A/N Just to be clear, I unfortunately don't own the luscious Tim Bisley (or any of the other characters from Spaced!). With my tongue planted firmly in my cheek throughout this story, I'm just having a bit of fun with the creativity of Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson! Hope you guys enjoy, I'll try to update more often now, promise! :)
Chapter 10
Laying The Foundations
Tim had always wondered what it would be like to be a zombie. With his love of all things Science-Fiction, and possessing a mind as imaginative and creative as he did, it was hardly surprising that these thoughts had occurred to him. More than just occurred to him. He and Mike had talked long into the night about how they would survive a zombie apocalypse. They used to mutually agree that they would grab all those dear to them, at which point Tim had to be careful not to always mention Daisy first, and fight their way through the streets using Mike's impressive armoury, to the safety of The Shepherds. They easily concluded that the local pub would be the perfect place to hole up, being secure and containing a significant supply of food and drink. They had also made something of a pact, that if one or both of them were to become zombies, they would stick together and look after each other, no matter what. Tim was discovering, however, that being a zombie was not as much fun as he had hoped. For one thing it was painful. He felt like a very old and decrepit man, his joints were in agony almost constantly. It was also frustrating that his body did not respond the way it normally would to the messages from his brain. He found himself still able to think in exactly the same way as before, but he was trapped inside a useless shell that would no longer do his bidding.
On arrival at Duane's mansion, he had been thrown into a cell for the night and it was the following day, Halloween itself, when he first saw Mike. Tim had been taken outside to start working on the temple complex with all the other zombies. He caught sight of Mike's familiar, yet strangely lumbering form, chained in a line of zombie slaves, digging foundation ditches. He was horrified at the state of him. His clothes were ripped and revealed flesh wounds worthy of an extra from George Romero's "Dawn Of The Dead". He appeared resigned to his miserable fate, cowering from the guards who were prodding him with shovels to make him dig faster. It was clear Mike had been tortured pretty badly, whereas Tim was aware that he had been barely touched in comparison. The reasons for this were worryingly unfathomable. Tim's immediate concern, however, was to comfort Mike and inform him that Daisy was going to rescue them. Tim was put to work digging in the same ditch as Mike and made his way along it until he was near to him. He waited until the guards were distracted by beating up one of the other slaves for working too slowly, then touched Mike on the arm. Mike turned round, crouching away from what he obviously expected was going to be another attack. When his eyes saw Tim, he started crying. His body did not move. He made no sound. Fluid just flowed out of his eyes. Tim, who was unshackled, again for reasons he could not discern, put his arms around Mike and hugged him gently. Mike could only just touch Tim's waist in response before his hands were jerked away by the digging motions of the slaves either side of him. Tim leaned in close and whispered in his ear, not wanting anyone else to hear what he was about to say.
"It's alright, mate. I'm going to get you out of here. Tonight we're going to escape and Daisy's made a potion that'll change us back to how we were. What cell are you in?"
"Nineteen." Mike grunted.
"Don't worry about anything. Just stay alive and I'll find you. I promise." Tim quickly stroked a comforting hand down the back of Mike's head and neck then abruptly let go of him as the guards returned. Tim also managed to locate Henry, James' friend, from a photo James had left with Daisy to help Tim identify him. Henry, it turned out, was actually James' boyfriend. A fact that made Tim feel even worse about how he had behaved towards James when he had thought he was cracking on to Daisy. When Henry heard about the plan to save them, he knew straight away that Adam Shadowchild's potion would be needed. Henry was a massive SF fan and told Tim he had been hoping James would somehow work out that the answer to saving him was sitting on their own bookshelf at home. Meeting someone else who was just as convinced as himself that the potion would work was extremely comforting to Tim. Although he would never have voiced anything of the sort to Daisy, who had needed his unequivocal reassurance, Tim did have doubts about the validity of Shadowchild's book. His inner concerns were completely soothed by speaking to Henry, however, whose enthusiasm for Tim's plan was infectious. Henry was a young guy, maybe only nineteen or twenty. His initially hostile demeanour changed once he knew Tim was a friend, and there was a chance of escape. He told Tim he would be working the night shift that evening, so should be able to get himself to the agreed meeting point by the fence in the trees without too much of a problem.
Later that day, Tim was thinking over his plan, as he smoothed out the freshly poured concrete as best he could into the foundations of the pyramid. His escape plot was fairly well formed, though he had no idea how he was going to get both himself and Mike out of locked cells. His musings were interrupted by a guard grabbing him roughly by the arm.
"Come with me."
Tim did not argue, he had no choice in any case, his weakened zombie body unable to resist being dragged away. He was taken into the mansion house and led upstairs to one of the bedrooms. On being pushed inside the door, his already slack jaw dropped unnaturally low as he found himself looking into the evilly smiling face of his villainous ex-girlfriend, Sarah.