This chapter about to be intense so stick around. Please make sure to Fav and Follow it would be greatly appreciated. Enjoy!
Lucy, Lola, and Lana all held each other tightly; shivering out of fear and due to the low temperature of the car they were being held at. They couldn't believe they'd be more scared than they were when the outbreak began. Ranging from being getting being surrounded to getting kidnapped and placed in a burlap sack to getting imprisoned. After being brought there, they took solace in hugging each other. But that comfort was very brief as they realized they were trapped and surrounded by more grownups than they could count.
Upon seeing the word Royal Woods High School, the loud siblings knew they were in for a rude awakening. The thoughts of their two oldest sisters flooded through their minds. Those thoughts disappeared when they saw from the corner of their eyes were dozens of cars stacked next to them could see outlines of kids from each window. All suffered the same fate as they did. They continued to look around and saw in the middle of the field was a huge dirt pile and on top was a large fat man sitting on a makeshift throne. He had this creepy grin drawn on his face. Around him were what looked like 4 blonde girls with their hair covering their faces.
All this made them cry in fear; begging for someone to help them. A violent bang echoed from the roof of the car forcing them to stay quiet. They looked to find Grease Monkey staring at them with that repulsive smile of his. The smile Lana saw when confronting him the last time they encountered. And it did not help that he was staring directly at the girl in question. Behind him stood Brick. Brick was a stark contrast to Grease; Albeit being stone-cold and emotionless. They decided to leave them alone for them to wallow in their misery. Their siblings are probably going to think they were dead, and that made them fall to a pit of despair. They'll never see them again. It was just them now; Lucy, Lana, Lola, Rocky, Sally, and Sasha as well as the other kids trapped in different areas.
This was it. The adults had brought them here to eat them. They really wished they got killed the previous day so it wouldn't be as painful. And the fact that there are flammable objects right around the corner further proves their theory. Just one small and boom they're all cooked.
Lucy wanted to say something to reassure her sisters but couldn't come up with one. She knew words were meaningless at this point.
It was as if the previous attack on the elementary school wasn't enough. This one was even worse. Not even a day had passed and the whole place is quieter than the quietest place on earth and that sounds too vague. News had spread of the incident like wildfire.
Lisa had found out what had happened and she too fell into deep despair. Forgetting everything she was doing and just wanted to be with her remaining siblings. The said sisters had almost forgotten about Lisa that they cried when she was standing next to them.
No one had slept a wink, everyone who had a sibling that was brought out by Lana only to be killed had spent the last day crying. However, one thought came to mind; The one reason many kids died after going into the unknown was all because of one girl; Lana Loud. No one wanted to say anything to the loud siblings as they knew they were hurting enough. But they did wonder; did the loud siblings deserve every to take any kind of blame for something that wasn't their fault? They didn't know what Lana was planning after all.
In the auditorium, Duke sat on his makeshift throne with a hand to his chin with Joey standing beside him. Looking at the ground shaking his head. Zeke sat in one of the chairs crossing his arms on his chest. Near the two was Stan who was marching back in forth crying and cursing in between sobs.
"It's all their fault. All of them. Those fucking bitches. Nothing good has happened since they've shown up." said a distressed Stan.
Duke didn't budge as he tapped his chin with his index finger. He was completely lost in thought. The events of the previous day kept replaying in his head like one of those Hollywood movies that were shot through the point of view of a camera. Only the camera was his own two eyes, and the film was his brain.
"What should we do?" Joey asked Duke which snapped him out of his bad memory.
"Huh?"
"About everyone. These people need a leader, Duke. Someone to reassure them."
"Right, right." Duke nodded his head up and down more times than was necessary. "I think we should give the kids who'd lost any of their loved ones some time to grieve, but we really need to get things back on track. We need to get people back to work with growing food, cooking, food, looking for supplies." Duke continued to list off things for kids to do. While Joey agreed. "Here in a bit we should call a meeting and set up another game plan. It's been a while since- "
"I get that you're upset Stan, but it's too dangerous to send them out on their own. They've got a baby for christ sake,"
"He's right, we can't," Zeke agreed. He just promised to protect Lisa not long after.
"Why are you defending them, Duke? If I recall correctly, you yourself wanted to get rid of the louds when they first arrived!"
Duke's sweat ran cold. "What are you talking about?"
"You heard me bitch, you told me you wanted to send them as far away as fucking Pluto and when those three guys in the middle school showed up it was your golden ticket. And If I also recall correctly. You were already planning on getting rid of their younger sibling," As much as Stan hated Duke at that moment. He didn't hate him as much as he hated the Loud family. It was their sister who had marched his sister to her death.
"I find it very funny that you're blaming them for something they had no control over," Duke retorted.
"This is different. I'm not saying they deserve to die. I'm merely just suggesting relocation."
Duke shook his head. Telling the Loud siblings to leave would be more trouble than it was worth. "I'm sorry, Duke but I can't send them away."
Stan was filled with even more rage. "When did you suddenly get a conscience?"
"I don't maybe due to experience but I do know that those loud sisters don't deserve this pain. No one does," Duke simply said. He looked down and thought of his own sister, he left her out there in the world and he's not going to do the same mistake.
Stan swore and stormed out from the auditorium. Those Louds are going to pay for what they've done.
Joey turned to Zeke with a worried look.
"This sucks,"
Now back on the move. Shade wasted no time and continued walking. The previous day he had stayed inside a house taking grabbed every snack he could find and slept in the person's bedroom where he jacked off to one of the stashes of porn mags the person owned in his wardrobe. He wished he could take some but he wouldn't risk getting caught by them. Instead, he helped himself with the random person's hidden supply of weed. Maybe me and the guy ain't so different after all. Then he saw the Canadian flag on his wall. Ah, that explains it. Weed is legal in Canada; one of the many reasons he wanted to travel there before the great mist.
As he walked. He tried his best to forget about the organized group of adults he encountered yesterday.
It's a brand new day. He thought to himself. What's done is done. All that matters now is me, myself, and I. As well as Mary Jane.
While Shade was cool with being alone. He gets a little sad sometimes. To keep himself from being lonely, he imagined the weed as a girl. He imagined walking beside her holding her hands and staring at her dark green eyes.
Where are we going? Shade's imagination of the girl asked him.
"Don't know?" Shade answered. "Wherever the wind will take us?" Mary Jane simply nodded and looked at the ground with a sad look of her face and sighed.
"What's the matter?" Shade asked.
I don't know, I'm just...Just really worried about those kids.
"Hey now come on now," Shade calmly told her. "There's nothing we can do for them. Going back there would be a suicide mission. And that's one mission I don't mind failing"
I guess you're right. Mary Jane said but still looked quite unsure of herself.
"Then, what's the problem?" Shade pressed on.
If you were in their situation, I'm sure you would want someone to rescue you right?
"I guess so, but who would wanna rescue me? I got no one,"
Well, you have me. Mary Jane told him with a soft smile.
"True, but the thing is," Shade looked forward with a solemn look.
What?
"You're not real," Shade faced her again.
Mary gasp and her mouth agape. She turned her head down and began to cry. Which caused tiny little crystals to fall on her Ivory-colored face. Shade looked in shock; immediately regretting what he just said. "I'm sorry, MJ! I'm sorry!" he pleaded desperately as the crystals began to turn green and began to consume all of her crying faces.
"MJ wait!" Shade cried out using his hand to tear out the crystals but he was too late. Her face was completely enveloped in a green crystal-like sphere. Shade wanted to cry but stopped when he noticed she was looking at him and snarled.
"Huh?" Was all he could say before she suddenly lunged at him; sending him falling on his back.
He struggled to break away from her grasp and escape but she was too strong. Her saliva dripped from her mouth as she tries to eat him. Shade screamed for someone for help, but his cries were left unanswered. It was just him and the deceased girl that sprawled out of the sidewalk in the middle of Royal Woods. He wished more than anything for someone to come and help him but it was hopeless and he was about to die.
Then in spring of thought, he thought of the movies he watched. He'd seen characters in the exact same situation. In that scene, the character would reach for something to be used against the creature. Anything. Like a rock, or a weapon of some kind.
What did he have to lose? Shade let go of the undead girl and bingo was his name-o Shade grabbed a good-size rock and swung his arm as hard as he could. Slamming it against the woman on the side of her head. Blood oozed from her as she went down and tried to get up. To which Shade prevented it from happening and took another hard swing, this time slamming it against the top of her skull multiple times, breaking it.
"Rock ex machina!" Shade yelled as he got up and threw the rock at the girl that lay before him. He took a deep breath and exhaled. He looked around and grabbed his joint from the ground and took another puff. Was this what he got for not helping those kids? He wondered. Thinking of how helpless he was when he was pinned to the ground. Perhaps it was a sign. A sign that he should do the right thing and save those kids.
He then exhaled from smoking.
Right after he sobered up.
As Stan was hastily walking towards the hall in anger, he passed the gym. Daring not to look at it, cause if he did, he would see the loud siblings which would send him to rage. He didn't want that. He knew it wasn't their fault his sister was dead, however, he still harbored resentment towards them for leaving Jeremy. At how they'd left his friend behind while he stayed behind which made Stan leave him as well. He knew Jeremy was trying to save them but he could have joined them as well. He shook his head dismissively, trying to forget all of that as he made his way towards the home economic room. There, Mary and Matt would be residing.
He took a deep breath and opened the door. Mary and Matt sat huddled together in a corner watching the kids work. When Mary saw him, her face lit up with joy and empathy.
"Stan!" Mary stood and walked up to the teen.
"Hi, Mary how are you doing?"
The girl was taken aback. How am I doing? I should be asking you that question. After all, you're younger sister just got killed not losing after.
"I'm alright. The real question is, how are you doing?"
Stan lowered his head down as the sounds of a sewing machine filled the room. He could tell that the other kids did their best to try and ignore him.
"Not at all great," Stan told her. Mary frowned and slumped her shoulders.
"I'm sorry about you're sister,"
Stan placed a hand on her shoulder with a smile. "It's okay Mary it wasn't your fault, I should have told her to stay away from those loud siblings. They're nothing but trouble. Everywhere they go, chaos follows,"
Mary's eyes widen in concern, not sure what to say. She could say she disagrees but he wouldn't wanna upset him than he already was.
"I tried to convince Duke to kick them out, but he suddenly grew a heart and refused,"
Now Mary had something to say, but before she could, another voice spoke up from nearby.
"Why on earth would you try and convince Duke to kick them out?" Stan looked to see a blonde girl dressed in pink and had an upset look on her face as she marched towards him. It was Eleonor. Stan could see all the kids looking at him now but he ignored the sudden attention.
"I don't know where you've been for the past 24 hours Eleonor, but my sister is dead. Other kids are dead, and who's to blame for that?"
Eleonor slouched her shoulder and exhaled. "Look, I'm sorry about you're sister, but your not the only ones hurting. I'm sure you give it time, you'll stop blaming them for something they didn't do,"
Stan sighed. He already had this conversation with Duke and he couldn't help it. He wanted to scream, kick and curse everyone in this room but what good is that gonna do for him? His sister's dead. That's it.
"Stan?" A voice called out. They all looked to see Tyler standing beside the doorway with slightly wide eyes.
"What?"
"There's someone at the door who wants in,"
"So?"
"So, I just thought you'd wanna welcome him in with us,"
Stan wanted to shout at him and slam the door in front of him but sighed. He wanted to just have a talk with Mary but that would have to wait.
"Let me in Doug Funnie," Shade demanded.
"Very funny Shade," Doug deadpanned. "But as I said, I can't authorize random strangers in,"
Shade raised an eyebrow in bewilderment. "Okay first of all I'm not some stranger, you known me since 7th grade, and second, Authorization? What kind of circus yall running here?"
That's when Stan showed up.
"Ah, Stan buddy o' pal. Finally someone with common sense. What's up?"
"What are you doing, Shade?" Stan asked in a tired tone.
"Oh, you know I was just stopping by maybe surprise the children. What the hell do you think I'm here for man? I'm here for some sanctuary! Sanctuary! Sanctuary!" He giggled at those last two words which made Stan roll his eyes in annoyance. Stan knew Shade was always a weird kid that always in the back row seat. He wondered how he was able to survive out there on his own or even this long.
"But more importantly," Shade said in a slightly more serious tone before jumping back being goofy. "I got some news for you, Stanley. So could you please take me to the person in charge?"
Stan sighed and took out the key and unlock the chain,"
"I knew you cared about me," Shade said with a smile.
"Shut up," Stan grumbled. They head their way inside and reach a nearby hallway towards the auditorium. Shade looked at all the candles lit around the place, hehe lit. Focus.
"So, do you wanna hear about my news?"
"I don't care," Stan bluntly told him. He didn't wanna hear any of his news; he'll probably just talk about drugs and penises. As Shade looked around, he saw a few kids sitting on the floor crying as well as the kids from the gym.
"Sheesh, this place is turning into a sadness factory what happend?"
"Long story," Said Stan in a soft but sad tone. Shade nodded and continued to look around and spotted a closet. He remembered hiding kids there once. Soon, they reached the auditorium where Shade saw Duke and Joey.
"Duke Melville as I live and breath!" Shade spoke excitedly and walked up to the stage.
Duke jolted his head upwards and saw Shade; 6'0, long messy brown hair, sporting a black shirt with long white sleeves as well as dark brown pants, and got that stoner vibe; reddish eyes and a very "what up maaaan" look. "What the fuck?" He then turned to Stan. "Stan, I thought I-"
"I don't care," Stan said dismissively as he plopped his but against one of the auditorium char. Zeke, hitherto, was busy praying to himself when he heard a voice very familiar to him he turned to see the stoner teen.
"Shade?"
"Zeke, my man how you doing?" Shade's smile grew further now that Zeke was here.
"Shade well this was a nice surprise," Zeke told him and they both gave a high five. Shade and Zeke became friends partially because they both always sit in the back and had very few friends. Zeke would always ramble about religion while Shade would just listen in and think about penises.
"Shade where the hell did you come from?" Now it was Duke's turn to speak.
"That's a silly question, from my mom of course,"
Zeke and Joey snickered while Duke shook his head. "No, I mean how did you get here,"
"I walked, almost got mauled by a zombie who was trying to kiss me," Shade looked the other way.
"Okay, well how did you survive,"
"Well, I just go through many houses and make sure there's no one there," Shade explained. "I found some weed in some of those houses haha,"
"Figures,"
"You got a nice place here, mind if I just uh sit here,"
"Absolutely," Zeke told him.
"Whatever man we're already in some deep shit," Duke said.
"Like what? This place haunted?"
"No, it's cursed,"
"Why?"
Stan simply shrugged as thoughts of the loud sisters flashed through his mind. Shade turn to Zeke for some answer but he too looked on the ground. Duke spoke up "Listen Shade, we've been through hell for quite enough, so we're not in the mood for you're bullshit,"
"Alright, alright." Shade reached for his pocket and took out a joint and a lighter, which caused Duke to react in a way he saw a kid's mom buy him a piece of candy.
"That weed?"
Shade looked at his blunt then back to Duke. "Yeah, it's my last piece though, you can't have any," He lied, he had like a whole pack in his pockets. Duke rolled his eyes same for Joey while Zeke shook his head, knowing about Shade's weed problem.
"Anyway, mind telling me more about what happened? You said kids died? Is that why this whole place has so many crying kids?"
Stan stood up and spoke. "I'll tell you what happend, those loud kids happened!"
Shade looked at Stan then at the floor. The loud family, the most popular family in Royal Woods. Thirteen of them, eleven kids, one boy, ten girls. He was classmates with one of them, Luna was it?
"What about them?" Shade asked. Stan told him about everything that had happend in full detail; From when they first arrived; to going to middle school; to the church where they meet Zeke; to Jeremy dying; to the attack on the elementary school that Stan still believed Lucy was to blame; to the fight he had with Lynn; and finally where Lana and dozens of kids dying at the hands of Grease Monkey including her sister Sally. Stan sobbed throughout the second half of the story. Which made Zeke finish the rest.
"And now here we are," Zeke told him.
Shade placed a palm on his lips before sitting down and began to process what he just heard. Then he thought of his pet hamster Spanky. He missed Spanky.
Focus.
"Stan. What were you're sister wearing when this all went down?"
"Does it matter?"
"Yes, it does,"
Stan sighed. "She wore a yellow shirt and dark blue overalls." Shade placed a finger on his hair-covered chin and remembered one of the girls she saw getting forced inside a car."
"And that this blue overalls of hers had a heart on the middle is that correct?"
This made Stan perk up in confusion. "Yeah, why?"
Shade placed the blunt up his lips. Took a puff and exhaled all the smoke from his mouth savoring the moment. All the while Stan continued to shoot him with a fierce stare. Shade feared that his eyes would get gouged right through his brain if he won't spill the beans. So he exhaled one more time and bluntly told Stan the news.
"Stan. Your sister is not dead. I saw her. Alive.
The bubbles of tension in the auditorium burst. Stan began to shake violently. Expecting Stan to jump for joy and thank him for the wonderful news, Shade was instead shot out from his seat and grabbed Shade's shoulders with both of his hands, and started shaking him back and forth while shouting excessively.
"You fucking piece of shit don't you fuck with me! I'll pile the living shit out of you! I'll smash your fucking face and smear them across the fucking wall and write my fucking name on it!"
Shade held on to his life for dear life as his head bobbled all over the place on his long neck. Despite having a much greater size than Stan, he was still scared by him. Zeke, Duke, and Joey ran towards them and pulled Stan away from him.
"I'm not lying you psychopath! Stop shaking me or I'll drop my weed!"
"I don't give a shit! Tell me where my sister is right fucking now!" Stan shouted. Tears formed on his red-colored face he didn't believe him there was no way. Zeke grabbed Stan by one of his arms with a stern expression.
"Take it easy!" He shouted making Stan brush him off.
"Okay okay! No need to have misplaced aggression." Shade said and immediately was bombarded with questions from the 4; ranging from "Where did you see her?" "Were there other adults?" "How many were there?" and "How many kids do you think we'll need to go rescue her?" All of this made Shade's head spun and was about to place his joint back to his mouth until Stan slapped it out of his hand.
"Hey, you owe me a blunt dude!"
"Fuck you're blunt!"
"Did you see any other kid?" Zeke asked him.
"Yeah, I saw a goth-looking girl, two blonde girls, a boy with orange hair and a dark-haired girl."
They're alive too? Stan thought. He didn't know what to think about that. But it didn't matter, all it mattered was that his sister was alive and he's going to save her. Duke turned to the rest of the group and told them to tell the other kids from the gym.
Meanwhile in the said gym. The loud siblings continued to cry. Lincoln held Lily and Lisa tightly as they were surrounded by his sisters. Clyde sat next to them with a sad expression, he didn't know what to do or say to cheer his friend up. Just yesterday they were making good progress then took a ten-step backward. The sight of his best friend in a depressing state crushed his heart to a million pieces. He removed his glasses and wiped his eyes with a tissue. Chloe and Charles sat next to him while the former hugged him tightly.
The whole room wasn't any better; those who had siblings cried as well while those who hadn't felt uncomfortable but at the same time felt their heartbroken at such a miserable sight.
Then, out of nowhere. Stan barged in the door along with Duke, Joey, Zeke, and Shade.
"Luna, Luan, Lynn. Get up now!" He yelled making the loud sibling look up at him in confusion. What does he want now? They hadn't thought about him in the past 24 hours or so. Then it suddenly dawned on them that he might want retribution for Lana leading to the death of his sister. Stan shouted again telling them there was no time to waste. Finally, it was Luna who spoke up.
"What do you want?" Said Luna in a weak voice. Stan got closer to the family and they could see his expression more clearly; Both excited and cautiously optimistic. His heart raced faster than the speed of light and he didn't know what to put what he was about to say so he just blurted out a few simple words that made the whole gym go silent.
"They're alive!"
The loud siblings drew more confusion in their faces. They actually had no idea what he was talking about and now they felt scared and curious. That or they refused to get their hopes up until they got clarity.
"Who?"
"Our sisters!" The pressure of the room increased rapidly.
"What are you saying?" Luna asked with a slightly raised voice.
"I mean my sister is still alive, you're sister as well; Lucy, Lana, Lola all of them are alive he said so!" He pointed at Shade who was examining all the loud siblings. Famous family in all of Royal Woods. One boy ten girls. Why was that? Was their parent Mormon? Did their dad have a third leg or something? He also noticed some of them were missing but he made a note to the ones who were present.
Luna; went to the same class as she did; a musician. He enjoyed her singing and loved her performance during America's Next Hitmake. Luan; The family clown. Love telling jokes. He remembered one time when she was about to set up a joke, he would beat her to the punchline which annoyed her. Lynn; The athlete of the family. She was always on the move always working out and a sports fanatic. He wondered how she did it; maybe taking some steroids. Luck was another option but that would be dumb.
Lincoln; The only boy in the family. He loves video games and comics just like Shade which is why he liked Lincoln the most. What stood out to him of the other family was his white hair why was he born like that? Another question was how the hell does he survive living with 10 sisters? He must have some strong willpower to deal with them. Lisa; The genius of the family. Always coming up with a dangerous experiment that results in the house blowing up. He wonder how could a 4-year-old be that smart? Then there was Lily, nothing much to say though he wondered how she was able to survive this long.
The three oldest sisters shot up and barreled right at him at such speed that Stan was worried that it would feel like getting hit by a truck if they did not stop. Lincoln stood up holding Lily by his arms and holding Lisa by her arm.
"What the hell are you saying, man?!" Luna yelled in a shaky voice.
"Where are they!?" Lynn yelled louder. "Are they here!? Tell me where they are! Hell, I can find them myself if I can!"
Stan told them exactly what Shade told them. Their hearts raced. They couldn't believe what they just heard. Just before, they all felt hopeless. Like nothing in the world was ever going to cheer them up. Never be happy again and this new revelation brought them new energy and life. They then turned to Shade and demanded if he actually saw them.
"Look, all I'm saying I saw a girl with black hair and pale face, two blonde girls that looked like twins, one orange-haired kid-"
"Orange hair?" A high-pitched voice called out; It was Rusty. H ran towards him with an intense look. "Did he have freckles around his face just like me?"
Shade nodded and Rusty's knees soon collapsed and looked like he was about to pass out. Shade was bombarded with even more questions ranging from whether he saw any of their siblings to which he only saw 6.
"We have to go!" Stan told them. "Gather as many weapons as you can," He then turned towards the crowd. "If anyone you wanna join just speak up,"
Lincoln gave Lily to Chloe and ran up towards the group. "I'm coming with you!"
All three sisters snapped their heads at Lincoln in shock.
"No, you're not," Luna said to him.
"Yes, I am." Lincoln marched right up to them. "I have to do this, they're my sisters too,"
"We know, Lincoln but someone needs to stay and watch Lily and Lisa,"
Lincoln looked back at the toddler, who was being held by Chloe, then back at her sister. Weighing his options.
"I've made up my mind, I'm coming with you!" Lincoln said putting his foot down methodically and literally. "I saved them once and I can do it again."
Lynn towards her brother. "Lincoln, we don't have time for this, you're staying here and that's final!" Lynn leered at him with such ferocity but at the same time, there was something cracking on the edge of her scowl.
Usually, Lincoln would do what she says but was not having any of it. "No, I'm going with you and that's final! If you don't want me to go then you'd have to break every bone in my body, either way, I'm going!"
Everything around Lynn suddenly slowed down and her body began to shake furiously. Luna and Luan saw this. "Lynn, are you okay?"
Just then, out the top of her lungs, Lynn wailed out all of her emotions. "No I'm not okay! I was never okay! Nothing has been okay since this shit went down after that green mist! I didn't want to do this but I had to! I didn't want any of you to do this but you had to! Don't you get it! I don't want to lose anyone again! I'm tired of crying, fighting, and watching people die. I don't want to experience what I've been experiencing ever again!" Hot stinging tear-filled Lynn's eyes barely able to see. "I'm scared okay, scared since day 1. I was too scared to save my friends when they were being attacked, I was scared to fight off against those adults who were chasing me! I was scared to go to the elementary school to find you and our other sisters. Then you told me you went back to look for them, I didn't want to look scared so I lied when I said I look for you. I was scared, I was not tough. I'm just like everyone; a scared little kid."
Lynn's sudden outburst echoed around the halls and was thrown into silence. They all looked at the athletic loud who collapsed to her knees and buried her face with her hands and quietly sobbed.
The three siblings looked at each other before looking at Lynn in sympathy.
"I'm sorry I lied," Lynn said. "I just don't want you to think I'm a coward..."
Lincoln eyed on her level and hugged her. Lynn made no move to resist and just hugged back. "Lynn, It's okay I get it. You were scared."
"But you all could've been in trouble and I would have no help at all,"
"Let me ask you Lynn, were you scared when going to the middle school?"
"A little,"
"And were you scared when you heard that Lana, Lola, and Lucy were outside?"
"Yes," Her eyes become more watery.
"Yet you still try and save them?"
"I guess,"
"Then Lynn, being brave means doing something even if you're scared. No one would blame you for being afraid. It's like you said, we're just kids. So let tell you this again, are you scared?"
"Yes." Lynn wiped tears from her eyes.
"You're scared and you're still going out into the unknown."
"Yes."
"Well, in that case, you're still brave."
Lynn gave a tiny smile and nodded, remembering what Ethan said to her during their first encounter.
As if on cue, a voice called out to her. It was Ethan and a few of his colts standing behind him. "Lynn."
"Yeah?"
"I was wrong. You're not stupid. It takes huge balls for someone to say all that. I know you're type; Stubborn as hell. But then you knew when to stop being all fearless and admit you were scared in front of everyone."
Lynn smiled sheepishly. "I just wanted to save my sisters."
"I know, which is why me and Lexi are coming with you." Ethan pointed to the blonde girl with a double-headed axe.
"Well In that case, I'm coming too," Jake came to his cousin. "After all, you are my brother from another mother, even going from South Bend to chill with me,"
"I'm coming too!" Cooper said to the group with a ready expression. "You're a tough girl Lynn. I'd hate to leave you hanging."
"I'm coming as well!" Benny told everyone which made Luan smile.
"So do I!" They turn to see Sam with a smile on her face. Like Luan, Luna smiled.
"Me too!" They turned to see Tom the boy scout. "I wanted to tell you this for a while but never had the chance to say it until now but Lana came up to me and told me to craft a bow for her, I refused and she wasn't too happy about it. Had I known what she would do I would have said something. So saving her would be my chance to say sorry."
The louds while angry at Tom did understand his reason.
"Anyone else?"
"Me!" Rusty shouted. "I've got to save my brother!"
"Is that all?"
"I'm coming too," They turn to see Clyde coming up towards the group.
"Clyde," Lincoln began.
"Lincoln, I already said I will be with you no matter what and I will always keep that promise, besides. After what Lynn said. I now want to prove myself I'm strong,"
"Clyde you are strong, don't ever say that your not," That made him smile. "But someone has to watch over Lisa and Lily,"
"It's alright," Chloe came up towards the two. "I'll take care of her,"
Lincoln smiled as Chloe turned to Clyde with a worried look. "Please come back soon, okay?"
"I will," Clyde assured her.
Now Lisa was the one who walked to the siblings and asked them to come back with their sisters.
"We will," Lincoln nodded. Then, Zeke came up to them.
"I will look after her," Zeke told him. Lincoln looked with concern at first.
"Do not worry, I'm fine with him," Lisa assured him.
Joey turned to Duke and asked him if they should come and help.
"No, we need to stay here and keep an eye on things."
Joey rolled his eyes, knowing pretty well that Duke was too scared to go out there and fight. Stan turned to Shade and told him he's coming as well to which Shade happily accept. He then made a headcount on who was coming.
He, Luna, Luan, Lynn, Lincoln, Clyde, Rusty, Sam, Benny, Cooper, Tom, Ethan, Lexi, Jake, and Shade. All fifteen of them against the world.
"Alright, let's arm ourselves and save our family!"
Stan and the rest of the gang gathered every weapon they had and begin to take off. Waving goodbye to the other kids. Duke watched at the rest of the group vanished from the closing school doors. While he did not have the best relationship with the loud siblings, he hoped they could eventually find them and bring them back.
Hope.
That's all they needed was hope. Something that Duke had but didn't work out for him. Especially not after that particular night.
Duke's mind races towards a distant memory of seven years ago. He and his younger sister Beth were heading towards an arcade called Q-Zone where they spend there for hours. Duke had previously watched a video explaining a mysterious killer roaming around Michigan called the Michigan Dogman. They said it was a beast that roamed around the states kidnapping children at night; They call it Dogman because whenever it takes a child, it sends out a loud blowing howl like a werewolf.
He remembered how scared he was and that it did not help that it was already nighttime. He grab Beth and began to head home quickly. As they walked, Duke could sense the danger near them. A snap of a twig was heard near the surrounding forest and Duke saw that it was a silhouette of a creature; Dogman. Out of great fear, Duke ran and ran until he reached his home where his parents were waiting outside. When they asked where his sister as he began to panic that he forgot his sister. So they look around the neighborhood. They began to grow worried that they had the police be called for a search party but there were no sightings of her anywhere.
Duke had hoped they could find her unharmed but that all came to a crashing end when he heard from the police that Beth was likely kidnaped by a serial killer who was living in that place at the time.
As time passed, Duke's parents couldn't bear living in the town where their daughter died and moved to Royal Woods. Since then, Duke became cold and uncaring to anyone who displeased him. But all of that cynicism stems from the fact that Duke had been blaming himself for the death of his sister. But one question rose to mind; Who? Who kidnapped her? Who was the monster that kidnapped ber and why? He blame whoever that monster was and had been dreaming of one day finding him and killing him for good, and making it slow.
He hoped to God that Stan and the loud family succeed in where he failed; Saving their sisters.
The adults were starting to grow tired of waiting for new meat. More and more adults began to show up either fighting over dead bodies or tearing through cars and eating the kids inside. Then, the fat adult slowly got up from his makeshift throne and gave a loud distorted animal-like roar which gave everyone's attention.
Its time! He thought to the others. All around them, adults began to cheer and howl with excitement. This sight worried the kids in the car who began to shriek with fear.
"What are they doing?" Asked Sasha.
"I don't know and I don't wanna know,"
"I'm scared!" Lola quivered.
"Were doom!" Lana sob.
"No where not." Came a soft voice; it was Sally. "My brother will come and save us."
"How do you know?" Asked Lucy.
"He would never let anything happend to me."
"Aside from getting kidnapped by these things." They all looked to see Rocky hugging his knees. "Face it they all think we're dead, and by the looks of it, we might as well be."
"That's not true, my brother's brave. He'll come for us. I just know it."
"If you say so," Rocky whispered. Trying his best to not bawl out his eyes.
Lucy did wonder if her older siblings knew she, Lana, and Lola were alive. They'd go through hell to just try and same them. Unfortunately, they don't know and it was only a matter of time before they turn into Zombie food. But a small part of her does wish they knew where they are. All they need was a little miracle.
Their heart skipped a beat when they saw the High School standing right in front of their very eyes. The way towards the school proved to be a challenge as they met about 6 greens on the way. When they saw the middle school nearby, Tom suggested they should go ask them for help but Stan told them not to so as to not cause more any harm towards them.
"There it is," Stan told them as everyone held their weapons tight.
At the back, Benny tensed up and was ready for anything. Then, he noticed right next to him was Luan who was starting to hyperventilate by just looking at the school. "Hey, It's okay, we made it this far."
"I know but..." Luan started to shake rapidly. "I-I'm scared. What if they are not there? What if it's too late?"
"And not just that. This was the place I saw my sisters..." Luan trailed off and began to breathe heavily. Luna and Lynn
"Luan look at me." Luna turns to her younger sister. "It's okay. We're here for you. We won't let anything happen to you. You're stronger than you realize."
Luan calmed down and nodded.
"Luan you can do this. I believe in you. You're fearless. You got what it takes, plus don't think stuff like that is confident that they're there." Benny told her.
Luan nodded.
"There, isn't that the happy carefree Luna that I love?"
Luan couldn't help but blush, she was much calmer now.
"So now what?" Shade asked.
"Now, tell us where you last saw ass, you idiot." Said Stan annoyed.
"We need a closer look, last I check they were placed in a gray minivan."
Stan nodded and ordered everyone to walk towards the school parking lot. Their hearts raced fast and at the same rate that they were practically in sync.
"Hold on," Tom spoke up. "I have some binoculars. Lemme get a closer look." Walking towards a car bumper, he peered towards the surrounding area and saw adults moving sticks, tanks, and another flammable-looking object. "They've got gas tanks and propane around the place. We need to be careful."
Shade widen his eyes and sunk his head to his neck, he forgot about telling those to them. Tom continues to look around and eventually, he came across a morbidly obese adult standing with his arms on his hips in front of a teenage girl.
"Damn, that's one huge green. He's the leader. But what's it...doing..." Tom got a closer look towards the girl and saw that she was kneeling and had her face towards the adult's crotch. "What the fuck dude?"
"What?" Said Stan.
"You don't wanna know," Tom said sheepishly and looked away from the awful sight. "Wait, I see kids! They're alive! but they are all in a white sedan. And don't look like our kids."
"There are other kids? Well then let's save them as well."
"We'll worry about them later, right now we save our kids first."
"Yeah but."
"Guys, look I see them! The grey minivan!" Tom said trying his best not to shout.
"Were?" Stan asked and Tom gave him the binoculars and spotted them. He took a sharp breath and shook lightly.
"Where are they? Do you see our siblings as well?"
"Yeah, I see them. You too Rusty." Stan told them.
"Then come on, let's go!" Rusty said and stood up.
"Wait!" Snapped Stan. "We can't just go there with all of that many adults roaming around. We need to come up with a distraction." Though Stan did want to charge there and kill all the adults. He knew it would not be a good idea. Lincoln stared at the hoard and think. He had been doing nothing for the past week and this was his chance.
"I have one. Said Lincoln. "But it's not gonna be easy."
"What is it?"
Lincoln grabbed a piece of stone and used it to draw on the concrete floor. "Someone has to go around and scream to draw the green's attention then while they're distracted all of us sneak in and take the kids and escape. Question is who's gonna outrun those things?"
Everyone looked around. Not wanting to take the risk until Ethan spoke. "I'll do it, I outrun these guys when the green mist happend, so I can do it again."
"Dude are you certain about this?" Lexi asked with a worried look.
"No, not really, unless Lincoln has a better option." He looked at the loud boy who shook his head.
"Then it's settled. We'll wait here while Ethan makes his move."
Ethan nodded.
"Here, take my whistle," Tom said giving his metal whistleblower. Ethan nodded again and head of. Leaving the group to watch the adults in silence until they heard the whistle. Ready for a possible fight.
"You really think this will work Lincoln?" Clyde asked him.
"It will work, Clyde," Lincoln told him they looked back towards the hoard. "It has to."
Fatso shoved the girl away after bursting out some. The other girls help pull up his pants and now all he could think right now were children. Soon he thought, Soon.
Back in the minivan, Lucy was still watching the adults shuffle around. Then, she saw Grease and Brick walk over to the car and stare. Grease had a malicious grin while Brick remained stone-faced, still clutching the brick. Grease pounded the roof of the car to get Lana's attention who burst out crying upon seeing him.
As Lucy and the others were preparing for their inevitable demise. Loud noise can be heard from afar, whistleblowing which caused the kids to skip a beat.
"What was the sound?" Rocky asked.
Grease and Brick both looked at Fatso who howled and pointed at the other end of the football field. It was a teen wearing a football helmet with a number 18 written on his back shirt, blowing a whistle while jumping and waving like a crazed maniac yelling out swear words. Adults began to move forwards to him making him flee.
Grease and Brick followed the adults, Grease called out another adult; a police officer with his weapon still in his arms, and told him to guard the kids.
"What's happening?" Lana asked.
Fatso watched as the adults chased the kid. His stomach began to growl, he needed to start the cookout fast. He ordered a few adults to start the fire but no one knew how. Fatso growled, using what little memory he had left to try and figure things out. One of the adults began to bang one of the tanks with a rock. Fatso howled at him to stop and continued thinking.
Fire. Fire. What can you do to make Fire?
Sparks! That's it. They needed light. But where? He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice the group creeping up in the field.
"We need to act fast!" Stan whispered.
Lucy was so focused on the fat adult that she did not notice her sisters only a few yards back. Sally on the other hand did. She saw her brother among the group and squealed. Stan also saw her and smiled. Sally waved her arms and was about to call his name but Stan shushed him and she nodded.
"What is it, Sally?" Lucy asked.
Sally wanted to tell them Stan was here but kept quiet as she didn't want the others to scream for their attention at the cost of the adult noticing them.
"There's one guarding the minivan," Stan said.
"One? Easy." Scoffed Lynn.
"Stop!" Stan whispered harshly. "Tom brought a bow let him do it."
Lynn groaned stepped back. Tom snuck a few feet away to get a good shot of the adult. He hid behind a car and took aim with his bow and was about to pull the trigger when he felt something cold tug his leg. He looked down and saw a hand coming out from under the car. He flinched and accidentally missed the shot. Which send flying into the windshield of the minivan, startling the kids inside.
The grown-up jolted and saw Tom struggling to get away from the adult. He bellowed and called the other adult to catch him. Tom used his hatched and severed the adult from him and ran from the approaching hoards.
"Alright fuck this!" Lynn screamed sprint towards the minivan causing the group to cry after her but she ignored them as she rushed the adult. The said adult didn't even have time to react as Lynn jumped and smashed her mace against his face. Killing him instantly. The younger louds looked and were elated when they saw their sisters. Not even bothered by the blood splashing against the car.
"LYNN!" They cried out happily.
"Miss me?" Lynn smirked and began to smash the window breaking them out. This caught the attention of several adults who stayed including Fatso who was angry upon seeing the group.
Get them! Get them! I'm not gonna let them ruin my barbecue!
Stan groaned as the louds and others rushed past him. Well, he wanted to attack the adults anyway so what the hell? Shade on the other handheld back; hesitant to help. He saw that his legs were moving towards the field. He told them to stop but they didn't listen. He wanted to help, even if it means going out there.
Lynn screamed at all the kids to get out of the car and they fumbled to each other to escape. Lynn could hear cries coming from the other cars begging to be rescued but Lynn didn't care. She came here to rescue her sisters. She knew it was harsh but she was only there for her siblings. She swung her weapon against an approaching adult as the others were right beside her. Soon more green came and surround them.
Rusty embraced his little brother tightly. "Don't worry, you're big brother's with you."
He then noticed the gun in the holster of the officer that Lynn killed and grabbed it. "Time for some payback."
Rusty shot a green causing some to retreat creating a passage to an opening door.
"We have an opening, let's go!" Stan told everybody and grabbed his sister lifting her in his back. "Hold on."
"I knew you would come and rescue us big brother!" Sally said with a large grin.
"I would never let anyone hurt you." Stan smiled back.
Jake noticed the other cars were filled with kids, with Lexi's help. They reached the cars and smashed their windows letting them escape. As he does so. He saw Rusty was shooting his gun dangerously next to a tank.
"Yeah, how do you like that!?" Rusty said in a crazed tone. Lincoln and Clyde shouted at him to stop even Rocky was tugging his shirt begging him to stop but Rocky's bloodlust proved too strong. "This is what happens when you mess with Rusty Spokes motherfucker!"
"Hey, kid watch it! You'll shoot the tanks!"
"You're welcome!" Rusty grinned. Firing one last shot.
"Rusty wait!" Lincoln and Clyde shouted but they were too late as fire begin to erupt.
"Holy Halifax, Batman!" Shade cried and sprinted towards a metal maze of cars away from the destruction.
Lincoln grabbed one of her younger sisters while Clyde grabbed the other. Running as fast as they can with his older ones following. He was back during day one when he and his sisters were running away from adults. But one moment of that day would soon repeat as Lincoln felt a harsh vibration traveled through his entire body followed by a scorching sensation filling his back. He couldn't hear anything as he was running faster than he had ever run. He looked around and saw his sisters flying next to him. He looked forward and paled when he saw he was rocketing towards a car. He tried to stop but couldn't he covered his face with his hand and braced for impact.
Darkness soon followed.
He woke up and found that he was in his bed. Surrounded by toys, video games, comics, and his stuffed rabbit Bun-Bun. He grabbed the said animal and hugged it making him feel safe. He was in the loud house and it was very quiet than usual.
It was only for a second as Luna suddenly popped out screaming his name.
He groaned. What could she want? Does she tell she was trying to sleep?
Luan then popped up with a high-pitched scream. Ugh, why is she screaming now? Probably just a way of jump scaring him. Then Lynn used past them and shook him rapidly.
Damn it Lynn couldn't you be less violent!? It's bad enough you keep roughhousing me and force me to be your partner whenever you do practice. Lucy then showed up who was usually quiet but suddenly no quiet? Something must be wrong here.
Next was the twins whose screams were equal. He suddenly felt ringing from his head. Where did that come from?
Last was Clyde who was both screaming and crying as he went over to him. Clyde where did you come from and why are you crying? He sighed, he wished Lori was here to sort things out...Wait where is Lori? I haven't seen her in a while, same for Leni, Mom, and Dad. He hadn't seen them since they were off to school. Lisa and Lily?
Why are they not here? It's like only half of them are here plus Clyde. He tried to focus on where they should be but couldn't due to the screaming. Let's see Lily and Lisa are at Elementary school. Why is that? Is she at a science fair? What about Lori and Leni? Damn it why can't I remember. Come on you dumb brain think! Why are my sisters not here!?
Then, the whole room exploded and green fog filled it. He now remembered.
Lori and Leni are dead.
"LINCOLN!"
Lincoln's eyes shot opened and saw his sisters and Clyde were standing beside him attempting to wake him up. Faces were outright panicking.
"What-What happened?" He asked as he saw a massive fireball right in front of him. His head was aching and his ears rang. "
"Get up, Lincoln we need to get the hell out of here!" Luna screamed.
The twins also shouted as Clyde helped him get up. To which the loud boy groaned by the pain on his head.
"Move your ass!" Lynn shouted.
Lincoln wanted to cry from the pain in his head but he had to be strong. Strong for his younger sisters. He came here to save them and he wasn't keen on giving up.
As they ran. Lincoln spotted bodies scoured across the floor. Some were adults and some were kids. Lincoln breathed heavily at the sight and quickly looked away. As he ran along with the group he spotted Rusty and Rocky laying on the hood of a car against a smashed windshield, eyes closed and tightly embracing each other.
Lincoln shouted at them to wake up and when they didn't he ran closer to them with Clyde following them. They soon stop when they saw a sharp chunk of metal across their torso. They had been emailed. Blood rushed out of them. Clyde's eyes widen in horror and sobbed while Lincoln stared with the same wide eyes and slightly open mouth. They were dead.
"Come on let's go," Lincoln said to Clyde who nodded.
Stan crawled through the ground wondering what had happened. He got up, grabbed his mace in front of him, and looked desperately for his sister. He saw an adult running towards him and slammed his face as hard as he could causing his body to twist and fall. He kept searching everywhere until he found something moving from the corner of his eyes.
Sally.
She laid on top of an adult. She was trying to crawl away from it.
He ran up to her and called her name.
"Sally, please look at me!"
"Big brother?" Her voice was tiny and soft. Stan was flooded with relief and he gently stroke her head.
"Stan, I'm sorry...I"
"Shh, shh it's okay it's okay."
"No, it's not. It hurts. I'm cold. I see mommy, daddy and Sammy."
Stan never told Sally about what happend to Sammy which made him all more worried. "It's okay, everything is gonna be okay. Your big brother is here. I won't ever let anyone hurt you again. I love you."
When Stan removed the adult from her. His heart broke. The entire lower half of her body was missing. Entrails had taken their place. He looked back at Sally who's eyes are starting to close slowly.
"Stanley...?"
Her tears stopped moving.
A ringing in Stan's ears overtook everything and he promptly collapsed next to his now-dead sister's body and scream. He couldn't hear it due to the roaring flames but he could feel them tearing through his throat. He rocked back and forth and slammed his fist onto the ground. Leaving dents in the earth.
An adult saw him and promptly made his way towards the teen.
Stan felt a strange sensation he had felt when the green mist happend as everything around him slowed down and felt stronger. He looked and saw the adult reaching towards him. Grabbing his mace, Stan quickly stood and slashed the adult several times until his face was a mush. All around him, adults came. With this, he continued to swing his mace at every adult that got closer to Sally. Protecting her until his last breath.
"Is everyone okay?" Tom told the louds.
"Yeah, I think so," Luna answered. "Come on, we gotta go!"
"What about everyone else?"
"Who cares?"
"I do. Now did you see anyone else?"
"No, look I'm sorry but I gotta get my family out of here!" Luna yelled as black smoke begin to envelop the surrounding area.
Tom swore and gripped his hatchet tightly and made his way back into the field, killing any adults that came near him. He looked around hoping to find something until he saw Stan swinging his mace furiously as he was surrounded by greens. It was so many Tom had no clue Stan was defending his dead sister. He tried calling out to him but he couldn't hear him as an adult grabbed Stan's mace. Stan and the adult tugged at each end of the mace while another adult rose up and wrapped its dirty hands on Stan's shoulder to bite him. Stan tried to shake the adult off him but it was too strong as more adults came. Then, a thick black smoke blocked off Tom's view.
"Stan!" Tom shouted but there was nothing he could do now. He swore and head back to where the loud siblings had gone.
Jake stood up, stunned by the recent events. One moment he and Lexi were helping kids out of the car and the next he was covered in blood, ash, and debris. He screamed for anyone nearby. Then he heard approaching footsteps coming towards him. He ran to where the figure was walking but stopped when he saw a good look of the said figure; It was the humungous fat adult who stood on the throne. Jake screamed and tried to attack him with his bat but the adult quickly grabbed it and threw it in the other direction. He then grabbed his neck, choking the teen. Jake's vision became blurry and the last thing he saw was the blood-barred teeth of the adult.
Cooper soon woke up and noticed he was on the ground. He got up and saw he was alone. He screamed for anyone to be nearby but his voice felt silent due to the flames still burning. He ran around the field hoping to find someone.
Lincoln looked at his group which consist of his sisters, Clyde, Sam, Tom. He soon noticed that Benny and Sasha were missing. He hoped they didn't suffer the same fat as Rusty and Rocky did. He wondered if his siblings realized they were gone?
They soon reached the parking lot and were immediately swarmed by other greens who were attracted to the field of explosion. Most emerged from high school students. Many of the loud family fear that one of them would be Lori and Leni. That thought soon disappeared however when they heard Luan screaming. They saw that green had lunged towards Luan by the back and pinned her to the ground. Luan screamed in fear remembering the events that happend during the mist. Luna and Lynn quickly rushed to her aid but more adults came attacked them. Lincoln and Clyde held the younger sisters tight while Luna and Lynn fought against the adults who pinned them down.
Just then, two figures emerged from the smoke. One bigger and one smaller. Lincoln looked and he smiled that it was Benny and Sasha. Benny charged and struck the adult who was pinning down Luan with a knife on his back. Killing him. Benny offered her a hand but Luan slapped it away telling him she's fine and that they need to help her siblings.
As the two older louds finished off the last greens they told everyone to head out. That's when they heard an almighty roar coming from behind the smoke. Which everyone to cover their ears. They look to see a shape forming from the smoke.
Like a blob.
When it emerged from the smokes. The whole kids paled when they saw a fat green. Fatso. With its arms spread out, he made his way towards the loud siblings with a fierce expression.
This is all you're fault! And you're all going to pay!
The loud kids screamed in terror and quickly pushed to overdrive and sprinted away towards an opening that was free of cars and greens that the fat adult now ordered to close. It was like a closing light at the end of a very long tunnel. While only a few yards might as well be a few miles. Lynn and Luna held their weapons tightly ready to fight. The twins hugged each other and cried, Lucy, covered her face. Clyde, Luan, Benny, and Sasha stood next to Lincoln who shook rapidly. Sasha held Benny by his arms. Lincoln wrapped his arms around his younger sister as they cried. He came this far in rescuing his sisters and almost succeeded. At least they are together this time.
A loud metal sound echoed from far away. A sound very familiar to the loud sisters. Engine sound. The loud metal sound crashed against other metal objects. Everyone including the greens and Fatso looked in where the direction was coming from. Crashing through cars, knocking them down like a rampaging monster destroying buildings. It was a large green and white vehicle with the word Fung written on the front.
The louds gasped in shock when they saw it was none other than their family van; the one they affectionately called Vanzilla. Driving the said van was Shade Walker with a huge grin on his stoned face driving straight towards the fat bastard.
Fatso sucked all of the air through his mouth and held his hands towards Vanzilla ready to stop it. But was surprisingly no match for the ancient tank of a vehicle as by the time the two connected with each other. Fatso soon burst into a red splodge of guts and other bodily fluids. The last thing he ever saw was a stone kid giving him the middle finger.
Shade laughed like a maniac before he suddenly lost control of the car and the van went careening towards a lamp post.
Everyone stood in stun silence at what they had just witnessed, mouths hanging open. Even the adults were shocked as well. Fatso was their leader. Without him, there was no sense of order. Shade emerged from Vanzilla, shaken, but all right.
"Come on move ya donkeys!" He shouted causing the louds to snap out of their stupor. They all began to run as fast as their legs can handle.
Lincoln gave a few second looks at Shade and thanked him before joining in with the rest. They were going to make it. Shade created another light at the end of the tunnel. Lincoln looked at his younger siblings who were standing by his side. He smiled knowing he accomplished their mission. Then suddenly, a hand reached out towards the thick black smoke and snatch her up.
Lincoln screamed in terror and it was loud enough for his sister to hear him and see he was being held by a green. He tried to swat against the grown-up that held him. When the smoke cleared, however. He could see more on the green's face. To which he wished he didn't as by the time he saw her face. The energy inside him disappeared. Standing before him was none other than his oldest sister.
Lori.
The loud siblings and Clyde saw her and immediately stopped.
Tears formed in the white-haired boy's eyes. His younger sisters scream while his older sister screamed for Lori to stop but she didn't listen. None of them order Lori around when she was alive so how should they order her when she's dead?
"Lori..." Lincoln said weakly as she brought him closer and opened her dirty blood-stained mouth ready to chomp him down. Lincoln didn't have the energy to fight back. Then, all of his older sisters pounced on Lori dropping the white-haired child.
"Wait, stop!" Lincoln cried as Luan dragged him away.
Lori darted her eyes back and forth thinking of which one she should eat first. Suddenly, Lincoln broke away from Luan and ran towards the undead Lori and was now a few inches away from each other. She stared down at him.
Lincoln didn't know what other words he could come up with inside his thoughts but he knew one word that he should have said the last time he saw her alive.
"I love you,"
The younger sisters whimpered while the older siblings stared sadly at Lori.
"Yeah, sis," Luna told her. "We love you. All of us and we miss you."
"Yeah, I know there are lots of times where you get on our nerves and boss us many times. But we know you only did that because you love us." Lynn spoked.
"You are like a third parent to us. Always checking up on us. Make sure we were all okay." Luan said.
"You were like a lighthouse, Lori. You always guide us, giving us a sense of direction." Lucy told her.
"Yeah, You're the best oldest sister ever. Always putting up with my us and being the best sister you could be." Said Lana.
"You were my inspiration Lori I always wanted to be like you, you were the real princess." Said Lola.
"You made me a better man, Lori. I'll never forget it." Clyde was the last to speak.
For a while, it looked like Lori knew what they were saying to her as she tilted her head and her mouth continued to hang open. Like they found a switch inside her and opened the real Lori. But unfortunately, it was a false sense of security when Lori grabbed Lincoln by the front of his shirt.
"Lori?" Lincoln said weakly as the undead loud girl screamed with demonic rage, ready to pounce on the white-haired child. By then Lincoln had felt hopeless. After this, he was now convinced that there was no hope for his sister and yet he just couldn't bring himself to kill her.
"NO!" Luna shouted fiercely as she charged at the undead blonde. Lincoln was speechless at what his older sister did as Luna grabbed him and tightly wrapped her arms around him like he was about to disappear. Near them, lay the headless corpse of their once beloved older sister. Her head was sliced by Luna's axe. The rest were no different from Lincoln's reaction. Lynn's brows furrowed in remorse and her lips quivered slightly.
"Why did you do that?" Lynn shakily told her.
"I put her down..." Luna's voice was almost close to breaking down before turning into what sounded like a chuckle as tears began to well up in her eyes. "Isn't that what you said?" Before breaking down completely.
Lynn fumbled for a moment before she remembered that it was her who told Luna to put Lori or Leni down. She looked at the ground and placed a hand on her mouth. Inside she did thought of putting her sisters down. But she never imagined seeing such a scenario happen in front of her own eyes. She dropped to her knees and cried as well. The rest joining in.
Luna got up with a hitched breath. "Come on, we have to go. There is nothing we can do now." They all nodded and stood up.
The greens were starting to come back to their senses. All the screaming and crying reignited their bloodlust. Luna told Lincoln and Luan to guide their younger sisters away to a safer place while she and Lynn guard them. Lincoln and Luan urged the younger louds along. Lucy didn't need much encouragement but the twins were reluctant. Lincoln lifted Lola up and placed her on his back while he grabbed Lana by the hand. He took one last look at Lori. He wished that when he left Vanzilla in the morning was the last time he ever saw her. Because at least she was beautiful and full of life not unlike the headless corpse he was seeing right now.
The green began to make their move towards them. Shade had been frantically drawing their attention away from them but was too focused on the kids surrounding them. The opening was closing; They were about to be surrounded again. Luna, Lynn, Tom, Sam, and Benny all swung their weapons around the air but they were overwhelmed as only a thin wall of adults separated them from escaping. The white-haired boy held his younger sister tightly. Luan held a scimitar up ready to be the last thing that stood between her younger sisters and certain doom.
As if a miracle had come before them, they heard shouting coming from behind the thin wall of greens. They heard it as well. Because most of them turned their heads towards the noise; many began to retreat. What could that be? Lincoln thought. He looked at Luan who also heard the voice as well. He saw her forming a huge smile of relief on her face. Luna and Lynn who saw them as well began shouting at them to help them.
Just then, Lincoln heard slashing, cutting, and chopping. He looked to find a large group of kids attacking all the hoard around them. The group were well-armed and greatly organized that any dumb adult that ran towards them was easily cut down.
"Come on, this way!" A kid shouted after seeing the elementary school kids. Wasting no time, the older louds lead the younger louds to where the group told them to go all the while slashing greens in their way. After arriving at a safer place they soon took a breather. They watch as the group finishes off every single last green.
A girl walked up towards the family and asked them if they were fine. To which the loud family looked at each other and cried. Lincoln and his older sisters hugged the younger sisters tight as the others stared. Clyde, Sam, and Benny just smiled while Tom, Sasha, and Shade stood awkwardly.
Tom stepped forward and extended a hand towards the girl.
"Thank you so much for saving us..."
"Stacy," Said Stacy shaking his hand.
"Well, Stacy. I saw for all of us when I say, we are really grateful for what you did,"
"Oh, don't thank me. Thank Brock."
"Brock?"
"Hey, Tom." Spoke a familiar voice as he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Brock! Good to see ya man! How did you come here?"
"Well, some of the guys stationed at the roof of the middle school told me that they saw you passing by and heading towards High School which freaked me out cause I literally just saw a large hoard coming to that place yesterday. So I assign a few of my guys to come and check. Then of coarse the explosion happend and I had to come in as well."
"Well thank you so much, Brock."
Brock then looked at the loud family crying. "Why are all the little kids doing here."
"We were on a rescue mission,"
"Oh, well you guys could've used our help."
"We did, but we didn't wanna put anyone else at risk."
Then out of nowhere. Cooper suddenly emerged from the smoke, coughing as he walked. He noticed almost everyone was here including Brock.
"That everyone?"
"As far as I know."
"Where's Stan?" Cooper asked.
Tom fell silent upon hearing Stan's name. Just by looking at his expression, Cooper assumed the worst.
"We found someone!" A kid called out. They look to find a tall blonde girl walking towards them. It was Lexi.
"Where's Ethan?"
"Who?" Brock asked.
"Ethan, my friend he distracted a few of the greens to rescue the kids from the car."
"He's here somewhere, I just know it," Tom assured her.
Lexi looked at the ground. "Jake died. I saw him getting strangled by the fat one."
"What fat-" Before Brock could continue when Ethan suddenly appeared with an expression that made him look like a soldier ready for battle.
"What I miss and that explosion! Man, that was huge!"
"Ethan! You're alive." Lexi said in both surprise and joy.
"Of course, I am these adults are too slow."
Everyone got caught up. Ethan told them how he was able to outrun against the adults that they were most likely circling back. When asked where Jake was. Lexi told him that he didn't make it. Upon hearing that, the excitement in Ethan's face was quick to replace with sadness and just nodded. Wanting to cry.
Brock escorted everyone out of the surrounding area safely.
Speck watched as the adults dug into the bodies they'd been collecting. The stronger and healthier adults ate the most spoils. Some even ripped the flesh off with their own teeth, others used their bare hands to tear through the bodies and dig through guts. The Tower was the most ferocious when it came to devouring bodies. His sledgehammer sat against a wall he stood up and ripped off a large chunk of flesh with his teeth. Swallowing it after a few bites.
Speck wanted to look away from the sight before him but at the same time was fascinated by how these creatures can do. They're like piranhas. One moment had all of its flesh then the next it was nothing but bones. He prayed that those adults would eventually leave. He was running low on food and he can't go out there with those adults nearby.
Then he heard a large explosion coming from the distance. It was enough to draw his attention away from the group of adults and instead focused on the large black smoke rising towards the sky. It looked like it came from the same direction as the high school. What could that have been? Were there kids or adults being reckless? Or was it a coincidence? It's not like adults were around anymore to control things and prevent stuff like that from happening. Whatever the case, it might have been just a spark. Still, he'll never know the true answer. He turned his attention back towards The Tower who saw the explosion as well before continuing on with their meal.
Night came and the adults had eaten all the food they could find. The Tower grabbed his sledgehammer and roared at the group to get their attention. He points at the huge fireball that was nothing more than smoke and began to advance towards it. Leaving some of the weaker ones to fight each other over bits of meat. Speck waited a few minutes to be sure they were truly gone. And once they did. He gave a sigh of relief and excitedly head back inside the shop.
"Good news, Dad they finally left!" Speck joked as he made his way back inside but soon skipped a beat when upon staring at his dad standing at him with a menacing growl and an angry expression.
"Dad...?" His dad roared and charged at him causing Speck to scream to take out his shotgun. He screamed to not come any closer but the adult continued to press forward. Taking aim at his head, he fired a shot; one accurately dead shot. And just like that, he went down instantly.
"Why dad!?" Speck cried as he stared at the body more. He already had his answer. That thing wasn't his dad. It was a monster who tried to kill him. His dad was gone, like every adult in the world who was infected from the green mist died as well. It was just him in this world. A speck on the earth.
"You guys should stay here for the night," Brock told them as they all rested inside the teacher's lounge. After arriving at the middle school, dozens of kids asked them of what had happened. However, the elementary group didn't want to talk at that moment so Brock lead them to a more secluded location where they could gather their thoughts and have a bite to eat and drink.
Only Tom was able to explain to Brock the events that happend. From adults breaking to the newcomers, to Lana leading kids to their doom to now. Brock was shocked at what he just heard. Had he known what these kids ended up he would definitely come over and help them. He looked over to the loud siblings sitting on the couch eating some cookies Brock gave them.
"I'm sorry you all had to go through that."
"It's fine, really." Said Luna.
"I can get you guys some pillows and some blankets would that be okay?" Brock asked in a kind manner.
"We would love that, we're kind of too knacked in going back to the elementary school."
"Of course, you guys are heroes after all."
Luna gave a solemn frown. "Were not heroes, were just kids."
After setting up all of their sleeping equipment. Everyone began to get cozy. The twins were already asleep. Tom, Cooper, Benny, Sam, Sasha, Ethan, and Lexi rested on other cushions.
"There, better?" Brock smiled.
"Yeah, thank you," Luna answered.
"I'll be heading out now, you all rest easy okay?" They nodded and calmly shut the door leaving the group to themselves. Shade was out like a lightbulb. Cooper's mind race but drifted off. Benny counted numbers up to a hundred before he too slept. Sam thought of a lullaby song before drifting.
Tom stared at the ceiling. His mind is still fresh from the events that happend prior. Bodies of kids lying everywhere, Stan surrounded by greens, the louds make no attempt to save anyone but their sisters. He understood that. They were just kids, they weren't responsible for everything they did. But he just couldn't help but harbor resentment towards them, most of the disaster that happend in the school was done by one of the louds. He didn't know, right now he needed some rest.
Sasha slept next to Ethan and Lexi. She listens in to Ethan crying and Lexi comforting him. Hearing his cries made Sasha scared. She then thought of Sally. By this point, it is safe to say that Sally didn't make it out alive since she wasn't with them this proves her statement even further when Tom mentioned Stan holding Sally's body as he was surrounded by greens. That made her want to weep as well. Sasha was one of the few friends other than Lucy that she made after the green mist. She was always very giddy and excited making everything fun. Now she's gone. The world didn't deserve a kind innocent little girl like Sally. A cold cruel world.
Sam didn't imagine coming back here. Sure she did expect to hide in a place nearby the high school but never here. Well, it's not like she was known in this place anyway. She barely ever talk to anyone in this place and always to herself. She thought of Simon, he was still in elementary and in-home economics to be exact, once she gets back she'll stay with him for a while then hang out with Luna again.
Clyde looked at the ground with a solemn look. Today was a very crazy day for him. Rescuing, Lincoln's sisters, the explosion, almost getting killed by a green. He wondered how he did not faint until now. It didn't matter, he regretted nothing of his choice of coming with the group.
The loud siblings huddled together, arms wrapped around each other. Luna watched as each and every one of her sisters fall asleep. Except for Lincoln who stayed awake.
"Can't sleep, Linc?" Luna whispered.
"Yeah, just my head killing me," Lincoln joked thought this didn't make Luna laugh as she got a little worried. She remembered how badly Lincoln took a shot when the explosion happend that send him flying in the car hitting his head.
"Well, just try and get to sleep, hopefully, tomorrow when we get back to the elementary school and have Lisa and Sanjay take a look,"
Lincoln almost forgot about Lisa, he hoped she was fine back in elementary. He nodded and closed his eyes. Luna yawned and went to sleep as well as the darkness grew and melted around her into a dream.
Brock stood on the roof, looking quietly at the black smoke at the high school, which still looms over the sky. He hoped that won't spread in the surrounding area and hoped a rain will put it out. Then, he was joined in by another teen, a girl.
"The days been pretty hectic huh?" Said the girl. Brock smiled to see a beautiful brunette girl.
"Hey Aundrea, yeah but it wasn't as bad as what the elementary school kids have gone through. Tom explained to me everything that happened to that school, from the adults attacking the school, to a band of kids going out killing a large adult which led to what happend earlier it was crazy," He sighed. "Wish I could have been there to help them,"
Aundrea placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, it's not your fault, you just didn't know what happened,"
"I know, that's why tomorrow I will be going there for a special visit to try and fix things and have a small chat with their leader; Duke Melville,"
The name made Aundrea shudder. "No wonder everything was going wrong with that school,"
"That guy shouldn't be leading at all and not a very stable leader in general. He has a lot of blood in his hands. These are kids for christ's sake. It won't be a matter of time before they start killing each other,"
"Don't even say something like that,"
"I know I'm sorry but you get my point. Tomorrow I will be putting up an alliance. We need to work together to beat these adults. Cause at the end of the day, they are the real enemy. We should be fighting them, not each other,"
"Agreed,"
"Come on, let's rest up, cause we got a busy day tomorrow, things will be very different..."
After that particularly awkward incident, Chris looked past it and continue to lay waste in Huntington Oaks. Storming the entire affluent neighborhood where the spoiled rich kids hid in their big fancy house. The kids were not prepared. No one could ever be prepared for Chris's army. Having hundreds if not thousands of army at his side. They surrounded the mansion and swallowed them all up like the blob. Once they got inside, kids were dead in a matter of seconds. Chris decided to just stay at the back and watch the chaos unfold with Crony by his side. The screams and cries of the kids made Chris and Crony smile sadistically. He deserved this, he fought for this country, and all he couldn't even get a stable job? He suffered so much to get this far. Now he was a king, a ruler. A god amongst men. If these needed saving, they'd have to pray to him.
A point quickly illustrated when a little girl who looked to be 9-years-old managed to escape the hoard and saw Chris. Saw that he looked normal among the rest. She ran up to him and cried.
"Please mister! Help me!"
Chris looked downat the little girl and gave her a soft friendly smile. He bend his knees towards her level and wrapped her arms around him as to protect her. He then turned to Crony; who was watching it all through a creepy rotting smile.
"I had a nickname back in the army. You wanna know what it was?"
What? Said Crony.
Chris's friendly smile widen further making it more unnerving.
"Dogman."
The little girl looked up a him in confusion. Wondering who the man was talking to. When she saw he was looking at Crony. She began to get worried.
"M-Mister what are you-"
Chomp
Chris suddenly picked her up and bit down on her nose. She made a blood-curdling scream as blood oozed from where her nose used to be. He then threw her down. She brought her hands up to her face and felt the pain rush through her nose. She screamed louder and louder.
Chris looked at the sky and howled like a wolf. Other adults surrounded her and began to devour her and howled as well. As soon as that was done. Chris looked around and admire how nice and fancy his new house was.
"Imma crash around this place for a while. Not like kids in the surrounding towns gonna go anywhere."
He took the map from his pocket and looked at the next town he'll be stopping by. Royal Woods. He looked off into the direction of Royal Woods and could swear he saw an orange glow from the distance. He dismissed it as just some small fire. He'd seen plenty of small fires around this place and many of them revolve around gas stations.
There's going to be a lot of work that needed to be done. But for now, he needed some rest. He hadn't had a full night's rest in a while now and he's not gonna waste that chance.