#96 Heroes of Old and New
Chapter 2
Rated T for swearing, violence, and gore.
I do not own any character, element, or organization in this fic. It was made purely for the enjoyment of the fanbase.
"Oh, Jesus! Oh... Jesus! Oh Jesus!" William put his hands on his knees, out of breath and voice hoarse from yelling so much. "What was that?"
"We were in the middle of a conference when Nicholas and a few other people we didn't recognize wandered in," an elderly woman in a lab coat shook her head. "There's no humanly possible way to be alive when you're that... that..."
"Then there's only one explanation for it. He's become a zombie, and so have a few others." Everyone turned their attention to Jeremy Belpois, who was hunched over his laptop, typing in some commands.
"But zombies don't exist... do they? Couldn't this just be a prank?" Sissi piped up, shaking. One of her orbits was a zombie?
"They must be, or else I wouldn't have seen one!" William shouted, pointing at the door. "Damn, guys! I nearly got attacked by Nicholas!"
"Uh, guys... there's a bigger problem than just zombies. William, you might find this intersting." Jeremy motioned him over.
"What is it?"
"Xana has somehow rebooted and activated a tower!" they had to keep their voices low. "I don't know how, either! This is definitely bad."
"So... that means that Lyoko is still operational?" a girl with sweet pink hair raised her eyebrows. "Is that possible?"
"Must be, or else Nicholas would still be Nicholas. Anyway, we need to get to the factory, and fast!"
"We can't just leave everyone else! Besides, if this becomes a regular thing, we need to find out more about them. How they became zombies, what their habits are..." Ulrich chimed.
"Ulrich's right," the girl replied. "Observation is best at this time. If it's anything like that Zombieland movie, we'll need all the help we can get."
"Alright... I've got a plan." William pulled a chair into the middle of the room and called everyone's attention. "I think I know what we should do. We can't just go about our normal business with zombie Nicholas on our toes. We need to stay here and watch him, see what he does, y'know? Then we can decide what to do once we know his patterns."
"That has got to be one of the most intelligent things you've ever said!" Ulrich commented. William glared at him, absentmindedly chewing his gum. "What? It is!"
"That's a good idea. Maybe a couple of years and we'll be out of here!" Jim Morales said, sarcasm dripping all around his voice.
William facepalmed. "Look, do you have any better ideas?"
"Well, yeah. Attack them until they all die... again!" Jim put his hands on his hips.
"Okay, okay. Who votes for my idea?" William gazed at the people below him. Out of twenty students, seventeen rasied their hands. "I win, hands down."
Then William remembered something. He had taken his ping pong paddle into the hall, and when he spotted the zombie he must have dropped it. That was when he seriously facepalmed. "I AM SUCH AN IDIOT!"
"What? the pink-haired girl glanced over at him.
"I left my new paddle in the hall!"
"So? Go get it when Nicholas leaves."
"Not that simple, Aelita. Everyone knows that whens zombies see a human, they are by nature inclined to attack the living. Meaning, I stand no chance against a zombie. I'll get scratched. That's how they spread." William dropped into the chair he was just standing on. "I swear, if I ever see another one, I'm going to vomit."
Suddenly, everything got hotter. William was sweating so much that he had to take off his shirt, and several others followed his actions. No use. Still too hot.
The rest of the day passed slowly and nightfall was no more merciful.
It came in the night, it did. Whatever venom Nicholas had was now spreading, creeping into the cafeteria and students' dorms like a ninja lying in wait for its next victim. No one was safe. Not even William, not even Aelita, not even Mrs. Hertz. It turned whoever it came in contact with into a shambling, undead, smelly monstrosity with no way to defeat. There was no cure.
No one slept that night. The screams were too loud and too terrible to ignore. William and Aelita were talking; he was explaining how zombies worked.
"You hear that? That's the sound of zombification. It's a silent killer. Every time a zombie is made, it frightens me a little bit more, knowing that I can't help them and that there's another one to try to kill me."
Another scream filled the quiet night. William shuddered and Sissi whimpered. No one recognized it, but it was one of the worst so far. It was high-pitched and sounded like its owner was in torment, torture, pain, and agonizing death. Of course, whoever it was was dying, just in a different way no one could understand.
"It can't be fixed, Aelita. We are completely helpless. I hate being useless, but all we can do is survive the night and save ourselves. Every non-zombie for him or herself." William continued once the scream died away. "Now I wish I'd never found out about Lyoko, or Xana, or the factory. This is going to scar me for life."
"What'll happen? If we can't get to the factory?" Aelita asked, her voice smaller than normal, losing its melodious tone for the first time. "If we have to live here, forever?"
"When have the Lyoko warriors ever failed to stop one of Xana's attacks?" William nudged her.
"But... how would I get there without getting scratched? I'm the only one who can deactivate the towers."
"You'd have Ulrich, Odd, Yumi, Jeremy, and me, if you needed me." Yumi. Was she safe? Had she screamed so horribly and been zombified? William couldn't bear to see Yumi in so much pain.
"With this many zombies around, we'd need all the help we can get."
Another scream, longer than the rest. Suffering longer than the rest. Who was it this time? William vaguely knew the person the voice belonged to, but he couldn't put a name to it. Matthais? Jackson? This one was cut off abruptly, unlike the others. Zombie.
"Hell, Aelita! This is pathetic, listening to these people dying and coming back to life to kill!" William shook his head. "There's no doubt about it. We have to get to the factory, some way or another."
The boy let out a small yawn and slowly drifted off to sleep. Whatever Aelita had said next, William never heard it. He was too sleepy. He wasn't able to sleep for long, though, because a whole group of people screamed, coming from the direction of the cafeteria. Everyone was jolted awake.
"Oh, Jeus!" William looked in the driection the screams had come from. Then the realization hit him hard: they were only getting closer. They'd all be zombies by morning, and there was nothing they could do to stop it.
This was it. They had to flee now, but with so many zombies out it'd be impossible to get to a safe place. They were doomed.
For some reason I laugh when I write about this stuff. I don't know why, it just does.
BYEZ GUYZ!