Chapter 1 - Prologue

The streets were deathly quiet as soft winds blew through the city of Msntropolis. It was unnerving, really, considering what had been going on in the last few hours. But the silence only lasted a moment. Suddenly, screams of all genders cracked the air, and heavy groaning continued to sound in all parts of the metropolis. It was almost soothing to the remaining survivors that lay in wait; they had learned that complete quiet never meant a good thing.

WildGamer sighed as he removed his eye from the telescope. Taking a quick scan around the area to make sure that they weren’t too close to their hideaway, he slowly walked down the attic passageway from his lookout on the roof.

For a while, he had to feel his way down the stairs. Only a few candles were lit so that they could be concealed properly. After all, they couldn’t risk those...creatures having a beacon to lead them there. After a bit of struggling, he saw the faint outline of a match. The familiar sight of his friends MasterGodzilla, Dorko4u, and Mandew greeted him as he came in. Dorko and MG played some Super Smash Brothers Brawl – with the brightness toned down and sound muted, of course – while Mandew slowly ate from a cold can of beans. They couldn’t afford to make any noise heating things up.

“Well?” MG said, after a moment’s pause.

“Same as always,” Wild replied. “I saw someone get torn to shreds by them a little ways away. Looked like Dimentum.”

Mandew shivered in response to the chilling words. He put the can down and hugged a nearby pillow.

“This is crazy, guys...” he whispered, as if in fear of his own voice. “S-something out of a video game...completely unrealistic.” Dorko piped up. “Yeah, until we saw people being eaten alive on T.V. Then, screams around the block. And then, when we saw the zombies eating XeeL ali-“

“Stop it!” Mandew immediately shouted in response. The room stifled, but Wild seethed. “Be quiet, Dew! Do you want them to get us, too?” Tensions ran unusually high between the two. Usually, they acted in a civilized, friendly manner, but since the outbreak, the two had been at ends. Just like the old days.

“Either way,” Dorko4u continued, “we have to accept it. This is really happening. If we don’t, we’ll die just like the rest of them.” MG nodded in agreement.

More silence. Quite frequently, now, since this whole ordeal occurred. No one had anything to say. Finally, WG spoke.

“I know no one wants to do this, but we need to get out of here. Lord knows that this infection will only get worse over time, and supplies won’t last. It’ll only get harder to find a safe place if we stay around here and twiddle fingers.”

A smile crept on MasterGodzilla’s face. “Yeah. More importantly, we won’t get any action if we just stay here.” The rush of excitement shook his very bones, and the rest of the group sighed. Only MG would find some sort of enjoyment from this.

“I wonder if the others are all right...” Mandew croaked. “Moon was so excited to go buy Viewtiful Joe 3 that he forgot his cell phone...” No one wanted to give him an answer. It was bad out there, and expecting them to still be alive was a fool’s thought.

“If they are alive, they’ll be smart to not come back here,” urged Wild, using the topic as leverage to leave. “We should do the same.”

Dorko changed the channel. “Let’s see if we can get any information first.” The light from the television flickered from static to more static on what were supposed to be news stations. “Great,” he muttered, while vainly searching for anything that worked. “All of the local channels are still cut.”

“Well, as if they have time to inform us anymore,” MG calmly responded. “Ever since the infection spread deep into the city, everyone’s been out fighting for themselves.”

“The radio...” Mandew whispered in between their discussion. “That might work...”

MG quickly strolled into the storage room, rummaging for a few moments. He then came out with an old, used radio, worn down from time. “Piece of junk prolly’ won’t even start,” the crossover fan grumbled. He placed it down and started playing with the knobs. After a lot of manipulation and twisting of the radio’s buttons, the hard buzzing slowly had cracks of human speech peak through.

“Quiet, guys, I hear something!”

“Bzz.... people.......evacuation.....bzzzzzzzzzzzz.......bl ocking all exits......bzzzzz.....too many.......zzzz....impossible to get ou-.......bzzzzzt.......infection hit the West exit and.......bzz.....shutting down of highway.....bzzzzt...dangerous to go there because.......bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzttt..... and trying to escape will be.......bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....is there no way out?”

The radio soon broke into static again, and stayed that way for a while. WildGamer stroked his chin in thought. “Well, so much for leaving via highway. Sounds like there’s even a zombie break out at the West end. It’s too dangerous to leave that way; if zombies start to come, there will be nowhere to go.”

“So we drive through the streets for a safer place to stay and to find a way to escape?” MG suggested.

“You got it.” Wild gave a glance towards Mandew and Dorko. “Pack your bags, guys. Bring as much first aid materials as possible, food, clothes, and weapons. We’re not staying here any longer.”