"What happened around here?" a familiar voice asked.
Danny looked up, seeing Skulker, "Not you…" he groaned. "I'm not in the mood right now."
"I can see that." Skulker replied. "You don't look to be in any fighting condition right now." He said, "I heard a commotion and had to see what was going on. What happened? And where are your friends?" he asked again.
"An outbreak." Danny answered, seeing that Skulker was relaxed and not about to attack any time soon. "Zombies. Just about everyone is dead." He said.
"I see." The armored ghost nodded, "Well, in this case, I'd say undead." He said, "And your friends? Are they gone too?"
"They're in a safe place." Danny said. "One got hurt, I need to see if he's okay."
"The techno one, I assume?"
"Yeah. Tucker." Danny nodded.
"And what of your parents?"
Danny froze. He sighed, "My mom was infected. She… killed my dad." He admitted.
"I see. Sorry to hear." Skulker said, "Recover quickly, Ghost Child." He said, "I'm getting restless."
"Why not fight me now?" Danny asked coldly.
"Because, what's the fun in a fight that I win quickly. I'll let you at least fight for your life first." Skulker smirked and vanished.
Danny watched him vanished and rolled his eyes, realizing that he had a head ache, "Jerk." He rubbed the side of his head, finding more blood on his hand and crusted in his hair. His body screamed at him in pain from the new cuts, bruises and pulled muscles all over his body. He stumbled along and observed the bodies that decorated the street, finding the one-armed Shifter among them, and a small infected with arms longer than its legs and a cut-open smile that put the Joker to shame. "That's a new one." He muttered to himself. He looked back up and saw the red door that Sam, Tucker, and Jazz were behind. His foot skidded against the ground, with the other shuffling beside it. He dropped to one knee and collapsed to the ground. He stared at an apartment building blankly before his vision faded to black.
Sam and Jazz sat on each side of Tucker and waited quietly. They'd gotten him cleaned up and bandaged and all they had to do was wait for Danny to return.
"He's been gone a long time." Jazz said worriedly.
"I'll look for him." Sam stood up and armed herself with her sub-machine gun. She went to the door and peered through the slot that was just about eye level. After scanning the area, she stopped upon seeing a dirty white shirt and damaged jeans. She swung the door open and ran out. She dropped to her knees beside Danny and hesitated to touch him from all the cuts he had, "My god…" she whispered before pulling his arm over her shoulder, "Danny, are you awake?" she asked.
Danny mumbled something unintelligible.
"Good enough for me. I need you to try and stand up." She encouraged. "Come on." She helped pull him up. When he was on his feet, she carefully and slowly walked him back to the safe room. "You're okay…" she whispered and carefully laid him down. "What hurts?"
He mumbled again.
Jazz closed the door and barricaded it, "What'd Dash do to you?" she asked.
Sam furrowed her brows when Danny remained silent. She began cleaning his cuts and wrapping him up. "I hope he got rid of him."
Tucker groaned, "What…" he panted and opened his eyes, "Oh, my face hurts…"
"Your glasses were shattered, some of the glass cut you up."
Tucker groaned and sat up. He looked over and squinted, "Is Danny okay? Is that even Danny?" he asked.
"Tucker, lay back down." Jazz ushered.
"What happened to him?" Tucker asked.
"Dash." Sam said, "He was coming at us and Danny led him away. I assume he killed him."
Tucked watched for a while.
"So what happened? Are you okay?" Jazz asked.
"I got trampled by the zombies." Tucker said, "I'm okay, I'm just sore."
"Anything feel broken?" Sam looked up briefly to ask.
"No. My pride maybe, but that's about it. Irritated that my glasses broke." He said.
Sam finished wrapping up Danny's cuts and scrapes. "Jazz and I were wondering where you got your glasses. If we could find your prescription, we can see if there's a prescription there that either matches or is close enough."
Tucker thought for a while, "Not a bad idea." He said, "My parents actually usually drove me out of town to get them. We'll actually pass the place when we keep going." He said. "We can scavenge the place then." He looked back over at Danny, "So Dash did that to him?"
"Most of it's not his blood." Sam said. "It's zombie blood."
"Right… but he's practically purple." Tucker said, "I can't see him that well, but I can tell that much."
"He'll tell what happened when he wakes up." Jazz said.
Hours later, the three sat with each other and chatted quietly amongst themselves each with a can of food. Sam listened and watched Danny, he hadn't moved an inch and began to worry. She watched him closely, watching his chest rise and fall slowly with each breath he took. She sighed in relief and heard him take a deep breath.
His eyes forced themselves opened and wandered around the room. He finally looked at Sam who sat down next to him and managed a smile. "Everything okay?" he asked.
"We're okay." She smiled, "Are you okay?" she asked.
"Definitely had better days." He said. Jazz and Tucker turned their attention to him. "How's Tucker?" he looked over, "How are you feeling?"
"I'm okay." Tucker said, "Though you look a bit more beat-up than I do right now, I'm sure."
"So what did Dash do?" Jazz asked.
Danny thought for a while, "He caught up with me again, and he threw me at a car. Then he threw cars at me, which most of them I went intangible for. Then he threw me at a couple walls. And finally he cornered me. I made a wrong turn and found myself in the dead-end of an alley. When I turned around, he'd been blocking the exit. And he just stood there. I aimed the rifle at him and just stood there." He said, starting to space out and beginning to look distant. "I couldn't shoot him. And…"
Sam grew concerned, seeing that Danny was emotionally torn by what had happened while they were separated. "Danny, what happened?" she asked calmly.
He looked up at her, "He… he put his head against the rifle." His blue eyes, one marked with a bruise, stared at her in fear, "He wanted me to shoot him."
Realization hit Tucker, "Wait…"
"He… still had a shred of humanity, even after turning…" Jazz concluded.
"Did you do it?" Sam asked.
"He made me. He scared me so I tensed up and pulled the trigger." He said and looked back down.
There was a moment of silence, "At least you don't have to fight ghosts." Tucker said innocently.
"That's the thing. Skulker challenges me after recover." Danny said bitterly.
"You saw him?"
"Yeah, I guess you can call it a 'friendly chat' since we weren't punching each other in the face." He said. "He saw the condition I'm in and decided not to kick my butt now."
"At least he's… considerate?" Sam assumed.
"No, he said 'where's the fun in winning so quickly' and said that he'll let me fight for my life." Danny shook his head.
"Well, at least he's giving you a fighting chance." Jazz shrugged.
Danny sighed, "Why can't the Box Ghost show up or something?" he asked. "Someone I can beat easily and I can vent against."
Jazz handed him a can of food. "Just worry about recovering." She said, "From what I understand, Dash beat you up pretty good." She thought for a moment, "Did you use your ghost powers at all?" she asked.
"I phased through the attacks I saw coming." He said simply, "He was still fast." He opened the can with one of Tucker's throwing stars and began eating the contents as well as everyone else. After eating, they relaxed and tried getting sleep. Danny stayed wide awake while the other three slept peacefully. He began thinking about how he got to where he was now. The second night out in the zombie apocalypse. The outbreak was the morning before and he, Sam and Tucker were seriously injured, he had to put Dash out of his misery, and he was already mimicked by some zombie imposter that was missing an arm. He already missed fighting ghosts. He'd rather fight ghosts than to fight zombies. However, as far as brute force and cruelty went, he didn't know whether or not he'd rather fight Dan Phantom or Dash the Tank. He quickly shook his head. He'd rather fight Dash in that case. Dan was the future he had if he made one bad decision that coincidentally led his friends and family to their deaths. He sighed sadly. He didn't want to imagine his life without them. He was still having a hard time processing that his parents didn't survive the apocalypse. He missed his Dad's rambling about whatever invention he was working on next. He missed his Mom's cooking and motherly touch. But now his Dad was leaning against the door, dead and barely recognizable, and his Mom was one of them. If he had to choose, he'd rather fight Dan than he would his Mom at that point. He looked over at Sam and Tucker, both of them asleep and covered in bandages. People he used to know did that damage to them. He looked back up at the ceiling. What waited for them when they escaped the apocalypse? Or were they going to have to keep looking?
The biggest question that laid on his mind however;
"What if we don't survive?"
He sat up and put his head in his hands, shaking his head. He curled his fingers and turned them into fists, gripping his hair and accidentally scraping a cut that he had hidden. Eyes watered, he looked back over at the sleeping three that supported him all along. Those who fought alongside him and kept his spirits up when he was feeling the worst. He sniffled. He couldn't ask for anyone any more supportive. Not even his Mom was as supportive as Jazz. Even when he was being a jerk, they snapped him out of it and kept him in line morally. He didn't want to lose them. He laid back down and turned to his right side, where it wasn't cut up by the Witch. Then winced and rolled back to his back, remembering that Dash had thrown him at a car and Danny broke the side mirror with that side. He wiped his eyes with his forearm and let his forearm rest there for a while. He sighed and moved his arm to rest on his stomach carefully. After the longest time, his eyes began to feel heavy and he finally drifted to sleep.
They stayed in that safe room for three days before deciding they had to leave. On the morning they left- while the zombies were the most inactive, Tucker noticed- they found themselves on the city limits. Danny stood for a while and stared at the sign. He wanted to remember the moment they left. Just in case. He retrieved the PDA that Tucker had given him, surprisingly unscathed from the Tank's onslaught, and held it up in front of him. He took the picture right as Sam, Tucker and Jazz turned to look at him. He brought the PDA down and studied the picture for a while. "Or last moment in Amity Park." He declared sadly.
The others didn't understand why Danny had been acting so oddly. They'd asked him several times, but they never got a solid response, or a response that was longer than two or three words.
"Danny? Are you sure you're okay?" Sam asked.
He closed his eyes and pocketed the PDA. "I'm fine." he said, "Let's keep going."
They looked at each other and let him walk passed them. They followed him. "Do we know how close we are?" Jazz asked.
"Not really," Danny sighed.
You are going to Wisconsin by foot. You walked for two days and stopped for three, I really doubt you three are much closer. The PDA remarked sarcastically.
"Well, how far do we have left?" Tucker asked and checked the screen.
I won't make the Ghost Boy's head explode on this one. I'll just show you. She said and showed Tucker. He paused and looked up, to see that Danny was looking at him for an answer. "A little more than two-hundred miles." He admitted.
Danny sighed and looked around, "If only we could find a car that runs." He said, "Tucker, you could hotwire it and Jazz, you could drive us." He explained.
Jazz looked around and only saw small sedans, "I'm pretty sure you'd prefer a car that'll kill zombies over a car that'll get killed by zombies." She pointed out.
"True." Tucker said, "Why don't we look for a truck or something?"
Danny turned around for a moment to see his sister, only finding her being dragged off with something caught around her neck, "Jazz!" he barked and ran after her, Sam and Tucker close behind. He straightened up and aimed at what was pulling her back, shooting it with flawless accuracy and causing the creature to burst into a cloud of smoke. Danny looked back down at Jazz and pulled the slimy part off of her, finding her unconscious, "Jazz? Jazz! Say something!" he called. He looked back at the slimy rope and realized it was a tongue, "Jazz?"
She coughed and jumped up slightly, "What happened?" she asked.
"You were grabbed by a long, nasty tongue." Tucker said.
Danny hugged her, "I'm glad you're okay." He said. A shiver crept up his spine and he gasped. "Oh no…" he looked around in a panic.
"What's wrong?" Jazz asked.
"Please tell me there isn't a ghost around." Sam said.
"It's Skulker." Danny said. "He was waiting for me to recover, and apparently I recovered enough." He turned to them, "Hide somewhere."
"But-"
"We don't have the thermos with us and I don't want you guys getting involved." Danny said sharply. "Just hide."
They ran off and ran behind a car that had been flipped to its side.
With a quick blast, Danny was blown off of his feet, dropping his weapons and landing him painfully on his back. He got up and groaned, changing to his ghost form. He kicked off the ground and flew up, seeming like it had been months since he last flown. There was a whoosh behind him that called his attention to Skulker, who sent another blast. Danny went intangible and made the attack miss. He then turned to Skulker and shot a plasmatic ray at Skulker, hitting his shoulder and sending him to the ground. "Can't you see I have bigger problems?" Danny asked irritated.
"What? Fighting the undead? Isn't that what you did in the first place?" Skulker asked back and stood up.
Danny growled, "Whatever." He formed an ice beam and shot it at him.
Skulker shot one of his own energy beams and cancelled out the ice beam, firing another to hit Danny's shoulder and becoming airborne.
Danny grabbed his shoulder and groaned. He went intangible and flew behind Skulker, who hovered cluelessly. He became tangible and sent a punch into the center of his back, sending him to the ground. Upon crashing, one of his jet-like wings snapped off.
Skulker growled and glared back up at Danny, "Get down here and make this a fair fight!" he barked.
Danny hovered down and planted his feet on the ground, "When was the last time you gave me a fair fight?" He asked darkly and threw a punch.
Skulker smirked and caught Danny's fist in his massive hand. Without further hesitation, Skulker threw Danny at a boulder that jutted out of the ground on the side of the highway.
Danny pushed himself to his hands and knees and rubbed his head, that had begun bleeding again. He froze when they both heard a snarl. A Hunter jumped out from behind the boulder and stared at the two ghosts, seeming to be debating which one to attack first. He jumped and attempted to pounce on Skulker. Skulker went intangible and allowed the Hunter to phase through him. He looked at Danny briefly and overshadowed the Hunter.
"You've got to be kidding me…" Danny took a couple steps back as the Hunter, now overshadowed by Skulker, looked up at him with glowing white eyes. The Hunter pounced at him, but only went through when Danny went intangible. Then with a second bound, he hit Danny's back and knocked him forward, shredding his costume and his skin with sharpened claws. Danny screamed and bit his lip in pain. He then phased through the ground and let the Hunter's claws scraped against the pavement. The Hunter looked around and searched for Danny, who didn't seem to be anywhere. Then he let out a loud screech.
Danny actually stood behind him quietly with his rifle in hand, the scope focused on the back of the Hunter's head. From dizziness, his foot shuffled as he took a step forward, snapping the Hunter's attention to Danny. The moment the Hunter opened his mouth to screech, Danny shot.
Skulker was rejected from the Hunter's body and held his head in pain. "That's wasn't fair." He growled.
Danny dropped his gun and fired a plasma ray at Skulker's head, "Nothing is fair anymore."
Skulker stumbled backwards. He glared at Danny and stumbled into several bushes. When Danny rushed over to see where Skulker could've gone, he found nothing. "Okay guys," he rose his voice, "It's-" a sudden weight jumped on him. The small creature leaned forward and made Danny stumble forward, "Get if off of me!" he shouted, trying to pry the creature's hands off of his face "Help!"
Without much more hesitation, Sam jumped out of the hiding spot and hit small infected off of Danny's shoulders with her halberd. She then whipped out her SMG and shot the little zombie. "What the hell was that?"
Danny sat down and held his head, "I don't know… I saw a dead one a few days ago, I just didn't think much of it…"
"That's a Jockey." Jazz said and approached them with Tucker. "Probably best we didn't shoot that one if it's attacking someone."
"That's a good idea." Tucker looked down at Danny, "You okay, man?"
"I'm not feeling good." He said and changed back to his human form.
**Yay! Ghost fight! It's been called to my attention before and I fixed the issue- six chapters into a ghost/zombie fighting story- but never late than never! *triamphant superhero stance* Anyway *normal stance* Bad news if anyone's not feeling good during a zombie apocalypse, and especially bad news if the main character of a story doesn't feel good and he's the leader of the pack, so to speak. So... we'll see what happens next.**