Maizen: Return of the Zombies

Chapter 3

"The dispensers will kill them!" Mikey tried to be optimistic. "Right?"

"I doubt it." JJ mumbled, keeping to himself on the edge of the bed. "If that village and their weapons couldn't beat them, then some measly arrows won't either."

Mikey didn't talk after that. He had already asked about the wall itself, and JJ had assumed that they could climb. After all, they had gotten past them and ravaged an entire village, despite their walls being the strongest out of all the others.

It really was completely hopeless.

"So... does that mean..." Mikey said, sounding small. "We're gonna die? All of us?"

In an instant, JJ's heart started to ache. Mikey was usually the optimistic one when they were together, and hearing him sound like this felt like a kick to the chest.

He wanted to say something reassuring, but he'd be lying if he did. Besides, it was better to face reality than rely on false hope.

But even with that, JJ couldn't find any words to say. He felt numb, knowing he would die in his own village, and more likely than not, his own house. He'd always wanted to die doing something great, but it seemed that that wouldn't possible. Not anymore.

"I... don't know." JJ responded at last. That was all he could say. Mikey layed down on his side of the bed, and didn't ask anymore questions. What was there left to ask, anyway?

"At least I'll get to die with you." Mikey said, after a moment of silence.

The words edged into JJ's mind. Suddenly, he imagined him and Mikey, sitting inside their now ravaged and burning house, bleeding out from an attack. Just dying, and eventually becoming mindless, physcopathic infected. That was their fate. To just die, and then turn.

JJ suddenly stood up. No. He couldn't die like that. He couldn't.

"JJ? What are you doing?" Mikey asked, sounding weak; most likely from his miserable thoughts about death.

"Even if we are going to die..." JJ said, still shaken by the fact that that was still his inescapable fate. "We need to die with purpose. We need to go out being our best."

"What do you mean?" Mikey asked, as JJ started climbing the ladder that led to the roof. He followed close behind.

JJ accessed the chest that was placed up there. It contained weapons. Strong weapons, in fact... overpowered ones. Those were JJ's specialty.

Despite the power he had, JJ knew they probably won't help when it came to defeating the zombie horde. But, nonetheless, JJ knew exactly how he wanted to die. Fighting for his village, and giving it his all. And he wanted Mikey to do the same.

JJ took out an extra laser gun. Mikey, meanwhile, was confused as he showed it to him.

"What I mean is... we need to die fighting for this village. We have to try fighting off the zombies as long as we can, even if we won't win." JJ said, and dropped the laser gun for Mikey to take.

However, Mikey seemed more excited at the fact that he was able to have one of JJ's cool weapons.

"You're right!" Mikey exclaimed. "As soon as the zombies come, we'll fight them all! We might even win!"

There's the attitude that JJ liked. Even though he knew, deep down, they would probably die- it was better to die like this than to bleed out alone with no purpose. They were about to go out doing something great.

-

Now, it was nightfall. JJ and Mikey were observing from the roof waiting for the zombies to arrive. They should have a long time ago, but that was when JJ realized that zombies walked nearly twice as slow as a regular person.