Hey guys, sorry if this is a little late. I sold one of my cars and bought another as a project, so I've been a little busy trying to fix it.
Anyway, last chapter we found out Margaret has a new boyfriend, and Mordecai asked Eileen to go instead. I'm sure many of you weren't happy about it, but it'll make sense later on.
Also, if you don't know who Jonathan Coulton is, look him up. He's an amazing musician who releases all his work under a Creative Commons License, so you can use it for videos, stories, whatever. Plus his songs are incredible.
I don't really do this a lot, but I'd like to ask for some help with another genre. I want to start writing in the PPG section, but I really don't read in it. So, if anyone has experience in that genre, if you'd message me and answer a few questions, I'd really appreciate it. I just want to make sure the idea I have isn't used too much in that section.
Alright, let's go.
EDIT: V1.1- Made some changes to errors in grammar and some misspelling. My word processor has been acting up with spellcheck lately, going to search for another.
Chapter 3: Make You Cry (Part 1)
"I drove seven hours
All day to see you
The least that you could do is be at home
I wait outside the front door
I guess that I surprised us both
When you get home you're not alone
The way I thought you'd be
You introduce your friend
On some sunny day you're gonna fall for me
The way I fell for you
That's when I'm gonna make you cry"
- Jonathan Coulton
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He leaned against the door, contemplating his next plan while reflecting on how he could have done better.
It was when the dome light kicked on that he looked in a direction other than the windshield, "Ready?"
Eileen nodded, "Yup. Nice truck by the way."
"Thanks."
He turned the key, the loud roar of the engine causing her to jump and look around, "Geez, I wasn't expecting that."
Mordecai laughed as he started toward the road leading out of town, "You get used to it after awhile."
"So," Eileen began, breaking the unsettling silence, "New truck, tickets to a zombie movie, and it's at a drive in. You really went all out this time."
He laughed again, politely enough to cover his embarrassment, "Yeah. Didn't prepare for the possibility of a boyfriend though."
"Well, that's hard to account for. Where'd you get the truck?"
"It's the park's old truck. Benson let me use it since it was wrecked and just sitting. Skips helped me get it running, and here it is now."
"That's pretty cool. I know you and Rigby complain about him a lot." her mentioning his name seemed to leave a bad taste in her mouth.
"Yeah, sometimes he can be annoying, but we tend to bring it on ourselves a lot. Really it's like having a second family."
Eileen nodded, "It used to be the same way at the diner."
"You mind me asking what happened with you and Rigby? Seems like it's been awhile since you two said anything to each other," Mordecai asked while slowing down to make a corner.
"He's a jerk."
He regretted bringing it up, "That's just the way he is. He grows on you after awhile."
"Since we're on the subject, what's your plans with Margaret? She's been real annoying lately."
"How so?" he asked, his attention focused more on the road.
Eileen sighed, "You know how she gets around her boyfriends."
"Ah. Well, between you and me, Margaret doesn't have the best track record in the boyfriend department. I figure by this time next week she'll be single again."
"I sure hope so. I'm actually thinking of moving back into my old apartment."
He swung around a tree that had fallen into the road from the wind that had began to pick up, "It's that bad?"
She nodded, "It's unbearable! He's always making bad jokes, and she just laughs like it's the funniest thing ever."
"Well, if you need help, the truck could fit a lot in the back."
"Thanks. I hope it doesn't come to that, but maybe it'll get better."
The silence returned.
[][][]
The traffic picked up as they began to get closer to the drive-in. There were more trucks than cars, seeing as the local roads changed from comfortable pavement to gravel and dirt, providing a more bumpy ride.
After half a mile of idling, they made it into the lot for the drive-in.
The projector was near the middle of the area and raised a good thirty feet off the ground, fully illuminating the hundred foot screen. He followed the lane for trucks and backed into a spot along the back wall. From where they were parked everything else was downhill, giving them a pretty good view of everything.
"How about some snacks?"
Eileen nodded, "Can't have a zombie movie without snacks."
"By the way, have you seen the first movie?" Mordecai asked as they walked, retracing their drive from the entrance.
"Yeah, it wasn't as good as the trailers made it look."
"Exactly! A robot fighting hordes of zombies sounded stupid, but the ending made up for everything!"
She laughed loudly, causing a few people nearby to take notice, "Yeah, and he's all like, 'I am made to live!' But seriously, the bloody claw clenching as he became infected with the virus was a good setup to the sequel."
"Definitely. I wonder how they'll start it."
They stepped in line and looked over the menu hung over the counter, "What should we get?"
"Hey, Mordecai."
He turned around to see CJ and Thomas in line behind them, "Oh, hey. What's up guys?"
Thomas looked nervous and avoided eye contact, "You know, just seeing the zombie movie."
"So, how's things with that Margaret?" CJ asked, looking around, "She parking the car or something?"
Thomas gave her a nudge.
Mordecai didn't notice, "She's actually with her boyfriend tonight, and I had an extra ticket so I asked Eileen to go."
"Hey."
Just noticing her, CJ smiled, "Oh, I get it. Friendzoned?"
Mordecai sighed, "Not exactly…"
Thomas nudged her again.
"Ow! What's that for?"
He laughed nervously, "Sorry, arm must of slipped."
"Oh, wait, weren't you and Rigby supposed to be practicing tonight?"
Thomas coughed, "Oh, uh, we practiced for a while, then he left, because I had plans tonight."
CJ gave him a confused look, "When I called, you said you were-"
Thomas grabbed her arm and pulled her toward the next line farther down the counter, "Another line opened! Don't miss the movie, guys!"
Mordecai turned back to Eileen, "Did it look like they're acting weird?"
She shook her head quickly, "Oh, you know, probably just nervous about the movie."
At length he nodded, "Yeah, that's it. I remember him saying the first one scared him."
[][][]
The desolate highway stretched on as the heavy footsteps echoed. The shadow appears over the camera before the source becomes visible. A close up of the figures boots appear as he walks down the middle of the road, away from the camera, slowly revealing a white lab coat and large cowboy hat.
"After I lost my son to the virus," a gruff voice begins the voiceover, "I soon realized how doomed we were."
The camera switches to another that followed the boots as he walked.
"He was immune, at least I thought he was. If someone such as him can become infected, I knew the dead returning to life was only the beginning."
The camera slowly pans up until it's head height, showing only a turned up collar and the shadow cast from the hat.
"We were arrogant. We thought we could stop them."
The figure stops walking as the sound metallic shuffling echoes from farther ahead. The camera cuts to show a group of survivors scavenging through a pile-up. They look toward the camera before it returns to the figure as a gust of wind blows the hat away, showing a square computer monitor with a cracked screen that's blinking green.
"We were wrong."
The robot's screen flickers to read the phrase 'eRRor: conTamINatION.'
The camera changes to a shot of a brown, rocky hillside farther away from the highway as the sound of gunshots and lasers ring out.
In bloody, red letters, the title appears.
Dead Again: One Last Time.
[][][]
Inside the military bunker, gunshots ring out from off camera, the shot being of a dark corridor in a winding maze of hallways beneath ground.
The form of a person passes the hall farther down, in full sprint. Seconds later, a horde of the undead run past, nearly matching his speed.
From the hall closer, the same boots pass directly in front of the camera, walking at a leisurely pace.
The scene cuts to a jarring view of the survivor as he turns down a hall and speeds along.
A division of the horde comes into view ahead of him, causing him to slide to a stop and turn down the next closest, bursting through a door at the end.
The instant the door is opened, he is blinded by the sunlight reflecting off the glass panes of the communication towers.
He looks around a moment before slamming the door and bracing it closed with a nearby pipe.
He walks backwards slowly, wincing at the sound of the undead slamming against the door, their shrieking and groaning muffled by the thick steel.
Turning, the camera gets a good shot of his face, a square-jawed, crew cut soldier in a white tank top and camo fatigues.
He walks to the edge of the railing overlooking the installation, his boots grinding on the gravel from the cracks spider webbed along the concrete walls.
The view is of the city on the outskirts of the base, the last haven of the non-infected, still smoldering from it's downfall the night before.
In the heat of the moment, he forgot all about his task.
Fumbling through his pockets, he eventually pulls out a flash-drive, sighing out of relief that it's still in one piece. From his other pocket he pulls out the note and begins skimming it again, making sure he remembered his instructions.
The camera swings to show the robot from the beginning walk out of the shadows.
The sound of a laser pierces the air before the camera shows the soldier fall forward in slow motion.
As he collapses on the ground, he grips the flash drive and let go of the note, the wind carrying it over the railing, toward the city.
He rolls over as the shadow of the robot stretches over him. They stare at each other a moment before the claw grips him around the throat and raises him in the air.
Fighting against the steel grip of the claw, he swings futiley, his punches hitting the metallic skin of the monitor.
The screen begins to lose color until completely black and white, as he manages to plug the drive into the USB slot.
As he does so, however, the screen becomes blurry, and indistinguishable as he becomes limp and lifeless.
The robot tosses him aside while turning toward the steel door. Ripping the pipe out, he steps in, the zombies having wandered off.
He continues the walk out of the base before reaching the road to the city when he stopped in mid-step.
The red flashing sped up until completely flickering to a blank screen. The camera focuses on the screen of the robot as it flashes back to life while the words, 'Rebooting…' appeared.
After a moment, the friendly, pixilated face of the hero of the first movie returns.
The eyes glance around before focusing on the city.
"I'm… back?" a high-pitched robotic voice asks.
He looks over the ruins, his scans showing nothing but casualties. He frowns, changing his view to the image of his blood stained claws.
The wind encircles him, sending a piece of paper into his face. He blinked as he began to read it, the voice the same as the narration in the beginning of the movie.
"After I lost my son to the virus I soon realized how doomed we were. He was immune, at least I thought he was. If someone such as him can become infected, I knew the dead returning to life was only the beginning. We were arrogant. We thought we could stop them. We were wrong.
"After the outbreak, I built him. Rob-O."
The robot looks at the panel on his chest, the dirty and dented steel bearing only the outline of 'Rob'.
"He was to be the first of many to protect the living from the dead, but if he can succumb to the infection, there is no hope. Even as he fights his way to me, I only regret that which a father does most. The inability to save his son.
"I have created an antidote and stored in the military base outside of Haven before taking shelter in my home. I'm tired of fighting an unwinnable war. If you're reading this, the last hope for humanity is Rob-O's salvation protocol. Only after the antidote is administered can we begin to survive."
The rest of the note is covered in the professor's blood.
Rob-O looks up from the note. He glances back to the tower he was just at and then to the town below. He lets go of the note, the wind reclaiming it and sending it away.
He nods and begins walking toward the camera, his screen flashing the word, 'Salvation.'
The camera pans to the sky as the words, 'The End' appear, shortly changing to 'The End?'
After a black screen, it focuses on the face of the soldier as his eyes snap open. He blinks and looks around as the shrieks and growls of the undead become louder before he starts screaming, bringing the black screen back as the words now show, 'The End.'
[][][]
Mordecai and Eileen both began to shout, following the whoops and cheers that began around the parking lot.
"Ok, I'll admit, that was actually pretty good."
Mordecai shrugged, "It wasn't as bad as i thought it'd be. My favorite part was the ending."
"Because it was over?"
"Sorta."
Eileen buckled her seat belt while he started the engine, "Come on, it definitely beat the first one."
He shrugged and he pulled out of the lot and through the entrance, "Well, it was more pleasing to the eye but it lacked story and the plot was all over the place."
"You men," she began, "Always focused on story over senseless violence."
"Well excuse me for appreciating responsible writing."
They both laughed at the joke before they seen the line of cars waiting to leave. A fallen tree was blocking the road ahead, causing the traffic to back up and stop them from progressing.
Amid the wind and blaring of horns, he sighed, "What?! Man, this is gonna take forever!"
"Maybe the wind'll blow it out of the way. Like, if all the cars arranged in the perfect order to cause a cross-draft strong enough to budge it to the side-"
Mordecai shook his head, "Yeah… I don't think that'll happen."
She crossed her arms, "Well, at least I'm trying to find a solution."
Mordecai looked along the road, dozens of cars ahead, and even more lining up behind him. To the right, there was a section of guard rail missing from an accident, exposing a dirt trail that led into the woods surrounding the area.
"I have an idea."
He dropped the four-wheel drive lever into high and turned off the road, going over the side of the embankment and into the ditch. He slammed onto the throttle, causing the truck to climb the incline and reach the trail.
From behind them came cheers and shouts as they started into the forest.
"See, no problem for mega truck." he added with a nod.
"Well, what're we gonna do about that?"
He looked to where she was pointing and slammed on the brakes.
In front of them was a river that was swollen from a past rainstorm. The current looked to be pretty strong, and there was no sign of a bridge. He glanced to the side of his window and seen the snorkel Skips had told him about.
"Another idea," he said as he opened the door and zipped up his jacket.
"Where're you going?"
He ran to the back of the truck and opened the hatch. After fumbling in the back he eventually found the hose he had left inside.
He quickly slid the hose over the exhaust and attached it along the side like he was shown.
"So, what's the plan?" she asked, as he switched to low and revved the engine.
"We make like our ancestors and cross it."
She shook her head, "You've got to be kidding."
"Come on, it'll be fine."
At length, Eileen sighed, "I guess we don't have much of a choice."
Alright, pretty good cliff-hanger I think.
So, thanks for reading, and if you have any info or advice to offer, send me a message and I'll tell you my idea so far.
See you, Space Cowboy. (Couldn't help it. ^^)