Yay! No more bad reviews! Thank you to everyone to who reviewed the story POSITIVELY and a special thanks to Zombiegirl777 who was the one who convinced me to continue this lovely little piece of literature 3 Without further adieu, chapter 4.
The air was thick and tense, Nikolai raised a hand and swirled his finger around as a small personal joke to see if he could tear through the air. In a small drunken stupor he sat and sulked, disappointed that his joke couldn't be turned into a reality. Babydoll sat quietly, cleaning her gun and waiting for the next round of zombies. It was silent, Tank crouched on the stage looking everywhere but at the present company, and the anger seeping through every fiber of Optic's being could be felt by all members of the party. Her ruddy pink lips trembled as she sat, absorbed within herself. With an annoyed sigh Richtofen stood and wandered to the box. He'd been screamed at only minutes before, a flurry of mixed English, German, and even a language he didn't know (but theorized was something similar to Gaelic) assaulted his ears as a tiny bundle of fury flew at him. Kicking the box rather violently he barely paid attention to the rotating series of guns as his foot tapped impatiently on the ground.
A dull tap caught the attention of a certain silent honorable warrior, Takeo turned his gaze to Optic and noticed Babydoll's nervous shifting from the corner of his eye. Optic's fingers shook as she stabbed the wood of the stage over and over with her…..kitchen knife? The knife was large, with a curved blade, looking much like a large kitchen knife used to slice meat with. Optic noticed the man's gaze, and the corner of her lips twitched. With a sigh she stood, clumsily stumbling on her feet, and wandered off muttering to herself. Babydoll sighed and looked at the stage, tracing patterns in the dust. "So uh…how'd you get here?" Tank asked in an effort to end the silence. Now that both offenders had left the room, the air seemed to calm and become thinner, less suffocating and tense. "Teleportation…somehow.." Babydoll answered carefully, it was amazing how easy it would be for them to explain what had happened, teleportation and time travel was entirely plausible. They just needed to avoid explaining how they were in a video game. Night was fading fast and the zombie hoards were slowing, Babydoll was drenched in a gross mix of blood, bits of flesh, and sweat. The men didn't seem to mind, but the dirt and grime was bothering Babydoll, beginning to itch on her skin. "Do you guys by any chance have a shower?" She asked weakly, knowing the answer was more than likely no.
"Actually" Takeo piped up, noticing the discomfort of the small girl and ignoring Tan's puzzled look. "Makeshift showers were made but the hot water doesn't work." Biting her lip Babydoll smiled and nodded. Standing Takeo led her to the bathrooms, where a makeshift shower had been set up crudely, obviously not used very often but still in working order. Optic won't be happy about taking a cold shower. Babydoll frowned momentarily before shaking her head. It was good enough for what they had. Takeo sat outside the bathroom, willing to keep watch for the awkward girl. Undressing herself she shuddered as the cold water drenched her, trapped in her own thoughts. Misery seeped deep in her bones as her muscles screamed with the effort it took to tote around the large gun and run through the building, avoiding the undead soldiers and twisting and turning roughly and awkwardly to avoid their touch. She missed home. The warmth of her bed, her stuffed animals (a rather large collection of them between the two childish girls) all of her video games, and the simple things like a warm shower and clean clothes.
Shuddering she kept the tears to herself, struggling to hold them in and washed herself off. Shivering she stood in silence for a few minutes, realizing that she didn't have a towel. Wrinkling her nose she searched one out, and sighed upon the realization there weren't any in the room. Shrugging her shoulders she squeezed out the water from her hair, satisfied that she dried off rather quickly without incident. Redressing she exited and thanked Takeo, who stood and nodded and escorted her to the stage. Nikolai had wandered off but Tank sat quietly, his eyes strained and bloodshot. "Tank I think you need sleep." After the incident with Optics new wound, none of the group had gone back to sleep. Tank shook his head, a weak grin on his lips. "Nah I'm fine." He hopped up and walked to the Juggernog machine, kicking it harshly and grabbing the bottle that dropped out. Babydoll tilted her head as Tank downed the drink and burped, wiping his mouth and throwing the bottle. Walking over she eyed the machine, and Tank grinned. He kicked the machine and handed her the bottle, watching as she sniffed it curiously and took a sip. Wrinkling her nose she smiled shyly as Tank laughed. "Too much?" She shrugged and set down the bottle. "Does it always end up this quiet?" She looked around. He sighed and ran a hand through his short hair. "For a while, then the freak bags come back in a huge wave. The quiet is nice though, it beats us screaming insults at each other and the yelling of the zombies." Babydoll shuddered. "The screams….are scary." She murmured. Tank paused, and started laughing. Seeming insulted Babydoll flushed red and crossed her arms. "What's so funny?" Collecting himself momentarily he stifled his laughter. "Out of all the adjectives used to describe them, scary seems so….childish." Flushing a deeper shade of red Babydoll huffed and stalked off, despite the apologetic calling of Tank.
She stopped, combing her fingers through her damp hair and searched the stage. Where was Optic? Frowning she stalked off the stage and upstairs, softly calling her friends name. Wrinkling her nose she heard a gentle hushed murmur from the alley. "….Optic?" She slowly made her way down, cautious enough to look around and make sure it wasn't a zombie she heard. Crouched next to the Double Tap machine Optic had her back to the stairs, a line of empty glass bottles lining the wall. Her head was bowed, her fingers fluttering over the empty bottles carefully. "Nein…..no no not that….maybe….but…but he…..nein!" "Optic?" She touched Optic's injured shoulder, said girl jerked away and gasped. Looking at her friend she grinned happily and stood. "Hello there dear! Quite a nice morning eh? I'm full of Double Tap, useless perk really but tastes good now why are you wet?" Her voice was light and friendly, something that caused worry to ebb into Babydoll's head. She was never friendly….she was only friendly when… "Showers. Cold showers, but still showers." Babydoll smiled as a happy yell came from Optic, who ran off to wash off the blood and grime from the night. "Wait! We'll have to redress your wound!" Optic waved her off and hurried into the shower, the lack of soap slightly bothersome but happy nonetheless at the chance to rid herself of the itchy dried blood. Stepping out she dried herself off, hopping around in the cool still air as she waited for her hair to stop dripping. Cursing quietly as she redressed she threw on her bra and used a spare bit of relatively clean cloth she found to stop the bleeding of her wound, which opened with all the activity. Walking out she blinked and looked at Richtofen, who gazed up at her from his position on the ground. Staring at each other a moment, his eyes a deep green and her own orbs shifting from light gray to storm clouds, a deep glimmer of understanding passed the two.
Richtofen stood silent and dressed her wound; she stood silently and let him, not uttering a word even when it stung as he tightened the bandages. Carefully Optic redressed, tugging on her long sleeve shirt and looking at her corset in distaste. Not eager to put it on she left it on the couch for now, enjoying the freedom of walking around unrestrained. "They like to chat." She glanced at Richtofen and flashed him a large smile. He looked at her with a cold calculating gaze. Wiggling her fingers at him she wandered off, swaying back and forth with the energy of the bounce in her steps. A loud yell rang out, and a slow smile crept onto Richtofen's face. "Mein children, I HEAR DU!"
Piercing giggles rang out in the theater and a shudder ran down Tank's back. Nikolai groaned out his unease. "Damn doctor, creepy fucker." Tank shook his head. Babydoll walked downstairs with a troubled look, reloading her gun and stretching her legs. "Let's get this over with." Tank looked at her and frowned. Nikolai held out his bottle, grinning as he swayed on his feet. "Drink, liquid courage." Blinking Babydoll took the bottle cautiously, sniffing before taking a sip. "Nikolai!" Tank barked as he grabbed the bottle. "She's 17!" Huffing Babydoll watched the two argue, and coughed as the liquid seared her throat. Shaking her head her vision swam a moment; obviously she couldn't hold her liquor. The first zombie limped into view, a barrage of bullets sounded and the zombie fell face first, head gushing blood and brain matter. The wave rushed by in a blur, a mass of blood and bullets and near death experiences, gasps and yells and insults rang out to mix with the screams of the undead as the parade ran after the group.
People ran around in a rush, Tank made sure Babydoll was near him at all times, the American Hero in him wanting to keep the small girl safe. Somehow, she reminded him of something, and it frustrated him that he didn't know what. All he knew was that the memory was good, a memory of something before all of his shit happened. Absorbed in his thoughts he came back to reality and flinched as a zombie swiped at his face, knifing the creature in the face quickly he stepped back and reloaded his gun, glancing behind him to find Babydoll. A loud explosion caught his attention as Babydoll stumbled out from the smoke, rubbing her eyes and coughing. A crawler slowly trailed behind her, growling and pouring blood from the missing lower half of its body. Sighing Babydoll limped away from the crawler, who reached out toward her and shook its head. "You okay?" Tank looked at the nasty scrape on her leg. "I just need a bandage is all." Nikolai toyed with the crawler and led it away, laughing boisterously as he did so. Tank bent down and looked at the scrape, though he knew nothing of medical knowledge he knew it wasn't too bad. "Tank can you do me a favor?" He looked up at Babydoll and nodded. "Find Optic please, I haven't seen her since the wave started." Tank stood and nodded, walking off to find the tiny wounded girl.
"Optic?" He called out. He was greeted by silence. Stalking through the lobby he saw her discarded corset. Looking around he walked past Richtofen, who glared at him and mumbled a German insult before making his way to the stage. Ignoring him he rolled his eyes and slowly made his way down to the Foyer Room, where small discarded whispers sounded from the corner. "Optic?" "Ja?" Tank frowned, Optic's voice sounded shaky, and as he descended the stairs he looked at her, standing next to the turret in the middle of the room. "What's wrong?" Her eyes flashed to a dark gray, nearly black. Turning away she wrapped her arms around herself, and Tank approached her. Touching her uninjured shoulder he felt her shudder, and turned her to face him. "It's so quiet." She whispered. "Optic….what's wrong?" Tank felt slightly awkward, the girl looked pale and had dark circles under her eyes, orbs bloodshot and ….lethal. Stepping away from her Tank sighed. "Listen, Babydoll is looking for you, she's worried." Nodding slowly Optic twirled her knife in her fingers. Smiling suddenly a look of calm passed her face, and she tilted her head. "Is she hurt?" "A small scrape, that's all." He replied uneasily. She nodded and walked off, through the dressing room and onto the stage. Pausing for a few moments, Tank felt slightly sick. There was no doubt, the look he'd seen pass her face in the few seconds he'd stared into her eyes…..was agony. Something was going on, something dangerous. Secrets were being kept, and needed to be shared. Immediately.