Once Upon A Zombie

Ruby wasn't actually entirely sure whether her plan would work or not. It seemed cartoonish and fantastical and destined for failure… but then she remembered she lived in Storybrooke, where the more absurd something seemed the more likely it was to be true.

Stepping out of the stairwell onto the roof she was met by the crisp, chilly air. The sun was setting on the once-quaint town and there was an aura of fear that seemed to teem all around her; something had definitely changed in the town for the worse, and it was, at least in some small part, up to her to fix it.

She rushed to the edge of the roof and peered over. Just as she'd suspected the streets below were swarmed with zombies, making traveling by foot impossible… which left her with only one option: the most ridiculous one. Ruby whipped the belt off of her waist and tested its strength. It was genuine leather and had been a gift from Granny, so she doubted it was cheap. It would almost definitely hold her weight.

Satisfied with this portion of her plan Ruby walked to the tower that jutted out of the roof and looked up. As she'd remembered the telephone wires that ran throughout the town crossed directly over the tower, meaning that (if they would hold her) she'd be able to travel from roof to roof without having to set foot on the ground.

The wind was blowing rather intensely and she half wondered if she might perhaps be blown off the roof before she could even test out her plan… but then everything would be lost anyway. Deciding to risk it, Ruby said a small prayer, mounted the base of the tower, and began to climb.

She slipped a few times on the way up, but somehow, miraculously, she made it to the top of the clock tower without falling off. Balancing carefully she stood, swinging the belt over the wire and grabbing it again to anchor herself as fast as she could.

Now came the hard part: not falling to a horrible, zombified death. Tentatively she tested out the strength of the wires, first lifting one foot up and then the other. It dipped where the belt put pressure on the line but didn't seem as though it was about to break. Well, good enough. She thought. With one final glance at the ground Ruby leapt up into the air and began sliding, gliding off the roof and out into the open...

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Henry, keep this cloth pressed to Charming's leg. Don't move it." Neal handed Henry half of his torn shirt and the boy did as he was told, kneeling next to his half conscious grandfather. They'd managed to pull themselves up the fire escape, unscrew it so the zombies couldn't come up that way, and barricade the single door that led to the roof… for now. Neal knew quite well it wouldn't hold for long.

"David, I'm… uh, I'm going to have to set your arm." Neal said awkwardly. He hadn't had all that many interactions with his pseudo father in law and having to reset a broken and disjointed arm because of an injury that he'd caused wasn't exactly the best way to cement their relationship. Charming grabbed the other man's hand and pulled him close. The prince was weak and slowly dying in a multitude of ways, so it was a small miracle he could still talk.

"If we live through this," Charming breathed laboriously. "Remind me to thank you." Both men smiled somewhat awkwardly at this as Neal grabbed Charming's arm with one hand and braced his shoulder with the other. All three boys tensed as Neal wrenched it back, slamming the arm back into place and eliciting a blood curdling scream from the half-dead Charming.

"There. It's over. Rest now." Neal said, slumping to the ground next to the other two. David's head cocked to the side and he fell flat on his back, now totally unconscious.

"He's not going to make it, is he?" Henry asked, fighting back tears. He'd read enough stories to know when things were truly hopeless, and this was certainly seeming like one of those times. In response Neal simply grabbed his son's free hand and stared at him in silence, trying to think of something to say to comfort him.

Neal soon realized that there wasn't anything he could say. Charming was gushing blood from his leg and would die within ten minutes. That much was set in stone. As for Henry and his father, the zombies were beating down the door even as they sat there and would probably have them turned before Charming had time to die… before Charming could die…Neal's eyes lit up with joy and hope he'd long forgotten he could feel as he spoke to his son.

"Henry, you're wrong. We can save him. We can save Charming."

"But… how?" The boy asked, confused by his father's sudden joyous outburst.

"Them!" Neal pointed towards the door, the hinges of which were rapidly loosening.

"Wait… what?"

"Don't you see? Those things can't die because they're already dead. If Charming became one of them before he died…"

"We could save him later with everyone else!" Henry exclaimed, finally understanding his father's borderline insane plan. It was a fool's chance, but a chance none the less. Henry's face soon fell again, however, as he realized what letting the zombies onto the roof would mean. "What about us?"

Neal's smile faded as well as he thought about the ramifications of saving Charming… letting the creatures up might save Charming, who would definitely die otherwise. On the other hand, they might all three be turned, and there still might not be a way to change everyone back… in which case all of them would die, rather than just one.

"Maybe I can help!" Neal and Henry whipped their heads around to look at the source of a familiar voice: Ruby Lucas.

"Ruby?" Neal said, joyfully confused.

"I heard you three might need some help… guess I was right." Ruby said, referencing the door through which the hordes of zombies were about to come.

"You got here just in time… speaking of which, how did you get here?" Neal asked, confused as to how the woman had suddenly appeared on top of the building opposite them.

"Let's just say it's a long story that I'll be happy to explain once all this madness is over." She smiled.

"Fair enough. Now how do you plan to get us off of this roof?" Neal asked, eyeing the door nervously. They really didn't have too long.

Ruby approached the edge of the building she was on, which was next door to the apartment complex. She sized up the gap between the two structures, guessing it to be about ten feet wide; too wide for any of them to jump.

"Look around. Is there a ladder or something over there?" Ruby asked. Neal took over for Henry applying pressure to Charming's wound and sent his son to search the roof. A few agonizingly long moments later Henry returned, empty handed and defeated.

"No dice, Ruby. Any other ideas?" Neal asked, fighting to keep the fear from showing in his voice. He could tell Henry was barely keeping it together and they couldn't afford to both have an emotional breakdown. He had to be strong, at least for now.

"Um… gimme a second." Ruby said, looking over the edge of the building she was on into the alley below. It was fairly vacant, save for a few stray cats, a wayward zombie, and a dumpster. Her mind churned for a way to get them all out of it safely and it finally settled on one, totally absurd plan.

"Any time now, Ruby." Neal said, looking at the door. She was about to open her mouth when the metal bar holding it shut cracked in half and the door began to open. In a flash Neal had left Charming's side and was pushing his full weight into the door, waving his son over to help him.

"Alright, I've got an idea. Give me three minutes then run to the far edge of the roof and jump." Ruby shouted as the two men attempted to put more of their weight into holding the door closed.

"Did you say jump?" Henry asked, disbelieving.

"I know, I know! Just trust me! Three minutes, then jump!" With that Ruby disappeared down the stairs from her roof, leaving the two boys alone once more.

"So… we're really leaving him?" Henry asked.

"Yup. It's the only way." Neal grunted, straining to keep the door between them and certain death shut. "Now shut up and count, kid." Henry obediently did as he was told.

The next 180 seconds were the longest Neal had ever experienced. Every possible outcome flashed through his head. Splatting on the pavement, being eaten by zombies… he wasn't sure which one was worse, but he figured that one led to certain death and the other led only to probable death. The odds weren't great, but he'd have to take them. Henry finished the count and shared a worried glance with his father.

"It's now or never, kid. Either we're getting out of this or we'll die trying." Henry couldn't argue with that logic. The two men abandoned their post at the door and their elder relative and made a beeline for the edge. Neal grabbed his son's hand and, with one deep breath, propelled himself and Henry over the side.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Ruby looked up, completely satisfied with herself. She'd managed to beat back the zombie lurking in the alley, scare the cats off, and move a dumpster filled to the brim with trash to the correct location and had fifteen seconds to spare. Not a bad job for a waitress/werewolf.

At the appointed moment Ruby looked up and saw, as she'd hoped, the two boys fly over the edge of the roof and fall straight towards the dumpster. She hardly had time to register that Charming wasn't with them before they were smashing into the can, yowling and bruised, but miraculously alive.

"I guess that's the last time I doubt you." Neal said, poking his head out of the dumpster. A second later Henry popped up, looking a little worse for the wear but more or less unharmed.

"What about Charming?" Ruby asked, stealing an anxious glance at the roof from which her two new companions had just fallen.

"He's hurt. Either we let him become one of them and we have a chance of saving him or he dies for sure. We chose to hope we'd be able to save him." Neal explained, not wanting to spend too much time debating the right and wrong of their decision when their lives were in immediate danger.

"...Alright. I believe you. Now we need to get out of here and make our way back to the library." Ruby said, looking around to make sure no zombies had found them. Things seemed relatively safe for the moment.

"How do you suppose we do that?" It was Henry who spoke this time, voicing what both he and his father were wondering.

"I figured we'd go back the same way I came."

"And which way is that?"

"I'll show you." With that Ruby turned and entered the building she'd come from originally. Sharing a glance and a shrug both father and son followed her.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"You can't be serious. There's no way this'll work." Neal said once Ruby had explained just exactly how she'd managed to reach them in the first place.

"Listen, you two were willing to leap off of a building on blind faith. How is this all that different?"

"For one thing," Neal began. "I'm nearly twice as heavy as you." Neither Ruby nor Henry could resist stealing a glance at his stomach which, they had to admit, was quite a bit larger than either of theirs.

"It doesn't matter. My crazy plans have worked so far today and I see no reason they should stop working now." Neal looked as though he wanted to protest, but in his heart he knew she was right. As crazy as it was, this was the only way they'd all make it out safely. Ruby smiled in victory. "Now, who's first?"

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Ten minutes and one borderline cartoonish sequence of roof hopping later the three weary souls landed on the roof of the library, which appeared to be still under human control. Ruby led the way and the trio soon found themselves in the main rotunda with Regina, Belle, Hook, and Gold, who had arrived during their absence.

"Look who I found." Ruby said with a slight chuckle. Neal and Hook shared an awkward acknowledgement while Henry ran to hug Regina. Even Neal and Gold, strained as their relationship was, embraced. As awful as an apocalypse was, it sure had a way of bringing people together.

Once the greetings had died down and the sense of gravity had returned the attention shifted to Gold and Regina who, as terrible as they sometimes could be, certainly knew how to get things done. The two reformed villains shared a glance before turning to address the small group of people in front of them.

"Listen, I know you don't all have a lot of reason to trust me, but please try. Emma and Mary Margaret are on their way here now. They're bringing a potion that will help Belle finish deciphering the cure." Gold said. As if on cue Belle's head cocked to the side and the book dropped from her lap. She was unconscious and would turn very soon.

"And what if they fail? What if Book Girl turns before she can figure out how to save us?" Hook asked. Rumple wanted to break his neck at the words "Book Girl" but Neal restrained him.

"If there's one thing you people have taught me it's that good always wins. I know things seem bad right now, but there's always hope. I was the Evil Queen. I never thought I'd be able to love again, yet somehow I could. Things aren't always what they seem. Anything can happen… anything can be." Regina's words hung in the air, weighing heavily on everyones' hearts. The group dispersed to different parts of the library to ruminate over what Regina had said, each coming to the same conclusion of their own accord: if the Evil Queen could have hope that everything would be alright, that good would find a way to win, then so could they.

. . . . . . . . . . .

Author's Notes:

-Reviews are welcome!

-What did y'all think?

-Who will be next?

-How are you guys liking Season 3 so far?

-Sorry it's been SO long.

-Also, to answer Azurii's question, Cora is dead in this story. It can't really fit in anywhere logically with the show, but I've always thought of it as being somewhere between The Outsider and The Miller's Daughter.