Before I get into responses, I'll say this: on the subject of the girl who I'll call Whitedress, we see her a few chapters before in the story, just not in-person. Check to see where you can spot her.
Korrasami 88: Don't ask questions you know won't be explained at the moment.
Antha1: She wasn't really protecting them so much as she wanted something to eat.
Creamy Buttercap: Seriously? You don't know what happened to Larry? He's the guy Whitedress was eating.
GANGSTA: Ugh...
Al Drin Hoshizora: Don't see romance where this is none. Then again, what would the shipping between Yellowjacket and Blackjacket be called...
Gloyd Orangeboar: Not even close.
I am a burglar: Sure thing. She can chew on yours instead.
Drunken Hamster: I, too, did not notice the Black and Yellow until now.
Yellowjacket and Blackjacket did the one thing they felt they could.
They ran.
Tearing through the open door like a scared rabbit, the two zombie children scattered down the dark hallway in a crazed panic. They could hear the terrifying screech of the other girl as she gave chase.
The two ran back into their room and started gathering up whatever they could find. Yellowjacket hurriedly put on her yellow jacket while Blackjacket put his cap on. The screams of the pale girl echoed down the pitch black hallway, and her footsteps grew louder as she approached.
Without a moments hesitation, Yellowjacket and Blackjacket bolted out of the room, sparing a few seconds to see the pale girl's ghoulish face and lifeless eyes, illuminated by the full moon through the open window.
Yellowjacket urgently grabbed the doorknob and started to twist it, her hands shaking and fumbling around the doorknob. The pale girl let out a screech that tore into Yellowjacket and Blackjacket's ears, and she approached, her arms extended and whipping around in the air, claws out.
Finally, Yellowjacket pulled the door open, harder than she expected, and she and Blackjacket ran down the stairs. They did not stop, they did not hesitate, they just ran. Blackjacket turned his head around for one second, and caught a glimpse of the pale girl's body, concealed in the darkness. She let out another cry of rage, and blood flew out of her mouth.
Yellowjacket gripped Blackjacket's wrist as she led him down the staircase as fast as she could. She knew she wasn't going back up those stairs ever again after what she'd seen. Whatever that thing was, Yellowjacket knew that the people she had to find were Bill and Jill.
In the back of her mind, it struck her as ironic that she wanted a Freak to protect her from one of her own, but that thought was pushed into her subconscious.
At the moment, all she wanted was to be with Bill and Jill. That was in the forefront of her mind as she burst through the door and out into the open. And then, she ran towards the Freaks' building.
"Boss, where's Larry?" One man asked Sir as the two stood outside the room Bill and Jill were sleeping in. The rest of the group hadn't been informed of where Larry had gone; Sir and Bob were the only ones who knew.
"He went out to get something," Sir reassured him, but secretly wondered himself where Larry was. It was unusual for the man to be out for such a long time, and he'd expected that Larry would be back by now to explain what he had found.
He was about to send someone out to go fetch Larry when he heard the sound of footsteps racing up the stairs. For a moment, he assumed that Larry was back, and he felt momentary relief.
In an instant, however, that relief was shattered.
The doors swung open and Sir found two young zombies burst into the hallways. They ran in a panicked frenzy, approaching Sir at a fast pace.
"What the Hell?" One man shouted, and he ran towards the room to alert the rest of the group. The two zombies followed the man as he opened the door, and they bolted into the same room as the rest of the Freaks.
Shouts of surprise and horror arose as the two zombies suddenly scattered through the room. Men, women and children jumped up and ran to avoid the two zombies, lest they be infected by them.
They didn't know it, but the two weren't intending to attack anyone. They were looking for Bill and Jill. They would run up to someone, and upon realizing it wasn't either of the Andersens, they would turn away.
Sir ran in and said, "Get me my gun!"
At that point, all of the sudden shouting had awoke Bill and Jill from the next room. Wondering what all of the panicking was about, the two got out of bed. Bill took out his gun just in case a zombie had entered the room.
Walking into the hallway, the two saw three people exit the room in a hurry. Now certain more than ever that there was a zombie in the room, Bill readied his gun, burst in, and prepared to fire.
He stopped, however, when she saw it was Yellowjacket and Blackjacket. He dropped his gun in shock. Jill gasped, wondering why their daughter had followed them to the hideout.
Bill and Jill heard the sound of Sir loading his gun and aiming at Yellowjacket, who was stumbling about, confused. Immediately, Jill rammed into Sir, knocking him to the ground and causing him to drop his gun. The remaining members of the group gasped, shocked that Jill would attack Sir.
It was then that Yellowjacket noticed Bill and Jill. The two saw how Yellowjacket's face went from terrified and confused to relieved and joyful. Quickly, she ran towards Bill and wrapped her arms around him in a caring embrace. Blackjacket watched from a distance.
"Riley, what are you doing here?" Jill whispered to her, but she took no notice. She didn't realize that the rest of the group were watching, eyes widened, as the zombie held Bill in her arms.
Bill noticed the looks of discomfort from the rest of the group. "Um, Riley..." He said, making a slight effort to push his daughter off of him, lest the group think he was infected.
Riley looked confused as to why he had done this. Her eyebrows were scrunched up and her eyes held an air of naivete. It was only then that she realized she was in the same room as nearly a dozen Freaks.
With a gasp, Yellowjacket backed away from the rest of the group, her head whipping about as she estimated how many there were.
Getting to his knees, Sir said, "Bill... what is going on?"
Bill and Jill both knew now that the jig was up. They couldn't conceal the truth anymore.
With a sigh, Bill said, "We found our daughter," He explained slowly. "We... brought her with us."
There was murmurs of contempt from the group, and Bill, hoping to defuse the situation as much as possible, reassured them, "Riley's not dangerous! She's, uh, recovering, I think. She hasn't eaten us, and I think she's starting to remember-"
"He's insane!" One woman shouted. "Kill the zombie before she eats us!"
Bob pulled out his gun and took aim at Yellowjacket.
"No!" Bill shouted and punched Bob in the face, breaking his nose. The group began to advance towards Bill and Jill to subdue them. Yellowjacket grabbed Blackjacket's hand as she backed up against the wall, scared of what would ensue.
Then, she saw Sir's gun on the floor. She looked up to see the group surround Bill and Jill. Without a second thought, she dove towards the gun, grabbed it, then aimed and pulled the trigger.
Yellowjacket felt the force of the gun knock her back. The sound of the bullet exploding from the barrel of the gun ricocheted in her ears. She saw the bullet leave the gun and go flying at the group, followed by a cry of pain.
Yellowjacket didn't know who she had shot, as several members of the group tumbled to the floor in a panic. She saw blood spray on the grounds and wall, and she knew she had hit someone. For a second, she worried that she might have shot Bill or Jill.
Bill and Jill emerged from the bodies of the group unharmed, and Yellowjacket sighed with relief. The two briefly stared down at the group, and then they ran towards Yellowjacket. Bill grabbed Yellowjacket by the arm, and Jill grabbed Blackjacket by the collar, and the four of them tore out of the room in a panic.
It was clear that there was no going back now. Yellowjacket had just shot someone. There was no way they could convince the group she wasn't dangerous now.
"Bill!" They heard Sir shout. "Jill!"
They ignored him. They ran down the stairs and out the door and into the darkened streets. Once they were outside, the stood for a moment to catch their breaths. Bill straightened up and stared at the building, and contemplated what had just happened.
(In Bill's Mind)
". . . What just happened?" Anger asked as the emotions remained silent, utterly perturbed at how quickly things had gone downhill.
"How did they. . ." Disgust whispered, then paused as he tried to think of what to make of the situation. After a while, he just said, "Game over, man. Game over."
"So that's it, then?" Anger asked the rest of the emotions. "We're just. . . going? We're abandoning them? Huh."
The emotions remained quiet, until Fear suddenly sprang up and shouted, "Called it!"
The emotions all turned to stare at Fear in disbelief, and the purple emotion then shrank down into his chair, embarrassed.
Yellowjacket wrung her hands in self-deprecation, realizing what she had just caused.
"I'm. . . sorry," She said to Bill and Jill, hoping that they didn't hate her now. Jill turned to stare at her daughter, then turned to the building and sighed.
"Perhaps it was for the best," Was all she said.
Bill walked a distance away, and scouted the area to make sure there were no zombies nearby. After a while, he told the other three, "Come on, we have to get out of here. Find a place to stay."
Bill then started walking. Jill, Yellowjacket and Blackjacket followed him. They walked down the streets into the night, uncertain of what lay ahead of them.
But one thing was certain.
From now on, they were on their own.
End of Act I
Whelp, who expected that? Anyways, Act I is at a close. Now, we're going on to Act II.
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