I'm soooooo late and for that I apologize. I've been busy with school and then Compy was in the shop, and I didn't get him back until yesterday. I think it was for the best, though. I was able to think about where I wanted this chapter to go, how to do it, etc. This ended up being a longer chapter, so I'm pretty excited for that. I think as the action starts rolling, getting a min of 2500 words will be a lot easier.
Thank you so much for your patience, and I hope you enjoy!
Also I didn't edit this because I have to go to work so i'll do that later.
Lights and alarms went off within the bunker. Dicks head shot up towards the monitors as Barbara heaved a heavy sigh.
"It's probably just one of the satellite traps." Her breath was shallow and she sat herself up. "Just…get back over here."
"Let me make sure it's nothing important." Dick pulled himself up towards the motherboard. His hand ran halfway through his hair before remembering what he had previously been using it for. "Now where are you bastards?" Quick eyes skimmed over the screen looking for the offenders.
"There," Barbara pointed. "They don't seem to be putting up much of a fight." She had calmed her hair down into a ponytail, and was now pulling her pants back up.
"Could be sleepers."
"Never seen a sleeper get this close."
"Nevertheless, we ought to check it out before The Bat wakes up." Barbara was already miles ahead of him, grabbing packs stuffed with provisions and ammunition.
"Shotgun or crossbow?"
"Shotgun for sure." He grabbed a pack from the redhead and dusted his front off. "So when we get back, it's your turn, right?"
"Oh yeah," her voice dripped with sarcasm as she walked towards the door. "I'll get right on that."
The net rocked back and forth as if were mocking the two of them. Artemis was still against Wally, her hand resting somewhere along his jeans.
"I hate you so much," Artemis said as they swung. "If we ever get out, I'm going to leave you here for the infected to get you."
"Yeah yeah I know, could you please move your hand now?"
"Yeah just give me a push" Wally's hands shimmied up from underneath her towards the side leaning on him. Both grunted as her weight shifted to the other side of the net. Shifting her legs to Wally's side, she let out a sigh of relief.
"Sorry, I forgot you weren't used to having someone else's hands down there." A chuckle escaped his lips, and she smiled. "So what's that plan for getting us out of here?"
"Well, somebody obviously left this here, so I say we just wait."
"And what? Talk about our feelings? Besides, is it really such a good idea to wait in the dark who knows where for who knows what kind of people?" In the dark, Artemis was able to make out the soft form of Wally shrugging. "Of course."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Exactly what it sounds like."
Wally let out a long groan. He was probably as exasperated as she was, especially being forced into their field trip. Artemis adjusted again as she tried to get comfortable for an inevitably long night. The sky that was once littered with stars was now blocked by bare branches, allowing only one or two through. It had been nice while it lasted, easing the tension from their rough start. Her eyes wandered through the tree limbs as she silently begged for a glimpse of of the moon, or a star. Something. A small tap on her foot pulled her from her thoughts.
"I said, 'How are you doing?' This is the first time you've actually been outside outside, right?" Artemis nodded despite the darkness. "So…how's your…thing?"
Instinctively she pulled her sleeves down over her wrists, but not before lingering on the small patch of dry, dead skin. "Still gross," she said at last. She balled her sleeves into her fists to avoid acknowledging them further. "Why?"
"I'm allowed to care." What little light existed seem to catch his eyes as he rolled them.
"Since when?" He groaned again.
"Don't act like this whole friendship thing is a new concept for you. I've known you since we were like five."
"I still prefer the cat."
"That's a lie, and you know it. He tried to claw your face!"
"If I recall correctly, so did you."
"You were trying to kiss me."
"I was trying to infect you. Why does no one ever believe me?" Artemis could practically see the smirk on Wally's face growing. His face was never complete without one, and she absolutely hated him for it. "If it's such an aweful experience for you, why keep brining it up?"
He laughed. "Oh, come on! My mom didn't even buy that."
"I was nine years old! What sort of ulterior motives was I supposed to have?"
"If that's what helps you sleep at night, then by all means…keep lying to yourself."
"I'm going to sleep."
"Sweet dreams!"
"I hope a zombie rips your arm off."
"I wuv you!"
Dick and Barbara knelt down among the grass as they watched the net swing back and forth.
"They don't look infected," Dick said as he looked through his binoculars. Barbara snatched them from this grip to get a better view.
"They look like they're just sleeping." She lowered the binoculars before picking them back up again. "We're in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, and we caught to people taking a nap in our trap. This had batter be worth leaving at the ass crack of dawn."
"So, you want to wake them up?" Barbara nodded at her partner's question, taking off before he could say anything.
The two snaked between hidden traps, the morning air much cooler out in the open than it was in town. The closer they got, the more it was looking like it was just two kids who got caught in their net. Dick motioned to the rope tethering the net to the tree. Barbara had barely nodded when he cut the rope, the net falling to the ground.
"Son of a bitch!"
"What the-"
Artemis found herself on top of Wally for the second time. Her neck was already sore for the uncomfortable sleeping positions in the net, but now every bone in her body ached from the sudden drop. Cursing, she crawled off Wally before helping him to his feet.
"Shit she's infected." The male's voice caught her off-guard. Her head shot up finding herself looking down the long barrels of both their guns. Instinctively her ams shot in the air, sleeves at her elbows. The rashes seemed bigger in that moment, like they would spread to the rest of her body at any second. She didn't know what was more terrifying - the guns, or the idea that she could get worse.
"There's been a misunderstanding. We can explain." Wally's voice was calm as he inched closer to her side. The redhead turned her rifle on him, stopping him in his tracks.
"Oh, I know. Red, your girlfriend's infected, and she doesn't really want to see you anymore. It's not you, it's her."
"No, if you would let us explain for one second-" The girl advanced, butting him in the chest with her gun. She walked him back towards the clearing, away from the trees and Artemis. Panic was setting in. They didn't even make it twenty-four hours.
Artemis looked back at the boy facing her. He looked to young to be doing this, but he was handling the whole situation with such nonchalance. One eyebrow raised as he looked back at her. His lips formed a hard line, mocking their distress.
"Any last words?"
She looked to Wally for some sort of guidance, but got nothing. He looked as lost as she did. The boy in front of her shrugged as she turned back. Nothing seemed right, so she said the first thing that came to mind. Her eyes shut as tightly as they could in preparation for the pain.
"Barry Allen sent us to get a car from some guy he used to know so I can get out to California to provide a cure for this whole zombie thing." The words poured out faster than she could stop them. The boy and the redhead looked to one another, the former smirking as he lowered his gun. The girl lowered her's as she stormed over to hit him on the shoulder.
"You little troll! How long have you known?!"
"About five minutes." He shouldered the shotgun before turning back to Artemis. "Yup, the world may be ending, but word still gets around. I'm Dick, and you must be Artemis."
He offered his hand to her, but Artemis couldn't bring herself to lower her own arms. She looked between the three of them once more. Dick smiled as the girl massaged her temples. When her eyes landed on Wally he gave another shrug, his own arms still in the air.
"An explaination? Please?" Wally asked.
The tension didn't ease up much as they walked through the grass towards Blüdhaven. Dick and Barbara, as she had introduced herself, explained how things weren't much better off in their area of town. The places was crawling with infected, mostly sleepers, the quiet kind that didn't do much. They spent most of their time standing around than actually hunting. It was the howlers that were causing all the trouble. They traveled in packs of three to five, but unlike the sleepers, actively searched the area and didn;t need provocation to attack. On their own they were fine, but they were loud and attract the attention of almost every nearby infected. What started out as a group of five can quickly become twenty or thirty.
"It's what happened to pretty much all the big metropolitan areas," Barbara explained. She walked with her head over her shoulder, always looking out. "There are still a couple of us in the Blüdhaven/Gotham area making sure not everything goes to shit, but there's only so much we can do. The city's pretty much a jungle-gym of booby traps and rundown buildings. Really the only clean area is the center"
"But how did you know we were coming?" Wally and Artemis marched a few steps behind the others, still wary of the situation.
"The Ol' Bat's got his ways," Dick responded. He had turned to face them while walking backwards.
"But there's no post service anymore. And even with electricity, there's no internet."
"He likes the exercise."
Artemis stopped in her tracks. "Wait. You're telling me that there's some zombie survivalist superguy running back and forth between Blüdhaven and the facility where we stayed, and I had to walk here by myself?"
"He likes to check the traps along the way," Dick said with a smile. "Besides he's not great company. You'd probably be much better off with your uh-"
"Nope," Wally and Artemis said together. Dick grinned.
"Right." He turned back around and started walking again. "How's everything looking, Babs?"
"100 meters off I'd say. She's smart."
"Who's smart?" No matter how much they explained, Artemis still felt lost.
"Oh, we're being followed," Barbara responded, turning back to face the rest of the group. The concern must have shown on her face. "There's noting we can do out in the open. We're getting close to the outskirts of town, and we can do something then."
They walked in silence, ever conscious of the figure following them. So many times Artemis wished to look back to try and catch a glimpse, but knew it would be risking too much. Time moved slowly as the scenery blurred together, and it felt like they would never reach their destination. She seemed exist somewhere between awake and sleep as they traveled.
It was after the tenth clump of trees that buildings started to form on the horizon. They were mostly squat houses or gas stations, all abandoned. In the distance, larger buildings loomed, a welcome sight to the four of them. Without a word they carefully picked up the pace. Each step was quicker and lighter as they got closer to the abandoned houses.
"We can sneak in and out through these houses," Dick whispered. "They should be clean, so we won't have to worry about anything once we hit cover. When we break 50 meters, we'll start running, and Barbara will handle the dirty work."
"I think you mean have all the fun." She turned around to face Wally and Artemis as she talked. "Just keep running and don't look back. Do everything Dick tells you. I'll be five minutes behind you." The two nodded as she spoke. "Now, if you don't mind…" Barbara took hold of her rifle and aimed towards the farthest cluster of trees. The shot rang out across the field as the three took off running.
Artemis compulsively grabbed Wally's hand, his faster pace pulling her along. Dick led them straight into the backyard of deserted home, twisting through rooms, out the side entrance and into another. The pattern continued, Dick tossing makeshift smoke bombs here and there to loose their trail. Eventually they came to a stop in the middle of the neighborhood. Outside smoke settled heavily in the streets. Dick checked his bags, sighing at his lack of supplies.
"Bruce is going to kill me." He ran into the kitchen and came back with various odds and ends that seemed more important to him than they did Artemis.
"Won't Barbara get lost in all this smoke? She has no idea where we are, and we ran through like a dozen houses."
"We take the same route in and out of this neighborhood. All the other ones are trapped - nets, explosives, whatever. She'll be fine. Plus she's not too far behind. She should be here any minute."
Artemis felt herself sliding down a doorframe towards the floor, thankful to be sitting properly for the first time in hours. Her hands reached to her blonde hair tied back behind her head. Her fingers found a free lock and began twisting it, feeling the individual strands leave her fingertips. The sun was already setting in the distance casting the room in an orange glow.
Somewhere in the distance a low guttural howl sounded. Three heads shot up at the sound as Barbara crashed through the side door. She panted heavily before standing upright.
"She's…She's really quick, but I lost her. I think she stumbled into a nest of howlers, though? We need to go. Also I think I'm out of ammo."
Dick nodded before shouldering his pack. Out through the backdoor, most of the smoke had dissipated. Quietly they snuck between houses, making sure to not alert anyone or thing to their presence. They went quickly this time, not stopping to check for cover, just straight through, lucky enough to not find any trouble.
On the other side, the city of Blüdhaven stretched out before them. Vines and folliage seemed to cover every building, coming from any and all crack and spaces it could find, reaching for the calming sun. There was scarcely a sign of human life, or anything really. Not even strays roamed the streets searching for scraps. The place was truly abandoned. Barbara and Dick lead them towards the center of town, under and over various straps, all handmade and all incredibly deadly.
"Looks like someone doesn't want neighbors," Wally remarked as he climbed under a thin wire.
"So he's a bit eccentric, but he's kept a near two mile radius clean, and that's not bad for an area pretty much surrounded by water."
"Ok, so when so we get to meet Blüdhaven's mysterious savior?" Artemis's slender frame slipped around the wires with ease.
"Right now." Dick pulled a heavy metal door aside on an old warehouse nestled among some of the larger buildings. Completely unassuming and protected, the building inside was completely different. Clean and teaming with the electricity of who knew how many generators, they had obviously arrived at their destination. "Welcome to the Bat Cave…The Blüdhaven branch."