Chapter 2
Welcome to Raccoon City
Population: 14,134… 13,342… 11,845…
Kim Possible
Raccoon City – After dark
The WUMP-WUMP-WUMP of the helicopter fills her ears even through her helmet. Curiously all transport tubes leading to and from Raccoon City were down so she had to make other transportation arrangements. Wade stepped up to the plate and got her different transportation culminating with this. The ride was long and uncomfortable but here they were, the glistening night lights of Raccoon City twinkled below her. The helicopter swung around as it descended toward a lighted landing pad on the roof of the Channel 12 News building. The news chopper finally lands and the door opens as the pilot waves at her, smiles and gives her a thumbs up. She smiles back and nods in appreciation then leaves. The news chopper takes off to make its rounds.
She's wearing her old work outfit, the black one that exposes her midriff plus a few extra gadgets Wade made for her. The head of Channel 12 News is on the roof to greet her. He is an older man in his fifties with graying hair and a deep receding hairline. He's wearing a dull gray executive suit and he smiles at her and extends his hand to her as he walks forward.
"If it isn't the Hero of Middleton, "he says brightly, "What brings you to Raccoon City?"
"Thank you," she says returning the smile and the handshake, "It's Shego. She's here."
"S-Shego," he asks as his smile fades instantly, "Are you sure?"
"Yes sir. I don't know what she's after yet, but whatever it is, I'm here to stop it!"
His smile returns somewhat. "Good to hear, good to hear. So, you are okay with the arrangement, then?"
"Yes sir, I'll be more than happy to give you and Channel 12 an exclusive interview after I get her back behind bars. I want to thank you, sir, for picking me up after all."
He motions for her to follow him to the stairway. "It was no problem, no problem at all. We're happy to help. Your name has traveled far and wide, Kim Possible."
She follows him to the stairs and smiles at the compliment. He leads her inside the building and down several flights of stairs to the main lobby. "Is there anything you need," he asks.
She shakes her head and pats her backpack, "No, I got everything I need right here."
"Well, good luck then and happy hunting," he says offering his hand again.
"Thanks," she says and shakes his hand firmly.
She leaves the Channel 12 building and down the stairs to the street below. Throngs of people walk past her and even at this late hour Raccoon City seems vibrant and alive. She feels a pang of guilt that Ron couldn't come with her as he was in Japan visiting Yori. She thought about asking Monique if she wanted to come but then decided against it. Ever since their last fight she had wanted to bring her down alone and this was the perfect opportunity, especially if…
She could feel her face blush and she tries to shake those thoughts from her head and succeeds for the moment. Stay focused, she admonishes herself, and you have to find her first. She finds the nearest empty bench with a street light over it, sits down, and unzips her backpack. She pulls out a black 3-ring binder that has the entirety of Shego's message in it. It took most of the ink from her printer but she wanted to keep it handy for reference. She opens the binder and rereads the first two pages for like the fiftieth time and then flips the pages to the printed satellite photos. She zeroes in on a photo of a warehouse building highlighted as being owned by the Umbrella Corporation, the conglomerate that Shego believes holds a cure for her. She did a search on the internet about Umbrella Corp. and found nothing to indicate that they had the technology, but then again, she isn't as good at this stuff as Wade is.
She flips open her Kimmunicator and calls Wade. It takes longer to connect for some reason even though it shows maximum signal strength. The picture is nothing but static and it fails to connect. She tries again but gets the same result. That's odd-
Her internal dialogue is interrupted by the sound of an explosion in the distance. She turns toward the sound and sees the glow of the rising fireball over the mass of cars and trucks lining the road. Whatever caused the explosion is blocks and blocks away from where Kim is, and she quickly puts the binder away, she slings the backpack over her shoulder and starts running toward the explosion.
People run away from the fire screaming as Kim tries to press through the crowd to get to the scene of the fire. A fuel truck is overturned and what's left of it after the explosion is on fire. Bodies lie on the ground, most are charred beyond recognition. The heat is so strong that she can't get close enough to help the ones that are still moving. Kim attempts to ignore the pain and moves in closer and then stops, her eyes wide in shock.
A horribly burned man near the gas truck slowly rises to stand. Bits of him are still on fire as he reaches his full height but he doesn't seem to pay attention. He turns toward her slowly and starts to walk toward her in a shambling gait. He moans and reaches his arms out toward her.
Kim takes an involuntary step back, then another. He keeps shambling toward her, moaning. His outstretched fingers fall off as he nears. Kim backs away as she can feel the heat emanating from him. His face is simply gone, burned away but his mouth opens wide as his moan turns into a feral growl. She sidesteps out of his reach just as he lunges for her. An unfortunate fireman stood behind her and he screams as the shambling man tears into his throat!
She stares in complete horror at the sight. The fireman pushes the man away and clutches the wound at his neck as he falls to his knees. The shambling man lunges again but this time Kim reacts. She kicks the man from the side and her boot hisses from the contact. The blow sends the man reeling back into the flames. She's at the side of the injured fireman in an instant.
"Are you okay?"
"It's not bad," he says grunting in pain.
"Here, let me help you up," she says.
She tries to help him up but his attention is fixed elsewhere. His eyes go wide in disbelief as he sees other charred bodies begin to rise. He grabs his fire axe and shoves Kim away as the bodies descend on him. He swings his axe at them as Kim falls to the asphalt roughly. He hits one, then another but the bodies press on him, groping and biting. He screams in panic and then changes to a blood-curdling death scream as the horrific feast begins.
Kim stares in mute horror as panic begins to overwhelm her. She forces it down as the charred bodies begin lurching tourge horrified onlookers. She tumbles backward and kips up on her feet as a charred man lunges at her. She kicks him hard in the face; the impact sends him sprawling to the ground. She turns to the now panicking mob.
"Run!"
The crowd had already started running for their lives before Kim yelled but a few unfortunates were grabbed by these horrors. Her gloves sizzle as she grabs on and pulls it off of a screaming woman, but the damage had already been done to her as she falls to the ground. The horror reacts with surprising strength, turning to her and growls as it attempts to bite her. She lets go and dodges the clumsy attack. Her gloves hiss again as she connects a punch to the things' face and gut. It falls down but slowly starts to get back up. She kicks it in the face, but it starts to get up again.
Her brain shuts down as more horrors attempt to surround her and the survival instinct kicks in. She bolts. She doesn't know where, she doesn't care, just get away! She joins the crowd as they all run in terror as their fallen loved ones start to rise up as new horrors. The crowd disperses as people break away and enter buildings, cars, and any other place they can find safety. Kim runs past the Channel 12 News building and stops further down the street to catch her breath. Police in riot gear and their elite S.W.A.T division were now lining the streets with weapons and shields out.
"Get down! Get outta the way," a policeman says yelling at her.
She dives to the sidewalk and hides behind a set of steps that lead into a building.
"Fire!"
She covers her ears as the sharp chatter of the rifles fire. She turns to the oncoming rush of horrors and stares in disbelief as the first line of them take hits but keep coming! One takes a few hits in the head and it drops, unmoving. She jumps involuntarily as a loud BOOM drowns out the gun fire, and then another. She turns back to the police and sees two S.W.A.T. team members with assault shot guns, spewing forth destruction. She turns back at the horde that keeps growing bigger. The shotguns have more effect than the rifles, blasting away a horror with each hit. Kim's disbelief turns into terror as she sees a victim of a horror feeding on it rise up as one of them, and then another, and another. Gangs of the things broke off from the main group at each building they passed and shambled into them looking for more victims. Still the pressing line of monsters continues forward.
"Fall back!"
The police and S.W.A.T. team fall back and regroup. Kim doesn't stay to become lunch and she follows, sticking to the buildings. The police suddenly stop a block ahead of her as half of them turn around and are pounced on by another group of those monsters. Kim stops too, eyes wide in shock. Her legs feel weak but her survival instinct is in overdrive. She looks to the right and runs down the thin alleyway between two buildings. She runs all the way down to the end which is a chain fence. It's easy enough for her to climb up and over and she screams and jumps back as hands suddenly grab for her through the fence. She backs away as the things press against the fence and more join behind them and press forward. The fence strains and her mind comes to life and she realizes that the fence won't last. She glances around, and there's a small wooden back door to the building but that's not a good option. She looks up as she opens her backpack, fumbling for her grapple gun. She grabs it just as the fence starts to give way.
She aims up and fires as the horde descends on her, moaning, growling and gnashing their teeth. She takes to the air just as they are about to smother her. She uses her momentum and flips forward as she clears the roof and as she comes down she lands feet first. Now that her brain's working again she takes a moment to pause, think, and breathe.
Then she hears it. An echo of a wail joins another, which joins a scream of agony, which joins more. They combine and from below it's as if the city itself cries out in anguish to Kim. The cries increase throughout the city. She shuts her eyes tight and jams her hands against her ears to shut it out.
It doesn't work.
Her brain shuts down again against the horror of it all. All except for a small sliver as synapses fire and form an image and sear it into her mind.
"Shego!"
The image is enough to jump start the rest of her brain back into action. Find Shego! Gotta find her before its too late! She runs over to the rooftop door and locks it. She makes her way around the perimeter of the roof and gauges the distances between the buildings around her. Fortunately they are all within easy jumping distance. She unhooks her grapple and hits a switch on her grapple gun and it winds the line and hook back in. Suddenly there's a thumping noise at the door, followed by groaning and scraping.
I'm outta time, she thinks to herself. She looks across the way to the next rooftop. She bolts for it as the door bursts open and zombies pour forth. She reaches the edge and leaps. Time seems to slow down as she looks down and sees the thin alleyway full of the rabid things. Her feet hit solid ground but she doesn't break her stride as she zeroes in on the next rooftop. The rooftop is further away than the previous one. She leaps and makes it! Her momentum causes her to roll forward but she rolls up to her feet in an instant. She makes a beeline for the rooftop door and checks it. This one is padlocked and bolted.
Kim's breathing is labored and she wipes streams of sweat from her forehead. Her heart thunders in her chest and her lungs are on fire. She hears moans from a rooftop close to the one she's on and she jerks her head to the direction of the moan. Even in the dim light she could make out the form of a zombie slowly shambling toward her, its arms outstretched. She watches in horrified amazement as it makes its way toward her. It reaches the edge of the roof and keeps going. It falls, coming nowhere close enough to make it across. She hears it splatter sickeningly on the ground below.
Whatever it is that changes them doesn't make them very bright, or fast, she thinks to herself. File that for reference, now to find Shego. She opens her backpack and takes out the 3-ring bind and flips through it to the satellite photo of the highlighted warehouse building. She stares at the photo and then looks around at the surrounding rooftops. Her heart sinks as she comes to the realization that the building in the photo has no real distinguishing features, and the buildings around her all generally look the same. I'm not gonna give up! Not until I find you, Shego!
The rooftop door thuds. She crams the binder back in the backpack and closes it as the door thuds again. She crouches in a defensive position, fists at the ready. The door shudders from another hit and then there is a loud boom as the pad lock disintegrates. She dives to the side as she hears buckshot whizzing past her. Another shot and the door is no more. A guy in jeans and blue sleeved shirt rushes through the opening, clutching a shotgun in one hand and holding the hand of a young, terrified blonde woman wearing a red dress and matching high heels. He pushes her past him as he turns around bringing the shotgun to bear. He fires into the stairway and a zombie explodes in blood and gore. He pumps the shotgun and the spent shell is expelled. He shoved the woman too hard and her momentum was going to carry her over the edge, Kim saw. She runs out from her position and tackles the woman from the side, stopping her forward progress and send them sprawling to the ground. The woman screams in shock.
He fires at the next zombie, obliterating it. He pumps the shotgun again as the woman screams. He turns around pointing the shotgun. Kim is up immediately her arms out in a non-threatening gesture.
"Whoa," she says quickly, "I'm not one of them!"
"Who are you," he asks, his voice almost matching the panic in his eyes.
"I-I'm Kim Possib-BEHIND YOU!"
In one fluid motion he turns back around and fires directly into the oncoming zombie's face. His face is splattered with gore and he steps back wiping his face with his arm. He expels the spent shell and covers the door.
"What are you doing here? How did you get up here?"
"I ran from those things," Kim replies as she helps the frightened woman up.
"Zombies," he says, "Goddamn zombies!"
"What did you say your n-name w-was," the woman asks in a hoarse voice from way too much screaming.
"My name's Kim, Kim Possible."
"T-thanks f-f-for s-saving me," the woman stutters, "I'm Annie."
"Ash," the man says, "Do you know what's goin' on here?"
"I have no idea," Kim says shrugging her shoulders. "I came here looking for a-"
She stops, not sure what exactly to say. "Friend," she says finally.
"A friend, huh? Well, fat chance of that happening now."
"I know," she mutters quietly as her face falls.
"Hey! Stay with me here! You know how to use one of these?"
She looks as he produces an M1911 pistol from a holster on his belt. She raises her hands and shakes her head, "No, I'm not into guns."
"It's the only way to stop 'em," he says as he turns halfway toward her, his face intense, "You gotta tap 'em in the head!"
For emphasis he taps the muzzle against his gore-soaked forehead. She declines again and he shrugs and puts the gun back in its holster.
"How are we going to g-get outta here," Annie asks.
"We can't go back the way we came," he says as he wipes the gore from his face with his shirt.
"I've been sticking to the rooftops," Kim says, trying to sound helpful, "they're pretty close and you can jump from one to the other."
"That'll only get us so far," he says sighing tiredly," What happens when we run out of room?"
"Well, I have this," Kim responds as she gets her grapple gun out of her backpack.
Ash gives her a look of utter disbelief. "Who did you say you were again?"
"I'm-my name is Kim Possible."
"The girl from the internet," Annie asks with wide eyes, "The one that says you can-"
"Do anything," Kim finishes with a small shrug of her shoulders, "Yep, that's me."
"Wow! You're like, a hero," Annie exclaims.
"Never heard of ya," he deadpans, "But we'll take any help we can get at this point. We need to find a gun shop; I'm gettin' low on ammo."
"Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, there are more of those zombies down there than up here."
"Girly," he says in frustration, "they'll be comin' up here soon enough, and I for one would like to go down fighting if I got a choice. No offense, but a loaded gun sure improves my chances of livin' longer."
"Sorry," Kim says meekly, feeling her face burn in embarrassment.
To prove his point, sound of moaning and groaning were echoing from the stairway. "We gotta move," he says as he brings the shotgun to bear on the stairway.
Kim and Annie both look over the different rooftops. Kim points to one several buildings away.
"There," she exclaims pointing, "It looks like a mall or something! It should have a sporting goods store in it."
"Sounds good to me," he says as he slings the shotgun across his back, "Let's go!"
Ash, Annie and Kim run as a pair of zombies stumble through the open doorway. Annie leaps first and makes it to the next building, followed by Ash. Kim brings up the rear but she makes it easily, somersaulting through the air and lands perfectly on her feet.
"Nice move," he says appreciatively.
"Cheerleading," Kim responds.
They run across the roof and leap over to the next building. The rooftop door to this building is wide open and several zombies stumble around aimlessly until they notice the trio. They shamble toward them, groaning and growling in unearthly hunger. The trio rushes past as the zombies lunge at them. Ash and Kim make it past but not Annie. She screams as a zombie grabs her arm and jerks her back.
Ash stops and draws the shotgun quickly. "Annie!"
Annie fights against the zombie and shoves its head away from hers but it bits down on her arm and she screams in pain. Kim and Ash run toward her. Ash uses the stock of the shotgun as a battering ram to the zombie's face. Kim runs interference and roundhouse kicks another zombie away. The other zombie lunges at her but she catches its arms and falls backward pulling the zombie with her. She raises her feet up to the monster's stomach as she falls back and pushes up with her feet as hard as she can, the zombie goes flying and she's on her feet in an instant.
The impact of the shotgun to the face causes the zombie to lose its grip on Annie. She staggers back, clutching her bleeding arm as Ash smashes the zombie again. As it hits the ground he flips the shotgun over and presses the trigger. Boom. Dead. For good, this time.
The other zombies start to rise up and Kim runs and leaps into the air. Her boot connects to the zombie's face and sends it flying over the edge of the roof. She leaps at the other and connects with a vicious kick to its midsection. It doubles forward and she uppercuts with both fists connecting squarely on its chin. It bounces off of the rooftop once and then teeters over the edge. She runs at it and drops, sliding on the rooftop with a leg extended toward it. Her boot hits, knocking the zombie off the roof to the street below. She flips backward before her momentum carries her over and she lands in a crouching position a safe distance away from the edge. She gets up and runs over to Ash and Annie.
"How bad is it," she asks.
Her breath catches in her throat at the sight of the wound. A small part of her arm was torn through, exposing a bit of bone beneath and blood poured from the open gash but it didn't look like any major arteries were severed.
"Hold the wound tight," Kim commanded as she pulled off her backpack and opened it.
She brought plenty of bandages, antiseptic spray, and other medical supplies in case her eventual fight with Shego turned nasty. She took them out and sprayed the gash in her arm. Annie screamed and cried out in pain while Ash held her arm steady. Kim dressed the wound using as many bandages as she could. "There, that should do it."
"Thank you," Ash says quietly, his voice full of emotion.
"Y-Yes," Annie said in obvious pain, "T-Thank you."
"Welcome," Kim replies soberly, "But you'll need to get proper medical attention for that."
"The entire city's overrun with goddamn zombies," Ash says, his voice straining to break, "I don't think they'd be polite enough to leave the hospitals alone, do you?"
"No. So that means you have to get outta here and get her treated. Do you have a car?"
"Of course, but its parked clear across town! We'll never make it!"
"It's o-okay," Annie stammers bravely, "I-I'll b-be all right. Help me up."
Ash gently helps her up and uses his body to support her weight. "L-Let's go," she says wincing in pain.
Ash half carries, half drags her over to the edge of the rooftop. The building that they hope is the mall is only two buildings away. Luckily the distance between the building they're on and the next isn't very far.
"Ready," Ash asks Annie. She nods. "On the count of three. One. Two. Three!"
They leap as one. They barely make it across, Ash's shoes catch part of the edge of the next rooftop but he teeters dangerously. Kim leaps, easily clearing the distance and flips over Ash and Annie. She twists in midair and lands in front of them, facing them. She grabs them and jerks backwards as hard as she can. It saves them from a falling death as they crash into her. The air is forcibly expelled from her lungs as they land on top of her. They roll off of her and Ash helps her up as she catches her breath.
"Thanks for that," he says.
"No…big," she manages to reply.
They make their way across the roof slowly, eyes darting back and forth for any indication of zombies. They reach the edge, and two more leaps to go and they make it to the mall, hopefully. Ash counts down again and they leap. They make it this time and Kim jumps over and joins them. One more!
More zombies shamble around this roof and Ash pulls the shotgun out. One zombie sees them and starts shambling toward them. He fires, blowing the zombie's head off. He pumps the gun as the noise attracts the others. He fires two shells in quick succession and two more zombies drop, headless. Ash fires a third shot but all he gets is a slight clicking noise. He drops the shotgun and reaches for the M1911.
"I'm out," he says as he brings the pistol to bear.
Six zombies advance. Kim balls her hands into fists, and her knuckles pop. Annie steps behind Ash as he takes careful aim. Over to the left Kim spies a flag pole and runs toward it as he pulls the trigger. A zombie's left eye disappears and gore splatters the zombie directly behind it as it falls to the ground.
Kim reaches the flagpole and kicks it as hard as she can. It dents the steel, but it doesn't break. Ash fires again and another zombie drops. "Hey," Kim yells, waving frantically.
Ash sees her out of the corner of his eye and turns his head as she points at the flagpole where she wants him to hit it and then quickly rolls out of the way. He fires two shots. Both hit their mark as he turns back and fires at the nearest zombie. Kim kicks the flagpole again and this time it breaks. She grabs it and twirls the pole around her like a staff. The flag falls and she throws it out of her way and then runs toward the advancing zombies.
In a flurry of movement she hits the initial wave of zombies with quick strikes and sweeps, knocking every one off of their feet. She wades through the zombies as more keep appearing, not thinking about what they are or who they were, instead focusing on her moves and strikes. Ash and Annie advance through the path Kim makes; Ash picks his shots carefully, firing only on the zombies that are too close for comfort.
Kim flips over one zombie and slides the pole underneath its legs and sweeps out, knocking its leg out from under it. She twirls the pole around her neck, knocking two more zombies to the ground. She keeps the pole in constant motion, twirling it around herself to keep the zombie's at bay. Suddenly she feels something grab her boot. She looks down as a zombie crawls toward her. Then its head explodes as Ash fires. She doesn't stop to thank him, there's no time. She continues her 'pole dance' and wades through the ever increasing number of zombies.
Ash keeps firing until the clip is empty. He ejects the clip, and slaps another in place in one fluid motion and fires again. Kim uses the pole for maximum effect as they near the edge of the building. They're close enough now that she can knock them off of the roof with her attacks. One after the other falls to the sidewalk below. Kim reaches the edge and turns around and moves forward so that she is in front of Ash and Annie. The zombies slowly start to stand up and resume their relentless pursuit.
"I don't have enough ammo for all of 'em," Ash says from behind her.
"Options?"
"It's too far for us to jump," he says.
"Open my 'pack and get my grapple gun. Hold on to Annie as tight as you can, aim for the highest spot on the roof, and whatever you do, don't let go of the gun!"
"What about you," Annie asks.
Kim's eyes narrow in grim determination. "I'll hold them off here. I'll join you after you get across."
"How're you gonna do that," Ash asks incredulously.
"Just go, NOW!"
She starts twirling the pole in front of her as the zombies continue their advance. She steps toward them and increases the speed of the revolving pole. She hears the gun go off behind her and Annie scream. Her scream turns into an echo as the horde is on her.
She lashes out with the pole, smashing one zombie's skull and then slams the face of the next three directly to its right. The pole revolves around her neck as she smashes two more zombies from the left. She sweeps and lunges knocking down several more. She never attacked anything with the intent to kill before, but she'd never fought anything like these things before either. Maybe Ash is right, she thinks to herself as she wades into the zombies, unless I can somehow find a cure for this, I'm not left with many options. She vaults a zombie over the roof and then another. I really, REALLY don't like this!
She sweeps the pole out in a wide arc, catching four zombies across the face. She sweeps again but this time aiming for the legs. More fall to the ground. She changes tactics and rushes forward spinning the pole around her in a dizzying display of skill and speed that is completely lost on the horde. Strike after strike, hit after hit, the horde backs up under the fury of Kim's assault! She keeps up the pressure, her eyes darting to and fro; making sure no zombie is with arms reach of her. When she thinks she has enough room she turns around and makes a dash for the edge of the roof. She gathers more and more speed as she nears the edge. She plants the pole squarely on the edge of the roof and vaults over.
Time does that slowing down thing again as she takes to the air and let's goes of the pole. She flips through the air and twists so she faces the building. The building gets closer and closer. But she can already tell that she misjudged the distance, she was very close, but not close enough. Her hands reach out in vain for the edge but she could see her fingers not quite making it there and she starts to fall to the sidewalk below.
Her final thought is on the woman who had brought her here in the first place. Sorry Shego, looks like you win in the end after all. She closes her eyes and waits for the inevitable.
Strong hands grip one outstretched hand and time speeds back up. Ash grunts under the force of her weight as she slams hard into the side of the building. Enormous pain shoots through her arm as it pops out of place as Ash pulls her up to the roof. She tries to scream but there's no air in her lungs to do it. He pulls her over from the edge and falls back onto his butt. Kim's lungs fill with air and she screams, clutching her arm in agony. Her mind tells her through the haze that it's dislocated and needs to be reset. She knows this pain intimately.
"Are you all right?"
"My shoulder!"
"Broken?"
She shakes her head vehemently.
"Dislocated?"
She nods her head vigorously. "I can do this," he says as he kneels down next to her, "But it's gonna suck!"
"Do it," she hisses through clenched teeth.
He turns her over onto her back. "Ready?"
"DO IT!"
He balls his one gloved hand into a fist. He exhales quickly and then punches her shoulder hard. There's a popping noise and she screams out in agony. The pain subsides eventually lowering to a dull throb.
"Sorry," he says.
"No…big. Thanks."
He helps her up and she stretches her arm and shoulder and winces immediately, so not a good idea! The trio look around and lucky there are no zombies, for now. Kim and Ash both check the rooftop door and it's triple-padlocked. They make their way toward the center of the roof and stare down through the patterned glass windows.
"It looks like a mall to me," he says.
"I know what one looks like, trust me," Kim says.
The Raccoon City Shopping Center was already closed for the night and all of the shop gates are locked, also it's a long way down to the main floor. Annie coughs and sniffs. Ash hands Kim back her grapple gun. She pushes the button and retracts the cord and grapple. Ash taps his gloved hand against the glass.
"I can get us through the window; can your doohickey there hold all of our weight?"
"Easily," she replies as she opens her backpack and takes out three D-hooks and pulls out some of the cord on her gun. She attaches the hooks to the cord and hands a line to Ash and Annie.
"Okay, my turn," he says, "Stand back."
He balls his gloved hand into a fist and screams as he smashes through one of the large glass windows. He backs up a step and turns to Kim, "Your turn, Kimmie."
She feels a flash of hot anger at him using that name. Hey, that's only for…She inhales deeply and lets the anger go. He doesn't know, don't let it tweak you. So not the drama, Kim, especially right now. Focus! She secures the line to her belt and Ash does the same. He ties the line securely around Annie's waist.
"Are you okay," he asks her with a look of deep concern, "You're lookin' a little pale."
"My arm hurts and I'm feeling a little lightheaded."
"We'll search for more medical supplies once we're inside," he says reassuringly, "Just hang in there, Annie. I'll get you through this, I promise!"
"Everyone ready," Kim asks.
Ash nods and so does Annie but weakly. Kim looks down to the mall below and aims her gun at the large central stone fountain in the middle of the main floor. She fires and the grapple shoots out. Her aim is true and the grapple pierces the fountain. She extends more cord and backs up until she gets to the base of a large roof fan. She wraps the cord around it several times and pulls the cord as tight as she can. Ash sees what she's doing and helps her pull the cord tight. She ties the cord securely and heads back over to the opening in the window. She attaches the D-hook to the cord and Ash and Annie do the same.
"I'll go first. Wait a few seconds then jump down," she says as they get in line behind her. They nod silently.
She drops through the opening and slides down the cord. True to form the cord holds as Ash and Annie follow a few moments later. Motion lights come on as they slide down. The stone fountain nears closer and closer as more lights come on to dispel the darkness. Her boots touch the fountain and she unhooks from the cord. She splashes into the pool of cold water and pushes back as Ash comes in and de-hooks. Annie is last and de-hooks and Ash catches her in his arms as Kim jumps out of the fountain.
Her lower lip quivers and her teeth chatter from the shock of the cold. She rings out her hair as Ash and Annie get out of the fountain. Ash is soaking wet like Kim, Annie stays relatively dry thanks to him. For Ash it's an improvement as some of the gore is washed off. Kim tries her best to ignore the chill in her bones and darts her eyes from side to side, looking for zombies.
"All clear," she says then adds, "for the moment."
"Damnit," Ash curses as he holds the M1911, "Slide's jammed, it's useless." He tosses the gun to the floor.
Annie suffers through a coughing spell than doubles her over. Ash is at her side in a moment but she waves him off and stands up straight. "We need to find a pharmacy," Kim says as she looks at Annie.
Ash walks over to the display that houses the malls store locations. "Here's one and…ha!"
"What is it," Kim asks.
"They got a large S-Mart outlet here, good! The pharmacy is on this level but the S-Mart is on the second. Let's go."
He takes off with purpose and Annie and Kim follow. It's not a long walk to the pharmacy but they pass the main entrance and the trio notes the swelling number of zombies press against the doors.
"They won't hold for long," he says, "We'd better hurry."
They break out in a brisk jog, Ash leading the way, and Annie pulling up the rear. He stops at the destination but the grate is down and locked. He curses as he slaps the padlock in frustration. "Great! That's just great! I don't suppose you have a set of lock picks in your backpack, huh?"
She shakes her head in the negative, "No, but I have the next best thing."
She pulls a tube of lipstick from her pocket and Ash gives her a quizzical look. "Stand back," Kim says.
They do and she twists the tube. A blue light shoots out from the end and melts the lock. She grabs the grate and heaves upward, the grate moves smoothly. "Where do you get your toys, girly," he asks in amazement.
"It's Kim," she says," and you wouldn't believe me if I told you so don't ask."
"Fair enough," he says shrugging.
The trio enters the pharmacy, grab plastic bags and systematically go down each isle, grabbing whatever they think they may need. They spend less than five minutes in the pharmacy and head out for the stairs. They jog past the main entrance again and even more zombies press against the doors and glass walls. They run up the stairs to the second floor and Ash stops for a moment, looking to the left and right to orient himself. He heads to the right and Kim and Annie follow. He stops in front of a massive double grate with the stenciled words 'S-Mart' above it.
"This is it," he says, "We need to get in there."
"Okay," Kim says as she takes out her laser and melts the locks on the double grate. Ash pushes the grate up so Kim and Annie can enter. The space allocated to S-Mart in the mall is huge and they follow Ash as he seems to be the one who knows where he's going. He passes counters and isles as he stops in front of a sign that says 'Sporting Goods Department'.
"Here we go," he says with a smile.
"What're we looking for," Kim asks as Annie goes through another coughing spell.
"This," he says as he smashes the glass counter with his gloved fist.
He grabs boxes of shotgun shells and stuffs them in his pockets and the bags he's carrying. He turns and smiles as he spies what he wants on the back wall.
"There you are, come to poppa!"
"Hey! What're you doing?"
"What's it looking like, girly? I'm armin' myself. You should too, just in case."
"I told you I don't like guns!"
"An' I don't like dyin'!"
Annie's coughing fit gets worse as she swoons against a shelf, stopping the argument. "Annie? Dearie? Are you okay?"
"I-I feel…"
She falls to the floor.
"Annie!" he exclaims as he rushes over to her.
He stops before reaching her. The complexion of her skin changes dramatically right before their eyes, going from a normal slightly tanned skin color to ashen gray. Ash and Kim stare in horror as she convulses violently. The color of her eyes fades to a dirty white. Ash takes a step back in horror as Annie begins to moan.
"Annie! N-no!"
Annie, or what was Annie, slowly starts to rise. Ash lets go of the shotgun as a single tear streams down the side of his cheek. Kim watches in horror as Annie rises, moans and growls and starts to shamble toward Ash.
Ash doesn't care anymore. The fight's left him. He can't see the monster that his girlfriend's become, all he sees is his girl, Annie, smiling at him with outstretched arms. She comes closer and puckers her lips for a kiss that's heavenly bliss! He puckers his own lips in anticipation. He imagines her smell and the heat of her as…
…a clicking noise and a loud BOOM brings Ash back to the present as his face is splattered with the remains of his former girlfriend. His eyes open and through the dripping gore he sees that half of Annie's head is gone as the carcass falls to the floor for the final time. He turns and sees Kim kneeling on the floor, a revolver in her hands, her eyes wide in shock and with the realization of what she had just done. The pistol falls from her hands and onto the floor.
"My god, what have I done," she mutters, her eyes still wide in shock.
"You saved me," he replies, his voice breaking slightly, "Thank you, Kim Possible."
"Y-you're w-welcome," she stammers.
The echoes of shattering glass and bending metal tell them that their time has run out. Ash runs over to the bath department and grabs a few towels and wipes what's left of…her…off of him and jogs back. Kim is still in the same position, still staring at Annie.
"Hey! Snap out of it! We're outta time!"
Kim's head jerks at the harsh sound of his voice. She stands up as he grabs The Boom-stick from where he dropped it and starts loading it. "Get yourself another gun, something smaller this time. Look for a .45 or a maybe a .40," he says.
"Huh? I don't know much about-"
He sighs. "Fine! Here," he hands her the shotgun, "You saw how I was loading it, right? Good, keep loading it through here until you can't put any more shells in it. I'll find what you need."
The echoes of the groaning get louder as she finishes loading the shotgun. He returns with three M1911's, the revolver Kim had dropped and two backpacks full of ammo and holsters. "Here, put these on," he says as he hands her two drop holsters*.
He puts on the other two around his thighs. She watches what he does and copies him. He hands her two guns and gives her a twenty second crash course in gun safety, aiming, and reloading. He hands her one of the backpacks and helps her put it on over her smaller one as the groans are no longer echoing but are getting very close. He grabs a bright leather sling for the shotgun and puts it on his back.
The groans continue to get louder, and they can hear the soft scraping of feet against the linoleum. "How are we going to get out of here," she asks.
"We'll have to fight our way out," he replies as he twirls the shotgun around his trigger finger in dramatic fashion and then sets it at the ready.
Shadows appear on the far wall as the zombies close in. Ash takes one last look at Annie and then starts walking toward the front. Kim follows. They stop at the entrance/exit to the main mall as more shadows appear on the opposite wall. He turns to her.
"You ready for this?"
"So not," she exclaims looking at him.
He shrugs, but at least she puts her hands on the hilts of her guns. They both turn back to face the far wall and the shadows. "Let's do this," he says and then adds before stepping out, "Come get some!"
*for those that don't know, Drop holsters are different then hip holsters like what the police wear. They go around your thighs instead of on your hip. It's more comfortable and makes it easier to draw. (Take it for someone who had one on for 16 months.)
AN: I forgot to do a shout out to that crazy talented Co-Author of mine, MezzicStorm.
If you like this story, send him a PM so he can start cranking out more chapters.