Hey everyone, sorry for the delay on the story. I've been really busy lately so I haven't had much time to write, but luckily I managed to get this one out. The action's about to get really intense so I'm pretty pumped for that. Don't forget to vote in the poll on my profile for who you want to survive. I've been keeping track of it so far and it's interesting to me what different people vote. Didn't know Gwen was such a popular gal lol
Anyway, drop me a sick review of you want so I know what you're really thinking of the story. And without further adieu, the chapter!
WARNING: This story will contain scenes of violence, sexual activities, swearing and character deaths.
While Cody and Harold were messing around with Chris' television in the living room, Sierra had deigned herself more useful by watching. She'd always admired Cody's skill and technique with technology and while she was an obsessed blogger, she didn't pretend to have any idea how to actually repair anything. Plus, she enjoyed watching Cody work at something he was genuinely good at. He had his beaming smile on while he and Harold tinkered about. It made Sierra happy.
She had tried calling 911 with her cell phone that Chris, thankfully, had not confiscated upon arrival. However, as she expected, Sierra did not receive an answer. She knew this meant they were probably right in assuming whatever was happening was a national, if not global phenomenon. She had relayed this information to Chris, who hung his head solemnly.
"Got it!" Cody called, snapping Sierra out of her thoughts, as the TV sparked to life in front of the two geeks.
"Nice!" Harold gave Cody a high-five and others were starting to gather as a newscaster's urgent voice from the TV read out an important decree.
"For those of you who are still watching this broadcast, we have urgent updates for you." The newscaster, a handsome young man with pushed back light brown hair and a dazzling smile, spoke, "I'm special reporter Topher and I'll be bringing you this coverage as we receive information."
"Didn't that guy try to audition for your show?" Sierra asked Chris, who had just sauntered in.
Chris nodded with a snarl, "He did, the smartass jerk. We said no because he just wanted to take over my position as host."
"Be quiet," Gwen hissed in annoyance at the two of them, "and watch the damn broadcast."
"As everyone should be aware by this point, we are facing something we have never dealt with: a global virus." Topher said, his voice more serious now and his smile fading, "We have received startling reports of people rising out of the ground, who were once dead. These reanimated corpses are currently being referred to by all government agencies and military forces as 'zombies'. These zombies don't seem to have much intelligence to them and only appear to have one identifiable goal: to eat the brains of living humans."
"I've seen all this first hand, and I still think that is straight up nasty." LeShawna said and many others around her nodded.
"Scientists around the globe are working frantically to understand where these creatures gained the ability to become reanimated, as well as develop some sort of a cure. We can confirm that if anyone is bitten by these zombies, they are infected with their virus and will eventually become one of them. The time it takes for reanimation to occur is currently unknown due to varying reports of times ranging from ten minutes to five hours. At this moment in time there is no way of preventing reanimation without destroying the brain. This is a very special announcement directly from the leaders of the United Nations: citizens are being granted legal permission to kill anyone who has been infected with this virus in the hopes that this will reduce the number of zombies and give scientists the time and opportunity to create a vaccine to combat this infestation. At the moment, the only known ways to kill one of the infected is by destroying its brain. It appears that while they seek to eat our brains, they can only be defeated by having their own brain destroyed." Topher continued his commentary, but this news was the most shocking yet.
"Legal to kill?" Duncan's eyes widened, "I mean, Chef already did that a couple of times, and I'm sure others have outside this island, but I'm shocked those cowards in the government would approve of this."
"I'm not." Chef said with a shake of his head, "It's because they're cowards that they approve. They don't want to take the chance that they might be infected too."
"Currently, national military forces are doing their very best to escort citizens to protected zones where the undead have not been able to get in." Topher continued, "Many major cities all over the world are still under control of respective governments and are under intense protection from the military. We urge all of you who are not in the safety of these cities to try your best to reach one of the soon-to-be-mentioned safe zones so that you may be accounted for and protected."
"Safe zones?" Beth perked her head up hopefully, "Maybe we can get to one and we'll be okay!"
"It would be very risky," Chef said warningly, "cities are bound to have a shit ton of people flocking to 'em. Who's to say they won't let someone in who's already been bit?"
"I'm sure the military do screening." Courtney said matter-of-factly, "For something this serious, there's no way they wouldn't do everything in their power to make sure there's no breach in safety. And safety always comes first."
"You forgot the obvious Miss Law-Lover," Duncan told her and she frowned at the nickname, "people can sneak into cities. Even with a military presence, if there's a will there's a way."
"I imagine Duncan knows what he's talking about considering his brain only thinks about breaking rules and finding loopholes." Cody said and there were a few laughs at the comment.
"Criminal boy is right," Chef said and Duncan nodded appreciatively at him, "it's too dangerous with the chance of people slipping through undetected."
"Would people actually do that even if they were infected?" Geoff asked.
"If the people you cared about were inside and you knew you would be left behind, wouldn't you want to try and go with your loved ones?" Sierra asked him with a side-long glance at Cody. Geoff looked over at Bridgette and chose not to say anything else. He simply reached down for her hand and held it comfortingly.
"Well what do you propose we do then?" Blaineley finally addressed Chef Hatchet, "Since you're apparently an 'expert' in these situations."
"I never said that," Chef told her icily, "but if you want my opinion, I think we just need to get ourselves off this damn island and find a nice place to hole up on the mainland. At least until we get more news of this possible cure thing."
"And how are we going to know if we're in the middle of nowhere instead of going to the city?" Blaineley countered, "The city is definitely the best option, especially for important personnel like us."
"What makes you think we're considered important?" Chef growled angrily at her, "Cause we're reality show hosts and contestants? That's not going to mean shit. Important people are military, doctors, scientists, engineers and farmers. Dramatic teenagers and a washed up reality host woman are low on a priorities list."
"Washed up?" Blaineley looked very offended, "I'll have you know I won a-"
"No one cares what awards you won," Chef interrupted her, "you're not going to get any preferential treatment because of them. In the city you'll just be another refugee, we all will be. And I don't like our chances if we go there."
"Do you really think we can survive just us?" Katie asked Chef quietly, "I mean, besides you, none of us have any real combat experience. If we get surrounded, we're pretty much dead."
"Speak for yourself sweetheart, I know plenty about weapons." Duncan said proudly and looked around at a few others, "And I don't think I'm the only one."
"I know way more than Duncan," Harold said with a smirk, "I can kill these 'zombies' with one hand tied behind my back. They won't know what hit them after I unleash my wicked skills on them."
"Regardless, Katie has a point." DJ came to her aid, "We're just a bunch of kids and frankly we're scared."
Chef Hatchet looked around and judged the looks of the former reality stars. DJ was right, he realized; despite some of them trying to look all tough, Chef could see the look of fear in the eyes of those around him. Beth was trembling, Katie looked sullen, Geoff and Bridgette were looking worriedly at each other, even Chris seemed to be shaken by all of these events.
Chef sighed, "I understand you're scared, I'm scared too. We'd be fools not to be. These zombies, as the newscaster put it, have already taken six of our own away from us. They took down Sadie, Owen, Eva, Justin, Lindsay and Ezekiel. They will more than likely kill more of us in the process of escaping and surviving off of this island. We're going to have more than a few scary moments along the way, and more than likely some devastating losses."
The former-military man paused his speech just to make sure he had everyone's attention before continuing, "But if I learned anything during my service, it's that you have to be willing to take risks if you want to live. I had a rough time of it in Afghanistan, there were plenty of times where I thought I was going to die. But I was offered a way out of a tight situation where my team was pinned down: thing was it required a major risk to be taken. Even with the risk, half my team didn't survive, but I did. And none of us would've lived if we didn't try. So we have to try and take the chance of surviving on our own. We'll all pull our own weight, we'll all survive together as a team."
Chef was not expecting such a positive reaction to his speech. He had tried to be inspiring, but being inspirational had never been one of his strong suits. He was more suited to following orders than actually giving them, but the Total Drama contestants seemed to be revitalized with a hope. With a chance that they could survive. It brought a rare smile to Chef's badly scarred face.
"We'll make it," Trent was the first to speak, supporting Chef's claim, and he turned to his fellow survivors, "I believe we can. A little trust and a little teamwork can go a long way."
"Some of us are more team players than others." LeShawna said with a pointed look at Heather, but the queen bee chose not to respond.
"Enough of that," Chef grumbled, "everyone get some shut eye except those on watch. Chris and I are done for now so CIT and Criminal you're on watch now. We'll go over the plan in the morning and then we're busting out of this hell hole."
"It's not that bad." Chris protested in defense of his reality show home, but the looks he was receiving were enough for him not to push the subject.
Courtney and Duncan had been together on watch for nearly two hours now and not a single zombie had bothered them. Duncan would periodically check by peaking out the window, but each time he was met with the same sight; nothing but the gloomy, dark shapes of the trees surrounding Chris' island getaway.
On one such occasion of him checking the window, he heard Courtney snap, "I wish you would stop doing that. If you keep making yourself obvious, eventually you're going to be spotted."
"If I don't look, how are we going to know if they're coming?" Duncan replied, "Besides, I didn't know you cared Princess."
"Ugh!" Courtney stamped her foot in frustration, "Stop calling me that!"
"Keep your voice down unless you want to attract the undead." Duncan chided, clearly amused with Courtney being flustered. This time, Courtney listened because she understood the risks of the zombies being drawn by loud noises.
"You're right," Courtney said, much quieter, "but Duncan answer me this: why do you call me those nicknames? Why do you constantly egg me on?"
Crap. Duncan realized she had him there; he didn't want to answer. He felt his face flush, but he was grateful for the cover the black night provided for him. For a moment, they just sat there with Courtney looking expectantly at him and Duncan not speaking. Finally Duncan started to say, "I guess it's cause I-"
There was a gunshot from outside and both teens jumped up in shock. After a shared glance, Duncan raced over to the window to peer out and see what had made the noise. He couldn't see anything different than before, but he heard it again: a second gunshot.
They both heard footsteps on the stairs as Chef came barreling down to join them. He barked at them, "Who's firing shots?"
"It's coming from outside!" Duncan pointed out the window, though there was nothing decipherable, "Neither of us fired, I swear!"
"Well maybe it's crazy girl," They heard Heather's voice from the stairs as a few others had woken up from the noise, "but no matter who it is, they better stop shooting the gun. It's just going to draw those things towards us."
"If it's Izzy, I say we go get her." Gwen said from next to Heather, "She saved all of our lives, it's the least we can do for her."
"Um guys," Trent's worried voice came from the kitchen area, "we're about to have bigger problems!"
And then they all heard the sound of shattering glass as the monsters from hell entered the house.
"Shit!" Chef hissed as he fired his shotgun at the oncoming horde that was plowing through the windows, causing glass shards to go flying about the rooms, "Alright fruit cakes, pack up your stuff and let's go. Now!"
Many of the campers fled, terrified, back up the stairs, however some stayed behind to help in the fight. Duncan and Harold fired at the zombies, killing a few of them, but they quickly realized there were too many to fend off. Chef was right, they had to get out of there fast.
"Everyone, we're going to run for the yacht!" Chef was shouting as the blood and adrenaline kicked in. "We aren't going to be able to hold 'em!"
"Come on!" Courtney started directed some of her fellow contestants towards one of the doors that hadn't been targeted by the undead, "Chef, I'll start leading people to the docks. I've got an excellent sense of direction so I-"
"Just move!" Chef bellowed and Courtney needed no second invitation as she lead the way out the door for a good amount of the group. Among the first ones that reached the door with Courtney were Beth, Katie, Noah, Trent, Alejandro and Heather. Others were soon to follow, as the host of the show himself literally shoved Blaineley out of the way so he could escape. Blaineley glared hatefully at him but was the next to flee the cottage.
"Alright Doris," Duncan said to Harold, "either unleash these 'wicked skills' of yours or let's bolt!"
DJ, Geoff and Bridgette had made it out the door amid the shouts and explosions of gun fire. LeShawna was trying to get a very despondent Tyler to run with little success. The red-plaid jock simply stared vacantly at the oncoming zombies and made no move whatsoever to flee. Gwen, Cody and Sierra were quickly putting their things into their bags and barreling down the stairs.
"Never underestimate me Duncan." Harold replied briskly as he pointed his rifle at a zombie who was only inches away, "And don't call me Doris!"
Harold blasted the zombie to smithereens, but his victory was not to be celebrated. More and more were entering the house, and those still inside were starting to lose their window of opportunity.
Duncan took a look at those still struggling inside, particularly at Gwen, but he finally shook his head, "I'm leaving."
Duncan hurriedly left the house and found himself enveloped in darkness. The only light that could be seen was from inside the house, and when he looked around he couldn't see any of his friends. Fortunately for him, that didn't last long. He felt someone pull him to his feet: it was DJ. Duncan said a quick thanks to his buddy before the two of them ran after Courtney and the others.
Things were getting intense inside Chris' mansion. Somehow the place was on fire as something must have struck a flame amidst the chaos and insanity going on inside. Tyler still wasn't moving and it appeared LeShawna had given up on him.
"I didn't survive fifteen years in the projects to die here protecting a chicken." LeShawna hissed angrily at Tyler as she pulled out the pistol Chef gave her earlier to join the fray, "If LeShawna is leaving this world, it's going to be in a damn fight."
"So beautiful..." Harold admired, but a zombie snapping for his arms brought him back into focus. He killed that one like many before, but their numbers seemed to be increasing whereas the group was shrinking.
"Time to go!" Chef shouted, his voice growing hoarse as he charged through to the door the others had run out of.
Sierra knelt down so Cody could get on her shoulders while she ran, that way she could still use the katana to attack anything that jumped in their path. Gwen took one pitiful look at Tyler before she soon followed after them. Unfortunately for the Goth, one of the undead grabbed hold of her in her attempt to escape and she got pulled down hard on Chris' marble tiled floor.
She yelped in pain and tried to kick at the creature, but it seemed that her attacks were feeble at best. The zombie had grabbed her leg and was now slowly climbing its way towards her to get a nice tasty bite of its newest meal. Meanwhile, zombies had started moving for Tyler now that no one was standing in front of him to protect. LeShawna stood between Gwen and Tyler's predicaments, having to make an important choice.
It wasn't really much of a choice. Gwen closed her eyes, but she felt the grip slacken as a gunshot went off. When she opened her eyes, Gwen could see that LeShawna had just shot the zombie trying to chew on her. LeShawna quickly aided Gwen to her feet and the girls ran after Chef, Harold, Sierra and Cody. No one looked back as Tyler was completely and utterly swarmed. He didn't do anything to defend himself. All he did was shed a single tear for the fall of his beloved.
Outside, Chef's group could actually see quite well since the house was emitting quite the glow from the hot flames erupting from it. Sierra had not yet put Cody down, something he was actually okay with for once, and she was worriedly looking around. Aside from Chef, Harold, LeShawna, Gwen and Cody, Sierra could not see anyone else. It appeared Courtney had led the group away from the house successfully though, because no one could see any bodies of their friends. That was the only good news for the moment.
"We can't stay here." Cody urged the others with him, "We need to follow the others and get to the dock-"
The sound of another huge explosion interrupted him, though this time it didn't come from the house. It came from the woods, vaguely in the direction the initial gunshots had come from. The light from the explosion was so bright, it was practically blinding to those standing outside the house. They could see several of the zombies who were close to the area of effect of the explosion were quite literally torn to shreds by the impact.
It didn't take too long to discover the source of the explosion. A familiar red-headed girl with frizzy red hair and a rifle in her hand came sprinting towards them. Izzy had certainly seen better days than the one she'd spent away from her competitors and friends. Her outfit was shredded, she had many bruises and cuts all along her body, and her face was covered in blood. In fact, the group almost mistook her for a zombie because she had so much blood on her face. It was almost as if she'd smeared it on herself.
"Jumping jellyfish, what happened to you?" Harold asked Izzy, both relieved and amazed at her reappearance.
"A trick Owen taught me, though with different context completely." Izzy said, her breath ragged and disoriented, "Remember the paintball hunting challenge from season one? He used familiar scents to mask himself within, as if to hide in plain sight."
"So you doused yourself with zombie blood to blend in with the dead." Cody surmised and she nodded. Cody grinned, "It's actually quite brilliant really."
"We're glad you're okay and all, and I'm sure we have a lot to catch up on." Gwen stated, "But we need to make a run for the docks like, now."
Chef nodded, "Gwen's right, we can't chat like nothing is happening. So move maggots, move!"
The group started running, glad to welcome Izzy back into the fold, although the ginger haired girl had a warning for them, "Just so you guys know, I was at the docks earlier. After I lead the undead away from the mess hall, I circled around the campsite in the woods before returning to see where you guys might have gone. While I was doing this, I saw the docks: the docks are covered with undead. The entire campsite might as well be a summer camp for the undead."
"How many of these things are there?" LeShawna grumbled as she panted: running was not her favorite activity and she'd done a lot of it lately.
"That's the thing," Izzy said with warning, "none of those undead were interns, crewman or anyone who was staying on this island for the show. They looked like ordinary people from the mainland."
"Then how did they get to the island?" Gwen asked from her other side, "Has this ordeal been happening for even longer and we just didn't know?"
"I should've seen something about it on my phone," Sierra reminded her, "although I do have pretty lousy connection here."
"It doesn't matter, the point is that if those creatures are from the mainland it means one of two things." Izzy said, "One: those monsters can swim or at least move through water. Or two: someone brought them to the island."
There was a silence amongst the seven of them until Chef, his curiosity peaked, finally asked, "If it's the latter option, how the hell could anyone do that? And more importantly, who would do such a horrible thing?"
"I don't know Cheffy," Izzy said solemnly, "but one thing's for sure: we're in the apocalypse now. The end of the world is upon us."
Not my best effort, but there you have it. The group reunites with Izzy, though only some of them do, and we say goodbye to yet another character. Originally I wasn't going to kill Tyler in this chapter, I was going to have him be an important character. However, I realized this chapter could use a death and he was the only one I was willing to part with at this stage. I think it's reasonable he would've been devastated about Lindsay and thus it was his undoing. Let me know what you think though, should I have killed him off?
Also hope you enjoy the cameo appearance from Topher. The season 4 and season 6 cast will slowly appear in the story, with some playing a bigger role than others. We may even see Ridonculous Race characters at some point.
DEAD: Sadie, Owen, Justin, Eva, Lindsay, Ezekiel, Tyler
ALIVE: Gwen, Heather, Duncan, LeShawna, Geoff, Izzy, DJ, Bridgette, Trent, Harold, Courtney, Beth, Cody, Katie, Noah, Alejandro, Sierra, Blaineley, Chris and Chef Hatchet
