Korrasami 88: Indeed, he is.
Al Drin Hoshizora: What would Bing Bong do?
I am a burglar: *sigh*
Antha1: That was a typo. Anyways, yes, they're cured. Riley pulled off that feat of strength because... I wanted her to have a moment of awesome.
The Batista: Okay.
Gloyd Orangeboar: What?
MrScourch: Greedy tactics? I don't get it.
In the hideout, the crowd of Freaks ran through the rear exits of the building. Behind them, a swarm of ferals crawled after them. Some Freaks were overrun by the freaks as they relentlessly pursued the crowd. Behind the crowd, Joe was shooting bullets at the ferals to keep them at bay.
In the midst of the crowd, Margaret and her mom could see an exit from the building which the Others had used to enter beforehand. "We're almost there!" She said. However, the ferals were catching up to them at a fast pace.
The front of the crowd dashed through the exit and spilled onto the streets. As they exited, Meg and her mother could see the Others on top of the buildings, watching them from above.
As the last of the Freaks exited the building, Joe tried to shut the door before the ferals got through. However, just as the door was about to close, it was smashed open as the ferals barreled through it. They spilled onto the streets after the Freaks.
Above, the Others watched as the ferals attacked the Freaks below them, unsure of what to do. They had ran out of weapons to throw, and these streets weren't dowsed in flammable gasoline.
Then, it occurred to them. Yellowjacket had told them to fight back using what they did best.
At the front of the building, one former athlete Other jumped off the side of the building. Grabbing onto an overhead utility pole, the Other swung from it and proceeded to land on one of the ferals, knocking him to the ground. She then elbowed the feral in the throat, stunning him.
As the ferals watched, the Others threw themselves off the building, using the poles to slow their falls. As they landed on the streets and sidewalks, they charged at the ferals to attack. Immediately, the ferals rushed them as well to battle them.
But they were totally unprepared for the battle to ensue.
As they were within arms length of each other, one Other dodged under a larger feral and grabbed him by the waist. Hoisting the feral into the air, the Other bodyslammed into the pavement, knocking the air out from his chest. Next to them, one teenage Other slid on the ground and kicked the legs out from a charging feral, causing him to trip and land on his face.
One Other stood next to a car, and a feral dashed at him. At the last moment, the Other jumped out of the way, and the feral crashed right through the glass of the cars windows. The Other then grabbed the feral, pulled his bloodied face from the glass, and slammed his head into the ground.
One large Other grabbed the doors from a car, and rushed at two ferals, slamming the car doors into them and pummeling them into the ground. One feral pounced on his back, but two female Others tore the feral off of him and dragged him to the ground.
Margaret crawled away from the battle, and noticed a manhole lid on the ground. As two ferals dashed towards her, she grabbed the lid and, with a surprising burst of strength, hurled the lid at them. The lid struck both ferals in the face, knocking their teeth out, and they crashed onto the ground.
As the Others overtook the ferals, Margaret tried to see if she could find any sign of Riley or Jill's group. Her eyes wandered above, and she saw a ladder connecting the hideout to a smaller building.
And on that ladder, she saw Jill's group.
Riley's group ran into the building that Jill's group was heading to. They hoped to reach the top of the building and reunite with Jill's group on the way. Then they could figure out a new strategy of attack now that they were away from the danger of the hideout.
The group encountered a few ferals, but Riley and the Boss gunned them down before they could attack. Within moments, they were racing up the stairs to reach the roof of the building.
In moments, Noose was out of breath. "How many more. . . stairs?" He asked, practically dragging himself up the steps.
"Maybe Jill's group has some chocolate for you," Pale Girl taunted as she dashed up the stairs. In seconds, she'd reached the door leading to the roof of the building. As soon as she shoved it open, Riley dashed past her and into the roof, shouting out, "Mom!"
"Riley!" Jill shouted back to her. By now, she and the rest of her group were balancing on the ladder, the family they'd rescued holding it still so they could cross. The Others on the roof had joined the battle below.
As Riley's group ran to the ladder to help them cross, Riley began to rush after them. She couldn't wait to feel her mother's warm embrace once they crossed the ladder.
However, she was taken off-guard when she saw Jill's group on the ladder all get a panicked expression on their face as they stared in Riley's direction. Jill shouted something to her and waved her arms in a panic, but Riley couldn't quite hear what she was saying over the sounds of the battle below.
It took her a second for Riley to realize Jill was warning her.
A large, cold hand seized Riley's shoulder from behind. Riley nearly screamed as the hard nails pinched her skin, and she was flung onto the ground. Looking up, her eyes filled with fear, she found herself face-to-face with Sawbones.
The old zombie looked enraged, his scars more pronounced in his angry state. His eyes were filled with hatred as he looked down at Riley and saw that she was no longer an Other. His butcher knives were clenched in his left hand. With his right, he reached down, grabbed Riley by the neck, and hoisted her into the air.
"Riley!" Jill shouted, and she struggled to race across the ladder. However, in her panic, she slipped. Jill let out a scream as she lost her footing and fell, only to grab onto the edge of the ladder, handing from the edge over the hard pavement.
"Jill!" Mary shouted, and she and her friends carefully walked on the ladder towards her to try and help her up.
Sawbones' fingers tightened around Riley's neck. Riley's face turned red and tears began to stream out of her eyes as she grabbed Sawbones' wrists in a futile attempt to pry his grip from her neck.
"S-Sawbones," She choked out, feeling lightheaded.
Ghoul and Noose turned to the two. "Sawbones!" Ghoul shouted, taking several steps towards him. "Don't do this!"
Sawbones turned to face Ghoul. "She's a Freak!" He growled at her, and Ghoul paused for a moment, seeing the anger in his eyes. However, she fought past her fear and stepped forward, saying, "This is still our Yellowjacket. We may be changing, but that may not be so bad."
Undeterred, Sawbones raised his knives in the air. "You're just as Freakish as her, Ghoul," He growled as he aimed the knives at Yellowjacket's neck. "When I'm done with her, you two are next!"
Suddenly, a burst of bullets sprayed in Sawbones' direction as the Boss fired at him. Ducking under the bullets, Sawbones released Riley, who collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air. Sawbones whirled on the Boss and flung one knife at it. The Boss shouted out in pain as the knife ripped into his shoulder, and he fell onto the ground, dropping the gun.
Sawbones turned back to Riley, who was scrambling on the ground away from him. As Sawbones advanced upon her, he was tackled by Ghoul and Noose. The two grappled with him, shoving him up against the door.
"You won't touch her!" Ghoul shouted at him, kneeing Sawbones in the stomach. The older zombie doubled over in pain, gasping for breath, and Noose brought his fists down on Sawbones' back, bringing him to his knees. However, he suddenly struck out, striking Ghoul in the gut and swiping Noose's legs out, causing both of them to collapse onto the ground.
As Sawbones got up, he was unexpectedly tackled by Pale Girl, bringing him down. The girl pinned Sawbones to the ground and slashed at his chest with her claws. Sawbones shouted out in pain as he shielded his face with his arms as Pale Girl tore into his skin. One swipe slashed Sawbones' face, leaving five bloody scars in his face. Sawbones let out a growl of anger, and he threw Pale Girl off of him.
The zombie girl went flying through the air and slid across the ground towards the side of the building. Her eyes widened as she felt herself slide off the edge of the building, and she quickly grabbed onto the edge of the roof to keep herself from falling to her death. Her claws bit into the side of the roof as she hung for dear life.
Sawbones got up and lumbered towards Riley, who, along with the family, was trying to prop the ladder back onto the roof so that Jill and her group could get across. As Sawbones neared them, Ghoul once again threw herself at him, causing him to briefly falter. However, he grabbed Ghoul and lifted her into the air, and violently threw her against the wall of the door. Ghoul's body crashed against the wall, and she collapsed on the ground, dazed.
With her out of the way, Sawbones continued towards the ladder. Riley turned and saw him coming, and turned to Jill's group, who were trying to pull Jill up onto the ladder. "Come on," She said, urgently.
Just as Sawbones neared her, a voice next to her cried out, "Hey!"
Sawbones whipped his head in the direction of the voice. His eyes narrowed when he saw that it was Bill.
Riley's father stood tall, holding the Boss' gun. He had the gun aimed at Sawbones.
The older zombie stared at Bill, looking as if he were silently goading Bill to fire. He was within arms length of Riley, who was still holding onto the ladder.
"Step away from my daughter," Bill ordered, the gun aimed at Sawbones' head. Sawbones glared at him for a moment, before turning back to Riley. He took a step forward, regardless of what happened.
Bill didn't let him take another step. He pulled the trigger.
Nothing came out. Bill froze as he realized that the gun was out of ammo.
Sawbones grinned as he, too, realized that the gun was useless. "Fool," He whispered. Turning back to Riley, he raised the knife over his head, when Bill threw the gun away and called out once more, "Why don't you take it up with me?"
Sawbones stopped, and turned back to Bill. Riley's father got into a fighting stance, his fists raised as he prepared to take Sawbones on in combat. "My life for hers," He declared, challenging the older zombie.
Sawbones considered this for a moment. Then, he turned to face Bill and tossed all of his knives to the ground. He then straightened up and prepared to face off with Bill.
As the two men faced each other off, however, Sawbones suddenly lunged towards Riley, who dodged out of the way. The Freaks, seeing the zombie coming, suddenly jumped from the roof and onto another building to escape from him.
However, Sawbones wasn't aiming for them. His leg shot out and kicked the ladder, and it was flung from the roof, Jill and her group on it.
"No!" Bill shouted.
Jill's group screamed as they and the ladder fell from the roof. Quickly, Riley slid towards the edge of the roof, and just barely caught the ladder as it fell. The ladder stopped in midair, and Jill's group all jolted as their fall was halted. They all grabbed onto different parts of the ladder to keep from falling.
Riley gritted her teeth as the weight of the occupants on the ladder quickly dragged her to the edge of the roof. "No, no, no. . ." She said repeatedly as she neared the roof. Suddenly, a hand grabbed her leg, and she craned her head around to see Noose, lying on the ground, holding onto her to keep her from falling. Behind him, Ghoul, still injured from crashing into the wall, held onto him as well.
Bill stared at them, and sighed in relief. Then, he turned to Sawbones as the zombie approached him, and he narrowed his eyes.
"It's you and me now," He said. Sawbones growled, and stopped, taking a stance. The two stared at each other for a moment, neither of them moving.
Then, they both charged.
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