This chapter is dedicated to Kepler11c and water alchemistXxX. Thank you. You both were the reasons why I was so determined to complete this chapter. :)
Raine waited and waited for the zombie's yellow teeth to sink into her flesh, while she would be shrieking with agony, but after a long moment of waiting, Raine sheepishly peeked through one eye. Was she supposed to die yet? Or become one of the undead?
She shuddered, as she stared at this grotesque, undead corpse. Rather than approaching her though, the creature stood still with its tongue lolling out of its mouth, while its glassy eyes stared up at the gray-blue sky. With its jaws hung open, there was the occasional foaming brimming out of its mouth and dripping off its tongue.
Raine tried to ease herself away from the zombie, while she wondered what was taking so long, "He's not praying to the heavens, is he?" She didn't feel like a meal that was fit for dinner prayers. While she attempted to stagger away, she didn't dare look away from the zombie, just in case it decided to destroy her the moment that she dropped her guard.
Behind her, the crowd was stunned with terror. They still had their weapons up, but didn't make a motion to shoot. Those who weren't watching were attempting to drag the injured melee up the stairs of the bell tower. The only one in the crowd, who did think of motion, was Candi.
Candi already felt unsettled. Looking at Raine's near-death crisis made her feel even worse! She flung her sword away carelessly in her bitterness. Her sword flew in circles, before it stuck into a wooden post of the bell tower.
Candi crossed her arms dispiritedly. She felt as if she couldn't help anyone. With her mind always wandering, she didn't listen to instructions and often forgot their battle plans, which put them all in danger. Furthermore, she drew all over pieces of paper, without knowledge that she had drawn all over a weeks' worth of plans that Talia had for them. Now she especially couldn't help that girl in danger over there!
Candi felt as if they were taking survival too seriously. When could they ever have fun? When they were laughing at a joke, Talia would tell them to get their head back in the game. When her best friend, Tai, had handed her a flower, she saw that Talia had eyed them and heaved a breath out, before she stared back down at the map that she was drawing.
Candi stopped musing and watched the zombie that was staring up at the sky. He could be having a good lunch, if that girl didn't get away from it soon. Thinking about lunch, caused Candi to hungrily suck on the plastic, candy ornaments that dangled from her hair. It made her think about the bland meals that they've been having for the last few days. They'd been questioning what was even in the mashed food so much that Talia gave orders to Fern, their main cook, and those who took turn to help with the cooking to not reveal what was in the recipe. Once during meal time though, Tai had whispered to Candi that their mashed meal contained roots, but after seeing Candi lose her appetite, he refused to ever reveal the ingredients ever again. Reviewing those bland meals made Candi crave for sweets even more! She almost wanted to start biting her candy ornaments in her rippling, pink-lemonade hair, while she mumbled a quote that a teacher of hers had told her before, "We can make life sweet or sour." That's when an idea struck her mind!
This was it; it was her chance to slip away from them! They could deny going to the fairgrounds altogether, but they couldn't really stop one person's thought process. Even if they chased after her, then they'd be going to the fairgrounds altogether! At least one of them could get some hands on sweets and have a playful fight over it. Candi giggled in excitement, before she slapped a hand over her mouth and looked at Marie to see if she had disturbed her. Marie didn't seem fazed by Candi's presence next to her at all. It saddened Candi in a way to see that her bold friend paid no attention to her right now. She wanted to take Marie along, but she wasn't sure whether Marie would (accidentally) blab about it. Therefore, she tiptoed away on her own.
Candi saw her own sword stuck in the wooden post. She reached for it, but hesitated. If she tried to pull the sword out of the wooden post, it could cause enough ruckus to alert the others. If she didn't though, then… It came to her mind that she could butcher a few zombies with it, but at the same time, she could run away from them. Furthermore, bringing a weapon would decrease the others' weapon supply, and Talia had been commanding that they keep as many weapons as possible. Candi began envisioning that the others would call her a scaredy-cat, if she took a weapon along with her, and that would make her look like she was scared of the zombies. Disregarding her safety, Candi turned and left the saber behind her.
Candi dashed away from the group. She jumped over a wooden bench, before she heard a groan come from behind her. She turned around, expecting to see one of the group members. Instead, it was a zombie! Half of its face seemed to be drooping off its skull as if its face was like baggy clothing or had been partially melted like a candle. Candi covered her mouth at how nauseating that was. She was petrified by this unsightly creature, until another zombie suddenly rammed into the chain-link fence next to her! Candi dived out of the way of its swinging arms, before more zombies joined it at the fence to try and reach her. Candi trembled and picked herself up off the ground, but before she could get up all the way, the first zombie had caught up and slashed at her! It was enough to knock Candi's yellow beret off of her head and send a streak of red bursting from her arm! The red splattered onto her nice beret, causing Candi to shriek in agony. She lamented about how ditzy she had been when their scout had warned them about a swarm of zombies in this area.
[Meanwhile…]
Tai, the older brother of Devin, was gazing at his reflection in the remains of a shattered trophy case. It wasn't his appearance that he cared about though; it was his memories. He wanted to remember the best in his family, before the worst could happen. While he was doing so, he was twiddling with the gun in his hands almost mindlessly.
He acknowledged that in the past, people were shocked when they discovered that Devin and him were related. When they put the boys were placed side-by-side though, the people could see some similarities between them and grew to accept it. Perhaps they were shocked because he and his brother had vastly different personalities. When they were side-by-side, anyone could see that he and Devin had similar, or even identical facial features. However, Tai had black hair that was usually gelled downwards, while Devin's caramel hair was always messy. Tai remembered the times in their childhood when they drove their mother crazy!
One time, they tried to play barbershop, and used mud to imitate their father's gel. No matter how much mud they rubbed in Devin's hair, it could not be tamed and continued pointing in all directions. Unfortunately, some of the dirt got into his eyes, and that may have played a factor in getting him lenses. Tai got his glasses because he read so much. Whether it was in his bedroom, outside, in the dark, in the classroom, or in the cafeteria, he could almost always be found with his nose in a book. (Due to their glasses also being so similar, the boys sometimes argued over which pair of glasses was whose.)
Their Asian mother always loved how studious Tai was, while their white father enjoyed Devin's athleticism. Since Devin was sometimes playing sports, he could be seen occasionally wearing contacts. Despite their different likings, both boys were slim, but Devin had a slightly larger build. Devin wasn't a football jockey, but he was considered a valuable player in the basketball team, which their dad coached for the same school every year until his retirement. It was coordinated movement mixed with some speed that gave Devin the ability to evade opponents easily. Perhaps he had gained those qualities, because he always had to run from Tai when he came for his daily noogie to see how much more messy Devin's hair could get—maybe that was why Devin's hair was so permanently messy. Even the quality pack of gel that their dad had bought them on the week of their birthdays couldn't tame that mess!
Tai sighed when he knew that their birthdays weren't that much fun anymore. The boys were two years and five days apart. Since their birthdays were usually on the same week, Devin's birthday would be celebrated on the same day as Tai's birthday. Years had passed and the boys would hardly do anything special on their birthdays. Their father was retired and their mother was deceased. Their parents had left the boys a nice house to stay in during the summer, before they would take off for college. During the summer, Tai would usually check out some textbooks from a library and study them, while shouting for Devin to turn down the music in the other room.
Tai's face expression turned a bit annoyed when he remembered those times, especially that one time where Devin inadvertently let his sports team host a party in their house, after they had won the championships. Boy, was that a real nightmare with boisterous music and chatter throughout the night. And then that mess! When Tai came out of his room to try and mellow things out and maybe even get the teenagers to clean up after themselves, he was stunned by the chaos. Plastic cups littered the ground, while potted plants were turned over. There was soda dripping from the ceiling and stains in the white carpet, while it looked like the fridge had been attacked with mustard. Furthermore, one of the windows was broken! Enough was enough!
Tai tried to shout over the loud music, but when they couldn't hear them, he had to turn off the stereo. One of the biggest players came over and shouted at Tai about what was his problem. Tai pointed out that this wasn't some party anymore; it was practically property damage and was against the law, so he was ending this party. Plus, they would all have to clean up after it. When the teenagers lamented and tried to compel him by saying that he wasn't cool, Tai still stood his ground responsibly. That's when the largest player gave Tai a large shove to the ground in an attempt to intimidate him.
"Hey! Not cool, man," rang a voice from behind this brute. It was Devin!
"What's it now?" sneered the bully, "You invited us to this house anyway."
"No," said Devin, as he made his way across the room to help Tai up, "You barged your way into here."
"Hey! Remember that I shot the winning basket!" reminded the ruffian.
"Yeah," retorted Devin, "With only one foul away from being kicked out the game! You realize that it was a tight game, because you were the one who kept straying from our strategies, right? Plus, you couldn't have had the last shot, if I hadn't decided to pass you the ball!"
The jerk scoffed, "Ohhh, why should I listen to your dad's drawings on the whiteboard, huh?"
"Okay, who do you think I am then? Your mother?" scoffed Devin, "We're not going to clean up after you and pay for your damages. You were the one who decided that it'd be funny to use condiments like paintballs and bring over everything that I forbid in this house! Plus, you were the one who threw that baseball out the window! If you think I am your mom, then I ought to send you up to bed or kick you out of the house!"
The spectating teens hooted with laughter, while the brute's face turned red. Some of the responsible ones along with a couple of friendly girls even agreed that their party had gone too far, since there was no way in denying the damages.
Devin offered Tai a hand up, but when Tai failed to get up and clutched his hip, shrieking with pain, it caused disarray. Through an open window, a female could be heard clearly shouting, "Someone get help; call 911! I think he's hurt!" This caused the brute to go pale and the partygoers panicked. Some fled the scene, while others stayed to help.
One of the boys tore his cotton tank off and approached them, saying, "My mom tells me to stop any bleeding by wrapping something tight around a severe wound. I don't know whether I should do it on a broken hip though, or if I can even create a splint for that."
One of the blonde girls behind him was tapping on a cell phone, declaring, "I can't find anything for broken hips, besides some articles with so many complex sentences that I can't understand what they're saying! I'm not a doctor, you know! Oh, I did find that some ice can help though!" Her black friend chose a clean spot to open the icky fridge door and yelled, "Ew! Yeah, that's if we even have any ice here!" The moment that she finished remarking, the front door slammed open. The shrill voice that first requested for 911 to be called now said, "Omigosh, is he okay?! Would any sugar make you feel better?"
It was Candi! Candi quickly swerved down the hallway and kneeled besides Tai, embracing him around her arms. When she picked him up into the sitting position, he didn't even shout in pain. Even more strange, Tai and Candi were smiling at each other with little to no worry shown upon their faces. This made Devin and the other three teenagers look flustered with so many questions inside their heads. "Did somebody also hit you in the head?" asked the black teenager, straining to look at the couple from behind the fridge door. Tai laughed, causing them to look even more befuddled. He then explained.
"You see," he said, "I was never hurt at all. Last month, I brought Candi to meet my dad at the retirement center and he taught us emergency strategies. If we were ever in a tight situation, it's better that none of us gets injured, whether the injuries will be on the enemy's side or ours. We fake a critical injury, and then one of us makes a dramatic scene for help or even draw a hidden weapon."
Knowing that there really was no emergency now, the blonde girl stopped researching remedies and slipped her cell phone back into her purse. Then, she bit her lip and mumbled, "That scream of pain sounded so real though. I'll be hearing it in my nightmares now."
The black girl inhaled with relief, while jostling her multitude of intricate braids with colorful beads on the end. She exclaimed, "Oh! Well you better do something about this mess then, because there's no way that you can let them get away with this! (She took a sandwich from the fridge.) Who in the world would add pickles to a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?! This has to be a crime to humanity!"
"Oh, that's actually my favorite lunch," replied Devin.
That caused the dark-haired girl to look at him in horror. She put her hands up in the air to show that she wanted nothing to do with this, "Well, if the cops show up, I might as well hand you over. Just kidding, but now I feel like I might want to try it just to see why you even like that."
Her blonde-haired friend bobbed behind her, saying, "C'mon, Joyce. Let's go now." Without another second to lose, they departed.
Only the guy who first attempted to help the trio stayed behind saying, "Aw, man. You mean that I ripped my tank top for nothing?"
Devin patted the guy on the back and promised, "Don't worry, I'll buy you a new one, man."
"Thanks, bro," responded the guy, before he picked up some plastic cups on the ground and tossed it into the trash can.
"Leave it," said Devin, "We'll have the others clean it up."
"I'm not so sure about that. They can clean it up, but if they do, they might hate you guys for the rest of their lives."
"Sure, but it's better than letting them walk all over us."
The guy nodded and took his leave a moment before the police arrived. The officers were stunned by how trashed this place looked. The male shifted his belt and said, "We've received several calls from neighbors and other teens here. You kids, okay?" His female partner took a pen out of her pocket, used her mouth to take the cap off of it, and stated, "In a moment, I'll need you to recall as much as you can about this."
Things did work out quite well. It took a couple of afternoons to clean the house, but the house looked just as nice afterward. They were given the evil eye by the brute and bullied occasionally for the rest of the year, but living in a neighborhood full of military families gave them the benefit that their haters would soon move away in a year.
All of the sudden, Tai's recollections were interrupted when a girl in a chicken outfit jumped in front of his face! Tai recoiled in alarm, while Ani chortled. They weren't with the rest of Talia's group, because they were supposed to be scavenging. Every few days, Talia would have two of them act as their search-party and assign them to an area that'd been pretty much cleared within the last few days. This time, the area was in the East side of the school. They were not allowed to head outside from the eastern doors though, since that would lead them to the fairgrounds, which was the most infested place since they landed here.
His eyes wandered from the eastern doors to Ani. Out of all people, she had been assigned to him after Talia had discovered how frivolously Tai and Candi worked together. Talia wouldn't stop talking about it for weeks about how she had meticulously selected each search-party pair, but didn't suspect those two's relationship.
She knew that Tai was smart and he did manage to set up laser traps by fashioning glass to reflect the sunlight perfectly. It worked so well that they didn't even have to worry about zombies getting through the open entrances, while they raided the cafeteria. Candi was nimble; her light weight and small size enabled her to climb the shelves and squeeze into cabinets for every last pack of dried fruit. Tai was also somewhat serious and could usually discipline anyone. He successfully managed to keep Candi in-line at first, but when he forgot about the laser traps at the door and accidentally burnt a marshmallow, Candi stopped refraining from her sweet tooth.
Ani was waving her hand in front of Tai's face. "Earth to Tai!" she yelled.
Tai sighed as he looked at Ani's quirky outfit. If she walked into an interview with that, she would get dismissed on the spot. The situation wasn't that Ani was bad at the job; it was more so ridiculous. Sometimes, he just wanted to walk into a private space and just burst out laughing without any hot-headed group members nor bloodthirsty zombies hearing him. Out of all things, why was she wearing a gigantic, chicken outfit in the midst of a zombie apocalypse?!
Ani saw that he was now staring at her outfit. "Squawwwk!" she teased, "Hey, these pretty feathers aren't for you. Now shoo, before I chase you out of my henhouse!"
"Haha," chuckled Tai, "We're not in a wrestling match. We're supposed to be teammates, remember?"
"Hah," she bellowed, "That's what you think. You're really supposed to belong with Candi, not me."
Tai's cheeks turned red as he shushed Ani. It wasn't because she was noisy, but because it was a fact that he did enjoy being besides Candi. If someone told Tai years ago that he'd be interested in a vivacious girl, he would've fallen to the floor with laughter. When he met Candi though, he noticed that there was something different about her, compared to all the other vivacious girls that he'd met.
On the end of their third day together, Tai finally summoned enough courage to ask Candi if she would let him walk her home. Candi whined though that she didn't want to walk home yet, so he offered her a piggyback ride, which she accepted without hesitation.
When they got to their destination, Tai could see that Candi lived in a pleasant, white suburban home that had plenty of plants surrounding it. The tranquility didn't last long though, before a scream could be heard from inside. When the two rushed inside, they dealt with a major fiasco. Since Tai stayed indoors for most of his life, it had not occurred to him that some homes were abusive until he had to defend Candi. By the end of it, the neighbors heard the ruckus and the police had arrived. Tai and Candi sat on the sidewalk curb, while the police lights danced upon the neighborhood. The last of the neighbors' doors shut, and a neighbor was comforting Candi's tearful mother inside. Therefore, the two had some privacy.
Tai was trying his best to not rub his bruised left arm. The emergency responders had it bandaged, and now he held that injured arm still on his lap with his right arm. If the bandage was taken off, one could see that a long, thin bruise ran up it. It had been there after he had blocked a tennis racket that was thrown at Candi. Candi was laying her head dolefully on his shoulder, while she hugged his right arm. Overhead, the stars twinkled for a moment, before Tai asked, "Candi, you didn't want me to take you home, because you were scared, right?"
Candi shook her head though. "No," she said in a choked whisper, "It's because I didn't want to leave you alone."
Tai looked at Candi in a way that he had never felt before. Candi gazed back at him and gave him a small smile, before she continued to hug his right arm. Tears were brimming from her eyes, but she still smiled. Even though his free arm was injured, Tai reached out and dried her tears, while he admired how strong Candi was. She'd been dealing with these monstrosities for years, and yet she was always smiling. He'd never met an extrovert like her. Unlike the others, Candi wasn't outgoing, because she wanted something from others, even if it was just delight. She socialized with people, because she loved them, and that was something that he found special in her.
A sudden shriek rang through the air that broke Tai out of his thoughts. It sounded like Candi's voice! Tai thought, "Wow, even I can hear her voice clearly in my head." He believed this was so until he glanced out the glass and saw a girl, with pigtails, skipping away from the zombies at full speed. He practically screamed in his mind, "Wait, that was Candi!"
Ani, who did not see what he was gawking at, just kept giggling with her eyes closed. She taunted, "Wow, you like her so much, that even I can hear her voice inside your head."
Despite his brains, Tai dropped everything and came up with the most pathetic excuse in the world. He blurted, "Umm… I need to use the bathroom."
To his surprise, Ani thought that he actually had a good point and said, "Okay, you go. Take this, and this. Oh, and these too!" In an instant, Tai was buried underneath stacks of ammunition, a chainsaw, machete, and other guns. In fact, the pile consisted of every single weapon that they had brought with them. "Thanks!" yelled Tai quickly, as he dragged it all out the doors.
"Buh-bye!" called Ani, "Wait, weren't we not supposed to go out those doors?" When she heard an undead groan behind her, she realized that she hadn't left a weapon behind for herself! "Oh well," she tittered, "I'll just use my ultimate power!"
[At the same time...]
Raine's raspy breath proved that she was exhausted. She hadn't even crawled that far up the muddy slope, so she was sure that she'd be eaten by now. She glanced at the zombie. She discerned, "Wait, he wasn't staring at the sky; he was staring at…"
A battle cry was heard, before Raine was blinded by a flash of light as if someone had pointed a camera at her. When she heard the whizz of a weapon, she forced her eyes open to see what was happening. Before she knew it, a deadly weapon had been jammed into the creature's brains (if it did have any), and the monster promptly burst limb from limb. Then, when her savior made his landing, he accidentally bonked her on the head with the hilt of a sword.
"Ow!" she muttered while rubbing her head.
"You okay?" asked a voice.
"Yeah; never been better," answered Raine. She peeked through one eye timidly, checking her surroundings for any more danger, before she looked up and saw a healthy male standing in front of her. He sure saved her, but maybe not all of her brain cells. Anyhow, she loved how his messy hair waved in the wind, as he pushed his glasses back up to the bridge of his nose.
Raine stared at him for a moment and recognized that he was the figure that she had seen in the bell tower! How had he made such a safe fall from such a height?! Perhaps it was the mud below that caught them. Still, she admired what a risk he made. It must've taken so much courage to make that fall.
Raine laughed over the crowd's cheers, "Oh, I thought that the zombie was performing a sacrificial ritual over me, before it was going to…"
"No one's being sacrificed today," smiled her savior.
His altruism touched Rained. She revered that it almost occurred to her to give someone a chance. That's when she shook her head. She was a bit anti-social. She didn't hate people. In fact, she was highly interactive with teachers and classmates, but she often kept secrets away from them like where she really lived. She often avoided sporting events and other afternoon events in order to get into her hideout without being spotted. However, someone must've unfortunately spotted her this year getting into her abandoned dumpster and called the cops on her. She had surfed the web in the library and found that she was on the wanted list. She must've been on there ever since she had escaped out of the hospital window, after she heard whispers about what they were supposed to do with her. Unwilling to let anyone else decide her fate, especially after her leg had been amputated without her consent (because she was unconscious), Raine ran off to fulfill her parents' last wishes.
She hadn't realized that while she was thinking this whole time, Devin had extended his hand out in order to help up. It wasn't until Melody glanced at them and giggled, while jamming to her music. She put her headphones around her neck and exulted, "Oh my gosh, I am loving this! Just look at you two! Let me dish some beats out for you, yo!"
Talia rebuked from the entrance to the tower, "There will be no beats! Your music will have us all killed, if it attracts zombies!" She then rushed inside to attend to the injured.
From inside, Marie screeched, "Did someone say, 'beets'?! Is that what we're having for dinner? Ew, I might prefer eating brains over this healthy, brain food!"
"That's what my beats are for," smirked Melody, "They're killer good." In truth though, Melody's tunes were a bit out-of-date. She was all about the rock n' roll music genre. From head to toe, she was dressed like a punk. Her hairstyle was wildly cut short and spiky like a tomboy's. Instead of dark hair to match her dark lipstick though, she chose to dye it a violent cyan. Once in a while, when she put a dash of glitter in her hair for glamor, it would only make it look equal to toothpaste.
Melody chose one of the few patches of green grass. Then, she sat down with one knee up and put her chin on that knee. Being extremely sociable, she was ready to make some connections. She snapped, "Raine, face Devin. Devin, this is Raine, my cousin. Don't look surprised at me now; I know that we both dress differently. Now look at her. Yes! Raine, no, don't look away! Make eye contact! Good! Now, Devin, you can stop trying to shake her hand…"
"I'm trying to give her a hand up," corrected Devin.
"That's even worse then, because she's a cripple in real life! So how is she supposed to get up?"
"Ohhhh," comprehended Devin, "Raine, it's very nice to meet you. That's a cute name by the way."
"Thanks," smiled Raine, warming up to him, before she mentally reminded herself to remain reclusive. Melody had a way of pushing herself and others into making friendships, which occasionally led to a spat. Melody would meet any living thing the second that they crossed her path, while Raine's tranquility would help her deduce people's true personality first. A portion of Melody's friends who were introduced to Raine last year ended up being too nosy or envious of Raine. This led to Raine choosing to be even more quiet this year. She would just say nothing instead of feeling sorry after she had growled at Melody for the millionth introduction to another person, who she had a bad feeling about.
Devin drove his blade into the ground now, while stating, "Raine, I hope you won't mind now…"
"Won't mind whaaaaa-at?!" shrieked Raine. She found out in the midst of her question when he lifted her up with ease and began bringing her towards their base.
Raine began kicking her legs in a frenzy, "You don't have to carry me!"
Melody guffawed delightfully, "Yes, he does. You two are so cute together! O-M-G, I ship it!"
"Wait, what?!" shrieked Raine, "We hardly know… ahhh!" Devin had nearly dropped her in his bashfulness. Raine eyed him contemptuously for it, before they both laughed.
"Don't. You ever. Do that again," quipped Raine wryly.
"Ship it," confirmed Melody in a hushed voice off in the distance.
Back inside the tower, they found that the search-party had returned.
"How did it go?" asked Talia, attempting to be a pleasant person, while she wrapped bandages around Eve's shoulder.
"Great," replied Ani sarcastically, "I lost a pound of feathers."
That's when Talia eyed her friend and saw that her costume was ravaged with a couple of spots that were bare of feathers. "Where's Tai?!" she grilled.
The room went silent, and all eyes went on Ani, except for the creaking of floorboards, while Devin carried Raine up the wooden stairs of the tower.
"I left him," replied Ani simply, oblivious to Talia's petulance.
"Left him to die?!" bellowed Talia, simultaneously cutting the end of Eve's bandage with a razor knife.
"No, I let him go to the bathroom."
"WHAT?! In the middle of a zombie apocalypse?!"
"Yeah! Oh. Whoopsies. I did leave him with all of our weapons though."
That didn't soothe Talia's anger. Everyone felt the tower shake, including Raine and Devin on the second floor. They thought that it was due to Talia's rage, until Melody bolted inside and slammed the door shut. "Everyone look outside!" she yelled.
The group clamored to the small, glass window. After jostling one another aside, they could all see that zombies began spawning! This time though, these creatures with straw hats were tied to flaming torches and held pitchforks like an angry mob.
Talia screeched, "Why did you lock the door then?! Everyone, head outside! Hurry and grab everything that you can! Devin? Devin! I need you to fend them off with me to buy us some time!"
Devin lifted Raine up and off the crate that he had placed her on and carried her outside. "You'll be safe here," he said, placing Raine in an open grass field, where everyone was placing their supplies in. Raine limped, wishing to ask whether there was anything that she could help with, but Devin had already hurried off when he heard Talia call again, "Devin, hurry it up!"
Talia was between the left side of the tower and where the horde was spawning. Raine could see that she was holding a red container and pouring something out of it in a straight line. Raine got up and limped terribly, while their troupe was bustling in disarray. She wished to help, not sit around again, while their lives were in danger. She was well aware of how these equipped zombies could be even more hazardous. She didn't remember this game equipping zombies with items, but times may have changed.
Somehow, Raine still remembered her large inventory in Zombie High School, even after all these years. How could she summon something from her inventory though? In her desperation, she shouted, "Flamethrower!" Astonishingly, it did work, and a flamethrower materialized into her hands.
The moment that she had gotten to Devin and Talia, they had started a wall of fire successfully. That's when Raine realized that it was probably gasoline and probably flint stones that they were using, considering that Devin was pocketing two, black stones now. Raine loaded up her flamethrower and blasted it at the rest of the gasoline that hadn't lit up yet. That's when her right leg gave in. Raine almost fell into the wall of fire, before Devin caught her in time.
"Raine, what are you doing here?" gasped Devin in amazement.
Pleased to see him again, Raine teased, "Can't let you have all the fun."
Talia gaped at Raine's weapon astonishingly, "I don't remember seeing these types of zombies in-game, and I don't remember us having a flamethrower either. I want some of that sweet action!"
"Sure!" beamed Raine, "Chainsaw whip!" At once, the weapon appeared. It looked like a gun, but with a small, circular saw attached to its end. Raine handed it to Talia, before she backed away.
"What is this?" questioned Talia, "I wanted the…" She pulled the trigger of the weapon, while she was talking. The circular saw popped out of its socket. Attached to some thin, wire rope cables, it flew towards the zombies and slashed four of them in half, before it returned back into its socket. "Nevermind," proclaimed Talia, "I like this!" She swung the whip around savagely a couple more times, frightening Raine at how close the blade came towards them every time, while Talia didn't even flinch at all.
Talia asked, "What else do you have?"
Raine thought for a second. "Gravity Disruptor," she yelled. A triangular object that could fit in two hands appeared. When its purple lights throbbed, it did its job by disrupting the gravity in the area around it. That caused a zombie to hop over the wall, while the teens freaked out about floating off of the ground, before the effects wore off.
"No, not that!" shouted Talia, managing to slice that one zombie, before landing back on the ground.
"Sorry! Despawn Gravity Disruptor," called Raine. The triangular item promptly disappeared in a blue flash of light.
While Talia diced zombies, Raine headed towards Devin at a safe radius away from Talia's weapon.
"What'cha got for me?" questioned Devin curiously with a grin.
Raine laughed at his funny, little phrase. Then, she tapped her chin in thought, "Let's see… Fireworks Launcher!" A colorful gun with rocket-shaped fireworks loaded inside of it appeared. "Think you can handle it?" asked Raine, handing it off to Devin.
Devin replied, "Maybe." He fired it off. The firework swirled wildly, before it hit a zombie that had crossed through the flames. It exploded colorfully and blew the creature into pieces. Devin alleged, "Whoa! I think I was born to handle this."
Raine huddled in terror besides him, because that explosion erupted quite close to them. "Um… yeah, go for it," she encouraged meekly, "I think that this would help though: Magic Carpet! Shoot at them from the sky. That would prevent the rocket from going through the flames and exploding too early."
"Good idea!" approved Devin, "Would you like a lift too?"
"No," squeaked Raine, "I think I'll stick to the ground."
"Are you scared?"
"What?! No!"
"Uh-huh."
"Please don't make me…"
Others may have pushed Raine into doing so, but Devin just nodded as if he understood, before he flew off. That left Raine blinking in surprise, before she set an approaching zombie on fire.
The trio fended off the zombies almost expertly. Talia sliced flesh easily, but she had to constantly stress about not getting her blade too close to Devin and Raine, especially when the saw came zooming back into its socket. While she glanced at where the others were, her weapon suddenly gave a strong tug, making her lurch off of her feet. Talia quickly dug her feet into some soft soil and tugged back. The wire cables of her weapon had gotten tangled onto one of the zombies' pitchforks! It was a tug of war between her and that burly zombie that held onto the pitchfork. Instead of mud to punish the loser though, it was a wall of fire between them. In her desperation, Talia reluctantly called, "A little help here!"
Raine melted one zombie swiftly, before she turned to crawl towards Talia. As a result, she did not see that another zombie had gotten past the flaming barrier and was aiming a pitchfork at her. Devin managed to swoop down in time to save Raine, causing her to thank him several times. That's when she saw out of the corner of her eye that the attacking zombie froze. It had a glitch effect, before it dematerialized from bottom-up.
"Wait, did you see that?" she asked Devin, "I thought that the zombies had to break limb-from-limb, before it has this strobe-light effect and despawns with a flash. Plus, how did it even die? I didn't even touch it."
Devin shrugged. He didn't understand it either, but guessed, "Maybe, it was the fire; it must've drained all of its health and the effects were too much for it to handle, so the zombie lagged and died."
"Maybe," agreed Raine, before she turned towards a struggling Talia and yelled, "Let go of the weapon!"
"What?!" yelled Talia, straining to hear what Raine was saying over the roar of the menacing fire.
"Let go of it!" huffed Raine.
Talia did so at once and let the rest of the gun hit the burly zombie in the face. It roared with pain, before it charged blindly through the flames and at the tower. Weaponless and armorless, Talia couldn't fight the zombie, much less touch it, since that thing was on fire. Raine's weapon wasn't meant for far-range, which left Devin no choice, but to fire off his weapon in an attempt to save their base.
The firework lodged into the zombie's flesh, before it exploded. That took out the zombie, but most unfortunately, the flaming head of the zombie landed on the wooden tower and set it ablaze.
Talia howled, "NOOO! What have you done?! Raine, get a bucket of water!"
"I can't!" shrieked a panic-stricken Raine, "There's nothing in my inventory that's water-related!"
Talia fumed, and tried to cut off the burning pieces of the tower. It did the job at first, but her weapon then struck a pole of the tower, which was a critical piece in keeping it stable. The tower leaned with a groan.
"Look out!" shouted Devin. He dived down on the magic carpet and snatched Talia out of the way just in time. The top of the bell tower crushed where they were seconds ago, and pieces of it rolled into the wall of flames. The enormous bell crashed to the ground and rang so loudly that everyone had to cover their ears.
Devin drove the girls to the open grass area, where they had planned to meet. There, everyone else in the group awaited them. Their group was planning to applaud them, but after seeing that appalling finish, all but Ani dropped their hands. Only Ani cheered obliviously, "Yay, you did it!" Devin had the magic carpet land softly on the ground, before Talia hopped off furiously and quipped, "Yes, you did it! Our place is gone."
Devin bowed his head in sorrow. Raine threw her arms in front of him and argued, "Hey, it's not his fault! I shouldn'tve chosen the Fireworks Launcher anyway."
Marie nodded, "Yeah. We all ought to acknowledge the corn. Say, didn't yeh land that last shot to make thy place go crumblin' down like my sack of breadcrumbs for dem birds every mornin'?"
Sometimes, Marie's Western tongue threw everyone off, but Talia understood what she was trying to say this time, causing her face to flush red. Talia glared at Marie for being so blatantly honest. If Marie didn't have such a hard dialect, she was sure to have offended much more people throughout her lifetime. In modern translation, Marie was trying to say, "Yes [Raine, you shouldn't have chosen those weapons]. We all have to acknowledge our shortcomings. Hey, didn't you [Talia] also land the last shot that destroyed our base? That place came tumbling down like my bag of breadcrumbs for the birds every day."
Unexpectedly, the tense peace was penetrated when they heard rapid footsteps approaching them.
"I thought this area was clear," squeaked a highly-attentive Eve.
"It is, especially after whatever that caused that deafening noise was enough to shatter all the zombies' skulls!," yelled Fern, who turned out to be the ones rushing towards them with Cyndi.
Melody lifted her headphones, barely hearing what they were saying, before cheering, "Really? Wicked!"
It took a moment for Fern and Cyndi to reunite with the rest of their group. Fern slowed to a walk and fell behind, while Cyndi kept her high ponytail bobbing in her jog, until she met her destination. Aching from exhaustion and the bitterly cold air, she dropped to her hands and knees.
"Breathe, Cyndi, breathe," said Talia, "What's wrong?"
"This," answered Cyndi, withdrawing a beret from the pocket of her cargo jacket.
There were gasps of horror, before it went dead silent; the only sounds that could be heard was Cyndi's heavy breathing and Melody's rock music that seeped through her headphones, which set an even more dreadful mood.
Raine opened her mouth to ask what was wrong, but she closed it when she saw the stain on the beanie. She understood now. Usually, when zombies despawned, they would vanish along with their clothing. The stain confirmed that this piece of clothing belonged to one of their team members. It was Candi's.
Talia tugged her dark locks in disbelief. She called desperately, "Candi! Candi!" When there was no answer, she collapsed to her knees and whispered, "Candi, I'm so sorry! What have I done?"
The possibility suddenly seemed so real. They could meet their end here. Candi was gone. All that remained with them was her yellow beret with a red stain.