Walking Dead Online
Here we go with chapter four. This one was interesting. I loved writing the dialogue with Rapunzel and Flynn. You'll see what I mean here in a minute. Anyway, thank you to Nesthellshurt for editing and helping me work through all the kinks. You input is extremely helpful. I own nothing. The Big Four is the creation of Disney, Dreamworks and their rightful creators. SAO is the phenomenal story written by Reki Kawahara. And TWD is the thrilling creation of the ever-infuriating Robert Kirkman. Now please enjoy.
Ice Cold Sniper
There was a beeping noise that didn't seem to go to his ears but rather his brain letting him know that the alarm he set was going off. Reminding him that he wasn't in his bed in his apartment with his father. He was in TWDO, the new death game since SAO. He was in hell.
The only way to turn off the alarm was to wake up. a sufficient way to make sure you get moving, but annoying none the less. With a groan, he sat up and looked around with a small smile. He may be in hell but at least he got one of the honeymoon suits. Jack, Merida, Rapunzel, and Hiccup all got their own rooms on the top floor. All honey moon suits. Everyone else paired up either with a friend or lover on whichever floor they waned. But as the leaders of their group the others felt it was only fair that the Big Four get the best rooms for themselves. He had to admit it was nice. But still, he'd rather share a room with his sister, knowing every night that she's safe and with him.
Today is the day I find you little sister.
KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK.
"Jack." Rapunzel called from the other side of the door. "I made breakfast, come on down to the dining room."
"Coming, just give me a second." He called back.
Though they didn't need to change their clothes or anything they were still uncomfortable to sleep in if you didn't have to. So he slept in his tank top and underwear. But when he reequipped his clothes he made sure he had his blue hoody. Made sure he was carrying the pain. The water was still working in the building but the gas lines were down so no hot water, but still, it felt good to be able to wash his face in the morning. And take a good gulp to get him started in the day.
Still, all the luxuries didn't change the fact the he was still trapped in hell.
"Morning." He called as he entered the dining hall.
"Morning." Was the collective answer back.
Jack looked over the new comers with a fresh sense of interest. The Asian, as he came to find out was named Baymax, but he preferred to be called by his real name Tadashi and the extremely tall blonde was his girlfriend Honey Lemon. They hadn't gotten to know much about them just their skills, which was a must know when playing RPGs. Tadashi was a medic with a sub skill of engineer, mostly strength centered but had a decent speed stat. Honey Lemon was a chemist mostly—which Jack didn't know was even a skill in this game. This basically meant she was a bomb expert, a trap maker, and a bit of an engineer. Either way she knew how things worked. She also had a decent agility stat which made her a good scout. The other two were Eret, a heavy gun totter and sailor. This would help them to get fish if they found a lake or if they found a way out onto the ocean. He was mostly based in strength stats and had this attitude that got on Astrid's nerves. And Flynn Rider, a criminal mostly a thief. Extremely helpful as long as he doesn't piss off Jack or the rest of the Big Four.
"So I couldn't really sleep last night and walked around this place and I found something that can be used as a blacksmith shop." Hiccup said around a mouthful of oatmeal. "And with Tadashi and Honey Lemon's help I'll be able to make bullets."
"Seriously?" Snotlout cried.
"Yeah." The blacksmith nodded throwing some fish for Toothless. "It won't be that hard now with Honey Lemon with us."
"Making gun powder would be simple." The blonde smiled. "I just have to work up my skill a bit more before we do that though."
"Not a problem." Hiccup shook his head. "We have things to do before we do that."
"Like find Elsa." Jack reminded.
"That first and for most." Hiccup nodded giving his friend a gentle smile. "And reinforce this place more." I think we should go out in a small scouting team to find Elsa while the rest of us stay here and do what we can to make this place safe."
"Th' Big Four needs tae stay together." Merida insisted. "We wurk best 'at way."
"I agree." Rapunzel nodded. "Plus Tadashi is a medic too. He can take care of things here while I'm gone."
"I'm not that good yet, but I'll do my best." The boy assured.
"Then I'm going." Astrid claimed. "Hiccup's safety is my top priority."
"I'll be fine Astrid." Hiccup sighed.
"No I think she should come." Jack said thoughtfully. "Flynn too."
"Why me?" the thief whined.
"So we can keep an eye on you." Was Rapunzel's blunt response. "You can still be trouble and this little journey will give us a chance to bond and become a real team."
"I never wanted to be on this team you all kind of forced me." he wailed. "And besides did you see what happened last time I went out there, I almost got eaten by cannibals."
"But you didn't." she smiled. "We can't just expect Jack to do all the recon jobs for us, he needs help sometimes. That's where you come in."
"Why won't you just let me goooo…"
"Quit complaining." Eret groaned. "Be thankful they took you in at all."
"But I didn't want to get taken in."
"We'll hold down the fort till your gone." The sailor affirmed. "I never got to thank you before, but I will do whatever it takes to make sure we all survive."
"Ah loch 'im." Merida beamed. "Ye should take a page from 'is book, thief."
"Why isn't anyone listening to me?" Flynn wailed slamming his head down on the table and the others moved on.
"Okay." Hiccup said getting every one's attention back on him. "This is our base of operations. Jack said that Elsa would go up high and stay there to wait for him. So we'll check the mountains around us. If we can we'll leave notes that will give Elsa a safe place to go and wait for her brother. A house or shack with a decent enough defense. We can hide supplies there for her too. Do you have anyway of leaving her a clue without anyone knowing what it says?"
"We both speak Danish. We used it as a code when we played GGO." Jack nodded. "Nothing fancy just a way to talk without anyone understanding us. I can't say it won't be easy to crack. But she'll know it right away when she sees it."
"Okay, that's what I thought." Hiccup nodded back. "That's why I want a middle ground for her to go to. If we told her to come here someone could be bilingual and come right for us. Right now, we can't handle someone trying to take an assault on the hotel. It would be preferable to find her today, but that chance is—I'm sorry to say—not likely. This may take time."
That sobered the rest of the group right up as they understood the implications.
"I want this hotel to be permanent." Hiccup continued. "I want our group to be the one that clears this game. I know that was the Big Four's main goal during the beta, to beat it at all costs. But now we don't have the option of respawning so we have to go about this carefully. Finding a safe place and keeping it safe is step one. From what I understand Elsa is a formidable player and there will be others out there like her. Building up our little community is step two that way we'll have a big enough group to take on the step that really matters."
"Going on scouting missions and finding the clues in the labs and colleges." Jack finished.
"Exactly. But for now we have to live here. We need to make sure we can do that. That means hunting, raiding, growing, all of it. This isn't a game we can take for granted. This is real and we need to treat it as such. So we're gonna have to find some lake or something to fish, form a hunting party-"
"No parties." Merida shook her head. "People will onlay get in th' way. Ah can take care ay th' huntin' on mah own."
"Fine if that's what you want." Hiccup shrugged. "We'll need farmers or at least people who are skilled with agriculture. And not just for food either. We need to grow herbs and other useful plants for medicines and engineering."
"I can give that a go." Rapunzel raised her hand. "I don't have any skills in agriculture but I could get us started till we find people who do."
"Sounds good. I can tame a few horses and other animals so we can start raising livestock, but once when the blacksmith shop is up and running I'm gonna need someone else to take over taking care of animals."
"When I'm not fishing I can do that." Eret offered. "It's not strong but I did try to dabble in animal taming. I'll do what I can to help anyway."
"I'll teach you all I can before I go to the shop." Hiccup offered which was accepted with a nod. "We'll also need a group that specifically hunts herds and takes them out to take their loot and bring it back for the group as well as scouts to go out and scavenge."
"Wait, you want us to go out there and find the zombies just to kill them? That's suicide." Flynn gaped.
"That's what the Big Four did for fun." Jack chuckled. "There are no dungeons or obvious bosses in this game like other RPGs, its all herds and NPC fights, so quests basically. That is how you get all the good loot and items. Scavenging can only get you so far, killing walkers is the best way to get stuff. Just like in the show how Abraham got the rocket launcher from a dead solider. Or how rick got that grenade. You can get some really cool stuff. How do you think I got my crook, it was a really nasty shepherd walker just oozing gross puss and gunk. So gross but so worth it. I'll take that job as well as scavenging and clue finding."
"Okay, but that's only out there. There are going to be walkers that come up to our gates so we can also hunt them that way. Either way, if we play this smart we may not ever run out of supplies. We just have to make sure that we keep this place and hunt big enough herds. We can also do that while we're out their looking for Elsa. So after breakfast we'll pack up and head out. Fishlegs you are in charge while we're gone."
"Why does he get to be in charge?" Snotlout whined.
"Because I trust him not to agro a herd or blow the place up or let their girlfriend talk them into doing such." Hiccup said giving Snotlout and the twins a sharp look.
"Hey, we haven't gotten to blow anything up since we've got here." Ruffnut defended.
"But the time is coming." Tuffnut cackled. "Very soon."
"…maybe we should tie them up before we go." Astrid suggested.
"No point, they've mastered the Houdini skill of slipping out of bindings." Hiccup groaned rubbing his temples.
"Um, though I am confident in my skills with knowledge and categorizing, I don't think I can keep them in check." Fishlegs murmured twiddling his thumbs.
"Fine, Tadashi you're in charge." Hiccup cried.
"Why me?" Tadashi asked, honestly curious.
"I'm confident enough that you have no intention of betraying us and that you will find some way to keep the twins and my cousin out of trouble." Hiccup sighed.
"Um, thank you, I think." the medic engineer raised a brow in suspicion.
"Okay, that's the plan." Jack announced. "So eat up, pack up and psyche up, 'cause we're heading out in twenty."
Precisely twenty minutes later the Big Four and company where ready to go.
"We'll be back in exactly five hours." Hiccup told Tadashi at the gate. "If we don't come back by then it just means we ran into some trouble, so don't worry. If one of us dies you'll get the message."
In this game, it was important to know if you party members were dead or not so if one did die the other members of the party, and everyone on the deceased friends list, would receive a message telling them as such. During the fight to get out of the city Hiccup's party got the message for Dagur but didn't really register since they all saw it happen and were too distraught to concentrate. You could also send typed messages to people on your friend's list like you would for a chat room in an RPG computer game. This was one of the few conveniences of the game though.
"Unless you get the message don't come looking for us." He finished while Toothless sat at his heels.
"Don't die and we won't have anything to worry about." Tadashi suggested cheekily. "I'm not too worried, since you added me to your friends list I should be able to send you a message if something happens. Hopefully I won't need too though. I'll do what I can to hold down the fort till you guys get back."
"Just give the twins and Snotlout something sharp and let them kill walkers through the bars. That should keep them entertained for a bit."
"Thanks I'll do that." The medic nodded. "Come back safe and with Jack's sister got it."
"Yeah, we will." Hiccup nodded with a smile.
Jack couldn't help but watch with a faint grin and a twist in his gut. He didn't really understand why he felt like that. It wasn't like Tadashi was trying to take his friend or anything. Still Jack didn't like not having Hiccup close to his side at all times.
Maybe because of the promise I made? He thought absently. Still I'm glad he's back to his old self. Or at least has a good handle on the grief for now. Seeing him so upset was horrible.
"Alright let's do this." Hiccup called as he joined the others with Toothless giving a soft yowl of glee.
"Yeah." Jack nodded wrapping a friendly arm around the boy's shoulder—or at least he wanted it to be friendly.
They kept the road in their sights but didn't travel by it to keep from running into the cannibals or any other NPC group that could try to steal from them all the while heading for the mountain that was closest to the city, their best bet.
"All I'm saying is that a scavenger like me does best on his own." Flynn insisted as they continued through the trees.
"Oh but your talents could be so useful in the group too. Just imagine all the loot you could get for our group." Rapunzel smiled cheerily, somehow becoming his babysitter.
"Or I could just take all the loot for myself." He offered. "That was the plan since this whole shit storm started."
"Well plans can change, just ask Hiccup."
"I don't want the plan to change."
"How about I make you an offer." She chirped. "You stay with us for a week and if you don't want to stay then you are free to go and I will give you all the supplies I have gathered just for myself. You've already seen my skills and know that I can get quite a bit with little effort, so what do you have to lose?"
"My life." He said bluntly.
"Oh like I would ever let that happen."
"You really think you I'll stay after a week? Why would I do that?"
"You haven't left us yet. It's not like we've chained you up and started dragging you along."
"You hung me from the rafters and your friend threatened me with an arrow."
"That was just a warning in case you tried to steal from us."
"That was a threat."
"Call it whatever you want. If your criminal skills are as high as you let on then you should be able to get away from us with no problem. So why haven't you?"
"Because… I don't want an arrow in my ass."
"Whatever you say." Rapunzel shrugged with a smirk.
"Hey ye two mind keepin' it down." Merida growled. "We're tryin' tae keep th' woker from knowin' where we are."
"We're fine Merida." Jack called. "And besides we're nearly up the Moutai-"
"No Hiccup!" Merida suddenly cried launching for her friend. "Dorn't step there!"
SNAP! CRANK-CRANK-CRANK-CRANK-SLAM!
"What the hell." Astrid freaked.
"I didn't do it!" Flynn cried.
"No I did." Hiccup moaned holding up a bit of rope. "I didn't see it and set of the trap."
"An' now we're stuck in a cage." Merida groaned. "Just great."
Remembering something from last night, Hiccup eyed the red head with intense suspicion.
"How'd you know that was here?" He asked.
"Whit?" she asked absently searching the bars for weak spots.
"How'd did you know that rope was here?" he asked again.
"Ah… ah used meh search skeel." She answered wincing at her obvious hesitance.
"No way." Hiccup shook his head. "The way this trap was set up, not even a search skill as high as yours would find it. Even Toothless didn't sense it and that's like his main job, detecting danger and traps."
"Look, get off meh bach already." She growled. "Mah eyes are jist better 'an yer bloody cat's."
Toothless seemed to take offence to that as he growled lowly at her.
Rapunzel wanted to cheer up her friends but the look on Jack's face made her pause.
He was smiling.
"Jack, are you okay?" she asked cautiously.
He turned to everyone else with a broad smile on his face.
"This is great." He chuckled. "This is perfect."
"Oh good. Leader boys lost it." Flynn muttered.
"Shut it." Merida snarled.
"Jack what about this great?" Hiccup asked looking around in despair. "An NPC group could have set this up. Maybe even those cannibals or other players. Either way this can't be a good thing."
"You're right. This is a great thing." He said again. "This trap was made by my sister."
They all looked on unbelieving and shocked.
"How can you possibly know that?" Astrid finally roared. "Anyone with a good trapping skill could have made this thing."
"Because she signs her work with a snow flake." He smirked pointing at the pattern etched into the metal.
It was indeed, a snow flake.
"Holy crap." Flynn gaped.
"She couldn't have made this with the beginner tools." Hiccup noted. "Not even with the extra stuff the beta testers get. She must have a camp, a safe one with supplies. Maybe we can get them to come back with us. Or maybe they're safer than we are. Either way, Jack's right. This is a great thing."
"So whit dae we do now 'en? Jist wait fur 'em tae come an' get us?" Merida asked crossing her arms.
"Pretty much, yeah." Hiccup shrugged getting comfortable using Toothless as a back rest.
"Oh great." She groaned leaning against the bars.
"Anybody got some cards?" Rapunzel asked with a sigh.
"Yeah, I do actually." Flynn nodded pulling out a deck from his inventory.
"Figures." Astrid snorted. "Let me guess you swindle people out of their items just as much as you steal from them."
"Hey, this is a world with gamers in it. They all have this code GG. If you beat them in a game rather than outright take from them their more likely to cooperate."
"Have you ever taken items before?" Hiccup aske eyeing the boy.
"No." Flynn shook his head. "I avoided players like the plague and applied my skills to NPCs mostly. Stealing from players always involves a fight. I can hold my own but if the group is too big, or if I didn't account for their back up and can get myself into major trouble. When I first started this game, I assumed PKing would be fine and that's how I planned to get my loot. But if you kill someone here… I couldn't live with that on my conscious."
"Your one of the few thieves like that." Rapunzel smiled.
"Hey!" he suddenly chocked turning red. "Don't go thinking anything dumb. I'm not trying to be nice. I'm just a thief not a murderer. That's it."
"I understand." She giggled teasingly.
"You know what blondie, you're really annoying." He groaned tossing the deck to Jack.
They had been sitting there for hours—which another benefit to this game was the clock you could see in the top right corner of your vision. They had played three rounds of go fish. Two and a half round of slap jack which ended in Merida and Jack having a short wrestling match. And where on their fifth round of war.
"God thes es borin'." Merida moaned into her arms atop her knees.
"Seriously, where is the group that set up this trap?" Astrid moaned.
"… What if they forgot about this trap and moved on?" Flynn shrugged. "Or what if they got eaten."
"Dude." Hiccup hissed eyeing Jack who was getting grimmer with each passing hour.
"She's not dead and she would never have left her trap like this." Jack sighed standing up. "Something must have happened. Maybe she was driven out of the area."
"You think that could, be it?" Rapunzel pondered standing too.
"It's the only explanation I have." He murmured closing his eyes. "Either way we've been out here for hours. Way past the five hour mark we set for our time limit."
"I'll send a message to Tadashi to let him know that we've found a lead." Hiccup informed pulling up his menu. "Do you want me to tell him we're going to be out here for a bit longer?"
"Yeah." Jack nodded looking around.
"Really?" Flynn gawked. "This is a wash. So why don't we go home?"
"Home?" Rapunzel smiled.
"Shut it, goldy locks." He snapped.
"'Cause, even if she left th' area there cood steel bae a trail." Merida told him as she stared to her left. "Ah can already see a trail headin' north up th' mountain. If we follow 'at, we might find 'er old camp."
"So now we just need to find a way out of here. That should be easy." Astrid snorted watching Jack. "What are you doing?"
"Elsa didn't just learn the trapping skill to trap food and walkers but also as a last resort haven." He told her as be began climbing the bars. "If shit hit the fan then we would set of one of her traps and stay there for a couple of hours. But the point of a trap is to keep something in. So, she created a weak point where the walkers couldn't reach. Hit that and this things durability is done."
"Why would she risk that?" the blonde ax wielder demanded. "What if you caught other players or NPCs? Wouldn't they find it?"
"Most people don't think of using a trap as a shelter." He called as he hung from the top bars. "So they wouldn't think there would be anything like that. And NPCs don't have the capacity to consider something like that."
"Well if this thing is real, then hit it so we can get out of here, I think I here walkers." Flynn hissed eyeing the trees.
"Hang on. I've almost got it." Jack grunted as he aimed is buck knife at a seemingly random point in the cage.
The second the blade touched the point though the whole cage started to shatter. Thanks to his quick reflexes Jack was able to flip mid-air and land harmlessly on his feet. He watched with everyone as the cage fell apart ultimately freeing them.
"We better move." He told them sheathing his knife. "It's be getting dark soon and we don't want to be out in the open when that happens."
They all agreed and let Merida take the lead as she followed the trail which was only obvious to her tracker skill. To everyone else she was just looking at dirt and leaves but to her the foot prints where glowing and distinct. She couldn't miss them if she wanted to. Meanwhile, as Jack wanted her to focus on nothing else but the trail, everyone else was focused on the forest around them. Ready and poised to act at a moment's notice. Hiccup was closest to Merida so he could step in front of her with his shield should he need to.
But it didn't seem like that was going to be a problem.
"Merida wait." Hiccup hissed grabbing her shoulder.
"Ahh! Whit th' hell are ye doin'?" she demanded rounding on him.
"Look." He pointed ahead.
Her glare fell short when she turned to find why he stop her so abruptly. Wrapped throughout all the trees were razor wires. If he hadn't stopped her she would have walked right into it causing a good percentage of HP loss.
Gulp.
"Thanks." She murmured.
"Guys look." Rapunzel hissed pointing further.
Looking past the wire they could just make out through the trees cabins, tents and RVs.
"It's a camp." She gasped just as a player passed them. "And there's still people in there."
"So then why didn't Elsa go back for the trap?" Jack gritted.
"For the last time Hans, we need to get our asses out of here!"
Everyone ducked upon hearing the female roar over the mountains. Everyone that is, except Jack. He stood wide eyed, staring into the camp.
"Jack, get down." Merida urged in a hushed tone.
"We are not leaving and that's final." This was a smooth male voice, one that Astrid did not like.
"Hiccup, we should move positions." She hissed.
"Jack c'mon." Hiccup urged grabbing for his friend's arm.
"Have you not been listening to me." the female snarled. "There is a massive herd coming from the city. It'll be here in a few days. I saw it in my scope. We need to go now."
"Weren't you the one who said that you need to stay and wait for you brother, Elsa?"
That was the trigger. That was all Jack needed to take off like a bullet through the wires and into the camp. That was all he need to be the happiest person in this death game.
"I can leave clues for him on where I'm going." She insisted rubbing her temples. "He would rather I get myself somewhere safe than stay and wait for him with the risk of getting killed."
"Look sweetie-"
"Call me sweetie one more time and see what happens." She roared reaching for the holster on her hip.
"ELSA!"
She froze, taking a minute to register the voice and what it meant. Slowly, she turned her long silver braid falling from her shoulder. Her wide blue eyes brimmed with tears as they finally locked on his.
He was breathless, having sprinted like a madman through the trees only to stop a few yards from her. A smile adorned his face as he took in her healthy state. She wore a blue tank top with a black grey leather jacket over it. The collar was made of wolf fur—according to the flavor texts—and gave her an icy apotalyptic queen look matching her handle. Her grey torn up jeans where covered in grime and held at least one gun on each thigh as well as the one on her hip and her favored Barretta .50 Cal on her back. And tucked into her strapped up combat boots where her trusty military issued knives. This was his sister as he remembered her from the real world only armed to the teeth. But it was her.
"…Jack?" she whimpered as if she didn't believe what she was seeing.
His answer was a smile as he raced to her, wrapping her in his arms and spinning her around like a princess.
"Elsa." He laughed feeling overjoyed with everything at this moment.
"Big brother." She sobbed clutching onto him for dear life as he swung in endless circles.
"I'm so happy you're okay." he sighed after a moment finally letting her feet touch the ground, burying his face in her shoulder. "I found you."
"You did." She sniffled. "You kept your promise. You found me."
"Elsa, what's going on?" and irritated man demanded marching up to the twins only to stop as an arrow pierced the ground at his feet.
"Not another step." Merida warned aiming another arrow. "Or th' nixt ones gowin baetween yer eyes."
"Jack?" Elsa asked watching as his friends emerged from the forest. "That boy and those girls… are they…?
"Yeah." He smiled. "It's them."
"He has a panther." She gulped making her brother laugh.
"He only attacks if Hiccup tells him." Jack assured.
"Elsa answer me already." The man—who Jack assumed was the leader of this little group—demanded yet again getting angrier with each second, he went without an answer.
She sighed, stepping back from her twin but keeping his hand in hers.
"Big brother, this is the leader of this group, Hans the asshole." She announced.
"You simple bitch." Hans growled.
"Watch it." Merida cautioned.
"Hans, this is my twin brother Jack-Frost. And that boy over there with the panther is Hiccup and I'm assuming the red head with the bow is Merida and the blonde with chains in her hair is Rapunzel?"
All three nodded, ignoring all the stares this was earning them.
"That, that can't be." Hans gawked looking between them.
"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention." Elsa said innocently placing a finger to her chin. "My big brother was the flash blizzard of the Big Four. My bad."
Jack chuckled at the name she made for him. She did it for all of them. The magazines gave her an annoying name so she gave him and the others one. Not that anyone else ever called them that. Still this got the reaction she was looking for, making Hans waver and the on lookers murmur reverently.
"You're, the Jack-Frost?" Hans asked breathless.
"Yeah, but you can call me Jack." The scavenger smiled with a shrug.
"Then you must have come to join me and protect this place and its people."
"… What?"
Elsa groaned getting her brother's attention.
"You remember Gregory from season six?" she asked.
"Yeah…" Jack trailed off wondering what she was getting at.
"That is Hans in a nutshell."
"Oh, good to know."
"Good friends. The Big Four themselves understand my leadership and have come all this way to aid us in our efforts to survive. See this now and-"
"Shut it." Merida growled. "'E's givin' meh a headache."
"We're not here for you wierdo." Astrid jumped in. "We've come for her."
"Hold on." Hiccup said stepping forward. "Elsa right?"
She nodded.
"I'm Hiccup."
"The Machiavelli Blacksmith I know." She nodded again.
This threw Hiccup off track as he blinked rapidly giving Jack a weird look.
"She has one for all of us." He sighed. "The gaming magazines gave her this name that she thinks is dumb so she tried to do the same for us… it didn't work."
"Whit did they call ye." Merida wondered aloud.
At this Elsa turned red and averted her eyes.
"The Ice-Cold Sniper." Jack answered for her.
"Wait what?" Astrid cried looking at the platinum blonde in a new light. "You're the Ice-Cold Sniper. She's supposed to be on par with Japan's GGO player Sinon. You're her."
Elsa went even redder but nodded.
"Oh wow." Rapunzel smiled. "Of course, it would be Jack's little sister. Do you have any other siblings with major skills we should know about?"
"Yes she is quiet amazing isn't she." Hans smiled. "That is why she saw fit to come to me and join our efforts."
"Oh can it Hans." Elsa growled. "I only came here to wait for Jack and now that he's here I'll be going with him. If I were you I would do the same before that herd gets here."
"That's what I was trying to talk to you about." Hiccup interjected. "You were mentioning a herd earlier. What herd?"
"There's a massive herd coming from the city." she informed looking worried. "I noticed them yesterday. They've been getting closer. If we don't move it's going to be chapter two all over again."
"We must have been the last people in the city then." The tactician hummed placing a knuckle to his chin. "Once all the players leave the city a good percentage of the herd in the city goes out making the city a relatively safer scavenging ground and spurring players who are in their path on and away from the city. She's right we need to get out of here. Which way were they heading?"
"Straight here." She told him. "North."
"The hotel is West." He murmured. "If we get a team out here to lead them this way then we can be sure they won't wander to the hotel and tear it down."
"And how do you plan on doing that?" Flynn asked.
"With some fast players and the twin's explosives." He answered without a second thought.
"Or you could just let the twins go out and have fun." Astrid suggested.
"True… but I'd feel better if they had back up."
"Count me in." Elsa stood tall. "I'm mostly strength build but my speed and agility are about the same level and are still pretty high up there. I can keep up with everyone and provide cover with my rifle."
"Sounds good." Hiccup nodded. "Merida I want you to go with her-"
"Hold on!" Hans suddenly cried getting everyone attention. "You are talking about leading the herd here. You plan on killing all of us."
"Ugh, obviously no one will be here." Elsa groaned utter exhausted with Hans at this point. "What aren't you getting. You need to leave. It doesn't matter if we lead the herd here or not. They are coming and they will tear this place apart."
"Not if we redirect them away from this place." Hans insisted. "This place is secure."
"Then how did I get in?" Jack asked growing tired of this man. "I didn't even have to use my stealth skills. I just ran right in. No one stopped me. And none of your defenses worked. If I can do it that easily then you can be damned sure a walker can. This place isn't safe."
"You are all just idiots blind to what I offer here." Hans insisted.
"Enough already." Elsa screamed. "You do nothing but sit in your cabin drinking whiskey that you force the scavengers to get for you playing at being a leader while the rest of us risk our necks to keep this place safe. You do nothing so stop acting like you do."
"How dare you talk to me like that." Hans roared going red in the face. "You have no right. I am your leader. You will do as I say."
"She isn't a slave ye git." Merida snarled stepping in front of the twins, murder in her eyes. "An' ye are not 'er family. Ye have no claim tae 'er."
"Look I can settle this hear and now." Jack informed gripping the red head's shoulder to calm her. "How about a little game."
"A game?" Hans asked raising a brow.
"Yes." Jack nodded with a smile.
"Oh boy." Elsa murmured backing up.
"The idea is simple. I assume you have a gun right?"
"Of course." The suedo leader scoffed pulling out a nine caliber Glock.
"Alright, I'll take nine steps back and then Elsa will count to three. When the count-down is done I will rush you. You just have to shoot me. one bullet is all you need to win this game. But if I out run the bullets and get my crook against your throat I win and Elsa along with whoever else wants to come with us does and we get the hell out of here so we can direct the herd. Deal."
"You honestly believe you can outrun a bullet?"
"Yeah, I realize that that sounds a little silly. But hey it's a game Elsa and I would play a lot in GGO. Though I think she won more than I did."
"Of course I did." Elsa snorted.
"So what do you say?" Jack smiled holding out his hand.
Hans chuckled as he took the albino's hand squeezing it as hard as he could… which didn't really register with Jack as he had no reaction.
"Fine, but don't be mad if I accidently get a head shot." He warned.
"If that's the case you'll be dead before you even realize what happened." Hiccup promised pushing the button to switch his shield into a crossbow.
"Alright then, let's get started." Jack cheered leaping back nine steps. "Ready whenever you are Elsa."
She nodded holding up her hand, waiting till everyone was out of the bullet's line of fire before she started counting.
"One… two…three!"
There was a loud bang and for a moment everyone thought Hans had won. But to their shock Jack was already half way to Hans. Panicked, the false leader started firing off shot after shot desperately trying to hit the oncoming albino. But Jack paid the bullets no mind as he raced forward. Out running the bullet before it could reach it's target. Within seconds he was standing next to Hans with the hook of his crook pressed against his throat a smile plastered on his face.
"I win." He smirked backing off.
"How…" Hans couldn't grasp the loss though he witnessed it, yet he couldn't accept it. "You must have cheated."
"He didn't." Hiccup informed. "This is a game where the shooter has the advantage. While the runner has to wait to move the rules said nothing about the shooter taking aim during the count down. You took aim, he was just too fast for the bullet to reach in time. He used nothing but his own speed and strength. He won."
"In other words…" Elsa started with a smirk. "We are getting the hell out of here. So screw you."
"No dorn't dae it!" Merida cried running for Elsa, but even with her warning, Hans didn't listen.
"You are not going anywhere." He snarled aiming his pistol's barrel at her.
Then pulled the trigger.
"ELSA!" Jack screamed even though he knew that it wouldn't make a difference.
Everything slowed down as the bullet raced for it's target who had no time for more than a panicked stumble back. Not enough to evade the bullet. If she didn't move she was going to die.
But…
PING.
It was like the world blinked and when it did, Merida suddenly appeared in front of Elsa. She had pushed the girl back and deflected the bullet with her long sword in a matter of seconds. Almost as if she knew exactly where the tiny bit of metal was going to strike. But that was impossible… wasn't it.
"Elsa!" Jack rushed for his sister while Astrid went after Hans. "Are you okay?"
"Y-yeah." She nodded still staring at Merida's back.
"Come 'ere." Astrid growled grabbing for Hans.
"Back off!" he cried waving the gun at her. "I mean it. I will kill you if you don't- PANG!"
He made a funny face as the sound rang out before falling to the ground revealing Flynn standing behind him with a frying pan.
"Whoa, this thing rocks." He smiled swinging it around like a sword. "Thanks for letting me have it blondie."
"Wait when did you even-" she gaped patting herself down. "Flynn you shouldn't steal from your party members."
"Are ye alright?" Merida asked kneeling down so she could check on Elsa. "Ah didn't push ye too hard did I?"
"N-no." the sniper shook her head getting a hold of herself. "I'm fine."
"How did you do that?" Rapunzel asked. "It's like you knew."
Suddenly Merida got sheepish trying to keep her eyes from everyone as she looked for the best way to make this go away.
"You got a special skill, didn't you?" Hiccup more stated than asked.
"No, ah- it… ah dorn't know. It jist showed up." Merida gritted lowering her blade. "After th' battle with th' NPCs, it jist appeared."
"That's what happened with my beast taming." He affirmed. "What is it called."
"Sixth sense." She sighed. "It's weird. Loch a flash ay whits gonna happen' in th' next couple ay seconds. It gives meh barely enough time tae react."
"That could come in handy." Jack smiled. "It saved Elsa's life. I'm for it."
"Guys, what should we do with him?" Flynn asked still holding the struggling Hans—who had come to the land of the conscious at some point.
"Let him go." Hiccup told them.
"Are you serious?" Astrid asked.
"Yeah, he won't try anything." He assured getting a growl from Toothless—who was now watching the man like a hawk. "And if he does, it's not just us that he has to worry about."
They looked around to see that indeed most of the people of the camp where glaring at Hans with a fierce hatred.
"He has no more followers." Was Hiccup's simple conclusion.
Reluctantly they did as he said only for Hans to take off into the woods.
"That better not come back to bite us in the ass." Flynn groaned.
"It won't." Hiccup promised. "Besides we need to focus on the herd."
"What do you need us to do?" Rapunzel asked.
"Flynn and you lead who ever want's to come back to the hotel with us and send the twins out with their explosives. While you're doing that we'll set up a trail for the walkers to follow."
"How are we supposed to do that?" Elsa asked.
"Fire."
About a half hour later everyone was in their place. Jack was waiting with the twins in the path that the walkers were supposed to take while Elsa and Merida stayed in a tree watching them come.
"They're on rout. You ready big brother?" she asked over the metal walkie—another form of communication that was limited to those who were in close nits, a sub class of grouping like with Rick and the Atlanta group. It was almost like telepathy though it carried a static with it like a walkie talkie, hence the name.
"Yeah. The twins have already set up the explosives. We just need to lead them there and we'll be good." Jack answered smelling the herd as it got closer. "Geez, you would think Pitch would have forgotten to give these things the smell of death, but no."
"Jist keep yer eyes open. Dorn't dae anythin' stupid, jist lead 'em tae th' bomb an' get th' heel out at there." Merida called over the walkie from the opposite direction of Elsa.
"Yeah yeah, I know." He rolled his eyes though she couldn't see it.
"Hey they're coming." Ruffnut called.
"Light the torches." Jack instructed. "Elsa stay with us. You too Merida."
"Roger that." Elsa assured. "If anything gets to close I'll pick them off."
"Ah'll hang back a bit an' get th' stragglers." Merida informed.
"Just keep an eye out." He told them. "Be safe."
"This is the best idea Hiccup has ever come up with. It's got fire, explosives and running around yelling." Tuffnut squealed.
"Just don't get us killed." Jack warned. "Okay go for it."
"Hello you gooey assholes. Over this way!"
And off they went calling out taunts to get the herd to follow them all the while Elsa was in the trees running with them ready to take position at a moment's notice to take a shot. She had already equipped her silencer so she was in no danger of drawing the herd her way. And with her sniper skill hawks eye she could track them while staying a safe distance away.
"Hiccup we're on our way. Elsa will snipe any threats and Merida's' got the stragglers. Get ready."
"Got it. Once you're in sight we'll light the fuse. Get as close as you can then get in the trap Elsa set and don't come out till we come and get you." Hiccup urged.
"Don't have to tell me twice." Jack snorted. "See you when this is done."
Hiccup was waiting at the cabin camp site waiting for a sign of Jack and the others. The idea was to get the herd to follow Jack and the twins to the campsite and then blow the whole place up so it would keep the herd entertained and disperse them. This way if any of the walkers did make their way to the hotel it would only be a manageable few at a time.
"Here they come." Astrid called. "Light the fuse."
He nodded striking the match and held it to the fuse.
"Alright, the fuse is lit. Jack get here and into the trap. Elsa, Merida stay a safe distance away." Hiccup told everyone.
"Roger that." Elsa and Merida called back.
"Read you loud and clear." Jack affirmed.
They put everything into place and booked in into the woods. It was a few minutes later that Jack and the twins came up on the camp. They made a bee line for the trap, but there was a small problem.
"Why isn't it falling?" Tuffnut asked.
"Elsa why isn't the trap working." Jack called through the mental walkie.
"It's what?"
"It's not falling."
"What do you mean it's not falling? I should have- oh shit. I forgot the trigger."
"You forgot the what? You never forget anything how could you forget this?"
"Hey it's been, a day. I just reunited with you and almost got shot. I'm allowed a few mistakes."
"Not a mistake that could end my life."
"Just hang on. I'll be there in five minutes. Just hang on an I'll set it up."
"The herd is going to be here in two. We don't have that much time."
"Make that one." Tuffnut warned.
"Elsa there here. What do we do."
"Stay under the trap."
"Elsa!"
"Hold on guys, aam comin." Merida called desperately.
"Jack get out of there!" Hiccup screamed running for his friends.
"No, Hiccup don't." Astrid cried holding him back.
"Astrid, we have to help them. The bomb"- BOOM!
The blast sent a shock wave through the forest throwing Hiccup and Astrid off their feet taking off a good percentage of their HP.
"JACK!" it was barely a minute after he fell that Hiccup was back up and racing for the trap with Toothless close behind.
"Stop! Just stay there." Jack called back through the mental walkie.
Hiccup froze dropping to his knees, Toothless next to him and with Astrid not far behind.
"Thank god your alive." The beast tamer sighed.
"Just stay there." Jack told him. "Let the flames lure them away before you open the side door."
"How did you even survive that?" Astrid demanded ready to kick Jack's ass for making Hiccup worry.
"Elsa sniped the rope and it fell right on top of us." He sighed. "And not a moment too soon."
"Be thankful I did it when I did." Elsa growled over the walkie.
"Good show las." Merida sighed relieved. "Aam jist a few yards from ye Hiccup. Ah'll get th' stragglers 'en meet ye where ye are."
"Kay we'll wait till you're with us and then we'll get Jack and the others out of there." Hiccup assured feeling an extreme weight lift from his shoulder.
After Merida hooked up with Hiccup and Astrid and the herd wandered off or burnt away they hurried and opened the side door and off they all went to regroup with Elsa.
"Thank god." She cried throwing herself at Jack.
"I'm fine sis." He chuckled.
"Yeah, screw you, you jerk. I was scared out of my mind."
"You were scared. You should have been in the cage." Ruffnut snorted. "Can we go home now. I have a feeling Snotlout's about to lose it."
"Yeah, let's go home." Jack nodded holding his sister close and keeping an eye on his best friends.
Home. He thought fondly. For now, that place will be home. And now with my sister with me it will be.
Next chapter will have a lot more action in it. But that was chapter four for you. This one was fun. I'm glad I get to write Elsa now. This is going to be fun. See you guys in the next chapter. And remember, fanfiction authors need love too.