Hey to anybody that's actually reading this, sorry I took so long to update but all my inspiration left me... but it's back now. ;) I decided to lower the rating to T, because it's not really that gruesome, depending on how other's choose to look at it.
Alright, this message is something I've put on everything I've updated, just to hopefully get my point across a little more. I appreciate every review I get, but it's really frustrating and disappointing to see a large amount of readers (well over 200 for some of my newer stories) and a small amount of reviewers. I actually want to hear what people think about my work, since I'm putting it on this site and available for people to read. Even a little constructive criticism from time to time is welcome because I actually think I do need it.
But anyway, enjoy this chapter and thank you to those people that did review. :)
And to Katy Simon, you must have read some part of the story, otherwise you couldn't know that it sucks, and I do have a life. You're the flamer, so you're the one who needs to get one. There's no point trashing my story because it ain't gonna stop me from writing it.
A low moaning sound rumbled from behind the trees. His eyes widened as a pack of Zombies - ugly, disgusting things with rotten skin and the odd few had limbs chewed off - limped slowly towards him, their eyes looking malicious and hungry.
Seeing no other choice, he darted into the alleyway, the Zombie's slowly, but surely, coming after him. Nothing in his karate training - not that he was good enough to even put up a remotely good fight against starving Zombie's - could have prepared him for this; Zombie's couldn't feel pain.
Jerry screamed as their skeletal hands groped for him in the darkness, backing him up against the wall as he tried to avoid them. Their arms smothered him as his back hit the brick wall and all he could see was a mess of blackened skin and white eyes. He whimpered and gasped as their fingers clawed at his hair and skin, screaming loudly as they opened their mouths, revealing yellow crooked teeth, ready to make a meal out of him...
"No!" he screamed loudly, thrashing about and flailing his arms, trying to push their greedy hands away. "Get away from me! No!" he screamed,
"Jerry," a menacing voice whispered.
Jerry tried to kick and punch, but the iron grip around his arms tightened. He shrieked as he felt a mouth move from around the back of his neck. He didn't want to die; he didn't want to become one of them, disgusting and festering monsters that fed on human flesh.
"Get off me!" he grunted, worming himself out the tight grip, but it became tighter, stopping him from moving, restraining his wrists and pinning them to his sides. Something about the grip seemed familiar, but the fact that a Zombie's grip felt like that, only made him fight harder. Zombie's made your insides turn in disgust, not warm and fuzzy.
"Jerry!" Jack's voice yelled loudly in his ear, making him jump and snap open his eyes, the Zombie's arms disappearing just as Jack's blurry, sunlit bedroom appeared.
He moved around, feeling Jack's grip loosen slightly, still shaken. The last nightmare he had, had been months ago, but it still didn't make it feel any better. If anything, the returning one that began the recurring cycle was always the worst.
"It's okay," Jack soothed him, lightly smoothing his hair. "I've got you,"
"Jack?" he asked, moving his arms to grip at the warm body behind him, looking around in confusion.
Jack's bed looked like it had barely been slept in. Then last night came back to him with a blush. Jack had slept in his 'guest bed' with him because the air conditioner was freezing him into a giant Jerry-flavoured popsicle. How Jack wasn't cold still puzzled him.
"Hey," Jack greeted him softly. "Are you okay?" he asked worriedly.
"Yeah," Jerry said, rubbing a hand across his face. That was some nightmare, he thought with a slight shudder.
He reared up slightly, stretching his arms in the air. He had no idea what the time was, but he knew that they were going to have to run to Karate practice; Zombie's always liked to lurk around in the mornings - the day-walker one's anyway - to see if they could catch any unsuspecting new fledglings who dared to risk their lives to get food and water.
"Want some breakfast?" Jack offered, stifling his own yawn.
"Pancakes?" Jerry said hopefully.
"Not sure if I have enough eggs," Jack said.
"But you'll go and check because I'm your very best friend in the whole wide world, who's just had a horrible nightmare?" Jerry grinned, batting his eyelashes playfully.
"Fine," Jack scowled jokingly, rolling his eyes as he pulled the cover off him. "Play the nightmare card," he added with a sniff, pretending to be affronted.
Jerry smiled at him, but then quickly shielded his eyes as he saw Jack un-buckling his jeans, nearly shrieking in surprise, "Wa-Woah, woah." He covered his hand with his other one, making sure he couldn't see through his fingers. "Dude!" he cried out towards Jack as he heard the rustling sounds of him getting changed.
"What?" Jack said nonchalantly, possibly shrugging. "Unless there's a girl hiding in there, I can't see anything to worry about," he said. Jack had always been the less modest of the two, but Jerry didn't know he would go so far as to get undressed in front of him.
"You can look now," Jack said after a while.
Jerry hesitantly peeled his hands away from his face, peeking through the gaps he was making with his fingers, relieved to see Jack pulling a shirt over his head.
"Were you trying to scar me permanently?!" Jerry said incredulously. Although he tried to be serious, a big grin spread across his face, counter-acting everything.
Jack raised his eyebrows at him. "Be nice or no pancakes," he warned him lightly, smiling as he jokingly wagged a finger at him.
"I'm sorry, Oh Sexy One," Jerry said playfully, rolling his eyes.
Jack shook his head, chuckling as he walked out of his room and down the stairs. Jerry rolled out of the bed and smoothed out his clothes. The house felt strange, even with Jack only downstairs. It felt eerie and empty. Jerry didn't like it.
Low groaning sounded suddenly outside the house and Jerry's stomach plummeted. He knew the electric fence kept him safe, and Jack no doubt would, but that didn't stop him from being any less terrified of the monster's that were lurking around it.
Jerry took a deep breath and hesitantly walked over to the window, peeking outside. He swallowed hard; a whole new hoarde of Zombie's were surrounding the fence, growling and moaning their frustrations at not being able to feast on the people inside without getting roasted six ways to Sunday.
"Here you go," Jack announced, walking into the room with a plate of steaming pancakes.
Jerry tore across the room, muttering a quick, "Thanks," while frantically grabbing the pancakes off the plate and speedily stuffing them into his pockets.
Jack looked bemused. "What are you-?"
"We gotta get to the Dojo," Jerry said in a hurry. "Quick." He jerked his head in the direction of the window and Jack looked confused before his eyes widened in realization.
He walked over to his bedside table, grabbing the gun off it, pocketing it. "Let's go," he said, making a run for the door.
Jerry didn't need telling twice. As he and Jack ran down the stairs, Jerry noticed Mrs. Brewer still wasn't there. He thought about saying something to Jack, but remembering how tense he seemed last night, he didn't. Maybe she had just stayed over somebody's house for the night and would be coming back later?
Jack silently shut the front door behind him, pulling Jerry behind the fence's large generator, shielding them from the Zombie's view. They seemed much more angry, some of them had even dared touching the fence and their already rotten bodies were laying admist the cluster of the living-dead.
It would be a miracle if they got to the Dojo in one piece.
"We need something to distract them," Jack whispered to him, quietly unlatching the back gate and pushing it open, giving them a clear lane to run out into. There was a shortcut through the woods, but neither of them were dumb enough to take any chances. At least they could see the majority of them, in the woods they wouldn't be able to.
Jerry pursed his lips, before picking up a large rock by his foot. He hurled it over the fence and the Zombie's gave startled grunts as the grass rustled, after bouncing off a few of their shoulders.
"I said 'distract them'," Jack nearly groaned in exasperation as the Zombie's were getting more and more relentless. It wouldn't be long before they could smell them. "Not throw a rock at them," he hissed.
Jerry held his hands up. "In my defence, I was aiming for the bush," he said, speaking a lot faster in his panic as the adrenaline raced through his veins. "I can't aim very well under pressure," he added, affronted.
"Too much information," Jack snapped, holding a hand up. He briefly poked his head round the side of the fence, before grabbing his wrist tightly. He pulled Jerry out and quickly locked the gate. "Come on!" he called, deeming it safe - in the most ridiculous sense - to run.
They did. Taking off like Olympic runners and not looking back at the house. The Zombie's didn't notice them and kept clawing at the fence, until one of the one's nearer the back caught wind of their scent and alerted the others.
The hoarde started after them in a slow pace, lowly growling like lions on the prowl. At this moment, Jerry couldn't decide what was more dangerous; the King of the Jungle, or the living dead with a taste for human flesh. Either way, he wasn't about to find out.
He put on an extra burst of speed, ignoring the cramps in his legs and the stitch forming in his side. The mall was only a mile or two away, and although the protection wasn't as good as an electric fence, Falafel Phil's, and many of the fast food restaurants, were still running and Rudy had some medical supplies in the Dojo.
Kim, Milton and Eddie suddenly came to Jerry's mind. They had left well before him last night - Rudy hadn't, he practically lived in the Dojo now - and he hadn't had time to text them this morning and find out if they were okay. It would kill him if his best friends had became the very things that were currently trying to kill him and Jack.
The mall got closer and closer and Jack and Jerry soon found themselves in the courtyard, leaning against the fountain, panting heavily. Jerry bent down, putting his hands on his thighs, looking over his shoulder. The Zombie's were several feet away from them and it was certainly going to take them more than a few minutes for them to catch up to him.
"Seriously?" he said incredulously, all-but glaring towards a panting Jack.
"What?" Jack asked.
"They're waaaaayyy behind," Jerry said, pointing his arm towards the outskirts of the mall that the Zombie's were slowly limping over, their eyes hungry and blazing. "We coulda walked, man!" he said in exasperation, annoyed that he could have avoided doing the longest and fastest run he had ever done in his life.
Jack opened his mouth like he was about to say something, but held a hand up, deciding against it. He walked towards the Dojo, hesitantly pushing the doors open once their eyes landed on the mess inside.
The mat racks had snapped and they were strewn over the floor with ominous looking scratch marks in them, some of the bowstaffs were shattered in half, Rudy's trophies were dotted about the floor - one was lodged in the wall - and severely dented and the large photo of their first tournament with Jack as a Wasabi Warrior had been smashed.
Dread seeped through Jerry as he and Jack stepped over the carnage. Rudy was nowhere to be found.
"Rudy?" Jack called out hesitantly into the silence, raising his fists in a defensive guard, on edge in case any Zombie's were lurking among the wreckage of the Dojo..
"Go away, Zombie's!" came Rudy's frightened sounding voice from inside his Office.
Jerry sighed in relief, looking at Jack with a small grin. At least he was okay.
"Rudy, it's us, Jack and Jerry," Jack called back.
"Prove it," Rudy demanded from behind the closed door.
"Sorry, Jerry," Jack whispered to him.
Jerry made a confused face. "What are you sorry f-" He was cut off as Jack brought his heel up and slammed painfully down on his toes. "Aaaaaahhhhhhh!" he screamed loudly as hot pain exploded throughout his foot, grabbing it in his hands and jumping around in the spot.
Jack gently gripped hold of his arm, letting Jerry lean against him for support, just as Rudy's office door unlocked and their Sensei's head popped out.
"Oh, it is you," he said sheepishly, fully emerging from the office, shutting the door behind him. "Sorry about that," he apologised, walking over to them.
"No problem," Jack smiled at him, relieved he was alright.
"What the heck happened in here?" Jerry asked, subconsciously glancing towards the door, his stomach knotting as the Zombie's had crossed the threshold to the mall.
"I forgot to lock the door and Zombie's got in," Rudy explained, hurriedly running over to the door and locking it for good measure, swinging down the metal bar he had added there last week. "They're everywhere," he shuddered.
"Yeah, I know." Jack nodded in agreement. "I had to save Jerry from a bunch of em' last night" - Jerry shuddered at that, his memory tainted with the horrifying images of black blood splattered against the wall and the legless Zombie clawing its way to the floor towards Jack... - "and last week I had to snag my Granddad's old gun just to do the food run," he said in disbelief.
"Jerry are you alright?" Rudy asked.
"Still SS," he said proudly, standing up tall.
"What's SS?" Jack asked in confusion.
"Swag and Sexy," Jerry grinned.
The three of them looked at each other before bursting out with laughter. Jerry had missed the sound of laughter. It had been foreign as of late and his ability to always crack jokes had gone with it. He was just being forced to grow up in order to survive around here, but as soon as things were back to normal, he would gladly start acting like a child again.
"He's fine," Jack reassured Rudy once their laughter had died down. "I checked him last night," he said, bringing an involuntary blush to Jerry's face as he remembered being 'held at gunpoint' to take his shirt off.
"What about you?" Rudy instantly became worried again.
"Fine," Jack smiled at him. "Do you need a hand cleaning up?" he offered.
"Does it look like a train's been through here?" Rudy said incredulously, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
Jack rolled his eyes and bent down to pick up the trophies. "Come on, Jerry, gimme a hand," he said, twisting around to look at him.
"First I had to run, now I have to clean?" Jerry said, feigning annoyance. "I'd better get paid for this!" he scowled playfully.
Grinning, Jack stood back up and grabbed his face, planting a soft, warm kiss on his cheek. Jerry's eyes widened and he blushed a furious shade of scarlet, making Jack laugh.
"Not that kind of paid!" he said quietly, still trying to process the fact that Jack had kissed him. He knew they were close, but he didn't think Jack would ever willingly kiss him, joking around or not. It felt... sweet, even in the black belt's haste and playfulness.
"Jack!" Kim's shrill yell of pure, unadulterated panic distracted the three of them. Jerry looked up to see Kim, Milton and Eddie pounding frantically on the door as the Zombie's were creeping ever-closer. "Let us in!" she screamed.
"Rudy, gimme the key," Jack said hurriedly, holding his hand out for it.
"Well," he began nervously, shifting uncomfortably. "I-I swallowed it, t-to stop the Zombie's from getting it," he finished sheepishly.
Panic seized Jerry's entire body and he was nearly tearing his hair out as he shrieked, "We don't have a few hours, Rudy!"
"Gotta do this the old fashioned way," Jack muttered. He backed up a few steps and ran towards the door, leaping into the air, pulling one leg towards his body while fully extending the other in a flying side-kick, smashing into the door, breaking the doors apart.
"Come on," he said, pulling Kim, Eddie and Milton inside before the Zombie's greedy hands could snatch them up. "Get in." He shut the door, but it hung loosely on its hinges, swinging back open.
"Jack," Rudy said as they all backed away from the door. "Please tell me you have your gun," he asked. One Zombie crossed into the Dojo and Jerry nearly threw up from the putrid smell.
"Yeah," Jack said, pulling it out of his pocket.
"Oh thank goodness!" Rudy threw his hands up in the air happily while everyone else broke into smiles around him.
Jack clicked the trigger backwards, but it slipped through the gap as there was nothing anchoring it to the ammo that it would fire out. "But it's empty," he said, swallowing hard.
"We're dead!" Jerry cried, backing up as the rest of the Zombie's filled the Dojo. He was relieved to find that most of the one's who had surrounded them at Jack's house and chased them over here had given up, but the rest were as relentless as ever.
"No we aren't," Jack said firmly, clenching his fists and raising them. "Not yet," he said. "We'll have to do this the old fashioned way." He looked around at them and Jerry nodded in determination, knowing he would quite literally have to fight for his life this time.
"Wasabi?" Jack asked, placing his fist against his upright palm.
The others followed suit, sombrely and silently unleashing the fighters that lived inside all of them. "Wasabi."
Jack was the first one to attack, crashing into the Zombie's with a flying dragon kick, then Kim leapt off towards them, unleashing a medley of frenzied attacks. Rudy wasted no time in unloading his strength on the nearest ones, his anger at them destroying the Dojo becoming apparent.
Jerry took a deep breath and spun around, aiming a wistful back-kick at one that was creeping towards him. Surprisingly, he knocked it to the ground. He had thought all along he could fight, he just had to believe in himself.
"Jerry! Duck!" Jack called suddenly.
Jerry squatted down just as Jack's foot came slicing through the air and over his head, knocking a Zombie to the ground. Kim rushed over and began pounding frantically at its face, blood splattering over her and the floor.
Milton and Eddie screamed, cowering in a corner as two Zombie's were looming over them. Rudy charged over, body-slamming them into the wall, rousing cheers from the five of them.
"Jerry!" Jack ran over to him and Jerry saw three Zombie's behind him.
Jack suddenly grabbed him by the waist and lifted him up into his arms. Jerry linked his hands around Jack's neck, alternating sides with his help, taking out the Zombie's behind him.
One was snarling at them from the side-lines and Jack swung him around again, holding onto his hand, and Jerry flicked his feet towards its head, knocking it down. He landed in a fighting stance and was about to ask Jack why he had just done that - he knew why, he wasn't that stupid, but he just didn't think Jack would have done that with him - but he had already ran over to Kim, helping her flip two very stubborn Zombie's.
Jerry turned his attention back to the snarling one on the ground. It made a stunned grab for his ankle, but he stamped on its hand, crushing the bones and grinding the flesh into the mat. He then picked up one of Rudy's bowstaffs that had been lying around and stabbed haphazardly at its head, trying not to groan in disgust each time it smashed through its skull and blood began pouring from it.
"Oh," Rudy groaned loudly, momentarily distracting everyone. "Key's comin' back!" he muttered, holding his stomach as he made a beeline for his office, crashing into the door.
"Eddie, cover him!" Jack yelled while punching a Zombie in the face, stunning it, and shoving it away, kicking it to the ground.
Eddie nodded and he ran towards Rudy's office with him without hesitation, slamming the door shut behind them.
A feral growl made Jerry turn around and he ducked just in time to avoid getting his eyes scratched out by a Zombie's wayward hand. He grabbed its wrist and utilized all the strength he had to flip it to the ground - internally thanking Kim for teaching it to him a few weeks ago - sighing in resignation before jumping up and down on its head again, its blood seeping out through the fast appearing cracks in its skull.
Milton and Eddie grabbed a Zombie by the shoulders, grunting as they threw it to the ground, pinning its arms to the floor. Jack knelt down and punched his hand into the Zombie's skull, shattering the bone. He jerked his fingers around, ignoring the Zombie's snarls, before harshly yanking its brain out, discarding it and wiping his bloodied fingers on his jeans.
Jerry honestly felt like he was going to be sick, but he didn't have time. If he wasted so much as a second being careless, he could get bitten. The smell of rotting flesh engulfed his nostrils once more and he turned as a Zombie was about to pounce on him. He ducked in time, hunching down, and the Zombie tripped over him.
Eddie gave a loud battle cry and launched himself onto the Zombie, furiously beating its head in. Jerry slammed his heel down between the Zombie's eyes, reducing the Zombie to a rotten puddle of blood underneath tattered clothes.
With a jump-front kick from Kim, the last Zombie fell to the ground and Milton scrambled to pick up one of Rudy's dented trophies, bludgeoning the Zombie's head in a frenzy while Kim stomped on it. The two didn't stop until the Zombie's murderous growls had been silenced and its face was completely unrecognisable.
Jack pushed a Zombie's body off of him and Jerry soon found himself encased in a tight hug which he gladly accepted, even if Jack was spattered with blood and smelled like a rotting corpse. Jerry noticed Kim was looking at them strangely, but he thought nothing of it.
Rudy's office door opened and he and Eddie came out, both reeling at the smell the dead Zombie's were making. "Are you guys alright?" he asked.
"Yeah," they replied back as one, although they weren't fine. The place they had deemed one of the safest had been invaded and destroyed all in a single day. The sooner the Government got involved and put a plan into action to eliminate every last Zombie from the Earth, the better.
"Here's the key," Rudy said, holding it out.
"Jerry, you wanna get that?" Jack said quickly, stepping to the side.
Jerry frowned at him, then looked at Kim before following Jack to the side-lines. "Kim, you wanna get that?" he asked, pulling her in front of where he had been standing.
"Milton, you wanna get that?" Kim ran over to Jerry and Jack while Milton took one look at the key and looked like he was about to throw up, turning away to the side.
"Why is it always me?" Eddie complained, holding out a hand for Rudy to drop the key into. "So warm..." he grimaced, shuddering as he walked over to the door and locked it, swinging the metal bar down.
Jerry suddenly screwed his face up in confusion as he felt extremely hot. He looked at Jack and he was as white as a ghost. He didn't even notice that he was shaking, nor did anybody else. Fortunately Jerry did, which was unusual. He was always the last to notice important things.
"Jack, dude, are you okay?" he asked him, gaining the others attention, who looked at him in concern.
"Yeah," Jack said, looking at them in bewilderment. He clearly had no idea he had a fever. "Why?" he asked suspiciously.
"You look really pale," Jerry said worriedly, putting a hand to his forehead, nearly yelping in pain. Jack was burning up; how could he not notice that? "Like, more than Milton," he added, getting extremely nervous.
"It's probably the trauma," Milton said, shooting him a dirty look, ignoring his comment. "A Scientific study in human behaviour shows that-"
"I'm okay, Milton," Jack said quickly, waving a hand to stop him from launching into a full-blown scientific investigation. "I just-" He stopped talking and suddenly lurched to the side, emptying the contents of his stomach all over the floor, coughing and panting as he fell to his knees.
Rudy rushed over to him, laying a hand on his back while he heaved out the rest of what was coming back up his throat. "Kim, Milton, bring the sofa out from my office," he said hurriedly. "Eddie, run and get the thermometer from the bathroom," he ordered.
Kim and Milton wasted no time running into Rudy's office and Eddie ran into the bathroom as Jack toppled sideways, collapsing on the floor. Jerry was beginning to get worried; Jack couldn't be sick, he was perfectly fine this morning, fine enough to run all the way from his house to the mall. Something was definitely wrong.
"Jack, can you hear me?" Rudy knelt down beside him, putting a hand on his cheek.
Jack was unresponsive. He was white and sweat drenched his forehead, his mouth was open slightly, pouring out one shallow, ragged breath after the other. His body was running a fever, that was certain, but what was unusual was the fact that Jerry could feel the heat from it even though he was a few feet away from Rudy.
Rudy's office door burst open and Kim and Milton staggered out with the sofa. "Here's the sofa, Rudy," Kim said, hoisting it further off the ground as her end slipped and the cushions toppled off. "Oh lift like a man, Milton!" she yelled in exasperation as he completely dropped his end.
"I'm under-developed!" he hissed back, straining to lift it back up.
Jerry rolled his eyes and went to give him a hand. They set it down a few feet away from where Jack was laying and Jerry went around picking the cushions up, throwing them haphazardly onto the sofa.
Rudy lifted Jack into his arms, carefully putting him down on the sofa. Jerry stacked the pillows up behind Jack's back, propping him up slightly so if he threw up again he wouldn't be laying down.
"Here," Eddie handed Rudy the thermometer and Jerry felt like he was on the verge of biting his nails off. This couldn't be happening.
Rudy slipped the thermometer in the small gap between Jack's lips, taking it out after a few seconds. His eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "Sixty-five degrees," he said in exasperation, looking worriedly at a slowly waking Jack.
"I'm sure I'll be okay," he said, smiling weakly at him and Jerry, trying to reassure them. "I just forgot breakfast this morning." He sat up on the sofa and Jerry looked him over. There was no way his fever could have been caused by forgetting his breakfast. There was a gnawing feeling at his gut, but he pushed it down.
Eddie pulled something out of his back pocket. "You can have my churro." He offered Jack the pastry, but he shook his head, pushing it away. Eddie just shrugged and began eating it himself.
"You didn't get bitten, did you?" Kim asked shakily, voicing the question that had been nagging at Jerry's mind. The one that he would never of had been able to ask.
"I'll check," he said. Putting all slight embarrassment aside for the time being - he was sure he was blushing from the prospect of having to touch Jack - he took hold of Jack's shirt and lifted it up.
There was nothing on his stomach, so Jerry bit his lip, sliding his hand around Jack's torso to his back, feeling around for anything. Needles of fear shot through him as his fingers ran over a patch of skin that felt coarse.
He turned Jack around, his eyes, and everyone else's, widening at what he saw.
"Jerry," Jack began nervously, twisting his head around to meet his eyes. "What is it?" he asked.
"A Zombie bite."
Alright, you probably saw that coming. I hope everyone was in character and I'm so very sorry if this chapter was boring, but leave me a review letting me know what you thought and I'll need over ten for an update. ;)