Chapter 42
We're Not Alone
Mabel felt the days go by quickly, at least when she looked on them from the third day. When she had decided to the stick with Ford, they'd gone back to the Mystery Shack to gather supplies, collecting any food they could, but even in such a sort time since the start of the apocalypse, much of the food had been raided by creatures from the woods, leaving them with only a few days worth of rations, which included some cans of meat and four bottles of water.
After collecting all the food they could, Mabel and Stanford had went down to the basement, where he'd taken up his gun, probably to defend against anything they encountered, though the journals where no where to be seen, and he didn't answer her when she asked about them, making her think something must have happened to them.
In the next few days, they'd done all they could to survive, despite the large amount of demons creating chaos throughout the town, and the eye-bats that wanted nothing more than to turn them to stone and take them to Bill. It hadn't been a pleasant experience.
Mabel had found it hard to say the least, as they still hadn't found Stan, so her best bet was to stay with the person she hated more than anything. At times, they probably could have spoken to each other and tried to work out their relationship, but Mabel was too preoccupied to realise there was the opportunity. All she could think about was Dipper.
There had been no sign of him in the last three days, so Mabel was starting to wonder if she had really heard him call her on that day, or if it had just been Bill pulling a trick on her. It just didn't make sense. Wouldn't Dipper of found me by now if he was here? Am I right about him being here, or is he still in the Nightmare Realm, trying staying away from me? The thought almost made her cry. No... I just want him back... Dipper, you promised me you'd stay with me if we could work it out... It's not the end of the summer yet... Please Dip... How am I supposed to cope without you? I'm... nothing without you.
They'd been scouting remains of the town for whatever survivors they could find, so far, none. It made Mabel worry that they'd all be caught. Was that true? Had Bill already won? No, she couldn't give up yet. Mabel looked down at the watch she'd picked up the day before, no change. It made her wonder if time had really stopped, or if the watch was just broken. The sky above didn't change in colour, so she couldn't be sure what time it was suppose to be anyway.
She and Ford were hiding from the eye-bats now, and once they saw it fly off, they came out. The man she travelled with looked stressed, but then again, when didn't he? He sighed, leaning against the wall. "It... looks like we're the only ones left. Nobody's left."
Mabel barely had the strength to deny him, but she tried. "We haven't checked everywhere yet... Maybe they're out in the woods somewhere? We can't be the only ones out here..."
He crouched down to her, putting a hand on her shoulder as a slight sign of comfort. "Look at this place, it's a nightmare. Even if there are people out there, they're probably so well hidden that we'll never find them. We'd be better off trying to prolong our survival, while trying to find a way to stop this from getting worse."
Mabel sighed, knowing he was right. "I guess..." But then she heard a screeching from above as the pterodactyl she and Dipper had found once swooped down in the direction of the Gravity Falls Mall. It took one of the letters from the sign, before swooping off. Her eyes turned to the mall, her spirits lifting slightly. "The mall... We haven't checked there yet! Come on Ford, if there's people left, they'd be in there!"
Ford thought for a second, as it was true they haven't searched in there. Though he doubted they'd find any survivors in there, there would hopefully be some food in there that they could take, as their rations were starting to run low. "I guess we could try..." He stood to his full height, looking round to make sure nothing would see them if they sprinted, before nodded. "Right, okay, we can go."
When they reached the mall, Mabel attempted to walk through the door, though the automatic part of it wasn't working, making it impossible to open. She slammed her fist against it in frustration, before Ford cleared his thought. "Maybe, you should let me handle this. Stand back."
For once, Mabel did as he said, watching as he used the butt of his gun to smash through the glass, kicking through the opening to make it big enough for him and Mabel to get through.
Once they were inside, Mabel looked around to the extend of the mall, seeing how eerie the place really looked due to the apocalypse. It was strange, the last time she'd came here it had been full of people shopping and having fun, but now it looked abandoned.
"Stan!" Mabel called through, hoping for a response, before adding, "Dipper! Are you here?" No response, just an echoing of her own voice. So neither of them are here... She felt the presence of Ford behind her, trying to stop herself from tensing slightly. You'd think she'd be use to him being close to her after a few days of surviving together. "I... don't think anyone's here."
"It was worth a shot, but at least we might find some food here." Ford looked around, before nodding. "You look around the court, I'll see if there is anything we can use in the other shops." He began to walk in the opposite direction before pausing for a second. "If anything happens, shout. I'll be back as quick as I can."
Mabel bit her lip as she watched him go, before sighing and walking to the food court. "Why couldn't someone be here, anyone really." She murmured to herself, but soon she spotted something lying on one of the tables, a fresh box of nachos with cheese. Her eyes went wide when she saw them. She really needed some good food right now, and here it was, ripe for the taking!
She ran up to it, a smile spreading across her face. "The last nachos on Earth..." Mabel then attempted to pick them up, but to her alarm, she got trapped in a net as soon as they left the table. "HELP! The cheesiness was a trick!"
But then, she heard rustling coming from one of the plants, and soon Wendy popped her head up from it. "Mabel?"
Mabel didn't really know how to react... Either with alarm, or just pure joy that she'd found someone she knew. "Wendy!? I... I can't believe it..."
Wendy was smiling, seemingly relieved to have found her too. "Here, let me get that for ya." Then she threw an axe at the net, cutting her down. But just as she did so, Mabel collided with her, hugging her tightly.
"Wendy... I'm so glad to find you! I thought everyone else was gone..." Mabel was trying to stop herself from crying from joy.
The teenager was laughing slightly, hugging her back. "Hey, hey, it's okay. We have each other now."
And then, almost like he was trying to ruin the moment, Ford sprang into few, his gun pointed at Wendy, who almost immediately pointed her crossbow at him in return.
"Mabel, I heard you yell, are you alright?" Ford asked her, without taking his eyes off Wendy.
The pre-teen quickly broke from her friend, slightly panicked. "Ford! It's okay, you can put the gun away! I was just a little startled! It's just Wendy!"
Ford relaxed slightly, before lowering his gun. "Right. So she's your friend."
Mabel nodded, watching as Wendy lowered her crossbow, looking at Ford with slight confusion. "Mabel, who's this?"
Mabel thought for a second, before realising that Wendy and Ford hadn't actually met before. "This is Stanford, you know, Stan's twin brother? I thought Soos told you about him..."
Wendy looked at Ford, noticing how alike he looked to Stan. "Oh right, well, I honestly thought he was joking. But I guess he wasn't."
There was an awkward silence, before Wendy spoke up again. "We shouldn't stay in the open for too long. Let me show you my hideout." She started walking to the store 'Edgy on Purpose', showing the two of them in, even though the air was still tense with Ford there.
They were all soon sitting by a fire in the shop, as Wendy told her story of the apocolypse. "We were playing Truth or Dare in the cemetary when it happened. The eyeballs froze Nate, Lee, Tambry and Thompson." She sighed. "Robbie almost got away but had to pause to take a selfie. I was the only one lucky enough to get away, and I've only been able to survive so far thanks to the apocalypse training my dad makes me and my brothers do every year." She looked across to Mabel and Ford. "So, what about you two?"
Mabel looked down for a second. "I... I was the cause of all this. I had this, globe thing and Bill... the one behind all this... he tricked me. Said if I broke it Dipper would turn back to normal. But instead, this happened. I... I can't even find Dipper, after all, he has to be around here somewhere. Great Uncle found me and we've been together ever since, trying to find any other survivors... You haven't seen Dipper have you? Or Stan? Or anyone?"
Wendy looked at her for a second. Even though she had Dipper weren't as close anymore, for obvious reasons, she still worried for him, so she could see what Mabel must be going through. She shook her head. "No, sorry. As soon as I was able I came here, haven't seen anyone else. Well, anyone I did see was taken by the rats, at it wasn't anyone either of us knew personally."
The girl looked down sadly, before Wendy continued to speak. "But we're here together right? They've got to be out there somewhere. And if they're anything like us, they're looking for us."
Mabel looked up, smiling slightly. "Thanks Wendy."
"Don't worry about it."
Mabel and Wendy were sitting on the roof of the Mall, watching as armageddon raged on around them. "The end of the world. Man, those death metal album covers got it shockingly right."
Mabel looked across the wasteland, sighing. "You know, at first I thought I'd be able to get through this. But I can't find Stan, or Dipper anywhere. I can't do anything without my family. And there's nothing we can do to change this nightmare, we've lost."
The teen put a hand on her shoulder. "Look, dude, it's not over yet. You've beaten Bill once before, so why is this time any different?"
"I had Dipper then."
"Then you need to get him back. Look, this summer, I've seen some amazing things, but nothing as amazing as you and your brother. I don't know it it's dumb luck or yin and yang, or whatever, but when you two work together, thee's like nothing you two can't accomplish. You just need to find each other, and team up, and save the universe."
"But I don't even know where to look for him. I don't even know if he's even in the town."
And right on cue, Ford came out from around the corner, after checking out the rest of the area. "You two, look over there." He pointed in one direction, his face tense with slight shock.
Mabel and Wendy looked in the direction he was pointing, and they gasped slightly. In the distance, at the edge of town on the cliffs, was a large yellow bubble, with Dipper's pine tree on it.
"It's... It's the pine tree from Dipper's hat! He has to be in there. I just know it!" Mabel felt happy, excited even, she finally had a shot at finding Dipper. But it was more of a certain. because she just knew that he was in that bubble, there was no doubt about it.
Not much to say this chapter, just that I might have some art for it on my devaint art in the coming days, so make sure to have a check there to see if I've added anything. ;)
