(Prominis 20, 58 / 11:47PM)
(Boris) Is The Array ready?
(Government Agent #1) Yes sir, all 14 of the teens and young adults are pced on the edge of the city.
(Boris) Perfect, you shall take your leave for now.
A tall, silver-haired man with long hair spoke to Boris, wearing a bck tuxedo and scks.
(Government Agent #1) May I have permission to speak sir?
(Boris) Go ahead.
(Government Agent #1) Are you sure you want to put a bunch of kids and teenagers in a deadly game of survival? Isn’t this a bit too much sir?
Boris looked down towards the steel floor, his gsses covering his gray linings under his eyes.
(Boris) It’s not like I wanted this in the first pce…
(Government Agent #2) Hey Eren, Briggs wants us back to Lagefor tomorrow.
Another agent, a woman of average height with pitch-bck hair, came into the room, speaking directly to the tall silver-haired agent.
(Government Agent #1) Didn’t you already tell him that we would be helping Boris set up The Array?
(Government Agent #2) You know how he is in terms of children…
(Government Agent #1) Yeah. Let’s go back, Ada.
As the two young agents walked out of the room, Boris continued to look downward, not looking at the TV screens and cameras that were pstered across the room.
(Gwen) BORIS!!
Hearing rapid footsteps, he looked up to see Gwen sprinting towards him, with veins spouting over her forehead.
Boris noticed the enraged Gwen and tried to hide in a cabinet, his face dripping with nervous sweat as his body warms up instantly, but Gwen managed to wrap her small hands around his fat neck before he moved. Increasingly tightening her grip, she put her hidden strength into lifting Boris from the ground, causing his face to turn purple and his legs kicking in the air.
(Gwen) WHAT DID YOU DO!!?
Four adult figures came by, sprinting towards Gwen with their breaths irregur and out of control.
(David) Gwen! Stop!
David outran both Jenny and Jerry, his face tattered with paleness as he managed to grab a hold of Gwen. Putting both hands on Gwen’s arms, David put so much strength onto Gwen’s arms that she had no choice but to lighten her grip on Boris. Jerry and Benn then pulled back Gwen with all their strength, holding Gwen back.
(Jerry) Gwen, control yourself!
(Jenny) I know you’re angry, we all are!
(Benn) Calm down…
Barely holding Gwen, David put his entire body in between her and Boris so that Gwen wouldn’t touch him, his body radiating his duty as a bodyguard for Boris, but even then…
David turned towards where Boris was on the ground, his breath coming in much slower than normal, his breathing raspy and parched. Noticing this, David took out from his pocket a mini inhaler.
Bending down, he lifted Boris’s head and put the inhaler inside Boris’s mouth, giving him much-needed air.
Now slowly breathing normally, Boris steadily got up from where he stood, but as much as David helped him, David gred at Boris, his body barely containing the emotions he kept hidden away.
(David) Why did you do it?
Not only David, but Jerry, Jenny, and even Benn had their eyes sharpened at Boris’s face. Their eyes did not falter as Boris looked downwards, his face not showing his already soulless eyes.
(David) I brought in Luna. Gwen brought in Luke. Jerry and Jenny took care of the rest like children … you even brought in Loraine!
David then put both hands on Boris’s shoulders.
(David) Why?
David’s fingers dug into Boris’s chubby shoulders. As David kept his grip, he felt Boris sigh.
(Boris) Many years ago … I made a little joke about making The Array, a kiddie version that I sold to you guys …
David let go of Boris’s shoulders, taking a couple of steps back to let Boris continue. Jerry and Benn loosened their grip on Gwen, while Jenny looked at Boris with disgusted eyes. Gwen continued to stare at his neck.
(Boris) Arthur Kennedy, now a politician, liked the idea, but the person now in charge of funding me was President Reed… and to receive the money, I had to put in some extras to please him.
Everyone except Gwen looked down, realizing that Boris had no other choice but to make The Array an impossible test of survival…
(Boris) At first, I wanted to cancel the project. I wanted to just cut it and do it on my own. But … another friend of mine forced me to make a promise during that day at the bar.
Boris looked up to everyone, his eyes unwavering.
(Boris) He quotes “Whatever you do, don’t do it on your own, no matter what …”
(David) Which friend was it? Politician Kennedy?
Boris’ eyes turned to Gwen. His face and cheekbones rexed as he remembered his past days …
(Boris) It was Fenix, Joseph Fenix…
______________________________________________________________________________
(Prominis 21, 58 / 2:03AM)
(Luke’s thoughts) So we finally reached the second stage…
As the ndscape shifted from a suburban to a downtown central area, Luke, Loraine, Cameron, and Ryan walked through the used-to-be busy streets of Fort Damns. The more they walked, the more noticeable the moss was along the paved street. The greenness of it illuminated the street to make it more visible in the double new moon sky.
(Luke’s thoughts) I only have a gun with me, and Loraine has nothing but a Swiss army knife. I wonder what weapons Cameron and Ryan brought—
Luke tripped as his foot managed to bump into something, causing him to fall face-first into the pavement. As the three see this, all three of them end up ughing at his other embarrassing dispy.
(Cameron) Hahahaha … you’re the life of the party!
(Loraine) giggles … your encounter with the chickens and now this! Hahahaha.
(Ryan) chuckles … ah Luke … Here, let me help you up.
Ryan extended his right furry hand towards Luke, his face barely containing the ughter as his cheeks were puffing up and down like a chipmunk. Taking Ryan’s hand, Luke rubbed the back of his head with his left hand, turning red as he felt like a burden to the group.
(Cameron) Hey, does anyone hear that?
(Loraine) Here what?
(Cameron) I hear a noise. It sounds like…steam?
(Loraine) I don’t hear anything. Maybe it's because of your horse's genetics … freak …
(Cameron) Excuse me?
Cameron then towered over Loraine, his build much taller as he also had another growth spurt simir to Luke. His face looked down at Loraine, his eyes twitching as his fists were balled into a punch, waiting for Loraine to say anything else.
(Loraine) Back away freak!
(Cameron) Call me a freak again! I dare you!
(Luke) Cameron, calm down! She’s just a kid, she doesn’t know any better!
Luke walked towards them, his face disappointed and immeasurable as his eyes drooped down at the two teens younger than him.
(Ryan’s thoughts) Damn bitch …
(Ryan) Hold on Luke, I’ll help you too—
An explosion rocked the street.
Everyone was astounded by the intensity of the explosion, as the shockwave sent them back a few feet from where they were at. Dust and smoke covered the entire street front to back, windows and concrete throwing fming bits in all directions. Luke, Loraine, and Cameron y unmoving, their bodies aching from the pain.
(Cameron) RYAN!!
Cameron ran towards where the explosion was, diving headfirst into the smoke and dust as it started to water his eyes and choke his throat. He couldn’t see, his mouth started to dry from the dust, and his nose blocked the way to let the oxygen flow through his brain.
In the smoke, Cameron then tripped onto a body of fur. Falling on his chest, he got up to see—
Ryan’s right arm. Separated from his body.
Even through the stinging smoke, Cameron’s eyes didn’t deceive him. Even with low oxygen, his heart was still pumping. Ryan’s right arm wasn’t connected to his main body, causing Cameron to bend down looking at the arm that would give him bro's fists. Pcing his right hand, Cameron felt the furriness and coldness of what used to be—
(Cameron) No! He’s still alive!
Through the smoke, he saw another body part.
(Cameron) He’s…
Then another.
(Cameron) He’s … He’s …
Then came the full view of Ryan’s body.
(Cameron) H-H-H-He…
Ryan, the 17-year-old bunny human, the beast human that treated everyone with care, especially Cameron, didn’t have a body…
His head was barely attached to his neck. His stomach had holes of blood and guts spewing out from him. Almost like an open surgery, his chest and stomach showcase little organs that Ryan contained, with his torso and crotch completely obliterated with his legs nowhere to be found.
A scream tore from Cameron’s throat. His hands scraped away as he began pounding the old street pavement.
With his screams of agony continuing, it made Luke and Loraine get up from their fatigue.
(Luke) Cameron!
Luckily for them, the smoke started to clear out, as soon as the two saw Cameron, Luke ran to pull him out of his state.
(Luke) Cameron! We have to go…
Cameron desperately tried to fight back.
(Luke) Cameron!
In an instant, Loraine walked up to the two boys and pulled her arm back. Using her right hand, she curled it up into a fist and used all her force to hit Cameron straight on in the head, making him unconscious.
Now asleep, Luke put Cameron onto his back, with Loraine tying him up so that Cameron wouldn’t fall off. As the two looked down where Ryan’s corpse was …
(Luke’s thoughts) God damn it! Why…
(Loraine’s thoughts) Damn.
Luke’s eyes began to water, his eyes averting the hideous state that his friend’s corpse was in. The same was for Loraine, her eyes squinting by how quick it was…
His face showing many veins on his forehead, Luke continued to walk to the center, his face quenched with vengeance for—
(Many zompires) Save us!
A dozen of zompires decided to ambush them from behind…
Looking back, Luke’s frustration was instantly swept by fear, his face becoming one of a Kepputhan gcier.
(Luke) R-R-Run!
With Cameron on his back, and his left hand on Loraine’s, the candidates ran as fast as they could.
______________________________________________________________________________
(Prominis 21, 58 / 2:36PM)
(Luke) They’re still catching up to us!
(Loraine) pants … how much … stamina do they have …
As Loraine took in irregur breaths, Luke still had most of his stamina, even with Cameron on his back. At this point, Loraine was mostly being towed by Luke, who kept on forcing Loraine to run more than she should have.
Because the horde of zompires was still on them…
(Luke’s thoughts) We’re barely a third through the second stage, how many more zompires do we have to run into?!
Luke’s heart was steadily increasing, his legs on overdrive forcing his body to keep going despite the dreaded fear. Loraine was different, since Luke smelled the stench of body odor coming from Loraine, since she never pushed herself to this limit before…
(Loraine) Please … pants … carry me.
(Luke) I already have Cameron on my back!
(Luke’s thoughts) There’s gotta be a way to get rid of this horde…Wait … that one zompire during the river when the boat sank… It doesn’t use eyes, and it mostly likely uses hearing, because I used a rock to misdirect it … but …
During the end of his hopeless walk, Luke remained quiet when he encountered another zompire, but the zompire pinpointed exactly where Luke was…
(Luke’s thoughts) I didn’t make any noise if I remember correctly … So what other sense does it use to track down its prey—wait hold on … can it be?
On his first encounter, Luke was barely getting out of a river, drenched with water. On his unlucky encounter, he smelled terrible considering that he hadn’t bathed or showered for twenty or more days…
(Luke’s thoughts) Does it also rely on smell?
Grabbing out of his left pocket was a small “stink” bomb that Luke made. The “stink” bomb looked like it was made st minute, with its mechanism and metal all over the pce.
(Luke’s thoughts) One of my two st resort weapons…
Loraine looked at the little bomb that Luke pulled out, her eyes sparkled with curiosity as she instantly knew what the bomb looked like.
(Loraine) What are you going to do with that?
(Luke) This!
Clicking the little button on top of the bomb, Luke instantly tossed it back over, trying to distract the zompires.Upon impact to a nearby garbage can, the bomb exploded and released a gas cloud of yellowish smoke, the cloud reaching a dangerous radius as Luke and Loraine barely managed to escape the cloud.
Both looking back, they noticed that the zompires were coughing..
(Luke’s thoughts) How are they still alive? I thought it would melt them from the inside out.
(Loraine’s thoughts) How smelly is that stink bomb?
The zompires continued to grab their stomachs as they coughed their lungs out.
Most of them were coughing up their organs already, with most of their organs turning bck and molded as the cloud covered the horde. Their eye sockets spewed out yellowish molded tar instead of the bck tar Luke saw in his previous encounters. As the zompires screamed in agony, Luke lowered his eyes and continued to run, tugging Loraine along.
(Loraine) What did you put in that stink bomb?
(Luke) Oh, I infused a liquid called ammonia and then poured in a bunch of bleach and sulfur. It made this yellowish gas, so me and Fred trapped this cloud onto this little bomb.
(Loraine) That gas looks so cool! I hope you teach me how to make it!
(Luke) You don’t know how dangerous that gas is…
As the two managed to run away, they noticed a little ke in the middle of the second stage. The brownish murky water covered in abandoned debris made Loraine’s eyes sparkle.
(Loraine) Maybe we could hide in there?
(Luke) And maybe … What if the zompires couldn’t trace humans' smell because of the water or hygiene a human has?
The more they got closer to the ke, the more Loraine’s eyes sparkled in the night, but Luke eyed the ke with a tilt of his head.
(Luke’s thoughts) Wait … What if-
Just as Loraine was about to jump into the ke, Luke grabbed her arm, his grip firm and gentle.
(Luke) Wait, hold up. The ke might have bacteria.
(Loraine) Never know till you try!
Breaking his grip, Loraine jumped into the ke head first, submerging herself in the brownish water, not caring how hideous the water looked. Putting her head out of the water, she gently spoke to Luke.
(Loraine) You better hurry, what if those zompires find you?
(Luke’s thoughts) As long as I don’t get the water into my face, I’m good.
Putting his legs into the water, Luke made sure that he put most of his body in the water, not letting any brownish droplets into his ears, mouth, and especially nose. To make sure that Cameron had some water on him, Luke aligned Cameron’s head with his. Looking back, he no longer saw the horde.
His body quivering inside of the water, Luke motioned to Loraine to get closer to him. In return, Loraine swam bit by bit towards Luke, her body one with the water.
(Luke) I think we’re safe to get out now.
(Loraine) But what if the horde ambushes us again? You don’t want to put me and yourself in danger again right?
(Luke) I know but—
(Loraine) Let’s wait for a couple of minutes longer. I love to be in the water.
Luke resigned to Loraine’s wishes and waited in the brown ke until she felt safe. Looking around for a few minutes, Luke thought he heard yells and noises coming from their previous direction but he paid them no mind.
(Luke’s thoughts) When is Loraine going to get us out of the ke—
(???) Someone! Help us!
A teenage boy’s voice was heard…
(???) She needs help! Can anyone help her?!
(Luke) That sounds a lot like…
A group of footsteps can be heard getting closer and closer to the ke Luke and Loraine were in, his eyes scanning the top of the hill as they saw three figures. Surprisingly, Luke was familiar with all three of them.
(Luke) That voice…
As Luke motioned Loraine to follow him, both went up towards the hill, with Luke waving his arms to signal his best friend.
(Luke) Fred!
Running uphill with Cameron in tow, Fred noticed Luke’s signal, his eyes starting to tear up as help arrived…
______________________________________________________________________________
(Prominis 21, 58 / 3:09AM)
(Luke) All she needs is rest…
(Fred) Those damn zompires …
Luke and Fred evaluated the damage done to one of the girls, who was none other than Gemma. Setting her down on the grass, her breathing was raspy and slow, with rashes spreading all across her body, as her body started to heat up from the pain.
(Luke) This isn’t from a zompire … was there a trap where gas hit her?
(Luna) Nope. We saw some nasty-looking zompires that looked yellowish, so me and Gemma decided to cut them up.
(Fred) Luna managed to not get hurt, but Gemma … got scratched by one of them …
Luna was next to Luke as he took in the information, his body shaking as he didn’t want to believe that what Fred was saying was true…
(Luke) So uh … did Gemma—
(Fred) Did you use mustard gas, Luke?
Fred looked intently at Luke, his eyes serious and unwavering. Luke looked down, as he breathed in and out slowly.
(Luke) I… had no other choice.
(Fred) What…
(Luke) We were being chased by that zompire horde, so I decided to use the gas to try to take them out … but I never expected them to just take the pain and continue fighting.
Fred then walked over towards Luke, his face slightly looking up at Luke’s as Fred’s eyes started to water…
(Fred) You knew how dangerous that bomb was … and yet.
(Luke) I’m so sorry…
Fred then grabbed Luke by his colr, his hands shaking uncontrolbly as he didn’t want those words to ring true. His eyes remained serious yet tears were starting to form as his eyes wanted to let those waterworks out…
(Fred) You … how could you—
Luna then put her right hand firmly yet gently on Fred’s left hand, looking at Fred with a cold yet gentle face.
(Luna) He had no other choice, Fred.
(Fred) But … but he—
(Luna) He did what he could to survive. If he didn’t use the mustard gas then both him and Loraine would’ve been dead. Sometimes, the price of one can be far better than the price of two—
Fred countered Luna’s hand with his other hand, looking at Luna with furious eyes, as his hands started to uncontrolbly shake.
(Fred) If … you fought those yellowish zompires, right? What would you do if those zompires scratched you instead of—
Luna then grabbed Fred’s colr, her eyes gring.
(Luna) I’m alive, aren’t I?! Why can’t you just accept that what’s done is done? Gemma isn’t going to die! Hope is already trying to get her better dumbass!
Fred rapidly turned his head towards where Hope was, his eyes in shock as he saw Hope treating Gemma with care. Hope had on her left hand an inhaler, and she pressed it against Gemma’s raspy mouth, hoping that Gemma took the chance to get some air out of it.
Luna then put Fred back down on the ground, his face still tattered with tears in his eyes. Looking towards Gemma, who was being well rested and cared for, he slowly walked towards her, with her face gently resting amongst the yellow grass.
Putting his hand onto Gemma’s cheek, he felt the warmness of her head, the blood still inside of her fighting the toxic gas that got inside her veins.
Fred then stood up, looking towards Luke with a sincere yet sorrowful face.
(Fred) I’ll call for help.
Pulling out a bck box from his right pocket, Luke instantly noticed what Fred was carrying, his hands shaking slightly by the exterior of the invention.
(Luke) Is that the fshlight signal we made in our first year of training?
(Fred) Yeah, I never got to use it, but maybe, just maybe …
Fred then looked for a pce where the device wasn’t going to be underneath anything, putting it several feet away from Gemma as she was underneath a tree. Punching in some numbers and buttons, the device started to light up as it was about to …
(Fred) Maybe it could lead us to the others … so that way we all could—
Shoot a bright white beam towards the night sky.
(Fred) Be together…
As a bright beam shined the entire north side of the city, its intensity and brightness managed to shine the old and molded reflections of gss in the downtown district. Old puddles, gss shards, metals, and things that reflect were creating a light show of mirrors and shows.
Which caught the attention of another group near the center…
In return, another message was brought forth signaling the night sky as well.
(Luke) Hey, I see a red smoke signal coming from near the center…
(Fred) That’s gotta be the others!
(Luna) It’s pretty far away…
(Luke) There’s no time.
Luke then put the unconscious Cameron back on his back, followed by Fred putting Gemma on his back too. Before they went, Luke noticed that Luna was cleaning a sword that was filled with bck tar and yellowish dust, with a white rag.
(Luke) You used a sword to take out those zompires, didn’t you?
(Luna) Someone has to.
(Luke) But what if they managed to bite you—
(Luna) Stop worrying about me, you idiot! I’ll handle myself! Just focus on defending Cameron and yourself!
Luna’s eyes twitching with her cheeks blushing red. Once the group was about to head off, Fred had one more question as he was staring at Cameron’s sleeping face.
(Fred) Forgot to mention, but what happened to Ryan? Is he with the others?
Luke and Loraine stopped in their tracks, trying not to look saddened or disheartened. Not looking at Fred, Luke pointed towards the red lingering smoke signal.
(Luke) Once we reach the third stage or take a break, I’ll tell you everything…
______________________________________________________________________________
(Prominis 19, 56 / 11:43AM)
(Stan) Hey Stan, you good?
(Fred) pants … yeah, just … pants … head on without me …
After their first brutal training course, Fred y on the short grass field, the grass sinking into Fred’s body as he closed his eyes.
Stan knew that Fred just wanted some time to rest alone, so he signaled Diego and Gary to come with him, dragging both of them so that they would leave Fred alone.
(Gary) Why does he get to be alone?
(Diego) Yeah! I’m probably more tired than him!
(Stan) You guys are wimps, just let him rest, he's weaker than you guys combined…
As the friend group headed off to lunch, everybody else kept up the pace, leaving Fred with his grass.
(Fred’s thoughts) I just wish Luke wasn’t in the infirmary … then again, Jack was also taken to the infirmary too…
But there was one girl who looked at him, her green eyes gazing at the 12-year-old silver-haired boy. Since he was the same age as her, she looked towards one of her newest friends whom she met.
(???) Hey Hope, save me a spot okay?
(Hope) Why? Did something catch your eye?
(???) … s-sort of…
Flustered, the bck-haired girl walked in the grassy field, her eyes remaining solely on Fred. As her way to get his attention, she blocked the sun’s rays on his face, her face overshadowing as she looked at him with a smile.
(Fred’s thoughts) Who is she?
Fred saw the dark-haired, green-eyed girl, her skin slightly tan as she had funny-shaped ears. Her nose was normal, followed by her eyelids, and her hair was messy as it was all over the pce. She wore a bck T-shirt and blue pants, followed by brown boots.
Fred started to sweat from the corners of his eyes, as he tidied his shirt and fixed his hair. Finding his shyness adorable, the girl giggled, her hand covering her mouth as she found his face amusing.
(???) Why are you blushing … giggles … your name’s Fred right?
(Fred) Yeah … uhm … sorry… w-w-what’s yours?
(???) giggles … The name’s Gemma.
Gemma then stuck her hand towards Fred, her hands smooth and carefree as her face lit up with a bright smile.
(Gemma) Wanna walk me to lunch?
Fred’s cheeks flustered bright red, as he took Gemma’s hand with his. His palms were drenched with sweat, and Gemma looked down to hear a slight noise coming from their hands.
(Gemma) Are you this nervous around women?
(Fred) W-W-W-What?
Gemma then started to giggle loudly, covering her mouth again and closing her eyes. Fred’s face was stiff and pale, his eyes avoiding any eye contact with Gemma’s.
(Gemma) Rex, I’m not going to bite …
She then dragged Fred to where the lunchroom was, her face as bright as the afternoon sun, the two teenagers running in the field on the hot day.
______________________________________________________________________________
(Prominis 21, 58 / 3:40AM)
(Miles) Shit, we shook the hornet's nest with this one!
(Stan) Just keep shooting!
A major defense holdout was ensuing right at the gate of the military complex, the gate to enter the third stage.
A rain of bullets rained amongst the incoming horde of zompires that were trying to get the six other candidates waiting for the others. Their guns and weapons are loading, reloading, shooting, and repeating the action over and over again as they hold out.
(Stan) Gary! Diego! How many bullets do we have left?
(Gary) We’re down to our st munitions!
(Diego) Should’ve looted more of that damn gun store we saw in the first stage!
Miles wielded a little handgun, a gun that he wasn’t well off with, his aim on hitting the zompires awful, as he could only hit them from up close.
(Miles’s thoughts) I wish that I had a shotgun with me…
Stan wielded an AR-18, a weapon perfect for him as he managed to hit a couple of lucky shots.
(Stan’s thoughts) This gun is perfect, but …
Stan noticed that he had only one to two cartridges left, his face twisting with anger.
(Stan’s thoughts) Why does this gun have rare fucking ammunition?!
Gary and Diego wielded AutoMags, weapons that are perfect for their ideal tastes.
(Gary) Pass me more ammunition!
(Diego) Here! When are the rest of them coming anyway?
(Stan) Just hold them off!
The rain of gunshots ricocheted across the street and blocks, the sounds deafening around them.
(Miles) Sean! Sean! How’s the left defense going with you and Jack?
(Sean) Do you want me to answer that right now? I’m down to my st cartridge!
Sean wielded an M42 semi-auto sniper rifle, a weapon that Sean sucked at.
(Sean’s thoughts) I wish this weapon was more automatic, it just shoots one at a time!
(Jack) Hey Sean! Wanna trade weapons?!
(Sean) Hell no! Your shotgun is probably out of ammo!
(Jack) Just give me the fucking—wait … are those?
Jack noticed far from the distance, six to seven other figures running towards them. Focusing his eyes more closely, ignoring all the gunshots, rain of bullets, and the agonizing screams of zompires, he figured out what those figures running towards them were…
(Jack) It’s them! It’s the rest of everybody!
(Stan’s thoughts) No way…
(Stan) Give them covering fire!
In an instant, all six boys decided to rain down whatever was left of their ammo, the bullets managing to shoot down a majority of the zompires that were trying to get them.
Luke and the others saw the others fending off the zompires with the grit of their teeth. In an instant, Luna sprinted towards the zompires, not caring if the rain of bullets would hit her.
In her bald of dance, she used her right-handed sword to ssh her way to the group, her sword sharp enough to cut through the zompire’s skin and her arm strong enough to push through its heart. And if a zompire gots jumpy, she grabbed a hold of the zompire’s skull by gripping it with her left hand.
(Luna) Bring it!
In an almost perfect precision of movement, Luna began maliciously sshing the zompires one by one, her feet almost gliding through the pavement as she continued her bald of giving out death.
(Stan’s thoughts) What the hell is she thinking? Is she sshing them up knowing that we might make an accident and shoot her?
In an instant, Stan and the others' weapons and guns stopped working, their cartridges and ammo no more as they had no means to defend themselves. Stan looked towards Miles, giving each other a nod as they encouraged the other four to follow them.
(Miles) Get the door open!
(Gary) What about the others?!
(Miles) They’ll catch up!
(Sean) Shit, we still have some zompires on us!
(Jack) I thought Luna had the zompire audience!
A couple of zompires managed to sprint their way towards the boys, who were prying the door with all their strength. Miles, who was the strongest one there, patted Stan on the back before he found a wooden baseball bat lying near the rubble. His face was gentle and rexed.
(Miles’s thoughts) Reminds me of the glory days…
Miles then sprinted towards the zompires, his mood turning from the drop of a hat. Seeing the first zompire, he swung the bat with all his strength at the zompire, his muscles contracting and expanding as the bat hit the zompire with unbelievable force.
Knocking out the zompire, he then made his way toward the other zompire, using the same godly strength as he used the same as the one he hit. But once he hit the zompire with the bat, the wooden bat broke in half, its wood leaving off a sharp wooden stake meant for—
(Mile’s thoughts) Perfect!
Miles then stabbed the second zompire making him break the bat, the broken wood stabbing the zompire’s heart, causing it to glitch out as it melted. Focusing his entire attention, his eyes averted to the other zompire that soon got up from the hit, and he then took out the steak from the second zompire and stabbed the first one, his eyes unwavering as he reached for the heart yet again.
With both zompires dead, Miles looked over to the second group that was getting close.
(Miles’s thoughts) Please make it!
Fortunately, Luna finished her deathly bald that eliminated all of the zompires that were giving Miles and the others a hard time, but there was a slight problem…
(Luke’s thoughts) Come on! Push forward!
Fred was staggering behind, his stamina soon dwindling as the gate to the final stage was closed.
(Stan) Hurry Fred!
The more Fred ran, the more motion can be felt along his back—
(Gemma) cough cough … Fred?
Fred noticed that Gemma woke up from her resting nap, but his eyes remained focused on the gate, hoping to safely get himself and her into the third stage.
(Fred) Don’t worry Gemma … I’ll promise you I’ll get you to the other side…
Luna made it to the gate first, followed by Hope behind her. The two girls watch as Luke and Fred make a mad dash to the gate, with another batch of zompires running towards them.
(Luna) Luke!
(Hope) Please hurry!
Luke was outpacing Fred in terms of stamina, his body slowly yet surely reaching the gate that would grant them the chance to become elite—
Fred then tripped and fell…
(Stan) FRED!!
Barely having any strength to run more, Fred was at his limits in terms of strength, his arms groggy as his legs couldn’t take the extra weight anymore. Luke noticed that Fred and Gemma might be the horde’s dinner, so Luke…
(Luke’s thoughts) Fred’s going to make it! Fred’s going to make it! Fred’s going to make—
(Stan’s thoughts) DAMN IT ALL!!
Not only Luke, but Stan also was hellbent on saving Fred, their mind clouding with dangerous what-ifs. Giving Cameron to Miles, Luke and Stan made a mad dash towards Fred, hoping to get both Fred and Gemma as soon as possible.
(Luna’s thoughts) My sword is already really dull… shit!
Checking her sword, her weapon was on the verge of breaking, its metal already brittle and chipping away. As Luke and Stan were halfway to getting Fred—
(Gemma) Thank you for taking care of me…
(Fred) What—
Gemma then pushed herself off of Fred’s back.
(Fred) GEMMA!!
As she pushed herself with enough force to go back a few feet away, it also pushed Fred a couple of feet forward, giving Stan and Luke a lucky shot of getting to the gate…
(Fred) Get the hell off of me!
Stan carried Fred, ignoring all the hard kicks and punches that Fred was causing. Luke wanted to get Gemma too but …
(Luke) Oh no…
Gemma then looked at the distraught Fred, as her st thoughts of the man she wanted to be with were her st…
Fred then looked back one st time until he saw himself in her eyes, her bright green eyes sparkling with an unbridled future that was never to come.
Her body was slowly eaten as the sharp fangs of dozens and upon dozens of zompires slowly ate the dinner that they happily waited for. Her vocals cried out in agony, with her body shaking in pain as the zompires ate every part of her with joy. Her legs spazzed out, her arms trying to block the horde yet those were eaten too. Upon her st breaths, she shrieked until the zompires chewed them out.
Everyone looked back with horror, not wanting to see the full dispy of the cruelty that was subjected upon Gemma, except for Fred, who remained silent as the girl he wanted to be with slowly and cruelly screamed her way to the afterlife…
Silently but rushingly, Luke and everybody closed the door behind them, leaving them to the st stage of The Array…