Chapter Nine: Why, Things are Getting so Strange
"STOP! ZOMBIES! AHEAD!"
|Abigail's POV|
I can't say I'm not afraid of dying. Because I really am. I knew we shouldn't of gone into that stupid tram. No one ever listens to what Abby says even though she's right most of the time. If only I'd been a little bit more cautious. If only I told them off and refused to go inside.
"C'mon."
I can't. I'm dead.
"No. No you're not."
That… woman claw monster thing is about to kill me. So yes. Yes I am.
"Get the fuck up!"
No!
"Then I'll just have to pick you up then."
You're pretty funny for my conscience.
"I'm not your damned conscience!"
Wow. You're in even more denial then I am.
"OPEN YOU DAMN EYES, GIRL!"
My eyes flash open. I realize that I'm being carried through the wreckage of Switch Blue. The woman's shrills still fill the morning air.
I look up at my savior. He's quiet tall, I can tell that much. He's a teenager or an adult, judging by this complexion. His hair is similar to that of Saikoro's, except his is jet black. A few pieces of hair look like they won't stay down. I can't tell what color his eyes are, but I've managed to make out that they're some kind of blue. He's also wearing some kind striped or plaid jacket that makes my skin feel all itchy.
He says something in a different language. It sounds Albhed, but I could be wrong.
"Chris!" He shouts into the air. He glances behind us. "Fuck! Where the hell is he?" He sets me on the ground. He whips out some kind of handgun and aims at the crazed woman.
She's closing in on us.
A gunshot goes off and I watch as the woman's head explodes. Blood spatters on some nearby posters of that teen idol Kuja.
(A/N: Achievement Unlocked: Cr0wnd 30GP)
"He always comes through last minute," The boy smiles sheepishly.
He gazes down at me. "Hey, are you all right?" He asks.
I stare up at him in awe. He's gorgeous… Wow…
"Yo!" He says waving his hand in front of me, "Someone in there?"
"Uh…erm…uh…" I stammer, unsure of what to say to my savior.
"Eh…" He shrugs.
"Abby!" I hear Riku yell. I turn around to see a very shaken up Riku followed by an older man. The man is very built. Like steroids built. He has short black, maybe dark brown, hair that's gelled up in the front. His eyes are a plain brown. He's dressed in some sort of dark blue tuxedo/uniform that has the initials S.R.C. in white running across the front. He's carrying a sniper rifle of some sort.
Riku bends down next to me and hugs me. "I'm so glad you're all right."
"Yeah, me too…" I tell him. But I'm talking about myself being okay. At least he still had the chance to get away. He wasn't about to get ripped to shreds by that whatever that woman was.
"That was a close one," The older man says patting the teenager or young adult on the shoulder. The two of them don't look even the slightest like relatives. But the older man is looking at the boy like he's his father.
"I shouldn't of run out there like that," The boy says apologetically.
"Yeah, you shouldn't of. You know how pissed off your father gets. If you die, then my mi-" He stops talking and turns his attention to us. "You two are lucky we found you when we did… Especially you," He points at me.
"Ah, yes. Thank you…" I nod.
"I'm Chris Redfield," The older man smiles.
"I-I'm Abigail," I say nervously.
"Riku Dawnheights," Riku nods his head to the older man. He gets to his feet, then extends his hand out to me. I take his hand, and he pulls me to my feet. All our eyes are on the other boy who is now shifting through a newspaper stand.
"Blue," Chris elbows the boy in the side.
The boy jumps up and looks from Chris, to Riku, to me. "Oh, I'm Ringo Blue Sosu…" He says quickly, then returns to excavating the newspaper stand.
"Don't mind him, he's a bi-polar," Chris sighs, shaking his head.
Bi-polar? Does that mean if we piss him off in the slightest way, he'll snap and then attempt to kill us? Just the thought of that sends shivers through my spine.
"Er…" Riku and I exchange nervous glances.
Chris seems to sense our worry. "Don't worry. We're not going to kill you or anything."
"…Hey…" Ringo Blue says suddenly. He reaches over the counter of the stand.
"What?" We ask in unison.
"Girl Scout Cookies," He smiles as he holds up a box of golden flower shaped sugar cookies.
"…" Chris shakes his head. "You are quiet a handful, Blue."
"And I shall continue to be until you start calling me by my full name," He attacks the box of cookies.
A very strange pair we've stumbled upon, yes?
|With Saikoro, Marluxia, and Luxord|
|Sai's POV|
After barely managing to escape the zombie horde, we found ourselves in a tree house. They kept bugs and exotic plants in here, along with some birds. It looks very similar to a rain forest. The heat isn't helping the fact that I'm still wearing Abby's sweatshirt.
Inside there is a single body. Dead, of course.
"That was a close one…" I mumble, trying to catch my breath. The other two sat across from me searching though the numerous desks and lockers in the room.
"I found a rifle of some sort," Marluxia announces holding up the gun. "There's some ammo in the locker too."
"We've got a medical kit and some tranquilizers over here," Mr. Huston adds. He shows us the small white box of medical supplies and numerous colored darts.
"Keep searching for something useful," Marluxia tells us.
I rummage through a nearby desk. Sadly all I find are useless magazines, some charts on the wildlife in here, and four keys reading: Elephant Stage, Lion's Den, Monkey Cages, and Supply Room.
I grab the keys and stuff them into my pocket. You never know when we might run into a locked door that needs opening.
"Handgun," Mr. H smiles.
"Of course I wouldn't find anything…" I sigh.
"Better luck next time," Marluxia pats me on the shoulder. My entire arm begins to seethe with pain. He looks at me perplexed.
"Ow…" I forgot about the road burn on my arm. If I show them, they'll think that I've been bitten. I don't have Abby to vouch for me… and without her it would be a very difficult situation to get out of.
"Are you okay?" Marluxia asks, retreating his hand from my injured arm.
"Yeah," I lie, "You just caught me off-guard is all."
"Oh."
"Uhhhhnnn…"
"Stop making impersonations of zombies, Sai," Marluxia snaps as we are crowd around Mr. Huston to checkout the layout of the park. I just want to get the hell out the zoo.
"What're you talking about?" I protest, "Why the hell would I want to act like one of those-"
"Move!" Huston screams, grabbing my arm.
"Ow! What's wr-"
Zombie. Dead guy on floor wasn't actually "dead" if you catch my drift.
Marluxia manages to barely scramble out of the way.
"Kill it!" I scream.
Marluxia lifts up the rifle and aims it at the undead's head, and pulls the trigger.
"You missed!" I panic.
"Oh, shut up!" He growls, "It's my first time shooting a gun!"
"That comes as a surprise!"
"Here, you shoot it."
"Chances are that I'll probably shoot you in the leg by accident. No thanks."
Out of the corner of my eye I see the zombie fall to the ground limp. Blood leaks out of it's head and onto the floor. Lucky Mr. Huston got it when he did, because it was pretty close to biting off Mars's arm.
"We should be getting out of here," Mr. Huston says turning his back to us. He doesn't even mention about our stupidity and how close we came to being apart of undead army.
Well, I think it's about time we get to the mall. Everybody's waiting for us… hopefully not ready to eat us alive.
|With the Highwinds, Luneth, Axel, Leon, Zidane, and Rinoa|
|Axel's POV|
Gone.
That's all I can think when we found out that Axis wasn't on top of the storage bin.
"He's not here, Axel," Leon says, a hint of sadness present in voice.
"Yeah," I growl, "I know that much."
"You think he's…" Zidane trails off, looking around at all of us nervously.
"Dead?" Demyx finishes the sentence for the young boy.
"No," I shake my head, "We haven't been gone long enough for him to transform into one of those things if he was bitten."
"Maybe that one thing got him?" Rinoa suggests.
The four of us who had been outside look over at the corpse of Ultimecia. All of us, except Leon, cringe. Just thinking about how it clawed her face off almost makes tears come to my eyes…
"She's still there though," Leon says.
"He's apart of the sinners now…" Vexen snickers.
"Shut up with your bullshit already," Kite snaps.
"It's not "bullshit"," Vexen makes air quotes, "It's law. It's Cosmos's law."
"Law, my ass," Kite stomps his foot, "You've been being an asshole to us ever since we rescued you, dickhead."
"An asshole to you all by preaching my beliefs?" He raises an eyebrow to the green haired boy. The two of them are standing dangerously close to one another. "Tell me, Kite was it? What do you believe in?"
"I don't believe that we turn into fucking zombies because we've done a few things wrong!" He sneers.
"Typical, of a non-believer," Vexen smirks.
"Typical? What the fuck did that baby do!" He looks like he's on the verge of tears. "It hasn't done anything! It's never going to have the chance to do anything!"
"Prevention," The older man smiles cynically. I just wanna knock that smug grin off of his face.
Kairi shakes her head in disgust. "How can you even say something like that?"
"Prevention?" Kite shoves the man away from him.
"Kite!" Squall yells, reaching out for him.
Kite pushes Squall away from him.
"That mother and her baby died because of you!"
So that's what this is about.
"What does it matter? Did you even know them?"
I turn away from the two of them before things get out of hand. Sometimes I really don't understand people… Only sometimes though…
"Axel," I hear Yuffie say. I glance over at the self-proclaimed ninja girl. She smiles brightly at me like Kite and that other guy don't exist. "I'm sure Axis is alright. He probably went to go find another way in."
"Yuf, I sure hope that's the case," I say.
"Uh-huh!" She giggles.
"We need to move," Leon declares. I think he's our "leader" since he's the only one with any real common sense and knows how to handle a gun- or lots of guns since he's a government agent. Thank you, whoever, for giving us Leon S. Kennedy. Now just let us find Axis, and get out of here without any more…casualties.
|With Zexion, Rai, and Fuu|
|Zexion's POV|
"Zexion!" I hear a faint voice from the "outside" say. In my dream an earthquake starts to occur. I figure someone is shaking me. "Zexion, wake up!"
I open my eyes to see Fuu towering over me. Fear is present on her face. "Ughnn… W-What?" I groan as I sit up. I wipe the sleep from my eyes.
"We have to move, y'know?" Rai's voice quakes. He rips the sheets off of the bed that he'd been lying on hours before. What on Gaia is he doing with those sheets?
Just then the clattering of the front door echoes the room. I nearly knock Fuu over as I scramble out of bed.
"Fuu, help me push this dresser in front of the door!" I yell. I shove the television onto the floor without a second thought. It breaks into pieces, and I would've cared more if I weren't so set on surviving.
With much effort the two of us manage to push the antique wooden in front of the door. I lean over the dresser and slide open the peep hole.
"Oh…"
Zombies. Not just one of two. Probably the whole hotel population itself crowds around the outside of the door. The zombies are just throwing their animated bodies into the door. I'm quiet glad they cannot open doors, or we'd have a serious problem. Hey… I think that's my…oh crap… that's my science teacher!
"I don't know how long that thing will hold up," I tell Rai, who is tying the bed sheets together with tight knots.
If it weren't for my suggestion of sleeping on the second floor, rather than the third or first, we'd probably be on the floor giving our organs and flesh to the zombie horde.
I grab whatever food and drinks are left in the refrigerator and stuff them into my backpack. Fuu and I watch anxiously as Rai attempts to make a rope out of the bed sheets.
"This long enough, yo?" Rai asks.
"Yes, but is it tight enough?" I ask.
"Seems like it, y'know?"
"Now to break the window…" Fuu says in her monotone voice as she points at the large glass window.
"Yeah, how are-"
Rai picks up the chair I had been sitting on a few hours earlier and tosses it through the window with ease. I must say I'm rather impressed. I was thinking more along the lines of throwing the already-irreversibly-damaged television at it.
The three of us glance down at the ground below where glass fragments now litter the parking lot below. There are about five or so zombies lurking in the lot.
"Dispose," She smirks lifting her pistol into the air. She aims it at a woman who looks no older than thirty. Part of her right arm is missing, and clumps of blood splash to the floor next to her. She doesn't have rotting flesh like the other zombies, though.
Fuu shoots and hits the woman in the shoulder. The zombie turns it's attention from lolling around to us.
Then she sprints. The fucking zombie sprints! I thought they were supposed to be slow! What is with this one!
"WHY! Why did you shoot me?" The female zombie screams. Turns out she isn't a zombie after all… Who would've guessed?
"Oops…" Fuu smirks.
"She looks like a zombie, y'know?" Rai cringes as the woman claws at the window below.
"What I want to know is how is she still alive?" I ask no one in particular.
"She is missing part of her arm…" Fuu shakes her head.
"Take out the other ones around her," I demand.
Fuu manages to shoot two out of the four (possibly five) zombies in the head. One she shoots in the leg causing it to topple over. The second one she hits in the neck. When she does finally manage to take out the other two zombies, she grins.
Now the only thing in the way of our escape is the woman, who is the fine line of turning into one of the undead. Though I'm pretty sure she should already be dead due to blood loss…
"What is she, a zombie?" Rai asks, "Maybe she's a special one, y'know?"
"Let's hope that there are no "special" zombies." Oh. Wait. Never mind. That one monster that attacked us last night with the rocket launcher was a special zombie. So was that one that was in need of a serious trim of the nails.
The clattering of the door reminds us once more that we are about to possibly be eaten alive by the entire Hotel horde.
"We can't shoot her…" I sigh.
"Already did…" Fuu reminds me.
Rai leans over the edge of the window. "Yo, ma'am!"
"What!" The woman screeches, glaring up at us. Her eyes are normal… Guess she isn't a zombie after all…
"Can you go stand over there?" Rai asks, "Y'know, so we can be sure that you're not gonna eat us?"
Leave it to Rai to get right to the point.
"Why should I listen to you after you… you shot me!"
Fuu shifts around awkwardly.
"Listen, ma'am. You were missin' half your arm in the first place, y'know. You shouldn't be wanderin' around lookin' like a zombie."
"You shouldn't be shooting people in the first place!" She cries.
"Well, if you hadn't noticed… We're in the middle of a zombie infection."
The woman stomps her foot against the ground like a toddler throwing a tantrum. "And?"
"Listen, ma'am. You can move there to that lamp post and we won't have to shoot you, y'know?" Rai hisses.
"Stupid Tribelle teenagers…" The woman sniffs as she sulks over to the light post where a car has taken root.
Rai throws the end of the bed rope out of the window, "Who's goin' down first?" He asks as he ties it to the end of the bed.
"You should," I say. The Helixian immigrants raise an eyebrow to me. "Only because you are the heaviest one here, and if the rope happens to break we can hold it so you don't fall and break something."
"Just make sure you keep an eye on her, y'know?" Rai nods his head in the direction of the half zombie half-human woman. She's kicking at the lamppost muttering curses.
Rai gives us a quick nod shortly before he disappears down the bed rope. The bed the sheets are tied to barely moves. He quickly pulls out his handgun and takes out any zombie who may have heard all the commotion.
The woman is now watching us- more like watching Rai.
"You go next," I tell Fuu.
She nods her head, and without a moments hesitation she slides down the sheets. As soon as she hits the ground, she whips out her pistol. The two of them signal to me that it's safe to come down.
I glance over at the woman and immediately notice that she has fallen on the ground, particularly in someone's blood. I'd better hurry up before she gets up and tries to eat us.
I shimmy down the bed rope. One thing I am afraid of…is heights. I give a sigh of relief once I'm almost halfway down. I make it down with almost no problems… Until the rope snaps that is.
"Ahh!" I scream as I plunge to the ground below.
My face is just mere inches from the ground, when I notice that Rai's holding a fistful of my shirt, and Fuu is grasping onto my arm.
"Close one, yeah?" Rai snickers, as the two of them put me on my feet. I really thought I was going to crush Fuu… I wonder what Rai would say to that…? "You crushed Fuu…y'know?"
I look over at the woman. She's still down. I don't know how long it takes to "turn" into one of them, but I'm certainly not going to wait around and find out.
"Look over there!" Rai exclaims pointing at one of those white vans that electricians and plumbers use on a daily basis. I believe they are called RAM 3500, but I can't recall if that's the name for sure at this moment.
The doors of the "pedophile van", as Sai and Axel refer to them, are wide open. A man lies next to the car clutching the keys.
I open the back of the van to check for zombies. None.
Lucky us.
Rai snatches the keys from the body and hops into the passenger side of the van while I slide all the electrical equipment out onto the pavement. I make sure the doors are securely shut once I climb in.
Fuu jumps into the driver's seat, where Rai hands her the keys.
"Now it's time for-"
Suddenly the woman that Fuu had shot jumps at the windshield.
"WHOA!" I scream. I immediately notice that woman's skin has become crimson instead of the usual rotting skin look.
"Fuu! DRIVE!" Rai panics.
Fuu sends the car into a three sixty. I lose my balance and smash into the floor of the van. And this is why we wear seat belts.
"STOP!" Rai screams, "You're making me dizzy, y'know!"
"Who cares! Get her off the damn windshield!" I watch as the ceiling becomes nothing but a black blur.
"Fuck this!" Rai yells, "Stop the car!"
The car comes to a screeching halt. I hear a door open, a gunshot, another gunshot, blood hits the window, then the door closes and Rai's back in his seat.
The windshield wipers screech as they attempt to get the blood off of the window.
"Now," Rai announces once we finally start moving, "it's time for a trip to the gas station…"
Oh, c'mon! I think Fuu just ran over a zombie…
I lie on the cold hard floor of the van. I don't think it would hurt to close my eyes for a little bit. Besides… I don't think the Helixian immigrants would be too please if I threw up all over the back, then have to drive out of town all while smelling the stench of my vomit.
|With Saikoro, Marluxia, and Luxord|
|Sai's POV|
"Why are we going through the swamp part of the zoo, again?" I ask my English teacher as we trod across the wooden paneling. If I thought this place looked fucking scary during the night, I must've been on some serious Meth or something. It's broad daylight, but just knowing that there could possibly be a zombie lurking in the nearby brush…waiting…watching…it sends shivers through my spines. This would be the worst place to be ambushed at.
"There's an exit across the swamp," Mr. Huston tells us, "We can probably get out of here with little to no effort if we use this way."
I gaze across the swamp. The wooden bridge that normally stretches from point A, where we are, to point B is completely destroyed. The pieces of wood float about the filthy green water. Oh shit. Is that blood? Oh shit! It is! Fuck this idea.
"Fuck that," I shake my head in disapproval, "That's like a death-wish calling."
"I agree," Marluxia bobs his head in agreement.
"Well, do you two fancy going back the way we came?" Mr. Huston smirks. He crosses his arms and stares at us impatiently.
I dunno. I survived a whole bunch of near death experiences last night and this morning… I don't think I want to die now. I mean…it'd be a total waste of time and effort. I know my luck's bound to run out eventually. No person is that lucky…and unlucky at the same time. No way.
"I dunno…" I shrug, "I can't say I want to risk my life crossing that," I point at the swamp, "either."
"Mr. Oracle, if you're just to complain about it, then go back the way we came and sh-"
"That deaf, dumb, blind kid, sure plays a mean pinball."
"He's a pinball wizard, there's got to be a twist," I sing along to the song. I love this song!
Wait a second! My cell phone is ringing! How is that even possible? Should a cellular device even be able to work during a large-scale zombie infestation?
I fumble around in my pocket for my phone. I stare at the outer flip of my phone blankly. I should've been glad that we learned that we can text/call places…but I had a serious mystery on my hands.
"How am I…texting myself?"
End Chapter Nine
The Pinball Wizard: Awesomeness, eh? No? (Sad face) Anyway, thank you all you lovely reviewers. Remember I write these all in advanced so while you're reading this chapter, I'm probably writing chapter eighteen or nineteen. Yeah… Oh, yeah the A/N above…only people who've played the xbox360 and Left 4 Dead will get it…haha… The woman who killed Rikku is known as a Witch from Left 4 Dead. Next chapter is more of Boss-Fight chapter than the other chapters. I noticed the lack of zombies in the recent chapters…so…I'll try to get in those flesh eating undead a lot more.
Mmrgh. I've been searching for the tenth volume of Gin Tama for about a good three weeks. I've been to almost every bookstore within a twenty to thirty mile radius. And none of them fucking have it! Has everyone decided all of sudden that "Hey, let's go get Gin Tama volume 10 so Lance can't have it! (Insert evil laugh here)". I should go ahead and order it online…
Next Chapter: Hero Closet
