The Zombie Chronicles: Road to Sanctuary

The rest of the day flew by as Kyle planned out every detail for the night. He started by scoping out Garfield’s as soon as he left the manor. It was relatively small, which fitted Kyle’s needs perfectly, and it being a stone’s throw from the manor helped, as well.

While eating, he would do whatever he could to make it feel nice and comfy, offer to stay the night, and when she’s sleeping, inject her with the antidote… it was flawless in his mind, but he was unsure of how it would go in practice…

Regardless, he cleaned up, did his hair, the whole nine yards. He even managed to secure a small packet of cologne that he applied. When he was done, he glanced into the mirror, barely recognizing himself… the scruffy, barely-put-together scrawny kid from Crystal Prep was a far cry from who was looking back at Kyle, now.

While he hadn’t exactly gained much weight, the drastic change in daily activities for four months had taken its toll. Hints of muscle were visible and Kyle’s somewhat longer hair added to a style that he was starting to like.

He looked at the time-- 4:40-- and snapped out of his self-admirance. Kyle reached to the side and grabbed the injection gun, pocketing it alongside Pinkie’s Geode. With that secured, he sped out of the door and raced out of the apartment.

Thankfully, he lived fairly close to Garfield’s, only 10-minute walk from his apartment. He had little trouble arriving outside the restaurant, glancing around to see if Princess was nearby.

Sure enough, from the sky, Kyle caught hints of gold slowly coming down.

Landing in front of him, Princess wore a simple yet stunning golden dress that reflected the sunset. Her hair was straightened as opposed to its normally curled appearance. Hints of black color were visible from the roots of her hair.

“Hello, Kyle. You look nice!” She said to him.

It took Kyle a moment to respond, but he managed.

“Y-you do, too.” He said, silently cursing himself for stuttering.

She giggled, a sound that Kyle had never heard from her before.

“Why, thank you! Well then, shall we?” She gestured to the doors.

Kyle nodded and opened the door, holding it for Princess.

The two entered the utterly empty restaurant and took a seat at a table right in the middle. They heard a clutter from the back as a waiter quickly walked towards them, nervously gulping before approaching.

“H-hi, welcome to G-Garfield’s. My name is Michael, h-how can I get you two started?” The skinny kid asked, adjusting his collar in fear.

“Hello Michael, I’d just have water, and you, Kyle?”

“Water's fine for me, too.”

“O-okay, coming right up!”

As he ran away towards the kitchen, Princess casually read through the menu.

“Ugh. Hope you like vegan food, ‘cause yikes…” She sighed.

Kyle read through his menu and sure enough, it was all vegan. Fruit, veggies, and such.

“Eh, I’m not picky. Can’t afford to be.” He smiled.

Princess' scowl faded briefly, which Kyle took as a good thing.

“Yeah, very true. Alright, then. I guess salad is the safest choice.”

Kyle nodded, glancing at his menu one last time before setting it aside.

“So, forgive me for asking, but what do you plan to do about that horde? We’re going to need to go out and scavenge soon, what’s gonna happen about that?”

Princess looked up towards Kyle.

“Eh, I’ll take care of them later. They aren’t going anywhere, and I have a lot of work to do to get this place ready for us.”

Kyle nodded, mentally screaming at the idea, but he knew he had to play this right…

“Yeah, I get it. You’re a busy woman… it’s one of the things I admire about you.”

A faint hint of red showed on Princess, which Kyle took with pride.

“Trust me, it has its downsides, but I appreciate the sentiment. Now where on Earth is that water? It’s water! How hard can it be too--”

She was cut off by a pale Michael presenting to full glasses.

“Ah, thank you. I believe we’re both ready to order-- I’ll have the salad with absolutely no cucumbers.”

Michael frantically nodded, underlining the request three times.

“A-and you, sir?”

“I’ll have a salad, too. Cucumbers are fine with mine.”

Michael nervously smiled and rushed back to the kitchen.

The two sat in silence for a moment, taking sips of their drinks. As they did, a humvee drove past them heading towards the manor.

“Huh. Some kind of shipment?” Kyle asked Princess.

“Oh, you know, probably some training exercise. So, Kyle, where do you see yourself heading from here?”

He confusedly looked up at her.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean when it’s done, and we Enhanced are all that’s left, where do you see yourself in my new world?”

Kyle realized that he never thought about what he would do after Princess was gone… He allowed his mind to wander for a bit.

“I never thought about it… maybe something in leadership?” He fibbed.

He had to say something to keep the conversation going, but by no means did he plan to be a leader. Him? A leader?

However, Princess nodded.

“Yeah, I see that-- it fits you.”

Kyle glanced at her in disbelief, scoffing at the notion.

“Really?”

“Of course! You’ve shown more than enough skills for it as far as I’m concerned. When what happened with the ration line went down, you were the first person to confront me about it. You. Not Sunset Shimmer, not even Brick, you. And that’s not considering what I’ve heard about that search for your mother. I heard that you two found a new type of infected?”
Kyle shuddered after remembering the Stalkers he and Sunset had to dispatch.

“Yeah… that wasn’t all me--”

“And even today, you sorted Utonium out. You have potential, Kyle-- all you need is the temperament, which I’m willing to help you with…”

Kyle nodded to her as more Humvees drove past them.

“Thank you. I… appreciate that, Princess.”

“No worries, and come on Kyle, we’re by ourselves, here… call me Jennifer.”

“Fine then… Jennifer.”

She smiled, and Kyle smiled back.

Michael swiftly returned with two salads in each hand, presenting them to Kyle and Princess. She glanced into her bowl and shot Michael a glare.

“Michael, when I told you what I wanted, what was the specific thing I asked not to have?”

Nervously gulping, he answered.

“C-cucumbers. You wanted no cucumbers.”

Her gaze intensified as her eyes slowly brightened into an intense red.

“So why, exactly, are there cucumbers in my--” She stopped as her gaze landed on the bowl in front of Kyle.

In an instant, the red glare dissipated and she nervously chuckled.

“Oh! Silly me-- you got the bowls mixed up! Here, I’ll take that.” She smiled as she reached over and took the bowl in front of Kyle.

Michael’s trembling hand presented the bowl of salad to Kyle, which he took from her.

“H-h-have a nice meal!” He said, sprinting out the door and running for his life.

Paying him no mind, Princess began to dig in, taking a bite of salad.

“Mmm, that’s not bad!”

Kyle took a bite of his, cautiously not looking towards Michael’s path.

“Yeah… it’s pretty good.”

The two ate, once again staying silent while doing so. Several more Humvees revved past them, Kyle growing suspicious as each one drove by.

Once they finished, Princess carefully used a napkin to wipe her mouth.

“That was nice! I guess the question is what should we do now?” She asked Kyle.

Kyle playfully thought for only a moment.

“Eh, I have a couple ideas.” He shrugged.

Princess glanced up to him and teasingly stroked her chin.

“Oh, yeah? So do I. Strangely enough, they all involve you coming with me to the manor.”

“Ah, that’s funny! So do mine.” He smiled, doing his absolute best to look seductive.

She smiled at the effort, and Kyle couldn’t tell if it was genuine or mockingly.

“Well, here’s what I’m thinking: How about we go to your apartment tonight? The manor gets old after a while… and lonely.” She sighed, glancing back up towards Kyle with what clearly was an attempt of puppy-eyes.

Kyle sighed for a second.

“Yeah, I get that. The apartment gets the same way…”

Princess innocently hummed and quickly leaned in from her seat, breaking some space between them.

"I see. Well, how about we go and make it less lonely?"

Kyle smiled, leaning inward as well and all-but eliminating any space separating them.

"Yeah, I'd like that..."

Utonium glanced back towards the Geode armor he constructed, slowly folding it up by the hinges in the arms and legs as well as one more in the spine. With ease, the armor as well as the six remaining Geodes were able to be put in a bag and carried discretely… something he planned to utilize. Dexter worriedly watched him tinker away with the new invention.

“Alright… I think that is enough for tonight, professor… get some rest.” He said, carefully approaching him.

Utonium tried to object, but a long yawn informed him that Dexter was right.

“Fine. But be sure to lock that armor up before you head out. We can’t let it be seen by anyone other than us.”

Dexter nodded as Utonium left the synthesizing room. Grabbing the bag, he went around the lab and shut off all of the lights. Reaching the final switch, he flipped it off and shut off the hallway lights.

Taking one last good look around the lab, he went to turn and leave, but stopped when he spotted a small red light somewhere on the wall.

Slowly turning back, he cautiously approached the small device, flipping the lights back on to see what was the source of the light.

He knelt down and carefully pulled the device off the wall, inspecting it up close. He quickly realized that he was holding a live microphone…

“Oh, fuck.” He said, his eyes widening as the mic slipped out of his hands.

Quickly grabbing the bag of Geodes, he bolted up the stairs.

“Professor! Professor!” He shouted, running out of the lab door.

Once he reached the living room, he froze when he saw four armored soldiers with their weapons drawn at Dexter.

“Drop the bag! Now!”

Quickly setting the bag aside, Dexter raised his hands.

“Get on your knees, hands behind your head!”

Quickly complying, he knelt down and held his hands behind his head. As he did, he saw Utonium out of the corner of his eye, laid on the ground in an awkward pose…

“What did you do…? What did you do?!--”

A rifle barrel to his forehead stopped Dexter dead in his tracks.

“Stand up. Slow.”

Dexter obeyed, standing up as slowly as possible, his hands still behind his head. The soldier holding him at gunpoint stepped over and reached down to grab the bag, keeping his rifle trained on Dexter.

“Walk outside, get in the car.”

Nodding, Dexter slowly walked out the door, seeing a parked Humvee with the side door wide open. Sitting inside already was Blossom.

“Blossom? Are you alright, did they hurt you--”

A soldier shoved Dexter inside and slammed the door shut. With that done, one of them turned to another two.

“Secure the lab and grab all essential gear. Wait for the professor to come to and bring him over, as well.”

With an affirmative nod, the first soldier holding the bag hopped into the driver's seat and drove off, along with several others, driving towards Morbucks Manor…

Kyle laid in his bed next to Princess, quietly waiting for any sign that she had fallen asleep. Sure enough, snoring was soon heard, much to his relief…

Slowly, very slowly, Kyle moved his arm from around Princess and carefully lifted the blanket off of him. His heart raced as one foot landed on the ground, the boards slightly creaking…

He froze and listened for more snoring. Thankfully, he very quickly heard it.

Pressing on, Kyle looked around on the floor, finding his jeans. Reaching into his pocket, he took the injection gun, turned back to Princess, and took a deep breath.

“You’ll thank me for this someday…” He whispered, holding the gun close.

Quietly sneaking back to bed, he held the gun out, carefully aligning the needle with Princess’ neck…

He was so close. He took a deep breath to try and soothe his trembling as he softly set the barrel against her neck, his finger carefully, slowly squeezing the trigger…

“This is the antidote, isn’t it?” He suddenly heard himself say from Princess’ side of the bed.

Kyle’s eyes widened at hearing his own voice as the recording continued.

“You know it! So, no fighting? Fine. Find a way to be close to her. During work, perhaps, and give her this when she least expects it. It’s perfect! Save for finding the right moment…” Utonium said.

He remembered that conversation. It only happened earlier that day. He softly gasped as his hand was unable to continue pulling the trigger out of shock.

“Consider it done.”

Fear filled Kyle as he focused back on the gun. He quickly went to pull the trigger, but in an instant, the gun was knocked out of his hand, and a firm grasp held his left wrist.

Princess’ cold glare returned as she stared Kyle down while holding his arm. Playfully clicking her tongue, her grip tightened.

“Kyle, Kyle, Kyle… I expected more than this from you. I’m hurt.”

Kyle winced in pain at the grip on his wrist as the blood flow to his hand was cut off.

“This- this isn’t what it looks like--”

Kyle screamed out as the grip tightened once again, bones starting to crack…

“You lying pig… don’t try to con your way out of this one. But, I guess fair is fair… I sorta lied to you, too.”

Kyle instinctually tried to break Princess’ grasp with his other hand, but was unable to.

“I knew you were planning something. I knew it ever since you stood up to Brick back in Processing. It was so obvious! And I should give you credit-- you honestly had me for a second, getting me to rant about my daddy issues…”

Kyle looked up at her, tears of pain flowing down his face as his hand grew a throbbing heartbeat.

“Wha… why did you--”

“Because I was bored! It gets boring ruling over everyone after a while… and I knew it was only gonna get more boring once every ordinary person here was taken care of. That, and you intrigued me. I thought there was something different, something special about you… but after spending all this time with you…”

She pulled Kyle’s wrist up and looked into his eyes.

“...I was wrong.”

With one more tight squeeze, Kyle’s wrist exploded, chunks of flesh and bone scattering across the room and blood staining them both.

Kyle could barely hear himself scream as he held his gushing left arm. Pain burned through him as he crawled on the ground, too pained to even stand.

As she watched on, she reached down to her pile of clothes and pulled out a radio.

“Is it done?” She asked through Kyle’s screaming.

“Yes, ma’am. All Enhanced in Townsville are accounted for.”

“Good. Open the gates. Let the infected in.” She said as she quickly dressed.

Reaching down into Kyle’s jeans, she pulled out Pinkie’s Geode, observing it for a moment.

"What does this one do, again? Makes sweets explode? Yeah, not really worth my time." She shrugged, tossing it aside.

She took one last look at Kyle, tightly holding his stump and paying her no mind.

“Goodbye, Kyle Williams.”

With that, she flew through Kyle’s window, bursting through the wall.

By now, the screaming had ceased, and Kyle struggled to get back to his feet. Eying his belt on the ground, he frantically wrapped it around his stump, tightly pulling with his teeth and slowing the blood flow.

He slowly stumbled to his stove, putting it on high as he fished a pan and quickly put it on the stove as the flames began to wrap around the iron skillet.

Kyle’s vision slowly grew blurry, but he fought as hard as he could to stay awake as the pan heated up. Using his remaining hand to pull on the belt, he managed to slow the blood flow even more. A minute passed, Kyle bit down on the belt again, and quickly slammed his arm into the pan.

A loud sizzle was heard as Kyle screamed in agony, smoke emitting from the stump. Seconds passed, and Kyle pulled his arm off the skillet, strands of melted flesh still connecting him to the stove.

Falling back on the ground, he took a moment to look at his good work. Sure enough, the blood flow had ceased, and in its place was sizzling, bubbling skin and a faint smoke trail…

He fought once again to stand up, but he had no more fight left in him… his eyelids began to close, but just before they did, he spotted a woman with familiar green attire landing inside the apartment from the hole Princess made.