Thanks Blue Mage Quartet, SergeantKlump, sonic candy, and Ciel the Hedgehog for reviewing!
Disclaimer: See last chapter.
And now, ONWARD TO CHAPTER TEN!
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"No we're not!" Bean shouted, throwing open his bedroom window. Awed, Nack stared down at the courtyard. It would be a long fall...
"Are you crazy, Bean?" He asked, already knowing the answer.
Bark grabbed Nack in one arm and Bean in the other. "We either jump and risk being injured, or we stay behind and get killed by zombie chickens." Nack muttered his agreement, and Bark, not waiting for Bean to agree, climbed up onto the window sill, balancing precariously on the narrow strip of wood. Thankfully, the window was large enough to fit his bulkish frame.
"Hurry up and jump would you!" Nack hollered, "Those damn zombies are getting closer!"
Bark stared down at the courtyard below. It was only a one-story drop, but to Bark it seemed like at least fifty. Suddenly feeling dizzy, the polar bear shut his eyes. "Damn it, jump Bark!" He heard Nack shout. Bark kept his eyes squeezed shut. He could feel the feeble piece of wood he balancing on beginning to come loose. With out warning, the wooden strip gave way, and Bark, Bean, and Nack went plummeting down into the courtyard.
Bark's eyes were forced open as he fell. Besides him, Bean was screaming like a girl, and Nack was swearing at the top of his lungs. Bark looked down at the courtyard. It was getting closer and closer and closer and closer and closer...
Instinctively, Bark reached out to the left and grabbed the only he could reach at the moment: Nack. Quickly muttering an apology that was lost in the rushing air, Bark held Nack out below him and waited for the impact to come.
And it did. Bark slowly opened one eye. He was sitting safely on the grass, his fall broken by an extremely pissed, and extremely squished, purple weasel. "Sorry, Nack." He said as he climbed up off of the weasel. Bean, who had landed safely on the lawn, came running over to his polar bear friend. He resisted the urge to laugh when he saw Nack's twitching body embedded in the lawn.
The purple weasel slowly raised his hand, one finger pointing in Bark's direction. "Apparently," he weakly muttered, "gravity is working just fine..."
"I'm really sorry Nack..." Bark said again, grabbing the weasel's wrist and pulling him out of the ground, leaving a very nice Nack imprint in the lawn.
Nack opened his mouth to hurl some insult at Bark, but the polar bear interrupted him. "Shh...there's someone coming." He warned and pointed to the entrance door. Nack tried squinting into the dimly lit hallway, but all he could see were shadows. Several small, feathery looking shadows.
"They're back..." He muttered, picking his hat up off the ground and placing it back on his head. "Shut the hell up!" He said as Bean began to balefully hum the music from Psycho.
"Here they come..." Bark stated as the door slowly creaked open to reveal the army of zombie chickens.
"Maybe if we just stand here," Bean began, "they won't notice us?" He suggested.
"Bean, that is the stupidest idea I've ever heard." Nack muttered.
Bark shook his head and shrugged. "Maybe, but we might as well try it." Nack muttered something inaudible, but if it was audible, it would probably have to be censored. The three of them stood there in the eerie, surreal silence of the courtyard, nervously watching the chicken zombies as they scrutinized every bush, flower, and grass blade.
"They'd have to be blind not to see us." Nack muttered out of the side of his mouth. His comment was ignored, and they continued to stare at the zombie chickens. That is, until the self-promoted leader of the zombies clucked angrily and cocked his head in the direction of Bark, Bean, and Nack. "Ah, crap!" Nack yelled as the chickens charged towards towards them at full speed.
"Run!" Bark ordered.
"To where!" Nack asked, "We're surrounded by a fence in case you haven't noticed!" It was true. A tall wooden fence, too tall to climb over, wrapped all around the courtyard.
"Look!" Bean shouted, pointing to a crooked fence post. "That one looks a little loose."
"Great. Come on." Followed closely by Bean and Nack, Bark ran over to the loose board, which thankfully had no bushes in front of it. The polar kicked it with his foot. It budged. Barely, but still. Bark grabbed the side of the wooden board, and with all his strength, he yanked it free.
"They getting closer!" Bean warned.
"Quick, you and Nack go through the hole." Bark instructed as he tossed the board aside.
The duck and the weasel, both eager to escape the zombie army that was gaining on them by the minute, dove through the hole...at the same time. It was a mess of feathers and fur. "Bean, you idiot!" Nack snapped as Bean accidentally elbowed him in the face. "Let me get through!"
"I was here first!" The green duck argued as Nack purposefully kicked him in the rear. With a sigh, Bark grabbed Bean by his ankles and pulled him out of the fence, allowing Nack to tumble ungracefully onto the sidewalk. Once the sleazy weasel was out of the way, Bean jumped through and made a perfect landing on the spotless concrete.
"Hurry up Bark. The zombies are right behind you!" Bean yelled. Bark glanced behind him and immediately wished he had not. The zombies were very close now. So close that he could see the maniacal look in their beady eyes... He grunted as he stuck his head through the fence. His arms and his upper body made it through until...
"Bean, I'm stuck." He stated. The duck's eyes widened. He grabbed Bark's arms and pulled. Bark did not move.
"Nack help!"
The weasel smirked. He now had a chance to get back at Bark for using his body to break the fall. "You know Bean, I think he looks good there."
"Nack you got to help me please!" Bean begged. The weasel muttered something and grabbed Bark's other arm. The two of them pulled as hard as they could. It was no use. Bark was stuck. "We won't let the chickens get you Bark!" Bean promised.
Bark could feel something tugging at his legs. "Too late!" He shouted as he was pulled through the fence. Through the gap in the fence, Nack and Bean could see half of the zombie chicken army carrying Bark away. The polar bear was putting up quite a struggle, but he was hopelessly outnumbered.
"Bark!" Bean shouted as he started climbing through the gap in the fence. Nack grabbed the back of his bandanna and pulled him back out.
"You idiot! You wouldn't be any help to Bark if you were captured too!" Nack snapped. Bean knew that there was some truth to Nack's words. Saddened at the loss of his friend, he sat down on the curb. He began to think about Bark. All the times they had shared...
His thoughts were interrupted by Nack. "I hate to ruin your moment of sadness, but there's an army of zombies after us!" He hollered.
"Well, what do we do?" Bean asked, standing up off of the pavement.
Nack put on what he imagined to be a devious smirk (aka his "game face") as he pulled his gun out of its holster. "We lure 'em to us and blast their zombified brains out."
"Wait..." Bean said, becoming slightly suspicious, "Why are helping me save Bark? Usually you only want to do something if it involves you getting money."
Nack shook his head. "Well duh!" He spat, "I expect you two to leave me alone and never bother me again! That'll be payment enough for me."
"Oh, okay." Bean said once that matter was cleared up. "Let's go kick some zombie butt!"
Not especially looking forward to the fact that he would spending time with Bean, Nack began to explain his plan to Bean. "Here's what we do..."