AN: I am so sorry for not posting in a while. I was planning on finishing this chapter about a week ago before my family and I went on a family vacation (I am also sorry for not informing you guys about that. I have no excuses). I also had a difficult time debating with myself on how to write this chapter (how to introduce it, if Dipper and Dave should have another conflict again, etc.), which took me a while to do. I also may or may not have procrastinated by playing video games and watching Youtube videos a lot.
The light breeze brushed against the sand, with the tumbleweed blowing off into the distance as a result. With a few clouds in the sky, it will not be unbelievably hot, but there will not be a thunderstorm in the near future. The sun cast a pallet of red, orange and yellow colors as it rose from the horizon, while the nocturnal animals quietly scampered into the ground. Overall, it is a peaceful scene. That would soon change
The horde of zombies approaching the Pines family and Crazy Dave were out for blood and brains. To Dipper, it seemed almost goofy that some of the zombies were wearing hats, mainly hats resembling traffic cones and buckets, on their heads, but slightly variant due to the different time period. The journal did not tell him anything in terms of undead headwear. Then again, it was perhaps because the author was not intrigued enough into surviving an apocalypse as long as Crazy Dave has. Although Dipper and Dave are focusing on protecting the lawn from the zombies, Mabel and Stan are preoccupied with other activities.
Mabel Pines, deep in thought, is just as confused as what time period they are currently in as the last time her and her brother went time-travelling. Although her intelligence is great, her knowledge of time periods is a different story. For example, when Dipper and her used time travel at a country fair, both got into a fight over who could control the time machine. However, during the argument, they accidentally went back in time to the pioneer ages, which Mabel confused it with the '70's.' For this reason, Dipper facepalmed when Mabel exclaims, "Where are we? The 80's?!", while staring at the tape measurer
Stan Pines rushes around the wagon, but only for a slightly more unexpected reason than you might expect. He is well aware that this era had no paper currency (The dollar bill was created in 1862, the year the gang is in currently is 1860), and that during this time period gold is high on the market. Instead of worrying about the impending doom, Stan instead grabs a metal detector from under his fez, (don't ask him how he got it there. It may or may not have been stolen), as well as a pickaxe from the side of the wagon, Grunkle Stan went to work finding all the metals and potential money-makers as he can. Once he first detects a metal, he begins to dig at a inhumane digging speed. Needless to say, he wants dough, really badly.
While Dipper ponders the meaning of the spruce of zombie intellect, Mabel wondering what the year currently is, and Stan milking the moment of riches, Crazy Dave is getting ready for the onslaught already. Dave unstrapped the backpack he was carrying around, unzipped the zipper and began to pull out some plant seeds. It seemed fairly easy, almost like it is the start of a new zombie apocalypse instead of the middle of the old one. Dipper stops for a moment to glance at Dave, only to be infuriated once again as he realizes what Crazy Dave's plan of action is. Instead of using an actual weapon, Crazy Dave was going to use the same pea plant that attacked the government agents at the party. With the sole intention of stopping the escalation of possible failure of protecting themselves against the horde, Dipper snatches the backpack from Dave.
"Are you crazy, old man?!" Dipper roars, "Last time you planted something, you started this zombie outbreak! Maybe I should be the one to plant your plants, instead of you, geyser!" Dave retaliates by grabbing the backpack back, gargling his incoherent language again, roughly translating to how he had more skill in planting than Dipper.
Another tug-of-war breaks out, without Stan or Mabel noticing. Soon after, it escalates to punching, kicking and shoving. Dipper got a cut on his forehead, underneath where a hidden birthmark (a Big/Little Dipper), hence how Dipper got the nickname "Dipper." Crazy Dave got a black eye, with each eye already facing different directions before the fight, somehow. The brawl lasted for about five minutes, and ended due to an unexpected reason. A scream, more importantly, Grunkle Stan's and Mabel's scream, could be heard.
In fear of what happened to the two, both Dipper and Crazy Dave stop fighting and look over in the direction of where the other duo is looking. While their fight occurred, the zombies made some serious progress stumbling towards the home, almost two meters away from it (assuming that in the "Plants vs Zombies" game, every tile is both one meter in length and width). And, more importantly, two meters away from the gang. It was too late to plant even a sunflower, a plant that is responsible for giving energy in order for other plants to grow. It was too late to travel back in time to reset the zombies' progress (Mabel was still busy contemplating the year, and Stan trying to find a p dig out some gold that he found).
All hope seemed to be lost, with the crew tightly closing their eyes, ready for the impact of being infected by the undead. The moans and groans of the zombies becoming more loud as they advanced. The shuffling and the stumbling of the zombies left imprints on unhumane footprints on the ground. The stench of flesh began to clutter in the gang's noses. It was game over…
…
…
…
Well, almost. Fortunately, the sound of stam and a horn alerted the zombies and the crew, causing the zombies to shift their glance towards a locomotive heading straight towards their rotten faces. The sound of zombie destruction was heard, with heads and arms popping off all the zombies as they were hit by the train. It was unclear who was driving the mechanical, old (if you could call it that, during this time period), and sputtering machine, but one thing's for certain. It took down every last zombie. Dipper, Mabel, Dave and Stan all open their eyes very slowly, making sure that what they had heard was real, and sure enough, they could see a train off in the distance. The gang let out a sigh of relief. It was over.
Due to their "victory," Stan, Mabel and Dave all had a dance party, for they lived to see another day. Although the three were occupied with the celebration, Dipper noticed something that one of the zombies dropped right after being hit by the train. It was a journal… no wait… an almanac, still in prime condition. It was a strange, little book. Dipper rapidly flipped through the book, (after all, he spent all summer speed-reading his journal). Each page contained a painting of what Dipper assumed to be either a specific plant, or a zombie. It surprised Dipper that almost no recorded data could be said about anything in the almanac.
Right before Dipper closed the almanac, a strange light could be seen inside of it. When Dipper curiously opened to the pages with the pulses of blinding light emanating from them, Dipper was forced to momentarily close his eyes, and to reopen to find two pages (and flipped once, three) of notes filled with surprisingly easy-to-read text. The pages contain information about the three zombies previously seen on the lawn minutes ago. While looking at the pages, Dipper contemplates whether or not he should show the gang what he found. Who knows what Crazy Dave might do with it. Peering at the happy group, Dipper began to worry a bit. There is more zombies in the book that they have not discovered yet, and could be potentially dangerous in the future, if the crew were to encounter them. One thing for certain was, he couldn't fight with Dave anymore. Even if he didn't appreciate the idea, Dipper recognized that an alliance between him and Dave was necessary for survival.
Nightfall occurred sooner than expected, with everyone entering the wagon to sleep the night away. While the group dozed off, a figure glanced into one of the "windows" of the wagon, only to slip away into the darkness once the sun began to rise twelve hours later.
AN: I don't know if I told you guys this before, but I will never give up on this fanfic. Even if my storytelling skills are not the best, and it may take a while for me to be done with chapters, I will prevail until the resolution of the story.
AN (continued): One of the zombies I am thinking of is not part of the gold rush, but is based on a very important figure of this time period.
AN (final one, I promise): If you guys like listening to Plants vs Zombies music and remixes of the original game's music, might I suggest the YouTube channel "Noteblock." I find their remixes to be outstanding personally, so maybe check them out. They also do remixes of other games, as well. I do not own, nor am I a part of the channel in any way, shape or form. I am just sharing a channel that I like. #NotSponsored.