Banshee: Here's the final chapter of 'Dead Zone.' I'm sorry for the delay, but there was a really bad storm where I live, and it knocked out the power and internet for a few days, so I couldn't post it on the 31st like I planned. It's back on now, obviously, and now that it's back I can write my stories again~!
Disclaimer: I only own my OCs and the plot.
Chapter Four
…
- Still Roxas' POV -
…
After the transmission went out, we had to grab Nikki to keep her from leaving.
"Let go of me!" She yelled as she kicked and struggled. "I have to save my parents!"
"We know you do!" Zexion reasoned. "But you can't just charge out there, you'll get yourself killed! You need to have a plan!"
"But.. But those are my parents…"
"Your parents wouldn't want you to get yourself killed trying to save them."
"Okay, so we need a plan if we're going to rescue Nikki's parents. Any bright ideas, Einstein?" Axel asked, saying the word 'Einstein' sarcastically.
"That area is bound to be full of zombies. The equipment we have isn't going to be enough." Zexion turned to Nikki and Sandy. "Are there any weapons stores around here?"
"There are three." Nikki said. "Two of them have been cleaned out, but I don't know about the third one."
"We tried checking it out, but it was surrounded by zombies." Sandy added.
"Their numbers may have gone down by now." Zexion said. He paused, then added, "They should be, considering the fact that you two have been taking them out all week."
…
- Later -
- Nikki's POV -
…
The third weapons store was located on the other side of the main island. On the way there, we used one of the few available gas stations to fill up the hummer's tank. Once we did, we headed over to the store. Like Sandy said, it was surrounded by zombies. The store's doors were locked, so we assumed there were no one inside.
The hummer was parked around the corner, out of sight so the zombies couldn't see it. Zexion, being of higher rank than the rest of us, told me and Axel to go inside via portal and grab as many weapons and ammo as possible while he and the others stayed inside the hummer. He also said that if we needed to make more than one trip, to do it. I would have complained about being one of the only two going inside, but this wasn't the time for complaining. We just did as we were told.
We went inside using a portal, and grabbed everything we could; handguns, shotguns, rifles, machine guns, ammunition for everything listed previously, and even a boxful of grenades. We made at least six trips, and on the last one we gathered the rest of the ammunition.
"This is the last of them." I said, picking up the last box of bullets. "Now let's get the hell out of here before they-"
There was a huge BOOM! as a grenade was shot through the ceiling, and it exploded in a mess of fire and smoke. I looked through the window and saw the zombies turn their heads and look straight at us through the glass.
"-find out we're here…"
I could sum up my thoughts on the situation in one word: … Fuck…
I glared accusingly at Axel, who was holding a grenade launcher; the barrel was smoking, meaning it had just been fired.
"Now they know." I muttered dryly. "Thanks a lot."
"It was an accident, all right?" Axel yelled defensively. "The stupid thing just went off on me!"
I would have yelled at him, but getting away was more important.
"Let's get out of here!"
We pushed a table in front of the entrance so the zombies couldn't push through. They pounded on the glass, smearing it with blood. The glass was strong enough to hold against the beatings, but there was no telling how long it would last. We ran into the back and tried to get out the back door, but there were zombies there too, pounding on the door.
"It's no good. They're at the exit too."
There was a 'crack' as the windows broke, and the zombies were climbing over each other to get inside. They started filing into the gun store, stumbling through the mess to the back.
"Axel, you have to make a portal." I said.
"What if they follow us?"
"We don't have any other choice! Just do it!"
I held onto him and he created a portal, and we disappeared just as the zombies coming around the corner. We reappeared in the hummer. The others had seen the explosion - hell, who didn't see it? - and they also saw the zombies break into the store, so, naturally, they were really worried. When they saw us, they were relieved, but Sandy still gave me a smack for scaring the hell out of her.
"That was close! Are you guys okay?" Sandy asked.
"Yeah, we're fine." I said.
"Don't ever do that again!" Demyx cried as he hugged me. "I was starting to think you guys died!"
"What was that all about?" Roxas asked.
"Well, numbnuts over here decided he wanted to mess around with the grenade launcher." I grumbled, jerking my thumb towards Axel, who glared at me for calling him that. "Next thing I know, there was a big boom! and there are zombies trying to break in."
"I told you, it was an accident." He growled.
"An accident that almost got us killed."
"At least you two are okay, and in the end that's all that matters." Zexion said.
Momo nodded in agreement.
"Okay, we got the extra firepower. Now let's get going so we can save my parents."
…
- Nikki's House -
…
My house was completely surrounded when we got there. Zombies were on every side, leaving no way in or out. Some were still filing into the house, climbing through the broken window. If my parents were still alive, which I'm betting they are, they were trapped in one spot with no means of escape.
Once again, we hid the hummer a good distance away so we wouldn't get spotted.
"Look at them all." I said. "There's no way we'll get around them.."
Axel smirked. "Wanna bet?"
He snapped his fingers and the horde erupted into flames. The zombies inside were also torched, but he controlled the flames so they wouldn't burn the house down.
The pyro laughed maniacally. "BURN, YOU UNDEAD FUCKERS! BURN!"
The bodies crumbled in a mess of ash and bones after a few seconds, and the flames dissipated almost automatically.
"Good idea, Axel." Roxas said.
"Yes, it's a brilliant idea.." Sandy said sarcastically. "There's no way that big pretty light could possibly attract more zombies…"
"Shut it." Axel growled.
I looked around, and there were no more zombies; for now, at least. They were bound to notice the bright light of the fire, and are probably heading towards the house right now.
"The coast is clear. Let's go." I said, grabbing a gun and getting out of the hummer. I told the others to stay in the vehicle, but Axel and Roxas insisted on coming with me. Sandy wanted to make sure no zombies got in while we were there, Zexion was her backup, and Demyx was just too scared and hid in the backseat.
We cautiously stepped into the house, ready to shoot in case there were any zombies left. Axel torched most of them, but he only burned the ones he could see. There might have been more that we didn't know about.
There were some bodies on the floor, but, thankfully, none of them belonged to my parents.
"Mom?" I called out. "Dad?"
"I don't see them anywhere…" Roxas said.
I thought to myself, "Where could they have gone?"
Then it hit me.
"Nikki? Where are you going?" Axel asked as I headed up the stairs.
"When I was a kid, Dad built a secret room; a place we could go if anything went wrong." I said.
"Like a zombie apocalypse?" Axel inquired sarcastically. "That would qualify as anything going wrong."
"Where is this 'secret room?'" Roxas asked.
"I'll show you." I said. "Follow me."
With those two watching my back, I led them upstairs. I stopped after a while, and reached up at the ceiling, grabbing a string and pulling it down. A hatch opened, and a ladder unfolded and I set it down on the floor. The ladder led to our attic.
"The attic?" Roxas asked with a raised eyebrow.
I nodded.
"So…" Axel said. "Who wants to go first?"
"They're my parents. I'll go." I said.
"No. I'll go." He said.
"They're my parents. I'm going."
"You're my girlfriend. I'm going."
"Rock paper scissors?"
"You're on."
"Come on, guys…" Roxas groaned.
"One, two, three!"
We both had paper.
"Tie!"
"One, two, three!"
We tied again; this time it was scissors.
"Again!"
"One, two, three!"
Paper again.
"Again!"
"One, two, three!"
Axel laughed triumphantly when he got rock and I had scissors.
"Ha! Rock beats scissors!" He gloated. "I win!"
"Damn it…" I grumbled.
…
- Axel's POV -
…
Roxas and Nikki held onto the ladder as I climbed up. The attic was pitch black, and I couldn't see a damn thing.
"You see anything up there?" Nikki asked.
"It's really dark up here." I said. "Anybody got a light?"
I froze when a two-barrel shotgun was pointed at my face.
"All right, you bastard.." A familiar, slightly English voice growled. "You've got five seconds before I blast you to Kingdom Come!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" I exclaimed frantically, recognizing the voice as my girlfriend's father. "M-Mr. Hale! Wait! It's me, Axel!"
I knew he didn't believe me because he cocked the gun and prepared to shoot.
"Dad, wait!" Nikki yelled.
As soon as he heard Nikki's voice, Mr. Hale froze and looked towards the entrance, where she was watching from the ladder. When he saw her, his eyes started to tear up.
"N-Nicole…? You're alright!" He turned around. "Catherine, look!"
Nikki's mother emerged from the darkness carrying a flashlight.
"Nikki!" She exclaimed. "Oh, thank goodness you and your friends are all right!"
Overcome with emotion, Nikki ran over to embrace her parents. She was crying and holding onto them for dear life; as if they would disappear if she let go.
"I was so worried about you guys.." She choked out.
"It's alright, dear.." Mr. Hale said softly as he held his wife and daughter close. "We're all together now.."
Suddenly I felt like chopped liver. But, hey, this was Nikki's moment, and I didn't want to ruin it.
The hug ender after about thirty seconds.
"How did you find us?" Mrs. Hale asked.
"We heard a transmission over the radio." I said.
Mrs. Hale nodded. "That's right. I was calling for help using our old radio while Ray was keeping those… things away. But they broke in, and we barely made it up here."
"You guys weren't bitten, were you?" Nikki asked.
"No. Ray has seen every zombie movie ever made. There's no way he'd let those monsters anywhere near us. What about you? Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." Nikki said. "Sandy and I have been killing zombies all week."
"You mean you've been handling firearms?" Her father asked, the tone in his voice pointing towards a good scolding.
"Yes Dad."
"And you've been killing zombies with them?"
"Um… Yes?"
Instead of a scolding, he patted her on the head and proclaimed proudly, "That's my girl."
"Uh… guys…" I heard Roxas' voice back in the hall. "I'd hate to interrupt your reunion, but we have a problem…"
After that, we heard that familiar hissing and groaning.
Roxas frantically climbed up the ladder to avoid the zombies coming up the hallway, and I had no choice but to destroy the ladder so they couldn't follow him. The zombies were below us, and they knew we were above them so they weren't going anywhere, and wee were stuck in a dark, windowless attic. If Roxas and I were normal people like Nikki and her parents, there would be no way out.
As for how the zombies got here… they may have been drawn here by the bright light of the fire when I used my powers to destroy the other zombies so we could get inside the house.
"You know, in retrospect, maybe creating a giant inferno to destroy the zombies wasn't such a good idea after all.." I said.
"No, really.. You think?" Said Nikki.
I gave her a look.
"What will we do now?" Mrs. Hale asked. "There's no way out of here."
"Yes there is." Nikki said, looking at me and Roxas.
We knew what she was getting at, and I created a portal. Her father was reluctant to step into it at first, but with some persuasion from his wife and a - literal - push from his daughter, he went through.
"It's so cold in there.." He remarked when we exited the portal. "How can you stand to use those things all the time?"
"It's not so bad once you get used to it." Nikki said.
"Where are we?" Catherine asked.
We weren't in Destiny Islands anymore. Instead, we were in one of the many places that, luckily, weren't affected by the outbreak; Twilight Town.
"This is Twilight Town." Roxas said. "You guys will be safe here."
"W-Where are you kids going?"
"We have to go back for the others." Nikki said.
"Fine, but once you get your friends, come right back here. Understand, young lady?" Nikki's father said sternly.
"Yes, Dad."
"Good luck, dear."
We went back to the islands, and found Sandy using the hummer to do doughnuts in some God-forsaken parking lot. We would have gone back immediately after we found them, but Nikki remembered a promise she made and went back for Sora, Riku, and Kairi. After that, we left the islands and rejoined everyone else in Twilight Town.
…
- Six Months Later -
- Normal POV -
…
Six months later, it was almost like the outbreak never happened.
A lot of people lost their loved ones and their homes to the virus, and couldn't go back until the area was cleaned out and the mess from it was put in the nearest biohazard dump. It would be a long time before Destiny Islands was safe again, and the people who used to live there would need to start a new life in a new world until that day came; which, again, wasn't going to be for a while.
Nikki's family and friends started a new life in Twilight Town; at least until Destiny Islands was safe again. She visited them often, and they seemed to be adjusting well enough to the - drastic - changes.
"How's Twilight Town been treating you?" Nikki asked as she sat with her mother.
"It's taken some getting used to, but I think we're all right now." Catherine said, smiling.
"That's good."
"What you and your friends did was very brave. I'm proud of you for helping everyone."
Nikki sighed. "I'm just glad it's over… I hope I never have to see another zombie again.."
A bloody hand appeared on Nikki's shoulder and she responded with a shriek and flipped her attacker over.
"What the-?" Nikki exclaimed when she saw her boyfriend on the floor. "Axel?"
"Hey, babe." He greeted, waving his makeup-covered arm. "I see you still have those cat-like reflexes. Reeowwr~.."
"That wasn't funny!" She hissed.
"Come on babe, lighten up." Axel said.
"You are such an idiot.."
"Hello, Mrs. Hale~!" Sandy greeted as she, and everyone else in Nikki's circle of friends, appeared in the kitchen. "Hi Nikki~!"
"Hi kids." Mrs. Hale greeted back.
"We're going out for ice cream." Roxas said. "Wanna come with?"
"Sure thing. Just give me a second." Nikki said. She then turned around and kicked Axel in the shin.
"Ow!" He yelped. "What was that for?"
"For scaring me. Now let's go."
The group said goodbye to Nikki's mother, and went to get some ice cream. Unbeknownst to them, a figure was watching them from the shadows; a figure with bright yellow eyes, growling as they bared their razor sharp teeth…
…
~ The End… ? ~
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