The Last Plague

Chapter 20

Anthony

Sunlight Town

6:34 PM

Location: The Streets

June, 29th, 2025

I hop over a fence, and land on the dirt. Tons of runners, zombies, and tanks follow behind me, completely demolishing the dirt and mud surrounding us. I slip across the mud, completely ruining my shoes. "Darn it!" I yell, as the sound of moaning creeps closer to me, I shake my head, then forgetting about my shoes and running forward, as the hordes of zombies thrash the metal, knocking the fence onto the mud. I slide across the dirt, dodging bushes, trees and zombies on the sidewalks. I pull out my cheeto launcher and turn around, still sliding backwards. I cranked the barrel of the gun back, and then pulled the trigger, firing a bullet at the array of zombies in front of me, blinding most of them, as they smash into trees and other zombies near them. I shove the cheeto launcher onto my back and quickly strap the launcher there. I then turn around to see a tree getting closer to me, and swiftly dodge it, as another zombie smashes face first into the wood. "Phew," I say. I then see a fence up ahead, and jump into the air, grabbing onto the fence and climbing my way up, then flipping my way over the fence to the other side, landing face first onto the ground, panting of exhaustion, almost running out of breath to spare. Anthony then stands up and runs through the mud, as the last 4 zombies follow behind him, scrambling over the fencing and chasing him. I then turn to the right and see a small opening to a plaza. I look back at the zombies as sweat pours down my forehead, down to my chin. I turn back to the zombies and kick one of the zombies, as the creature falls to the ground and splashes into the mud. Anthony turns back around and barely grabs onto the fence, then swinging himself into the parking lot for the plaza, speeding through the air to land on a car, bouncing off the top of the car and sliding off of the car's front, and smashing onto the concrete. Then the last zombie runs straight into a tree and falls to the ground, dieing. Anthony stands up, wiping dirt and a ton of mud off of his dusty partly torn apocalypse cloak, and his military pants, combined with his scarf made out of net he found at Costco, and finally, his brown and black scrap shirt. I brushed my shoulders off. "Nice and sturdy" I say, Then standing up and walking into the plaza. I scan the areas for some scrap parts or some brick, and find an abandoned mcdonalds next to the parking lot, covered with vines and rubble. I scoff and start to walk over to the mcdonalds. I slowly open the door to the junk food restaurant, and see some piles of brick on the ground scattered around the place. "Perfect. Now to find some parts," I say, taking out my standard flashlight and moving it towards the piles of brick. I walk over to the first pile of bricks and grab some of it, then pulling out my overflowing backpack and shove it in there, while some of my old things fall out.

Suddenly, my ruby axe falls out of the bag, hitting the ground with a subtle CLANG. I widen my eyes and quickly pick my weapon up, looking around for any runners that were attracted by the sound. Moaning and grunting come from the shadows, shaking bushes and making the ground shake. I swallow and lift my head around. "Um, he-Hello?" I say, stuttering. The same moan from before comes again. I pick my axe up and drop my flashlight, as the flashlight turns off as it hits the ground, leaving me in the darkness. "Hello?!" I say. Suddenly, a NIGHT LURKER breaks out from the ground, sending rubble and dust everywhere. I stare at the ground, as the Night lurker arose. I widen my eyes and swing my axe, jabbing the edge of the ruby into the zombies hip, as blood drips down and falls to the ground. I rip my axe out of the Night lurkers chest, then trying to slice the night lurkers head off, but the night lurker grabs the axe and pushes it back, then taking it from me. I scream and pull out my Captain america shield, only for the night lurker to punch me and grab my shield, then fully RIPPING it in HALF. the tritanium falls to the ground. I looked around for a weapon and grabbed my cheeto launcher, then pulled the barrel so hard it almost broke. I then pull the trigger and fire a bullet, hitting the night lurker in the face. The night lurker roars in pain, and then swings his hand at me, but I duck, then dodging the attacks. I throw the cheeto launcher behind me, then punch the night lurker across the face, sending the zombie onto the ground. My ruby axe then slips out of the Night Lurkers hand, and I jump to grab it, sliding across the restaurant floor. I stand up and lift my ruby axe up, then slamming it down, but the Night Lurker barely dodges it, then punching me and kicking me in the stomach, sending a mouthful of blood exploding out of my mouth. I wipe my face and look back up, grabbing the Night lurker, then slamming the beast onto the ground. Anthony then rapidly slices the zombies leg off, then quickly slicing the arm off as well. "Just, get outta here! Beat it!!" I yell, winding my axe up. The Night Lurker gives me a final look, and I slam my ruby axe down, cutting the night lurker's body in half. I stand up and look at the body of the now dead Night lurker, as blood dripped down my mouth. I spit on the Night Lurker's face and walk back over to the pile of rubble, and scavenging through it, and stuffing just the right amount of brick into the bag. "Nice. time to go back to the fort and get working on the gadgets." I say, then hoisting my bag over my shoulder and walking out of the restaurant, walking across the street. I look back to McDonald's. "I wonder why there was a night lurker out here in these parts. Since it's daytime." I say, walking to the building where Rose was captured. I swing the doors of the disguised tea shop open, and shuffle inside. I walk to the back of the store and push the back door open, walking into the secret room. I whip my flashlight out again, flicking it on. I scan the area and look up to see that the chamber labeled "B.C" was sitting in the middle of the room. I ran over to the chamber, then lifted my hands under the machine, lifting it up from the bottom. I hold the chamber over my head, and start to walk out of the room, but I spot something on the wall. I widen my eyes and set the chamber on the ground, then standing back up. I turn to the marking on the wall. The mark read: "guide on how to manipulate and control Night lurkers." Complete with a giant red arrow pointing at a book on the floor. I crouch and grab the book, flipping through the pages. The pages were filled with drawings of night lurkers and words, all over the place. I stroke my chin. "It's a diary, but different...its a....its an experimental diary-" I murmur. I stuff the small book into my backpack and look around some more, to spot a rope to pull the chamber with. I swipe the rope off of the ground and tie it to the chamber, then dragging it out of the store and onto the streets. I look up to see the sun setting in the distance, shining dimly across our town. "Well, it is called Sunlight Town for a reason," I say admiring the sunset. I walk on the sidewalk, passing by rusted shops and destroyed houses. I drop the rope as it falls to the floor, then taking my backpack off of my back and setting it on the ground. I scrubble through my bag, looking for some food to eat, until I find a melted chocolate granola bar.

I shrug and unwrap the granola bar, then taking a bite. I sit on the ground next to my bag, still munching on my granola bar, staring off into the sunset. I finish my granola bar in a flash, and set the wrapper on the ground, then hoisting my backpack on my shoulder and grabbing the rope once more, standing up and continuing to pull. I pulled until I made it back to the mall, which was overflowing with water after the monster and completely knocked over the fountain that used to be up and running. Rubble from the past attack still layed around the parking lot and inside the mall, and hundreds of zombies fed off of rotten burgers in the food court, while others just roamed around the area. I pulled out my cheeto launcher and used my scope addition. I zoomed in at the cluster of zombies below the half destroyed roof. I look over to the food court, scoping on my favorite store there, island grill. I lower my launcher down and strap it to my waist, then sliding my legs over the side of the giant hole, then scooting up, looking down at the zombies in the mall. Anthony grabs the rope and untagles it from the chamber, then lifting the chamber and tying it to my back. I wipe sweat off of my forehead. I slide myself over the ledge of the hole, then leaving my hands, as I fall through the air, landing on my back, AKA the chamber. My back suddenly shocks with pain, but I resist screaming and roll over onto my side, scooting behind a counter, as zombies look around in confusion of the noise. "Phew. looks like these zombies aren't runners. They're just the normal types." I whisper. I climb over the counter quietly, and tip-toe over to Island grill. I then walk inside, pulling the giant grey metal cover that closes the store down, sealing me in shut. I sight and sit on one of the wooden chairs, then taking my backpack out and pulling the diary out, and starting to flip through the pages. I flip through until I find a page with a heading of: "Controlling The Lurkers Of Night." my eyes dart down to the writing, looking for info. The book reads: "In order to control the Night Lurkers, you must get a set of materials listed on the next page. The steps as followed are the things you need to do in order to control these beasts. First step is to capture a night lurker. If you please, you can also capture different types of zombies, like tanks and runners, but the Night Lurkers are the most valuable and strong. Then you will need to create a chamber called the brainwash chamber. (B.C) which will completely wipe the memory of whoever you put in that chamber. This chamber is advised to work on humans too, but that's only with the help of a special chip. (more of that on page 46) but anyway, once you put the zombie into the chamber, it will be completely memory wiped. But there's one last step to completing this task." The book reads, "flip to page 78" Anthony flips to page 78, then looking at a blueprint for some kind of scientific controller. "Hm, interesting." Anthony says. Anthony rips the blueprint out of the book and stuffs it into his pocket. Anthony then sets the diary on a table, and flops onto a couch, I take out my phone and look at the time. 9:01 PM. I scrunch my phone back into my pocket and sit. "If I can gather enough materials tomorrow, I can have time for building the Night lurker remote and the gadgets for our base. But I might get back to the fort late and worry the others." I say. I shrug and unfold my backpack, as the rubble and materials I had collected fumble out. "Time to get some work in" I say, stretching my arms out. I reach into my clock pocket and take a tiny wrench out, then make a medium size polished brick gun, and set it onto the ground, because soon enough I would make a poison dart for the gun. I lift my hands up and piece together a crossbow, then make an arrow with a hot cheeto powder tip, thanks to the chips at the restaurant. I scoop up the brick and scrap parts and stuff it back into my bag, then zipping my bag up. I put my wrench back into my cloak pocket and take my cloak off shortly after, then set my cloak next to me. I lay my head on the back of the couch and slowly drift off. POUND! The sheet of metal covering me from the wall suddenly is bumped in, as a dent appears from the inside. I lift my head up and turn to the metal. I stand up. "That can't be a normal type of zombie….It's another Night lurker." I say in fear. I reach into my bag and whip my ruby axe out. The metal bangs again, getting even more dented. "Whoever you are, I know how to use this!" I say. I hear murmurs from outside. I lower my axe. There were no moans. I widen my eyes. "Hello?" I say. The metal is suddenly knocked down in an instant, as the sheet of metal falls to the ground. "Audrey?" Anthony says. Audrey looks at Anthony in confusion. "Anthony! How did you survive this entire time!" She says. Anthony shrugs. "Wait, I need to show you to the others," Anthony says. "What others?" Audrey asks. "Rose, and Trevor." Anthony says. "But isn't it a little too late?" Audrey says. "Hm, you're right, but thanks to you, we don't have cover to hide behind" Anthony says. Audrey blushes. "Yeah, sorry" she says. Anthony shrugs and then grabs her hand, pulling her through the mall, dodging the zombies in the mall. "Where are you taking us!?" She yells. "Just- STAY quiet and follow me!" Anthony yells, "We don't wanna get Night Lurkers on our tails!" Anthony says. "What even are NIght Lurke-" WHAM! Audrey face slams straight into a trash can, as Anthony accidentally lets go of her hand, sending Anthony flying across the mall and splashes into water. Audrey shakes her head and stands up. Anthony slides down the stream of water, then falling onto the ground. Monsters suddenly shuffle to them, moaning. "Run, Audrey!" Anthony yells, grabbing her and sprinting out of the store, and out to the parking lot. The zombies suddenly walk through the glass doors of the mall. Anthony sighs and keeps running, as the zombies follow them. Anthony then sets Audrey onto the ground. "Follow me! I'll lead you to the fort!" Anthony yells, as they both run from the pool of zombies on their trail.