A/N: Anyone miss me? No? Damn! Anyways, I finally updated this story but I may eventually just discontinue it and work on some other project. But who knows, the reviewers can make the difference :P
Chef Antoine: I'm still waiting for my reviewers!
A/N: Hush you!
Time Before Military Arrives: 49:59:58
After a brief, but good night sleep, the teens are awoken at seven in the morning for Gwen's daily Zombrex injection. Trent injected the suppressant into the goth's arm so that she would survive another day against her zombie infection, or at least until day three, where Trent would have to find yet another box of Zombrex to give to her. With less than two hours until Rebecca Chang would meet up with everyone in the safehouse, everyone spent the remaining time eating in the cafeteria room. Trent, Gwen, Cody, and Sierra sat in one table together.
"With us, Chris, Chef, Owen, Alejandro, and Justin safely here, and Beth, Katie and Sadie are dead, there's now fourteen of us still out there," Trent began after Hatchet served everyone breakfast from the supplies delivered by Cody.
"I've seen Tyler, but he wouldn't come with me without Lindsay," the geek informed.
"That idiot…" the musician cursed.
"Well, after we tell Rebecca who the real culprit behind the outbreak is, we can then focus on finding everyone else," Gwen mentioned with enthusiasm.
"Guys, I'm still worried about Owen," Sierra cut in, "He hasn't eaten anything since… you know…"
Everyone turns to see the chubby teen sitting at the table across from them while still in his silent, traumatized state. To make the mood worse, Alejandro walked into the cafeteria room to help himself to a soda.
The Latin gave his vintage smug smirk at the group, "I, for one, am rather repulsed Owen had to resort to the same thing the zombies do"
Everyone glares back at him.
"You know, you could actually help us in saving the others…" the goth informed.
Alejandro shrugged, "No one helped me when I was doused in lava and I survived…"
Everyone continues to scowl at him as he left and then turned back to Owen who remained silent.
"Give him time," Trent assured, "Once we're out of this hellhole, we'll have all the time we need into helping the big guy out"
**Later**
"It was Tyrone King. He's the one who framed us," that was the first thing that came out of Trent's mouth when he finally reunited with Rebecca Chang and Stacey in the surveillance room at nine o'clock am.
"TK? Are you sure?" the Channel 6 Action News reporter questioned.
"He admitted it to my face!" Trent firmly stood by his word.
"But that's not possible," Rebecca argued, "Why would he just let his own zombie supply loose? Sabotage his own show?"
"I saw him with my own eyes"
"So you say"
"Is that who your source is? TK?" Trent angrily inquired.
Rebecca scoffed, "Don't be ridiculous, Trent"
**BOOM!**
Interrupting the conversation was a sudden explosion that shook up the entire bunker.
"Whoa! What was that?" Gwen asked while startled.
"It sounded like it came from outside," Stacey informed while checking the monitors, "Looks like someone might be messing with the casino vaults. I can't tell who it is though"
"Then I'd better get out there and find out for myself," Rebecca took Trent's line and confidently prepared to head back into hell.
Everyone astonishingly watches her leave without saying a word.
"I don't know if she's really brave… or just really stupid…" Stacey speculated.
"Guess I better head out there too," Trent tells everyone else in the room.
"I'm coming with then" Gwen announced.
"Me too" Cody added.
"Are you two sure?" Trent questioned.
"I think by now you can be sure we can carry our own weight," Cody said with a gap toothed grin.
"NOOOOOOO!" Sierra jumped into the surveillance room and tackles the geek, "I don't want you to go! It's too dangerous out there!"
"Sierra I… too tight…" the geek gasped while in the tight hold of his stalker. After finally prying himself out of her grip, "Sierra, I'll be fine. Don't worry"
"But Cody, I just…"
"I'LL BE OKAY!" Cody shouts after built up frustration.
Sierra just fell back in defeat.
"Well we better get going then" Gwen said, ending the argument for the pair.
Cody wasted no time in darting out the door with Trent and Gwen following the geek. All three of them crawl through the air duct and back to the dark corridor leading to the Royal Flush Plaza. As the trio made their way down the hallway, Trent's transceiver rang.
"Stacey?" the musician answered.
"Trent, looks like there are three operations going on in three of the four casino vaults, if you want to investigate all of them in time, you three may need to split up. But be careful, the workers are all armed"
"Got it, thanks" Trent said before hanging up. He then pulled out his city brochure to inspect the map.
"Cody, you go to the Slot Ranch Casino vaults. Gwen, you hit up the Americana. I'll find the Yucatan Casino and check there, got it?"
"Yes!" Cody answered.
"Got it, Trent," Gwen added.
"Oh, and I almost forgot" the musician stated while pulling some firearms from his backside, "I took all the guns I could from the mercenaries back down in the underground tunnels. They should come in handy"
"Well, guns are better for hunting, not zombie killing" Gwen informed knowing the vulnerabilities of trying to man firearms against a relentless zombie horde, "But I suppose those assault rifles could come in handy against individual threats"
"Just know that I couldn't grab some extra ammo at the time, so what's in each barrel is all we got"
Now that all three of them have an assault rifle at hand, they continue to make off to their next destinations. Continuing their path down the shadowy hallway, they see a few zombies mindlessly staggering around the door to the Royal Flush Plaza.
"Shit, I didn't think we'd have to use ammo this soon" the musician cursed.
"Anyone else hear a buzzing?" Cody asked.
Trent and Gwen freeze to hear the eerie sound as well and they notice a strange looking insect flying around them. The insect dives towards Cody, but the geek swatted it hard enough for the bug to fall to the ground. The geek then turned towards the zombie direction with the other two as the mindless undead approach the three.
"Brace yourselves…" Gwen instructed as all three ready their guns.
Cody nervously stepped backwards and unknowingly crushes the fallen insect underneath his shoe.
"BLEAAAAAAH!" The zombies all scream with dread as they start to shake rampantly as if they were all having a seizure. Trent, Gwen, and Cody's eyes all widen to see the reaction as the zombies continue to stroke out. Eventually, all of the zombie's heads utterly explode in a gory fashion. To add even more intrigue, worms shoot out of the created openings and they instantly die afterwards.
"Unreal…" was all Trent could say.
Cody lifts his heel up to see the remains of the crushed insect, "Could it be from this?"
Gwen and Trent noticed the crushed bug and wondered if that had an effect on the zombies.
"Maybe we should try and catch one of those bugs if we run into them again" Gwen suggested.
"Perhaps Stacey knows more about this, I think we should ask her when we get back from the vaults" Trent suggested as well.
After reaching the Royal Flush Plaza, the three parted ways.
"Come back alive you two" Trent ordered.
"You too" Gwen responded while leaving the boys.
**Gwen**
Gwen was the first to reach her destination. As soon as she walked into the Americana Casino from the right of the plaza, she heard gunfire from across said gaming establishment. Following the sound of the fired rounds, Gwen sees none other than the same mercenaries in orange jumpsuits, gasmasks, hardhats, and assault rifles that Trent fought in the Underground Tunnels. Shooting down any and all zombies that would interfere with their business, they didn't seem keen on letting anything moving from getting in their way. The goth knew they'd be trouble, and as if on cue, they see her approach them and proceed to shoot at the goth.
Taking cover from behind a row of slot machines, the goth readies her own assault rifle to return fire. She knew very well these thugs are responsible for framing her ex for this outbreak and she had no intention of letting them get away with it.
One of the mercenaries was signaled to pursue the goth, not knowing she was armed as well. Biding her time, she let the lackey approach her. Just as he turned the slot machine corner, she blind sights the merc with a barrage of shells, taking him out in an instant. Compared to indirectly killing Sadie, a merciless gunman can be taken out with little regret.
"That bitch!" Another merc curses, "Take her out!"
**Cody**
After finally making his way down the other side of the Royal Flush Plaza with Trent, Cody parts with him as he enters the Slot Ranch Casino while Trent heads out the door to Park on route to the Yucatan Casino. The geek, meanwhile, enters the former and there he sees the same type of lackeys Gwen is currently dealing with.
The mercenaries here in the Texas themed casino were just as hostile to the living and they fired at the geek on sight. Cody did the exact same thing as Gwen and took cover by running down the slot machine aisles, eluding the armed thugs.
**Trent**
After making his way back up the Silver Strip outside, Trent entered the Mayan themed Yucatan Casino. Fortunately for the musician, the mercenaries here were preoccupied by the zombie horde that mobbed the entrance to the casino vaults. The armed thugs shot their assault rifles at each oncoming zombie. The musician had to be sneaky to subtly get close to the lackeys.
**Gwen**
Back in the Americana Casino, the goth and the mercenaries exchange gunfire while at the same time, fending off the zombie interceptors. After running out of ammo with her current gun, she commandeered the one from the previously dispatched merc and continues to fire at the other mercenaries.
Because of the lack of cover the thugs had, Gwen eventually prevailed and shot down the last one. She then made off into the vault room.
**Cody**
Cody got more creative in his strategy with dealing with the mercenaries in the Slot Ranch Casino. While the thugs search the casino for the scrawny kid, he hid in the casino gift shop.
"I gotta do something, I never used a gun before…" the geek silently whispered to himself.
Suddenly, he heard something move from behind him.
"Who's there?" Cody asked nervously.
As the figure continued to move around, the geek, keeping quiet, crept up towards the figure. Just as he got a visible look at the stranger, said entity smiles right back at him.
"Wanna be friends?"
Cody jumped back with fear until he realized that the speaker was just a giant, stuffed, and mechanical teddy bear the size of the geek himself. The mechanical teddy did a dancing motion with a big smile on its face.
"I love you!" the robot bear announced.
The geek ignored the toy and looked back to see the mercenaries still looking for him. He then noticed yet another maintenance door in this casino. His vintage ingenuity kicked in as he inspected his gun and then turned to the mechanical bear.
"Do you wanna play with me?" The mechanical bear continued.
The geek grinned, "Yes I do"
**Trent**
"Dammit, these zombies don't take breaks, do they?" one of the mercenaries tells another as the rampaging horde continues their assault.
"Hey assholes!" Trent angrily said as the hired lackeys turn back behind of them just before getting barraged in gunfire.
The musician turned towards the Yucatan vault entrance and went in.
"Take him down!" Another squad all say as they fire at the musician.
Trent bolted to take cover behind a counter and returns fire. There were no zombies to create a diversion in the vault room so Trent was on his own. As the musician was taking cover he sees a green object landing next to him. Trent squinted to get a good look at it until…
"SHIT!"
Following a large explosion from the grenade, Trent is thrown across the room and collides into the wall.
"Looks like that took care of that nuisance," one of the mercenaries said as they overlooked the musician's motionless body.
"What should we do with what's left? Throw it to the zombies?"
"Well TK, should be relieved that this guy is finally out of the way"
"PYSCHE!" Trent ends his feigned death and he fires his assault rifle to take out the remaining thugs with their guard down.
Relieved that the chaos was finally over, the musician noticed a running piece of machinery in the room. Stepping up closer to it, he realized that it was a large mechanical drill drilling its way into the money safe as means to get its loot.
"You're not getting away with the prize, TK," Trent sternly said as he took a nearby crowbar and smashed the drilling contraption into a scrap heap.
**Gwen**
The goth's fight in the Americana Casino Vault continued on as she exchanged gunfire with the mercenaries. Thankfully, some good came from Gwen's time on Total Drama as she athletically maneuvered her way past the line of fire and striking down the thugs with the blunt end of her firearm. As she lunged her weapon at the last thug, said final mercenary caught it.
"Nice try, missy!" He callously stated before slamming Gwen against the wall.
As Gwen tried to recover from the blow to the head, she realized that the merc had a gun ready to shoot her down for good.
Just before he could pull the trigger, from out of nowhere, a zombie snuck up from behind and tackles the mercenary. Gwen cringed to see the corpse rip into the man's jugular and devour the entrails that came out of it. Not taking risks, Gwen shoots down the zombie and diverts her attention to the mechanized drill in this casino vault. Not letting it finish the job in breaking the safe, the goth fires all her rounds to destroy the device.
"That takes care of that" Gwen stated before heading back to the Royal Flush Plaza.
**Cody**
The mercenaries in the Slot Ranch Casino Vault noticed a silence from outside where one of their squads were guarding while the inner ones were drilling through the safe. Suddenly they see a short figure peaking inside the vault room. Curious, they slowly approach said figure while readying their assault rifles. As they got closer, they finally see the mechanical teddy bear with some modifications to it. One of which is an assault rifle duct taped to the bear's paw and pointing back at the thugs. It also wore a comically placed red bandana around its head. Attached to the Freedom Bear was a long thread which was pulled to turn on the bear.
"I love you!" The bear said as it starts shooting its own barrage of gunfire as its dancing motions scattered the gunfire, dispatching the hired lackeys.
The unique construct made quick work of the mercenaries and Cody then deactivated it and approached the drill that was operating in this casino vault. The geek reactivated the bear to finish the rest of its rounds to destroy this third driller.
"Glad that's over," Cody said confidently, "I guess I'll meet Gwen and Trent back at the safehouse"
**Trent**
The musician stepped out of the Yucatan vault to return to the safehouse as well. However, his transceiver went off again.
"Stacey?"
"Trent," The leader of CURE informs, "There's one more break-in going on at the Atlantica Casino vault!"
"Atlantica?"
"It's the fourth casino of Fortune City, it's just across the park from the Royal Flush Plaza, but the vault is just outside back down the Silver Strip"
"I'll be right there," Trent said before hanging up.
The musician grabbed as many assault rifles as he can carry before heading towards his next destination.
**Cody and Gwen**
After shooting their way back towards the bunker, the geek and the goth meet back up in front of the dark corridor leading to the safehouse.
"Gwen, glad you made it out okay!" Cody happily stated.
"Me too, did you see Trent yet?" the goth asked.
"Not yet, maybe he already made it inside"
"If only we had a transceiver as well" Gwen lamented.
**Trent**
"Come on, hurry up!" One of the mercs ordered as they guarded an armored van being loaded with cash from the Atlantica Casino vaults.
Trent hid behind the park fountain, watching the events take place. Many of the thugs were concentrating at keeping the zombies back as they continue to load up their loot.
Dual wielding two assault rifles in the most badass way possible, Trent revealed himself and opened fire on the mercenaries. The lackeys were too slow to respond as the musician reigns down a barrage of bullets taking out the thugs. After finishing the last group of mercenaries, Trent sets his sights on the armored van.
"Not on my watch," Trent sternly stated as he begins firing every bullet he had left at the reinforced vehicle.
It took every gun he had on him before the armored van began to be set ablaze. The musician then ran behind the fountain again as the flaming vehicle intensified before finally exploding in a loud…
**BOOOOOOOOOM!**
Hearing the explosion occur, none other than Tyrone King himself stepped out, overlooking the scene above one of the Silver Strip's building rooftops, as well as another mercenary bodyguard. Trying to get a signal from his other break-ins, TK gets more and more frustrated.
"DAMMIT!" the Terror is Reality host cursed, "What do I pay you people for?"
TK then proceeded to walk away while calling on another line with his phone.
"We're staying a bit longer than planned, boys," He stated before leaving the scene.
Meanwhile at the ground level of the strip, Rebecca entered the scene and videotaped the destroyed armored van. Eager for the big story, the reporter stepped closer to the busted vehicle for a better shot. Recording the dead mercenaries as well, the scoop made her more enthusiastic than ever.
"Fan-tastic!" Rebecca eagerly shouted out loud.
Her enjoyment was cut short when the van explodes a second time. Trent jumped out of nowhere and pulls the reporter away from the blast. The two are thrown back to the stony ground after the explosion.
"You got a real knack for showing up at the right time, don't you?" Trent asked rhetorically, "Have you covered wars or something?"
"Not until now," Rebecca stated while getting back up and helping up Trent as well, "Everybody has a first time, Trent"
"So, you believe me now? They're robbing the damn city," Trent explained, "That's why they started this. For money. You sure got your story now"
"Listen, I've got a meeting with my source tonight. I think maybe it's time you met," Rebecca informed.
"I thought a professional journalist never gave up a source" the musician reminded.
"I think this is kind of a special case, Trent" the reporter rebutted, "I'll meet you at eleven 'o'clock, in the bar at the Yucatan" Rebecca said as she proceeded to walk away.
"Okay" Trent said, watching her leave.
The musician then decided to return to the safehouse until then.
Running towards the entrance to the Royal Flush Plaza again, he notices some figures in a nearby store. Now that he had the time to look around again, Trent enters the store in the hopes of finding more survivors.
"Anyone in here?" the musician called out.
One figure responds, "Yeah, we're in here! Got something of value there, hippie?"
"Not these guys again…" Trent muttered, much to his discontent, he had run into more looters like the ones from the pharmacy. Fortunately, however, these guys were less of a threat than the mercenaries.
"Got any money?" Another looter came forward in the traditional hoodie and red bandana outfit that patents the looters in Fortune City.
Trent readied his weapon, preparing for a fight.
"Hold on, guys," a third hooded and bandanaed looter stepped forward, "I know this one"
The musician's eyes widen to see this looter remove his cloaked features to reveal an all too familiar face.
"DUNCAN?"
Time Before Military Arrives: 44:59:59