Apocalypse: Dawn of the Dead:
Post-Edit Revision: There was a contest involved with the original upload of this chapter way back for people to guess what video game character was going to cameo in chapter 15. Don't bother trying to guess, since the story is over.
Or try to guess, and give me a good laugh. I still get reviews and I'd love some funny suggestions.
Shoutout to ThomasAndrewsTitanicfan1337, mybrosdrivemecrazy,SoxxyMoxxyFanfics, fanficfan32, OokamiAeon, and you so much for your reviews, and your guesses. Your reviews make my power grow. Muahahahaha…
And without further ado, because I am a long winded person and can't seem to shut the heck up, enjoy!
Chapter 11: Heavy Metal
"The real man smiles in trouble, gathers strength from distress, and grows brave by reflection."-Thomas Paine.
Group 935 Washington DC Headquarters:
Porter sighed as he walked through the passageway, clutching his chest as a dull pull throbbed within it. Despite healing his wounds, they still pained him and would continue to do so for quite some time. He looked to his right and saw Illuzio pacing in the study, looking worried. Porter frowned and walked into the room, catching the jester's attention.
"I see they did quite a number on you." Illuzio said with a small smile.
"Yes. Samantha may be more of a threat than first predicted. In her current form, she's still weak though." Porter muttered as he sank into a nearby chair, sighing in relief.
"And if she should find a new body?" Illuzio asked Porter, who shook his head.
"Not entirely impossible, though her finding a suitable host would be a long shot, Illuzio. You know this."
"I do. I just worry that Samantha may be the crux to any problems we have in the future…" Illuzio murmured, crossing his arms.
"I agree…" Porter replied, and the two lapsed into a silence.
"How is Subject 2901 progressing in her experiments?" Illuzio asked Porter, who smiled.
"Quite well. Richtofen has ensured that she progresses much quicker than we did, after our treatments. As long as she can keep herself under control, she will become the second strongest member of Group 935." Porter said to Illuzio, who nodded.
"I wouldn't say that. The Dark One and Sieger would probably be able to best her, if they were pushed." Illuzio said offhandedly, causing Porter's face to darken.
"So, 'The Dark One' been talking again, has he?" Porter said to Illuzio, who nodded.
"He wants to get out. He's…hungry. Starving…Understandable, of course, but he's far too dangerous. We may never be able to get him under control again if we released him from the bonds I placed him under." Illuzio said in a low voice.
"Yes…He makes me uncomfortable. I know he's been speaking to Master Richtofen as well, whispering things in his mind. He's dangerous, and needs to be killed for good." Porter said to Illuzio, who shook his head.
"I can do nothing further. Master Richtofen believes that there is a way to restore his mind, and because of this we can't touch him. I don't even know if I can kill him…He's something different now. Not human…Something more. Something dark…" Illuzio murmured with a shudder.
"Hmm…What are the five kids doing?" Porter asked Illuzio, who smiled after a moment.
"They aren't kids, Henry. They're all in their 30's, but I see your point. Saem, Oswald, Kraken, Johnson, and Steiner are working on the preparations in New York." Illuzio replied with a small laugh.
"Ah. Alright…Hmm, I think I'm going to lie down for a bit. Keep me posted, would you?" Porter asked as he got to his feet, rolling his shoulders with a groan. Illuzio, nodded, and the scientist trudged off. Illuzio then shuddered as a presence entered his mind, causing him to shiver.
"You sneaky little bastard you…If I didn't love what you're doing and wasn't bound like this, I'd be tempted to help you in your endeavor." A deep, cold, and dark voice growled to Illuzio
"What are earth are you speaking of, you-"
"Cut the shit…I'm not stupid. You're playing them, because you found out the truth…Didn't you?" the cold voice laughed, causing Illuzio to clench his fists.
"How would you feel…If you knew your entire life was a lie!?" Illuzio whispered at the voice, who began to laugh. Illuzio then felt something in the voice change, before a new voice spoke to him.
"Lie? Hardly. We just didn't tell you the truth, Johnathan." A much lighter, yet no less menacing, voice said to Illuzio.
"If you truly know…Then why keep my secret?" Illuzio spoke to the voice telepathically.
"Because…we remember Group 935's loss. It still hurts…It hurts so much…So, we will wait and we will watch. We will not divulge your secret, Johnathan," the voice said before its presence vanished. Illuzio cast a calming spell on himself, allowing his façade to return.
"Even if he knows…No. I will not be stopped. I won't let him get in my way…Besides, no one would ever believe him. Yes…I'm fine." Illuzio said in a reassuring tone, a small smile on his face before he vanished in a flash of green light.
Group 935 Tallahassee HQ:
"We're going to have to leave here soon…" Samantha said in a quiet voice.
"Just give us a few minutes Samantha, we…" Jax stopped himself, simply sighing bitterly.
"I understand," the ghost said gently.
Judith wrapped an arm around Jess's shoulder, trying to hold back her own tears. Nicholas, Andrew, Liam, Nick, and Jax were looking at the flaming wreckage, wondering if there was any chance of making this right. They knew John had done what he did to give them a chance to survive. But at what cost…
"I…am sorry. All of you. He was a good person, and though I didn't know him for very long, he was a good friend," Samantha said softly, floating behind the group uncertainly.
"We'll make that bastard pay!" Andrew growled angrily, gripping Reaper so hard that it hurt his hands.
"Yeah, come on Judith," Jess said wiping her eyes.
Liam walked over to Judith and gave her a comforting hug, which she returned. Nicholas walked to the rubble and spotted a charred Ray Gun and a destroyed Winter's Fury. Nicholas grabbed the two destroyed weapons and arranged them on top of a piece of rubble, a makeshift memorial to his friend's sacrifice. Jess went to the truck and found John's Marching Band uniform. She laid it next to the memorial and said "Bye John."
Each of the teens stepped forward to say their own little goodbye, even Samantha. Nicholas stepped away from the pile, feeling that bitterness seep into him yet again. Yet another funeral he had to watch at the expense of someone who was important to him.
"Anyone else want to say anything?" Nicholas asked the grieving teens.
Joe stepped forward, almost hesitatingly, and said in a low voice, "Even though I put you through a lot of crap, I still considered you one of my best friends. I'm sorry I wasn't a nicer guy to you, buddy."
The teens sat there for another few minutes, remembering their friend and all they had done together. Then, as the zombies came closer, they hopped in the truck and reluctantly drove away, looking back at the wreckage that had claimed their friend.
"He's still alive…" Samantha murmured to the teens through Jax.
"Who?" Joe asked in a quiet voice.
"Richtofen…He escaped moments before the explosion…I'm sorry guys-" Samantha began to say before Nicholas cut her off.
"Sam…Stop apologizing. John knew what he was doing. He bought us time so we could get out OK. Even if we didn't get Richtofen, we at least stopped his plans in Florida. We can figure out where to go after a bit, OK?" Nicholas said to Samantha, who remained quiet.
The drive was quiet, at least until the group managed to find a radio station that was still playing music. The mood slowly changed into a more positive one-
At least until they met traffic.
"OK, this is getting ridiculous," Nicholas said in an annoyed tone as the minutes went by in ever growing amounts.
"Are we there yet?" Nick asked Nicholas.
"That's the 78th time you've asked that!" Judith replied angrily, being restrained by Liam to avoid choking Nick out.
"Well, I'm just wondering," Nick replied, crossing his arms.
"No. We are not there yet," Jess said calmly.
"Are we there yet?" Nick asked again not even a minute later.
"No" Andrew replied.
Ten Minutes Later:
"…So…are we there yet?" Nick asked.
"No." Samantha said through Jax.
"…Are we there yet now?" Nick asked again.
"We're dead stopped in the middle of traffic! What the hell do you think?" Nicholas asked Nick, who starred at him with a deadpanned expression.
"So is that a yes…no…maybe…you've got to give me a straight answer," Nick said in an annoyed tone.
"THAT'S IT!" Joe said reaching into the front seat and pressing a button on the front dashboard.
Suddenly a blue pulse shot from all around the Truck, blasting cars into each other and causing thousands of dollars in vehicle damage, making people to scream in horror as their vehicles crumpled and smashed against each other.
"What in the name of Avenged Sevenfold was that?!" Nicholas yelled at Joe, who grinned evilly.
"Portable Magnetic Pulse Generator thingy. I developed it while I was at the Air Force Base. Its waterproof, energy efficient and everything in between. Press the button, and it blasts cars away from us It's also a very delicate prototype that I want to study a bit more before using again. Or rather that's what I would say if it wasn't so awesome just now," Joe explained with a snicker.
Jess reached forward and pressed the button, blasting the cars again.
"Hehehe, it's fun!" Jess said with a giggle.
"I knew no good would come from you city folk and your flying machines!" an old man yelled from atop his car.
"We're not even flying!" Jax yelled at the old man.
"No, but they are!" Joe yelled pressing the button again and again and not letting up, repeatedly blasting the cars until they were rolled over on the side of the road.
"You're a goddamn psycho, Joe!" Andrew said with a bit of worry.
"Yeah, you're going to hurt someone." Judith added after a moment. Joe simply shrugged and hit the button one more time, clearing the way completely.
"Liam, hit it!" Nicholas yelled to the teen, who nodded.
Liam shot through the traffic, dodging through the one or two strangling cars on the road. Finally the group barreled through the makeshift military blockade, which was literally a wooden fence with some barbed wire around it, as the armed military personal threw themselves out of the way.
"By order of the Military, we ask that you turn around-HOLY SHIT GET OUT OF THE WAY TIM!" the officer yelled as he jumped out of the way. The truck smashed into the blockade, reducing it to rubble as it shot by the stunned officers. Joe and Nicholas fist-bumped as Liam flipped off the military from his window.
"And now we're wanted by the Military…nice going Joe," Judith said with a annoyed sigh, though she was smiling.
"Hey, at least we got past the crappy barricade!" Andrew said with a grin.
"By the way, in loving memory of John, I lost the game," Joe said as he leaned back in his seat, grinning.
"DAMN IT JOE!" Nicholas yelled, startling Liam.
Liam suddenly swerved and went off of the road, sending everyone crashing against the doors. The truck shot into the nearby forest, nearly slamming into several trees. Suddenly the trees cleared, and the group had their first clear view of Georgia…
Unfortunately, it was from the amazing vantage point of a cliff.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" Joe yelled in horror.
"GUYS! BAIL!" Nicholas yelled as the truck barreled off of the cliff.
Jax pulled out his Thundergun and blew off the side door and jumped out of the truck. The others followed suit and were able to get out right before the truck slammed into a pool of water.
Swamp Water to be exact.
"This…is…so freaking gross," Judith shuddered as she tried to get out of the muck, now drenched from head to toe in mud.
"Well, not only do we all need a shower, we need a new ride." Andrew pointed pointing to the truck, whose engine burst into flames.
"Typical. We can't go somewhere without something blowing up" Liam sighed as he began walking through the much.
"Oh no!" Joe yelled suddenly, looking through his bag frantically.
"Oh thank god I put it in plastic bags, it's safe," Joe let out a sigh of relief
"What's safe? Your tampons?" Liam smirked as tried to get out of the swamp muck.
"Go to hell Liam!" Joe snapped in reply.
"Already there numbnuts," Liam replied offhandedly.
"Hehe…numbnuts" Jess said as she rose out of the muck, grinning.
"Well, this sucks," Nicholas said as he tried to get out of the swamp water, trudging through the muck.
"OH REALLY! YOU DON'T SAY!" Joe said with an incredible amount of sarcasm.
"Sorry, I was stunned for a few seconds. It's not every day you jump out of a falling truck into a random swamp," Nicholas said shaking his head as he tried to get out of the swamp.
"Hey guys, look! I made a friend in the swamp!" Jess said cheerfully, now on dry land somehow and smiling happily.
"What?" Nicholas said turning around.
Jess was sitting on a log, holding a two foot long dark brown snake. It was curled contently around her shoulder and Jess was grinning happily.
"…Jess?" Liam said in a low voice.
"Yeah huh?"
"There's a snake on your shoulder." Liam pointed out calmly, unsure of what to make of what he was seeing.
"Yes, there is!" Jess replied, beaming.
"Any…particular reason?" Nick asked after a moment.
"He's my new friend. He told me there's a car dealership nearby where we can get a new ride." Jess said after a moment as she pet her snake.
"How would a snake know that?" Joe asked skeptically.
"Because his friend got run over by some fat chick test driving a car…he doesn't like talking about it," Jess said shaking her head sadly.
"Oh, all right. I hope that place has a shower. And a washer and a drier…damn, we should probably stop by a Wal-Mart or something too." Judith said finally getting out of the swamp.
"What kind of car dealership has a shower and drier?" Andrew asked Judith.
"That…is a very good point actually." Judith replied, sighing deeply.
"Wait, hold on a second. Jess, how did you talk to the snake?" Nicholas asked Jess.
"Why does it matter?" Jess asked in reply.
"Are you a Parseltongue or something? Like in Harry Potter?" Nicholas asked Jess.
"Umm…I don't know what you're talking about?" Jess said nervously, looking away.
"No, I mean, are Harry Potter or something? Are you in Slytherin?" Nicholas asked Jess, smiling a bit now.
"God, you're such a nerd." Joe said as he finally got out of the swamp water, flicking water at Liam, who scowled at him.
Nicholas turned around and said, "Liam. Push Joe into the swamp."
"With pleasure," Liam said with a grin, Russian Leg-Sweeping Joe back into the muck.
"You douche!" Joe yelled out, wiping swamp water out of his eyes.
"Cry me a river biatch. Well, cry me a swamp anyway" Liam amended as he crossed his arms, earning a slap in the back of the head from Judith.
"Anyway it's a zombie apocalypse. Nothing here makes sense. It's as though we're in a bad fanfic," Jess said as the snake slithered off of her shoulder.
"Blasphemy!" Nicholas yelled suddenly.
"…what?" Jess asked after a moment.
"I…I mean uh, let's head to that Target over there, and get some new clothes and wash off. Then we can getting new ride from that car dealership," Nicholas said to the teens, who nodded.
The group headed to the nearby Target, which was, of course ravaged by zombies. The group dashed into the store and killed every zombie inside, in a way too epic to be written down, and not because the author is lazy…OK, maybe a little.
About an hour later, the group emerged from the Target with their now washed and dried clothes, due to there being a Laundromat next door to the store, and with fresh supplies. Everyone more or less had gotten exact replicas of the outfits they had before, except for Jess, who changed her clothes to a grey sweater, black cargo pants and a blue and pink leather jacket.
"I'm a ninja in disguise now," Jess said with a grin.
"Ah, Twinkies." Liam said with a sigh after devouring said snack treat.
"…not saying a word." Judith sighed.
"You just did," Joe pointed out.
"Shut it Joe," Judith said to the tall teen, who stuck his tongue out at Judith.
"All right, let's head over to the car dealership," Nicholas said pulling out his Raid.
The group slowly made their way over to the car dealership. And after several minutes of walking, or more specifically, everyone walking and Joe carrying Nick, who claimed he twisted his ankle, they arrived at the dealership. It was a large facility with several large glass windows in the main building. There was a monster truck out front, for display purposes, and Jess let out a sob and said, "I miss him."
"Who, John?" Joe said after a moment.
"No…well, yeah, I miss him. But I meant my truck! I killed dozens of zombies with that thing!" Jess cried, falling to her knees.
"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll find you another ridiculous vehicle to destroy stuff with," Joe said airily.
"You're just trying to make me feel better," Jess pouted.
"Did it work?" Joe asked.
"Not really."
"Worth a try." Joe shrugged, smirking slightly as he dropped Nick onto the ground, earning a yelp from the teen. The group found some of the employees walking around, as zombies. Jax made quick work of them with his Dual-Wield Ray Guns, reducing the mini-horde to a pile of burning limbs. The group walked inside of the shop to see that some of the employees had at least barricaded the other doorways, meaning the zombies could only come in through the front for the moment.
"OK, what do you guys want to do?" Jax asked his friends.
"I say we rest. The sun's coming up, and I'm exhausted beyond reason," Joe said pointing at the bags under his eyes for emphasis.
"Yeah, how about we keep watch in shifts-"Nicholas began to say.
"I will keep watch. You all rest," Samantha said to the teens.
"You sure? Wait, do ghosts need to sleep?" Nicholas asked Sam curiously.
"No…" Samantha said giving him an annoyed look.
"Sorry, just wondering Sam," Nicholas said with a grin.
"It's fine. You all rest up. It's been a long day," Samantha said floating outside after a moment.
"OK, how do you all want to do this?" Joe asked his friends.
"Well, I say since we're at a car dealership, we find the coolest cars and sleep in them," Liam said to the group.
"Works for me," Nicholas said walking towards the door.
"Dibs on that one," Nicholas said, pointing to 2013 silver Camaro with a jagged black and white stripe going along the side. It gleamed in the morning light, as if it were made just for him.
"Nice one." Liam said with an approving nod.
"SHOTGUN!" Joe yelled out, grinning.
"Get your own, man," Nicholas said as he walked over to the car.
"The shotgun seat is reserved as a position of respect. And for people who carry shotguns. See? Quid pro quo." Joe said aiming his SPAZ-24 at Nicholas, who pulled out his Raid and aimed it at Joe in response.
"Yes, that is true, Sarge, but the thing is…it's a position of respect, of which you have none," Nicholas said with a smile.
"Burned!" Liam coughed.
"Pwned!" Jax coughed at the same time.
"Oh all of you can just go straight to hell," Joe grumbled as Nicholas got into the Camaro and closed the door. Suddenly the car started up and Nicholas began to back up. The headlight shone in everyone's eyes, and Joe said, "Stop rubbing it in!"
BEEEEEEP!
Nicholas blared the horn at Joe, who yelled out and fell onto his back. The group laughed at Joe, who got to his feet and said, "I'm going to get my own car!"
"You do that, Joe," Liam snickered.
Each of them got their own vehicle, of varying degrees of awesomeness. Andrew got into an army-style jeep that looked more like a tank than a jeep. Judith and Liam shared a 2013 White Ford Mustang Convertible. Nick, going the practical route, got inside of a State-of-the-art and ridiculously massive Luxury RV, complete with stove, bath, and running water.
Nick was surprised at how nice the inside of the RV was. It had two small bedrooms, which had two bunk-beds in each room. There was a small couch inside, several cupboards, a mini-fridge and an oven. The front had two plush leather seats. Nick made a mental note that he needed to have the others help him add more furniture and beds to the RV, because this would be good for a replacement vehicle for the truck they had lost.
"Hey Joe, could you use some of that tech equipment you have and trick out my ride?" Nick asked Joe while he began to make pancakes in the RV.
"Not right now, maybe later." Joe said as he sat down in his Bumblebee-style Camaro, just like in the Transformers movies.
Jess, who was annoyed that Nicholas and Joe had gotten the cooler-looking Camaro's, settled into a Mustang that was dark blue but had red flames along the side. She began messing with the radio once she got settled in.
Jax had a gold sports car of some sort and was just quietly relaxing in the seat. Samantha floated nearby, keeping watch as the sun began to rise. Samantha doubted the zombies would attack now that the sun was out and Richtofen would be working on his plan, but she wasn't going to take any chances. The crew rested for about 10 hours; catching up on come much needed sleep.
She knew that somehow, someway, he had survived it. She still some had some manner of connection to the MPD and to Richtofen, after swapping souls with him. She felt a burning stab of hate towards him, knowing that because of him John had died. She sighed bitterly, wondering how much more they had to lose before they could make things right…
Nicholas woke up and chowed down on some chips that he got from Target. He got out of the car and walked around the dealership, thinking about the whole situation they were in.
Richtofen was still out there.
John was dead.
And their path of blood and death wouldn't be ending anytime soon.
"So what are we going to do now?" Nicholas asked himself with a sigh.
"Survive."
Nicholas turned around and saw Joe looking at him, through his Camaro's open window. Nicholas walked over to the Camaro and got in the shotgun seat.
"Dude, I just don't know what to do right now…" Nicholas said in a defeated tone, running a hand through his hair.
"What do you mean?" Joe asked.
"Like…should we just keep going? It's just going to be more of the same Joe. Death, blood, danger. Never knowing when the carnage will ever end. And after losing John…well, I'm not sure I could stand losing anyone else…God it was bad enough when…" Nicholas trailed off.
"You OK man? You've been…off, lately." Joe asked Nicholas, who shrugged.
"No…I'm not alright. How much more can a guy lose before he just…breaks? Richtofen…How he acted…Its confusing Joe…" Nicholas said in a low voice.
"Well, we're the only ones who can stop Richtofen now Nicholas. We've got to keep fighting," Joe said.
"I guess so, but still. I'm…" Nicholas trailed off.
"Scared?" Joe prompted.
"Worried. I'm worried that even after all of this, we'll fail. We'll let everyone down. That all of this might be for nothing. Are we just prolonging the inevitable? Let's face it, we've gotten this far from sheer luck and having powerful weapons. Do we really have a chance?" Nicholas said to Joe, exhaustion noticeable in his voice.
"I don't know. We'll just have to do the best we can man, and that'll have to do," Joe said with a shrug.
"Maybe." Nicholas said opening the door and getting out of the car. Joe sighed and rolled up the window and began blaring heavy metal as Nicholas walked away, in deep thought.
The sun began to descend overhead, and group began to make preparations for the inevitable waves of the undead that would surely be coming their way. Joe had Jax, Liam, and Andrew go get more supplies from Target to help him modify their vehicles, and to add new stuff to Nick's RV. Joe began making adjustments to some of the cars, adding weapons to them and adding…special features.
"OK, so what does this button do?" Liam asked Joe, pointing to a red button on the steering wheel.
"Try it and find out." Joe said with a sly grin.
"Wait a minute…this isn't some form of idiotic prank, is it?" Liam asked suspiciously.
"No, I didn't have time to install a trap or anything," Joe replied with a sigh.
"Oh, OK then," Liam said pressing the button.
Suddenly the seat moved forward and slammed Liam's skull into the steering wheel five times. Liam fell backwards into the seat, dazed and having a content smile on his face. Judith stormed up from behind Joe, who was laughing his ass off, and promptly kicked him in the shin.
"Ow! What was that for?!" Joe demanded as he hopped around in pain.
"Idiot." Judith muttered as she tried to wake Liam up.
"Waffles…remember everyone, use the waffles," Liam laughed goofily.
Joe walked away, snickering uncontrollably. He strolled over to Nick's RV, which was the most tricked out. He put the Magnetic Pulse Generator on the front of the RV and had tested it out to make sure it still worked, to his delight it still did. Joe took a few steps back and admired his handwork. Nick's RV was now a motorized death machine, complete with fully-automated turrets on the top of the RV.
"I could add more if I had the time, but I did my best. The inside should be tricked out enough to where all of us could stay in there comfortably. Oh by the way, if you want to see something awesome, try pressing the green button," Joe said.
Nick looked at the green button on the steering wheel. Nick's hand slowly reached towards it and he pressed the button. Joe smiled as Nick's seat suddenly moved forward and slammed his head into the steering wheel repeatedly.
"I love being me," Joe said with a smile as Nick collapsed onto his chair, grinning happily. About twenty minutes later, and after getting everyone with that prank, Joe settled cheerfully into his Camaro, ready for the undead hordes. He then pressed a button on his dashboard to open the sunroof, and found his face being smashed into the steering wheel, over and over again.
"Curse my technological badassedness…" Joe groaned as he collapsed in his seat.
About fifteen minutes later, the group started a meeting, because the zombies were starting to come at them and they needed to stop messing around.
"OK, here's the plan guys, so listen closely," Nicholas said urgently.
"We're all ears," Liam replied as he let Judith lean on him.
"The plan is…survive until we get a better plan!" Nicholas said with a small smile.
"Seriously?" Joe asked, sounding somewhat surprised and annoyed.
"Yep," Nicholas said pulling his Raid with a chuckle.
"Solid plan. I approve." Andrew remarked with a grin as he twirled Reaper behind him.
"Let me make sure you all start out right," Samantha said, her body glowing bright green.
Suddenly a glowing ammo clip appeared in front of Jess, who walked through it.
"MAX AMMO!" Samantha screamed into the night.
"Seriously?" Joe deadpanned.
"Shut up! It's my thing." Samantha pouted as she crossed her arms.
"Alright guys and gals. Get ready!" Nicholas said as he walked forward to meet the approaching horde, snarling and horrible monstrosities that resembled the stuff of nightmares.
A Screecher zombie dashed forward and Nicholas fired his Pack-a-Punched shotgun at the zombie, scoring a headshot and blowing most of the creature's face off. The Screecher stumbled backwards for a moment before falling to the ground with a thud.
"Shotguns…so awesome…" Nicholas said letting out a happy sigh.
Judith kneeled and took aim with her L115 Isolator, and began sniping the heads off of zombies. Liam stood nearby, making sure none of the zombies came remotely close to her. The others ran off to confront the hordes, firing nonstop for several minutes.
Then the group began to get pushed back.
"Guys, retreat!" Nicholas yelled as he fired again and again and again at the approaching horde.
"I've got a plan!" Andrew said running away from the group.
"Run away? Some plan!" Jess yelled at Andrew.
"Coward!" Nick yelled.
"COWARD THIS!" Andrew yelled as he got into his jeep and revved it up, the headlights surprising the zombies for a moment. Andrew's jeep then shot towards the groups of zombies and smashed through them, leaving a considerable dent in the zombie horde.
"YEAH! TAKE THAT!" Andrew yelled blaring his horn as he road-killed about forty zombies with his jeep as he drove back and forth through the parking lot.
"Awww…I want to run over zombies too!" Jess pouted, taking a few shots at an approaching Nazi zombie.
"Don't worry, this will last about another minute, remember, FlygonNick has to make things interesting," Nick said with a small smirk.
BAM!
"What did I say back at the warehouse Nick?" Nicholas asked Nick, who was twitching on the ground.
"Not…to break the fourth…wall?" Nick groaned as he clutched the side of his head.
"Yes. And if you do it again, you're getting written out of the story," Nicholas said with a grin.
"You don't have the guts!" Nick said angrily, getting to his feet.
"Try me."
"HEY! I'M KILLING ZOMBIES IN A JEEP OVER HERE! KIND OF BADASS!" Andrew yelled loudly, mowing down another row of Zombies.
"All right, maybe we should help him instead of just standing around doing nothing," Nicholas said after a moment.
"Damn straight!" Liam said jumping off of the car and dashing towards the horde, his AK74fu2 firing rapidly.
"Liam! Wait for me!" Judith yelled running over to Liam with her EPC-WIN aimed at the horde.
The couple looked at each other for a second and said, "Together!"
Liam and Judith began firing as one into the horde with their weapons, with Judith causing many zombies to lose their heads due to the still active effects of her Deadshot Daiquiri Perk. Liam grinned and ran towards the horde and dove at the ground, creating a wicked explosion that charred every single zombie within ten feet of him. Liam laughed maniacally and fired at the remainder of the horde, killing them in a few short bursts from his gun.
"What the hell was that?!" Nick asked, referring to the explosion.
"PhD Flopper. You can do it too, numbnuts," Liam said.
"Hehe…numbnuts!" Jess said pulling out her M72 LAW and firing a missile at a cluster of zombies, sending them back to hell in a wicked explosion.
Nicholas turned around and noticed that the zombies were now starting to come in from the wooded area. Nicholas got the others attention and pointed towards the new arrivals.
"What now?" Jax growled aiming his Dual-Wield Ray Guns.
"Joe, did you finish the modifications to our cars?" Nicholas asked the tall teen.
"Yeah, they're good to go," Joe replied, aiming his Commando at the new horde.
"Get to your cars, and give them hell!" Nicholas said to his friends, walking towards his Camaro. The group dispersed and ran to their individual vehicles. Nicholas quickly got into the seat of his Camaro and fired it up. Nicholas grinned as the engines revved loudly, enough to get the attention of every zombie on the property.
"COME ON YOU SKELETAL BASTARDS! BRING IT ON!" Nicholas screamed into the night as his car shot forward into the horde of zombies.
"Good Lord…he's lost it," Samantha said in amazement as Nicholas barreled through row after row of zombies.
"Yep," Jax said with a small smile, blasting a zombie's head off with a Ray Gun without missing a beat.
Nicholas suddenly veered the Camaro into a tight turn, making it go around and around in a circle. zombies began to surround the car by the dozens, and Nicholas laughed and pressed a red button with a skull on it, causing flames to erupt from the tail pipes. The flames incinerated the first few zombies, but as Nicholas began to travel in a circle, the flames incinerated everything within thirty feet of the circle. Nicholas continued to do this until the flamethrower ran out, after which, he straightened out the car and slowed down, observing the damage.
"Well…I torched about ten cars, but killed about 50 zombies with that stunt," Nicholas said hopping out of his Camaro and pulling out his Dual-Wield Cobra's.
A Screecher zombie came bursting out of a truck and lunged at Nicholas, who fired three shots with both of his Cobra's at the Screecher, who roared in pain as it swiped at his face. Nicholas ducked and placed the tip of his Cobra on the collarbone of the zombie and pulled the trigger. The bullet tore through the Screecher's throat and it fell to the ground, convulsing.
"Behind you, Nicholas!"Samantha screamed at Nicholas, who glanced behind him and saw a Screecher sprinting at him. The Screecher swiped at Nicholas's skull from behind, but the teen was already rolling forward to avoid the swipe. Nicholas got to his feet and aimed his Cobra's at the Screecher, who was snarling at him.
"Bring it!" Nicholas grinned as he reloaded both of his Cobra's by quickly dumping the shell casings on the ground and quickly stuffing fresh bullets inside of the pistol.
The Screecher growled and let out a howl into the night. It reared on its two legs and barreled towards Nicholas, who smiled and aimed his Cobra's at the zombie.
"Liam! Look out!" Judith yelled.
Liam ducked and Judith fired at two Nazi zombies coming at him from the side, scoring two excellent headshots.
"Nice one!" Liam grinned, giving Judith a thumbs up.
"Think that was good? Watch this!" Judith said aiming at a Screecher that was dashing towards the duo.
With four quick bursts of her EPC-WIN, Judith was able to down the fast moving zombie long before it got to Liam. Liam scoffed at the zombie and fired a shot at its skull, which exploded.
"Somewhat unnecessary, but it was still satisfying," Liam said with a smirk, aiming at another zombie and killing it with seven shots to the shoulder. Liam looked towards Judith and saw a Juggernaut zombie lumbering towards her. Liam dashed towards Judith and grabbed her hand and ran from the Juggernaut, which was now making its way toward the couple.
"Any plans?" Judith asked her boyfriend.
"Not really, though staying alive would be a good start!" Liam said as the Juggernaut hurled a tire at the couple, who jumped to the side to avoid it. The duo dashed through the cars in the lot, trying to escape from the Juggernaut. The Juggernaut began to pick up speed, and began to smash through cars in the parking lot at an even faster rate as it picked up a red Mazda and hurled it at the couple, who yelled at the car went flying towards them. Suddenly the car exploded and went flying back at the Juggernaut.
"RAAGH!" the Juggernaut yelled before being crushed by the car.
"You both OK?" Jess asked from about thirty yards away, her M72 LAW aimed over her shoulder.
"Yeah, we're OK. Thanks, by the way," Judith said gratefully.
"This is getting crazy. Hey, watch out!" Liam yelled, pointing to a swarm of Crawlers that were swarming around her car.
"Yikes!" Jess yelled as she leapt from the roof of her car to the roof of a Mustang.
"I'M SORRY MY BABY!" Jess cried as she fired a missile at her Camaro, destroying all of the crawler zombies at once, but sending her car flying and exploding fifty yards away.
"Ouch," Liam muttered with a wince as the car landed and screeched on the ground.
"I think I just died a little…" Jess sobbed as her car exploded again, this time from the gasoline leaking into the flames.
"Well, you better pull yourself together. We've got some more company," Liam said reloading his AK74fu2.
"OLY OLY OXIN FREE MOTHERFUCKERS!" Joe yelled as he fired his Commando from atop his car, grinning like a madman.
Crawler zombies were crawling alongside his car and he was shooting them off with some slight difficulty. Joe kicked one of the Crawlers in the head and opened the sunroof and jumped into his car. Joe fired upwards with his Calamity, killing a Nazi zombie that was trying to get in through the sunroof and was sent falling off of the car with a howl of pain.
"GAH! You got blood on the seat!" Joe yelled as he closed the sunroof.
Joe put the keys in the ignition and revved up the Camaro's engine and shot forward, running over a dozen or so of the undead. Joe realized that at the speed he was going at he wouldn't be going fast enough to make it through the entire horde.
"Time to activate turbo!" Joe grinned, pressing a red button on the dashboard. Suddenly the car accelerated to three times the speed it was originally going, meaning all zombies that were unlucky enough to be in front of the car were promptly flattened by the speeding car. Joe grinned as he leaned back in his seat and said, "It's good to be king."
"Agh, piss off already!" Andrew yelled from somewhere to the side of him, slashing at the undead as they began to overwhelm him. Joe swerved towards Andrew and plowed though the horde, giving him a chance to relax.
"Thanks for the save man!" Andrew said with a grin.
"No problem. Now, hop in," Joe replied.
"Roger that," Andrew said leaping onto the hood and in through the sunroof.
"It's called a door, you ass." Joe grunted as Andrew got a little bit of zombie on the seats.
"Just run over that Screecher, nerd," Andrew replied dryly, putting Reaper out the window.
"You may want to buckle in, then!" Joes said before he stomped down hard on the accelerator.
"Wait, what-?" Andrew said before letting out a yell as the car shot forward and slammed into the Screecher, killing it instantly. Andrew held onto Reaper as Joe drove around the compound, and whatever zombies weren't run over by Joe's Camaro were decapitated by Reaper.
"This is awesome!" Andrew yelled, and Joe grinned and made the Camaro go even faster.
Booooom!
"Nick!" Jax yelled angrily as his Mustang rolled over, now smoldering wreckage.
"My bad Jax, here's the Thundergun," Nick said sheepishly as he passed the Wonder Weapon back to Jax.
"Just…just shut up for a moment," Jax said, trying to calm himself down.
"Jax, it was just a car." Samantha said in an annoyed tone.
"Psh. Those cars of yours are nothing." C.N. said in Nick's mind.
"I declare B.S. on that statement," Nick said.
"I can run twenty laps around the planet before you even started your car," C.N. scoffed.
"Silence you detestable entity," Samantha replied, her words a hiss.
"Shut the hell up, ghost who smells like burnt cabbage," C.N. replied.
"…meanie," Samantha said with a sniff. Suddenly a vehicle about five cars away from them exploded violently. The group looked behind the explosion and saw Jess with her M72 LAW, grinning.
"Wam bam, thank you ma'am!" Jess yelled firing another rocket.
"She just blew up Liam and Judith's convertible," Jax deadpanned.
"Hey Jax, I bet ten dollars that my car will survive through all of this." Nick said to Jax, who thought about it for a moment before smiling a little.
"I'm in," Jax said shaking Nick's hand.
"Are…are you betting? At a time like this?" Samantha asked in amazement.
"Can I get a piece of this action?" C.N. asked hopefully.
"You don't have money!" Samantha snapped.
"Excuse me? I own all of the world's banks. In fact, the government pays me every month!" C.N. said smugly.
"Really? Sweet." Nick said with a wide grin.
"By the way, duck." Jax said as he raised his Ray Gun and pointed it at Nick's head. Nick quickly ducked and Jax fired his gun, blasting a Nazi zombie's skull clean off. It crumpled to the ground and Jax said, "They never get tougher in reality."
"But in reality, if you get hit enough, you down for good. In the training session we did yesterday at the Stadium, if we got hurt and downed, the zombies ignore you and attack everyone else. And if you downed in real life…well…you're a goner," Nick pointed out.
"Well said. But I think you all need another dose of training. I just need to find a good place…" Samantha said thoughtfully as she floated nearby.
"That's what she said," Nick with a small laugh.
"And like that my respect for you is gone," Samantha muttered, crossing her arms.
"I don't need you, I've got Chuck Norris," Nick replied to the ghost.
"Well, that's debatable," C.N. said to Nick, who rolled his eyes.
"By the way, we've got company," Jax said to Nick, pointing behind Nick. As if on cue, Nick was tackled to the ground by a Screecher, which roared furiously before drawing its clawed hand back for a death blow. Nick placed the tip of Calamity on the forehead of the Screecher and pulled the trigger, and after six headshots the Screecher rolled off of Nick and onto the ground.
"OK, I'm ready to kill some zombies now!" Nick said angrily.
"Let's go then," Jax said with a small smile, jumping back into the fray.
Nick pulled out C.N. and bashed a zombie in the skull with it, causing it's skull to explode violently. Nick ducked under another zombie's swipe and swung C.N. at the zombie's chest as a jagged spike emerged from the figurine, embedding itself into the zombie's skull.
Jax jumped back to dodge a zombie's swipe and blasted it apart with one of his Ray Guns. Jax easily sidestepped another swipe from a Nazi zombie and grinned as he fired a shot to its chest, blasting its arm off and sending it crashing onto the ground.
"REEEAH!"
"REAAAAH yourself you zombified jerk-off!" Nicholas smirked as the Screecher fell onto the ground, riddled with bullet holes.
"NICHOLAS! WATCH OUT!" Jess yelled aiming her M72 LAW at him.
"SON OF A BITCH!" Nicholas yelled as he jumped to the side as Jess fired a missile at him.
The good news: There was a small group of 10 or so zombies that were incinerated in the explosion.
The bad news: Nicholas's Camaro was destroyed when the missile hit it.
"Wha…you…just…my…WHY!" Nicholas yelled furiously.
"Whoops. My bad!" Jess said with a sheepish grin.
"Hold off the zombies, I need a minute," Nicholas said mournfully, starring at the flaming wreckage.
Five minutes later…
"HE'S STILL STARING AT THAT THING!" Liam yelled as he fired his AUG-5OM3 at the attacking zombies, switching to the shotgun mode after a moment.
"KEEP SHOOTING! HE'LL SNAP OUT OF IT ANY MINUTE!" Judith yelled sniping off several zombie's heads from afar.
"I LIKE YELLING!" Jess replied as she fired wildly into the horde.
"Hold on, I can snap him out of it" Liam growled tossing a grenade at the flaming wreckage of Nicholas' Camaro.
The wreckage was blown up, which is ironic I know, but still funny. Nicholas starred at the wreckage of the wreckage in horror and said, "No words…can express my anger…I…"
"Be angry later, we've got zombies to kill!" Liam yelled at Nicholas.
"Right," Nicholas said getting to his feet and pulling out his Galil.
"Judith, follow me. Snipe over here behind this car, I'll watch your back. Liam, Jess. You both go invisible and kill as many zombies as you can" Nicholas said to the teens.
"Solid plan," Judith replied with a small nod.
"By the way, I'm going to dropkick your boyfriend into a lake in chapter 12, now follow me," Nicholas said to Judith in an annoyed tone, walking away from the hordes. Nicholas hopped on top of a car and fired from the higher ground, getting more headshots this way. Jess and Liam went invisible, sowing mayhem amongst the zombie ranks by firing while Judith aimed from behind the car, sniping the heads of zombies. The group quickly killed about sixty zombies, and eliminated most of the horde.
Jess suddenly became visible and yelled as a Screecher slashed at her. Jess jumped backwards and fired her R115 Resonator, but it had no ammo left, and neither did her MP5K. The Screecher lunged at Jess who yelled and tried to run from it. Suddenly there was a shlink sound and the Screecher fell to the ground, with a large knife embedded in its skull.
"Jess! Get back to the others!" Nicholas yelled as he lowered his hand.
"On it! And thanks!" Jess said pulling out her M72 LAW.
"Liam, how are you doing on ammo?" Nicholas asked walking over and picking up his Bowie knife.
"Not bad, I'm out of ammo for the AK74fu2, but my AUG-5OM3 is good to go" Liam replied as he glanced at an approaching Crawler and shot it.
"OK, Judith, how about you?" Nicholas asked.
"I've got ten more shots in my L115 Isolator, and my EPC-WIN is about halfway empty." Judith said with a shrug before she lined up another shot.
"OK, whose vehicles are actually still drivable?" Nicholas asked, glancing at his car which exploded a third time for no discernible reason.
"Um, Nick's and Joe's." Liam said after a moment.
"All right, head to Nick's RV, we're getting the hell out of here!" Nicholas said, hopping on top of a nearby car.
"Let's roll!" Nicholas said reloading his Galil and firing at a nearby Crawler trying to climb alongside the car. Several new waves of zombies were quickly spawning around them, charging at them from all sides
"Come on Judith!" Liam said firing at a new horde of zombies.
"Coming!" Judith said switching her L115 Isolator for her EPC-WIN. The trio made their way to the back of the lot, where Jess, Nick, and Jax were holding off the zombie horde attacking them. Jess was standing on top of the RV, firing a missile when she could. Nick and Jax were doing most of the fighting, seeing as Nick had the unstoppable power of Chuck Norris at his disposal and Jax had two Ray Guns and a Thundergun.
"Jess! Get inside of the RV and activate the turret!" Nick yelled at Jess.
Jess dropped in through the open window and yelled, "What button is it?!"
"Blue one!" Nick yelled back.
"On it!" Jess yelled back pressing the blue button.
Two small turrets on the side of the R.V suddenly appeared from the vehicle and began opening fire onto the zombie hordes. Jess grinned and said, "I think we'll be taking this car."
"Then I win the bet!" Nick yelled as he and Jax finished off the last remnants of the horde attacking them.
"OUT OF THE WAY!" Joe yelled as they came speeding towards them and suddenly stopped. Andrew flew through the windshield and would've been killed if Jax hadn't shot a blast from his Thundergun to cushion the fall. Andrew was able to land lightly on his feet and groaned, "Never…again."
"Oh shut up, your car got destroyed," Joe snickered as he got out of his car.
"BY YOU!" Andrew yelled back at the tall teen.
"Yep!" Joe chuckled as he glanced back at Andrew's destroyed jeep.
There was an explosion about 150 yards away. The group look across the burning and destroyed dealership and saw Nicholas, Liam, and Judith dashing across the undamaged cars to avoid the huge zombie horde that was now attacking.
"So, now that we've more or less decided that this tricked-out RV is going to be our new way of getting around, should we get out of here now?" Nick asked the group.
"Yes, but you still haven't won the bet, you know." Jax chuckled at Nick, who looked at him with a confused expression.
"Joe's car is still undamaged," Jax said as he jerked his thumb towards the vehicle.
"Joe, who don't you go dismantle the equipment from your car real quick? We may as well add it to the RV." Andrew suggested to the taller teen, who nodded.
"Sure. It'll just take a minute!" Joe said, dashing back over to his car across the way.
"Jess, ready the RV to go. We need to get out of here." Samantha said to the young girl.
"On it!" Jess said cheerfully, starting up the car.
"Come on, you guys!" Andrew yelled at the teens still fighting the zombies.
Nicholas jumped over a Nazi zombie and whirled around, firing his Galil at two Nazi zombies that were now traveling on top of the cars. Judith was in front now, with Liam in the middle and Nicholas was at the back, trying to hold the undead at bay.
"We need a distraction!" Judith yelled back at Liam and Nicholas.
"WAIT! I know!" Liam yelled as he pulled out a Monkey Bomb, winding it up before hurling it as hard as he could.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU USE THOSE EARLIER?!" Nicholas bellowed as he ran for his life.
"I forgot about them!" Liam replied with a sheepish grin as the bomb landed on the ground and activated.
Every single zombie that was chasing them suddenly ran at the Monkey Bomb and just stood there, to everyone's amazement. Nicholas fired at the zombies, killing them while they were distracted and while Liam and Judith ran for it. Suddenly the Monkey Bomb exploded, and every single zombie looked at Nicholas.
"Well…shit." Nicholas said before running like hell had come.
"Jess, the second Nicholas gets in the RV, step on it!" Liam said to the young woman while Nick walked over to Jess's M72 LAW and picked it up.
"Shotgun!" Nick called sitting in the front seat and aiming the M72 LAW outside the window.
"Fuck!" Joe yelled angrily.
"Hey, guys!" Nicholas yelled as he switched to his Dual-Cobra's, his Galil running out of ammo.
"Jess, activate the turret!" Liam said to Jess.
"It's already activated," Jess replied as the turret shot at the zombies approaching from the sides.
"Oh…well, throw a Monkey Bomb outside the window," Liam said to the girl, who smiled and nodded.
Jess tossed a monkey bomb to Liam who sighed and hurled the Monkey Bomb as hard as he could. The bomb landed far enough away to where Nicholas was able to get into the VR as the zombies chasing him ran to it.
"Step on it…for the love of God…" Nicholas gasped as his lungs screamed in agony.
"Wait, I have to do something!" Nick yelled out, taking aim with the M72 LAW.
"What could you possibly have to do? The zombies are coming right for us!" Judith asked the short teen.
"This!" Nick yelled with a wide grin, firing the M72 LAW and making Jess hack and cough as smoke filled the RV. The missile soared through the night and collided with its target, which flew into the air and crashed onto the ground as a flaming pile of metal.
It was Joe's Camaro.
"What…the…hell?" Samantha said slowly, absolutely baffled.
"OK, now we can go." Nick said, sounding satisfied. Jess slammed on the accelerator and the RV shot forward, knocking down the flimsy metal fence around the dealership. Jess turned onto the main road and continued the group's journey, a wide smile on her face. Armed with a new set of wheels, the group decided that their new goal was to head further north. Where Richtofen would probably strike next.
But first, something had to be settled.
"Jax…time for you to pay up!" Nick grinned at the dark-skinned teen, who blinked.
"What?" Jax asked, confused.
"This RV was the last one of our cars that survived. Therefore, I am the winner," Nick said smugly.
"You blew up my car…as part of a stupid bet!?" Joe bellowed at Nick, who nodded.
"I'm…not even surprised at this point," Joe said walking over to a soft sofa and collapsing onto it.
"Here, even though you cheated," Jax said muttered, stuffing a handful of bills into Nick's outstretched hand.
"No, I just tipped the odds in my favor," Nick said with a wide smile.
"That was pretty clever of you, I will admit," C.N. said approvingly.
"Thank you" Nick replied, putting the ten dollars in his wallet.
"You DO realize that the bet doesn't even matter at this point, considering if a place is deserted, we can take whatever we want, right? We literally just destroyed an entire car dealership, you moron." Liam said to Nick, who stared at him blankly for several seconds.
"…Son of a bitch."
End of Chapter:
Please review and show your support!
Until next time, FlygonNick out!