Zombies: Tales of Arcadia

by RatthewHolt

Summary:

They've battled trolls, changelings, goblins, and more. But can anything prepare them for... zombies?

Chapter 1: Good Morning, Arcadia Oaks!

Summary:

The residents of Arcadia Oaks have no idea what they're about to be subjected to.

Notes:

Welcome to my TOA zombie AU, aka the au I taint every show I get into with. *jazz hands*

A frying pan sizzles with bacon on a stove. Above it, Jim Lake Jr. keeps a close eye on it, a content smile on his face. He closes his eyes, and takes a deep breath in through his nose. The smell of bacon swirls all around the kitchen, to which Jim prods at it with the spatula he'd used for the finished fried eggs sitting on two different breakfast plates.

With a hum of satisfaction, he turns off the burner and slides the bacon onto a bigger plate with a paper towel underneath to soak up the grease. He lets the hot meat rest for a minute, before he gently plucks three pieces in either hand and lays them perfectly flat beside the eggs. Jim grabs the jug of orange juice and pours some into two identical glasses.

He puts one of the plates onto a wooden tray, followed by the cup as well. He turns his head to the ceiling, as if waiting to hear some sort of noise. When he hears nothing, he shrugs, and takes hold of the tray with food on it. Jim carefully takes the stairs one at a time, and very slowly. The last thing he wants is to spill the food he made. At the top, he turns and looks at one of the closed doors that leads to a bedroom. His mother's. With a soft smile, Jim balances the tray in one hand, while he turns the doorknob in the other.

"Mom," Jim calls out softly, "I made you breakfast."

Jim's mother, Barbara, rolls over in her bed with a small groggy moan.

"Mmmh, morning, honey," she says, still slightly out of it, however the tray of breakfast catches her attention, "oh, Jim, you're so sweet."

"Only the best for my dear mother," Jim says with a little chuckle, and kisses her on the cheek. When he pulls away, he picks up her glasses from the bedside table and hands them to her.

"I hope you didn't stay out too late with Toby, Claire, and your... troll friends. You're still in high school, you know," Barbara lightly scolds while she points her fork at him.

"I know, I know," he sighs. "I got home by 11. Blinky's a responsible guy, you're not the only one who makes sure I'm focusing on more than being a trollhunter."

"Well, good. Have a great day, okay?"

"I will. Love you, mom!" Jim calls over his shoulder while leaving her room.

He hops down the stairs, where his bag is draped over the banister. He grabs it and slings it over his shoulder, the strap crossing his chest. He briefly checks the outer pocket for his amulet, and smiles when he spots it still tucked where he left it. He returns to the kitchen, where he grabs his plate of breakfast. Before he can take a bite, his eyes land on the clock on the wall.

"Crap, I can't be late now, or else Señor Uhl's gonna stick me in summer school!"

He shoves half of his plate of eggs into his mouth, and gulps it down with a big swig of orange juice. He grabs his slices of bacon and jogs for the door. Outside, Jim is met with the sight of his best friend, Toby, on his bike.

"Mornin', Tobes!" Jim waves while sprinting to his own bike.

"What's the holdup, Jimbo? I've been sitting out here for like ten minutes," Toby remarks.

"Just got a bit of a late start, nothing to worry about," he replies, hopping on his bike and clicking his helmet on.

"You know if you're late any more or miss any more then Señor Uhl--"

"Will put me in summer school, I know!" he finishes, punctuated with an eye roll, before he remembers the bacon. "Here, I saved some for you."

Jim tosses Toby two slices of bacon. Toby grins widely and sighs.

"Ah, Jimbo, you make the best bacon." Toby says.

"You can ogle over my cooking later, we gotta go."

The two of them turn around and start biking out of the culdesac and down the street.

"You think we'll have time to swing by Claire's to meet up with her?" Toby asks.

"Doubt it. We'll just meet her at school!" Jim answers with a huff. "How about we take the canals again today?"

"Ah, trip down memory lane, huh?" Toby remarks with a fond smile.

Jim and Toby ride a bit further up the road, where they then take a sharp left, and begin riding through the trees along their same dirt path.

 

At the Nuñez estate, Claire stuffs her books into her backpack and slings it up onto her shoulder.

"Claire! You're going to be late!" her mother, Ophelia, calls from downstairs.

"I'm almost ready, Mom!" she groans back in response.

Before she can leave her room, NotEnrique hops up onto her bed, the small green changeling eyeing her.

"Not takin' the shortcut today, sis?" he asks, "What's the occasion?"

"I haven't ridden to school with Jim and Toby in a while. I just miss them," Claire says, shrugging, "besides, taking the canals is a lot of fun."

"Heh, just be careful, will ya?"

"Why?" Claire gives him a small skeptical glance.

"I dunno, somethin' just feels off. I feel it in my soul, y'know?" NotEnrique proclaims, and puts a hand on his chest to really get his point across.

Claire giggles and rolls her eyes. "You're being dramatic. Look, I know things are uneasy right now, yeah. Morgana's free, she's planning the eternal night, our parents know everything. But hey, we found Merlin, and he made us suits of armor! How cool is that?"

"Yes, yes, I know, but still just be on guard, okay?"

"Okay, fine."

"Good, because remember, I'm still technically several centuries older than you," NotEnrique says in a fake stern voice, smile on his face.

Her response is just a small laugh and a passive wave. "See you after school."

NotEnrique waits a few seconds after she goes, then he hops up onto her desk where her laptop stands.

"I gotta do somethin," he mutters while he signs in to the computer.

He pulls up a chat room that he created with Blinky and AAARRRGGHH!!! as a sort of 'just in case' procedure, should he need to reach them from Claire's house. He types out a message and clicks 'Send'.

 

Claire hops down the front stairs of her house, her parents following behind her. Ophelia holds her baby brother, Enrique, in her arms.

"Have a great day, sweetheart," her father, Javier, waves, "oh, and watch out for those goblins!"

Claire chuckles. "Sure thing."

She pedals away in the direction of school. Once she's out of sight, her parents turn to go back inside, but Ophelia stops when she sees her neighbor across the street, Chad Hammes, come out onto his front porch. Chad coughs and hacks pretty badly. His face looks paler than usual. He bends down and picks up the newspaper on his porch. When he stands up straight again, Ophelia can see a patch of blood soaking through his grey shirt.

"Chad, is everything alright?" Ophelia shouts over to him.

The sluggish man looks over at his former political opponent and scoffs. "Save it, Ophelia. You already won the election, just leave me alone!"

He waves a hand aggressively in her direction, then stumbles back inside his house. Ophelia simply huffs and turns away, bouncing Enrique in her arms.

 

Jim and Toby pull up to Arcadia Oaks High on their bikes. No sooner do they park them, Claire rides up beside them.

"'Sup, Nuñez," Toby greets her with a finger salute.

"Hey guys," Claire grins, giving Jim a big hug. When she pulls back, she also plants a quick peck on his cheek.

Jim blushes from this. "Nice to see you, too, Claire."

"So, how's life with a master wizard going?" she asks him, eyebrow raised.

"Oh, my gosh, Merlin is impossible!" Jim groans. "I'm thankful that he's been out for the past day, doing whatever it is he's doing. I think he's poking around the entrance to Trollmarket, probably trying to figure out a way in."

"Now that Morgana's free, he's just going rogue? Hmmph, knew that old fart was untrustworthy," Toby pouts and crosses his arms.

"What exactly happened with Morgana, did your mom ever say?" Claire continues.

"Just that Gunmar locked her up and forced Strickler to free her. I know she's still new to all of this, so I'm proud of her for being so brave about it."

Before they can continue talking, a pair of hands are placed on Toby's shoulders. Exchange student Aja Tarron pokes her head around Toby's and smiles at him. Her little brother Krel walks up behind her, looking uninterested as usual.

"Toby the robo-teeth boy!" Aja exclaims. "What is up?"

"Oh, hey guys!" Toby waves.

"Hello," Krel greets in a neutral tone, seeming quite uninterested.

"Have you guys had any fun Troll hunter adventures lately?" Aja is practically bouncing on her heels, desperate for a story.

"Sadly, no."

"What about you guys? Did you do anything fun since we last saw you?" Claire wonders.

Aja and Krel exchange a long glance, then look back at the three.

"Not really," Krel answers, "but, I have been preparing for my math duel with the Seamus boy today. Apparently it is a crime that I am factually more intelligent than him."

"Oh, right. Good luck, you've got this," Claire encourages him.

A little stunned by the praise, Krel puts a hand on his chest. "Oh. Thank you," he says, and finds himself beginning to smile.

The first bell rings over their heads.

"Kleb-- I mean, shoot! We're going to be late if we do not move our butts! See you later, Troll hunters!" Aja waves goodbye as she hurriedly leads herself and Krel away.

"Later!" Toby waves back while giggles a little. "Man, they're really cool people."

"And they have the right idea. C'mon, if we're late to class, Uhl won't let us hear the end of it. Do we really want another Saturday detention?" Jim reminds them.

"Yeesh, you're right."

The three of them follow after the exchange students, heading inside the school.

 

A car pulls up outside the school just as the tardy bell rings. Eli sits in the passenger seat, backpack on his lap. One of his moms, Nathalie, looks over at him.

"I can't believe you're going to be tardy to school all because of some scary movie," she sighs.

"It wasn't a scary movie, Mom, it was real, I'm telling you. Something was wrong with Mr. Simmons last night! I could hear it from my room!" Eli protests.

Nathalie gasps. "Elijah Leslie Pepperjack, he is our neighbor! I don't want to hear you talk about him like that ever again!"

"I'm sorry, Mom, I didn't mean it to be rude, I just meant that it was strange to see!" Eli hastily apologizes.

Nathalie just shakes her head, so Eli opens the door and hops out of the car.

"Bye, mom. I iove you."

"Goodbye, sweetheart. Just remember to be nice, alright?"

"I will," Eli waves as she drives off.

He stands there and waits, until he remembers that he's already late.

"Shoot, no no no no no no!" Eli panics while sprinting full speed into school.

In the classroom, Jim, Claire, and Toby are seated at their desks when the door opens slowly. Señor Uhl looks over and sees Mary and Darci walk in.

"Miss Wang, Miss Scott, would you care to explain why you're late to my class?" Señor Uhl folds his hands behind his back.

"Sorry, Karl. Darci was helping me get my locker un-jammed. Maybe I can host a fundraiser to get this school better lockers," Mary shrugs her shoulders and walks to her seat like nothing happened.

Some students snicker at this, and Karl turns to look at them.

"Quiet! And that is Señor Uhl to you, Mary Wang," Karl glares at her.

Darci walks up and smiles apologetically. "I'm sorry, Señor Uhl. We would've gotten late passes from the principal, but you are the principal. Interim principal, that is."

Karl sighs, then stands up straight again.

"Very well. Please just take your seat now."

"Thank you," Darci says while heading to her desk.

"Yoooo, Darc," Toby whispers over to her, "you just avoided a detention from Uhl, that's like, legendary!"

Darci sits down and pretends to brush dust off of her shoulder. "I have a gift, I guess. You're welcome, Mar." 

"Yeah, yeah, thanks Darc," Mary huffs, but does smile when she pauses, "if I'd gotten another Saturday detention, I would've died!"

"We had fun last time, didn't we?" Claire nudges her and grins.

"I guess so."

"Aww, now I wish I had been there," Darci pouts.

The five of them chuckle amongst themselves, and Jim thinks back to that day. The memories of him having to fight a corrupted Draal come flooding back, and he shakes them away.

"No, you don't," he mutters too quiet for anyone else to hear.

 

Once first period had ended, students brush through the hallways to their next classes. Among them, Eli stumbles around frantically. He rounds a corner, and bumps straight into Miss Lenora Janeth.

"Mr. Pepperjack! Why were you absent from my class just now?" Lenora places her hands on her hips.

"I-- I, uh-- I-I got here late. I overslept," Eli quickly lies.

"Hmmph. Well, if you're absent unexcused again, it's detention for you! I hope you're prepared for our quiz this week," Lenora tells him, then continues on down the hall.

In truth, Eli missed her class because he had been panicking in the bathrooms the whole time, still reeling from what he knows he heard the night prior. He continues running off down the hall. His head darts left and right, searching the sea of students for one specific person. His search luckily ends when he bumps into just the right person.

"Aah!" The tall blond squeaks

"Steve!" Eli exclaims, and yanks him into the bathrooms nearby.

Steve Palchuk rubs his head, then finally looks at his best friend.

"Pepperjack, what was all that?" Steve grunts.

"I have to tell you something. I tried to tell my mom but she wouldn't listen, and I was late to class and--"

Steve puts a hand on Eli's shoulder and gently shakes him. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Slow down there, buttsnack. I can't tell what the heck you're saying when you start rambling like that!"

"Something bad is going on." Eli paraphrases, his hands wringing together.

Steve recoils, surprised, and his eyes narrow in confusion.

"Now you need to be a little more specific."

"Okay, just bear with me on this. Last night I was reading comics in my room, when I heard a noise coming from somewhere outside my window. I looked out it and I saw my next door neighbor, Mr. Simmons. He was rummaging through his trash on his knees."

"Maybe he was just looking for something?" Steve reasons, but Eli shakes his head.

"No way. I opened my window to try and get a better look, and when I did, I know exactly what I heard. He was eating something. I could hear him chewing, and tearing something apart," Eli shudders and wraps his arms around himself before continuing, "he turned a little, and I got a glimpse of his face. His skin was so pale, and there was red stuff around his mouth."

There's a tense moment of silence. Steve hums and strokes his chin. Eli waits a moment, then grabs him by the wrist.

"Do you believe me? C'mon, Steve! You and I proved that creepers were real together, and we even helped them! This has to be something related to them!"

"Let me get this straight. You think you saw your neighbor, eating something, with what you think is blood around his mouth?" Steve repeats.

"Uh huh. I was gonna take a picture, but my phone died," Eli says, body drooping with a mopey expression.

"Are you saying that your neighbor is a zombie?" Steve asks incredulously.

"Maybe, I don't know! All I know is that what he was doing was not normal."

"Look, I know we've both seen and found out some pretty crazy things this year, but maybe you just saw wrong. Zombies aren't real, man."

Eli just stares at him, dumbfounded. "We have concrete proof that mythical creatures and even magic exists in our town and possibly the entire world, and you think that the ability to raise the undead in real life is impossible?"

Steve pauses, having not reacted at all to his shorter friend's steadily rising tone.

"Yep. Later, dork," Steve says casually, then pats Eli on the head and briskly walks out of the bathroom.

Eli groans once he's alone, and leans back against one of the stall doors.

 

Gross looking cafeteria food is slopped onto Aja's food tray.

"There you go," lunch lady Judy states, in a neutral, bored tone, "chicken surprise."

"Lively! What's the surprise?" Aja asks, curious.

Judy's expression doesn't change, but her eyes lower to meet Aja's.

"Chicken," she answers, then turns to give the student behind her, Logan Walker, his lunch.

"Oh. Thank you!" Aja giggles as she leaves the lunch line.

Once Logan gets his serving of chicken surprise, he turns to his friend, Seamus Johnson.

"She's weird," he whispers.

"Weirder than lunch lady Judy? Probably," Seamus agrees, "But they seem okay, I guess."

"Aren't you going up against her brother today in a math duel for Miss Janeth's A+?" Logan asks.

"Yeah. My dad says if I lose to that 'foreigner', then I'm not going to space camp."

"No offense, dude, but your dad is a terrible human being."

Seamus says nothing while the two walk out of the lunch line. This makes Logan huff out an exasperated breath of air.

"Look, if you do end up losing, don't take it out on Tarron. Your dad's already all up in his business, he doesn't need anyone else making him feel any worse."

"Yeah, you're right." Seamus nods after another short pause.

Over at one of the tables, Aja takes a seat beside her brother. Krel picks at his own tray of chicken surprise.

"What is the surprise about it?" he wonders aloud.

"According to the lunch lady, chicken!"

Krel shakes his head matter of factly. "That does not make sense. Then again, nothing on this dump heap makes sense. I hate being here!"

"Shhh, keep your voice down," Aja whispers to him.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Krel mocks her, but relents, and does so at a quieter level.

"Do not get cocky, little brother. We may have the daxial array, but we still need, um, oh, kleb, what's next?" Aja groans.

"Subspace manifold. But I have no idea where we would find one on a planet as primitive as this," Krel explains, then rolls his eyes.

"Just stay focused, and maybe an opportunity will present itself. Until then, we need to make sure we stay blended in."

A short girl with glasses, Shannon Longhannon, walks by their table.

"Hi Aja!" Shannon smiles with a little blush.

"Hey, Shannon!" Aja waves as she continues walking, then she looks over at Krel and smirks. "See how good I am?"

"Oh, please," Krel scoffs, "I can do far better than that."

"You solved a triangle's area for the fourth dimension. Humans cannot do that."

"Blah blah, whatever. Let's just eat. Not like we can be discovered by doing that." Krel says sarcastically.

Aja picks up her cup of juice and dumps it all over her hands, to which she then rubs it all over them like its hand sanitizer. Krel, meanwhile, leans over and starts to shovel food into his mouth with his bare hands. After a few seconds, the two of them stop what they're doing upon hearing the lunchroom go strangely quiet. Shannon, Logan, Eli, and everyone else in the room is looking at them, bewildered.

"Why are they looking at us?" Krel murmurs to his sister.

"Um. That's--?" Eli stammers from his lunch table nearby, eyeing the two suspiciously.

 

Down below the canals of Arcadia Oaks, deep within Heartsone Trollmarket, the feared sorceress, Morgana, stands in Blinky's former library. She rifles through several books, opening them for a minute and browsing, before chucking them aside. She picks up one particular book she had set down on the table and opens it back up. Upon flipping through the pages again, she starts to chuckle. Some of the images depict a dark figure crawling out of the ground, and also some images of the human brain.

"Oh, yes. Perfect," Morgana murmurs to herself, fingers tracing over the pictures.

She lifts a hand and closes her eyes, preparing to speak, when suddenly Gunmar stomps into the room.

"Pale lady," Gunmar begins, "when will the eternal night be ready? My forces await your command."

Morgana scowls a little, but remains calm. "Patience, Gunmar. After all, I'm only just freed. It would not be wise to rush me so soon."

"I am sorry, Eldritch Queen," Gunmar backtracks and quickly bows his head, followed by taking a kneeling stanc.

"You are forgiven. Now come, I want to show you what I've been doing to the surface world since I've been freed," Morgana says, and beckons the troll to follow her back to the book she had been reading from.

"The books of my former advisor? Surely they cannot be of any help here. He already betrayed me. Betrayed us!" Gunmar growls.

"On the contrary. Your old friend has quite the collection of books regarding magic. Helpful ones."

"Helpful how?" Gunmar sniffs.

Morgana shows Gunmar the page with the human brain.

"A spell to reanimate the human brain. Although, not quite to the same essence of a living human. If a human were to die, this spell would bring their brain back to life, but in a more, err, undead sense," Morgana goes on to explain.

"The undead. You are creating undead humans?" Gunmar asks.

"Precisely." Morgana chuckles wickedly. "The stories about them have existed since before I was sealed away by that wretched wizard, Merlin. I've started small, but soon, things are going to get much, much bigger."

"With all due respect," Gunmar interjects. "How does this help progress us to the eternal night? Trollkind deserves the surface again!"

"I understand your concern. But like I said; have patience," Morgana repeats, growing stressed, then starts to leave the room, "now come along. This next act requires us to have the full power of the heartstone."

Gunmar follows her out onto the underground streets of Trollmarket, and they both head up toward the slowly dimming heartstone. Unknown to them, six eyes blink in rapid succession from behind them, hidden in a shadowy corner.

"Great grumbly gruesome," Blinky Galadrigal mutters in surprise, "whatever could they be planning now?"

"Don't know. Couldn't hear," AAARRRGGHH!!! answers from behind Blinky, the much larger troll shrugging his stone shoulders.

"Yes, I know. That's why we were waiting for them to come out, so we could hear them," he reminds his friend.

"Oh, right. Hehe."

"But I fear it's too risky to continue following them. Too many guards." Right as he says that, he quickly ducks down, as two Gumm-Gumms patrol past.

"What now?" AAARRRGGHH!!! asks with a tilt of his head.

"I say we get out of here while we still can, and make sure that Master Jim is alright," Blinky whispers.

Before either of them can make a move to sneak for the stairs, Blinky's phone rings. The four-armed troll gasps and fumbles to answer it. As soon as he puts the phone to his ear, a familiar voice begins shouting.

"Have you been readin' my messages?" NotEnrique's voice comes through the phone, accusatory.

"NotEnri-- What do you want?" Blinky hisses angrily into the phone, silently praying the changeling loud voice didn't draw attention.

"I've been tryin' to reach ya all morning," he goes on to complain.

"Well, I'm sorry. We've been a little busy--"

"Spyin' on Gunmar n' Morgana, yeah, yeah, I know. Nuñez told me all about it. That's what I need to talk to you about!"

"Who is it?" AAARRRGGHH!!! asks.

Blinky just turns and stares blankly at him, then lowers his head again.

"What do you need from us, then?" he sighs.

"You're not gonna like this, but I need you to stay down there longer."

"Oh, are you kid--!" Blinky goes to yell, but stops himself, instead groaning into his hands.

"Please! I'm beggin' ya, just a little longer. Somethin' in my gut is tellin' me they're up to something even more dangerous than an eternal night. Please just find out what it is and then you can leave or whatever," NotEnrique begs them through the phone.

Blinky is silent for the longest time. He takes in a deep breath to compose himself, then brings the phone back up to his ear. "Fine. We will continue our recon mission for only a little longer in the hopes that we discover their plan."

"Thanks, man. Catch ya later!" NotEnrique cheerily hangs up the phone before Blinky can speak.

"I-- and he has hung up."

"We staying?" AAARRRGGHH!!! asks.

"Yes, my friend. We are. Now, come on, let's find a spot to hide closer to the heartstone."

Blinky waves him along. Both trolls creep out from their hiding spot, checking for Gumm-Gumms. When they see none, both scamper away up towards the heartstone.

 

At Arcadia Oaks Memorial Hospital, a man is wheeled in on a gurney by Barbara and a few nurses.

"Sir? Sir, I need you to look at me. Can you hear me?" Barbara asks.

"Huh? wh--" the man garbles.

Barbara looks down to the man's chest and torso. Two huge gashes in his body are leaking blood all over the sheets on the gurney.

"Can you tell me what happened to you?" Barbara tries asking.

Behind her, several other doctors and nurses are rushing around, some covered in blood from operations, others carrying bandages and gauze. The man weakly looks up at Barbara.

"I was-- was--" He rasps out.

"It's okay. Just try to breathe for me," Barbara eases him down, and presses some fresh gauze handed to her by a nurse against the man's lower wound. "Can you tell me your name, sir?"

"M... Mike," the man, Mike, answers slowly. "And I was bitten."

"Bitten? By what? If it was a wild animal, after we close your wounds, we'll need to test you for rabies," Barbara notes.

"No. By my wife. She was sick today, and then she attacked me."

The doctor pauses, stunned. When she recomposes herself, she turns to the nurses directing the gurney and points to a nearby room. "Put him in this room, it's empty."

Mike is wheeled inside, and Barbara shuts the door behind her as she walks in. From around a corner, a young looking boy watches him be wheeled in.

"Fuzzbuckets," wizard Douxie Casperan murmurs, before he sprints down the hall towards the main doors of the hospital.

Just as Douxie runs outside, he witnesses another woman being led inside, a large bite prevalent on her forearm. He slips around to the side of the building and looks down at the watch on his wrist. It glows blue and transforms into a larger magical bracelet.

"Morgana is out," Douxie gasps, "she's free."

He looks around in all directions to make sure no one is nearby. "I need to find Merlin. He'll know what to do."

 

"Come on, Palchuk, climb that rope" Coach Lawrence shouts as Steve dangles on a rope, halfway up to the ceiling.

"I'm trying, Coach, err, dad coach!" Steve stammers, while using all of his strength to pull himself up just a little higher.

On the two ropes next to him, Aja and Eli climb with ease.

"This is a lot of fun!" Aja exclaims, ringing the bell at the top.

"Pepperjack? How are you climbing that rope?" Lawrence exclaims in disbelief.

"Just because I have little body mass, doesn't mean I don't have a strong core!" Eli declares. "WA-AHHH!"

Eli fumbles to keep himself from falling after distracting himself. From the bleachers, Mary and Darci giggle at that. Shannon sits beside them, staring at Aja.

"She's so strong! No one has ever climbed the rope that fast."

"Aj is amazing, she's like, a total butt-kicker," Darci says with a knowing nod.

"Hey, did you hear Steve just now? He called Coach Lawrence 'Dad'," Mary snickers.

"You shouldn't make fun of him for that. Remember when he started crying back when the teachers went crazy?" Shannon speaks up.

"Shannon's right," Claire agrees as she, Jim, and Toby join them on the bleachers.

"Meh, you guys don't let me have any fun."

"Your fun usually involves finding something embarrassing about all of us," Toby deadpans, not amused.

"Well, anyway," Darci changes the subject, "have you guys been keeping up with the local news today?"

Mary scoffs. "No offense, Darc, but do you see who you're talking to?"

"You'd think the councilwoman's daughter would be more involved, huh," Jim teases, earning a small swat from Claire.

"I have been," Shannon answers, looking to Darci, "so you've been seeing the attacks reported, too?"

All of a sudden, Jim is on high alert. "Wait, attacks?"

Claire and Toby exchange a knowing glance with each other, then with Jim.

"Yeah, it's pretty insane. My dad's been texting me about it, too. He's been seeing stuff all day."

"Does anyone know what's behind the attacks?" he asks.

"Uhh, sort of," Darci shakes her head a little, "from what I've read it sounds like people are attacking each other. There's been tons of reports of people acting feral all over town, and sometimes biting others."

"Surely a bite can't be that bad," Toby chuckles.

"I wouldn't be so sure, TP, these people have been admitted to the hospital." Darci finishes.

"Jeez! What's getting into everyone?" Jim recoils back at the revelation. Silently, he wonders if his mom is alright.

"Maybe they all got rabies from some raccoon." Mary wonders.

"I just hope they're okay." Shannon looks down at the bleachers.

"I wonder if I could maybe find one of these people and film them for my followers. Hashtag ew gross ew, right?" Mary smirks.

Claire grimaces. "Come on, Mary, that's just wrong."

"Look, guys, just be careful on your way home today. If this is some kind of disease or virus that's starting, I don't think any of us want to be within 100 feet of it," Darci says.

Toby snaps his fingers proudly. "You've got that right. I've stayed sickness free for years now, and I'm not breaking my streak anytime soon."

Down on the gym floor, Eli shrieks as he falls down from the rope, landing on the soft mat below. He groans, rolling over onto his back slowly.

"Pepperjack, get up and walk it off! It's time to run some laps, everyone!" Lawrence shouts.

As the group of teens stands up off the bleachers, Toby pulls Jim aside.

"You think this is a, y'know, troll thing?" he whispers.

"Come on, Tobes, you know this town by now. If it's out of the ordinary, it's a troll thing," Jim nods, before the two of them join the others on the gym floor.

Krel and Aja saunter over to where Eli still lays, mostly motionless. Krel lightly pokes his cheek and then nudges him with his foot.

"Is he dead?" he wonders with a raised eyebrow.

 

Morgana stands before Gunmar in the center of the heartstone. She's not facing him.

"Pale lady, what are we still doing here?" Gunmar gestures back down towards Trollmarket. "We have an army, waiting to DESTROY the creatures on the surface, and we still have yet to make a move."

"Enough!" Morgana finally yells, spinning around sharply. She begins to float off of the ground. Gunmar steps back in surprise.

"You have proven to me that loyalty is not what you treasure. Countless times you have attempted to force your agenda onto me, and each time it only makes this decision easier," Morgana says to the giant troll, and begins to smirk.

"What-- What decision, my Eldritch Queen?" Gunmar shakily asks.

"The eternal night will be no more. Instead, I will unleash the end of the entire world itself! I will turn each and every human against one another as they succumb to this plague," Morgana laughs, loud and deranged.

"But, my queen--!"

"Silence! I've heard quite enough from you. As for you, your army, and all of Trollkind? They no longer benefit me. They will simply become extinct."

"You witch, you cannot do this!" Gunmar screams, and picks up his blade.

Morgana retaliates instantly. Not even a few steps into his charge, she shoots Gunmar directly in his chest with a deep red bolt of magic. The troll tyrant slows to a stop, his legs turning to stone.

"You're a monster," Gunmar snarls, "what about the changelings? The impures. Are you going to turn on them, too?"

"Any impure around here has become far too immersed in their human affairs. As far as I'm concerned, that's what they are. Let them rot with all the pour souls to be killed starting today." Morgana purrs, only giving the thought a moment's attention, before focusing back on her victim's fate.

From the entrance to the heartstone, Blinky and AAARRRGGHH!!! watch in horror as the rest of Gunmar's body turns to stone.

"You'll regret this. One day," Gunmar's struggles to say, before his face becomes entirely stone.

He's gone. His whole body now a lifeless stone statue. It crumbles to several tiny pieces all on its own. Morgana stares at it, emotionless.

"The end of Trollkind is now!" Morgana suddenly yells into the air.

"Run... RUN!" Blinky tugs on AAARRRGGHH!!!'s arm, and the two hurry away down the steps away from the powerful sorceress.

Morgana floats out from the heartstone and raises a single hand. Her eyes begin to glow a golden yellow, and her voice echoes when she begins to say an incantation.

" Slleps era drah ot etirw. Os mi tsuj gnitirw sdrawkcab. Yreve llort lliw won eid!"

Bolts of hot red magic shoot from Morgana's fingertips. Left and right, all around the two fleeing trolls, Gumm-Gumms instantly become stone and crumble to the ground. But that isn't all. Above ground, inside the storage units that the trolls that fled from Trollmarket. Bagdwella sits, eating a rat. All of a sudden, she feels her legs hardening, and becoming numb. She looks down and sees that they've become stone, and it's spreading up her body fast.

"Oh, heavens, oh, dear! Somebody help me!" Bagdwella exclaims.

But no one can. All around her, the helpless trolls scream in horror and surprise as one by one they all become stone and burst to pieces. Glug in her tub gasps as her hand becomes stone.

"Hey! What is happening? Aaaah--!" Glug is cut off as her body turns to stone and sinks down into the neon green liquid in her tub.

Bagdwella trips and falls forward, but is unable to stand because of her stone legs. She turns her head, seeing all of the other trolls have been reduced to stone rubble.

"Trollhunter, help--!" Bagdwella rasps, before her body becomes nothing but a stone monument and destroys itself. Back down in Trollmarket, Blinky and AAARRRGGHH!!! race into the Hero's Forge. The soothscryer is out and open.

"Head for the soothscryer!" Blinky points with urgency.

AAARRRGGHH!!!, not wanting to waste time, picks Blinky up under one arm and charges at the thing. When they grow nearer, the mechanism opens up to accept a hand.

"Blinky, go!" AAARRRGGHH!!! shouts, and holds Blinky out in front of him.

"Be right behind me, old friend!" Blinky says, just as his fist enters the soothscryer. In seconds, Blinky's body glows a bright misty blue, and his vanishes in a puff of smoke. AAARRRGGHH!!! turns back to look at the entrance to the forge one last time, before he sticks his own fist into the soothscryer and lets himself be transported to the void between worlds just like the first time.

Morgana floats through Trollmarket, eyeing the stone remains of each troll and Gumm-Gumm she slayed. A rustling from inside one of the shops makes her whip her head in its direction. She storms over and raises her arm, ready to strike down the life form.

"No, wait! Please don't kill me, I can-- I can be useful!" comes the pleading cry.

Morgana lowers her hand slightly, seeing Queen Usurna of the Krubera Trolls standing there.

"I know Gunmar was a pain to work with, but I can help you," Usurna cautiously offers.

"How? As far as I'm concerned, you're the only troll I haven't eradicated. What use could you possibly have?" Morgana almost laughs at the comment.

"My people, the Krubera, we live-- lived-- in a place called the Deep Caverns. There is so much untapped power stored within them. I ruled down there, so I know how to access it all."

Morgana seems genuinely taken aback by this revelation, and she fully lets her guard down. "You will take me there and show me how to take this power. I'm going to need it for my new plan to fully be set in motion."

"Yes. Yes, very well. If you follow me, we can take the gyre. It's just this way."

Usurna nervously begins to walk off towards the gyre chamber. Morgana eyes the Krubera queen for a moment, then follows after her.

 

Night falls on Arcadia Oaks. Jim, Claire, and Toby are walking home with their bikes. Jim has his phone up to his ear.

"Are you sure you haven't heard from them?" Jim asks again.

"I still don't see why your mentor and his friend would contact me, young atlas. I'm pretty sure they don't particularly like me," Walter Strickler's voice answers through the phone.

"I just thought that maybe you would've seen them around. You know, because you've been hiding in the sewers all this time."

"I'm afraid to tell you that's not the case. You have them spying on Gunmar and Morgana. That's not exactly a risk-less task."

Jim drags a hand down his face at the reply. "Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm just worried."

"Stay sharp, young atlas. Give them another day, perhaps they just couldn't find the right moment to make their exit."

"Yeah, good point," he agrees, "but if you see them, you'll let me know?"

"Of course. Now I must go, it's getting to be late. Ms. Nomura sends her best."

"Tell her Tobes says hi," Jim lightly chuckles, before he hangs up the phone.

"I take it Strickler and Nomura haven't seen Blinky or AAARRRGGHH!!! either, then?" Claire asks after a beat of silence.

"Nope. I guess they're still down in Trollmarket."

She reaches out and touches him on the shoulder. "Hey, they're gonna be fine. I know they will."

"Darn right. Nothing stops my wingman." Toby nods in triumphant agreement.

"Thanks, guys." Jim pulls both of them in for a hug.

The three of them then reach a three way intersection.

"This is my street. I'll see you guys tomorrow," Claire waves as she hops on her bike and begins pedaling away.

"Goodbye, mi amor!" Jim dramatically calls after her.

"You're such a dork," she lovingly comments.

 Toby points an accusatory finger up at Jim. "What did I tell you about the Spanish?"

"It was just a joke, Tobes. No need to come at me," Jim says, and holds his hands up in mock surrender.

The two of them hop on their bikes and head straight along the road until they reach the familiar culdesac with their neighboring houses.

Toby yawns. "Man, I'm beat. Today was exhausting."

"You hardly did anything today." Jim remarks smugly.

"Ha ha," Toby mopes. He's about to head up to his house, but stops, "hey, do you think we should've gone with Claire until she got home?"

"Huh? Why?"

"Remember what Darci said? All those attacks by other people all over town. People getting bitten. If you ask me, it sounds like we're witnessing the start of a zombie apocalypse."

"Toby, I know you love your zombie movies, but they aren't real," Jim says, "I agree, we should be careful right now, but there's no way these people are zombies."

"We live in a city with trolls beneath us and you think people coming back to life is totally impossible?!" Toby throws his hands in the air.

"As a matter of fact? Yes. I do think that. Now go get some rest. Miss Janeth has us taking a quiz later in the week and we gotta study as hard as possible these next few days."

"Ugh, don't remind me. Nighty night, Jimbo. And hey! Let me know as soon as you know where AAARRRGGHH!!! is!" Toby shouts, heading up the stairs of his porch.

"You got it!"

Both boys enter their respective houses.

"Mom? Mom, I'm home!" Jim calls out. No answer.

He ventures further inside, and sees a piece of paper on the table. He picks it up and reads it.

Hey kiddo, working late at
the hospital tonight. A lot of patients
coming in today. I promise I'll be home by midnight at the latest. Love you!
-Mom

Jim reads the note over a few more times, and sets it down without a word.

 

In the Pepperjack household, Nathalie paces back and forth in her living room. She's on the phone.

"Are you sure you have to work this late, hon?" Nathalie asks while she worriedly bites her thumbnail.

"I'm sorry, Nat. The hospital's just getting overwhelmed with new patients and I have to help," her wife, Emilia, apologizes.

"I'm just worried about you, is all."

"I know you are. But I promise I'm safe. Hospitals are for saving people, remember?" Emilia's voice sounds teasing.

Nathalie lightly chuckles. "Yes, I am aware. But still, I want you to be extra safe. For me."

"I'd say doctor's orders, but I'm the doctor," she jokes, "I promise I'll be home just after midnight, tops."

"Okay. See you then?"

"See you then. Love you." A kiss is heard over the phone before the line goes dead.

"Love you, too," Nathalie whispers, just a little too late. Eli comes halfway downstairs just as the phone call ends.

"Was that mom? Is she on her way home?" he asks.

"Your mother is working late again tonight. There's been a whole bunch of new patients today," his mother explains.

Eli's face pales, and he runs the rest of the way down the stairs. "No! Call her back and tell her to come home right now!"

In a quick lunge, he tries to grab the phone, only for Nathalie to swipe her hand out of the way. She stares at her son in surprise.

"Elijah Leslie Pepperjack!"

"But she's in danger!"

"I don't want to hear it! Now go to your room until dinner is ready!"

The worried boy frowns and stomps back upstairs, slamming his bedroom door shut as he enters. He picks his phone up off his bedside table and immediately dials Steve's number. The phone rings just twice before Steve picks up.

"Pepperjack? Why are you--" Steve tries to ask, but Eli cuts him off.

"Steve. Tell your mom and Coach Lawrence that you're sleeping over at my house tomorrow night," he orders.

Steve is beyond confused. "Eli, what is going on?"

"Just do it."

"Okay, okay!" Steve relents. "But seriously, you're acting weird. First thing tomorrow at school you're explaining yourself, got it?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever. Just be ready to come to my house tomorrow."

And just like that, he ends the call without waiting for Steve's response. He walks over to his bedroom window and peeks out it, down at his neighbor's house. He can see a splotch of something dark stained on the pavement near the trash bins.

 

Claire walks in the front door of her house and drops her backpack by the door.

"Mom? Dad? I'm home!" Claire announces.

"Claire, sweetheart!" Javier greets her at the door, kissing her head. "How was your day?"

"Boring, as usual. Señor Uhl's classes feel like they're days long," she complains.

"Claire, sweetie? Is that you? Dinner's almost ready!" Ophelia says from the kitchen.

She walks out there, seeing Ophelia arranging some dinner plates. Enrique is bouncing up and down in his baby jumper. NotEnrique is also in the kitchen, sniffing intently at the food Ophelia cooked.

"Oh, hey, sis!" NotEnrique grins.

Claire gives NotEnrique a wave, then looks down at her baby brother. "Hola, my little Chicarrón."

Enrique bounces higher in his jumper, trying to grab onto his sister's hands. She smiles and plays with his tiny baby fingers, then lets him continue to bounce idly to entertain himself. Javier follows his daughter into the kitchen as well, and notices the food being prepared.

"Ooh, this looks good," he gasps, and goes to grab some, but Ophelia swats at his hand.

"Not until it's ready. You boys are all the same," she teases.

"It's not my fault that almost no one showed up to work today. Usually Ricardo buys us all chorizos for lunch."

"Hm, now that you mention it, not a lot of people showed up at city council for work today. The halls were near empty," Ophelia recalls, her face appearing worried.

"Darci mentioned something about people getting attacked, or sick, or something," Claire speaks up, "I don't know what it's about, but people are being hospitalized from it."

"Oh, my! Maybe we should keep you home from school." Ophelia brings a hand to her mouth.

"Mom, if I can handle being possessed by an evil sorceress that's hundreds of centuries old, I think I can handle this." Claire smirks.

Javier scowls and balls his fists. "I still want to talk to this woman so I can find out what she was doing in my daughter's head!"

"Easy, Papá," Claire eases him down, using a calm pat on his arm, "I'm sure everything will be fine soon enough."

"You know, I saw Mr. Hammes this morning," Ophelia starts.

Claire groans and rolls her eyes. "That guy? He almost attacked me and my friends just for putting out your campaign signs."

"Listen!" her mother repeats. "I saw him just after you left for school, and he looked pretty under the weather. Hopefully he didn't get infected with whatever this is."

"And if he did, then--" Claire mutters, but her mother cuts her off.

"Claire Maria Nuñez, don't you dare finish that sentence."

She looks at the ground, semi-apologetically, and exhales a big huff. "Sorry, Mom."

"Good, now grab the plates and help me set the table. Don't forget the plate for NotEnrique," she instructs as she begins serving food onto the first plate.

 

Across the street, inside the Hammes household, the lights are all off. No sound comes from inside. In the doorway to the bathroom, though, there's a trickling puddle of blood making its way out to the hallway floor. Inside the bathroom is Chad, lying on his side, completely motionless. His wound is no longer bandaged and bleeding again. It's a bite. There's a much thicker pool of blood trailing from his head and face. Streaks of it run down the side of his bathtub, indicating he'd collapsed and smashed his face on it hard. Just then, however, a low rasp escapes his throat. His fingers on his hands begin to move and twitch.

At last, his eyes slide open. Only instead of normal eyes with the black pupils and a color rim around, the eyes are completely milky gray. Chad sits up, growling. The blood on the floor stains his pants and shoes as he wobbles up, still growling and snarling in a subdued manner. With a strange limp type of walk, Chad stumbles out of his bathroom, leaving behind the bloody mess on the floor.

Chapter 2: Tell Me a Secret

Summary:

Eli attempts to prove his suspicions. Aja and Krel make plans. Things go from bad to worse in Arcadia Oaks.

Notes:

after 4 and a half long months of daydreaming the plot to this story, the second chapter has arrived!

A girl with a pixie cut of all pink hair stands irritably behind the register of Zimoc Records; Zoe.

"This is unacceptable!" A white haired old man exclaims.

"Sir, for the THOUSANDTH time. It's the store's policy that records CAN NOT be returned if they've been damaged." Zoe crosses her arms.

"Unbelievable! I try to buy my Seamus a record after he won in a math duel, and then YOU sell me the flimsiest one you've got! I demand to speak to a higher up!" Mr. Johnson points sharply at her.

Zoe grumbles and rolls her eyes, then slams her hands down on the desk and leans closer to him.

"The owner's been out sick since yesterday. So all you've got is me, pal."

Mr. Johnson grits his teeth, his clenched fists shaking.

"Listen, little girl. When I tell you something you'd better--!"

Mr. Johnson is cut off when the ding of the bell connected to the door jingles violently. Douxie bursts in, his eyes wide and frantic.

"Zoe! Zoe I need to talk to you!" He calls out as soon as he sets his sights on her.

"Hisirdoux Casperan. Good to see you, too." Zoe remarks lazily.

"Excuse me! I was here first!" Mr. Johnson tries to step in front of Douxie, but Zoe grabs him by the shoulder.

"Sir, if you don't leave RIGHT NOW, I am banning you from the premises. I already explained the store's policy, so I can't help you." Zoe threatens, low and cold.

She lets Mr. Johnson's shoulder go, and haphazardly pushes him in the direction of the exit, although he had already started walking.

"Have a great day." She adds with a tone overflowing with sarcasm.

The store door opens and shuts once more, and no sooner does it shut, Douxie whirls back around to face the vibrant haired girl.

"... Are you like that with all your customers?" Douxie asks after a beat of silence.

"Nah, not really. Only the nasty ones. That piece of work has meltdowns in here all the time." Zoe explains.

"He looked like he was ready to PUNCH you."

"I'd be fine, I've got a revolver stashed under the counter anyway." Zoe chuckles.

"A revolv--? Zoe, you're literally a witch!"

"So you're saying I should just do some magic in front of him and let this town know that we exist, then?"

"It's better than SHOOTING HIM!" Douxie throws his hands in the air, then shakes his head. "Anyway! That's not even why I came here! Oh, fuzzbuckets!"

Douxie holds his head in pain and anxiety as Zoe looks at him strangely.

"Yeah, I noticed you had the weirdest look on your face. What's the problem?" Zoe leans her elbows down on the counter.

"... Morgana's been freed. And she's done something terrible." Douxie pants.

Zoe leans back suddenly, her eyes bulging out at the news.

"She killed every single troll in the entire world. All of Trollkind has been wiped out." Douxie slashes his hand through the air to demonstrate.

"MORGANA was freed?! Does your little boss know?!"

"Of COURSE he knows! I'm headed to speak to him now, but first... there's something else that I noticed."

Zoe sighs heavily.

"Spit it out, Hisirdoux."

"Over the last day or two, have you not noticed anything out of the ordinary? EVEN for this town? The Arcadia Oaks hospital has been receiving patients with horrible flesh wounds left and right! They're flowing in by the dozen!" Douxie exclaims.

"Hospitals can get busy. It's like lunch rushes but with gravely injured people." Zoe shrugs.

"Zoe, this is SERIOUS! I got a look at one of these people yesterday. He had a HUGE chunk of his side bitten off. By a PERSON, it was HUMAN teeth marks."

"... Cannibals?"

"NO!" Douxie groans loudly. "I... I think that maybe... that maybe Morgana has raised the dead."

"WHAT?" Zoe spits out, a grin forming.

"Think about it! She's done it before! Back in Camelot! Back when SHE was Merlin's apprentice, they worked on spells to bring people back to life, and this spell was a failed attempt. She killed all of the trolls, right? So she no longer seeks the Eternal Night, then. What if she's just trying to end the world? Using mortals against each other by... infecting them with this spell?! For crying out loud, you've SEEN the movies and TV shows! Zombies, Zoe! ZOMBIES!"

Zoe simply stares at Douxie, silent. When he finally lowers his breathing to a normal rate, she walks out and around from her register desk. Douxie dwarfs her in height, and yet she still looks him in the eyes.

"Okay, one: I seriously think you need to take a nap. And two: ... I believe you. I know Morgana deals with some pretty dark magic, so obviously I shouldn't put something like THIS past her."

"Thank you... by Ambrosius' gleaming, thank you!" Douxie laughs and wraps his arms around her.

"Oh-! Alright, then." Zoe freezes for a second at the embrace. "So, uh, since you came to me all in a rush, is there something you want me to do?"

"Well, not really. Just maybe keep an eye out for me? If things get too bad in the town or if you happen to see Morgana herself, please call me, text me, come get me, whatever! I have to get to Merlin and hopefully he can fix this before anything escalates!" Douxie declares.

"Gotcha. Where is that Arthurian toolbag at anyway?" Zoe raises an eyebrow.

"He's currently living at Jim and Barbara Lake's house. You know them?"

"Lake? Oh, yeah, he's the boyfriend of one of my best customers, Claire. She comes in all the time for Papa Skull records and CDs. I even give her discounts at this point. He's usually with her, awkward boy, but he seems nice." Zoe remarks with a small smirk.

"Alright, I'll leave you to it. I REALLY gotta get this information to Merlin." Douxie slowly backs away, until he reaches the door.

"Don't let me stop you, hop to it, Hisirdoux." Zoe mimics his running with two fingers across the air.

"Always with the jokes, Zo. Talk to you later!" Douxie calls over his shoulder.

"It better not be after another eight centuries!" Zoe yells after him.

"Wouldn't dream of it!"

The little hanging bell jingles again, and as the door shuts, Zoe walks over and stares out of its large glass panel, surveying the bustling town of Arcadia Oaks.

 

Elsewhere in Arcadia, at the end of a culdesac, a house sits by itself. Nearby on the culdesac is the groundwork for construction on other houses, yet none are even close to being built up.

Inside, Aja and Krel stuff textbooks into their school bags. Krel looks down at the watch on his wrist, and groans.

"Sister, we're going to be late." He grumbles.

"I'm going, I'm going!" Aja waves her hands in the air. "Don't rush me!"

"Oh ho ho, this coming from the girl who decided to sleep through her alarm. THREE TIMES!" Krel exclaims.

"Why have you not left for the academic prison yet?!" An old, wrinkly man, no taller than Krel, yells in a dramatic voice.

"The Queen here decided to sleep in." Krel remarks with dry sarcasm as he picks up his backpack.

"Queen IN WAITING." Aja corrects him.

"Are you TRYING to receive a, what the hoo man teenagers call, a SATURDAY DETENTION for your tardiness?!"

"Ay ay ay, you act like this is the end of the world, Varvatos. It's just the human school, it is not that important to maintaining my superior intellect." Krel replies with a small smirk.

Aja crosses her arms.

"No, but it is important in maintaining our INCONSPICUOUS identities."

"Oh, right! Like we haven't already ruined those enough in the past few parsons."

"Enough! Varvatos Vex insists that you get to the school NOW, before the one known as UHL can sentence you to a most displeasing weekend afternoon." Varvatos raises a hand in the air.

"Sure! We can ride on my hoverboard! We'll get there much quicker." Aja suggests.

She goes to take it out, but Krel grabs her wrist.

"And nobody will question our bright, glowing, FLOATING board, will they?"

"... Kleb. Fine! We'll run all the way to school!"

Before they can go to leave, two adults wobble out into the kitchen.

"Hey, hey, hey, buckaroos!" The man greets, overly cheery. "Who's hungry for some flapjacks, huh?"

"Not to worry, kiddos! Momma Lucy's gonna cook 'em up REAL good!" The woman, Lucy, slides over next to the man. Her eye suddenly rolls to the right, but she pushes it back into its correct position, smile never wavering.

"Quiet, you rust buckets!" Varvatos waves a hand at them. "Varvatos Vex is spending today watching the hoo mans win monetary gain from playing games on the talking box!"

Varvatos sits down in his chair and changes the channel until he finds his game show.

"HA! What a Larvox! He chose to buy a vowel instead of solving the puzzle. THE WORD IS CLEARY PINEAPPLE! Varvatos ought to beat this pathetic excuse for a life form into the ground."

"Say, kids, do you like syrup or butter on these pancakes?" The chipper man asks the two annoyed kids.

"Neither! We're LEAVING!" Krel flings the front door open and storms off.

Aja looks apologetically at the now disappointed, smartly dressed man, then runs off after her brother.

"Wait for me, little brother! KREL!"

"Aww, Ricky! Don't worry! We can still have them!" Lucy pops up beside him, holding up a bowl of raw pancake batter.

"Gee willikers, that sure is swell!" Ricky's demeanor shifts instantaneously, and he reaches into the bowl and scoops out some batter.

Lucy does the same, giggling. The two strange adults then start shoving the batter all over their faces, around their mouth holes and almost everywhere else. Varvatos spares them a single glance, and simply grimaces.

"Barbaric." Is all he mumbles.

Outside, Aja catches up with Krel, who is walking aimlessly up the road.

"Little brother! We have to hurry or we'll be late!"

"No offense to the school bureaucrats, but I do not care much for their primitive education. We only go there so that we fit in with the population! I am gaining literally nothing from the experience."

Aja looks down at her feet as she walks.

"You're gaining new friends, aren't you? What about the little one with glasses? The troll hunters?" She suggests.

Krel crosses his arms and stops walking.

"... Okay, MAYBE the social aspect of the school is not so bad, but still! What can they do if we're late. I am the king in waiting of Akiridion-5!"

"Not even a king is above the wrath of Principal Uhl, little brother." Aja giggles.

Just as they start to walk again, Aja stops and grabs Krel's arm.

"Sister? What--?"

Krel follows her gaze, over to the front yard of a house. A grill is knocked over on its side, and a picnic table is nearby, with all of its contents spilled on the grass. A beer cooler sits on the ground, too, wide open. The front door of the house is also gaping wide. Krel tries to peek inside, but past the door it's so dark, he can't see anything.

Aja looks back at the picnic table. From behind it, she can just barely see a human arm lying limp on the ground. On top of that, the arm, the table, almost EVERYTHING, is sprinkled with a suspicious dark red substance.

"Great Gaylen... what happened here?" Krel whispers.

All is silent, until Aja laughs.

"It looks like one of those human parties! I'm surprised we didn't hear it, I've heard they can get pretty crazy."

Satisfied with her assessment of the scene, Aja starts walking away. Krel's eyes linger on the lawn, the table, the hand. He breathes in deep, unblinking.

"Hmm..." Krel hums.

"Little brother, let's go!"

"Coming!" Krel suddenly snaps out of it and sprints up the road.

 

"Rotting flesh! Dead skin! They're UNDEAD!" Eli stands at the front of the class, waving his arms. Beside him, Karl Uhl holds his head in his hands.

Mary leans over to Darci.

"What's dumble-dork going on about?"

"Shh." Darci waves her off.

"We've all seen at least one weird thing in this town! Believe it, people! ZOMBIES are in Arcadia!"

"Zombies? Psshh! You've clearly been watching too many movies!" Mary taunts.

Many students laugh at this, save for Jim, Toby, Claire, Steve, and Darci.

"I'm being serious! Look at these photos! PROOF!" Eli yanks his phone out of his pocket and shoves it in Mary and other students' faces.

The photos are blurry, far away pictures of Eli's neighbor, Mr. Simmons, who the former had claimed was a zombie.

"All I see is a man going through his trash." Jim suggests innocently.

Toby side eyes him, but says nothing.

"But LOOK! There's blood on the ground right THERE!"

Mary squints at the picture again.

"Meh. That could be literally anything! Nice try, nerd."

"Mr. Pepperjack. Please take your seat. Clearly you did not understand the assignment, so you are getting an F." Karl stands and informs the boy sternly.

"What?! That's not fair!" Eli growls, kicking the trash can and gruffly taking his seat in front of Steve. He turns around to face the blond.

"My house. Tonight." He murmurs.

"Now, would anyone else like to present next?" Karl asks the class.

From the back row, Aja raises a hand.

"Yes, Miss Tarron?"

"Oh, sorry. I did not do this assignment. I simply have a question for the Pepperjack."

"...Go ahead."

"What is a zom BEE?"

"You've NEVER heard of zombies?!" Toby whirls around to face them. "Have you seen ANY of the movies? The TV shows?!"

"We don't have that kind of media on Akir-- Cantalupia." Krel states.

"No WAYYY! Dudes, you are missing out! Tell you what? At some point in the future? You two, my house, zombie. Movie. MARATHON!"

"Sounds totally lively!" Aja claps her hands together with a big smile on her face.

The bell rings, which prompts Karl to rub his forehead with two fingers.

"We will continue presentations tomorrow. You are dismissed."

Eli practically yanks Steve out of the classroom before all of the other students. Aja and Krel file out with the rest, Aja chattering away about zombies. Karl briefly steps into the hall, muttering something about needing a vacation. Only Jim, Toby, Claire, and Darci remain.

"Jim? What the heck was that back there?" Toby suddenly asks.

"Uhh... huh?"

"You! Completely shooting down Eli's theory! He's a man of taste! He gets it! ZOMBIES, Jimbo!"

"Oh, come on. Is that what you two think this whole thing is?" Claire interjects.

"We learned about all sorts of magic spells, and yet not a single one referred to... raising the dead." Jim shrugs.

"So? That just means there are some things that either Blinky kept from us, or even HE didn't know!" Toby continues.

"Look, as much as I'd love to debate this, we're gonna be late for next period." Claire reminds them.

"Wanna walk to class together, C bomb?" Darci asks while approaching the three.

"Darci, hey! I noticed you seemed rather... intrigued by Eli's presentation." Toby begins.

Claire looks up at the ceiling.

"Oh, no..."

"And...?" Darci prompts.

"...Do you believe him?"

Darci pauses, fiddling with her backpack strap.

"My dad and the other officers have been seeing... a LOT more of these strange people. I don't-- I don't think they're zombies, but... something is most definitely not right."

With that, Darci and Claire head for the door.

"See you after school, TP!"

Toby grabs his backpack, defeated.

"Nobody believes me." He mutters.

Jim guiltily eyes the classroom windows.

 

Out in downtown Arcadia, a police cruiser drives along the streets of the town. Behind the wheel is Detective Louis Scott. His partner, Brennan, sits in the passenger seat.

"Are ya still okay with sending your daughter to school? Even after things have been getting progressively worse?" Brennan breaks the silence with a question.

"I don't know, man. I don't want her to worry. But clearly, she already knows most of what we've been dealing with every day. It's all over the news now." Louis answers.

"You think it's gonna die down?"

"...I hope so."

"Dispatch, we have reports of a code 242 happening at the corner of Main and Delancey."

Louis and Brennan look down at the radio. Louis picks it up and presses the button to speak.

"Copy that. Detective Scott en route."

Louis flicks on the sirens and steps on the gas. Cars screech to a stop as the policemen swerve and speed past them. They almost drift around a corner, and up ahead, they see a woman being slammed into an alleyway by an aggressive man. A small crowd of onlookers is shouting and waving their arms.

Louis pulls over, and the two officers exit the car.

"Arcadia Oaks PD! Stop what you're doing!" Brennan shouts.

"He won't listen to a thing we're saying!" A male witness exclaims.

"Everyone clear out, now!" Louis orders.

People look on, worried, but obey the officer. The woman screams as the man claws at her, still pinning her to the wall in the alley.

"Sir! SIR, get your hands off of her NOW!" Louis places one hand on his holster.

"Rob! ROB, STOP! LISTEN TO THE OFFICERS!" The woman pleads.

With a big shove, she is able to push him backwards. This man, Rob, wobbles backwards, snarling and snapping his teeth. The woman rushes forwards, almost collapsing into Louis' arms. There's a large, bleeding wound on her arm.

"Whoa, ma'am! What on earth happened here?!"

"He's my husband! He collapsed only a few minutes ago, but-but then he got up and BIT me in the arm, and now he won't stop attacking me, or anyone who got close!" She screams.

Rob regains his balance, and lunges at Officer Brennan. The slim cop panics and reaches for his taser, but fails when the aggressive man slams into him and pins him to the wall.

"Scott! Scott, HELP!" Brennan reaches out to him.

"Ma'am, back up!" Louis pushes her back and whips out his taser. Without hesitation he shoots it at the man's back.

Rob doesn't react, not even a little. Louis lowers his taser in surprise and fumbles to put it away. Meanwhile, Brennan elbows Rob in the face. Rob responds by trying to bite his arm, but Brennan pulls it away. The force causes him to push away from the wall, but then trip backwards. Rob finishes the job by tackling Brennan to the ground, now pushing down on his, jaw still snapping and growls aplenty.

"SIR! BACK. UP. NOW!" Louis shouts again. This time, his pistol is aimed directly at Rob's head.

"NO! ROB, PLEASE!" The woman begins to sob.

Brennan squeezes his eyes shut tight. His arms start to give after holding the weight of this grown man over him for so long.

BANG!

Rob's head swings back. His body is launched off of Brennan's and onto his own back. A pool of dark, murky red blood, almost darker than normal, starts expanding around the fresh bullet wound in his head.

The woman screams and collapses to her knees as Louis helps Brennan stand back up, his arms shaking.

"Rob? ROB! ROB?!?!" She bawls, putting her head down on his stomach.

"Scott, you--"

"I had to, man. I--"

Louis looks at the victim, lying dead on the ground. He takes in the extremely pale skin and grayed out irises.

"I had to."

Brennan slowly approaches the grieving widow.

"Miss? What's your name?"

She jerks her head up, fresh tears going down her cheeks.

"Ilene. Now tell me his name, so I can report him for SHOOTING my husband."

Louis puts away his weapon and turns his gaze to her.

"I am detective Louis Scott. I had to do it. I--"

Ilene just looks away, clutching her arm wound.

"Brennan, call-call her an ambulance for that." Louis points.

"I'm on it." Brennan stands up and pulls out his radio.

The pool of blood trickles along the sidewalk, and eventually spills over the curb and into the street.

 

"Don't forget, class! Our test on triangles is this week!" Ms. Janeth's voice trills as her class files out of the room.

Jim is among them, only he's pushing through several students with a purpose.

"Ow, watch it!" A short girl with black hair, Alice, groans.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Jim holds out his hands, still brushing past kids.

At the front of the gaggle of kids is Eli, aimlessly heading to his next class. He jerks his head at the sound of something behind him, only to be whisked in the opposite direction by someone grabbing his backpack. Jim forces Eli into an empty, unused classroom, then slams the door behind him.

"Jim?! What're you--?"

"What do you know about... what's been happening! Whatever's going on in Arcadia?" Jim points at him.

"Which event are you referring to?" Eli remarks with a sarcastic undertone.

"Eli-- Look, I didn't mean to drag you in here, but your little presentation this morning... worried me."

Eli folds his arms.

"Does this have anything to do with the, uhh, trolls?" He discreetly asks.

"THAT'S why I'm worried! I can't get ahold of my friends Blinky and Aaarrrgghh, and... Morgana, an evil, all powerful sorceress, is freed. Last time I talked to them, they were headed down to Trollmarket to spy, but now that Morgana is out, I haven't heard back from them at all. Strickler's looking for them, too, but NOTHING. Morgana has near limitless power, so she could do almost anything to our world." Jim rants.

Eli looks on, slightly stunned into silence.

"Jim... it's zombies. I know it sounds weird, but just think about it! You saw my pictures! The blood, the decaying, pale skin. You know it, you've seen the movies."

"Yeah... Toby was saying that, too."

"I don't know much about this 'Morgana', but... if she's as powerful as you say, wouldn't it be possible for her to make a zombie apocalypse into a thing?" Eli suggests.

Jim places a hand on his forehead.

"Oh, man, you're RIGHT! The attacks, the BITES! More and more students calling in sick, the hospital... my mom!" Jim suddenly grabs Eli by the shoulders. "Eli, we have to do something to keep all of Arcadia from succumbing to this!"

"Yeah! ...Wh-What, exactly?"

"I-I don't know! I'm kind of freaking out a little! Just keep all the zombie talk between us! You, me, Toby, Claire--"

"I kinda already told Steve..."

"Fine, whatever, Steve knows anyway! Keep it between the five of us!" Jim waves his hands in the air.

"You got it." Eli agrees, with a small salute to punctuate.

Jim and Eli crack open the door of the room. When no one is looking, they quickly pop out, letting the door shut. With one last glance at one another, they part ways down the hall, each of them hurrying with a speedwalk.

 

Barbara pushes open the door to a patient's room within the walls of Arcadia Oaks Hospital. Mike is lying on the bed, rhythmically breathing in and out.

"You come here to pull the plug, doc?" Mike's voice is hoarse and quieter than the day before.

"No. I'm here to change your dressing and perform some range of motion tests." Barbara responds.

She uncovers the rest of his body and reaches for his right leg.

"If you feel any pain or discomfort, let me know."

Barbara lifts his leg by the ankle. Only a few inches in the air, Mike cries out.

"Gaahhh! Stop, stop!"

Barbara sets the leg down gingerly and moves over to his top half.

"That's strange... you have leg pain?"

"I have entire BODY pain, doc." Mike grunts. He grimaces after trying to shift his torso.

"Don't try to move. It'll only hurt worse!" Barbara tells him.

Mike rolls his head back, staring directly at the ceiling. Barbara eyes him suspiciously.

"You're gonna need to pull the plug on me soon, doc."

"Huh?" Barbara looks stunned.

"The fever's been setting in for a while now. It's not long now." Mike says, right before a brief coughing fit.

Barbara reaches out and feels his forehead.

"Holy-- wow, you are burning up." She almost gasps in shock.

"It happened to my wife, and now it's happenin' to me. I thought it was nothin', until she went to sleep in the bedroom and came out to take an entire chunk outta my side." Mike groans in more pain.

"Why didn't you call the hospital? Have her be treated?" Barbara asks.

"We didn't realize. It all happened so fast. After she attacked me, I had to grab a big knife from the kitchen, biggest I could find, and--"

"Wh-? Did you KILL your wife?!" Barbara steps backwards, eyebrows raising.

"It wasn't... It wasn't her, doc. Whatever happened to her, it... changed her. Those eyes weren't human. And now it's happenin' to me." Now Mike's eyes lock with Barbara's. "Doc, you listen to me. If I stop breathin', you do not revive me, you do not call for help. You take a needle, or a scalpel, or whatever sharp object you can find, and you drive into my skull--"

"Enough! Enough. You... Y-You clearly aren't thinking straight. I need to go check on other patients." Barbara holds her stomach and quickly heads for the door. Mike simply watches, and lets his head fall back to his pillow.

Barbara power walks through the hospital, passing by numerous other doctors and patients, a lot of them with bite marks on their bodies. She nearly bumps into a tall, blonde doctor, who in response whirls around to look at her.

"Dr. Lake! Barbara!" She calls out. When Barbara doesn't answer, she jogs after her until she catches up enough to grab her shoulder and turn her around.

"What is it, Emilia?" Barbara briefly avoids eye contact.

"Whoa, what's wrong? I haven't seen you this upset in a while." Emilia's face softens, and she adjusts her rectangular glasses.

"It's nothing, I just think my... patient is delirious or something, I-- I don't know!" She pushes her hair back behind her ears, frustrated.

"Hey, I know it's stressful, being away from Jim for so long with these endless shifts. I know I'd rather be home with my wife and kid. But we can't--"

"It's not that." Barbara stops her, then balances back and forth on her feet. "I have this-- this feeling. That things are going to get worse. My patient's wife is the one who attacked him, who BIT him. From the sound of it, she wasn't even responsive when he had to fight her off. Emilia, that's not NORMAL. Loved ones wouldn't just attack one another."

Emilia's face slowly falls.

"Wow, uh... that does sound... not good. I don't even know how to respond. If Eli were here, he'd be saying that it was 'zombies'. He watches too many movies, hehe." She smiles.

"With what goes on in this town? Zombies wouldn't surprise me." Barbara mumbles.

"Huh?"

"Nothing, nothing."

Just then, a short woman with smooth black hair runs up to the two doctors.

"Look alive, ladies, we've got another one coming in!" She shouts. Barbara stares down at her.

"Wanda, what's--?"

Before she can finish, an older male doctor, as well as Detective Scott and officer Brennan, are wheeling in Ilene, who is significantly paler than she was earlier.

"We've got a 48 year old female, laceration in her left arm!" The male doctor, Dr. Henning, announces.

"I'll take her!" Emilia runs over.

"What happened?" Wanda asks the police officers.

"She was being attacked by her husband, he bit her on the arm, HARD." Brennan explains.

"And where is he now?" Dr. Henning continues.

Louis' jaw clenches.

"He was... pronounced dead at the scene." He answers.

"Her own husband did this?" Emilia stares at the steadily bleeding wound, while Ilene moans in pain.

She turns around to look at Barbara, who only can offer an identical look of uncertainty, with a hint of realization.

 

That night, the moon is full, and the streets are empty. In the Pepperjack household, Steve helps Eli and Nathalie clear the dinner table.

"Thank you for having me for dinner, Mrs. Pepperjack." Steve smiles.

"Oh, it's no problem, dear! I always love meeting Eli's little friends!" Nathalie chirps.

"Mom!" Eli hisses.

He sets his plate in the dishwasher and turns to Steve, a serious glint in his eye.

"Anyway, mom, Steve and I will be, uhh, in my room! We're just gonna read some comics!"

"WhAA--!" Steve yelps as Eli practically shoves him towards the stairs.

"Have fun, boys!" His mother calls after them.

Eli throws Steve onto his bed.

"Dude! You gotta stop doing that!" Steve groans, rubbing his shoulder. "HOW are you this strong with arms that skinny?!"

Eli shuts off the lights, then pulls a sheet off of his wall. Photos of various supernatural looking things are all over the board, including a photo of Aja and Krel, the former of which smiling into the camera, the latter not even looking.

"As you may know Steve, Arcadia is a hotbed for supernatural activity, which we are now a part of."

"Pepperbuddy... didn't we do this already? Like, weeks ago?"

"That was different! That was about the creepers! The-The trolls! This... is about the ZOMBIES."

"Look, man, I don't want to tell you that you're wrong, but--"

"The PICTURES, Steve! You can't deny the evidence!" Eli gets up close to him, and turns on a flashlight under his chin. "Things are gonna get crazy, real soon..."

"I'm surprised your moms haven't checked you into a psych ward. You sound crazy talking like that!"

"...Fine. Fine, you want CONCRETE proof? Come with me." Eli tightly grabs Steve's wrist again.

"OW! H-Hey! Where are we going?!"

Eli pauses.

"My neighbor's."

The two boys bumble down the stairs, finding Nathalie reading a book on the couch.

"Oh! Hi, mom! Is it okay if Steve and I take a walk? The night air is always... so refreshing! Hehe..."

"Hmm, I don't see why not! Just be back in thirty minutes, alright?"

"Sure thing, mom!"

"Yes, Mrs. Pepperjack!"

Once again, Steve is yanked out the door by Eli. He leads him across the lawn and over to his next door neighbor, Mr. Simmons', front yard.

"Pepperjack. There's nothing here." Steve crosses his arms.

"Oh really? Look over here." Eli opens a wooden gate alongside his house, revealing his trash and recycle bins.

On the ground in front of them is an overturned trash can. Right beside it is a big, dark pool of dried red blood. Steve flinches at the sight of it illuminated in Eli's flashlight.

"Th-That... That could be animal blood!" He stammers. "No... No, you can't be--"

"Steve, don't panic!" Eli grabs him by the shoulders.

A sudden crash comes from further into the backyard.

"Wh-Wh-What was that...?" Steve whimpers.

Eli clicks his flashlight.

"Let's go find out."

"Ohhh..." Steve covers his eyes, tiptoeing behind Eli with small, meek steps.

The two of them emerge into Mr. Simmons' backyard. Everything appears normal. Eli shines the flashlight over by the opposite corner of the house. A few boxes and metal sheets are strewn about on the floor.

"S-See, Steve?" Eli's voice quivers just slightly. "It was just wind that knocked some stuff over."

"Th-There was no wind." Steve shakes his head.

A small sound makes both of them jerk to the right. Eli swings the flashlight as well, and he relaxes when he sees it's only a stone birdbath in the center of the yard, with a small crack in the side, which is letting some drops of water fall every few seconds. Eli puts down the flashlight and examines the birdbath.

"I wonder what cracked it?" He murmurs.

A soft rustle behind them makes Steve jump again. He swipes the flashlight from the ground and points it at the gate. Nothing there. He starts scanning the flashlight along the back wall of the house.

A loud snarl echoes through the air upon the beam of light shining at a pale, bloodied man.

"AAAAAAAHHHH!" Steve shrieks, backing up into Eli, and they both tumble to the ground.

Eli whirls around, and instantly recognizes the person.

"Mr. Simmons?! It's me, Eli! Y-Your neighbor! If you're not a zombie, please tell me NOW--!" Eli shrills as the zombie form of Mr. Simmons grabs his ankle.

Before he can do anything else, though, Steve smacks him over the head with the flashlight, which frees the smaller boy. Eli dusts his pants off while he stands, and the two stare at Mr. Simmons.

"We need to run! Come on!" Steve tries to run, but Eli grabs him.

"We can't let a zombie run rampant through Arcadia! What if he attacks someone?!" Eli throws his hands out. "LOOK AT HIM! You wanted proof? THAT'S proof!"

"So then, what are you saying?!" Steve fires back.

"I'm saying we have to-- WAHHH!"

While they were arguing, Mr. Simmons lunged and had grabbed Eli again. He starts to drag Eli closer to him, but Steve's brows furrow, and his teeth clench.

"DIE, CREEPER!!! YAAAAAAH!" He screams into the night, and subsequently charges at the zombie.

Steve lands on Mr. Simmons' chest, and when he realizes what he did, he starts screaming and flailing his arms frantically to get away. Mr. Simmons swipes at Steve, and he rolls over onto his back. Mr Simmons crawls on top of Steve and starts leaning in with snapping teeth. Steve extends his arms to keep him off. Suddenly, two smaller arms wrap around Mr. Simmons' neck.

Eli grunts while he pulls at Mr. Simmons to get him off of Steve. The zombie growls, now confused at all of the action. He stands up, with Eli still swinging around on his back. Steve scoots backwards and stands back up.

"Eli! Let go!" Steve shouts.

"But he's trying to bite me! I don't wanna get bit!" Eli whines.

"Just trust me! We're the Creepslayerz!"

Eli shuts his eyes, and with one final beat of hesitation, he lets go. He falls down on the grass, and as soon as he does, Steve sprints forward. Eli gasps and rolls out of the way right as Steve shoves the large man backwards. Mr. Simmons stumbles back hard, and falls perfectly against the stone birdbath. The back of his head makes a sickening crack, and when he hits the ground, he goes limp, the zombie no longer moving.

Eli sits upright and stares at the mess. Steve is equally silent, his hands wobbling in surprise.

"Steve, you... you did it."

"I ki-- I just killed som-someone. He's not moving, he's not, he's--"

"STEVE. He was dead. He-He was a zombie. It's different."

"Oh, yeah? And how's that going to hold up in court?!"

"Who knows if there'll even be one left at this rate." Eli looks down at the ground. The two of them sit in silence for another minute, until finally Steve helps Eli up.

"What do we do about this?"

Eli breathes in sharply.

"Nothing. Let's go back inside, and act like we never came here. Just... for now." He suggests.

"Y-Yeah. Okay." Steve halfheartedly agrees.

Nathalie sets down her book right as Steve and Eli open up the door and walk back in, dead silent.

"Oh, hello boys! How was the walk?" She asks.

"...Great, mom. Thanks." Eli mumbles. Steve says nothing as the two head upstairs, almost robotically.

Nathalie watches them, a raised eyebrow of confusion. When she hears the bedroom door shut, she turns back around and turns on the TV.

 

The following day, Claire and Darci walk into gym class. A crowd of students is sitting on the bleachers, listening to Eli tell his story of battling a zombie. Toby, Steve, and Jim are also gathered by him. Jim looks over and makes eye contact with Claire, and he shrugs. Claire tries to convey a message through her eyes, but fails, as Eli yanks on Jim's arm.

"Jim believes me, too! Right, Jim? We've seen all KINDS of weird stuff!" Eli claims.

"Yeah right." Seamus rolls his eyes.

"Eli, we get that you're a little dork who wants to be popular, but making up stories like this is just annoying." Logan adds.

"Hey! Don't call him a dork! Only I can do that! And with affection." Steve crosses his arms, huffing.

Claire and Darci spot Mary, watching them all from the other side of the gym. Standing with her is Shannon, Alice, and Shannon's girlfriend, Connie.

"Hey, girls." Darci smiles.

"Hey C-bomb, hey Darc." Mary waves haphazardly.

"What's, uh, goin' on?" Claire asks.

"Eli's trying to make us believe something supernatural is happening!" Alice remarks with sarcasm, waving her hands like she's doing magic.

"He's talking about zombies." Connie interjects. "I've read up on them."

"Oh, yeah! I've seen ALL the movies and comic books!" Shannon agrees.

Connie looks up at the ceiling.

"Movies... yeah..."

"Anyway!" Mary shakes her head. "This is getting boring to listen to. Nerdface over there is going on about how he and Steve got attacked last night."

"By what?!" Claire leans forward.

"Uhh, a zombie. That's what his whole STORY'S been about. Keep up, Claire!" Mary chuckles.

"So, one of the infected people?" Darci questions.

"Guess so."

"You know... my dad didn't come home today. He texted me that he's staying overnight at the hospital because SO MANY people are coming down with this disease. Even some of the doctors."

"Is your dad okay?" Claire puts a hand on Darci's shoulder.

"I think so. But, he did mention that he had to, umm... shoot someone."

The girls all gasp.

"What happened?" Shannon murmurs.

"It was an attack. This guy attacked his wife, I guess, and BIT HER. He attacked my dad, too, and his partner. And when he wouldn't stop, my dad--"

"It's okay, Darc... you don't have to finish."

"Is that seriously what it's coming to? Putting these people down like they're rabid dogs?" Alice scoffs.

"You've seen an infected person, right? They ARE rabid." Mary rolls her eyes. "I wouldn't say I AGREE with... killing them, but it sounded like this one was self defense."

"Aggressive? Unresponsive to words? Did your dad mention if he had any sort of bite mark on his body?" Connie suddenly interrogates.

"Uh-- yeah? I think so? Like, around his shoulder I think?"

"And he bit his wife? Yup, that definitely sounds like a zombie."

Shannon laughs and looks at her.

"But zombies aren't real, Con!"

Connie simply looks back over at the group of other students. Coach Lawrence walks out from the hallway and blows his whistle, hard.

"Alright, students! Today, those of you who thought you would be FUNNY, and skip the rope climb, GUESS WHAT? You're all gonna make it up TODAY!" He declares. "Now everybody LINE UP."

Alice grumbles, and starts walking away.

"Yeah, nope. I'll be outside until class is over. I don't feel like doing this today. Lemme know when it's safe to sneak back in."

Mary gives her a thumbs up as she, Shannon, and Connie regroup with the other students.

"I hope I don't sound crazy for this, but this town IS strange. Can we COMPLETELY rule out zombies?" Darci whispers.

"...No." Claire agrees, all of her encounters with trolls, changelings, gnomes, and sorcerers flying through her head.

"Nuñez! Scott! Over here, on the double!" Coach Lawrence yells.

Claire and Darci walk away, not noticing two figures sitting nearby, hidden behind the bleachers. Aja and Krel. Krel is sitting against the wall, while Aja bounces on her feet.

"I hate this class. It is so pointless. Where is the math? The equations? The excitement?!" He looks to the sky.

Aja giggles.

"I like it! The challenges are very easy and fun!" She twirls around.

"We don't have time to climb ropes, Aja. We just barely got away from the Zerons a few delsons ago."

"It'll be fine! Varvatos killed Zeron Beta! That should scare them away."

"After what he said what they did to his family? I doubt it."

"Still! I'm a warrior princess!"

"That almost got herself killed. AND lost her serrator." Krel points out, finishing with a sly smirk.

"Hmmph." Aja puffs air out of her nose.

Krel goes back to looking at the floor, when a faint glow starts. Confused, he looks around for its source. When he finds it, his stomach drops. Its his hands.

"Uh... sister?" He begins.

"What?"

"I think we forgot to visit the transduction chamber this morning." Krel's hands start to glow brighter.

Aja's gasps, and suddenly her fingers begin to glow alongside Krel's.

"Kleb! W-We need to get to Mother!"

"How?! We're stuck in this boring class!"

"That girl! She just walked out of the room when no one was looking! We can do the same!" Aja points to the gym doors leading outside.

Krel peeks over at the group of students, who Coach Lawrence is lecturing.

"I want every sneaky rope skipper to line up on the right. Those of you who did it, today you'll be running laps!"

"What if we TRIED to do it, and failed? Do those students, and I don't mean anyone in particular, get to skip the rope today?" Toby raises hand, and finishes by plastering a big smile on his face.

"Nice try, Domzalski, you're on the rope today. Good luck."

Aja and Krel duck back down.

"Okay, on the count of three, RUN for the door!" Aja whispers. "One... two..."

Both of them lunge out from behind the bleachers. Aja swings open the door, allowing Krel out first. She then grabs it and flings it shut behind her. Coach Lawrence looks up at the noise.

"Eh? Whatever... everyone get moving!" He shouts.

"Aww, man..." Toby mopes, trudging over to an empty rope.

"You got this, Tobes!" Jim cups his hands and shouts as he joins Claire to jog around the gym.

Claire smiles upon seeing Jim.

"Hey, you."

"Hey yourself."

"So, how's your mom? Did she get to come home last night?"

Jim sighs deep.

"No. She texted me, but service was REALLY bad. It came through like an hour after it said she sent it. She's been at the hospital for, what, two days straight now? I'm losing count!"

"My mom's there, too!" Eli pops up beside them, Steve in tow.

"And my dad." Darci says again.

"You think they've taken on a zombie yet?" Eli leans in, smiling a little. "Because I have."

"Yeah, my dad did." Darci nods.

"Oh."

"I bet Lake here hasn't, hehehe. This was nothing like the lame creepers YOU'VE had to fight in the past." Steve jeers.

Darci looks at him. The other four all freeze.

"Huh?"

The wind gets knocked out of Steve after Claire socks him in the stomach.

"Oh, just! Steve being Steve! It's nothing." She smiles, rubbing the back of her head.

"...Aaaaanyway, I was thinking of going to the hospital to see if my dad's gonna be home tonight. Anyone want a ride?"

"Nooo thank you. If what's happening really is a-- zombie apocalypse--" Jim quiets his voice at the mention of zombies. "Then I want to stay far away from any hot spot infected places."

"Fair. I guess if I wanted to truly believe in zombies, I'd have to see one of them up close for myself." Darci shrugs.

And just like that, the gym doors burst open again. Alice stumbles back in, screaming.

"HELP! HE-- HELP ME!" She coughs and splutters.

"Holy guacamole!" Eli covers his mouth.

Alice falls to her knees and retches. After a few heaves, she vomits up a small amount of blood. Her knees then give out, and she rolls onto her back, revealing a deep neck bite which is gushing out blood.

"ALICE!" Claire rushes to her side.

In seconds, everyone else is gathered in a circle around her.

"What the FLIP?!" Steve exclaims.

"Dude, someone BIT her! On the neck!" Logan points out.

Shannon starts to hyperventilate.

"Sh-She's... She's bleeding. Oh, god..."

Connie wraps her arms around her and pulls her away.

"It's alright, darling. Just stay back, and you'll be safe."

"Ghhh... I-- he--" Alice chokes out.

"Someone stop her bleeding! She's gonna DIE if we don't!" Claire shouts at everyone, before she takes matters into her own hands and presses down on her neck.

Alice stares up at Claire and the others. She tries to regain focus, but her vision becomes fuzzier and fuzzier, darker and darker, until she can't see anything anymore. Claire's face falls as soon as she watches Alice's head go limp.

"Oh, no..." She shakily whispers.

"Move, Nuñez! MOVE! This is when Lenora's CPR training comes in handy!" Coach Lawrence shoos Claire off of her and immediately begins chest compressions.

Toby slips in next to Jim.

"Did-Did Alice just DIE?" He asks incredulously.

"I-- I think so. She got--"

"Bitten... Bitten! By a ZOMBIE!" Toby whisper-yells while tugging on Jim's arm.

Eli has the same idea as Toby. He grabs Coach's shoulder.

"Coach! Stop! She's gonna turn into a zombie!" He pleads.

"Enough, Pepperjack! This isn't the time for your little fairy tales!"

"But Dad-- Coach! Eli's not--"

"Shut up, Steve." Seamus cuts him off with a scowl. "Let the people who are taking this SERIOUSLY concentrate."

Steve goes silent, and looks down at Coach and Alice, who is still unmoving. Her blood from her neck is starting to pool across the floor.

"Come on... come on, Alice... come on." Coach Lawrence pants repeatedly, while pumping her chest.

Down below, one of Alice's hands twitches to life. Her fingers clench.

"Somebody needs to stop this. It's not going to end well." Toby shakes his head.

"Come on!" Coach Lawrence grunts.

Alice's eyes jerk open. Her pupils and irises are now the bleak milky gray color of a zombie.

Notes:

commence the death /j

Chapter 3: Boxed In

Summary:

People in Arcadia Oaks try and contact their loved ones, while society starts to crumble around them.

"Look, her eyes are open!" Shannon points down at Alice.

Coach Lawrence stops, and everyone looks as well. Eli notices the color of the eyes instantly, and he remembers him and Steve staring into the dead eyes of Mr. Simmons the previous night.

"STOP! Get away from her!" He tries to grab at Coach Lawrence, but Logan blocks him.

"Shut up, dude, what's got you so worked up?" He scoffs.

"No! Listen to him! Coach, Don't touch Alice!" Toby waves his hands to get attention.

"Put a sock in it! Both of you! I'm trying to save a student's--!"

Coach Lawrence is cut off when Alice, who is in fact a zombie, lunges straight for his neck. Steve sees it happen, and yells.

"Dad, no!"

At lightning speed, Steve uses his brute force to yank Coach Lawrence out of the way. Zombie Alice doesn't seem to mind, and instead she continues her attack on the student directly behind Coach; Logan.

Eli stumbles back in horror as Alice pins Logan to the ground.

"HELP! SOMEONE GET THIS CRAZY CHICK OFF OF ME!" Logan screams.

Alice growls loudly, and sinks her teeth into Logan's arm. The boy howls in agony, and punches the zombie in the face.

"NO!" Toby yells.

Jim pulls out his amulet.

"For the glory of--!"

"Jim, no! Not here. We can't," Claire cuts him off and grabs his wrist.

"But Alice--!"

"You can't just slice her head off!" Claire argues.

Meanwhile, Seamus runs up behind Alice and grabs her by the shoulders.

"Get off my best friend, you lunatic!" He yells.

"Don't touch her! Don't let her bite you!" Eli continues to shout.

Alice whirls around and attacks Seamus head on. He holds her back with just his hands, while the two of them trip backwards until Seamus' back hits the wall.

"Back off!"

Claire runs up next, yanking Alice by the hair. She pulls down hard, which makes the zombie girl collapse on the floor, face up.

"Nice, C-bomb!" Mary cheers, pulling out her phone.

"Th-Thanks," Claire huffs, "So now what--?"

Claire is interrupted when Seamus yells, and starts kicking Alice in the side of her head.

"What are you doing?!" Shannon exclaims.

"Hey, STOP!" Darci demands, but he doesn't listen.

Seamus keeps kicking and stomping repeatedly. Blood starts to leak out of Alice's nose and mouth.

"GRAAAHHH!" Seamus lets out one last yell, before he manages to cave the side of her head in with one last stomp.

The zombie that was once Alice's growls and other noises go quiet, as does the rest of the gym. Mary lowers her phone, having recorded the whole thing. Steve looks over at Coach Lawrence.

"Are you okay?? Did she get you, did she bite you?!"

"Wha-? No! No, I'm fine! You... You saved me," Coach Lawrence says slowly, "Thank you, uhh, son?"

He tears up at saying those words. Everyone else's eyes are on Seamus.

"You KILLED her!" Darci brings a hand to her head, "You..."

"No! She wasn't... alive," Eli cuts in.

"What?" Mary raises an eyebrow.

"The bite on her neck. It was a zombie bite. She died from it, a-and it turned her INTO a zombie! This is your living PROOF!"

Darci slowly approaches Alice's body, quickly followed by the other students. Darci almost vomits, but covers her mouth and turns away briefly. Once regaining composure, she looks down at the girl's skin.

"It's so pale. A-And her EYES, they're all gray, and faded... and dead."

Darci looks up at Mary, whose skeptical expression finally fades into a serious, worried one. Mary turns to look at Claire, who stands next to Jim and Toby.

Shannon looks up at Connie, whose expression is stoic and already knowing. She just nods her head. The other students and Coach Lawrence exchange nervous murmurs.

"But how is this POSSIBLE?" Mary shakes her head, "This is REAL LIFE, not some zombie flick."

"If we told you, you wouldn't believe us," Jim answers with a heavy sigh.

Another moan of pain averts everyone's attention back to Logan, whose arm is bleeding pretty bad.

"Oh, no..." Toby whispers.

"What? What's wrong?" Logan grimaces, sitting up with the help of Seamus.

"You got bit," Eli walks up in front of them both.

"So? He just needs to go to the nurse. He'll get a bandage and be fine," Seamus claims.

"Nuh uh, dude. He got bit by a ZOMBIE. There's no easy way to say this, but, uhh, he's gonna turn into one, too," Toby adds.

Seamus storms over and grabs Toby the shirt.

"What did you say?! Are you telling me my friend is DEAD?!"

Jim shoves Seamus back, and steps in front of Toby.

"Yes. He is. I'm sorry, but there's nothing we can do for him."

Seamus' eyes fall to the floor, and his fists ball up.

"Whatever. Screw all of you!" He waves his hand out at everyone. "I'm taking him to the nurse's office!"

No one stops him from helping Logan stand, then wrapping an arm over his shoulder and walking out of the gym with him. Coach Lawrence awkwardly looks around at the students, then over at Alice's dead body.

"So, uh..." He mutters.

"I think we should gather everyone in the auditorium. Explain what's happening," Toby suggests.

"Yeah, yeah! That, uhh, that sounds good. Lake, Nuñez, go get Señor Uhl! Everyone else... class is cancelled for today. I gotta go sit down."

Jim and Claire exchange a glance, then head for the halls to Señor Uhl's office, while Coach Lawrence sits down on the bleachers. Jim looks back one more time, seeing Steve and Eli gingerly begin to move Alice's body towards the outside doors.

 

"What are you trying to pull here Mr. Lake?" Uhl questions, staring down both Jim and Claire with an unamused glare.

"Nothing! What we're saying is TRUE!" Claire protests.

"I already had to tell Eli to knock it off, do I need to start assigning more Saturday detentions?"

"Just come down to the gym! We can show you! Please listen to us! I know it sounds INSANE, e-even I wasn't on board until recently!" Jim walks forward a little, using his hands as expression, "Alice got bitten on the neck... a-and she died. But then she woke up, and she bit another student. Zombies are a work of fiction, yeah! But somehow, some WAY, they're real now, and they are infesting Arcadia AS WE SPEAK. So please, just trust us, and come to the gym for proof."

Karl stares at the children in silence. He reads their expressions, both of them grim and deadly serious.

"Alright. But if I find out this is a prank, you both have Saturday detention for TWO MONTHS," He threatens.

"It's not gonna come to that," Claire simply shakes her head.

As Karl leaves his office first, Jim suddenly freezes in the doorway.

"CRAP, my mom! She's still at the hospital!" He gasps.

Jim yanks his phone out of his pocket, and it almost slips through his fingers in his panic, but catches it. He fumbles to the calling app and smashes his finger to Barbara's contact.

"Pick up, pick up... please pick up," Jim mutters.

Claire stands beside him, silent. She puts a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Hello! This is Dr. Lake! I'm not available at the moment. Please leave me a message!" Barbara's voicemail comes through the phone.

"No no no NO! Come on!" Jim's hands tremble as he starts squeezing the phone hard.

"Jim, it's--"

"CLAIRE, your shadowstaff! Portal us to the hospital! We-We can grab my mom, and get right back here like nothing happened! Please!"

"Jim, I-I--"

"What are you waiting for?!"

"IT WON'T WORK!" Claire blurts out. Jim reels back at her outburst, face softening.

Claire looks at the floor, ashamed.

"M-My shadowstaff hasn't been working the past few days. And I don't know why. I'm sorry, Jim..."

A pair of hands wrap around Claire's shoulders.

"Don't apologize. I shouldn't have started yelling at you to try and get you to make a portal."

"It's fine. You're worried about your mom. She means everything to you. As soon as I can get the staff working again, I'll portal us right to her."

Jim looks down at his phone again, still open to Barbara's contact. With heavy reluctance, he turns it off and pockets it.

"I love you, Claire."

 

Far, FAR away from Arcadia Oaks, deep in a forest, Usurna leads Morgana through the trees. The sorceress brushes away some of the branches, and burns them with a growl.

"How much farther can these caverns of yours be?" She asks impatiently, "Your little MACHINE traveled seemingly for miles and yet we're still nowhere near."

"Don't rush me," Usurna rolls her eyes, "They are called the DEEP Caverns for a reason. Even once we reach them, it will take us time to reach the lowest levels where we Kruberas live."

"LIVED," Morgana corrects. "In case you haven't noticed, you are the LAST troll in EXISTENCE, purely because you have a shred of use left for me. Do not make me regret keeping you alive long enough to receive this power."

Usurna stops walking and turns around to face the witch.

"If you really wanted to get there fast, couldn't you just teleport there? You eradicated billions of trolls, and yet you're WALKING somewhere. It's quite comical, really."

"Killing your entire species took quite a bit of energy, and POWER. As did raising the dead in your little town of Arcadia Oaks, as the mortals call it. I can feel it within me, more people are succumbing. It's just like the rise before, many years ago. I killed so many people, their life essence draining when they became just another undead husk... but the mortals fought back, and then I was locked away by MERLIN, that BLASTED wizard and his little--"

"I don't care about how Arcadia is doing, and I CERTAINLY don't have time to listen to your little monologues," Usurna interrupts her, "Let's just keep going, so you can replenish your power, and do whatever it is you want to do. I'm getting tired of this."

Usurna starts walking again, while Morgana stares at the Krubera queen in disbelief.

"You are the most insolent, vulgar creature I have ever met. Either way, you had better be right about your caverns, or you'll have more to worry about than feeling a little fatigued," Morgana scowls.

Usurna just huffs in response, moving aside more trees and plant life as usual.

 

At the house of the Tarron family, Varvatos paces back and forth in the living room, with a cell phone up to his ear.

"Aja? AJA? HELLO?!?! QUEEN-IN-WAITING!" He yells into the phone, now holding it in front of his face.

"I don't think they picked up, there, buckaroo," Ricky cheerily remarks from the kitchen, where he's busy scrubbing down the fridge with a sponge.

Varvatos ignores him, and instead dials Krel's number. The phone finds its way back up to his ear. When it rings more than three times, Varvatos' hands shake with rage, and he chucks the phone across the room. The family corgi, Luug, jumps and catches it in his mouth, barking happily.

"Why on this mud ball planet are they not ANSWERING?!" Varvatos slams his fist down on the kitchen island.

Lucy comes wandering out from the bedroom hallway, very concentrated on her vacuuming. She accidentally bumps into the table, and just giggles.

"Aren't they at that school place? With that HANDSOME underpaid bureaucrat," Lucy comments.

"The academic prison! Varvatos Vex ought to take the bureaucrat's intestines and make a NOOSE out of them, and proceed to HANG HIM FROM IT!!!" Varvatos yells into the air.

"Cool your jets, there, honey bunny!" Lucy starts vacuuming Varvatos' arms while she talks, "Visitors can go up there, right?"

"Why not head up there and pay our scamps a visit?" Ricky hops over, now sporting a cup of coffee.

"Hmm... yes! Varvatos Vex likes this idea! You glorified hunks of metal stay here and guard the Mothership. Luug, accompany me on a most GLORIOUS quest!"

Luug hops up on the couch and tilts his head. Varvatos gives him a deadpan stare.

"We are going to the academic prison building where Aja and Krel learn rudimentary skills and are held prison for several horvaths per delson. They will not answer their PHONES, which begs the question as to why Varvatos Vex even BOUGHT THEM!!!"

"Hey hey hey! There's no need to shout! Try relaxing in style with the--!" Ricky almost goes into commercial mode, when Varvatos picks him up and throws him across the house.

"QUIET, you rustbucket! Let's go, Luug, before I rip out their wires and make FRIENDSHIP BRACELETS with them!"

Varvatos flings open the front door, only to see a barren culdesac street in front of him. He cracks his knuckles, then his back cracks. The elderly man groans in pain while gripping his walker steadily. Luug walks out in front of him. His nose goes down to the ground dutifully.

"Glorious," Varvatos hums, "Onward, Luug! The royals of House Tarron are not far!"

When Varvatos starts walking away from the house, at his limited pace for being in an old man's body, Luug trots after him. They pass by the same trashed front lawn Aja and Krel did before, although Varvatos only spares it a passing glance.

"Barbaric."

 

Toby sits down in the halls of Arcadia Oaks High. Several other students are around as well, many murmuring amongst themselves over Alice's shocking sudden death, others attempting to use their phones, with varying degrees of success. Toby watches them, then suddenly his eyes almost pop out of his head.

"Nana! No no no no no...!" He fumbles for his phone, almost dropping it several times. When he solidified his grip on it, he goes to his speed dial contact; his Nana, Nancy Domzalski.

"Pick up pick up pick up pick up!" He repeats while he begins to bite at his nails.

At Toby's house, Nancy is outside around back. She's armed with a shovel, and is currently smacking something repeatedly.

"Stay out of my yard! Die! DIE!" Nancy yells.

The object she's whacking is actually a zombie, which is now unmoving on the floor. When she finally stops, she feels her phone vibrating in her pocket. She pulls it out and squints at it.

"Oh, hello, Toby Pie!" She smiles while answering.

"Nana! Are you okay?! Where are you right now?!" Toby screams into the phone.

"I'm in the backyard, darling! I just had to stop someone from breaking in! They were just grumbling and not really saying anything!"

Toby gasps.

"You fought a ZOMBIE?!?! Did it bite you? Scratch you?!"

"Oh, of course not, Toby Pie! They didn't get anywhere near me before I took them down," Nancy chuckles.

"Nana, LISTEN! Just stay at home, okay?! DO NOT. Leave the house! I'll come get you as soon as I can!" Toby carefully tells her.

"Why? Is something wrong?"

"Nana, you-- you just-- nevermind! Just STAY HOME. People are sick, remember? I don't want you getting sick!"

"Oh, Toby, I was a spy in World War I! I'll be just fine! Bye bye now! Don't forget to feed Mr. Meow Meow P.I. when you get home today!" Nancy cheerily tells him, then hangs up.

"Nononono wait! Nana? NANA! Aw, bushigal!" Toby cries, cursing in trollish.

"What's wrong, TP?" Darci walks up behind him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

"My Nana hung up on me. I was trying to warn her. Heck, I was lucky to even get my call through to her," He looks down at the ground while explaining.

"I've met her a couple times. She's a strong lady. I bet she'll be just fine," Darci smiles.

Toby returns the smile, feeling a little better from the words of assurance. While the couple embraces, Steve brushes past, a look of uncertainty across his face. His eyes are glued down to his own smartphone. His fingers fumble along the keyboard, sending text after text.

"Mom?"
"Hello???"
"Please call me"
"MOM!"
"Why aren't you answering me?!?!"

Steve grunts, and resorts to the phone app. He dials his mother's contact quickly and stops walking.

"Any time now, mom..." He grumbles, tone hushed.

At the Palchuk home, Steve's mom, Raina Palchuk-Lawrence, approaches her ringing phone. When she sees who's calling, she answers with a quizzical expression.

"Steve? Why're ya callin' me during school? Are you ditching class again?!"

"Mom--! What? NO, I--!"

"Your grades are already bad enough! If I find out you're sneaking out of school..."

"MOM, LISTENTOME!" Steve blurts out, "Just listen! The sickness, the one going around, it's worse than what doctors say! WAY worse! S-Stay inside and don't let ANYONE in! A kid, um, a kid died from it like an hour ago. She turned and bit my friend Logan. It's getting bad, mom, please be--"

"Wait, 'turned'? What on Earth are you talkin' about? Turned into what?" Raina asks.

"Well-- it's kind of hard to explain right away."

"Steve, I don't have TIME for your little games!"

"ZOMBIES, mom! They're... zombies. Before you say anything, I-I know it sounds completely crazy, but I'm telling the truth! My buddy Eli's neighbor attacked us last night when I was hanging with him! Mom? Are you there?"

The other end of the call is silent for a few seconds. Steve's eyes dart back and forth in anxiety. At last, a long, slow breath is heard from the other end.

"You know what? I've just about had it with your lying! First you mouth off to me every day, then you start lyin' to me? Who do you think you are?!"

"Mom, no! I'm telling you the TRUTH! Please believe me!" Steve shouts into the phone.

"We're gonna talk about this with your father when you two get home tonight. I'm tired of this," Raina scoffs.

"I just want you to be safe! I love--!"

But the call suddenly drops. Steve looks down at his phone, seeing a busy signal. At least she didn't hang up on him. Simultaneously, Raina stares at her phone, seeing how her call identically got dropped.

"Steve? Hello? Ugh, typical..." She mutters while she sets the phone back down.

Steve leans his head back against the wall, his phone held to his chest. He can feel the tears pushing at his eyes, but he pushes as hard as he can to keep them from spilling over.

"Steve? You okay, man?"

Steve gasps and stands up straight. Jim and Claire have just passed him in the hall, and just stopped to check on him. Steve's wall falters, but only for a few seconds. Coach Lawrence appears further down the hall, making eye contact with him. His gaze goes from soft to angry.

"None of your business, fart breath! Leave me alone!" He yells, and promptly storms off in the opposite direction.

"Palchuk!" Coach Lawrence tries to call to him while Jim and Claire slowly continue walking, but Steve doesn't turn around.

If he did, someone else might see the tears that made it past his wall.

 

A short while later, Señor Uhl stands on the stage of the auditorium. The students and faculty of the high school file in and take their seats. Toby and Eli exchange a knowing look, upon spotting Seamus helping a weaker Logan slump down into a seat, then sitting beside him.

Coach Lawrence, Ms. Janeth, and Judy join Señor Uhl onstage. When the students finally go quiet, he grabs the microphone.

"I'm sure you are all curious as to why your classes were cancelled, and as to why we called you in here."

"Are we in danger?" Shannon raises her hand.

"Can we go home?!" A student by the name of Ben shouts. A few others murmur in agreement with his question.

"Under new orders from the superintendent, and the Arcadia Oaks Police Department, all civilians are ordered to stay indoors to avoid coming into contact with the infected," Karl informs the students.

A wave of loud complaints fills the room.

"Alright, alright, alright! SETTLE!" Coach Lawrence yells above the crowd noise.

"Are you saying that we're trapped here?! We can't go see our families?!" Eli asks in disbelief.

"I know this isn't an ideal situation," Lenora speaks up, "But we will do the best we can. For the foreseeable future, all classes are postponed, as our main priority is keeping each other safe."

"Now, as you all have probably heard by now, a classmate of yours, Alice, unfortunately succumbed to this infection. She became aggressive earlier this morning, and had to be restrained by others until she was... taken care of," Karl continues.

"You mean she DIED and turned into a ZOMBIE?!" Toby stands up and corrects him, but Jim yanks him down.

"Tobes, not the time," He hisses.

Karl pauses for a moment, and licks his lips.

"I am not saying we need to buy into this fact, but what Mr. Domzalski and Mr. Pepperjack have said, and what I myself witnessed when shown the body of Alice, it does appear that the infection... killed her, and she seemed to have transformed into something different, maybe even a," Karl sighs deeply, "maybe even a zombie."

"Wow, okay, so I can't see my parents, and now zombies are real. Great," Ben sourly comments.

"Watch the attitude, mouth breather. Alice would've taken a chunk outta you, too, if Eli and Toby didn't warn us like they did," Mary retorts.

Shannon quirks an eyebrow and looks over at Connie, then back at Mary.

"Weren't you just dismissing them, though?" Shannon asks.

"Delete your mouth, Shannon!" Mary scoffs, and crosses her arms.

Jim just shakes his head, and stands up.

"Is there anything else we know about these infected?" He asks the staff.

"The head! If one of them attacks you! The only way to put down a zombie is to destroy its brain, so you gotta hit 'em in the head!" Eli quickly responds, frantically waving his arms.

"That-- uh, yeah," Coach Lawrence nods. "Also, the hospital and police department recently issued out a warning. Don't let the infected people bite you or scratch you anywhere on your skin. As it seems, people injured by the infected have a... 100 percent mortality rate."

A rush of concerned voices fill the auditorium. As soon as everyone goes quiet, all eyes land on Logan in the back.

"Wh... What's everyone lookin' at me for?" He murmurs.

"He got bit..." Eli reiterates.

"Yeah, and so what?" Seamus growls.

"Did you not hear Coach, dude? There's no way he's surviving that!" The boy beside Seamus tells him.

"Shut up!" Seamus balls a fist and swings at him.

"Hey hey! Hands to yourselves, now!" Lenora scolds into the mic.

While Seamus continues to argue with the others, Toby leans over to Jim.

"Pssst. Jimbo."

"Yeah, Tobes?"

"I'm looking around in here. I don't see Aja or Krel anywhere."

"Huh. Weird."

"What are we whispering about?" Claire leans in and joins them.

"Aja and Krel aren't here, apparently," Jim explains.

"I'm serious! They've been M.I.A. since gym class!"

"Maybe they just ditched the assembly?"

"Dude, Coach and Ms. Janeth literally swept every room and hall for this. And they're THOROUGH. They're straight up just gone."

"In the meantime, we'll be setting up some classrooms and the gymnasium as areas to sleep, in case we are here overnight," Lenora adds.

"The kitchen has food and other snacks available to everyone," Judy says, still holding her neutral face.

"Oh, god. Not the chicken surprise," Toby mutters.

"Don't worry, there's more than just chicken surprise," Judy finishes, almost reading Toby's mind, which earns a silent cheer from him.

"Alright, I think that was everything we had to say," Karl taps the microphone awkwardly a few times.

"You're free to, I dunno, roam the halls, or whatever! You can call your families and make sure they're okay, but, uhh, cell service doesn't seem to be so great right now," Coach Lawrence says, while he scratches the back of his head.

Mary angrily refreshes her social media apps.

"Ugh! No bars?! This is bull!" She snarls. "What about you, Darc?"

Next to her, Darci is furiously tapping away at her phone.

"They're locking down the school, Dad."
"Is there any way you could come and get me? I don't really feel like having to sleep in my math class."
"Hello???"
"Are you STILL at the hospital?"
"Dad?"
"Are these even sending?????"

Darci stands up and walks briskly for the auditorium exit, among a few other students already filing out.

"What's wrong with her?" Connie raises an eyebrow. Mary shrugs in response.

Darci exits the auditorium and leans against the wall just outside. She dials her dad's number with fumbling fingers and holds it to her ear. It rings for a solid thirty seconds, until the ringing gets abruptly cut off. Her eyes light up.

"Dad--"

"You've reached Detective Scott. Leave a message if it's an emergency," Louis' voicemail says, followed by the beep tone.

Darci just breathes in deep.

"Hi, dad. It's me. Just trying to reach you. Everyone's calls and cell service is going completely bad. Maybe you're trying to call ME right now. I hope you're safe. If you're still at the hospital, then-- then I'm gonna try and come to you. I don't care what anyone says, I need to know you're okay. Goodbye."

She hits the end call button and slides down the wall into a sitting position. Across from her is some windows that view the outside. Darci zones out, staring at the street outside. As more students begin to walk past her, she sees someone walking on the sidewalk all the way across the street. Their movements are slow, and their walk is limped. Her eyes fall upon seeing them.

 

Zoe stands in the street, just in front of Jim's house. She stares at the front door with irritated eyes.

"Figures that Douxie has ME of all people talking to his boss. God, I'm so sick of this," She growls.

Putting aside her grievances, Zoe stalks up to the door and swings it open.

"Hello? Anybody here? Anyone from the 12th century?" Zoe adds the last question with a much more sour tone.

She ventures further into the house, and finds two people. One being Merlin, fiddling with the refrigerator, and another being a woman in a purple dress, with smooth, shiny, shoulder length black hair.

"Okay, don't answer when I call out, then. Cool," Zoe crosses her arms.

Merlin whirls around, and his eyes harden.

"And just who are you? How did you find us here?"

"Your APPRENTICE sent me? Hisirdoux?"

"Oh! Wonderful. What does he want now?"

"He told me to tell you that Morgana's been freed, and that the people in this town are... turning into zombies? I guess."

Merlin doesn't say anything, then puts two fingers to his forehead.

"Does the boy think I'm BLIND? Brain-dead?! Of COURSE I know Morgana's free! I may be old, but I still know these things."

"What's next? He just discovered there are trolls in Arcadia?" The woman beside him remarks snidely.

"Sorry, I didn't catch your name," Zoe's words crack like a whip.

The woman smiles, a sickeningly sweet smile.

"Zelda Nomura, at your service. I'm the changeling that Usurna nearly killed just to get me down to Trollmarket," She hisses.

"Your staff needs changeling hands to wield, right?" Zoe turns back to Merlin, who just nods.

"Alright, so who did it, then?"

"Strickler. I have a feeling that Gunmar used the Trollhunter's mother against him. He'd do anything for that fleshbag. It's disgusting," Nomura scowls.

"So why exactly did my loyal apprentice send YOU to deliver this oh-so-important message, instead of coming himself?" Merlin questions, while turning back to the fridge to open and close it. "I STILL don't understand how the light works in this thing."

"Because unlike you, he's actually worried for the sake of this town? People are DYING left and right, and Douxie's trying to stop it. From what I gathered, he's down at the local hospital," Zoe tells him.

"Boy's going to get himself killed that way. At this rate, that place is nothing more than a breeding ground for the undead," Nomura hisses with a disgusted face.

"Shut up. He'll be FINE. And we're gonna go find him."

Merlin stands up straight.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me! He's YOUR apprentice! Show some respect for him, for crying out loud!"

"...Alright," Merlin agrees after a beat of silence.

"Good. We should get going like YESTERDAY if we want to get down there in time."

"How bad are the streets?" Nomura asks, rubbing her injured and relocated shoulder.

"Not bad. I managed to avoid the few zombies I actually saw, but they're multiplying FAST."

"The only way to stop this is to kill Morgana, and by extension everything she created. Sadly, those who have already been killed... won't come back, at least the way we want them to."

Zoe and Nomura bow their heads in a moment of despair.

"Fuzzbuckets," Zoe murmurs.

"Pardon?"

"It's something Hisirdoux says a lot."

Nomura grabs a big kitchen knife, and heads for the door.

"Are we going now, or is the coffee chat still on?" She grumbles.

"Right away," Merlin agrees, "BUT, miss brightly colored hair."

He stops Zoe by grabbing her shoulder just before the three of them exit the house.

"What?" She yanks herself back defensively.

"After we find Hisirdoux, it's of the utmost importance that we locate the Trollhunter and his companions, they are the KEY to putting all of this right."

Zoe nods.

"Of course. No debate there. Now less talking, more WALKING."

Zoe leaves first, followed by Nomura and Merlin. The last of the three surveys the houses along the street outside of the culdesac.

"These new human homes are very small. Is this a town of peasants?"

"With how little the people in this town tip? Yeah, probably," Zoe huffs.

A sudden snarl from their right makes them all jump. A zombie emerges from behind the bushes next to Jim's house.

"Look out!" Nomura steps in front of the two wizards and readies her knife and body into a fighting stance.

Before the zombie can get any closer, it's smacked down from behind with a loud clang. Nancy stands over it, and proceeds to smash its head at least six additional times until it stops moving. Nomura, Zoe, and Merlin all stare at the old woman in confusion.

"Oh, hello, dears! Sorry about that! I thought you could use a little help!" She exclaims. "I have some muffins baking in the oven, would any of you like some?"

The three others simply stare at each other, and they share an inside nod of agreement.

 

Claire sits alone in a dark classroom. She scrolls through pictures on her phone, eventually pausing on one of her and Enrique. She smiles at it, then shuts her phone off. Some footsteps outside the door make her jump, but she relaxes when she sees Jim poke his head in the door.

"I found her, Tobes!"

Jim and Toby come inside and shut the door.

"Why'd you run off? We thought a zombie got you," Toby giggles.

"Not funny," Jim lightly smacks his arm.

"I'm sorry," Claire looks down, "I just-- needed to be alone."

"Is everything okay?" Jim slowly approaches her, Toby behind him.

Claire looks back at her phone, then out the classroom window.

"We can't go home because it's not safe to travel, and my shadow staff isn't working. That means I can't get home to make sure Enrique is okay. I'm so worried about him."

"Hey, it's gonna be okay! It's like me with my mom, I'm worried out of my mind for her, but I just have to... wait. And yeah, it sucks, but it's the only thing we can do. But I know your shadow staff will work again real soon."

"Thanks, Jim. You're right. I'm going to see my baby brother again. My mom, my dad, NotEnrique, everyone."

"Speaking of NotEnrique," Toby pipes up. "Is he alone with Enrique at your house right now?"

Claire chuckles.

"No, my dad's work has been cancelled for a while now. My mom still has to go in, since she's a councilwoman, but my dad's been staying with Enrique for the last few days."

"See? Enrique will be just fine! He's got your dad AND NotEnrique there to protect him!" Jim beams.

This makes Claire laugh.

"My dad? Please! He can hardly kill houseflies! And besides, what's the worst that could even happen at my house anyway?"

 

At the same time, elsewhere in Arcadia, at Claire's house, Javier is busy washing dishes in the sink, while Enrique bounces around in his bouncing baby holder. NotEnrique is relaxing on the couch, flipping through TV channels.

"You could help me, you know. It would be much appreciated," Javier calls out to him from the kitchen.

"Meh! You seem to have it under control! Wouldn't want to get in the way. Besides, me n' my little familiar are havin' a good time out here, ain't that right, pint sized?"

Enrique laughs at NotEnrique and claps his hands. Javier puts down the last plate after drying it and comes into the living room. He finds NotEnrique watching GunRobot 3, with Enrique staring up at the TV in awe.

"Turn that off! He shouldn't be watching that!"

"Aww, come on! Your little one here survived MONTHS in the Darklands! And you think a movie about big robots is too much?"

"He is a toddler! He doesn't need to see that kind of violence," Javier insists, "...and I have not seen that one yet. No spoilers."

"Hmmph! Fine."

As soon as NotEnrique flips off the TV, a loud crash sounds from outside. Their heads jerk to the window. NotEnrique hops up onto the back of couch on all fours.

"What was that?" He whispers.

"No idea!"

"Well, what are ya waiting for? Go on and have a look!"

"Wh-- me?!"

"Oh, right, have the changeling who's barely over a foot tall go out and see instead! Real smart!"

Javier crosses his arms and stares at the locked front door.

"Fine! But if anything happens to me, you'll be sorry!"

Javier gently opens his front door and first peeks out. No one is out on the street.

"See anythin'?" NotEnrique whispers from behind him.

"No. I-I'm going to get a closer look."

Javier takes a deep breath, and forces himself outside his home. The air is quiet, almost calm. He gingerly and quietly walks all the way down his front walk, to the sidewalk beside the street. NotEnrique stands in the doorway, watching slightly nervously.

"Hello?! Is anyone out here?!" Javier shouts, his own voice creating an echo.

No one answers. The only sounds of life he can hear are the sounds of cars honking in the distance, and people yelling and shouting. Javier surveys the empty street, and the dimly lit houses nearby, until he seems satisfied. His eyes fall to his trash bins at the curbside. Both of them have been knocked over. He smiles and sighs out of relief.

"So, what was it?" NotEnrique asks when Javier comes walking back.

"Just the trash cans, probably got knocked over by the wind," He explains.

"Oh. Cool, cool!"

NotEnrique, satisfied with the answer, crawls back over to the couch. Javier pulls the front door shut, but not far enough to latch it. Javier leaves the living room and heads upstairs. The front door creaks back open just the tiniest bit.

Back outside, on the side of the house, a shadowed figure is hunched over, gnawing on something. The figure lifts its head, and turns around. The zombified Chad lets the piece of living meat fall from his teeth; part of a poor cat he'd just been tearing into. A large ring of dark red blood lines the zombie's mouth. He stands up, and starts stumbling around the house. He gets up the porch stairs, and stalls. From inside, the sounds of the TV, as well as NotEnrique rooting around are enough to resume zombie Chad's pursuit into the house. He places a bloodied, pale hand on the side of the doorframe, slowly pushing it open the rest of the way.

Upstairs inside the house, Javier sorts through some boxes in the master bedroom. In one of them, he finds an old framed photo of him, Ophelia, Claire, and her grandmother, with Claire blowing out the candles of her birthday cake on her 6th birthday. He smiles at the picture and sets it down upright on the bedside table. While staring at it, a loud thump from downstairs alerts him back to reality.

"Oi! What do ya think you're doin' in here?!" NotEnrique shouts.

Javier runs for the stairs as the sounds of something else being knocked over fill the house. When Javier reaches downstairs, he sees NotEnrique sprinting into the kitchen.

"What's going on?!"

"I knew somethin' weird was goin' on! I told Claire about it, and I was RIGHT! LOOK!"

Javier turns, and spots the zombie Chad stumbling towards them both.

"Chad! Why are you in my house?!" Javier shouts to the undead man.

"That's not 'Chad', anymore, Pops. He's a zombie!"

"But zombies--!"

"Trust me, I'm several centuries older than you, I've seen things. He's a ZOMBIE," NotEnrique scowls.

From the living room, Enrique starts to cry after Chad growls loudly. The sound makes the zombie turn and look in the baby's direction. As soon as Javier sees this, his eyes go wide.

"No! Stay away from my son, you monster!"

He sprints up behind Chad and locks his arms around his torso. The two men stumble back, until Javier's back slams into a wall, which knocks down a framed photo of Claire and Enrique, the glass shattering on the floor. Javier shoves Chad at the door, then quickly runs to and kneels in front of Enrique. He unbuckles the baby bouncer and whisks his son up and away. Zombie Chad recovers, and as soon as Javier sets Enrique down safely in the kitchen, he's yanked backwards by the collar of his shirt.

Javier falls flat on his back, and Chad leans over his face, his bloody mouth opening to take a bite.

"HEY! Hands off my family!"

NotEnrique jumps from the kitchen island, down towards Chad, a frying pan in hand. He smacks the zombie square in the forehead, sending it sprawling back similar to Javier.

"I'm surprised that worked. Again," NotEnrique remarks while staring at the pan.

Suddenly, Chad stirs, and sits back up. NotEnrique gulps.

"Crap."

He quickly dodges the zombie and runs back into the living room. Finding himself cornered, NotEnrique presses his back against a tall bookshelf.

"A little help would be lovely?!" He yells into the air.

In the kitchen, Javier turns to Enrique who is calming down from crying.

"Can you stay here? Stay here and wait for daddy to come back, okay?"

Enrique just babbles while staring him in the eyes. Javier sighs and turns away. Back in the living room, NotEnrique scales the bookshelf in a panic. Chad claws at the changeling from his perch on top of the shelf.

"I don't think so, ya undead FREAK!" NotEnrique jeers at him, and then begins rocking the shelf back and forth, by pushing against the wall.

Right as Javier runs out into the living room, NotEnrique lets out a triumphant yell as the shelf collapses on top of zombie Chad, pinning him.

"BOOM! Now that's how it's done in La Casa Nuñez!"

NotEnrique sits on the shelf as Chad desperately snarls and claws at him. The shelf starts to wobble, and the changeling panics.

"Don't just sit there! Go get a knife, or somethin' sharp!"

"O-Okay?!"

Javier slips back into the kitchen, and comes back with a big kitchen knife for chopping.

"Good! Now stab 'im in the head!"

"WHAT?!"

"You heard me!"

Javier stares at the struggling form of zombie Chad. He takes note of how pale his skin is now.

"He-He's my neighbor, I can't--"

"WAS your neighbor. The dude died and turned into a zombie. He's GONE! I can't hold this shelf on 'im forever!" NotEnrique almost gets knocked off the shelf by Chad's struggling.

Javier switches focus to the shiny clean knife in his hand. He angles it straight down and kneels just in front of Chad's head.

"I'm sorry," He murmurs, and then promptly forces the knife into Chad's forehead.

Chad's arms fall still, and they go limp at his sides. When Javier rips the knife out, he turns and vomits onto the floor next to the body.

"Jeez, warn a guy next time! Disgusting," NotEnrique gags, "But you did the right thing."

"How? If anyone sees this, they'll think I'm a murderer! Aren't I, anyway?!"

"I told ya. He was already dead. He was a zombie. Where do you think that Romero guy got the idea for all them movies? His own creativity?! I've seen an outbreak of zombies before, usually in the darklands where Gunmar would have his army practice magic. One time I saw one on the surface world, many centuries ago. And... now one is happenin' again. Where there's one, there hundreds more."

"Oh, no... Claire! Ophelia! They're out in the middle of Arcadia!" Javier holds his head.

"Grab the kid and let's go get 'em! No use sittin' around here!" NotEnrique jumps off the back of the fallen shelf and heads for the door. "Oh, and ya might want to hold onto that."

He points to Javier's bloody knife. He nods in response, then hurries back to the kitchen for Enrique. The baby is crawling around on the floor near the back door. Javier grabs Claire's spare backpack from the hall closet, then opens the fridge. He dumps some food and water bottles into it, as well as some extra baby formula. He takes the bottled formula out as well and carries it in his hand.

"Here you go," Javier coos, handing Enrique the bottle after scooping the baby boy up into his arms, feigning a calm smile, "We're going to go for a car ride now."

Enrique laughs and waves his arms at this, so Javier hurries to the door. Outside, Enrique hops inside the car through an open window. He uses his feet to honk the horn.

"Hurry up! My big sister could be gettin' eaten right now!" NotEnrique yells while slamming his hand on the car door.

"Give me a moment!" Javier fires back upon reaching the car.

Luckily, Enrique's car seat was already strapped inside, so Javier easily sets him in and buckles him up. He sprints around to the other side of the car and practically jumps inside.

"Who are we gettin' first? Your lovely wife, or Claire?" NotEnrique asks from the passenger seat.

"Uhh... Claire is closer," Javier points out, "But she's with others at school... maybe she's safer? Ophelia is farther away, and it would be harder for her to get back here if something bad happened."

"Wife it is, then? Let's hit it!" NotEnrique pulls out a pair of aviator sunglasses and dons them.

"Stay safe, Claire. We'll be there, soon. I trust you," Javier quietly says while looking up at the sky.

Immediately after, he puts the car in reverse and tears out of the driveway.

"Who the heck are you talkin' to?" NotEnrique asks.

Javier doesn't answer, instead putting his foot to the gas and speeding away down his street.

 

Ophelia walks into the Arcadia Oaks City Council building, further into town. At the front desk, a young woman with bright blonde hair smiles upon seeing her.

"Good morning, councilwoman Nuñez!" She greets.

"Marlene! It's so good to see you," Ophelia waves.

"I got you your usual!" Marlene reaches down on her desk and hands a tall cup of coffee over the divider.

"Oh, my goodness, you are an amazing woman!" Ophelia puts a hand to her heart and takes the coffee. "I owe you, darling. Next time you need a favor, just call me."

"Will do."

Ophelia continues heading back to her office, while ignoring the continuous buzzing from her phone. Once she gets inside her office and shuts the door, she finally pulls her phone from her purse. Numerous news sites are sending out alerts to her and other important officials in Arcadia. Ophelia narrows her eyes at one of the captions of the notifications.

"Rabid man shot dead by Arcadia Oaks PD, was acting aggressive and bit his wife... what?" She mumbles.

Confused, she sets her phone on her desk and walks over to her desktop computer. She logs on and navigates to the local Arcadia news channel. A live viewing of what's being aired on TV currently is available. She clicks on it, and reels back at the sudden images.

"--the graphic and violent attacks still continue here in Arcadia Oaks. Local officials and police still are not sure of the exact spike in cases, but it seems that the infected individuals are growing aggressive. Numerous new cases of infected BITING and even DEVOURING people alive have been reported in the last 24 hours. If you or someone you know has been exposed to the infection, seek medical care IMMEDIATELY," The news reporter woman reads.

"Oh, no... oh, no. Claire! Claire!" Ophelia blurts out to herself, snatching up her phone again.

Before she can even dial her daughter's number, a deafening crash shakes the entire building. Several screams then erupt, coming from the front of the building. Ophelia grabs her purse and runs into the halls. It's complete and utter chaos. She watches as someone infected charges a fellow councilman and tackles him to the ground. The infected woman chomps down on his neck and rips his throat right out. Two security guards come running from the other direction, their guns in hand.

"Ma'am, get somewhere safe!" One of them yells.

Ophelia starts to breathe more rapidly. She looks back at her co-worker being eaten alive, just like the broadcast said. She turns and runs after the security guards towards the main entrance of the building. When she reaches the main lobby, she freezes. A car has smashed through the glass front of the city council building. Several people are being bitten into and also eaten by several other infected, who are being drawn from the sound of the loud crash.

"HELP ME! HELP, PLEASE!" Marlene's voice screams from where her secretary desk is. Or was. Ophelia rushes over, and nearly falls back in surprise. The crashed car had slammed right into Marlene's desk, demolishing it. Not only that, but in her attempts to flee, Marlene's leg was crushed beneath one of the car's tires. The car is filled with four people, all infected, and banging on the slowly cracking windows.

"Oh, my god!" Ophelia cries.

"HELP! PLEASE, MY LEG IS-IS CAUGHT!"

"H-Hold still! Let me see if I can--" Ophelia stops in order to grab Marlene's hands and pull hard.

"AAAAAAGHH! STOP STOP STOP!" Marlene screeches, "IT HURTS!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Look, I don't know what to do!"

Suddenly, the window of the car breaks, and one of the infected starts pushing themself out. The two women cry out in shock as the infected person falls flat on the floor, only feet away.

"OH, GOD NO! DON'T LET THEM GET ME!" Marlene starts to cry.

Another infected in the car pulls itself from the window. The first one stands up and starts to shuffle over to them both. It kneels down again and grabs Marlene's free leg. The woman starts to kick and scream in response. Ophelia tugs on her arms again, but stops upon watching the infected person bite down hard into Marlene's calf.

"NO!" Ophelia stands up and backs away quickly, while Marlene yells in pure agony.

"AAAAAAAAGHH!!! WAIT, NO, COME BACK!" Marlene reaches a hand out, only for it to be grabbed by a second infected and chomped on.

The other two from the car also joined in, biting her neck and torso at the same time. Red blood spurted everywhere and across the floor towards Ophelia's shoes. She stands there, frozen in shock at the violent sight. Suddenly, another infected from the other side of the lobby growls right next to her.

"Oh!" She yelps, but its then shot through the back of its head. A small bit of its blood splatters the front of her clothes.

One of the security guards lowers his weapon, having shot it.

"Watch out, ma'am!" He shouts.

In a sad twist of irony, another one springs up behind him and latches onto his neck. The guard screams as he's pulled down to the ground, where two more infected bite his face and arms. In reflex, his finger starts squeezing the gun trigger, causing whoever else left in the building to scream and run for the busted open front of the building. A stray bullet strikes the other security guard in the ankle, sending him to the floor in front of one infected.

"No! NO, BACK AWAY! PLEASE!" He screams, but its no use as the infected pounces, pinning him to the ground and promptly biting straight into his cheek. With a big chunk of face skin missing, the man screams until the infected rips out his throat, turning his yells into choking sounds as blood drains from his gashes and wounds.

As people run out the doors, more infected await in the parking lot, being drawn by the loud gunshots, and screams. A few people are grabbed, pulled to the ground, and devoured, while others abandon their cars and flee on foot, screaming. Ophelia stares at the bodies of Marlene and the two security guards. She can't find the motive to run, until she jerks her head behind her, seeing her fellow councilman that had been devoured, now turned into an infected, as well as the one who had bitten him, walking out from the back.

She starts to realize the gravity of her situation, and makes a quick beeline for the exit, making sure to avoid the infected currently ripping apart bodies and eating them. In the parking lot, Ophelia runs between some cars, straight over to hers. Upon looking back, she watches someone being pinned to a different car, their back being torn and ripped open using teeth and hands from several infected. Not waiting any longer, Ophelia jumps inside her car, chucking her purse in the passenger seat. She makes sure to lock her car doors, too. After turning on the car, she grabs her phone again and dials Claire.

"Come on, Claire, sweetie, PLEASE just answer your phone!" She murmurs worriedly.

After a few rings, she hears the busy signal. Frustrated, she dials Javier this time. It rings again, and still no answer, except this time, she gets his voicemail. At the message tone, she starts shouting into the phone.

"Javier! Things just got worse here at the city council! I-I think everyone is dead! Take the kids and get to the high school, Claire isn't answering her phone so I'm headed there now! I love you!"

She hangs up the phone, tosses it onto the seat, shifts her car into reverse, and steps on the gas. Swerving out of her parking spot, she watches in horror at the amount of infected people now milling around the parking lot. Still breathing rapidly, she charges her car forward. On the way out of the lot, she slams into an infected, pulverizing it beneath the car wheels. This doesn't make her stop, however. Ophelia keeps her eyes firmly on the road, and hands tight against the steering wheel.

 

Coach Lawrence slams down the coffee pot on the table in the teacher's lounge. Karl, Lenora, and Judy are also in the room.

"Two students... infected. One of them dead," Karl murmurs.

"How could we have let this happen? I-I tried to save the girl, and then she just lunged at me!" Coach exclaims.

"I became a teacher to make a difference," Lenora adjusts her glasses, "If that means protecting these children from, well, whatever's happening in the world right now, then so be it."

"But what can we even do? We are all that's left of the school faculty. There are hundreds of students and four of us. We don't even have a proper school nurse to treat Logan," Karl points out, "An empty nurse's room with hardly anything in it."

"You heard what those broadcasts said, though. 100% fatality," Coach reminds all of them.

"We can't just tell the kid he's gonna DIE," Judy scoffs.

"As if he doesn't already know. Eli and Toby seem to know more about this than anyone," Lenora says.

Karl rubs his forehead with his thumb and index finger.

"Oh, yes. Mr. Pepperjack finds any chance he can to talk about zombies in my classes."

Coach Lawrence chugs the rest of his mug of coffee, then looks at the rest of the staff.

"Okay, WHAT are we going to  do?! If Arcadia is full of zombies, or at the very least, rabid infected people, how can we protect the students and ourselves until it gets sorted out?" He asks the others.

"Can we barricade the exterior doors? That way nothing can get in," Judy suggests.

"Good idea," Lenora agrees, "Maybe we should board up the front windows, too. Big glass panels aren't very sturdy. Someone could easily break through with enough people helping, or enough force."

Karl nods along with the suggestions.

"Alright, alright, these are decent ideas. What about, uhh... weapons?"

"Weapons?" Lenora raises an eyebrow.

"The zombies-- infected, whatever they actually are! They don't go down easy. Like Pepperjack said in the assembly, they'd only go down with a blow to the head?"

"But how can we be sure that's true?"

Coach Lawrence awkwardly scratches the back of his head.

"Johnson, he uhh, stomped Alice's head in, until she-- stopped moving," He explains.

Lenora covers her mouth at this, while Judy lowers her head.

"There's knives in here, regular kitchen ones," Karl gestures to the knives in the holder, "Should we all have one on us? If these zombies are dangerous, if we encounter one--"

"I don't know if I could bring myself to do it," Lenora sighs, "I'll take a knife... but having to use it?"

Karl places a hand on her shoulder reassuringly, and stares fondly into her eyes.

"Don't worry, Lenora. I promise that it will never come to that for any of us. As long as we keep every student accounted for."

Right at that moment, Toby pops his head into the doorway. Immediately following him is Eli, Darci, Mary, and Jim.

"Domzalski? What--? What's going on?" Coach Lawrence frowns, hands on hips.

"What? Nothing! We were just--!"

"Spit it out. Now," Karl demands.

"We can't find Aja anywhere!" Mary complains, "I'm gonna be SO upset if she ditched us!"

"Yeah, she's, like, nowhere to be found. We've looked everywhere," Darci adds on.

"Krel's gone, too!" Eli raises his hand, "I checked the science lab, since that's where we hang out sometimes, but he wasn't there."

"I don't know where they are, but I'm certain they're together," Jim says.

"We gotta find them, though!" Toby anxiously bounces up and down on his feet, "Them? All alone? On the streets of Arcadia in the middle of APOCALYPSE?"

The teachers all look at each other, uneasy.

 

"Are we lost, sister?" Krel grouches, walking behind Aja.

"Nonsense, little brother! I know the way back," Aja smirks with confidence.

The two teens are no longer glowing, and walking alone down an empty street in the middle of Arcadia.

"Why wasn't Varvatos home? The blanks wouldn't tell us where he went, either," Krel wonders.

"He's probably out playing chess with other geezers, or maybe trying to woo the Nancy."

"Ugh. Dating," Krel gags, "Fligshaag."

"Oh, put a sock in it, Krel! It's sweet!"

Krel kicks a rock in the road, watching it skip along the cement and hit the curb.

"Whatever. Aja, we cannot start doing this," Krel starts.

"Doing what?"

"THIS!" Krel waves his hands into the air, "Our transductions only last 12 of these earth hours. We cannot sneak out of the school and run home to Mother to get these forms back."

"So are you saying we should tell everyone that--" Aja goes to say, but Krel yanks on her arm.

"NO WAY," He declares loudly, "You know what will happen if we do. We cannot trust these humans!"

"Not even the Eli Pepperjack? I know you're fond of him, little brother. He's been nothing but kind to both of us, especially you."

Krel grumbles incoherently and folds his arms over his chest. The two of them then look around, Aja now looking just as confused as well.

"Admit it. We're lost."

"FINE! Fine. We are lost," Aja growls, "Forgive me for forgetting the way back to the building."

Krel looks further up the street, seeing two people standing aimlessly ahead.

"Maybe they can show us the way," He suggests with a shrug.

Aja silently agrees, and jogs ahead to meet up with the people. Krel just waits behind, and while he does, his eyes dart back and forth. An empty tin can rolls out of a building next to him. He shivers.

"Excuse me, um, sir?" Aja hesitantly reaches up to tap the first person, a man, on the shoulder, "My little brother and I are lost, we are trying to find the high school of Arcadia?"

The man doesn't turn around. Aja frowns, and taps him again.

"Hello? Helloooooo? HELLO! I'm trying to talk to--!"

Both people-- zombies-- turn around, the man zombie growling in Aja's face.

"Kleb! What-- What are you?!" Aja shrieks.

Both undead creatures start forcing Aja to stumble back in surprise. Krel sees this, his eyes go wide.

"Aja, move!" He breaks out running towards her.

"I-I don't know what you are doing, but you need to back away! I have a serrator!" Aja responds by whipping out a bright blue object that's protractor shaped, her serrator, "I'm warning you!"

The zombie in front responds with a loud growl into the empty street. It leans in and lunges for Aja. Before it can bite her, though, Krel runs up behind her.

"Look out!"

Krel shoves his sister behind him, yanks out his own serrator, and activates it. In a split second, a bright blue sword-like weapon sprouts out of the protractor shape. The long neon blue blade shoots out, straight up through the chin of the zombie. Both teens stare in shock at what just happened. Krel quickly yanks his serrator out of the zombie's head, and the body falls to the floor in a contorted heap.

"Agh!" Krel yelps when the second zombie grabs at his arm, trying to bite into it. The two of them fall onto the ground, Krel being pinned.

"YAAAAAAH!" Aja screams, driving her own serrator's blade straight through the zombie's head.

When she pulls it out, she throws the body off of Krel and helps him up.

"What was that?! They were trying to kill us!"

"Th-They weren't responsive, a-and they were making all sorts of growling sounds," Krel recalls.

Both of them stare down at the pair of corpses. At the same time, their heads snap up, and their eyes meet.

"ZOMBIES!" They yell in unison.

"The Pepperjack was right! There are zombies in Arcadia!" Aja cries.

"Calm down, sister! If that's all a zombie actually is, then they are very easy to handle."

A noise from the dark, open building beside them that Krel had noticed makes their heads slowly turn. The noise gets a little louder. And louder again, even louder. The noise sounds strikingly familiar to what they'd just heard from the zombies at their feet. Sure enough, one zombie comes walking out of the building. Followed by many, many more in a neat line, spilling out into the street, and advancing on them. Aja and Krel stand frozen in place with horror.

"Oh, kleb..." Krel gulps.

The zombies all come closer, marching almost in sync.

"Back! Go back!" Aja slaps her brother's arm.

Krel nods, and the two dash back the way they came. Just as they go to turn the corner, more zombies appear from behind it.

"No!" Aja gasps.

"Where are they all coming from?!" Krel shakes his head.

Aja and Krel ready their serrators. Aja looks back at the larger crowd now behind them.

"We're going to have to fight through," She says after a bit.

"Yeah, I kind of figured," Krel adds, voice wavering.

In unison, Aja and Krel each slash across one zombie's face. Aja proceeds to impale another one through its chest, but when she pulls back, it doesn't die.

"Huh?!"

Krel pauses and thinks for a moment.

"Their heads! The human, uhh, BRAINS! Yes, the brain! It's inside their heads, and destroying it is what kills them! You HAVE to attack the brain," He snaps his fingers in realization while explaining.

"Oh. Right!"

Aja swings at the zombie she'd previously stabbed, this time across its forehead. Sure enough, it does down, lifeless. She smiles triumphantly, and promptly attacks another. Krel knocks one to the ground and sloppily stabs it down through the eye socket. Some zombie blood spurts out upon the removal of his weapon.

"Fligshaag," He sneers.

A zombie grabs him by the shoulder from behind, but Aja grabs it and pulls it off, allowing Krel to drive his serrator through its head.

"There's too many, little brother! We-We can't fight them all!"

"We have to TRY! We did not escape a royal coup just to DIE on this backwater planet!"

Krel grits his teeth, and prepares to stab the next zombie coming up on him. Right as he goes to, though, its stabbed from behind. The body falls to the ground, and behind it is an older man in a brown suit coat, with hair graying around the sides. In his hand is a long, golden dagger. He turns and quickly jabs it into the temples of two extra zombies.

"Who are you?!" Aja demands.

"Walter Strickler, at your service," The mystery man, Strickler, introduces, "And you?"

"Aja and Krel Tarron, of House Tarron," Aja proclaims.

"I am a king-in-waiting," Krel raises a finger to add, importantly.

"Wonderful," Strickler replies, stabbing another zombie, "Now why are you children out on the street in the middle of an apocalypse?"

"Well, we were TRYING to get somewhere, but Aja got us lost," Krel waves a hand around.

"Oh, really? I was headed somewhere as well, and figured I could make up for... this, by helping,"

"Where are you going?" Aja asks.

"What about you two?"

The three of them all answer at the exact same time.

"Arcadia Oaks High."

Strickler chuckles, stabbing a zombie through the eye, and shoving it back into three more, all of them then falling flat on the pavement.

"Well, it seems we have a common goal, then!" He struggles with a zombie, but is able to throw it to the ground and stomp on its head, "A little help would be appreciated."

"Oh, right!"

Aja and Krel get into fighting stances on either side of Strickler. The three of them slowly take turns fighting off the zombies that attack each of them. After a minute, Aja notices that they're being backed against the row of buildings.

"Uh, guys!" She warns.

Strickler snarls, and slams his knife through a zombie's skull.

"Looks like we're boxed in. Not to worry, just fight through them! We can do this!" He encourages.

"We can do this," Krel murmurs to himself, assuring.

Krel skewers two zombies on his serrator, then quickly follows with a forceful stab through the heads that takes both of them down. When those bodies fall, it creates a small window through the crowd of undead. Straight through the opening, Krel freezes, and his breath catches in his throat. Between two buildings, a glowing yellow eye stares directly at Krel. The young teen stares back, his gaze fearful at first, but then morphs into a scowl. On the other side of the street, the mysterious figure watches the two teens and new man fight against the zombies. He's strangely nonhuman, but also not anything troll or changeling. He has a pointed head, almost like a snout, covered by a mask around the mouth area. He laughs darkly to himself, before he turns and walks off back into the darkness of the alley.

"Sister? Sister, I think someone was watching--" Krel tries to say, but Aja stops him.

"Not now, Krel! We're about to become these things' lunch!"

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Strickler slashes and stabs in quick formation, managing to take down four zombies in just a few seconds. One swipes at him, and he jumps back in line with Aja and Krel.

"Okay... I think we need to just make an opening and run!" He decides.

"How? There are far too many!" Krel panics.

"Calm down, son! All we have to do is--!"

But Strickler is cut off when an unseen force suddenly yanks him backwards, disappearing into the building behind them. Aja and Krel whirl around and stare in shock.

"What the kleb just happened?! Where did he-- WAHH!" Krel is also cut off when the force grabs ahold of the back of his shirt and yanks him into the darkness as well.

"KREL!" Aja screams, reaching her hand out.

Before she can process what happened, she feels something grab her arm, too. And last but not least, she's whisked into the dark building. The door slams shut behind her, which leaves nothing but the zombie crowd plaguing the streets.

Notes:

next chapter we will not be resuming with our friends at Arcadia Oaks High, instead, next chapter will be primarily focused on Barbara, with some appearances from others as well!

Chapter 4: Doctor's Orders

Summary:

Barbara and Douxie fend for themselves within an overrun Arcadia Oaks Hospital.

Notes:

FINALLY GOT ANOTHER CHAPTER DONE!

this one was fun to write tbh, I hope y'all like it, it's very Barbara-centric :)

In the streets of Arcadia, dozens of cars are lined up along one of the roads. Horns blare and people shout, but no one moves. In one of these cars, Mr. Johnson angrily fiddles with his phone and holds it to his ear. After a few seconds, he hears the phone go to voicemail.

"Seamus? Seamus, why aren't you answering your phone? I have been calling you all afternoon! If you don't pick up soon, you can forget about space camp!"

He hangs up the phone again, then looks back out at the cluttered road. Mr. Johnson slams his hand on the horn and leans out the window. "Come on, already! What's the holdup?"

He pulls himself back inside, his eyes scanning along the sides of the road. Just off to his left, he spots a side street that he can access. He grabs the steering wheel and puts his foot to the gas.

"Can't be bothered to sit and wait in this darn traffic," he scoffs, then proceeds to jerk his wheel to the left. A few people cry out in surprise as his car lurches out from traffic, sharply turning left. In the process, he accidentally scrapes someone's car, but he doesn't stop. Mr. Johnson tears off down the side street, away from the traffic jam, and towards Arcadia Oaks High.

 

Barbara exits a patient's room, being greeted with the sight of a busy hallway. Nurses and doctors rushing from room to room, and even more patients being wheeled in on stretchers. She goes to walk in the opposite direction, when she accidentally bumps into someone.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, I wasn't-- oh hey, I recognize you," Barbara points out, mid-apology, "you're the nice waiter from the café."

Douxie stands in front of her, his expression very distressed. He dusts off the front of his black hoodie, and offers a smile in return. "It's alright, ma'am, I should've been more careful walking through here. And thanks for always tipping me, by the way."

"Of course. Hey, what are you doing here? Are you hurt?" she suddenly gasps. "You aren't infected, are you? I shouldn't be telling you this, but people here with the infection aren't showing any signs of improvement."

Douxie gulps at this, knowing more than what Barbara thinks she's revealing, but he pretends to listen carefully. "No, no, I'm alright. I just have a-- friend... who's admitted here. Yeah."

"Oh, I'm so sorry! Who?"

"Gotta run, now! I'll get out of your hair, Mrs. Lake. It was nice seeing you!" Douxie calls as he quickly turns on his heel and speedwalks away from her.

Barbara stares in confusion, but decides not to get into it, and instead continues on to her next patient's room. At the same time, Douxie turns a corner, pressing his back to the wall. He starts breathing heavily. When he confirms no one can see him, he pulls up his wrist, and the accessory wrapped around it projects a blue holographic map of the west coast of the United States. The part of the map where Arcadia Oaks is located has several bright red dots on it. Douxie watches as the rest of California becomes riddled with yellow, orange, and even more red dots.

"Oh, fuzzbuckets. Morgana, what in the name of Merlin have you done?" he whispers, then slips away into the halls of the hospital.

Barbara, meanwhile, knocks on a barely open hospital room door. She doesn't wait for an answer, instead pushing the door open more to step inside.

"Mike? I'm back again for your vitals check," she says into the dim room, the shades pulled all the way down and shut, as per Mike's request.

Mike lies on the hospital bed, his breathing slow and coming out in faint wheezes. Barbara sighs deeply while approaching him.

"I'm so sorry. I wish there was more I could do for you."

Mike doesn't move his head, instead just looks at her with his eyes. "It's alright, doc," his words come out slow, raspy, almost inaudible.

"Your condition has been steadily worsening today. It's not looking good, I'm--"

"Don't-- Don't apologize. Heck, I coulda told you that I was-- was dead from the beginning," Mike says. He pauses between every few words to suck in a wheezy breath, and sometimes cough.

"Look straight ahead for me, I'm going to shine a light to look at your eyes. It'll be quick."

Mike complies, and Barbara briefly shines a pen light into his eyes. She swallows solemnly when she sees just how yellow the whites of his eyes have become, and the extent of how bloodshot they are.

"No change. Got it," Mike remarks.

"I didn't say anything."

"You didn't have to."

Barbara looks at the heart monitor machine. "Your blood pressure is still lowering, as is your heart rate."

"Like I said. I'm dying, doc."

"You don't know that--"

"Yes I do!" Mike instantly winces in pain from the outburst. He takes a minute to catch his breath, then continues speaking. "I told you, what happened to my wife, is happenin' to me. I had to put her down with a blow to the head. The-- The brain. So, you know what you gotta do to me. Otherwise, I'm gonna-- gonna end up putting you or some other fine person right where I'm at right now, doc."

Barbara feels like her throat is closing up. She sucks in a deep breath through her nose. "I-- I have to go check on the other patients. I'll be back in a couple of hours."

With that said, Barbara hurriedly turns and leaves the room. Mike can't call after her, so he resigns himself to lie back in his hospital bed, and simply wait.

 

"It's just not making any sense," Wanda scoffs while she stands in front of her hospital cubby. Barbara and Emilia are also there, changing into fresh doctor coats.

"What do you mean?" Emilia asks.

"The death rate of these patients are skyrocketing. None of our treatments on them are working even just a little bit."

"You're telling me! One of my patients-- that lady that those two cops brought in-- she's only been here for a few hours and she's already worsening," Emilia's voice is laced with worry, no doubt the words of her son's conspiracy going through her mind again.

"What about you, Barb? How are your patients doing?" Wanda turns to her, only Barbara isn't listening.

Barbara is zoned out, staring at a copy of the photo of her in her college graduate gown, with a much younger Jim standing beside her, looking overjoyed for her.

"Barbara!"

She flinches at the sudden cry of her name. She awkwardly adjusts her glasses and tucks the photo back in her cubby.

"Oh, sorry, sorry. One of my patients is currently declining. Hard. His eyes are extremely yellow and bloodshot, and his skin is so pale."

"I just had two patients die with those exact symptoms. Was yours brought in because of a bite wound anywhere on his body?"

"Yes, actually."

Wanda rubs her chin. "I'm starting to see a pattern, here."

When she gets lost in her own thoughts, Barbara briefly looks back at her picture of her and Jim. Emilia notices, and can't help but smile from next to her.

"You always miss when your kids are that young, right?" she sighs.

"Tell me about it. Even at age five, Jim was always in the kitchen. Especially after..." Barbara pauses with a frustrated huff of air, "he was such a strong kid. I just worry that he pushes his feelings down too much, especially more recently, since he's got so much on his plate, with his tro-- after school activities."

Barbara mentally sighs in relief when Emilia doesn't question her sudden stutter. Instead, she nods.

"I always felt that way about Eli. He was four when I married Nathalie. The most adorable little boy I ever met. I thought for sure that as soon as he saw me in the picture instead of his father that he'd hate me forever, but he didn't. I guess it helped that his father was a deadbeat that was hardly ever around, but you never know. Divorces can be so hard on a kid, coming from experience, and I couldn't help but worry it would affect him. But even after we got married he was the most curious and hyperactive kid I could've known. I'm glad I got to be a part of Eli's life, being his mom is probably the best thing I could've asked for in life. Besides having my medical license," Emilia says, with a small chuckle at the end.

She pulls out a photo, similar to Barbara's, with this one being of herself holding up her medical school degree alongside Nathalie and a much younger Eli, looking nearly the same age as Jim in Barbara's picture.

"They're why I do this," Emilia smiles down at the picture.

The two doctors are broken out of their fixations by Dr. Henning walking into the room and clapping his hands together.

"Come on, people! Let's get back out there, the rooms are still filling up and we've got more patients overflowing the main lobby," he informs them.

"We should start clearing out rooms of recently deceased patients faster. Move the bodies down to the basement like we have been," Wanda says.

Emilia shudders at the comment, while Barbara straightens her doctor coat. "Gotcha."

"Don't just stand there, get back to it!" Dr. Henning shouts, walking away, quickly followed by Wanda.

"Is it morally wrong of me to wish we could send him to the basement?" Emilia asks once he's out of earshot.

"You know what? No, no it's not," Barbara smiles a little. "But he's right, we've still got patients to treat. C'mon."

The two of them leave the cubby room, passing the doors leading to the basement of the hospital. One of the windows on the doors has a streak of blood across it.

 

Ilene is lying in her hospital bed, groaning, when Emilia walks in.

"Hi, ma'am!" she greets, then notices her expression. "Oh, gosh, are you in pain right now?"

"Yes!" Ilene exclaims, irritable. "My husband took a huge chunk out of my arm. And then he was shot by that no good heartless cop."

"Well, I'm, uh, sorry about what happened. But right now since you're in pain, I can give you an extra dose of the pain medication you're on? That's about the extent of what we can really do for our patients at this time."

"Yes. Yes, that would be much appreciated," Ilene grunts through her teeth, mainly from the pain.

Emilia offers a friendly smile, then hooks up a new bag of IV fluids, followed by giving Ilene two small tablets, washed down with a quick sip from her glass of water.

"Alright, you should feel less pain within the hour," Emilia confidently says, only to pause briefly, noticing her eyes, "oh, wow, your eyes have gotten significantly more yellowed since the last time I checked on you."

"Is that bad?"

"I don't think so! It's most likely just your body's response to the blood loss you've been facing with that nasty gash of yours."

"Oh. Okay," Ilene sighs while she allows her body to deflate into her hospital bed. "I wish my husband were here. He was all I had left anymore and now--"

Emilia bows her head out of respect, and some pity.

"As soon as I get out of here, I'm going to find that cop who killed my husband and sue him into the ground," she growls.

Emilia slowly turns and walks out of the room without another word. When she reaches the doorway, a man bumps into her.

"Oh, excuse me!" she quietly chirps, scooting around the man and continuing on. The man in question is Louis.

Louis pokes his head into Ilene's room only slightly. She appears to be more relaxed than she was a second ago, now staring out the window of her room, and not noticing the very man she hates looking at her. Before she has the chance to, Louis walks away at a brisk pace, his face one of much confliction.

He re-enters the hospital cafeteria, where many others are also mingling. Mainly the families and friends of admitted patients. He spots his partner still seated at the table, bagel and coffee in hand. Brennan catches his eye as well, which prompts Louis to go back over and sit down.

"Did you talk to her?"

Louis laughs, void of emotion. "I would've, had she not been talking about suing me right as I was walking up to her room."

"So you didn't, then," Brennan finishes for him, then takes another bite of his bagel.

"I don't even know if I can look at her yet. I," Louis pauses to lower his voice, "killed her husband."

"And her husband gave her one nasty gash on her arm. Nearly gave ME one, too. That man seemed like he was infected with whatever's goin' around. Whatever all these people got."

"But you don't shoot sick people. You help them, and I just think maybe I could've gotten through. If I'd just tried harder, maybe?"

Brennan lightly scoffs. "Hey, Scott. Didn't you hear what I said? That man ripped the flesh off of his own wife's arm, and he was aiming for my face next. Now, I agree we don't use violence on sick folk. But that man was aggressive and I just as easily could've been hospitalized for something much worse than what the wife got. You saved my life back there, and her from getting any more injured. And yourself."

Louis rolls his neck in a circle, unsure of what to say next. "I thought heroic moments were supposed to make you feel good."

Brennan's face goes neutral, and he admittedly nods. Louis reaches into his pocket and pulls out his cell phone.

"I should text Darci, to tell her that I'll be home late tonight. I need to see this woman's recovery through," he says, while typing out a quick message to his daughter.

He presses send, only for a little red exclamation point to show up next to it. He resends, only to get the same result.

"That's-- weird?" Louis huffs.

"What's the matter?" Brennan asks.

Louis types out three additional texts, but all of them get the same treatment. Brennan leans over and taps him on the shoulder.

"Scott? Talk to me," he says again.

"None of my texts are going through."

 

Douxie allows the door to the hospital's maintenance area in the basement to slam shut behind him. He presses his back against it with a deep sigh. He looks down at his glowing arm brace, and swipes across it several times, eliciting soft blue glowing light from it.

"For crying out loud, Master Merlin," he mutters, receiving nothing from the other end. He gives up on it and instead pulls out his smartphone. His fingers fumble around his contacts until finally landing on the correct one, the contact photo standing out with Zoe's bright pink hair.

Douxie brings the phone to his ear. With each monotone ring, he chews on his fingertips, awaiting his call to be picked up. When it doesn't, instead reaching Zoe's outgoing message, Douxie internally swears, but composes himself at the prompt to leave a message, his breathing being the only sound in the echoing dark hall.

"Zoe, I don't know if you're getting this, but things are worse than I thought. I need your help here, now. Get Merlin, get the Trollhunter, just get anyone you can here! The amount of people infected is piling up, and I don't want to be here when it boils over. I'm going to need your help getting everyone out of here safely, I'm counting on you, Zoe. Please."

With his message over, Douxie pockets the phone, now turning his attention to the endless hall of blackness lying in wait out in front of him. Just as he goes to take a step, a loud THUD from somewhere in the abyss causes him to flinch, followed by a low groan that echoes all the way down the hallway up to where he currently stands.

"Hello?" he calls out. No answer. "Is somebody there?"

Still no answer. Just more sounds of distant shuffling, and what sounds like rummaging. Douxie balls his hands into fists. "I've gotta go deeper down the scary dark hallway, don't I? 'Course I do."

Resigning his complaints for a later time, he takes his first baby steps down the hall. Once the lighting gets too dim for his liking, Douxie holds up the brace on his arm, using its blue glow as a flashlight of sorts. Once he was halfway down the hall, more noises pop into his ears. He cringes at one specifically, one that sounds like disgusting chewing and just wet, sloppy sounds.

A flickering light overhead makes Douxie pause, and on the ground, the back half of a kneeling person pokes out, half obstructed by some large crates. Douxie nearly sighs in relief at the sight of another person. He approaches them, albeit quite slowly.

"Erm, hello? Are you alright?" his questions are direct and concerned, although the person doesn't even look up or move from their position. Douxie raises an eyebrow, but walks a bit closer. The sound he hates is practically in his ears now. "I don't know if you heard me call out just a minute ago, but--"

And then he finally sees the full sight, hidden from view by the crates. A doctor's body, half devoured, blood soaking the white coat and the surrounding floor, lies there, twisted and mangled. Intestines and other entrails are completely spilled out of their torso. The kneeling figure finally whips their head around, revealing a blood ring around their mouth, pale, undead skin, and a set of dull, lifeless eyes.

Douxie almost trips backwards, never breaking eye contact with the zombie, who appears to be wearing some form of janitor's uniform. As it stands up to its full height, twisting its body back around to advance on the wizard, Douxie can only stare in horror. It's already begun.

"Oh, fuzzbuckets!"

The zombie lunges straight for him, but Douxie's quicker, and leaps backwards. Careful not to trip, he proceeds to spin the brace on his arm until is glows a specific way. He holds his hand out in the direction of the big crates off to the right.

"Causa crepitus!"

A blue light outlines all of them, and they suddenly levitate into the air, roughly a few inches off the ground. Douxie's eyes flip between them and the attacking zombie. He focuses his hand and bellows again.

"Magna torna tuess!"

With this one, Douxie swings his arm to the left, which the floating crates then mirror, flying left. All of them completely blindside the zombie, knocking it down and pinning it underneath the heavy things. With it pinned, Douxie's entire upper body muscles all simultaneously relax. The zombie claws upward at him, but can't free itself. Douxie approaches the undead creature, standing almost directly over it. He stares into the eyes of this once living person. Whoever they were, gone forever.

"I'm sorry this happened to you. I'm sorry that this is happening to everyone. I couldn't save you, but maybe-- maybe I can still save everyone else up there. I'm gonna try," Douxie says with renewed confidence. He looks ahead at the hall, then back down at the still squirming zombie. "Oh, and sorry for this."

Douxie raises one of his boots, and brings it down into the zombie's skull, effectively stomping its head in one swift motion. He grimaces a little at the sight of the dark, infected blood of the zombie dripping off of his footwear, but nonetheless abandons the corpse and lightly sprints off farther down the hall.

He finally reaches a door, which he assumes connects to the main part of the basement and not just the maintenance area where he'd entered from. It's even darker at this end of the hall than back in the middle, so Douxie resorts to nearly pressing his face against the glass window of the door and squinting his eyes to see through. After a few seconds, his eyes adjust to the low light level on both sides of the door. When it does, Douxie's entire chest drops all the way to his feet.

On the other side of the door are dozens of zombies. He isn't sure of how many, all he knows is he loses count when he hits double digits. His eyes get wider and wider with the sense of sheer impending doom.

"Oh, no. Oh, no no no no," he mutters, and quickly books it back in the other direction. Danger level just went from a mild yellow to a blaring red.

Meanwhile, upstairs, the main basement double doors are subtly pushed open. A sickly, undead hand snakes its way out into the light of the hospital.

 

Barbara hurries to the door of another room on an upper level. She swings it open only to be met with a disheartening sight. The heart monitor beside the bed continues its single, unbreaking beep, signaling a flatline. The old man lying in the hospital bed lies there, eyes closed and stationary. She walks over to the machine and unplugs it to stop the incessant beep.

She sets down the files in her hands on the small desk beside the bed. Walking up to the deceased man's bedside, she places a hand on the side rail. "I'm so sorry, sir."

There's another solemn moment of silence while she looks down at his body. Only it's cut short when the man's eyes shoot open, now glazed over gray. He lets out a sickening cry, a mix between a snarl and a screech. Barbara screams and reels back as the man lunges upwards at her. She's able to avoid his swipe, but the zombie's motion ends up causing him to roll out of the hospital bed and onto the floor. Barbara backpedals all the way to the other side of the room. Her heart is beating out of her chest. The man, now a zombie, stands up straight, locking his sights directly on Barbara. Her eyes are wide and unblinking, which proves helpful when he makes another attempt at charging and grabbing her. He moves at her again, faster than the first attempt, although she darts out of his way to the side just in time to avoid getting snatched by one of the hands.

The zombie recovers, and wastes no time in attacking again. This time, he manages to grab the back of her lab coat. Barbara screams and flails her arms in an attempt to grab onto the desk next to her. Her hands accidentally knock down a metal tray, causing a loud clang on the floor. She grabs the table, pulling herself free from the grip on her coat and propelling herself towards the door just a few feet away. She stumbles out into the hall, the wall opposite the door stopping her. The zombie patient exits a few seconds later and pins her back against the wall before she can fully recover.

Barbara extends her hands to keep the snapping jaws creature at an arms length distance. "Gahhh, get back!"

From somewhere to her left, she hears rapidly approaching footsteps, then a loud cry, almost like a battle cry. A second later, the zombie is whacked across the side of the head with something hefty and hard. Douxie stands there, a long metal pipe in his hands. The end of it has a thin layer of dark blood on it that drips off the edge every few seconds. Before the zombie can get itself back up, Douxie raises the pipe and swings it down a second time like a baseball bat. The zombie's skull dents, Barbara flinches back, and blood splatters up into Douxie's face and all over his pipe weapon. A thick pool of the same dark blood quickly forms on the floor surrounding the creature's head. Douxie wipes some of the blood off of his face and turns to the stunned woman.

"It's alright. It's dead now," he pants.

Barbara stands there, dumbfounded and left catching her breath as well. "What on Earth was that?"

Douxie opens his mouth, but nothing comes out. He raises a finger, but it deflates, curling back into his hand. He doesn't need to speak, as Barbara continues.

"Emilia's son might've been onto something. I think-- I think somehow, some way, people are turning into zombies," Barbara declares.

Douxie chokes on air, then gives the doctor an awkward chuckle. "Zombies? Whaaat? Come on, that's a little extreme, wouldn't you agree?"

Barbara shakes her head. Before he can continue countering the blatantly obvious truth, Barbara darts back into the room of the man, beckoning for him to follow. He does so, and once he enters, he sees her flipping through the man's medical files.

"Here. Right here," Barbara brings the file over to Douxie and stands next to him. She points to a line in the document and reads along with it. "Timothy Abbott, age 78. Rendered paraplegic at age 37."

"I don't know what you're trying to prove--"

"If that man was in a wheelchair for the last 40 years, how did he stand up to attack me? How did a 78 year old elderly man pin me against a wall? Why was he flatlining on the monitor when I first came in here?"

Douxie is rendered silent. Barbara stares back into his eyes, she stares deep. Until at last he shakes his head and squeezes his eyes shut. "Okay, okay fine. You're right, there's more happening. A lot more. People are dying, and they're being reanimated into, well, zombies."

Barbara gasps. "So it's true! Wait-- how do you know this for sure? Does this have anything to do with the-- the things that my son is, err, involved in?"

"Involved i--?" Douxie echoes, confused, but then suddenly stops. "Do you-- Do you know that Jim is the Trollhunter?"

"Yes, I do. How do you know?"

Douxie shows off his magic arm brace, and allows a flurry of blue magic to form in his hand in a spherical shape. "There's a lot about me people don't know. I'm also Merlin's apprentice."

"Merlin's apprentice?" Barbara's voice becomes stern, like a true parent. "Do you realize that he's been making a mess of my garage for days now?"

"Yeah, he's... like that."

"He also has never mentioned you."

"Figures. But we don't have time for this. You and the other doctors have been moving bodies to the basement, right?"

Barbara nods, and Douxie continues. "Well, all of those bodies have been turning. Turning into more zombies."

Barbara's blood runs cold. "All those patients with the bites. They were infected by other infected."

"We have to get everybody not infected out of here now," Douxie insists. Without any protest, Barbara agrees. The two of them ditch the hospital room, going out into the hallway, only to flinch and retreat. Currently in the hall are a half dozen group of zombies.

Barbars pushes Douxie back inside the dark hospital room and quietly shuts the door. "Oh god, oh god."

"How did they get up here? They must've heard something."

"Well, I kind of knocked over that tray while fighting the other guy."

"Fuzzbuckets. Okay, we just have to wait until they go past, then we can get to the stairs. Shouldn't be long now."

Barbara and Douxie stay crouched low to the ground, silent as possible. The shuffling footsteps of the zombies make their way down the hall. Under the door, the two of them see the cluster of shadows pass by. Several more seconds pass, and the ambient sounds the zombies make, as well as their footsteps, become quieter. Douxie cracks the door open, and sighs in relief seeing an empty hallway.

"We're clear. Go, go, go."

The two slip out of the room and move swiftly while making as little noise as possible down the opposite end of the hall, until they reach the entrance to the stairwell. Douxie leads the way down the stairs, both of them descending at lightning speed.

"So how do you plan to get everyone out of here?" Barbara asks.

"That's a good question. I contacted a friend of mine-- and Merlin-- to meet me here and help me, so I think they'll be here any--" Douxie pushes open the ground level door to the stairwell, and the two of them walk out into a horrific sight. 

"--minute."

The main level of the hospital is in complete and utter chaos. Patients, visitors, nurses, and doctors are all screaming, running, or being ripped into by the dozens of freshly reanimated zombies that escaped from the basement. Blood is all over the front desk, the floor, and the walls. A poor nurse screams bloody murder as three zombies pin her down and tear open her stomach. Blood gushes out of her, her screams gargling as blood comes up her throat. Doctors attempt to push back at some of the undead, only to be pinned against something by the unrestrained strength of their bodies and bitten on the neck.

"Fuzzbuckets," Douxie whispers, voice trembling.

Amidst the crowds of panicked people fleeing for the doors, Emilia squeezes around people being devoured and others bursting out the doors, fleeing for their lives, although ending up being swarmed by the dead just outside the hospital doors. She collides with a man, who trips and falls on impact, and then is instantly pounced on by a zombie, who bites directly into his cheek. Emilia stumbles away, only to run into someone else. Although Emilia breathes a sigh of relief at the sight of them.

"Wanda!" she gasps for breath. "What's going on?"

Wanda shakes her head, and pulls both herself and the other doctor into a crouching position in order to stay hidden. "I don't know. We should get out of here before--"

"Watch out!" Emilia cuts her off when she spots a zombie about to bite her. She pushes Wanda to the side and holds the creature back, although she doesn't fare so well with her scrawnier arms.

Douxie turns and looks at Barbara. "What do we do?"

Barbara scans the area, eventually spotting a cart of medical supplies, including a long scalpel. She grabs it off the tray and holds it in a fighting position. "We get through."

Emilia's arms grow more tired while holding the zombie back. Its growling comes to a stop, however, after a small squelching sound. From behind it, Barbara has her scalpel driven into the back of the zombie's head. She takes the body and throws it down. Next to her, Douxie whacks another oncoming zombie across the face, which sends it to the ground.

"Barbara?" Wanda asks, incredulously pointing down at the body.

"We don't have time to stand here," Douxie cuts in, "we need to get out of here!"

"But there's too many of these crazy people blocking the way!" Emilia says. She gestures to the way to the main doors, several dozen feet away, where dozens of dead bodies and undead zombies feasting on them litter the vicinity.

"We can't stay out in the open, we need a place to take cover," Barbara says.

The four of them look around, then Wanda points off in a direction to the right. "The chief's office!"

Barbara nods. "That works. Come on."

Douxie walks out in front of the three women and proceeds to bash another zombie over the head. Once its down, he waves the three along, and they all make a run past corpses, both dead and undead. On the opposite side of the main level, Louis stumbles over several corpses, all unmoving and leaking heavy amounts of blood. He comes across a body completely surrounded by zombies, all kneeling down and devouring the flesh and innards of the corpse. Louis gags and tries to back away, only to run into the doorframe of an open hospital room. Inside, a sickly and decayed woman stands inside, also a zombie. Upon close inspection, though, Louis recognizes her, and it makes his heart sink. It's Ilene.

She spots him and immediately makes an attack, but the muscled cop holds her back with ease, and is able to shove her to the ground behind him. No sooner does he do that, does he see Brennan run up ahead of him.

"Scott!" he calls out. Right after he does, a zombie lunges at him and throws him against the wall. Impulsively, Brennan grabs his holstered gun and fires off two loud, echoing shots into the zombie's torso. The people still panicking and looking for refuge in the lobby all scream at the deafening shots.

Louis makes a running start, and sacks the zombie off of his partner. He holds the squirming thing down, and while he does, memories of him putting down Rob come flooding back. It's exactly the same. "The head, Brennan!"

Brennan recovers, and while still in shock, listens to his partner. Louis ducks his own head out of the way, and gives way for Brennan to fire again, this time his bullet hitting the zombie in the head, rendering it limp. Louis stands back up, only for Brennan to pull him into the open chief's office door that was right next to him. He also notices the small group that Douxie is leading and waves over to them. "Hey, over here!"

From another hospital room, the door cracks open ever so slightly. Dr. Henning pokes his head out. When he sees a clear path, he scurries from the room and makes a mad dash for the exits. He doesn't make it far, though, instead crossing paths with Barbara and the others. He doesn't even stop for them, and crashes straight into Emilia. At the same time, a zombie grabs onto his arm. Dr. Henning shrieks, and not only shoves the zombie down, but Emilia as well.

"Wh-- no, stop!" she cries as he changes paths and runs the rest of the way to the chief's office. "Help me, please somebody, help!"

Everyone stops running at Emilia's cries. Barbara, without hesitating, turns back around for her, and Wanda grabs her by the wrist. "Barbara, you won't make it!"

Ignoring her words, Barbara frees herself from the other woman's hold. She runs back over to Emilia, straight up to the zombie, and stabs it through the side of its skull. She extends a hand down to Emilia and helps her stand. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I think so. It didn't get me-- oh, no."

They look back at their destination, only to see several zombies have cut them off, while Douxie and Wanda successfully reach the office room. Thinking on her feet, Barbara pushes Emilia in another direction, down an adjacent hallway before the zombies corner them. She swings open a room and forces the both of them inside. The room is pitch dark, with the shades closed and pulled down all the way. Just then, the two of them hear a faint growling, over by the hospital bed. It all clicks in Barbara's mind.

"Mike," she whispers.

She slowly turns her head, and Mike is there, pale as a sheet, now a zombie, standing aimlessly beside his bed. Emilia lets out a sharp gasp, loud enough to catch Mike's attention. All at once, Mike pounces at the two of them. Emilia shrieks and ducks to avoid him, while Barbara uses her move from before, darting to the side to avoid the attack. This time, armed with something to defend herself, she strikes back, pinning Mike's head sideways against the counter in the room.

"You find somethin' sharp, and you drive it into my skull."

"Mike, I'm-- I'm sorry," Barbara murmurs. She positions the scalpel level with his temple, and drives it down in with all the force she can muster. Mike's clawing and growling goes silent in an instant. She yanks the blade out, the removal of it allowing Mike's corpse to crumple onto the floor.

Barbara's hands shake, so she sets the weapon down, and instead pulls out her phone. Emilia stands back up now that the threat is gone. "What are you doing?"

"I have to call Jim. If things are bad here, I can't imagine what it's like out there. I need to know if he's okay."

Barbara presses his contact and dials. The phone rings at least a half dozen times, all while she paces back and forth in the room every five steps. When it finally stops ringing, she perks up.

"Hey, it's Jim, leave a message," says the outgoing message he left.

Barbara ends the call and groans, exasperated. "Come on, Jim, honey, you have to pick up the phone."

She tries again, however the second she presses the call button, she gets the 'busy' tone. With a frustrated outcry, she pockets her phone and buries her head in her hands. Emilia, still completely bewildered, places a hand on her shoulder.

"Barbara, what's even going on? One minute everything is fine, the next all these pale, sick, infected people come out of nowhere and start eating people. It's completely insane!"

Barbara sighs. "You're not going to believe me, Emilia, but what you told me, about Eli saying it was zombies? It's true."

"I-- huh? You're kidding."

"I'm not. I know it sounds hard to believe, because this is real life, but look at what we've seen; people arriving here with bites from other infected people. They die from those wounds. They somehow come back to life, and begin biting and eating more people. That's what a zombie does."

"Oh, my gosh, you're right. That's exactly how Eli described a zombie apocalypse. It's-- It's actually happening."

"Don't panic, alright? We both have to get back to our kids, and you have your wife, too. But we can't do it by ourselves, we gotta get back to the others, the chief's office," Barbara encourages her. She picks up the scalpel from the counter, only she hands it to Emilia. "Take this. You're going to need it."

Emilia doesn't say anything, but takes it regardless. "But what about you?"

Barbara starts rummaging around through the upper cabinets, but only finds bandages, gauze, and other non sharp items. Crouching down, she opens up the lower cabinets, and smiles. She pulls out a pair of large surgical scissors.

"I'll be just fine."

Suddenly, a banging on their door makes them both flinch. Muffled growling from the other side lets them know its a zombie. Barbara approaches the door, giving it a few hard smacks to really attract the attention. Emilia walks up behind her, the scalpel clutched tight in her hand. Barbara turns her head to look at her.

"You ready?"

"Yeah."

With all the confirmation she needs, Barbara flings open the door to the room. Emilia stabs the zombie right outside in its chest, pushing it back against the wall with a grunt. Barbara follows up with a quick stab to its head. They both rip their weapons out at the same time.

"This way!" Barbara calls to her, pointing back in the direction they'd run from. The two of them storm down the hallway, side by side. Emilia swings her scalpel up at a zombie approaching her, first jabbing into its neck, but then getting her bearings and landing a second stab to its head. Barbara sticks the scissors straight up through a zombie's chin and pulls them back out in one fluid motion.

The two put down zombie after zombie, until they spill back out into the hospital common era. By now, most of the people killed by other infected are now among them, aimlessly moaning and shuffling around with them. The zombie form of Ilene grabs Barbara by the arm, but before she gets the chance to bite, Emilia's scalpel enters the top of her head, effectively putting her down for good. Barbara grunts while she runs up and slams a zombie against the closed door to the chief's office. A struggle for power ensues, with Barbara finding it difficult to remove her weapon from its abdomen.

At long last, she does so with one big heave, and as soon as she does, the scissors get brought straight down into its head. The second the body hits the floor, the door cracks open. Wanda stands there, her expression changing to one of surprise.

"Get in, quick!" she orders. Emilia slips inside first, and before a zombie can get Barbara while she covers for her, Wanda snags her by the arm and pulls her in, the door slamming shut behind her once again.

The two women lean back against the wall, panting hard and catching their breath. Douxie rushes to Barbara's side at once. "You made it! Are you both alright?"

Barbara looks over at him, then at everyone else in the room. Aside from the teen wizard, in the room were Wanda, Louis, Brennan, and Dr. Henning. Still regaining her breath, Barbara gives Douxie a nod.

"How can we be sure? They were both out there with all those-- those monsters! They probably got bit or scratched or somethin'," Dr. Henning protests.

Barbara's gaze then trains directly on him, and in the blink of an eye she's across the room, up in his face. "I think we should have a chat about what you did back there."

"Me?" he asks, incredulously. "The heck are you talking about?"

"Oh, you wanna play dumb? We all saw it, the way you threw Emilia to those zombies to save your own skin."

"I did no such thing! I simply bumped into her, and she fell down, yeah."

"Pffft, sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night."

"Sorry to interrupt, but did you just say zombies?" Wanda asks.

Douxie shoots Barbara an apprehensive stare, but she quells his worry with a subtle hand movement, then turns to the others in the room. "Yes. I already said it to Emilia, but it's real, these people aren't people, they're zombies. They're dead. It's why they're eating people alive, it's why they don't react to any sort of physical attack, it's why--"

"It's why they only go down when you attack their brains," Louis interrupts, his own realization hitting at the exact same time. Barbara snaps her fingers and points at him.

"Exactly."

"Great, this is just great. As if life couldn't get any worse, the dead decide to come back to life. Wonderful!" Dr. Henning remarks, heavily sarcastic.

"So our exit is currently blocked by a pack of angry, hungry zombies?" Brennan asks.

Barbara folds her hands together and licks her lips. "Yes, that is our current situation."

"Great, so how do we get out of it?"

Douxie walks into the center of the room, turning to look at each and every one of them, stopping at Barbara. "We fight."

The others give an array of different facial reactions. Dr. Henning lets out another bitter chuckle. "Fight? You've got to be joking."

"No, he's right," Barbara cuts him off, "there's a sea of them between us, so our only choice is to push through them."

"But-- that would mean killing those people out there," Wanda tries to reason.

Douxie shakes his head a single time in response. "We told you. They're zombies, they're dead. As crazy as it sounds, they're not people anymore."

Everyone gives an equal sigh of acceptance. It's then that Emilia looks around at everyone in the room. "Not everyone has a weapon."

"Fuzzbuckets, you're right."

Barbara scans everyone currently in the room, eyes landing on the two policemen. "Your guns, how much ammo do you have left?"

Both men slide their clips out, analyze, then slide back in. "Ten in the clip, one in the chamber," Louis says.

"Six in the clip, one in the chamber," Brennan echoes.

Wanda looks down at the pair of surgical scissors in Barbara's hand. Thoughts swirl through her head, and all of a sudden, she shoves past Dr. Henning to get around to the other side of the chief's desk. She flings open every single drawer, earning puzzled looks from the doctor and the cops. That is, until she pulls out a pair of regular scissors, the dual cutting blades on them giving off a shine from the fluorescent lighting. "There we go."

Douxie claps his hands following this, and addresses each person in the room. "Okay, I think we're all set. I've got this, you've got the big scissors, you've got the little scissors, you've got the small cutter, and you two have your firearms."

"Alright, guess we're ready to do this, on the count of three, I'll open--" The loud sound of a throat clearing stops Wanda in her tracks. Dr. Henning stands there, hands on hips, a peeved expression plain on his face.

"Forgetting someone?"

A brief silence passes, until Barbara smacks her lips. "Not really."

Douxie groans. "Look, there's nothing in here to use, so just stay behind all of us, and you'll be fine. The rest of us have weapons, so there's no need to worry."

He just grumbles, saying a flurry of most likely unpleasant things under his breath. Wanda huffs out a breath of air and turns back to everyone. "As I was saying, on the count of three, I'll open the door, and we all go running for the doors, got it?"

Everybody nods. "Okay. Okay. Here we go. One. Two. Three!"

Wanda pulls the door open, and out charges Douxie, with his pipe immediately landing a hit against the skull of a zombie. Barbara and Wanda file out behind him, the former of whom grabs a zombie and drives her scissors straight through its forehead. Louis and Brennan duck out, with Emilia and Dr. Henning at the rear. Douxie slams a zombie down that had just been going for Wanda, then turns to the gun wielding officers. "Don't use the guns so much, I think sound draws these things!"

The two nod, and when one zombie each goes for both of them, rather than firing off rounds, they flip their guns around and whack the undead across the face, which does the trick just as well. Emilia cries out softly while holding one zombie back, scalpel impaled through its neck. She manages to get the upper hand, though, and slashes the scalpel deeper, actually sticking it further in. Blood gushes out almost like a waterfall, but the doctor doesn't waver, rather she pushes back with higher intensity, pushing the scalpel up and up and up, until she slams it up high enough with one last driving motion, the blade of it going into the brain stem. When she pulls her hand and weapon back out, both are covered in a thin layer of red. Barbara reels back her fist and straight up socks a zombie in the nose. The impact from the blow sends it onto its back, quickly finished off with a hard pipe smack from Douxie, who pauses to look at her, quizzically.

"I have an orange belt in krav maga," she says with a small shrug.

Louis pushes a zombie down to the ground amidst the seven of them briskly pushing through the crowd of reanimated hospital personnel, patients and doctors alike. He sees only a few of the undead milling directly in the way of the automatic glass doors. He readies his gun and fires off four consecutive shots. Each one strikes a different zombie through the skull, and the bodies all hit the floor at the exact same second. He swivels back to the others. "C'mon, we've got an opening!"

Everybody simultaneously freezes, then makes a mad dash through the slim opening between the sea of zombies and the wall. Louis and Brennan reach the doors first, but turn around to wait right as Douxie makes it next. Barbara takes Emilia by the wrist, pushing her in front and booking it behind her. Wanda and Dr. Henning follow close behind. Mere feet from the doors, both Emilia and Barbara take the officers' hands when reaching the haven of the exit. Dr. Henning continues running, dodging every single zombie he can. That is, until one grabs him by the arm. The male doctor lets out a higher pitched cry of fear. He shakes the zombie back, as hard as he can, until at last he gets it off of him. He shoves it out in front of him. Right into the back of Wanda. The shorter doctor grunts in pain and falls flat on the ground, zombie struggling on top of her. Dr. Henning runs straight past without even a single thought of offering assistance.

 "Wanda. Wanda, move!" Barbara yells.

Dazed, Wanda sits up, which makes the zombie roll off her back. Her bearings return to her, and within seconds, Wanda screams. She's able to stand up, sticking her scissors into the first zombie's head, although several more are now drawn to her. Dr. Henning pulls at the powerless automatic doors, then yanks Brennan by the shoulder. "Come on, man. Help me get these open, we have an exit!"

Wanda pants hard, pushing and stabbing back every zombie she can. Louis points his gun in her direction and unloads round after round. Over a half dozen of the undead attackers fall dead, primarily the ones surrounding Wanda. She tries to stab the final one holding her in its head, only for its flailing arms to knock the shiny weapon right out of her hand. Louis aims to shoot again, but when he pulls the trigger, the sound of a click is all he gets.

"I'm-- I'm out."

The zombie is suddenly shot straight through its temple. Once it's down, Wanda wastes not a second more in running past the many bodies on the floor, making it to safety behind Barbara and Louis. The latter turns to Brennan. "Nice shot, man."

Brennan's mouth forms an 'o' shape. "It wasn't me."

Douxie looks behind the crowd, and his look of urgency shifts to one of elation. The always recognizable splash of hot pink hair stands there, revolver raised and smoking in a firing position. Douxie laughs, a relieved, overjoyed laugh.

"Zoe!"

"You thought I wouldn't come, didn't you, Hisirdoux? Well I did, and I brought backup."

As if on cue, the sliding exit doors are forced open, and in charges Merlin, Nomura, and nana Nancy Domzalski, each brandishing a long master wizard's staff, two long, almost glowing blades, and a shovel, respectively.

"Master, you're here!" Douxie exclaims, watching his mentor take down a zombie with one smack of his staff.

The old woman swings the shovel across a zombie's jaw, then hauls back and slams it forward into the face of another one. Behind her, Nomura runs forward, leaping over her, spinning upside down, touching down with one hand that pushes her back into the air, lands on the reception desk, where she kicks a zombie away from her. She jumps from the desk, knives in the air, and brings both sharp blades down into two respective zombie skulls. Merlin has a zombie pinned under his boot. With the end of his staff, he stabs it down straight through the side of its head. With it dead, he looks back to survey the array of survivors.

"Out the doors, now! We'll seal them behind you," he orders.

Louis forces the main sliding door open further than it already is, and steps back. "Hurry!"

Dr. Henning runs for the door, but a zombie grabs him by the collar of his white coat. In an effort to free himself again, he grabs Wanda's arm. The zombie pulls both of them backwards, only Wanda spins around and grabs the man by his shirt.

"We are not doing this again, you coward," she growls, and starts pulling herself away, only for him to latch on harder.

"No, please, it's got me!"

Wanda looks down, the sight of something shiny catching her eye. Her scissors. In a swift motion, she leans down to the side and swipes them into her hand. Zoe turns her revolver in their direction, popping a zombie between the eyes with a bullet that had been right behind them. Dr. Henning, in a fit of angry desperation, tightens his grip on Wanda, and before she can push away, shoves her down to the ground.

"Wanda!" Barbara tries to reach out to her, but is pulled back by Emilia.

Wanda watches Dr. Henning turn to run away, now free from the zombie as well. Before he can, though, with a loud outcry, she takes her newly recovered scissors and sticks them deep into the man's heel. He screams in pain, collapsing to his knees.

Zoe shoots an approaching zombie in the face, then turns to Wanda. "What are you waiting for? Go!"

Wanda pulls herself up, running past Zoe and through the exit doors, where Emilia, Brennan, and Louis currently wait. Barbara waits just inside the vestibule while Wanda runs through. Once she does, she looks to Merlin and shouts. "Everyone's clear!"

Nomura throws one of the blades into a zombie several feet away. She runs to it, kicking one down in the process. She yanks the blade out and throws it back in the direction of the doors, taking out another zombie. She mirrors the action of running and grabbing the knife. "You heard the man, let's get out of here!"

Zoe finishes off two zombies in quick succession, and right as she turns around to run, a pair of hands grab onto her by the shoulders, flinging her backwards. Zoe screams, seeing Dr. Henning hobble up onto his feet.

"I am not dying here!" he proclaims.

Douxie whips around at the scream. Once his eyes land on Zoe struggling with a zombie latched onto her from behind, they go wide. "No!"

He runs straight for her, even shoving Dr. Henning to the side, against the wall. He holds out both hands in her direction. "Tenebrius excellium!"

A beam of bright light blasts from his hands, right into the zombie's brain. It passes straight through that one and even through two others behind it. The three bodies go flying backwards, heads splattering to nothing on impact with the far wall. Zoe makes a move for the door, only for Dr. Henning to intercept, this time his hands reach for the revolver clasped in hers.

"Give me the gun, give--"

Zoe wrestles around so that she's facing the man, and pulls herself away. "Get off of me, you creep!"

Dr. Henning lunges for her weapon again, only for Zoe to point the revolver down at his torso and fire. The echoing shot makes Douxie flinch, and the male doctor stumbles from the recoil. He stares down at the sudden wound, hand clutching over it. His head trembles when he brings it back up to look at the two wizards.

"You-- You--" but his quivering words are cut off as several of the remaining zombies yank and pull the man away from the others. Dr. Henning can only scream for a few seconds as undead tear into his shoulder, arms, and torso. The screaming goes silent once a zombie takes a huge chunk from his neck and tears his throat right out. His body, soaked in his own blood, collapses flat on the floor, while any zombie left on that hospital floor migrates in the direction of the body.

Douxie practically pulls Zoe away, out in front of him, the two heading out the door, followed lastly by Merlin, who turns around one final time to slam the sliding door shut behind the rest of them. They all regroup just outside, where luckily no zombies currently wait. Emilia scans the survivors once they all come to a stop.

"Dr. Henning didn't make it?"

Zoe holsters her gun once more. "He went for my gun. I had to push him off, then the zombies, well--"

"They got him," Douxie finishes for her, "he's gone."

Merlin sighs heavily. "Yes, well, that's very sad, but might I suggest we get far, far away from this infested location before we get all emotional?"

Zoe rolls her eyes at the remark, but before she gets the chance to speak, Douxie moves her aside and nods along with the very old man. "He's right."

"Stay alert and stay close," Nomura hisses, already leading the way through the hospital parking lot, "if one of you falls behind, I won't come back to save you."

Barbara is the last one to sprint off, away from the building. She turns around and looks longingly back at her place of work, then hurries off with the others.

 

Not much later, the group of them stands around in the middle of the woods surrounding Arcadia, near the edge of town. Everyone except Nomura, who is sitting on a turned over log, sipping a cup of tea as she does any day. Merlin stands apart from the others, instead surveying past the trees, towards the distant sight of Arcadia below.

Around the rest of the group, Barbara taps Nancy on the shoulder. "Mrs. Domzalski, what are you doing here?"

Nancy offers the woman a soft chuckle. "Oh, hello, dear. These nice people needed my help getting here, so I decided to tag along with them. I also gave them some baked goods!"

Barbara looks at Zoe, who silently shakes her head at the older woman's claim. "Well, alright. Where's Toby, have you seen him at all recently?"

"He called me earlier. The kids are still in school, I believe. He was going on about crazy people, but I was already taking care of it."

Louis walks over, followed by Brennan. "Where are we going from here? I need to get to Darci before-- before it's too late."

"Hello there, detective," Nancy waves innocently at the man, "how's the head?"

"There's still a bump. I swear something hit me that night."

Nancy quickly moves the shovel behind her back, and smiles at him. He raises an eyebrow, but says nothing as Merlin walks back over. He points to Douxie, Zoe, Barbara, and Nomura, in that order.

"You, you, you, and you, come here, we have things to discuss."

The four of them, plus Nancy, who follows after Barbara, walk over to Merlin and huddle in a circle. The old woman waves at Merlin, who gives Barbara a deadpan stare. "No mortals. It's bad enough that you're involved."

"Relax. She's Toby's grandmother. She knows everything," she explains.

Merlin lets out a long, deep sigh, and drags his hand dramatically down his face. "Fine. Now to the point. We evacuated the medical facility that Hisirdoux was so worried about, despite," he pauses to look back at the others not in their huddle, "not many making it out. Now it's time for us to locate the Trollhunter and his companions."

"Ooh, I didn't bring any cookies for my Toby Pie's after school snack!" Nancy realizes, looking defeated.

"Okay, so where would we find the Trollhunter? He could be anywhere in the entire city by now," Nomura scoffs.

Everyone murmurs amongst the group, until Barbara snaps her fingers. "You're wrong. Nancy, you said that Toby called you earlier, right?"

"That's right. I love it when my Toby Pie calls me."

"Did he say anything about where he was?"

She nods again. "He's at school. Didn't I just tell you that? You'd better work on that memory, dear."

Barbara side-eyes her at her last comment, but overall ignores it, instead addressing the others. "That's it! Jim is still at the high school. I know for a fact that they'd stay there if something went wrong, Jim knows the risks of going off alone."

"Are you absolutely sure?" Douxie asks. "I mean no disrespect, nor to question your judgement, but are you a hundred percent sure?"

Barbara just chuckles. "I've got a mother's intuition. I'm a hundred and ten percent sure. We're going to the high school."

The others all nod in agreement, and Merlin clears his throat. "That's good enough for me."

They disband their huddle, and return to the others. Emilia approaches Barbara, her face one of apprehension. Her hands wring together repeatedly. "What's our plan?"

Barbara sees everyone looking at her, so she clears her own throat and sucks in a breath. "Arcadia Oaks High. If anywhere's protected, it's gotta be there."

Louis and Emilia both smile at this. The former of the two nods. "Doctor's orders."

"Let's get walking, the lot of you. We've got a long way back, and we won't get anywhere chatting up a wall," Merlin grumbles, already walking back in the direction of the city. With newfound confidence, Barbara leads the rest of the survivors after him, with Douxie at her side.

 

"You sure you're alright, C-Bomb?"

Claire smiles at Darci, then at Mary. "I'm fine, really. I just-- need a quiet place to rest for a bit. There's a lot going on and it's kinda getting to me."

"I totally get it," Mary agrees, "Logan's been making so much noise all day, I can't stand it!"

"He got bit, Mar," Darci says.

"Whatever, he doesn't have to annoy the rest of us."

Darci groans, and pushes Mary towards the exit of the dark classroom. "Hope you feel better soon."

"Thanks, Darc. You're the best. Both of you."

"Back atcha, Claire Bear," Mary winks, and walks away, while Darci lingers.

She re-enters the room and puts a hand on the other girl's shoulder. "If you need anything, just come get us, alright? We're Mama Skull, so we gotta look out for each other.

Claire chuckles, but pats Darci on the hand. "Will do."

Darci smiles, then quickly jogs out to follow after Mary. Claire stands around in the empty, unlit classroom. Once she's sure both girls are gone, she reaches into her back pocket and pulls out her concealed shadowstaff. She stares down at it in her hands with a hard glare.

"Come on, work. What's your problem?" she whispers to the staff. She holds it out in front of her, allowing it to extend to its full length, only it's still the inactive white color, as opposed to the grayish purple color it is when she can create shadow portals.

Claire holds the staff with two hands, aiming out in front of her. She closes her eyes, gently at first, then squeezes them tighter after no reaction. She takes several deep breaths. In and out, in and out, in and out. "Come on, come on, come on."

All at once, the staff darkens, and a decent sized shadow portal shoots from the staff out in front of her. Claire gasps, then cheers by jumping up and down a few times. "Yes, I-- I did it! My staff works again!"

Her smile doesn't falter, although she stops her celebrating after hearing what sounds like faint whispering coming from the portal. Now her smile drops, instead her face opts for one of confusion. Claire takes a few hesitant steps forwards to approach her portal. When she hears the same whispering still, she stops. Her head turns back to look at the closed classroom door. No one is there, no one is seeing this. With that fact in mind, Claire extends a hand towards the whispering portal. She feels her feet walking closer as well, almost like she's not doing it, but she knows she is. Finally, with one huge last step, Claire walks into the newly formed shadow portal completely, and it closes behind her with a whoosh.

 

Out in the deep wilderness, still many, many miles away from Arcadia, Usurna stirs in her sleep, until her eyes pop open. She sits up to look at the starry night sky above her, but she only scowls. She turns her head, and is met with an odd sight. Morgana is nearby, floating in midair, hands up and out to her sides just a little. She's also muttering some unintelligible incantation. Usurna stands, and approaches the sorceress.

"What on earth could you possibly be doing at this time of night? Some of us have to sleep, you know," she says, obvious hints of bitterness in her tone.

Morgana doesn't even turn to look down at the troll queen, instead, she just smiles, a large and wicked smile. "I'm righting the world once again, after all of the wrongs it has committed against me. All will be well soon enough, and no one will be there to stop it."

 

Claire finds herself floating in the shadow realm. The same as any other time she went through a one end shadow portal. She twists and turns herself around, looking for any sign of what she heard before going in. All of a sudden, the same sound returns. Whispering. Quiet, unintelligible whispering. A soft, purple light then shines from above Claire, and it draws her attention. She squints her eyes to get a better view, then starts to propel herself through the shadows towards the figure illuminated in their purple glow. As she got closer, the whispers became louder, but not any more clear in terms of the words being spoken. When she finally reaches a level even with the figure, she takes a moment to focus her eyes. When she does, she recoils in shock.

"Morgana," she gasps, sharp. Her hands begin to shake, and the memories of the evil sorceress forcing her way inside her own mind and taking control of her body all flood back. Claire grits her teeth, balls her fists, and scrunches her eyes shut. After several seconds, she lunges herself at the apparition of the witch.

But just as suddenly as she appeared, Morgana's eyes fling open. Claire screams and stops dead in her tracks. Morgana has no eyes, no iris, pupil, or white backing, at least. The entire expanse of both eyes is just a glowing yellow. Then she laughs. A loud, wicked laugh that fills the teen's ears. She tries covering them, but it proves unhelpful as the hysterical laughter continues.

"There's nothing you can do, little lamb."

Claire spins around, and suddenly she sees the image of Gunmar, standing before Morgana. She watches him scream in pain as his entire body becomes solid, no longer living stone. Her view then changes to the entirety of Trollmarket. Gumm-Gumms and trolls alike all slowly and painfully becoming deceased stone statues of who they once were. The girl covers her mouth, suppressing her cries and whimpers.

"No, no, no! All the trolls... she-- she--" Claire can hardly speak as her breathing becomes more hyperventilating than actual breathing. The girl starts to propel herself away from the image of Morgana, only for a giant version to appear in front of her. Claire screams again and pushes herself back.

"Running won't do you any good."

"She killed the trolls. What could she possibly want now? There's no purpose for an eternal night, now."

"This is far greater than any 'eternal night'. This is far greater than any mortal creature."

At this, the giant image of Morgana's hands move, and several small shadow portals open up. Not necessarily ones to step through. Rather, these are windows to various locations. Claire approaches them, very hesitantly. One of them showcases downtown Arcadia, zombies roaming the streets, a few people running. It's when she moves on to the other ones that her heart truly drops through her body. Zombies overrunning Times Square in New York City. Zombies flooding the streets of the entire globe's biggest and well known cities. London, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Beijing, and dozens, dozens more. Claire's throat goes dry and scratchy. She tries her hardest to form words, but she can't.

"I'm everywhere, little lamb. You can't stop this."

Claire finally lets out an earsplitting scream. When she does, her body is thrown from the shadow realm, straight back out into the same dark classroom she started in. She lands on the floor with a loud thump. A second later, she hears two pairs of footsteps hurriedly approaching the door.

"Is she in there?"

"Yeah, she's here!"

The sound of Jim and Toby's voices is like music to her ears. Claire lifts her head from her exhausted position on the floor. Jim and Toby burst inside the room, running to her side.

"Claire!" Jim shouts at the sight of her on the floor. He takes her hand and helps her get onto her knees, and the two boys match her kneeling position.

"What happened?" Toby asks. "You walked off a few minutes ago and we couldn't find you. Then we heard you scream or something, and it sounded like it came from here, so we checked and, well, here you are."

Jim looks over at Claire's staff, and sees how it's darkened. His eyes light up. "You fixed your staff!"

Claire is unresponsive, her face pale, and eyes glued to the floor. Jim looks at her, and puts his hand over hers. "Claire, what's wrong?"

"Did something happen in the shadow realm?"

"It's her. It's her," Claire finally mutters.

"Who? What--"

"It's Morgana. She did this, she did all of this. I don't know how, or why, but it's her."

"Why would she do this? Maybe she's trying to weaken us so that when Gunmar attacks--"

"Gunmar's dead. She killed him," Claire blurts out, interrupting Jim. She looks up at him, her eyes glossy. "She killed all of the trolls. All of them."

Jim suddenly grabs his chest, and Toby covers his mouth with both hands. "Wingman..."

"Bli-- Blinky," Jim gulps.

The room is silent for the longest time. Jim finally stands up slowly, and takes out his amulet. "We have to stop her. She can't get away with terrorizing the people of Arcadia, human and troll alike."

Claire and Toby stand up as well, but Claire shakes her head no. "We can't, Jim."

"Why not?"

"Because it's not just Arcadia this time."

Toby laughs, a small, worried laugh. "Uhh, you're joking, right? You have to be."

"I'm not. Morgana is more powerful than ever now. She raised the dead, but not just here in Arcadia," Claire says to them. She picks up her shadowstaff from the ground, remembering everything she just saw from the shadow realm. "She raised the dead across the entire world."

Notes:

next chapter will resume the shenanigans with the main characters, and also we'll pick back up with Aja and Krel at long last!

Chapter 5: Three Below

Summary:

After learning new information, Jim, Claire, and Toby attempt to keep things under control within the school. Three individuals' shared secret comes to light. Steve sneaks away on a personal mission.

A crow caws while flying over a run down Arcadia Oaks junkyard. Its wings are as dark as the night sky surrounding it. Below it, a few zombies mill about, unaware of any meal within close vicinity. Inside the junkyard, though, the body of a deceased alien creature lies still and undisturbed, arms crossed over his chest.

Amidst the dense forests in Arcadia, three glowing blue figures fight back against three other alien figures, among them the deceased alien. He pounces onto the big one with the largest weapon, while his companions scuffle with the other two blue aliens, both of whom have four arms.

"You do not hurt them!" the big one pinned beneath him shouts. "Varvatos protects the Tarron family!"

In one swift motion, he smacks him off of his body, and without missing a beat, stands and charges him with his glowing blaster weapon.

"With his life!"

The shot rings out through the trees. A blinding flash of blue strikes the offending alien in the chest. He falls flat on his back, and within seconds, his vision blurs and goes out completely. Dead.

Zeron Alpha and Zeron Omega stand over their fallen brother, Zeron Beta. Alpha kneels down beside him, and slowly scans the corpse with an orange ray. His body, now glowing in the orange color, rises into the sky.

"You fought with valor, brother," Alpha says, both he and Omega watching him ascend.

When the body stops, Alpha aims the same circular blaster up at him and fires again. The blast hits the body, and this time, the impact dissolves him completely, morphing from a corpse to several soft orange embers, almost looking like stars floating in the sky.

"Become one with the universe, and be at peace. You did not die in vain."

Omega lowers her head in silence. When the air clears up enough, both of them turn and begin walking away.

"And your death will be avenged."

 

Inside a dimly lit classroom, a sweaty, sickly Logan rolls onto his back, having just unloaded his stomach contents into a bucket; again. Beside him, Seamus is knelt with a glass of water in one hand, and his other hand empty, now reaching behind the boy to help him lift his head. He brings the water to his lips, and with the aid of the hand keeping his head from rolling back, Logan drinks.

"Good?" Seamus asks after a few seconds, earning a silent nod from his friend. He retracts the water and sets it on one of the student desks nearby.

Logan coughs violently a few times, and stares at his own hands, which tremble as he examines them, their appearance matching that of the rest of his body: pale and ashy. "I feel like--"

"You're going to be fine."

Logan attempts a laugh, but all it gets him is searing pain in his temples and stomach. "What, I'm not allowed to say how I'm feelin' anymore?"

"Not if you're talking like you're not going to be around for much longer."

Logan's next breath in comes in the form of a wheeze. "You heard Pepperjack. You get bit, you d--" his words are cut off by violent coughing. Seamus grasps his hand and helps him sit up straight. Once the fit passes, Logan looks him in the eyes. "You die."

"Come on, you can't seriously believe what he's been babbling about?"

"If it's not true, why else am I barely able to move after that girl took a chunk out of my arm?"

"You can't just give up like this!"

Despite his pain, Logan manages a smile. A familiar, teasing smile, one Seamus recognizes. It's enough to make his shoulders untense and face relax.

"You sure care an awful lot. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were in love with me."

Seamus only lasts a second before a small chuckle breaks down his wall. "We broke up months ago, idiot."

"We did? Huh, must've slipped my mind," Logan quips back, the smile clear in his voice when Seamus looks away, up at the blinds covering the windows.

They stare back at each other. The air is silent. Not tense, rather more calm. Seamus breaks their shared longing gaze so he can reach up for the glass of water and set it down beside him. When he does, he also leans in closer to him.

"You're going to be just fine. I won't let you give up on yourself so quickly. We're gonna get you medicine, and everything will be okay."

Logan's eyes simply gravitate to the ground. Seamus responds to this by leaning in further and planting a small kiss on his cheek. Just a peck. Following that, he pushes himself up to his feet.

"I'd better get back. Uhl said that any of your visitors shouldn't stay for too long. Not that I want to follow his rule, but--"

"I get it. I'll see you later, yeah?"

"For sure. Oh, miss Judy will be bringing you some lunch later."

"God, please not chicken surprise."

Seamus laughs, a genuine one. "Anything but chicken surprise."

 

Darci stands over an in-progress hole in the ground. The body of Alice lies beside her feet. The shovel in her hands stabs into the soft dirt of the soccer field, again and again. Slowly, the pile of displaced earth grows taller and wider, while her hands continue to move, almost on autopilot. Toby, walking past the windows that look out to the field, spots her. He does a double take following his first casual glance in her direction. He pops his head out of the door, but not before darting his eyes back and forth warily. The school had no fencing around the outdoor areas, meaning anything that wanted in, could get in.

"Hey, Darc," he starts, voice low while he tiptoes toward her, "what're you doin'?"

Darci doesn't stop her digging. "What does it look like? I'm burying Alice."

Toby once again looks over his shoulder. "Is that really the best idea? Right now, at least."

"What else should I be doing? I'm stuck here, no service, no vehicle, and I can't get to my dad."

"All I'm saying is it's dangerous to be out here by yourself--"

Darci thrusts the shovel into the half dug hole, impaling it in the firmer, unearthed dirt. Her brow is sweaty, and her face is stern. Toby stops talking, prompting her to heave out a sigh.

"She died. One of those monsters--"

"Zombies."

"Yeah, those. They tore open her neck, and she bled out on the floor of the gym, then turned into one all in front of our eyes. Even after that, she got her head stomped to oblivion after taking a chunk out of someone else!" she rants, hands flying in the air the longer she speaks. "And then her body is just thrown out here, like nothing? She was our classmate, she was a person. Why are we pretending that this is normal?"

Toby opens his mouth to speak, but doesn't. Anything he could say would require context that she, and anyone that wasn't himself, Jim, or Claire, did not have. So he remains silent, save for a quiet murmur. "It's not."

"I'm sorry I raised my voice. I'm not angry at you, I'm not angry at all, I just--" Darci cuts herself off, instead focusing back on the shovel, which she yanks out of the ground and starts lengthening the in-progress grave. "You don't have to help if you don't want to, but I'm doing this either way. Everyone deserves a proper burial when they die. Just 'cause the dead are walking doesn't mean we have to stop treating people like people."

He lets her words sink in, watching her dig in the meantime. A few more reps pass before he walks up to her, hand outstretched. "Let me take a swing at it."

"I told you you didn't have to."

"I want to. You're my girlfriend. Plus you deserve a rest."

Darci smiles in return, handing off the shovel to him and walking to the tree a few feet away to stand in some shade. Toby resumes where she left off, making the hole deeper. His eyes wander, until they become transfixed back on Alice. In his mind's eye, he remembers watching her collapse on the gym floor. How Coach Lawrence and Claire tried to save her, how she turned into one of the zombies so unbelievably fast.

"Hey, Tobes?"

The voice of Jim catches him off guard. He looks up to see Jim and Claire both poking their heads out of the side door.

"S'up, Jimbo."

"We gotta talk to you."

He sighs, eyes trailing over to Darci, who approaches and holds out a hand. "It's fine. Thanks for your help, TP."

"I still don't like that that caught on."

"Guess it's something you'll have to live with," Darci chuckles, and pecks him on the cheek. He giggles in response, letting her take the shovel from his hands. When she moves off, Toby sets his sights back on his other two friends.

"So, what is it, then?"

"It's about our current situation," Jim says.

"The Morgana situation," Claire clarifies.

Toby's face becomes serious and rigid, and he follows both of them inside when they beckon for him to come along. The three of them turn down one of the back hallways, away from where any students are.

"If things get any worse, I think I just might cry."

 

The same two four-armed blue creatures from before now run through a large expanse; a palace. They're accompanied by a much taller individual, just as neon glowing blue as them, with two scythes as a weapon.

"Zadra, we need to hurry!" the one with blue hair spiked upwards exclaims.

The three stop as the main doors burst open, and in runs the bulky figure from before as well, followed by two more lumbering blue individuals. The two children's faces light up, and they rush to meet them.

"Mama, Papa!" they both cry, their four arms wrapping around each one.

"It's okay, we're together again. As a family," their father assures them, then both stand upright once more. "We must hurry. The mothership is waiting--"

A loud crash diverts everyone's attention to the large window, now smashed out. A burning red platform extends through it, and another alien figure descends along it as it eventually reaches the ground, several yards behind them. General Morando.

"Go, go now!"

The two adults push everyone in front of them, and the six take off in a run. Both of them lag behind the others, pulling out their weapons to hold at their sides. Morando finishes his descent onto the main floor. Dozens of sleek black robots, all with a piercing red beam within their heads, fall in line behind him. He throws a hand into the air and shouts.

"Fialkov!"

The two royals stop and turn to face him. Further ahead, the two children and the royal guards do the same, watching in fear. Morando keeps his arm raised, hand up and fingers splayed like he's just giving a casual greeting. Fialkov and Coranda turn to each other, then back at their children.

"Stand down," Coranda's voice echoes throughout the palace, "you, Val Morando, are a traitor."

"Am I? Because the way I see it, those who don't stand with me are the traitors."

His hand remains airborne. Coranda looks back, and locks eyes with her daughter.

The girl's lip quivers. "Mama, Papa--"

"Stay back, Aja," she tells her, voice hushed.

The air is quiet. The dozens of automated soldiers behind Morando whir and remain stationary. Their red beams get brighter, charging up. Before either one of the royals realizes, Morando's hand clenches into a fist.

"Fire."

Every single one of them holds their arms out parallel and obeys the command. In an instant, both of them have their shields up. Varvatos is up and running in their direction only a second later, screaming. The onslaught doesn't cease, instead it only gets worse. Screams from Aja and Krel are drowned out by the ionic energy blasts. Zadra has to use all of her strength to hold both children back.

The royals are continuously pushed back by each blast that hits their shields, again and again, unable to return fire as Varvatos desperately rushes up from behind. Among the many shots being fired, one slips through the shield piercing Fialkov's chest. He's down on his back in seconds. Coranda only lasts a fleeting moment longer, before her stamina breaks at the sight of her husband falling, and soon enough she's lying beside him, a blast to her chest.

It's finally then that Varvatos reaches the two, using his serrator to enable a massive shield wall, protecting all of them from further enemy fire. He kneels down and cradles the king's body in his arms.

"My king, my queen," his voice in one of despair.

Fialkov weakly looks up at him. Beside the two men, Coranda's body begins to dissipate, slowly turning into what look like glitching blue pixels that fleet away into the air.

"Varvatos," the king quietly speaks, "will you stand by my side one last time?"

"I will."

"Protect our children," he continues, his own body beginning to disappear, nearly catching up with the unconscious Coranda, "with your life if necessary."

And then he's gone, both Fialkov and Coranda's bodies disappear fully, leaving behind nothing but two crystalized blue objects that emit a faint glow; their life cores. Varvatos scoops them into his massive hands and stares down at them in silence, wearing a face of pure grief. Morando approaches the impenetrable wall and bangs his fists on it.

"Vex, lower the shield," he says, voice stern and commanding. Varvatos doesn't even turn to look at him. Instead, the beefy extraterrestrial scoops up the two cores and makes a beeline back to the surviving members of the royal family. This earns a furious bang from Morando. "Vex!"

"We need to hurry!" Vex cries as he runs with the royal life cores in his hands, body hunched over to protect them. He reaches the remaining three, and the serrator shield blocking the angered dictator drops.

Aja and Krel take this opportunity, blinded with grief, to likewise pull out their own serrators and fire wildly into the crowd of soldiers, both living and robot alike. Several of their own shots strike down the enemy as Varvatos pulls up a holographic menu from the white circular platform where the four are standing. He presses the biggest button on it, and seconds later, the white platform suddenly begins to rise.

Morando and the soldiers fire in their direction, but they're too late as it continues to rise. Zadra peeks over the edge, and sees more and more of Morando's forced pour into the palace. She clenches her hands around her double edged scythe, and slowly moves toward the edge of the platform.

"Get them to the mothership," she starts to say, earning confused looks from the other three. By the time they realize what she's doing, it's too late, "keep them safe!"

Without hesitation, Zadra allows herself to dive straight down off the side of the platform, back down towards Morando and his army. Aja reaches out for her, only for Krel to grab her shoulder to hold her back.

"No, Zadra!" Varvatos' cry echoes out, until the platform rises fully, the three of them disappearing into the mothership's hangar, leaving Zadra behind.

"Aja. Aja, wake up."

The young girl snaps awake, sucking in a sharp gasp. Her brother recoils at the action, then smooths out the wrinkles in his shirt. Aja rubs her head, wincing with pain.

"What happened?"

"You fell down and hit your head when we got pulled inside," Krel explains.

A loud crash alerts the both of them to the back of the building they currently are inside of. A short man with a rounded belly, some stubble, and wearing only a t-shirt and bathrobe, pokes his head out. "Yeah, that was my fault. Sorry, queen-in-waiting."

Aja's mood instantly changes from dazed and confused to overjoyed. "Stuart! You were the one who saved us?"

Stuart walks out from the back, and is nearly tackled when Aja is suddenly on her feet and wrapping her arms around him. The informally dressed man lets out a quiet groan of surprise, but smiles all the same.

"I'm glad you're okay."

"Aww, shucks," Stuart giggles, then clears his throat, "But yeah, I saw the three of you fighting those undead outside my shop. Figured instead of letting the king and queen-in-waiting of House Tarron get eaten alive, I'd help you out."

From the back of the shop, Strickler walks out, carrying a box of tech parts. His gaze softens upon seeing Aja. "Ah, she's awake. Glad to have you with us again."

Aja responds with a small nod, her attention then falling on the box. "What are those parts for?"

Strickler chuckles dryly. "Ask your brother."

Walking over, Krel slides the box further down the workbench, where the space is already clear, save for other half used tech stuff. He looks back up at his sister and extends his hand in her direction. "Give me your serrator."

"Why?"

"Because I'm fitting them with portable transduction effects. We absolutely cannot go back and forth to Mother every twelve horvaths to renew them, so this is our solution."

She hands over her serrator, which prompts Krel to immediately get back to work. Stuart stands beside her, hands clasped together, bouncing on his heels. "Oh, it's an honor to watch the future king of Akiridion-5 work on his latest technological project!"

Aja raises an eyebrow at him, but says nothing, instead shakes her head and brushes it off.

"I don't mean to interrupt," Strickler suddenly speaks from his spot behind Krel, "but what exactly are you two? King, queen, serrator, transduction, and what on Earth is a horvath?"

The metal tool in Krel's hand clatters onto the workbench. He and Aja look at each other. Krel shakes his head, earning a silent, exasperated head tilt from Aja. He does it again, emphasis on each shake to get his point across. Aja huffs and crosses her arms, staying silent.

"We are--"

"Ugh, I told you, we can't tell anyone!" Krel blurts out, his raised voice instantly beating out hers. "We can't just tell our secret to every person we run into."

Ignoring him, Aja simply continues. "I am Aja Tarron, and that is my little brother, Krel. And we are the royal heirs to the throne of House Tarron, on our home planet, Akiridion-5."

Krel groans, loud and long, putting his head down on the table.

"We crashed here on Earth, with our royal guard, Varvatos Vex, and we had to assume human forms in order to properly blend in. An evil man, General Morando, stole our throne and killed our parents, which is why we were forced to flee our home. Earth was a nice place for us to stay while we wait for our parents to return from stasis. Well, before those zom-bees showed up."

A tense silence fills the electronics shop. Strickler's eyes remain on the girl, his expression unreadable. Krel finally pulls his head up, his own expression one of pure exasperation and annoyance. Finally, the older man leans forward, holding up a hand. "So, you mean to tell me that you two are aliens from another planet?"

There's a low grumble from Krel, who grits his teeth. Aja chuckles awkwardly. "We don't like the word 'alien' that much, but yes. We are Akiridions."

"Ah, apologies," he smiles with his eyes closed, and holds a hand out in Krel's direction, "I meant no offense, of course. I, too, have some words that I'd much rather not have used on me."

Krel himself stands up straight, an eyebrow raised. "You don't seem surprised that we're not humans."

"Yeah," Aja agrees, with her eyes going narrow in his direction. Then, all of a sudden, she closes her eyes, focuses, and allows her body to glow. Her human transduction fades, and in it's place, she stands in her true form, much to Krel's displeasure. He looks at her in disbelief as she does a small turn around, then smiles at the unsurprised man, "this does not come as a shock?"

Strickler only chuckles, as if it were nothing. "This town is not as normal as you think. A lot of us have secrets of our own." As he says this, his eyes glow a deep yellow. Stuart does a frightened little yelp, his hands reaching up to cover his mouth. He takes it a step further, his own body glowing brighter, until once the light fades, a completely different figure stands there; a green skinned troll-like creature, with sharp horns and teeth. Krel's mouth drops open, the poor boy so surprised, that his human transduction fades as well, revealing his own true form, identical colors to his sister, only his electric blue hair spikes upwards while Aja's flows down.

"Seklos and Gaylen," the flabbergasted boy says. Strickler responds by repeating the process, and in another instant, is back to his smartly dressed human form. Aja looks just as in shock as her brother, the two of them locking eyes and almost jumping up and down.

"I'm what's known as a changeling. Beings switched with our human familiars at their birth, free to change between forms at our will."

The siblings' faces both turn into interested grins, and they shout in unison. "Klebtastic!"

"I'm an alien, too," Stuart raises a hand and says, "you know, in case you. Err, you wanted to know. We're all cool non-human beings, hooray!"

The three of them wait until he goes quiet, then Krel looks down at his body. "Ugh, great. We transformed back, when our whole reason for leaving school was to renew our transductions! This feature better work, or we're in a lot of trouble."

"What do you mean? If it doesn't, then we just go back to Mother and do it again," Aja says in an obvious tone, although the looks of everyone else don't instill confidence.

Strickler approaches her, faintly distressed. "I think you're going to have more trouble with that than you think."

And then she finally hears them. The moans, the groans coming from outside. Dozens of zombies are lined up outside the shop's entrance, well aware of the four beings trapped inside. Several silhouettes line the shadowed front windows. Lucky for them, they aren't proper see-through windows, and the door glass now also reflects that. Aja flinches at the way the undead humans sound, making their aggressive noises, banging on the doors and windows, even stumbling and tripping over one another, only causing more of a ruckus. They were well and truly stuck.

"Kleb."

 

A door to another empty classroom swings open. Jim, Claire, and Toby file inside, the latter of whom slowly closing the door behind them. Jim sets to work around the room to clear an open space in the middle of the room, while Claire pulls out her shadowstaff. Toby stands on his tiptoes, in order to peek out the door's window.

"Are we sure that this is a good idea? I mean, what if something happens while we're gone?" he asks.

Jim grunts as he finally pushes the last desk out of the way. "Everything'll be fine, Tobes, don't worry."

"But these people know nothing about zombie rules, Jimbo. Logan is on his way out anytime now. Somebody has to be watching over him."

Claire extends her staff to its full length, while Jim pats himself down until he fishes the amulet from his pocket. She turns behind her to stare at Toby, who is still by the door, eyes darting between his friends and the exit.

"If you want to stay, we won't stop you," Claire says, "but we could really use your warhammer just in case. Besides, you want to check on your Nana, right?"

The mention of his Nana makes Toby's shoulders tense. He squeezes his entire face, concentrating deep in his mind, while also looking like he's trying to go to the bathroom. At last, he unclenches with a large exhale. "Okay, fine. But we need to make it quick."

"Quick is good," Jim agrees with a small nod, "last thing I want is to come face to face with one of those undead freaks again."

"Ugh," Toby shivers, "they're even grosser than in the movies."

"Enough talk, you two," Claire cuts in with an eye roll, "let's go." She closes her eyes, and in seconds, the staff in her hands changes from its light color to the shadowy purple and dark grey. With the weapon prepared, she aims it forward and fires. An identical black and purple portal swirls in front of them, big enough for all three at once.

She turns her head to Jim, then Toby. Both boys nod to her in unison. With their decision unanimous, the three of them carefully approach the portal and step through it, Toby being the final one through, thus allowing it to close behind him and leave the classroom in dark silence.

 

Elsewhere within the school, Coach Lawrence sits in a comically tiny chair beside the main-side entrance to the school. The double doors are locked and shut tight, everything completely silent on the other end. The man is almost nodding off to sleep in his chair, when a faint clatter from behind the door springs him back to his senses. He stands up, and slowly approaches the doors. His eyes squint, trying to peer through the slim windows on each door. Far away from the school, he sees a few zombies stumbling around in the street.

"Let me in!"

A shrill scream erupts out of Coach Lawrence's mouth. Another man slams his hand on the glass from the other side of the door. An older man with a heavy build and white hair; Mr. Johnson. Coach Lawrence screams again, and nearly loses his little red hat.

"Don't just stand there, open the door!" the man outside continues to yell at the top of his lungs. His voice is quick, clearly trying to come off stern, but the fear is obvious. Behind the man, Coach Lawrence's eyes fall on the small crowd of zombies now heading towards the building.

"Sir-- Sir, hey, you have to be quiet! You have to stop yelling, or else those weird creepy things are going to-- Sir!" he begins shouting at him. Unfortunately, the irate, fearful man isn't listening, instead continuing to pound the door and make all sorts of noise. So much noise, that behind Coach Lawrence, Uhl, Janeth, Steve, and a bunch of other students come running up.

"Dad-- Coach, is something wrong?" Steve asks, hand on the bent over man's shoulder.

He pants, unable to speak after exhausting his breath from yelling at the man outside. Instead, he points, which directs everyone's attention to Mr. Johnson, still screaming "let me in" over and over.

"Those screams are gonna draw so many zombies," Eli panics, "sound draws them, remember? We have to let him inside."

Darci crosses her arms and grimaces. "Seriously? That's Seamus' dad, A.K.A, the biggest piece of work in this town."

"Agh, forget it, I'm opening the ding dang door," Coach Lawrence groans. He swats the air at the bickering students and rushes the door. Quickly flipping the locks, he pushes one door open. Mr. Johnson forces it open even further, which nearly knocks him down on his rear. Zombies outside the door notice the commotion. As Steve hurriedly helps Coach regain his balance, one of the undead sticks its head through the door.

Steve lets out one of his trademark high pitched shrieks. Acting quick, Uhl runs up to the still open door as more students begin to panic and scream. He punches the zombie directly in its jaw. The weak creature sprawls backwards on the ground, and with the coast clear, the Austrian teacher pulls the door shut once more, using just one hand to click both locks back into the locked position.

"Would anyone like to tell me what in the hallway heck is going on here?" he asks, his voice stern.

Coach Lawrence clears his throat and stands up straight. "I was just watching the exit, making sure things were secure, when this yahoo scares the burritos out of me! He starts yelling at me to open the door and making a whole bunch of noise."

"I wouldn't have had to yell if you had just opened the door in the first place," comes the snide retort from Mr. Johnson, who steps toward the coach.

His path gets blocked by Señor Uhl, who moves his body in front of Lawrence. "What business do you have showing up here like this?"

Mr. Johnson lets out a bitter chuckle. "Is that a serious question? My son, of course."

As if on cue, Seamus pushes his way past the other kids watching the scene unfold. His eyes widen and whole body tenses up at the sight of the individual in front of him. "Dad?"

The man's entire face shifts. He turns and locks eyes on his son and rushes towards him. Seamus backpedals, but not in time enough to avoid his father grabbing him by the arm. Try as he might, he can't pull himself away.

"I called you at least a dozen times. Why do I even pay for your phone if you're not going to answer it?"

Seamus' throat is dry, and he fumbles for words. "I-- I didn't even know you were calling, I-- Dad, all the cell service is going down, they didn't come through."

"Didn't come through?" he mocks. "Well then, let's see how well your ticket to space camp 'comes through', why don't we?"

Finally, he pulls away, with the aid of Miss Janeth putting an arm around the boy. Seamus' eyes are glossy, but no visible emotion is on his face. The teacher glares hard. "Mr. Johnson, that is quite enough. Please go to the auditorium, we'll be there to talk to you shortly."

Behind the adults and gawking students, Steve slowly backs through the crowd until he's all the way through. At the same time that Mr. Johnson scoffs and storms off down the hall, he turns and begins speed walking in another direction, nobody noticing. Well, nobody except for Eli. The shorter boy just barely catches a glimpse of Steve's slick blond hair disappearing around the corner at the end of the hall. Unseen by anyone once again, he slips away, too.

"Everyone, please go back to what you were doing. The show is over," Uhl says, addressing the nosy students. Slowly, the crowd disperses, and the frustrated interim principal faces the remaining three faculty members.

"So, uh, what now?" Coach Lawrence asks with a shrug.

"All of you, come to my office. We should discuss this properly."

Down the hall, Steve continues alone until he reaches the back exit of the school. Peeking out of the small window through the door, he's unable to see any undead, much to his relief.

"What are you doing?"

Steve screams and jumps a solid five feet in the air. Eli stands right behind him, a suspicious brow raised. His taller friend rubs the back of his head and avoids eye contact. "Oh! Nothing, I was just, y'know, taking a walk."

"To the back door?" Eli's questioning tone only gets higher, as does the raised eyebrow. Steve sweats where he stands, his friend's piercing gaze wearing him down more and more.

"Okay, fine," he whines at last, "I'm leaving. Just for a bit."

"Leaving?" the shock in Eli's voice almost makes him feel guilty. "What for?"

"I have to go see my mom. I haven't been able to call her, and I'm getting worried that something might've happened."

The accusatory stance Eli is in immediately softens. His shoulders relax, and Steve's seem to mirror, feeling more relieved following the confession. The only response he can muster is a small "Oh."

"Yeah," Steve says with a nod, "don't try to talk me out of it either. I'm going whether you try to stop me or not."

"I won't. I want to come with you."

Steve had turned around to walk out of the door, only to whirl back to face him, shocked. "Huh?"

"I'm coming with you. We're the Creepslayerz, we don't ever let one of us go off alone. It's in the oath!"

"What oath?"

"I'm working on it," Eli fires back defensively, hands raised.

"Whatever, cheese slice, if you're coming, you're coming. I've got a spare helmet on my vespa that you can wear."

"Thanks-- Waaah!" Eli is whisked by his wrist out the door. With no one around to see them, Steve and Eli sprint madly towards the school's back lot, where Steve's bright blue vespa is parked, two helmets adorned on its handlebars. They each don one, and with Eli wrapping his arms around Steve's waist, he kicks the vespa into gear, quickly zooming out of the lot and down the desolate road, leaving the school behind.

 

Raina Palchuk-Lawrence walks into the living room of her family's home, a basket of unfolded clean laundry in her hands. The road outside is oddly quiet at this time of day, much to her confusion. Usually there's cars zooming by every passing second. Instead, nothing. Complete silence, save for the occasional faint call of Arcadia's not-so-diverse wildlife.

She sits down on the couch with a sigh, mentally preparing herself for at least an hour of laundry folding. Only a few articles of clothing in, a faint thump from somewhere outside causes her head to jerk up. Everything goes quiet again, but now the atmosphere is off. Something's up. Raina slowly stands, leaving behind the rest of the laundry.

"Steve, is that you?" she calls out while she begins to approach her front door. "Hon?"

There's no reply. Instead, what sounds like shuffling coming from the front porch fills the void of silence. Raina's heart pounds faster, she can hear it in her ears. The woman contemplates going for a weapon, but if it were an intruder, she wouldn't have enough time. A shaky breath escapes her lips.

"If this is you playing games, Steve, I swear you're gonna be grounded till you graduate from college!" she shouts, and yet still no reply, but the eerie shuffling sound is still present. In fact, it's closer now.

Raina is directly in front of the door now. Her hand is slowly making its way to the knob, but her body is still pulled back just slightly, still with the inkling that she should grab a weapon. But she doesn't go. All of a sudden, the sound stops. Just as quickly it had started, it left. Her entire body relaxes when it doesn't come back. Her hand remains on the doorknob, though. The tiniest thought in her mind tells her she should check outside anyway. After all, what if it was more raccoons digging through her trash bins? Even if it were something worse, its gone now. Raina reassures her own mental logic with a nod.

She opens the door.

 

A shadow portal swirls open in the middle of Jim's living room. He jumps out first, now donning his Trollhunter armor and brandishing his sword. Claire pops out next, staff at the ready. Lastly comes Toby, who extends his warhammer. The three's fighting positioned slacken as soon as they take in the peaceful silence in the house.

"That's weird," Claire mutters.

"Mom?" Jim cups his hands and calls out. No reply.

"Ms. Nomura? Merle?" Toby adds on, then freezes in place. "I mean Merlin! I totally did not  just call you Merle, please don't turn me into a cockroach."

The glowing sword in Jim's hand disappears, and he does a slow spin, surveying the room. "Let's split up. I'll take upstairs, Claire you've got down here, and Tobes, you take the basement."

Toby's eyes bulge out of his head. "The basement?" he asks incredulously, only his two friends have already walked away. He gulps and does the same in the direction of the basement. Heading upstairs, Jim's heavy armored footsteps shake the steps slightly. At the top, he busts open the bathroom door. He didn't think anyone would be in there, but it never hurts to check every room.

Another quick peek into his own room proves just as useless, as it's just as empty as he'd left it that morning. That only leaves his mother's own bedroom. A little bit of fear strikes through Jim's chest. What if she'd come home and something happened? His hand lingers on the doorknob for longer than he likes, and so, pushing those thoughts away just for a second, he swings open the door, sword out. Nothing. The room is empty, just like the others. Jim peers out of her window, face fallen. Although he finds himself exhaling smoothly. Her not being here means, at the very least, she's alive somewhere else.

Downstairs, Toby stands frozen at the descending wooden staircase into Jim's basement. His warhammer is activated in his hands, but he still can't bring his feet to move. Toby squeezes his eyes shut tight.

"Be brave, Tobes, you're brave. Jim says you're brave, you can be brave. So stop saying brave and just go."

The first step creaks when he finally steps down onto it. The sound echoes down the steps, making Toby briefly pause to look around. Once the sound is gone, he continues and does his best to ignore each consecutive creak. Finally at the bottom, he hops down off the steps and looks around. Several paintings lie around. One of Strickler in his changeling form, one of Trollmarket's late leader, Vendel, one of their dearly departed friend Blinky, and one of Jim in his daylight armor.

"Dr. L?" Toby meekly calls out. "If you and the other magic dudes are down here, please say something. I don't want to get sliced in half. Ms. Nomura doesn't like me very much."

Out of the basement, Claire pokes through the kitchen. She'd brought along a bag, and is currently rummaging Jim's pantry, stuffing in every good food item she can find. Finding the rest of the cupboards empty, she shuts them and moves over to the back door. In Jim's backyard there's also nothing. Hardly any evidence that a master wizard and a changeling had even been in the house.

A scream from the basement rips through the air. In an instant, Jim fumbles down the stairs and runs straight into Claire. The two practically push each other into the basement to find Toby, standing in the corner and pointing across the floor.

"What's wrong?" they both shout at the same time.

"I saw-- I saw-- a rat!"

Both of their faces immediately drop to that of annoyance. Jim reaches over and yanks Toby along after him back up the stairs.

"So, no one's here. Not even Merlin," Claire recaps for them.

"She's either still at the hospital, or out there with Merlin somewhere," Jim says with such a surefire tone.

"You okay?"

"I know she's not gone. We'll find her soon. But right now, it's time to head to Tobes' house," he says, then turns to Toby himself, "you ready?"

Toby nods. "Yeah. I hope my Nana's fine, though. Sometimes she can be very forgetful."

The three of them creep out onto Jim's front porch. Down the front walk, they all spot the unmoving corpse of a zombie. Running over to it, they surround the body, with Toby giving it a little nudge.

"Who do you think did this? Its head is, like, caved in or something," Claire notes.

Toby snaps his fingers and puts his hands on his hips. "Yep. This was Nana with her shovel. I told her not to go outside!" And all of sudden, Toby runs across the culdesac to his front door, his friends chasing after. 

He bursts inside, the door being unlocked. "Nana! Are you alright?"

The living room is empty, as the three of them see once they're all inside. A plate of cookies is on the coffee table, although it's still full, untouched by anyone. Toby bursts through the door to the kitchen, and yet another scream escapes him. Jim and Claire follow him in and have an equal reaction.

"Holy fudgeknuckle, is that--?"

"Dictatious," Jim finishes. The solid stone body of Blinky's brother lies in the middle of the kitchen, face frozen as one of terror, eyes lifeless and gone. He's only stone now. Jim closes his eyes, and the echo of the reformed troll's screams sound through his head, how he may have sounded when turning to stone.

"At least he and Blinky are together?" Claire wonders. An optimistic take never hurt.

"Morgana really got all of them, didn't she?" Toby asks aloud. "I wonder if she got-- oh, no. No no no no."

Before either of the others can stop him, Toby is gone, his footsteps carrying him up the stairs an straight into his room. At first glance it appears empty. The only noticeable thing in the room is an oversized bright pink dollhouse.

"Chompsky!"

One of the windows to the dollhouse pops open, and a tiny little gnome with a red hat sticks his body out of it. "Huh?"

Relief washes over Toby, and he kneels down in front of the plastic house. "Chompsky, buddy! Thank goodness you're okay."

Chompsky makes several annoyed chattering sounds, gesturing to the pink Sally-Go-Back doll sitting on the couch behind him. Toby nods, seeming to understand him as the gnome continues to ramble unintelligibly.

"Oh, I see, you two were in the middle of a little romantic time. My apologies, Romeo," he chuckles.

Chompsky nods along with Toby, then shoots a quick blowing kiss to the inanimate action figure he believes to be his girlfriend. This prompts Toby to scoop the gnome out of the house and into his hands.

"Look, something bad is going on in Arcadia. Well, the entire freaking world this time, but that's not important. I need you to stay inside the house at all times, little dude. Understand?"

The gnome processes what was just told to him, then salutes his bigger human companion. Toby smiles and sets him back down in front of the dollhouse. Chompsky scurries back inside, his gnome chatter becoming quieter once the dollhouse door shuts behind him. Satisfied, Toby stands back up, only to be met with Jim and Claire in the doorway.

"It's okay guys, Chompsky survived," he tells them with a thumbs up.

"Well that's wonderful, but your Nana's not home either, Tobes," Jim replies.

"She's probably with your mom. I may worry for Nana a lot, but she has her own history, she can definitely hold her own."

Claire whips out her staff again. "Guess it's off to my house, then. My mom's at the city council office, but everyone else should be home."

She emits another shadow portal from the staff, and all at once, the three of them hop through it. Seconds later, they find themselves ejected into the middle of Claire's bedroom. Her room is neatly organized, still tidy how she left it. Ironically, this raises an eyebrow on her.

"That's odd, usually NotEnrique's trashed my room looking for my dirty socks by now," she mutters, "something's off."

While Jim peeks out the window to survey the empty street, Claire heads for the door, which is also still shut. Usually it was open from NotEnrique's sock hunt. Throwing it open, she bolts into the hall and for the staircase.

"Claire, slow down!" Toby calls after her. "Jeez, is this what I looked like?"

"Dad? NotEnrique? What--" she stops dead in her tracks once she'd fully descended the steps. "--happened."

The sight of the main floor leaves her stunned in silence, as are Jim and Toby once they join her at the foot of the stairs. Things are strewn about on the floor of the kitchen, framed photos and broken glass lie on the floor, the bookshelf is tipped over in the living room, and there's a body underneath it. Screaming, Claire rushes to its side and cradles the head. Jim and Toby assist by heaving up the bookshelf back into its upright position. Now Claire has free range to move the body, so she rolls it onto its back.

Her anxiety lowers substantially as soon as she sees the corpse's face, and she backs away at the dark, dried blood all over it from the stab wound to the head.

"It's Mr. Hammes," she mumbles, a hand on her chest. It's not her father.

Toby tilts his head from behind her. "You mean the dude that your mom creamed in the election?"

His comment is met with neutral looks from the others, which makes him shrug sheepishly. Shaking her head, Claire returns her focus to the matter at hand. "What's his body doing in here? How did he get inside my house? Where's my family?"

She backs away, hands rising up her face and to her head. Jim reaches out and places a hand on her shoulder. "Claire--"

"Dad!" she yells out all of a sudden. Jim tries to stop her, but he's not quick enough, and she runs out onto her front porch. "Dad!"

Following her out, Jim's eyes fall on the driveway. The empty driveway. Toby hurries out and grabs Claire by her arms.

"Hey, you can't be shouting like that. Noise draws zombies, you know."

"I have bigger things to worry about than stupid zombies right now!" Claire snaps.

"Claire, look," Jim interrupts, "look at the driveway."

"There's nothing there."

"Exactly. Your dad's car is gone."

Claire's expression changes to one of realization. "He left the house with my brothers. They're okay."

At last, the young girl's breathing slows down back to a calm level. Jim's arms slip around her into an embrace, which she graciously returns. Toby peeks back inside at the deceased form of her neighbor lying in the middle of her living room.

"So are we gonna do anything about that guy, or..."

"Just leave him," Claire says with a small head shake, "it's not like we'll be back here anytime soon, likely."

He nods, then kicks at a small pebble at his feet. "Man, this side mission was a bust. We didn't even find any of our families. The whole city is like a ghost town."

"But we know they're not dead," Jim interjects with a hint of optimism, "but we can't afford to go searching for them all over town, portalling too much would wear Claire out. I say we jump back to the school, we shouldn't be away for too long."

"Let's take as much food as possible back with us. Last thing we need is to run out while we're there. Think you can handle raiding my cupboards, TP?"

"You got it, Nuñez," Toby says, with an addition of confident finger guns to punctuate his claim. The three of them head back inside the house and shut the front door, just so nothing could surprise them. The caution never hurt.

 

Inside Stuart electronics, Aja paces back and forth. Behind the workbench, Krel continues to fiddle with both of their serrators. Stuart watches him intently, eyes sparkling and practically breathing down the teen's neck. Strickler, meanwhile, sits on the stepladder off to the side and sharpens his golden dagger. The deafening silence in the room grows too much for her, so she blurts out.

"How's it coming, Krel?"

"Still working," the boy replies, sing-song and agitated, "it would go by faster if you would let me work in peace." As he says this, he also turns to face Stuart. The second he makes eye contact, the man darts his head in another direction and starts whistling idly. Krel rolls his eyes and simply focuses back down on his project.

Aja looks back at the covered windows. Shadowed hands continue clawing at the glass. She growls, and storms up to Krel. He recoils out of surprise when she then stick her open hand in his face. "Give me my serrator."

"What are you doing--"

"Those things are going to break in here if we just keep sitting here like larvoxes. We have to do something."

"I'm not finished yet. If you take your serrator now, the whole thing could break," Krel grumbles, "you need to trust me, Aja."

"I do trust you, little brother, but we're vulnerable like this. Mama and Papa always said--"

"Mama and Papa are not here right now!"

The words stun Aja back into silence. Her brother's scowl quickly softens into a regretful gaze. "I'm sorry, I did not mean to yell."

"It's alright. I was getting carried away," she admits softly. Aja walks back over by the windows, "what was I thinking? If we opened that door, we'd all be reduced to flexol."

No sooner did she say that, a splatter of dark red blood splatters onto the window. Stuart exclaims in shock, while Strickler stands to attention. Aja presses closer to the glass. Faintly, she makes out a large silhouette outside. Kicking, punching, grunting, yelling, all while stabbing and slicing zombie after zombie down to bits.

"Is somebody out there?" he asks incredulously.

Aja merely smiles in response. Those banshee screeches and battle grunts are all too familiar to her. After several more seconds, the growl of the zombies outside cease, drenching them back into silence.

"What happened?" Stuart asks while peeking from the entrance to his back room. "Where'd they go?"

The door handle jiggles, and a second later, it swings open. Aja backpedals out of reflex, while Strickler briefly readies his dagger. The light behind the figure at the door adjusts, and they walk in. Before the four of them stands Varvatos Vex, panting from his fight in the street, also having reverted to his own true Akiridion form.

"Vexy!" Stuart exclaims.

Aja launches at him and hugs his big chest. "Varvatos! I can't believe you're here, when you were gone from the house, we weren't sure what happened."

Behind the man, out pops Ricky and Lucy, the latter of whom holding a full platter of cookies.

"Hiya, kiddos!"

"Jeepers, those streets sure were crowded, must be a good day for shopping!"

Also with them is Luug, back in his Akiridion form as well. The purple extraterrestrial dog bumbles up to Aja and jumps into her arms so he can lick her face several times. She laughs and fends off his tongue, while looking back at Varvatos. Ricky shuts the door to the electronics shop while Varvatos deactivates his serrator.

"Hello, my lieges," he greets, voice low, "Varvatos could sense that you two were in a spot of trouble."

The brief conversation is interrupted by an outcry from Krel. The boy jumps up and down a few times, almost full on giggling with glee. "I've done it!" he claims. "I've done it, I've done it, I've done it!"

He lifts up his own serrator and presses a button on the inside. His body is engulfed in light, and once it's gone a second later, he's back in his human form. He presses the button again, and he's back to his Akiridion form. One final press concludes his demonstration, and he leaves himself in his human form with a confident smirk.

"What is the king-in-waiting talking about?" Varvatos asks.

Krel looks at the royal guard, smirk still on his face. "My latest stroke of pure genius. Now hand me your serrator."

 

Señor Uhl shuts the door to the principal's office behind him. In the room with him is Miss Janeth, Coach Lawrence, and Judy.

"What's the big idea, Uhl, why are we holding this impromptu staff meeting?"

"Exactly, Mr. Lawrence, what is the big idea?"

Coach Lawrence flounders, not expecting that response. When he doesn't say anything in return, Uhl doubles down.

"Why did you let that man inside the school?"

The question stuns him further. He lets out a laugh of disbelief and looks over to his other colleagues, only to be met with impartial silence from both Lenora and Judy. At last, he finds his voice. "So was I just supposed to let him die out there?"

"I understand the sentiment, but we are not responsible for every single person who wants to seek refuge in here," Uhl says, arms crossed.

"Mr. Johnson has a checkered history of not working well with others," Lenora interjects, "his treatment of certain students has not gone unnoticed."

Uhl nods. "Another good point. A man with such prejudice in his heart should not be welcomed here."

With each passing word, Coach Lawrence appears even more bewildered. Uhl's unforgiving stare remains stagnant no matter how much the other man emotes. "The guy's a tool, I'm not denying that, but if I didn't open that door, I'd be responsible for another human being's death. I can't live with something like that on my conscience."

His reply gets no direct response once again, only fueling him to continue further. "So what, do we kick him out? Are we sending him to the wolves? What about his kid, does he go, too? Probably not, and he'll just have to watch his father be sent into the wastelands."

"Calm down," Uhl gently says, "we're going to take some time to discuss it. The four of us are all that's left to be in charge around here, so obviously we should be making decisions together."

"Hmmph, might as well just do it now, since I already know where everybody else stands."

Judy shuffles awkwardly in place at the remark. "Think about our food. I'm already stretching meals for all of the students thin. If we start letting people in, that's more children that will end up hungrier each day."

"And is somebody as cruel-hearted as Mr. Johnson a presence we want here? I want what's best for these students, and his personality is the exact opposite."

Coach Lawrence takes off his little red hat to squeeze it in his big hand. "Sure, I guess this is what it's come to, weighing the pros and cons of sending someone out into some apocalypse on the streets. I'll get back to you on how I feel later."

Without much fanfare, the gym coach storms out of the office. As soon as he's gone, Uhl's tough image falls. His shoulders go slack, and he looks up at the two women still there. "Is this the right decision?"

Lenora touches the man's shoulder. "It's for the good of our students. You haven't forgotten the heinous words he spewed at Mr. Tarron, have you?"

"Of course not," he says with a definite head shake, voice almost a growl at the memories, but then his eyes go wider, "and that's another thing, we still haven't located the Tarrons."

"Surely they're here somewhere. They can't just teleport out of the building," Judy attempts to give reason.

"I promised them on their first day that I'd protect them. They've lost enough to this world, I can't let it take them, too."

The touch on his shoulder slides down his arm until it reaches his hand. "They'll turn up, I know it."

The affirmation makes the stoic man smile at the poofy haired teacher. After their stares break, Uhl glances at the clock on the wall. "It's after lunchtime."

This makes Judy perk up. "Ah, crap, I was supposed to bring Logan a meal by now. Be back in a few minutes."

She heads out of the office, for her kitchen, leaving behind the two romantically tense faculty members. Only minutes later, she's walking down a different hall, towards Logan's secluded classroom, a tray of actual good lunch food in her hands. Oddly, the light fixtures right around the corner from the hallway where the room is are out. The sporadic flickering of a couple of the lights creates an eerie atmosphere once the lunch lady enters the desolate hallway.

The door she's looking for is down the middle of the hallway, currently the only one closed. She approaches it slow, her footsteps providing a quiet echo to the liminal space, almost filling that void of unsettling silence. Almost. She knocks softly at the door.

"Logan, hon, it's Judy. I've got your food. Sorry it's a bit late, are you feelin' up to eat?"

Her words are met with no reply, not even a nonverbal noise of approval. There's a twinge of danger in her chest, however she knocks again. "Logan?"

This time, she opens the door. The room seems almost darker than before as she slowly steps inside. The blinds on the windows are all still drawn shut. Her eyes gravitate towards the spot where Logan has been lying over the past day. It's empty. Just as the clues fall into place in her head, she hears a growl from behind. Judy spins around, just in time for the pale, undead form of Logan to pounce on her, sending her to the ground.

Food decorates the floor, punctuated by the clank of the tray landing unceremoniously next to the woman. She has no time to scream for help before the zombified student lunges down and chomps straight into her neck. Judy's throat is ripped out by the boy's teeth, crimson red blood gushing like a fountain. Her body twitches and spasms in silent, searing pain as her neck becomes Logan's next meal.

Several minutes pass. The door to the room naturally shut by itself again, thanks to old, worn hinges. Just when things become quiet again, several nonchalant voice enter that very hallway. Half a dozen students laugh and joke as they all walk down this hallway alone. They're about to pass the door, ignoring it like all the others, when one of them holds out an arm.

"Wait, hold on. That's the room where the dude who got bit is staying," the kid says, blond with a blue jersey.

"You think he's dead in there?" another boy with black hair asks with a smirk. A girl next to him swats his arm.

The first boy responds by opening the door, earning gasps and recoils from the others. "Why don't you go find out?"

"Heh, alright," the black haired boy chuckles. Like it's nothing, he struts into the room and disappears into the shroud of darkness. The first boy and four others wait several seconds. Breaking them from their trance comes a sharp gasp from somewhere in the room, and then a growl, two growls. The boy starts to scream, only for it to be quickly cut off by a sickening sound and gushing thick liquid.

Shocked and terrified, the five remaining students rush inside the room to check on their friend. The door once again creaks shut, but not all the way, leaving just a crack open for them to make out two shambling forms coming towards them,  snarling. Sadly for the group of kids, their panicked screams don't carry from the lonely hallway, until one by one, the room is reduced to silence. Dead silence.

Down in the cafeteria, Mary bangs on the closed doors leading to the kitchen where food is served. Darci, Ben, and several others are gathered behind her when Shannon and Connie rush in.

"Miss Judy?" Mary calls, rather loud, then continues banging. "Miss Judy!"

Connie covers her ears and yanks the other girl away from the door. "Can you try and keep it down? In case you forgot, there's dozens of undead creatures roaming the streets that won't hesitate to make you their lunch."

In response, Mary jerks her arm out of the blonde's grip and folds them over her chest. "Yeah, that's what I'm trying to get, genius. Lunch was supposed to be served almost an hour ago. I'm starving!"

She turns to resume the obnoxious banging, only for her to be grabbed yet again and yanked further from the door. Mary grunts and goes to swat at her, but Shannon steps between and stops her.

"Maybe Miss Judy is resting? Her and the other adults are taking care of us now," she suggests.

"Not doing a very good job if she's not here to serve up food. Isn't that her job? Zero stars from me."

At last, Ben cuts through the crowd with a groan. "If I go look for her, will you please stop complaining?"

There's a murmur of agreement to the boy's idea, and Mary scoffs at his remark, but nods along with them. Before he can turn to leave, Darci pauses him.

"I heard she was taking food over to Logan, she's probably still there," she says.

"Gotcha, thanks."

The flickering light fixture above the hall catches Ben's eye as he makes his way towards Logan's room, all alone. The double doors leading into the empty hallway stretch are closed. Pushing them open creates a loud groan from the metal hinges. Ben opens one door all the way, and before he can even step fully in, his entire body goes frozen still.

Blood decorates the hallway floor. Judy is indeed there, only not how anyone expected. Her sickly undead form is currently devouring one of the students lying dead on the floor. Logan is doing the same, however the groan of the door opening alerts his attention to the fresh meat mere feet away from him. Ben can't bring himself to move. The sight before him is something no one should ever have to see. However, he does do one thing. He screams at the top of his lungs.

Right at that moment, Jim, Claire, and Toby all return to the cleared out classroom they had left not long ago. The three of them are instantly met with the echoed screams from an adjacent hallway. Toby throws his hands into the air and stares accusingly at his friends.

"What did I say? Knew something would happen," he mutters and shakes his head.

Jim nudges him with a groan. "You can gloat later, but come on!"

They fling open the door and go running. The screaming has stopped, but they all know where it's coming from. The three of them, armed with their weapons, nearly collide with Darci, Uhl, Janeth, Shannon, and Connie, who are also racing to the scene. The group of them arrive at the set of doors Ben had opened. Ben's still there, only now lying in the middle of the hall, guts spilled out of his abdomen, with Logan tearing into his neck. Judy and the other six students stumble around the hallway, all out of fresh food.

"Holy. Mother. F--"

Toby is cut off by Jim, who whips out his glowing sword of daylight. "Everyone grab a weapon, find anything you can!"

Darci jumps into action before anyone else can act. She slips into the first classroom on the left, fumbling for anything. Her eyes scan absolutely everything that she thinks could be used as a weapon. Finally, she sees it, her holy grail. One of those old manual paper slicing machines sits long unused on a small side desk. She rushes over, tugging at the metal blade. It doesn't budge at all.

The commotion from the hallway gets louder. With one last big yell, Darci lifts the entire thing off the table, above her head, then smashes it down onto the floor. The whole contraption busts apart, including the blade. Lucky for her, the wooden end handle of the long, shiny blade is still intact. A victorious grin spreads across her face as she picks it up from the broken mess.

Out in the hall, students watching fearfully from behind scream and back off. Uhl surveys the scene, then grabs Lenora by her shoulders. "Keep everyone away, I'll be right back."

"Wha-- where are you going?" she asks, not even her question enough to stop him bolting away down the hall.

"To get something from my truck!"

Ahead of her, Toby runs up to one of the zombified students, holding his hammer over his head and letting out a loud cry. The zombie growls in retaliation, which is enough for Toby to shriek and recoil back. He does swing his hammer out of panic, though, knocking it to the ground. As soon as he does, Darci bursts out of the classroom, driving her new blade right into its forehead.

Toby watches her yank it out in shock. His jaw hangs open, the sight of his girlfriend wiping off the drops of blood. He's so mesmerized, he barely reacts in time when her upper body tenses and she points behind him. "Toby!"

He snaps out of it just in time to whack a zombie to the ground. He giggles and sends her an awkward thumbs up. The second zombified student reaches up for him, but he acts fast and slams his warhammer down on its head, effectively crushing it. Behind the panting boy, Jim holds up his amulet once more.

"For the glory of Merlin, daylight is mine to command!"

His shiny metal suit of armor returns, as does the glowing sword. He and Claire both move past Toby towards the other undead students. Connie slowly pulls out a small concealed dagger from her pocket. She turns to a hyperventilating Shannon, calmly placing her hands on her shoulders.

"Look at me, darling. Stay right here, okay? I won't let anything happen to you."

Shannon can't form words right away, so she simply nods fast. "Okay. Okay."

"Good." And before the nervous girl can reach back, Connie is gone, following Jim and Claire. The latter runs right up to another zombified student and uses her shadowstaff to smack it to the ground. Without a second thought, she jabs the pointy bottom end straight into the side of the head.

She begins to pant after ripping the staff free. The tip now has dark, sickly blood coated on it. Claire is about to step back, when the feeling of a hand clinging to her ankle makes her gasp and fall forward. She drops her staff just a few feet away, and is able to turn her body around. On the ground, Ben has just reanimated, his guts spilled body reaching out and holding her ankle.

Each time she reaches for the staff, she fails. Even when she kicks him it's to no avail. Her rescue comes when a foot slams down on Ben's undead arm, releasing her ankle. Connie plants her other foot on Ben's chest, preventing the clawing zombie student from standing.

"Take him out," she says in a low voice, focused on keeping him down. Claire nods, and in one fluid motion, swings behind her and grabs her staff. In just seconds she's on her feet, and with merely a second for Ben's former living image to flash through her mind, Claire pierces his forehead with the staff, putting him down for good.

Connie leaves her behind, instead going for Logan, who's just ahead. She runs forward straight at him, but right before she reaches him, propels herself upwards using the wall. On her way down, she slashes her dagger across the zombie's face. Logan stumbles backwards, his head slamming into a set of lockers. The hit sends him completely to the ground, unmoving, seemingly dead. From behind her, Toby cheers.

"Hah, nice one!" he cheers. Yet again, the poor boy is struck with foul luck, as the zombified Judy lunges for him. Toby screams and backs up more and more, until his back finds itself pressed against the wall. He extends his warhammer outwards in a sideways position. Judy's jaw clamps around it and starts biting the handle profusely, trying to push her way closer.

Jim kicks one of the zombified students off of him, who was clawing at his armor, and has to push another one away against the wall. His eyes rise to meet the sight of his friend in peril, as not only Judy, but another one of the undead students heads for him. He shouts, hand outstretched as Toby's legs begin to give out from under him. His own words are lost and echoed in his ears as the past rings through his mind.

"Toby!"

The sickening sound of the creeper's sun blade piercing AAARRRGGHH!!!'s chest, his body turning to stone. Toby's silent sobs at the stone cold feet of his friend.

"It has been my honor, fleshbag..."

"No, Draal!"

Him watching, completely helpless, as Draal, turning to stone, forces himself off the edge of the crystal, taking a struggling, groaning Angor Rot down with him as Gunmar stands above Jim, triumphant.

Jim returns from his thoughts when the first zombified student he dealt with returns, pulling him to the ground. Toby continues to yell, until a pair of slim hands grab Judy by her hair. It's Lenora Janeth, armed with a thick kitchen knife.

"I will not let harm come to these children. Not while I draw breath!"

Following her rather dramatic declaration of bravery, she plunges the knife straight into the temple of Judy's head, and lets her body slump from her arms. Toby lowers his warhammer from it's defensive position, finally able to catch his breath. The other zombified student grabs at Lenora's arm, however Jim is there in no time. The armored boy sacks the zombie to the ground, and without missing a beat, lodges his sword straight through his skull.

Standing up over the body, Jim pants hard. "Everyone-- Everyone get--"

"Everybody stand back!"

Señor Uhl comes running back in. In his arms is his aforementioned weapon; a fully loaded shotgun. Jim ducks out of the way near instantly. The large Austrian man aims the shotgun directly down the hall. Only two undead students remain. Everyone in the vicinity covers their ears as the deafening blast sounds off. The face of the student blows completely off, their dark undead blood splattering onto the set of lockers. The last student remains, the first boy who had ventured to his death inside the classroom.

Uhl cocks the shotgun, his aim never changing. A second earsplitting bang, and the last body falls, completely missing the head. The hallway is quiet. Dark red decorates several portions of the doors and walls, and the nine bodies litter the stretched expanse. Connie rushes over to Shannon and tightly embraces her, the latter of which quietly sobbing into her girlfriend's arms. Immediately after, heavy footsteps come running, and in comes Coach Lawrence, eyes sullen at the sight.

"What the-- I leave for a few minutes and this happens?" he asks incredulously. Behind him, Mary and Seamus run in. Mary screams at the sight of Logan, lying there motionless and bloody, while Seamus is already running to his side.

"Logan? No, no, no, Logan, please--"

"He's gone. I'm sorry," Jim tells him as his amulet finally deactivates, returning him to his blue hoodie and jeans.

Mary also kneels down beside Logan, sobbing. She reaches over and touches his chest, earning a heavy glare from Seamus.

"What are you crying about? You didn't care about him," he snarks in her direction.

Mary scoffs through half exaggerated sobs. "Not true! We went out a few times."

"Before or after your little flings with Tight Jeans Hank?"

She slaps at Seamus, while Darci walks up behind her friend with a comforting hand on her shoulder. Mary looks back at Logan's body, hand still on his chest. Neither her nor Seamus notice his hand twitch.

"Oh, Logan--"

A growl cutting through the respectful silence scares absolutely everyone. Logan sits up, his brain having never been touched. His undead hand grabs Mary, who screams bloody murder. He lunges upwards, teeth ready. But the bite never comes. Darci's paper cutter blade enters the top of Logan's skull with a loud grunt from the young girl. She yells again, and drives it in even deeper, causing a ton more blood to squirt out.

Sobbing, Mary backpedals from Logan's body, while Seamus is red faced, with both hands clenched over his mouth to stop the wails that want to escape so badly. Breathing heavier than everyone else, Darci waits another moment, sure that Logan won't move again. At last, she pulls the thick blade from the boy's head. His body flops back down like a weighted sack of potatoes, truly gone this time.

Now the hallway is quiet.

 

Inside Stuart electronics, Varvatos taps his foot idly while Krel continuously fiddles with his serrator. He whistles to himself for a second, but easily gets bored. When still nothing happens, he emits a loud and dramatic groan.

"What could possibly be taking so long?"

"Relax," Krel chuckles, "I'm finished."

Varvatos' gaze softens once the young prince holds his serrator back at him. He graciously accepts it back and gives it a little kiss. But, he raises an eyebrow after a second. "What did you do to Varvatos' serrator?"

"Press that button on the inside."

He does so. In a blinding flash, Varvatos once again become the short, wrinkly old man he is seen as in human form. The royal guard lets out a surprised bellowing laugh.

"Varvatos has become wrinkled and saggy again, without the use of Mother's transduction chamber!"

"Portable transduction effects. You're welcome," Krel says with a smirk, placing his hands behind his head.

"Most glorious!"

Over near the back of the store, Ricky picks up a radio, only to glitch out a little and drop it to the floor, where it smashes to several pieces. Stuart gasps and crosses his arms.

"Hey, that's my merchandise!"

"You break it, you buy it!" Lucy chimes in with her trademark wide smile.

"Ohoho, you can say that again," Ricky responds with a swing of his arm.

"You break it, you buy it!"

"Again, again, again--"

"Oh, forget it!" Stuart grunts. He walks away from them, rather choosing to approach Aja and Strickler, who each peer out one side of the store's front windows. "How is it out there?"

"The streets are practically clear. I think your big friend over there really cleared out the last of the undead," Strickler remarks.

At this notion, Stuart's eyes light up, and he claps his hands together rapidly. "Perfect, we can get out of here now!"

Aja turns to face him, as does everyone else. "What do you mean?"

"My taco truck is parked just behind the shop, down through the alley. Without those pesky, creepy death eaters in the way, we can get right to it and vamoose right out of here!"

"This might be the only time Varvatos says this, but good idea, you pungent Durian," Varvatos says, "what are we waiting for? Varvatos wishes to leave this cramped hoo-man market."

"Well then, let's go right now!" Aja declares, and without waiting for the approval of any other individual inside the shop, kicks open the door.

With no other option, Krel bolts out directly after his sister. They stand in the middle of the road, instantly stunned by the sight. She gulps. "Oh, kleb."

Zeron Alpha and Zeron Omega stand several hundred feet away, amidst a new horde of undead slowly coming down the street. Varvatos and the others slowly pile out of the shop one by one. The blank robots slip down the alleyway first, followed by Luug, who barks the entire time. Varvatos sees the two royals transfixed on something, so he pauses as well.

"Is there something wrong, my royals?"

And then the two bounty hunters begin blasting at them. Krel activates his shield, while Aja forms her blaster and returns fire. From behind the shield, Krel grunts. "Yes!"

"Zerons!" Varvatos exclaims. Acting on impulse, he jumps into the street, in front of the Tarrons, and fires a huge beam of energy from his serrator in their direction. It blinds the bounty hunters just enough for him to usher the teens out of sight.

Stuart gasps with fear at the sight of the attack, hurrying down the alleyway just behind Strickler, finally followed by Varvatos and the royals. Entering the larger alley, the living beings come across Ricky and Lucy being bitten by a couple zombies. Luckily, this does nothing, as the two of them are simply made from wires and metal.

"Whoa there, friend, watch those hands!" Lucy giggles, then promptly punches the zombie biting her arm in the face. The force of her punch actually sends her fist straight through its head, killing it.

Strickler unsheathes his dagger, the shine of the blade quite prevalent right before he slams it down into the back of the head of the zombie climbing all over Ricky. Varvatos lets out one of his signature battle yells, right before he slashes two zombies down in quick succession. Stuart hurries around to the driver's side of the van, only to scream and cower back from the lone zombie guarding the driver door.

It doesn't last long, though. A quick blast from Aja's serrator sends the zombie down. Stuart thanks her with a sheepish smile, then remembers what he's doing and quickly hops inside the taco van, making sure his own door is shut. "We're clear, amigos, everybody in!"

Everyone does in fact clamber inside. Luug, Ricky, Lucy, Strickler, Varvatos, Krel, and Aja. Stuart turns the key with such power, the engine almost bursts. Putting the pedal to the metal, the wheels spin for a few seconds until finally achieving a grip on the cement. The van peels out onto the street behind the electronics store, safely avoiding the Zeron horde.

"So, where to, my royals?" Stuart asks, still rather out of breath from the amount of running he did in such a short time.

Aja and Krel exchange a glance. First, between themselves, and then with Strickler. The three of them answer at once.

"Arcadia Oaks High."

The Durian in the driver's seat nods just once. "You got it."

The van jerks sharply to the right, changing course. On the way, they zoom straight past the back end of the horde led by the Zerons, even running down a couple straggler zombies. Alpha turns his head at the sight with narrowed eyes. The van tears down the empty road on its way to the high school, and at the same time, leaves anything and everything in the dust.

Chapter 6: Broken Home

Summary:

The Tarrons fight through foes, living and dead, to make it back to the school. Steve makes a devastating discovery, while Claire begins a quest for answers.

Notes:

The 100 Season 1, Episode 1, 8:42

The back of a shovel taps down on a freshly filled grave, an assurance that the dirt is level. Maybe even a final goodbye, too, in a way. Uhl sticks the shovel upright in the ground and wipes away sweat beads rolling down the side of his face.

To his right, Janeth is inside the wide open grave, digging it out, of course. She heaves up her last few piles of dirt before the telltale sigh of completion leaves her lips. "I think that's deep enough."

"Need a hand?"

"Please." Her hand extends from the grave, and is enclosed in the Austrian's far larger one by comparison. One big pull from him and she's standing by his side a second later. They silently nod, then their eyes fall upon the last two bodies, lying there waiting to be put to rest.

Logan and Judy.

Uhl's fingers twitch. Dried blood is caked all over their faces and heads, he can see where Logan's murky undead blood dripped down from Darci's head stab barely over an hour ago. Judy's leaks from the side of her head, where Lenora herself had plunged the knife to put an end to the woman's tirade. He swallows deliberately and clears his throat while blinking beads of sweat away from his eyes.

"So, which one first?" The question burns just leaving his mouth. Without an answer, Lenora turns away, hand over her own mouth. Uhl reaches forwards to touch her shoulder. "Lenora?"

"I feel sick. Sick that we even have to ask something like that," she says, finally, "how long until there's no more room for bodies? Or until we're in their position?"

There is no answer from Uhl. He really doesn't have one. His next breath is a slow, labored one. A sigh of helplessness. "Help me with Mr. Walker."

On autopilot after six identical bodies, he grabs the motionless boy's legs, while Lenora takes hold of his head. She takes several slow steps backwards, into the dug out grave, and with coordinated steps, Uhl follows suite. They lower his body down flat, Lenora letting his head rest with extra care.

"I'm sorry," she whispers.

Uhl looks back up from his transfixed gaze. "Do you need--"

But Lenora is already hoisting herself from the grave again. He stands there and watches her walk around to her own discarded shovel. Without so much as a word, she starts to push into the grass lined with white paint, what was once the active soccer field, now a graveyard. One body becoming nine, and only time left to tell if more will join.

The weight lifts from Uhl's shoulders long enough for him to step up and out of Logan's open grave. Looking down at him again, though, the familiar sensation returns. Lenora silently digs over and over, a loop of sorts. A pile of dirt begins to form beside her, blocking Judy's still waiting corpse from view. An identical pile lies on Uhl's opposite side. Logan's dirt. The shovel lifts from the ground without much thought to it.

Metal shovel slices and stabs through the pile of dirt. The first scoop lands on Logan's chest, the next few matching the same position. Uhl's muscles clench with each toss, a sting of guilt, remorse, pity. Every emotion imaginable in that vein. He tosses the next batch of dirt over Logan's head, the body now eternally shrouded in the cold darkness of his burial. Lost to time, but not to memory.

 

The gleaming red vespa swerves onto another street. Empty, just like all the others, but it's the one they need. Steve cranks the handlebars with white knuckles, while Eli has his arms around his torso for support from behind. His smaller head peeks to the side.

"Uh, Steve, watch the--"

"I see it."

The vespa slows, almost to a crawl, then weaves carefully around the sprawled out body lying motionless in the center of the road, with a radius of dried crimson to mark it. His destination is just ahead. The road inclines just enough that Steve is forced to give his ride a little extra gas. Eli grips the bigger teen more firmly when the weight of gravity tilts him back slightly.

Finally, just as the road levels, Steve merges over to the left side of the street and screeches to a halt. Eli's hands release his torso, and with lightning speed, Steve is up on his feet and sprinting several yards towards his house.

"Steve! Steve, wait—" Eli calls out after him. He slides off the vespa seat and almost loses his footing. Just in front of them is a beat up red pickup truck, parked halfway on the sidewalk, it's back half still on the road. A thick pool of blood lies just beneath the driver's side door. The boy shudders and hurriedly walks past it.

In seconds flat, Steve reaches the approach to his front door. His metal trash bins are on their sides, long forgotten. There's a faint trail of blood leading across his front lawn, and a bloody handprint on the white front door. The open front door.

"Mom!" he shouts, booking it up the sidewalk. There's blood on his front porch. "Mom, are you here? Are you okay?"

He throws open the door so hard it almost comes off its hinges. He sucks in a breath, ready to shout for her again. But it doesn't come. It's lost to the sight before him. His mother's cold, pale body, lying flat on the floor. Her abdomen torn fully open, with a single zombie kneeling over her, biting into entrails it pulled out.

A strained, barely vocalized sob leaves his lips. The zombie looks up, and a wave of nausea hits him like a truck. It's him. It's him.

"What are you doing here?" The question comes out soft, meek even. He should've known. He had recognized that truck outside. It's his. He would brace himself every time he heard its engine pull up outside after school.

The husk of the man stands, the source of his childhood anguish. It growls at him. Tears roll down Steve's face. "What are you doing here?"

The husk trips over Raina's body, and it stumbles directly at Steve. He lurches to the side, hand instinctively reaching for anything to grab. Next to him lies the dining room table, where it is neatly set for a family of three, for that night's dinner. Something no longer happening. Steve grabs the sharp knife closest to his reach, the handle feels familiar in his hand.

He places a hand on the husk's chest as it tries to swing and lunge at him. Steve's eyes stare directly into its lifeless windows. There's nothing, there never was.

"What are you doing here?" His voice is quivering now, raising in volume every time he speaks. "What are you doing here?"

Blade meets dead skin when Steve slashes the knife across the husk's cheek. It falters back, and the sports-strengthened scorned son shoves it backwards even more, past his mother, out into the center of the living room. The husk's mouth opens to let out a haunting rasped shriek. Before any sound gets released, the knife is thrust straight through.

Steve pushes the husk back more. He yanks the knife out and immediately stabs it back in through the cheek. The husk trips backwards, and the two fall to the ground, Steve's knife still lodged in its face. He rips it out, tearing off chunks of dead flesh. He screams while driving the knife down into the top of its head. Not just once, again and again.

"What are you doing here?" he screams.

"What." Stab.

"Are." Stab.

"You." Stab.

"Doing here?" He finally launches backwards, off the husk's body. His face is mangled, a red mess, its murkier blood soaking into the carpet fibers, while many droplets of it now decorate Steve's face. The husk lies motionless, dead. Not like he hadn't been dead for years already.

Sobbing and hyperventilating, Steve spins around on his hands and knees. He crawls over to the body of his mother, his pants soaking up her blood, still wet and dripping from her. Finally, in the front doorframe, Eli rushes in, freezing just like Steve had. Steve is on the floor, cradling Raina's upper half in his lap. On the floor, just past the threshold, a folded note with a few droplets of blood lies unnoticed, at least until Eli's eyes find it.

The inquisitive boy crouches to grab the paper. Words fill his mind's eye once the note unravels. He barely even reads it before he crumples it and chucks it out the door to be lost to the world. The words were hollow, empty. 'Raina, my love' it had begun. 'I always loved you.' another lie. 'Yours always, Sean.'

"Steve," Eli says, voice just above a murmur. He can hardly even hear himself over the loud sobs of his friend.

"I never should've left you. I'm so sorry, Mom," Steve cries. Her head rolls back and forth in his grip while he rocks forwards and back, head spinning.

Behind him, Eli approaches. His eyes flick over at the other body in the room, the man who thought he could win her back. He places a soft, small hand over on Steve's shoulder, and for a moment they stay like that. Only for a moment. While Steve sobs incessantly, Eli peers over his shoulder, and watches the eyes of her corpse flutter open.

His blood runs cold. Her lips move, the faintest of rasps exiting her mouth. Her teeth bare next. Eli's hand flies to the concealed small blade kept on his person, and he shouts. "Steve!"

Raina lunges, right as Eli leans over Steve's shoulder and slams his knife into her forehead. Steve's eyes bulge as Raina's head falls limply back how it was seconds ago. Eli let's go of the knife, leaving it sticking straight out.

"What did you do?" Steve asks, his entire upper body trembles in tandem with his voice.

"That was close..."

"What did you do?" The sudden shout startles Eli, who now sees that his best friend's eyes have morphed from sorrow to that of rage.

"I-- she was gonna bite you if I didn't do anything."

"Get out."

Those words hit him like a strike through his heart. "Huh?"

"I said get out! Leave me alone!" Steve punctuates his yell with a rough shove, and Eli tumbles to the floor on his rear. Stunned, he pushes himself back up like nothing. Steve is already facing the corpse of his mother once again, fresh sobs and tears starting up once more.

Saying nothing, Eli turns and slowly walks outside. From his position on the porch, he sees an area of grass off to the side where the blood trail across the sidewalk leads to, and a patch of dried red bloody grass, surrounding an area of displaced grass. An area large enough to match that of a collapsed body, one trying its hardest to make it up the steps.

 

"Left, go left!" Krel suddenly blurts from over Stuart's shoulder. The taco truck sharply swerves to the left, it's occupants all jostled like sardines. The Blanks cackle and hold onto each other, while Aja slides into Varvatos' body from the force of their turn.

"I'd appreciate it if you would take things a little more smoothly," Strickler huffs while he adjusts his suit coat, "we won't be of any help to anyone if we crash and perish."

The truck hooks a sharp right this time. Now, Aja flings off of Varvatos and almost face first into the opposite wall where the small stove is for preparing the various menu items. Stuart scoffs with an overly confident grin. "No need to worry. Nothing bad can happen with ol' Stu behind the wheel."

His response is punctuated by a bright orange laser beam bursting through the sliding back door of the van, and exiting through the windshield inches from Stuart's head. The informally dressed Durian shrieks, flinches, but manages to keep composure on the vehicle. Aja leaps into the passenger seat and sticks her head out of the window. Two familiar figures barrel down on the vehicle, running on all fours with an occasional rise to fire more shots at them.

"Zerons!" Aja cries. She ducks back inside the van when another shot aims for her, but instead shoots off the passenger side mirror.

"What do we do? We can't lead them to the school!" Krel exclaims while bringing a hand to his serrator.

"Varvatos will give them a glorious pummeling, stand back!" the bodyguard goes to lift the back entrance to the van, only to be grabbed by Aja.

"No, if you stay behind, those zom-bees will get you!"

"I'd appreciate a solution within the next few seconds," Stuart chirps from the front, interrupted by three new holes in his windshield, "she can't take much more of this!"

Strickler wobbles to the front, just behind the driver's seat. His hand grabs an overhead handle when Stuart takes one more sharp turn at breakneck speed. He stares out the cracked windshield adorned with several laser holes and nudges the driver. "Not to worry, we're almost there, should be just ahead after this next left--"

A deafening pop drowns out the end of his sentence. Aja and Krel smack into each other from the force, while Stuart desperately grips the wheel as the taco truck begins to lose its control. Where the back right tire used to be, sparks and smoke surround the area. The truck jerks to the left, still taking the last turn needed, and sure enough, Arcadia Oaks High appears in view. Several yards back, Alpha and Omega pause.

"They're hit," Omega observes.

"These human contraptions are weak. Pathetic," Alpha sneers. Before the taco truck can fully complete the turn, he raises the blaster a final time and sends another glowing beam of burning hot laser right into the side of the front left tire. The entire vehicle spins harshly in the opposite direction, while the metal drags on the concrete road. The front end clips a parked car, and as a result, the entire vehicle leaves the ground. It does a full rotation midair, and comes back down on its remaining two wheels, and instantly goes still.

Omega turns around when after a few seconds, the faint sound of dozens and dozens of undead moans fill the air. She chuckles, and gets Alpha to notice as well.

"Looks like they're ready for a feast."

"Let's not let them have all the fun."

Dust and smoke surround the wreck. The Blanks pop up with no visible harm, grinning at each other. Aja and Krel grasp each other by the other's shoulder, mumbling under their breaths to ask the other if they're alright. Strickler stands up straight and immediately brandishes his dagger.

"We need to go," he says between labored breaths, "the dead are coming."

"That's not all," Varvatos murmurs, voice deep and dark.

He grabs the handle close to the floor and tries his hardest to lift up the door, only it doesn't budge in the slightest. He pulls again, and again. Still no change.

"Gyaaaaah, Stuart, your hooman taco truck's door is jammed!"

Stuart stumbles out of the driver's seat, only to devolve into panicked babbling. Krel peeks from the driver window, and gasps. The two Zerons stalk closer to them, in no clear rush. Behind them, the herd of zombies grows closer in tow.

"They're coming, we have to get out of here, or else we're all going to be eaten alive, or turned into the Swissed cheese. Either way, we will end up dead."

More red hot holes are put through Stuart's truck. Zombies from the other side of the street turn their rotting heads and shamble over. Aja readies her serrator in tandem with Strickler gripping his own weapon. Around the vehicle, the first few zombies bang their fists on the metal, graffitied siding.

"We're being surrounded," Aja says, her head whipping from one side to the other.

"It's now or never," Strickler continues, "the building is just ahead. If we can run through these undead, we could make it inside."

"A wonderful idea from the man in the fancy coat, but in case you've forgotten, the door will not open!" Varvatos yells.

With a grunt, Aja takes her serrator and slams it into the inside handle. "Just kick it down!"

A brief pause ensues, Varvatos scratching his head. "The queen-in-waiting has a point. Apologies, Stuart, perhaps we can fix your steel monster another time."

"No, no, it's fine. A worthy sacrifice," Stuart says with a casual wave, although he wipes something from his eye and suppresses a sniffle.

Everyone crowds back, until Stuart's rear bumps into his front console, which allows Varvatos plenty of space to stand back from the door. The groans and slamming hands of zombies has grown increasingly loud, so loud it almost sounds like they're inside every surface of the taco truck. A single grunt, with tons on tons of force powered behind it, exits Varvatos' mouth, and and the same time, his small, almost circular foot makes contact with the metal surface. The door snaps from its track in under a second, and soars several feet back, an identified flying object of sorts.

Like a projectile missile, it strikes Omega in the face, and she cries out loudly. In its path, several zombies are struck down by the door, a bloody carnage left in its wake, until it finally rolls to a stop at least half a football field's length away. Alpha growls, his eyes locked with Vex's. The akiridion bodyguard doesn't move right away, but he opens his mouth to bellow a single command.

"Go!"

Aja, Strickler, and the Blanks file out of the crashed taco truck, with Luug scampering behind yapping his little purple head off. The two robots prance out onto the road, quite gleeful in their movements. Lucy's finger produces a blazing hot flame, that she then proceeds to slice through the necks of every zombie invading their path. Ricky follows behind, his fists balled up in a fighting stance, punching quite literally through the heads of any zombies missed by his automated wife.

Varvatos grunts while leaping forward, his serrator aimed to strike down directly on Alpha's head. The lead hunter dodges while Omega flanks him, and Varvatos lands in between the two.

"Well, well. Have we caught you at a bad time, Varvatos Vex?" Alpha sneers, circling him like prey.

"Never. Varvatos Vex is always ready for battle!"

"Oh, but are your precious royals?" Omega cuts in, smug and sure.

Anxiety cuts through the fierce protector. He briefly jerks his head back in the direction of the school. Amidst the horde of zombies encroaching on their space, he can just barely make out an electric blue figure slicing their way through the undead.

Alpha chuckles heartily. "Morando wants their cores, and by the looks of this backwater planet and these... hideous creatures, we could simply sit back and let it happen naturally."

The grip on Varvatos' serrator grows tighter, and his smooth row of teeth grit together. "Not today, and not ever. Varvatos does not allow it!" And then he strikes. He swings his serrator at Omega, its blade just able to nick her flesh. With a roar, she swings her tail at Varvatos, who dodges the first swing, then grabs her on the second.

Grunting to exert maximum strength, he swings her back towards Alpha, whom she collides with on the asphalt road. Within the radius of clawing zombies surrounding the truck, Strickler's dagger slides in and out of their decaying skulls with ease, the bodies all dropping one by one as he pushes past them, just behind Aja. He only stops when suddenly he bumps into her while she darts her head back and forth.

"What are you doing?"

"Krel? Where is he? Krel!"

Still inside of the overturned taco truck, Stuart grasps his forehead, his breathing rapid and shallow. "I can't do this, I-- I can't, I--"

He's stopped when a hand reaches out to his shoulder. He looks up to see Krel standing in front of him, serrator out and ready as a shield. "Yes you can, Stuart. It looks scary, but we have to be brave. Will you do this?"

Krel extends his hand out to him to grab, and for a moment, Stuart remains frozen in silent contemplation. Finally, though, he nods, and takes Krel's guiding hand just in time to be yanked out into the open. Right as they exit, both Alpha and a zombie are flung into the side of the taco truck.

"Go, go, go!" Krel ushers him on rapidly, pushing him to the front. Stuart shrieks and runs as fast as possible through a slight opening where the others had pushed through moments earlier. Krel blasts the stunned zombie with his serrator in a panic right before taking off after the frightened Durian. The repeated grunts of his fearless bodyguard are enough to make him take pause, turning around to look.

Omega latches onto Varvatos' back while he avoids hits from Alpha's tri-headed spinning drill weapon. Krel turns around, beginning to run back. "Varvatos! Varvatos, come on!"

With an audible "oof!", he's suddenly dragged back. He turns and sees Strickler latched onto him, able to overpower the boy's own strength and pull him back just as the zombies swarm the area he had just been standing in.

"No, Varvatos, no!" he protests while he tries to pull himself free. "We have to go back for him!"

"Your friend will be fine!" Strickler bellows over the near deafening moans of undead. "What you and your sister should worry about is how you look right now."

Despite his mind heavily preoccupied with the life of his closest ally, Krel realizes he has a point. Finally, Strickler pulls him to where Aja and the Blanks are holding their ground, and Stuart cowers behind. As soon as she lays eyes on her brother, Aja's four arms are around him faster than the speed of light. "Krel!"

"Ugh, let go!" he grumbles, happy to see her, but annoyed with the restrictive physical touch, although he immediately turns back around. "Aja, we have to go back, Varvatos is still back there with the Zerons!"

"We can't turn back now, we're nearly to the school!" Strickler yells while his golden blade deals with one of the zombies.

"Our serrators!" Aja exclaims. Her and Krel make eye contact, and in the same moment, press the newly installed button. Two identical blinding flashes now turn the Tarron royals back into unassuming human exchange students.

Strickler eyes their human forms again, a bit jarring to his mind. It makes him wonder if he looks anything like that switching between forms. "Glad that's sorted, now let's keep it moving!" he booms.

His arms push everybody ahead of him, and when the group runs out into a slightly more open clearing between the masses of zombies, they all see Varvatos several hundred feet back, visibly winning the fight, but growing more fatigued.

"Varvatos!" Aja cries out in horror. Alpha wipes away some of his own bodily fluid from his snout. He picks up his weapon with a sneer.

"For the honorable Varvatos Vex, a death at my hands would be far too good for you. I think they'll take it from here."

The vagueness of Alpha's statement is answered when both he and the others farther ahead realize that the zombies have begun to crowd Varvatos. He shoves one off him, his serrator splitting it in two. He goes to turn back to his opponents, only to see both of them sprinting away past the zombies.

"Come back and fight me, you soolians!" he screams, punctuated with a punch to a zombie. "Gyaah!"

More of the zombies swirl around him, their formations almost like a vortex of some kind, a whirlpool of undead with Varvatos in the eye of it all. His weapon strikes down one zombie after another, despite the staggering disadvantage, not one has come close to biting into him.

"No, no, no! Get out of there, Varvatos!" comes Aja's desperate plea.

"Go, my royals, just go!" he yells back.

Strickler takes his words as they are, and pulls both distraught royals in the direction of Arcadia Oaks High, only a couple hundred yards away. The farther they're dragged along, the less they can see the hulking figure of Varvatos among the horde of zombies.

 

Right inside the doors of the school facing the street sits Toby, hand on his cheek, mumbling to himself. "Of course I get stuck watching this stupid door. What for, even? Oh, there's zombies out there. Pssh, duh, don't need somebody to sit here to confirm that."

Ironically, his little rant got him so lost in thought, that he had missed the sight further down the road of aliens battling amongst the crowd of zombies. Just as sudden, though, when a strange flash from outside goes off and a zombie corpse drops dead, he snaps to attention. Toby's eyes take note of every zombie falling down in quick succession, and finally he catches a glimpse of a figure swinging a weapon, something blue and sharp. Survivors.

"Guuuuuys... Guys! Something's happening, you guys, come quick, come quiiiick!" he proceeds to shout down the hallway, his echo even giving the voice some extra distance.

It only takes half a minute for everyone to show up. Jim and Claire rushing over at breakneck speed. "Tobes, what's wrong?" comes the wheezed question from his best friend.

Darci appears next, from one of the other hallways, and she's followed by Coach Lawrence, Uhl, Mary, and the Johnson father and son. "TP, is everything okay?"

"There's people! People are out there!" he finally manages to say, stuttering through the whole thing in a panicked frenzy.

"Are you serious? No way they're surviving!" Mary scoffs. "Those things are everywhere."

Claire turns and squints out the window. Brief flashes of red and blue are able to be seen through the lifeless bodies of the zombies, and when she catches sight of a familiar set of blonde and brown haired siblings, she goes right for the doors. "It's Aja and Krel, they're out there!"

Without warning, Claire pushes the doors open and looks in their direction. "Here, we're here!" her arms wave above her head to signal them, but her call also signals the surrounding zombies. She screams as a rough force yanks her back inside. Mr. Johnson, having pulled her inside, glares at her.

"Are you trying to get us all killed?" he asks, voice raised and brows furrowed deeply.

"Don't you touch me," Claire snaps back, "and in fact, I'm trying to make sure that they don't get killed!"

"Wait, Aj is out there?" Mary asks, her tone suddenly one of concern. "Screw you, get her in here!"

"Mr. Johnson, step away from the doors. We are letting those students in."

"Now there is no way that I—!"

"Dad, move!" Seamus bellows over his father. The two stare directly at each other until begrudgingly, Mr. Johnson moves over to the back of the small crowd, his eyes still firmly on his son.

Uhl rushes back to the doorway, shotgun still in hand. He busts out of the doors and proceeds to blow off the skull of a zombie a few feet away. The small group of survivors turns to the source of the noise, and Uhl waves his hand in a motion for them to come. "Move!"

They don't waste any time. Uhl fires off several more shells to clear the path, and finally ducks back inside when Strickler reaches the door first. They all file in, the Blanks, Stuart, Aja, and Krel. No sooner is Krel through the doorway, an undead hand with bite marks all along the arm snatches inside and grabs him by the hair.

His scream causes panic as it drags him back through the threshold. His fingers grab onto the doorframe, while Aja screams his name in a frenzy. Claire dives for his hand, only to be a second too late as the zombie manages to pull him off the door, and when she goes to run out, the door is slammed shut, once more courtesy of Mr. Johnson.

"Aja, are you okay?" Jim asks, trying to console her and see if she had been hurt, but she fully ignores him, charging for the door.

"Open the door, he's out there! He needs me, they both need my help! Krel!" her pleas go unheeded by the uncaring older man.

Toby releases his warhammer and faces him. "Get out of the way, man, he's our friend!"

A sudden whooshing sound makes everybody turn and look behind them. Claire's shadow staff is in her hand, and activated, a swirling portal on the floor in front of her. Jim's eyes are panicked, and he stands up straight. "Claire, wait—!"

But she doesn't even hesitate. She jumps down inside the portal before Jim can run to her to prevent it. Everyone else that isn't him or Toby stares at the thing in shock. It's completely silent inside the school's entrance now. That is, until both Claire and Krel burst back out of the portal, having been slightly launched a few feet away down the hall.

"Krel!" Aja is nearly hysteric as she runs to her groggy brother and embraces him. Claire stands up and retracts her staff as well as making the floor portal vanish, startling everyone.

"Claire, what the heck was that?" Darci asks, arms thrown in front of her from shock.

"You've been up to some weird stuff lately!" Mary butts in. "You with that weird stick making... portals or whatever, and Jim with that huge sword and suit of armor!"

"And my warhammer, don't forget my warhammer," Toby adds quickly.

She leaves Krel in the hands of Aja and stands between Jim and Toby, facing the remaining crowd of survivors. "Yeah, uhh, it's kind of hard to explain, so long story short, shadow magic is real and the three of us are warriors for a species of trolls made of stone. Or, well— we used to be."

Not a single person has a response, except for Strickler. "Looks like the cat's out of the bag."

"Nice to see you, too," Jim remarks with a half-smile.

Finally, Coach Lawrence clears his throat and shakes the stunned expression off of his face. "I'm going to pretend like I understand anything you just said. As long as you don't break anything, do as much of that magicky stuff as you want, go nuts. I need to take a walk."

Everyone periodically disperses from the doors, and while Krel regains his balance, he makes eye contact with Mr. Johnson. His eyes are evil and hateful, and the glare is punctuated by a cruel shoulder bump as the grown man walks past the siblings. Seamus grits his teeth at the back of his father, whispering a quick apology to both as he snakes by them and follows him. Aja lets Krel stand on his own, and now the only ones left in the hallway are them, Jim, Toby, Claire, Uhl, and the others who just got inside.

Jim looks over at Strickler again, who is using a handkerchief to wipe the dark zombie blood from his golden blade. "My mom's not with you, then?"

Strickler lets out a despondent sigh. "I'm afraid she's still at the hospital. I thought she might have made it here. I see that I'm wrong."

"Alright, enough chitter chatter," Uhl butts in, "what are you all doing here?"

"Err, hi, name's Stuart, taco making's my game. Also electronics, but that's unrelated," Stuart babbles on and on, then extends his hand. "Pleased to meet you! And thank you for taking us in."

Uhl doesn't shake his hand, instead turning to Strickler. "Good to see you again, Mr. Strickler."

"Always a pleasure, Uhl. Glad to see your shooting hasn't gotten rusty."

Next, Uhl looks over at the Tarrons, and kneels down in front of them. "Are you two alright? Where did you go? Why on Earth did you think it was a safe idea to leave the school premises?"

"How could we leave the academic building if we were not on Earth?" Aja asks, her comedic misunderstanding of his question not met with much response.

"We— We had to check on our home. Our parents paid good money for it, we could not let it just go unsupervised," Krel responds quickly.

"And, we needed to check on our grandpa geezer—" Aja stops talking when suddenly, from outside the doors, an old man is flung against the glass. "Varvatos!"

"Holy fudgeknuckle, get him inside!" Claire shouts and runs for the door. Her and Toby swing it open as the old man tumbles inside, landing on his hands and knees.

As soon as he stands with a crack to his back and a discomforted grunt, both Tarron royals pounce onto the man with wide smiles. Varvatos can't help but grin and put both arms around them as well.

"We thought we lost you..." Aja says while she wipes away a stray drop of fluid from her eye.

"The indomitable Varvatos Vex shall never be slain by creatures as feeble as those loud meatheads!" he proclaims with a fist shaking in the air.

Everybody newly inside the school moves away to get acquainted with their surroundings, the Tarrons not once letting Vex free from their arms. After another minute, it's down to just Jim, Claire, and Toby.

"Why did you do that?" Jim suddenly asks, his eyes on Claire.

Her posture straightens and her head tilts to one side slightly. "What are you talking about?"

"Just now, you completely blew our secret. And why would you use your shadow staff in front of everyone?"

"Krel was stuck out there with those zombies. Was I just supposed to not save him?"

"Yeah, Jimbo," Toby cuts in, "we can't leave somebody out there to die, we're not that deep into the whole apocalypse yet."

Claire pushes herself off of where she had just been leaning on the wall, shadow staff clutched in one hand. "I don't see what the problem here is."

"You literally exposed the entire secret of Trolls below Arcadia to everyone here! Our duties as Trollhunters aren't meant to be casually shared with everybody!"

"Last time I checked, you whipped out your amulet earlier today and you didn't see me getting on your case!"

The rebuttal makes Jim stop, and he flounders for words. "Well, I--"

"Tell me, Jim, why do you get a pass?"

"You blatantly exposed everything, you put the world of Trolls in danger by doing that!"

"Morgana made it quite clear that there's not even any trolls left."

Silence could cut through the air in the room with how tense it was following that statement. Claire's eyes glow a faint purple while her fist clenches around her shadowstaff. All three teens deflate at the same time as they all process what was just said. Toby looks at his sneakers and fiddles with his warhammer handle between his hands. Claire's eyes fade back to normal, and she shakes her head with a soft scoff. "I need some air."

Her shoulder checks Jim's own when she brushes past him. He turns and opens his mouth to say something, but no sound emits. Toby looks at him with a slight frown. The two hold each other's gaze.

"I screwed up."

"You screwed up."

"I think I should give her some space. Maybe for the rest of the day."

Toby nods. "Sounds like the best idea to me. Why don't we go get something to eat? I'm kinda starving..."

The two boys leave the hallway, with it now finally empty. A couple zombies had been aware of all the previous commotion going on inside and continue to ram themselves into the thick doors and the glass windows within. Their walk through the halls echo with their squeaking shoes.

"Hey man, Claire won't be mad at you forever," Toby says, his best efforts at comforting his friend falling flat.

"I shouldn't have yelled at her like I did. I just wasn't thinking clearly. When she jumped out there to save Krel, I thought about losing her. I already don't know if my mom is out there anywhere. I don't know what I'd do if I lost someone else close to me, too."

The two of them push open the doors to the cafeteria, immediately being swept away by the shrill voice of miss Mary Wang.

"I mean it's just ridiculous!"

"Mar, please just chill," Darci calmly interrupts, hands outstretched to try and ease her down.

"How can I when there's no one around to serve us our food anymore? Not to mention make it!"

Jim shoots Toby a knowing glance and a silent chuckle. Mary's tirade continues while she paces in circles around the doorway into the lunch line area, while Shannon and Connie watch from the side.

"Ugh, of course miss Judy had to go and die! She left us with the chicken surprise. The chicken surprise!"

Darci crosses her arms. "I love you, but you need to settle down. Miss Judy died trying to help a student in need, and we shouldn't treat her death like an inconvenience to us because she's the one who lost her life."

"Yeah!" Toby butts in. "Although when she came back as a zombie she did almost try to eat me."

"And I'm more than happy to make some... higher quality meals for us, if you will. With a mom that works constant graveyard shifts, my culinary expertise had no choice but to fend for itself."

"Count me in," Darci agrees with an enthusiastic smile.

"You cook?"

"Yep. My dad's almost always on call with the Arcadia Oaks PD, being their top detective and all. When he'd be called into work for a case, I had to be able to provide for myself past leftovers and frozen meals after long enough."

This makes Jim grin wider. "Why didn't we hang out sooner?"

"I doubt we could've, not with all the secrets you guys kept these last several months where you always ran off."

Her comment gets a chuckle from everyone around them, although Toby picks up a faint glint of hurt in Darci's eyes. It's quick, hidden almost, but it's there. It's gone as quick as it came, and she smiles at him, and he has to force one in return to not let on anything. Mary just rolls her eyes.

"Ugh, well anyway—"

The doors are slammed open, in walking Coach Lawrence, yelling at the top of his lungs. "Palchuk? Palchuk, this ain't funny, just come on!"

"What's up, Coach?" Toby asks, while behind him, Mary and Darci pick at their ears dramatically from the boisterous outcries.

Coach shrugs his shoulders heavily and surveys the cafeteria. "He's not here, either? Jeez, where is that kid?"

"Steve?" Jim asks with a small head tilt.

"Yeah, that knucklehead. I've been looking all over for him."

"Sorry, Coach, I haven't seen him since earlier today, when Seamus' dad got here," Shannon explains.

"Yeah, and last time I saw him, he seemed pretty upset about something," Mary adds. "But he ran off before I could ask. Although I probably wouldn't have. I saw Eli follow after him, too."

"Huh, now that you mention it, I haven't seen Eli since then either," Jim remarks, puzzled.

"Can everybody stop disappearing? Jeez," Toby mutters.

The whole time, Coach's face scrunches into one of thought, his little red baseball cap on his head shifting as he does so. When the gears turning in his head finally click, he straightens out, his eyes focused on a thought in his mind.

Shannon raises a curious eyebrow. "Coach, are you okay?"

"Oh god, is he about to go crazy and murder us?"

"Please shut up, Mar."

Their answer comes when Coach pushes past all of them, slow at first, but then he takes off sprinting in the direction of the faculty parking lot.

"Coach, where are you going?" Jim shouts after him.

"I know where the knuckleheads went!" he responds, without once turning around. Coach bursts out into the parking lot, fumbling his keys from his pocket and jumping straight into his truck. Luck is on his side, as no zombies appear to be loitering the area. It only takes a second for his foot to floor the gas after pulling out from the spot. His truck peels out of the lot and away down the road, in the direction of the Palchuk residence.

Still inside, the other students listen to the sound of the revving engine fading away as the distance between them grows. Once it's quiet, everyone looks at each other.

"Do you think he's going to be okay?" Darci asks.

"I dunno. Lets just get some food already!"

"Tactful as ever, Mar."

"I'll... head into the kitchen, see what I can find," Jim offers, and walks inside with the others following behind.

 

Akiridion-5's streets remain busy, vehicles hovering above the ground in harmonic flow. Beneath it all, akiridion civilians walk to and fro, all the while "King" Morando's loyal guards patrol the streets. People give them nervous stares as they pass, younger children being shielded while walking by.

A small alleyway between two structures goes unchecked by patrols. At the end of it, an akiridion woman with foam green hair types vigorously into her holographic computer. She gasps and spins around when something scrapes along the wall, but relaxes when she sees Commander Zadra scaling down the side of one of the walls with her scythe. She hops down to the ground and approaches her the rest of the way, her breath ragged.

"Have you been able to locate the royals?"

She shakes her head with pursed lips. "Not yet. Their mothership likely suffered internal damage after the hit it took in the hangar."

"Kleb. What about establishing communication?" Zadra continues.

Once more, another shake of the head. "Negative. I've been combing different frequencies, just in case whatever planet they landed on were to have a different one."

"Good idea," Zadra says shortly, still catching her breath. She catches the other woman staring at her intently after a few seconds and huffs. "Is something wrong, Izita?"

Izita chuckles and instead continues typing. "Is Morando keeping you busy by his side?"

"Ugh, I never thought that commanding the Taylon Phalanx would be a duty I would come to resent. I can barely find time to sneak away anymore. I might even be short for time right now."

"Well, you can't leave yet, I have a job for you," Izita begins to explain without looking up. Zadra places a hand on her hip and awaits further context. Izita glances over and takes this as a sign to continue. "As you know, we still don't know who it was that lowered the shields on the day of the ceremony. When you return, I need you to find a way to steal the memory drive from a blank robot and bring it back to me."

"They have access to security footage, which we can use to find our traitor," Zadra finishes, her voice raising at the realization.

"Precisely," she agrees with a confident smirk, "alright, now you should get back. You're of no use to us dead at Morando's hand."

That comment, while cruel in nature, came with a playful, flirtatious edge. Zadra returns the smirking gaze as she turns to run off. "Always a pleasure, Izita."

Suddenly, she reaches out and takes Zadra's hand. She reacts with surprise, but then feels her slip a small device into her palm; an earpiece.

"Take this. We can stay in contact just in case you're unable to sneak away. I'll continue trying to locate our royals in the meantime. I know they're out there somewhere, and I'll update you as soon as I get any information."

Zadra smiles, a soft and compassionate filled smile. She sprints out of the alleyway just after a duo of guards walk past in the opposite direction. She makes several calculated jumps and swings up onto a higher platform. From there, she has a clearer view of the galaxy surrounding their humble planet. So many stars in the sky, so many places the Tarrons could be.

"Aja, Krel, wherever you are, I hope you're safe."

 

"You there!"

Claire's head jerks up from her spot in the hallway, sitting down against a row of lockers. Varvatos approaches her, Aja and Krel tailing behind. "Hooman girl with the most festive clothing, and rather impressive weapon!"

She stands up, slightly on edge. "Uh, that's me, I guess?"

"Varvatos thanks you for your most glorious and heroic deed today!"

"Sorry, I'm not following."

"What my grandpa geezer means to say," Aja cuts in, shoving Varvatos to the side, "is thank you for saving my little brother."

Krel pops up on the other side of Varvatos, where he rubs the back of his head and smiles the tiniest bit. "I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't created that strange dark wormhole."

"Oh, it was nothing, really. Too many people have died already to these monsters, and I don't want to see it anymore, especially not one of my friends."

Krel leans back in a reset of his posture. He touches his chest and looks towards the ground. "Friend..."

"You have Varvatos' respect, young hooman. Now, where can I acquire the substance known as water?"

"Uhh, that way," Claire instructs while pointing to her right. Varvatos nods and marches off, Aja following after him. Krel lingers, shuffling his feet on the tile floor.

"Thank you. I really mean it," he repeats, this time his voice is a bit smaller.

"Really, it's no big deal. I'm glad you're okay," Claire replies with a kind smile.

"I've never been very favorable among other youth. What I'm trying to say is, that... I am happy that we are friends." Krel looks up at her finally, and smiles sweetly. Claire's smile widens, and she goes to respond, but Krel shuffles off after his sister before she can.

Her shoulders relax, but the smile stays. She understands the anxiety of social situations and doesn't think to press it. Her mind wanders back to earlier. The carnage and death in the hallway, the imagery of the entire world experiencing exactly the same thing. She can't let it stand. With renewed fire in her soul, she storms away in search of Jim and Toby.

 

Sun glints off of the slightly bloodied knife in Eli's hand from the spot where he sits on the front porch of the Palchuk house. His clouded thoughts are interrupted by the sound of a faint car engine slowly getting louder. Into view comes Coach Lawrence's truck, nearly crashing into several other cars in the process. He pulls up right next to the red pickup and practically launches out. Eli stands up to be met with the panting gym coach.

"Pepperjack! Where's--?"

"He's inside. Has been the whole time," Eli says after he jerks his thumb behind him.

Coach's face falls, and his eyes gloss over. "What happened?"

"You should go talk to Steve. I'll stay out here."

Coach nods and brushes past the smaller boy. As soon as he pushes open the front door, he recoils at the sight of the ex Mr. Palchuk lying dead in the middle of the living room, blood staining absolutely every surface. From the living room, he can see through the window into the backyard, the familiar blond haired form of Steve digging into the ground.

He briskly finds his way to the backdoor, where he stands for a moment, watching Steve digging out the last part of a grave sized hole. Next to it, a body crudely covered with a sheet lies motionless, the feet sticking out from underneath. Steve is heaving and quivering in between digs. Coach clears his throat to get his attention, but the boy still flinches. "Palchuk?"

He goes still. Coach almost repeats himself, but doesn't have to. "Yes, Coach?"

The pure agony being held back in his tone crushes the man's soul. He walks out into the backyard and directly behind Steve. His stepson turns around and faces him, and his eyes flick over to the covered body again. "Is that her?"

All Steve can do is nod and bite his lip to stop a sob from ripping its way out. Before Coach realizes it, his waist is being grabbed in a vice-like grip and Steve's face is buried into his chest. "I was too late, Coach, I was-- he-- he did this to her, he ruined everything, he--"

"I know. It's gonna be okay, Steve. I'm here."

The pain is already flooding Coach's body. He has to stay strong for Steve. A few tears run down his cheeks, but he wipes them away and does the same for his son. He loved her so much, and now she's being put in the ground. With a heavy intake of air, he puts both hands on Steve's shoulders.

"Why don't I take over? You should go sit down with Pepperjack and take a breather."

"Yeah... yeah, okay." Steve turns away and walks, ironically almost zombie-like, back into the house. Coach lets a few quiet cries slip before he scoops his hands underneath Raina's body. He steps down into the grave, while making sure to let her down with the utmost care.

Once lying flat, he steps back out and grabs the shovel. It takes all the willpower in his body to take the first dirt shovel of dirt and put it back into the hole. Steve, meanwhile, timidly emerges from his front door, where Eli stands, a few feet away in surveillance of the neighborhood. He turns sharply at the noise, but relaxes when he recognizes the source. Despite the hostility in his friend's eyes earlier, he can't bring himself to be angry. Not because of sadness, or pity for him, just because he's not that kind of boy.

To his surprise, though, Steve starts to cry. "I'm sorry," he blubbers suddenly. And just as quick, Steve rushes at him and traps him in a tight hug.

"It's alright, Steve," Eli murmurs in reassurance, patting his much larger friend on the back. He then opens his eyes and makes a quizzical look. "Permission to say bro?"

Steve sniffles and wipes his eyes, then his nose. "Permission granted, bro."

They're interrupted by Coach Lawrence exiting the house as well, eyes red, a little puffy, but dry now. The two teens share a silent moment of understanding, until Coach claps his hands together and motions to his truck. "Alright, who's ready to head back to the school?"

"Um, Coach, actually there's something I need to do first. Can you help me?"

Coach raises an eyebrow. "What is it?"

A few minutes later, Eli leads the trio up the approach to his own house. Steve nervously clutches his baseball bat, his eyes darting around to every little thing. Eli reaches his front door to find it shut completely. He tries the handle first. Locked. He gently raps against it with two knuckles. "Hello?"

Silence. More silence. A faint thud.

"I have a gun!"

The shrill, yet familiar voice sends a jolt of electricity through Eli's entire body. "Mom, it's me!"

The click of the door unlocking and being swung open is barely registered by the three outsiders before they're met with the slightly dirtied face of Nathalie Pepperjack. Eli's eyes sparkle, and he almost leaps into his mother's arms as the two embrace.

"I'm so glad you're okay, I didn't know where you were," Eli cries into her shoulder.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again, Elijah Leslie Pepperjack, or you'll be grounded for the rest of your life!" Nathalie exclaims without letting him go.

Finally, she pulls away, and beckons them to come inside. "I have some food and water in here, enough to survive off of. I'm sure we'll have enough until this all blows over."

"Mom, this is something so much bigger. It's like I told you, dead people are coming back to life, it's zombies."

Nathalie looks past him, at Coach Lawrence, who shrugs his shoulders. "As much as I'm still confused, the kid's right."

"And we can't stay," Eli adds.

"Excuse me? Why not?"

"There are a bunch of other survivors at the school, it's not just us. Come back with us, mom."

The prospect makes Nathalie pause and stare back into her house. "I-- I don't know."

"Please. We need to stay together, for Mom's sake. We have to be together when she finds us." Eli extends his hand to her. She looks into his pleading eyes from behind his large framed glasses. Her worrisome gaze softens, and she steps out onto the porch, her hand embracing her son's. She looks to Steve and Coach Lawrence next.

"The food supplies are sitting on my kitchen counter, grab them and we can go."

Steve and Coach Lawrence respond with wordless nods, rushing inside to collect everything, while Eli and Nathalie rush to the truck. No sooner is everything loaded into the bed in a few boxes, Coach Lawrence peels off down the road again. In the backseats, Nathalie remains with a clasped grip on Eli's hand, something he doesn't mind one bit. He's lucky to have her alive with him right now. He doesn't want this luck to run out.

 

A car speeds down a road on the outskirts of Arcadia. Behind the wheel is Javier, whose hands white knuckle the steering wheel like his life depends on it. NotEnrique is buckled up in the passenger seat, while Enrique sits in the back in his car seat, innocently babbling away.

"Why on Earth is that city council office so far away from the actual Arcadia?" NotEnrique complains. "We've already driven there and back and found nothin' but those monsters crawling about!"

"Calm down," Javier remarks without taking his eyes off the road, "we just need to make it to downtown Arcadia and get to the school. We passed the hospital a minute ago, and from the looks of things, it isn't getting any better there either. We just need to stay calm. Stay calm."

"I think you need to take your own advice, Pops," NotEnrique half-chuckles, "we'll meet up with sis and she can use her portals to find your lady, simple as that. No need to panic."

"Well I'm going to panic! Things have gone from bad to worse, and we don't even know if Claire is--!"

A deafening impact cuts off their conversation. The front end of Javier's car had just slammed directly into the side-front of another vehicle speeding through an intersection across his path. Javier briefly spins out, the front windows shattering from the impact, most of the glass luckily flying outwards as well. The other car swerves across the intersection, where it smashes into a metal street light.

Javier puts a hand to his head, feeling a tiny bit of blood running down, but nothing too major. "Are you okay?" he asks, turning to NotEnrique. The changeling is dazed, clutching his head to stop the spinning, but reorients himself after a shake.

"I'm okay," he responds with a gasp for air before and after. He undoes his belt and hops into the backseat, where Enrique is wailing at the top of his lungs, but thankfully remains unharmed. "Junior's alright, too."

"Ay, gracias a Dios," Javier breathes out, and is quick to exit the car. He runs around the side and swings open the door. He brings his crying son into his arms while NotEnrique hops out beside him. "We won't be able to use this car, we'll have to go on foot the rest of the way."

Javier starts to walk through the intersection, but a pang hits his chest. He can't leave the other driver. They haven't responded at all since the crash, and it would eat away at him if he didn't check on them. With Enrique slowly calming down in his arms, he runs to the other car, where its front and right side are dented significantly from both impacts. Smoke billows from the hood as a result of the crash. He reaches the driver side door and yanks it open, and right there he stops dead in his tracks. The driver is unconscious, slumped forwards against the wheel, luckily not lying on the horn. The worst part is he knows exactly who it is.

"Ophelia," he says in a shocked whisper.

Just then, out from the brush beside the road stumbles another figure, a young looking man with a streak of blue dyed hair in a black hoodie with skull décor; Douxie Casperan. Javier and NotEnrique meet his stunned gaze as he surveys the sight before him, his breathing heavy, almost hyperventilating at the rate he burst out of the shrubs.

"Oh, fuzzbuckets."

 

Jim and Toby walk aimlessly down one of the school's secluded hallways, the latter of whom munches happily on a salted bagel. Jim's eyes focus everywhere but the path ahead of him, and he goes to say something to Toby, however his chance is stolen from him.

"Guys!"

They both stop and turn to see Claire literally charging at them. Jim holds out an arm and clears his throat. "Claire, about before--"

"No time, come with me!" Both boys yelp as she doesn't stop for a second and is able to snatch both of their wrists and drag them behind her. Toby's bagel flies from his hand, making him gasp and sulk the rest of the time. Finally, Claire drags them into another empty classroom and shuts the door.

"Okay, what's all that about, Nuñez? You just wasted a perfectly good bagel," Toby huffs, hands on his hips.

"We need to go to Trollmarket."

The boys physically recoil while she takes out her staff in the meantime. Jim puts a confused hand in the air and tilts his head. "Whoa, whoa, back up a minute."

"Yeah, what the heck do you mean, go to Trollmarket?"

"I mean that we can't let Morgana win. Too many people are losing their lives all over the world, and I'm done sitting here letting it happen," Claire says with a face sterner than one her mother could ever muster.

Jim sighs deeply. "Trollmarket is-- it's gone, Claire. Morgana massacred everything and everyone down there. What use could it have?"

"Clearly she found something down there that she used to literally bring back the dead. If she can get answers, so can we." Her staff fills with the active dark greyish purple, and she fires out a portal in front of the three of them. "Are you with me or not? Because I'm going either way."

Jim nor Toby don't know what to say. They hold Claire's gaze for the longest time. Her eyes fall from serious to pleading. Behind her lips, her teeth clench in anticipation. At last, the orange glow of Toby's warhammer extending attracts Jim's attention. "I'm with you."

"Thank you, TP."

"Please stop calling me that."

"Jim?" Claire prompts. Her voice soft and inviting, same as the day the two first talked to each other. The voice that cemented in Jim's mind that she was the one he would love till the end of time. The one he would follow to the ends of the Earth. "Are you in?"

He would follow her to the ends of the Earth. He pulls out his amulet, which activates and forms his armor and sword of daylight without the incantation ever leaving his mouth. The sword rests comfortably in his hand. "I'm in."

No further discussion is shared between them, and in tandem, they all burst through Claire's portal. Once all three are through, it shuts behind them. No sooner do they pop out, they stop right in their tracks.

"Holy--"

"Not awesomesauce..." Toby murmurs between the three of them.

Above them rests the heartstone, only no longer bright orange and full of life. Now, it holds a sickly, dark gray, almost fully black color. The stone remains of dozens of innocent trolls litter the stone paths of the common area. All life below the streets of Arcadia is gone. All that remains is the lingering darkness. Maybe, in this darkness, Claire hopes wordlessly, they'll find just the answer they're looking for.

Chapter 7: Escape from Trollmarket

Summary:

Jim, Claire, and Toby explore Trollmarket for a way to fix everything, but get more than they bargained for. Darci gets sick and tired of everybody keeping secrets. The Tarrons are on edge in case of another attack.

Notes:

the TOA fandom kinda got a revival recently, and I finally began a rewatch, so WE'RE BACK BABY!!!

Engine smoke billows around the intersection. Javier leans into the car and shakes his unconscious wife. Her body rolls limp, unfazed by his touch. Enrique continues to sob from all the commotion while being rocked back and forth by his frazzled father.

"Ophelia? Ophelia, wake up!"

"What happened? Is she alright?" Douxie asks, taking a wary step closer.

"I don't know, one second I was driving and the next? Ophelia, wake up, please!"

"Hisidroux, why on Earth have you ran off?" a gruff, elder voice bellows from the brush next to the road. An older man sporting odd silver-greenish armor emerges; Merlin. Behind him, an entire group of survivors follows, the hospital survivors. Barbara immediately recognizes the frantic man and rushes to him.

Javier looks up at the familiar face, smiling like he's seen an angel. "Dr. Barbara, thank goodness you're here!"

"What happened?"

"My wife, we-- we crashed into each other!" he relays in a panic. Barbara places her fingers to Ophelia's neck, and after a few seconds, she nods.

"She still has a pulse," she says, making him sigh deeply in relief. At that very moment, the unconscious woman stirs with a pained groan emitting from her mouth.

She sits up in her seat and rubs her head, where a bloodied mark has been made from the impact. Ophelia flinches back when there's suddenly a blinding light shining in each eye. "Agh-- what happened...? Barbara, where did you come from?"

"You were in an accident, Ophelia. I'm checking to make sure you aren't concussed. You're lucky we were nearby."

Using what little regained strength she had mustered, she pushes herself into an upright sitting position. Her vision takes a few seconds to refocus, and she's met with Barbara in her upper right corner, applying a bandage to the gash on her head. Enrique cries in her husband's arms while he rocks him gently side to side. NotEnrique perches on his shoulder to attempt placating the poor infant. From behind, where the others around them had emerged, other figures fill into her vision. Upon closer inspection, they were of the infected variety.

"They-- They're coming--" Ophelia weakly warns, her arm lifting a bit to point. Barbara urges her to stay still while she finishes, but Douxie takes it upon himself to look.

"She's right, they've followed us!"

Merlin readies his staff, quite unamused. "Oh, by all the-- take your stances!"

One by one, he, Douxie, and Nomura charge the oncoming zombies. Zoe pulls out the gun on her person and hits a few of the rear ones before they even have a chance to be a threat. Barbara wraps her arm around Ophelia and brings her arm over her shoulder in order to help her walk. "We need to get out of here, those zombies could crowd us in seconds."

"The school..." Ophelia murmurs, still a little out of it.

"Huh?"

"The high school," Javier clarifies, "we were both trying to get there and reach Claire."

"It's a good thing we're headed there, too," Douxie explains while he holds a zombie on the ground. He goes to kill it himself, but Nancy beats him to it with a swift smack of her shovel. The other adults pause with stunned reactions, but shake away the hesitation before getting back to it.

"Let's not waste time, then," Barbara urges in a tone that says 'let's get moving already'. She waves along Wanda and Emilia, while Douxie tugs at Merlin's wrist. The older wizard initially doesn't want to give up their stance just yet, but his apprentice's pleading face sways him.

Zoe fires at one last zombie, then makes a move to join the others. She eyes the officers, who have their guns out but find themselves unable to unload into the undead. She scoffs and pulls at Louis' arm. "Come on, unless you want to be zombie chow."

The officers share a glance and figure it best not to wait around. Javier clutches Enrique in his arms, running alongside Ophelia and Barbara, their expanded group booking it for the school.

 

The dimly lit stone walls of Heartsone Trollmarket surround the Trollhunting trio. Stone cold remains of the dozens of trolls who once lived here line the pathways. Jim brings a hand to his chest while Claire clutches her staff a little tighter.

"They really are all gone," Toby murmurs. He holds back a sniffle, but wipes something out of his eye.

"Try not to think about it," Jim says, a lackluster attempt at consoling his friend, no doubt imagining the forms of their two troll companions, eternally locked in a horrified expression as the stone spread across them. "Let's just do what we came here to do and go."

Claire leads the way, respectfully ducking around all of the bodies. "There. Blinky's library."

She dashes inside, Jim close behind. He stops, though, when he sees Toby stopped and looking out into the dead aired expanse. His expression is one of longing, clinging hope. He sighs, and stares down at the area where he first encountered the residents of Trollmarket, where Blinky presented him as the new Trollhunter. He remembers the shocked faces, horror even.

"What is this? Human feet have never sullied the ground of Trollmarket before. Who are these fleshbags?"

Draal. Jim's chest aches for a moment. Just like before, all the nights the two spent training together resurface in his mind. The fight with Nomura that solidified the two's trust in one another. They'd gone so far, and then he was taken from him. Jim's own scream as Draal fell to the cavern depths echoes, until he sucks in a breathe of musty troll air and grounds himself in reality. "Toby, come on. We shouldn't be here any longer than we have to."

"Right, right. Sorry, Jimbo." The two boys shuffle into the library, where Claire is already rummaging through the strewn about books. Rather, what's left of them. Their eyes go wide at the state of the place.

"What happened here?"

"I think she was one step ahead of us. Almost everything is ruined," Claire reports, defeated, holding up a nearly fully charred book spine, with nothing left of its pages but a pile of ash on the floor by her feet. "Help me look, there's gotta be something here that can tell us how to stop this."

They take their cue and begin sifting through the carnage of Blinky's library. Leather carcasses cover the floor, while half burned, tattered pieces of paper fill in the gaps. Toby kicks a pile of ash, then regrets it when it flurries up into his face, triggering a round of coughs. Claire sifts through piles of unharmed paper, although nothing related to spells. She silently thanks herself for remembering her Trollish studies. Jim surveys the shelves, mostly empty now. He takes one of the few surviving books off the shelf and flips through it. Inside it depicts several different images of troll history. One picture in particular looks like Blinky and Aaarrrgghh themselves.

Jim's hands clench around the book. Red takes over and suddenly the book is across the room, hitting the wall and falling down in the corner. Claire and Toby turn their heads quickly at the noise. Jim recoils at his own act, his chest huffing in and out. He slowly shakes his head while he steadies his breathing to calm himself. He stares at where the book landed, only for his eyes to sharpen on something else. A different book in the same spot. Jim points directly at it. "Claire, look."

She hurries over and rescues the book from the dusty corner. She skims the page it had been open to, and her sudden twinkle in her eyes clues the boys into some impending good news. "You guys, this is it. This is the spell Morgana used to bring back the dead."

"Wait, seriously?" Toby exclaimed. "You're telling me Blinky had a spell to create zombies in his library this whole time and he never told us?"

"Priorities, Tobes."

"Sorry."

Claire observes the text further, having to squint to read the Trollish due to slight charring from Morgana's destruction, coupled with previous weathering. "It says that this spell is highly dangerous, and if done incorrectly has catastrophic consequences."

"Oh man, you mean that there could've been something worse than zombies becoming real?" Toby says in a panic. "I guess it's a good thing Morgana's like, the most powerful witch in the world. Well, not a good thing. But also a good thing. Whatever, you know what I mean!"

Flakes of gray ash float out of the book as Claire flips between pages, back and forth. "There's nothing about how to reverse it, no undo spell, nothing."

Jim puts a hand to his forehead, which seems to assist the lightbulb in forming. "What about up in the heartstone? I'm sure Vendel kept a record of every spell and its reversal in his chamber."

"That's a great idea! Good thinking, Jim," Claire exclaimed, before she races ahead of both of them. "Come on!"

The trio dedicated to finding a way out of this spell are so preoccupied in their mad dash for the very dimmed heartstone, they brush past one of the stone bodies petrified in place. None of them see the faint yellow glow in its eyes, pulsating a few times before vanishing again.

 

Far away in a heavily wooded area, Usurna pushes aside several branches and brush in her way. "We shouldn't be too much farther away now. Our salt cavern's power shall be yours, Pale Lady."

Behind her, Morgana follows, satisfaction on her face. That is, until she jerks back as if she'd been struck. She hisses under her breath, eyes fixated on something not there. Usurna picks up on the low sound and turns around. She watches the all powerful sorceress twitch and turn her head, eyes going dark.

"Is something the matter?" she asks.

Morgana scowls, however it morphs into a sinister chuckle. "It seems some little lambs have marched their way to the slaughter."

The Krubera queen rolls her eyes, almost unfazed by the grand sorceress' theatrics. "Surely it's not that big of a deal. Like I said, we're nearly at the deep caverns."

"It's no surprise your feeble mind doesn't comprehend the issue at hand. Of course, after ridding the world of your kind, I made sure to tie up any loose ends to prevent my plans from being interrupted. However, this is the Trollhunter, and the girl who stole my staff from me. They're not to be taken lightly."

At this, Usurna's gaze darkens. She knows all too well the tenacity of those humans. "Just don't take too long in killing them."

Morgana's grin becomes wickedly wide. Her darkened, pitch black eyes suddenly shift to a blinding golden glow. "I won't need long."

Her vision fades back into Trollmarket, and while the trio of humans is no longer visible in the vicinity of the petrified troll corpse she has as her sight vessel, she can hear the loud-mouthed one from afar up in the heartstone center. An evil cackle reverberates through the stone body, followed by the golden eyes fading away.

"Man, this stinks!" Toby exclaims, throwing broken pieces of Vendel's belongings across the stone floor. "There's really nothing. Everything's gone."

"We really should've expected this, Tobes," Jim says in a half hearted attempt to rationalize, "Gunmar had control over Trollmarket for months before now. He or Usurna could've destroyed all this long before Morgana had the idea to."

"But this means that we're stuck like this!" Toby counters with his hands out. "And-- And I don't want to be stuck in a world like this. Zombies are cool and all, but not when they're real!"

"Tobes..."

"They're not supposed to be here. It's not fun when they could take away your friends and family at any moment. Any more of them."

Those words bring flashes of everyone lost through Jim's mind. Blinky, Aaarrrgghh, Vendel, Draal. "Okay, we can't let this get us down, right, Claire?" Claire isn't listening. Jim approaches Toby and looks down into his eyes. "Remember how you guys reversed Aaarrrgghh's creeper's sun poison and brought him back?"

"Well, yeah, we got the recipe from the... Janus Order!"

Something from beyond the mouth of the entrance to the heartstone pricks at Claire's ears. "Uh, guys?"

"Exactly, Tobes! Morgana wouldn't even think to go there after Gunmar already eliminated pretty much all of the changelings."

"Guys."

"And if they had the antidote for something as lethal as the creeper's sun, then they surely have spellbooks like the ones here, including ways to reverse them!"

"Guys!"

"You see, that's why it's good to stop and think, otherwise you miss something that's right in front of your--"

"You guys!"

"What?" both boys cry out in unison. The yells echo in the following silence, not one of them saying anything, until Claire's echoed footsteps towards the entrance stop.

"Do you hear that?"

Jim and Toby mimic Claire's concentration when they walk behind her. Sure enough, they hear exactly what she does. A moan, a growl, shuffled footsteps in the distance. Lots of them. The trio briskly perch at the top of the path down back into the rest of Trollmarket. Amidst the ground where the stone trolls continue to be on display, dozens, if not hundreds, of zombies pollute the area, emerging from several gold and black portals on the edges.

"Oh, no," Jim breathes out, "Claire, get us out of here."

"Don't have to tell me twice." Her staff was out in milliseconds, fully extended and ready to go. Only it didn't. She aimed, concentrated, and yet her attempt at a portal sputters out like her first few days of training.

"What's wrong?"

"I-- my staff, it's not working again! Like it's jammed or something."

"Well un-jam it!" Toby demands, although it's a demand of urgency and clear panic.

"I would if I could!" she snarks back, her eyes then shift back to her staff. "I think... something is blocking it on purpose this time."

"Or someone," Jim suggests, earning him nervous looks from both Claire and Toby. They all stare out at the still growing sea of zombies. It quickly dawns on all of them that the zombies know exactly where they are, and are headed directly for them.

Claire holds her staff firm, as a melee weapon as opposed to a portal creation device. Toby pulls out his warhammer handle, ready to extend it, and Jim grasps the amulet in his hand. Claire looks back at the both of them, and then all of them stare at the spiraled staircase across the expanse below them; their destination. Claire shakily exhales.

"Run."

 

Lime green magic spreads across the walls and doorway to one of the Arcadia High classrooms. Connie paces the room while she mutters the necessary incantations under her breath. The glowing lime colored magic lines the walls, and after a few seconds, the manifested image of a lock clicking shut appears and fades away. Connie grins, her idea a success.

"Connie?"

The girl's breath catches in her throat, and she spins around. Ice travels up her spine when she stares back at Shannon, her very own girlfriend who'd just exclaimed her name in shock. Mary and Darci stand behind her, equally as stunned, although Shannon has an extra emotion on her face. Hurt.

"Shan-- Shannon, what are you-- I told you I'd only be gone for a few minutes."

"We thought it was pretty suspicious how you just wandered off!" Mary cuts in, making Shannon flinch in response. "We had to make sure that you weren't trying to run off with any of our stuff!"

"What did you see?" Connie asks, but she already knows the answer.

"We saw enough to know that you're clearly not just a regular person," Darci replies. It doesn't escape Connie's knowledge that Shannon has yet to say anything back to her.

She extends her hands, but when Shannon takes a step back, she freezes. "I-- I should've told you, Shannon. I didn't know how you'd react."

"You lied to me," her small voice says in return.

"I didn't want you in danger. I've had these... powers, for maybe a year now? I'm still trying to understand what I'm meant to do with them, but I've been getting taught by others like me in Arcadia."

"There's more?" Mary shouts. "When the internet comes back, I am so tweeting about this."

"I know it's a lot to wrap your minds around, magic being real and all. I imagine it's not as hard now given what's happened recently. But you have to know that I never wanted to lie to you or hurt any of you. I was just casting a protection spell on this room, and even more, so that if the zombies break in, we can hide in here behind the protective barrier."

The information hangs in the air for several seconds for the other girls to take in. Connie's gaze flicks between all three of them. From Shannon's hurt, to Mary's intrigue, to Darci's annoyance. She turns back to her girlfriend, and speaks softer this time. "Shan, I'm sorry."

Shannon finally meets her eyes. "I just need a minute."

The door is swung open by her running out. Connie calls after her, but doesn't follow. She looks over at the other two, and Darci is shaking her head. "First my own boyfriend hides something from me, and Claire, too, and now another one of my own friends? I'm starting to think that I should just not trust anyone anymore."

"Please, wait--!" Connie tries to plead, but Darci storms out as well. Mary is quick to chase after her which leaves the magical young girl alone in the empty room. She stares at the empty doorway longingly, as if Shannon would run back in and accept her apology. But that doesn't happen, it's all just in her longing mind. She slumps down into the chair of one of the desks and deeply exhales with her face in her hands. She's really messed it up.

 

Jim pushes in front of his friends, now fully suited up in his Trollhunter armor, sword at the ready. The first few zombies get sliced down with clean swings of the blade. Claire spins her staff almost like a baton right behind Jim. She uses it to pierce through the softer skulls of any zombies that he misses. The three of them dodge past the crowd of undead trying to get to the stairs leading up the very canal where Jim had found his amulet.

Jim leads them around a corner, what would've been their final stretch before the crystal spirals. Only their path is met by a wave of monsters. The hundreds of loud zombie noises drown out any other noise. Toby swings at the legs of any zombie that comes close to get them down, right before the amber colored hammer crushes their heads like grapes.

"Back to back, don't let them circle us!" Jim instructs, holding out his sword while his friends get in position. Each one of them takes turns bringing down one zombie after another. In the midst of it all, Claire catches a sparkle of gold in one of the zombie's eyes.

She squints, as if trying to predict where she'll see it next. She impales zombie after zombie on her staff, still with her eyes on the herd before her. Then she sees it. A zombie with piercing golden eyes that flicker and wisp like flames. The zombie is standing still in the herd, staring straight at her. Her heart runs cold, and if she didn't know better, it stopped.

"Morgana."

"What did you say?" Jim asks, his gaze on her now, a brief pause in slicing the heads of zombies right off their bodies.

"She's here!"

In one fluid motion, Jim slices straight through the heads of several zombies. As soon as he processes what exactly she had said, he grabs Toby by the arm and yanks him through a tight opening in the oncoming masses. "Then we're getting the hell out of here, now!"

By now the zombies were coming from any and all angles. The three of them dodged and tucked around corpse after corpse. Ahead, Jim tried to swerve down the shadowed hall leading into a familiar chamber; the Hero's Forge. He doesn't get far when Toby inverts Jim's hold on his wrist so that he now holds onto his.

"Toby, what are you--?"

"What are you doing?"

"We can lure them into the forge and start the mechanisms!"

"They'll corner us! Morgana is just letting more and more of them down here," Claire says with urgency in her voice while she uses her staff to hold back almost half a dozen zombies. "It's not going to work, Jim!"

"But can't we just try?"

"No time, no time!" Toby starts repeating in panic as he whisks Jim out of the way as Claire's arms give out, and the zombies spill toward them. Jim is pulled out of the entrance to the forge just in time for the zombies to miss all of them. They bounce off of each other and for a moment cause a blockage, which allows the three survivors to put some distance between them and the bulk of Morgana's horde.

All three of them race across the cobblestone path. They double back through the aisles of market stalls they had just come through to reach the original exit. Cutting behind one of the bigger stalls, Claire is the last one to poke out in the last clearing before the crystal steps. She goes to increase to a run like the two in front of her. Only she's hauled back when a cold hand grips her wrist like ice. She screams and gets a full look at what-- who grabbed her.

A zombie with those exact piercing golden eyes. It grins at her, something only a living being could do. And it speaks. "Why are you leaving so soon, little lamb?"

The expression and glowing eyes vanish with the snap of a finger, right before Claire's staff jams through the zombie's head. The body falls and releases her arm in time for Jim and Toby to run back to the disoriented girl. All around them, a wicked laugh fills the underground expanse. Claire readies her staff, but when the others do the same, she waves them off.

"Go on, get to the stairs!"

"Small problem there," Toby explains while aggressively pointing back; the first few slabs of the crystal stairs are crumbled to bits on the floor. What's left is too high for them to be able to jump up and reach on their own.

"I'd admire your tenacity, if it wasn't for the fact that you're trying to tear down everything I've worked for," Morgana's voice echoes through another approaching zombie, one which Claire stabs. Again, she's quick to end its undead life, however it's personification is gone in the blink of an eye.

Jim runs over to the flat rock wall where the stairs would've been, Toby right behind. "Climb on my back, Tobes, I'll lift you!"

"Okay, but do you really trust me to pull you up? You do remember I couldn't climb the rope in gym class for the longest time, right?" he says in return, visibly panicked as he strains the last distance up onto the first stair, safely out of reach of the zombies below.

"You can do it, Tobes. Ready?" Jim encourages with a head tilt. A cry from behind him makes him look back. "Claire, come on!"

Claire is tracking the golden eyes that flutter around the air before settling within the consciousness of another one of the zombies. Each time it lands, she ends the zombie before it can even utter a single word.

"So feisty and full of rage. You remind me of myself."

"I'll never be you!"

The zombies are beginning to push her back, but she doesn't waver. Sweat falls from Claire's brow and yet she doesn't flinch. She backpedals steadily, arms at the ready to jab her staff into the head of every zombie that gets close. She grunts audibly every time she swings into one of their heads. Morgana is taunting her at this point. One moment she inhabits a zombie to the left, the next she's on her right.

Jim stabs his sword into the rock and plants his foot on the handle. He steps up and uses the leverage to give Toby an easier time pulling him the rest of the way up. Toby yells dramatically from the strain on his arms to pull Jim's climbing form up to safety. As soon as he does, the sword vanishes from where he'd stuck it and appears in his hand once more.

"Claire? Claire, get up here, now!"

By now her back is against the very wall of rock Jim had just climbed up. There's no room left for her on the ground. She turns and jumps for the ledge, missing by a few feet. Jim leans over, armored hand outstretched. "Grab my hand!"

With one more jump, their hands interlock. With her other hand, she throws her now collapsed staff up onto the ledge while her feet brace the wall in front of her. A zombie grabs Claire's ankle as she's pulled higher, but it's not a regular one. It laughs and the eyes send nausea through Toby.

"I thought I made it quite clear," her voice loses all form of smooth, cruel playfulness. It's now just dark and soulless. "You're not leaving."

"Hang on, Claire, I've got you!"

If Claire were made of rope, she'd be pulled in two as Jim and Morgana's zombie puppet fight for the young sorceress. The rest of the mindless horde claws up at all three of them, the sound of Claire's grunts of attempting to pull herself the rest of the way up. She tries kicking, but it falls flat. Her neck cranes up to see both Jim and Toby, the former holding onto her for dear life, and the latter trying to swing down at the horde with his hammer without falling.

"Jim!" she cries out, letting the fear bleed through, but only for a few seconds. Her face calms, and she almost appears relaxed. "Jim--"

And then her hand slips from his. Claire plummets into the clutches of the puppeteered zombie that disappears from view. In an instant, the rest of the horde encircles the exact spot where she'd just fallen.

"Claire!" Both boys scream at the top of their lungs, a look of horror stretching across their faces. Jim immediately tries to throw himself over the edge after her, just barely held back by his best friend.

"Stop, Jim, stop!"

"We have to-- we have to go back for her!"

"It's too late, we can't--" but Toby is cut off when a shadowed figure grabs him by the throat and slams his back into the wall.

Morgana, no longer using a zombie as a vessel, tightens her shadowed hand around Toby's throat while he squirms, hatred burning in his eyes. She clicks her tongue at his defiance. "Your little friend was a thorn in my side. I must say I'll miss her and her appreciation of shadow magic, but it's a small price to pay when it means I'll have everything I want. All that's left now is to deal with you and Merlin's Trollhunter."

A scream erupts from the horde below. Jim looks over the ledge just in time to see an explosion of purple shadow magic send dozens of the zombies careening back into the walls, their heads exploding on impact. Claire hovers out of the bloody mess, covered in it, but otherwise unharmed. She soars straight at Morgana's apparition and sideswipes her off of Toby, who falls into Jim's arms in a coughing fit once his neck is free from her icy grip.

"Keep your hands off of them!"

"You-- how did you survive?" Morgana questions in disbelief. Jim silently wonders the same thing.

The two sorceresses drop from the air, and Claire chuckles across from her. "I've overcome your power before. Did you really think you could keep me from creating portals entirely?"

Actually taken aback, Morgana is unable to react in time when Claire runs right at her. She reels back her staff and stabs it into the head area of Morgana's apparition. With a determined cry, she swings the staff through the head and her whole body, the entire shadow disappearing and not reforming. Claire stands where the last wisps of the shadow disappear from, and turns to face Jim and Toby behind her.

Morgana yells in fury as she's removed from her projection down in Trollmarket, the faux hit knocking her true body down onto the grassy forest floor. Usurna hurriedly approaches her fallen side and stares down at her.

"What happened? Did you solve your little problem?" she asks.

Morgana quickly rights herself and glares daggers at the troll queen. "Not quite, but it doesn't matter. They didn't get far, and now they won't be able to go any further."

She turns to see Usurna still looking at her, an unsure gaze. Her eyes narrow, almost offended. "Unless you have something to say, I recommend that we continue to your caverns."

"Right, of course, Pale Lady." Usurna brushes past her. While her words appeared genuine, a seed of doubt had been planted in her mind. Who did Usurna truly serve?

Claire doesn't have time to react before Jim is around her in a tight hug. "Oh, my God, Claire, I thought-- you fell and I thought you were gone--"

"I'm okay, I'm fine."

"Are you sure? No scratches, no bites--"

"I am! Believe me, I'm not the type to lie about something like that."

"You never know until it happens," Toby cuts in, "statistically in every zombie movie, there's always one person that hides their bite."

"Yeah, well this isn't a movie, TP. Now let's get out of here." Cutting their little debate short, Claire conjures a portal in front of the three of them, where they then emerge out onto the desolate bridge above the canal where the entrance to Trollmarket sits.

As soon as the portal fades, Claire slumps into Jim's arms, almost fainting. "Whoa, Claire, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just used... a lot of my energy fighting her off. I don't think I have another portal in me for the trip back to the school."

"Aww man!" Toby whines. "Gym class all over again."

"Don't whine, Tobes," Jim scolds him, then smiles at Claire while he helps her regain her balance. "Walking it is."

 

The two extraterrestrials in disguise slip down one of Arcadia High's hallways. A nearby clatter makes Aja's head snap in that direction, and her hand instinctively raise her serrator. Krel rolls his eyes from beside her.

"Sister, you're going to expose us to more people than we've already been forced to if you keep acting like this."

"Forgive me for being a little on edge after we just got attacked by the Zerons!"

"Shhhh, not so loud!" Krel's voice hissed at her lowly. "Sheesh, at this rate, anyone is Arcadia that isn't a mindless zom-bee is going to know our secret."

They turn a corner where the hallway stretches long in front of them, and doors to different rooms line either side. Their footsteps echo in the silence. Aja balls her hands into emotional fists that desire to punch the air, however she lowers them a second later.

"It's not going to matter who knows when they've reduced us to our cores," she snaps back.

"As much as I hate to side with the freaky Earth monsters, there is hardly a way that they could get past all of them to get in here to us! You need to relax, Aja, or else you're going to end up like Mama when I accidentally blew up a part of the palace on our 8th birthday."

Aja softens at the memory, and she chuckles alongside Krel. Their parents had been in an absolute state that day, what with her energy bouncing off the walls, and Krel's growing affinity for technology. It seems that not much changed in the following eight keltons that passed. The two of them stop when Krel freezes and puts a hand on Aja's chest. She's about to speak, but he puts a finger to his lips. From the room just ahead, indistinct mutters and the shifting of items and fabric is just barely audible.

Unease bubbles up inside Aja's core while she reaches for her serrator. They both poke their heads into the doorway and immediately relax. It's only Darci with her back to the doorway. She shoves a few cans of cafeteria food into a backpack, as well as two water bottles and some dusty blankets she likely dug out of a supply closet.

"Uhh, Darci, what are you doing?" Aja asks from the doorway before she and Krel end up on either side of her.

"Leaving," she replies with a short attittude.

The siblings exchange a surprised glance, and Krel scoffs. "In case you've forgotten, the school is surrounded by hundreds of those loud monsters."

"Yeah? Well, I don't care," Darci retorts, "people here clearly can't be bothered to be honest, so I'm going to go find my dad. I don't know where to start, but I'm going."

She heaves the bag over her shoulders and turns to leave, but Aja frantically steps in her way. "Wait, wait, wait! Krel is right, it is far too dangerous outside."

"I already said I don't care. It's better than staying here and being lied to constantly."

Aja sighs. Little did Darci know the cruel irony that two of the biggest liars within the school are staring her straight in the face. "I know it can feel like a betrayal when somebody lies to you. But sometimes it's not because they are trying to hurt you."

Darci's expression softens and she quits trying to push past her, so Aja continues. "Sometimes, people keep secrets because if it gets out, then they will be the ones who are hurt. They might have to hide a lot of things, including their own feelings, because the truth would only put them in danger."

Aja looks at Darci, but primarily past her, at Krel, who stands behind the other girl. Darci's face finally falls, and she drops the backpack from her shoulders. "That... makes a lot of sense. Toby, Claire, and Jim probably had a ton of enemies they were fighting, and telling anyone would've put everyone involved in danger."

"Yes, exactly!" Aja exclaimed, although she doesn't really know what she's talking about. Neither does Krel given his silent shrug from behind Darci.

"It's a lot like my dad, actually. He encounters so many dangerous people, but he doesn't tell me certain things because he knows that it wouldn't do me any good to know. He keeps me prepared, but doesn't want to weigh me down with all of the rest. Thanks, Aja, I think I understand it a little better now."

"Yeah, well I don't!" Krel grumbles with crossed arms. Darci begins to unpack the bag she had just packed full, when her head tilted.

"Do you guys hear that?"

"Hear what?" Krel asks.

"I'm not sure, but it sounds like honking?"

And at that moment, Mary bursts into the doorway. "You guys, there's some maniac speeding towards the school blasting on the horn, come quick!" Before any of them can reply, she darts off in the direction of the main doors.

All three of them chase after her, while the honks continue steadily and get louder as they approach the main doors where zombies are still banging. Right when the four of them reach the doors, Uhl, Janeth, and Strickler emerge, the first of the trio still holding onto his shotgun.

"What is that incessant noise?"

Darci peers past the clawing undead hands, through the sea of death, and spots the glint of a swerving vehicle careening closer to the school from down the street. "I think someone's trying to get to us!"

"Who could it be? Surely everyone here is accounted for," Strickler says.

"Nuh uh, Steve and Eli ran off, so Coach went after them," Mary replies.

"And now that I think about it, I haven't seen Jim, Claire, or Toby in a while, either," Darci adds.

"But how can we be sure that it's any of them?" came Strickler's surefire rebuttal.

"Wooohoooo! Yeeeohoohoo!"

A few gunshots follow behind that enthusiastic scream, and the screech of tires as the small car continues to dodge the horde of undead between them and the school. Darci, Mary, Aja, and Krel all look at each other, and Darci speaks again. "That is definitely Steve."

And Steve it is. Surprisingly, Eli is behind the wheel, while Coach Lawrence and Nathalie occupy the back seats, mutual terror on both of their faces. A gun is in Steve's hand, the small piece owned by one half of the Pepperjack matriarchs. Eli swerves around the block of the school again as Steve prepares to lean out the window again.

"Focus, Pepperjack, I need clear shots!"

"Don't worry, bro, I've got this!" Eli declares with extreme confidence. He pulls his eyeglasses down as if they were shades. "Tokyo drift!"

He drifts the car in the direction of several zombies. Many are obliterated by the vehicle, but a few more are popped in the head thanks to accurate shots from Steve. Coach Lawrence white-knuckles the seat beside him, while Nathalie death grips the handle above the door.

"Slow down, Pepperjack!"

"Can't stop, won't stop, Coach!"

Only that isn't true. Eli's drift buys them a few seconds, his overall inexperience behind the wheel sends the vehicle spiraling in a full rotation, before it comes to a small crashing stop over the curb. The way the wheels had landed make it impossible for him to wiggle them out of it.

"Elijah Leslie Pepperjack, you fix my car right now!"

"I-- I can't, we're stuck!" he says in exponentially growing panic.

Steve pokes his head out of the window, and is met with the harrowing sight of the crowd of zombies getting closer. He slips back inside and looks over at Eli, who has his foot on the gas while he jerks the steering wheel in all directions. He keeps the gun clutched tight between his hands, which are starting to shake more with each second that passes.

"Pepperjack, now would be a good time to get us out of here!"

"It's not working!"

A couple of zombies begin to bang on the rear window, the side of the vehicle slowly becoming swarmed. The side tilted up on the curb still has an opening. Steve watches a few zombies begin to crawl onto the front hood and claw at the windshield. One's fist even cracks the glass. With a high pitched scream, Steve throws himself out of the passenger window. He lands on the ground in a heap and takes several seconds to stand up.

"Steve!" Eli calls after him, his cry drowned out by Steve shooting one zombie in a panic, running and weaving through the oncoming masses. Without waiting any longer, Eli undoes his seatbelt and crawls toward the open window.

Nathalie grabs her son by his ankle. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm going after him, are you coming or not?" Is all Eli replies with before he frees himself from her grip and rolls out of the window.

That's all Nathalie needs to crawl over Coach Lawrence entirely and push the back door open.  He grunts and wheezes when her knee pushes into his stomach. Once she's out, he jumps out beside her and they chase after Eli, who has already pushed past several clawing zombies. While not as dexterous as the two teenagers, the adults quickly catch up when they see Steve tussling with a zombie on his back, and Eli on the back of the zombie. With one big heave, Steve throws both of them off him. Eli is quick to recover and crawls to the zombie before it can even think of standing back up, and puts his knife straight through its head.

"Steve, are you okay?" Coach Lawrence asks after rushing to his aide. His strong arms grab Steve and check him for any scratches.

"I'm-- I'm fine," Steve replies a little awkwardly, the weight of earlier events still clouding over his mind.

"Guys, they're all around us!" Eli suddenly cries out. One zombie comes from the front, and another from the back. Steve points the gun and shoots. Or rather would have if not for the click that signifies no more bullets. He backs up nervously, and Coach Lawrence is prepared to fight it off with his bare hands.

But none of them have to. A blue streak flies through the air, slashing at the zombie's head. Another one does the same to the zombie in front of them. When both fall to the ground, all of them look on. The two flying blades soar back to their owner, Jim, who stands there with Claire and Toby on either side. The blades fly back into place on the thighs of Jim's armor, and he readies his sword just like Claire with her staff and Toby with his hammer.

"Lake?" Coach Lawrence is flabbergasted, while Steve and Eli cheer.

"Oh, thank goodness you're here, you guys!"

"You totally missed it, I was just gunning down all these zombies and throwing so many punches and kicks--"

"We could hear you screaming, Steve," Jim cut him off with a chuckle. Steve's mouth clamps shut.

"Less jokes, more running!" Claire reminds them all, urging them closer to the school. Jim and Toby run on either side of the group, using their weapons to create a barricade of sorts to prevent any zombie sideswipes. Claire leads the pack forward with her staff held out. It's two sharp ends pierced through several zombie heads on their fight through.

Inside, Darci is on the ground rummaging through her backpack. Aja and Krel stare out the doors with Varvatos behind them.

"Can you see them?" he asks.

Aja shakes her head, concerned. "There's too many of them out there to tell."

"What are you talking about, they're right there!" Mary points, finger pressed on the glass to a spot to the right, where the group led by Jim is pushing their way closer. The siblings seem to not even acknowledge her words.

"They could be watching us, it's not safe," Krel admits as he stares into the undead expanse. A few times he swears he sees movement beyond the pale heads and bloodied bodies, but his eyes could be playing tricks on him, he's not entirely sure.

Everyone else ignores their mutters. Lenora peers out the window with worry, Uhl behind her. Finally, Darci pulls what she needs from her bag; the same paper cutter blade she'd used the day before. Strickler spots her headed to the doors first and follows behind while adjusting his suit coat.

"Miss Scott, what do you plan to do with that?"

"Help my friends, duh."

"Absolutely not," Uhl chimes in while standing in front of the doors, "we've lost too many students, and I will not put any more in danger."

"What do you think is going to happen if we don't?" Darci starts to yell. "Basically half of the only students left are out there! Claire, Toby, Jim, Eli, Steve, and Coach Lawrence, too!"

"The girl has a point. Varvatos Vex thinks it would be unwise to let them fend for themselves. A death of that sort would not be glorious at all," Varvatos says. Darci gives the old man a nod of acknowledgement from the support.

Strickler pulls out his shiny dagger. "If you're sure about doing this, Miss Scott, then allow me to help. However, we will only clear a path to the doors, no further."

"Deal. Mary, Aja, will you hold open the doors for us?"

"Sure," Aja agrees, Mary following behind, "but be careful. You don't know what's out there."

"Uh, yeah we do. Zombies," Mary replies in a slower tone as if trying to make an obvious point. Varvatos rolls his eyes at her. Krel backs up when Darci and Strickler walk up to both doors, weapons at the ready.

With no more than a nod from both of them, the two girls swing open the doors. More zombies try to burst inside than expected. From the sidelines, Uhl fires a deafening shot from his shotgun, the spread of the shell taking two out at the same time. Darci and Strickler each push a zombie back out the doors and slice their heads into oblivion. Wrestling the body to the ground with one final stab, Darci yanks her blade out and looks up.

"This way, you guys!"

"Young Atlas, can you hear me?"

Through the thinning path of zombies, the group pauses. Jim looks around to get his bearings. To his left he sees them, Darci and Strickler, swinging their weapons at any zombie that comes close. He points and turns to the others. "There, we're close! Just stay close together."

Huddled as close as can be, the group outside continues to push through. By now they're standing in a circle, each with their own weapon, whether makeshift or real. It's a tough push, but Jim can see the open doors becoming closer and closer within their reach. However, the area around the doors is becoming too crowded. Despite Uhl's assistance in firing off a few shots as backup, both rescuers are being pushed back.

"Strickler, that's enough, get back inside!" Uhl shouts.

"Darc, come on!" Mary urges her best friend, genuine worry across her face. Strickler moves back after jabbing a zombie's temple, and Darci begins to follow. However, she looks back out at Claire through the crowd, her face twisted in that of exertion from the fight. Then she falls to Toby. She can see the fatigue in him. She's angry with everyone, but she won't let anyone die.

Darci shoots forward again, only for Mary to grab her wrist. "What are you doing? Darci!" she shouts, only for the girl to wrench herself free and run into the zombies. A second later the doors slam closed, courtesy of Uhl and Strickler. Both men's faces look solemn, and the rage in Mary grows.

"You left her out there!"

"We couldn't hold the doors open any longer, Miss Wang, lest those infernal creatures get us, too."

Mary continues to yell for them to open the doors again, even going as far as to lunge at the two teachers, only held back by a quickly intervening Aja. Outside, Darci doesn't stop, she swings her blade like a madwoman, until she jumps full force onto one of the zombies and slams the blade into its head. She looks up to see another looming above her, only for a bullet to spew out the forehead, blood and brains landing on top of her. Steve lowers his gun once Claire helps her stand.

"Darci, why are you out here?" she asks.

"To get you all back inside!"

"The doors are closed!" Nathalie chirps, anxiety bleeding out her voice. "What do we do?"

"Come on!" Jim encourages. "If we fight to the doors, we can get inside!"

And fight they do, all of them heave their weapons in succession with each other, in order to create a vortex of a clear path. Despite this, the difficulty in pushing through to the doors only increases. Toby voices so while holding back two zombies, both of which Eli sneaks up on and stabs through the head.

"Guys, we're not making any ground!" he warns.

"Maybe we need a new plan!" Eli suggests.

Jim looks around, until his eyes land on Claire repeatedly stabbing a zombie with the end of her staff. "He's right. Claire, we need you to portal us back inside, like you did with Krel!"

"What? I-- I don't know."

"Nuñez, if we die, I'm sending you to detention in the afterlife!" Coach Lawrence declares, although from a place of panic more than anger while fighting back against a zombie.

"That was just two people, but there's, what, ten of us? I've only ever done a huge portal like that once, and you know what happened to me after!"

"But it's different now, Claire! You've bested her, twice now, your will is stronger than hers!"

Zombies begin to wrestle down Steve and Eli, the former of which screaming at the top of his lungs and only serving to draw in more. Claire stares at the staff, anxiety growing as the memories of Morgana possessing her very body resurface. But in the end, she stares back at Jim. "Stand back."

Everyone shuffles back as best they can while fending off the undead. Claire's staff goes dark, and she points it at the floor, crying out as the ground swells and begins to be replaced with the black and purple swirl. Darci backpedals, nearly knocking Toby over. "Wh-- What's happening?"

"Just take my hand and don't let go!" Toby quickly advises her, right before the portal opens, and all of them freefall into the ground, along with a few zombies.

Just like before, all of them land in the middle of the Arcadia High hallway as the portal on the ceiling shrinks and disappears. Steve continues to scream, as do Eli and Toby as the zombies who went through with them crawl all over. Coach Lawrence kicks one off of Eli and slams its head into some lockers, denting the skull and the lockers. Darci's blade touches Toby's forehead when she pokes it through the head of the zombie on Toby. Steve's screams are interrupted by Aja, who wrestles the zombie off of him and proceeds to stomp on it's head repeatedly.

Varvatos watches her, quite impressed. Stuart beside him looks on in disgust and unease. Steve props himself up on his elbows to stare up at Aja, whose hair falls down in her face, now messy from taking out the zombie. When she looks down at Steve, her expression is firm, but softens at his smile.

"You're like a ninja kicking angel..." he murmurs.

But his moment of idolization doesn't last long before Coach Lawrence pulls him to his feet. Krel stands beside Aja, wiping some blood drops from his blue shirt with disgust on his face. Eli, now realizing that the Tarrons are back, lights up in glee and races at him.

"Krel, you're back!" he exclaims, and gives him a full body hug. The much shorter boy is only about chest height, so Krel awkwardly pats him on the head. "I was so worried about you. You both!"

"Err, yes, we just had to go home to retrieve some personal belongings," Krel replied, giving the three aliens among the group an exaggerated stare.

Varvatos changes the subject by sniffing in, and immediately recoiling. "These creatures reek worse than Stuart!"

"I'm standing right here, you know," Stuart whines, indignant, "but Vexy has a point, what are we doing with these bodies?"

"Leave them for now. We have bigger things to discuss," Strickler replies, once more adjusting his suit. "Such as where you all were."

"I had to find my mom," Steve says, only for his eyes to trail down, "and I did."

Strickler's face falls, and he offers a hand on the boy's shoulder. Though the two never interacted much in school, as one of his students, he felt deeply for him, always. "I'm sorry."

"I had to go after him and Pepperjack. We stopped on the way to pick up his mom, too," Coach Lawrence continues explaining since Steve is no longer in the right mind to do so.

"Understandable. Now, as for you three," Strickler turns and points at Jim, Claire, and Toby. Jim huffs while Toby shies away awkwardly.

"We went to Trollmarket."

Strickler seems taken aback by this response. Instead of remaining stern, he softens. "What did you find?"

Jim is slow to respond. "They were all gone."

"Even--?"

"Yes."

"I'm-- I'm sorry, Young Atlas. I know what Blinky meant to you." 

"Sorry, what the heck is Trollmarket?" Darci asks, approaching Claire and Toby, who stand behind Jim.

Toby smiles a little. "It's-- it used to be-- this cool place underneath Arcadia, where a bunch of trolls lived. It's where we got these cool weapons."

"Oh, so that's another secret you didn't tell me?"

Both of them recoil at the anger on her face. Claire puts her hands out and tries to step closer, but Darci blocks her.

"Darci--"

"Stop! I'm so sick of being lied to, again and again. I don't even know who I can trust anymore." Darci starts to walk away with heavy footsteps, but Toby reaches out for her.

"Darci, please, we weren't trying to hurt your feelings--"

"I said I'm done! Don't-- Don't talk to me. I just need some space."

She storms off down the hall and disappears among the shadowed walls. Toby tries to run after her, but Claire stops him. The two share an unspoken look of guilt and sadness. She wants space, the best thing they could do is give it to her. Toby mopes away, his whole body drooped down and deflated. Stuart crosses his arms while he watches him go.

"Aww, I hate seeing my best customer so upset," he sighs as the twin royals approach him and Varvatos.

"My lieges, you two should talk to the hoo-mans who just returned to see if they know anything."

"That's a good idea, Varvatos, we can put our practice as humans to very good use," Aja agrees with overzealous confidence. Stuart only shakes his head, clearly aware of their lack of self awareness.

Jim has his hand on Claire's shoulder to comfort her over what seems to be the loss of a friend for the time being. Aja pokes her head around the two of them, while Krel follows up behind, uninterested as usual.

"Hello, human friends!"

"Oh, hey, Aja. Krel," Jim says, voice indicating he wasn't much for conversation. Though given the origins of the Tarrons, it of course flies directly over their heads.

"You must've had an exciting journey back! Did you see anything strange?"

"You mean aside from the hundreds of flesh eating monsters roaming the streets?"

"Yes," Krel answers, once again missing sarcasm obvious to native humans.

Claire raises an eyebrow, momentarily relieved of her upset. "Uh, no, I don't think so. Why, is something wrong?"

"Oh, no no! We just wanted to make sure our besties were not in any grave danger, yes!" Aja giggles, before she backs away and pulls Krel by the arm, too. "Bye!"

Jim and Claire give each other a perplexed look. Stuart slaps himself in the forehead. Aja continues running with Krel down a hall until they're sure they're alone. They stop running in front of a classroom door half open. Krel is panting from the unexpected movement and swats his sister's hand away.

"You see, they saw nothing."

"But what if they're lying, little brother?"

"You saw what they did to get back. If they had seen something, they would not have kept it hidden."

"Okay, maybe they aren't lying, but I still don't believe that the Zerons just left us alone. They're after us, Krel, and they won't stop until they have our cores."

"And they don't care how many humans die in the process, I know. Come on, let's go talk to Varvatos."

The pair of royals walk away again. No sooner are they out of range, the classroom door they stopped in front of pushes open more. Inside, Mr. Johnson clenches his fist tighter, a pair of enemies now set in stone in his mind. Those two have to be behind it all.

 

The walls of the hero's forge down in the empty, abandoned Trollmarket glow a radiant blue which lines the floor as well. None other than Blinky and Aaarrrgghh rest inside. Blinky paces back and forth, two if his hands up on his head.

"It's been days, and we have yet to discover a way out," he frets, "Master Jim was here, Claire, Tobias. They couldn't sense us. Could it be that this is our fate? Left to wither away in the void between worlds?"

"Miss wingman," Aaarrrgghh sighs, his eyes focused deeply into the etched patterns in the stone floor. All he can think about is Toby.

Blinky finally stops pacing and looks around. "Surely there has to be a reason the soothscryer let us in. It called you once before, my dear friend, because Kanjigar was needed in order to assist--"

At that very moment, the train of thought catches up with his words, and he gasps in realization. Also at that very second, a ball of blinding blue light forms in front of the two trolls. Aaarrrgghh shields his eyes, but Blinky can't help but stare as the light dims, and in its place, is the outlined spirit of a troll wearing the very same armor of daylight as Jim.

"Aarghaumont, how lovely it is to see you again," he greets the burly troll, then turns to the six-eyed one who is staring, mouth agape. "And Blinkous Galadrigal, I welcome you to the void between worlds. I'm certain the two of you had been expecting me."

Aaarrrgghh pushes Blinky's mouth closed for him, and the figure floats down until he is standing directly in front of him. Both trolls know exactly who it is, and Blinky voices it first.

"By Deya's grace... Kanjigar the Courageous..."

"I have seen what Morgana le Fay has done to the surface world, and you need to get to the Trollhunter now more than ever," Kanjigar says with grandeur, "and I have the key to helping you."

Chapter 8: Tip of the Serrator

Summary:

Arcadia Oaks High faces extinction when an unhinged survivor puts them in jeopardy. On Akiridion-5, Zadra works with the Resistance to uncover the identity of a traitor.

Notes:

i fell asleep again

Before the two solitary trolls, Kanjigar's presence is outlined in a ghostly blue mist. He stands merely a few feet in front of them. He has no reaction to the shock on their faces, most notably Blinky's. Before the fallen Trollhunter can raise his finger to speak again, Blinky is down on his knees and bowing profusely.

"Kanjigar the Courageous, we are not worthy of your presence," he mumbled, "I should be bestowed the honor of being granted access to this realm, I--"

"Rise, Blinkous."

Blinky does as he's told. Aaarrrgghh pats him on the back while Kanjigar opens his mouth to continue.

"Please, Kanjigar. Why have you graced us with your appearance? What is this key to helping Master Jim?"

"I'd be glad to tell you. If you could please let me finish a thought."

Blinky's mouth freezes, and he sheepishly pulls in on himself. "Right. Apologies."

"Acting weird," Aaarrrgghh said, earning a glare from his companion.

"Now then. I'm sure you witnessed the horrors yourself, before I opened this gate to allow you safe harbor. The void cannot be touched by the mortal realm, even by those who wield the strongest of magic. It is the only reason you have survived."

The two trolls look at each other, their faces now matching somber and grim. Blinky touches his chest. "I feel a great emptiness within me. All of our friends, our family. Gone, just like that. How is it that we have become the only ones left?"

"Not the only ones. The changelings in Arcadia are safe. Quite ironically, Morgana viewed them as impure enough to leave on this Earth. But that isn't all. Another troll still lives."

"Who is it?" Blinky asks.

"I'm afraid you know her quite well."

Now he scowls, and Aaarrrgghh bares his teeth. "Usurna."

Blinky finds his hands curled into stone fists of fury. "How on Earth did she avoid Morgana's wrath?"

"Helping her," Aaarrrgghh answers. Although Blinky looks horrified, almost in disbelief at the Krubera queen's ever changing allegiances, Kanjigar's apparition nods solemnly.

"He speaks the truth. She's leading the mother of monsters to the former home of the Kruberas."

"The salt caverns..." Blinky murmurs.

"Correct. If she reaches them, she will unlock a level of power that even our own Trollhunter wouldn't be able to defeat."

At the mere mention of Jim, Blinky's eyes light up. "He was here, he was just down here looking for answers. We have to get to him. Is there any way you can help us?"

Kanjigar pauses, and thinks deeply for a moment. Every second that passes in silence leaves the two trolls anxiously waiting for their answer.

"There is a way. As you know, we trolls unlocked many stones in order to enhance our abilities in combat. There is one stone that you have been neglecting when training our human Trollhunter, as this is the one ability he possesses that none of us do..."

"Sunlight," Aaarrrgghh follows along in realization, which causes Blinky to nod along as well.

"That's right, the stone to allow a troll in the sunlight unharmed!" His celebration is short lived, when he realizes another dilemma. "However there are two of us, and we don't possess an amulet to hold the stone."

"Fear not, Blinkous. This realm has... unique properties. Remain still."

Kanjigar lifts a hand out in front of him. A few seconds later, a small yellow stone, one cleaved eons ago, materializes before their eyes; the stone with the power of walking in sunlight. Kanjigar chants words not even Blinky recognizes. The stone begins to glow, its golden light reflects in their pupils. All of a sudden, it splits into two, and then twin beams emerge from each piece and travel from it to the two troll bodies. Now, their bodies begin to glow bright as well. In fact, the entire void seems to be getting brighter and brighter.

"Find the Trollhunter," Kanjigar says, although a ringing in all Blinky's ears makes him harder to hear. His voice progressively gets louder. "Trust the one from above! Good luck!"

Both trolls blink, and before they realize it, they fall a few feet to the floor of the hero's forge. The real one, no longer the void between worlds. Aaarrrgghh sits up first, and sees Blinky still sprawled out. He picks him up in his arms and proceeds to shake him all over. Blinky's eyes open, and he shrieks, slightly distorted from the jarring movements.

"Put-- me down-- good gracious," Blinky grumbles once Aaarrrgghh sheepishly sets him down.

"We're out," he notes.

"Indeed, my observant friend," Blinky agrees. He listens for any sign of evil, any threat that could be nearby. When there's only silence, he nods confidently. "Come along, Aaarrrgghh. We have a mission."

 

"Hold the desk steady— hold it— Lenora, you're not lifting it high enough!" Coach Lawrence bellows.

Lenora and Coach Lawrence set down the teacher's desk on top of a pyramid of student desks, chairs, and cabinets they had already stacked against the doors where the zombies continued to bang and claw it, their hands being the only things visible from behind the massive wall.

"Is that enough to hold them back?" Uhl asks, his arms folded with authority.

"It's hard to say for sure," Strickler replies, although glanced at Jim and his friends before continuing, "there's no telling how strong they are."

"Are you saying they could break down the doors and get inside?" Mary begins to panic. She reaches out and cut off Darci's circulation in a vice-like grip. "That won't happen, right? Right?"

"Everyone needs to keep away from the doors," Jim says. He steps into the center of the small crowd, where everyone's eyes fall to him. Amulet in hand, he shines it at the zombies through the glass, then turns back to face everyone. "The defenses are going to hold. If we stay out of sight, they're bound to be distracted by something else eventually. In the meantime, we have to figure out how we're going to make the food last, and how we're going to defend ourselves in case these zombies do break in."

"I think we've got that covered." Toby gestures to the three of them, followed by Strickler, then to Aja and Krel, backed by Varvatos, who stands there looking indignant.

"Still," Claire interjects, "it's important that everybody knows how to defend themselves."

"Don't count us Creepslayerz out just yet!" Steve shouts. Eli pulls out his ninja stars and flashes them proudly. Aja giggles at their humorous demeanor. Her eyes briefly lock with Steve's, and she tucks a stray lock of her platinum hair behind an ear when his face suddenly turns a shade of light pink.

Jim sighs quietly and does his best to mask the exasperation bleeding through. "No one's counting you out, Steve, that's for sure. But Claire's right. A lot of us here clearly know how to fight, but others don't. In the event that something happens, we should--"

"But you just said that it would hold, so nothing should happen." Everyone turns to look when the gruff, cold voice of Mr. Johnson speaks up from behind Seamus, who instinctively hunches down.

"I'm just saying that in case--"

"Which is it, kid? Are we safe or are we preparing for the worst?" Now he is pushing forward and stepping toward Jim. Mr. Johnson pauses once he gets in front of him, and his eyes fall to the Tarrons, both looking at him oddly. "You."

"Us?" Aja mimics, hand on her chest. She recoils as Mr. Johnson storms up to both of them, but rather than stop at her, his finger jabs straight into Krel's chest.

"You drew up all that ruckus and brought all those... monsters right down on us!"

Behind him, Seamus attempts to pull on his father's arm to get him to back off, but the man just shoves him off and continues grilling Krel, who pushes his accusatory finger aside.

"Get your gross, human finger off of me. I don't know where it has been," Krel scoffs.

"What did you just say to me? Why I ought to..."

Krel glares at him. "Ought to what?"

Mr. Johnson leans back and massages his wrist with his other hand. He sneers down at Krel one more time, who merely raises an eyebrow in return, with a similar scowl resting plainly on his face.

"It's people like you that are ruining our town. You don't belong here." The abrasive man punctuates his comment by intentionally brushing past the siblings and storming away down the hall. Seamus watches him go with an annoyed but crestfallen look on his face. His shoulders droop as he reluctantly follows behind him.

"For once, we agree on something!" Krel shouts in his direction. He looks at Aja and Varvatos, the latter of the two having a heavy murderous glare in his gaze. "I want to go home."

"Krel--" Aja can't stop him as he, too, takes off with a purpose in the opposite direction.

"Jeez, Mr. Johnson still doesn't lighten up even when a zombie apocalypse is happening. What a tool, am I right?" Toby says with a slight chuckle in his tone. He turns to Darci with his question posed, but his face deflates as soon as he notices the look on her face that he can't quite read. At the very least, he knows it's not a good one.

"I see an even bigger one right in front of me."

Toby's heart plummets through his chest. "Darci, come on..."

"We agreed not to keep secrets from each other. Yet here we are. I already told you to leave me alone." Her hand jerks back when Toby gingerly attempts reaching out for her. Again, she walks away from him.

"She just needs some time to adjust," Jim reasons when he notices the look on both his and Claire's faces.

"That's easy for you to say. We adjusted by joining you," Claire retorts, dejected. "It's hard to say. Darci might come around, she might not. We should've just been honest with her."

Jim looks over at Toby. He doesn't say a word. Toby instead looks down at his closed warhammer handle. His hands grip the rough metal handle a little tighter. A drop of water falls from his eyes, then another. Both Jim and Claire soften, and Jim reaches out to touch his shoulder.

"Tobes."

The touch acts like static electricity. Toby's whole body jolts, and he runs off down the hall, chucking his warhammer to the ground. Jim makes a move to go after him, but Claire tugs at his arm.

"But Toby--"

"Let me talk to him. You stay here and help everyone get this place fortified."

All Jim can do is resign with a nod as Claire jogs down the hallway after Toby. The trollhunting associate wiped his eyes while his feet blindly navigated down the hallways. Autopilot kept him twisting and turning around corners, as opposed to running face first into a wall. At last, Toby allows his back to slide down against a wall of dark blue lockers. Finally, the tears truly spill. Small sobs get muffled into his arms when he puts his head down into his tucked knees.

Another set of footsteps come lightly sprinting, getting louder until they cease altogether. Toby doesn't bother to look up. He briefly peeks at the person's shoes through the small gap between his knees and his arms, like he is back in elementary school playing that game everyone loved to cheat at back then. He can tell Claire is standing there.

"Toby, talk to me," she says, making her presence known.

"My life might as well be over, Claire! Darci hates me," he rebutts with a slight strain to his words.

"She doesn't hate you."

"She won't even talk to me! I promised her no secrets, but of course I had to keep Trollhunting a secret, because, duh. This whole time I had to lie to her, even though I didn't want to, and now she knows, and now she'll never even look at me ever again!" Toby finally lifts his head to look up at Claire, who is still gazing down at him. A sloppy mixture of tears and saliva decorate Toby's cheeks, casting a slight glint against his reddened skin.

With a small sigh, Claire slides down next to him on the floor. Toby rests his head sideways on his knees. A few tears still leak from the corners of both of his eyes. "I messed up."

"No, we messed up," Claire corrects him, now with a hand on his shoulder. "I knew how Darci felt about secrets, too. She's mad at both of us."

"Do you think she'll forgive us?"

Claire looks up at the no longer functional analog clock on the wall. "That's up to her. We just have to give her some time, and some space."

 

"Seriously, the nerve of both of them!" Darci exclaims while pacing back and forth inside of a classroom. Mary and Shannon sit in front of her. Both of them follow the other girl with their eyes, not saying a word as she throws her hands up in frustration amidst her rant. "What did I tell him when we decided to make it official? No secrets between us. What does he do? Keeps a secret. What did I make Claire promise when we became friends? No secrets between us. And what does she go and do? Just when I thought I was over it, I find out that's just the tip of the iceberg!"

"Maybe we should--" Shannon's attempted interjection is quickly snuffed out when Darci whips around to face her.

"She keeps the exact same secret! I should've known when she started spending all of her time with Jim. I should've known that she was hiding something, that both of them were hiding something!" By now, Darci's eyes were aflame, and nothing was safe. Her shin bumps into the metal leg of a desk, and in response, she grabs it and shoves it to the side.

A hand found it's way to her shoulder. Darci, in a knee-jerk reaction, harshly swats it away. When she turns, she lays eyes on Shannon's hurt expression, and immediately she softens. "I'm sorry, I-- I shouldn't be taking my anger out on you. I just don't know how to feel. I feel betrayed, I feel..."

"Darc," Mary starts with an air of hesitation in her voice, "you know how I dated both Dean and Tight-Jeans Hank for two months?"

"Yeah. I still think that was pretty scummy."

"Dean was a real nice guy -- I'm pretty sure he's probably dead now -- and I felt really bad for hookin' up with Hank, so I lied about it because I didn't want Dean to be upset. I was just trying to protect him."

Darci stares in silence, then crosses her arms. "And then when he found out, he dumped you. How is comparing Claire and Toby to you cheating on your boyfriend making them sound any better?"

"Okay, okay, bad example! My point is... they were trying to protect you, Darc. Protect us. Think about it, all these monsters and magical stuff and-- and trolls or whatever they said, and now zombies? It's clearly so much bigger than just them. Have you ever considered that maybe they couldn't tell any of us?"

Her words leave both Darci and Shannon stunned into silence. Shannon's eyes go downcast, and she fidgets with her hands. Darci's furrowed brow battles itself, and her arms twitch. Mary juts her neck forward, a silent emphasis of her point. Darci scoffs quietly, then begins walking to the door. Mary spins around, a little annoyed?

"Hello? Where are you going?"

"They want to talk, so I'll talk."

 

By now, zombies had surrounded the school's exterior at least five deep. The courtyard is completely flooded with undead that bang on the doors. Claire and Toby finish sliding one of the heavy gym equipment cases from the storage locker in front of the doors. Jim stares out in a daze at the shadowed hands clawing at the glass.

"We didn't see their bodies in Trollmarket," he says aloud.

Claire turns around and faces him, getting a good look at the almost naïve hope in his eyes. "Jim..."

"They weren't there. That's where they were last when everything happened, and we didn't-- we didn't find them."

"Come on, Jimbo. I miss Aaarrrgghh, I really do... but Morgana wiped out the trolls. For good. They're gone."

"I can find them. Merlin can find them. His amulet brought Aaarrrgghh back from the dead once. If I can get home, I can find Merlin, and-- and he'll help me."

"Jim, you have to stop this. It's not safe to go out there, you know that. The zombies are literally keeping us in. Not to mention Morgana would likely pounce on us in seconds. She... controls these things, or at the very least created them, and she can see through any one of them if she wants to." Claire takes a pause to suck in a breath. Her face is steady and stern while her staff is fidgeted in her right hand. "You can't be reckless, not right now. You are the Trollhunter, and you can't forget that. We are the Trollhunters.  It's up to us to put a stop to this."

"You're right, I know you're right, Claire," Jim says with a slow nod. He looks down at the linoleum gym floor in which fluorescent light bounces off of, "I just can't stop thinking about how I failed him. Blinky protected me through everything, he stood by me since day one, and... I let him die."

"Don't say that, you had nothing to do with it," Toby replies, "it was Morgana. She--"

The echo of the gym doors being forced open makes all three turn their heads. Darci storms in, and Claire shoots a look off to Toby. None of them say a word as she approaches and stops in front of them. The tension is palpable. Claire and Toby don't dare speak first.

"How long did you both know?" Darci suddenly asks.

Claire blinks. "What?"

"Whatever Jim roped you both into, how long has it been?" She looks at Toby first. His shoulders slump.

"It was early in the school year. I was with Jimbo when he first found his amulet."

Darci wordlessly turns to Claire, who turns the staff sideways, then retracts it. "It was the night before the big Romeo and Juliet opening night. Jim actually saved my life because goblins were about five seconds away from executing me."

"So, that 'party' you had with 'college boys'?"

"The changeling troll posing as my baby brother invited a bunch of trolls over to my house."

"Wait, NotEnrique did what?" Jim interjects quietly. Toby just shrugs.

"And when I saw you all cuddly with Toby?"

"His headgear was transmitting a signal from the base of operations where evil changelings were hiding."

"It's true, I promise!" Toby adds with a frantic nod. Darci had forgiven the both of them for that incident prior, however it had remained a sore subject. Now, she looks over at Toby.

"All the times you stood me up?"

"Darci, I'm so sorry that I would always disappear, but I promise it wasn't for nothing."

"Then what was it for?"

"Well... Jim got stuck in a place called the Darklands, so I had to use a glamor mask to pretend to be him for two weeks to fool his mother. Then, the bad guy who lived in the Darklands was let out when we went in to rescue Jimbo, so I helped look for him to try and stop him, and we also infiltrated that changeling base Claire mentioned and I almost got my face sliced off. Also... your dad arrested me on the night of our laser tag date."

For the longest time, Darci remains eerily silent. Her piercing eyes never falter, leaving Claire and Toby almost trembling where they stand. Finally, she looks behind them, at Jim. He almost flinches in response.

"Was what they lied about worth it?"

Jim takes a breath. "I hav-- I had a mentor named Blinky, he was one of the trolls I was sworn to protect. On the day of Romeo and Juliet, the troll I was fighting took him hostage. They took him because they knew I cared about him. I swore both Toby and Claire to secrecy because if anyone else found out, Gunmar would have found a way to use them against any of us. Including you."

The gravity of his answer finally vaporizes the anger on Darci's face. She can see the pain behind Jim's eyes, a look that lets her know he's speaking from experience, and not just once. She sighs, then turns away from all of them.

"Darci?" Toby says quietly.

"If zombies weren't banging down our doors, I wouldn't have believed a word you guys said. But... this is bigger than me. I think I understand that now." She goes to walk away, only getting a few steps away before Toby calls out.

"Wait!" She stops. "Do you... um, do you forgive us?"

"I'm trying. I want to. I know that might not be what you want to hear, but it is."

They let her continue walking away without another word. Toby lets his upper body sag in a weighed down, defeated manner. Jim comes up behind and puts a hand on his shoulder. None of them can argue with her statement. Only time will tell.

 

Staring out at the main doors from behind the blockade of desks and chairs, Aja and Krel stand there, lost in thought. Krel wears a look of disgust, while Aja is more downcast. Krel peeks over at her, catching her let out a soft, resigned sigh.

"What is it, sister?" he asks.

"What happened here? I know it's been a couple of days, but... this can't be normal on this planet. These poor people..."

"It's disgusting," Krel remarks.

"Don't say that! These humans died, Krel. Would you say that about Mama and Papa?"

Krel immediately goes quiet. His eyes cast a shadow of guilt and regret over his words. He wouldn't. "It just feels like every time we get closer to fixing the Mothership, something else sets us back."

"Little brother," Aja turns to face him and puts her hands on his shoulders to make him look in her direction, "I know everything feels like complete klebso right now. And maybe it is, but that doesn't mean we're giving up! Not us, and certainly not Varvatos. No matter what happens, we're going to go home."

"Good. Maybe then with you gone, all this nonsense will finally stop."

The twins look back in surprise, where Mr. Johnson approaches, keeping his distance. Krel grumbles and rolls his eyes. "I'm going to go find the Eli. Maybe he found something useful when he was out there."

When walking past each other, Krel gives Mr. Johnson a glare worse than death. It's returned mutually, but the older man doesn't bother to pursue him, and instead walks closer to the main doors. He places his hands on the makeshift blockade. His hands grip the wood of one of the desks tighter.

"Why are you so angry at us? We did nothing to you," Aja states blankly.

"Besides ruin my Seamus' perfect GPA? Not to mention bringing down the property values in this town. Hah, nothing, all right."

"I don't know what property has to do with it, but we didn't ask to be here. Our pla-- country is in the middle of a war, and we were forced to flee--"

"I didn't ask for your life story, nor do I care! You should go back to that country as soon as possible."

"We're trying! But there are bigger problems right now. And all the noise you're making right now is not helping," she tells him, now sounding even more bitter.

All of a sudden, Mr. Johnson whirls around and grabs Aja by the arms. His face is red with rage and his eyes spell murder. He turns around and shoves her away, before suddenly tearing at the blockade, dislodging some of the chairs and desks.

"You and your brother are worse than these monsters. What better way to get rid of a pest than feeding it to the wolves?" he says, the final part being under his breath. Mr. Johnson finally creates a small gap in the blockade, exposing a substantial area of the doors.

From the floor, Aja watches him reach for the handle as the aggressive zombies outside bang harder. The faint beginnings of a hairline fracture in the glass becomes apparent. In an instant, she's back on her feet and running up behind him.

"No, stop!"

She grabs him by the shoulders and yanks him back. Mr. Johnson cries out in pain as her hands dig into him, and he throws her off, knocking her into more of the blockade and creating a loud cascading collapse of tables and chairs. He goes for the door again, only for Krel to run up at the sound of the commotion.

"Aja? Aja! What did you do to my sister?" he exclaims and runs right at the man, who turns around just in time to be struck across the face. The larger man fights back by grabbing the younger boy and slamming him into the door several times until his struggles become weakened. Each consecutive slam against the door makes the cracks splinter out more and more, weakening the door's integrity.

"What I should have done to both of you as soon as I got here." Mr. Johnson pushes Krel to the floor behind him, but once again, Aja pounces. She climbs on his shoulders to pull him away from the door, but he grabs her by the hair and drops her to the floor. This time, he pins her down and starts trying to squeeze the life out of her. Aja kicks and flails as his hands find their way to her neck.

Her teeth grit harder as the pressure increases. While oxygen has never been necessary for Akiridions to breathe, the intense pressure on her neck and throat certainly isn't ideal. Just when her punches and kicks began to grow weaker, a loud yell sounds from behind the hateful man. A glowing neon blue illuminates, and a cry of pain makes him let go of Aja and spin around in shock. Krel brandishes a glowing blade he doesn't even recognize, one that had just swung across his back. He doesn't get another second to process before the battered Krel cries out again and drives the serrator forward, straight through the man's chest and out his back.

Mr. Johnson convulses, and blood begins to leak out of his mouth. Krel's face is almost equally as hateful, hate for the man who just tried to murder his sister. Aja crawls out from under him as his body spasms, and he coughs, before the light in his eyes dims, and he slumps off the serrator blade that now soaks in his dark red blood. Krel coughs and stumbles back, the bruising on his body beginning to show.

No sooner does the body slump to the ground, the cracks in the glass door become too much to bear. A hand busts through, and several more follow in tandem. Aja's eyes go wide as the glass breaks away slowly, and the first few zombies begin clawing their way inside. The first ones in immediately notice the hunk of fresh meat lying dead on the floor and start tearing into it. However, it doesn't take long for others to set their sights on the living prey right in front of them.

"Oh, no. Oh, kleb. Help, we need help!" Aja yells at the top of her lungs. She goes to turn to Krel, only to watch as his eyes roll back and he collapses beside her, unconscious. "No no no, Krel, wake up! Krel, please!"

More glass shatters. The once muffled moans and demonic cries of undead now flood the halls as they begin spilling inside, pushing aside the desks blocking the rest of the doors like nothing. Aja scoots away as one lunges for her, climbing on top of her and clawing down while Krel lies motionless several feet behind her.

"Help, anyone! Varvatos!" Aja cries out. She tries to use one hand to reach for the serrator tucked in her back pocket, but when one hand lowers, the zombie's jaw gets dangerously close. She grunts and holds it away from her as far as she can. The head suddenly explodes, blood and anything adjacent splattering on the floor and Aja alike.

She scoots out of the corpse's vicinity and turns to see Uhl standing there, shotgun smoking, with several students and the rest of the staff watching in horror behind him. He cocks the shotgun again.

"Get up, go!" he bellows as she scrambles to her feet. He blasts another round through the next closest zombie's skull and grabs Aja's arm once she's close enough. To his surprise, she starts fighting his grip, pulling at her arm.

"Let go of me! My little brother, Krel, I have to get to him!"

"There's no time!" he says, though looks dismayed as he says it. "They already almost got you!"

"I can get him!" Claire runs forward, despite Jim and Toby reaching for her and exclaiming in worry.

Claire uses her staff as a buffer between the undead and her. She pierces a few heads with the sharper end, before reaching Krel's body. When she looks up again, she sees herself swarmed and cut off from getting back to the others.

"Claire, get out of there!" Jim warns with heavy urgency. Claire's eyes narrow at the hallway to her back with dimly lit lights. Without waiting further, she scoops up Krel by the shoulders and drags him back. She pulls with all her might on the potato-sack of a teenager. Finally, she reaches the first open classroom in the hall and pulls themselves inside. One last zombie grabs at her arm before she can close the door. With a yell, she readies her staff and punctures its face, all while pulling it into the room and slamming the door closed at the same time.

Finally quiet, she yanks her staff from its now dead face. Krel continues lying there unconscious as she crawls over to his head. After looking him over, she deduces that he's okay. "Come on, Krel..."

Outside in the hall, everyone backs away as the zombies advance. Jim and Toby have their weapons at the ready while Uhl remains in front with his gun trained on them. His finger twitches on the trigger as he can see behind them more and more flooding inside.

"What do we do, what do we do?" Toby panics, all while his breathing becomes rapid.

"Stay calm, Tobias," Strickler advises, golden dagger clutched to his chest, "if we keep a tight formation, we can push them back--"

A shrill scream interrupts his idea, and from the entrance to the gym, Steve comes running out, holding a basketball. His pupils are trembling, and the basketball is practically being strangled in between his palms.

Coach Lawrence scoffs at his theatrics. "Palchuk, what are you--?"

"They got in the gym, Coach, they're right behind me!"

"They what? Forget what Strickler was yammering about, everyone run for your lives!"

Pandemonium ensues as everyone begins to scream and run. Several nameless students are tripped and accidentally trampled in the stampede of other frightened teens. Their screams echo through the hall as the small herd of zombies reaches them and pulls them into their clutches, blood spraying up onto the lockers.

"Young Altas, follow me! We need to get to the cafeteria," Strickler says, but Jim doesn't budge, due to grabbing Steve's arm, who also won't budge.

"Steve, listen to Mr. Strickler, we have to move!"

"I have to find Pepperjack, I can't leave him behind!" Steve exclaims, before wrenching his way out of Jim's grip and taking off and running in the opposite direction to the cafeteria.

Jim turns back to Strickler and sighs. "Toby and I will go after Steve, you get as many as you can to the cafeteria!"

"Trollhunter's orders." Strickler makes quick work of a few zombies to give Jim and Toby the chance to run after Steve. He shoves the bodies back to domino a few living corpses down to be able to join the rest of them. The zombies in the gym spill out into the wide hallway, creating a sea of undead encroaching itself upon the school.

 

Akiridion-5's streets pose an ironic juxtaposition to Earth's chaos. In one of the tall buildings, Zadra stands in an elevator with her hands tucked behind her back to seem as unassuming as possible. When she's sure no one can see her, she takes one and hand presses the earpiece tucked into her ear.

"Okay, I'm nearly there. What do I do first?"

On the other end, static crackles for a second, before Izita's voice rings through. "You need to find a blank robot and isolate its memory drive."

"Forgive me for being so ignorant, but where do they store their memory drives?"

"In the head. Once you have the blank, I will walk you through the process of removing the memory drive."

The elevator opens, and immediately Zadra is met with a terrifying sight. Morando stands there, back turned to her, with Loth Saborian, the royal advisor looking quite fearful. He begins pacing along a line of blank robots.

"Kleb!" Zadra hisses right before ducking behind a wall.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

"Morando is here. I don't know what he's doing. He looks like he's... observing the blanks?"

"Not to worry, just stay out of sight."

Zadra peeks around the corner and watches Morando walk farther away, Loth trailing behind. Their conversation is a little hard to hear, but she does her best to eavesdrop anyway.

"My liege, it appears the tests are taking more time than expected. We may not see results for the next few delsons," Loth tells him.

"Delsons?" Morando sneers. "Tell them that I require finished results in the next twenty-four horvaths, or..."

He trails off so that he can punctuate his sentence by grabbing the head of a blank robot and squeezing his fist closed, effectively crushing it beyond repair. Loth recoils and covers his mouth with several meek exclamations. Morando lets the machine crumple to the floor.

"There will be no further warnings."

"Krosnath soolian..." Zadra mutters under her breath.

"Commander Zadra!" She flinches at the robotic tone behind her, now face to face with another blank robot that had approached her.

"Shh, shh!"

"I was not aware you had clearance for this sector."

"Be quiet, please. I need you to--"

"I'm sorry, I don't understand."

Zadra tries to put her hands over the blank's mouth area. However, it being entirely computerized does nothing as the robot continues to panic. "I'm sorry-- I'm sorry-- I don't under-- can I help you with anything?"

"You can help by shutting up!" she says in a whisper, but oh how she wishes she could scream it.

"I'm sorry-- I'm-- How may I assist you--?" With a small grunt, Zadra grabs the blank's head and rips it clean off. Her earpiece crackles again.

"What was that?" Izita asks worriedly.

Zadra huffs indignantly. "Memory bank secured. I'm heading back to you now."

"Very good."

Just when Zadra disappears down the elevator, Morando comes walking back the opposite way. He watches as a headless blank stumbles into view and knocks over several dormant ones into a messy pile. He hums and narrows his eyes, but otherwise keeps walking.

 

Inside the cafeteria, Strickler watches through the doors as he hears more students crying out as they're taken and devoured whole. He turns around, surveying those who made it inside with him; Coach Lawrence, Lenora, Uhl, Nathalie, Aja, Stuart. Lenora sits shell shocked at one of the tables, while beside her, Uhl tries to offer a comforting hand. When she shies away, he simply turns back to his shotgun and loads a few more shells into it.

"They don't seem to know we went in here. If we stay quiet enough, we might be able to find an opening," Strickler says, then turns to Uhl, "how many shells do you think you have left?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe six? I have plenty more in my truck, but I could only carry so many before."

"It'll have to do. For now, we need to stay put, though."

"Absolutely not!" Aja suddenly exclaims. As the only student in the cafeteria, she pauses when all adult eyes fall on her. "My little brother and Varvatos are out there."

"I have to agree with Tarron," Coach Lawrence suddenly says, surprising the others, "Steve's also out there somewhere. I already lost his mother, and I won't lose him, too."

"If we have to do it ourselves, we will," Aja continues, even as Strickler blocks their way.

"I cannot in good conscience let you pass."

"Then you don't have to let us, we'll get through anyway."

"Aja, dear," Stuart pipes up from beside her, getting in an awkwardly polite chuckle, "I don't think it's wise to go rampaging into a whole horde of these things."

"Varvatos did it for you, remember?" This makes Stuart stumble over his words.

"Well, yes-- I jus-- He's a capable fighter, I'm sure he's already found a safe place to lie low for now."

"I can't take that chance."

"Then how about you and your friend check the other doors and windows until we come up with a plan," Strickler suggests to her. His voice never once wavers, nor his posture.

Aja feels the serrator in her pocket again, but backs down slowly. She just turns away and storms to the other end of the cafeteria. Strickler gives Coach Lawrence a flash of sympathy, before turning back to face the doors, where dozens of zombies shambled by in disheveled formation.

Running through the halls, Steve repeatedly calls out for Eli, his cries bouncing off every surface possible. "Pepperjack? Buddy? Eli, where are you?"

"Steve!" Jim shouts as he and Toby run up behind him, the latter letting out a drawn out wheeze. "It's not safe, we have to get inside a room somewhere."

"No way, Lake. Eli's out here, we're the Creepslayerz, we don't abandon anyone. And he's my best friend!"

Jim blinks at him, then nods. "Okay, then we find him together."

"Wait, what?" Toby suddenly asks, his wheeze disappearing like nothing.

"We are." Zombies suddenly spill around the corner, coming right for them. "And now we don't have a choice!"

One gets close to Toby, giving him the chance to swing his hammer into its head. Jim brings the sword out of his amulet and throws it as hard as possible into another one that grabs at Toby's ankle. He pulls his friend away and they take off down the hall.

Eli, meanwhile, holds his ninja stars close while sprinting down a completely desolate hallway. Just as he passes a classroom with its door wide open, he hears hushed sobs coming from inside. He stops in his tracks and peeks inside. At first, no one is immediately visible, but he can still hear the quiet cries, occasionally broken up by a sniffle.

"Hello?" he calls into the room. The cries stop with a soft gasp. Then, finally, a response.

"Please go away."

"Who is that?" Eli comes around the teacher's desk and finds it to be Shannon curled up underneath, knees to her chest. "Shannon, what are you doing?"

"What does it look like? I'm hiding until they get rid of the zombies out there. I can't fight, I'm not strong. I got mad at my girlfriend and I don't know how to apologize. I think it's better for everyone if I just stay out of the way."

A sound down the hall makes Eli run back to the door. All the way back from the way he'd came, zombies emerge into the unsettling dark hallway. He gulps and hurries back inside. "We don't have time for that anymore. They're coming this way."

"So? We can just close the door and be safe."

"With that many? They'll bust down the door and we won't stand a chance. But if we get help, we will stand a chance. So come on, I know what it's like to feel weak and useless, but I promise that Connie isn't upset at you. She's probably worried sick right now."

He extends his hand down to her. Shannon adjusts her glasses and stares blankly. She wipes her eye, then gingerly accepts. Eli pulls her to her feet and readies his ninja stares. "Okay, good. Grab something, you're gonna need it."

Shannon picks up a heavy textbook off the desk. "Will this work?"

They run for the door, only for a zombie to be there, grabbing Eli's arm. He lets out a shrill cry, one Shannon mirrors as she hauls off and smacks the zombie across the face with the textbook. The force sends it to the ground, not quite dead, but plenty stunned.

"I think that answers that," Eli says in a huff, then grabs her wrist as the cluster of zombies is now mere feet behind them, "come on, this way!"

At the door of the zombie-proofed classroom, Connie listens by the doorway for any signs of life. She paces back and forth while Mary and Darci lean on the desks for support, both out of breath. Darci refuses to drop her paper cutter blade, now dripping with blood.

"Would you stop pacing? You're freaking us out," Mary snaps at Connie in between greedy gasps.

"Shannon is still out there. I haven't seen her in hours. I have to go find her."

"Don't be stupid, we're safe in here," Darci argues.

"Well, she's not!"

"I almost left this place to go find my dad, even though I had no idea where to start looking. Don't make the same mistake."

Connie turns to look at her, then just shakes her head. "I'm not leaving the school."

She leaves the room in a flash. Darci runs to the door, calling her name in frustration, but doesn't allow herself to leave the room. Her bottled up reaction comes out in the form of her fist banging on the doorframe.

Minutes ticking by feel like hours for Claire while she sits stationary beside Krel. Finally, the boy stirs and attempts to sit up straight. When his body aches in response, he lets out a cry of pain. Claire immediately rushes to aid him, also shushing him in the process. He reaches up and holds his head. Claire turns around to look at the door. When she does, Krel notices a drop of blue leak from his nose. In an instant, he quickly swipes it with his hand and rubs it on his pants before she turns back around.

"What's going on?" Krel asks, woozy.

"They got in," Claire responds softly, and once again stops him from straining himself, "they're in the halls. What happened to you?"

"That man, he was attacking my sister, I tried to get him off. Aja, is she--?"

"She's okay, she got away, I don't know where, but she did. What happened to him? Mr. Johnson, I mean."

Krel goes quiet. He killed someone. There was no grey area in that moment, he killed him, plain and simple. "Those monsters grabbed him. I saw it before I lost consciousness."

"What are we going to tell Seamus when this is all over..."

"If we can even get out of this classroom. We're cut off from everyone else like this."

Claire stands up and peeks out of the door. The hallway in front of them has less zombies crowding it, but still enough to easily overpower them should they make a move to storm out into the hallway. She turns back around and paces slowly.

"Okay, what do we really know about these things? They're dead, but they're also powered by magic to some extent, maybe just to get them up and walking?"

Krel groans while he moves himself back until his back is leaned up on a desk so that he can face Claire. "They smell terrible, that's for sure."

"Well that's the smell of rotting flesh for you."

"You mean all humans smell like this when they die?"

"Yeah, are you saying you never knew that?"

"Err... death just kind of freaks me out, so I never looked into it." He cringes a little at his close call, but Claire just shrugs.

"Their senses are pretty good. They see us, hear us, and smell us."

"Smell us?"

"Well yeah, we smell alive and they don't, it's pretty distinct."

"If someone alive smelled that bad, I'd mistake them for one of those zombies."

Claire freezes. She thinks and replays those words over in her head. Then, she trains her gaze on the corpse lying there near the door. She grins and quickly grabs it. Krel, having no clue what's going on, maneuvers his way closer.

"What are you doing?"

"You're a genius, Krel!"

"Well, yes, but that doesn't answer my question."

"Smelling like them to mistake us for one of them. If we want to get by them..." Claire picks up her staff and suddenly drives it straight down into the zombie's abdomen. "We have to smell like them."

"You cannot be serious."

Admittedly, Claire falters as soon as she sees the blood gushing out of the abdomen, and the smell truly reaches her nose. Her hands tighten around the staff, and she looks up at him with an equally disgusted look.

"It's the only way. Look away if you need to..." and then she begins to dig the staff in deeper. Krel has to turn away, and Claire feels bile collect in her throat, but manages to keep it down.

Minutes later, Claire stands over the body, her entire outfit covered in blood and guts and everything in between. She looks visibly displeased, but otherwise pushes through. Krel looks at her with a rapidly shaking head.

"On second thought, we can just wait it out."

"I can't do it alone, Krel. You have to come with me."

Krel wants to protest, but then he remembers how Claire dove to save him when he had been pulled out the doors. She hadn't hesitated, and now she's the one looking for help. So, as much as the concept pains him, he nods and steps forward. He immediately cringes at the feeling of the guts being spread on his blue shirt and down his pants. Both of them are convinced their clothes will smell this way for the rest of time.

"Okay, I think that's enough," Claire says after giving his whole outfit a generous coating of undead innards, "now, we have to walk through them. We can't run, we have to blend in, and most of all, we can't panic."

"Oh, sure, don't panic while walking through a crowd of monsters that could tear us apart at any second. No pressure, though."

Claire puts her hand on the doorknob as Krel positions himself directly behind her. She doesn't turn around, but hisses in a whisper. "Stay right behind me."

She twists the knob and lets the door creak open naturally. A few zombies weasel their way into the room, completely ignoring the both of them. Once the doorway opens up, Claire pushes out, subtly taking Krel's hand and leading him along. They make eye contact, and she gestures to the left; the direction of the cafeteria. Walking in single file, the two of them slide between the shoulders of several zombies that walk back and forth, or simply just stand in place, idly moaning to no one but themselves. Claire has to close her eyes and bow her head to focus on calming the shaking in her legs the more steps they both take, one foot in front of the other.

 

In the back of the cafeteria, Aja fiddles with a set of doors that are chained shut, leading to another hallway with significantly less zombies outside, from what she can see, at least. She fiddles with the chains and pulls at them, but the metal links don't budge. She eyes her serrator, but shakes her head. The noise might draw too much attention.

"My liege!"

Aja yelps and spins around, but relaxes at the sight of Stuart also flinching back.

"Seklos and Gaylen, you almost made my core jump out."

"Sorry, sorry, I just saw you slip away and... well, I got worried. What are you doing?"

"I'm not sitting around while Krel and Varvatos are in danger." She turns around and begins yanking on the chains again. "As soon as I get these indestructible restraints off of this door."

"I thought you might try something like this," a stern voice appears behind them, and both of them yelp. This time it's Strickler, who gazes down at Aja suspiciously. She glares and crosses her arms, admitting defeat.

"What now, are you going to lock me in a closet?"

"No, I'm going to help you."

Both of them pause. "Wait, what?"

"You're not from this planet, and you clearly possess more combat knowledge than the rest of them in there. I couldn't say anything in front of them, lest I blurt out your secret." Strickler takes his golden dagger and effortlessly slices through the chains with golden shimmering accenting the clean cut. The chains fall to the floor, now useless, and he bashes open the doors. "Are you coming or not?"

Aja smiles as Strickler leads the way, taking out the first few zombies. Stuart nervously shuffles up behind her, and she huffs. "Stay behind me, Stuart."

"Don't have to tell me twice!"

Further down the hall, Steve continues shouting out for Eli, getting no reply. Jim and Toby keep their weapons raised, heavy on their guard. A shadow moves around the corner ahead, and Steve grins.

"Eli!"

"Steve, wait, be careful!" Jim warns, chasing him down when his speed increases. Steve, however, isn't listening.

"Pepperjack!"

"Shannon?"

Steve collides with this person, and they fall to the floor. When he rolls over, he sees Connie lying there, rubbing her head. She stands up while Steve moans in pain on the floor. "Oh, my gallbladder..."

"Have any of you seen Shannon? I haven't been able to find her."

"No, we're looking for Eli. Have you seen him?" Jim asks. Connie just shakes her head.

"Well, great, who's going missing next?" Toby complains, when all of a sudden a muted banging comes from behind him, several feet away. Everyone spins around, only to see Eli and Shannon themselves banging on a set of locked double doors, cutting off the two sections of hallway.

"Oh, my God, Shannon!"

"Pepperjack!"

The four of them run to the doors as the two trapped opposite keep banging and yelling. Jim and Steve try shoving open the doors, but they're locked tight.

"Steve, you have to help us!" Eli cries.

"Why, what's--?" Steve stops when he looks past the panicked duo and bores a face just as terrified. Behind them, a heavy cluster of the zombies is approaching the makeshift dead end.

"Come on, we have to get these doors open!" Connie yells with desperation, pushing and pushing on the locked handle. When they don't move even an inch, she starts kicking at the doors.

"What are you doing?" Jim asks her while grabbing her arm to stop her.

"What does it look like? I'm breaking the door down!"

"And then we have no way to keep the zombies out? We can't do that."

"So you'd let them die?" Steve shouts, joining in on kicking at the door. "Hang on, Pepperbuddy, we're coming!"

On the other side of the doors, Eli turns to face the zombies. Shannon watches in fear as he flings three ninja stars at the horde funneling toward them. One does manage to lodge itself in the forehead of the frontmost zombie, sending it to the ground, but the others hopelessly bounce off. Eli's confidence deflates, and he backs up against the door.

"Help us, Domzalski!"

"I.. I don't... Jim, there's no other way."

"If we break the doors, we won't have anywhere to go!"

Steve and Connie begin body slamming the doors, with Eli and Shannon pulling from the other end. When the two pushing grow exhausted and pause, Eli puts his hand on the glass.

"Steve..."

"Don't say anything!"

"Steve, it's okay."

"Stop it!"

"He's right," Shannon agrees, but is nearly in tears, "there's nothing you can do."

"Yes, there is. Jim, use your magic amulet thing and blast these doors open right now!"

Jim holds the sword in his hand. His ears start to ring while the screams of Eli, Shannon, Steve, and Connie drown everything else out. Finally, he raises the sword above his head.

"Get out of the way!" The different voice makes him pause, and from behind them all, Aja comes running up. She pushes Steve aside, accidentally to the ground. "Move, move!"

She takes aim with her serrator, not caring who sees. A second later, she fires, and in a blinding blue light, a large hole vaporizes in the middle of the doors. When the smoke clears, Eli and Shannon crawl through, the latter falling into Connie's arms and beginning to cry.

"I'm sorry I got so upset, I'm--"

"It's all right, come on, we have to go."

From the ground, Eli runs to Steve and helps him up, hugging his torso. But Steve isn't paying attention. His eyes are on Aja, who brushes hair out of her face and pockets her serrator. His face practically melts, and if they could have, his eyes would have turned into hearts.

"Guys, guys, they're coming through!" Toby alerts everyone. He takes his hammer and smacks down on the first one through the opening. More claw their way through until Toby doesn't have the energy to keep hitting them and crushing their skulls.

Jim leads the group to where the hall branches off again, where he spots Strickler and a cowering Stuart fighting off another branch of the oncoming zombie horde. He takes his sword and chucks it at the one clawing for Strickler, sending the body flying before recalling the weapon. Strickler turns to face him.

"This way!" Jim shouts while waving him on. Strickler nods and tugs Stuart along. Everyone runs back for the cafeteria. Right when they turn the corner, though, more zombies cut them off. Everyone lets out a cry of surprise before ducking down another hallway.

When the group reaches a four way split, a couple zombies emerge. Before Jim can take them out, they're both stabbed from behind. When the bodies fall, Mary and Darci emerge, the former grimacing and kicking the limp arm away from where it landed beside her. Darci flings blood off of her paper cutter, while Mary awkwardly holds a very pointy object that appeared to be from the principal's office.

"What are you doing out here? I told you guys to stay in the classroom I sealed off!" Connie says, a little annoyed.

"Like we would just sit there and not help. Where is everyone else?" Darci asks.

"They're safe somewhere else, they have to be, but right now we're not!" Toby exclaims as the girls notice the zombies quickly approaching. Darci waves them down the hallway they just came from, all running for the cafeteria.

Finally, straight ahead, the doors to the cafeteria are in sight. Jim runs ahead and tries to push them open, but finds them blocked. "What the--? What's going on?"

"We blocked the doors, just in case," Strickler remembers, face going pale. He then proceeds to bang on the doors, "Uhl, Lawrence, anybody, let us in!"

There's commotion on the other end, and Strickler notices the remaining survivors inside working hard to move their barricade they had worked so hard to set up. Everyone turns to look back down the hallway, where they now have no room to move.

"What about the other entrance?" Aja suggests.

"No time!" Strickler just shakes his head.

Everybody faces straight ahead, and those who carry any weapon, real or improvised, holds them up in a fighting stance. Toby notices rougher movement from within the horde and squints. All of a sudden, two figures push through the zombies and run to the others. Jim and Aja's faces both light up as the mysterious duo gets closer.

"Claire!"

"Krel!"

"Holy mother-- you guys stink," Toby gags, but Aja hugs Krel anyway.

Claire ignores the remark, and instead faces the horde. Her and Krel match everyone else's formation as the zombies grow closer. Her eyes narrow when she sees a flicker of yellow eyes among the crowd, bouncing from zombie to zombie.

Out in the dense forests, several thousand miles away, Usurna stares down Morgana as she temporarily views the world through the eyes of a zombie, paying no mind to their excursion. Usurna scowls, and after watching her a little longer, she reaches up into her back, where the hidden blade she used to kill Vendel still remains. She slowly moves toward Morgana, stone fingers clasped around the blade. Her teeth grit harder, but then she retreats.

"Patience," she murmurs, "patience..."

The yellow eyes in the hallway vanish when there's suddenly a blinding symphony of blue and pink light, and the sound of gunshots filling the hallway. Jim peeks through and swears he can see several silhouettes behind the neverending horde.

"Trollhunter, if you can hear me, get everyone down!"

That gruff voice belonged to Merlin. Had he shown up to save the day. Everyone ducks and shields themselves until they hear every single body in front of them drop. When Jim opens his eyes, the horde is no longer a horde, but instead dozens upon dozens of bloody corpses lying dead for good in the hall. When his eyes adjust back to the regular fluorescent lighting of the hallway, he sees one of the individuals emerge from the crowd and stop. She gasps and covers her mouth. Jim's eyes spring open wider.

Barbara Lake.

"Jim..." she murmurs.

Everyone else finally peeks again as Jim races forward, launching into his mother's arms. She wraps herself around him in the tightest hug imaginable. She caresses the back of his head as he finally lets himself cry softly.

Merlin walks out from the crowd. He scans the array of survivors all looking back at him and those behind him. Alongside Jim, there's more reactions from others, namely Claire, Toby, Darci, and Eli.

"Darci? Darci, it's your father!" Louis calls out, only to be met with his daughter running straight into his arms. "Oof--!"

"Oh, my God, Dad! I was so worried about you..."

"I'm here, sweetheart, I'm right here..."

"Oh, my Toby Pie!" Nancy squeals in delight as she hobbles right past everyone and picks Toby up in a death grip of a hug. Toby can't even complain as he returns the embrace, nuzzling his face into her familiarly scented blouse.

"Mom, Dad!" Claire doesn't even give them a second to breathe before running straight to them and pulling them both into a hug. The two parents smile and burst into delighted laughter and tears once their daughter is safe in their arms. Enrique, sitting comfortably in Ophelia's arms, reaches out and grabs his sister's cheeks, to which she gives him a big kiss on the forehead while tearing up herself.

"What am I, chopped liver? Jeez!" NotEnrique jeers from Claire's ankles. She looks down and promptly scoops him up.

"I'm so glad you guys all made it here safely. I was worried sick."

"Why didn't you use your staff to portal to us?"

"I tried. Morgana was blocking me at first, then by the time I portaled home, you guys were gone," she explains somberly. Behind her, Douxie gently touches her shoulder.

"Did you say Morgana was blocking your magic?"

"Not anymore. We faced off with her in Trollmarket. We didn't stop her, obviously, but she can't block my magic anymore."

Jim suddenly pulls out from his mother's embrace and looks at both Douxie and Zoe. "Wait, don't you two work at the record store and the cafe?"

"Trollhunter, I think it's about time I officially introduce you to my apprentice, one Hisirdoux Casperan."

"We do know each other, Merlin. Thanks for always tipping, by the way."

Barbara refuses to let go of Jim, and Nomura walks by, kicking at a zombie's bleeding head. "These things disgust me."

"Good to see you again, Ms. Nomura," he says with a smile.

"Good to see you, too, Little Gynt."

The cafeteria doors are finally opened, and Uhl peeks out. "What's going on out here? What happened to the zombies?"

"They should be dealt with for now, you're all welcome," Merlin speaks before anyone else gets the chance, "I also took the liberty of casting a protective barrier around the entire premises, so as to make sure we have a stable location to figure out what to do next."

Nathalie pokes her head out of the cafeteria, and upon seeing Eli snuggled tightly into Emilia's embrace, she can't help but tear up. She runs straight for her wife and wastes no time and wrapping her arms around her and giving her a big kiss.

"I'm so glad you're here," she says softly.

"Well, I wouldn't have made it without Dr. Lake over there. She was the real trooper." In response, Barbara just shrugs her shoulders and pulls Jim in tighter.

"Are you okay, honey?"

"I'm fine, Mom. We... lost some friends, but most of us are okay."

Beside them, Claire's parents pinch her cheeks and don't let go. Javier holds her by the shoulders and stares into her eyes.

"Don't you ever scare us like that again!"

"Oh, Javier, don't give her whiplash!" Ophelia pulls him back and hugs Claire again. "Oh, Claire, I'm so sorry... I thought we'd lost you..."

Claire doesn't say anything, but just returns the hug. Coach Lawrence emerges and cringes at the sight and smell of so many bodies. As soon as he's out, Steve runs up and wraps his arms around him. Coach Lawrence wipes away a tear and squeezes him back. Everyone's moment of respite is cut off by a scream echoing down the hall.

Dozens of shoes clatter down the floor until they come to a stop at the front entrance. Seamus is knelt by one of the bodies on the floor; his father's. Nobody knows what to say as the boy heaves and lets out a couple of strangled sobs. Krel watches from the crowd and stares at what would have been the man's face. He feels his throat close up a little, and he has to turn away. When he does, though, his eyes catch another figure making himself known from the other hallway, and his expression changes from distressed to elated.

"Varvatos!" He lunges at his grumpy bodyguard, and Aja does as well as soon as she registers what her brother said. The cantankerous man allows both of them to jump into his arms, and he lets his face form into a smaller smile, though he looks ahead with a conflicted expression.

 

On Akiridion-5, Zadra and Izita stand opposite each other at a workbench while Izita works on the blank robot's head she had been given. A holographic screen pops up, though it only displays static at first. Izita sighs as she keeps typing.

"Despite the damage, the blank appears to have kept its memory cache."

"And the ocular recording?" Zadra asks.

More button pressing from Izita, before footage suddenly begins its playback on the screen in front of Zadra. "The Resistance was able to retrieve it. This should reveal the identity of who betrayed the royals."

The screen shows a secluded area, and General Morando walks on screen. Zadra reads something down in the corner of the playback. "This is dated the delson before Morando's attack."

Morando stops on screen and gestures to a person still obstructed by the walls, the camera angle not yet able to capture them. He holds out his hand and speaks. "You have served the King and Queen long enough, and for what? Tomorrow, during the ceremony, lower the shields. Allow my forces into the city, and I promise no one shall be harmed."

Zadra squints as the person begins stepping into view, and then she gasps.

"What do you say... friend?" Morando finishes. Varvatos Vex now stands fully on screen, and nods in response to his proposal. Both Zadra and Izita look on in surprise as the footage ends.

"Seklos and Gaylen..." Zadra mutters aloud.

 

A hulking pile of zombie corpses sits on the curbside outside the school in the middle of the night. It had taken hours, but working together, the bodies of each and every zombie had been dragged out and put in a pile. Strickler and Nomura walk inside after putting the last one in place. Nomura wipes her hands on her purple dress in disgust as Merlin meets them at the door.

"Excellent. We should burn those bodies first thing in the morning," he says.

"Good, that smell will make me sick otherwise," Nomura complains before walking off. Strickler sensibly chuckles while he splits off from her until he finds the classroom he's looking for. On the floor rests the surviving students; a dozen of them. All of them are asleep, save for Jim, who rests beside Barbara as she cups her hand beneath his head.

"Mom, it's all right. You have to get some sleep."

"I just can't stop looking at you. I don't ever want you out of my sight again, do you hear me, mister?"

Jim chuckles and then yawns. "Loud and clear, Mom."

She finally steps back and stands up as he drifts off to sleep. Behind her, Strickler comes up and puts a hand on her shoulder. "I can't tell you how relieved I am to see you, Barbara."

"Walter... is it really like this everywhere?"

His face falls, and he can't look at her as he nods. Barbara appears shocked, and can't find the right words for a moment. "My son, is fixing this going to fall on him?"

"It's hard to say. Morgana has never done anything like this before. It might take more than just our Trollhunter. He'll need all the help he can get."

Strickler looks down at Jim's already fast asleep face. Even months later, he still can't fathom how the amulet chose this boy. Such an innocent child. Well, not so much anymore, but that isn't necessarily his fault. Why would it pick a boy with so much ahead in his life? He also can't believe he once tried to take his life. Several times. He turns back to Barbara and plants a kiss on her cheek.

"Young Atlas was correct, you should get some sleep, as well."

"But..."

"Rest, Barbara. I'll watch over you, I promise."

His chivalry coaxes a smile out of her as she gets down on the floor and steals the unused portion of Jim's blanket. Given their state of survival in a school, what passes for a "bed" is very, very lenient. She makes herself as comfortable as possible on the floor and closes her eyes. The alluring sense of sleep is quick to take over Barbara. Strickler, meanwhile, sits down in the teacher's chair and makes himself as comfortable as possible.

What he can't quite sense is that out the window, all the way across the street and up on the rooftop of one of the buildings across the street, a pair of binoculars scan the room he's in, as well as the school as a whole. A ski-masked man puts them down and looks over at his two partners.

"Anything?" the woman asks sharply.

"They're just sleeping, Victoria," he replies.

"Of  course they are, it's night. I meant are there any easy entrances, you bonehead."

"Hey, leave him alone, he's doing his best!" the other man interjects with distaste in his words. Victoria leans over and smacks him on the arm after snatching the binoculars from the first man's hands.

"Blaas doesn't need you defending him, Patrick. If he wants to be of any use, he should pull his head out of his backside and focus."

"So, are we sneaking in?" Blaas asks her.

Victoria studies the school herself through the binoculars, then shakes her head and tosses them to Patrick. "Not yet. They're still on edge after all those freaks got inside, and their numbers just went up. We have to play this smart, wait until their guards are down."

"How long is that going to take?" Patrick asks, clearly impatient. "I'm starving, and the food we got from those last people is running out."

"It takes as long as it takes!" she snaps at him. Turning back to the school, she glares harder down at the oversized building. "I don't care if it's days, weeks, or even months. We're taking what we want from there. They'll let their guards down, and then we'll just walk right in. It'll happen. Sooner or later, it always happens..."

Notes:

krel says death to racists and xenophobes (you guys have no idea how long i have been waiting to write that moment)