Hey, guys. I'm back with another chapter. Please, enjoy.
"You ready to check this out?"
Clem nodded, as they opened the doors, and were greeted by a cool sight.
"Are you kidding me...?" Clem whispered, in wonder.
The duo were on the ground floor, next to the cars with the windows they smashed. In front of them, a carousal was lit up, and operable.
"Wait, won't the soldiers spot the mall all lit up?" asked Clem.
"Nah. The exterior lights don't work." said Angel.
"How do you know?" asked Clem.
"This Firefly, Valerie, told me." said Angel.
Clem and Angel walked up to the carousal, and Clem got on one of the horses, while Angel worked the control panel. The carousal started to move, the horses going up and down.
"Oh, this is SO cool!" said Clem. "Come on, Angel! Come sit with me!"
"No, it's okay. Go. You got this." said Angel.
One minute or two later, Angel hopped onto the ride, and sat on a horse next to Clem's. However, without someone operating the controls, the carousal started to slow down, then stop.
"Oh, no, no, no, no." whined Angel. "Ugh, and I just go on. LIVE! Phooey."
"Well, I loved it, so there." Clem teased.
Angel just smirked back. "Oh, I almost forgot. I got you something else."
"What is it?" Clem asked, as Angel pulled out a small book from her backpack.
Angel cleared her throat, and read, "What did the triangle say to the circle?"
Clem gasped, with joy. "What is that?"
"You're so pointless." Angel giggled.
"Fuck you! You found another book?!" Clem grinned.
"What did the cannibal get, when he showed up to the party late?" Angel read, again.
Clem gave a thinking look, until Angel gave the punch line.
"A cold shoulder."
Both girls guffawed.
"Here. This is for you." Angel said, handing the book to Clem.
"Y'know, you just might be my favorite person again. Just saying." Clem grinned.
"I know my girl. Just saying." Angel grinned back.
The duo got off the carousal, and walked around the mall, listening to Clem read more jokes. Most of the jokes were hilarious, some were weak, and some were more, 'Meh'. Once the girls were all joked out, Clem put the book in her pack.
"Alright, I'm putting this away, for later. Hey, thanks for getting me this." said Clem.
"No prob." said Angel. "Oh, the photo booth's on. Clem, we are so doing this."
The girls ran to the now operating phone booth, and stepped inside. Inside, was a screen, and three buttons below. Above the screen, was the camera lens. Clem pushed the middle button to start the camera shoot. The screen showed the option of three different themes to pick. There was love, friends, and coolness. Clem pushed the middle one for friends, since it made sense, for her and Angel are best friends.
For one picture, Angel did bunny ears behind Clem's head. Next one, Clem and Angel pretended to look scary, getting close to the camera. Next one, they made puffer fish faces, blowing up their cheeks. Last one, they made pig noses, holding up their noses, and speaking like pigs. Once the shots were done, the screen showed a row of all four pictures they took.
"We look so stupid." said Clem.
"Stupidly awesome." grinned Angel.
Clem hit the button for 'okay, then the screen turned to ask if the pictures could go on Furbook. Unfortunately, there was no internet connection, ever since the start of the pandemic. So, Clem pressed the right button for no. The screen changed to the print option. Clem pressed the middle button to print, but it said no ink. No ink meant no pictures.
Clem pressed the button again, but still no pictures. Clem jabbed at the button several more times, and still nothing. Clem and Angel began whacking at the screen, until the screen went dark, and the power turned off on the photo booth.
"Uh-oh." said Angel.
"What just happened?" asked Clem.
"I think we broke it." Angel grinned, sheepishly.
"Yeah, I think we did." Clem grinned back.
The girls sighed, then sunk back against the booth wall, relaxed.
"So..." both girls said, simultaneously.
"Wanna keep exploring?" Angel asked.
"Heck yeah." said Clem.
The girls stepped out of the booth, and towards the escalator, when the loudspeaker was heard from outside.
"Attention. The six A.M. shift starts in ten minutes." the loudspeaker announced.
"Ugh, I hate that lady." Clem said, annoyingly. "Why does she have to sound like such a dick?"
"I know. Here's how I'd do it." said Angel.
"Attention. The six A.M. shift starts in ten minutes." said Angel, in a more cheeky tone.
"Okay, let me try." Clem giggled, then copied the same tone. "All citizens are required to carry their ID card, at all times."
"Report all signs of suspicious activity to local administrator." Angel mocked, again. "Remember..."
"Inaction cost lives." Clem and Angel said, simultaneously. Then, they both giggled.
"Now, that sounds better." Angel laughed.
With another good chuckle in, the duo headed towards the now operating escalator, and rode it up to the next floor.
"Whoa! Look at me!" Clem grinned, as she enjoyed the thrill of riding up the escalator, almost like on an amusement ride.
At the top of the second floor, Clem felt her tail wag, at yet another cool sight.
"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me!" Clem beamed, with joy.
"Told you so." Angel grinned.
The duo were at the entrance to 'Raja's Arcade'. Amongst the arcade was many old-school video games, shooting games, and racing games. There was even a puck board game, and a skill crane game. However, just about all the games were wrecked, except for one game. It was Angel and Clem's favorite, 'The Turning'. It had power, but it was all static.
"Oh, man." Clem muttered, her ears slanting back. "Man, I thought for a second, I was gonna play it."
"You still can." said Angel.
Angel then guided Clem's paws towards the controls.
"Red button is kick. Green is your punch, purple is your block. The stick helps you move." Angel instructed. "Now, close your eyes. Okay?"
"Really?" Clem raised an eyebrow.
"Do it." said Angel.
Clem closed her eyes, listening to Angel's voice. "Your character is the super-dangerous, yet jaw-dropping gorgeous vixen, Angel Knives."
Clem opened her eyes, again. "Am I supposed to picture all of this?"
"Eyes!" Angel insisted, before continuing. "You stand at the edge of the shadow temple. Your opponent is Blackfang. He's this super ripped grizzly bear dude, with three arms. You both stand on the edge of the fighting arena. Are you ready?"
"Bring it!" Clem said, pumped.
With her eyes closed, Clem could imagine she was actually playing the game. Clem could actually see it on the screen, and hear the sound of the game. Angel was next to her, telling her advice on blocks and dodges to attacks, super combos, and rapid attacks. Clem could see her character, Angel Knives, not taking a single hit, while Blackfang's health bar was dwindling. When the opponent's health bar was empty, Clem could hear the game's narrative saying,
"Finish him."
With one, long last combo, Clem sat back as Angel narrated the last part of the battle.
"Angel Knives starts clawing at Blackfang's chest, over and over, until blood and guts start flying out of his body. Angel Knives jumps in the air, and roundhouse kicks Blackfang's head clean off, a geyser of blood fills the entire battle arena. That is an ultra kill. Angel Knives throws her fists in the air. You win." said Angel.
"Oh, nice. Yeah, I win!" said Clem, opening her eyes.
"Not bad for your first game." said Angel. "So?"
"It was alright." Clem smirked.
"You loved it." Angel grinned, playfully punching Clem in the shoulder.
"Yeah, I guess I did." Clem chuckled.
"Oh, hey. You hear that?" Angel said, turning towards the sound of classic music, coming from behind the back door. "Come on, let's check it out."
"Angel." Clem called. "I think I should really head back."
"You've got plenty of time." Angel insisted.
"Angel, I don't have any more strikes at this place." said Clem. "We can always pick this up, tomorrow."
Angel frowned at the word, 'tomorrow'.
"I can't." she admitted.
"Okay, we'll just do it some other night, then." said Clem.
Angel shook her head.
"Okay, Firefly girl. When?" asked Clem.
"They asked me to leave." said Angel, meaning the Fireflies.
"Leave what?" asked Clem.
"Boston." Angel admitted.
"I'm supposed to join up with another group, led by the second-in-command, Judy Hopps, in another city. I argued with them to stay here. But, you know how Dawn is. Nothing's easy with her. Everything's a test. They're picking me up, tomorrow."
Clem just stood there, unsure what to do with the processed information her best friend just gave her.
"Okay." Clem simply said.
"That's it?" asked Angel.
"Well, what do you want me to say?" asked Clem.
"I dunno. How about some friendly advice?" Angel retorted, to which Clem scoffed. "I'm serious."
"Why'd you even bring me here?" asked Clem.
"I wanted to see you." said Angel.
"No, why'd you bring me HERE?" Clem repeated.
"I don't know." Angel admitted.
"You don't know." Clem shook her head. "You want my advice? Go. C'mon, let's just say our goodbyes, now."
"I wanna go check out this music, first." Angel said, then walked out of the back door.
"Angel. Angel!" Clem called, to no avail. "Dammit."
Clem took off after the snow leopard, the back door leading to a hallway.
"Where did she go? Angel! Angel!" Clem called.
Clem rushed down the hallway, past a storage room, and through the double doors, leading to a clothes department of the mall. It also served as a TV, kitchen, and laundry room aisle, along with a radio aisle. One side of the room was mostly clothing, while a small corner displayed wide screen TV's, fridges, washing machines, and small radios, which explained where the music was coming from. There, she found Angel, standing next to a coat style display.
"You ever seen anything like this?" asked Angel.
"So, what? Are we just done talking about this?" Clem asked.
"I dunno. Are we?" Angel retorted.
"Hey, you don't get to be ticked off at me. I'm the one who's ticked off at you." said Clem.
"For what? Asking you what you think?" retorted Angel.
"When have you ever cared about what I think?!" Clem retorted back.
"We were good. We were better than good, but then you told me to go piss off, and then you just up and vanish! This whole day... Do you even feel guilty? You want an out? Well, I-I'm giving it to you!"
"I'm supposed to be held up on the other side of town. I get caught as a Firefly, I'm as good as toast. Guilt didn't make me cross a city full of soldiers, Clementine!" said Angel. "And, yeah. I did some crap that I don't know how to take back, but I'm trying. Speaking of which, here."
Angel took off her backpack, unzipped it open, and threw it on the ground. Out came the two water guns, the same that Clem and Angel had taken away.
"Those water guns you kept talking about, I nearly got shot for these. Surprise." said Angel.
Clem just stood there. Taking a deep breath, Clem thought she was still mad at Angel for leaving, and leaving again. Yet, for her to go do something like this for her, anyone would be lucky to have Angel for a friend, and here she was, being a stubborn fox about it, as usual. Clem reached down, and grabbed the two water guns, handing one to Angel.
"Okay, here's how we're gonna do it." said Clem. "First, one of us tries to destroy the other. One quick game. Then, we'll talk more."
Angel smirked, pumping up her water gun. "You're about to get drenched."
"Let's see what you got, Firefly girl." Clem smirked, pumping up her water gun.
"Come on! Show me what you got." Angel teased.
Clem came squirting at Angel. Angel returned fire. The two teens took cover behind cashier desks, and kept spraying at one another, also trying to block the streams of water with their arms, to avoid getting completely soaked. In the end, Clem had gotten Angel soaked, the most.
"Ha! Destroyed you! Told ya!" Clem smirked.
"Please, I'm barely that wet." said Angel.
"What? You are delusional." said Clem.
"Okay, how about this? I go hide, you count. We hunt each other down, and it's over if you get squirted once. Best two out of three." said Angel.
"Okay, go hide." said Clem, closing her eyes. "One, two, three, four, five!"
Clem opened her eyes, and pumped her water gun. With her acute hearing, Clem could hear Angel hiding in the clothes section of the store. Crouching, she crawled around to see Angel, hiding behind a display hanger of t-shirts. There was one red t-shirt Clem was eyeballing that looked to be her style, but shook her head to concentrate, only to realize Angel was gone. Clem immediately ducked when Angel fired at her, but Clem landed her hit, before Angel could land a hit on her.
"Oops, nice try." said Clem.
"Lucky move." said Angel. "Count it down."
"Okay." Clem closed her eyes, again. "One, two, three, four, five."
Clem opened her eyes, and reloaded her water gun. "Time to be annihilated."
Clem used her hearing to try to find Angel, but everything was quiet as a mouse. Clem rushed back to the cashier desk to hide, only to find Angel, ambushing her with a squirt.
"Oh, man." whined Clem.
"Ha! One-to-one. You know the drill." said Angel.
"Okay." Clem closed her eyes, while pumping her water gun. "One, two, five! Ready or not, here I come!"
Clem ran in all directions around the store, trying to find Angel, keeping her senses and water gun, ready. Relying on her sense of smell this time, Clem found Angel, hiding near the TV's. Angel open fired when she saw Clem coming towards her, but Clem ducked in the nick of time. Angel ducked, waiting for Clem to make the wrong move. Clem shot up, and started squirting above Angel, then stopped. Angel shot up, and fired at Clem, but Clem side-stepped from her water blast, and squirted Angel on the side.
"Oh, shoot! Oh, shoot! You saw what I did, there. Right?" Clem boasted, in victory.
"Okay." Angel rolled her eyes, in annoyance.
"Someone should revoke that dog-tag." Clem teased.
"Wow, now you're just being mean." Angel teased back. "Nuh-uh. That's it. We're going again."
"Angel, I'd love to do this all day, but..." said Clem.
"But, you gotta go back." Angel finished Clem's sentence.
"I gotta go back." Clem agreed.
"Okay, fine. Can I at least walk you home?" asked Angel.
"I guess." said Clem.
"Okay, let me just get my backpack." said Angel.
The two teens reached Angel's backpack, when Clem spoke up again.
"Hey, so... I know I said it like an A-hole, but I totally meant it." said Clem. "You should go. I mean, this is something you wanted for, y'know, forever. So, who am I to stop you?"
"The one mammal who can." said Angel.
"No, please don't go. I'll be so miserable without you." Clem teased, to which both girls giggled.
"I'll be fine, you'll be fine, and we'll both see each other, again." Clem reassured.
"You should keep these. They're not gonna do me any good." Angel said, handing Clem her water gun.
Clem unzipped her backpack, and placed both water guns inside.
"Hey, do you still lug that walkman around?" Angel asked.
"Always." said Clem.
"Can I see it?" Angel asked.
Clem pulled her tape recorder out of her pack, and handed it to Angel.
"What's in it?" asked Angel.
"That tape you gave me." said Clem.
"You really will be miserable without me." Angel teased.
"Shut up." Clem teased back.
"Leave your pack there. Follow me. Just one song, then we'll go." said Angel.
Angel went to the only radio that was on, the same one playing that classic music, and plugged in the walkman to the main set. Angel pressed play on the walkman, and the song, 'I Got You, Babe', started to play.
"Oh, yeah." Angel smirked, climbing up onto a glass case.
"What are you doing?" Clem grinned at her friend's wittiness.
"Come on, get up here. Get your tail up here." Angel insisted.
"This is so stupid." Clem said, but got on the case, anyway.
The two teens danced, and rocked out to the music. As Clem danced, she started to slow down, her mind coming to a changing realization. If Angel left, who knows when they'll do stuff like this again. That is, if there was a when, at all. Angel noticed Clem's behavior.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Angel asked.
"Don't go." Clem said, softly.
Angel could see the look of hurt in Clem's eyes. Feeling the dog-tag around her neck, she tore it off, and threw it away. Suddenly overcome with a sense of happiness and relief, Clem kissed Angel, square on the lips.
"Sorry." said Clem, blushing.
"For what?" Angel grinned.
"So, what'll we do, now?" asked Clem.
"I dunno. We'll figure it out." said Angel. "But, I don't think Dawn's gonna go for-"
"Wait! You hear that?!" Clem said.
From behind the teens, a Savage wolf Runner snarled, drawn to the music, and rushed at the duo.
"Angel!" Clem cried, while Angel fired at the Savage, with her real gun...
...
"Clementine!"
Clem awoke to the sound of Judy's voice. Clem looked to see Judy just outside the helicopter, wondering how long she was out, until she suddenly remembered what was happening.
"Nick!" Clem gasped.
Putting the med-kit in her pack, she jumped off the helicopter from the right, and re-joined Judy.
"Come on. We gotta get back." said Judy.
Judy and Clem hurried down the hall. A sudden noise of scuffling stopped the duo in their tracks, making them take cover behind the side of an indoor mall garden. A Savage wolf Howler fell on top of an arctic fox scavenger, making him drop his quiver of arrows, before it bit off his jugular. Another arctic fox scavenger shot the Howler down, but it was too late to save his fellow scavenger. Clem quickly swiped the arrows from the quiver, which had rolled next to their hiding spot, just as two hare scavengers joined the fox.
"Why are we even doing this? Who gives a crap about some two red fox assholes, a little vixen, and a bunny bitch?!" said one of the hares.
"Look, the sooner we find 'em, the better off we are!" said the arctic fox. "Now, get to searching in that video store."
Judy pointed to the left, where an open window into the video store. Judy and Clem crawled towards the open window, and snuck into the store. The two hare scavengers were in front of where the girls were hiding. With their backs turned, Clem and Judy snuck up, and took them out with their knives. When the arctic fox scavenger walked into the store, looking to check up on his buddies, Clem took him out with an arrow.
"Alright, we gotta get to the boys." said Judy.
"What about the rest of these guys?" asked Clem.
"If they want a fight, we'll give them one." said Judy. "We're just gonna get to Nick, stitch him up, then we're gonna get out of here."
Judy and Clem made their way out of the store, when they saw a trail of blood on the floor. Luckily, the blood was old, and leading to an open air vent on the floor in the wall.
"After you." Clem said to Judy.
Judy took the lead, with Clem right behind her. The blood trail led to a fork in the passageway, the blood continuing to a dead end on the left. From where Clem and Judy could see, it led to the skeletal remains of a ferret soldier, it's left arm missing. Next to him, was a tape recorder. Clem picked it up, and pressed the play button.
"Ugh, it's so cold. My name is Ellis, I am the last surviving member of my crew, and I'm gonna be killed from blood loss in an air duct. Something funny about that. I got bit by one of those things. So Regan, our squad leader, had to cut off my arm, and stitched it back up, to stop the infection. After that, I wasn't feeling that great. Regan wasn't looking that great, either. I could see it in her eyes. I know what that she-cat is thinking. I was just talking to her..."
"Why would she reach for her gun? Why else would she reach for her gun? Even though, I wasn't infected. Why else would she keep you alive, all this time, Ellis? Doesn't matter. I shot her. I ran, and I fought those things, and in the process..."
"The sutures on my arm ripped open. I can't stitch it back up. Not with one arm. I can't make the knot. Regan. So cold. Think I'll just rest..."
The recorder stopped.
"Poor bastard." Judy whispered.
"We should get going, Jude." said Clem.
Clem and Judy moved down the air vent, and out into a sports store. The duo was just above a small display roof. Below them were two red panda scavengers, and near the entrance were Savages, two rabbit Howlers, and one hare Runner.
Picking up a brick, Clem threw it down to the center of the floor, luring the Savages towards the scavengers. One scavenger killed the Runner, but both of them were taken out by the Howlers. Judy took out a make-shift molotov, and threw it at the Howlers, burning them to a crisp.
"That's that." said Judy.
Clem and Judy hopped down to the floor. They made it out of the sports department, and into another hallway. In front of them was a gate, where they could see the Juice Bar, where Nick and Danny were hiding. There was no way through the gate, so they climbed up to an open gap, and into another department store.
From their right, they could hear the sound of Savages, lurking in a storage room. Judy and Clem crawled towards the center of the store, but took cover behind a row of display boxes, when a group of several scavengers entered the store.
"How do we even know they're here?" asked a cheetah scavenger.
"There's ostrich tracks coming in, and none going out." said a buffalo scavenger.
"What if they're already dead?" asked the cheetah scavenger.
"Then, I wanna see their fucking bodies.
From their hiding spot, Clem and Judy picked up a bottle, and a brick. They threw it towards the center of the store, the noise luring out the Savages. The scavengers were opening fire on the Savages, but the infected mammals seemed resilient to their attacks.
"That's right. Kill each other, you fucks." whispered Clem.
By the time the fight was over, only two antelope Howlers were the only ones remaining from the fight. Clem and Judy were able to take them both out with their knives.
"That's that." Clem whispered.
The duo climbed up the ledge, through the hole in the ceiling, and were out in a photo-taking department. Going through the garage door, they were right back where they started.
Clem and Judy rushed back to the Juice Bar, but stopped, and took cover behind the balcony railing, as they saw two red panda scavengers were trying to get the door open. To the clothes department store on their right, there were two antelope scavengers, and to their left, there were three raccoon scavengers.
The odds were pretty slim, but Clem and Judy had to act fast. Picking up a brick and a bottle, they threw it down to the ground floor, distracting the red pandas scavengers. Clem and Judy quickly crawled into the store on the right, with Judy taking out the closest antelope with her knife, and Clem took the farthest out with her bow.
The two red panda scavengers came running into the store, and up the stairs to the second floor, where Clem and Judy ambushed them, taking them out with their knives. The three raccoon scavengers came running into the store, but Judy had thrown a make-shift nail bomb, and blew them away to smithereens.
With the coast clear again, they worked their way down to the Juice Bar, but when they reached the garage door, a gunshot zipped past them. Clem and Judy took cover back into the store, as another group of scavengers came emerging from the second floor.
Hiding behind the flight of stairs, Clem and Judy ambushed two cougar scavengers, taking them out with their knives.
"Oh, shit! We got Savages!" Clem and Judy could hear one scavenger call out, in warning.
A small pack of Savages charged in, the scavengers open fired. In the aftermath of the battle, a few of the Savages were brought down, but not before they took out the rest of the scavengers. Only one fox Howler and two weasel Runners were left. Judy brought the Runners down with her rifle, while Clem got the Howler with her bow.
"Alright, I think that's all of them." said Judy.
"If anyone's alive out there, don't even think about surprising us, or you'll end up like your friends! You hear me?! Yeah?!" Clem called out, in warning.
"I think they got it, kiddo." said Judy.
The duo rushed back to the Juice Bar, and unlocked the garage door.
"Danny, it's us!" Judy called.
"You better be alive, Nick." Clem whispered.
Clem and Judy crawled through the doorway, and Clem slammed it shut, behind her...
...
Clem and Angel shut the double doors behind them, Angel taking a mannequin arm to bar the doors locked.
"Come on, this way!" Angel pointed to a garage door.
Clem and Angel struggled to lift the garage door open. Clem crawled through first, while Angel held it open.
"Find something to hold it open!" said Angel
Clem grabbed a wheeled cart, and placed it under the door. Angel crawled through, when a weasel Runner almost grabbed her. Angel blew the Savage weasel's brains out. The duo rushed to two more double doors, but it was locked. Angel shot the lock off, and kicked them open. Clem and Angel resumed running for their lives.
"Up this way! The scaffolding! That's our way out!" said Angel.
"What about our backpacks?" asked Clem.
"Fuck the backpacks!" said Angel.
The duo kept running down the halls, but stopped as they could hear more Runners coming their way. They turned to their right, running into a garage. They climbed through an open truck, through it's side door, and putting some distance from most of the Runners.
Clem ducked under a small space through some wreckage, when a rabbit Runner grabbed her. Clem kicked it several times in the face, before it let go. Clem stabbed it in the face. Angel shot a cougar Runner down in their path, when a wolf Runner ambushed her on her right. Luckily, Clem jumped on the Runner, and stabbed it repeatedly in the head.
The duo continued running up a flight of stairs, and down another hall. More Runners could be heard coming their way upfront, so they took another turn to the right. Clem and Angel jumped onto the other end of a construction platform, and towards the scaffolding.
The duo climbed up, Angel was the first one on. She reached to take Clem's paw, but the scaffolding started to tip, and Clem fell back onto the ground.
"Clementine!" Angel cried.
A jaguar Runner toppled on top of Clem, who struggled desperately to hold it back. Two more jaguar Runners rushed in, but Angel shot them down, before shooting the one that pinned down Clem, in the face.
Angel helped Clem up, when a tiger Runner toppled onto Angel. Clem rushed up, and slit the Savage tiger's throat.
"I think it's clear." Clem panted.
Clementine. Clem, your arm." said Angel.
Clem looked down on her right arm. A bite mark, clear as crystal, was bleeding blood down her arm.
"No. No, no, no, no, no..." Clem panicked, trying to wipe the bite off, but it didn't do no good.
Angel raised her left paw, blood oozing out of her own bite mark...
...
Nick mumbled in his comatose state. Judy lifted up his shirt and coat, carefully, while Clem got the needle and thread ready.
"You sure you wanna do this part, Clem? Because it's okay. I can do it." said Judy.
"Don't worry. I've done this before." said Clem. "I'm kind of an expert-ish."
Clem inhaled deeply, and exhaled, grabbing her right paw, steadying the nervous shaking in her paw.
"Just stay calm." she whispered. "Stay calm..."
...
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" Clem shouted, smashing some flower pots with a pipe.
Once her frustration burned out, she threw the pipe away, and slumped next to her numbed friend, Angel.
"There's more stuff over there, that you can break." Angel muttered.
Clem felt the tears already coming to her eyes, welling with fear.
"What're we gonna do?" she whimpered.
"The way I see it, we got two options." said Angel, holding up her gun.
"Option one. We take the easy way out. It's quick and painless."
Angel placed her gun on the floor.
"I'm not a fan of option one." she said. "Two, we fight."
"Fight for what? We're gonna turn into one of those things." said Clem.
"There are a million ways we could've died before today, and there are a million ways we could die before tomorrow." said Angel.
"But, we fight. For every second that we get to spend with each other. Whether it's two minutes, or two days. We don't give that up. I don't want to give that up. My vote, let's just wait it out. Y'know, we could be all poetic, and just lose our minds, together."
"What's option three?" Clem said, her lip quivering.
"Sorry." Angel said. "C'mon, let's get outta here."
...
Judy just finished strapping Nick to the medical sled, while Clem finished fastening the ropes to Callus's saddle. Judy got on Wart, Danny got on Scab, and Clem got on Callus. As they rode out of the mall, and into the snow, Clem looked back at the mall.
For Clem, it was just leaving behind a place of deja vu, where the most painful memories came from being in a mall. The memories of a dear friend, who taught her hope, survival, and most importantly, about life...
Well, guys. That's it for this chapter. Next chapter will be the start of the winter arc. I think you'll find whom I've picked to fill in the role for David in this crossover.
Also, the cheetah and buffalo scavengers in this chapter, they are NOT Clawhauser and Bogo, if you have to ask. Also, yes, Angel has the last name as the snow leopard news reporter, Fabienne Growley, because she's her daughter. But, Angel lost her mother at the start of the pandemic, much like Clem.
I own nothing, except a few OC's, minus Danny. All rights go to original owners. No copyright intended. Thanks. Stay tuned for more of this fanfic crossover. Hope you're all enjoying it.