The Zombie Chronicles: Road to Sanctuary

Earlier in the morning, Daisuke and Riku were sitting with Scootaloo’s doctor, who by now had finished treating her wounds as best as he could.

“The good news: She’s stable. The burns should heal, but the scar tissue may be a bit worrying in the future. For now, however, she should make a full recovery.”

Both mother and father let out relieved cries, comforting each other as the doctor continued.

“The bad news: Her injuries will need extensive physical therapy. Especially if she is to walk again... I understand that you and Ms. Morbucks have made... an arrangement, Mr. Niwa?”

Riku and Daisuke shared a knowing look and nodded to each other.

“Well, that part’s covered, at least. I’m available weekends, and I think that a couple hours once a week would be a good starting point.”

Daisuke nodded, and Riku stood up.

“May we see her?”

The doctor nodded back and directed the two to her room.

Inside, Scootaloo’s bandages have been mostly removed, revealing burn marks on her left cheek and shrapnel from the explosion leaving deep, stitched cuts across her nose, just barely dodging her right eye. Her arms and legs were still wrapped in heavy bandages, but her demeanor told them that they were not a pleasant sight.

She glanced at the two and smiled a bit.

“Hey...” She slurred.

Daisuke and Riku smiled and sat next to her.

“Hey, honey... you’re going to be okay. We’re working something out right now; you’ll be on your feet in no time.” Daisuke immediately assured her.

She struggled to smile and nod, but she managed.

“Okay...”

Riku scooted closer to her.

“I heard that there’s some insurance you’re supposed to get. ‘Workplace Injuries’? Your dad made sure you got it...” She fibbed.

Daisuke gave Riku a look and turned back to his daughter.

“You should sleep, sweetie. We’ll see you in a bit, okay?”

She nodded, and slowly began shutting her eyes.

Once she was asleep, the two slowly stood up and left. They spoke to the doctor for a while longer before making their way out of the hospital and into the streets.

The two walked in silence until they were sure they were somewhat alone.

“So, he’s back?” Riku asked.

Daisuke knew exactly who she was talking about and nodded.

“Yeah... I still don’t know how. I guess it’s because I never had a biological child, so he never left?” He shrugged.

Riku didn’t react to that.

“So now what? What does he want with you?”

Daisuke shrugged again.

“I guess to stay, for now... you know how he is, he’s never clear about what he wants.”

Riku scoffed.

“Over 20 years, and he’s still the same...”

“Let’s save this talk for later... we should get in line for rations.”

Riku nodded, and the two quickly made their way to the already bustling line. Once they stood in line, several others began to gather and line up behind them, stretching along the sidewalk.

“What’s going on? It’s never this packed.” Daisuke said.

The two did their best to look ahead but had little luck due to how far they were in line. They stayed in place without moving for about an hour until people up ahead finally had enough.

“Man, fuck this, I’m gonna be late for my shift! The hell’s going on up there?!” Someone asked, breaking out of line and marching toward the front.

Several others followed him to the front, leaving Daisuke and Riku little choice but to follow, also. The group reached the front of the line, seeing that the soldiers were not handing rations out to anyone...

“Hey, what’s going on, man?! We all got places to be. Some of us haven’t eaten in days!” Someone in the front asked, shoving a soldier back.

“Sir, the rations are being processed. We just need a bit longer to ensure that we--” The soldier’s attempts of pacifying the situation were nullified by a protester chucking a bottle and nailing the soldier’s helmet, shattering glass and dousing his armor with water.

“Fuck you! Fuck Morbucks!” The bottle-chucker started chanting.

Others began to chant along, and soon a choir of “Fuck Morbucks” filled the street. Daisuke looked around for a way out and glanced at his wife, who began to join the chant. From the crowd, Daisuke spotted a distressed Brick behind the fence of the ration line, nervously looking toward the direction of City Hall. Knowing Princess could be listening, Daisuke gestured to Riku to stop.

“We gotta get off the streets before--”

Daisuke was cut off when a sound like the roar of a jet engine caused the chants to stop as from the skies, Princess hovered down to view. Many residents stopped chanting at the sight of their leader descending from the heavens, but some continued, mainly the woman who first began the chant.

“You guys are pretty loud, here... what’s the cause of the stress?” Princess asked, just barely floating above the ground, refusing to walk the same ground as the protestors.

“The ration line’s out, again! I thought you said this was going to stop!” The woman said, stepping closer to Princess.

Princess felt stress grip its hand around her throat. Her emotions were starting to brew, which she was only able to relieve through a laugh.

“And they are. These things take time, miss... I’m sorry, but for right now, this is how things need to be--”

“Screw that! I haven’t eaten in days, I’d rather take my chances with the zombies!” She said, causing the crowd to begin uproaring again.

Princess cracked a smile from anger, desperately trying to contain it... but as the crowd continued to scream and shout at her, some throwing nearby bottles, rocks, and other throwables at her, she lost control. Her eyes began to gleam red...

And the woman who began the protest was incinerated with two red beams.

As she let out one pain-filled shriek, her body was reduced to hot ashes and chunks of bone... The crowd fell silent, many of which were too shocked to know what to do.

Daisuke pulled Riku behind him, and he saw that Brick’s eyes were wide as saucers, a hand over his mouth in horror.

Princess gave a few frustrated breaths before she realized what she had just done. She, the crowd, the soldiers, all froze in place for what felt like an eternity, no-one able to find the best reaction to the situation. Slowly, members of the crowd began to run for their lives, desperate to avoid the wrath of their leader. Once the first domino fell, many others began to follow, making a flood of survivors fleeing in terror.

Princess was the next to leave, taking to the skies at top speeds to an unknown destination, leaving the others with the mess she had made.

Daisuke and Riku were next to try and run, but stopped when they saw Kyle and Sunset approach the scene...

As both pairs headed towards each other, Daisuke was careful not to step in the protestor’s ashes...

“Guys, what the hell happened?” Kyle asked.

Daisuke and Riku both struggled to respond, unable to fathom what they had seen...

“Princess. She did this, didn’t she?” Kyle asked, staring at the pile of ashes.

Daisuke slowly nodded, worried that someone was watching.

From the now-empty ration line, Brick watched the four converse for a few moments before returning inside the building, looking at the singular crate of various food contents... Nowhere near enough for the people that were just in line.

“Fuck...” He said to himself, knowing how dire their situation is.

An hour passed, and Kyle found himself back inside the café by City Hall with the others.

“That’s... not right. She was just hungry...” Fluttershy whispered in horror.

“Yes, darling, I think we all are.” Rarity sighed, feeling her stomach rumble.

Kyle glanced at Buttercup at the counter, looking under the table and sighing to herself, knowing she was running out of ingredients...

“This place isn’t built to last. Princess is still gone, people are flooding the gates trying to get out, I think we should join them...” Rainbow suggested.

“Yeah, where would we go? Apparently Dainn’s still alive, Canterlot’s too deep into their turf, and it’s gettin' worse out there every day...” Applejack shrugged.

Kyle and Sunset looked at each other, sharing a nod.

“What if we hit the Caribou back? Take them out and take what they have?” Sunset asked.

The other girls glanced at Sunset as if she had five heads.

“What exactly did you an’ Kyle talk ‘bout out there?” Applejack asked in a concerned tone.

Kyle decided to pitch in.

“We know where the Caribou are right now. Shining’s already assembling a fighting force, we have access to otherworldly weapons, and this place has one hell of an army, not to mention their leader who can fly and has laser eyes... they wouldn’t stand a chance against us. They have manpower and plenty of prisoners to boot, which means they have to be loaded with food. We hit them, free everyone they have captive, and we take their supplies. It's not a permanent solution, but it'll give us some time to find a long-term solution.” He said.

The girls stayed silent, each of them feeling differently about the idea. Applejack was all-in, based on a thoughtful smile on her face. Fluttershy was at the opposite end of the spectrum, struggling to process the thought of raiding another group, even if it was one as twisted as the Caribou.

Rainbow was the first to voice her opinion about the plan.

“Look, it’s a good thought, but we just learned that the Caribou have some kind of mind control. How do we avoid that? I think we just need to head east—away from Dainn, away from Princess, away from all of this shit. The mountains, maybe...”

“Wait, what about Equestria? I thought we were talking about heading there at some point...” Rarity asked.

Sunset hung her head, reaching into her bag and tossing her journal on the table, allowing them to see the same sentence she read...

“No...” Rarity gasped in shock.

“Equestria isn’t an option, anymore... we need to find somewhere secure, somewhere we can make safe...” Sunset thought.

Kyle thought as well, but the idea dawned on him...

“Sanctuary.”

Sunset gasped at the idea, but the others were confused.

“Uh... what now?” Applejack asked.

“Your dad’s foster home... it’s fenced up, we can build it up more. All the empty land we can farm with... it can work.” Sunset nodded, starting to think about the possibilities.

The girls decided to save the questions about Sanctuary for later.

“What about Princess? What about these people? We can’t just leave them to suffer...” Fluttershy said.

“And our Geodes. I’m most certainly not going out there without my powers, and I don’t think anyone else disagrees.” Rarity added.

"Not to cut this talk short, but guys—Scootaloo can’t even walk, right now. I’m sure as hell not leaving her here and getting her out of here in one piece, helping her recover, all while pushing her around in a wheelchair where zombies can sprint 10 miles an hour... I just don’t know.” Rainbow said.

The group all nodded, knowing that they couldn’t run...

“Odds are Utonium and Dexter have your Geodes... I could see how willing they are to give them back, but as for these people... I don’t know. I think that the Caribou are our best bet, but backup plans never hurt anyone... but odds are those plans will just involve us... and I hope that it doesn’t come to that.” Kyle said.

Rainbow stood up at that.

“Well, if it comes down to it, I’m staying with Scootaloo. I’m not leaving her here, alone.”

Kyle nodded.

“Like I said, we can just hope that it doesn’t come down to that.”

She slowly sat back down and sighed.

“Okay, so back to the Caribou... would Princess even listen to us about them? I mean, she just burned one of her own people down to nothing... I find it hard to believe she’d care about a group a hundred miles away or so.” She shrugged.

Kyle tried to think of an answer but couldn’t find one. The doors to the café opened, and Brick walked in, gunning for the group and taking an open seat beside them.

“Don’t bother catching me up, I heard everything. Princess won’t care about this group, but odds are I can put something together. If they have supplies like you say they do, I don’t care what we have to do...” Brick confessed.

The group took a moment to process Brick’s arrival and statement but were quickly caught up to speed.

“Why should we trust you? You led Scootloo into that death trap.” Rainbow accused him.

Brick quickly pointed a finger at her.

“I didn’t know about that... if I did, I wouldn't have let them anywhere near that op.”

Kyle leaned forward.

“He’s right... he talked to Princess after it happened.”

Brick’s eyes widened at the realization that Kyle was listening to their conversation...

“I can confirm that Dex’ and Utonium have your necklaces. They’re trying to figure out what makes them work... you’d have to visit them to see how they’re doing. But we need to hurry... we’re completely out of rations.” He said.

Kyle’s eyes widened as the others realized what that meant.

“Okay... is Princess back, yet?”

Brick shook his head.

“No. I have no idea where she--”

A similar roar to the one the people in the ration line heard came overhead as Kyle noticed a figure fly above City Hall and gently hover in through a hole in the roof...

“I’ll be right back...” He said, sprinting out the door and towards City Hall...

The others tried to tell him to stop, but he was already gone, running somewhat faster than he had in the past...

Almost breaking the door open, he sped past a startled Ms. Bellum, and right into Princess’ office.

“Princess... we need to talk.” Kyle said, having not broken a sweat from his sprint.

Princess was facing the hole in her office, barely turning her head at Kyle.

“Princess? I know what happened at the ration line, and I have a solution.”

She barely responded, save for a curious tilt of her head.

“There’s a group near Canterlot... slavers living in a prison. They have dozens, maybe hundreds of soldiers with the power to turn anyone they find into an army, or worse. They have countless prisoners, and odds are they’re all well-fed... it’ll take some manpower and a lot of artillery, but if we take them out and take those supplies, it should last us long enough to find a long-term solution to our food problem...”

Princess finally turned to face Kyle, revealing a pale, sunken face. She was barely standing and unable to walk as the attempt to do so caused her to trip and fall.

“P-Princess?!” He ran over and helped her up.

“My... under my desk. There’s a button...” She slurred, weakly pointing at her desk.

He gently sat her down and searched under her desk, finding the button. After pressing it, the desk rose up and spun to the side, revealing a staircase going underground...

Kyle had no time to question this as he helped Princess up and walked her down the stairs, the desk closing back up behind them and lights coming to live above them. Kyle noticed that the stairway led to a doorway.

“Princess, what’s down here?” He asked her.

Princess slowly raised her head and looked into his eyes.

“The future.” She cracked a smile before going limp again.

Kyle opened the door and walked her inside what seemed to be a former subway system. Finding one of the main terminals, he led her that way, where he noticed crates upon crates stacked by the wall, maps showing the entirety of the city including the walled-up portion, and a board filled with names Kyle knew and others he didn’t. The list included his name, the girls’ names, Brick and his brothers, hers, and others from Ben Tennyson to Bloom Peters to Marionette and Adrien...

“Princess, what is this?”

“That drawer... open it.” She ignored him, pointing at a drawer by a bed up against the wall.

Kyle nodded and set her on the bed, opening the drawer and noticing countless syringes like the one he swiped from Utonium’s lab...

“Good. Here...” She slurred, rolling up her sleeve and revealing an arm covered in injection marks, with black, discolored veins spreading up towards her head...

Kyle gasped at the sight, holding the syringe tightly.

“P-plea--” She coughed viciously, black fluid discharging from her mouth as she covered her mouth with her sleeve.

Her coughing continued, and Kyle could tell that she was close to dying...

He considered putting the syringe back, letting her choke on whatever was coming out of her body, but something told him, begged him not to let her go through that...

Ignoring his higher reasoning, he purged the syringe of air, gently pushed it into Princess’ arm, and injected its contents into her body. The chemical flowed through the black veins, slowly removing the discoloration away.

In moments, the color in Princess’ face returned, and she slowly rose from the bed.

“Thanks...” She sighed, wiping her mouth of additional fluid.

Kyle nodded, setting the syringe on top of the dresser and going to see what was down in her hideaway...

He first searched the list, seeing stamps labeling it as top secret government information and at least 100 names, many of which Kyle couldn’t determine. But there were three others that he recognized...

Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze, and Sonata Dusk.

He turned to the countless crates, opening one of them.

To his surprise, rows upon rows of canned food, dried goods, MRE's, and countless packets of seeds greeted him.

In disbelief, he closed that one and opened another, seeing even more food and seeds. The next crate, the same contents...

“Princess... where did this all come from?” He asked, turning to her.

Princess sighed, shaking her head.

“Kyle, did you really think that the city didn't have provisions in case of emergencies? I mean, do you know what this town has been through? There's enough food and supplies under the city to feed millions of people... but the ones up there, now? They can't get this... it's not for them. It's for the next phase...”

Overcome with anger, he slammed the crate shut.

“T-the next phase?! What does that mean?!”

Princess slowly stood up and pointed to the list.

“See this? This is what comes next. The people here that matter, and many others that’re out there. Us, Enhanced... we’re what matters. Them? They don’t.” She pointed above to the streets of Townsville.

Kyle instinctually stepped back, immediately regretting not letting her die.

“You... you’re starving them out?” He asked, barely containing his anger.

Looking straight into his eyes, she nodded.

Kyle let out a scoff in disbelief, unable to form a proper response. This was something Princess took advantage of.

“I know you’re upset, but I just want you to hear me out... there are 300,000 people up there, and how many of them can contribute? Just how many of them are really worth giving that food to?”

Kyle scoffed again.

“All of them, Princess! They can all contribute!”

“Oh, really? Tell me this, Kyle, if a swarm of those things got in here, just how many people stand a chance? How many of them can fight back without being swarmed and torn to pieces?”

“Give them guns and training, and all of them can pitch in.”

“And waste precious ammo? Waste the guns? No, Kyle. What happens when we spend all our bullets, and our guns jam up? What happens when the axe handle breaks, or the machete goes dull? What then, Kyle?”

Kyle began to see her point, but couldn’t accept it all the same. Then, a realization dawned on him...

“Is this Operation STRIKE? Killing off the un-Enhanced?”

Princess didn’t respond, but she didn’t need to. Kyle took a shaky breath before continuing.

“Okay... on a fundamental level, I see what you’re saying—you think that us Enhanced have the best chance of making it, but you’re telling me that we should just abandon those who aren’t because we’re ‘better than them’?”

Princess only nodded.

“That’s bullshit. We got by for however many thousands of years without magic or powers, and we’ll get through this just fine with a few people with them.”

Princess smiled.

“Okay. Fine. Say we get through this with just the Enhanced we have and hundreds of thousands of mouths to feed. What happens after? How do we rebuild civilization with electricity for only a few hours of the day, and little to no capabilities?”

“We find more generators, siphon more fuel, start training our people, we figure it out. That’s what we’ve ever done... figure shit out.” Kyle rebutted.

“Maybe, but do you want to keep figuring shit out, or do you want to have the solution in your hand?” She asked, opening her dresser and approaching Kyle, handing him another syringe.

Kyle stared at it in disgust.

“Really? The shit that had you overdosing?”

Princess sheepishly laughed.

“A temporary setback. The eggheads are getting close to getting the mixture right... and permanent.”

Kyle held the syringe and glanced at Princess again.

“So, if this is the plan, why not provide it to everyone? 300,000 Enhanced with your powers could be unstoppable...”

Princess nodded.

“How true that is. But... not everyone is viable for using Chemical X. I mean, the Powerpuff Girls’ mom died from an exposure when she was pregnant... if I could put this in everyone I wanted, I would. Just imagine my soldiers with the stuff in their veins...”

Kyle glanced her over, worried about her mindset...

“But I’m stuck with what I have. I can start with everyone else’s powers. Your friends’ Geodes, whatever’s in your DNA, my Chemical X... we’re the foundation of what comes next, Kyle.” She said, breaking the distance between them and putting a hand on Kyle’s cheek.

Kyle tensed at the contact, looking down at the syringe and back at her.

“Why are you telling me all this?” He asked her.

She smiled, staring straight into his eyes.

“Because I need someone I can trust. Someone to share this with... God knows Brick can’t do it, the man’s less than useless...” She rolled her eyes.

Kyle struggled to understand what she was suggesting until she glanced back at him.

“But more than any of that, Kyle,” She removed one hand from his cheek and slowly rested in on his chest, feeling his suddenly quickening heartbeat, “I want you.”

She stood on her toes and leaned inward, whispering into Kyle’s ear.

“And I always get what I want.”

Kyle’s breath began to match his heart rate, and suddenly, he was no longer in the subway with Princess coming onto him.

He was in her classroom.

Her warm breath was running down Kyle’s shoulder where her teeth would soon follow.

He began to panic but quickly grounded himself, having months of suffering these attacks. He soon came back to reality and glanced at the girl mere inches away from his lips...

He wanted to say no, to scream at her and push her away. However, he knew deep down that this was the best way to her inner circle... the best way to make sure that should all else fail, his friends were safe.

It was all he could do. He didn't have any other choice.

“Okay, Princess... if I do this with you, I want some guarantees. Is that fair?”

Princess nodded, not wanting to waste much time.

“One: my friends are safe. You don’t starve them out, send them on suicide missions, nothing like that.”

“Never had the intention to...”

“Good. Two. Scootaloo and her family are safe. Her dad’s Enhanced, right? So they stay, too. Scootaloo makes a full recovery and is safe from your little scheme.”

Princess nodded again.

“Anything else or can we get to the fun part?”

Kyle thought for a moment.

“Third, we do something about the group I told you about. You may not care, but there’re some good friends of mine who are enslaved there... some of them are Enhanced, too. They can help with your plans.” He said.

Princess’ eyes widened as she nodded.

“Okay. Is that it?”

Kyle tried to think about any other guarantees he could secure but decided against it.

“Yeah.”

As soon as the word left his mouth, Princess smacked his lips with hers. Their lips were firmly locked together, Kyle trying not to gag at the residual fluid from her overdose. Muscling through it, he slid his hands to her waist, pulling her closer to him.

The two stayed like this for a minute or two, breaking away for air.

“That’s better... now come on, I don’t think this grungy bunker is the best place for someone to lose their virginity...” She pulled away from Kyle and started to walk back toward the staircase.

She was stopped by Kyle gently yet firmly grabbing her arm.

“Two things. One: this place is just fine. Two...” He pulled her back to him with a sort of hunger he never knew he had.

“...I’m not a virgin.” He said, pulling her in for another kiss.

Princess somewhat jumped at his enthusiasm, but quickly returned it with another, more intense makeout session than the last.

“Atta’boy...” She purred, hovering up into the air and pulling Kyle along with her.

The sudden levitation caught him off-guard, but he quickly adjusted, doing his best to stay above her, a gesture she proudly accepted.

He may have been doing this just to ensure his friends’ safety, but he was human, after all. He had wants, too.

“Oh, wow... I had you pegged all wrong. But I’m serious about not doing this down here... I think my manor would suit us better, and besides... you need a shower.” She said to him.

Realizing that it had been a few days since his last shower, he nodded.

“Yeah, fair enough.”

With that, Princess landed back on the ground and took Kyle by the arm, being careful not to use too much of her strength.

“Then, come on, pretty boy...” She led him back up the stairs, closing the door to the compound behind her, covering up her secret once again.