Disclaimer: All characters used in this story belong respectively to J.G. Quintel.
Prerequisites: None c:


For the next few hours, Mordecai's eyes were glued to the screen. The game's graphics far surpassed that of any other that he had played before. Aside from the realism of the character having his exact appearance, the sounds and colors came together to create an authentic appearance. He wasn't really sure as to what he was supposed to do, having impatiently skipped through all of the dialogue, but he was getting by. The game took place in a town that had fallen to ruin upon the mass outbreak of a virus, causing all of its citizens to become zombified abominations of their past self.

The player would find themselves as a survivor, immune to the toxic air, and a rebel against the onslaught of undead along with other remaining humans. Your goal was to find the source of the infection, and destroy it, thus reestablishing peace. Failure obviously resulted in all hope being lost, and any chance for curing the world crumbling. Added to that, you had to complete this task in a set amount of time; the irony. The plot really was anything but original, being incredibly similar to just about every single zombie movie the bird had ever seen. Still, the blue jay would be lying if he were to say he wasn't enjoying it.

As far as game-play went, it was very entertaining. However, difficulty seemed to be an entirely different story; it was profoundly difficult. Fighting off the hordes alone proved to be troubling, and it wasn't as if the NPC's assistance was all that helpful. The avian had to sadly admit that it would be much easier to accomplish with two players, rather than him alone. He set down his controller and let out a groan as he watched his digital-self get torn to shreds by the hands of the enemy. The joints of his fingers were sore, and his eyes ached. He stood up from his position on the couch, and stretched his muscles, then turned off the game and television. Searching for the time, he sighed, remembering how the disappearance of the clock from a while back. He walked upstairs, and throughout the hallways until he came upon a cuckoo-clock mounted on the wall. He removed it from its nail hanger, and made his way downstairs, and set the clock down atop the television where it would be easily visible. Analog clocks weren't his preference, but he'd have to make due. Carefully reading it, he found that it was somewhere around seven. He couldn't help but feel ashamed upon realizing that he had been distracting himself from the game for a good five hours. He looked at his wing, remembering what it was exactly that he was avoiding. He wished that if he were going to have this thing on his arm, it should at least tell him the current time as well.

"Margaret should have left by now,"He thought to himself, beginning to make his way to the front door. It was beginning to become dark outside, the sun setting beyond the cityscape. He left the house, realizing the sun wasn't the only thing dropping, the temperature was as well. He stopped for a minute, reconsidering whether to return inside in search for a jacket, or to try and find his way back to the amusement park before it became too dark. However, he would have to put these things aside for a while longer, as an approaching figure could be seen in the distance.

"Hey, Mordecai!" The voice called, in a deep, yet feminine tone. Squinting a bit while also nearing the form a bit more, he made it out to be Starla. He was taken aback by her sudden appearance. She wasn't exactly the person he wanted to see most right now, or ever for that matter.

"Starla?" He questioned, to which she approved with a nod, her brunette pigtails flopping as she did so. "Oh, hey," He greeted as she made her way up the wooden stairs of the porch. "What're you here for?"

"Have you seen Mitch?"

"Wh- Oh, Muscle Man? No, why?"
"I've been looking for him. He wasn't at his trailer, so I thought he might be here."

"No, sorry. I don't know where he is." The bird said, beginning to distance himself from the woman and make his way down the stairs. Starla just gave a shrug, and entered the house, closing the door behind her. She is quite the mannerly young lady indeed. Deciding to ignore it, the bird ventured out of the park and into the town.

Cold breezes brushed against his exposed body, also sending leaves through the air. The pavement was once again freezing, and the bird couldn't help but stop and shiver every now and then. There were more people now than there had been for a while now passing the bird on the sidewalk, paying him no mind. He walked on the opposite side of the road from the coffee shop, its lights still illuminated. He passed it by briskly, not wanting an to encounter with the robin at the moment.

The avian continued to try and retrace his steps from earlier that day. It was actually proving to be difficult; having been a long trip from the coffee shop, as well as its somewhat remote location within the vast city. Surprisingly, the shy blue jay took no shame in asking for directions, and after a bit of questioning to local pedestrians, as well as walking around in circles, he found his way back to the amusement park. What a wasted effort though. Mordecai let out a loud yell of frustration upon reaching the large metal gates that were once again closed, padlock firmly chained around it. Noticing a nearby sign attached to a ticket booth, the avian read the bold print:

SERVICE HOURS

12:00PM – 5:00PM

He couldn't help but feel that maybe if he had left a bit faster, he would've made it in time to confront the raccoon. It was getting tiring not to be able to communicate with someone as close to him as Rigby. The blue jay still didn't understand everything that was going on, but it was becoming overwhelming. Such a little cause seemed to have such a large effect in this case, and he found it completely unfair.

It was now pitch black out, sidewalk lamps gleaming through the night. Stars shone down as the moon remained bright and proud from its position in the sky. It was peaceful; the city's volume beginning to lower as people returned to their homes, not wanting to get caught up in the bitter cold that was starting to sweep across the area. The bird was becoming a bit fearful about safely returning back to the park, being completely unfamiliar with this part of town. He took a few hesitant steps in the direction he thought would lead him back, only stopping dead in confusion. He couldn't see anyone nearby to ask for help either, the streets barren of anyone except for himself. However, scanning over the expanse of pavement, he found a silhouette within the illumination the lamps provided. Mordecai stood there, frozen as the figure turned towards his direction.

The blue jay had no idea whether to try and interact with them, or to distance himself from it as quickly as possible. He wanted to call out to it, seeing as how it was already aware of his presence, but the avian was unable to find the words. Its tail flicked around a bit before it... waved to him? It was almost beckoning for Mordecai to come closer, which he hesitantly did. The avian took a few steps towards it before the dark form turned and ran off.

"W-wait!" The blue jay blurted, picking up the pace to try and follow the creature that was quickly scampering though the streets. He followed it, taking turn after turn until he eventually lost track of its location. Stopping to catch his breath, Mordecai stood there gasping for breath; cold air almost burning him upon inhale.

"What just happened?"He questioned himself, trying to look for the stranger among his surroundings. "And who was that?"

The most shocking part was turning to find that he was outside the gates of the park; his park. The blue jay was astonished; did it do this on purpose? Or did he just find his way back in a stroke of luck? Deciding not to think about it too much, he made his way to the house. Entering, he found no trace of Starla or anyone on that note.

He went into the kitchen, seeing the remnants of dinner scattered here in there. The bird got himself some food before deciding to go to sleep. Mordecai walked through the house, turning off the lights and going to his room. He dropped onto his bed, rolling around in the covers until he found a comfortable position. Eyelids closed, and thoughts prospered as he drifted off into sleep. It had been a day of complete failure, having gotten absolutely nothing done the way he had wanted. No matter how hard he tried, at the end of the day, the avian had just caused more trouble for himself. Maybe he should just ignore it; let that timer hit zero. Or maybe there were things tying him to this world that were too important to let go of.