daphne was feeling, he felt his eyes filling with tears. He wiped his eyes before the others noticed.
"Listen, I think I might have an idea." Daisy said. "Nothing big, but it might help Daphne." She said. "What?" Shaggy asked.
"I think there was a pharmacy in in the mall, if I can-"
"No." Shaggy cut her off, "Like, I'm not letting anyone go in there alone." He said.
"Come with me, then." Daisy said. "What's your plan?" Cliffy asked. "If there's the right stuff in the pharmacy, maybe I can put Daphne to sleep for a few hours." Daisy said quietly, Velma laughed.
"You really think she's going to agree to that?" She asked. "No, that's why I'm not telling her." Daisy said. "Well, you can be the one to deal with her when she wakes up." Velma said.
"I know it's a bad idea." Daisy said, "But when was the last time Daphne slept? And now losing Fred, there's no way she's even going to try to sleep." She said. "If it helps Daphne, then I think we should try it." Cliffy said.
The others sighed, "You two go, Cliffy and I will stay and watch Daphne." Velma said.
"I think you handed her really well, Shaggy." Daisy said, quietly as they walked through the mall. "Huh?" Shaggy asked. "Daphne." Daisy said, "I think you handled her really well." She said.
"Thank you, Daisy. Before I worked for the Complex, I used t'work for Burger King." Shaggy said, "People were constantly crying about how bad their lives were." He said. "And then you worked for the Complex?" Daisy asked.
"Yep, as a dog trainer." Shaggy said. "Do you regret working for them?" She asked, Shaggy sighed. "Looking at the way the world is, yes," He began, "I hate what they've done and I wish I never worked for them, but at the same time, I don't because I'm glad I met you and the others." He said, "Unfortunately, under such shitty circumstances."
"Here." Daisy said, walking into the pharmacy. "What do we need?" Shaggy asked, Daisy grabbed a basket and began to fill it with bottles of water.
Ten she went over to the medicine cabinet and looked for anything they might need; antibiotics, painkillers, some bottles liquids, bandages and sleeping pills.
"Like, I can't believe you used t'be a pharmacist." Shaggy said. "And I can't believe you used to work for Burger King. When did you start working for the Complex?" Daisy asked. "When I became a vegetarian." Shaggy said. "When did you become a vegetarian?" She asked. "When I worked at Burger King." He said, Daisy laughed.
"You're a funny guy Shaggy." She said.
He started thinking about what Daphne had said earlier; she accepted Fred's final marriage proposal and then he died in her arms, she blames herself for what happened to him, but it's not her fault.
He thinks it's about time he should tell Daisy how he feels about her, before it's too late. But he doesn't, he doesn't know why, but he doesn't.
Cliffy sat in the back with Daphne and Scooby. "Where are the others?" Daphne asked, Scooby's head still on her shoulder.
Deciding not to tell Daphne what they were up to, Cliffy said; "They're outside, deciding what to do next."
"I know what to do next." Daphne said. "Kill every one of those bastards." She didn't seem to be talking to Cliffy, but herself.
Daisy stepped into the Mystery Machine with two bottles of water, "Here." She said, giving a bottle to Cliffy, he took it and drank it like there was no tomorrow.
"Where did you get it?" Daphne asked. "Shaggy and I went back into the mall." Daisy said. "Did you see any of them?" Daphne asked, Daisy shook her head, Daphne sighed, she thought where ever the rest of the monsters might be, they must have Fred's body.
She took the water bottle and started to drink it, then she slowly began to fall asleep.
Scooby looked at Daphne, he sniffed the water bottle "Rhat rid rou ro?" He asked, Daisy took the bottle. "It's for her own good." She said, she laid Daphne down on the bed. "Come on, let her sleep."
Cliffy followed Daisy out of the Mystery Machine, but Scooby stayed with Daphne.
"Daphne's asleep, she'll be out for a few hours." Daisy said. "Ok, we'll like, let her sleep but we'll keep an eye on the area." Shaggy said.
Daphne had Fred's gun in the Mystery Machine, but Shaggy took hers when they got back to the Mystery Machine after leaving the mall, Daisy had it now.
An hour had passed, and nothing happened, Daisy suggested that Daphne had killed all the monsters in the basement, but Velma brought up the subject of what happened to Fred's body, nobody said anything.
Suddenly, Shaggy shot up and pointed his gun at two figures coming towards them, Daisy pointed her gun too.
"Who are you?" Shaggy asked, the figures looked like two men, but they kept their guns pointed. "My name is John, this is Alex." One of the men said. "We were hoping to find survivors." The other man said.
"What is the problem?" Alex asked, Daisy and Shaggy still had their guns pointed at them. "What's the problem?" Shaggy asked. "The problem is the world has been over taken by monsters and after nearly three years of running after them, we suddenly find you two." He said.
"You think we're monsters?" John asked, nobody said anything, but John and Alex raised their hands. "Dude, we were just out looking for more survivors." Alex said.
"More?" Velma asked. "Yeah, we found this little family hiding out in an electronic store a few blocks away, we thought there might be more people out there, so we came to look." John said, Shaggy lowered his gun, then Daisy did. "Do you want to come with us?" Alex asked.
"No, like we're going t'stick t'gether."Shaggy said. "How long have you been here?" John asked. "A few days, we've been hiding in there." Daisy said, pointing to the mall. "Well, if you change your mind, we're camped in the electronic store." John said, and the pair walked away.
The gang exchanged looks.
Shaggy sat on the sidewalk. "What?" Cliffy asked. "I'm just thinking." Shaggy said, they all looked at him. "When Daphne wakes up, we could search the mall, make sure it's safe, and find survivors." He said.
"What and turn the mall into a safe haven?" Velma asked, Shaggy nodded. "It's a good idea." Velma said, "But I don't think we'll find many people."
Six months later, the mall (now a safe haven) is filled with more than 100 survivors.
THE END