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I thought to myself, "I don' know what to do. They can't be trusted." The more the outbreak progressed, the more chaotic things became. I just wanted to go home. I just wanted it to all stop, but it only got worse. Even with all my trainings... nothing would prepare me for what happened next...

Zombie Crisis: Chapter 2: Lost Firearms!

The deadly howl of agony that seemingly echoed on forever, made everyone's blood freeze. Cold sweat being all Sayaka and Tucker's minds registering. Tucker, who was kicked into a pile of trash, had slowly gotten up in pain before squinting his eyes. Sayaka did the same; they tried to look through the thick fog that shrouded the area. They heard the flapping that a pair of giant wings must have been making. The smell of burning pavement was heavy in the air and they could hardly see where Alaster was. It was him after all, who had just screamed. As Tucker and Sayaka slowly made their way over to where Alaster's voice came from, they gasped quietly, their eyes widened with shock and fear; a silent tear sliding down the female dragoness's face.

"ALASTER!!" Sayaka screamed, obviously letting her feelings for Alaster take over. He was the only one who felt what she was going through after all.

Alaster's eyes widened in horror as the giant winged zombie, the likes he'd never seen before, and hovered just before him, and slowly lifted it's head up. It's razor sharp teeth tore up the flesh and scales around the neck area. Blood had splattered all over Alaster's jacket and shades. The giant creature let out a roar as it's bloody maw was licked clean by it's rather slimily tongue. A chunk of flesh and blood trapped between its teeth. The remaining zombies that slowly surrounded the group let out a war cry as if the cheer that they had won, though that didn't stop them from advancing. Their golden energy barriers flickered a few times as they would brush up against one another.

"Are you alright, mate?" Tucker asked concernedly. He hated Alaster with all his little heart, but that didn't make him a monster to the point of not giving a damn at all. Even if Alaster had tried to kill him a few times already, Tucker was still showing kindness. Besides, even he knew that they'd have a better chance of escaping the island if they could work as a team and put there differences aside.

"Alaster...?" Sayaka said weakly. She was afraid now. Alaster wasn't responding back at all. She was too afraid to move; her legs wouldn't budge. Frozen in fear, she called his name repeatedly. He was the only one that meant anything to her. He himself promised to protect her because of what they shared in common, being alone. Alaster was hoping to rid both himself and sayaka of that loneliness for good, but it looks like that was all just nice words and wishful thinking in the end from what Sayaka's eyes saw.

The sound of boiling hot magma that had trapped the group into the situation they found themselves in now was all that could be heard aside from the rainwater smacking the ground. In the distance could one with a keen sense of hearing be able to take in the faint sound of thunder, forewarning those with said keen ears of the incoming storm. Of course, Tucker being the Australian Tasmanian tiger that he was, heard the thunder. It was just like life out in the safari out backs back home to him. His coat of fur was soaked, but he managed to skate himself closer to sayaka in attempts of trying to comfort her.

Suddenly, a powerful gunshot was heard. The flying zombie creature hit the ground with a heavy thud; it's golden barrier flickering as it protected it from the damage. Alaster's shotgun, though no one other then Alaster could see it at the moment due to the heavy fog, was smoking from just being fired. He then took his combat knives off his left jacket sleeve and pinned the giant flying zombie down by throwing the knives so that they'd stab the wings of the flying zombie on either side. The zombie flailed around, trying to get free, but it was no use. It screamed in rage as it did, trying to possibly warn its comrades not to make the same mistake or to proceed with caution. The truth was, even though they were cornered, didn't mean they were helpless just yet.

"Rio..." Alaster whispered as he slowly moved his head over slightly in surprise at what Rio did.

"I'm... sorry... I'm... so... sorry..." Rio whispered back. He was now hugging Alaster tightly. His head rested against Alaster's chest as he whined in agony. Rio's speed was great and in this case too great. He placed himself in the path of the flying zombie's teeth. Rio's neck was missing a crazy amount of scales and flesh. The blood oozed down his cloths and stained them.

"Rio... why?" Alaster asked in shock. He still wasn't happy with Rio or thought he could ever forgive him since he revealed that he only befriended Alaster in order to gain his trust and study him. It was all apart of Rio's and his father Quicksilver's plans to get their revenge on Ori, a master mind of destruction and a internationally wanted criminal. Rio was Alaster's best friend ever since they were young hatchlings. They had been there for each other in desperate times of need and had made an oath to always protect each other like brothers. Hell, some might say that the pair had gone through some harsher hells then the one they found themselves in now. Alaster would have returned the hug emotionally if his paws weren't already full.

"Just because... I used... you... doesn't mean... I still... won't protect you.... You will... always be... my brother... even after death..." Rio said weakly as his knees buckled from under him. He was losing too much blood. He was passing out. He fell down to his knees and clung on to Alaster's left leg. Alaster had to resist dropping his weapons and helping his best friend since childhood in order to keep his guard up from any sudden surprise attacks from any other zombies. He wanted to, with all his heart, comfort Rio and hold him in his arms in what appeared to be his final moments alive. He felt his eyes burning, as they got watery. Alaster was in the middle of another battlefield within his heart right now. He was fighting... his feelings for survival.

"Rio... you do know what happens when one gets bit, don't you? They become infected and become one of them..." Alaster said weakly, finally reaching out with his free paw to touch Rio's head, but only feeling the rainwater and air around him as Rio collapsed to the ground, passing out at long last. " I... know...Red..." Rio replied just as weakly as his yellow eyes slowly shut. Though his breathing hadn't stopped and Rio was still very much alive, in Alaster's world it seemed as though Rio died. The way things stood, Alaster had two choices that faced him now. The first being that he'd have to kill Rio before he became one of those things. Alaster suddenly felt sick to his stomach. He had never thought of killing off his best friend before. If it hadn't been for Rio, Alaster wouldn't even be standing here right now debating this. Alaster thought that repaying Rio for saving his life with a gunshot to the head was fucked up. The second choice being that Alaster could simply keep Rio alive, though it would not only slow the group down with Rio being in the critical state he was in, but also, they'd have to deal with Rio becoming a zombie at some point later on.

"Here they come, Alaster!" Sayaka shouted upon seeing the sad scene between childhood friends. There was no time for Alaster to come up with the answer right now. They were still surrounded by a rather large hoard of seemingly invincible zombies.

As a zombie from the hoard threw itself at Alaster, he pulled Rio up upon his shoulder just like before when he carried Rio through the ally way. Alaster aimed his Remington shotgun toward the zombie and fired off a round. The zombie's golden barrier flickered as it flew back, slamming into a group of zombies like a bowling ball. Next, zombies from all sides of Alaster would close in on him; he simply held the shotgun in his maw and bit down to keep it from going anywhere. He dug inside of Rio's pockets and pulled out some ammo for his machine gun. He squatted down by getting down on one knee and placed the clip between his calf and the back of his thigh. Griping the clip with the back of his knee, Alaster then reached for Rio's machine gun and fired off the round that was already inside it. Alaster spun his body around, moving with his foot as to hit all the incoming zombies in a mad rush in the legs, making all but one topple over.

"Let's dance!" Alaster shouted. He then threw the machine gun in the air as he grabbed Rio and spun his body around as he stood up, using the back of Rio's feet to smack the zombie away. The zombie hit the ground hard as Alaster placed Rio up on his shoulder again, catching the clip of ammo that was released from the back of his knee as he stood up with his tail. He then grabbed the machine gun as it fell from the sky and used his tail to slap the ammo in for a quick reload as he reached into his jacket and pulled out a grenade with his free paw. Alaster once again adjusted Rio like a puppet, now with one arm around his neck. Alaster shoved the grenade inside Rio's muzzle and pulled only the pin out upon yanking his paw back. He then punched Rio with all his might in his gut, making him gasp the grenade out and toward the group of zombies that Alaster had hit previously like a bunch of bowling pins. They all fell atop one another and disabled each other's energy barriers. Alaster took this time to strike while they were vulnerable. The grenade exploded on them all. All the zombies within that explosion died as their blood and guts splattered all over the undead streets. "Hell yeah! I haven't had a fresh kill all damn day!" Alaster shouted in excitement.

Tucker noticed that his rival, Alaster, had taken care of his group of zombies and smirked. He wasn't about to let Alaster have more kills then him. Besides, Tucker had to show Alaster that he wasn't to be taken lightly for nearly killing him. Tucker threw his boomerang toward the cable lines to the streetlights. They were red lights, but soon that wouldn't matter. The boomerang cut the cable line and made it fall upon a small group of zombies. The electricity shocking them all, though they could not feel it because of their barriers. Tucker jumped up and caught his boomerang as he skated toward a damaged car. He pushed the damaged car that was left on neutral toward his group of zombies and gave it one final push. The car slowly made its way toward the zombies, bumping into them and knocking them over as they tripped over each other and the rapidly jumping cable lines. The electrical sparks from the cable lines was all it took for the leaking gas tank's oil to get set ablaze in one powerful explosion. Tucker smelt the gasoline in the air and hoped that it hadn't leaked out too much. There was just enough for the explosion and since the zombies toppled over each other, thusly making their shields become disabled, they all died as their blood and insides sky rocketed before raining down upon the small tiger, his boomerang still out. He looked over toward Alaster and smirked back. Alaster raised a brow and shook his head smirking.

Sayaka on the other hand, wasn't about to let herself be outdone by the boys. She was packing more heat then any of them so she decided to show off while the time was right. She ran away from her group of zombies and performed a back flip on to a zombie's shoulders. She quickly jumped off it before it would try to reach out for her and grab onto a nearby flagpole sticking out of the side of a building. She began to use gymnastics as she swung herself up to an even higher placed flagpole. She repeated her action and this time got atop a roof of a building. She walked along the edge of the building as she spun her revolving holster of firearms before randomly withdrawing one of them with her paw. She shot at her own group of zombies, aiming for the legs to knock them all over. She did this while cover the other two from above with cover fire. Just then, two zombies snuck up from behind her.

"Sayaka!" Alaster called out and fired off one shot from Rio's machine gun. The bullet headed right for her.

"Too easy!" She shouted as she took her other paw and grabbed her powerful katana. She gave a powerful down ward swing, which cut the bullet clean in half. The two halves split up and hit a zombie on either side of her, making them fall off the building and smacking the ground with a hard thud. Though, she timed everything just right, it cost her the katana, it shattered into pieces. The caliber of the gun being too powerful for the likes of her katana. She then jumped up into the air and flipped upside down, allowing her firearms to all respectively fall out of her revolving holster, hitting the ground before her; she on the other hand now had two revolvers in her paws. One in each hand as she spun around quickly like a drill firing off many bullets from the sky. As lead rained down upon all the zombies, making them all well-placed leg-shots, them toppled over and disabled each other's barriers. However, Sayaka's assault was far from finished. As she finally landed, her heavy thud sending all the firearms that had landed on the ground before her up into the air. She then reached up and grabbed another two magnums after letting go of the ones she had, firing off more rounds as she spun in a slow circle, aiming well placed torso shots and blasting them back until they fell into the lava that encircled them all. Since their barriers were already disabled, the zombies moaned in agony as they melted. The rotten flesh of the zombies and their undead stench getting worse as they finished melting, becoming zombie puddles of blood.

Suddenly, Alaster felt something on his head. Before he could react, his head turned on it's own. Rio turned his head so that the end of his Remington shotgun that was still in his muzzle was now facing a zombie that was sneaking up on Alaster from behind. Rio awoke and saw this and reacted with his great speed, as usual. He placed his finger on the shotgun and fired it, the widespread shot being enough to force the zombie back. "Rio!" Alaster shouted, taking the shotgun out of his muzzle. "That's the second time I saved your ass today, Red-kun... and... why do I feel so sore in the gut... it feels like someone punched the hell out of me!" Rio snapped back, a tad bit annoyed his favorite machine gun was being held by Alaster at the moment. "Well... you see..." Alaster began to say upon handing Rio back his weapon.

" Look out, mates!" Tucker shouted as he threw his boomerang at their newest threat.

It was the giant mammoth from before. It had previously eaten the horse-like zombie that attacked them before, now it was back and even more mutated then before. It was quick to reach out with its large paw and crush the boomerang into pieces. With a roar, it leaped into the air and landed on top of the still-pinned flying zombie and began to eat it. It devoured it, going through its golden barrier to do so. Suddenly, as it was eating it, something unthinkable happened. It's own golden barrier became silvery and glew brighter then that of the gold ones. Once it had done so, it rushed the group. Alaster shoved Rio to the side and rushed at it. Though it was bigger then Alaster in every aspect, he had something to help him. Enhanced strength. He threw a punch at the mammoth and collided fists with it. Their strength was evenly matched or was it? The mammoth just grew two giant wings from it's back. They took on the same shape as the flying zombie it had just eaten. With that, it aimed another punch at Alaster and this time as Alaster would go for a punch of his own, he'd side-step it swiftly and punch it's chest. It did nothing. It grabbed Alaster and threw him into Rio, making them both crash into a fire hydrant. The water sprayed out and wet them both.

"Rio!!" Tucker shouted.

"Alaster!" Sayaka shouted.

The giant mammoth with wings flew toward them both while they were still on the ground. As they got up slowly and staggered to their feet, they both dodged to each side, as it's giant fist came down with a powerful crash, sending smoke and debris flying into the air. "Guys, look there!" Sayaka shouted and pointed to where Rio's blood had spilled from before. It had spilled in one spot, but something was off. The blood seemed to be going around something, making a trail in a complete circle. She reached down and felt the ground. She gasped quietly. "Tucker I need some help over here!" She shouted. "Alright, mate." Tucker replied quickly as he helped her move the lid off some. It was a manhole. It was disguised as an actual part of the road. Even the lid's texture was pavement. Tucker threw two smoke grenades down as Alaster and Rio dashed toward them. When the smoke screen cleared they were gone. The mammoth was upset and let out a powerful roar that shattered the windows on all the buildings in the area. It had just lost its prey a second time.

Meanwhile, underground. The group made their way toward where Tucker suspected the research lab to be. "What? What is this?" Rio asked in a classic resident evil tone of voice. Alaster narrowed his eyes from behind his shades and smacked him across the head despite his condition. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, why are you smacking me, baka? I'm already like... you know... dead!" Rio shouted. "Stop shouting Rio! You'll give away our location." Alaster said as he smacked Rio across the head once more. "Ouch! You're enjoying this aren't you, Red-kun!!" Rio asked in a whiney tone of voice. "Yes Rio, why yes I am." Alaster said as he smacked Rio a third time. "Red! Stop it before I tackle you and make us go "blop-blop" in the sewer water!" Rio shouted.

"You know you like it and I thought I just told you to stop shouting Rio!" Alaster said and was going for another smack, but Rio had beaten him to it this time. Rio tackled Alaster into the water. They wrestled in the water playfully fighting and enjoying the last little bit of time they had together. Sooner or later, Rio would become a zombie and Alaster and Rio's powerful friendship would die. Tucker and sayaka traded looks with each other and couldn't help but look a tad bit confused and amused by this. "I guess we can rest here for a few minutes." Sayaka said with a smile.

"Yeah mate. Also, it seems like this passage way was supposed to be a secret. Luckily we found it!" Tucker added as he watched Rio pulling on Alaster horns while splashing yucky water on him. "Yes, considering how disguised the sewer lid was, I doubt anyone really knew about this. We may be in luck, this place might be zombie-free." Sayaka replied as she saw Alaster punch Rio in the chest and laughed as he grabbed Rio by the hair and shoved his face in between a random sewer gate that was barred off. "Red!! You get me out of this gate! I'm stuck!" Rio yelled. "Never!! Mwhahaha!!" Alaster said as he began to kick Rio's ass literally. "AHHHH!!! It's like my face was lubed up and is now stuck inside of a black ass that stinks!! Red, you bastard!!" Rio shouted as he tried to pull his head out of the bars. Alaster didn't say anything back to that, he was to busy laughing his head off to care to help his friend.

I figured if the world was coming to an apocalyptic end; I might as well have what little fun I could have before I died. That was one thing I loved about Rio, he was ALWAYS silly regardless of the circumstances that presented themselves. It helped to lift the mood, not as overwhelmingly depressing as it would have been without him. In that moment, while I was laughing so hard that tears ran down my face, somewhere in the back of my mind I unveiled the truth to myself. That wasn't a tear of happiness, but of sorrow. I couldn't bare the thought of losing a great friend. I didn't want to live in a future that didn't have my best friend in it; there by my side. I was afraid... afraid of losing someone important, afraid of losing my very first powerful bond. Rio was more then a friend, he was my brother and I'd take a bullet for him. I vowed to find a way to save him before it was too late, but... I didn't expect the horror that was in store for us next...

"Hm? A light?" Rio questioned. He was unsure what a light that bright would be doing in a sewer like this.

Alastar wiped some of the tears from his laughter away and took a gander beyond the barred off entrance Rio was currently stuck in. After raising an eyebrow Alastar stood up and approached the bars, pulling Rio out, not even paying attention to any silly comment he might have made as he would splash into the sewer water and remained in a small trance.

"What do you suppose it could be, mate?" Tucker asked curiously. The Tasmanian tiger could have sworn that light was not there a second ago.

"Haa!!" Sayaka shouted as she cut through the bars with her katana with one fell swing, swift and clean; did the bars slide out of place and splash into the water below.

"Everyone, stay together. I'll cover the front. Sayaka I want you to tend with Rio, he's injured on the neck and may pass out again. Watch him closely and don't let him out of your sight. Tucker, cover the rear." Alastar ordered as he took the lead, his machete in paw, slowly advancing the light down at the end of the tunnel.

From a distance could the group be seen slowly walking further down into the tunnel. The view shifted from behind the corner of the sewer to another corner to keep an eye on the group. Whatever creature this was that was now stalking the group had its eyes set on the group, perhaps it's prey. A small growl wisped through out the sewer, gaining Tucker's attention at the rear, but he found nothing. He shook his head, thinking he was hearing things from up above on the surface and proceeded down the hallway. Now from above, did the creature look down upon the group walk further into the passageway, drooling as it clung to the ceiling and advanced also.

Just then, Tucker got an incoming transmission from his wristband. It was Sam. The otter from before now trying to inform Tucker of something new. Tucker pressed a button on his wristband and spoke.

"What is it, mate?" Tucker asked, keeping out watch as Alastar suggested.

"Turn it up, Tucker. I still don't trust you! Even more so then Rio. Don't keep the rest of us in the dark..." Alastar warned, slowly rising up his machete so he could see how sharp Alastar kept it.

Tucker rolled his eyes and turned the volume up so that everyone else could hear also.

"Tucker! I was worried. I've been trying to contact you for 20 minutes now. Where are you?" Sam asked. "In the sewers now." Tucker replied. "Ah, then that might explain the interference. Listen, I was doing more research and it looks like the mad scientist responsible for creating the outbreak, Genji, secretly made back-up files of all his experiments." Sam informed. "Meaning that you've hacked into them by now, right mate?" Tucker assumed, why else would he be trying to contact him if it wasn't for new Intel. "You got me. The Zombies... or whatever you want to call them... they seem to be much like any other Zombie's classification aside from three aspects. The first is that their pain receptors have been 'shut off', in the sense that not even the clichéd bullet to the head, regardless of round, will kill them." Sam explained.

"What!? Then how are we supposed to deal with an un-yielding undead force?" Sayaka asked as her jaw dropped to the floor after nearly stumbling, having heard the news.

"No..." Rio interrupted. "That doesn't sound right. Even if their pain rectors have been shut off, they still need a brain and blood to function. The pain receptors shouldn't matter in the end..." Rio grunted, placing a paw on his neck, blood still oozing out slowly.

"True, however... this isn't your 'normal' zombie, in case you've failed to realize. The second aspect being, and also answering Rio's query, that it's not a race of zombie, it's an experimental branch of zombie. Meaning, Genji took DNA of living creatures and furries alike and mutated the DNA within a host after having experimented on them, creating a pseudo-Zombie. Keeping things as is in the dark for 4 years, having laid low and avoiding government of any kind, Genji got away with finally creating a side-branch 'race' of zombie proto-types. So far, the document that I'm reading, it says that Genji 'programmed' them to have the instincts of acting like a 'hive'. They'll take orders from their queen; hunt prey and will slowly and gradually gain intelligence with the more prey they can successfully hunt, kill, and devour. To this end, for the zombies who have successfully eaten, they'll be rewarded with about 1/6th the victim's I.Q. However, there's more... there is a more 'advanced' side-branch zombie out there that Genji created, know as the 'Rotting herald'. It is the queen's right hand and will take on special, more direct orders from the queen herself. Much like before, when it devours it's prey it will not only gain the I.Q, but will also take on extra appendages and attributes of its prey thereafter." Sam explained.

"Nani!?" Rio exclaimed in pain.

"We've run into that thing already... it's so powerful that not even Alastar's 'enhanced strength could match it." Sayaka said.

" 'Enhanced strength'?" Tucker repeated, having not known of anything about Alastar yet. The tiger shot the dragon a nasty look of distrust.

"..." Alastar remained silent, tightening his grip on his weapon; not having liked what was just said.

"The last aspect, as I'm sure you've noticed, is their energy shield. Zombies already have the gift of being immortal. Now even more so with the loss of pain receptors, and now topping off this mess of pseudo-Zombies with shields of energy, barriers of unversed power to protect them and act as a transceiver to pick up the signals being sent by their queen. This not only protects them from almost all forms of attack, but also acts as a really fast communication method. I haven't found anything that can breakthrough the barriers defenses yet other then their own energy. In this way, we can call them "Apex Zombies". I'm afraid that Genji thought this through well. They can't die and will in time be able to compete with our own race and more then likely take over." Sam explained.

"If that happened then World War three would break out against the "Apex Zombies"." Sayaka suggested.

"That's more then likely what Genji's aim was from the start, mate." Tucker replied.

"And since the 'apex Zombies' can't die and therefore lose the war, the government would have no choice other then a complete surrender or retreat. Having said that, Genji would be able to take over the world and create whatever 'Utopia' his fucked up mind wanted." Alastar added.

"I suggest finding a way to abort the mission and quickly. We need to find a way to set up defensive quarantine zones around both the island and the city. We'll need the time to come up with a way to defeat the Apex Zombies while protecting everyone that we can from becoming infected. We could even have the military nuke the island in the even of your escape fast enough, stopping the whole process before it even starts." Sam suggested.

"No!" Alastar stated firmly. " You're most likely doing EXACTLY what Ori wants us to do! I know him. He's smart; so he's not going to go with that without having some kind of 'perfect' and well thought out plan. They say he's a mastermind, so do you really think a mastermind wouldn't have already accounted for the military getting involved? I've been in my fair share of apocalyptic outbreaks before and one thing you never want to do is mass destruction of the unknown. Even with everything you've told us you've failed to mention their possible 'spread' method. They are not JUST evolving... their 'plague-spreading' as well." Alastar explained.

"Then what do we do big-shot? How are we supposed to win?" Sayaka asked, now looking rather annoyed at the worsening outcome before them.

"We don't hide, we fight. Studies show that offensive strategies were much more reliable then quarantine strategies, due to various risks that can compromise a quarantine, let alone as many as you just said you wanted to set up. On a longer time scale, researchers have found that all furs end up turned or dead. This is because the main epidemiological risk of zombies let alone the 'Apex Zombies', besides the difficulty of neutralizing them, is that their population just keeps increasing; generations of furs merely 'surviving' still have a tendency to feed zombie populations, resulting in gross outnumbering. In other words, while aggressive quarantine may contain the epidemic, or a cure may lead to coexistence of furs and zombies, the most effective way to contain the rise of the dead is to hit hard and hit often." Alastar explained while smirking. He knew he impressed the group with a speech like that.

"Aren't you the one that said Ori was a mastermind?" Sayaka asked, now unsure of what path to take.

"Yeah, mate! Genji WANTS a fight with his army of Apex Zombies to cause another world war and you're giving it to him!?" Tucker barked at Alastar's logic.

"Rio?" Alastar sighed and asked for his opinion.

"Nani, baka? Don't include me in your bickering, you kicked me in the rump, remember?" Rio whined.

"Rio..." Alastar said with all seriousness.

Rio sighed. He hated acting serious, but he hated letting Alastar down even more. "The Lost Firearms..." Rio said.

"The Lost Firearms?" Sayaka repeated. "What's that?" She asked.

"I don't really know to much about them. There are three in total and they have the power to destroy both the shields around the Apex Zombies and the Apex Zombies themselves. They are three powerful Zombie killing firearms designed to end this 'project' in the event of a backfire on Genji's end. He made them to kill them before they killed him 'should' something 'unforeseen' go wrong in his calculations for this 'project' of his." Rio explained before giving a goofy smile again.

"You and your father Quicksilver must have had this in mind from the start, eh Rio? End genji's plan and use it against Ori who you currently seek vengeance on?" Alastar guessed.

"It was dad's idea. I don't know where he gets his Intel, but it's never led me astray, Red-kun. All I have to do is do what I'm told. I have the perfect team after all. Alastar, the experienced apocalyptic zombie survivalist. Tucker, the well-informed Tayunan agent sent by Samiake the otter himself, a great information gatherer of sorts that can hack or obtain any information for the right price offered. And myself, the dragon with the plan that will bind it all together. Though, the extra firepower of Sayaka-chan helps out a great deal as well." Rio explained, making paw gestures toward them each to explain them in his speech as he did.

Alastar rolled his eyes. If he didn't know any better, he'd think Rio was enjoying himself acting like a smart ass right before his death. He didn't know whom he could trust for now, but he was interested in the Lost Firearms designed to take on the Apex Zombies. They would prove to make his earlier offensive strategy come to pass with the aid of firearms that could actually deal damage unlike most of his guns now. As the group finally made it to the light at the end of the passageway, they found themselves in a massive underground white room, littered with test tubes, some empty and others still full of experimental zombies floating in a green liquid of some kind. The room seemed to be used for mass production of the Apex undead. A short distance away the creature was still stalking the group. In the middle of the room, could the three powerful Lost Firearms be seen. Rio, by this point, was feeling the side effects of having been bit by an Apex Zombie. He was feeling weaker then normal and found himself coughing up blood every now and then. He knew his time was almost up and there was something he needed to do that meant more to him then getting revenge on Ori for the loss of his younger brother, Ant.

Rio, Alastar, and Tucker each took a 'Lost Firearm' gun and fiddled with it, adjusting to their feel, their shape, the guns were like any other firearm, that was for sure. The barrels were huge, yet only fired off mere rounds and not anything bigger. The handles were oddly shaped as well. They all looked at their guns respectively in confusion. Rio's was a silver and black colored gun, looked something alike to that of a SMG only with a huge barrel opening. Tucker had one that resembled the look of a shotgun with a laser sight attached to the side of the handle, it's barrel also huge for only having shells to use. It was black and green in color. Alastar's was crimson and gold in color and looked similar to that of a magnum revolver. Its spinning chamber was downed by one so that it only had five shots, but its barrel was also huge. Suddenly, Rio fell to the ground in pain. The infection was taking over. Alastar ran over.

"Rio!" Alastar said as he helped Rio up, holding back his rage toward the thought of being left alone again. Rio was all he had and he wouldn't mind if it stayed that way just a while longer.

"Red... ugh... there's something I must give you... I know that I never got you anything for your birthday, but here..." Rio dug inside his shirt and pulled out a grenade. Rio took it off from around his neck and smiled, handing it to Alastar. "I picked this up for you a while back... I just... haven't had the time... to get it to ya, buddy. Happy hatch day, Red-kun." Rio smiled, coughing up blood on him.

"Rio..." Alastar said speechlessly, putting on the grenade necklace around his neck as Rio wore it before him and examined it. The small green grenade may have been for display, but Alastar liked it. It was toon-ish, like in Rio's nature, to have picked up a gift and having gone through all this and still get the gift to Alastar before it was too late. This gift and scene almost had Alastar tearing up again. He held back those tears and held the grenade firmly in his paw. "Brother until the end!" Alastar said, his eyes now brimming with confidence from Rio's gift. Maybe everything wasn't as hopeless as Alastar thought after all. The Lost Firearms, the gift, his friends, the thrill of adventure, something Alastar hadn't been able to do in a long time, it was all sinking in. Alastar might not have trust anymore, but he still had hope. Thanks to Rio, refined hope. "Thank you, Rio-kun." Alastar said, knowing the use of a Japanese word might make Rio happy even in the current state he was in.

"I'm glad you like it... argh... make me a promise. Promise me you'll never forget our adventures together..." Rio smiled and tried to stand up on his own.

"It's a promise, Rio. I'll never lose hope. And I'll never forget what's important!" Alastar pulled Rio up and into a headlock. "Thought you said your wallet was looking rather grim when my hatch day came around, huh?" Alastar probed Rio.

"It was, baka! I keep telling you that I had no money for a gift that day, but that never, ouch, meant that I forgot about you, ack." Rio said in pain as Alastar give Rio his 'burning knuckle' nogie.

Tucker and Sayaka stood there and traded looks with each other again before sighing. They were confused as to how Rio and Red's friendship ticked and just looked on puzzled as usual. Suddenly, they each turned around to see a horde of Apex Zombies behind them. Tucker instantly fired his new shotgun like 'Lost Firearm' gun, resulting in what appeared to be much the same basic effect of a normal shotgun. The shells hitting the barrier and making the golden barrier flicker a few times before the shells hit the ground. The zombies all roared out in madness as they dashed forth with sharp claws and fangs alike. Against an army of the undead and not knowing how exactly the 'Lost Firearms' worked just yet, the group ran away. Outrunning them was something they could still do, well, aside from Rio in his weak condition. Though Alastar carried Rio over his shoulder in panic to escape their undead grasp, they all ran into a fork passage way. Alastar, holding Rio took to the right. Meanwhile, Tucker, who had on his skates again, was roller-blading so fast that despite seeing Alastar take a sharp right, he couldn't turn and take that same path. He couldn't stop either or he'd be devoured by the undead that was right behind him in bloodlust for a meal. Tucker skated as fast as he could, taking to the path on the left and going down that passageway.

"..." Sayaka remained hidden behind a large test tube and waited for the horde of zombies to give pursuit. She was skilled in both stealth and striking power. Up close and from a distance, you name it she was good at it. She sneakily looked around to make sure the coast was clear before shaking her head and grinning evilly at the fact that Tucker took the wrong path, leaving her alone with Alastar and an injured Rio as she took out her katana and ran down the path that Alastar took to the right of the fork.

* Scene switch *

"This fucking sucks... why do I have to stand guard?" Adramlelech said out loud and walked around by the same door he had done in earlier. He got bored and wondered around various places. He'd soon spot what appeared to be a horde of zombies headed his way. With one swing of his blade imbued with dark magic did one swing send out an arch of dark unstable energy outward into the horde, vaporizing them all. " Hmph." Adramlelech muttered.

"Nice shot mate." Tucker said as he emerged from behind a corner of a building and smirked, knowing that he may have been separated from the group, but only to find a bigger reward, he found the terrorists or at least one of them. " That solves one problem, now onto the next one." Tucker said as he pulled out his boomerang.

The dark dragon's dark magic now swirled around his paws as his eyes flashed a bright silver color before he smirked and turned around to find the Tasmanian tiger with his little boomerang out. "Ah, the tiger, I was actually beginning to think that you guys wouldn't show. Great, now I can test out my new move on you. I was going to save it for Alastar for what he did to me all those years ago, but... you'll do just fine." He said as he pointed his blade toward Tucker.

Tucker suddenly hurled his boomerang out at Adramlelech only to have the boomerang blocked and cut in two. Tucker pointed at the envelope that then fell from the boomerang's attack. It fell to the ground and Adramlelech picked it up with his dark powers and read "Adramlelech" upon it. "What's this?" Adramlelech asked as he opened it up. "How should I know? I found it when I was being chased by that horde of zombies just now and thought you might have dropped it." Tucker replied as he waited.

"What!? No! Fucking no!!" Adramlelech said out loud as he read the letter within. Adramlelech read; "I know what you're up to..." Adramlelech balled up the letter, but not before a photo fell out and floated over toward Tucker, landing softly. Tucker looked down and saw two female dragonesses tied up and blindfolded. One was an older looking dragoness and the other was still just a hatchling. "But how?! When?" Adramlelech shouted. He seemed to know what was going on. Though Tucker was confused. "Do you know them, mate? What did it say?" Tucker asked.

"Shut the hell up! Now I'm pissed off! I need to hurry!" Adramlelech said as he swung his blade and unleashed that same arch of unstable energy toward Tucker. However, Tucker skated to safety before taking out his 'Lost Firearm' and firing it at Adramlelech. The dark dragon was too skilled for this Childs play however and leaped over the bullets using his dark aura to jump to greater distances and then, while in the air, did Tucker meet Adramlelech with his famous move. "AXE KICK!!" Tucker shouted as Adramlelech blocked the kick with his blade, but the downward momentum was still strong enough to jet Adramlelech downward into the earth below, crashing into the pavement and fucking up the road.

Tucker landed on his skates and looked at his damage. The road was destroyed, a giant crater where Adramlelech crashed at. Tucker looked around to try and spot the dragon, thinking he'd have an edge on him if he could keep on the offensive the way he was. The smoke swirled up into the sky from the force of the impact and debris still raining down.

The dark dragon's mind was throbbing in pain as flashbacks rippled in his mind, reminding him of his past that he disliked so much. "You promised! You fucking promised!" The female voice screamed in Adramlelech's mind as he snapped out of his flashback and pushed the rubble from atop him, coughing as he stood up.

Adramlelech quickly faded into nothingness, leaving the battlefield to Tucker for a few moments as he then reappeared within Tucker's shadow and stabbed him in the back. His blade piercing right through Tucker like butter. The tiger screamed as blood sprayed all over the place. His scream was enough to gain the attention of Alastar, who had came out the fork from a distant exit above ground. He rushed to the railing and shouted. "Tucker!!" Alastar shouted.

Tucker's shirt torn off and his blood stained his golden fur a deep red. Adramlelech then, still half phased out of Tucker's shadow, used his free paw to blast Tucker away with his powerful dark aura energy. He laughed as Tucker smacked into a building and curled up in pain. Adramlelech advanced, spreading out his wings and blade in paw. That same dark unstable energy swirling around each of his paws. Tucker got up, pushing off his knee with his paw and then struggling into a roller-blade motion. He dashed right at the dark dragon with his 'Lost Firearm' he shot it only for bullets to hurl toward him again. Like before, Adramlelech deflected the bullets with his sword and lashed out with a powerful sword slash of dark imbued energy. Tucker saw this and jumped up to avoid the energy. This time, Adramlelech met Tucker in the air with a downward sword slash. Tucker gasped. Something was off. Adramlelech came at him with a sword slash? Tucker used the 'Lost Firearm' to block the blade and was sent back to the ground, landing on his skates, falling to one knee. Then Adramlelech used his dark energy to lift up a zombie corpse and hurl it at Tucker from his blind spot. The corpse's sharp claws dug into Tucker's flesh. He screamed and quickly shot his 'Lost Firearm' gun at Adramlelech. The spread shot shells were fast, but nothing Adramlelech could handle. He once again jumped, since there were too many to deflect this time, after he evaded that he laughed.

"What's so funny, mate... ugh..." Tucker asked as he was slowly losing the battle.

"This fucking pitiful display, kid! Now that I've infected you with that zombie's corpse, you'll turn into one of them soon. I'm laughing because you are so young yet I fit the bill just right, eh?" Adramlelech laughed.

"You mean... the story of how Adramlelech devoured children? Heh. I don't plan on being your next meal...argh... I may be young, but I already see your weakness!" Tucker said as he lashed out with another axe kick and hit the ground before Adramlelech, forcing everything up into the air. The dark dragon was sent flying, but adjusted himself with his wings of might. "Snotty-little-" Adramlelech was cut off by Tucker firing the shotgun like 'Lost Firearm' at point blank in the air. Adramlelech smirked as he formed an unstable wall of energy and blocked it flawlessly. "Useless, kid! Looks like I win!" Adramlelech said as he prepared to swing his powerful blade down upon the tiger, threatening to cut him in two. Tucker then shoved a grenade, after pulling the pin, down into the talkative dragon's maw. Then using both paws to clamp his maw shut and using his legs to clamp Adramlelech's arms so he couldn't attempt to somehow be rid himself of the grenade inside him now. "I noticed earlier that you use your dark energy after every other attack. Meaning, after timing it so that you couldn't use it to help you out of this attack, there's now nothing you can do other then explode. That's right... I made you... ughg... use it back then, when I shot at you at point blank, with the intention of killing us both now! If I'm already infected... then I'd rather die by my paw, not this plague!!" Tucker explained and then closed his eyes and smirked.

Alastar saw this and shouted. "TUCKER!!!" The massive explosion that followed was enough to send anyone in shock. The fiery out burst sent flames in every direction and smoke and debris littered the area. Now raining down rubble did Alastar stare onward, wide-eyed, at nothingness.

"Looks like we escaped them... for now..." Sayaka said as she panted from trying to catch up.

"Red... Red... it... hurts... Red..." Rio moaned as his tissue was started to darken, another sign that Rio was nearing his proto-zombie stage.

Alastar didn't know what to do. Should he kill Rio off right here after having lost Tucker or listen to his inner voice and fulfill his vow to Rio and see him out alive; to live a future with his best friend. The red drake sighed and pointed his 'Lost Firearm' gun at Rio's head. He sniffed a few times as his eyes grew watery and his paws shook. After one final gulp could a gunshot be heard. Nothing followed next. The silence of death over took everything. Sayaka's eyes narrowed and Alastar's eyes widened. What had he just done...

To be continued...