The Zombie Chronicles: Road to Sanctuary

The drive in the back of the Humvee was a relatively quiet one. Kyle initially struggled to break free of the zip ties around his arms and legs but ultimately failed.

“Hey, come on, guys... there’s been some kind of mistake—there’s no way that we’re ‘enhanced’!” He said to his captors.

That earned him a scoff from one of the soldiers to his side.

“We saw the rainbow one sprint 20 miles in under 10 seconds... I find that hard to believe.”

Kyle sighed, knowing that there was no explanation for that.

“Not to mention the... what’s she, British? French?”

Kyle thought about it and shrugged.

“Well, we saw her generate and shoot three diamond projectiles into some infected. Care to explain that?”

Kyle grunted.

“Okay, fine—maybe they’re enhanced. But I’m not! I mean, I never really felt enhanced.”

The soldiers didn’t respond. Kyle attempted to keep track of the turns they made—right from the apartment, left after a few miles on the highway, then another right after that... right? Or was it a left? After a while, Kyle stopped keeping track. A good hour and a half passed, and the vehicle finally slowed to a stop.

The side doors swung open, and Kyle was aggressively pulled out of his seat.

“Wha--hey! Where the hell’re my friends?!” He struggled against the soldiers holding his arms.

That earned him a scoff.

“Friends? Really? What’re you, 10?”

“Hey, fuck you, asshole; I won’t ask you again--”

With a quick shove, Kyle was tossed into a form of cell with the sound of chain-link clacking behind him as the soldiers closed the gate behind him.

Kyle immediately fought to open the gate, with no luck.

“Dude, you won’t open it... trust me, we all tried.”

Kyle turned to see two others in the cell with him. An older man with red spiky hair and a woman with straight brown hair down just by her shoulders.

“And who the hell are you?”

One of them shrugged.

“Just more stragglers that these douchebags picked up. Name’s Daisuke. This is my wife, Riku. And you are?” He held out a hand.

“Kyle Williams.” Kyle shook his hand.

Kyle leaned his head back against the chain link, looking to his partners in bondage.

“So, how long have you two been here?”

They both struggled for a moment.

“A month?” Daisuke turned to his wife.

“No, I think it’s been a month and a half.”

Daisuke shrugged.

“We were put in here when things started getting really bad, if that helps, at all.”

Kyle’s eyes widened as he immediately stood to his feet.

“What?! That was almost three months ago! No, no, we can’t stay here for that long!” He turned towards the fence, failing to see anyone to consult.

“Don’t bother—we both tried to talk to anyone for weeks... They rounded us both up and left us here.” Riku shrugged.

“They asked us questions for weeks... we answered, and all they’ve done is keep us here...” Daisuke added.

Riku groaned.

“It’s bullshit! They won’t even let us leave! They just took us in the middle of the road and won’t say why!”

Kyle nodded.

“Yeah... same with us.”

“Really? So where did they nab you?” Riku asked.

“A few hours out from Canterlot High.”

Both of their eyes widened.

“You’re from Canterlot?!” Riku asked.

“Our daughter... she was there.”

Kyle’s heart sunk a tad.

“I’m sorry... we got attacked. Not many of us made it out. What was your daughter’s name?”

Before either could answer, there was an aggressive clack on the chain link.

“All of you, on your feet, hands behind your head!”

Kyle turned to see more soldiers unlocking and opening the door. He quickly got up and obliged, the couple doing the same.

“Hey, where're the others? Where are they?!”

“Don’t worry... you’ll see them soon enough. Now move it!” One of the soldiers barked, shoving him out of the cell.

They escorted him down a narrow hallway, past several cells where Kyle could hear his friends answering questions.

“Dude, I told you, we got them in Camp Everfree. How many times do I need to say it?!” He heard Rainbow say.

“...You can have your disgustingly armored brutes push us around all you want—I will not utter a word!”

“Please... I just wanna go home...”

“Y’all think you know what we can do? Trust me, you ain’t seen nothin’, yet!”

“Come on, we’re all friends, here... who wants a cupcake?”

As they walked, Kyle looked and noted a set of keys attached to one of the soldiers’ hips...

The soldiers stopped and opened one of the doors, shoving Kyle inside.

“Have a seat.” One of the soldiers ordered him.

Not wanting to start a fight he knew he couldn’t win, Kyle took a seat. As he sat in silence, the door opened and a man donned in red with red hair barely hiding under a backward cap. He briefly took his hat off and ran a hand through his hair, heavily sighing as he took his seat in front of him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small notepad and a pencil from his ear. Kyle noted that he must’ve been around his age if only a little older.

“To start, state your full name for the record.”

Kyle glanced at the interviewee in front of him—something was... familiar about him.

“Kyle Williams.”

Nodding, the interviewee wrote into the notepad.

“To your best knowledge, how old are you?”

Kyle thought to himself, hoping he had his calendar set right.

“I turned 16 a month ago.”

The pencil scribbled along the paper, with the numbers 1 and 6 being written side-by-side.

“...So, I understand that you’re convinced that you aren’t Enhanced. Explain how.”

Kyle struggled to come up with an adequate response.

“I... just never felt... well, Enhanced. I've never had any powers.” He shrugged.

“Being Enhanced isn’t always obvious. For some people it takes time and some digging. We’ll put a pin in that for now. Next question, what were you doing in Morbucks territory?”

Kyle hesitated—he knew the others weren’t talking, should he do the same?

“Look, man, to be honest, I don’t even know... I found them a day ago on the road. We saw that apartment, and figured it would be safes...”

The interviewee sighed and adjusted his seat, leaning into the table.

“Let’s talk about the others, then. What are their enhancements? We know about the diamond projections and the super-speed. What else?”

Kyle leaned back and shrugged.

“Honestly? I don’t even know. Yeah, I know about the diamonds and the speed, but other than that, they’ve been keeping it under the vest...” He decided to lean in toward the stranger.

“...But I have my suspicions.”

The interviewee’s eyebrows raised a tad as he flipped the page.

“I’m listening.”

Kyle smiled.

“I think the red-and-yellow haired one, Sunset... something. I think she can control the weather. I’m just saying, up north, it was raining for days, but the minute I said something about it with them on the way down here, the rain just stopped...”

Nodding, he began jotting notes.

“And the pink-haired one, something-shy? I think she can manipulate the elements. I mean, that’s my guess at the moment...”

More notes.

“And the all-pink one... I’m still figuring her out. I’ve seen her sense the future and get it down to a T, I’ve seen her basically teleport across a room, and that’s not even getting into her party cannon...”

The interviewee glanced up at him.

“Party cannon?”

Kyle shuttered.

“Yeah... they talk about it all the time like it’s some secret weapon or something.”

Nodding, he looked up at Kyle.

“Glad that’s taken care of... next question.”

Hours passed; the questions were more mundane—what was your favorite food as a kid? What stories did your parents tell you to put you to sleep? Were there ever any freak accidents and/or close encounters with death in your lifetime?

The questions kept pouring in no matter what Kyle responded with. By the time the questions were over, Kyle struggled to walk with his legs used to being seated.

As he was escorted back to his cell, he pretended to stumble onto his knees.

“Get up!”

As he struggled to get up, he spotted the pair of keys on the soldier “helping” him back up.

“Okay, jeez—you guys try being seated for hours on end...” He chuckled, trying to reach for the keys...

With a quick flex of the finger, the link holding the keys to his hip was opened, and the keys were in his hand...

Jingle, jingle...

An aggressive hand immediately tightly grasped Kyle’s left hand.

“And what the fuck was that...?”

Kyle cursed under his breath as he tried to break free of the soldier’s grasp. Realizing he was caught red-handed, Kyle smiled.

“Can’t blame me for trying--”

For his trouble, Kyle received a gun stock to his face. He held his gushing nose as he fell onto his back.

“God-damnit!” He cried out, feeling his warm blood flow down his shirt, staining it.

“Try that shit again, you’ll get locked in the box!”

Unable to hold back tears of pain, Kyle was pulled up to his feet, giving him vertigo as he was pulled and rushed back into his cell.

They both threw him in on his side, and as they locked him back in, Daisuke and Riku immediately rushed to his aide.

“Jesus, are you alright?!” Riku asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine... isn’t the first time I got a nosebleed from a hit... don’t think it’s broken.” He said, his voice nasal.

Working quickly, Riku ripped a piece of her shirt off and held it to Kyle’s nose, trying to stop the bleeding.

“This should help... it should start clotting, soon.”

Nodding, Kyle held his nose.

“Heartless bastards...” Daisuke shook his head.

“Well, it was kinda my fault—I tried to snatch that one guard’s keys.”

Daisuke chuckled.

“Sneaky...”

Kyle nasally chuckled, which gave him hints of pain.

“Yeah, but I guess I forgot keys jingle, so yeah...”

Daisuke chuckled along.

“Hey, rookie mistake, it happens.”

Kyle smiled, feeling his nose begin to stop hurting...

“Wait, what the hell?” He asked, his voice no longer nasal.

He removed the rag and felt his nose, feeling that the bleeding has stopped.

“Well, then... I guess that’s normal, now...” He shrugged.

The two adults glanced at his healed nose, at each other, and back towards him.

“Yeah-- I guess it is.” Daisuke shrugged, laying back on of the two cots on the floor.

Kyle stammered in shock.

“Wait-- what?! Okay... so, how are you enhanced, anyway?”

Daisuke turned towards him and chuckled.

“Trust me—I haven’t been enhanced for almost 20 years...”

With that, Riku snuck in beside him, and Kyle decided to do the same, realizing that he hadn’t slept for almost two whole days...

Kyle was woken up by the sensation of being aggressively grabbed by his shoulders and pulled to his feet.

“Ah! What the hell’re--”

“Get up! Now!" A loud booming voice echoed in the cell.

Being forced to his feet, Kyle was basically dragged back into the cell, his arms being especially restrained.

With a violent shove, Kyle was back in the same seat, with the same interviewee glaring him over, his eyes almost singing with rage...

“So, Kyle Williams... we’re going to do this again, and this time, you are going to answer honestly.”

Kyle nervously nodded.

“B-but I did answer honestly--”

The interviewee slammed his fist into the table, splitting it in half. The sound of his fist cracking the wood echoed throughout the small room as the two halves landed to the side, dust briefly filling the space between them.

“First. Question... who are those women you’re with? How long have you known them?”

Kyle paused, still processing what the boy before him just did.

“I... not long. A few weeks.”

More notes were taken, this time much more aggressively.

“Second. What were you doing in that apartment?”

“We needed shelter. That apartment had it.”

“Third. What are their enhancements?”

Kyle gulped.

“I...”

A glare was given, and Kyle sighed... but as he went to confess, he felt a twinge of boiling rage that he couldn’t place in that instant. Something about this guy in front of him suddenly made him seething with anger, and he was no longer willing to hide that.

“You wanna know their enhancements?”

He fell silent, curious as to what Kyle’s game was.

“Well, I assure you that they can do more than split a fucking table in half.”

Now they were both staring at each other intensely.

“Unless you want to know what your heart tastes like, I’d choose your next words very carefully--”

“Oh, please... if you could kill any of us, you would’ve by now. I mean, why go through all this trouble?! The cells, the interviews, hours asking the same god-damned questions... you’ve been ordered not to kill us. So go ahead, Gorillaz— do your worst!”

Locked in a stalemate, Kyle took a step forward, his heart racing as he did. Moments passed as the soldier huffed several angered breaths, but did nothing outside of that.

“No? Then I suggest you get your boss down here so we can have this chat, because I am not saying shit to you!”

The two silently stared at each other, both refusing to say anything or even move. The confrontation lasted only a few seconds, as the door was opened, and a girl around their age marched in, wearing a yellow jacket with a fur coat, and red curly hair tied to twin buns.

“Brick, just what in the hell are you doing?!”

Brick quickly turned to the woman entering the room.

“This little shit was trying to play us! I was just about to get some answers out of--”

“Get the fuck out!”

With little defiance, Brick angrily made his way out of the room.

“Unbelievable...” The girl fussed, taking the empty seat and running a hand through her hair, “Does that meathead even have any idea how much these tables are worth?” She angrily mumbled.

Kyle sat there, having no idea what had just happened, and the girl finally noticed his confusion.

“So sorry about that. I was hoping for a calm discussion like the young adults we totally are...”

She held out her hand.

“Princess Morbucks.”

It immediately clicked with Kyle—Morbucks! He carefully brought his hand towards hers.

“Kyle Williams...”

With a second-long handshake, Princess noticed the dried blood on his nose.

“And what’s this? Don’t tell me he did that, too!”

Kyle chuckled.

“No, it was from some guards after I--” He quickly stopped himself, but thankfully he didn’t need to find a less criminating response.

“Oh, I won’t stand for this! This- this is abuse!” Princess shouted as she pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket.

“Here. Clean yourself up.” She instructed, opening a canteen of water and pouring some into it.

Taking the rag, Kyle started scrubbing the caked blood off of his face. With that, he folded the rag and kept it by his side.

“So, with all of that out of the way, let’s talk!” Princess said as soldiers entered the room, taking the table fragments away and quickly setting a new table between them.

“Do you want something, you look thin...”

Hearing his stomach growl, Kyle chuckled.

“It has been a while since I ate something... p-please, that would be nice.”

With that, Princess quickly snapped her fingers.

“Get us something nice, and get to it.”

Nodding, that soldier rushed out of the room.

“Again, super sorry about that—you'd think they’d know better, working for me...”

That got Kyle’s attention.

“You’re in charge, here?”

Princess stared at him in confusion for a brief second, before cracking a smirk.

“Well, of course I am! So, let’s see, you were... one of the squatters in the outer districts?”

Kyle paused for a moment before nodding.

“Yeah.”

Princess clapped her hands in delight.

“Great! Well, most of the details are taken care of, your friends and their necklaces... but what I’m curious about, is you—tell me about yourself.”

She scooched closer to him in her seat, Kyle staying in place.

“I don’t really know anything about being enhanced—I mean, my dad owned a foster home and my mom was a cop, we were just... ordinary people.”

Princess nodded.

“Well, I was raised to believe that greatness... can come from anywhere.” She said, pausing as if she had to bite her own tongue halfway through.

Kyle awkwardly nodded.

“Don’t worry too much about it, we’ll find out what makes you special in no time at all... where is that guard?!” She asked, looking out to see him speed-walking down with two separate steaming platters.

In moments, two plates of scrambled eggs and French toast were presented to the two.

“Thank you... finally, some proper service!” Princess hummed, using the fork on the side, and immediately took a bite.

Kyle did the same, and once the fork left his mouth, his taste buds exploded with flavor. The eggs were a perfect consistency, complimented with the seasonings mixed inside. And the french toast.

The French toast.

“Oh, my God...” Kyle managed, swallowing the mouthful down and quickly going for a second.

Princess picked through the food in front of her, disinterested.

“Eh, I’ve had better. But that’s beside the point,” She adjusted her seat again, “How about your friends? They’ve talked about their powers—super-speed, strength, talking to animals, making... sweets explode? Oh! And the mind-reading! That’s a good one.”

Kyle shrugged.

“I’d personally take the diamond generation any day.”

Princess giggled.

“Yeah, that was a close second.”

Kyle immediately froze—he realized what he carelessly shared with her. She noticed his panic and smiled.

“What? I already knew about all that. What I can’t figure out, is what you can do. It... looks like your nose healed up, alright—and quickly, too...”

Kyle quickly remembered his incident the previous night.

“Yeah... it completely healed in minutes.” His eyes widened.

Princess smiled.

“And there we go. Regeneration... welcome aboard, Kyle Williams.”

With that, the remaining soldier in the room pulled a brown bag from his side and threw it over Kyle’s head.

“Oh, come on! We’re seriously doing this shit again?!” He asked as he didn’t fight the soldier directing him outside, granted with much less force than before.

This venture was a much shorter one than before. With a few minutes walk, the bag was removed, and Kyle found himself in the back of a truck, with the others from Canterlot.

“Kyle!” Scootaloo shouted, quickly hugging the boy.

In one way or another, everyone checked on Kyle’s well-being and displayed joy in seeing him again. Sunset, Pinkie, and Scootaloo hugged him while Rainbow, Rarity, and Applejack checked on him. The others came over and started chatting.

“Wait, this is all of us, right?”

Before Kyle could ask more, he turned and saw two familiar figures being pushed toward everyone’s view.

“Are these two affiliated with anyone in the transport?” One of the soldiers asked, removing their bags and revealing Daisuke and Riku.

Kyle glanced around as Scootaloo’s eyes grew wide.

“Mom...? Dad?”

Eyes locked and the two immediately hopped on and held their daughter.

“Oh, thank God!” Riku laughed with relief.

“Kyle told us Canterlot High was attacked, and we thought...” Daisuke started.

“Guys, guys, it’s okay!”

As the family laughed in relief, the doors behind them were closed. A grim reminder that they are now on their way to parts unknown...

“So... did you meet her, too?” Sunset asked Kyle.

He turned to her, struggling to see in the dark, and nodded.

“Princess? Yeah.”

Rarity laughed and playfully smacked her forehead.

“I can’t believe I didn’t see it sooner! Morbucks Industries was one of the largest corporations on this side of the country! Of course, she would own apartment buildings and... private military, and wherever we’re going, now...”

“Yeah, not to mention she was one of the Powerpuff Girls’ archnemeses!” Rainbow shouted.

Kyle raised a brow and turned toward Rainbow’s voice.

“The what, now?”

Rainbow gasped slightly.

“You’ve never heard of the Powerpuff Girls? Three superheroes who got their powers from a lab accident? Chemical X?! Dude, they were the shit back in the day! But that was a while ago... they should be our age, by now.”

“Yeah, and we’re left with the bratty Lex Luthor. Where the hell’re we going?!” Scootaloo shouted at the drivers.

No response was given.

The ride was surprisingly short—not even ten minutes passed before the van was stopped, and the door was once again opened.

Greeting them, was Princess.

“Well? Welcome to Morbucksville.” She stepped back and outstretched her arms.

One-by-one, the group exited the truck, finding themselves on the very outskirts of the bustling city that used to be Townsville, made obvious by the sign before them still reading “Townsville”. But that minor detail paled in comparison to the impressive walls behind them. Comprised of countless cargo freights stacked at least eight high, and three wide. On top stood what seemed to be automated turrets, with fairly large barrels attached to round swivels circled the outside perimeter.

The golden-armored soldiers surrounded them, some on the rooftops of the smaller buildings surrounding the edge of the wall. All of them were looking down upon the group of newcomers who were marveled by the insides of “Morbucksville”.

Seemingly, the entire inside of the city was secured, with clusters of citizens going about their day in the distance, staying clear of the outer perimeter. Kyle looked out and saw families making their way down the road, together, and couldn’t hide the smile on his face.

“You secured... all this?”

A proud smile found its way on Princess’ face.

“Yep. These fine gentlemen will take you to your new, legally habitable apartments, and you’ll have your first work assignments in the morning...” With that, Princess made her way back to the edge of the wall, making her way down the outskirts.

Kyle looked towards the others with uncertainty, and they all shared the same look.

Being directed by two soldiers, Kyle was the first to be separated and led to a fairly-sized apartment building near the edge of the inner perimeter. As he walked, he spotted a sign stating curfew started at 6 PM and ended at 6 AM.

Once they reached the front doors, one of the soldiers reached to his side and handed Kyle a pair of keys.

“You’re 317. Curfew starts in an hour, so feel free to go down to the general store right down the road. Hand them this coupon and you will be granted free purchase for the necessities.”

Kyle carefully studied the piece of paper being placed in his hand.

“As Ms. Morbucks said, work assignments will be at your door in the morning. Don’t be late.”

With that, Kyle was alone, with a pair of keys and coupon in his hands...

And a smile growing on his face.