The Hollow Prinny
CRY 3 TEARS FOR ME
He finds himself lost in the hallways of the studio, his tears blurring his sight. The blood on his clothes didn't belong to him, and the woman he killed wasn't the women that she claimed to be. Did it really have to go this way?
Did things have to end in bloodshed?
Did he have to kill to live?
Did he have to murder his love in cold blood?
Smoke pours out of the barrel of the pistol in his hand, swirling around him, nearly forcing him to see what he has done. After all of this running, the man finds himself at a dead end when a nearly silent whisper works its way into his ear.
"Joooohhhhnnnnnnnnyyyy….."
He wakes up from his nightmare screaming, his body covered in swat and his pillow soaked in tears. It has been two years since the zombie virus outbreak.
It has been two years since the government left its people to die.
It has been two years of constant nightmares, the same memory replaying over and over in his head.
After coming to the realization that it was just another nightmare, he rubs his eyes and heads towards his window of Dove & Grenade Studios, where he and his band used as a shelter. The white light of the sun bursts through the black curtains, revealing what the world has become: a wasteland filled with mindless and reanimated corpses. A lost paradise consumed by the infected. A land of devils and only six angels.
Two years ago, Hollywood Undead was the biggest band in the world.
Now, Hollywood became Undead.
Just as Johnny 3 Tears was about to close the curtains, a knock comes from his door, followed by a familiar voice.
"Yo Johnny! We gotta get ready for our supply hunt. Deuce is trying to get J Dog and Funny Man, and Da Kurlzz is checking what we got. "Shouted Charlie Scene, another member of Hollywood Undead, as well as Johnny's best friend, brother, and savior.
For the past two years, Charlie has been Johnny's emotional support. He is the only one who knows about the nightmares.
The only one that helps Johnny fight off his inner demons.
The one that saved Johnny from himself.
"Be right there, bro." replied Johnny as he quickly got dressed: a pair of high top Converse, black skinny jeans, a white t shirt with the Hollywood Undead logo near the heart, a dove and grenade, his black and white striped hoodie, and Los Angeles snap back cap, and finally, his one of a kind blue and white stage mask. Everyone in the band had a story behind their mask, but ever since the incident and the outbreak of the virus, he could never look at his mask the same way.
It all started five years ago, and the six teenagers were still recording their first songs. Deuce, the leader of the band, decided that in order for them to be not bothered by the paparazzi, each member of the band should have their face covered. Johnny went back home and talked tis over with the love of his life, Dahlia, who gave him the idea for his mask. Blue was her favorite color, white to represent the color of her future wedding dress, a butterfly on the right because it was her favorite animal, as well as showing the rest of the world how free spirited she is, and a black number three on the left, symbolizing how many years until they marry.
Shaking the memory out of his head, he grabbed the last two things that made him the man he is today before leaving, his nine millimeter pistol named "Black Dahlia", and a gold ring, engraved with the words "running in circles, but together forever."
He opened the door to find Charlie Scene, a man wearing black sunglasses, a white bandana, and a black dove and grenade snap back cap, waiting outside of his room holding a silver pistol that glimmered in the sun.
Charlie and Johnny had been friends, nearly brothers, for as long as they could possibly remember. They always had each other's backs before they had their own, no matter what was at stake. After the incident, Charlie helped bring Johnny out of a dark place.
Before Johnny finished a verse to a new song, he would show Charlie.
Before Charlie did anything, he would tell Johnny.
Before Johnny could take his own life, Charlie stopped him.
As they went downstairs, they saw Deuce, the leader, but also the "youngest brother" of the group. Behind him were Funny Man and J- Dog.
"Just admit that I'm right and we can get over it!" Funny Man said to J- Dog, as if they were in some sort of argument.
"Hell no! Without my skills, this band would be crap!" J- Dog barked.
"Oh please, you're both wrong! My voice is the reason this band is so damn famous!" laughed Deuce. Funny and J exchanged dirty looks and continued to bicker.
Suddenly, a hand appeared from almost nowhere and slapped the three bickering band members in the back of the head. Just as they turned around the same hand attacked again.
"Dammit Kurlzz! You gotta stop doing that!" Deuce moaned as he rubbed his slap mark.
Johnny and Charlie couldn't help but laugh at these four fools. Even if they were stuck together until the end of time, there would never be a dull moment.
Hollywood Undead made them friends, but Hollywood becoming undead made them a family.
"So, what's on the agenda for today? Survivors? Supplies? Scouting?" J-Dog questioned, the dollar covering his lips falling apart after years of use.
"We need to check for survivors. If we're lucky, we many find a way out, or even better, a way to stop them from coming in."
Funny looks out one of the main bay windows and saw something they only see in nightmares.
"If I can put my two cents in here, I think we should do something about the horde coming our way. Just a bit of advice."
Johnny and Charlie rushed to the front, weapons loaded and ready to fire. As they burst through the front doors of D&G Studios, the sun blinded them the revealed a massive crowd of the undead. Their eyes were as black as night while a dark violet ooze poured from their mouths. Their ability to think was gone. The felt no sorrow.
No anger.
No pain.
As the crowd slowly crept closer and closer, Johnny and Charlie exchanged looks of determination.
"I don't wanna die, so they're gonna have to….. again" they said in unison. Just then, they fried into the crowd of the lifeless. Just as one would fall, another would join the pack. Deuce, Funny, and J Dog appeared behind Johnny, guns blazing as the crowd slowly marched forward.
Time slowed to a crawl. The bullets flew at their targets, slicing through the air ever so slowly. Johnny looked at the battlefield, seeing his five brothers fight for humanity.
Fight for themselves.
Fight for Hollywood Undead.
Fight for him.
Just as he was about to reload, he looked over at Charlie. He was the only thing keeping him tethered to reality.
Keeping him sane.
Keeping him from falling into the darkness.
Keeping him alive.
Charlie looked back and smiled.
"Johnny, if I die because of you, I swear I'll haunt you!" he laughed. Johnny smiled. No matter what happened to him, he made a promise to himself.
To fight for himself.
To fight for Charlie.
And most importantly, fight in her memory.
He looked down at Black Dahlia, and squeezed the trigger, aiming for the zombie behind Charlie, and another on top of Deuce, who was ready for the kill.
Just as fast as the firefight started, it ended abruptly. Da Kurlzz came through driving a truck covered in gasoline. He lit a match, fell out of the cab of the truck, and joined the rest of the group as the vehicle burst into flames, dusting himself off along the way.
"Dude, that was just a bit over the top. The fire was a nice touch though." Deuce commented, almost crying from laughter.
"Well, that's one way of getting the job done. Not only did you save our necks back out there, but you nearly killed yourself. You would've given dead in ditches a whole new meaning." Funny remarked.
Da Kurlzz just shrugged. The permanent smile on his mask said it all: He didn't care. He wasn't going to let a zombie apocalypse ruin a good time,
"Well then, now that we got that taken care of, well, sort of, should we go looking for supplies and survivors now?" J Dog asked, still in shock about the flaming truck.
"Yeah, the sooner we can figure something out, the better. J-Dog, Johnny, Charlie, you go up north. Funny, Evil Kenevil, and I will go south. If you find something, b4ring it back here. No alcohol! Remember what happened last time? Da Kurllz almost set the studio on fire! How are we supposed to finish an album or stay alive if we are wasted?" Deuce questioned as he inspected the destruction.
"Way to go, 'Disaster Da Kurllz'. Now on one can have any fun." Funny said jokingly, not really caring about having alcohol or not.
Johnny and Charlie exchanged sly smiles as they opened their hoodies to show the other what they had: Two large flasks, one labeled "WATER", the other labeled "THE GOOD STUFF".
"What are you idiots up to, Charny?" Deuce questioned.
"Just a forty ounce….." Johnny said.
"Of water!" Charlie continued as he showed the flask to Deuce.
"and then some." Johnny whispered, trying to choke his laughter.
Deuce slapped his face.
"Leave it to these two… Anyway, good luck, and I'll see you at sundown. Keep flying doves."
Just as the group dispersed, Johnny and Charlie met up with J- Dog and headed north, Silence the atmosphere while the ruined buildings and debris covered the streets. As they passed some of the ruins, the graffiti on the walls showed the true horrors of the American Tragedy.
"We wave this flag of hatred, but you're the ones who made it."
"Born in this world as it all falls apart."
"Living in a lost paradise.."
"I miss my tumblr….."
Each step was filled with caution. Each breath filled with fear. One twitchy movement after another. J – Dog found an alley that looked promising. As the other two followed him, the light dimmed as the sun was engulfed by a sea of clouds.
"Of course, because things could never be easy for us." J –Dog whined.
"Oh shut up! Is a little puppy afraid of the dark? Boohoo." Charlie laughed.
"Hey, I'm more worried about my OTP."
"OTP?"
"Charny!"
"You gotta be kidding me…."
"Dude, you and Johnny have the best bromance that any of us have seen in years.! I mean, you always have each other's backs, and you are always together. What more can you want?!"
Johnny appeared behind J-Dog and slapped him as hard as he could. The sound of his hand hitting plastic echoed off of the brick walls. J Dog dropped to the floor, laughing and whimpering all at once.
Just as Charlie and Johnny began to laugh at J-Dog's pain, a faint laugh came from around the corner in a small convenience store.
"What if it's a survivor?" J- Dog asked
"That may be true, but what if it's something else?" Johnny snapped back. It was all too familiar for him.
Walking through dark halls.
The crying.
The gunshots.
"Let's keep going. If they are clever and strong enough, they would come to us." Johnny snapped, storming out of the hallway as fast as he could, leaving his two partners behind.
"Jesus, what set him off? Did I say something?" J-Dog asked, obviously confused at what had just happened.
"It's not something you did, it's the demons that we all have inside ourselves. The things we keep away from the rest of the world. We should go after him, before he really hurts himself."
"But what about the crying?"
"Just be ready for anything. We don't want any repeats of what happened to Dahlia…."
Just as Charlie left to look for Charlie, J- Dog loaded his pistol once again and headed towards the noise. The last thing to be heard was a scream and gunshots…
Johnny was sitting alone on the curb of the street, watching his own reflection in a puddle when Charlie came over. Johnny looked into his eyes, and even though they were covered by his sunglasses, Johnny could tell that Charlie felt his pain.
"Johnny….." Charlie started, trying to wrap his arm around his distraught friend.
"I don't want to lose anyone again."
"It wasn't your fault man. Things had to come to and end."
"But she didn't have to die. She could've been saved."
"She wasn't the same person that you were in love with. She was overtaken by the virus. It had to go. It had to end, and you did the right thing by putting her out of her misery."
Johnny stared at the ground, too ashamed to show Charlie that he was crying. He remembered what happened those two years ago. It was December, and the zombie outbreak was starting. No one was ready. No one was prepared. Dahlia came to Johnny one day saying that she felt different, as if she was always on the verge of losing self-consciousness. The band all rushed to her side, knowing that the love between Johnny and Dahlia was pure and innocent. After two weeks, almost a week before their anniversary, Dahlia's sickness became worse. Doctors from all over the country could not find a cure for these patients. Just as their anniversary came, Dahlia fell to the disease. The violet ooze slowly began to build up inside of her and her eyes blackened. Just before she was lost, she turned to Johnny, whispering to him in her last human breaths.
"Let me go…"
Johnny refused to let the love of his life die before him. But the beast within her finally came out, trying to not only kill her former lover, but to infect her as well. She was too far gone. Too far to be saved. Too late to be revived.
That was when he pulled the trigger on his lover.
That was when he saw everything that they had fade away before his eyes.
That was when he killed Dahlia.
He mourned her loss for days on end, not talking to a soul. Not Deuce. Not J Dog. Not even Charlie. He locked himself in his room; broken bottles of alcohol littered his room. Charlie went to check on him after the third day of silence, only to find something worse than a nightmare.
Something worse than this American tragedy.
Johnny was holding a bottle of vodka in one hand, and his pistol in the other and pointed it to his head.
"She was my angel, the only one who understood me completely. If I can't be with her on earth, I'll see her with God." Johnny said as he pulled back the hammer of his gun.
"Johnny, put….the….gun…..down…." Charlie pleaded, tears about to burst from his eyes.
"No one else loves me like I do. No one ever can, and no one ever will."
"I do."
"Liar!"
"Johnny, I've been there for you through it all, and that will never change. You are my brother, and I will always love you, and don't you dare forget that. Now, put the gun down and we can get through this,,,,, together.
Johnny sighed as he came back into reality. He got up off of the ground and faced Charlie, readjusting his wet mask.
"You know, you have some problems if you managed to stick with me all of this time."
"Well, maybe we aren't the ones with problems, kid."
Just then, J- Dog ran from the store, his gun smoking at the barrel. Behind him was a type of zombie that would haunt the men for the rest of their lives. Its eyes were solid white with tentacles sprawling out of its mouth. It stood at least seven feet tall, with arms twice its height. Every moment was as smooth as ice, as if the beast was a majestic angel.
"Anyone got any ideas?" J-Dog whispered to Johnny
"Shoot it until it dies?" Johnny said to Charlie
"Seems legit." Said Charlie as he pulled out his pistol.
As they fired at the monster, they realized how fast it could move even though it was so large. It slid between the bullets, dodging everything that came its way. Just as they were falling back, trying to escape, the beast grabbed Charlie by the leg and dragged him closer to his doom. Johnny could only watch in silence and fear at what was happening right before his very eyes.
Then, with a quick stab in the chest, Charlie dropped to the floor, and the monster escaped, Charlie's blood on its lips and tentacle like arm. J Dog readied his pistol, but Johnny forced him to put it down. As he neared Charlie, he took off his mask and handed it to J Dog.
"Make sure that everyone knows what happened, and that I will never forget them. It looks like two more angels will go to meet God. If I survive, I'll see you tomorrow." Johnny cried as tears ran down his face. His real face, not the plastic covering that everyone grew so accustomed to.
"Come on Charlie, we need to get you out of harm's way. Dahlia would have loved to actually talk to you more." Johnny said as he opened his hoodie and pulled out the flask labeled "THE GOOD STUFF".
"Yeah, but it's a shame that it all ends like this, you carrying me as I die in your arms. But then again, with things as they are, I can't think of a better place to go." Charlie said, coughing up blood and a light purple substance almost every other word as he reached for his matching flask.
Just as the two brothers left J- Dog's sight, the last thing that he heard was laughter, sobbing, and two gunshots.