I won't lie, I did rush this chapter a little bit so i'm sorry if there are mistakes! It's been so long I have forgotten some details, I only remember the key aspects to the plot so all the chapters inbetween i'm mostly just winging it. I'm on a roll now and the story should be picking up here in the next few chapters, I promise! Thank you for those who are still keeping up with this story. 3 leave me a review on what you think, or maybe things you'd like to see?
Chapter 9: That's the Plan
It took Bonnibel a few more days to muster up the courage to go into Fionna's room. Her room was like a time capsule, frozen in time. Almost as if Fionna were still here, still alive. She held a tight grip around the door handle. Marceline had been standing behind her, reminding Bonnie with a gentle hand on the shoulder that she was there for her. She knew there was no rush, Marceline understood the delicacy of the situation.
"Are you sure you're ready, Bon?" Marceline asked softly. Bonnibel nodded her head, but still stood there frozen with a hand on the door handle.
"Can you...wait out here?" Bonnibel spoke softly, trying not to let the clump in her throat affect her words. Marceline nodded as she leaned up against the wall adjacent to the door, her foot propped up.
"I'll be here if you need anything." Marceline gave her friend a gentle smile.
And with that, Bonnibel pushed down on the handle and opened the door. Once inside, she left it cracked open while she stood there, taking in her surroundings. It was obvious that Pheobe had been in here before she left. Bonnibel noticed some things missing. Nothing important, at least not important to Bonnie. Fionna's ammo stash had been wiped clean. Yeah, Phoebe had definitely been in here.
As she walked around the spacious area, she noticed a polaroid camera sitting out on one of the desks with a few photos scattered about. There was a selfie taken by Fionna, with Finn and Jake on each side of her. She could tell that photo had been taken in the cafeteria by the brooding Braco in the hazy background.
Another photo caught her attention. It had been a candid shot of Bonnibel, she hadn't even realized Fionna had photographed her. She picked up the sqaure photo and admired it. It was old, really old. Bonnibel still looked happy, almost untouched from the current world around them. Her hair still a vibrant pink, her roots were only just starting to be noticeable.
Bonnibel didn't notice the last photo right away, but almost broke into tears when she spotted it underneath the others. It was Fionna and her, another selfie that she had taken of the two. They both sported a goofy, happy smile. She glared at the photo as drops of salty tears fell onto the piece of paper. She quickly dried up her face as she stuffed the photo inside her bra, Bonnibel was definitely keeping that one.
She shook off her emotions as she scanned the room once more, eyes stopping once she spotted the bow. She quickly grabbed it along with the quiver, throwing both over her shoulder and quickly leaving the room, making sure to shut the door behind her.
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"Okay, you have good form but-" Marceline started but quickly stopped as Bonnibel let go of the string, allowing the arrow to fly off ahead of the two girls. She completely missed her target. Marceline jogged up to retrieve the lost arrow. "Your stance is important, make sure you have one leg back while still keeping your feet shoulder width apart." Bonnibel nodded, attempting to do as Marceline described.
"Like this?"
"Sort of, you got the idea. Try not to lean on one foot so much. And try to relax, you'll hurt yourself if you keep your knees locked like that." Marceline explained. She rested her hands on the pink girl's shoulders, helping her adjust her stance. "Yeah, like that." Marceline gestured for Bonnibel to give it another try. She lifted the bow, readying the arrow as she pulled back the string and let go once more. She still missed her target.
"Oh come on!" Bonnibel frowned. "I thought I had that one."
"Your stance is good now but you're holding the bow all wonky." Marceline retrieved the arrow once more, handing it over to her friend. "Get in position again." Bonnibel nodded and did as Marceline asked, holding the bow up with the arrow ready. Marceline positioned herself behind Bonnibel, adjusting the woman's elbows. Marceline couldn't help the blush rising to her cheeks. There was a slight pause before Marceline let out an awkward cough and took a step back from her crush.
"Great, now you see how you're pulling back the string? You should only be using these three fingers." Marceline raised her hand, holding up her index, middle, and ring finger. "When aiming, take a deep breath and hold it until you let go, your aim will be a bit more stable. Just like when you're firing a gun." Bonnibel adjusted her hold on the bow, trying her hardest to brush off the red tint in her ears from Marceline being so close.
Bonnibel followed the intrusions given to her. She used her three fingers to draw back the string, holding her breath and releasing the hold. When she actually hit their target this time, Bonnibel practically jumped up into the air letting out a prideful yelp before quickly hushing herself when she remembered they were outside their gated area. They didn't want to draw too much attention from any infected that may be nearby.
"Great, now let's see you do that again princess." Marceline silently laughed while congratulating Bonnibel. The girl scowling back at her from the nickname.
"Alright Bon, I think we should call it a day, I'm pooped." The two ended up losing track of time, not knowing they'd been at it all day. Bonnibel agreed, almost relieved that she could finally eat something and maybe get some rest.
xxx
A few months has passed now since Fionna's passing. The air was starting to get cold, crisp against bare skin. They've all lost track of the days, no, months now. It was difficult to keep a calendar in their post-apocalyptic world. They all just assume the season by the weather at this point. It must've been going into autumn as the temperature started to drop and the leaves only just started turning warm shades of red and orange. The group knew that it would be hard to keep warm come winter. There was small chatter about the possibility of having to move on from their current camp at the school, maybe moving down south a ways.
"Real talk, how are we supposed to just pack up all of our things and migrate south? We've been here so long." Junior chimed in. The group had been sitting around their indoor fire pit in the cafeteria. She was sat next to her parents, Finn sitting to her right.
"Junior has a point," Shelby spoke up. "Not all of us are exactly... fit enough to just be on the move. It would be dangerous." Shelby was right, he himself hadn't been the most athletic of the group. If it weren't for Beemo, he would have been the weakest person there.
"We might all freeze to death in a few more months if we don't." Jake cut in. "You know we can protect you and Beemo, Shelby." Jake tried reassuring Shelby.
"Yeah! We wouldn't let anything happen to you guys." Finn puffed out his chest all heroic like.
"Unfortunately, in the world we live in, some things are out of your control." Shelby pouted. He was right, they live in a dangerous world now. Nobody is every truly safe.
"I may have an idea." Everyone turned to look at Beemo, who has quietly spoken up. "As you know, I've been tinkering with the old generator in the boiler room for months now. That thing is fried, but it's mostly just parts that need replacing. If we can get those parts, I'm confident I can get it working again."
"Wait, so you're saying we could have electricity? Air conditioning? Heat?" Rain chimed in. Beemo nodded before pulling out a map from his backpack.
"Check it out," Beemo unrolled the map to show a few circled areas all within 15 miles of each other. "It may be a long shot, but these here are all places I believe may have the parts I'm looking for. Old factories, tech shops, other schools."
"They seem a bit far though." Bonnibel looked at the map. "We would need more gas to make the trips out there." Bonnibel frowned at the thought of having to find more gas. They had pretty much emptied out every vehicle with remaining fuel within 3 miles of them.
"We could take Baxter out to search for fuel, even maybe make a two-day trip to some of the closer locations with him." Marceline cut in. She looked at Bonnibel for approval, sighing in relief when she got a nod in return.
"Beemo, you're positive that if we get these parts, you can get that generator up and running?" Bonnibel looked over to Beemo with worry in her eyes.
"Like I said, it may be a long shot. If I can get all the parts I need, I can absolutely fix it. If we don't get the parts then, well... we are screwed and all might freeze to death." Beemo rolled up his map and shoved it back into his backpack.
"Both options raise their own concerns and risks, so let's vote on it." Bonnibel looked around at the group. "Raise your hand if you like Beemo's idea better." It only took a few seconds before everyone had their hands raised. "Alright then, let's start with getting more fuel. Marceline and Finn can head out at dawn to find some." Marceline and Finn nodded their heads in agreement. Finn stood up from his spot to huddle with Marceline to discuss a game plan while everyone else dispersed to do their own thing, leaving Bonnibel alone with her thoughts.
xxx
"I never mentioned this before, but the fact you have a horse is so flippin cool." The duo had been on the road for about an hour now. They've had no luck so far in finding fuel for the truck.
"James Baxter is flippin cool. Coolest horse you'll ever see." Marceline pat the neck of Baxter. "Pre-apocalypse I had a motorcycle. The day I realized I had to leave her behind was so heartbreaking, man. Too loud, y'know? I almost got myself killed riding that thing around." Marceline laughed.
"Wait, you actually drove it around with an infestation of zombies?"
"Not my brightest moment, I'll admit." Marceline sighed. "In my defense, it was only a few months into the infection, most of us were still learning how these...things...acted." They approached a crowded highway, full of abandoned vehicles. Most of which were practically stacked on top of each other due to what seemed like a huge wreck. "Sheesh, this looked like an ugly accident." Marceline halted Baxter, throwing her leg over and hopping off the horse. She tied him up to a street pole as the two searched the cars for gas.
"Just out of curiosity, what was the final blow to make you ditch the bike?" Finn asked, following close behind Marceline with his pistol cocked and ready, just in case something decided to jump out at them.
"I was riding down a road similar to this one. I felt care free at the time, I had been really stressed out over life pre-infection. My band just got signed, my dad putting pressure on me to find a real job that wasn't music. So after the infection hit us, it was almost relieving. I had no more obligations, I could do literally whatever I wanted, it was great at first." Marceline paused to open up a gas cap, sniffing the inside only to be disappointed that it was empty.
"Not shortly after I found myself being chased by a small hoard of infected. I must've drawn them from miles away with how loud that engine was." Marceline tried another gas tank. Empty. She scoffed in annoyance. "Anyway, I was trying to make my way through all the abandoned cars when one jumped out in front of me and caused me to wreck. I tried running away but that thing was fast. Never seen anything like it." The woman checked another tank, feeling that burning sensation in her nose when she smelled some fuel inside. She grabbed the tube and canister that she'd been holding and started to syphon the little bit of fuel out.
"It ended up getting the best of me, I thought I was done for when it bi-" Marceline quickly stopped herself from continuing that sentence. "It tackled me to the ground, I was lucky to get away." Marceline lied. She had hoped that Finn hadn't noticed her hesitate while telling the story. She was relieved when he seemed oblivious to her mistake.
"Whoa, that's intense dude. Well I'm glad you made it out, you're a good addition to the team." Finn perked up, giving Marceline that goofy smile of his.
"C'mon, there wasn't enough in that car let's keep searching." Marceline quickly changed the subject and continued on their search for fuel. Only a few minutes had gone by when the duo heard that familiar groaning coming from a distance. An infected is nearby, Marceline thought. She motioned for Finn to keep moving but to be quiet. She removed her red axe from her back and silently tip toed through the field of cars before spotting the rotting figure standing over a very fresh body.
Marceline quickly approached the infected, swinging her axe with full force and decapitating the dead. She winced when she got a whiff of the rotting corpse only a few feet ahead.
"Body is fresh, we should get going before the smell attracts more." Finn agreed, and the two headed back to the horse to continue their search. It only took them all day with a few more encounters with the living dead before they had enough gas to go on their adventure to find those parts for Beemo.