This chapter is named after a song by Weezer. Bowser even listens to it in his car later in this chapter. Anyway, here it is. Thank You Weezer!

Finally, it's been a few days since the zombies started to roam, so this explains some things...

Chapter 4: Say It Ain't So

Day One: 5:41 AM.

Mario was up all night. Everyone else was sleeping in his or Luigi's room, or here, in the living room. So yes, the ten survivors are in Mario's house. Mario couldn't sleep, he was still having a hard time dealing with the situation he was thrown into. Mario couldn't think straight either. He was irritated with how bad things have escalated in such a short time. He could only wish that things would blow over and everything would be back to normal. Very unlikely. He took a pop tart that he originally brought with him to the treaty signing, and started eating it.

Peach woke up nineteen minutes later, and went downstairs, finding Mario in the kitchen, sitting on a stool. He was wide awake, unable to do anything but think. Peach walked over, grabbed a stool, and pondered with him. She was unhappy with how things have been going as well. In fact, she only wished that this incident never happened. Poor Peter, poor Subcon. If only they hadn't died, assuming Subcon did die. Unlike Mario however, Peach had a plan.

The Princess travelled everywhere in her country. She knew where every supermarket was, every gun store, etc. She then walked over to Mario's HP Deskjet printer, took a few pieces of paper; then she walked back to the kitchen table. Since neither of the Mario Bros. had maps or atlases, she had to draw various maps of various towns, sometimes even down to the details of a street. Princess Peach was one of the few people around the world who had a photographic memory. She could finish creating these maps in about six hours...

There was a long silence, it lasted for two hours. Peach was done with 3/8 of her maps. Mario was still sitting on the stool next to her, only now, he had fallen asleep. Peach had to get this done. If she didn't, innocent lives could be lost. The silence was broken by the sound of Luigi's footsteps coming downstairs.

"Hey guys.", Luigi whispered.

"Oh, good morning Luigi.", Peach replied, looking up at him before continuing with her work, "I didn't see you there."

"Whatcha doin'?", Luigi asked Peach, he saw the maps.

"I have a drastic plan", said Peach, "But its going to have to work."

"What plan?", Luigi asked. Mario woke up.

"*yawns* Hi Luigi, Peach.", Mario mumbled to his brother and girlfriend.

"Good Morning Mario.", Luigi responded.

"Anyway, to make this short, my plan is for us to steal weapons and food while we're out."

Mario and Luigi's eyes widened.

"WHAT!?", Luigi hollered.

This woke Toad up. He slowly walked over towards the conversation.

"Quiet! You're going to attract the freakin' dead!", Peach whispered, "Are you crazy?"

"Sorry... sorry."

"Wait just a minute here. You're turning to thievery?", Mario butted in.

"The world is coming to an end Mario.", Peach quietly bellowed at Mario, "Do you honestly expect me to sit by and watch as every single one of these survivors are killed because I didn't do anything about it? Do you want me to see you or Luigi, Toad, or Daisy to get eaten alive right in front of me? This is our only chance of survival and you of all people won't take that chance. That initiative. Besides, I'm the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, and I have a higher authority than you! I could force anyone to help me even if you didn't want to."

"So that's just it then?", Mario responded with anger, "You're turning to thievery and abuse? What kind of a princess are you?"

Luigi and Toad watched meekly as his brother and the Mushroom Kingdom Princess argue over this method of survival. Their quarreling woke up everyone except Tyler, who was a heavy sleeper.

"Oh please!", Peach continued, "Explain to me why I'm a royal pain in your ass if you are one to Luigi almost every single day!"

"Oh... I did not see that coming.", said Anthony to Luigi, befuddled.

"Actually, I can think of an abundance of times when you treated your servants as if they didn't mean anything more than a mosquito!", scream Mario. Peach was taken aback.

"You know what? That's it Mario. We're are officially on a break!"

"Do they usually fight over stuff like this?", Anthony asked Daisy about Mario and Peach.

"No. Not really.", replied Daisy, "They are usually great friends together. Why would they fight like this?"

"Beats me.", answered Toad, also bewildered at the scene.

That's it. Luigi had it with Mario and Princess Toadstool (Peach). Of all the ways to peeve him, this had to be it.

"Can you guys stop!?", Luigi screamed over the couple's voices.

Mario and Peach stared at Luigi menacingly. Then they noticed that they attracted almost everybody in the house.

"Um... Hehehe...", said Mario, ashamed of his and Peach's fight. Peach was also flustered. Everyone else (except Tyler) glared at Mario and Peach.

Meanwhile, the zombies outside heard the quarrel and attempted to break down the door.

"Great! Look what you've done guys. Now we're going to die.", Luigi berated the now ex-couple.

Peach started packing her maps into her personal supply bag (which also contains fried chicken strips, fries, and medicine for the road). Rebecca woke up Tyler and they packed up more supplies. The door was being pounded on much harder, for more zombies joined the mob that wanted blood. Everyone except Mario and Luigi were carrying bags. They were each carrying a knife and gun. They exited through the back door.

"Hey you dead creeps!", Luigi called to the zombies, "There's meat over here!"

Luigi lured most of the zombies over to him to make sure that everyone else would reach the cars. While Luigi stabbed a few zombies in the head, Mario shot others on the other side of the house.

"Save your bullets Mario! Stab them instead!", called Luigi, now running from the zombies, towards Mario's end of the house.

Luigi ran to Mario's Cadillac and took a back seat. Mario stabbed a few more zombies like Luigi asked before getting into the same car and starting the engine. Toad, Tyler and Rebecca joined them, while everyone else got in Peach's Camaro. Fortunately, they managed to escape before things got ugly. Too bad the same couldn't be said about Mario's house. Several zombies finally broke down the door and flooded inside.

"No...", Mario said, his voice trailing off.

Great. Just what they needed, for Mario and Peach to tear at each other's throats and attract zombies to their house. Now they had no place to stay.

"Way to go idiot.", Luigi said, furious with his brother.

"Shut up.", Mario responded. He did not want to think about getting into another fight, especially with either his brother or his ex-girlfriend.

Peach was ashamed with herself and Mario for their fight. She meant everything she said though. Now, she and Mario broke up. Too bad for him then, she thought. Mario is better off finding another woman.
_

Day One: 2:58 PM

Bowser was now only a day and a half away from his castle. He drove for most of the night, but got he four hours of sleep along the way. He fuel tank was running out. If he didn't find another car soon, the tank would become empty in fifteen minutes. He'd have to walk for three more days. Unfortunately, he hasn't seen a car in hours.

Bowser was listening to Say It Ain't So by Weezer. It made him comfortable because as long as it was on, Bowser didn't have to worry. Everything will be fine. He'll find another car, and siphon its gas into his own car. He'd make it to his castle, where hopefully, his kids would be waiting for him. But it wasn't just one other car...

Up ahead, the Koopa King gawked at what was ahead of him. It was a wooden bridge. It was made of strong birch wood, and it was being supported by stone pillars under it. What was on the bridge? Five cars, all blocking his way. The good news was, Bowser found a new source of petroleum.

"This is turning into a lucky weekend for me.", said Bowser with glee.

To keep his car battery from turning off, he exited it without turning it off. He pulled off the first car off the road with ease (I mean Bowser is a giant, brooding figure compared to other koopas. How couldn't he pull the car off the bridge?). It took him five minutes to siphon the gas from that car to his car via tube. He pushed the other cars to either side of the bridge, clearing a path for his car to cross. But first, Bowser needed to siphon more gas. He know had 1/4 of a tank, but it's not each enough to get to his castle without having to walk.

After 15 minutes, Bowser siphon gas out of the next three cars, almost filling the fuel tank to full.

"Almost done...", Bowser said.

However, the song Say It Ain't So was put on repeat. This was Bowser's flaw, for he was now attracting zombies. There looked to a about a dozen closing in on him. Bowser pulled out a wooden baseball bat from his car. He found it at the gas station. Sure, it wasn't the best weapon, but all he had to do was do a few hard blows to the head, crushing it. For every zombie he killed, he had no empathy, for he cared about no one except his family, and occasionally Princess Peach. He mercilessly smashed every single one of their skulls in. He was slightly soaked in zombie blood, it dripped from the head down. With that note, he continued to siphon the last of the gas into his car. He was a monster all right, he was the only person who believed the opposite.
_

Day One: 5:07 PM

On a highway parallel to the bridge Bowser was on about two hours ago, Henry walked behind his fellow survivors. He was lost in thought, he was thinking about the promise he made to Corey, about helping her find and save Anna. Henry wondered what he was getting himself and Lucas into. Lucas would've agreed, but right now, food was on his (Lucas) mind. The group was rationing their food, making it last longer, but also making Luke's stomach growl. Corey really couldn't less about rationing. Like Henry, she was thinking about saving her sister. How did she know where the group was going? The sun rose in the East and set in the West. To get to Mushroom City, they needed to take roads that lead North. The sun would rise on their right and set on their left. Tom also cared about Anna, but he was hoping the group would find a car and make the trip faster.

Along the way, zombie after zombie started to follow them. Usually, the person in the back, who was currently Henry, had to deal with them, and then get back to the group. They switched every twenty minutes; Tom kept track of the time, making sure that everyone got an equal share of turns.

While Henry was keeping another dead man busy, the others had a conversation.

"Corey, we need to find a car. Walking all day is not helping us.", Tom complained.

"Oh I know.", Corey assured her boyfriend, "That's why I'm looking for one that has gas, and actually has a battery that works."

"What about those cars we passed a while ago?", Tom asked.

"What're you guys talking about?", Lucas said, joining the conversation.

"If we're going to get to Mushroom City, we need an adequate car.", Corey told Lucas.

Corey then said to Tom, "Those cars back there looked too old to be used. Rusty."

"I don't care what the car we need looks like.", answered Tom, "As long as it works."

"And has at least four seats.", Lucas added.

The three chuckled, giggled and laughed so hard, they ended up attracting zombies, which they shot in the head.

"Lucas, that was funny.", Tom replied, "I mean, if we did find a two seated car, what would we do?"

"I wouldn't take it.", Corey said.

Henry felt lonely, he was being left out on the car conversation. It would still be a while before his turn was up.

12 Minutes Later...

The group of four found a car seven seat car, it was a Gray Mazda MPV. This car didn't need hotwiring, for it was left here about a day ago, or at least by the looks of it. They put their bags in the trunk of the car and hopped in. Corey and Lucas were in the front, and Tom and Henry were in the back.

"Finally, smooth sailing.", Tom said, happy that he didn't have to walk anymore for the rest of the day.

Corey, who was at the front wheel, sped away, knocking over a zombie in their path.
_

Day Two: 3:24 PM.

On the balcony stood a toad, Anna, who looked down at the thousands of zombies below her. She was almost 410 feet from the ground, on the 34th floor. She was in Hotel Mario, a hotel company inspired by the famous plumber himself. She was trapped... trapped with many other people. There were zombies swarming the building, looking for living meat to eat. Anna looked over at Constance (goomba), Jennifer (koopa) and Daniel (shy guy), the people she was stuck in this room with. There was a knock on the door, it was Brian (toad), another hotel survivor. He was carrying bags of grains and vegetables. Jennifer quickly ran over and opened the door long enough for only Brian to get inside. She quickly closed the door after that.

"Jesus man!", Daniel screamed, "What we're you thinking? You could've gotten yourself killed."

"I had to.", Brian replied, "We were running out of food, I had to do something!"

"Such as escape the safe room without permission?", Anna asked, "You scared the crap out of us!"

"I'm sorry guys.", Brian said, "But you have to understand, this is the beginning of the end. We have to do whatever is necessary if we're going to live."

"And as much as we agree with you, we also fear for you!", Jennifer berated, "You would've died if we didn't let you in. Hell, we all thought you were dead!"

"Jen is right Brian, don't be reckless.", Anna scolded.

"Well you know what guys?", Brian asked, "If you don't want me to go out again, that's fine. But you have to accept to fact that we aren't being rescued. We have to survive on our own!"

"Oh you don't know how wrong you are.", Anna said, "My sister, Corey is coming to help us."

"Seriously?", Brian roared, "Do you guys actually believe this nonsense?"

"If Anna says her sister is coming to help us, we have to believe her.", Constance argued.

"Woo hoo! Freedom's at hand!", cheered Daniel.

A loud set of knocks were heard from the door.

"Shhhhhhh! Keep your voices down now.", whispered Jennifer, "I think the knocking is from the zombies. We need to barricade the door. Now!"

Jennifer and Daniel pushed a sofa in the apartment next to the door. Constance, Anna, and Brian moved a piano next to the sofa. They threw a few chairs on top of them. The door was sealed, they were trapped.

"Oh boy...", Said Anna, losing hope, "How will Corey get us out now?"
_

End of Chapter 4.

Thanks again for reading guys! Yes, now I've introduced Anna, along with other survivors. Feel free to comment on what should happen next.

Next Chapter: The Koopalings and Bowser.

Note: No one appears in every chapter, except me, the author.

Team ArcanetheGreat