Ugh, finals week...
Hey guys! I'm back with the next chapter! Enjoy!
Chapter 2: Escape
The tapping of footsteps echoed through the empty air as a small group slowly made their way down the long road that led away from the Smash Mansion. In the still silence, Light, Warrior Kitty, Sonic, Pikachu, Lauren, Pichu, Yoshi, and Mega Man were all walking toward the abandoned Smashville, huddling close together and cautiously keeping watch for zombies. Once finding out that they wouldn't survive by staying at the mansion, they had all came to the agreement that they should head towards the small town so they could gather supplies and, possibly, find answers on the disease.
Everything remained silent as the small group now entered the city limits. The tall, partly damaged buildings towered above them as they walked along the streets. They then came to the corner of a building and came to a stop. Suddenly, and acrid stench hit the Pokemon's, Sonic's, and Yoshi's noses and they all snorted and coughed.
"Jeez!" Sonic said, covering his nose. "It's reeking all over the place."
"It's the smell of death." Light identified. "No doubt, there are zombies here." She then took a step forward and peered around the building corner. The large road sloped downward with many empty cars scattering about. Trash and a bit of carcasses littered the place as well. Light scanned the many buildings at the side of the road and soon spotted the Nintendo Mart farther down.
"I see the store." She said and turned back to the others. "The road's clear, so we can head straight for it. You guys ready?" Sonic, Mega Man, Pikachu, Pichu, Warrior Kitty, Yoshi, and Lauren all glanced at each other nervously.
"Uh...n-no." Mega Man then said in a shaky voice.
"Great! Let's go!" Light wasted no time and took off down the road.
"Light, wait!" Sonic called after her, but gave a sigh and went out as well with the others following in suit. As they all headed down the sloping street, something bright suddenly caught Mega Man's eye and he stopped and looked toward it. A few feet away, inside one of the wrecked, abandoned cars was something that was reflecting the sunlight. Tilting his head curiously, blue bomber took a few steps forward to get a good look at the item. As he moved forward, the sun's glare went away and revealed what the item was. A single, unopened E-tank.
Upon seeing the can, Mega Man gasped softly and his eyes started to shine, for he couldn't remember the last time he had an E-tank and he was extremely hungry. Noticing that he had stopped, Lauren looked back at the robot and trotted up to him.
"What's the matter? Did you see something?" She asked urgently.
Mega Man gave a slow nod as a little smile began to creep on his face. "Yeah...I see something." Before Lauren could reply, he quickly jogged over to the car and opened the door, climbing inside. The floppy-eared Pikachu gave him a strange look as she watched him.
"Uh...What're you doing?" She asked and approached the car as well.
"There's an E-tank in here, and I want it!" Mega Man called back without turning to face her. Lauren's strange look turned into an "are you kidding me" expression and she rolled her eyes.
"Mega Man, we don't have to for this. We have to get back to the others!"
"No! I haven't had anything to eat all day!" Mega Man crawled over the passenger seat and reached over the leaver to reach the E-tank, which was on the floor of the car near the gas and break pedals. "Dang, it's pretty far back there..." He mumbled as he stretched to get it. Lauren watched him blankly as he struggled and covered her face with both of her paws.
"Mega Man, it's...it's not worth it." She said, her voice muffled. "It's just not worth it. We have to go, now!"
"Don't rush me!" Mega Man shouted in frustration. He stretched out his arm as far as he could go to get the E-tank, but as he did, he lost balance and slipped off the seats, falling right onto the leaver and taking it off of parking mode. Ever so slowly, the broken car started to roll down the slopping street with a startled Mega Man inside. Lauren watched as it did so and she quickly ran after it as it picked up speed. Apparently, the car was starting to go too fast, so she used all of her strength to hop right onto the hood and get a good grip on it. The blue bomber looked out at the Pikachu from the windshield and smiled nervously as she glared at him.
Meanwhile, pattering footsteps was the only noise heard as Light, Sonic, Pikachu, Warrior Kitty, Pichu, and Yoshi continued to make their way down the street, completely unaware of their two friends' absences. As they trekked on toward the store, Light kept glancing around and observing their surroundings closely. Her black nose twitched as she smelled at the air and a look of confusion came on her face.
"I don't get it." She whispered. "The scent of zombies is everywhere, but I don't see any. This place is too clear and quiet..."
"I think it would be more appropriate to be thankful that there are none." Pikachu replied. "If we don't run into any, it'll make our task to get supplies and leave a lot easier." As they walked, the little group started to approach another street corner and an opening to another road on the right.
"Yeah, I know." Light said in response to Pikachu's statement. "It's just that the scent is everywhere and it's overwhelming, meaning that there should be some zombies close by. If we're not seeing any on this entire road, then where-"
Just then, they all walked past the corner and right in front of the new street. Immediately, noises met their ears and they all glanced to the right and right then and there, their hearts stopped. Many meters away, an entire hoard of staggering, rotting figures all stood among the street. Their gaze-less, bloodshot eyes were wide open and foaming spit and blood drip from their mouths. A very large number of mindless, lethal zombies.
The hoard didn't seem to notice, nor sense the presence of the little group, for they didn't turn toward their way. However, the six's eyes were wide open as they stared at all of them with their mouths agape. After mere seconds of no sound, Warrior Kitty's heart rate quickened along with her breath. Realizing that she was about to have a panic attack, Pikachu quickly pulled her hoodie up passed her chin and zipped it up all the way, covering the Sylveon's mouth. The little group then hastily and noiselessly scrambled back to the street corner and hid behind the building, their minds now starting to process the situation. Pichu then turned to Light and gave a her a blunt look.
"Well...there're your zombies." She muttered to the Mega Absol.
"Whadda we do?!" Yoshi whispered loudly, fear shining in his eyes. Sonic took a minute to think and looked back to the entrance of the zombie-covered street then over at the Nintendo Mart, which was still a good distance away from them. Thoughts rushed in his head as he went over their possible options, then perked his ears as an idea came to him.
"Listen," Sonic spoke up, getting the other's attention. "I can run us down the street, passed the zombies, and get us to the store. With my speed, we'd get there in only a few seconds and the zombies would most likely not notice us. And even if they did, we'd be inside the store before they could exit the street. How does that sound?" Light, Pikachu, Pichu, Yoshi, and Warrior Kitty all looked to each other, deciding over the hedgehog's plan.
"It makes sense." The Mega Absol said. "With Sonic's speed, we would be able to get to the store faster, get what we need, and leave without the zombies knowing we were even here."
Pikachu gave a little sigh. "It is the only safe option we have." He said then nodded towards Sonic. "Then let's do it."
Yoshi, Pichu, and Warrior Kitty said their agreements, but before they even moved to act on it, faint screams sounded in the air along with the clatter of metal. As the noises got louder, confused looks came across the little group's faces and they all turned to the direction they had arrived from. Sure enough, zooming right down the road was a tattered up car. But what really caught their attention was the floppy-eared Pikachu desperately clinging to the hood of it and the blue robot that sat in the driver's seat. The two continued to scream loudly as the car went right past them and collided into another car, causing both vehicles' alarms to go off. As smoke started to rise up, Lauren shivered in her spot on the hood with her eyes wide open, stunned. It wasn't until Mega Man, who had fell over upon impact, sat right up and put his arms up and the E-tank gripped in his hand.
"Don't worry, I'm okay!" He announced. As if on cue, the car's airbag popped right out and smashed him right into the seet. "...Ow..." The little group stared at them, but then noticed loud growling noises. Peeking around the street corner, sure enough, the sounds of the screams, the crash, and the cars' alarms had alerted the hoard of zombies and they soon spotted the eight survivors. With their growls turning into hostile snarls, they began to advance toward them in their desire for meat.
Panic quickly rose in the little groups' chests as this happened. "Dammit, Mega!" Sonic muttered to himself. Knowing that they had to act now, he grabbed a hold of Light and held her under his right arm. He reached over with his other arm and picked up Pikachu by his ears as the electric Pokemon grabbed and held Pichu. Just as he was about to reach for Yoshi, the dino spoke up.
"Don't worry, I'll run on my own." He said to the hedgehog. "I know I'm not as fast as you, but I'm still pretty speedy. I'll carry Warrior Kitty and we'll be right behind you." Sonic looked like he wanted to object, but when he saw the reassuring look in his eyes, he gave a nod.
"Alright. Then let's go." Wasting no time, Sonic quickly sped past the street opening with the gaining zombies and down the long road with Yoshi swiftly following after with Warrior Kitty on his back. As they went by though, Mega Man had staggered out of the wrecked car and Light snatched him as they went past and Yoshi grabbed Lauren as well. The zombies saw the eight beginning to get away and started to follow after them. Soon enough, Sonic had approached the front of the Nintendo Mart and skidded to a stop, putting Light, Mega Man, Pikachu, and Pichu down. However, they all looked on in terror when they saw the that the automatic doors had many large store shelves blocking the entrance inside. They didn't even open either.
"That's nice, now what?!" Pichu shouted hopelessly. Sonic looked around again and saw that all of the windows had been boarded up, leaving no way to get inside at all. But hey, desperate times call for desperate measures. Narrowing his eyes, Sonic ran to the nearest window and Spin Dashed into it, causing the board on the inside to fall off and the window to open.
"C'mon, inside!" He shouted to the others. Light, Pikachu, Pichu, Mega Man all climbed in with Yoshi (who had now arrived) following in suit with Warrior Kitty and Lauren. Sonic then jumped in and closed the window and locked it. The entire group was gasping from breath as they looked at the windows to see the zombies still heading toward the store. Granted, they were a good distance away, but it wouldn't be too long for them to finally arrive. Seeing this, Light turned toward the others.
"Okay, we gotta move fast." She said to them in a serious tone. "We have to get as many things as we need and leave outta here before the zombies all get here and trap us inside." They all nodded in understanding, then they turned to look into the dark, empty store. All was silent for a moment until Mega Man faced the others with a smile.
"Guess what, though." He said and held up the E-tank. "I got my E-tank."
The only response he got was Lauren face-palming.
And that ends it! So, what do you think will happen while our little group is in the store? We'll find out next chapter...Well, thanks for reading! The next chapter will be up soon! See ya!
