Hello, and hi! I FINALLY figured out Author's Notes. Thanks for any reviews you might have put! They really helped me figure out the chapter. To Mcvluffcins: Thanks so much for the review! I thought all other zombie viruses just didn't make sense. If you have a craving for flesh, why not eat other zombies? Btw, if anyone has ANY questions about ANYTHING, leave a review! I'd be happy to answer any questions.
NOW, ON WITH THE CHAPTER!

'Thoughts'

"Speech"

Turtle sighed. This argument was going nowhere. They had to DO something! "Look, Kinkajou," he said when there was a pause. "This argument is getting us nowhere. We need to decide on something. And, -um, sorry, do your hear that? I think it stopped."

Kinkajou stopped mid-sentence, . "You're right, Turtle. I have an idea. A compromise! We go out together and see which plan would work best. Then, we do that plan! Deal?" she said, holding out a talon. "Deal. You sure you didn't hear it though?" Turtle said, taking it in his. "You know what, you're right, let's just go."

They walked slowly out of the cave, and were confused at what they saw. "There's… nothing here!" Kinkajou said, her scales a nervous dark green. Turtle looked down. There were pools of blood and piles of bones everywhere. "This blood had to come from somewhere. The bones too," he said, stepping carefully over them as he inched into the room and tried not to throw up.

Kinkajou gasped. "Turtle, look!" she whispered, her scales shifting to a terrified lime color. Turtle looked to where she was pointing, and nearly threw up. There was a pale green Seawing lying on the floor, chunks of their leg ripped out.

Turtle rushed over and bent over them. He was horrified to realize that the dragonet was still breathing, albeit raggedly. Kinkajou ran over right next to him, trembling. "A-Are you okay?" she asked the dragon nervously.

They coughed. "What… do you think? I'm… bleeding… out…" they whispered.
Turtle felt his stomach roil even more. "Okay," he choked out. "Alright. Okay, we can fix this. Here, let me get you some water, and we'll see if we can find anything to help you in the infirmary." Turtle said, grabbing a small bowl from a pouch around his neck. Kinkajou nodded determinedly.

"No!" the Seawing cried, reaching up to grab Turtle's talon. "Not… there…" they said, pulling him back with surprising strength. "They're… waiting… He's… waiting…" they croaked, not letting go. Turtle cried out and tried to pry their talon of of his. Kinkajou helped, and they both managed to pull it off. "Who's waiting?" Turtle asked urgently. "Who's 'he'?"

The strange Seawing coughed blood. "Don't go in… I'm… bait…" they whispered, almost inaudibly. Their eyes opened very wide, they heaved a huge, rasping sigh, and their reaching talon fell limply to the floor. Their eyes slid closed, and they stopped breathing.

Kinkajou's scales were a frighteningly pale green now, and she was frozen jn shock. Turtle had frozen too. 'Did they… just… die?' "No. No, no!" Kinkajou said, snapping out of her shocked daze. "We can still help them! They'll be fine! We just need a healer!" she cried frantically.

She raced to the entrance of the infirmary and yanked open the door, calling, "Hey, can anyone come help me?! We gotta get this dragon to a healer!" She waited several seconds, but no one came. "Come on, please. You have to heal him! Please!" she begged, tears running down her eyes.

Turtle walked over to her, draping his wings over her back, and closing the door. "Kinkajou," he started gently, then his voice cracked. He started again. "Kinkajou," he said, barely above a whisper, for fear of his voice betraying his horror and sadness. "They're gone."

Tears rolled down her cheeks as he wrapped his tail around hers comfortingly. "We need to meet up with Riptide. He'll know what to do." He wiped her tears with the wing tip of one wing, smiling weakly at her. "It's going to be okay. We'll… We'll be okay."

They found Riptide in the Council Room with Queen Coral, clutching a large sack that seemed to be full of eggs. It was also full of stuffing, as otherwise the eggs might crack. Turtle noticed that Queen Coral was also holding a spear.

Riptide smiled at first, but his smile fell when he saw Turtle's and Kinkajou's faces. "What happened?" He asked, concerned. Kinkajou looked down, her eyes red and puffy.

Turtle sighed, his head drooping. "It's better if I show you…" he said, putting his wing back around Kinkajou's shoulder as they both walked slowly out.

When Riptide saw the dragon, he gasped. "T-Tide?" he whispered. "Tide!" he cried. "Did you… know them?" Turtle asked gently. "Yes." Riptide said, bending over their body. "They were a worker in the infirmary. They were the one that changed all the bandages, and administered all the herbs."

Turtle shuddered. It was hard to imagine the cold, stiff body as a dragon, warm and alive with a family and friends and a LIFE. Kinkajou heaved a quiet sob, and he twined his tail around hers, giving her a 'everything will be okay' look.

Riptide looked down. "As much as I would like for them to have a proper funeral, we need to get to the school. Who knows how many dragonets have already suffered the same fate?"

Kinkajou started at this, and then said, shakily, "L-Let's get going, then!" W-W-We gotta save them!" Turtle nodded. "It's better that we go together anyways," he said. "Riptide has some actual experience with the zombies."

Now it was Queen Coral's turn to start. "You mean there are more than that one that ate… uh… that other dragon?!" Riptide turned to her. "Well, it really depends. Does the virus spread through bites, like in your story, or does it spread in a different way?" he said slowly.
Coral looked scared. "I don't want to find out," she muttered, gripping her spear a little tighter.

"Well, we might have to," Riptide said seriously. "Now, let's head to the school." Kinkajou shuddered. "Do you think anyone will have… injuries?" she whispered to Turtle, glancing back at the room where the dragon died for a split-second.

"Kinkajou," he whispered back, "Let's just not talk about this right now. We'll find out when we get there… but I'm sure that everything will be totally fine." Turtle said unconvincingly. He twined his tail around hers just a little tighter.

'Will it be fine? Should I be saying these things even if I don't believe them?' Turtle thought, glancing at Kinkajou, who was walking quickly beside him she seemed more determined than before. 'It doesn't matter,' he continued to think, 'As long as she is safe and happy.'

When they reached the school, it was eerily quiet. Except… There was a very faint noise of fighting coming from the cafeteria. Turtle took an anxious step forward, his teeth gritting. 'There must be zombies fighting dragonets from the school in there…' he thought. Suddenly, he heard someone crying out.

"Ow! That hurt… You're in for it now, creep!" The voice was followed by a furious growl, and the scrabble of claws on a hard surface. Turtle started. 'That voice sounds alarmingly familiar… Oh no, it better not be-'

His thoughts were interrupted by another loud roar. "GET AWAY FROM THEM! It's me you want, right? I mean, just look at me! Huge threat." the voice bragged. Turtle frowned, trying to recognize the voice. He just KNEW that he knew whoever it belonged to!

Riptide looked back to the others. "We'd better help her… Come on!" he urged them. They started to run towards the cafeteria, only to see the source of the sound and stop dead in their tracks. Standing there blocking the doorway was a dark green Seawing with wild, bloodshot eyes. There was blood running down the sides of his mouth. 'A zombie!' Turtle thought.

Riptide just stood there glaring at the dragon. "Nautilus…" he growled, about to pounce on him. He stopped, however, when a pale blue blur jumped onto the zombie. Nautilus struggled and kicked, but the small dragon held fast, scratching and clawing at his neck, until Nautilus lay still on the ground, rasping and wheezing.

The small pale blue dragon stood up, shaking slightly. They stepped off of Nautilus carefully, then rushed over to the other dragonets, who were visibly trembling. "Are you all okay?" she said. When they confirmed, she turned to Turtle, and he gasped. The dragon was Anemone, and she was covered in bites.