Yeah, this is one of those messages again; on pretty much everything I've updated. I hate leaving them, but the lack of reviews for my last updates was disappointing. I'm not trying to make anyone or guilt-trip anyone, but when I spend ages putting chapters together only to get three or four reviews for a chapter that took me weeks to write, it knocks me back because it's like I'm just letting a handful of people read my work and I know that isn't true since I've got way more readers than that, and this story's last chapter only got two. I'm sorry if this is bitchy, but I worked my butt off on that chapter. -_-
But thank you to the two of you that could be bothered to review, and I hate to be 'that person' but I'll need fifty reviews for an update; eight really isn't that hard, compared to some other stories that get like tens per chapter. I know I'm not good guys, but I try. :)
Anyway, last chapter we had a pretty emotional scene between Jack and Jerry, where Jack came to terms with what's happening to him faster than everyone else. (IDK why, I loved writing that scene so much, and don't even get me started on writing about Victor, he's so funny xD)
Well, I'm not gonna spoil anything upfront, just that this chapter will be a big eye-opener.
Jack was dead, laid out in a fatigue across the mattress, his breathing laboured and heavy. Jerry stood over the bed, placing a dampened cloth on his sweat-slicked forehead, the latter turning away from it in pain.
"Jack?" he called to him, gently trying to shake him awake, but he was unresponsive, although his breathing was getting worse. "Hey, you okay, man?"
Jack turned over in his sleep and Jerry froze.
"Jack...?" he trailed off and he caught sight of a contorted, skeletal face, before white eyes snapped open and teeth clouded his field of vision.
Jerry shot up at the sound of a screeching snarl, eyes flying open. There was movement next to him and Jack stirred from his sleep, sitting up and rubbing his eyes, yawning widely.
"What was that all about?" he asked in a strained voice, stretching his arms in the air. His eyes were darkened underneath and bloodshot on the inside; whether it was from crying last night or lack of sleep, Jerry didn't know.
"Just a bad dream," he said dismissively, releasing a belter of a yawn himself. He shook his head and rubbed his face.
"You wanna talk about it?" Jack offered.
Jerry pulled a face. "Thanks, but no thanks," he decided quickly, Jack nodding in understanding. "I'd rather watch you eat those bandits again," he added emphatically.
Jack whistled. "That bad, huh?"
"Understatement," Jerry said with a shudder, trying to shake the image of Jack with white, bland eyes from his mind. That wasn't gonna happen any time soon of any of them had a say in the matter.
"Are you feeling okay, after... last night?" he asked suddenly, watching Jack's eyes drift to them in the same bed. Seeing Jack so open and vulnerable like that had really scared him; but he seemed okay now, he probably just needed an outlet and getting bitten tipped him over the edge.
"After baring my soul like a girl?" Jack said sarcastically. "Fine," he said airily, folding his arms.
"Jack."
"I'm fine," he reassured him gently, laying a hand in his lap. "As fine as I can get right now, anyway," he chuckled, Jerry feeling slight pressure from where his hand was.
He smiled and looked down, realising Jack's hand was on top of his own, fingers curling hesitantly like they were going to hold his, before Jack saw and pulled his hand away, eyes briefly like a startled fawn's.
"I, uh, I should go get dressed," Jack said quickly, trying to keep the stutter out of his voice. "I'll be damned if I'm stuck here while you're all out there stickin' your necks out for me," he added determinedly and Jerry watched him go, before throwing the covers over himself. He'd be fine in what he wore yesterday.
Curiously, he sniffed his armpit. Maybe a spray of deodorant wouldn't kill him.
It turned out Jack and Jerry had both slept in, as everyone else was already out of their beds and huddled downstairs in the living room, which Jack insisted he wasn't going to miss out on.
Everyone was gathered around, while Victor stood in the center of the room, holding a rolled up map in his hands. "All right, so what we're gonna do is-" He stopped, catching sight of them as they walked in, especially Jack. Jerry felt like the late kid in class again.
"Jack, you really should be restin', bud," he advised, but Jack wasn't having it.
"Stop Mother Hennin'," he said firmly, waving him off. "I'll be all right," he said with a smile, though Victor was reluctant.
"He was insistent, Sir," Jerry said, looking briefly in Jack's direction, before back to Victor. The older man's brow was raised. "Uh, Victor, sorry," he amended, holding his hands up apologetically.
"Fine, you can help," Victor said, giving in, much to Jerry's annoyance. "But the first sign a' trouble, Jerry, you drag his ass back here, understand?" he said in warning, pointing a finger in their direction.
"Yep." Jerry wasn't gonna make a mistake, especially given the look in Victor's eye.
"Okay, so all the ingredients from this end a' the coop are gettable, but we'll need to split up since there's a large area between 'em all," he explained, unrolling the map and placing it on the large oak table.
"Milton and Kim, you go together to the county morgue and get the bone of one'a the corpses, but they can't be infected or contaminated," he explained carefully, Kim looking at Milton with determination.
"Jack and Jerry, you go and get the wolfsbane and then come straight back here," he ordered, leaving no room for 'if's', 'and's' or 'but's'. "Make sure he stays awake," he added, the both of them yawning contradictorily over the top of him.
He sighed and turned to Rudy. "And Rudy, me and you'll go get the Zombie skin, since it's furthest away from here," he declared.
Rudy's eyes bulged. "What?!" he asked in panic.
"Easier than it sounds," Victor said reassuringly, Rudy relaxing slightly. "We just need to go to the forest, find a Zombie and shave some of its skin off, but it's gotta be alive," he said.
"Well then how the heck to we do that?" Rudy asked aimlessly.
"I'll explain on the way," Victor said in a lower voice, Rudy staying quiet.
Then he rounded on Kim and Milton again. "Right, Milton and Kim, you'll be headin' to the Sheriff's office which is a few miles up the path this way" - he pointed to a spot - "and tell 'im Victor Brewer sent ya, he'll be more'n happy to help ya get some bones," he explained, Kim and Milton nodding.
"Jack, Jerry the wolfsbane grows by my son's old office," he told them. "Can you remember where that is?" he asked.
"Vividly," Jerry said in a clipped voice, an air of disgust about it. It wasn't so much where the place was, more what happened there.
"Right, we're all set," Victor declared, clapping his hands together and rolling the map back up, handing it to Rudy. "Kim, Milton, I want all y'all to take a weapon just in case, and none of us come back without the ingredient, understand?" he said seriously, glancing, or glaring, around the room.
"Got it," everyone relayed back in a somber, but determined, tone.
"What're we watin' for?" Jack said tersely, folding his arms. "Let's get movin' before I zombi-fy," he added, half joking.
"You heard the boy," Victor said to the still statuesque Rudy, Kim and Milton, jolting some life back into them. "Start movin', we got daylight to burn," he added and they all made their way to the front door, disbanding in their separate directions while the fence towered with new volts of electric.
Jerry found that getting to Jack's Dad's office was a lot harder when Victor wasn't driving at full-speed in a car, but he could vaguely remember the way there and luckily for the two of them, Victor's earlier route had left a trail of tyre tracks to follow.
"Are you sure this is the right way?" Jack asked cynically, Jerry noticing he was walking slower than usual.
"Definitely," Jerry nodded with certainty, slowing down slightly so Jack could stay with him.
"It's just, we are trusting your sense of direction here," he added with a smirk, Jerry playfully tapping him on the arm, fearing if he did anymore, Jack would topple over.
"I think I'd remember the place where I saw a gang of Zombie's feeding on a guy," he said as a matter-of-factly, rolling his eyes. There was a certain place back in Seaford that he remembered because of that; but not the name, just how to get there. "That does stuff to a guy's brain," he said emphatically, Jack raising his hands in surrender.
"And Victor left a trail," he told him, pointing downwards with a cheeky grin.
Jack rolled his eyes, but maintained a mask of indifference and motioned for Jerry to lead the way, causing the latter to stick his tongue out.
A few moments later, they were stood outside Jack's Dad's office building, Jerry smirking smugly in Jack's direction. "See?" he said triumphantly.
But there was no Jack to smirk at.
"Jack?" he called worriedly, sighing in relief when he saw Jack limping slowly up the hill, dragging himself along.
"I'm fine, just slow down," he insisted, Jerry walking over to him and holding onto his arms to take more weight off of him.
"It's not your legs, is it?" Jerry asked.
Pained, Jack gritted his teeth. "No, it's my stomach," he said, his hands becoming like iron bands when Jerry tried to move his arms.
"Lemme see," he said hurriedly, managing to pull one of Jack's hands away, then the other.
Jack paled. "No, Jerry-"
He pulled up Jack's shirt and saw a large cut there, held together by a few strands of skin that stretched it grotesquely like ripped stitches, threatening to burst any second now.
"Oh my God," he gasped in shock, breath caught in his throat as he staggered backwards. He had learned the hard way not to shriek like a banshee in the middle of Zombie-ridden areas, which was lucky for them, really.
"It's nothing," Jack said in a faint voice, shaking his head, although Jerry could see right through him - literally thanks to that tear - and stared incredulously.
"Jack, it looks like it's gonna-"
Before he could finish his sentence, Jack fell down, blood gushing out of the tear in his skin, spurting through his fingers and onto the ground. He looked down at it, only to have some spray up in his face, before the skin started greying and contracting, slowly spreading over the wound like a giant plaster.
Jerry suddenly remembered Victor's words, bending down to heave Jack up by his arms. "C'mon." He grunted with the effort and Jack was on his feet, face clenched with pain, then surprise as he realised what he had just said.
"What, no-"
"You heard what Victor said," Jerry said abruptly, cutting Jack off before he could lie about being fine again. If this was 'fine' in his eyes, then what in the Hell was needing help? "I need to get you back," he said hurriedly.
Jack's nostrils flared in indignation. "We have come this" - he shoved his pinched fingers close to Jerry's nose - "close, we aren't going back now," he said through gritted teeth. "The wolfsbane's that purple plant over there," he told him, pointing to a row of purple herbs by the foundation of the building.
"Are you sure?" Jerry asked, feeling on-edge. He didn't care if he got Jack back and then came out here again; it was suicide for Jack to be outside with a wound like that.
"Jerry, I'm positive, I used to play here all the time when I was younger and I'd always cut myself on the thorns trying to get it," Jack said insistently, pointing to the row of herbs again. "Now get the damned plant, then you can play housewife," he muttered disgracefully, irritated.
"You're crabby this morning," Jerry said, affronted at Jack's sudden rashness.
"Jerry!" Jack yelled incredulously, throwing his hands up, only to wince and quickly bring them down on his stomach again.
"Right, sorry, I'm going." He shrugged sheepishly and tore his way across the grass to get to the plants.
Bracing himself, he reached in to the bundle of plants, not caring if he got cut on the thorns, and twisted a large handful from the ground, rushing back over to Jack.
"Think this is enough?" he asked, swinging the plants and bits of mud and root over the both of them.
"It'd better be," Jack muttered in a low voice, switching his jaw. Jerry rolled his eyes and made to pick him up, getting stopped by Jack's hands.
"Jerry, I can walk," he said with a chuckle.
"We'll get back faster if I carry you," Jerry said with certainty, looking at him imploringly before Jack gave over.
"Can you even pick me up?" he asked cynically.
"I've got to be able to," Jerry muttered lowly under his breath as a herd of Zombie's began to slowly emerge from the outlying forests.
A few hours later and Jerry had stumbled through the front door, with Jack leaning on his shoulder, slamming it closed with his foot. He managed to convince Jack to lay down at least, even though his leg was now encased in grayed flesh, he still refused initially. Now Jerry was stirring a mug of hot chocolate while Jack begrudgingly stayed in the living room.
He dropped the spoon on the counter with a clatter and picked the mug up, carrying it through to the living room.
"Jack?" he called, walking into the room. "Jack, I got some-" He stopped talking as he caught sight of Jack's blanket skittishly thrown over the sofa, with no Jack.
"Oh boy."
He swallowed hard and closed his eyes, taking a breath and turning around. A vice-like grip squeezed his throat, crushing the air out of him, the entire limb the hand was connected to was slowly decaying and a hideously contorted face snarled into his own, lips curled up into a smirk of mockery, eyes burning with an evil that Jerry had never seen before.
"I told you you should have killed me," Jack hissed at him, his voice lower, teeth bared in a growl as his grip got tighter and tighter.
Jerry's nostrils flared and he clenched his hand around the mug, feeling several droplets splashing over onto his hand. He gritted his teeth, spitting through them, "That's not gonna happen."
Whipping his hand up, the mug smashed against the side of Jack's head, his grip instantly contracting and releasing him as the boiling liquid scalded over his skin and soaked into the carpet. Jack yelled in pain, stumbling back against the fireplace and Jerry coughed, rubbing his throat.
Jack looked up at him, blinking in disbelief, looking from him to the shattered mug. "Jerry? I'm so sorry, I..." his voice trailed off in shock, mouth hanging opening as Jerry walked up to him. "What the hell is happening?" he asked aimlessly.
"I don't know, but I think you snapped out of it," Jerry said gratefully, huffing out a laugh.
But as soon as he did, Jack's face became blank and those eyes flooded his own. He took a step back, holding out his hands in defensive. "Jack?"
"Every time I look at you, all I wanna do is rip you apart," he growled, clenching a fist by his side.
Before he could even blink, the room blurred at the corners of his vision - a large oak table getting flipped out of the way by tremendous strength - and he was slammed hard against the wall, Jack's arm pressing his weight onto his throat.
"Shit," he choked out, bringing a hand up to try and pry Jack's hand off him, but it was futile. He was too strong in this haze. "Jack, you've gotta resist this," he pleaded with him.
Jack's eyes flickered between the animalistic orbs and his own, his head twisting as if he was trying to shake a voice out of his head. "I can't," he said hopelessly, his grip encasing Jerry's throat further, his fingers disjointed from his brain.
Jerry's eyes rolled, his temples burning and his heart pounding inside his chest. "Jack, you have to resist it-"
"I'm trying!" Jack yelled at him angrily, although it only seemed to exacerbate his anger and hunger further, his teeth snapping and coming within dangerous distance to his throat.
"Well, you're gonna have to think about something stronger," Jerry heaved out, leaning up on his tip-toes to try and get more air into his throat, but Jack's hand snaked further up, cutting off the precious little air he had managed to get.
"I can't," Jack said hopelessly, his entire body shaking as he tried to desperately battle with his own desires. He breathed heavily, trying to wrench his arm off Jerry's throat, but something was keeping him there. He gritted his teeth, a pained whimper turning into a snarl.
"The Dojo," Jerry forced out suddenly, chest constricting as he fought to get air out and his blood flow was halted around his body, his veins feeling like they would burst.
"What?" Jack asked through his teeth, the veins in his arm bulging as he tried to fight with himself, looking in agonizing pain.
"The Dojo," Jerry repeated in a quieter voice. "Remember when we were in charge and we had that massive fight because you were being big-headed?" he asked, watching as Jack was arching himself as far away as possibly, arm still crushing him.
He looked confused, head jerking like a madman. "What? No, I-"
"And after you enlarged my picture and apologised, you said the Dojo would never be the same without me," he went on quickly, seeing Jack's guard break down and he wrapped his fingers around Jack's wrist, gently prizing from his throat, gasping in furious gulps of air before Jack's lip curled in a snarl, slamming it back on his throat.
"If you kill me, that's something you're gonna have to deal with," Jerry gasped, squirming around in Jack's grip, as he was slowly registering with his own thoughts again. "If you don't, I'm still gonna be here and the Dojo's still gonna be the same," he went on, seeing tears at the corner of Jack's eyes.
"Where our family are," Jerry finished. Where I am? he added as an afterthought. Jack finally stepping back and releasing him completely, Jerry coughing throatily and rubbing his throat. He was going to be sore tomorrow.
Jack looked absolutely horrified, walking towards him. "Are you okay?" he asked in concern, holding his arm in worry, touching him for some sort of confirmation it seemed.
"Still hot," Jerry smirked, but dropped it instantly as Jack's eyes narrowed at him. "I'm fine, Jack," he said gently, becoming enveloped in a warm, firm hug.
He felt Jack's smile against his neck as he buried his face there, almost patronizing. "That's twice now," he said emphatically, knowingly.
"I know," Jerry said in agreement, nodding. "But it's still not gonna happen." He remained firm in that; until Jack had completely turned into a Zombie and was completely beyond the point of being able to be saved, only then would he even consider it.
"Even if I turn?" Jack broke away from the hug to hold him at arms length, regarding him incredulously. "What if that happens and I end up biting you?" he continued, clearly trying to persuade him, but Jerry wasn't going to be swayed. "Because I'll tell you, two Zombies are harder to contain than one, and one is like puttin' a dog leash on a great white," he finished.
"You promised for real this time, Jerry," he reminded him, but Jerry didn't want to be reminded.
"I know, I just..." he trailed off, throwing his arms up aimlessly. "I don't wanna lose you," he admitted, awkwardly looking down at the floor, before he realised Jack was giving him a soft smile.
Jerry felt everything slow down in that instant as Jack looked at him, heart of a warrior yet the eyes of someone who had given up completely. Those eyes were getting closer to his, dominating his field of vision and he began to lean in too...
The front door's lock clicked and the two instantly broke away from each other, Jack turning his attention towards the sound like nothing had happened, giving Jerry a chance to recover and catch his breath as whoever had opened the door walked down the hallway.
"Well, it's about damn time," Jack said in disbelief, chuckling as Kim and Milton bustled into the living room.
"Sorry, it's hard to check that a body's clean when Milton kept throwing up at the smell," Kim apologised, shooting a quick glare at Milton who raised an eyebrow at her in turn. "Good news, we got it,"
"What happened in here?" Milton asked in horror, looking at the overturned table and Jerry looked at Jack, for the first time able to see how hard he had actually thrown it and splintered it.
"Nothin'," Jack said impassively, brushing it off. "Did you see Pops and Rudy on the way back?" he asked, cleverly diverting the subject.
"No," "Don't think they'll be too far away though, unless Rudy lost the map," he added, snickering at his own joke.
Kim rolled her eyes tiredly and turned to Jack. "How're you feeling?" she asked.
Wordlessly, Jack sighed and rolled up his sleeves, throwing his wrists out and exposing the bare flesh; one had nearly grayed down to his fingers and the other was only halfway, though the veins stuck out violently and several patches near them pulsed and looked inflamed.
"Damn..." Kim groaned in shock, holding one of Jack's arms up, but adjusting the angle didn't make it better or make it go away. It looked terrible.
"And his stomach nearly split-" He choked on the end of his sentence as Jack's elbow viciously hit him in the stomach. He smiled apologetically.
"What?!" Kim demanded heatedly, Jack flinching from the loud noise. "We've gotta go find Victor and Rudy," she decided, moving to storm out of the living room, but Jack stepped in front of her.
"We'll just slow them down," he reasoned with her, effectively blocking her way, despite the fact in his current state she could have easily knocked him down. "I'm fine now, really," he reassured her, looking especially at Jerry, swallowing guiltily.
"You don't look fine," Milton edged in worriedly.
"I'm terrified," Jack admitted with a shrug, his voice dry, like there was no life left in him. "But there's not much we can do except wait," he explained.
"It's gonna be dark soon," Kim said, glancing at the window. The sun was fast disappearing through a veil of pink tinged sky and low clouds.
"And we don't have much time left either," Jack revealed, everyone turning around to abruptly look at him.
"What?" the three of them echoed in unison, Jerry catching Kim's shocked expression.
"About seven hours, give or take," Jack said with a heavy sigh, showing Jerry the clock. Where had the day gone?
"How far away is the forest?" Jerry asked worriedly.
"Not far, unless they've run into trouble," Jack said, the last few words coming out in a low murmur as he pulled a face. "Pa knows this place like Jerry knows the layout of my refrigerator," he added, playfully narrowing his eyes at Jerry.
He shrugged innocently and the four of them started to laugh, but Jerry's heart wasn't in it because one of the laughs was forced and soon fizzled out, taking the others with it like an extinguished candle.
"I'm gonna miss you guys," Jack said solemnly, looking around at them with his eyes glazing over, Jerry reaching out to touch his arm and Jack clung to his wrist like a little child lost. "Take care of each other, all right?" he asked, swallowing a lump in his throat as he looked at them imploringly.
"Is this deja vu from the time you were gonna leave for Japan, or what?" Milton chimed in, trying to lighten the mood, except it didn't. Jack's face darkened and Jerry didn't like it.
"Except I'm not going to Japan," Jack murmured with a half-hearted attempt at a scoff of incredulousness. "And I may not be coming back," he finished forlornly, suddenly becoming wrapped in three pairs of arms, Jerry fighting to be the one closest to him. He was going to be coming back and he was going to make it through this.
"Well, you didn't start on the soul-barin' without us, didja?" Victor's voice drawled jokingly from the door, Jack's instantly breaking away from the rest of them to rush over to Victor and Rudy, wrapping an arm around both of them.
"Thank God!" he cheered, catching his breath as he stepped back to let Rudy and Victor fully into the room.
"What took you so long?" Kim asked in concern, taking the jar of zombie flesh from him, Jerry fishing into his pocket and handing her the wolfsbane. She got the jar of dead man's bones and laid them on the table that Jack hadn't flipped over in his brief rage.
"Zombie's were harder to find so we had to go deeper into the forest," Victor explained, swallowing. "Think they're spreadin' out more," he said in worry, glancing out the windows and back to Jack.
"And Rudy lost the map," he added nonchalantly, Rudy pulling a shocked face and slapping him on the arm.
"Told you," Milton interjected from the sidelines, everyone turning to glare at him.
"Well now we've got everything, except the blood'a the sucker that bit ya," Victor said happily, patting Jack on the shoulder.
He sighed and looked at the clock. "There ain't much time left," he said, gesturing up at the clock, causing Jerry to bite his lip. "How fast d'you reckon your car can go?" he asked, looking at him expectantly.
"Fast as I can make 'er," Victor said determinedly, Jack smirking as a new fire ignited in him, making Jerry smile. At least he wasn't being pessimistic this time. "I'd best hold into the ingredients, too," he added, beckoning in Kim's direction, who handed him the jars.
"Do I need to try and book the jet again?" Rudy asked in worry, hand poised over his phone in his pocket.
"No, it'll waste time," Victor said with a shake of his head, Rudy sighing in immediate relief. "I'll just drive us all the way," he told them with a grin, eyebrows raising playfully as Milton's eyes widened.
Hopefully he wouldn't run out of gas on the way back.
Jerry was fairly certain that Victor had broken several rules of the road while driving over to the Dojo, and across the border, but right now, no-one gave a damn. Time was running out and Jack was getting progressively worse and weaker, no matter how much he tried to hide it.
The car swerved abruptly into a parking space. "We're here," Victor announced, practically ripping the keys from the ignition and everyone scrambled out of the car, Jerry having to catch onto Jack before he fell.
"How much time do we have left?" Jerry asked as they walked inside the Dojo, having to heave Jack and his grey-encased leg along with him. They stopped in the centre of the mat and Jack hobbled around to face Victor.
Rudy glanced at the clock behind them, a grimace forming on his face. "An hour," he relayed regrettably and Jerry sighed; how where they gonna be able to do this in an hour? Victor still needed to make the damned cure first.
"Right," Victor said, looking perturbed. He sighed heavily and rubbed a hand over his brow. "Rudy where did you put the bodies?" he asked.
"Out back by the dumpster," Rudy said, motioning behind him with his thumb to a back door. At least something was running smoothly, if Rudy hadn't been too lazy and had cleaned the bodies up, they would be royally screwed.
"Jack, go sit down," Victor told him, flicking a hand at the sofa, which Jack took to glaring at menacingly. "We'll take care of it," he reassured him.
Jack, still some fight left in him, opened his mouth to protest. "But-"
"Jack," Victor said firmly, effectively cutting him off. "With that leg like that, you'll slow us down," he added sympathetically, although Jerry sincerely doubted he wanted that right now.
"Okay, fine," he gave over, albeit reluctantly, throwing his hands up with a sigh and then folding his arms in annoyance, the grey skin starting to bulge through the sleeves.
"Can you remember anything about the Zombie that bit you?" Rudy asked, hanging off the door jamb and poking his head back inside. "There's more out here than I remembered," he added worriedly, making Jerry bite his lip. They were gonna do this though, they had to.
Jack closed his eyes, flicking his fingers frantically as if that was going to help him remember. "It was a female..." he said, trailing off, face scrunching up tighter before he fully opened his eyes. "Uh, had a tattoo on her arm, can't remember what though," he said apologetically, shrugging his shoulders.
"Should narrow it down a bit," Rudy consoled him with a faint smile. "Thanks," he offered in passing then he and everyone else, minus Jack, darted out the back way, Jerry lingering behind, uncertain.
Victor doubled back to poke his head in. "Jerry, we're gon' need your help on this one," he said pleadingly, eyes flickering from him to his grandson.
Jerry cast a worried and reluctant look at Jack, but he didn't meet his eyes when he unclasped himself from his body and limped back over to the sofa, dragging that heavy leg behind him, groaning in pain.
Sighing, Jerry headed outside to help.
He nearly reeled back, gagging in disgust at the stench of the dead Zombie's. Rudy was right, there was a lot more than they remembered, and their ratty, dead hair made it difficult to tell which gender was which with a few of them.
"All right, first things first, grab all the girls," Rudy called authoritatively to them, clapping their hands together. "Then we'll start narrowing it down," he proposed and turned to a pile of Zombie's, everyone else following suit.
Jerry held his breath and stepped into a few, grimacing as he picked up their bodies. He found a couple of women in the current pile - and one that could be a man, but Jack needed the cure fast and he wasn't about to waste time - and heaved them into the centre of the alley, dusting his hands off before he went and checked at another.
He was knee-deep in more corpses - how many actually got in? he thought to himself with a shudder - when he heard Milton say excitedly, "This one has a tattoo," while holding up a mottled arm with a faint cracked heart.
"But so does this one," came Kim's dismayed reply, showing him another female with a similar tattoo.
"What about this one?" Rudy asked Victor, straining with the effort as he heaved a corpse up, his arms around its chest.
"Rudy, bud, that's a male," Victor said bluntly, squatting back down to check for women while Rudy's eyes widened.
He dropped the Zombie like it was coming alive, yelping, "Whoops, sorry, Sir!"
Frustrated, Jerry threw another female corpse onto the pile and ran his hands through his hair. They didn't have time for this! Jack was wasting away in the Dojo as they all tripped over their own feet to look for a female Zombie with a tattoo. But he was also the only one who could help them narrow down and quicken the search.
"I'll go and ask Jack if he remembers anymore," he decided and ran back inside, glad of the momentary relief where dead Zombie guts weren't around his ankles.
Jack was stretched out on the sofa - now probably his self-proclaimed nemesis - and turned on his side, greying arms dangling down onto the floor. His breathing was laboured, slow and ragged, and his eyes were circled with redness and barely focusing properly.
"How're you doing?" Jerry asked quietly, kneeling down beside him so they were eye-level.
The heavy breathing just soldered on, Jack either too weak to muster a response or simply ignoring it, because that was the most ridiculous thing someone could ask. Jerry suspected the latter.
"Turns out a lot of woman get tattoos," Jerry began nervously, watching as Jack forced himself to look up at him, even the small action causing him pain. "Can you try and remember anything else?" he asked pleadingly.
Jack's eyes closed fleetingly and he breathed out, the smell stagnant and putrid. "I think it had a name on it or was a name," he croaked, furiously battling with his eyelids that desperately wanted to close, that none of them could let close. "I don't know, it was kind of a rush," he admitted, his voice fading out into another laboured breath.
"Thanks," Jerry said gently, smiling at him, something that Jack didn't return. "We'll find it, Jack," he promised him, but Jack's silence and far-away look in his eyes spoke volumes. He was giving up faster and faster, which in turn just made Jerry more determined to prove him wrong.
He tore back outside, the door crashing loudly against the brick wall, which made everyone jump up and take a brief break from their frenzied searching.
"Anything?" Rudy asked hopefully and Jerry nodded, the others smiling, but they hadn't won yet.
"He said the tattoo had a name on it, but he couldn't remember what it said," Jerry relayed and everyone walked out from their piles, Victor looking at the floor nervously.
"New plan, just grab the one's with tattoos," he declared quickly and Jerry once again was deep in guts. He knew he wouldn't be doing this for anyone else though.
Several moments passed - hours, minutes, who could tell out here? - and corpses were continuously searched and constructed into a significantly smaller pile of Zombie corpses, but it was still a hefty one. Even more so as Kim threw another one on the top with a grunt.
"How long have we been doing this?" she asked worriedly, wiping sweat from her brow while Jerry's eyes widened and he shivered with dread. He hadn't even thought about the time.
"We've got time," Victor said, although it didn't sound very reassuring, it was a statement more than anything. "It ain't over until Jack says it's over," he decided firmly. "If he doesn't fall asleep, that should prolong it a little bit," he explained hopefully.
Jerry's demeanour sank at that; as confident as Victor was, Jerry knew he wouldn't be if he could actually see his grandson. "He was practically out for the count when I last saw him," he revealed miserably.
"Then we'd better hurry," Victor replied gravely, looking at him dead in the eyes. Jerry nodded and he and Rudy hurried over to the smaller pile, checking the tattoos, tossing limbs about haphazardly.
"Three have tattoo's with names on," Rudy said to him in frustration, Victor, Kim and Milton appearing by this time to help out. "Where did Jack say it was again?" he asked.
"Arm," Jerry said everyone began frantically picking up limbs, regardless of the tattoo's shape or form, or even what limb.
They had to be certain otherwise everyone's work this morning would have been for nothing and the Wasabi Code would have been broken, because one of them would have had to say 'die', regardless how honest and loyal they had all been to the end.
"I found 'er!" Victor called triumphantly, the sound being music to Jerry's ears as he held up a severely bitten arm with a barely recognisable 'Shirley' printed in black ink on the bicep. Jerry swallowed, that was the same name as Eddie's mother.
"Are you sure?" Kim asked apprehensively, gnawing on her lower lip. "There's another woman with one," she added, pointing to one laying face down, an ugly stab wound going through her entire body.
Victor bent down next to 'Shirley' and pulled a syringe out of his pocket, flicking the protective cover off and stabbing into the corpse's arm in one fluid motion without making eye contact with any of them. Jerry glanced to the Dojo, barely able to make out Jack's form on the sofa. He crossed his fingers inside his pockets.
"Guess we're gon' have to take that chance, ain't we?" He started filling up the syringe and the dark, thick liquid started snaking its way into the tube, slowly pushing the gauge to the maximum.
"I hope you're right about this," Rudy muttered under his breath.
Victor turned to look at him once the syringe was filled with the gloopy liquid. "I bet Jack does too," he retorted, placing the cap back on the syringe and putting it safely into his pocket.
After a sudden start, as if no-one could comprehend they had actually come this far now, everyone burst through the Dojo, Jack not moving, even at the clamour.
"Jack, we found it!" Jerry called, him and Kim rushing over to him, while Milton, Rudy and Victor hung back in the wings, wary. "You're gonna be okay," he said, unable to contain his smile.
But it quickly dropped at what was in front of them.
Jack was laid on the sofa, eyes closed and his chest rising and falling evenly, the grayed skin now creeping its way up his neck, but not quite reaching his face yet. It was eerie, like something was growing and coelacesing around them, the air was growing thicker and smelled foul.
Hesitantly, Jerry walked towards the sofa, the rest of them warily staying back, outstretched a hand to shake Jack awake. "Jack?" he called, but he was unresponsive.
"Jerry, watch out!" Kim yelled in warning as grayed fingers twitched suddenly, making him scramble back in shock as Jack's body shot up, back arching and twisting like someone had shot an electric bolt through him, his head lolling forwards into his chest.
His heard reared up with a vicious snarl, his eyes snapping open, opaque and lifeless.