Happy New Year readers! Hopefully this year ends up being more positive than 2016.
The group were all having dinner, using some of sunflower oil that Rolf and his family had gathered. While everyone was eating, May noticed something.
"Hey, wheres Dutch and that other guy?"
Looking around, everyone noticed Jimmy and Keenan were nowhere to be seen.
On the roof of the factory, Jimmy and Keenan were still on lookout... well mostly Keenan, as Jimmy's focus had drifted to owls and other wildlife that were around the factory.
Jimmy hummed to himself as he looked around with his binoculars. He admired the orange glow of the setting sun, the diurnal animals that were getting ready to go to sleep, and the sunflowers swaying in the gentle late Spring breeze.
Jimmy looked at the road and saw five teens heading towards the factory.
"Mr. Christensen, look! There are people heading to the factory!" Jimmy exclaimed.
"What!" Keenan replied, he looked at where Jimmy saw the teens. "We need to tell the others!"
The two began to head back downstairs, encountering the Eds and Matt on the way.
"People are coming! They could be zombies, or with the R.C.M.P, or theyre vicious tjieves wanting to take our supplies! I'm so frightened!" Jimmy squealed.
"Theres a group of teenagers heading over here. We have to be ready. Jimmy may be overreacting a bit, but in a way he's right." Keenan explained. Ed became serious and grabbed Jimmy, stuffing the timid boy in his jacket pocket.
"Fear not my small friend! For as long as Ed, the Zombie Hunter, is here, I WILL PROTECT YOU!" Ed shouted. The others looked confused but knew Ed meant well, Jimmy looked horrified at the fact he was in Ed's pocket.
"Good for you Lumpy, but we got get everyone ready." Eddy said as the six of them headed back downstairs.
Everyone got ready by the entrances of the factory, wary for the five that were approaching. They turned every light off and got into positions to attack if it waa necessary.
The front door opened, letting the last rays of sunlight enter the factory. Five teenagers entered the factory, the light allowed everyone to get a good look at them.
There were two girls and three boys in the group. The first girl olive skinned and curvaceous her curly brown hair was the first thing everyone noticed about her. She wore a black tube top and blue jeans with brown high heels. The boys immediately thought of Nazz when they saw her. Nazz herself nudged Kevin in his guy with her arm, Kevin blushed in embarrassment as the two had essentially been in an on again off again relationship.
The second girl was much thinner than the first. She had dark skin and her hair went down to jer upper back. She wore a dark purple shirt and navy blue jeans with white sneakers. She also had thick glasses and seemed much more nervous compared to the rest of her group.
The first boy wore a white jacket but nothing underneath, dirty, torn blue jeans and brown boots. He was holding a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire. He had greasy brown hair and an annoyed look on his face.
The second boy was short, like Eddy. He had blond hair and wore a brown buttoned shirt with green camo shorts and shoes. He was also slightly chubby. He hid behind the first boy, who towered over him and the others, except for the third boy.
The last member of the group was a towering mass of a boy. He wore a black tank top with a flaning skull, black shorts with a chain coming from his left pocket, and brown hiking boots. He had a buzzcut so it was difficult to determine his hair color, but looking closely, one could see that he had dark brown hair. The boy's eyes had a look of fury.
"Think we can take 'em?" Eddy asked his friends in a hushed whisper.
"Eddy are crazy? That large boy will destroy us!" Double D whispered back at him.
"We can just let Ed handle him." Eddy replied.
"You guys suck at whispering."
The Eds looked up to see the second tallest boy looking down at them from tjeir hiding space. The Eds raised their weapons, everyone else fighting got into a position to fight.
"Easy, people, easy! We're all healthy people here. Or at least mostly healthy. We came because we're looking for a place to hide." The boy said. Kevin got a closer look at the two tall boys.
"Hey, I recognize you! You're on the Lemon Brook Lumpers!" Kevin announced, being captain of the Peach Creek Cobblers, Kevin had been in enough games for his school to recognize members of their rival team. "Mendez and Sampson, right?" Kevin referred to the largest boy as 'Sampson' and the second tallest as 'Mendez'.
"Good eye. But I guess that figures coming from the captain of the Cobblers." Mendez replied.
Nazz seemed to recognize the curvy girl.
"I've seen you before, you're one of the cheerleaders for the Lumpers, right?" Nazz asked.
"Yeah! I'm Erin!" The girl replied. "Say, you use to work at Glitz 'n Glamour didn't you!"
"Yeah, but I had to quit, it looks nice on the outside hut the managers are total jerks! I'm Nazz by the way." Nazz replied, the two girls shook hands before the other girl spoke up.
"Well since we're all introducing ourselves, I suppose it would only be fair if I introduced everyone. My name is Kathleen but you may refer to me as Kathy, you have already met Erin, the young man over there with the blond hair is Peter, and your friend over here seems to be acquainted with Tony and Armando, who are on our school's sports teams." Kayla introduced.
"She talks just like Double D!" Ed quickly pointed out.
"Great, another goody-two-shoes genius." Eddy groaned. Kayla raised an eyebrow at Eddy's comment.
"Oh don't you mind them. My name is Eddward, with two D's, but everyone refers to me with Double D. My friends over there are Ed and Eddy." Double D greeted.
"Mendez and Sampson know me, but for those who don't, the name's Kevin."
"My name's Nazz, nice to meet you!"
While everyone was greeting the group and welcoming them, the Marie stood away from the others, which her mother was quick to notice.
"Whats eatin' ya' Marie?" She asked. Marie was glaring at Kathy, who had appeared to have struck up a conversation with Double D.
"It's that smart girl, I don't lsike her talking to my man!" Marie admitted.
"You didn't tell me you had a boyfriend." Lenore said, raosing an eyebrow.
"Well, he isn't officially my boyfriend but..." Marie began but her mother stopped her.
"If you like him, tell him. It's easier to get over rejection if it goes badly than to let it eat at you from inside." Lenore said. "Now where the rest of that food, we have guests now."
Ed approached Tony, who wasnt really talking to anyone.
"Wow, youre really big!" Ed said with a goofy smile.
"Hehe, thanks!" Tony replied, his voice was similar to Ed's and he had a sinilar goofy smile. Sarah pushed Jimmy over to the two. Jimmy was shaking and looking up at Tony in fear.
"Um... h-h-hi..." Jimmy squeaked out, Jimmy still held the binoculars he used from being on lookout, which Tojy noticed.
"Hey, I have one of those too! I use it to look at all the pretty birds by my house!" Tony announced. His statement shocked Jimmy and put him more at ease.
"You like birdwatching?!" Jimmy asked to which Tony nodded eagerly. "Then do I habe some stories for you!" Jimmy said with glee as he took Tony away to talk to him and Keenan.
Eddy and Peter glanced at each other and scowled.
"What are you looking at, Chump?" Both said simultaneously.
"Chump?! You're the chump!" Both repeated.
Everyone went back to dinner, with the Lemon Brook group joining the Peach Creek group. The topic of the town of Lemon Brook soon cropped up.
"So this predicament has affected the land of our rivals in physical competition." Rolf said.
"Yup, and we were thinking Peach Creek might be safe but since you're here then we were wrong." Armando replied.
"So where do we go now?" Jimmy asked.
"Actually, there's somewhere our family meeds to go..." Eddy's mom stated.
"We need to find out if our other son is alright..." Eddy's dad added.
"I suppose that seems reasonable." Dr. Vincent replied.
"Where is your other child?" Rolf's father asked.
"He lives in a mobile home at the amusement park called Mondo A-Go Go..." Eddy replied. The Peach Creek gang grew nervous. In contrast, the Lemon Brook gang looked excited.
"Mondo A-Go Go?! That place rocks!" Tony proclaimed.
"So why don't we head off now?" Peter asked.
"With the zombies and corrupt law enforcement out there? The best we can do at the moment is stay put." Kathy replied.
"Well what should we do then?" Lee asked.
"At the moment we should get our rest." Double D began as he took out a map of Canada. "In the morning we will habe to head through Lemon Brook and Orange River into the woods. From there we should reach Lime Lake by nightfall."
"So i guess thats the plan. I'm going to bed, night y'all." Lenore said.
"It would be wise to get some rest, we leave in the morning." Double D added.
While everyone went to bed, Matt approached Janyse.
"Hey, let me know if anything happens. If it does, I got your back." Matt said, giving Janyse a thumbs up.
Janyse raised an eyebrow but grinned at her neighbor.
"I can take care of myself." Janyse replied.
"Oh... Right..." Matt said as he left Janyse. When she was out of her sight, he slapped his forehead.
"Stupid! Stupid!" He said as he hit himself, careful not to draw any attention to himself.
Later than evening, while everyone was asleep Armando was writing in a journal, looking around to see if anyone was awake. He had a sinister look on his face and he had his barbed wire bat nearby just in case. Before closing his journal, Armando wrote one last thing:
'If I can keep these pigeons on my side for as long as they're useful, I can survive. Those two smart ones, Eddward and Kathy, they need to go. Quickly. Armando Mendez will not die anytime soon.'
Sorry for the lack of a choice in this chapter and the previous one. But there WILL be a chapter choice in the following chapter. As for this chapter however, how do you feel about the Lemon Brook kids. Reviews are welcome and healthy criticism is accepted.