Arc 1 - Chapter 18: Thank you For Taking Care of Me...

(Prominis 19, 56 / 11:43AM)

Four years prior. On the first day of training.

“Hey Fred? You good?”

“pants … yeah, just … pants … head on without me …”

After completing their first ever elite training course, Fred lay his back along the short grass, the tips of the lawn trickling his skin and clothes. Closing his eyes, he spread his arms and legs far apart, since his body was scrawnier than normal.

Stan nudged both Gary and Diego to follow him, leaving Fred to be alone. As he wheezed, pushing air through his weak lungs, both boys grumbled.

“Why does he get to be alone?” Said Gary.

“Yeah! I’m more tired than him!” Yelled Diego.

“You guys are wimps, just let him rest. He's weaker than you guys combined.”

Fred was the only one to be left on the grass, as everyone headed to the lunch hall. He stared at the afternoon sky, the clouds and blue sky warming his exhausted soul.

—I just wish Luke wasn’t in the infirmary … then again, Jack was also taken to the infirmary too…

But two girls stalled. One of them, who stared at the short scrawny boy with green eyes, pushed a little smirk up. Looking toward one of her friends, who had blonde hair and blue eyes, she gave her a pat.

“Save me a spot. I’ll meet up with you later.”

“Why? Did something catch your eye?”

“Yeah … you could call it that.”

The green-eyed girl, with dark brown hair, walked through the grass. Having the same set of clothes as him, the only difference was she wore boots, rather than sneakers. Once she reached him, she blocked the sun’s rays with her head, shadowing him with her face while looking at him with a smile.

—Who is she?

Fred began to sweat from the corners of his eyes, as he jumped himself off of the grass. Tidying his shirt, fixing his hair, it made the girl giggle. Finding his shyness adorable, she covered her mouth with her hand.

“giggles … your name’s Fred right?”

“Yeah … uhm … sorry… w-w-what’s yours?”

“giggles … The name’s Gemma.”

She stuck out her hand toward Fred, seeing her palm smooth and carefree. Maintaining her brightened face, it only flustered Fred’s cheeks. Being a 5’0” boy, and with Gemma being a 5’8” girl, the height difference was big.

“Wanna walk to lunch with me?”

He took Gemma’s hand, his palm drenched in pale sweat. Walking through the green grass, she looked down at him, seeing him shiver under her tall height.

“Are you this nervous around girls?”

“W-W-W-What? No…”

She giggled loudly, covering her mouth again with her other hand. Fred’s face went stiff and pale, lowering his head as both were barely reaching the door to the lunch hall.

“Relax, I don’t bite~”

Her hand tightened around his, as both went into the lunch hall together. Her face as bright as the afternoon sun, he looked up, seeing her happy and full of life.

At that moment, he made a vow to himself; to never let that bright smile fade.

________________________________________________________________________

(Prominis 21, 58 / 3:40AM)

“We really shook the hornet’s nest!” Yelled Miles.

“Just keep shooting!” Yelled Stan.

In front of the gate that led to the military complex, a major defense holdout ensued. A rain of bullets stormed into the incoming horde, who tried to claw their way to all the rest of the candidates. Loading, reloading, loading, reloading, they repeated this action over and over again with their guns.

“Gary! Diego! How many bullets do we have left?!” Yelled Stan.

“We’re down to our last munitions!” Yelled Gary.

“Should’ve looted more of that damn gun store!” Yelled Diego.

Miles wielded nothing but a simple handgun, his aim all over the place as most of his bullets missed their mark. Wishing he could hit them up close, it’s safe to say he was a man better suited for close range.

Stan wielded an AR-18, his aim precise and accurate in terms of medium range combat. Hitting a good chunk of the spinted zompires, there was one issue. Not only did Gary and Diego were running low, but even Stan as well.

‘Great, this thing is running dry too!’ thought Stan.

Gary and Diego were suited well with their AutoMags, as both of them managed to strike a couple of zompire’s hearts. As they glitch like a computer and turn to ash, they carefully pull their triggers, because as of now, every shot counts.

The bullets, ricocheting the air and through the abandoned street blocks, began to slow.

“Sean! Sean! How’s the left defense holding up!” Said Miles.

“Do you want me to answer that right now? I’m down to my last cartridge!”

Wielding a M42 semi-auto sniper rifle, Sean missed every single shot. His bullets, striking inches from most of the zompire’s bodies, only grinded the back ends of his teeth.

“Hey Sean! We got to trade weapons!” Yelled Jack.

“What!? Hell no! Your shotgun is probably out of ammo!”

“Just give me the fucking—wait … are those?”

His eagle eyes letting him squint farther than the others, he noticed a group of teens and young adults running toward them. Ignoring all the rain of bullets, which slowed evermore the longer they wasted their lead, he widened his eyes.

Amidst the agonizing screams of the undead, Jack’s yell was louder.

“It’s them! It’s the rest of everybody!”

‘No way…’ thought Stan.

“Give them covering fire!”

With a flick of a switch, all six boys pushed down their triggers, riddling the horde whatever lead they had. Raining down the last of their ammo, they got most of the zompires.

Luna charged headfirst to the leftover remnants of the horde, as she avoided some of the bullets from the boys. Honing a ballad of death, she used her right handed sword to slash and swish, as she made her way to the group. Her sword sharp enough to cut through their skin, and her arm strong enough to push on through, she showcased the fruits of her training.

In a specific case, one zompire lunged straight at her, but she only used her left hand to grab it’s head.

“Bring it!”

Pushing it away, she maliciously sliced through its chest, leaving it no choice but to glitch and fade to ash. As she continued to glide and slide through the pavement, Stan and the other boys began pulling back their fingers from the triggers.

‘What the hell is she thinking? Is she really putting so much trust in us, to be accurate with our bullets?’ thought Stan.

When Luna took hold of the zompire audience, their guns finally ran dry, leaving them to be defenseless. Both Stan and Miles looked at one another, giving each other a nod while nudging the others to follow them.

“Let’s get that door open!” Yelled Miles.

“What about the others?!” Exclaimed Gary.

“They’ll catch up!”

“Shit, we still have some zompires charging at us still!” Yelled Stan.

“I thought Luna garnered their attention!?” Exclaimed Jack.

A couple of zompires gathered their attention to the group of boys. Prying the door open with all their strength, Miles noticed a wooden bat right next to him, leaving the rest of them to do the heavy work.

While he’ll do the nasty work.

‘Reminds me of the glory days’

Placing himself several meters in front of the group, he had the bat low to his waist. As the first zompire lunged at him, he swung the wooden bat with all his strength, leaving his muscles to expand as the bat hit it with gargantuan force.

Sending the zompire to tumble several feet back, he saw the other zompire lunging at him, and he repeated the same thing he did for the first. But unlike the first time, the wooden bat snapped in half, leaving off a sharp wooden stake…

‘Perfect!’

He sent the second zompire a couple of steps back from the second thrust. Adjusting the bat to be taken as a wooden stake, he lunged fast, and stabbed the zompire straight at its heart.

Pulling it out, he let the creature glitch, as he let his eyes turn to the first zompire who got up from the previous hit. Same as before, he lunged, thrusted the wind with the wooden stake, and pierced the zompire’s heart, sending out a gushed flow of tar from its chest.

With both zompires dead, Miles looked over to the second group that was getting close.

“Hurry!”

Luna finished the last of her ballad, as she saw a graveyard of black ash littering all around her. Being in front of everyone else, she began her sprint to the boys, holstering her sword back into her hip.

“Come on! We have to push forward!” Yelled Luke.

Fred staggered behind, his eyes barely taking in the gate that soon came unlocked. The six boys, who ran into the safe room, saw as the others made a mad dash sprint. As for Fred…

“Hurry Fred!” Yelled Stan.

The more he pushed, the more he felt her hands twitch and shiver. Her head, which pressed onto his upper back, slowly lifted free.

“cough cough … Fred?”

He knew Gemma awakened from her nap. His hands, which only tightened around her body, only blistered the soles of his feet the more his toes and heels ached.

“Rest … try not to worry …”

Luna, Hope, and Loraine all made it to the front gate, with Hope being the last of the girls. Watching as Luke and Fred were the only ones sprinting, Luke was miles ahead of Fred.

“Luke!” Yelled Luna.

“Please Hurry!” Yelled Hope.

The group of zompires in back of them were right on their tail. Pushing, more and more, convulsing and frying their muscles to their limits, they strained their scleras red—

—Fred tripped—

“FRED!!” Screamed Stan.

He reached his limit. All the strength within his legs and feet, used up and spent, wobbled as he tried to push himself off the ground. Luke, who was inches from entering the gate, ceased his sprint to notice his best friend … on the verge of being a zompire’s dinner.

—No, no, no!

Not just him, but Stan joined with him too. Prior to his sprinting, Luke had dumped Cameron's body on the ground near everybody else, leaving Miles to sprint and take him away. Both their eyes, focused solely on Fred and Gemma, had their thoughts clouded with dangerous what-ifs.

‘My sword is already dull… fuck.’ thought Luna. Squinting her eyes along the brittle metal, some of its iron chipped away.

As Luke and Stan were halfway to reaching Fred…

“Thank you for taking care of me…”

“Huh?”

—Gemma pushed herself off of Fred’s back—

“GEMMA!!”

Her push, pushed Fred a few feet forward, giving him the chance for both Luke and Stan to take him. Sprawled on the ground, she looked up to see the wide-eyed Fred, his hand extended outward.

While she did the same.

Without looking back, Luke and Stan dragged Fred, who fought back against them while gritting their teeth.

“Get the hell off me!”

Both sprinted up to the gate, whilst their foot muscles cramped from their toes to their heels. Feeling Fred’s nail try to scratch their skin, their clothing, they pushed and pushed … until they finally reached the gate.

“Oh no…”

Two lovers looked at one another for the very last time. Seeing himself in her green eyes, and seeing herself in his blue eyes, was a bridled future that never came.

She was then eaten alive.

Bangs upon bangs of fangs clawed and ripped through her flesh like cotton candy, making her tear her vocals out from her shrill screams. Her body, convulsing like she was having a seizure, spazzed uncontrollably the more her organs were on full display for the happy horde. Trying to block them with her chewed up arms, they mauled everything except for her heart and head, leaving her to burn and gutter in the seventh layer of hellish pain. Upon her last breaths, she shrieked until the zompires chewed them out.

Everyone looked away, with most of them covering their ears with their hands. Silent, they couldn’t look at the poor girl, who tried to scream with chewed out vocals…

Everybody closed the door behind them, leaving them to face the last stage … of The Array…