Mom sat next to me as I slumped on the couch. The TV blurred in the background like white noise. My heart began hurting even more.
"Alice…" Mom held out a hand.
I sighed, looking away.
"It's not your fault," she told me, gently. "That friend of yours, she…"
"Was Dad really a bad person?" I asked.
Mom breathed out, slowly.
"He was, once," she sighed. "But he changed for the better. He was a good person when he was with me, and around you."
"He betrayed Louisa's mother," I told her. "She hates me… and now her daughter is dead."
"The daughter behind all your suffering at school," Mom patted my shoulder. "Listen, dear… there is a difference between people who choose to let go of the past and those who don't. And Louisa's mother chose not to. She paid the price for her actions."
"No one should have to die," I told Mom. "Not even…"
I bit my lip. All the bullying I'd faced had been because of Louisa. Did she deserve her fate? Part of me agreed… and the other part of me felt sick.
"Well, it doesn't matter whether or not she deserved it," Mom told me. "The truth of the matter is… it's what happened."
I nodded, sighing. "You're right."
"You're so brave, Alice," Mom kissed my forehead. "A little hero. I'm so proud of you."
I grinned. "Thanks, Mom."
My heart thumped. But what about Chrissi…?
I'll admit, I did feel a bit sorry for her… Louisa saw her as nothing but an object after all…
The thing I disliked most about Zomberry Island- apart from the zomberries themselves - was how dark it was. Even the starting location, Eastman, was very dark… yet also bright at the same time, due to all the police cars blaring red and blue.
Fierce Fox and I approached the police officers. They told us that the Fort Savini Tunnel- a giant, brick, garbage-filled tunne - was blocking out zomberries, since there had been an outbreak. The police were not interested in dealing with it, so the director sent Fierce Fox and I instead. He gave us a flashlight and a clue notebook.
"This will be our only portable light source for a while," I told Fierce Fox. "… even though it sucks."
"What happened on this island?" Fierce Fox asked, as we entered the dark Fort Savini Tunnel.
We had to climb over a school bus to get in there. Luckily Poptropican physics made it very easy.
"Well, quite a few people ate all these blueberries from this smoothie place, and got infected," I explained. "Our job is to cure them all and confront the smoothie head honcho. But we'll get to that later." My eyes widened, as I leaped over a lorry. "Zomberry! Jump over it."
We did just that. The zomberries boggled his crazy eyes at us, rubbing his purple skin. We went deeper into the tunnel, eventually coming to the end. However, zomberries were blocking it.
So I picked up a car key, used it on a car, and scared the zomberries away with light.
We arrived on a street. It was just as dark as the rest of the island, with the occasional street light. Above our heads was an apartment in construction.
Fierce Fox and I scaled to the top, finding a crane. With my instruction, Fierce Fox swapped around some platforms, so we could reach a lunchbox. In that lunchbox was a subway pass. I grabbed that, then we headed to the subway.
The subway was normal enough. There were train tracks, signs on the walls, posters, and security passes. You could even argue the zomberries were normal.
Fierce Fox and I avoided the purple creatures and went through the security lock, using the pass.
We came to the gloomy train platform. I grabbed a light hanging down from the ceiling, then we headed across the tracks. I bumped into a zomberry; dread raced through me. I ran backwards, away from the zomberries with a scream. Fierce Fox stared at me.
"It's just what happens when you run into them." I explained, shaking my head. "Come on."
We headed forward, and found the train. Fierce Fox moved a rock from its wheel; it moved forward. Then we exited the subway, heading to a different apartment.
This red-brick one was actually built, but was crumbling. I fiddled with the fuse, and switched some of the lights on. Then, via the roof, we entered the building.
Inside there was just… sad, really. Most doors were boarded up, and there was hardly any light (no surprise there). There were zomberries around, but Fierce Fox and I ignored them. We headed into Dr. Romero's apartment.
It looked like no one had been home for a while, due to dust in the corners and the knocked over lampshade. There was a frame of Albert Einstein, and a desk full of scientific equipment.
"Dr. Romero is a scientist," I explained. "He… he was investigating the outbreak, but got turned into a zomberry himself. We'll meet him later. For now…" I pointed to his desk. "Grab that sticky note on his laptop."
Fierce Fox obliged. We entered Joe Puddy's apartment, which also appeared to be abandoned. We scoured the cute little apartment, picking up two things: a bolt cutter and a note about Joe's diet from his wife. Then we exited that apartment.
"So… has everyone been turned into zomberries?" Fierce Fox asked.
"Funny you should say that," I replied. "We're about to meet our first non-zomberry."
My friend shrugged and followed me to Gamer Guy's apartment.
"Hey, neighbours!" Gamer Guy called. "Come chill!"
His apartment was messy, full of spilled food. A bright light was coming from his TV screen, as he was playing a game. Inside a trash can, there was an empty bottle for something that looked like Mountain Dew, as well as a flash of a blue hoodie.
Fierce Fox grabbed the label off the bottle, then we turned to Gamer Guy.
"How are you surviving?" Fierce Fox asked.
"Nothing but cheese curls and Valley Rain soda. I am rocking hard, bud!" Gamer Guy answered.
Not the best food to eat during an apocalypse, if you ask me. I picked up a camera on the stereo system, and then we left. We were finished with the apartments, so we exited the building.
Fierce Fox followed me to Chinatown, which still wasn't better. Most of the shops were covered in caution tape, the lights turned off.
There was a restaurant there called 'A Wok and a Hard Place'. It was connected to a karaoke bar via a line of lights. But we'll get back to that later.
Fierce Fox and I entered the karaoke bar. There, the ground was shaking, and most of the lights weren't on. Though it looked like a cool place to party. Without all the zomberries, of course. However, there was another non-zomberry there: DJ Saturday Nite.
She was stuck there, so we needed to rescue her. I shone the flashlight at the disco ball, clearing some zomberries out the way. Fierce Fox switched the disco lights on; most of the zomberries left.
"You're a lifesaver!" DJ Saturday Nite cried.
"What's next, then?" Fierce Fox asked.
The DJ shrugged. "I don't know about you, but it's time for me to boogie. Peace out, zombie fighters!"
"Looks like she left her laptop running." Fierce Fox said, gesturing to DJ Saturday Nite's laptop.
"She also left a note," I said, grabbing the note for our clues. I faced the laptop. "And now we're going to find Doctor Romero's phone."
I logged onto the laptop, which was way faster than my own laptop. I clicked, 'Find my Phone', and using a note from Dr. Romero's apartment, I signed in.
Then, using the program, I tracked down Dr. Romero's phone. It was in an underground bunker.
"Let's go," I stood up.
After a short journey, we arrived at the underground bunker. The zomberries were chasing after us, so we quickly headed inside. In there was a laboratory, full of building supplies.
But we didn't focus on those. Fierce Fox followed me down, nearing some high-tech equipment. In a cage, there was a zomberry. But not just any zomberry.
"Dr. Romero," I said unsteadily. Fierce Fox raised her brow. I pointed to a red telephone near a screen. "Hey, dial his number. It's here."
I handed Fierce Fox the number. She grabbed it, and raced over to the phone. She rang the number. Dr. Romero's phone buzzed, coming out of his pocket, as well as a slip of paper. I raced over and picked up both.
"What now?" Fierce Fox asked.
"We're solving the mystery, though I already know the answer," I replied. "We just gotta do what the island wants."
So, using a board, we 'solved' the mystery. Like I expected, blueberries were the cause of the outbreak.
"We've got to make a cure now, right?" Fierce Fox asked.
"Spot on." I replied. The coffee machine (yes, there was a coffee machine) went off, and a cup of coffee was made for us. I grabbed it.
"Uh… Alice…" Fierce Fox spoke up.
I heard a moan from nearby us. A bunch of zomberries were there, waving their arms around.
"Where'd they come from!?" I asked. I gulped. "Come on, let's get out of here!"
Fierce Fox raced out of the laboratory, the zomberries on our tails. Fierce Fox kept a grip on my arm, so I wouldn't slack behind. We managed to escape the bunker, locking the door behind us.
"Was that meant to happen?" Fierce Fox asked, taking a deep breath.
"No," I said, with fear. "No it wasn't."
Oh god, I thought. Willy Wonka was right. My troubles aren't over after all.
We stood in front of a crate that read 'DO NOT OPEN UNTIL 2000'.
Welp, 16 years past then and the world still sucks, I thought.
We were in the wharf, and zomberries were watching us. So, breaking the entrance with bolt cutters, we headed inside, and found a crate full of stuff: food, movies, posters, CDs. And a non-zomberry.
"I thought the end of the world would come when machines became self-aware," the guy said. "But zombies? Didn't see that coming."
"How do you survive in here?" Fierce Fox asked.
"Canned food, bottled water, and the companionship of a shadow puppet I call 'Hombre Umbra'." the guy answered.
"That sounds excruciating." Fierce Fox commented, and I couldn't help but agree.
"I'll be honest," the guy said. "I'd do just about anything for a fresh cup of coffee right now."
"Well, get your money out," I replied, holding out the coffee cup. "'Cause we've got a deal."
As well as helping us with some lights, the guy gave us a keycard to the shipyard's computer network. He was the most helpful person we'd met so far.
His light directed us up some crates (there were a lot of crates), scaring off some zomberries. We got to the top, where there was a crane that lifted crates.
Using the crane, we picked up a crate of blueberries. It took a little work, since we had to dodge some things, but we pulled through in the end.
Fierce Fox and I jumped down to the crate, and headed inside. It was full of blueberries and blueberry juice, and a giant zomberry. Blueberry juice was drizzling down his chin, and staining his clothing.
Fierce Fox dealt with him, while I snatched some blueberries. Using the camera, I took a flash picture, and the zomberry stopped attacking us. He slowly left the crate, and we followed him.
We returned to the underground bunker. Or at least the door. There were zomberries in there, and we couldn't touch them.
"Maybe we can coax them out?" Fierce Fox suggested.
"Since when are you the smart one?" I asked, grinning. I frowned. "But how are we going to coax them out?" I gasped. "Hey, we can use ourselves! The zomberries chase after us!"
Fierce Fox nodded at that. We opened the sealed bunker door, and I could already hear the zomberries moaning. I nodded at Fierce Fox.
"Hey, zomberries!" she taunted. "Up here!"
The zomberries approached us, boggling their eyes. We took a few steps back; the zomberries followed. Then, once we'd got them quite a distance away, we rushed back into the bunker. We slammed the door shut.
"The relief," I sighed, feeling my chest deflate. "Come on, Fierce Fox."
We headed down to Dr. Romero. Next to him was a machine that could make the zomberry cure. We had to do an extremely complicated process to create the cure, it took- just kidding. We had to spin a wheel around for a minute.
So we created the cure, and placed it in a medical gun. The first victim to be cured of his suffering was Dr. Romero. We blasted the antidote at him, and he returned to normal.
"You did it!" he cried. "But to make a big enough dose to cure the entire population, we need to make more. Let's get to work!"
"Did you hear that?!" Fierce Fox asked.
There was a lot of banging near the door. Well, there already was, but it was steadily getting louder.
"They're coming!" Dr. Romero cried. "Quick! Board up that doorway!"
"I'll deal with them." Fierce Fox nodded at me. She raced off to deal with the zomberries. I stared at the cure and sighed.
I turned the wheel around, while Dr. Romero stood there and shouted at me to go faster.
(As 'useful' as that was, Dr. Romero, you could've, uh, at least helped me turn the thing…)
"There's too many!" Fierce Fox called from above. "I can't deal with them all!"
"It's okay!" I replied. "I've got the antidote!"
"Quick!" Dr Romero cried. "Go up and use it!" He became even more helpful and locked himself in a cage. "I'm just going to hang out in here. You can handle it!"
I sighed and shook my head, but leaped up to help Fierce Fox. She was sitting on the floor, knocked out. Her skin was turning blue, which sent shivers up my spine. So I faced the zomberries with my antidote, and started firing.
There were quite a lot of zomberries, and my aim wasn't great. I fired all over the place- thankfully I had unlimited antidote.
I sighed and continued firing, until roughly twenty or so people were cured. Apparently that was the entire population of Eastman… I'm pretty sure my English class had more people…
Regardless, everyone was cured in the end, including Joe Puddy, Gamer Guy (who got infected- he was annoyed about it ending since he had to be a productive member of society), DJ Saturday Nite, and the only helpful character in the whole island.
This guy called Samuel Brains came forward. He was special because he was responsible for the outbreak. He owned Berry Delicious Smoothies; aka the smoothie head honcho.
"Hey, this is all your fault!" Fierce Fox snapped at him.
"And as an apology," Samuel retaliated, "I'd like to give you all these gift certificates for free smoothies! On the house!"
"Why, I ought to…" Joe Puddy grumbled. However, Samuel left before anyone could do anything.
"Brains!" Gamer Guy cried. He and Joe raced after Samuel.
"Hey, look, that Brains guy dropped something." Dr. Romero said.
He picked it up; it was revealed to be the medallion.
It was time for the bonus quest. We had to disinfect all these pumps, since they'd been infected by the zomberry syndrome. Some zomberry-rats kidnapped the crate guy, and took him away.
So Fierce Fox and I headed down to the sewers, where the zomberry liquid had infected the pipes.
After heading through the dark tunnels that were the sewers, we inserted some antidote into the pipes. The crate guy as a zomberry came to attack, but we shooed him away with steam from a vault. We had to repeat this thrice, until all the pipes were back to normal.
The crate guy came and thanked us, and that was the end of the island. However, it was not the end of my troubles just yet…