As promised, the next chapter. You'll enjoy this.
(This is totally a page break)
Rasputin broke out of the ventilation system in the main section of the Saucer. He hit the ground and saw three undead men and two women. They all lunged for the man in black, but he simply drew his guns and fired five shots. Each of the zombies (as the group had finally accepted they were) fell, a hole between their eyes. Rasputin put his guns in the holsters which had been customized into the inside of his coat and continued walking.
He hated it when people didn't give him credit for what he had done, but he hated it when people made Riou out to be a fool even more. Rasputin and Riou had pretty much known each other their entire lives, though Riou had only just realized that. Rasputin often felt that Riou took too much from people, so he felt it his responsibility to stick up for his friend.
Speaking of the masked man, he had just jumped down the hole in the vents, and had caught up with his angry counterpart.
"Hey Raz, wait up!" he called. Rasputin stopped and replied, without looking back.
"What, Riou?"
Riou stopped behind Rasputin, hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath.
"Just wanted to make sure you didn't leave without me, man." he said. "We're compadres, right?"
In spite of his anger at Luna, Rasputin couldn't help but crack a smile. As happy as Riou was with Cloud and the others, he would give them up for Rasputin.
"I'm not leaving, Riou." he said. "I just need a little alone time."
Riou protested.
"But, with these zombies and Sephiroth running around-"
Rasputin turned around grinning and gave a thumbs up.
"If Cloud can beat him, so can I. But thanks. I appreciate the thought."
And with that, Rasputin continued walking, passing through the doors and into the lift room. Riou shrugged and began walking toward the Ghost Motel, where the group had relocated. It may not be as secure as the room they had been in before (steel doors no longer included), but it was better than nothing.
When he reached the room, he found saw Cloud, Vincent, Tifa and Luna. Cloud was drinking a beer, Vincent was reading a book that he had got from God knows where, and Tifa was sitting next to Luna, who was cleaning her gun.
"Hey, where's Cid?" Riou asked. "I thought he was supposed to meet us here."
"Show's just how wrong you can be." Luna said coldly. Riou ignored her.
"Cid and his crew are off trying to get another airship running." Cloud said.
"He said to begin moving toward Midgar." Vincent said. "He says that we may find a few answers there."
Riou nodded. Luna cursed under her breath as she wiped a lung off her weapon.
"Where did Raz go?" Tifa asked. Riou shrugged.
"Said he needed to be alone."
"He has his guns?" Vincent asked. Cloud actually smiled a little at this.
"Vincent," he said, "Rasputin took his guns to Marlene's birthday party last year."
Vincent nodded. Riou laughed a little at the memory, and Vincent smiled under his cloak at his own stupidity. Rasputin Dante Karkaram went nowhere without his guns.
"We should move." Vincent said. "We have precious little daylight to travel by."
Cloud nodded.
"Everyone be ready in five minutes." he said. "That means weapons ready, ammo-a-plenty, and anything else you may want."
(Part two)
They traveled very little that day, a mere three miles, but the sun was down, and darkness wasn't safe. They came across a small house, probably meant for two people, and decided to make camp there.
There was a television, but every channel said a variation of the same thing; "Experiencing technical difficulties". This made things at the house awkward and silent. Tensions between Riou and Luna were high. Tifa and Cloud were staying quiet to make sure they didn't start an argument. Vincent was enthralled by his book. Cloud once asked him what he was reading. Vincent had ignored him. Riou was lounging on the couch, and Luna was in the corner re-cleaning her already spotless gun, muttering curses every few seconds.
"Riou shouldn't have said that." Tifa said quietly when she was sure Riou was asleep.
"I agree." Cloud said. "But I think Luna crossed a line with he and Rasputin, as well."
"But Luna's parents…"Tifa muttered, biting her knuckle. Luna dropped a box of ammunition as well as her handgun, and it discharged. Riou was up in a second, warhammer at the ready. Vincent noted that he was on chapter four, subsection nineteen, and closed his book.
"Fuck!" Luna cried. Riou grunted and looked out the window. A face stared back at him.
"Woopdy skip!" he cried, jumping back. Vincent looked out and growled.
"They're here!" he cried, drawing his handgun, the Cerberus.
(Part three)
Rasputin's heart rate was through the roof. He was sweating like a madman, but he was cold. His pupils were small, red dots.
'I can't…'
'Don't waste your time on thoughts like that. You can.'
Rasputin fell to his knees, and a black aura began emitting from him. No, not black, not yet, it was now dark purple, but black is what he needed. He threw back his head and screamed, his eyes wide, a vein appearing in his forehead. The aura swirled around him, the wind of a tsunami going around him. His teeth were now fangs. He felt as though he may explode.
'It's too much! It isn't worth it!'
Ah, but he knew that was a lie. He held out his hand and a small amount of the aura concentrated there. It took the shape of a flimsy sword. Rasputin gave one more scream and the aura exploded for a split second, then was gone. The aura disappeared, and his face went slack, but normal.
He stayed kneeling for a moment, panting and coughing, then decided it was too much. He fell to his stomach, grunting in pain. This deserted spot of forest was not safe, and he knew that, especially after blowing away some of the trees with that blast, but he couldn't help it. He was exhausted.
"I'm…ha…not…" he panted. "Not ready…yet…"
After laying motionless for a few moments, he tried to stand. He was halfway up when his legs turned into jelly, and he fell on his face.
"Gah! Damn it!" he cried, and panted more. This wasn't good. No, not at all. And he felt as though he hadn't made any progress. He still couldn't-
There was a crack, the snapping of a twig or maybe even a bone, in the forest. He turned toward it.
"Someone's there." This was not a question. He forced himself to stand, shaking violently as he did, but managing it all the same. There were two more snaps, one softer than the first and the third even softer. Three people. A large one, a small one, and an average one. Probably a man or two and a girl. Rasputin drew one of his guns.
"Who's there?" he called, not really expecting an answer.
Three figures appeared, running at him. He had been right about the sizes, and even the gender dispersion. He hadn't guessed the ages, but he could tell now. And why not, he knew them. Barret, Marlene, and Denzel.
"No…" Rasputin murmured. "No, it can't be."
But it was. Half of the flesh was missing on Barret's face, chunks of skin on each of his children's faces were turning purple or falling off, as well, but they were unmistakable.
Barret jumped at his friend, blindly trying to eat him. Rasputin moved backward to avoid the man, but Marlene managed to latch onto him. Before she could sink her teeth into him, however, Rasputin put a bullet in her lifeless eye. The Marlene-that-was shrieked and fell, dead once again.
Now it was Denzel who jumped at him, high and wild, angry and hungry. A bullet entered his forehead and exited out the back of his head, causing his body to change direction in midair and land on his back. Rasputin took one final, painful look at Barret as the dark-skinned man lunged at him, then put a bullet in between his eyes.
Rasputin shook his head as a lump formed in his throat. He put away his gun and began walking away.
"I'm sorry…"
(Part four.)
Cloud grabbed his sword and walked to the door, but Tifa stopped him.
"How many are out there?" she asked, pulling on her gloves. Riou answered.
"We've got death in the thousands out there."
Luna loaded her gun and stood up.
"C'mon, who needs this shit?"
Luna walked over to the door and began digging in her pocket. She pulled out a vial, in it the cure her parents had went insane to find.
"Luna, what are you-"
Luna opened the door and hurled the vial at the crowd. Before it hit anyone, she aimed her massive gun and fired a single shot. The bullet hit the vial, and a large amount of the people were set aflame. Luna's face took on a sadistic grin.
"Ha! Face! Whose cure doesn't work now, Riou?" she screamed.
"Still yours." Riou said, pointing his warhammer at the even larger amount of zombies not on fire. Luna gaped, growled, and began firing wildly.
"Fine, then I'll take 'em all out myself!"
Vincent shot out of the door, aiming and firing instead of just wasting bullets. He was surrounded by people trying to eat him, but that had never been a problem in the past. Yeah, he's done stuff like this before. Does that surprise you? He was a Turk, you have to remember.
He swiped with his claw, ripping off a man's head, and fired once, killing two women and another man. However, he didn't see the rotting corpse who's gender was now a mystery coming up behind him. It pounced.
Cloud landed on his knees, swinging his sword in a wide arc, making a spiral. The zombie that would have killed Vincent fell in several pieces. Cloud stood, looked at Vincent, and nodded.
Riou swung his wakizahis in wild arcs, cutting former-people to shreds. He didn't have the energy he needed to perform a Limit, but he could swing wildly with the best of them. He swung in a left-right-center-behind pattern, and it seemed to be working, but he knew it wouldn't last long. He looked to his left and saw Tifa surrounded by undead men. He grinned at this as he ran to save her.
'Even the zombies want a piece of her.' he thought as he cut off two of the men's heads. ''Course, it's much more literal in this situation.'
Tifa hit a man so hard his head flew across the field.
'I will never hit on her again.' was the next thought in the masked man's head.
Before long, the whole group was standing in a line, Vincent and Luna firing into the crowd, Riou and Cloud taking out the zombies that got close during the reloading times, and Tifa killing any that they missed. It was a good system, but…
"They'll run out…" Cloud said, just as Vincent finished reloading for the third time. Tifa nodded.
"I know." she said. She kicked a zombie's head, breaking it's neck. "I'm just going to keep fighting until I drop."
Riou let out a scream of exasperation.
"I always knew the zombies would get me!" he said. "I knew."
Cloud was about to reply when Luna stepped forward.
"I…" she said, throwing her cannon-like gun into the crowd. "…will not die in a shit hole like this!"
Riou put a hand on her shoulder.
"Luna, what are-"
Luna shook him off and punched him in the face, hard enough to leave a small dent in his mask.
"Don't you ever touch me again, you wretch!" she screamed, and turned back toward the oncoming crowd. "My parents couldn't kill you bastards, but I can!"
Luna held her hands in front of her, and she began glowing. Cloud's eyes widened as he realized what was happening.
"Get down!" he screamed violently. The others didn't have to be told twice. Four bodies hit the ground just as Luna screamed.
"This is for my parents, motherfuckers!"
A brilliant white light flashed. Cloud and the others felt the ground shake. They heard Luna scream, felt her scream. Vincent was vaguely aware that the roof of the house cracked and fell off, shattering into thousands of pieces. For what seemed like an eternity but was in actuality nineteen seconds, Luna's blast went on. Then, as suddenly as it had started, it stopped.
Cloud looked up from his spot in the dirt. The ground was raised in uneven patterns of broken earth. To the blonde, it looked as if there had been an earthquake. Body parts were littering the clearing, and a green pus-like blood created puddles here and there throughout. And in the middle of it all stood Luna, her blond-brown hair matted to her face with sweat. Cloud stood up with the others.
"That was Flare." Vincent said. "But we don't-"
He was cut off as Luna began coughing, then fell back. With a shout, Tifa ran to her. She kneeled beside her fallen comrade. The other three found their way around Luna as Tifa checked Luna's pulse.
"Is she alright?" Riou asked. Tifa nodded.
"She's just fainted." she said. Then, looking up at the men with a look of puzzlement, added "But…she doesn't have any materia."
Riou simply gaped at this. However, Vincent and Cloud responded at the same time, with the same words.
"Holy shit."
Tifa nodded in agreement.
"Let's try to stay on Luna's good side, shall we?"
Riou nodded and walked toward the now ruined house. He climbed the steps and took the handle of the door. However, as soon as he turned it, the house collapsed into itself. Riou stared at it until the dust cleared.
"…right." he said, releasing the handle, allowing the door to fall. "This could be the only house for miles. And there'll be more zombies. Luna saved us this time, but whose to say that'll happen again?"
Cloud nodded.
"I know what you're saying, Riou. We can't keep running like this."
"So what's the plan, boss man?" Riou asked cheerfully. However, when he saw the look on Cloud's face, he slumped.
"You don't know, do you?"
Cloud shook his head. It was Vincent who spoke next.
"I we can figure out the point of origin for these things, we may be able to take them out from the source."
Cloud nodded.
"Cid thinks something's in Midgar." Cloud said.
"And he's right."
This voice was strange to the group. The men and woman turned around to see who it was. Smirking, arms crossed, silver hair flying in the wind, stood Sephiroth.
"And I think," he said, "I can help."
(End of chapter)
I'd really appreciate reviews...I may begin updating faster, y'know.