It's time for another chapter! Previously, zombie-like creatures have begun to ravage the city, and the Total Drama contestants are trapped in the middle of it. Luckily, Kate and her partner, Ryan are bringing a convoy to lead them out of the city. But what Gwen doesn't know is that she has a connection to the attack. A connection that will determine her fate in this life and death situation.

Aztec 13: Of course, and that connection will bring something extraordinary down the line for the fate of the group.

evolution-500: The tenses and character depth I need to work on. Other than that, you can give advice to many aspiring writers on this site!

The group were hesitant to go down the hotel fire exit. Who wouldn't? But ultimately, they all decided to go to the fourth floor, despite the concerns. Between rushing recklessly to the barricade and holing up helplessly on the roof of the hotel, the middle ground of staying on the fourth floor seemed like the best course of action. But it isn't without its flaws though. An apparent one is the fact that there was only one fire exit in the whole building that is the only access to the floors below, as well as a path for the creatures to get to them.

"We should also stop by the private quarters of the hotel staff." Zoey states.

"If you're suggesting we try and go save the hotel staff, we should worry about our own safety first." Duncan retorts.

"I mean, think about it. Think about the utensils they use. You certainly don't see them eating in the hotel restaurant." Courtney states.

"Are you guys seriously wishing to gamble on that presumption?" Harold asks. "Even if it were true, the best we could get is a single kitchen knife."

"We can make use of that." Scott states.

"But still. We can't have any last minute decisions. We are treading close to the danger zone." Gwen reminds the group. "Remember what we've discussed. These things aren't infectious, but we don't know what kind of variety they have."

Hearing this, the concerns turned silent as they tried to take in what Gwen said. But Gwen herself was staying alert, looking down the stairwell to look for any signs of trouble.

"Hey, Zoey? Remember while we were talking about the situation back down there?" Gwen asks. "You addressed something weird about the AMS being here, right?"

"Yeah. They're mostly working in the US." Zoey states. "Why would they be operating here on Canadian soil?"

"I don't really have the answer to that. I only know that my dad worked there. James Taylor." Gwen states.

"When did you say your dad died again?" Zoey asks.

"June 12, 2003." Gwen says. "Died stopping a terrorist attack in Italy, as far as I know."

"A terrorist attack in Italy? Something like that happened back in 2000." Zoey states. "The AMS went to Italy to stop both attacks. Isn't that weird?"

"Yeah. It's weird. There's a connection I can't seem to grasp in all this." Gwen sighed in slight frustration. "But our current goal is just to survive. If we somehow manage to do that, I'll be the one to ask Kate about this."

Arc 1 Chapter 3: Middle Ground

"Not this thing again!" Kate exclaimed in seeing the armored creature.

The armored creature then notices Kate from the window. Ignoring the chaos around it, it began to swing around its bardiche, striking a nearby car and sending its hood cover flying towards her.

"Shit! It saw me!" Kate yelled.

The hood cover crashes through the window, almost grazing Kate's neck as she tumbles to the side. She takes many deep breaths to assess the situation.

"The evac isn't finished, but these things already began showing up?!" Kate exclaimed in worry. "I gotta scan it!"

Kate takes out her PDA and hurries to the window. She points the camera at the armored creature, and the device begins to get information on it. The red pages that have popped up after tells Kate everything she needs to know.

The Chariot

Type: 27

Classification: Armored Bioweapon

"Looks like things haven't changed." Kate commented. "Better get out the back, so I can fight that thing out of the civilian's vicinity."

Just after, gunshots were heard on the first floor as the police began to storm into the hotel. Kate was perplexed by this. And the surprise escalated yet again as Chariot was seen running at the building.

"The police! Oh no!" Kate then bolted out of the room to the fire exit.

"Heather?! Where are you going?!" Cody noticed what she was doing.

Heather has already opened the locked door to the fire exit. The survivors on the roof shot up in surprise at seeing this bold action.

"Oh come on, Cody. I know you aren't even going to think about who Kate Green is." Heather states.

"Hold on?! Are you going to turn her in?!" Shawn asked. "Are we just gonna send someone who we're unaffiliated with to be slaughtered by these things?!"

"Well, it's better than to stay up here and hope for a miracle that'll keep the building standing." Heather states. "Besides, she seems to have a connection to this fucking disaster."

"Do you even know what she looks like?" Jasmine asked.

"No, but I have an idea on where to start. I am not gonna stay here and cower." Heather sighed. "Alejandro, want to come?"

"Of course. I'm not gonna let you go alone." Alejandro states. "So while you guys stay up here, we're gonna actually do something about this."

"Just know that if you guys actually do survive, you had almost nothing to do with it." Heather snarked at the group.

The two resident mean contestants shut the door on the roof survivors and began to go down the fire exit. The group wondered what to do in this situation. The two have a point, they shouldn't stay up there. But on the other hand, it would be too risky for such a vague reward.

"Ugh. I'm going down." Shawn sighed heavily at the increasingly complicated situation. "Do any of you have anything I can use as a weapon?"

"I've got a Swiss Army knife here. But I'm not gonna let you go alone." Jasmine states.

"Then, what am I gonna use?" Shawn asked.

Suddenly, Eva tosses a toolbox at the center of the group. The box crashes open with multiple carpentry tools that interesr a lot of them there.

"Take a pick. I'll go barehanded." Eva began to stretch. "Do we have an agreement that Heather shouldn't be doing this?"

"Of course." Shawn then took on a stern look as he went to grab a crowbar.

"I'll go with you. Frankly, I'm worried about where Chris is, but that isn't important now." Chef exclaimed as he brandished his cleavers. "You kids be safe. We have to save the rest of the participants of this fucking reunion downstairs."

"Of course. We're in this together whether we like it or not." Jasmine bolstered with resolve.

"I'll hold down the fort." Sky stated.

Shawn opened the door to lead the group down the fire exit, not knowing that the bigger danger was below them.

"Whoo! Man! This is more intense than I expected!" MacArthur exclaimed as she and the rest of the police cleared the creatures of the first floor.

"Well, let's hope the back of the hotel is locked shut. We can rest a bit if that's the case." Sanders tried to stay optimistic.

As they moved through the hallway, suddenly, the wall at the end was bursted through, and Chariot was seen behind the horde of creatures.

"What the heck is that?!" Sanders exclaimed.

The Chariot then reaches out to grab one of the creatures and stretches his arm to prepare a throw.

"Shit! It's gonna throw!" MacArthur yelled out.

"Fall back! The commander pulls out a hand grenade.

As the platoon runs for the lobby, the commander leaves the grenade with the pin pulled in the hall. The grenade blows up, blasting almost the entire horde to smithereens. But that didn't stop the Chariot from throwing the creature at hand at the retreating squad.

"Gah!" Sanders tumbled onto the floor, taking the hit of the thrown creature onto her back. "Agh…"

"Sanders!" MacArthur exclaimed upon seeing this.

MacArthur turns back and shoots the remaining creatures coming her way. She then picks up her partner who was still reeling from the blow.

"You okay?" MacArthur asked.

"Crap, that hurt…" Sanders groaned in pain.

"Come on, let's get you back to the barricade." MacArthur reassures her partner.

A stray creature flies past the two, and they suddenly remember that Chariot was still standing. They turn to see the armored behemoth preparing another throw with a creature in its hand.

"Ah shit!" MacArthur exclaimed.

Chariot swings the creature at the two as they brace for impact. But rapid gunfire flew over the two, damaging the incoming creature enough that it disintigrates to dust midair.

"H-Huh?" MacArthur lifted head up to see who came to the rescue.

Kate was seen kicking a live grenade across the hall and above the two partners. Before Chariot can react, the grenade blows up directly in front of it. This stuns it a bit as well as ripping a sizable chunk of the armor off its chest.

"There! A piece of its body is exposed!" Sanders exclaimed in seeing this.

"That might be the case, but even if that hole was bigger, it would still be unfavorable for us here." Kate moved to the two. "These halls are too small to fight this thing in."

"Are you gonna lead it outside?! Next to the barricade?!" MacArthur asked in hearing this.

"No. I'm gonna lead it up a couple floors." Kate states. "This hotel has a conference room on the fourth floor big enough for a whole meeting. And I'm gonna fight it there."

"But… the fire exit is near the lobby." Sanders weakly stated.

"I know. But I can't bring you two to the barricade fast enough." Kate states. "Get into one of the rooms. Lock yourselves inside until we get an all clear."

"On it! Come on Sands!" MacArthur led her injured partner into the room.

As the two partners hole themselves up in an adjacent room, Kate turns to the Chariot who was beginning to charging at her.

"Well? Come on then!" Kate taunted the creature before heading to the fire exit.

Duncan opens up the door to the fourth floor of the hotel, checking both sides for any signs of infestation. The floor has completely been evacuated, possibly to the roof, and Duncan sighed in relief.

"Go, go, go." Duncan signals the group to advance.

"Follow me, I know where the conference room is." Courtney led the others cautiously through the floor.

As the group left the stairwell to a safer area, Gwen looked around the hall for something important.

"Got something you need to check out?" Duncan asked.

"No. But we at least gotta barricade the doors." Gwen turns her attention to a heavy table at the side of the hall. "Over here. This table's heavy enough."

"Okay. Let's get to work." Duncan states.

Just as they were about to move, the area around them shakes violently, as something big was moving through the fire exit.

"What the?!" Gwen exclaimed.

"Get behind cover!" Duncan then toppled the table over.

The two duck down behind the table in anticipation. Kate jumped out of the stairwell as she continues firing through the door.

"It's Kate again!" Gwen yelled out.

But because of the sound of the infrastructure breaking around them, as well as the continuous blast of gunfire, Kate didn't notice the two survivors nearby.

And all at once, Chariot breaks through the doorframe, imposing the two survivors to the side. It recklessly swung its bardiche at Kate, striking the walls and cieling in its rampage.

"Get back!" Duncan yelled.

The two stand back as parts of the cieling collapse, causing a barrier that seperated the two from the the danger that went on.

"Crap! Was that thing armored?!" Gwen exclaimed.

Kate then began leading the Chariot towards the conference room of the hotel. The two survivors sigh in relief as they notice that the armored behemoth is moving away from them. And then they realised the direction they were heading.

"Oh shit! She's heading for the others!" Gwen sprung up in realization.

"Oh yeah! Shit!" Duncan began to try and push away the rubble.

The two try to do the best they can to get the rubble out of their way, but this had no avail. Just as they were about to stop and find another way, Heather and Alejandro were seen walking through the destroyed doorframe.

"What happened here?!" Alejandro gasped at the amount of rubble left.

"Heather? Al? What are you doing down here?" Duncan was confused seeing the two.

"That's not the important question right now. Gwen, where is Kate Green?" Heather didn't hesitate to get confrontational.

"What? What do you want with her?" Gwen asked.

"That's not your concern, scarecrow. We need to find her before this whole building falls down." Heather stated.

"What?! What are you talking about?!" Duncan exclaimed.

"Some creature with wings flew up to the roof and gave us a decision. Either give up Kate Green to these zombies or have the entire building torn down." Alejandro explained.

"And why would we want to make her a sacrifice? She's an agent that's working her ass off to keep us alive!" Gwen retorted.

"So she is an agent. Not just a random civilian." Heather noted.

"So you were willing to sacrifice an innocent civilian?! What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Gwen exclaimed.

"That civilian, or whatever she is, has a connection to this attack!" Heather stared the goth girl down.

"All the more reason not to make her a sacrifice!" Gwen narrowed her eyes upon hearing this.

"Well, seeing you two being so defensive for her, the fact that she's an agent, and all this destruction around us. I say she was leading something big through this hallway. And pretty recently too." Alejandro stated. "Come, mi amor, the hallway loops around. We can intercept her that way."

"Not a chance." Duncan walked in their way before they could leave.

Duncan pulls his switchblade out and gets into position. All Alejandro could do was laugh at the threat.

"Please, Duncan. I have taken advanced fencing lessons since I was nine." Alejandro scoffed.

"Alejandro. He isn't who you should worry about." Heather warned.

"What do you mean?" Alejandro asked in confusion.

Suddenly, Gwen grabs Alejandro by the arm and sweeps him off his feet. After plowing him into the floor, she dodges a punch thrown by Heather.

"What the?!" Heather was surprised by the dodge.

Gwen quickly took the opportunity to grab Heather on the arm and throw her above her shoulder.

"Hah!" Gwen let out a battle cry as Heather hit the floor head on.

Once the two were on the floor reeling from the force of impact, Gwen turned to Duncan who was in shock of her Judo skills.

"Whoa, that ended quicker than I expected." Duncan exclaimed.

"No time. We gotta get to the others before that armored shithead gets to them." Gwen stated.

Duncan nodded to this prospect, and the two sprint down the hallway, wishing to get to the others before it's too late.

"Heather! Hurry! We have to get to Kate before they do!" Alejandro got up, still clutching his chest in pain.

"Let's… go…" Heather weakly got up before the two started running.

Kate ran quicker than the Chariot so that it won't be able to destroy the infrastructure around it to get to her. She was getting considerably tired, but she tries to push on. But she sees something unexpected as she turns the corner near the conference room.

"Quick! Get in!" Courtney led the rest of the survivors into the conference room.

"Wait! What about Gwen and Duncan?! They're still back there!" Owen exclaimed.

"They've stayed back to block the fire exit. They should be on their way back." Courtney stated. "I'm gonna go back for- what the?!"

Courtney was just as surprised as Kate in this situation. The two just stared at each other wondering what the other was doing at the moment.

"What the- who are you?!" Courtney asked.

"Oh no, more civilians!" Kate exclaimed.

A piece of the corner next to Kate gets destroyed in a swing by Chariot, sending a piece of shrapnel flying. Kate manages to dodge the shrapnel, and it just barely grazes Courtney's face in the process.

"Whoa!" Courtney exclaimed.

Chariot turned the corner and roared in undead fury. Courtney took a step back, gasping at the sight of the imposing figure in front of her.

"Shit! I was just leading this thing into that conference room!" Kate exclaimed.

"What?! But we managed to get here first!" Courtney exclaimed.

"Ugh. I know." Kate sighed. "Do you know any other large room I can fight this thing in?"

"Um… no?" Courtney exclaimed.

"Then get your friends to get away from there. I'll try to hold this thing off." Kate says.

Courtney reluctantly heads into the conference room as Kate turned to face the armored behemoth with the risk of the walls collapsing around her; something she's definitely not looking forward to. The others are confused in seeing Courtney's hasty return.

"What was that sound?!" Lindsay asked.

"Some big armored monstrosity just appeared, and it was chasing some blonde woman with a gun." Courtney explained.

"Wait, blonde woman?" Mike exclaimed. "That must be Kate Green!"

"Who now?" Tyler didn't recognise the name.

"She's someone from the AMS. An American agency. Somehow, they're operating up here in Canada." Zoey explained.

"Gwen met her a while ago. And recently, we found out that Kate has a connection to this shitstorm." Scott stated. "But did you say armored behemoth?"

"Yeah. And Kate is currently fighting that son of a bitch." Courtney exclaimed. "We gotta get out of here. She needs this conference room to fight that thing. If she continues fighting in the halls, the foundation might give way!"

"What?! No way!" Leshawna stood up upon hearing this. "We've already put ourselves at a risk by coming down here. You expect us to give up this opportunity?"

"Listen. This isn't just about taking risks. It's adapting whenever the situation changes." Noah looks at Leshawna. "We're not gonna hole up here just because we took considerable risk to take it."

"Don't you start with that smart-assing, Noah." Leshawna growled.

"Ah crap!" Gwen's voice was heard from outside.

"What the?" Leshawna exclaimed. "Was that Gwen?"

With a lot of concern, many of the group approached the door and saw Gwen and Duncan through the window.

"We gotta get them away from that creature." Gwen stated.

"Not so fast!" Alejandro's voice echoed through the halls.

Gwen and Duncan, as well as those watching from the conference room, turn to see Alejandro and Heather, who have brought a fire hose with them.

"Get out our way, butterballs!" Heather exclaimed.

"Seriously, just what do you think will happen if this happens?!" Gwen asked.

"What happens is that we'll have a better chance at surviving in this shitstorm!" Alejandro exclaimed.

"How are you so sure that this will work in your favor?" Duncan asked.

"It's better than letting that thing go on a rampage." Alejandro refered to the Chariot.

Suddenly, the sound of glass breaking was heard behind the mean duo. They turn to see more of the clawed impish creatures crashing through the nearby windows.

"What the?! They have claws now?!" Heather exclaimed.

"Stand back!" Alejandro stated.

Alejandro turned to aim the hose at the incoming creatures. He pulls a lever, and a massive blast of water is released.

"Duncan. We better check on the others." Gwen exclaimed.

"Alright." Duncan nodded.

But as the two turn, Kate was seen skidding on the floor from a hit, stopping directly in front of the door of the conference room.

"Kate?!" Gwen exclaimed.

"What the?!" Kate noticed the presence of the others.

Chariot then trudged imposingly above the group as it prepared to swing its bardiche.

"Gotta move!" Kate yelled.

"Outta the way!" Courtney pushed the group away from the door.

Kate rolled back as the Chariot swung the bardiche horizontally, directly into the door of the conference room. The door along with part of the wall around it get thrashed away, hitting Courtney who managed to moved everyone away from the door

"Gah!" Courtney gets punctured at the side by a piece of wood.

"Court!" Duncan yelled out.

"Oh no!" Gwen exclaimed.

"Heather! Fall back to the conference room! This is getting too dangerous!" Alejandro yelled out.

Heather and Duncan hurried to the conference room for different reasons. Gwen turned to Kate who was reloading her PDW while in a tired state.

"Are you okay?" Kate asked.

"Yeah. But this is a really dangerous situation!" Gwen exclaimed. "I can't believe how bad this plan went! We shouldn't have gone for the middle ground!"

"Hey. Don't beat yourself up. At least you're trying." Kate gave a reassuring look. "Try to help your friends. Don't focus on past mistakes."

Tyler helped Duncan move Courtney to a safer place. But Heather was seen passing by nonchalantly.

"And where the fuck are you going?!" Duncan asked.

"To get to a safer place, duh?" Heather exclaimed.

"Oh no. Not with what shit you and Al tried to pull." Duncan argued.

"What did she try to do?" Lindsay asked.

"She tried to sacrifice that agent outside in hopes of surviving!" Duncan explained.

"Sha-what?!" Lightning exclaimed.

"You were doing what?" Leshawna turned to Heather with an angry look. "You better have some semblance of an excuse to even try and defend yourself!"

"Get bent. Something flew up to the roof of the hotel and said if we don't give her up, this whole building goes down with us." Heather explained. "Now there's no use bothering to explain to you guys since even I know that sounds absurd."

"Even if that were the case, you shouldn't just sacrifice someone you have no affiliation with!" Beth yelled.

"Oh boy. Things are starting to get heated over there." Gwen stated.

"This isn't the place to be arguing. Calm them down and get them away from the area." Kate suggested. "This thing's only targeting me."

"Is that because you're an AMS agent? How come?" Gwen asked.

"Listen. This isn't the time." Kate sighed as Chariot trudged closer and closer. "Hurry up before that thing attacks again."

"Do not give us that shit, Heather!" Lindsay yelled up and grat the mean girl. "Don't you think it's enough to drop that fucking attitude?!"

"Fuck off! I was doing what I could to survive!" Heather shook off the blonde.

"That doesn't matter. It seems what I said back in Island didn't go through!" Lindsay yelled while slightly shedding tears. "For once in your life! Consider other people than yourself!"

"Guys! You shouldn't be fighting!" Gwen sprinted towards the conference room.

"I said back OFF!" Heather yelled.

Just as Heather shoved Lindsay backwards, Chariot turned to Gwen and swung at her. Kate didn't have a sliver of a moment to react, and Gwen could only turn at the bardiche coming at her.

"Gah!" Gwen yelped as the blade managed to slice her right eye.

As Gwen dropped down in pain, the bardiche slams heavily through the walls of the conference room and strikes a part of the foundation. The area of the struck foundation begins to fall apart, and debris begin to break off into the fourth floor.

"It's falling down!" Jo yelled.

As the group steered clear of the collapsing cieling. Heather realised something's wrong. She turns back to see Lindsay still reeling from the shove, frightful of the danger around her.

"Guys…" Lindsay lets out a fearful call.

The cieling gives way, and many were shocked to see Lindsay being crushed under the rubble. Heather began to sweat in fear of what happened before her, but she doesn't know why.

"L-Linds?" Tyler gasped in seeing his girlfriends.

"No…" Beth covered her mouth in shock.

"Lindsay!" Everyone who was fond of the ignorant blonde cried out.

This took a major mood switch. Normally I try to keep the weight and emotions to a minimum, but I decided to throw that out the window. Lindsay, someone who was undeniabke close to Heather, has perished. How will this affect her and her fate? Find out soon.