IV – Finally

The streets are empty, but still we move on quickly, but as quietly as we can. The roller coaster they're hiding in – as we hope they still do – is at the other end of the park. We're pretty confident that as long as we find them, we'll make it out of the park in no time. We've already had "breakfast" in our little place and we've hardly anything left.

"Ewww!", Xion calls out. I turn around to see what's made her exclaim, but I immediately wish I had not. The body of a zombie girl has been torn open by one single cut, making her insides pop out. I swallow hard because of two reasons; a) to keep me from throwing up and b) from thinking about what the heck is living here that tears zombies apart.

Other than that, the short trip is rather eventless. After some time of being safe, Demyx started casually chatting with Roxas. My tension rose.

The roller coaster was obviously more of an attraction than a real ride; the waggons looked rusty and unsafe, the colour splattered off and faded. "Looks like no one's been here for years", I mutter and want to step inside. "Wait!". I turn my head, frowning. Why would I wait? "What if they're not there anymore?", Roxas asks. "Well, then we'll have to look somewhere else". - "And what if there's zombies in there?". I open my mouth to say something, but I can't think of anything. I blink a couple of times and look around. Finding a nightstick isn't hard; the roller coaster had had something to do with Police Academy, so fake nightsticks were actually lying around here. "Then we'll hit 'em".

Well, if only we'd thought a little more.

Entering the roller coaster, we're careful and attentive. Every sound could be the end of our trip. Also, hearing the voices of the couple would be pretty helpful. But so far, we hear nothing but the sound of our footsteps. We wander deeper and deeper into the roller coaster, but they're nowhere to be seen.

Somewhen, we're in really deep, so deep hat I'm almost sure we're out again, when Zexion yells: "I've found them, I've found them!". And indeed: two people are sitting on the ground, bowing low over something. It sounds like they're mumbling.

But something doesn't feel right.

And it's not.

Xion had run up to them, already waving and squealing like crazy, when they turned around.

And we had run if it hadn't been for the rest of the zombies to run up behind us.

All we could do was scream.

I try to hit some of them off with my nightstick, but they're too many. It seems like they're coming from everywhere. The kids' screams are terribly sickening in my ears and I'm trying my best to not get injured, but it is impossible to avoid that entirely.

I was on the verge of giving up, when I heard gunshots and saw a bright light. Turning around, I spy two figures coming out of the darkness, firing at zombies and flooding the hall with a bright light, so that most of the creatures are now fleeing.

"Ven!". Roxas runs up to his brother, who is furious.

Furious at me.

"How did you let this happen you sick fuck?! Seriously, who do you even think you are? You were supposed to take care of him, Axel! Not dragging him into a fucking zombie apocalypse! You are so fucked, believe me, once we're home – ".

"You'll never make it home. Or at least not the kind of home you knew".

We all turn our heads when we spy a red-headed guy with torn jeans and a loose dress shirt. My eyes jerk open.

"Reno".

Everybody cocks their heads, obviously wondering why I know that dude, who's accompanied by a tall, muscular, dark-skinned man. "Yeah, we've met them in here", Vanitas explains, "so we've formed a group". I nod slowly. "How come you know we're not coming home?". The older one grunts. "We've come from outside. Somebody told us to look in this shitty amusement park. And so we've found these boys. Unfortunately, our truck's been...".

"Damaged", a new voice calls from the background. A lean, blond man in his mid-twenties joins us. As he's holding a shotgun, I figure that he's the one who shot. "Who even are you?", Demyx asks, totally overrun by all the new faces. "Well", the blond says, "We're from the national security". He then pauses. "Well, although I have to assume that we now are the national security, but we don't know for sure. However, my name is Rufus Shinra, I am being accompanied by Reno, the red-haired fella over there, and Rude, the taller one". I nod, and when I face Ventus again, he hits me straight across the face. "It's all your fault! Sora went to look for you and he never came back!". I see tears streaming down his face and I know what he's so mad about. But really, this is not my fault. I didn't set a virus or whatever happened free.

"You're all wastin' time, yo. Seriously, we should get goin', before they're comin'", Reno says and once again in my life, I hate him for being so damn tactless. "Reno is right", I hear Rude speaking for the very first time. "The chances to survive in the city are much bigger than in here. And this boy needs help".

It is only now that I notice Ven's sloppily wrapped leg. "Did you get...", I ask, but he quickly shakes his head, still holding his little brother. "No, I wasn't bitten. But I fell". I nod, annoyed by the fact that he seems to be genuinely mad at me. As if this was my fault!

Vanitas, who has lost his brother in the end, hasn't said much so far. Even as we get going, he remains silent. He has all my sympathy and comprehension.

It is not yet dark outside, so we're still sorta safe. Xion, though, is still crying and Zexion has fallen as silent as a stone. It would be a miracle if we all didn't go mad.

We're even more cautious than we were before, simply because the attack in the roller coaster was really disturbing. The longer we stay here, the more disfigured the monsters look. It is pretty scary. Rude casually mentioned that it's the sixth of November. Demyx stares at me, eyes wide. How did these days pass? My lack of sleep tells me it hasn't even been two days, my memory says it's been three months.

We search through a couple of stores, but most the food has gone bad. The only things we take are drinks and clothes, as well as bags and potential weapons because we're badly equipped – Rufus has his gun (I swear he's got more of them hidden somewhere in his weird blazer) and Rude and Reno both carry some sort of night sticks with electrical tasters attached to the tip. No idea what the hell that may be.

Seeing the doors of the amusement park is painful and relieving at the same time. I'm really glad to get out, but I'm also fucking afraid of what else might be out there.

Still, leaving isn't as hard.

Rude takes the whimpering Xion on his shoulders and talks to her quietly. I really wonder what he could be saying, because her crying stops. "Rufus, tell me – why is all this happening? You must know, as you're of national security". Before Rufus can even open his mouth, a certain redhead (who is not me, gah, he steals all my pronouns) interrupts him: "Well, ya see, this lab over in the city was lookin' for a cure for AIDS. And ya know, vaccine is created by creating the illness' cells and hollowing them. In this case, it failed and BOOM, suddenly the patients who'd received the shots were collapsing, dehydrating and mutating, but mostly died after a couple of hours, so they thought it was a one-time thing. But in reality, the mutated cells had already oxidised and were floating around in the air. The rest of the story should be clear to everyone".

I swallow. Of course, I had thought of this, but hearing this as the actual truth fees like a bad joke.

"So the laboratory assistants were carrying the virus around, already having inhaled it. The virus now only spread by exchanges of body liquids, such as blood and sperm. It spread slowly, but steadily, especially since the newly bred creatures were fairly keen on biting people and forming huge groups that attacked human".

I am sick to my stomach. This is a nightmare of the worst kind – reality.

"So...am I getting it right, saying the virus does not spread through the air anymore?". Rude gives Demyx, who'd asked, a quick nod.

We are slowly roaming the streets, still having six miles in front of us until the city started. Ven's being supported by Vanitas, Zexion is holding on to Demyx' hand and I feel a tiny one gripping mine. Roxas' eyes are full of fear and pain, a mixture that wasn't supposed to be there at 13.

But well, who could blame him.