Isle of Decay
Chapter 1: Awake
I very slowly opened my eyes. I was lying down, and from the feeling I could tell it was on a bed or some equivalent. It was a dark room, and from the looks of it, someone's bedroom. My eyes focused on the gun barrel pointed at my face.
"Holy shit! It's awake!" The man screamed.
I didn't dare move. I wasn't too keen on going back to sleep.
Another man walked over. He seemed tense and on edge. He looked me straight in the eyes.
"Nod your head if you understand us! Nod your f***ing head!"
I quickly did so and both of them physically relaxed, but only slightly, as if there was some other danger looming about.
"Oh thank Arceus." The first man sighed, lowering the gun. "We thought you were one of them."
"One of what?" My voice cracked. My throat felt dry.
"One of those… things." The second guy answered. "What's the last thing you remember?"
I thought hard for a while.
"I remember a boat. I was on it with some other people. We were running from something… I can't remember much. But I remember looking up from the floor, seeing everyone on the floor. I… I think we crashed."
"Good, so he remembers some of it." The second guy said to the first.
"I- I think he's suffering some memory loss. That's not nearly as much as the others told us." The first guy said in a panicky tone.
"Memory loss? What?" I thought skeptically.
"Okay, what's going on? Where am I? Who are you people?" I asked.
"I'm Darryl." Said the first guy. "Sorry 'bout pointin' this gun at ya."
"I'm Nolan. We found you and your friends on the beach. Your boat crashed and all of you were unconscious. When the others woke up and you didn't… Well, we got kinda paranoid. Anyway, welcome to Ebony Island."
"Ebony Island?" I repeated, unfamiliar with the name.
"Yeah, I know what you're thinkin'. Never heard of it, right?" Darryl guessed.
"We're a uncharted island south of Cinnabar and west of the Sevii Islands. We just started up too. Fixin' to be put on the map, then them things showed up." Darryl explained. "We're not as tropical as Hoenn, more or less like Johto, if you've ever been there. Rather pleasant up 'til winter. Course, with all these things about, can't really enjoy the weather."
"People started getting sick and dying. There would be funerals and such, but then the dead people would come back. Clawing their way back to the surface; fingers all weathered from digging through their coffins and the dirt."
"Most thought their loved ones were okay. But then those things just started attacking people. People would freak out 'cause the things would be bitin' people. And the ones who got bit would die. And then they'd come back, too! We'd shoot the things and they'd fall down but then the bastards got back up like nothing happened. Some of 'em stayed dead, but most kept walkin'."
"You have to hit them in the head." I hesitantly informed them.
"Shoot, I think they've already been hit in the head hard enough." Nolan scoffed.
"No, I mean you have to destroy the brain." I insisted. "If you destroy the brain they stay dead. It's the only way they die."
"Really? You sure? Man, I wish you told us sooner. I could hit a Soda Pop off the back of a movin' Tauros at a hundred yards." Darryl bragged. "Hey, how'd you know about that anyway? You kill one of them things before?"
"Uh, you could say that." I answered.
"Who would have thought horror games back home would help me here?"
"You got any more helpful tips?" Nolan asked.
"Uh, yeah. Most of those things can't really see very well, but they have sensitive hearing."
"Man, you sure best be right. Those things are tough suckers. 'Specially in crowds."
"Maybe we should get back to the others, Darryl." Nolan suggested.
"Others? There are others?" I asked dumbly.
"Yeah, they're further in town. We heard your boat and came to check it out. We should really get back there now. It's not safe; you and your friends should come with us."
"Uh… sure…"
We left the room and walked down a staircase into a ransacked living room. Ash, May and Brock were sitting on the couch looking worried. Spotting me come down the stairs, they all relaxed.
"David, are you okay?" Brock asked.
"Yeah, I'm okay."
"Right, we really should get outta here." Darryl urged, interrupting our talk.
"Everyone's holed up at the pokémart in the town south of here, it's not too far." Nolan added.
We left the house, and started further inland. The house had actually been located on the beach, right next to where our boat crashed. Looking ahead, I could actually see a few buildings.
"Do any a y'all know how'd use a gun?" Darryl asked, glancing back at us.
"No way!"
"None of us do." Brock answered.
I felt uncomfortable with the question.
"I don't think you should use one, anyway." I said. "I mean, unless you have to. The noise will attract more of them."
"Well what the hell are we supposed to do then?"
I thought for a moment.
"Do you have a bat? Or a stick? Or something?"
"You're shittin' me, right?" Darryl complained.
"Hold up. I got an idea." Nolan said, going back into the house.
A few moments later he came out with a few table legs. How he got them I'll never know.
"I suppose we can use these. I couldn't seem to break of the last one-stubborn sucker- -so we only have three."
Okay, guess I do know. He broke off three table legs!? I'll remember to not arm wrestle him.
He kept one for himself and gave one to Darryl. I reluctantly took the last one. Because apparently shooting someone before made me more comfortable with bashing an undead freak over the head.
We quietly walked down the short road into the town ahead, Darryl and Nolan leading the way. We had to sneak past a couple of undead, but they weren't facing us, so it was easy since we kept quiet. May looked like she was about to lose it and I'm certain that Brock was sweating a little. We entered town, where there were a lot more of them.
"Our holdout is just down that road." Nolan whispered, pointing down an adjacent road.
We walked down the sidewalk, passing a lot of alleyways. It gave me a bad sense of déjà vu.
We could see the pokémart; it was the classic blue building except it had a homemade wall around it made of a few wrecked cars and some scrap metal forged into a poorly constructed fence. We passed by another alley in our tight-knit group, when I heard something moan. Reacting on quick reflexes, I dived and shoved Ash out of the way of a lunging zombie. I landed on my stomach on the ground, causing the zombie to trip (yes, trip) over me, unfortunately landing on Darryl and knocking him to the ground.
"Awhh, shit!" He screamed, loudly, as the zed bit into his neck.
"Hold on, Darryl!" Nolan yelled (Just as loud. Remember what I said about noise?), whacking the undead off.
The Undead fell over on its back; Nolan brought down his table leg with crushing force, smashing its skull.
"Darryl, are you okay!?" Nolan asked.
"No, I'm not okay! Feels like someone took a weed whacker to my f***in' neck." Darryl complained.
"There's more of them!" Brock warned as three zombies walked towards us with deadly curiosity.
"We need to get back to- AHH F***!" Nolan shouted as two zeds appeared from behind a dumpster and pinned him to the ground, biting him with vicious hunger.
He was dead in seconds as the undead ripped him open, devouring his insides. May and Ash vomited, Brock looked away, gagging, and I did as well, able to stomach it a little better than the others.
"Nolan! No!" Darryl shouted.
We all backed away into the street, the zombies ignoring us with their newfound meal. I grabbed Darryl and led him towards the pokémart.
"We need to get to your hideout." I told him. "Nolan's gone now, there's nothing we can do."
"We can't just leave 'em there!" He argued angrily.
"Do you want to fight every one of those things?" I asked.
He didn't say any more.
I didn't like being this harsh. I knew what he was going through. I had suffered the loss of a friend, too.
I got Ash, Brock and May to follow, and we reached the pokémart. Darryl weakly knocked on the gate with a meaningful pattern that I quickly tried to memorize.
The gate opened, and two men greeted us.
"Arceus, Darryl! What happened to you? Who are these people?"
"Got… bit… Nolan dead… Survivors… from crash… boat…"
"Arceus, not Nolan. sigh Let's get you inside. We just set up the infirmary." He said, gently guiding Darryl through the gate. "You four, come too. We can't have you sitting out there with all the cursed ones running about."
We walked through the gate, it closing and locking behind us. The others were being very quiet, most likely shaken up by Nolan's death. Even I was a little numbed by it. It was just so unexpected.
There was a fair amount of space enclosed by the fence. It started in front and wrapped around the right side of the pokémart in an L-shape. Next to the pokémart was a large tent; that was where the man who greeted us was taking Darryl. A man and a woman came up to us.
"Damnit!" The guy cursed. "More people? There too many of us as is!"
"Would you calm down? They helped Darryl out; we can't just send them away!"
"Grrr, girl's got the sense Arceus gave a Zigzagoon!" He said to himself, and then walked of angrily.
The woman turned to the four of us.
"Sorry about Kenn. He can be a real jerk sometimes. And thank you for helping Darryl."
The others were still too numb to respond, so I did.
"Sorry about Nolan."
"There is no need to be sorry, he will be missed. He was a good friend."
Now I felt bad about saying anything.
"I should probably show you guys around the place. If you'll follow-"
"Hey, Lida! We need to send someone out for meds!"
"We went over this Scott, we don't have anyone to send!" Lida argued.
The man, Scott, grew frustrated. "You better tell that to Darryl, Doc needs medicine or Darryl might not pull through."
"What do you expect me to do!?" Lida shouted back.
I must be out of my mind.
"Uh, I could go look for you." I said.
"What? No you don't have to- you just got here."
"No, I'll do it."
I was definitely out of my mind.
Ash and the others looked at me with shock. Lida thought for a second, then looked at me.
"Alright, come with me."
She led me into the pokémart. The shelves were pushed up against the walls to clear up space, and what little space there was taken up be sleeping bags. They had a radio setup on the counter, probably to try to find help. Lida walked over to the counter and grabbed a few things.
"Just put your stuff right there."
Alright. I slid my bag off and set it against the counter. She handed me a bag, a map, and a hand-held radio.
"If you find somewhere up high, try to get a look around. That map should help you navigate, if you need anything we can keep in touch with that radio. We give one to anybody we send out there."
"Alright, is there anywhere I should look?"
"I think there was a pharmacy a few blocks from here. You could check there."
I walked out the door of the mart and stopped for a moment. I should tell the others I'm leaving; see how they're doing. They were still pretty shook up.
I looked around for them, and spotted them off on their own by the wall to my left.
Brock looked up at me when I reached them.
"You can't seriously consider going out there." He said, trying to dissuade me.
"I don't see why not, we're kind of stuck here, guys. We can't just sit here."
"But they let us stay here, why do we need to worry?" May asked.
" 'Cause it won't work that way. We're going to run out of food eventually, and if we don't pull our own weight, they'll kick us out."
"What? Why?" Ash asked in surprise. "Why would they do that?"
"Guys, this is different than what you're used to. Society is gone and things have changed. This is survival now. We'll have to forage for our basic needs. If we just sit around wasting resources… they'll cut us loose."
"No, it can't be like that. That's…"
"It is, guys. We can't be little kids about this! That guy died!" I argued. "I'm going out there. I'm going to make this place safe. So we can stay."
I walked away and headed for the gate. The two guys from before saw me coming and started opening the gate.
"We heard about what you're doing. Stay safe out there."
I nodded and walked through the gate.
A decayed world greeted me.