Necromancers; people of all races learning to communicate with the dead. Within the many religions, many depict one master necromancer, one that, if unchecked, would cause the world to crumble. This being was known as the Dead. It could blend in with anyone. Be anyone. But, over time, this legend passed off as a fairy tale. And eventually, the suspicion that once lurked over the world, faded away. The Dead was forgotten and civilizations grew. Necromancy was buried with the Dead. Yet, after hundreds, even thousands of years, someone learned, and the world was in great, great danger.
Apocalypse Studios presents;
Fever Land; Zombies
Mal walked the streets with her cousin, Gilmore jr. or Gilmore. He was the soon to be king of the country. They’d just finished school and were craving something. Dozens of street vendors yelled at them to try their food. Gilmore turned to Mal; “You want that dumpling place down the street?”
“Sounds good to me.”
So they went. The dumpling place was nestled near the inner wall of the capitol; Zeus. They entered and met with Gilmore’s sister’s friend, Sam. “Hello,” he said.
“Hi.” Mal replied.
“How’s your day been?” asked Gilmore, hugging Sam over the counter.
“Horrible.” joked Sam, “I had quite the dream last night.”
Mal stepped back and let the two catch up. “I’d like to hear what you were on last night then.”
“Something crazy called: chicken dumplings.”
“Man, you know those’ll give you nightmares!”
“Hey, how’s Scarlet doing, it’s been a while since I’ve seen her.” asked Sam, leaning onto the counter.
“You know… the usual.” Gilmore answered.
“No, I don’t know.” Sam replied.
“I bet Mal knows, she’s her therapist.”
Mal scoffed. “She’s okay, stressed about the entire, you know marriage thing.”
“Right… the wedding,” Sam groaned.
“Why are you so against it? You know you’ll be a military commander.” Gilmore asked, playing with his thumbs.
“Because we’re both sixteen,” he replied.
“Yeah, think of what the history books’ll say; a sixteen year old leads a hungry military into war against an even hungrier tribe and still loses!” he teased, putting his hand into the air.
Sam laughed. “Right, Mal, what do you want?”
Mal looked at Sam like he’d cursed at him. “I mean like; food.”
“Oh, just some chicken dumplings.” she replied.
Sam nodded and looked at Gilmore. “Noodles,” he replied.
“Nice, now Gilmore, you’ll have to wait for the food.”
Nilhonie, Gilmore’s youngest sister jumped out of a stage coach and walked into the restaurant. She walked to Mal and sat on a bench. “Mal?” she asked.
“Oh, Nilhonie! How’d you know where we were?” asked Mal.
“I have some ways.” replied Nilhonie, “Could you drive me to the roller skating rink?”
“They have one here?” asked Mal.
“Yeah.” Nilhonie replied.
“Oh, well, I didn’t bring my car.”
“I could call a cab.” Gilmore offered.
Mal thanked Gilmore and they stood outside. Sam joined them later.
“Hey, ya’ll forgot your food.” he called out, holding two dishes.
“Oh, we’re going to the roller skating rink with Nilhonie.” Mal said.
“Well, you have time.” Sam replied, taping his watch.
“Give it to some homeless, they’d appreciate it more than these two will.” Nilhonie ordered, turning to Sam.
“Okay, Mal?” asked Sam.
“Why didn’t you ask me?!” asked Gilmore dramatically.
“Oh I’m so sorry! Are you okay with donating your meal to the homeless?” asked Sam, twice as dramatic.
“Yeah, whatever.” Gilmore answered, monotone.
Sam gave the two dishes to homeless people. They thanked him and he returned to the group.
“I could join you.” Sam said, checking his watch.
Mal groaned. Gilmore grinned and the two began playfully wrestling. The cab arrived, they all got in the cab. “Where to?” asked the suited up driver.
“Indigo Roller’s Rink.” Nilhonie answered.
The car lurched forward and started driving. Nilhonie, being the smallest, sat in the middle. Gilmore and Sam began wrestling. Every little tap, which never happened, Nilhonie would feel. But it was more like having a 16 or 19 year-old hit you every 15 seconds. She put her hand up and Sam hit it. He fell down into the footwell. “Damn, Sam, are you okay?” Gilmore asked.
Nilhonie rested her head onto Mal’s shoulder and started feeling relaxed, until Gilmore and Sam started wrestling again. The taximan seemed equally as irritated as Nilhonie was. “Hey, you want to change seats?” asked Mal, nervously.
“Uh, no. It's fine.” Nilhonie rejected.
“But seriously, those two are annoying.” Nilhonie expressed.
“Well, one of them is going through some insane confidence boost and the other, well, I guess just… I don’t know.” Mal defended.
Nilhonie rolled her eyes and tightened her grip on Mal’s arm. She winced but didn’t say a word. The car stopped, Gilmore and Sam got off each other, same with Mal and Nilhonie. They entered the bright neon place and looked around. Tons of kids ran around, others sat on benches catching their breath. The group walked to the rental place counter and rented out some skates. Mal and Nilhonie got onto the rink while Sam and Gilmore left and waited near the soda fountains. Mal and Nilhonie rolled around in circles. “Mal, ever heard of the Dead?” asked Nilhonie.
“Uh, I think awhile back, some family legend my teacher told. It’s a necromancer right?” asked Mal.
“Yeah, but, ever thought of it more than a fairy tale?” asked Nilhonie, “Like, we all thought Doppelgangers were just a myth until that thing in Alkala.”
“Well, that’s a good point but, we’ve never had a person that would actually talk to the Dead Ones besides from people claiming to be shaman or psychics.” Mal answered.
Some boy about Mal's age rolled up next to Mal. “Hey,” he started.
“Hi,” Mal replied.
“So, I saw you a little distance away. What’s you say we could meet at the fair tomorrow?” “Uh, maybe?” Mal said, unsure.
Nilhonie’s tight grip on Mal’s hand loosened. “What’s your name?” he asked.
“Mal, uh, you?”
“Arcye.”
“Wait, where is she?” asked Mal, realizing Nilhonie wasn’t holding onto her hand at all.
“Who?”
“My cousin, she was right here.”
“Oh, I saw her let go and leave.”
“What?!”
“I thought you felt it.” Acrye stated.
“Which door did she leave through?” Mal questioned.
“Uh, I didn’t see.”
Mal jumped out of the rink and ran to Gilmore and Sam.
“Did you see Nilhonie?” Mal asked.
“No,” Sam said.
“Wait, my sister’s missing and we're near the Zeus Cemetery?” asked Gilmore.
Mal glanced at Gilmore with sorry eyes.
Just then, the sky turned green, multiple screams and cries for help rang from the cemetery. Arcye had just opened the door and glared at the sky. “Uh, wrong time?”
“Come with us.” Mal ordered.
Arcye hesitated but followed along with the group. They entered the graveyard. A thick fog had settled just inches above the ground. “Ugh.” groaned something from across the yard.
More groans filled the yard until Arcye watched a hand burst out of the ground. A voice like Nilhonie’s came from the top of the hill. Mal and Acrye ran up while Sam and Gilmore had begun stomping the hands into the floor.
Mal saw a being, a monster, the Dead. it rose above the hill. Its purple coat lifted off the ground. A staff with a skull was in its hand. It rose up the staff and red lines burst from each and every grave was blown open exposing the Dead Ones. Sam’s and Gilmore’s efforts were of no use. They joined Mal and Arcye at the top of the hill as the Dead Ones started chasing them. The skull at the top became red hot and blew open. The red lines disappeared and so did the dead ones, for a brief moment. An earthquake shook the cemetery. A sinkhole opened at the exit and entrance of the graveyard, the hole pushed a red smoke out. And then, a large hand grasped the edge of the hole. Pieces of asphalt crumbled and fell into the unknown. Another hand did the same. And with one push, the head of the monster was revealed. A badly burnt man. His face boiled, his skin was blistered, but as the moonlight shone onto him, he went back to just a giant man. He let out a satisfied sigh then rose his foot onto the streets. Civilians ran. The being fell onto the hill. Mal pulled back its hood; only its neck was visible at the time. White hair, pale skin. “Nilhonie? Nilhonie! What have you done?” Mal interrogated.
“Saved the planet. The Aasmars were right, without interference, our world was doomed, cursed. We would wipe ourselves out. But the Dead Ones, the almighty Death, and me, we’ll prevent all the war. All the suffering. So don’t fight him. And if you do, you’ll just cause more suffering.”
Mal teared up. “Please, Nilhonie! It's not too late! You can still end this!”
“I am the Dead. Run Mal.” Nilhonie warned.
The zombies had already ran into town. “Nilhonie! End this, please! Don’t let them get into your head!”
“This was my destiny. I was born like this, a monster, now run while you still can.”
Sam and Gilmore had their revolvers in hand and were running into the city. Tanks and military vehicles were firing at the monsters. “You can fight it, Nilhonie.”
“No, I can’t, and I won’t.”
Instantly, Nilhonie got up and pulled her hood back on. “Don’t fight fate.” she demanded before floating into the air and into Zeus. Sirens went off around the city. Arcye kicked a skeleton off the side of the hill. He ran to Mal and helped her up. “I’m sorry.” she sobbed.
“It's okay, it's okay, let’s find shelter.” Arcye replied.
They ran into the Roller Rink. Inside, children hid under tables crying. “Hey, kids, watch her, I’ll get a weapon and protect us.” Arcye ordered.
Mal crawled under a table and hugged a child that was hyperventilating. Arcye bolted to the back and looked for anything he could find. A shotgun was mounted on the wall beside a box of shells. He clumsily loaded the gun and shoved as many shells as he could into the pockets of his jeans. Arcye cocked the gun back and fired a shell. He fell back and hit the floor. Shakily, he stood back up and tried again, this time, he solely stepped back. I’m ready, yeah. He stepped into the actual rink and saw Mal and all the kids crowded around. She had managed to calm herself down enough to tell a story and for the most part, distract the younger kids. Arcye smiled at Mal and then took cover behind a table. Then, Nilhonie blew open the door. She glided smoothly through the air before landing. She eyed Arcye down and softly said; “I’m not a full fledged psycho, I won’t kill the kids.”
Arcye fired a shell. The purple coat Nilhonie wore was damaged but Nilhonie was unphased. She grabbed Arcye and dragged him out of the building. She kicked the gun out of Arcye’s hands and placed him on top of a large building. Arcye glanced at the large man. His head was just barely above Arcye.
Sam and Gilmore kicked down a door. They’d been given rifles by the military and sent off to save people. Gilmore’s hair had been turned black by the ashes of the buildings being burnt around him. Kids ran towards them. Their eyes were filled with terror. Sam helped them onto the trucks evacuating the city. Bang! A machine gun mounted to a car went off at a crowd of zombies. Sam and Gilmore jumped into the back of the car and the driver stomped the gas. “Watch out!” yelled Sam.
The giant’s hand was reaching for the van. Bullets fired at the man. They had no effect on the monster. The gunman was pulled out of his position and crushed. Nilhonie landed before the car and the driver hit the brakes. “No, no! Go! She’s a fake!” yelled Sam.
Nilhonie walked to the back like a ghost and opened the door. She pulled Sam and Gilmore out of their place. She landed them with Arcye.
Mal was starting to worry about her friends. She didn’t know what Nilhonie did with Arcye and had no idea how Sam and Gilmore were. “Uh, hold on. Stay calm, I have to leave. Get to the back. She looked at the oldest kid, she was hiding behind a chair; “Get them to the back and keep them calm.” she demanded before leaving.
Soldiers with flamethrowers charged into the streets. The hordes of monsters stumbled to them. Fire. Bright orange blew through the streets. A soldier spotted Mal and motioned for her to run. Mal shook her head and ran into the battlefield. Then, she heard her friends yelling at her. She looked up, half expecting their souls to be looking down at her. Instead, they were on the top of an office building. Nilhonie landed in front of them. She said something softly. Mal couldn’t hear amongst all the chaos. Then, she darted towards Arcye. “Hey!” yelled Mal.
Her voice was surprisingly loud. Nilhonie stopped. She looked down on Mal. “Get down here! End me! Kill me first, I have nothing!” she ordered.
“Come on! You’ll end our suffering! Get down here!”
Nilhonie, in a fit of rage, flew down and landed. Nilhonie was 10, short, and yet, being within a 50 foot radius of her made Mal’s heart stop. A tear went down Nilhonie’s face. “Don’t make me do this, please.” begged Nilhonie.
“Do it!” Mal replied, in hate.
Nilhonie hesitated. She raised her staff, then, fire shot her away. Nilhonie’s coat was set a blaze. Nilhonie dropped and rolled. But to no use. The fire burnt. Mal’s eyes teared up. The sinkhole started closing and the giant man gasped for air. The sinkhole had begun letting out smaller and smaller puffs. Then, its breaths stopped. The giant clasped its throat and fell. The Dead Ones fell. The battle was over.
