Fanfic: Zombies, Zombies, ALWAYS ZOMBIES! 🧟 Ep. 4: The Message

Hey Poptropicans, this is a guest post by Magic Kid. Enjoy!

Greetings all readers! Today is the day that the fourth part of ‘Zombies, Zombies, ALWAYS ZOMBIES’ comes out. If you missed the last chapter, catch it here. Please enjoy this episode which includes a shady character, a certain yellow blimp, and a pleasant surprise!

One of my brothers, reading over my shoulder: How can this episode be about a shady character, a blimp, AND something pleasant? Who’s the shady person? What’s the surprise?

Read on to find out!

ZOMBIES, ZOMBIES, ALWAYS ZOMBIES!

A Zomberry Series

Episode Four: The Message

Witty Toothpick and Jazzy Hawk’s hands are an inch apart.

Toothpick is frightened out of his wits. The zombies below him reach up to grab him again. Hawk reaches as far as he can, hand outstretched. 

It’s a frightening moment where anything could happen — Hawk might reach farther and possibly save Toothpick right then.

Toothpick falls down another inch in a millisecond, and Hawk reaches further out, the events seeming to happen in very slow motion. 

And then…

Toothpick grabs onto the hand, and Jazzy Hawk pulls him up into the ship.

The slow motion stops and the muffled sounds of the yellow blimp’s motor come back in full volume.

Toothpick gasps with relief. He didn’t fall!

Clumsy Bird

THAT WAS THE SCARIEST THING I’VE EVER SEEN!

Clumsy Bird has her hands on her head and is yelling shouts of joy and relief.

Hawk

Are you alright?

Toothpick

Ye-yeah. Thanks.

And Toothpick, Hawk, and Birdy laugh in relief. 

Hawk takes the wheel of the blimp.

Hawk

Where to?

Birdy

Are you asking me? Because I have NO idea.

Toothpick

I can’t really think of an island that won’t be creepy when it’s filled with zombies.

Hawk (pointing to a map)

Monster Carnival is just right here.

Birdy

NO! No, no no no. No way. Are you CRAZY?

Hawk

Well…

He looks at the map, and all the islands on it.

Hawk

Maybe we should just stay in the air until we figure something out.

Birdy

Umm, okay, just as long as the blimp can last that long in the air.

Toothpick looks off the side of the blimp at the ground. It’s a long, long, long way down. Then he sits back up.

Toothpick

Er— maybe we should land soon, I dunno.

They all sit in silence for a moment, trying to find a good topic to strike up a conversation.

Jazzy Hawk

Hey, Birdy, can I ask you something?

Birdy

Of course!

Hawk

During the play when that person backstage got all the blueberry smoothie everywhere, you offered to take her place as a carrot — why was the director so against you playing that part? Do you know?

To everyone’s surprise, Birdy laughs.

Birdy

As a matter of fact, I do know why! So he had these meetings with all of the backstagers once a week to see how it was going with building the sets and the props. One of them happened to be on April Fools Day.

Toothpick

Oh, no…!

Birdy 

Did you know that you can purchase reasonably realistic plastic eyeballs online? And did you also know that I was in charge of getting his coffee that day?

Hawk

No you didn’t! Why would you—

Birdy

I did. And I’ve got no regrets! I put it in his coffee, gave it to him, then pretended to work on constructing the wall. And then I said, “ACK, MY EYE!”

Hawk shakes his head.

Birdy

He totally flipped out, it was HILARIOUS. And totally worth my demotion!

Toothpick laughs.

They continue to chat. Birdy pulls yarn out of her bag and begins to knit something, and Witty Toothpick begins to work on his Rubik’s cube again. They all talk and laugh and wonder about the zombies and the blueberries — deciding to stay away from blueberries until they figure out all of that.

It’s Jazzy Hawk who first notices a black dot in the distance.

It’s small at first, but it flaps closer and closer to the blimp. Toothpick notices it too. So does Clumsy Bird.

Clumsy Bird (pointing at the dot)

What’s that?

Whatever it is, it’s coming closer and closer. Toothpick squints at it and sees that it’s a bird — a pigeon!

It’s an odd pigeon through. It makes wiring sounds and is brightly colored.

The pigeon flies straight towards them. Is it a robot bird?

Jazzy Hawk

Should we be worried?

Clumsy Bird

I dunno…

The bird comes closer, and then it lands on top of the blimp’s steering wheel.

It speaks in a robotic voice.

Robo Bird

Are you not zombied?

Hawk, Toothpick, and Birdy

YES!

Robo Bird

Well, you are invited to a Zomberry survivors’ meeting at the city hall in Goofball Island, where we will regroup and share what we know. It happens tomorrow afternoon. Thank you and have a great day!

The bird flies away.

There is silence in the group for a moment, and then they all erupt with joyful shouts and praises!

Clumsy Bird

We aren’t the only ones left!

Toothpick

We aren’t alone!

Jazzy Hawk

Yes! I’m setting a course for Goofball Island!

Clumsy Bird

Hooray!

And the yellow blimp turns slightly in a new direction, heading straight into the setting sun. It feels as though nothing could go wrong… almost.

When night falls and the blimp slows down, a small drone hums, hidden in a cloud right by the blimp. The drone is dark-colored and has a red blinking dot and a camera. The camera is looking at the people in the blimp, recording everything that they have said and heard.

Far, far away is a room full of buttons and several screens showing video surveillance of non-zombie Poptropicans. A silhouetted figure sits on a chair looking at all of his drones’ footage.  And he begins to laugh, a cold laugh that echoes through the stone hallways, a laugh that is neither friendly or nice-sounding. A clichéd sort of laugh that would be funny if he didn’t sound so… evil and heartless.

Mystery Figure

MWAH HA HA HA!! MWAH HA HA HAAAA!

TO BE CONTINUED

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Hope you enjoyed this guest post by Magic Kid. If you did, you might also enjoy their Pop Quiz: Which Pop Character Are You? post.

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