Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Antoinette and Midnight entered her apartment. While Midnight went to lay on her bed, she stopped and logged on to the terminal. The screen flashed:

Level Up – 1 Skill Point to Use

Her stats appeared on the screen and noticed her Hit Points and Bloodshed increased. She still didn’t have any Special Skills, but that was another question for Ravioli. She was mad at herself that the last time they talked she was more interested in innuendo than to get information that could really help her. She should have asked about the sniper rifle, but was too busy thinking of how she could allude to having a pussy cat as a pet while really talking about her genitals.

Bloodshed was the obvious choice, but that was one that she should be able to increase by just beating zombie ass. There had to be a reason to have Stealth for a skill, which made it something she should increase before she actually needed it and couldn’t hide in an alley without getting caught. But, if she had a sniper rifle, she might not need a high Stealth rating. She clicked on Weaponsmith and looked at her updated stats:

Name

Antoinette

Level

3

Profession

Assassin

Race

Human

Health

26

Skills

Bloodshed – Novice 4

Strength

10

Stealth – Novice 1

Intelligence

17

Accuracy – Beginner 1

Wisdom

13

Weaponsmith – Rookie 1

Dexterity

18

Inventor – Novice 1

Constitution

11

Charisma

12

Special Skills

None

As she was looking at her stats, a message blinked on the bottom of the screen:

Click to receive Bus Pass

She clicked the screen and the circle on the floor glowed briefly, leaving behind something small and flat. She picked it up and there was nothing flashy about the small plastic card. It wasn’t anything fun like the Multi Pass Leeloo had in the 5th Element. It didn’t even have her picture on it, only the words Bus Pass; boring.

Before turning back to the door, she gave a whistle and Midnight came running into the room with his tail wagging. She wondered if his tail would continue wagging if she got caught in a jam and a zombie started to pull her arms off. No matter, she headed towards the elevator with him right at her side.

Once they exited the Safe House, she was surprised to see a bus coming down the street. She noticed that there was a Bus Stop just outside that she never noticed before. The convenience of having a Bus Stop right outside was amazing! She wondered if Ravioli knew, and then realized that of course he would know. She wished there was something that she could share with him that he didn’t know, but it would probably take some time for that to happen.

The bus pulled up and the door opened with a swish. Antoinette picked up Midnight and stepped on the bus. She stepped up the first step and nodded to the elderly woman behind the wheel. She was so short Antoinette looked twice to make sure that she could actually see over the dashboard.

“Do you need to see my pass?” Antoinette asked.

“Have a seat dearie,” the woman said. Her voice was like gravel being ground in a mortar and pestle. Sure enough, she had a cigarette in her left hand that rested on the large steering wheel.

The bus was as big as a normal city bus, but there were no other passengers. She took a seat and looked around as the vehicle started moving. Antoinette saw above the windshield that the driver’s name was Carol. There was also a map of a city, with a section containing a thick yellow line making a large oval-like path; she assumed that was the path she was on.

They rode in silence as the bus rolled down the street, hitting potholes that Antoinette never noticed while busting-up zombies. In a very short time, the bus came to a stop and she realized that they were right next to the sewer opening. She jumped up with Midnight, and waited by the back door until the bus stopped, the doors opened and she exited the bus.

“According to Mr. Pasta,” Antoinette looked at Midnight as she addressed him. “You should be able to come with me into the sewers and not get hurt. Maybe you can at least be an early warning system for me.” She snuggled her nose into his forehead and when she was done, he covered her face in puppy licks.

The bus drove away, leaving the two of them on the empty street. Maybe they hadn’t been gone long enough for new zombies to spawn, but she was happy she could get down to business. She set Midnight on the ground and patted herself down like a 40-year-old dad leaving for work, making sure she had everything she needed. Satisfied, she sat on the edge of the opening and put her feet on the rusty metal rungs.

The descent into the sewers was uneventful. Midnight barked from where he looked down at her until Antoinette’s feet touched the cement floor. She looked up the ladder, but there was no need to call for him, because he was standing next to her.

“Well, that worked just as Fettuccini said it would,” Antoinette said with a smile. “At least I know if I have to run, I won’t have to worry about your safety.”

Midnight barked in agreement.

The landing she was standing only had one tunnel leading away. The cement walls had different levels of moss, slime or some other green substance covering it; it wasn’t glowing so she didn’t really care. Connected to the ceiling of the tunnel was a line of lights, which were nothing more than light bulbs protected with thin wire cages. The lights were spaced far enough apart that she was going to have to walk through several steps of darkness to enter another space of light.

Antoinette unslung her shotgun and started walking down the tunnel. It wasn’t long before a rat scurried past her and she pulled the trigger. The blast was deafening in the concrete tunnel, but the rat continued on its path. She turned to Midnight and he tilted his head like he was wondering what was happening. Since he wasn’t barking, she took that as a sign to give the rats no mind.

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After about thirty feet she could see that she was approaching an ‘T’ intersection. She crept forward and kept her back to the wall on her right. Her position allowed her to see down the left tunnel until it was shielded in darkness. Nothing moved, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

As she took a moment to gather her courage, she thought about pumping the shotgun and then started smiling. The only reason to pump a shotgun was to send a warning to anyone in the area, and was really just used as a movie effect. Once your shotgun was loaded, it was loaded. Pumping it only kicked out the live or spent shell to let a new one in for continued firepower; plus, the device that Lasagna affixed to her gun allowed for auto-loading.

She took one more breath and then moved to the opposite wall and turned to look down the right tunnel. This one was more lit, but there were no zombies in sight. Feeling a sense of relief, she started down the right tunnel.

Her footsteps sounded very loud and she thought about all the zombie movies she watched, where the undead was triggered by sound. She tried to tip-toe, but that didn’t really help so she kept on walking, moving her head left and right. The tunnel ran another forth feet and then made a turn to the left. The spacing of the lights put the corner in complete darkness.

Antoinette kept close to the wall as she moved until she reached the edge of illumination from the light. She just knew there was going to be something around the corner and her body filled with adrenaline. She thought back to her skills and remembered she had some sort of stealth ability.

As quietly as she could, she slung the shotgun over her shoulder and grabbed her bat. She kept to the right wall, moving as if she were as light as a ballerina. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the gloom as she approached the bend. Each step brought her closer until she could begin to see down the turn of the tunnel.

The safely of light was farther than in her current tunnel, but that wasn’t her immediate concern. She could see several zombies shambling nearby, their jerky movements silhouetted by the light from behind them. None were making their way towards her, so she felt confident that the shadows were doing a good job hiding her.

Antoinette continued until she was in the corner, and that corner felt safe. If only she could stay here and scream, pulling all the zombies to her while she dealt death, but that wasn’t an option. She could keep with the bat, but that would mean relying on a backdrop of light and swinging at shadows; it would be safer to use hot lead to dispense with the shambling creatures.

A quick change of weapons and she was ready. She began the countdown in her head from 10. Once she hit 5, she started moving forward. When she hit 2 she was only several feet away from a moving shadow and she pulled the trigger on 1.

The blast of the shotgun lit the area and she squeezed off another shot. The deafening sound mixed with the strobe-like effect from the blast of the shotgun was both dizzying and electrifying.

She fired three shots into the first zombie, three into the second, four into the third and another four into the last one before moving into the light. She stopped to look at her surroundings and nothing moved behind her. Ahead of her she could see the lights spaced closer together and that made for easy targets.

By the time she made it to the end of the tunnel, she had killed 11 zombies, but still had ample ammunition for the shotgun; at least she thought she did. Just to be safe, she switched to her bat and had to double back the way she came. She thought that if the other tunnel was similar, the sewers were going to be clean in no time.

As she made her way back to the first ‘T’, she looked down to make sure Midnight was still there. He blended in perfectly to the darkness between lights, but through the patches he looked happy as a clam trotting beside her.

“You’re a good boy,” she said with a smile. Midnight didn’t bark back, but his tail wagged twice as fast.

The two continued down the tunnel, which turned to the right; opposite of the other tunnel. This tunnel was better lit and it showed that it was filled with bad guys. She gripped the bat as that stupid duck on YouTube singing “I’m about to whip somebody’s ass” filled her head.

In no time she was Enraged. Several zombies later she was in full Bloodlust. She smashed her way through the tunnel and continued around the corner at the end. Zombie after zombie fell to her bat and all she could think about was running through the undead while she was still buffed.

Midnight’s barking snapped out of her killing fog and she realized that the tunnel opened up to a much larger room. The walls were lined with and knobs and meters and lights, while the middle held several desks and chairs. She assumed this was some sort of control station for the sewers and looked to see what Midnight was barking about.

About 20’ away stood a large zombie with a red outline. He turned to Antoinette and laughed a very human laugh.

“Don’t bother me human,” it said. “Go along and play somewhere else.”

Antoinette heard the duck sing, “If you don’t leave me alone, you’re gonna have to send me home… cause I’m about to whip somebody’s ass.” She smiled at the zombie and headed into the room.

The zombie picked up a nearby chair and tossed it in her direction with little effort. She rolled to her right as the chair flew overhead to skip into the tunnel behind her. She got to her feet and took several steps in the zombie’s direction. She stepped on a chair and then a desk and launched herself at the zombie with the bat held high, ready to deliver a killing blow.

The zombie stepped towards Antoinette, closing the gap too quickly for her to swing. It grabbed her by her leg and neck and used her momentum to turn and throw her against the back wall. She crashed into a wall of gauges with a crash and the edges of her screen flashed red.

Midnight stood between her and the zombie and barked as ferociously as a puppy could while Antoinette jammed a +EpiPen into her leg. The red tint went away and she dropped her bat; so much for hand-to-hand combat with this thing.

Antoinette pulled her shotgun and stood up just in time to get hit by a flying chair. The chair knocked the shotgun from her hands and she slid down the wall as her screen flashed red again. Quickly she administered another +EpiPen, but panic was starting to set in. Instead of diving for her gun, she made a move like she was going to, but stayed put while another chair crashed into the floor just behind where the gun rested.

This was her chance, she dove for the gun and rolled until she was behind a nearby desk.

“There’s no use hiding little girl,” the zombie said. “I’ll get you my pretty, and your little dog too!” The zombie followed with the creepiest laughter Antoinette ever heard; and what the fuck was a zombie doing quoting shit from The Wizard of Oz?

“Midnight, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore,” she whispered to her puppy.

He growled in the zombie’s direction, but made sure to stay behind the desk with Antoinette. She ducked down and looked to see where he was by his feet. She was shocked to see that he was only feet away.

A crashing noise almost made her drop her gun as the zombie slammed two fists into the top of the metal desk. She pointed the shotgun and fired, hitting the zombie in an ankle. She didn’t waste any time and fired again at the other leg and managed to hit it again before she scooted out from under the desk.

Luckily, she was out as another Hulk-smash all but flattened the desk. Now he was very close and she fired the shotgun as fast as she could. She held the weapon waist level and blast after blast hit the zombie.

Just when she thought she might have the upper hand, the zombie opened its mouth and projectile vomited on her. The thick puke hit her on the shoulder and immediately started burning her. She looked around the room for help and saw there was a decontamination shower in the corner, but the zombie was between her and the help she needed.

She looked at the zombie and it appeared as though it was dazed, so she took the opportunity to step close and press the shotgun barrel under its chin. With the thick greenish-brown goop burning her shoulder and upper arm, she fired. After the third shot her arm was hurting so bad she couldn’t hole the gun with two hands.

The zombie was starting to stagger backwards and she kept pace, keeping the gun lodged under its chin as she pulled the trigger over and over again. After what must have been close to fifteen shots, the zombie toppled backwards. It was at this time that Antoinette noticed that her screen was flashing red.

She dropped her gun and used her good arm to use two +EpiPens. Her screen stopped flashing, but the pain from the vomit continued. She applied another +EpiPen and then ran to the chamber. Thankfully there were two buttons, one said ON while the other read OFF. She pressed ON and entered the chamber and the door closed behind her.

Immediately she was blasted by several cool clear fluids from numerous nozzles. She turned her body and used her good hand to lift her bad arm, making sure all of the zombie’s barf was washed from her person. Ten seconds later the spraying stopped and a woman’s voice said, “Decontamination complete.”

The door opened and Midnight was waiting patiently.

“Did that machine have a British accent or was it just me?” She asked Midnight. He barked and wagged his tail.

Before she could get far, a message flashed on her screen:

Quest Complete

“Okay boy,” she said. “We killed all the bad guys, now it’s time to find some loot.”

Before searching the room, she grabbed her shotgun and bat. Next, she started to search. The first few desks yielded only one +EpiPen, but the next desk held a set of keys that looked like cabinet keys. She put them in her pocket and searched the last two desks.

In one was a worn piece of paper folded in two. When opened the paper there were three numbers scrawled on it like a child’s writing. The numbers were ’36-24-36’.

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” she asked Midnight. “I know that’s the ‘ideal’ measurements for a woman to give her an hourglass shape, but isn’t that shit form the 60’s or something?”

“Woof,” was Midnight’s answer.

In the last desk were several containers of shotgun ammo. She thankfully put those in her pocket and walked to the corpse of the zombie. He was wearing a tattered work uniform and he had on a name badge that read ‘Ralph’.

“What has it got in its pocketses,” Antoinette gave her best Gollum impression as she started her search.

She found another two +EpiPens in his pants pocket, and a small circular disk in her shirt pocket behind a very full pocket protector. She was confused by the image on the disk. She flipped it over and over, and both sides showed a picture of a bone. She slipped it into a pocked and made her way to the wall of meters and knobs.

It took a good amount of time, but she pulled every knob while looking for somewhere to use the keys. There wasn’t a keyhole to be found, and there were no cabinets in the room. Taking one last walk of the room to make sure she didn’t miss anything; she turned to the hallway and started the walk to exit the sewers.

When she got to the ladder, she started up without hesitation. At the top Midnight was waiting for her with a lick on her cheek. She climbed out and was surprised to see the bus waiting for them. Antoinette picked up Midnight and boarded the bus, expecting to have no other people other than the driver.

As she got on, a tall blonde woman got off. Antoinette turned to exit the bus to talk to this new person, but the bus was already moving. She ran to the back of the bus to look out the rear windows, and saw the woman enter the sewers the same way she did only a short time ago.

“Did you see her?” She asked Midnight. “I hope she is able to knock off the boss. Maybe we should go help her?”

“Woof,” he answered her.

“I’m not sure if you think that’s a good or a bad idea,” she laughed.

The bus drove and Antoinette settled into a seat. She looked as the bus took her to a new neighborhood. This one had a large number of zombies roaming around, with about a third being framed in red.

“This is where we have to come to compete that other quest,” Antoinette whispered in Midnight’s ear. “But first we have to cash in this quest and find out what this disk does.”

Midnight sat patiently beside her listening.

“We also have to find out what the numbers mean and what the keys unlock,” she added. “I doubt that Ravioli has any answers for us, but we can always play ‘damsel in distress’ just to make sure.

“Woof,” Midnight agreed.