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Chapter LIII
Undead Nightmare
Ash ran around the boxes, shooting any zombie in his path. Seeing Natas fall from his platform took him by complete surprise, all Ash saw was a jet of bile and a falling body. He had to see what else went down with him. Pikachu took lead, but kept within sight. They both turned around the corner and saw the mess. Blood and bile sprayed out in a spray when Natas hit the floor, he lied face down, motionless. The fall killed him instantly. What was crawling on his corpse was a bloated slime-covered Oshawott, eating the flesh out of Natas's neck. Ash raised his gun and pulled the hammer back.
He let out a brief ear-piercing whistle.
Oshawott looked up, his eyes blazing bright green. He blinked as he stared down the barrel of his trainer's gun. The Sea Otter Pokémon didn't flinch, nor cried, he just sat there with a blank emotionless stare devoid of all life.
Ash gestured Oshawott to move aside, he nodded and stood up. Suddenly Oshawott coughed, spewing out bile as he stepped aside. He pressed on his belly, a gush of bile belched out of his gunshot wound, spilling onto the floor. Ash sighed, the poor thing had mutated into a Boomer. He must be a ticking time bomb or something. Hopefully he won't be that fragile.
The Undead trainer looked down at Natas's body. He was dead, but it wouldn't be long before he turn. It wasn't over yet. Ash aimed the .357 magnum at Natas's head and squeezed off a round, the back of his skull exploded as the round shredded into his brain. Red blood shot back at Ash, then settled. He crouched down and checked his handy work. Natas's brain was pulverize, he wouldn't be coming back any time soon.
It is finished. Ash thought as he holstered his gun.
. . .
The force field went down as soon as they heard the gunshot. The group held their breath, there was nothing but silence. No zombies were moaning, nobody was screaming. The storage room was dead with activity.
"What just happened?" Cilan broke the silence, "First I saw Natas fell, then everything seemed to stop."
"Pansage." Pansage agreed.
"We better go check it out." said Professor Oak.
. . .
The prize for killing Natas was more than satisfaction, his revenge was answered. But revenge doesn't solve problems, they never do. He was still Undead, and now poor Oshawott had turned. At least they still had their minds, their souls, something they could use to rationalize. The added bonus to the prize was new firepower, a .45 Desert Eagle and the double-barreled shotgun. Ironic, Ash had taken mere glances at the weapons while around Natas. He had used it when that crazy cannibal tried to blow himself up, used it against the bandits, used it against the Undead. Ash pulled it out and examined it. It was like any other automatic pistol. The noticeable difference that it was bulkier, too bad Ash could feel that bulk. He ejected the magazine and checked the rounds, regular rounds. That was it.
Ash opened up Natas backpack and peaked inside, boxes of .16 gauge shotgun shells spilled out as soon as he pulled back the zipper. That was all Natas had on his person, shotgun shells. Where were his .45 rounds? He must had stashed them somewhere. Obviously not up on that platform, no, it was somewhere else. Ash opened up several breast and pants pouches and stuffed them with the shotgun shells. Buckshot and bird-shot on the left side of his body, rifled slugs on his right. Yes, he could remember that. Once all his pockets were filled to the brim, Ash dumped the rest of the shells into his backpack and tossed Natas's aside.
He picked up the double-barrel Natas dropped. He was amazed, it didn't break when it hit the concrete floor. It must be built to last. Ash looked for the lever that opens up the barrel, then checked the ammo. Loaded. He pulled out the shells and dried fired it, trigger action still worked. The hammers it the primer as they should. Ash reloaded the gun and tried to lever the barrel shut just like what the guys do in the movies where they snap the barrel close with the flick of a wrist. Nope, that doesn't work. Ash groaned and closed the barrel the proper way, now he wondered how well it fires.
His friends came around the corner, Ash just stood there holding the shotgun in his hands. Pikachu climbed up his shoulder as Oshawott scooted beside him. Fresh bile poured out of the Sea Otter Pokémon's wounds in a never-ending stream. Pansage and Axew covered their eyes, they'd seen enough.
"What happened?" Delia asked.
Ash pointed at Natas's corpse.
"Holy," muttered Misty, she pinched her nose and gasped, "that smell's so bad!"
"He died from the fall," said Professor Oak, "He had no chance of making it."
The group paused into an eerie silence, then Cilan broke it, "Wow do we get outta here?" Cilan asked.
"There's gotta be an exit sign pointing the way out somewhere," said the professor, "If we find that, we might get outta here."
Without warning the alarm went off, red flashing lights started spinning as a few ceiling lights went out. The ground tremor slightly as the building shivered to its frames, "What is that!?" cried Iris.
"Axew!?" Axew squealed.
"Self-destruct sequence initiated," an electronic voice say, echoing throughout the storage room, "ETA 30 minutes. All personnel must immediately evacuate the building."
Well that was kind of predictable. Ash shrugged.
"You gotta be kidding me." Cilan gasped.
"Pansage!" Pansage cried.
"We gotta get out, NOW!" cried Brock.
Ash looked around, he saw another hallway in the back. He started running for it, Oshawott quickly tailed behind him, leaving a trail of bile in his path.
"That way!" cried Professor Oak.
The group followed Ash into the hall, before they could catch up the ground shook with sheer force. Ash heard his friends call his name, when he spun around he saw the ceiling giving way. It collapsed between him and his friends, trapping them. Ash ran towards the rubble and tried to pick it apart. When he grabbed a piece of rebar, more debris fell. He had to back off, there was no way he could dig through the rubble without getting buried.
"There's no way through!" cried Iris.
"AX!" the Tusk Pokémon squealed.
"We'll find another way out, Ash," said Delia, "Just keep going, we'll catch up!"
Ash nodded. Okay then, he'll make it out alone. He raised his shotgun and continued on, trying to cover as much ground as he can.
. . .
"He's coming? . . . Okay, sit tight. We'll be freed soon."
. . .
The group head back the way they came, then look for an exit sign. They found one pointing up a stairwell, they started up it. As they climbed the stairs, small explosions rocked the staircase. Bits of debris and dust started rained from the ceiling with each tremor. Whatever was happening, it was going to happen more sooner than 30 minutes.
"Keep going," cried Professor Oak, "Don't let up now!"
"Are we heading back to the roof?" Misty asked.
"I don't know," said Delia, "We should find a back exit, the zombies might be still swarming the courtyard."
When the group reached the top of the stairs, they found another hallway. Just as they were running down the hall, the floor started cracking.
"Watch out!" cried Professor Oak.
The floor gave way around Delia, she screamed as she fell right in.
"Mrs. Ketchum!" cried Brock.
Just when Delia thought she was falling to her death, someone grabbed one of her arms and caught her. When she looked up to see who caught her, her blood froze.
"Mark?" she asked.
Mark's eyes were bright green and his skin was pale and dry. His hand was ice-cold, gripped firmly around hers. She was speechless as he hoisted her back up.
The group just stood there, jaws dropped. Mark's Pokémon in particular were frozen in place, terrified if whoever saved Ash's mom was still the trainer they knew.
"He's Undead too!" Misty broke the awkward silence.
"And his eyes are just like Ash's." said Cilan.
"Pan." muttered Pansage.
Mark held up his crossbow and shrugged, it was clear he couldn't speak either. He doesn't need to, the group got the message.
"Thank you, Mark," said Delia, "My son's somewhere in the warehouse, but we can't worry about him. This place is going to blow, can you show us the way you came through?"
Mark nodded, then gestured the group to follow him.
. . .
"You mean to tell me this place is going to kaboom? . . . Ash's on it? . . . Okay, see if we can try to help him. Maybe there's something we can do."
. . .
Ash ran down the hall, then walked down a flight of stairs. The muffled moans of Undead sound all around him in a never ending barrage of symphony. He hadn't seen any Undead wondering around in the hallways yet, but he bet they were hiding. Heck, once they hear a survivor they give away their hideaway by moaning. Maybe the Undead couldn't get out, trapped behind doors because they forgotten how to turn a simple knob. Bummer, but good news for Ash. He doesn't have to deal with them.
As Ash ran down the hall, he heard a loud metallic drone. It slowly gained volume from each step he took.
What is that? Ash thought to himself.
The humming sounded like it was coming from up ahead. Ash kept the double-barrel at hand, something ominous was nearby.
When he reached the end of the hall, he screeched to a halt. His jaw dropped, his barely functioning brain struggled in vain to comprehend what he was seeing.
A giant mass of brass pipes and pressure tanks towered over him, the pipes surrounded a network of fiber-optic wires and lights, pulsing with blue energy. Pikachu and Oshawott awed in amazement, it had been a while since they all seen a machine this big. Ash approached the control panel and touched it, he imagined what it would felt like. He stuck his finger underneath the panel's switch and pulled the panel open.
He found the new Team Rocket logo painted on the back of the panel door.
Something clicked in Ash's head. Natas said he was a member of Team Rocket, which was why he came to this warehouse complex in the first place. This logo, this machine . . . What does this all mean?
Ash thought for a moment, he thought hard . . .
This had to be the radio transmitter Natas was talking about, Ash thought, Destroying it would rid the world of the Undead, but would kill me, Pikachu, and Oshawott as well . . .
Ash turned to Pikachu, the Mouse Pokémon gave him a blank emotionless expression. The bandage covering his shotgun wound had turned black from absorbing dead blood. He then turned to Oshawott, the Undead Sea Otter Pokémon looked up at him with doey green eyes, as he always do. Yet the eyes were full of death, whatever joy and happiness they once saw were long gone, forever buried in the past. Ash turned back to the control panel, the red main switched glistened under the dying florescent lights.
He sighed, I'm dead, Pikachu's dead, Oshawott's dead. We're all finished. I'm not going to have our consciousness see ourselves rot!
Ash grabbed the red switch and flipped it down.
The rate of explosions rapidly increased. As the machine powered down, more alarms went off. The ceiling lights started flickering madly, some popped from the surge. The ground shook so hard, the concrete cracked. Ash gripped his head and drop to his knees, The noise! The noise! It's so loud!
Pikachu and Oshawott screamed as they gripped their ears, it was like a jet engine was screaming over their heads. But it wasn't coming from their ears, no, it was coming from inside their minds.
I feel weak, Ash thought, I'm loosing it, I gotta get outta here!
He tried to stand back up but his legs struggled to coordinate. Ash tumbled and fell, he grabbed a hold of one of the pipes to hoist himself up. He heard the cricking of burning skin along with the smell of burning flesh. Ash looked at his hand, the pipe was so hot that it burned through his glove, frying his palm.
I can't feel it, I can't feel it!
Ash frantically stood back up on his feet and scooped up the shotgun, Pikachu and Oshawott quickly got their wits together and regrouped with him. The noise continued to blare out with excruciating force, so loud that it would deafen a grown man.
Stop, stop!
Ash aimed the double-barreled shotgun at the control panel and pumped two buckshots into its face.
. . .
"Get that door open, Pignite! Get it open!"
. . .
Blue sparks sprouted out of the control panel, struggling to ground themselves. The noise had stopped, but the pain was still there. Ash panted, staring at the destruction he caused. He shook his head and let out a mournful groan, Why am I here, he asked himself, Why am I still here!?
As if on cue, a door opened. Ash snapped out of his delirium and investigated, What in the world, he asked himself, Did that door just opened up by itself?
It did, apparently. He peaked through the door and saw a stairwell, a red exit sign pointing up was displayed on the back wall. Was it the way out?
Had to be, Ash thought, Had to be the way out.
As Ash reloaded the shotgun, he heard a loud moan. He turned, a zombie was coming out from the way he came. It was dressed in a tattered Team Rocket grunt uniform, its eyes glared out red evil as it stuck its arms out at Ash. He aimed the shotgun at the zombie's forehead and fired. The .16 gauge buckshot round took the dome off the zombie's skull, turning part of its brain into black jelly. The thing dropped a second later.
A burst of green fire spewed out of the radio transmitter, followed by a blue flame. The machine was becoming Swiss cheese, with every hole spewing a fiery rainbow of colors. It was getting ready to blow.
Gotta find the way out, Ash thought, Gotta get out, find the others and get out!
Ash turned towards the stairs and ran up them, Pikachu and Oshawott followed along like they were tethered to their trainer.
. . .
"He's coming, Ash is coming! You sure he would read that message, Pignite? . . . Okay, Okay, calm down! Jeez, you're worse than Oshawott on a bad Saturday night."
. . .
Mark's accuracy hadn't changed, he sank a bolt into every zombie skull coming his way. The group could all agree now that Mark still had most of his mind, though some things failed to come back, like expressing language, emotion. Still, he had commitment, and he was using it to get the group out of harm's way. He pulled a bolt out of a freshly slain zombie's eye and wiped off the blood on its shirt, then load it back into the crossbow.
"Team Rocket," Professor Oak grumbled, "Team Rocket's responsible, but it wasn't like them. Natas said Giovanni and the trio weren't responsible, so who set it all off?"
"I'm just in the dark as you." said Cilan.
"Pansage." Pansage muttered.
"Okay," said Oak, "Let's recap. There's a machine that brought the dead back to life, here in this very facility. This person send an invitation to Ash's friends for a vacation on Faraday Island, while me, Delia, Tracey, and my son got an invite for a research project. As we were brought here, Natas roamed around doing the dirty work for Giovanni's successor, some of the work Natas doesn't like. He wasn't insane, just a loyal servant towards the true person responsible."
"So whoever's in charge ordered Ash killed." said Delia.
"But not completely." Cilan added.
Professor Oak nodded, "Natas paid close attention to Ash, I'd seen him watching Ash as he go perform daily chores at the Pokémon Center. I'd should have known, if he'd done something about it before we wouldn't be in this situation."
"Yet we would never know the source of the zombie's power," Brock pointed out, "Never."
"And now Natas had set off planted explosions, meaning that the plan had changed. Its going to destroy the machine, every zombie in the world will drop, and the world would return to a normal state. However the system we all know is gone, probably a lot of Pokémon had died, so Pokémon battling won't come back in some time."
"There's some form of government in Faraday City," said Cilan, "Yet its more like martial law, since Mark's dad is like a benevolent dictator. The city is basically a city-state, unless the Faraday province re-establish some form of government or brings back remnants of the old government and add knew folks in."
"To come to think of it," said Iris, "A lot of people hadn't bothered mentioning anything about the Mayor of Carson, or the Governor, back in the Pokémon Center, either if they're still alive or not. When someone does, there wasn't a conversation about it. Why is that?"
"Good question," said Professor Oak, "I'll ask Wally or Emmett when I get the chance, assuming I can get outta here alive with my skin intact."
Mark led them down several corridors, then down a flight of stairs. His Pokémon kept a fixed distance away from him, afraid he might bite. The group pitied the poor Pokémon, they were told that their trainer was going to die. He died, but he still walk among them. Whatever mental processes was taking place in their minds, there was no doubt that their hearts had broke. They don't love him, they fear him.
He didn't make much affections towards the either, Mark didn't even look at them once. His emotions were long gone along with his love. But did a tiny spark remain, some remnant of it waiting to explode? So far he show no signs of it, probably never will. At least he still cared in some form, since he saved Ash's mom from falling down a deep hole.
A door swung wide open, everyone drew their guns. They lowered them at ease when Ash walked through. Pikachu and Oshawott were right behind him, trotting up with a rotting stench behind them. Mark and Ash stared at each other, their bodies stiffening into a dead stillness. The other a bit surprise to see the other, yet nonetheless glad in some way.
Ash drew his magnum and handed it to Mark, he nodded, took it and shoved the gun into his holster.
Mark gestured Ash to follow him, he continued leading the group towards the way out. Along the way the hallways became more sinister, the walls seemed to went from plaster to concrete in a split second. Again the group went down another flight of stairs, leading to a hallway of metal bulkhead doors.
"What is this?" Iris asked.
She had her answered when the group approached a dark maw through what was left of a ventilation shaft. Two bloody tendrils snaked out, then a third. Iris screamed when a Snivy came out. It was covered in blood and slime, multiple unnatural tendrils flailed from its back and sides like whips, trying to lash out at anything that it could get a hold of. The Snivy's legs and tail looked like they were sheered off, it was dragging nothing more than a moldy remnant of its colon.
Grappler. Ash thought.
The Grappler's red eyes shot at Iris, the thing hissed, sounding like a cross between a banshee and a snake. Ash aimed the double-barrel shotgun at the Grappler and unleashed both shells. The thing exploded in a mass of black congealed blood and horrors, the tendrils broke off at their base and scattered to the floor, still twitching and flailing uncontrollably.
"I want out," screamed Iris as she clutched Axew tight in her arms, her voice boomed down the hall in a mighty echo, "I want out, I want out, I want out!"
"AXEW!" sobbed Axew.
The two continued to solve as the group sheepishly passed the remains of the Grappler, its remains bubbling in a primordial soup of death and lead.
"We'll get out," said Brock, "We'll get out of this warehouse, we'll get back to the Westinghouse farm! We're not going to stop until we see the sun again!"
Mark snickered. When he spoke, his voice sounded surreal and unnatural. Alien, with a hint of his former self. It struck everyone – but Ash and his Undead Pokémon – to the core, "We all know how this ends."
The group halted in their tracks, Mark and Ash stopped and looked back at them. They just stared at Mark with disbelief, he just stood there with a smirk on his face, like he was actually feeling something.
"You can still talk!?" Professor Oak asked.
"Some words," said Mark, he gestured with his hand like he was spreading out something, "Not all, left brain not working as it used to."
"What did he mean by left brain?" Misty asked.
"The left side of your brain is responsible for language," said Professor Oak, "Most of Mark's still works somehow, while most of Ash's is turned off. Whatever the machine does, it gave some zombies special perks over others."
Delia's groaned, "Everyday's a school day, can we talk about this later and focused getting outta here?"
Without warning, Ash shoved Mark hard in the arm. Mark simply laughed and continued on, the two grunted at each other in a strange zombie speak that the other couldn't understand. It puzzled the group more than it creep them out, they hadn't seen zombies communicate to each other up to this point.
. . .
"He's near, he's actually near! Quick, bang on the door!"
. . .
Bright florescent squiggly lines started showing up, they streak across the floor like someone was dragging a broken glow stick. They started around pen size at first, then beefed up to paintbrush size. Ash was amazed, the deep sky blue lights sparkle and glow with positively charged energy. He could feel it, and it felt good. The feeling, however, also felt familiar, like he had experienced it before. Ash couldn't place his finger on it, then he heard the banging.
The group was running towards the source, yet hadn't commented on it. Ash heard the banging loud and clear, it sounded like Morse code. A cry for help, perhaps?
When they turn the corner, Ash saw where the glowing lines lead up. They all lead up to one of the metal doors, the lines snaked up its face and scribbled every corner of it with their glowing embers. Ash ran up and stopped before it.
"What are you up to, Ash?" Misty asked.
The looks on their faces told Ash the bitter truth, They couldn't see it, they can't see the lights!
But Mark saw them, and he was impressed. He reached out and touched one of the slivers, the glowing marks came off easily, crusting on his hands. Pikachu and Oshawott sniffed the glowing embers, getting a little bit on their noses. The glowing embers dissipated within seconds, leaving no trace of its existence behind.
"What are they looking at?" Cilan asked.
Iris reached out and touched the metal door, she yanked her hand away upon contact, "It's cold," she yelped, "Really cold!"
Axew reached out to touch the door, but Iris slapped his hand down. The Tusk Pokémon retreated like a disciplined child, "What's so interesting about the door, guys?" Brock asked Ash and Mark.
Only one way to find out. Ash thought.
Ash grabbed the bulkhead door with both hands and twisted it to the left, the heavy latches retracted into the door with a thud. He stepped back and took a deep breath, then pulled the door open. Dust escaped through the widening gap of the bulkhead door, the group stepped back as Ash opened the door all the way, then peaked inside.
Oh no, Ash thought, not you guys too!
Though it was a common sight in the apocalyptic world, it still strikes a being's soul every time. Ash stepped into the chamber, getting a feel of the massacre inside. Snivy and Pignite sat against the wall, Scraggy laid face down, his legs ripped off from brute force. Whatever happened here, the thing that caused it was dead, Ash looked in the back and found it. It looked like a four-legged Pokémon, something fury with brown fur. Ash nudged the bloody pulp with his foot.
A Lillipup, Ash thought, a Lillipup caused this?
It wasn't a Lillipup anymore, it didn't even look like one. The teeth were sharper than normal, the fur barley hanging off the dead flesh. The slightest nudge would knock it off. This thing was dead for a while, Ash guessed it was probably a few weeks, the air feels that stuffy or something. He wasn't quite sure.
Professor Oak glimpsed inside, then jumped back, "Don't look in there," he gasped, "Whatever you do, don't you dare look in there!"
"What," Misty asked, "What is it?"
"A tomb." Professor Oak simply says.
Then the bodies began to move.
Snivy stirred and looked up at Ash, her sunken glowing green eyes fixated at him with a death stare. The Grass Snake Pokémon – now Undead Grass Snake Pokémon – slowly got back up to her feet. When she tried to take a step, Ash caught her and helped her up.
Pignite flopped over, then opened his eyes. Yes, bright green as well with his hide rotting off the bones. The Undead Fire Pig Pokémon climbed back up to his feet and took a deep breath, thick brackish smoke escapes his lungs, blanketing the air around him in a temporary black fog. Ash shook his head, the deep wounds on Pignite's body was upsetting, but nothing compared to Scraggy.
When he stirred, the Undead Shedding Pokémon flopped his arms like a fish out of water. He let out exasperated groans as he struggled to crawl, Ash reached down and picked him up. He supported Scraggy's heavy head and looked down into his eyes, the Undead Shedding Pokémon almost seemed like he was crying, but he wasn't. This thing, or what was left of him, was too far gone for any help. Scraggy's emotionless green eyes flickered, struggling to get a good glimpse of his trainer in the pitch darkness. No way Scraggy wouldn't have any problems seeing, like all zombies, he had night vision. It was all involuntary twitches, a nervous response, only done by those who were dead.
He must have died in a lot of pain, Ash thought, And his ordeal isn't over, it's just muted.
Muted, with no feeling. Scraggy took a deep breath as Ash pulled him to his chest. There wasn't much he could do, but built-in habit forced him to tend to his helpless Pokémon. He couldn't help it, Ash was just as helpless as well.
The group gasped as Ash stepped out, seeing how horribly mangled Scraggy was made Axew broke down in tears. He sobbed on Iris's shoulder, unable to bear the realization of the death of his best-friend, "We gotta get outta here, guys," cried Iris as she padded him on the back, "Axew can't take much more of this!"
"Axew ewww!" the Tusk Pokémon sobbed as he shed a storm of tears.
Another explosion rocked the facility, the ceiling lights flickered in a dance room fashion for a few brief seconds. Everyone froze when the lights went out, plunging the hallway into a pitch-black darkness.
"Holy moly," cried Cilan, "That explosion knocked out the facility's power!"
"I can't see," cried Iris, "I can't even see my own hand!"
But Ash could see just fine, to him the world was a mixture of green and black shadows. True night vision. The only thing the survivors saw were probably the glowing eyes of their Undead members. With the disabled Scraggy in his arms, Ash simply started walking down the hall. The rest of his Undead Pokémon followed him, hobbling behind like a train. Mark was right behind them, his crossbow out and ready.
The group noticed they were on the move, "Oh," Misty muttered, "I guess we're following them."
"Their eyes are amazing as they are creepy," said Cilan, "I wonder what makes zombie eyes glow."
Explosions started going off like firecrackers. Ash picked up the pace, another wave of pain stabbed his brain, he fought it back with sheer will as he pushed through. He couldn't quit, not now, it was close. The way out was close!
"Go, go, go!" cried Professor Oak.
Now everybody was running as fast as they can, the group sprint down the hallway as fire started erupting from the vents. Several bulkhead doors burst open, releasing Undead Pokémon. As the monstrosities stepped out of their tombs, the group sped past them. A few spun around, momentary confused, then reorientated themselves a second later. Many of them started chasing after the group, they however ignored them. The threat of the building collapsing on top of their heads was greater than the Undead that infested it. The zombie Pokémon were left in their dust, unable to keep up. The ceiling started falling apart, some of it landed between them and the group. They made a futile effort to claw through the rubble, only to be engulfed by smoke.
"There," cried Brock, "I see the way out!"
Ash smelled a slight trace of Natas's scent, then it was gone as he climbed the steps back to the surface. A blast of sunlight hit him, his vision blurred with a green glare. The glare quickly faded away, revealing the back of the facility. Through the fence and ruins of Carson, Ash could see the pier where he first set foot in the town. All the boats were gone, nothing left but bodies and the gray motionless sea beyond.
"We're out," cried Cilan, "I can't believe it, we're out!"
"Pan pan!" cheered Pansage.
Mark shut the cellar doors and jammed a rusty nail into its handles, not a moment too soon the Undead tried to bash their way out from below. The doors heaved violently as the loud snarling grew angry. Even though the group was out, they were still in danger. The Undead were everywhere, still roaming. Still searching.
"Their had to be a back exit out of the complex." said Brock.
Ash signaled the group to follow him, they complied. He led them towards the side gate he had used to get into the complex. There it was, its doors still swung open as he left it . . .
And the horde was right there, waiting for them.
"More zombies!?" gasped Cilan.
"Pan!?" gasped Pansage.
The zombie horde wasn't as big as it was a few hours ago, but still dangerous nonetheless. They quickly spotted the group and started making their way towards them, slowly blocking the way out.
"I don't think we can fight our way through this!" said Professor Oak.
"I don't have much ammo left," said Brock, "How about you, Cilan?"
"Three bullets," said Cilan, "Iris?"
"One." said Iris.
"I have 5 left." said Misty.
"2 for me." said Delia.
"I'm dry." said Professor Oak.
Ash stepped up and aimed his double-barrel shotgun at the horde, then fired both hammers. The shells unleashed two powerful bird shots, creating a wall of lead that pushed the horde back like a tsunami. Some of the pellets ripped into a few zombie skulls, the rest shredded their limbs and tore up their torsos. They dropped like heavy stones. The zombies behind them tripped over their fallen comrades, and the ones behind them tripped the former.
Then Oshawott stepped up, he breathed in and hurled out a blast of bile at the horde. The bile coated the zombies in an even spray. That was when things got graphic.
The bile confused the zombies by its own chemical makeup, it makes them think whoever was coated with the stuff was potential prey. They began attacking each other at once, zombies claws thrashed, black blood splashed everywhere. The group watched in horror and amazement as the zombies tried to eat and tear each other apart. It was like someone was going through them like a chainsaw, hacking them all apart until they were just rotting piece of beef jerky.
"Smart move, Oshawott!" Cilan praised, looking away from the carnage.
Oshawott didn't care, he just stood there, staring straight out at space.
The group began firing upon the Undead while they were distracted, Ash's shotgun boomed as he hit them with rifled slugs. His friends' shots were brief, they fired their last few rounds, then stepped back and watched as Ash and Mark finished them off. They kept a calm attitude, reloading with ease and continue firing upon them without worry. Heck, why should they worry? They were dead, the zombies couldn't tell who's who at the moment, everybody was fair game to them.
"Look at them go." said Iris as she watched in amazement.
"Axew." awed Axew.
"Emolga!" Emolga cheered for her trainer, then sat back with the rest of Mark's Pokémon, continuing to wonder if their trainer was still him.
The horde was cut down in size within minutes, just when Ash took out the last zombie, Pignite stepped up. He sprayed out a fiery blast of Flamethrower, setting ablaze the pile of body parts and crossbow bolts. With that, the group was done.
"That was fast," said Misty, "No glorious final stand?"
"Nope." croaked Mark.
"Okay then," said Brock, he stepped aside and looked out towards the sea, "I guess we should-"
He was cut short when the facility exploded, the blast wave shot past them like a rocket. They all turned around and gasped in horror as the whole building was overwhelmed with fire. The flames reached high up into the sky, belching black smoke towards the noon sun. Then something weird happened.
Ash's Pokémon started loosing their balance, first they drift side to side. They look drowsy, disoriented. When they tried to walk, they collapsed. The group watched in horror as they past out at their feet.
"What is going on here?" Misty asked.
. . .
"Holy sh*t," swore Tesla as he saw the fireball, "A gas explosion?"
There was no way to tell, the explosion happened near the coast. Probably a spark set off some built-up methane gas? No, there wasn't any gas lines running through that area. The Pokémon Center Pikachus huddled around Tesla and watched the blaze as he tried to figure out what to do next.
"What the?"
Nearby zombies started dropping like stones, the glow in their eyes dimmed before returning to their pre-zombie states. The zombies who were reanimated in graves stayed down, others who had bite marks still moved. They moaned, like they were in pain. Tesla approached one of them, the other Pikachus stayed close behind him in silence.
The zombie looked like a young lad, he had a necrotic bite wound on his bicep. Tesla's eyes bulge in his goggles as the human's skin slowly went from greenish gray back to a peach healthy color. The zombie held his head up, then muttered, "Was I dead?"
He's not a zombie anymore, Tesla thought, He's cured!
"Yes," said Tesla, "You were."
"Tesla?" the man muttered.
"Yup, it's me. You remembered what happened in your zombie state?"
"Apparently, yeah," said the man, "It felt like a dream, everything was red . . . I – I gotta get outta here, I gotta get outta here!"
The man tried to get up, but his arms and legs failed him. He collapsed back on the road, groaning in pain.
"How do you feel?" Tesla asked.
"Cold, hungry, weak," the man said, "I feel like sh*t."
"You're not the only one, we're surrounded by others who just turned back. I don't think help's coming."
The man suddenly passed out. Tesla sighed, there was nothing he could do for him. He turned back towards the fireball, whatever exploded over there seemingly ended the zombie apocalypse. The old Pikachu could feel it, he turned to his younger counterparts and asked if they could feel it. They nodded their heads. Yes, it was over. The zombie apocalypse was over. But how, how was it over?
"I gotta go check this out," Tesla thought out loud, "I must!"
He would soon later wish he hadn't.
. . .
The drowsiness hit Ash hard, he collapsed on the ground as sheer agony gripped his body. He felt like he was shutting down, everything felt like it was shutting down. Ash tried to move, but his muscles were stiffening up. They were shutting down as rigor mortis took over.
I'm dying, Ash though, So this is what death really feels like when it's your time?
Seemed like it, if it wasn't then it was close enough. Ash turned his head towards Pikachu, fighting against his stiffening muscles. The Mouse Pokémon laid face down on the ground, motionless. He shot out an arm, the joints popped and cracked as he wrapped it around his best friend. Ash pulled him close, once he had Pikachu hugged in close. Ash let himself go.
Darkness returned to him once more.
TO BE CONTINUED . . .
