A/N: Hello again, my friends. I've done a couple things (Which I hope you're alright with, Stwolfgang) to the format. Hope it's alright with the rest of you as well. Also, there are a lot of pauses, hahaha.
The Peashooter stopped dead in his tracks at the Footsoldiers words.
"Okay…? I won't… And umm… what I was going to respond with was Yeah, Dave is just one of those people. He wears that pan on his head for protection, which did him some good early on in this war.". After saying this, the Peashooter nodded his head very slowly and continued "And yeah… the memories are a relief for all of us. It means that the person doesn't die for good. You die twice. First your body, and the second time when they stop speaking your name… Well, not in your case" The Peashooter explained with a small chuckle.
The Footsoldier nodded at the Peashooters statements "It's smart of Dave to wear that pan. And with the whole 'You die Twice' thing… That's pretty deep. Interesting way of thinking."
The Footsoldier soon was back to his original task. "You must have had a run-in with a Zoologist or something, because there is a huuuuge P. Regalis on your head."
The Peashooters expression turned chagrined. "To tell you the truth, I heard that in a Zen Garden. And… Yeah… I think I still have some quills stuck in me from the ambush… But, really? Alright… That's not something I'll hear every day."
The Peashooter raised his pod to try and grab the spider. The Footsoldier held out a hand to stop his.
"Well, you got his freaking tarantula out of it. That's something to be proud of, if you ask me."
"Thanks… Like I said, he ambushed me, and that's pretty much why I got pumped full of quills… I think I spent an hour trying to pull them out." The peashooter said as he lowered his pod back to his side.
"Just a little tip for next time, Don't try to grab the tarantula. It could tag you and then you'd get a pretty painful bite. If anything, just let it crawl on you. They usually ge-"
The Footsoldier was interrupted by the 10-inch spider suddenly scuttling up his arm. He recoiled a bit and the spider made herself comfortable on the side of his face. Due to her size, though, she ended up obscuring a lot of the left half of his face.
The Peashooter laughed a little "That's good to know… It looks like they like you more, though."
The Footsoldier smiled nervously for a moment, mostly due to the fact of the arachnid on him "One, yeah sneak attacks will do that to you. Two… These things liking you isn't always a good thing."
The Footsoldier reached up gently, and tried to brush the spider away. The spider resisted for a moment before suddenly running down his face and neck to his collarbone and then taking refuge underneath his shirt. The Footsoldier jumped as the spider did so. After a moment, his hand found the back of his helmet.
"Oh my… Well, I'm glad I'm wearing a T-Shirt under this. It might've crawled into my death wound if I hadn't been… While I try not to freak out a little, tell me a little more about Zen Garden's please."
The Peashooter had a worried look for a moment "You mean?… I won't pester you about it… it must be a really sensitive subject. But Okay. Zen Gardens are… quite calm. It's mostly where we go to think and recover, unless we're dragged to an infirmary by a Sunflower. And I agree with you, ambushes will. Better than being ambushed by an Engineer. A good number of times, I've been hit in the face with a Sonic grenade… Gah, those things are literally the worst."
The Footsoldier nodded, despite the awkward feeling of something crawling on him and replied. "They sound nice. We don't really get much like that over at our camps… Heck, half the time there isn't even an infirmary. A lot of people we could have saved if the Scientists had been given more supplies and a place like that died because of it. And Sonic grenades are just awful. I've heard a few go off, and they're just this huge burst of very loud sound. Scared the living daylights out of the poor plants."
The Footsoldier only nodded a bit before continuing "And No, it's okay. Some Zombies are more open about their deaths than others, and I'm one of them. Yeah, Death wounds never heal. That's why you'll sometimes see these guys with a ton of bandages wrapped around them that they never take off except to replace. Their deaths are also connected to their fears, as I said with the guy who drowned and the pool."
The Peashooter was silent for a moment before he sighed. "Zomboss really undervalues his troops that much?… I guess he can afford to squander them though. But, one day, he's going to run out of Graveyards to dig up. And… Yeah, Sonic Grenades are. It's just like… having your head split open, leaving you stunned and dazed and… incapable of doing anything." The Peashooter nodded in appreciation for the Zombies honesty before continuing. "Ah… I see… It must be… an experience, living like that."
The Zombie nodded with a small sigh before replying "Yeah, Zomboss does… But he'll learn his lesson eventually. And… yeah, it's not always easy living like that. Like you saw with me, I can't really laugh or else the pain will start back up…" The Footsoldier paused for a moment before proceeding "Being hit in the abdomen repeatedly with a cleaver isn't a very good time."
The Peashooter flinches ed a little at the Footsoldiers last sentence, but stayed on the first topic "Man, I must sound like a wuss… I mean… I know you're enemies to us, but you guys really deserve better. You do all of this for him, and you don't get treated well enough."
After that was said, the Peashooter felt his features slightly contort with anger and sympathy. Unable to hold back the words, he blurted out "Damn… Th-That's… just… indescribable. Tell me who did that to you, I will hunt them down."
The Footsoldier answered to the first part before going on "No, you don't sound like a wuss at all. In a way, it's karma coming back to bite Zomboss in the butt for what he's been doing to you guys." The Footsolider paused for a moment and slightly looked down. "It was… just these druggies… I guess they needed a way to… Y'know smuggle things. So, they figured 'Hey! What better way to do that than to kidnap someone, tie them up, then use the first thing we can find to cut into them with and gut them? We can fill the body where the intestines were and get out of here after cleaning up the mess!' " He explained.
The Peashooter sighed in frustration. "That's wrong on so many levels. The fact that anyone is cruel enough to do that is just wrong on so many levels… But… I won't mention it anymore, it must bring back some uncomfortable memories… But, Yeah. Karma is going to get him one way or another. And Thanks for not thinking I sound like a wuss." he ended with a nod.
"You're welcome. I think Karma is already starting to get him. One of the best generals he had got killed in a battle a few days ago." The Footsoldier chose his next words as carefully as he could. "And, it's alright, you can mention it, it doesn't bother me. I think that those guys might have gotten away with it. When I woke up, nothing was… well… In my stomach, and I was in the back seat of a car."
The Peashooter punched a blackened tree in frustration. He could see the Footsoldier move to stop him, but he still managed to strike the burnt surface of the wood. "How does someone get away with something like that? It just isn't right."
In an attempt to calm the Peashooter a bit, the Footsoldier spoke again "I-I know it isn't, but there's nothing either of us can do."
The Peashooter sighed after a moment "Sorry… I just…want to be able to do something for you… it's just… you didn't have anything to do with them and they just did that…" He told him.
"I-It's alright… I'm doing fine… Some people are just like that. It makes them feel less guilty in the heat of the moment if the person had nothing to do with it."
The Peashooters angry expression remained for a moment as he just looked at the Footsoldier. After a moment, it dropped and he simply said "Alright… I'll trust you on that."
The Peashooters statement made the Soldier feel a little better, and he nodded his thanks. There was a silence for a moment before the Peashooter spoke again.
"And with the General dying… I never knew that happened… I thought that would have been big news around here… I guess his death was quickly avenged and hidden."
"Well, now you know. It probably was. Zomboss doesn't like to announce that stuff, so I only knew because I heard other generals being idiots and yelling about it." The Footsoldier explained, giving a small nod towards the end.
"I can see why he wouldn't want to announce it, it could be both demoralizing for your side, and really good news for us."
"And you know how Zomboss gets when the enemies have advantages… right?"
"Not really... I'm going to guess he lashes out at his troops?"
The Footsoldier looked down a bit before confirming what the Peashooter had said "He uh… Executes the higher officers because he thinks they're the cause of the failure… That's why the other generals were yelling, they-they're just so scared."
"Ah... I can see why they'd be scared then... That's a real risky move by Zomboss... executing his higher generals to send a message."
"Mmm-Hmm. Nobody understands why he does that."
"Anger I guess… blind, blind anger."
"Mmm-Hmm, probably. Anger can be pretty uncontrollable. Especially if you have the temper of Donald Duck and WMDs at your disposal."
"Yeah, that anger is going to seriously bite him in the grass if he isn't careful."
"Yeah. I think the anger has it in sight and is getting ready to strike, to be honest with you."
"Mmm...yeah… I feel bad for those generals… even though I know I shouldn't."
"I can understand why you shouldn't. They've probably caused a lot of hurt to a lot of people."
"You're right… But I just have to feel bad for them… they probably had no part in their death and they're being punished for it."
There was another silence. A silence the two simply walked through, wondering if the other would soon change their mind and begin attacking. After a few minutes, the Footsoldier seemed slightly annoyed with something and looked down his shirt at the Spider the Peashooter had almost forgotten was there, and broke the silence.
"Spider, would you get out of there?" The Soldier said to it.
The Peashooter smiled slightly at the Footsolider's reaction "I'm sure the spider is quite comfortable in there."
The Soldier thought for a minute, then shrugged. "Yeah, I guess you're right. It's a little chilly out and it might be warm in there underneath the fabric, so… I can't blame it there, haha."
The Peashooter laughed lightly "Yeah, it is, especially with the wind picking up some more."
After yet another moment of silence, the Footsoldier spoke.
"You know what I just realized?… We've been having this big, long, sorta personal conversation for quite a while now, and we haven't even asked each others names."
The Peashooter stopped in realization for a moment or two before slowly continuing on and speaking "Yeah… you're right. Well uh… the name's Anton… and yours?"
"Whoa. That's a pretty badass name, dude. Makes you sound tough, it's cool. Uhh… I'm Maverick."
Anton nodded slowly and said with a bit of uncertainty "Uh… th-thanks. Your one sounds way cooler though."
"Umm… You're welcome, and thanks…" Maverick paused as he looked at the spider again. "And this things name is… Uhh…" Maverick suddenly got a look of deep thought, and he held that look for a few minutes, much to Anton's amusement. Eventually, the Zombie spoke again "Clover?… Unless you got a better one."
"You're welcome as well. I like it, I can't really think of a name at the moment… too busy trying to keep an eye out for zombies… and Chompers."
Maverick laughed a little "It took me a while to come up with it for some reason." After saying this, he got a look of determination. "I'll help you out until we get close to the place we need to be. I'm a little nervous, to tell you the truth."
Anton nodded his head a little before replying to the Zombie "Don't worry, it was worth the wait." He said with a smile "And, Thanks, but it's you I'm worried about, and Clover too. And it's perfectly normal to feel nervous, you're wandering towards your enemies lines with someone who should be attacking you right now… But rest assured I won't attack you, I will keep my word and make sure you get the future you want and deserve. Besides… If I was marching towards your camps… I would feel nervous as well." The Peashooter paused in thought for a few seconds "We're nearly there… Hopefully we won't run into Vincent at the gate."
Maverick looked a bit more nervous than before, but continued on before asking anything " I guess it is normal. I won't attack you either, I promise. Thanks for being so nice. I'll make sure nobody shoots you, that's for dang sure. And Uhh… Who's Vincent, if I might ask?"
"Thanks again, I really appreciate that." Anton told him before frowning slightly "Just… a cocky sod who is our fastest shooting Peashooters. He'd pump you full of peas before either us could react. I'll keep in front from now on, if that's the case… But I'm pretty sure I saw him heading out towards the frontline."
The Footsoldier just sorta looked at him for a moment before grinning deviously, like he was going to crack some dark joke. " And then after I was pumped full of peas, I'd fall a little and take a knee like 'Oh. How could you?' and then fall backwards slowly."
The laughter that followed made them both feel a bit better. "I shouldn't be laughing, but I can't help it. He's a Law Pea… he'll probably miss his six shots."
"It's alright that you laughed. That was my intention, to lighten the mood a little. And, if he'll miss that completely fi-" Mavericks sentence was cut short when he heard the sound of gathered plants in the distance. He took a step back and gasped a little.
Before this happened, though Anton laughed a bit in response to the first thing "That's good, I was beginning to feel bad about it." Afterwards however, Anton sighed in slight annoyance, mixed with nervousness and facepalmed. He held it there for a second before bringing it away. "Alright, calm down. If you hand me your blaster, I'll take you ahead as a prisoner, ok?"
"S-Sorry… I'm just a little more nervous than I thought I would be when we got this far." he explained as he slowly handed over his weapon as he had been instructed to do.
Anton took the blaster "It's alright, it's perfectly normal to feel nervous, you're walking into the unknown." He paused for a moment before continuing "Thanks, ok… Let's get you inside. Remember, don't say anything unless you're asked… I'll try to get them to avoid checking you for any secret weapons and that."
Maverick nodded slowly "I guess you're right, there. I kinda feel like I'm over-reacting a bit though… and Alright. I won't I promise, and th-thanks."
"I'm pretty nervous myself… hehe. You aren't over-reacting… just try and stay as calm as you can, I'll go first and talk to the guards." Anton paused once again to take a deep breath, and Maverick did the same, which calmed his own nerves a little bit as well. Anton continued with "Yep, let's get this done with." as he began walking towards the gate, the zombie following him.
"Umm… Why are you nervous, if I might ask? And, thanks for saying so, I'll try my best. And, Alright, you do that then."
Anton turned to look at Maverick "Because there is the chance that my… persuasion won't be strong enough… and I may have lead you to your death unintentionally. But… I think we've got this."
The Footsolider made a small, nervous sound, but perked right back up afterwards. "Yeah… I guess we do." he agreed. Though he kept it inside, Maverick slightly wondered if he would survive this.
The first guard at the gate was a Cactus, which Maverick slightly shied away from, and didn't make eye contact with. Anton noticed this, and whispered 'Sorry', to which the Zombie responded with a nod of understanding.
As they approached, the Cactus shot an extremely threatening look towards the Footsoldier, a look Anton was glad that the Zombie didn't see. Anton looked at the Cactus warily as he explained "He's a prisoner, alright… Will you let me in, Winona?"
The cactus nodded slowly and hesitantly as she opened the gate. Before the two could get much farther, she looked over at Maverick and suddenly had a small outburst.
"DON'T THINK I HAVEN'T GOT MY EYE ON YOU!" She yelled. The sudden loud sound caused the Zombie to flinch noticeably. Not wanting to stick around much longer, Anton nudged Maverick forwards with his blaster and they both walked through the gate.
"You seem a little shaken."
The Footsoldier didn't reply.
The Peashooter sighed once they were out of earshot of the guards "Sorry about her, she hates zombies after what happened to her crush…"
That got a reply out of the Zombie "That… That's okay, I don't blame her… if that's the case."
After the Zombie replied, Anton began to explain. "Shame what happened to him… he just went in too deep… he shouldn't have gone after that engineer. It was…tough…Winona became so brutally efficient, Dave didn't want her on the lines simply because it was having such a bad effect on her." He paused for half a second before finishing up "Every zombie she slew… she seemed to enjoy it more… it became so much of a problem that he had to do what he had to do."
Maverick only nodded when he thought appropriate to do so as Anton explained. The only words he spoke after that were "Yeah… I can imagine so… Makes me wonder what she was thinking when we were walking up there…"
Anton replied honestly " She was probably fighting the urge to kill you."
Anton once again paused as he turned to a hill on the far side of the quiet camp. He mumbled to himself for a moment "It's quieter when everyone is away fighting…" he then raised his voice back up to its usual tone. "Well the hill is where Dave lives… that's where we're heading."
Maverick nodded slowly "A-Alright."
Anton frowned a little "You're still nervous, aren't you?"
Maverick nodded and replied with "Yeah…But I'll try not to show that I am."
"You'll be fine, as long as you don't hurt Dave, he'll have no reason to distrust either of us." Anton explained as he began walking along the path leading up the hill.
"Alright. If you say so. I-I'll trust you here." The Zombie replied as he followed.
Anton nodded his head and knocked on the door to the mansion-esque building. "Alright, let's see who's on guard duty today."
The Footsolider looked at the ground as the doors opened. Anton turned to the doors. A surprised Law Pea stood there. Antons reaction was immediate and he held out both pods, telling the Law Pea to stop "VINCENT, WAIT! DON'T SHOOT!"
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the Footsoldier cringe, expecting to be shot to pieces. The Law Pea controlled himself and looked at the Peashooter angrily
"What do you want, Anton?"
Anton walked through the door, shielding Maverick as he did so. He shot a look of warning at the Law Pea "I just need to see Dave. With the Footsoldier."
Vincent looked at Maverick, a look of pure disgust on his face. He turned back to Anton, and his voice held anger as he spoke "Fine. He's in the lounge."
His voice turned from angry, to threatening as he looked back to the Footsoldier "Just know, Zombie, I will blast you full of peas before you can say stop, if you DARE, touch Dave."
With that, Vincent turned away and headed up the stairs, leaving Anton shaking his head, and Maverick making a small, distressed sound. Anton turned to look at Maverick.
"Some plants, right?"
Maverick looked at Anton for a moment with a sort of awkward gaze. Noticing this, Anton cleared his throat and looked around.
"Anyway… I think I can hear Dave."
Anton approached the entrance to the lounge and stepped in.
"D-Dave, I need your help."
The large man looked up from what he was doing, and turned to face Anton. He smiled at the Peashooter before speaking.
"Anything for one of my plants. What do you need, Anton?"
Antons expression went slightly chagrined as he grabbed his left arm with his right one as he explained "I found a zombie sympathizer."
Dave nodded, the news not having an effect on his usual, perky smile. "Well, where is your new friend? Are they a scientist, I know that they're quite shy."
Anton looked over at Maverick, who had a look that said 'Please don't snipe me. Please don't snipe me.' Sensing the gaze, the Soldier looked back at him, and Anton motioned for him to come over. Maverick nodded and slowly did so. Once he was in the room, he slightly waved.
"H… Hello."
Dave's smile broadened a bit as he held out a hand. "Nice to meet you…?"
Antons gaze again shifted to Maverick, and he noticed that the Zombie looked particularly worried.
"His name is Maverick." Anton answered. Dave gave him a small nod and said his thanks before turning back to the Footsoldier, who has shifted backwards about a half a step.
"Nice to meet you, Maverick. What brings you here today?"
"N-Nice to meet you, too… Uhh… I-I'm sorry, I'm just a little…" There was a bit of unhearable mumbling, that ended with 'At the moment'.
Anton shook his head, and turned to explain to Dave, who looked a bit confused "Vincent threatened to murder him if he even touched you."
Dave 'Hmm'd for a moment before peeking outside the room at the banister. He saw the Law Pea standing there, glaring hate and threat at the Footsoldier. Dave's perky mood remained the same though, and he attempted to lighten the Soldier's mood by shaking his hand. Instead, it made him flinch a little. Despite this, Dave spoke
"Well that's alright. As long as you're a friend, then that's all fine with me. You're happy to stay here if you like, I've got plenty of space."
The zombie looked up at the man nervously "Alight… if you say so."
Suddenly, Maverick felt something begin to move around in his shirt, and eventually he felt something dig at his neck. He slowly turned his head downwards to find that the spider was trying to make her way out. Mavericks gasped slightly and brushed the spider back down before looking at Dave again.
"Uhh… I'll just try to believe you didn't see that."
Mumbling came from above, and Dave shook his head as Anton moved towards the stairs. After releasing the Zombies hand, Dave spoke.
"Go with Anton," He said, making the Peashooter freeze at the mention of his name.
Dave continued "He'll take you up to one of the rooms. I'll go get some medical supplies and something to put your spider in." With that, Dave smiled again, this time a bit mischievously, and walked out of the room.
Maverick did as he was told to do and followed the Peashooter after Dave had left. There was a moment of silence
"Umm… Alright… Not going as bad as I thought it would so far. Which is a really good thing… I kinda thought I would've been so shot up I was unrecognizable by now."
Anton started up the stairs, laughing lightly as he did so. "
I'm just relieved Dave acted like he did… that surprised me a little bit. But hey, relax a bit, you're in safe hands now."
"Y-Yeah… It surprised me a bit, too. It's just, uhh…" The zombie paused for a moment before speaking again.
"The first two Plants we met here… thinking of what may happen is making me nervous." he explained.
Anton looked at him, a look of sympathy on his face. 'Winona and Vincent? They won't be any trouble. I'll stay up to make sure they don't try anything in the night."
The zombie looked at the steps for a moment before they reached the top. Anton lead the Zombie to a door before Anton suddenly felt himself be jerked backwards by his arm. He looked at the pod that had snatched his arm for a moment before looking at the Law Pea that took it.
He felt his lips snarl at the sight of the Plant. "What do you want Vincent?"
The Law Pea jerked his arm closer to him, now developing an authoritative look.
"Don't you use that tone of voice, boy. Don't listen to that Zombie. He's got you manipulated. He's gonna-"
Anton jerked his arm away with all his strength, making the Law Pea release his tight grip. Antons voice picked up a growl.
"Leave him alone. I won't let you touch him."
Vincent's voice did the same "We'll see…"