Chapter Two

It takes many days of hard riding to get from Cisco to Beverly, but eventually the three heroes arrive in the small community. Thankfully, the journey between the two villages was an uneventful one. An even greater sense of relief is felt by the heroes as they discover that the zombies had not yet arrived in this village. The village leader Ayrlo comes out to greet his old friends.

"Welcome my friends!" Ayrlo calls to them, "It's good to see that you're well!"

"Greetings Ayrlo," replies Thundarr, "We are relieved to see that no harm has befallen you."

"Is there trouble?" asks Ayrlo.

"Cisco is under siege by zombies," explains Ariel, "We came here to warn you, and to plan our next move. Kwan and his people have barricaded themselves in the ruins of Alcatraz, but I don't know how long they can hold out."

"What can we do to help?"

"You need to get all your people into one fortified building. Load it up with food and supplies, and be prepared to barricade yourselves inside at the first sign of trouble."

"I know just the place," he tells her.

Ayrlo takes Thundarr, Ariel, and Ookla to a large stone building in town, with stone steps leading up to the heavy front doors. There's an ancient bronze statue lying against the stairs, of a blindfolded woman holding a sword in one hand and a set of balance scales in the other. Princess Ariel nods her head in appreciation.

"This will do just fine," she says.

"What manner of place is this?" asks Thundarr.

"This is an old court house," Ariel tells him, "People accused of crimes would be brought here to be judged. Buildings such as these were built to last. With a little work, it'll be almost as defensible as Alcatraz."

Ariel, Ookla, and Thundarr then set about fixing up the ancient building to make it as zombie proof as possible. Thundarr goes into the holding cells in the sub-basement and uses his Sunsword to cut the bars from the cells. Ookla takes the bars upstairs to Ariel, who uses her magic to fuse them in place over the windows. They also use them to build a metal gate just inside the main doors, which can be locked. Ariel uses her magic to repair any structural damage done to the building itself. Thundarr and Ookla set up the main doors so that they can be barred from the inside. Meanwhile, Ayrlo and the people of Beverly go about clearing out the debris in the courtrooms, and moving furniture, food, water, and supplies into the building. Soon there are enough supplies to wait out a very long siege. Once the building has been fortified, Ariel goes down into the sub-basement and makes herself comfortable in one of the former prison cells. The holding area is now their "panic area", where the villagers of Beverly will lock themselves if the zombies manage to break through the barred front doors and the locked iron gate. Ariel sits cross legged on the bed, closes her eyes, and begins to meditate, reaching out across the distances to seek out an ally. While Ariel is meditating, Thundarr and Ookla are adding to the defense of the old court house. They've been going around the ruins of Los Angeles and collecting ancient automobiles. They push the ancient vehicles to the court house then position them around the building, like circling the wagons of a wagon train. Thundarr then takes out his Sunsword and uses it to weld the vehicles together. Ookla then crushes the car rooftops flat, and they stack the ancient derelicts on top of each other. They've managed to build a wall two cars high and begin on a third level.

"This... would be... a lot... easier... if Ariel... could use... magic... to help." gasps Thundarr as he pushed an ancient Ford Mustang convertible.

Ookla growls in agreement. They don't know how long the people of Cisco can hold out in Alcatraz, or how long it will take an army of zombies to march from Alcatraz to Beverly, and every moment spent preparing Beverly for battle was a moment that Alcatraz might become over run by zombies. Just then they hear what sounds like the cry of a bird of prey off in the distance. They look up from their work to see a gigantic bird flying towards them, calling out repeatedly.

"Yeeeek! Yeeek!" cries the bird.

As the creature gets closer and closer, Thundarr sees what appears to be people riding on the birds back. Recognition dawns on the barbarian.

"Lords Of Light!" says Thundarr, "It can't be!"

Sitting on the back of the giant bird are two young adventurers. Up front is a red haired young woman wearing the furs and bone headdress of a barbarian, and carrying a club with animal teeth and an animal skull set into the top. She is Shara, a young but eager barbarian. Sitting behind her is her companion, a young man with long, light brown hair. He is a sorcerer named Merlik, and a student of Earths history. They had met Thundarr, Ookla, and Ariel years ago when they were only teenagers. Together, the five of them defeated Jurag and his tiger-man mutants, spoiling his quest to become an evil wizard. They also defeated the legendary Sleeping Demon, which was in fact just an ancient science experiment gone horribly wrong. Now in their early twenties, they'd apparently had a very successful adventuring career. They land their pet bird, Yeek, next to Thundarr and Ookla and jump down to the ground.

"Hey Thundarr. Ookla," says Merlik in greeting, "Fancy running over you here."

"What are you children doing here?" asks Thundarr.

"We are not children!" shouts Shara, "We helped you defeat Jurag and The Sleeping Demon! Remember? And that was years ago! We're far more powerful now!"

"Besides," add Merlik, "we were invited."

"Invited?" scoffs Thundarr, "Invited by who?"

"By me," says a voice from behind.

Thundarr turns around to see Princess Ariel standing in the doorway of the ancient court house. Her hair is matted to her face, and her body glistens with sweat as the effort of spell casting had taken a physical toll on her. Thundarr shakes his head in disbelief.

"You can't be serious," he says.

"We need all the help we can get," Ariel tells him, in no mood for an argument, "We can't get into Alcatraz by horse. We need Yeek to fly us in. And they've proven themselves to be very useful in a fight."

"What do you need our help with?" asks Shara.

"Right now I need Merlik's help in casting a spell," Ariel tells them, "and it looks like the boys here can use a hand building their wall."

"What kind of spell do you need my help with?" asks Merlik.

"I'm going to try and contact some people from Old Earth," Ariel explains, "Friends of ours who'll also be able to help."

"The three women of The Prophesy?" asks Thundarr.

"Exactly," replies Ariel, "They are a formidable team. And after draining the power from The Gem Of Glory they're able to travel through time."

Ookla growls out an opinion, and Thundarr nods his head in agreement.

"You're right, old friend," says Thundarr, "Those three teamed up with us and these two youngsters would be a force to be reckoned with."

"Come on," Ariel says to the young sorcerer, "It's going to take a lot more work contacting Valerie Storm than it did you. We'd best get started."

"Right off!" says Merlik, excited to be performing such a complex spell with someone as powerful and well known as Princess Ariel. The two sorcerers enter the building, and Ariel leads Merlik to the room she had commandeered as her casting chamber. They sit cross legged on the bed, facing each other, lace their fingers together as though they were about to have a test of strength, then close their eyes and send their thoughts through time and space, back to the Twentieth Century.

Back in the year 1988, Valerie Storm is relaxing in her apartment with her two roommates, Queen Maya of Endor and Synda from The Valley Of Death. They had met in the year 3996, when the evil wizard Vashtar kidnapped Valerie in order to prevent the prophesy that the three of them would cause his defeat. After vanquishing the wizard, the three of them traveled back to the year 1982, where they have been living ever since. Valerie moved out of her one bedroom apartment shortly afterward, and got a three bedroom apartment so that the three of them could live together. Also, after living their entire lives in a time and place when magic and monsters are a day to day reality, she wanted to make sure they adjusted to living in the twentieth century. The three of them are sitting around watching television. After six years, Synda and Maya are still fascinated by this form of entertainment. Synda helps herself to a large slice of pizza from the delivery box and takes a big bite, which she washes down with a mouthful of cola.

"This Gorgeous Ladies Of Wrestling is very exciting," Synda says after a very unladylike belch, "Maybe I should become a GLOW girl."

"That's not such a bad idea," agrees Maya, "You're a better fighter than any of those women, that's for sure."

"I wouldn't mind if you were to earn your share of the rent," Valerie adds, "Modeling careers don't last forever, and I'm tired of being the only one here with an income. But you are aware that those matches are fixed right?"

"What?" asks Synda, "Wrestling is fake?"

Valerie laughs, gets up off the sofa and heads towards the kitchen. "I need a refill," she says, " Can I get you girls anything?"

"I'll have another cola," says Synda.

"More iced tea please," ads Maya.

As she's walking towards the kitchen, Valerie begins to feel dizzy. She stumbles and leans against the wall, holding her head. Maya, and Synda get up and rush over to her.

"Are you alright?" asks Maya, "What's wrong?"

"It's Ariel," Valerie tells them, "she's contacting me. She, Thundarr, and Ookla need our help."

"Why?" asks Synda, "What's happening?"

"I don't know," admits Valerie, "but the message seems urgent. We have to go! Now!"

Valerie hurries towards her bedroom, pealing off her t-shirt and taking off her bra as she goes. Synda and Maya hes to their bedrooms as well. Soon they gather together back in the living room. They're all wearing the clothes they wore six years ago when they first banded together to defeat the evil wizard Vashtar. Valerie is wearing sandals and a backless red dress which allows her to angel-like wings to sprout from her back. Maya wears the white dress and a golden crown she used to wear as Queen of Endore. And Synda is wearing the leather garments of a warrior and carrying her Staff Of Power, which amplifies it's wielder's strength by tenfold. They all join hands in a circle, close their eyes, and say in a unified voice, "Let our powers be joined!" Then in a flash of bright light, the three women vanish.

In the year 4000 AD, Thundarr and Ookla find that the young barbarian Shara is far more helpful in building their wall than they had at first believed. Shara would fly about the ruins of Los Angeles on Yeek, and whenever she'd spot an ancient automobile Yeek would grab it in his talons and carry it back to Thundarr and Ookla. The mok would flatten the tops of the cars and place them on the wall, then Thundarr would weld them together with his Sunsword. By the time they're finishing the fourth layer of cars, Ariel and Merlik emerge from the ancient building with Valerie, Synda, and Maya in tow.

"Nice work fellas," says Ariel, "Once this wall is high enough, it'll be impossible for any zombies to climb over."

"Zombies?" asks Valerie.

"Yes," says Ariel, "The village of Cisco is over run. The survivors have barricaded themselves in the ruins of Alcatraz, but we don't know how much longer they can hold out. We need to get to them soon, but first we need to get the town of Beverly fortified. If we're too late, we'll need a fallback position."

"Makes sense," says Synda, "So what are we waiting for? Let's get to work building this wall!"

With the aid of Ariel, Merlik, and Synda, the wall is built in short order. Synda is able to use her Staff Of Power to help Ookla flatten the tops of the vehicles, while Ariel and Merlik use their magic to lift them into place and help Thundarr weld them together. Valerie flies about the ruins of the city scrounging together anything else they can use as raw building materials, while Maya helps several villagers scavenge anything that can be used as a weapon. By nightfall, the wall is completed. They've used the back ends of a couple of old delivery trucks with steel doors which swing outwards as the gates. The also welded some sliding bolts into place to lock both sets of doors. They built a pair of guard towers on the inside of the gates out of old swing sets, jungle gyms, and scaffolding. They also put a similar tower in each corner. Now they've gathered Ayrlo and the rest of the villagers of Beverly together for a crash course in battling zombies. They've set up a series of ancient store mannequins to help with their demonstrations.

"Rule #1!" begins Ariel, "Is there is only three ways to kill a zombie. The first, is to destroy the brain. The best way to do this is to shoot them in the head with a bow or crossbow. This kills them while keeping you at a safe distance."

She nods her head at Shara, who shoots a mannequin in the head with a crossbow.

"Or you can smash their skulls with a heavy, blunt object, such as a hammer or a club."

Again she nods her head, this time to Synda who smashes a mannequins head with her staff.

"You can even cleave their skulls with an ax, or pierce their brains with a spear or pick ax. You need to be careful in doing this however, as your weapon could become stuck in the zombie's skull leaving you vulnerable to attack."

She nods her head, and Maya buries an ax into the head of a mannequin.

"Second choice," Thundarr continues, "is decapitation! However you might not be able to cut off the zombie's head with a single stroke. Spending time hacking away at one zombie's neck will leave you vulnerable to attack by other zombies!"

He then demonstrates by decapitating a mannequin with his Sunsword.

"Third choice," says Merlik, "is incineration! If a zombie is burned bad enough, it will not be able to continue to function!" He then holds up a glass bottle with a rag stuffed into it, "This is a Molotov cocktail! It is a mixture of lamp oil and honey! Just light the fuse and throw!"

Merlik then lights the rags and throws it at a mannequin. The glass shatters and the mannequin goes up in flames.

"Rule #2!" says Valerie, "Is to protect yourself at all times. If you must fight zombies up close, you should make sure every part of your body is covered. Leave no exposed flesh! Wear metal armor if you can! If you can't, then wear leather! Anything that'll be hard to bite through!"

"How'd you know that?" asks Synda.

"I've seen George Romero's movies," Valerie replies.

"Who?"

"Never mind."

"Rule #3!" says Shara, "There's no cure for a zombie's bite! If any of you are bitten, the kindest thing you can do for them is cut off their head before they change."

"Rule #4!" says Synda, "There are no such things as 'Moral Dilemmas'. People turned into zombies are no longer your friends, your neighbors, or your loved ones. They only see you as their next warm meal. And if you can't bring yourself to kill a zombie because it was a small child in life? Then you're going to be killed and eaten by that small child."

"Now arm yourselves and be vigilant!" says Thundarr, "If we can't stop the zombie horde at Alcatraz, it may very well come here next! If it does, lock yourselves behind this steel wall we've built. It's not pretty, but it'll keep you safe until help arrives."

The villagers all pick out their choice of bow, crossbow, hammer, ax, pickax, and other assorted weapons before heading back to their homes. Valerie turns to Thundarr, Ariel, and Ookla.

"So what do we do now?" she asks.

"We get a good nights rest," says Ariel, "Merlik and I have exhausted our powers by contacting you, and with the preparations here. If we run into trouble on the way we won't be any good to anyone. We'll leave at first light when everyone is refreshed."

"Agreed," says Thundarr, "We all need rest. If Alcatraz has fallen, then one more night won't make any difference. And if it hasn't, then they ought to be able to hold out for one day more."

And with that the eight heroes went into the old courthouse to bed down for the night, all hoping that they weren't too late to save the people of Cisco.