Fanfic: Zombies, Zombies, ALWAYS ZOMBIES! 🧟 Ep. 11: AHHHH!

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

Hello guys, I have the next Zombies, Zombies, ALWAYS ZOMBIES episode ready for y’all! (Start from the beginning here, or reach the previous episode here.) The zombie apocalypse is a lot bigger than people would have thought at a glance. And I’m gonna have A LOT of fun diving into that. I apologize in advance.

ZOMBIES, ZOMBIES, ALWAYS ZOMBIES!

A Zomberry Series

Episode Eleven: AHHHH!

They were back. Back at Time Tangled Island. Their attempt to fix the past was in vain. The zombies were still there, hanging around, wandering around aimlessly.

Birdy, Hawk, Stone, and Pick didn’t appear inside the lab. They didn’t appear outside by the door either. They appeared on the roof of the half-destroyed Party Time Tower with no way to get down. How convenient.

Stone looked out at the vast field of zombies stumbling around the rubble, disappointed.

Stone

It didn’t work. We didn’t fix this from happening.

Clumsy Bird

Oh. Well, that’s okay! We may not be able to fix the past, but we can try to fix the future, right?!

Toothpick

I guess we could. But how do we solve this—this zombie apocalypse?

They all thought for a moment. Hawk paced the small area on the roof. Witty Toothpick fidgeted with his Rubik’s cube, determinedly not looking at the ground far, far, below. Birdy bounced on her heels. And Icy Stone looked out at the horizon.

The silence was broken by Hawk, who seemed to have realized something.

Hawk

What if the zombie apocalypse wasn’t an accident?

Stone

What do you mean?

Hawk

What if someone intentionally turned most of Poptropica into zombies?

Birdy

Why would they want to do that?

Hawk

I’m not sure.

A few seconds of thoughtful silence.

Hawk

What if they could control the zombies? You saw the zombies when they came after us, they were… different. They walked with a purpose. Somehow I don’t think all this is your everyday zombie apocalypse. There’s more to it. There has to be.

Birdy

Maybe so… But before we think all pensively about that, we should get off this roof first, before Pick has a panic attack.

Hawk and Stone glanced over at Pick who was looking, white-faced, at the edge.

Pick

I’m not going to have a panic attack.

Birdy

Sure you aren’t! Seriously though, we should get down from here, I don’t think it’s stable.

Pick

Yeah, it’s not stable. It could break any second.

Hawk

But how do we get down? There’s no rope or anything—

Stone

Wait— how did Time Tangled become like this, all wrecked and broken? What caused it?

A tremor made the tower wobble and Pick screamed a high-pitched scream.

Birdy

Dude. It’s fine. Get up.

Pick

Sorry…

A drone in the distance was buzzing. Watching them stumble at the tower shook again.

Miles away, on that secret island, Agent Thorn was reviewing several screens in a room. They all had footage from the drones. Most drone footage was of zombies, a handful of them raiding a school bus, another handful defacing a building at Game Show Island. A trio wandering around a shop by a pirate ship, knocking random items into bags.

And on the biggest screen were the four friends on the broken roof.

Agent Thorn noticed them, but didn’t seem to mind too much, until she casually pressed a button and spoke into it.

Agent Thorn

All zombies on Time Tangled Island, attack the four humans on the Party Time Tower. Do not hurt them, simply bring them to the edge of the island, where I will pick them up. 

When she lifted her finger from the speaking button, back on Time Tangled Island, all zombies turned their heads in unison to look at the tower.

Birdy

THE WHAT.

Hawk

What happened—OH MY GOSH!

Toothpick

Uh, guys…

Stone

Hawk, I think your theory is pretty dang accurate. 

Toothpick

Oh no. Oh nooo…

The zombies were marching over to the tower. The drone zipped away to watch from a little more of a distance.

Birdy

GUYS WHAT DO WE DO?

Hawk

I DON’T KNOW!

Stone

CALM DOWN WE CAN FIGURE THIS OUT!

The zombies were now pounding against the tower, trying to climb up it. It was now wobbling dangerously. Great chunks of concrete were being removed from the tower’s base.

Back in the room with security camera footage, Agent Thorn was watching the footage of the Party Time Tower like it was a movie. Entertained, she didn’t pay attention to the other footage. The camera recording the trio of zombies by the pirate ship had gone out.

The tower was now dangerously rocking as the zombies pushed it back and forth like the ocean waves. To add to the nervousness and shouts of the four friends, a crack was forming on the tower’s roof, getting bigger and bigger.

Birdy

I COULD USE SOME YARN MAYBE AND—

Toothpick

IF WE FIND A WAY DOWN, WE DIE, IF WE STAY HERE, WE DIE! AHHHHHH!

Hawk

WHAT CAN I DO?

Stone

STOP YELLING EVERYONE THERE MIGHT BE A WAY OUT OF THIS!

The crack was now big enough so it split the tower in two. The two sides were moving apart, at a pace not noticeable right away in the chaos, but quick enough so it was something to worry about.

Pick was alone, on one half, and the others were on the other side.

Birdy

Toothpick!

Toothpick

GUYS!

Hawk

Toothpick! Can you reach?

Toothpick reached out for Hawk’s outstretched hand, much like a few days previously. But the tower halves were moving apart too fast. Pick reached out, but lost his balance and nearly fell into the chasm. 

Toothpick

I can’t!

The zombies were now climbing the tower quicker than anyone would have predicted. It seemed all hope was lost…

Almost. Something parted the clouds, something large and flying. It was… a pirate ship?

Yes, a flying pirate ship was coming out of the distance over Time Tangled Island. Whoever was flying it seemed to have noticed the commotion on the Party Time Tower. The ship jerked down and hovered over the tower. 

Three zombies seemed to be flying it together, except they weren’t zombies. One of the zombies, with medium height and an orange T-shirt, took off his sunglasses. The four below saw that his eyes were normal.

Fast Lizard (Orange T-shirt)

Ahoy! Need some help?

Hawk

YES! PLEASE!

Lizard

Hey, they need some help!

The shortest zombie came over with a rope ladder and threw it over. The loud engine sputtered, and for a moment Hawk thought it was going to crash on them, but it didn’t.

Lizard 

Throw it down to ‘em, Dragon! Come on, those zombies are moving fast!

Fearless Dragon threw the rope ladder down.

The person at the wheel (calling down to them)

Hurry up! I’m not sure how long we can stay hovering!

Stone and Hawk climbed up. Birdy followed.

Birdy

Toothpick, come on!

Toothpick grabbed the rope ladder and started climbing, but the engine sputtered again. The pirate ship dropped several feet in the sky, and Toothpick fell off. Then the pirate ship rose higher than before into the air, so Toothpick could just barely reach the end of the rope ladder.

The zombies were now nearing the top of the tower.

Agent Thorn left the room full of cameras, still keeping track of the events taking place on Time Tangled using a small tablet, where she could pilot the drone. She was walking to a black helicopter.

Toothpick couldn’t reach the rope ladder, although he jumped and tried. The flying pirate ship was already too low in the sky. It either had to land soon or get out of there, otherwise the engine would give out.

Dragon

Come on! You can reach it!

And Toothpick did reach it, and managed to climb up enough to throw his backpack over and start climbing over the edge of the gunwale of the ship.

But Agent Thorn’s helicopter had already arrived. A taser zapped the side of the ship, causing anyone who was holding or touching it to let go at once. This meant that a shocked Pick fell yet again, but this time there was no more climbing back up. The flying pirate ship had to get out of there, before Agent Thorn got them all.

Clumsy Bird

Pick! We’ll come back, okay?!

Pick

OKAY!! IT’S FINE! 

Hawk

Can you climb up again real quick— I mean we have to fi—

Pilot

Guys, we have to get out of here now.

Stone

But— fine! Fine!

Pick

You’ll come back, okay?

Pick was looking around, terrified. Due to the electric shock, the zombies had fallen back. 

Pick (continued)

Okay?

Birdy

Okay! We’ll see you later!

Hawk

Sorry! We’ll be back!

Pick

It’s fine! Just get out of here!

With a few sad waves exchanged, the ship flew higher and higher into the sky, farther and farther away from Toothpick, alone on top of the broken tower, a black helicopter coming nearer. The pirate ship, motor humming, sailed through the clouds and through the star-splattered night sky. 

TO BE CONTINUED

---

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.

The Poptropica Help Blog welcomes interesting Poptropica insights from anyone in the Poptropica community with thoughts to share. Interested in writing for the PHB? We’d love to hear from you!