The sun had just began to rise over the horizon when the furret stirred in her sleep. The fading grasps of slumber released their hold on her as she stretched from her curled position. Her movement quickly made her trainer grunt in disapprovement as he shifted himself towards the warmth she left behind, but she paid him no mind as she sniffed the air cautiously. Her partner settled himself quickly and returned to the numbing comfort of sleep. Velvet scurried from the confines of the tattered remains of the blanket her boy was insistent on keeping, even though it had more holes in it than a slice of Swiss cheese, but she simply assumed it had more of a symbolic meaning than being a necessity.
Velvet peaked around the makeshift campsite, her nose inhaled the remnants of their campfire's smoke and the scent of the chemicals that lingered from within her partner's backpack. She could also detect the mixed smell of rotten hay and decomposing bodies from inside the shambled barn, although whether they were human or pokemon she could not determine. The barn, while a decent shelter for the few nights they remained here, proved also to be a disastrous place to stay with its hazardous woodwork that threatened her team's safety more than once with falling beams, or terrible defense it provided when a pair of zombies discovered the place. All it took was a couple of minutes of crashing into the barn door before it collapsed in a heap of sharp wooden shards. Her trainer didn't take that so well when it occurred and almost fell to his death as he had tried to ascend to the barn's loft when the stairs shattered almost on contact when he transferred his weight to them.
Thankfully, King caught the medical student in his metal lined wings before he vanquished the zombies with his golden claws, but it had sent a clear message to all of them after another zombie attack occurred the next day: they needed to move on. Nothing had kept them there in the first place, besides the barn having a roof that kept the regular downpour off them and the walls shielding them from the cold. Other than that they had no reason to stay. It was decided last night that this would be the final night of camping there before they set off to find salvation in some shape or form.
Velvet gazed outside the barn doors for a few moments before she made her way to the lush greenery that thrived from the constant rain and temperate climate the area provided. She nibbled on a blade of grass, her eyes darting about the landscape, searching for a hint of movement that suggested something sinister. She immediately locked on bush that stirred just to her left. The thick grass surrounding the barn provided great cover as Velvet stalked closer to the animated plant. Hidden between patches of thick weeds, a rattata wiggled about as it tried to crack a large nut with its enormous buck teeth.
The furret crept closer to its prey, who was unaware as its death was decided in a matter of seconds when the hunger pangs in the slender predator grew sharp. In a single pounce and swipe of her claws, Velvet pinned the wild pokemon down as it struggled to free itself from becoming her next meal. Her hunger outweighed her guilt as she gave the creature a swift death by snapping its neck with a twist of her head. The rattata twitched for a few moments before it released itself to the beyond. Velvet hauled her prize back to the barn by the scruff of the neck, her heart beating heavily as the hunt ended in a brief few seconds.
She arrived to find her trainer sitting up, blinking blearily as he tried to register his environment. The blanket pooled around his waist as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes with the palms of his hands when she greeted him. She laid her prize by his feet and met King's eyes as the empoleon moved to his master's side from the shadows.
"Oh...well..Thank you, Velvet?" The trainer fumbled, the rattata had a look of terror still marred on its face still as thin streams of blood oozed from the puncture wounds the furret had given.
Velvet's mood instantly brightened while her trainer pushed the corpse back towards her with the toe of his dirty boot. She gladly accepted the returned gift and dragged it off to the side away from the others to eat in peace while her trainer pushed the blanket off his lap and pointed at his backpack. King pushed himself off the wall he had stationed himself at and retrieved the item for his lazy trainer.
The young man dug through his backpack, setting aside all sorts of medical supplies to the left of him while he searched for his own breakfast. He was well rewarded, near the bottom of his bulky pounch a large bag of trail mix met his fingers, and, with a small pull on the bag's sides breakfast was served. The trail mix provided a mixture of protein, vitamins, and sugar with its contents of raisins, little chocolate chips, and different nuts. The crunch also help block out the sound of Velvet crunching on the bones of the poor rattata she captured. The trainer picked the almonds out of his handfuls and handed them to his water/steel type pokemon, who savored their salty taste before munching happily on their tough exterior.
His hunger sated for the moment, the trainer packed everything back into his bag and cushioned it by engulfing the contents with his quickly deteriorating blanket. Velvet was finishing up her meal when the white haired adult glanced over towards her and stood up. His wrinkled shirt and scrunched jeans that felt rather crusty made the male wrinkle his nose in disgust before he rearranged his clothing in a more comfortable position. When he swung his bag onto his shoulder, it took a moment for him to readjust the hefty bag, but with help of King's claws, the boy managed to get both arms through the straps.
He gathered the rest of his friends in their pokeballs and hooked them neatly on the belt cinched around his waist. The sturdy belt was a dark ash gray color, hinting to whoever saw it that it may have been black at one point. He double checked his pokeballs to ensure that everyone was accounted for, and then used his shoulder to widen the barn door, setting out to find a bit of a miracle.
Near the heart of a broken soul and a dying dream
Caspian hadn't expected to find what he assumed to be a fresh, untouched corpse lying tucked away beneath a mangled tree. Perhaps it was fate for a unlicensed medical student who never had the chance to experi- perform a surgery or become involved in an autopsy to find such a rare specimen. Sure he could have experimented on the dozen of rotting bodies but they were never in near perfect condition as the one before him. Most of the ones he stumbled upon were either rotted beyond recognition, were demolished by zombies.. the poor souls, or were tainted. The tainted were far worse than any bodies he had came across. The contaminated corpses were contorted in odd poses and blackened veins that look like dark roots extending from their vile tree, plus the unnerving suspicion that the tainted could possible rise again.. it wouldn't have been the first time for him...
He ventured closer to the body of the girl with his King by his side, caution didn't kill as quickly as recklessness. Velvet scampered behind them alert and readied to attack in case undead attempted to surprise them from the rear. Caspian watched intently for any sign of movement as the yards away became only a couple of feet apart.
King stood off to his right, close to the girl's head for a quick attack if the body proved to be not as pure as he thought. As he settled himself next to the body distracted with his bag enough not to notice the small rise in the girl's chest, Caspian pondered mindlessly about the medical phenomenon the virus had caused. The virus itself proven to only work on the living probably because they had circulating blood flow but only a selected few of the infected 'survivors' live past a day.
Caspian pulled a pair of heavy duty scissors from his pack and began to cut away the ragged remains of the girl's shirt, tossing the strips of fabric to the side of him. It took mere moments for him to peel the shirt off her dirty body. Blood and grime peeled and flecked away as he continued to tug the last of the tattered pieces off. The girl's body was a sickly pale, covered dry blood which seem to have a green tint to it from numerous small cuts and almost black-bruising formed along the sides of her ribcage.
The doctor-wannabe gave a low whistle as he lightly ran his fingers over the bruises, feeling the bones that were out of place and the dryness of her skin. He reached over to her hand and lightly pinched the skin around herwrist. It sagged slowly down before going back to its original shape, confirming his suspicion of her severe dehydration. He then spread out her fingers and looked at her nails. Dirt and crimson colored-blood were caked underneath the chipped and worn nails, suggesting that at one point she attempted to fight back against either a fresh undead or treat her wounds. He placed his fingertips against hers to get a better look at her hands when a screech echoed around the group.
King jumped into action when a large bird pokemon swooped dangerously close to his master. Caspian ducked down beside the body he was so fascinated with while King ran towards the noctowl. The pokemon turned back around, diving at poor Velvet with a jutting peak as King prepped a metal claw to throw. The noctowl quickly realized what the large penguin was doing and swerved in the nick of time to avoid the attack.
Caspian twisted his torso around to watch the scuffle, his other hand readied to throw in support if King needed someone stronger than Velvet. But it seemed that King had it under control as the noctowl fell to the ground after a blast of hydro pump and Velvet wrestled the bird to the ground to prevent it from rising.
He turned his body back towards the girl, releasing the hold on his pokeball and returning to investigating the hands as he was previously. He didn't get far because as soon as he grasped the girl's left hand, it gave the slightest twitch. He fell back in fright, dropping the hand back to its owner's side as he scrambled away from her reach.
"King!" He cried out, the empoleon matched his eyes leaving the noctowl behind with Velvet as he hurried to his master's side.
Velvet tried with her might to contain the flying type, but her opponent proved to be stronger when he tossed her aside with a hard hit from his wing. The bird pokemon took to the air in a single flap of his great wings and dove into the back of King's back when the steel type almost reached the boy.
Caspian crawled away on all fours from his potential patient in a mad dash to create distance between the supposed zombie. He managed to get past the tree and several of its broken branches which littered the ground when a loud hissing noise erupted from the tall grass just in front of him.
"King!" He bit out again, the hissing grew louder and out lunged a shadow that wrapped around his entire body faster than he could scream.
Rough scaly skin dug into him like nails and coiled around his frame in a constricting manner, all the while as he struggled to breath. King gave a cry that was cut short when noctowl landed a successful critical hit to the empoleon's side. The green snake that had wrapped itself around the young adult and winding just so that Caspian's limbs could not move the slightest.
"Seeeerrrrpeeeeeriorrr..." The pokemon hissed close to the boy's ear, it's tongue tickling the outside of his ear eliciting a shiver that crept up his spine and spouted goose pimples up and down his arms.
The snake continued to squeeze poor Caspian harder, tears pricking the edges of his eyes as he wiggled to gain the slightest bit of space for his lungs to expand. Black began to edge his vision, his limbs had grown to be heavy while his head felt like it was up in the air when the smallest of whispers was heard.
"Mint..Alistair...Heel."
Immediately the serperior and noctowl reacted, both leaving their victims and retreating towards the fallen trainer's body. Caspian landed with a rough 'thump' and inhaled air deeply and rapidly, trying to regain the feeling of the oxygen normalcy in his respiratory system.
King wobbled to his trainer at his quickest pace while Velvet limped behind him. Amidst the battle, the furret had been hit by a nasty Steel Wing from the noctowl, which cut her paw open, straight down to the bone. King laid a wing on the boy's back as he coughed and sputtered spit on the ground, the sudden release from the snake's hold had made stars burst in his eyes. He wiped excess saliva from around his mouth and looked up to see the two seemingly vicious pokemon hovering around the body he had almost cut into a few moments ago.
With the help of King, Caspian rose from the ground and uneasily stumbled to the girl. King nearly pulled him backwards, thinking the boy had grown quite mad from the sudden bloodrush and was trying to start something with the duo.
The serperior and noctowl greeted them with a harsh hiss and screech when they grew within feet of their master, the noctowl flapped his wings in a warning sending dust and small debris towards the trio. A small noise that Caspian barely even registered and the avian calmed though his eyes continued to train themselves on the human and his fellow pokemon.
Velvet trailed behind Caspian's long legs while he walked the final steps to the girl, aided by King. As he knelt to the ground at the girl's side and a serpent tail wrapped itself around his ankle, constricting just the slightest. It was a silent promise. If the boy caused any harm to the girl, it was guaranteed that harm would come to him. Caspian observed the body before him and was quickly sick to his stomach. The girl hadn't looked alive or seemed to be breathing when he had assessed her earlier, but then again he was distracted by the prospect of having a nearly perfect body to operate on and his bag to actually determine her dead. Guilt pitted itself in his stomach and grew there as he glanced at her face and saw her watching him with half-lidded eyes. The light that gave humans life was all but a small smoldering ember that was flickering to extinction fast if he didn't do something.
A sharp intake of breath and a battle of realities vs. ethics later, he managed to convince himself mentally to do the right thing by helping her heal instead of living her out to die a miserable painful death of injuries or being eaten by some zombie. Caspian set out to work, his fingers shaking with anxiety at the simple thought that he might lose his first patient he worked on. He motioned King to bring forth his bag while plucking a pokeball from his waist and throwing it to his left. A small candle with a glowing purple flame flies right back towards Caspian as soon as it is released, grabbing a lock of his hair and tugging on it playfully.
"Not now Wicked. I need you to sterilize these medical knives for me for cauterization and cutting the infected pieces out," he told the litwick while opening his backpack and retrieved said items. The litwick flipped excitedly in the air and produced a large flame for one whose body is so small.
"Alright, Velvet," He turned towards the limping furret and waved her over. "I need you to gather any scraps of cloth you can find and give it to King, he'll scald the clothing to disinfect it and perhaps she'll have a chance to make it out of this hellhole." Caspian muttered the last part as he held a scalpel over Wicked's flame.
~Two Hours and a Break Later~
Caspian laid against the tree trunk, exhausted both mentally and physically. The procedure went by tediously until a haphazardly zombie had stumbled into the clearing but his threatening presence was diminished when a very large dinosaur flew onto the scene. The plant pokemon had knocked the zombie back several feet with a kick to the head, proceeding the smash the head into the ground until only a bloody hole and twitching body remained. After that the medical student managed to patch Claire the best he could with his limited supplies. He had to admit he had done quite a shoddy job but slightly inexperienced was better than being simply ignorant of the field. The girl had showed little or no reaction while he had been tinkering with her; he suspected it had to do with her lack of fluids and internal injuries which own pain greatly exceeded what little he was causing.
He was slumped amidst the tree's roots when his muscles grew sore. He truly did hope the girl maked it, though his earlier debate suggested that he did not. He rubbed his face hard, hoping to etch away the possibility of failure. The scent of antiseptics lingered on his palms when he paused briefly to glance at his always loyal team. Velvet stood guard besides a stoic noctowl while King lightly slept on top of Caspian's bag. The tropius and serperior he had encountered earlier lurked around the clearing, watching and guarding the base with utmost diligence. He could occasionally hear one of the two sliding through the waxy blades of grass before the sounds of the wind rustled the trees around them, hiding the pokemon once more. The large flying type disappeared only a few moments later beside a large tree, making Caspian conclude the bird had finally become exhausted.
His red eyes drooped drowsily. Just a little snooze, he thought, eyes almost closing entirely while he swore under his breathe to check on the girl after a few minutes of sweet bliss.
The first thing he realized when he awoke was that it was dark and the air had grown quite nippy. He gazed around the camp while he stretched his stiff neck in all directions hoping that the nap hadn't caused a cramp to form. It was when his stomach growled in hunger did it occur to him that had infact not checked on the patient.
The twenty-four year old scrambled from his makeshift bed of grass and leaves and ran to the girl's side all the while pleading desperately to Arceus that he didn't mean to forget the patient and that it was a simple accident. To his relief, the girl still breathed and had even moved a bit, given that the dirt around her hands were pushed off to the side. The scraps of clothing that framed her body showed only minor bleeding from the few splotches of red that darkened the material.
He was about to turn when a small grunt greeted his ears and a pair of eyes fluttered open. He took a knee besides his patient and grasped her hand like a mother would a sickly child. Chapped lips parted as if to say something but instead she turned her head and coughed dryly. Caspian reached over to the side of him where he had left his supplies and pulled out a small waterskin. The girl continued to release small coughs that racked her body in small shakes while he managed to twist the cap off with his spare hand.
He waited only a few moments until the painful hacking ceased and then with utmost grace that he could muster with his unsteady hands, he held the girl's head up and dribbled a small stream of water into her mouth. Uneasy eyes settled on to his own as he let her have only small sips to allow her body to adjust to the liquid and for the fact he needed to restock his supplies.
When he decided she had enough, Caspian tipped back the waterskin and gently placed her head back on the soft mound of grass that bunched together like already made pillow. After clearing her throat for the second time, the girl turned her head towards him with a small smile.
"Thank you," she murmured before cringing when the sound of her voice made her bruised body rumble with vibrations.
Caspian let loose one of the biggest smiles he had in a while before sitting himself next to her side where she watched him with curious eyes. The embers of life that were dying out had evolved into the warmest of fires in her face.
"W-Well I wouldn't say that, but glad you made it, sweetheart," he stumbled, when flashback of him almost committing a very newbie mistake flickered behind his glasses. "I know you're thinking 'when can I move doc?' Well, dear, I'm no expert on trauma," or a doctor, he thought, "but it will take a few weeks for some of your bigger injuries to heal right, that's provided we can find some suitable bandages and utensils to clean the wound."
The young woman remained quiet while she pondered a few things. Caspian then remembered that the girl was nearly completely topless when he glanced down to see black and blue bruises greeting his eyes. The frayed ends of his worn out blanket peaked out from his bag of goodies and in an instant he yanked the still soft fabric out, wrapping it around the young woman's shoulders for her modesty's sake.
"W-Well you- I-I-I I had to rip off your shirt 'cause it was stuck and dirty a-and it was the only way to get to your injuries." He fumbled in a soft tone while he flushed for her embarrassment.
Stormy blue eyes flickered downward towards her chest before switching towards his own. A heavy sigh exited between dry lips but the girl made no overly obvious reaction. Perhaps she understood that what he did saved her life? Caspian couldn't answer that but he did need to ask her some questions.
"Ah..Miss, do you have any severe pain anywhere?" He asked.
"Claire."
"E-excuse me?"
Claire raised an eyebrow and repeated once more. "Claire, not Miss"
"Ah. Well, Miss Claire, does anywhere have a sharp severe pain when you're still," he inquired.
She shook her head and tried to sit up, going at a slow pace which allowed her stiff bandages to adjust to the new position. Caspian instantly placed arm behind her when she began to hiss in pain.
"Miss Claire, I highly advise, as your physician, that you rest some more and just take it easy." He tried to reason while she battled tender and aching muscles.
"Doc. We can't stop-" she cut off when a wave of pain flooded her nerves. Her ribs must have bruised or even cracked when she hit the ground. It hurt to even breath but Claire had to move! Her blood had been sitting out in the air for a day or so, she couldn't remember which, making it the perfect perfume to lure zombies towards this direction. She didn't how it was possible for zombies to track the scent of fresh blood but if they hadn't have came now they will most likely come soon.
"Now, now sweetheart, the human body needs time to recover. I'm not going anywhere and neither should you." Caspian countered, placing a concerned hand on her shoulder and giving it a slight pull to make her lie down.
"For a doctor, you're not well endowed with common sense are you," she replied, fighting against his hand. In mild surprise Caspian released his hold and watched the pained young lady struggle to sit completely straight.
"What makes you say that?" He pursued.
"Zombies are attracted to fresh blood. The ground and me are covered in it," Claire gestured with a small wave towards her abdomen and the grass beneath her.
The serperior from before slithered into the clearing, passing Caspian and headed straight for Claire. He encircled the girl just so that he was wrapped around her frame but not putting any pressure on her frail state. Claire wrapped her arms around the snake's thick neck and squeezed.
Caspian rose from his kneeling position and stood back, watching the girl hug her serpent pokemon. She probably didn't think she would ever be doing that again, he thought. He jumped to the side when King suddenly appeared beside him. He placed a hand over his heart as if it helped slowed its frantic beating. King rolled his eyes at his trainer and tapped the side of Caspian's arm. The doctor bent down to the empoleon's level and cocked his head, silently asking 'What's up?'.
It was when he heard a thrum of moans that hummed through the trees. Groans and gurgling sounds echoed off in the distance, rising in volume as seconds pressed by. Claire had been right. The blood is quite the zombie attraction.
A crash to their right, sent both humans and pokemon in a frenzy. Nanners exited the brush and galloped towards his injured trainer. He nudged her cheeks and made soft calls, his muzzle inhaling up loose strands from her ponytail while she switched from hugging the grass type to him. His happy noises canceling out any of the dead's song that seemed to get louder and louder.
Caspian quickly sprinted to his supplies and began to collect everything, calling out to Claire while he did so. "You were right, Claire! We need to skidaddle."
Claire nodded against Nanners' leathery skin and motioned the large pokemon to face her. "Nanners, where is everyone's pokeballs," she questioned.
Nanners stared blankly at her for a brief moment before retracting his head from her grasp, gazing towards the shattered tree she had fallen through earlier. Claire scanned the area near the tree's base and saw a familiar glints of red shining between the large roots.
"Mint! Fetch," she ordered her serperior who gave her a rather hurt look before obeying. Mint snagged the pokeballs with a bit difficulty with her leafy tail. Claire gave her snake a pleasant smile before stuffing her pockets full with her pokeballs.
Caspian rushed to gather his scattered materials and retrieve Velvet from her nap. King followed behind him, gathering the tools his master overlooked or dropped. When King deemed everything picked up and in its place, he walked over to Claire. He tapped the metallic spheres in her pocket before pointing at her companions. Nanners replied at the silent order by stomping in front of Claire, snorting angrily while looking down upon the water/steel type. Caspian with Velvet perched on his shoulder quickly placed himself between the two protective pokemon before addressing Nanners rationally.
"Boys we need to move now. Nanners," Caspian feebly called the tropius, "You are in no condition to fight. You're exhausted along with snakey over there. You two were patrolling all night, by hauling you two around we, especially Claire, is at risk. Just... please listen to me and go into your pokeballs peacefully."
The two leafy green pokemon shared a glanced before confronting their trainer. Claire patted both pokemon on their sides and agreed with the "doctor" with a soft yes. In a bright flash of white, the two pokemon retreated into their pokeballs.
"Now, my lady, we must escape!" Caspian joked grimly when a chubby zombie child waddled onto their clearing. King knocked the tubby child out of the clearing with a hydro pump before nodding at Caspian. The trainer replied to the nod with a pokeball, sucking the empoleon into its confines before throwing another out from his belt.
In mere seconds a large horse with pale colored skin stood neighing in front of the trio. Claire struggled to pull herself up into a standing position when Caspian swooped down and plucked her from the ground. She grasped his flimsy shirt to steady herself when he wobbled under her weight, frightening both themselves and Velvet who screeched in surprise, digging her claws past the shirt into Caspian's shoulder.
Caspian let out a hiss of pain while he stumbled towards his steed. The ponyta knelt down when she saw her trainer struggled to walk with the human girl in his arms. He let out an exasperated whisper of "Thank you" before awkwardly throwing a leg over her sleek frame.
Gypsy neighed in response and stood up just in time to see the child from earlier crawl towards them. She fought back the natural instinct to rear up and turned away from song of the dead that thrummed throughout the forest. Caspian bundled his patient between his trusty horse and his leaning frame, Claire to wince in pain when her ribs cried against the movement and began to tear up when he accidentally grazed her ribs while trying to grab a handful of Gypsy's fiery mane. Caspian ushered a quick apology before taking her arms and putting them around his waist. "Hold on tight," the albino male warned her before kicking the eager mare forward.
Gypsy bounded forward, crashing into the brush with great momentum. Velvet rearranged herself from Caspian's shoulder to Claire's arms for the sake of staying on the fire type. Caspian paid no attention to the moving furret as he tried to steer Gypsy on to a less rigorous setting and dodging the occasional wild pokemon. He hoped that they didn't have to go far, stress of the constantly jerking forward movement of the galloping ponyta must be straining the girl's already bent frame. Wet tears had began to moisten his shirt from the sniffling Claire's eyes and they had yet made it past a mile from their camp. She managed to survive whatever situation she was in so she could at least make it through this, right? He gave the girl a awkward pat on back only to scold himself when she tensed up and began to heave dry sobs even harder.
This was a twisted serendipity, indeed.