On the Gulf of Mexico it was just fifteen minutes after eleven, while in Happy Harbor it was just after nine. And if there was anything other than monkeys and father-son issues with Superman that made Superboy grumpy, it was losing a few hours just to threaten some drug lord into giving them enough drugs to engineer a de-zombification cure. Then when he and M'gann had to fly around another half hour while waiting for some coordinates, he started getting hungry. His stomach let out monstrous growls, and the first one surprised M'gann so much that she almost lost control of the bioship. That put him in a bad mood.

Artemis radioed in the location (which Superboy hope she got by strangling Scarecrow until he talked, although he doubted it) and by the time they got there, some men had spotted them. Miss Martian had to carefully maneuver the bioship onto a nearby rooftop, and then encourage Superboy to come and finish the mission quickly when all he wanted to do was sulk around the bioship. His mood was rapidly declining. The Mexicans were all freaking out at the aliens walking down the street but when M'gann (by using hand gestures and repeating "Scarecrow" multiple times because she didn't speak Spanish) persuaded the Mexican guys who responded to "Bane" that they came in peace, they were brought in to see the boss man. As it turned out "boss man" wasn't Bane, and only the underling in charge of the actual trades but he was tall, strong, possessed an expensive leather jacket, and had a confident smirk on his face. Yes, this man was very full of himself. Conner immediately despised him.

M'gann again attempted to sign to him what she was asking for, and the head honcho laughed and shook his head, not seeming very inclined to even listen to her. Conner's mood plummeted again. The man turned to his comrades and snickered in Spanish that "little green girl thinks she can ask for a full shipment from us? Why don't we teach her who's in charge here?" That was the final straw. He had just insulted M'gann. He was going to pay. Everyone else in the room jumped as his fist slammed on the table in anger and he bellowed, to everyone's surprise in Spanish, "Give us the drugs now or I'll rip your arms off!"

M'gann's hand gently touched his bicep, trying to pull him back because she wasn't sure what he was planning on doing if he was yelling at them in Spanish. He shook her off and ripped his jacket off, proudly showing to all the S shield on his chest and then proceeding to demonstrate his abilities by grabbing a nearby chair, crushing it to the size of a soup can, and then smashing it flat under his foot. He allowed a small smirk to cross his otherwise menacing features while the Mexican dealers trembled in their socks and went about stuttering apologies and racing around collecting the shipment. "Now are we willing to negotiate?" Conner asked, again in Spanish, glaring at boss-man over crossed arms.

The man frantically nodded and stammered in the fastest Spanish Conner had heard, "You can take it all! No need to pay! Go and tell Scarecrow we're sorry! Go!" And then he took off and locked himself in his office, waiting a moment before peeking at them through the blinds. "Wish I could be there when he tells Bane he just gave Scarecrow's shipment to a couple of Justice League-affiliated teenagers," Conner mumbled. M'gann let out a giggle and levitated the crates into the bioship while Conner kept an eye on the lackeys who had packed it up.

In under five minutes Superboy and Miss Martian were on their way for Happy Harbor, and the mood was finally getting better. Megan suddenly burst out laughing. "What is it?" Conner asked, confused. She chuckled a bit more, but replied, "Oh, nothing. You just scared them so much, you even scared me! Ha ha, and when did you learn Spanish? What did you even tell them?" He snorted. "I said I would rip their arms off if they didn't cooperate." M'gann suddenly stopped laughing and her face grew suspicious while he continued, "Cadmus programmed Spanish into me. I've used it before- to understand Bane on that Santa Prisca mission..." Megan ignored the last half of his statement and asked tentatively, "Were you really going to do that if they didn't cooperate? Rip their arms off?"

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. "No! No, of course not. I was just threatening them. They were scared enough by knowing who I am that I didn't even have to knock them out." Miss M smiled, nodded, and went back to concentrating on the bioship. Conner leaned back in his seat. Finally, they were getting somewhere.


There was no way Wally was getting used to seeing sweet and innocent people turn into demented monsters trying to infect other sweet and innocent people. He was just an old man trying to help us, he thought angrily. A man with a family and a life in Happy Harbor. A clever man, even. Clever enough to steal a train, anyway...

The train had stopped, the lights burned out, Wally and Robin were picking themselves up off the floor, and worst of all, there were zombies practically attached to the windows, gnashing their teeth and frothing at the mouth. Two sets of eyes simultaneously widened as a hand suddenly shot through the window, shattering it and raining down glass on the carpeted floor. With a squeak, Wally dashed over to the emergency exit between cars and jammed his hand into it, attempting to pull it open. Geez, this is really outdated train if tthere isn't a button I can press to open this, the speedster thought, frustrated, as Robin joined him and jabbed an explosive birdarang into the door, yanking Wally back and taking cover.

With a creak, the door exploded and the boys waited for the smoke to clear before sprinting out the exit and jumping to the ground, collapsing in the snow outside of the train with relief. "Okay," Wally panted. "The zeds are all on the other side of the train. We can disappear into the woods before they get over here, right?" Robin nodded as he tried to slow his breathing. "I left my cape in there..." He mumbled, shivering. "Would be nice to have now." Wally sighed and stood up. "We were on that train for only a few hours. We're somewhere between Gotham and Happy Harbor. I guess we should follow the train tracks to the next station and, I dunno, steal a car or something...?"

Dick shrugged. All laws no longer applied at this point. This was a fight for survival now. He placed his mask back on, forgetting about his shoulder and wincing at the sudden pain of lifting it. He shakily got to his feet and froze at Wally's expression. The speedster's mouth was agape and he gazed in shock and fear at something over his friend's shoulder in the woods. "Walls?" The latter asked, concerned. Wally didn't reply. Robin grew worried. "What's wrong, Wally? Is there something-" he started to turn around to see what the redhead was staring at when Wally suddenly shouted, "STOP! Don't. Turn. Around." Robin's heart rate picked up in fear.

"What's-" "Don't do it! Just...stay where you are..." Robin swallowed his worry and remained still, listening intently to the soft sound of snow crunching behind him. Someone- or something- was moving towards him, and Wally was terrified of it. He tried to conceal a whimper but he knew KF heard it. Wally shook his head and blinked to try and clear it. He couldn't believe his eyes. Why of all things did it have to be them. Even dead, they looked exactly like the pictures Dick had shown him, old photographs worn from love and tears and years of staring at them with fondness and pain in the middle of the night. There stood John and Mary Grayson.


Everyone up on the Watchtower was restless. No one had gotten much sleep, but every now and then a hero would be discovered, asleep on a couch or a chair. Red Tornado looked up to face Batman and said, "I know that this system can be fixed, and I would do so if possible, but the weather conditions on Earth are preventing the zeta beams from going back online. Until the snowstorm covering northeast America passes, I will not be able to turn it on."

Batman growled to himself for a few seconds before saying, "So this snowstorm is causing zeta tubes to shut off everywhere?!" "Yes," Tornado answered calmly. "I believe to have this effect the zeta technology must have been tampered with. Someone is trying to make it extra difficult for the League to return to Earth. Do you have any idea who?" The Bat grumbled under his breath and stalked over to the holo-computers, calling Superman.

"Yes?" The Kryptonian answered. "I'm kind of flying through the atmosphere at the moment, you're a little patchy." "I'll be quick," Batman barked. "When you get there head straight for Luthor and find out what he did to the zeta beams." "But I thought the kids were the priority?" Superman asked. Batman tried to emotionally detach himself from the situation as much as he could and quickly blurted out Superman's instructions before he changed his mind. "The sooner we get these tubes working the sooner we can get back and help them. Understood?" Superman sighed, "Alright, if you're sure. On my way. Superman out."

Batman stared at the controls for a second longer before setting out a comm call to Earth. Artemis, Aqualad, and the bioship picked up almost immediately. Even after waiting a few seconds, however, nothing came from Wally or Robin. M'gann voiced everyone's thoughts, "Why aren't Kid Flash and Robin picking up?" Artemis answered before Batman could, "Well last time they said they were on their way here. I can trace their signals, though. Wally's comm is still online. How close are you? Did you get what we need?" "We've got it," Conner reassured her. "And we're booking it back to Mt. Justice but we need more time. Is Scarecrow being any trouble?" "No," Artemis sighed. "Not really, although his jokes are terrible. How is it going in Atlantis?"

Aqualad cleared his throat. "We have mobilized a very large force of the King's men alone. My Queen has just put out an edict requesting volunteer enlistment, because the military alone will not be enough. We have quite the store of weapons however, which I am sure you are happy to learn. As soon as Scarecrow manufactures a cure, we will be ready to return the people to their regular selves and the undead to their graves." "Thank you, Aqualad," Batman put in. "None of you have spoken with Robin or Kid Flash since Artemis and I contacted them, correct?" Everyone voiced their affirmation. "Artemis, you may track Kid Flash's comm and go after them."

There was a second's pause before she asked, more hesitant than she was known for, "How? M'gann and Superboy have the bioship..."

"Come up with something. Steal a plane if you have to. Batman out." With nothing from Robin and no other updates, he shut off the call and left.

Artemis swallowed on the other end and faced Scarecrow, who was smiling at her with an annoyingly mischievous look in his eye. Artemis' frown deepened at him, although in her mind she was occupied with mulling over Batman's words. 'Steal a plane if you have to'... He probably didn't mean it literally, but it did lead her to think about Roy.

Roy, whom she had watched crawling out of a stolen plane. Roy, whom she had witnessed being bitten and changed moments later. Roy, whose loss she felt guilty for. Roy, who she may need to confront when she leaves her safe haven. Roy, whose stolen plane may be the ticket to finding Wally and Robin. She quickly grabbed her prisoner by the collar and dragged him towards the back door.

"Alright, Crane," she growled in his ear. "I'm going on a little trip. You're staying here to wait for the others, and if you try anything, I will open those doors and zombies will come running in to take your head off." She held up a remote control. He tried and failed to keep the shock off of his face. "And before you ask, I do have cameras on you. Up for it?" She smirked.


When Alfred and Leslie finally found a moment to themselves in the hustle and bustle of 'Arkham Refuge' business, it was immediately used to contact Batman. "It's the strangest thing," the butler murmured to himself. "I've been trying since yesterday to bring comm signals back up, and now they suddenly are. It must be the Watchtower's doing. Batman? This is Agent A."

Batman's voice sounded from the earpiece, "Don't worry Alfred, this is my secure line. Are you alright?" "Quite alright, sir. Dr. Thompkins and I remained at the clinic throughout the evening and overnight. We are now in the Arkham Refuge. Commissioner Gordon is in the other room. We think we can help survivors here and be of some service. But most importantly at the moment- I checked the Manor before we arrived here, and Master Richard has not returned since school yesterday. Have you heard anything from him? I am prepared to search for him if need be-"

Bruce cut him off, "Yes, I know where he is, Alfred. He and Kid Flash are on a train to Happy Harbor, where Artemis is holding Scarecrow in custody. Aqualad is leading Atlantean troops to the surface and bringing as many weapons as possible, so that when Superboy and Miss Martian return from Mexico with the drug needed for Crane to synthesize a cure, it may be loaded into these weapons and used to restore the living population to normal and return the previously dead population to the grave. We have a plan in motion, and I believe it is best if you and Leslie do continue to aid the police at this refuge."

"Very well then, sir. You have spoken with Robin, correct? How is he doing? The Batmobile was missing when I checked, so I assumed he had taken it. Why on Earth is he on a train?"

"..."

"Master Bruce, answer me this instant."

A sigh from Bruce's end before he spilled. "When the survivors were hiding in Gotham Academy with the gang, Robin was captured, I'm assuming from the Batmobile, and shot in the shoulder. That is when Artemis moved the people to Arkham and freed the police, and Kid Flash found Robin, got him on a train to Happy Harbor, and removed the bullet. It is infected, but was successfully removed. That is the last I heard. He sounded somewhat delirious when I spoke with him, but I think his health is improving. Artemis went after them, tracking Kid Flash's comm signal because they didn't pick up my recent call, but I...hope there's no reason for alarm."

"I just got word that Superman has arrived somewhere above the Pacific ocean. He's on his way to Metropolis to find Lex Luthor and get a way to fix the zeta tubes so the League can come to Earth. As long as it's broken the zeta tubes won't go back online, but we will continue to send down League members at the safest rate possible."

Alfred took in a breath. "Thank you."

"Batman out." Bruce was gone before Alfred could press for any more answers. The butler sighed and turned to look at Leslie. The doctor nodded. She had overheard the whole thing. The woman suddenly forced a smile and placed her hand on Alfred's shoulder. "Well," she said hopefully. "Let's get to work like he said." Alfred nodded his agreement. "Masters Richard and Wallace will have to make it on their own."


Masters Richard and Wallace weren't making it too well on their own at the moment. Robin was suppressing every instinct to turn around before he got bitten, and Wally was frozen in place, staring at the undead John and Mary Grayson. When he regained command over his vocal cords, he instructed Dick (without taking his eyes off of the couple), "Just...walk towards me- slowly!"

Trying to hide the tremble of his body with each step, Dick reached Wally and grasped his shoulders, hissing, "Let me turn around! Let me see what's wrong!" Wally finally tore his eyes from the Graysons' approaching figures and directed his gaze at his best friend's pleading face. "No," he said firmly. "I want you to run, as far and fast as you can. Don't look back, okay! I need to take care of this."

"No!" Dick screeched, suddenly pulling away and whipping around. "No! No! No!" He melted into sobs and fell to his knees when he saw his parents walking towards him. Wally reached for him to pull him away, to keep him from seeing, but a rough hand that smelled of rotting flesh clasped his shoulder and spun him around. He was greeted with the disturbingly ugly face of the train operator. He wrenched himself out of the man's grip and, seeing the multitude of zombies crawling over the train, launched into a super fast barrage of punches.

Robin was still in a ball on the ground and while Wally did his best to avoid being bitten by the old man, the Graysons were approaching their son. Out of the corner of his eye, Wally saw Mary draw a long hunting knife above her head and over Dick's prone form. "No!" He screamed, seconds before the old man tackled him to the ground. "Dick...move!" He yelled to his friend while he struggled to avoid the man's mouth as it dived down repeatedly, trying to grip its teeth on flesh and dripping saliva all over the speedster's face.

Dick looked up slowly to see his own mother lifting a knife to kill him. Knowing this was his fate, he resigned himself to it, bowing his head and thinking only of Bruce. Wally punched the old man in the face and squirmed his way out from under him, crawling over to Dick and yanking him out of the way just as the knife came down and lodged itself in the cold ground. With a fierce cry, the speedster kicked Mary in the face, causing her to reel back in pain.

John growled in frustration and yanked Dick up by the arm, virtually ignoring the sharp yell of pain from his own son. Wally tried to get up and take Dick back, but was grabbed from behind by a new zombie bent on sinking its teeth into his ankle. He looked up in desperation at John who was dragging Dick into the woods and Mary who pulled up the knife from the ground and followed them. Wally yelled curses at them angrily and kicked the zombie attacking him in the face. In seven seconds flat the rest of the zeds were motionless on the ground.

Wally looked towards the woods. I'm coming Dick, I'm coming. Hold on for me!


Artemis looked around one more time, just to be safe, before leaving the tree she sat in. A deep breath to convince herself she could get to the beach without any run-ins, and she hopped out of the tree, her boots hitting the ground as lightly as possible. She moved quickly with her eyes and ears alert, in the direction of the beach. There's not a single thing moving out here. Why is it so quiet? There were zombies out here barely a few hours ago. Did they...give up?

In the back of her mind, she knew there was no way that could be true, but if it meant there were no zombies attacking her from all sides while she made her way to the plane, she would gladly believe it. Reaching the top of a hill, she pushed aside leaves from a bush to see a sharp drop to the beach below, where she could see Roy's plane waiting for her uunguarded and seemingly untouched. Her mind went back to last night when she had seen the zeds take him. She turned a little to her left and located the tree she had watched from. She sighed in remembrance. She prayed to whoever was listening that she wouldn't have to face him again.

In her distraction she almost missed the sound of a twig cracking behind her. She immediately whipped around and aimed her already nocked arrow at the trees in the direction where the sound came from. Zombie-Roy's expression twisted into a smile as he slowly and calmly drew a sharp arrow, nocked it onto his bow, and raised it to line up with Artemis' head.

"Uh oh," she whispered to herself. Both stared at each other for a few more seconds before, still with that wicked smile plastered to his discolored face, Roy released his arrow. Artemis ducked sharply to the right and the arrow went whizzing past her head. She used that second to release hers. Roy looked up, mid-grab for another arrow, to see a net flying at him. With an arrow in his hand he pulled his fist down from the quiver and sliced the net in half, where it dropped innocently at his feet. Again he looked up at her with that smile.

Artemis swallowed. She had no time to grab another arrow before he came at her with a flying tackle that drove them both off the cliff. They rolled with each other from the top to the bottom, where Roy landed with no difficulty and Artemis hit the ground with an "oof!" She scrambled to her feet and was almost floored again when Roy's leg swung right at her face.

She ducked and used his open position to her advantage, hitting two solid punches to his stomach and face before he blocked the elbow to his neck and retaliated with a jab to her right side. She moved with the blow and used the momentum to bring her left leg up to meet the back of his head. He propelled his body forward, ducking the kick, and raised his right hand to grab her leg, intending to pull her in and knock her out. Instead, she pushed off the sand with her right leg and sailed right over his head, releasing his grip on her.

Artemis hit the ground running straight for the plane. She looked back to see that he was gaining on her and fired an explosive arrow at him before reaching the left wing of the plane and jumping onto it. She turned when she heard the explosion to see that Roy had avoided it and was tensing his muscles to scale the distance of the jump onto the wing. Artemis backed up to the edge and pulled out a sharp arrow just as his feet planted themselves on the wing in front of her. "Don't make me use this!" She warned through clenched teeth, avoiding a fist.

Roy swung his right leg up to kick her, but she ducked it and stabbed the arrow into his left foot. She used the opportunity while he screeched in pain and struggled to regain his balance to plant a solid kick on his temple that sent him flying off of the plane where he hit the ground, unconscious. Artemis allowed herself a second to stop shaking before jumping off the wing and carefully approaching Roy. She felt his pulse and then quickly drew her hand away from his wrist, disgusted that she had just touched a zombie willingly.

Deciding not to wait around any longer for other zombies to show up and slow her down, Artemis got into the plane and started it up. "I'm coming, guys. I'm coming. Just hold on for me..."


Wally stumbled his way through the trees and bushes, not caring about the sharp branches and thorns that sliced cuts into his face and arms. I have to get to Dick. I have to. He stumbled into a clearing to see that he was too late.

Dick looked up at him with tears streaming down his face while his own mother plunged her knife into his stomach. He let out a choked cry and slumped to the ground where Mary pulled the blade back out. Wally screamed at the top of his lungs, "NO!" And John and Mary were unconscious before they knew what hit them.

KF gathered his best friend into his arms and sobbed onto the top of his hair. Dick's fingers curled around Wally's wrist and he attempted to say something. Wally heard the garbled noises coming from below him and soothed his friend, "Shh, quiet, Dickie. It's okay, I'm here. I'm here..." Dick squeezed his eyes shut and allowed the tears that were slipping out to slide down his face. The two sat in the snow sobbing with each other until Robin started gasping in pain. "Wally..."

"I've got you, Dick," he soothed, reaching down to place his hands on the wound and try to stop the blood flowing freely and staining the snow. "Please, Wally," Dick whispered. "Don't leave me..." "I'm not going anywhere, Dickie, please just hold on. Stay awake for me Dickie, please..." He felt the rise and fall of Dick's chest begin to slow until it ceased completely. "No!" He cried as he started CPR. Frantically trying to revive his best friend's heart, he was blinded by his own tears. His yells became screams that pleaded with his friend to wake up.

"Please, Dick! Wake up! Come back to me, please! No, no, no, Dick, look at me! Say something! Dick, don't leave, please! Come back! I need you!"


A/N: it sure is nice to be addicted to writing this story again. Only a few chapters to go, but it's getting intense. It's pretty hard writing fight scenes, but at least the location helps. I mean, what cooler place than on top of a beached plane is there for a fight scene here? Well, the next update probably won't take so long considering the fact that I have the rest of the story outlined already. Thanks for sticking with me! Don't forget to drop me a review!