Chapter 9: Pack-a-Punch

"That is a big knife," Lois commented. 

"It will be useful for sure," James replied. He carried the bowie knife in his hand. "Lets go and link the teleport," James added.

"Link the teleport?" Lois questioned. She was not sure what that meant. 

"You will see," James replied. They left the area and walked back to the main aisle of the theater. They saw a few steps going back to where they started. 

"This way," James pointed to. They both walked up the stairs. Lois covered their back. She saw three zombies running towards them. Lois aimed her gun and fired three bullets from her gun. All bullets hit the zombie in the head and they went down. 

James walked back to the teleporter pad. "Lois grabbed the suitcase filled with the weapon and put the one we got inside it as well," James ordered.

"Okay," Lois replied. 

James got to the teleporter, he could see there was power to it now. The circular pad was glowing. James got onto one knee and started inspecting the pad. He saw there was a switch. He clicked the switch and a loud noise was heard. "Perfect," he muttered to himself.

Lois had killed another zombie. "Okay, it's linked," James said. 

Lois opened the suitcase. She noticed there were more magazines in the bag. "James, there is more ammunition in here," Lois said. 

"More?" James inquired with a quizzical expression.

"Yes, we didn't bring this many with us," Lois replied, her curiosity piqued.

"It must be a perk from we drunk," James suggested, a hint of amazement in his voice.

"That's incredible, then," Lois remarked, marveling at the unexpected benefits. James nodded in agreement. James wondered if this was Mule Kick, he knew in one of the CODs, the perk was able to be upgraded and this was one of the perks.

"Here, take my weapons as well," James offered generously. He handed over all his weapons, including the Ray Gun.

Lois stowed away the array of weapons in the suitcase. "The suitcase is filled," she reported as she zipped the bag. She pulled the handle on the suitcase. 

"Let me take it," James said and added, "Cover me." James knew Lois had better aim than himself. James carried the suitcase. It was a bit heavy however it had wheels so he was able to just drag it. Lois was scanning the area and firing at any zombies walking towards them. 

Returning to the theater, they cautiously proceeded down the aisle, navigating through the tight space. The eerie atmosphere was disrupted by the appearance of zombies, leaping over seats with menacing growls. They came out of the ground slowly and made their way forward. 

Lois swiftly reacted, her reflexes honed from countless encounters earlier. A single shot echoed through the theater as she fired her gun, taking down the first zombie. Without missing a beat, she aimed again, unleashing another round that dispatched a second undead threat. 

As Lois continued to advance covering James, her focused gaze scanned the surroundings for any additional threats. Suddenly, from the corner of her eye, Lois spotted a third zombie emerging from the ground. Reacting swiftly, she aimed her weapon and fired, the gunshot echoing through the cavernous theater. The zombie staggered and crumpled to the floor, joining its fallen companions. 

James thought the spawn rate was slow however he did not want to push his luck. This was a round-based game where zombies get harder each round. He knew he was at a very low round from the strength and spawn rate. 

They walked up the theater stairs and towards the teleporter. James dragged the suitcase onto the teleporter. "Lois get in," James said. 

"Okay," Lois nodded. She got in looking around for zombies. James surveyed the metallic interior of the vessel, his eyes scanning for the controls. Among the array of buttons and levers, his attention was drawn to a switch. A small grin formed on his face as he reached out to flick it. 

As soon as the switch was toggled, the teleporter responded with a sudden burst of activity. The confined space of the steel vessel was filled with a cacophony of sounds – the hum of machinery and the crackling of electricity. James held onto the bag. The teleporter's activation culminated in a dazzling display of bright light, momentarily blinding them. The air crackled with energy, and the vessel seemed to vibrate. 

James opened his eyes and saw a blue machine with three large gears exposed in the center.The shape of the machine was like an open mouth. There was a sign above which showed the Ray Gun with a limp barrel and another Ray Gun which looked like it was on steroids. There was another sign above which read "Pack A Punch." "Pack-a-Punch! Yee-haa! Pack-a-Punch!" a jingle was heard.

"Another perk?" Lois asked. It looked a bit different from the other ones she thought. 

"Not exactly. This is Pack a Punch, a weapon machine which can upgrade your weapons, make them more powerful, carry more bullets per magazine," Ben explained as he approached the Machine with the suitcase. 

He opened the suitcase and took the Ray Gun out. He put it in the machine and pressed a switch. The machine started sparking and glowing blue. The gears were running full speed. There was a flag up. Then there was a ring. The Ray Gun came out, or now the Porter's X2 Ray Gun. The red was much darker and there was a glow on the bar. 

James quickly took it out and put it in his back. "Lois your gun now," James ordered. Lois put her M4 Carbine in. The machine took her gun in. It started to glow blue, the gears were running full speed as well as the flag being up. Finally there was a ring. An upgraded gun came out. 

Lois picked it up. " M4W," Lois remarked. It had a red-dotted sight and an under barrel grenade launcher. The gun had a dark brown camouflage with maze like patterns all over it. 

"This is amazing, I feel like this gun can take our entire hordes of zombies now," Lois said. 

As James was about to respond, he heard a crackle in the air. He touched both the Pack-a-Punch machine and the suitcase. A dazzling display of bright light, momentarily blinding them as they both were teleported away. 

They were back to the place where they started. James' vision was slightly blurred. "Lois, are you there?" James asked.

"I am here," Lois responded. Her vision was also blurry. As their vision came back, James saw the Pack-a-Punch was there with him as well as the suitcase. He smiled. 

Lois saw a group of zombies walking towards them. There were three lined up in a straight line. She aimed her M4W and fired a single bullet. The bullet hit the first zombie and went through his skull and hit the second and third zombie. It hit the second zombie in the mouth and went through him. Then it hit the third zombie in the neck . They all went down and their eyes stopped glowing. 

Lois had a big grin on her face. "Lois we got what we need now, take these suitcases and head to the teleporter, put everything inside and arrange it so we will be able to touch it," James ordered. 

"Okay, what are you going to do?" Lois asked.

James saw the Ulitmartix cooled down. He touched the faceplate and turned back to Humungousaur. He really needed his strength for this. He slammed it down and transformed. His body was engulfed in a brilliant, pulsing green light. James' body distorted, his limbs elongated. "Humungousaur," Humungousaur said. 

"Yes, I got it," Humungousaur added. 

"Okay, I will start moving these one by one," Lois said. Humungousaur nodded. He grabbed the Pack-a-Punch machine in one hand. He walked over and picked up the Quick-revive machine in his other hand. Humungousaur started making his way down towards the theater. Lois followed by pulling one of the suitcases. She had her gun out in one hand. 

They saw a zombie out. Lois fired her gun and hit his leg. The zombie fell over and face planted on the ground. Lois fired another bullet and hit his head. His eyes stopped glowing. They made their way to the teleporter and placed the two machines inside the teleport. 

Humungousaur thought this teleporter was pretty big."I am going to get the other three perks," Humungousaur stated. Lois nodded

"Be careful," Lois responded. 

"I will," Humungousaur said. Humungousaur ran towards the dressing room and to the open hall where Speed-Cola was. He picked it up with his hand. 

"This machine is bigger than the other two, I will need to come back for Mule Kick," Humungousaur muttered to himself. He carried it back towards the teleporter. As he got closer a zombie came walking toward him. He swung the Speed-Cola machine and hit the zombie. The zombie was knocked back and hit a wall. Humungousaur then kicked the zombie in the face. His eyes stopped glowing. 

Humungousaur got back. He saw Lois pulling the Juggernog machine. Humungousaur thought that machine strangely had wheels on it. She would occasionally stop and fire her gun to kill any zombie that got too close.

She wheeled it up to stairs leading to the teleporter and stopped. Humungousaur put the Speed-Cola Machine near the teleporter. He walked over and picked up the Juggernog and carried it up the stairs and put it near the teleporter. 

"It was not that heavy," Lois remarked. 

"I am happy to help a lady out," Humungousaur said. 

Lois grinned mischievously, her eyes sparkling with playful intent. "Well, you should be prepared for something special today, considering I'm helping you," she remarked, a hint of mystery in her tone.

Humungousaur met her gaze and reciprocated with a warm smile. "And you can expect something special from me tonight," he declared with a twinkle in his eye.

Deciding to seize the moment, Humungousaur excused himself. "I'll go fetch the other machine," he announced. 

Lois nodded in agreement. "Sure thing, I'll take care of gathering the last of our suitcase," she replied. 

Lois jumped off the stage and ran towards the Lobby. Humungousaur ran towards Mule Kick Machine through the Foyer and up the stairs. He got back to the Portatis and looked at them again. He didn't get to see them but he thought that was a good thing. They were not the people you would invite to your birthday party.

Humungousaur picked up the Mule Kick Machine and carried it towards the lobby. He got down the stairs and walked towards the teleporter pad towards the theater. He thought his place was a small circle. He got to the theater and walked down the audience seats. Lois was already there with all the suitcase. She was giving Humungousaur covering fire. As zombies came out of the ground, Lois fired her M4W and hit the zombies in the head. 

Humungousaur got back to the teleporter. He placed the machine down and the Ulitmatrix timed out. He returned back to James. 

"That was close," James said and added, "All done." 

"Lets touch everything and get out," James ordered.

"Okay, we should hurry, I think I saw them starting to run now," Lois remarked. 

James nodded. They held onto the different perk machines, suitcases and each other. It was a sight for sure. James hit the Universal Remote and teleported out.