CHAPTER 8

Who Died and Made You King of the Zombies?
Or
Things Getting Worse

1

"I still don't see why you don't just go ahead and do it." Nicholas asked.

It was getting late in the evening and the group (minus Sissy) were gathered around in the lobby, enjoying a supper consisting mostly of junk food, and talking amongst themselves. As usual, Yumi, Ulrich, Jeremy, and Odd were gathered together in their own little clique while Tamiya and Milly slept in the corner at the far end of the room. As for Nicholas and Herb, they were talking about Herb and his hidden affections for Sissy.

"No way!" Herb answered, "There's no way I'm going to talk to Sissy right now! She's pissed! If I go and talk to her now, she'll tear my face off."

Nicholas nodded slightly in agreement, "I can see your point. Suddenly, facing a hoard of zombies doesn't seem so bad."

The both of them looked around the room. They still had power and they were thankful for that, but it was a bit of a moot point. They were still trapped inside of the dormitories with the one rescue vehicle outside, and they were starting to run low on ammunition. In the background, a CD player was going through some songs Odd had on CD somewhere. They originally tried browsing through the radio, but all they got was dead air and EBS signals. Nicholas turned back to Herb.

"You have to consider one thing though," he added, "You may not get another chance."

"What do you mean?" Herb questioned.

"Well, look around man. It's the end of the world! Many of us have lost our families, at least the vast majority of our families." Nicholas looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping on him and then lowered his voice to Herb, "What if we don't make it another day and you die knowing that you never really told her how you felt?"

Herb was rather taken back by this. He didn't want to think about being ripped to pieces by those things outside, not after his rather dynamic battle outside just a couple hours earlier. He gave Nicholas a slightly unsettled look and then turned his head and sighed.

"Well then," Herb responded glumly, "If I die, then I'll be too dead to care whether or not I told her."

"And if you die, you'll be too dead to care whether or not she totally rejected you." Nicholas said in an unusually upbeat voice, "You've got nothing to lose!"

Herb looked around the room and his eyes fell on Yumi and Ulrich, who were talking together in their group.

"You really think I can pull it off?" Herb said quietly.

"Man, if you can do what you did out there earlier, you can talk to a girl dude. Don't be such a wuss."

"I'm not being a wuss!" Herb hissed, "I'm just…I'm…"

Nicholas cocked an eyebrow at Herb, awaiting his pathetic excuse.

"It's just that…I wouldn't know how to say it, y'know?"

Nicholas hummed and nodded his head.

"Well, you gotta act real smooth like."

"Smooth?"

"Yeah, like double-0 seven or something."

"Nice advice," Herb said sarcastically, "But in case you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly Casa Nova over here."

"You see? There's your problem!"

"What is?"

"You've got the wrong attitude! You anticipate your own defeat before you even try. I mean, look, be honest with me, out there, before you and Odd went at it with the zombies, you were afraid that you were going to die, weren't ya?"

Herb was taken back, and then nodded. He wasn't exactly keen on admitting his own fear, but he wasn't going to lie about it either.

"Uh, yeah, but…"

"But nothing! You were afraid, but regardless of that, you went ahead and did it anyway, and look what happened! Not did you just survive unscathed, but you were busting shots off like Chow Yun-Fat!"

"Yeah, but…that was totally different. It was a life-or-death situation!"

"Well that's good! You could go through a life or death situation, you can survive telling Sissy how you really feel."

"But I…"

"Enough of your excuses man." Nicholas interrupted, "Here's how it's going to work, you go to your room and make it look all nice and what not. Y'know, put on some tunes, get into some nice clothes, the works. While you do that, I'll go and tell Sissy that you want to talk to her in private in your room. She'll show up, you'll be ready, everything'll click together!"

Nicholas got up to his feet and started walking away. Herb quickly grabbed his pants leg.

"Nicholas!" he said, almost shouting.

"What is it now man?" Nicholas answered sounding rather annoyed. Herb stared at him for a second while he gathered his thoughts.

"Wait thirty minutes, then tell Sissy. I'll need some extra time to prepare."

Nicholas gave Herb a rather fiendish looking smile.

"I gotcha." Nicholas said winking, "Thirty minutes."

The both of the got to their feet and left the room. For a second there, Jeremy could have sworn that he heard Nicholas say "all right" in a Quagmire voice.

"What's got Nicholas in a good mood?" Odd questioned as the two of them passed by.

"Who cares?" Yumi pouted, still sore over the whole Sissy-Ulrich thing.

Ulrich shot Yumi a glare. Yumi caught it in the corner of her eye, but didn't even bother to return it. Instead, she stared off into space, poorly attempting to ignore him,

"Doesn't matter." Jeremy answered, pushing his glasses up to the top of his nose, "Now that they're gone we can get back to business."

"What did Aelita have to say about all this?" Odd said, turning back to Jeremy.

"A tower has been activated. Knowing this, I would definitely say that this is all XANA's doing."

"Are you entirely sure?" Odd replied cynically, "You sure that there's not just some swarm of mutant bees flying around somewhere outside and that this whole zombie apocalypse thing is just a nasty coincidence?"

"Hurr." Jeremy muttered, "Real cure Odd."

"I aim to please baby."

"Anyway, now that we've confirmed its XANA, it's imperative that we escape from here and make it to the factory. Only then will we be able to…dammit, are you two paying attention?"

When Jeremy interjected, Ulrich was still staring grimly at Yumi, who continued to stare off into space. Both snapped to attention.

"Huh? What?" Ulrich asked, giving Jeremy his trademark "Who? Me?" face that he gave the teachers time and time again when called upon to answer a question.

"I wasn't listening." Yumi said outright and unapologetically.

Jeremy sighed deeply and rubbed the corners of his eyes. He could just feel the pressure behind his eyes from the headache the both of them were giving him. Odd's humor wasn't exactly releasing the pressure either.

"Could the two of you please give me your attention for, like, five minutes so that I can go over the details of how we're going to get out of here? This is a life-or-death situation that we have on our hands here in case you haven't noticed."

"Tell that to her." Ulrich said gesturing to Yumi, "She's been acting like this ever since we got here."

"Why do you always have to treat me like I'm the problem?", Yumi shot back "I've been doing nothing but supporting you since this whole mess started. When you proposed to come here, I volunteered to go right from the start, unlike Sissy who decided to wait to the last moment to tag along!"

"Why do you always have to bring Sissy into this?"

"Why do I have to bring Sissy into this? Don't ask me, you're the one who seems to be enjoying her company so much."

"Whether or not I enjoy her company is none of your business!"

"You know what Ulrich? I wish you'd treat me with a little more respect than that! I saved your life out there!"

"Correction, Sissy saved my life."

Yumi rose to her feet, her hands tightly clenched into fists. She gave Ulrich a stone cold stare as he rose to a stand, delivering her a lethal glare of his own. Odd clenched in horror and anticipation. It was pretty ugly to see two of his best friends come this close to exchanging fists, but knowing that they both were skilled martial artists, he figured that at least it would be a cool fight to watch. Jeremy, on the other hand, was more so pissed than he was shocked. He rose to his feet and moved in between the two.

"That'll be quite enough!" Jeremy told them both. He turned to see Tamiya and Milly in the corner, waking from their slumber, "The girls are awake now. Nice work. We can't talk business with them awake, let alone you two acting the way you are. Take a break and meet back here when you feel like you've cooled-off. Come Hell or high water, we're going to get this bit of business out of the way tonight."

Yumi gave off a deep sigh that sounded more like grunt, "I'm going to the roof to get some fresh air."

Yumi swiftly turned her back on Ulrich as she stormed her way out of the room. Odd looked around the room as he surveyed the damage.

"Well!" he said pleasantly, "I'm going to get a snack. Sniff you jerks later."

Odd followed Yumi out of the room (but not too closely). Then, it was just Jeremy and Ulrich.

"I don't know what's between you too, but it has got to stop. It may look like a personal affair to you, but it could be the one thing that comes between us and survival. If you need me, I'll be in my room."

Jeremy turned his back on Ulrich and left the room, leaving nothing but the trailing sound of his footsteps echoing through the halls. Ulrich took a deep sigh and unclenched his fists.

"Ulrich," Milly asked sheepishly, "Are you and Yumi fighting?"

Ulrich turned to see the girls in the corner staring back at him with their eyes filled with confusion and fear. Ulrich walked over to them and patted Milly on the head.

"It's okay." He told them softly, "Everything's going to be okay. You can go back to sleep now."

Milly smiled at Ulrich, who returned the gesture. She then rested her head against the floor and Tamiya followed suit.

He didn't want to tell them the truth. It wasn't so much to upset them, but also so he didn't have to upset himself.

2

"This had better be good." Sissy thought to herself as she stormed through the dormitory halls. It was only a few minutes ago when Nicholas let himself into her room and told her that Herb wanted to talk to her in his room. When she asked why he couldn't come to her room, all she got out of Nicholas was…

"It's a surprise." He replied smirking.

Whatever that was about, Sissy didn't like it. After having to resort to killing her zombie father, Sissy was less than enthusiastic about having to talk to anyone, especially that wormy dork Herb.

Regardless, Nicholas said it was important so Sissy decided not to keep Herb waiting. If it was important enough to interrupt her in her moment of grief, then it must have been serious. Otherwise, she would have to throw him off the top of the building and let the zombies have their way with him. Either way, she was getting something out of it.

Sissy stopped in front of the door to Herb's room and took a deep breath. On any normal day she would have banged the door down demanding to know what Herb wanted. However. This wasn't exactly a normal day and Sissy just couldn't find the fire in her to get mad at Herb. He reached out and knocked on the door. Herb's frantic voice came from the other side.

"One moment! I'm not decent!"

"Not…decent?" Sissy thought to herself. Exactly what the Hell was Herb wanting to tell her? Deep down, something told her that she should have brought her shotgun with her.

"Okay," Herb called, "Come in."

Sissy stalled for a moment. Now she wasn't exactly sure whether or not she wanted to go in. Still, she came all this way. At the very least, Herb owed her an explanation. She placed her hand on the doorknob, twisted it, and slowly opened the door.

Everything seemed to come to her at once. The scents, the sights, and most importantly, the music. That music…

"My mind's tellin' me no, but my body…my body's tellin' me yes!"

Sissy, who was stricken with shock, scanned the dimly lit room. Instead of having the electric lights on, Herb had some candles, which were saved especially for power outages, lit all around the room. The smell of incense (the kind you can buy real cheap at a World Market) filled the room with a strong aroma. Herb's computer blared out R. Kelly at the far corner of the room, and Herb…Herb was standing smack dab in the middle of the room wearing a night robe trying his hardest to look as pimp as theoretically possible.

"Baby, I don't want to hurt nobody, but there is something I must confess…to you."

"Hello Sissy." Herb told her confidently.

"I don't see nothing wrong, with a little bump n' grind…with a little bump in grind…"

"Please, step inside." Herb continued slyly.

Something in the back of Sissy's mind yelled "Run!" while others yelled "You should have brought the shotgun!" Regardless, she stepped into the room slowly, bewildered and hypnotized by Herb's faux pimpness.

"So… so baby, bring your body to me… hey, hey, hey… bring your body here"

"Would you mind…closing the door?" Herb was as confident as ever.

Without taking her eyes off of Herb, Sissy reached behind her and slowly closed the door. In this light, Herb took notice to Sissy's hypnotized disposition.

"Yes!" Herb thought to himself, "She's dazzled by my charms!"

The truth of the matter was, however, that Sissy was in a state of mild shock. The kind of shock you get when you see a car accident unfold in front of you and didn't see it coming. For that brief moment, you don't even scream. You see it, but you can't do anything but stare on. It's like your mind is unable to properly process what has happened before you. In Sissy's case, however, her state of shock was more prolonged. Sissy scanned Herb's room so to be sure what she was seeing wasn't some delusion caused by her emotional grief. If the zombies outside hadn't proved to her yet that this was the twilight zone, this did.

"I take it Nicholas gave you my message?" Herb asked.

Sissy nodded her head, still observing the room.

"Good, good. Look Sissy, there's something I've been meaning to tell you…"

"Girl you need someone, someone like me, yeah…to satisfy, your every need."

"…but first," Herb continued, "Would you like something to drink?"

Herb gestured to a plastic bucket, just like the kind you would find in a hotel room, filled with ice and some canned sodas he got from the drink machine earlier. Sissy stared at it, eyes still wide, and then stared back at Herb, shimmying her head back and forth.

"That's cool, that's cool." Herb replied, still sounding pimp, "I know how you feel. Let's skip the drinks and get down to the talking."

Herb put her hand on Sissy's shoulders and sat her down on the edge of the bed. Herb slowly sat himself down next to her.

"Now Sissy…I know that you have feelings. Feelings for…Ulrich…"

"You say he's not treating you right…Lady spend the night…"

"But Sissy," Herb's voice was transforming into something more desperate, "He's not the only one! You see Sissy…I…I want to be with you too!"

"I'll love you, like you need to be loved. Girl won't you try, some of me?"

"I've never been able to say it until now, but I loved you since the moment I first set eyes on you."

Sissy's mouth began to tighten up.

"No need to look no more, because I've opened up my doors."

"I may not be as athletic or popular as Ulrich, but I give you my word…I'll treat you right."

She bit down on her bottom lip.

"You'll never, baby, you'll never, want another love… You'll never find another me!"

"So what do you say Sissy? Won't you be my girl?" Herb asked passionately.

She felt like she was about to lose it.

"You see you need someone, someone like me, yeah…To make love to you baby, constantly!"

Sissy gave off a strange noise though her tightly closed mouth. To Herb it sounded something like a grunt or a snort.

"What?" Herb asked desperately, "What was that Sissy?"

Sissy made another noise. This one sounding like a strange sneeze.

"Is something wrong Sissy?"

That was it. The music, the candles, the incense, the sodas, Herb's attire and now, to top it off, his confessional. Sissy couldn't hold it back any longer.

She laughed. She laughed loud and hard.

Herb watched Sissy's uncontrollable laughter, his mind drowning in confusion.

"Oh Herb!" Sissy said between laughs, "Did Nicholas…did Nicholas put you up to this?"

"Um…yes. I mean, it was my idea, but he said I should go ahead and do it." Herb responded trying to explain himself. It was now him who was confused and uncertain.

"Oh Herb! This was great!" Sissy told him, still laughing, "You guys always know how to cheer me up, but this…this took the cake!"

"I…I don't understand." Herb pleaded.

Sissy reached out and gave Herb a huge, tight hug that almost made him jump out of his skin in shock.

"This was great! I haven't laughed this hard in Lord knows how long! Oh thank you Herb! This was really funny."

Sissy let go of Herb, who stared back at her like a confused animal. His glasses set crookedly on his nose and his hair seemed a little messy, but he didn't even seem to recognize, let alone try to fix it.

Sissy got to her feet as she wiped some tears off of the corner of her eyes.

"Oh, that was great! I'm not going to be able to forget that one! That's too good!"

Sissy walked over to the bucket of drinks and removed one from the bucket.

"You wouldn't mind if I took one of these, would you ya big stud?" Sissy asked teasingly.

Herb just shimmied his head back in forth in a manner not all too different from the way Sissy did to him earlier.

"Awesome." Sissy said, smiling. She cracked the can open and winked at Herb, "I'll talk to you later, Casanova."

Sissy headed for the door and left Herb's room, still laughing over what she just saw. Herb just sat there on his bed in staring at the door in disbelief.

"Did I just score?" he asked himself as R. Kelly's voice faded.

3

Ulrich opened the door to Jeremy's room. At the end of the room sat Jeremy in front of his system with both Odd and Yumi standing on both sides of him. Everyone turned to see him.

"Hey Ulrich," Jeremy said, turning back to his system, "You're just in time. We're getting ready to go over escape plans."

"Last to show, huh?" Yumi asked acidly.

Before anyone could say anything else, Jeremy turned to Yumi and mouthed the word "Don't". He then turned to see Ulrich and gave him a similar look. Ulrich clearly looked hurt, but he didn't even look at Yumi. He closed the door behind him and walked over to Jeremy.

"What's the plan?" he asked.

"We grab a car and ride it out of here and straight to the factory, that's the easy part. It's Sissy and everyone else that's the problem."

"What about them?" Ulrich asked.

"We need to get them out of here." Jeremy replied.

"I don't see why." Yumi added, still sounding upset, "They'll be safe here until we set everything right."

"It's not about that." Jeremy answered, "We need for them to have a ride of their own as a safety measure for them. That way they'll still be able to get a ride out of here in case we…you know…don't make it."

"Now Jeremy, that's quitter talk." Odd said half-jokingly.

"Quitter talk or not, it's what's best."

"I know. It's just…" Yumi stumbled over her words, "I just don't see why...why…"

"Why we should care about them?" Ulrich said completing Yumi's sentence. Everyone turned to Ulrich, who was glaring back at Yumi, "That's what you were going to say, wasn't it?"

"That's enough!" Jeremy interrupted, "I said we were going to finish this tonight and I meant it! Now lets get back to work."

Both Ulrich and Yumi glared at each other again and then turned back to Jeremy.

"Where are we going to get the extra car, Einstein?" Odd asked.

"Sissy and everyone else can take Nurse Dorothy's car. The keys should still be in her office here in the dorms. We can take other armored car outside. It's still running and in good enough condition."

"Why not let Sissy and them take the armored car? They'll be making the longer trip and will need the extra protection, so how about we take Dorothy's car instead?"

Yumi made an annoyed grunting noise, but no one paid her any attention. Jeremy continued.

"The armored car has been running ever since it got here Ulrich. Given how much fuel it may have and given the condition of the car it may only be able to get us as far as the factory before it goes kaput."

"Good point." Ulrich replied.

"Well, it sounds like a plan to me." Odd said, "Want me to go and get the others?"

"Sure." Jeremy said, "The sooner, the better."

"Very well then," Yumi said smugly, "I'll go and find Nicholas. Odd, you find Herb…and Ulrich…since you seem to be so taken with her, why don't you go ahead get Sissy?"

"I will." Ulrich replied sternly as he went for the door.

Yumi watched Ulrich storm over to the door and didn't turn back to Jeremy until she heard him strongly close it behind him.

"Real smooth." Jeremy told Yumi.

"Save it." Yumi replied, heading to the door. When she left, Odd turned back to Jeremy.

"Something tells me that this isn't going to just blow over Odd. Yumi seems pissed."

"Hell hath no fury…" Odd replied as he left for the door.

4

In a matter of minutes, everyone was gathered in the lobby of the dorms. Tamiya and Milly were sitting on the floor rubbing their eyes while Sissy leaned up against the wall polishing off a can of soda. Yumi, Odd, and Ulrich waited together in a huddle at near the hallway for Jeremy to arrive. In the corner, Nicholas and Herb were chatting it up.

"So, how'd it go?" Nicholas asked Herb quietly so that Sissy wouldn't overhear.

"What? Oh, all right I guess."

"Well? What happened? Did she get mad?"

"No, not really. I think she kind of enjoyed it."

"Enjoyed it!" Nicholas replied disbelievingly, "I mean, um, of course she did. Why wouldn't she?"

"Sure. It's just, I'm not sure if she likes me or not."

"What do you mean? She, er, enjoyed it, right? She must like you then. It's chicks man, not rocket science."

"Might as well be rocket science." Herb replied sighing.

Just then, Jeremy stepped into the room. Everyone rose to attention.

"So?" Sissy asked, "What's this about?"

"Well, I believe we may have come up with a plan in regards to getting us out of here."

"Cool." Sissy said happily.

Jeremy was a bit caught off guard by this. Wasn't Sissy extremely upset earlier? What could have happened to make her so happy? No matter. This was business.

"Er, right. The plan is as follows. We're going to split up into two groups. Sissy, Herb, Nicholas, Tamiya and Milly will all take Nurse Dorothy's car, we have her keys right here, and take it to the city. Me, Yumi, Ulrich and Odd will take the other armored car outside."

"That beat up thing?" Sissy asked, "Whatever. Suit yourself. So, what, you guys will be following us or what?"

"No," Jeremy replied, "We're going elsewhere."

Just as soon as he said it, Jeremy realized he shouldn't have. Sissy, her entourage, and the girls stood at attention.

"Going elsewhere? Just what in the Hell is that supposed to mean?" Sissy said, moving towards Jeremy.

"Well, er, what I mean is, um…"

"What he means is, eh, that we should look for, um, other survivors while you guys look for shelter." Odd interrupted, trying to cover for Jeremy's slip.

"Oh, you guys are going to go and look for survivors in that beat up jalopy, huh?"

"Uh…yes?"

Sissy took a step forward to Odd and gave him a nasty glare.

"You lie." She breathed slowly.

"It's true!" Ulrich pleaded.

"Oh really? Well it sounds like a load of crap to me! There's no reason for us to split up. Furthermore, why is it always you four who are in the same group, huh? Where are you running off to?"

"Where we're running off to isn't any of your damned business!" Yumi answered as she stepped in front of Sissy.

"You had best step out of my face!" Sissy shouted. She was so close to Yumi that she could have very well been breathing down her throat.

"You can't tell me what to do! You're not my mother!"

"Girls!" Ulrich said stepping in between the two of them, "Don't start acting like this."

"Sorry Ulrich." Sissy said, pushing him out of the way, "I got something I've got to say to Yumi here."

"You can't put your hands on him!" Yumi demanded.

"I'll put my hands all over him if I want to!" Sissy replied, making intimate hand gestures, "He's not your man. If anything, he's more mine than yours."

"And just what makes you think that Ulrich would want to have anything to do with a stuck-up skank like you anyway?"

"Please, don't even try to flatter yourself! You couldn't get a man half-as-good as Ulrich, not with that big ass forehead of yours."

Yumi snapped. Her eyes widened madly as she placed her hand on Sissy's shoulder and cocked back a punch.

"You…CUNT!"

Yumi's fish shot foreward, slamming hard against Sissy's mouth. Sissy flew backwards, falling on her back. Tamiya and Milly let out two loud gasps as she smacked down on the pavement. Sissy leaned up and put her hand to her mouth. From it, she wiped off a spot of blood. She stared madly at it and then stared back at Yumi.

"You want to bring it on, bitch?"

"Pencak Silat," Yumi said, entering a fighter's stance, "Black belt."

"That so?" Sissy hissed as she got to her feet, "Well then, lets see how you like my-foot-in-your-ass style!"

Sissy lunged a kick forward, catching Yumi in the stomach, sending her flying forward. As she hit the floor, Sissy lunged for her, mounting herself on top as she delivered a flurry of punches to Yumi's blocked face.

"Oh shit!" Odd yelled, "Tamiya, get the camera!"

"I'm one step ahead of you." Tamiya replied as she began filming.

While Sissy resumed with her torrent of punches, Yumi swiftly raised her leg and kicked Sissy in the back of the head. Sissy yelled in pain as she clutched the back of her head. Yumi unblocked her face and looked up at Sissy.

"Let's see how you like my forehead now!" she shouted as she headbutted Sissy, sending her back to the floor.

Yumi got to her feet as Sissy clutched both sides of her skull. Yumi grabbed her by the back and lifted her up above her head. Yumi then proceeded to toss Sissy into a small, wooden folding table next to her which was used to set drinks on top of. Soda spilled everywhere as the guys who watched on scattered throughout the room to avoid the puddle. Yumi mounted Sissy and began to deliver her own set of punches. One…two…and then in a move that caught Yumi off guard, Sissy caught the third one and retorted with a swift punch in the throat. Yumi coughed loudly as Sissy kicked her off of her and onto another puddle of fluid. As she did, Yumi caught Sissy's shirt and tore it. What was left was a mostly torn shirt that showed Sissy in her brassiere.

"Oh, that's how it's going to be, huh bitch?" Sissy shouted.

As Yumi laid face first in the puddle of soda, Sissy reached for Yumi's shirt and tore it off of her, leaving her in her brassiere as well. Yumi gasped in terror as she threw the torn shirt across the room.

"Whore!" Yumi scream as she tackled Sissy to the ground and proceeded to wrestle her in the spilled soda pop.

"Oh damn!" Odd said to himself, pulling on the front collar of his shirt as he watched the two girls wrestle half-nakedly, wet in the pool of soda, "This is getting hot!"

As they wrestled, Sissy caught Yumi in a leg lock and held her in place, cutting off her air supply. Yumi choked for a moment as she hammered away ay Sissy's legs, but to no avail. Yumi then pulled up Sissy's pants leg and bit her on the ankle. Sissy howled in pain as she loosened her grip on Yumi's neck. Yumi slowly returned to her feet and caught her breath while Sissy recovered and returned to hers.

"Biting, huh?" Sissy asked, "Pretty cheap, but not something I wouldn't expect from a cheap ho like you."

"Well then, let's see if you can see this one coming!"

Yumi ran forward and dived at Sissy, delivering a massive dropkick to her midsection. Sissy flew backwards, almost into Nicholas and Herb, who scattered quickly out of the girl's way. Yumi hit the floor from her dropkick, sending a wave of pain though her body. She was growing tired of this, but the adrenaline in her system was keeping her in the game.

"Nicholas!" Herb called out, "We really need to do something!"

"Yeah." Nicholas replied apathetically as he gazed at Sissy's soda-soaked chest.

"Dammit Nicholas!"

"Shut up! Can't you see I'm enjoying myself?"

Yumi got to her feet and dragged herself over to Sissy. Standing above her, she began to deliver a series of swift kicks to her sides. When Sissy's nerve came back to her, she grabbed Yumi's foot and pulled it towards her, causing Yumi to fall to the floor. Yumi's body hit the floor with an ugly thud. Sissy, who was now too weak to return to her feet, slumped over Yumi's body and began to hammer away at her face. Using her last bit of strength, Yumi caught Sissy's punch and returned with a massive uppercut that sent Sissy slumping over to the floor. The girls lied on the wet floor, panting heavily thought their bleeding noses.

"Hot damn!" Nicholas exclaimed, "That was great!"

Nicholas looked up to see Jeremy, Ulrich and Herb giving him fractured looks.

"I mean, er, break it up you two! That'll be enough of that!"

"Shut up Nicholas and help me get these girls to a room for them to recover." Jeremy said, picking up Yumi's body.

"Milly, go to the nurse's office and grab a first aid kit."

Milly nodded and darted off to grab the kit. Ulrich made his way over to Sissy's body and grabbed her by the ankles.

"Give me a hand here Nicholas." Ulrich said.

"Same here Herb." Jeremy added.

Both boys nodded and complied, helping them with the two girls. Odd made his way over to Tamiya, who had already finished filming.

"Hey Tamiya," Odd said extending his hand to the girl, "20 Euros says I can have a copy of that tape."

Tamiya looked at Odd's hand and look back at him smiling. She grabbed his hand and shook it.

"Deal!" she said.

"Ooh! Me too!" Nicholas called out in distance.

"Shut up Nicholas!" Ulrich replied.

5

"Jesus that hurts!" Sissy shouted.

"I need to do it!" Jeremy pleaded as he dabbed Sissy's wounds with rubbing alcohol, "It's to prevent infection."

"Oh! When I get my hands on Yumi…" Sissy said, slowly trying to rise out of her bed.

"You're not in any position to hurt anyone." Ulrich said, putting his hand Sissy's shoulder and gently pressing her back down on the bed, "Not tonight anyway."

Sissy sighed and looked around her room. She was still pretty angry, but more so, she was ashamed of what she had done. She must have looked like an animal doing what she had just done. Now here she was lying in bed in her brassiere, soaked, sticky and smelling like orange soda. Suddenly, the sting of the rubbing alcohol wasn't so bad.

"Sissy, you think you'll be able to get up in a bit?" Jeremy asked.

"I suppose…why?"

"Because it's best you get cleaned up. You know, wash off all that soda and all."

There was a sharp-tongued comeback somewhere at the end of that comment, but Sissy was all too exhausted to find it.

"Yeah, I know."

"Good." Jeremy replied, getting to his feet, "Well, I'm going to see how Yumi is doing."

"She's in your room, right?" Ulrich asked, "I'll go with you."

Both of them made their way to Sissy's door, but Sissy caught them at the last moment.

"Ulrich…wait."

Both of them stopped in their tracks and turned back to Sissy.

"What is it?" Ulrich asked.

"Why are you going…with Yumi and everyone else I mean…when we leave, you know?"

"Crap," Ulrich thought to himself, "You weren't going to forget, were you?"

"Why are you always going? You and her…together…why? Why can't it be us?"

Ulrich sighed and kneeled before Sissy's bed, taking her hand into his.

"I'm sorry Sissy, I can't tell you that."

"But why!" she pleaded, almost in tears, "It's me isn't it? It's because you hate me!"

"No! It's not like that at all! It's not about you!"

"Then it's about her, isn't it! Why can't it be me? What does she have that I don't!"

"It's not about Yumi either. It's about something else. Something bigger."

"Like what?"

"Something big." Ulrich answered, "Bigger than me, you, Yumi, everything. It's something that I have to do."

"I don't understand." She said to him. Her eyes were beginning to water.

"I know, and I'm sorry, but trust me. It's something that that I have to do, for everyone."

Sissy stared back at him, her jaw trembling.

"Will I see you again?"

Ulrich was quiet. He didn't know how to answer that question, but he went ahead and did anyway.

"Yes…you will. I promise."

Sissy gave Ulrich a gentle look.

"I believe you," she said smiling, "But just in case…"

Sissy wrapped her arm around Ulrich's shoulder and lifted herself up to his lips. She kissed him tightly as Ulrich hummed in surprise. He could taste the blood and root beer on her lips, but he didn't mind. It was for Sissy. She loosened her grip on Ulrich and lowered herself down on the bed.

"Thank you." She said softly, "I'm tired. Could you turn the lights out when you leave."

"Sure.' Ulrich told her, looking at her surprised.

She said nothing. She hummed delightedly as she closed her eyes and drifted into sleep. Ulrich got to his feet and left the room, turning the lights out. Both him and Jeremy stood outside her door and stared at each other with an expression of surprise on both their faces.

"Jeremy, can you do me a favor?"

"Sure."

"Don't you ever tell anyone what just happened in there."

"I wouldn't dream of it."

"Thanks, you're a pal."