Chapter 3

Countless animals started to rush towards the subway station as the infected were not far behind. Reese and Kapp'n were calling out profusely to the survivors as they were at severe risk of losing their lives. "Come on, hurry up!" Reese yelled. "Move it! Over here!" Kapp'n called out. Zombies started to cascade downwards from both staircases on each side of the subway. Inside the train, Rover can see only a minority of the infected tumbling down, but he knows that a little can go a very long way. He grabbed Kapp'n's collar and violently shook him as he yelled in frustration, "Oi! Why aren't we moving yet!? Can't you see we're all going to die!?" Eventually, the turtle pushed the annoyed cat aside. "Can't you just be patient? There are still some more people coming!" yelled Kapp'n. The undead is starting to catch up quickly like a hungry lion who hasn't eaten for a week. One zombie managed to split up the two Able Sisters as they both collapsed face down onto the floor. Before the zombie could feast on its prey, Lottie and Isabelle assisted Sable towards the front while Mabel was being escorted by Reese and Kapp'n to the back. As the otter and the shih tzu climbed on board and were about to shut the door, Redd quickly interrupted their time of relief.

"Hey! Let me in! I don't wanna die!" he pleaded. The girls swiftly opened the door for the poor fox and closed it again before the undead could have a piece of animal meat. They were safe, for now. Meanwhile at the back, it was dead silence due to mass relief. However, Rover managed to break the tension. "Hey, you!" he demanded Kapp'n as he held him tight by his collar. "Get this train going now. We're running out of time." As Reese clearly heard this, she quickly interrupted as she had an extremely worried look across her face. "No! Wait! My friends are not here yet!" the alpaca begged as she went up close to the cat. "Get off me!" Rover snapped as he shoved Reese aside. "Don't you get it!? We're all gonna die here if we don't get moving!" Then, he turns his attention to the worried Kapp'n. "Tell the conductor that we're departing now, and that's final," he said. Despite Reese's pleadings, the turtle still insisted on waiting for the others. He quickly shook his head. "NOW!" yelled Rover impatiently. Finally, Kapp'n gave up as he took his walkie-talkie from his back pocket and put his mic near his mouth.

"This is your Kapp'n speaking, you are cleared for departure."

As he did this, Reese was left standing in utter shock with her mouth wide open. Mabel said nothing.

Meanwhile, back at the train station, the men were running out of pure strength. Same goes for the glass doors as K.K. saw faint scratch marks left from the vicious nails of the undead. He knew that they would be more than just reanimated bodies if the dog doesn't act now. The door's strength was almost at its limit. Time was REALLY running out. "Hurry up! I can't hold it much longer!" K.K. strained. "I'm trying my best! Hold on!" Digby replied through his pained grunts. Then, the next thing that they saw was bold crooked white lines on the glass which looked like spider webs, but they aren't. With sudden realisation, K.K., Digby, and Cyrus quickly backed away from the heavily damaged doors and sprinted towards the subway they could see outside. As they look back, they can see an immense wave of rabid animals breaking through the glass materials as if it was a Nook Friday sale. Then, a female voice was heard over the PA:

"Attention, Train T6738 is now departing at the Western Subway."

They scurried towards their current destination without skipping a beat. Eventually, they found more undead members thirsting for blood. Cyrus wanted to submit for a brief second, but K.K. prevented that as he guided the nervous alpaca to the subway station. The train started to move at a usual running pace, which perfectly matched the speed of our animals. K.K. and Cyrus were the first ones to board the runaway train. They extend their arms out towards Digby who is currently outrunning the horde. "Come on! Quickly!" they called out. Eventually, the shih tzu had another plan. He equipped himself with a spear and charged towards the upcoming monsters. He jousted a couple of zombies in one swipe as it pierced through their torsos like a shish kebab. Then, he swung the corpse-infested weapon directly onto the crowded group of wild animals as they toppled over like dominos, which spared more than enough time for him to take a big leap onto the train. Digby went for it as he dived inside and knocked over K.K. and Cyrus. Exhausted, even though they were safe, they know that the worst has yet to come.

At the interior, Lottie safely escorts Isabelle, Redd, and Sable to the bathroom stall, when all of a sudden, a zombie detects their obvious movements as it viciously attempts to attack them. It led a heavy batch of the undead to hunt down the leftovers. Luckily, Lottie slid the door in front of the hungry crowd which the only thing jamming it was a face of a deranged animal. She and her faithful companions contributed in holding out the incredible force of the undead, praying for a miracle, at least. Meanwhile at the front, Tom Nook spoke through the PA which grabbed the attention of all the remaining animals.

"Attention all passengers. For the safety of those of you who are on board right now, we won't be making any stops. We'll be heading straight to Haven."

When Rover heard this, he grabbed the walkie-talkie from Kapp'n's front pocket and began speaking to Nook.

"Conductor Nook, can you hear me?"

"Yes, yes. Go on."

"Have you managed to get in contact with the defence forces in Haven?"

"No sir, the signal is still buffering, hm?"

"Listen here, full-speed alright? Otherwise, we'll all miss our chance here!"

He returned the device to Kapp'n and sat down on the seat with utter frustration and relief. Then, Reese's phone started to ring. She picked it up. It was her husband, Cyrus. "Hello? Are you there?" she answered. "It's me, squirt!" he replied. As she heard this, she began to cry tears of sudden relief. "Oh, Cy-Guy! I thought you would never make it! I thought I lost you!" Reese sobbed. Cyrus felt her anguish as he joined in. "I'm sorry!" he cried. "It was a rough grind. Plenty of animals died!" K.K. tried calling the Emergency Rescue Services, but he didn't have any luck. Digby responded over the phone to Lottie. "Where are you right now!?" she asked in distress. Digby looked up at the car label above. "Um, where are in Car 1. Why?" he replied. "We are in the bathroom stalls of Car 3. I think most of them went for Car 5," Lottie retorted. "But, please! We can't hold it much longer!" Digby nodded. "Don't worry, we're coming," he said. K.K. asked Digby, "What did they say?" he said curiously. "They are in Car 3," he replied. "We are just two casr short ahead of them but a majority of passengers are in Car 5, which is four away."

Cyrus observed the current status of the car ahead of them. "Damn it, it's insanely crowded and it's blocking the occupants. We're gonna need some brawn to wade across," he suggested. The Jack Russell and the shih tzu responded to his idea as they started gearing up. K.K. found an empty guitar case which was sitting on top of the shelves. Cyrus searched through his duffel bag and to his luck, he found a heavy mallet which was weighing down his bag the entire time. Digby obtained some duct tape and wrapped it around both of his forearms. He unsheathed his claws afterwards. "OK, so I'll take on the ones in front of me, while you two will deal with the leftovers. Got it?" he instructed. "And you," Digby said as he faced K.K.. "I heard you are a musician, right? You're an expert at helping others out, so maybe why don't you lend us a hand while we're in a pickle, got it?" When they were ready to strike, K.K., Digby, Cyrus closed in onto the notorious horde that were guarding their friends in peril. They readied themselves all armed while the undead growled at them ferociously. "Let's rock and roll!" Digby said with great confidence.

CHAPTER 3 - END