A Regular Outbreak
SEASON ONE: AMERICA'S DOWNFALL
This chapter is a massive milestone, we've officially reached 200,000 words! (Ever written). Thanks for everything guys! Let's continue with the story.
Episode Five: The Talk
9th of March, 2024, Evening
Day 235
Rigby held his eyes closed. He groaned, he was in so much pain. It was as if someone was stabbing him in the neck. Rigby opened his eyes slowly, but all he saw was darkness. Suddenly, he could hear cries of pain coming from nearby, and a few voices which he could not understand. Rigby kept quiet for a second and studied the sounds. "Sagen Sie uns, warum Sie hierher gekommen!" Someone shouted, in an angry tone. "I don't understand you! Speak English!" Someone else shouted, followed by a cry of pain. Rigby immediately knew who that was. "Mordecai?" Rigby called his friend's name. "Mordecai!" Rigby exclaimed. "Rigby?" Mordecai heard his friend.
"Wir sollten gerade diese Menschen-lassen…" Another person said. "They might be working with Travis, we have to take them out." Another man said. "Ja mein fuher." The other man sighed and continued to beat Mordecai up. "Mordecai! Where are you!?" Rigby shouted. Mordecai didn't answer, he was in too much pain to speak. "Should we kill them?" Another man said. "Ja." The second one answered.
Suddenly, the sound of tipping garbage cans was heard outside. "Go check it out!" One of the men, - possibly the leader – ordered. The sound of footsteps were heard as the other two men went to check out the noises, while the leader remained. "Rigby…where are you?" Mordecai asked. "I don't know, I can't see." Rigby answered. "Neither can I." Mordecai sighed. Suddenly, the sounds of muffled screams could be heard. "Rigby? You okay?" Mordecai called.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Do you hear that too?" Rigby asked. "Yeah I do…" Mordecai answered. A few seconds later, the lights came back on. Mordecai and Rigby were astonished when they noticed Sean was beside the switch. "Sean? How did you get in here?" Rigby asked. "I never got caught." Sean plainly answered. Mordecai glanced to the right and gasped, there was a dead guy lying beside him. "Jesus!" Mordecai exclaimed. "Did you…?" Mordecai glanced at the wolf. "They were gonna kill you." The wolf folded his arms. "Oh…" Mordecai fell silent.
"They're gonna come back in soon, let me untie you guys." Sean ran over to Mordecai and cut the ropes holding his wings together. Sean ran over to Rigby and quickly untied him. "The other two guys are gonna come back, come on let's get out of here." Mordecai walked off with Sean. "I can't go anywhere!" Rigby shouted. "Why not?" Mordecai glanced back at his spouse. "I don't know…I can't move my legs." Rigby answered, attempting to get up. "I'll help you." Mordecai walked over to Rigby and helped him stand.
Mordecai held his friend's paw tightly and quickly ran out of the general store, with Sean running quickly behind him. When they ran outside, they immediately caught the attention of the other two men, who'd gone out to investigate the noise earlier. "Sie sind entkommen! Tötet sie!" One of the shouted, pointing a rifle at Rigby. "Get to the car!" Sean shouted, sprinting to the car. Mordecai helped his friend to the car, making sure that his friend was okay.
Suddenly, a bullet pierced Rigby's shoulder, causing him to lose Mordecai's grip and fall over. "No!" Mordecai shouted, turning back and picking his friend up. Sean quickly jumped in the car, laying down in the back seat to avoid the gunfire. Mordecai threw his friend on the back seat beside him and jumped into the driver's seat. Mordecai quickly started the engine and drove off, as the two German men continued to shoot at them until they went out of sight.
Rigby was screaming in pain. "Calm down!" Mordecai shouted. "How can I calm down? I was just shot!" Rigby screamed. "There's not much we can do! Just give me a second!" Mordecai shouted. Sean was just cowering in the back seat. "I feel sick…" Rigby calmed down. Mordecai just ignored him and gripped the wheel extremely hard, his hands melting into the leather of the steering wheel cover.
"This is too much…" Sean said to himself. "Just…keep a cool head…" Rigby said, faintly. Rigby's eyes slowly closed and he passed out. Suddenly, the car was silent.
"I'm scared." Sean cried. Mordecai's grip of the steering wheel loosened. "I want my dad." Sean cowered. Mordecai turned to face Sean, who was covering his eyes. "Don't worry…we'll find a safe place to rest and…then we'll help Rigby." Mordecai calmed down. A few minutes later, they were back on the highway. "He's not going to die…he's not going to die…" Mordecai was quietly whispering to himself. "You really care for him, don't you?" Sean took his hands away from his eyes and turned his attention to the panicked blue jay.
"Well…yeah." Mordecai plainly answered. "Is he like, family?" Sean questioned. "No, we're married." Mordecai replied. "Oh." Sean fell silent. After a few hours, the back seat was covered with the blood from Rigby's wound. Sean had moved into the front seat, and Mordecai had been quiet for hours. "You…wanna talk?" Sean asked. "NO." Mordecai answered, loudly. Sean sighed, he looked up at the highway in front of him and looked at the bird.
"Why are you so mean to each other?" Sean asked. "What do you mean?" Mordecai sounded confused. "You two always argue." Sean plainly said. "People do it all the time." Mordecai sighed. "But I…" "Just shut up!" Mordecai shouted, keeping Sean quiet. "There." Mordecai pointed to something on the right side of the road. It was a storage facility. "'Ten-I-See Storage.'" Sean read. "There doesn't seem to be any of those…things out there, so let's just get Rigby out of the car." Mordecai said, stopping the car in the middle of the lot.
Mordecai slowly got out and opened the back door. Sean got out of the front seat and helped Mordecai carry Rigby to a nearby open storage unit. "Just there." Mordecai ordered. The two friend slowly and cautiously sat the unconscious raccoon on the cement. "We need something for him to rest on or…s-something." Mordecai stuttered. "Calm down, we'll find something." Sean crossed his arms.
"My husband may be DYING as we speak! So don't tell me to calm down!" Mordecai screamed. Sean kept quiet. "That's no way to talk to a child…" Rigby coughed, waking up. "Are you okay?" Mordecai knelt to his friend's side, ignoring his comment. "I'm in extreme pain…that bullet didn't do any good." Rigby groaned. "There's no pharmacy for miles…we're gonna have to figure something else out." Sean sat beside Rigby. "At least the bleeding stopped." Mordecai noticed, glancing at Rigby's wound. "How long have I been out?" Rigby asked. "Over four hours." Sean answered. "Damn…" Rigby groaned.
"I'll search the storage units and see if there's anything that we can use to fix the wound." Mordecai said. "Until I get back, I'm going to lock you guys in here." Mordecai glanced at the garage door, above him. "Why?" Sean asked. "Because those guys might be still after us." Mordecai answered. "Fine…stay safe." Sean glanced at Mordecai, who reached for the garage door. He gave Sean a reassuring look, then gave Rigby a worried look, and shut the door. Sean found a matchbox nearby and lit a match, so they had a little bit of light. "Don't take his words to heart." Rigby said, faintly. "He doesn't mean it. He's just trying to protect me." Rigby reassured the wolf. "I understand but…why does he care for you so much? It's unhealthy, he could get himself killed!" Sean whispered loudly. "I think you're a little young to understand compassion, kid." Rigby rolled his eyes.
The unit fell silent. "How did you know dad?" Sean asked, calmly. "We…used to be roommates, up in New York." Rigby pointed to nowhere in particular. "Oh, so what changed?" Sean continued to question the raccoon. Rigby gripped his shoulder for a second. "Urgh…anything comfy I could lie against?" Rigby asked, looking into the darkness. Sean stood up and held the match in his paw. "There's a ripped couch cushion here." Sean said, picking it up slowly and laying it against the wall, behind Rigby's top half. "Thanks." Rigby sighed, leaning against the pillow, feeling great already.
"No problem." Sean smiled. "He's not gonna come back for a while, isn't he?" Sean glanced at the closed door. "No, he's not." Rigby shook his head slowly. "How old are you anyway?" Sean asked awkwardly. "I'm twenty nine." Rigby crossed his arms. "Sorry…anyway…why don't you tell me about yourself? How did you meet Mordecai?" Sean continued to question him. "Well…I've known him since I was 4." Rigby began. "I originally came from Cartlyn Falls, a small town near Twin Peaks on the west side of Pennsylvania, actually pretty close to the border to New York, in Cartlyn Falls we went to this pre-school together…I…never really connected with kids very well my age…so…when he talked to me the first time, I gotta admit, I was a little frazzled…" Rigby continued.
TWENTY FIVE YEARS EARLIER
"Lettuce sandwich, again." A younger Rigby sighed, as he opened his lunch box. "I get the same thing every time." He shoved the sandwich back into his lunch box. The raccoon put his lunch box back into his pre-school backpack and sighed. He glanced over at the playground, which was completely covered with the rest of the pre-school kids and sighed. Not too far away, a familiar blue jay was sitting with a few of his friends. "…and so I said, 'It's my toy now.'" One of the kids laughed. The other three just shook their heads. Mordecai glanced over at Rigby, who was reading a comic.
"That kid's always alone." Mordecai commented. "For a good reason. You wouldn't want to be seen around him." One of the kids replied. "Why?" Mordecai questioned. "He reads." One of the kids answered. The two other kids gasped. Mordecai just rolled his eyes. "I'll go talk to him." Mordecai jumped off the bench. "I wouldn't. People will think you're a fag." Another kid commented. "Whatever." Mordecai grabbed his backpack and walked over to Rigby.
Rigby turned a page of his comic book and continued to read. "Hey kid, want some company?" Mordecai sat beside the raccoon. "Let me guess, you want my lunch money? Or my action figure? Oh wait! Let me guess! You want this?" Rigby looked up from his comic book. "No wait…" "No, let me finish! I haven't got any lunch money and I didn't bring my action figures either. Though I guess you can…" Rigby interrupted the blue jay. "Shut up and listen! I just want to talk to you." Mordecai exclaimed.
"What…?" Rigby seemed surprised. "I just want to talk. Hasn't anyone talked to you before?" Mordecai crossed his wings. Rigby drooped his head. "Oh…sorry." Mordecai apologized. "It's fine." Rigby sighed. "What are you reading?" Mordecai leant over the raccoon's shoulder. "Burrito Man." Rigby answered.
"Cool." Mordecai replied. "Want to read it?" Rigby asked. "Sure, thanks." Mordecai carefully grabbed the comic. "What's your name?" Mordecai asked. "Rigby…um…what's yours?" Rigby asked, still surprised that someone would talk to him. "Mordecai." Mordecai held out his wing. Rigby cautiously shook the bird's wing. "Wanna be friends?" Rigby asked. "Well…sure." Mordecai shrugged. "Promise?" Rigby asked, holding out his hand. "Promise." Mordecai shook Rigby's paw.
BACK TO THE PRESENT
"…and ever since then, we've been closer than…well…anything." Rigby finished his story. "You seem like the closest of friends." Sean replied. "Can you be in love with someone and still be their friend?" Sean asked. "Yes." Rigby answered. "That's weird." Sean shook his head. "I know." Rigby chuckled. "Do you feel better now? Or are you still sore?" Sean asked. "I'm comfortable, but I still hurt." Rigby replied. "Don't worry, I'm sure Mordecai will be back soon." Sean comforted the raccoon.
"You're awfully…mature for your age." Rigby commented. "Thank you for saying so." Sean smiled, proudly. "How old are you anyway?" Rigby asked. "I turned seven on the third." Sean sighed. "Well…happy birthday for then." Rigby pat the wolf on the back. "Thanks. When's your birthday anyway?" Sean asked. "The nineteenth of July." Rigby answered. "Hmm, that isn't too far away." Sean said.
Suddenly, the garage door slowly opened, and a blue jay stood proudly. "It's night time?" Sean noted. "It's been eight hours." Mordecai answered, holding the garage door open. "Hey." Rigby greeted the bird, weakly. "How're you feeling?" Mordecai asked. "Better." Rigby answered. "How did you get that?" Sean asked, pointing to a few boxes of items in Mordecai's wings. "I managed to find a couple of these in one of the storage units." Mordecai answered. "Though most of them were locked." Mordecai shook his head.
Mordecai had a small box of Band-Aids, some bandages and a box of antibiotics. "Take these, they'll make sure that an infection won't spread." Mordecai opened the box of antibiotics and handed a capsule to his friend. "We don't have water at the moment, sorry." Mordecai apologized. "It's fine." Rigby answered, throwing the capsule down his throat. "Here, let me cover your wound." Mordecai walked over to the raccoon and unravelled the bandage around Rigby's left shoulder.
A few minutes later, Rigby's wounds were covered. "What do we do now?" Rigby asked. "I suppose we should just wait here until morning." Mordecai shrugged. "Sounds like a plan." Rigby glanced at Sean, who'd just fallen asleep. Mordecai made sure he was inside the storage unit and shut the garage door.
Mordecai walked over quietly to his friend, but suddenly heard the sound of glass clattering. "What the hell?" Mordecai exclaimed. The bird bent down and picked up the object. Mordecai grabbed his cell phone and turned it on, using it as light. "Only 30% charge left." Mordecai commented, before using the light from the phone to investigate the object. "It's an old lantern." Mordecai said. "We can use that for light." Rigby glanced at the lantern. "No shit." Mordecai chuckled. Rigby grabbed the matchbox that Sean was using the lit the lantern.
"And as god said…let there be light." Mordecai chuckled. Mordecai sat the lantern in the middle of the storage unit and sat against the wall, beside his wounded friend. "I missed you." Rigby said. "Me too." Mordecai replied. "What did you do while I was gone?" Mordecai asked. "We just talked." Rigby answered, plainly. Mordecai glanced at the wolf. "Poor kid, he's been through so much." The bird commented. "You think he'll make it through this?" Rigby asked, weakly. "Well, he made it this far." Mordecai shrugged.
Rigby's eyes began to close, he was falling asleep. "You know what, Mordecai?" Rigby glanced at his spouse, who had his head resting on the raccoon's chest. "Yeah?" The blue jay glanced at him. "I wish we had a son." Rigby shut his eyes, and fell into deep sleep.
Mordecai gasped. "I…never thought about that…" Mordecai muttered to himself. The bird glanced at Sean, who was laying by himself nearby. Mordecai sighed;
"Now that I think about it…I do wish I had a son."
I know this was a short chapter, but I'm exhausted. And…this chapter has to be the worst one so far, but I have major writer's block, so…whatever.
See you in the next chapter.
R.S.M.