"Where the hell is Blake?" Weiss shouted from the cockpit while Ruby flipped switches in preparation for takeoff. Looking at the empty rooftop, Yang thought the same question.
"She was right behind me!" she yelled while watching the door to the staircase, hoping Blake burst through at any second. Her heart leapt when the door opened a second later, only to crash into her stomach when a zombie stumbled through.
"You lost her?" Weiss shouted over the sound of the rotors spinning above their heads. "God, you're the worst not-girlfriend ever."
"Lift off!" Yang shouted back before sprinting towards the run-of-the-mill, half-decomposed civilian zombie.
Its jaw fell open as soon as its eyes locked onto her, but she put a bullet through its head and jumped over its body right as it hit the ground. Yanking open the door seconds later, she fired two more shots at the group of Zs trying to force their way out. With the immediate threats out of the way, she hurried into the stairwell and discovered the less-than-ideal situation in front of her - mainly, a staircase swarming with zombies headed for the roof.
"Blake!" she shouted, drawing all the attention her way and hearing no response but the sounds of the undead.
"Shit."
So much for an easy search-and-rescue mission.
The stairs were out of the question unless she wanted to crowd surf on zombies. So she threw her pistol back in its holster, tightened the strap of the shotgun around her back, and hopped over the stairwell railing.
Standing on the side of the stairs no one was supposed to use, she looked down and counted three flights to the bottom. Survivable, if she wanted to nurse a broken leg for the next few months. But she had a better idea - an idea straight out of the movies.
"Alright, Yang. Time to be a hero," she muttered while the closest zombies crowded towards her. Dropping herself down to the lowest rung of the railing, her feet now dangling in the air, she looked down and pinpointed her next target. The instant cold, dead fingers grabbed at her hands, she let go.
The fall lasted only a second before she crashed (not very gracefully) into the railing of the floor below. Her sudden appearance startled the zombies stumbling nearby, but she scurried down the railing and dropped again before they grabbed ahold of her. Another fall, another rough landing, more startled zombies. After doing that one more time, she landed at the bottom of the stairwell, grabbed the shotgun off her back, and blasted her way into the hall.
What they didn't show in the movies was how much that freaking hurt. She was going to have bruises on her underarms for the next month.
Bursting into the hallway, she fired another shot that tore through three zombies pushing their way into the stairwell. The instant they fell, she broke into a sprint to make it around the wave of ghouls.
"Blake!" she called out in a hushed whisper while the group pursued her down the hall. She had no idea where she was going, and no idea where Blake might be. Where the heck had she disappeared to? Did she decide to go sightseeing or something?
"Keep it cool," Yang muttered, doing her best to calm her heartbeat and focus on being awesome. This was her chance to shine. Of course, her moment to shine included soldier zombies everywhere. But that was...only slightly terrifying.
"Why don't you try her on the comms?" Weiss asked, breaking into Yang's hero moment to offer obvious advice.
"Don't you think I tried that?" Reaching a branch in the hallway, she looked in every direction before continuing forward.
"No. If you had, we would've heard you."
Somehow, Weiss always found ways to be annoying. It was a skill, really. Or an art form.
"Then she'd hear this pointless conversation and speak up," Yang pointed out. "She must've lost her earpiece…"
After several minutes of frantic searching, Yang thought she heard something over the tireless zombies chasing her. Tuning her ears away from the sounds of danger, she heard...gunshots. Hope restored, she sprinted towards the sound, ducking or dodging any random zombies she came across on the way. She could tell it was Blake just by the pattern of the shots - a steady, calm, pop, pop, pop, pop unconcerned with the life-threatening situation.
Unfortunately, if Yang heard the gunfire, so did the rest of the unwelcome visitors in the building. As her feet carried her towards the source, she rounded a corner and slid to a stop to assess the situation in front of her - which was a lot of zombies trying to break through a set of double doors.
"Around it is," she muttered, taking off in search of another entrance.
Several hallways later, she found a clear path towards another set of double doors exactly like the ones from before. She quickly tried the handle, but it was locked.
"What's with the locks in this place?" she complained, tugging at the handle with all her might before peering through the small glass window. At first, she saw nothing but a huge room with lots of fancy computers and zombies. Following the path of the zombies, however, she found Blake single-handedly holding off the stream of undead looking for a snack.
Yang needed to hurry. Or at least somewhat rush, since Blake was skillful enough to hold her own for a few more minutes.
There was another keypad beside the door - the same kind that Blake had expertly unlocked at the armory. Staring at the contraption, Yang tried to remember what Blake did to open it up.
"Ok, first she...or did she…?" Drawing a blank, Yang tapped the headset in her ear. "Ruby, I need your help. Can you tell me how to hack this keypad thing?"
"What type of keypad is it?"
Glancing at the silver box with numbers on it, Yang shrugged.
"A normal one?"
"I'm guessing a SafeLock 3000," Ruby mused while Yang shifted impatiently. "Ok, first you need to remove the front panel. There's wires underneath - blue, red, yellow, purple, green, light green, and this weird orange that's kind of brown. Splice the blue with the yellow, purple, and weird orange then cut the red three seconds before cutting the light green -"
"Hold up," Yang interrupted. "Nevermind. I'll figure something else out."
Deciding to go the 'hero' route, she jabbed some random numbers, held her breath, then sighed when nothing happened.
"Plan B."
She returned to the window and pressed her nose to the glass, searching for another way in. As soon as she spotted a set of catwalks near the top of the room, she spun around and nearly screamed when a hand grabbed at her. Thankfully, her reaction was to kick rather than scream, which knocked the much-smaller-but-still-freaking-scary soldier away from her.
The kick was half-powered at best, but zombies weren't exactly the most nimble of creatures, so it toppled onto the ground and had a great deal of difficulty getting back up. But she wasn't about to test her luck, so she skirted around the creature and sprinted away. What she needed now was a stairwell - any stairwell would do.
"Ruby, what do you want to bet we never see either of them again?" Weiss asked. She didn't have to say that over their communication line, but apparently she wanted to keep Yang company. Or bother her.
"Probably pretty good. But they might be fresh zombies."
"Can we keep them as pets?" Nora chimed in.
Racing into the nearest stairwell, Yang resisted the urge to toss her headset into the nearest zombie's mouth. Instead, she sprinted up the stairs and slammed through the doorway on the top floor.
"Yes!" she exclaimed when she found the door leading to the catwalks at the top of the room.
But it was locked. And there was another one of those god-awful keypads beside it.
"Ruby?" she asked, scowling at it. "What happens if I shoot this SuperLock thing?"
"SafeLock," Ruby corrected her. "SafeLock 3000. It's one of the most advanced -"
"What happens if I shoot it?"
"Oh, uh, with no power, it'll probably open?"
Sighing at the solution that could have been mentioned three flights of stairs ago, Yang grabbed her shotgun off her back. Aiming at the keypad, she squeezed the trigger and watched the stupid SafeLock 3000 explode into three thousand little pieces.
With that problem solved, she yanked on the handle and grinned when it moved. The next second, she was hurrying across the maze of catwalks hanging above the room.
Blake had positioned herself near the center of the room and was fending off zombies as they funneled through the computers. Her back was mostly protected by a man-made fortress of desks and chairs, but it wasn't perfect. It looked even less perfect as a particularly large commando zombie walked around the back of the desks, and Blake didn't seem to have any idea it was there.
Common sense told Yang to shout out, but she didn't want Blake to turn her attention away from the more pressing dangers in front of her. No, Yang was going to take care of this herself.
Sprinting across the catwalks, she kept one eye on the commando while searching for a quick way down. A dangling electrical wire would do the trick, especially since it dangled right behind Blake's shoulder. Without breaking stride, Yang leapt over the catwalk's railing and grabbed her makeshift rope.
Of course, because it was a makeshift rope, it pulled right out of the ceiling, and she plummeted to the ground with nothing slowing her down. There was no time to think about the stupidity of her decision. The next second she landed on top of the commando zombie, knocking it to the floor as her previously-new boot went right through its skull.
"Eww..." she whined, pulling her foot out of the pile of goo and madly wishing she hadn't done that. Spinning around, Blake looked at the dead zombie, then at Yang, then back again.
"You saved me."
Quickly forgetting about zombie brains all over her boots, Yang smiled, puffed out her chest, and said, "Of course I did!"
For whatever reason, the response made Blake smirk.
"I guess that means I have to sleep with you now."
Smirk still set in place, Blake turned around and popped off five more shots that sent five more Zs to their final resting places. Yang, meanwhile, was stuck on that last comment, which sounded an awful lot like 'sleeping together' as in sleeping together.
"I - uh, I mean..." she sputtered while mindlessly lifting her shotgun and blasting an approaching zombie to smithereens. Her gaze remained fixed on Blake, who emptied an entire magazine of perfect shots - clearing out the horde nearest to them - before seamlessly sliding another into place. Once that was done, she spun towards Yang and leaned close - their lips nearly touching as her eyes slid shut -
A nearby computer crashed to the floor as a zombie tumbled over a desk, jarring them back to reality.
"Not the time," Blake said before dragging Yang towards the rear of the room. "Maybe we can loop around them," she added as they burst into a hall. Considering the group of zombies to their right, they sprinted to the left as if their lives depended on it. Which...their lives kind of did.
"It's a square."
Blake made a motion with her hand that Yang would assume was supposed to be a square, but she was a little too preoccupied searching for threats to know for sure.
The main hallway was wide and long, but it was the smaller hallways and rooms branching off of it that really got her heart racing. Groups of zombies wandered everywhere and, from the chorus of moans in the air, many of them spotted their next meal flying by.
For a building that felt lifeless and abandoned when they got here, there was now a little too much activity for Yang's liking. Flashes of movement were everywhere - not close enough to be an immediate threat, but they were dragging a big ball of zombies behind them.
"It's been quiet for a while," Weiss commented while Yang and Blake reached the end of the main hall and shot to the left. "Think they died?"
"Or they're doing it," Ruby suggested, but Weiss promptly laughed.
"Blake and Yang not doing it is a fact of life - like zombies."
"And cookies!" Ruby added.
"Will you - please - shut up?" Yang huffed back to them. Thankfully, they listened. Not so thankfully, Yang glanced over her shoulder and immediately wished that she hadn't.
"Shit," she cursed under her breath while searching for a faster way out. Getting to the rooftop was ideal, but getting out of the building was looking like a really good backup plan. With what looked like every zombie on the planet right on their tail, they could get outside and have Ruby pick them up in the middle of the airstrip.
"New plan!" she called out. At the end of the hall was their next-best chance at escape - a window. "This way!"
While Blake slowed down to make the turn, Yang sped up and continued straight ahead.
"Wait - Yang -"
There was no time for waiting, as Yang sprinted forward and threw her shoulder into the window at full speed. She expected the window to shatter as she burst outside to freedom. Instead, she hit the glass with a sickening crunch before crashing to the floor in pain.
"That's reinforced glass," Blake explained, helping Yang to her feet and giving her a little push to start running again.
"Think I just broke my shoulder…" Yang groaned, clutching her now-broken arm as they raced down the hall according to their original plan. Now that she thought about it, taking the stairs didn't sound like such a bad idea.
"It's filled with Zs," she cautioned when they finally reached the staircase and Blake reached for the handle.
"Then I guess we'll have to clear them out."
With a sexy, confident smile, Blake grabbed her gun off her back, held it in one hand while keeping the other on the door handle, and waited for Yang to be ready. After reaching for her shotgun with her non-broken arm, Yang took a deep breath, made another mistake in checking the swarm bearing down on them, and decided there was no better way to die than trapped in a dingy, narrow stairwell with a thousand zombies coming from every direction.
As soon as she lifted her shotgun into a ready position and nodded, Blake opened the door and Yang stormed through. The first zombie she laid eyes on earned its very own shotgun blast - a powerful boom that sent the remainder of its body careening into the group of Zs behind it, knocking most of them over in the process.
With the path to the foot of the stairs temporarily clear, she hurried towards it and - this time - made sure Blake was still behind her. Thankfully, Blake was right on her tail. But right on Blake's tail was the death ball of Zs they'd drawn this way. It would take the ungainly corpses a while to break through the door, but it would also take Yang and Blake a while to fight their way to the top of the stairs.
As the saying goes...one step at a time.
Yang made it up the first ten steps before reaching their first combatant - another fatigue-wearing zombie that got her heart pumping. Blake took care of it before Yang even raised her weapon. Seeing as how Yang was in front, however, she quickly realized that gravity was working against them in more ways than one. And by that, she meant that instead of collapsing in a heap as Zs tended to do, this one had enough downward momentum that it flew towards them like a heavy, deadweight projectile.
"Watch it!" she called out as instinct took over and she caught the body before it crashed into her. It smelled foul, felt...mushy...and, with its used-to-be face nearly pressed into hers, she did the heroic thing and didn't panic (or scream) while casting it aside and watching it tumble down the staircase.
Fortunately, she chose the side Blake wasn't on. Unfortunately, Blake definitely heard the scream, and gave Yang an amused look before taking the lead.
It was probably best for Blake to lead anyway, considering she was faster, lighter on her feet, and had the weaponry to take out the zombies one-by-one. Yang was better suited for larger hordes where she could take out ten to twenty at a time. At least, that's what she told herself while Blake made short work of the group on the second story landing and continued upward.
Using the railing for support, they jumped or clambered over the bodies in their path while adding to the fray. Moans from below kept their feet moving even though their breathing grew labored, and Yang's quads couldn't be the only ones burning with every step. But they were close, and the faint sound of blades chopping through the air told her that they were nearly out.
"Weiss!" she shouted into her headset while Blake cleared out the last Zs at the top of the stairs and unceremoniously dumped them over the railing. "We're here!" she added, pushing open the door only to jump back when bullets ricocheted off the metal.
"Weiss!" she shouted again, crouching in the safety of the stairwell while a minigun sprayed bullets everywhere. "Tell Nora to cut it out so we can get out of here!"
Their pursuers were only a floor below them now, presenting the unenviable decision of whether they wanted to be riddled with bullets or bite marks soon. Fortunately, the minigun cut off a second later, and both of them raced across the rooftop strewn with bodies. Just ahead, Ruby kept the helicopter hovering a few feet off the ground while Weiss and Nora beckoned them forward. Like they needed more motivation...they flew across the rooftop and jumped on board.
"Lift off," Weiss told Ruby as the door slammed shut behind them, and the helicopter immediately lifted into the air - and safety.
"Jesus…" Yang breathed out while collapsing into one of the seats for the short ride home.
"Wow, look at all of 'em!"
Nora pointed at the rooftop, but Yang sighed and leaned her head back against the headrest. She'd already seen how many zombies they had chasing them. She didn't need to see it again from a distance.
"You finally saved her," Weiss added while they left danger behind.
"Nice to see you too, Weiss. Glad you're still alive and everything."
"Now they can - you know - do it, right?"
"Ruby!"
Mortified by the question, Yang glanced to the side and confirmed that Blake had, in fact, heard it perfectly. And was now smirking.
"Do what?" Nora asked, only for Ruby to wave her towards the cockpit. When Ruby whispered something into her ear, she giggled. "I've saved Ren like thousands of times!" she added before trying to touch one of the dials, which Weiss smacked her hand away from.
"I can't tell if she means actually saving him or not," Yang whispered to Blake, but Blake responded by reaching over and running her fingers through Yang's hair.
"I'm not thinking about them right now…" she added with a sultry look that got Yang's heart beating faster than all those zombies and all those stairs.
If what Weiss said was true...then Yang finally saved Blake. Technically, they'd saved each other many times before, but this was the first time the situation seemed tilted out of Blake's favor. Of course, Yang would never bet against Blake, but she was taking the win if she had one.
"I'm glad you're ok," she admitted softly (although 'soft' was relative in a helicopter).
"I'm just fine. How's your shoulder?" When Blake set her hand on Yang's shoulder and Yang unwittingly flinched, Blake nodded and gently lifted her hand. "I'll be careful with that one tonight."
Yang's brow rose, but Blake had already turned away and leaned against her for the short trip back to the hangar. Content to take the breather, she wrapped her good arm around Blake's shoulders and savored their newfound proximity.
Even though she wasn't quite sure what to do with the suggestions being made (suggestions she'd been dreaming about for some time now), she tried not to overthink it as Ruby skillfully landed the helicopter in one piece.
"Everyone out!" Ruby said while pressing buttons and throwing switches to power the vehicle down. Everyone else grabbed a bag, hopped out, and made their way to the truck.
As much as Yang liked flying, she liked driving more. Something about getting behind the wheel of a giant wrecking machine and running through a crowd of Zs...there was nothing better than that. Although, the bags of weapons they just collected was a close second.
"It's like Christmas." Nora hugged one of their new combat shotguns to her chest and spun in a gleeful circle. "I want to use them all at once!"
"Please don't." Taking the shotgun out of Nora's hands, Weiss stored it in the back of the truck with the rest of their new cache and shut the door. "We'll go through everything later. First, let's get somewhere safe."
"For once, I agree with you." Once Weiss rolled her eyes, Yang smiled and pulled herself up into the driver's seat. "Safehouse fifteen, coming right up!"
"Sixteen," Blake corrected from the passenger seat.
"But I thought fifteen was closer." After strapping herself in and starting the engine, Yang sent Blake a curious look. "Right?"
"Right, but I want to go to sixteen instead."
Seeing as how Blake expressed very few desires for anything, Yang was loath to turn down such a simple request. "Sixteen it is!" When no one (Weiss) complained about driving a few extra minutes, Yang navigated them out of the hangar and back to familiar roads.
"I like sixteen more anyway," Ruby added from the backseat. "Way better beds."
Suddenly putting two-and-two together, Yang glanced at Blake and blushed like a fool.
If Blake was serious about this, then…
Holy shit. After doing nothing more than heavy, shameless flirting for so long, were they really going to jump right to that? Sure, she had some pretty explicit dreams and fantasies to go along with endless desires, but...
But what was she complaining about? If she wanted to do it, and Blake wanted to do it, and she finally completed her obligatory heroic action, then…why shouldn't they? Not to mention she really, really wanted to.
"Home sweet temporary home!" she called out as a heavily fortified mansion came into view, trying to sound nonchalant even though her heart was racing again.
"I'll get it."
Before anyone offered otherwise, Blake jumped out of the truck and headed over to the gate. While she worked at the heavy padlocks securing the even heavier gate - as calm, collected, and unflappable as ever - Yang's anticipation grew. She'd spent a long time seeing what those lithe, confident fingers could do. Now, she wanted to feel what they could do...
"Are you drooling?"
Ruby stuck a finger in the corner of Yang's mouth and giggled when Yang swatted it away.
"Of course not -"
"You are!" Ruby teased. "You finally saved her, now you want your 'reward!'"
"Ruby!"
When Ruby giggled and returned to the backseat, Yang shook her head and steered the truck through the gate before waiting for Blake on the other side. As soon as Blake hopped back in, they made their way up the long drive and parked in front of the formidable entryway.
"Do I get another 'special' room tonight?" Nora asked while they gathered their belongings.
"If you want?" Weiss asked with a glance at Ruby. "I don't think it's necessary, but -"
"But it's cool!" Nora interrupted. "I tried to pick the lock."
"Is that why the lock was broken?"
When Nora nodded, looking all too pleased with herself, Weiss sighed and unlocked the front door. "Fine. You can stay in another 'special' room. But leave your weapons here."
Nora wasn't the only one who willingly dropped her weapons on the entryway table, as the rest of them offloaded their extra bags too. They could go through everything later (or wait for Ruby and Weiss to do their obsessive hoarding thing). Right now felt like a great time for a little rest.
"Time for bed?" Ruby asked before sending Yang a very-obvious wink. Rather than respond to the blatant encouragement, Yang frowned at Weiss.
"You corrupted my little sister."
"You have no idea…" Weiss replied with a smirk that made Yang wrinkle her nose. Before she could respond, however, Blake grabbed her hand and dragged her upstairs.
"I think you should stay with me tonight," she said while leading Yang down the hall. "I still feel...shaken up...about what happened today."
Considering Blake still walked and talked with all the swagger in the world, that didn't seem entirely true. Not that Yang was in any position to argue, as she was pulled into one of the bedrooms, spun around, and pushed onto the bed. She heard the door close about the same time her back hit the covers, and the next second Blake was on top of her, straddling her legs and running both hands up her stomach.
"Thank you…" Blake murmured while letting her hands wander wherever they damn well pleased, all while Yang's heart threatened to beat right out of her chest.
"N-no problem," she stammered, already breathless but desperately craving more. "Anything for you, you know?"
After humming at the response, Blake paused and gave Yang a look that was somehow affectionate and predatory at the same time.
"I'm going to make your dreams come true."
A slew of curses floated across Yang's mind as she wondered how Blake could be unrelentingly sexy and blisteringly hot at the same time. She also wondered if Blake somehow knew about the dreams she'd been having, but that didn't matter when Blake leaned down and captured her lips in a hungry kiss.
Finally.
Feeling Blake's lips on hers sent desire coursing through her veins, an electric sensation that intensified as the kiss deepened. Their tongues collided soon after, greedily tasting each other while Blake's hands roamed through Yang's hair and underneath her clothes.
Thirty seconds in, and this was already way better than any dream she'd ever had. Blake confirmed that when she broke away from Yang's lips and peppered her neck with kisses.
"God…" Yang breathed out, clinging to her composure while lust threatened to take over. But feeling Blake's body pressed against hers, and feeling the soft touches or shockingly thrilling nibbles on her neck, would send her into pleasure overload in no time.
"What's this story of yours rated?" Blake whispered in Yang's ear before pushing her jacket off of her shoulders.
"Uh…" She could hardly think right now, especially when Blake's teeth grazed her ear. "R...I-I guess?"
"Then you'd better cut to intermission," Blake said while reaching down and unbuttoning Yang's pants.
"Shit. Yeah -"
***
[Super Zombie Slayers will return after this short break.]