Hey Poptropicans, this is a guest post by Magic Kid. Enjoy!
Howdy! I have randomly appeared yet again with another episode in: Zombies, Zombies, ALWAYS ZOMBIES!
Alrighty, if you’re new here and wanna start from the beginning, reach the very first episode here. But if you just need to catch the last one, you can read the previous one here!
As I planned for this story to have around 20 episodes, we’re nearing its end. I’d advise you to sit back and enjoy this while you can! Maybe get some snacks— not a blueberry smoothie, of course! XD
ZOMBIES, ZOMBIES, ALWAYS ZOMBIES!
A Zomberry Series
Episode Nineteen: Cheese and Crackers
Toothpick was at a desk, sorting files. The monotonous task of it seemed even more so with his almost robot-like movements.
He was in a large room with white walls, bright lights, and a small field of desks. Nearly every desk had some sort of half-zombied workers doing something, whether it was typing away at a keyboard, keeping an eye on the live recording of survivors, or some other form of service to Mr. Gambit’s (formerly known as Samuel Brains, in case you missed that episode) Zomberry empire.
They were all as busy as bees.
Worker 1
Finished scanning files A-C! Will now scan files D-G!
Worker 2
Halfway through the task!
Well, they were all as busy as mind-controlled and half-zombied bees.
The files that Toothpick was sorting were all sorts of random documents and folders, one with statistics, one about finance, one about the locations picked to plant the blueberry smoothie machines. Each one was pretty interesting and/or out of date.
But this boring, seemingly uninteresting situation is about to get a little more compelling.
The double-doors banged open. The few workers who glanced up saw Agent Thorn (aka Anita) walking briskly through a row of desks.
She walked past the desks near a small table in the back, where she stopped and turned around. No one was looking at what she was doing. Good.
She glanced up at the security cameras, and adjusted her position right to its blind spot. Also good.
And then quickly, smoothly, she uncapped a large vial of the sunshiney-colored antidote and poured it into the vat of coffee for all the half-zombies working there. Very good.
And then Anita importantly began to make her way out of the building, but someone stopped her before she could get far.
Toothpick
Hey! What did you do over there?
Anita
What do you mean?
Toothpick
With the coffee! I saw you put something in it!
Anita (laughs)
But I didn’t? Please have respect for your superiors, how illogical of you to assume I did something with the coffee!
Toothpick
Yes, ma’am, sorry.
Anita
Go back to what you were doing.
Toothpick
Yes ma’am.
And so Toothpick marched back to his desk. Anita was relieved that being semi-zombies must mess up clear thinking, otherwise the whole plan might have been compromised.
She sighed with relief, and walked briskly out of the large office and onto the dark grounds before anyone else could stop her. The plan was in motion, now to call for some backup.
She pulled out her phone and texted an unnamed number. The message read: BE READY
Meanwhile in the prison, all the prisoners were lively with chatter. The guards had been reposted for a few hours, so everyone took it as an opportunity to have a bit of fun without being yelled at.
The trio across from our three main characters were blasting music, cheering on the survivors displayed on the monitor at the end of the hall.
Hawk, Stone, and Birdy were getting to know others in the prison better.
Near their cell (beside the chaotic trio across from them) was Amelia, some cosplayers from PoptropiCon, and Charlie from 24 Carrot Island.
Amelia
It’s nice to have this time without the guards scowling at us!
Cosplayer (Pinata Man)
Aye! It’s very nice!
Charlie
Feels almost like hanging out back at my shop!
Cosplayer (Wizard)
Aaaaan’ I got some snacks to top things off, if you guys want any!
He passed around some energy drinks, as well as a take-out box of cheese and crackers from the previous lunch.
Birdy (reaching through the bars for a cracker)
Ooh! Thanks!
Down the hall, Jeff said something to a couple of zombies whom he kept on some kind of leash. Jeff always seemed to look after them, which was a little odd, but everyone in the prison assumed they were friends or family. His voice was hardly audible in all the noise: “It’s okay, guys! We’re going to go save Poptropica from this, come on! There might even be a way to get you back to being a human!”
The zombies groaned in response.
The Wizard held out the cracker box to anyone who could reach it.
Wizard
PASS IT AROUND!
The chaotic trio from across the cell that was blasting music cheered as the cracker box got passed to them.
Fast Lizard
DIBS ON THAT LAST CHEDDAR SLICE!
Fearless Dragon
NO IT’S MINE I’M HOLDING IT!
Magic Kid (pointing at the screen down the hall)
OH LOOK JEFF DISABLED HIS CAMERA!
Lizard and Dragon immediately looked down the hall to see that, yes, the person they had named Jeff broke the camera that had been recording him.
They cheered while Magic quickly snatched the cheese slice.
Lizard and Dragon
HEY!!
There was a brief squabble over the cheese slice, where it got torn in three pieces. The fight stopped, and the three shrugged. They each ate their bit of the slice as a form of peace.
The box got passed back to the Wizard.
Wizard
‘Tis good that “Jeff” doesn’t have anyone here watching him anymore! Who knows, he could save us!
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Amelia
Very good, indeed!
Everyone cheered again.
Toothpick was at his desk, but he wasn’t working. He was staring at the Rubik’s cube on his desk.
He wasn’t quite sure why he was doing that. It didn’t look particularly special; it was very worn and used, and the colors were a bit faded.
But it was familiar. Very familiar. Toothpick couldn’t remember…
The coffee must have been spiked with something, why else would his brain feel so fuzzy? Why did he let Agent Thorn get away with that? He should report her— but Pick was unsure.
Every time he looked at someone, whether it was a fellow worker, or a random zombie being transported somewhere, it gave him extreme deja vu. So he just kept his head down, hoping things would go back to normal. Everything was very weird.
Someone tapped his desk and he looked up.
Agent Thorn
Would you please take this letter to Cell A7?
She set the letter on top of his stack of papers.
Pick
Why?
Was Toothpick imagining it or did Agent Thorn look briefly pleased? Whatever expression she had was immediately covered with annoyance.
Agent Thorn
Do as you’re told!
She walked back out of the large office, leaving Toothpick with more questions and a headache.
He looked down at the arms of his chair and was, for some reason, surprised not to see cuffs locking his hands in place.
WHY DID THIS KEEP HAPPENING?
He shook off that odd feeling again, got up from his chair, and picked up the letter.
The letter envelope was slightly heavier than a piece of paper, so it must have had something else inside it as well. He resisted the temptation to open it, however, and walked briskly out of the office onto the dark, mysterious grounds.
As he walked, he noticed a zombie being transported to another building in a small cell on wheels. The Poptropican had a large, grandly silly top hat, and a goofy bowtie. He looked VERY familiar.
Toothpick kept his head down for the rest of the walk.
As he reached the place where the un-zombied prisoners were held, he tugged at the stiff collar of his suit. It was very uncomfortable. Why was he even in a suit in the first place?
He went down the stairs to the sounds of “shhh” and “turn it off!!” and “someone’s coming!!” echoing from below.
Once he was down the stairs, Toothpick made a beeline to cell A7 and held out the letter without looking up.
Toothpick
I’m supposed to give this to you.
Someone took the letter from him and Toothpick started to back away.
Stone
It’s from Anita!!
Birdy
Woah! That’s cool! Hold up— what’s inside?
Hawk
OOh! Read it—
All three of those voices sounded very, very familiar to Toothpick, but as always, he couldn’t quite figure out who—
He couldn’t take it anymore. He looked up at Hawk, Stone, and Birdy, huddled around the letter.
And then he remembered everything.
Witty Toothpick
Cheese and crackers!!
TO BE CONTINUED
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA
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!
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CHEESE AND CRACKERS MAGIC KID! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN WITH THE BEFORE LAST EPISODE? I WAS RUNNING AROUND LIKE LITTERAL CRAZY!
I am so relieved (Ok fine, you caught me. A bit too relieved) that you released the next episode of the fanfic, but I’m also sad that it had to end so soon T^T. *Me mourning its near death for the next couple of hours*
Fun fact: The queen bee of the hive emits chemicals that basically controls the bees by her will (Maybe Samuel Brains is the king? 🧐). So you chose the right expression there, M.K 👍🏻. I know I said it and I’ll say it again: You have a creativity that surpasses my level, dear friend. And you’re not [almost] ordinary to have this amount of imagination. You are ✨EXTRA UNORDINARY✨(In a good way)
Keep buzzing that finale, Kid. I know it’s gonna be a good one. And here’s the extra popcorn in case we run out 🍿.
Thank you so much, Silver Fox! I’m excited (and kinda sad heh) to be nearing the end! Hopefully it’ll be as great as you imagined! :]
Oh trust me Kid,
It’ll be better
And I know it.
(Funny story: I was at my mum’s pastry shop helping her when someone ordered a blueberry smoothie. I thought “Oh cheese and crackers, she’s going to turn into a zombie!” She didn’t thankfully, but who knows when she’ll turn into one? No one knows…😶🌫️)
We’re almost to the end hwjeheiene OMG, I’ve been with this story since the beginning! Keep up the good work!
Thank you so much, Heart!! 😀