Why do we sleep at night? Most people will tell it's so that our bodies can recover from the day's activities, so that our minds can sort through everything from the day.
But they're wrong.
Have you ever wondered why dogs bark at shadows at night?
Sure, sometimes they're barking at stray cats, possums, would be burglars etc etc. but most of the time they're reacting to the strange goings on around them.
Night is a time of strange things. A time when inter dimensional travelling bunnies visit Earth and take notes and further their plans of their future invasion.
A time when, if you look closely enough, holes in the fabric of time open up, and we can witness history taking place around us. Some people who witness this believe they have seen a ghost or ghosts. This is because most of the time the hole in the fabric of time is small and weak, and colour cannot easily pass through it.
Sometimes a hole in space and time open up, and it is possible for a person to see a completely different world. But this is rare, and people will usually just believe it is a dream.
Night is a time when the insects build civilisations, only to have a new one takes its place. Daylight burns these civilisations, and the insects retreat back and hope that night will again fall so that they can start rebuilding again.
The inter dimensional travelling bunnies have noted this. They spend a lot of time watching the rise and fall of countless insect civilisations, trying to work out a way to use it to their advantage.
Night is a time when things so bizarre that our minds can't handle it happen. That is why, long ago, our ancestors made a pact with a powerful being so that we would sleep at night and the bizarre things would go on unnoticed by us.
That was long ago, the pact long forgotten.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Friday, January 18, 2013
The Rebuild Begins (Slash I Needed to Hash Out Some of the Plot to My Story)
The moan of nearby zombies floated through the ruined city. Ant shuddered and pulled Skip further into the shadows. He looked around warily.
"What are ya worried about. You've been vaccinated!" Skip pulled free of Ant's grip and sauntered back into the middle of the street, even though the moans from the zombies made her want to leave immediately. She looked up and down the street. She could see some shadowy figures moving in the darkness all around her. By their shuffling walk, Skip could tell that they were zombies. "The city is swarming with the things! Are ya sure we're in the right place?"
"Of course I am!" Ant hissed, venturing a little further out of the shadows and looking nervously around. "How did ya stay here so long without losin' your mind?"
"Craig gave me a machete. It's very soothin' in a zombie apocalypse. That's why I told ya to being one." Memories of her year fighting the zombies flashed through her mind. Skip forced them back down. She knew she couldn't handle thinking about it. "Got any idea where we're meant to go?"
Ant shook his head.
Skip swore, and looked a little more closely at the buildings surrounding them. Most of them were severely fire damaged, and did not look very safe to enter. "We need to get up onto the roofs. We should be able to see the sanctuary from there."
"Ya coulda told me that before we arrived." Ant grumbled, venturing a little further out of the shadows.
"We can't risk usin' magic. There could be people in there."
"In there?"
"Unlikely, I know. But we still not riskin' it. If the buildin' collapses you can just teleport us back to the ground. Which buildin' d'ya reckon is the tallest?"
"Dunno. You're the one with the night vision."
Skip looked up at the skyline again. As far as she could tell, they were all roughly the same height. She then looked a little more closely at the windows, searching for any sign of movement. While being vaccinated against the zombie virus, Skip still had no desire to run into any zombies if she could avoid it. She saw no sign of movement. But she knew that didn't mean much.
"That one will do." Skip pointed at a random building to her left. She turned and faced Ant grinning. "Race ya to the top ... and for the love of whichever god ya pray to, catch me if the buildin' collapses."
Skip sprinted towards the building she had indicated, and bounded through what had once been a door, but was now a pile of rubble. She heard Ant shout something, but ignored him. A second later she collided into something solid and cold, and that clawed at her as she and it fell to the ground. She cried out wordlessly in horror and ignited into flames, setting the zombie she'd just ran into on fire. A second later, she was back on her feet, swinging her machete at the creature's head and extinguishing the flames before any more damage to the building could be done.
"Shit!" Ant peered over Skip's shoulder at the still smoking zombie corpse. "We gotta take more care. Those things are dangerous."
"Not to us." Skip was glad that she sounded a lot calmer than she felt. Her heart was racing, and she was fairly certain that her hands were shaking as she sheathed her machete in her belt. "We're vaccinated against them, remember?"
"Yeah. But still ..."
"They're scary, but not dangerous."
Ant shuffled his feet nervously. Skip knew that he wanted to just teleport up to the roof. It was something that she also wanted to do. But she knew that they couldn't risk it. If someone saw them magically appear or disappear, it could ruin everything. Skip sighed, and looked around the room. She could see the lift doors hanging open. But without electricity they were no use.
"How d'ya plan on getting up there, then?"
"The fire escape, I guess."
"And that is ...?"
Skip looked around again. It was hard to tell what was what in the ruined building. But eventually she spied a door hanging off its hinges that looked as though it led to the fire escape. She nimbly bounded over to it. She heard Ant stumbling and swearing as he tried to follow her.
The door did lead to the fire escape. Skip looked up the stairwell while she waited for Ant. She could hear shuffling footsteps echoing in the enclosed space. Great. Zombies. Skip's stomach churned uncomfortably as she drew her machete again. She looked over her shoulder at Ant and tried to smile carelessly at him, but grimaced instead. "Race ya to the roof. Watch out for the zombies!" She sprinted up the stairs. Ant suddenly materialised in front of her, running up the stairs. Skip would've yelled at him for taking such a foolish risk, but a zombie suddenly loomed up out of the darkness. Ant squealed, and shoved it over the railing. They both paused to watch as the creature fell silently to the ground. The heard the sickening thud when it hit the ground. They continued upstairs, knowing that the zombie survived its short fall to the ground.
A short time later the burst onto the roof panting and covered in zombie gore. There had been a lot more zombies in the stairwell than they had anticipated; they'd been forced to hack their way through the zombie horde in order to continue upwards.
Skip pressed her forehead against the doorframe fighting back the urge to be sick and trying to force herself not to think about anything zombie related. It wasn't easy, especially since her mission pretty much resolved around the zombie apocalypse.
When Skip looked up she saw Ant standing nearby hugging himself and looking pale. He was staring straight ahead, his eyes unfocused.
"Hey, man. I reckon we should teleport down." Skip also wanted to burn the building down. But she knew that the flames would draw attention. Not only from the zombies, but also from anyone who happened to be in the area and able to see the light from the fire. So instead she contented herself with shaking as much of the zombie gore as she could off her machete before she sheathed it again. "C'mon, look for the sanctuary."
It only took a couple of seconds for them to spot the sanctuary: the light from it glowed brightly in the almost pitch blackness of the night.
"Found it." Ant grabbed Skip by the arm and almost instantly they were at the bottom of the stairwell again. The zombie Ant had thrown over the railing minutes earlier was dragging itself to the door. Skip grimly kicked it in the head. She and Ant watched as its head soared thought the air and hit the wall with a sickening crunch.
Both Skip and Ant acted as though that never happened as they carefully picked their way back to the street and started walking in the direction of the sanctuary. It wasn't long before they found themselves surrounded by zombies. They both held their machetes at the ready, but the zombies continued to shuffle aimlessly by as though Skip and Ant weren't there. Realising that it would be faster to ignore the zombies than killing them, Skip and Ant started to run towards the sanctuary with gritted teeth. Skip was completely on edge. She'd just spent the last twelve months fighting and killing, and even fearing zombies. It felt completely unnatural to be ignoring (or doing her best to do so) them now when all her instincts where screaming for her to kill them now.
Skip and Ant stopped as soon as the massive heavily fortified walls of the sanctuary came into view. Spot lights swung back and forth all along the walls, while within the walls more lights glowed brightly. Thousands of moaning zombies swarmed all along the wall.
"Fools. They're just drawin' the zombies to them!"
"Where are they gettin' the power for the lights?"
Skip shrugged. "Dunno. That's something we'll have to ask The 99 when we find'em."
"And where will they be?"
Skip shrugged hopelessly. "They could be anywhere, man. In the city. In the country somewhere. Anywhere."
"They're in the city. Adrian and Jason both say they're here in the city."
"Then, I guess we start looking on the opposite side of the city. Skip turned her back on the sanctuary. "Does Jason have a phone? I'd like a more specific area to search."
"Nup. You're just gonna have to call Adrian for that."
Skip made a noncommittal sound as she started to jog through the zombies shuffling towards the sanctuary, drawn by the moans from the horde. No one called Adrian. He called if he wanted to relay important information, which was extremely rare. But Skip was aware that she and Ant were on the clock, and that she might end up having to call him for a more specific location. She hoped it wouldn't come to that.
Neither Skip nor Ant stopped running until they were clear of the zombie horde. There were still a few zombies shuffling along the streets. But instead of hundreds of them, there were only twenty or so. This was still too many for Skip's comfort. But Ant had stopped and was bent over with his hands on his knees, panting. Judging by the way he kept looking around, Skip could tell that he wasn't happy about the number of zombies around them either.
While she waited for Ant to catch his breath, Skip prowled up and down the street, venting her frustration by wordlessly beheading zombies. She froze when she heard a zombie moan followed by four gun shots. More zombies moaned. Skip looked over her shoulder and saw that Ant was alertly looking around, still breathing heavily. She darted back over to him.
"Remember, there's no vaccine. We're still in danger of being bitten by a zombie. So in a fight, act fast."
"Trust me, I'm not gonna dawdle killing those things."
Skip sniffed at the air. But as usual all she could smell was the burning and destruction that had settled on the world ever since the zombie virus outbreak.
"Follow them?" Ant suggested, pointing at three zombies shuffling purposefully down the street.
"Better yet, kill'em and any others we see as we follow the direction they're headin' in." Skip ran after the zombies and quickly beheaded them. She could see more shuffling figures up ahead.
"What are ya waitin' for?" Ant sprinted past, his machete held at the ready. Skip ran after him.
They quickly killed the zombies and as they were shaking off the gore from their machetes, were able to see a small group of people frantically trying escape thirty or so zombies. They had climbed up onto the side of an overturned bus.
"Ya ready to be a hero, man?"
Ant looked uncertainly at zombies trying to reach the people on the bus. "This might be hard to sell once we've killed the zombies. Won't people ask questions about how two people managed to kill thirty plus zombies without being bitten?"
"Not if you do it clever. Stealth and speed, man. Kill'em fast. No one questions ya if ya fast."
Ant still looked dubious.
"Trust me, man. Just let your fear kick in and kill'em." Skip looked carefully at the zombies, trying to figure out the best way to attack them. She could hear more zombies approaching. They didn't have much time. "I reckon we should attack from either side of the street, slightly from behind. Hopefully there's not too many on the other side of the bus."
Ant nodded grimly, and loped down the left side of the street, sticking to the shadows as much as possible. Skip followed suit on the right side. She held up her hand for a silent count down, before remembering that Ant probably couldn't see.
"Dammit!" Skip didn't want to attack first. She took a couple of deep breaths before launching herself at the nearest two zombies and beheading them. She swung her machete at another two, also beheading them. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Ant doing the same.
It only took them a couple of minutes to behead all of the zombies. More zombie moans drifted hauntingly through the air, and more zombies appeared from around the side of the bus. Skip and Ant quickly beheaded them and the rest on the other side of the bus. More zombies were visible as they shuffled towards the bus.
"I was hopin' for a clean escape. Skip sighed before turning her attention to the group on the bus. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon! A quick escape is a good escape!"
"What about those?" A bespectacled man squeaked, pointing his rifle at the zombies shuffling towards them.
Skip glanced at them before smiling reassuringly at the group. "Relax. We much faster than them. A quick power walk and we'll lose'em. Ant and I can kill any we encounter." She was glad that, once again, she sounded far calmer than she actually felt. "But quickquickquick! Or it'll be too late."
The group quickly scrambled down off the bus. "Well, lets go!" A woman said anxiously.
"You lead the way. Skip and I don't know where your hideout is."
The woman looked like she was about to start arguing. But the man with the glasses jogged around the side of the bus. "This way. You two with the machetes should get around here."
Skip and Ant jogged after him and saw that more zombies were shuffling towards them.
"Too easy." Skip grinned, loping up the street and easily beheading the nearest one.
The rest of the group jogged after her. She lopped off the head of the next one. Behind them more zombies moaned, lending some extra speed to the group.
At the end of the street, the man led them across the intersection. Skip could hear and see more zombies shuffling along the street. She wondered if any of the others could as well. She could tell that Ant could at least hear them by the way his grip tightened on the machete. Another zombie loomed up through the darkness. Ant swung his machete at it's head.
The hasn't gone very far up the street when the bespectacled man stopped them in front of a shop front with metal bars over the window. The glass had been smashed. The door was dented and cracked and the hinges squeaked loudly when it was shoved open. Everyone hurriedly piled through, and the door was bolted shut behind them.
"Ya really should do somethin' 'bout those rusty hinges, man." Skip whispered as zombies began moaning outside and started to swarm around the building, reaching through the bars trying to reach the people inside. Everyone stayed well clear of the window and the grasping hands. Skip hesitated for a second before swinging her machete and chopped off any zombie hand she saw. "Now they can't grab ya, can they?" She explained, seeing everyone's quizzical looks.
"Good thinking. The ladder is this way." The bespectacled man led them to the back of the building, and picked up a long pole with a hook on one end. He used the hook to pull down a folding ladder, and stood to one side. "After you."
Skip shook off some of the excess zombie gore before sheathing her machete and agilely springing up the ladder. She emerged on the next floor, and could see extensive fire damage but no sign of any light even though she could hear voices murmuring in the darkness. Ant and the rest of the group soon joined her. The ladder was pulled back up and folded neatly next to the hole.
They made their way to down the corridor and into a small pokey room where twenty or so people were huddled. Even with her night vision, Skip had to squint to distinguish The 99 uniform on some of the group, they were that dirty and ragged looking.
"Who's dis?" A small, wirey woman demanded, leaping to her feet drawing a pistol and aiming it at Ant. Her clothes were caked in zombie gore. Although her 99 banner on her arm was in better condition: it was slightly less dirty. But the once white 99 was now a dirty brown.
"Strangers. They rescued us from certain death. I think they said their names are Ant and Skip."
"I'm Skip and this is Ant." Skip introduced herself and Ant. "We're 99 members. We came here because we heard there's a sanctuary here."
"Yeah, good luck gettin' in dere." The woman snorted humourlessly, lowering her pistol.
"We've seen it." Ant muttered, sitting down on the edge of a bench. "The authorities have made sure no one can get in."
"Whattya mean?" A squeaky voiced teenage boy asked.
"They've made sure that the sanctuary is completely surrounded by zombies so that no one poor, like us, can get in. Why d'ya think they've got all those lights on, man?"
"The lights are to make sure no zombies can get in." The wirey woman said, her voice heavy with doubt.
"Those walls look more than capable of keepin' the zombies out. The lights aren't needed for that."
Everyone starting shouting at Skip's statement. Skip heard the zombies starting moaning down on the street below. She hoped that the hideout was as safe as everyone believed. She waved her hands in a shushing motion, and eventually got silence.
"Look," she said. "I understand your confusion. I struggled with it myself when I first found out. But how d'ya reckon the zombie virus happened?"
Silence greeted Skip's question as everyone stared blankly at her.
"It was created by the world's elite to bring down the world population and make it easier for governments to control us." Ant supplied.
A few incredulous looks were swapped and a few people even sniggered.
"Think about it. Who's safely behind the sanctuary walls, and who's left to fight for their lives against the zombie hordes?"
"There's certainly no government officials left to fend for themselves."
"It's just the poor left fending for themselves. And, shit! You guys have it a lot worse here than we had it back where we were."
"Little more than zombie bait while the fat cats live in safety in that sanctuary."
Skip could tell by the looks on everyone's faces that she and Ant had them convinced. But they were just elaborating on the stories they had started feeding The 99 just before the zombie virus outbreak. Anyone who had been 99 members before then would most likely have heard the rumours.
"So ya know the truth. What good is that?" The wirey woman demanded. "It ain't gonna change nuffink."
"We plan on gainin' entry into the sanctuary. Hopefully with some 99 inside, more help will be extended to other survivors left to fend for themselves."
"Ya's have seen the sanctuary. Ya said so yaselves. How d'ya's plan on gettin' past d'zombies?"
Skip grinned wickedly. "Oh, I have a plan."
"And it won't work. Dere's too many zombies."
"I just need to know a coupla things."
"Won't do ya no good."
"D'ya's know where the power comes from in the sanctuary?"
"We stay away from dere. Dats certain death dere."
Skip shrugged. "Doesn't really matter. Cuttin the power just woulda meant the plan runs a little better."
Again there was silence. Skip could tell that she was going to have trouble convincing them to help her and Ant.
"Are there any other groups around?"
"Dunno. Ain't seen nobody else."
"Ok. It'll just be us."
"We ain't gettin' ourselves killed tryin' to get into d'sanctuary."
"Relax, will ya? My plan is virtually risk free: we simply the zombies away from the sanctuary. Ant and I will even do all the dangerous work if ya scared."
"And how d'ya's plan on doing dat? Ya gonna end up cornered'n'torn to pieces."
"Only if ya wanna be stupid and be live zombie bait. I was thinkin' more along the lines of a large fire and a lot of noise." Skip had their interest now. Everyone was staring at her, waiting for her to elaborate.
"And dat'll draw d'zombies away from d'sanctuary?" The hope in the wirey woman's voice was clearly audible. To get to a safe, zombie free zone was all people wanted these days.
"It'll draw most of the swarm away. It won't be too hard to take care of any stragglers."
"And if we're lucky the soldiers inside of the sanctuary will help us take care of those." Ant added.
"We should get goin' and set up the noise part now." Skip went to leave the room but the wirey woman called her back.
"Now? It's too dangerous. We should til it's light."
"That's too risky. The zombies can see us better in daylight." Twelve months of fighting zombies, Skip had learned a few things. Plus she wanted to get Ant out of there before it got light enough for the others to see him properly. She was fairly certain that they wouldn't react well to his grey skin. Better for him not to be seen in daylight and avoid awkward questions. "And wouldn't it be better to be safe tomorrow and not have to worry about being attacked by zombies?"
"Until we venture out on search and rescue missions." The bespectacled man pointed out.
Skip smiled inwardly. She didn't have to worry about The 99 here. They would fulfil their purpose and protect anyone who needed protection. "Of course. But having electricity and a hot meal would also be nice. We can start doing more than just surviving." Skip paused for a moment and them left the room. She heard Ant follow her, and The 99 talking amongst themselves about her plan.
She and Ant dawdled down the corridor and took their time setting up the ladder to get back down to the ground. They were both more than capable of doing everything themselves. But they wanted The 99 to assist them, to remind the members who they really stood for.
They were trying to figure out how to return the ladder back to the floor above when there was a flurry of movement from above and six faces peered down at them.
"We're comin' with ya's."
"Ya had better bring better weapons than guns. We wanna be sneaky and quiet."
"Dere ain't much else but guns. We don't wanna risk our lives by gettin' too close to dem fings."
"Gunfire will attrack their attention." Skip countered. "Anythin' that can smash their heads in will do. Old pipes are particularly handy."
Everyone disappeared, and Skip and Ant exchanged glances, unsure whether The 99 were going to join them or not now that guns had been prohibited. Skip darted back up the ladder and looked around. She could see people moving around, searching for anything suitable to use as a weapon. She dropped back to the ground grinning. "They're comin', man."
Not long afterwards, the bespectacled quietly called down to them. "I'm going to throw down some pipes. Are you ready to catch them?"
"Sure am!"
The pipes were dropped to Skip, who caught them easily and passed them to Ant. Six pipes and an axe were dropped down to Skip. The the bespectacled man scrambled down the ladder followed by five others.
"Fred." He said holding out his hand to Skip.
Skip shook his hand. "Skip." Fred also shook Ant's hand. The others followed suit: Skip was introduced to Sophie, Brendan, Simon, Zoe and Taryn, the wirey woman.
Taryn went to open the door. But Skip stopped her. "Is there another door? Preferably one that doesn't have rusty hinges?"
Taryn shook her head. "We blocked d'other door for safety."
Skip swore, and looked out the barred window. She could see a couple of zombies shuffling around. There were probably many more that she couldn't see. "Those things are gonna be attracted by the squeaking door when we open it." She whispered. "I'll go through first and deal with any nearby. Then we jog a couple of blocks over and start on the noise part of the plan."
Taryn nodded and waited for Skip to join her before opening the door. The hinges squealed in protest as the door swung open. Skip leapt through it as soon as the gap was large enough for her to fit through. She almost crashed into a zombie. Cursing herself for not having her machete ready, she kicked the creature away from her and drew her machete. She beheaded the creature as it stumbled. By the time the others joined Skip on the street, she had killed the six zombies that had been lurking there. The moans of approaching zombies drifted through the air, unsettling everyone.
Skip looked over at Ant. "Which way?" She asked him.
Ant listened carefully, listening for the direction with the least amount of zombies. "This way." He set off down the street towards three zombies shuffling towards them.
"Is he mad? That's towards those things!" Simon, the squeaky voiced teenager exclaimed.
"Relax, man. He has a really good ear for this."
The others still looked a doubtful. But they followed Skip as she set off after Ant, who had already killed two of the three zombies and was about to deal with the third. He led straight down the debris filled road before turn left and continuing down that road for a few more blocks. They only encountered a handful of zombies along the way. Emboldened by the ease with which Skip and Ant beheaded the zombies, The 99 members with them started stepping forward and taking on the zombies as well. Zoe almost cheered when she killed her first zombie by smashing its skull with her pipe. But Skip clamped her hand over her mouth. "Shhh! Remember?" Skip hissed in Zoe's ear.
"Sorry." Zoe whispered.
Ant stopped in front of a church. "This should work for the noise." He pointed up at the steeple where they could see a bell glinting in the moonlight. "We shoulda checked to see if there was an engineer before we left."
"There's no engineers with us."
"No problems. We just need a long piece of rope."
"And where d'ya suggest we get dat?"
"In there hopefully."
"Are suggesting we ring the church bell until we're killed by zombies?"
Skip had forgotten that they weren't vaccinated and therefore were still at risk of being killed by zombies. She hadn't planned for an escape, and there would be too many zombies for them to fight their way out of the mess.
"What about tyin' some kinda weight to the rope and drop it from up there?" Simon suggested.
Skip thought about it. "That would work. It would give ya's enough time to get out. It would draw nearby zombies, of course. But they shouldn't be too much trouble for ya's. Good work, man!" She gave Simon a pat on the back and ran over to the church.
One of the doors was hanging off its hinges. Skip slipped through the gap and could hear shards of glass crunching under her feet. She winced at the sound, but heard no zombie moans. She continued inside, which was in complete disarray but, as far as Skip could tell, zombie free.
They carefully searched the church and found no sign of people or zombies. They then made their way up the staircase that led to the church bell tower. Fred and Sophie pulled up the rope while the rest trooped back downstairs in search of something to tie to it. They returned ten minutes later with a chair Brendan found in a small office.
"Here's the plan: Ant and I will head back to the sanctuary and start a fire nearby. When ya see the glow from the fire drop the chair and get out. Head towards the sanctuary. Ant and I will meet ya there. But only if it's safe to do so. Got it?"
Everyone nodded, their eyes wide and fearful. Wordlessly, Skip and Ant descended the stairs and jogged back towards the sanctuary. This time they didn't bother trying to avoid the zombies. That would've taken more time, and they wanted to get the job done as quickly as possible.
They stopped when they could make out individual zombies in the horde. Skip looked around and spotted a building relatively untouched by all of the destruction of the zombie apocalypse. She nudged Ant, and they crept over to it even though they were in no danger of being seen.
"We're gonna have to shout a bit to get the zombies attention. But after I've thrown some fireballs into the horde. I'm not sure if the people on the wall will be able to hear me."
"Will they respond to our shouts?"
"Yeah, man. Zombies respond to sound. But they can't sense us or somethin'. So they won't attack us."
Skip turned her attention back to the zombie horde, and focused intently on a spot near the edge. A minute later two of the zombies ignited in flames. They didn't notice the flames as they mingled in the horde, setting others on fire. Wanting to cause a little more damage, Skip lobbed a couple of fireballs into the centre of the horde.
"Alright, show time!"
She and Ant started shouting, and slowly backing away from the horde. Skip momentarily turned her attention to the building she had picked and explosively set it alight. The flames roared as the quickly engulfed the building. Still shouting, Skip and Ant back away from the light.
By now they had the attention of the zombie horde. The air was thick with their moans as they turned towards the shouts and the light, and started moving towards it. Many of the zombies were also on fire. Skip ignited the next two buildings, though this time less explosively.
Drawing the horde away from the sanctuary was slow going. To rest their throats, Skip and Ant started alternating shouting. Ant started belting out songs from his homeland while Skip chose to recite some of her favourite poems from all over. She continued to set fire to buildings at random. They made sure to head in the opposite direction to the hideout of The 99.
"They should be far enough away from the sanctuary by now." Skip rasped a couple of hours later, her throat raw from all of the shouting.
"I'll check." Ant had barely vanished when he reappeared next to Skip shaking his head. "Nup. It woulda been easier if ya had just vaporised the fuckers."
"That woulda led to questions."
"I'm gonna get somethin' to make noise with, then. I can't shout much longer." Ant vanished. A couple of minutes later he returned with a couple of foghorns and saucepans. He handed a foghorn and saucepan to Skip.
"Sah-weet!" Skip pressed the foghorn and winced as it blared. "Oh yeah. This is perfect."
With renewed enthusiasm, Skip and Ant continued to draw the horde further away from the sanctuary. Skip continued to set buildings on fire. By now they had managed to attrack the attention of most of the zombies in the city. The zombies were coming towards them from all directions. Skip and Ant kept bumping into them, which they both found alarming.
"Urgh! I can't take it anymore! Let's teleport a block up." Skip burned a hole through the skull of the zombie she had just backed into. The creature dropped to the ground, its skull still smoking. Ant grabbed Skip's arm, and they materialised about a block away from where they had been a moment earlier.
They continued in this fashion for another hour until Ant teleported back to check on the sanctuary. He materialised in front of Skip smiling. "They're far enough away now."
"Thank god for that!" Skip threw her foghorn at a nearby building. It exploded when it hit the wall.
"We gonna watch and see what happens at the sanctuary!"
"No need. Fred and Taryn will do all they can to get inside. And the officials will be forced to let'em in once the horde starts to return."
"And if they don't?"
"Then there'll be a zombie outbreak inside the walls of the sanctuary."
Ant stared at Skip blankly. But then he realised what she meant. "But ... ?"
"Adrian wants heroes. He doesn't care how. And I've set up a camera so that there'll be footage of what happens at the gates of the sanctuary. If Fred an Taryn can't talk their way in, we'll show the footage to the world after the zombie outbreak inside the sanctuary."
"At least I won't have ta be here as long if that happens." Ant grabbed Skip's arm and teleported back to Adrian's castle.
"What are ya worried about. You've been vaccinated!" Skip pulled free of Ant's grip and sauntered back into the middle of the street, even though the moans from the zombies made her want to leave immediately. She looked up and down the street. She could see some shadowy figures moving in the darkness all around her. By their shuffling walk, Skip could tell that they were zombies. "The city is swarming with the things! Are ya sure we're in the right place?"
"Of course I am!" Ant hissed, venturing a little further out of the shadows and looking nervously around. "How did ya stay here so long without losin' your mind?"
"Craig gave me a machete. It's very soothin' in a zombie apocalypse. That's why I told ya to being one." Memories of her year fighting the zombies flashed through her mind. Skip forced them back down. She knew she couldn't handle thinking about it. "Got any idea where we're meant to go?"
Ant shook his head.
Skip swore, and looked a little more closely at the buildings surrounding them. Most of them were severely fire damaged, and did not look very safe to enter. "We need to get up onto the roofs. We should be able to see the sanctuary from there."
"Ya coulda told me that before we arrived." Ant grumbled, venturing a little further out of the shadows.
"We can't risk usin' magic. There could be people in there."
"In there?"
"Unlikely, I know. But we still not riskin' it. If the buildin' collapses you can just teleport us back to the ground. Which buildin' d'ya reckon is the tallest?"
"Dunno. You're the one with the night vision."
Skip looked up at the skyline again. As far as she could tell, they were all roughly the same height. She then looked a little more closely at the windows, searching for any sign of movement. While being vaccinated against the zombie virus, Skip still had no desire to run into any zombies if she could avoid it. She saw no sign of movement. But she knew that didn't mean much.
"That one will do." Skip pointed at a random building to her left. She turned and faced Ant grinning. "Race ya to the top ... and for the love of whichever god ya pray to, catch me if the buildin' collapses."
Skip sprinted towards the building she had indicated, and bounded through what had once been a door, but was now a pile of rubble. She heard Ant shout something, but ignored him. A second later she collided into something solid and cold, and that clawed at her as she and it fell to the ground. She cried out wordlessly in horror and ignited into flames, setting the zombie she'd just ran into on fire. A second later, she was back on her feet, swinging her machete at the creature's head and extinguishing the flames before any more damage to the building could be done.
"Shit!" Ant peered over Skip's shoulder at the still smoking zombie corpse. "We gotta take more care. Those things are dangerous."
"Not to us." Skip was glad that she sounded a lot calmer than she felt. Her heart was racing, and she was fairly certain that her hands were shaking as she sheathed her machete in her belt. "We're vaccinated against them, remember?"
"Yeah. But still ..."
"They're scary, but not dangerous."
Ant shuffled his feet nervously. Skip knew that he wanted to just teleport up to the roof. It was something that she also wanted to do. But she knew that they couldn't risk it. If someone saw them magically appear or disappear, it could ruin everything. Skip sighed, and looked around the room. She could see the lift doors hanging open. But without electricity they were no use.
"How d'ya plan on getting up there, then?"
"The fire escape, I guess."
"And that is ...?"
Skip looked around again. It was hard to tell what was what in the ruined building. But eventually she spied a door hanging off its hinges that looked as though it led to the fire escape. She nimbly bounded over to it. She heard Ant stumbling and swearing as he tried to follow her.
The door did lead to the fire escape. Skip looked up the stairwell while she waited for Ant. She could hear shuffling footsteps echoing in the enclosed space. Great. Zombies. Skip's stomach churned uncomfortably as she drew her machete again. She looked over her shoulder at Ant and tried to smile carelessly at him, but grimaced instead. "Race ya to the roof. Watch out for the zombies!" She sprinted up the stairs. Ant suddenly materialised in front of her, running up the stairs. Skip would've yelled at him for taking such a foolish risk, but a zombie suddenly loomed up out of the darkness. Ant squealed, and shoved it over the railing. They both paused to watch as the creature fell silently to the ground. The heard the sickening thud when it hit the ground. They continued upstairs, knowing that the zombie survived its short fall to the ground.
A short time later the burst onto the roof panting and covered in zombie gore. There had been a lot more zombies in the stairwell than they had anticipated; they'd been forced to hack their way through the zombie horde in order to continue upwards.
Skip pressed her forehead against the doorframe fighting back the urge to be sick and trying to force herself not to think about anything zombie related. It wasn't easy, especially since her mission pretty much resolved around the zombie apocalypse.
When Skip looked up she saw Ant standing nearby hugging himself and looking pale. He was staring straight ahead, his eyes unfocused.
"Hey, man. I reckon we should teleport down." Skip also wanted to burn the building down. But she knew that the flames would draw attention. Not only from the zombies, but also from anyone who happened to be in the area and able to see the light from the fire. So instead she contented herself with shaking as much of the zombie gore as she could off her machete before she sheathed it again. "C'mon, look for the sanctuary."
It only took a couple of seconds for them to spot the sanctuary: the light from it glowed brightly in the almost pitch blackness of the night.
"Found it." Ant grabbed Skip by the arm and almost instantly they were at the bottom of the stairwell again. The zombie Ant had thrown over the railing minutes earlier was dragging itself to the door. Skip grimly kicked it in the head. She and Ant watched as its head soared thought the air and hit the wall with a sickening crunch.
Both Skip and Ant acted as though that never happened as they carefully picked their way back to the street and started walking in the direction of the sanctuary. It wasn't long before they found themselves surrounded by zombies. They both held their machetes at the ready, but the zombies continued to shuffle aimlessly by as though Skip and Ant weren't there. Realising that it would be faster to ignore the zombies than killing them, Skip and Ant started to run towards the sanctuary with gritted teeth. Skip was completely on edge. She'd just spent the last twelve months fighting and killing, and even fearing zombies. It felt completely unnatural to be ignoring (or doing her best to do so) them now when all her instincts where screaming for her to kill them now.
Skip and Ant stopped as soon as the massive heavily fortified walls of the sanctuary came into view. Spot lights swung back and forth all along the walls, while within the walls more lights glowed brightly. Thousands of moaning zombies swarmed all along the wall.
"Fools. They're just drawin' the zombies to them!"
"Where are they gettin' the power for the lights?"
Skip shrugged. "Dunno. That's something we'll have to ask The 99 when we find'em."
"And where will they be?"
Skip shrugged hopelessly. "They could be anywhere, man. In the city. In the country somewhere. Anywhere."
"They're in the city. Adrian and Jason both say they're here in the city."
"Then, I guess we start looking on the opposite side of the city. Skip turned her back on the sanctuary. "Does Jason have a phone? I'd like a more specific area to search."
"Nup. You're just gonna have to call Adrian for that."
Skip made a noncommittal sound as she started to jog through the zombies shuffling towards the sanctuary, drawn by the moans from the horde. No one called Adrian. He called if he wanted to relay important information, which was extremely rare. But Skip was aware that she and Ant were on the clock, and that she might end up having to call him for a more specific location. She hoped it wouldn't come to that.
Neither Skip nor Ant stopped running until they were clear of the zombie horde. There were still a few zombies shuffling along the streets. But instead of hundreds of them, there were only twenty or so. This was still too many for Skip's comfort. But Ant had stopped and was bent over with his hands on his knees, panting. Judging by the way he kept looking around, Skip could tell that he wasn't happy about the number of zombies around them either.
While she waited for Ant to catch his breath, Skip prowled up and down the street, venting her frustration by wordlessly beheading zombies. She froze when she heard a zombie moan followed by four gun shots. More zombies moaned. Skip looked over her shoulder and saw that Ant was alertly looking around, still breathing heavily. She darted back over to him.
"Remember, there's no vaccine. We're still in danger of being bitten by a zombie. So in a fight, act fast."
"Trust me, I'm not gonna dawdle killing those things."
Skip sniffed at the air. But as usual all she could smell was the burning and destruction that had settled on the world ever since the zombie virus outbreak.
"Follow them?" Ant suggested, pointing at three zombies shuffling purposefully down the street.
"Better yet, kill'em and any others we see as we follow the direction they're headin' in." Skip ran after the zombies and quickly beheaded them. She could see more shuffling figures up ahead.
"What are ya waitin' for?" Ant sprinted past, his machete held at the ready. Skip ran after him.
They quickly killed the zombies and as they were shaking off the gore from their machetes, were able to see a small group of people frantically trying escape thirty or so zombies. They had climbed up onto the side of an overturned bus.
"Ya ready to be a hero, man?"
Ant looked uncertainly at zombies trying to reach the people on the bus. "This might be hard to sell once we've killed the zombies. Won't people ask questions about how two people managed to kill thirty plus zombies without being bitten?"
"Not if you do it clever. Stealth and speed, man. Kill'em fast. No one questions ya if ya fast."
Ant still looked dubious.
"Trust me, man. Just let your fear kick in and kill'em." Skip looked carefully at the zombies, trying to figure out the best way to attack them. She could hear more zombies approaching. They didn't have much time. "I reckon we should attack from either side of the street, slightly from behind. Hopefully there's not too many on the other side of the bus."
Ant nodded grimly, and loped down the left side of the street, sticking to the shadows as much as possible. Skip followed suit on the right side. She held up her hand for a silent count down, before remembering that Ant probably couldn't see.
"Dammit!" Skip didn't want to attack first. She took a couple of deep breaths before launching herself at the nearest two zombies and beheading them. She swung her machete at another two, also beheading them. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Ant doing the same.
It only took them a couple of minutes to behead all of the zombies. More zombie moans drifted hauntingly through the air, and more zombies appeared from around the side of the bus. Skip and Ant quickly beheaded them and the rest on the other side of the bus. More zombies were visible as they shuffled towards the bus.
"I was hopin' for a clean escape. Skip sighed before turning her attention to the group on the bus. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon! A quick escape is a good escape!"
"What about those?" A bespectacled man squeaked, pointing his rifle at the zombies shuffling towards them.
Skip glanced at them before smiling reassuringly at the group. "Relax. We much faster than them. A quick power walk and we'll lose'em. Ant and I can kill any we encounter." She was glad that, once again, she sounded far calmer than she actually felt. "But quickquickquick! Or it'll be too late."
The group quickly scrambled down off the bus. "Well, lets go!" A woman said anxiously.
"You lead the way. Skip and I don't know where your hideout is."
The woman looked like she was about to start arguing. But the man with the glasses jogged around the side of the bus. "This way. You two with the machetes should get around here."
Skip and Ant jogged after him and saw that more zombies were shuffling towards them.
"Too easy." Skip grinned, loping up the street and easily beheading the nearest one.
The rest of the group jogged after her. She lopped off the head of the next one. Behind them more zombies moaned, lending some extra speed to the group.
At the end of the street, the man led them across the intersection. Skip could hear and see more zombies shuffling along the street. She wondered if any of the others could as well. She could tell that Ant could at least hear them by the way his grip tightened on the machete. Another zombie loomed up through the darkness. Ant swung his machete at it's head.
The hasn't gone very far up the street when the bespectacled man stopped them in front of a shop front with metal bars over the window. The glass had been smashed. The door was dented and cracked and the hinges squeaked loudly when it was shoved open. Everyone hurriedly piled through, and the door was bolted shut behind them.
"Ya really should do somethin' 'bout those rusty hinges, man." Skip whispered as zombies began moaning outside and started to swarm around the building, reaching through the bars trying to reach the people inside. Everyone stayed well clear of the window and the grasping hands. Skip hesitated for a second before swinging her machete and chopped off any zombie hand she saw. "Now they can't grab ya, can they?" She explained, seeing everyone's quizzical looks.
"Good thinking. The ladder is this way." The bespectacled man led them to the back of the building, and picked up a long pole with a hook on one end. He used the hook to pull down a folding ladder, and stood to one side. "After you."
Skip shook off some of the excess zombie gore before sheathing her machete and agilely springing up the ladder. She emerged on the next floor, and could see extensive fire damage but no sign of any light even though she could hear voices murmuring in the darkness. Ant and the rest of the group soon joined her. The ladder was pulled back up and folded neatly next to the hole.
They made their way to down the corridor and into a small pokey room where twenty or so people were huddled. Even with her night vision, Skip had to squint to distinguish The 99 uniform on some of the group, they were that dirty and ragged looking.
"Who's dis?" A small, wirey woman demanded, leaping to her feet drawing a pistol and aiming it at Ant. Her clothes were caked in zombie gore. Although her 99 banner on her arm was in better condition: it was slightly less dirty. But the once white 99 was now a dirty brown.
"Strangers. They rescued us from certain death. I think they said their names are Ant and Skip."
"I'm Skip and this is Ant." Skip introduced herself and Ant. "We're 99 members. We came here because we heard there's a sanctuary here."
"Yeah, good luck gettin' in dere." The woman snorted humourlessly, lowering her pistol.
"We've seen it." Ant muttered, sitting down on the edge of a bench. "The authorities have made sure no one can get in."
"Whattya mean?" A squeaky voiced teenage boy asked.
"They've made sure that the sanctuary is completely surrounded by zombies so that no one poor, like us, can get in. Why d'ya think they've got all those lights on, man?"
"The lights are to make sure no zombies can get in." The wirey woman said, her voice heavy with doubt.
"Those walls look more than capable of keepin' the zombies out. The lights aren't needed for that."
Everyone starting shouting at Skip's statement. Skip heard the zombies starting moaning down on the street below. She hoped that the hideout was as safe as everyone believed. She waved her hands in a shushing motion, and eventually got silence.
"Look," she said. "I understand your confusion. I struggled with it myself when I first found out. But how d'ya reckon the zombie virus happened?"
Silence greeted Skip's question as everyone stared blankly at her.
"It was created by the world's elite to bring down the world population and make it easier for governments to control us." Ant supplied.
A few incredulous looks were swapped and a few people even sniggered.
"Think about it. Who's safely behind the sanctuary walls, and who's left to fight for their lives against the zombie hordes?"
"There's certainly no government officials left to fend for themselves."
"It's just the poor left fending for themselves. And, shit! You guys have it a lot worse here than we had it back where we were."
"Little more than zombie bait while the fat cats live in safety in that sanctuary."
Skip could tell by the looks on everyone's faces that she and Ant had them convinced. But they were just elaborating on the stories they had started feeding The 99 just before the zombie virus outbreak. Anyone who had been 99 members before then would most likely have heard the rumours.
"So ya know the truth. What good is that?" The wirey woman demanded. "It ain't gonna change nuffink."
"We plan on gainin' entry into the sanctuary. Hopefully with some 99 inside, more help will be extended to other survivors left to fend for themselves."
"Ya's have seen the sanctuary. Ya said so yaselves. How d'ya's plan on gettin' past d'zombies?"
Skip grinned wickedly. "Oh, I have a plan."
"And it won't work. Dere's too many zombies."
"I just need to know a coupla things."
"Won't do ya no good."
"D'ya's know where the power comes from in the sanctuary?"
"We stay away from dere. Dats certain death dere."
Skip shrugged. "Doesn't really matter. Cuttin the power just woulda meant the plan runs a little better."
Again there was silence. Skip could tell that she was going to have trouble convincing them to help her and Ant.
"Are there any other groups around?"
"Dunno. Ain't seen nobody else."
"Ok. It'll just be us."
"We ain't gettin' ourselves killed tryin' to get into d'sanctuary."
"Relax, will ya? My plan is virtually risk free: we simply the zombies away from the sanctuary. Ant and I will even do all the dangerous work if ya scared."
"And how d'ya's plan on doing dat? Ya gonna end up cornered'n'torn to pieces."
"Only if ya wanna be stupid and be live zombie bait. I was thinkin' more along the lines of a large fire and a lot of noise." Skip had their interest now. Everyone was staring at her, waiting for her to elaborate.
"And dat'll draw d'zombies away from d'sanctuary?" The hope in the wirey woman's voice was clearly audible. To get to a safe, zombie free zone was all people wanted these days.
"It'll draw most of the swarm away. It won't be too hard to take care of any stragglers."
"And if we're lucky the soldiers inside of the sanctuary will help us take care of those." Ant added.
"We should get goin' and set up the noise part now." Skip went to leave the room but the wirey woman called her back.
"Now? It's too dangerous. We should til it's light."
"That's too risky. The zombies can see us better in daylight." Twelve months of fighting zombies, Skip had learned a few things. Plus she wanted to get Ant out of there before it got light enough for the others to see him properly. She was fairly certain that they wouldn't react well to his grey skin. Better for him not to be seen in daylight and avoid awkward questions. "And wouldn't it be better to be safe tomorrow and not have to worry about being attacked by zombies?"
"Until we venture out on search and rescue missions." The bespectacled man pointed out.
Skip smiled inwardly. She didn't have to worry about The 99 here. They would fulfil their purpose and protect anyone who needed protection. "Of course. But having electricity and a hot meal would also be nice. We can start doing more than just surviving." Skip paused for a moment and them left the room. She heard Ant follow her, and The 99 talking amongst themselves about her plan.
She and Ant dawdled down the corridor and took their time setting up the ladder to get back down to the ground. They were both more than capable of doing everything themselves. But they wanted The 99 to assist them, to remind the members who they really stood for.
They were trying to figure out how to return the ladder back to the floor above when there was a flurry of movement from above and six faces peered down at them.
"We're comin' with ya's."
"Ya had better bring better weapons than guns. We wanna be sneaky and quiet."
"Dere ain't much else but guns. We don't wanna risk our lives by gettin' too close to dem fings."
"Gunfire will attrack their attention." Skip countered. "Anythin' that can smash their heads in will do. Old pipes are particularly handy."
Everyone disappeared, and Skip and Ant exchanged glances, unsure whether The 99 were going to join them or not now that guns had been prohibited. Skip darted back up the ladder and looked around. She could see people moving around, searching for anything suitable to use as a weapon. She dropped back to the ground grinning. "They're comin', man."
Not long afterwards, the bespectacled quietly called down to them. "I'm going to throw down some pipes. Are you ready to catch them?"
"Sure am!"
The pipes were dropped to Skip, who caught them easily and passed them to Ant. Six pipes and an axe were dropped down to Skip. The the bespectacled man scrambled down the ladder followed by five others.
"Fred." He said holding out his hand to Skip.
Skip shook his hand. "Skip." Fred also shook Ant's hand. The others followed suit: Skip was introduced to Sophie, Brendan, Simon, Zoe and Taryn, the wirey woman.
Taryn went to open the door. But Skip stopped her. "Is there another door? Preferably one that doesn't have rusty hinges?"
Taryn shook her head. "We blocked d'other door for safety."
Skip swore, and looked out the barred window. She could see a couple of zombies shuffling around. There were probably many more that she couldn't see. "Those things are gonna be attracted by the squeaking door when we open it." She whispered. "I'll go through first and deal with any nearby. Then we jog a couple of blocks over and start on the noise part of the plan."
Taryn nodded and waited for Skip to join her before opening the door. The hinges squealed in protest as the door swung open. Skip leapt through it as soon as the gap was large enough for her to fit through. She almost crashed into a zombie. Cursing herself for not having her machete ready, she kicked the creature away from her and drew her machete. She beheaded the creature as it stumbled. By the time the others joined Skip on the street, she had killed the six zombies that had been lurking there. The moans of approaching zombies drifted through the air, unsettling everyone.
Skip looked over at Ant. "Which way?" She asked him.
Ant listened carefully, listening for the direction with the least amount of zombies. "This way." He set off down the street towards three zombies shuffling towards them.
"Is he mad? That's towards those things!" Simon, the squeaky voiced teenager exclaimed.
"Relax, man. He has a really good ear for this."
The others still looked a doubtful. But they followed Skip as she set off after Ant, who had already killed two of the three zombies and was about to deal with the third. He led straight down the debris filled road before turn left and continuing down that road for a few more blocks. They only encountered a handful of zombies along the way. Emboldened by the ease with which Skip and Ant beheaded the zombies, The 99 members with them started stepping forward and taking on the zombies as well. Zoe almost cheered when she killed her first zombie by smashing its skull with her pipe. But Skip clamped her hand over her mouth. "Shhh! Remember?" Skip hissed in Zoe's ear.
"Sorry." Zoe whispered.
Ant stopped in front of a church. "This should work for the noise." He pointed up at the steeple where they could see a bell glinting in the moonlight. "We shoulda checked to see if there was an engineer before we left."
"There's no engineers with us."
"No problems. We just need a long piece of rope."
"And where d'ya suggest we get dat?"
"In there hopefully."
"Are suggesting we ring the church bell until we're killed by zombies?"
Skip had forgotten that they weren't vaccinated and therefore were still at risk of being killed by zombies. She hadn't planned for an escape, and there would be too many zombies for them to fight their way out of the mess.
"What about tyin' some kinda weight to the rope and drop it from up there?" Simon suggested.
Skip thought about it. "That would work. It would give ya's enough time to get out. It would draw nearby zombies, of course. But they shouldn't be too much trouble for ya's. Good work, man!" She gave Simon a pat on the back and ran over to the church.
One of the doors was hanging off its hinges. Skip slipped through the gap and could hear shards of glass crunching under her feet. She winced at the sound, but heard no zombie moans. She continued inside, which was in complete disarray but, as far as Skip could tell, zombie free.
They carefully searched the church and found no sign of people or zombies. They then made their way up the staircase that led to the church bell tower. Fred and Sophie pulled up the rope while the rest trooped back downstairs in search of something to tie to it. They returned ten minutes later with a chair Brendan found in a small office.
"Here's the plan: Ant and I will head back to the sanctuary and start a fire nearby. When ya see the glow from the fire drop the chair and get out. Head towards the sanctuary. Ant and I will meet ya there. But only if it's safe to do so. Got it?"
Everyone nodded, their eyes wide and fearful. Wordlessly, Skip and Ant descended the stairs and jogged back towards the sanctuary. This time they didn't bother trying to avoid the zombies. That would've taken more time, and they wanted to get the job done as quickly as possible.
They stopped when they could make out individual zombies in the horde. Skip looked around and spotted a building relatively untouched by all of the destruction of the zombie apocalypse. She nudged Ant, and they crept over to it even though they were in no danger of being seen.
"We're gonna have to shout a bit to get the zombies attention. But after I've thrown some fireballs into the horde. I'm not sure if the people on the wall will be able to hear me."
"Will they respond to our shouts?"
"Yeah, man. Zombies respond to sound. But they can't sense us or somethin'. So they won't attack us."
Skip turned her attention back to the zombie horde, and focused intently on a spot near the edge. A minute later two of the zombies ignited in flames. They didn't notice the flames as they mingled in the horde, setting others on fire. Wanting to cause a little more damage, Skip lobbed a couple of fireballs into the centre of the horde.
"Alright, show time!"
She and Ant started shouting, and slowly backing away from the horde. Skip momentarily turned her attention to the building she had picked and explosively set it alight. The flames roared as the quickly engulfed the building. Still shouting, Skip and Ant back away from the light.
By now they had the attention of the zombie horde. The air was thick with their moans as they turned towards the shouts and the light, and started moving towards it. Many of the zombies were also on fire. Skip ignited the next two buildings, though this time less explosively.
Drawing the horde away from the sanctuary was slow going. To rest their throats, Skip and Ant started alternating shouting. Ant started belting out songs from his homeland while Skip chose to recite some of her favourite poems from all over. She continued to set fire to buildings at random. They made sure to head in the opposite direction to the hideout of The 99.
"They should be far enough away from the sanctuary by now." Skip rasped a couple of hours later, her throat raw from all of the shouting.
"I'll check." Ant had barely vanished when he reappeared next to Skip shaking his head. "Nup. It woulda been easier if ya had just vaporised the fuckers."
"That woulda led to questions."
"I'm gonna get somethin' to make noise with, then. I can't shout much longer." Ant vanished. A couple of minutes later he returned with a couple of foghorns and saucepans. He handed a foghorn and saucepan to Skip.
"Sah-weet!" Skip pressed the foghorn and winced as it blared. "Oh yeah. This is perfect."
With renewed enthusiasm, Skip and Ant continued to draw the horde further away from the sanctuary. Skip continued to set buildings on fire. By now they had managed to attrack the attention of most of the zombies in the city. The zombies were coming towards them from all directions. Skip and Ant kept bumping into them, which they both found alarming.
"Urgh! I can't take it anymore! Let's teleport a block up." Skip burned a hole through the skull of the zombie she had just backed into. The creature dropped to the ground, its skull still smoking. Ant grabbed Skip's arm, and they materialised about a block away from where they had been a moment earlier.
They continued in this fashion for another hour until Ant teleported back to check on the sanctuary. He materialised in front of Skip smiling. "They're far enough away now."
"Thank god for that!" Skip threw her foghorn at a nearby building. It exploded when it hit the wall.
"We gonna watch and see what happens at the sanctuary!"
"No need. Fred and Taryn will do all they can to get inside. And the officials will be forced to let'em in once the horde starts to return."
"And if they don't?"
"Then there'll be a zombie outbreak inside the walls of the sanctuary."
Ant stared at Skip blankly. But then he realised what she meant. "But ... ?"
"Adrian wants heroes. He doesn't care how. And I've set up a camera so that there'll be footage of what happens at the gates of the sanctuary. If Fred an Taryn can't talk their way in, we'll show the footage to the world after the zombie outbreak inside the sanctuary."
"At least I won't have ta be here as long if that happens." Ant grabbed Skip's arm and teleported back to Adrian's castle.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
The Truth Of Neighbours
Since Neighbours will be returning to our airwaves soon (14 January) I thought that I should reveal some little known truths behind Neighbours. Or more specifically, Karl's supposed affairs.
None of these actually happened.
Well, ok, one did. But it wasn't really an affair.
Karl's affairs and the women involved were just a figment of Susan's imagination during her schizophrenic episodes. Everyone on Ramsay St just ignored them, trusting that Karl would see to it that she got the appropriate treatment since, you know, he's a doctor.
But eventually Susan's schizophrenia got too much for the family to handle and she had to be admitted into a psychiatric ward indefinitely.
This didn't win Karl any brownie points with some of Susan's friends. Especially when he started seeing Izzy after a couple of years. That is why Izzy is the only one of his supposed affairs that Karl occasionally visits. He and Izzy had a kid together and he was happy with her. He only broke up with Izzy out of loyalty to Susan when she was released from the psychiatric ward.
So when Susan starts losing it over Sarah's return and gives Karl a hard time, remember that Sarah isn't real. She's just a part of Susan's schizophrenia.
*this isn't a truth so much as a theory*
None of these actually happened.
Well, ok, one did. But it wasn't really an affair.
Karl's affairs and the women involved were just a figment of Susan's imagination during her schizophrenic episodes. Everyone on Ramsay St just ignored them, trusting that Karl would see to it that she got the appropriate treatment since, you know, he's a doctor.
But eventually Susan's schizophrenia got too much for the family to handle and she had to be admitted into a psychiatric ward indefinitely.
This didn't win Karl any brownie points with some of Susan's friends. Especially when he started seeing Izzy after a couple of years. That is why Izzy is the only one of his supposed affairs that Karl occasionally visits. He and Izzy had a kid together and he was happy with her. He only broke up with Izzy out of loyalty to Susan when she was released from the psychiatric ward.
So when Susan starts losing it over Sarah's return and gives Karl a hard time, remember that Sarah isn't real. She's just a part of Susan's schizophrenia.
*this isn't a truth so much as a theory*
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