Maizen: Return of the Zombies

Chapter 8

"Bob? Bob! Open up, it's an emergency!"

At first JJ thought he wasn't home, but that was when they saw the flashing lights from the tv. He was definitely in there, presumably with his family, so why wasn't he answering?

"That's strange," Mary commented. "Bob always answers the door. Oh well, I guess I'll have to break in again."

"I bet it's that damn tv." Will guessed. "It's turned up loud, so I'd assume it's something important. But then again, he has a kid, so it might just be some dumb cartoon."

"Let's find out." JJ said, and he and Mary spied through the window. Bob and his family were gathered around the tv, watching a breaking news broadcast urgently. The kid didn't understand what was happening, but Bob and his wife sure did.

JJ looked closer to see what was being broadcasted, when suddenly, he saw pictures of him and Mikey on the screen.

"That's it. I'm coming in." Mary said, and attempted to unlock the window. It was locked. "This is so weird! Why is Bob being so cautious and locking everything? Why's that that dumb station so important?"

"Because it's about me..." JJ explained. "And Mikey. They found out we escaped, and now they're telling everyone about it."

"Well that just adds to why we need to get inside." Mary retorted. "Now everyone will be in the hunt for you guys!"

Despite wanting to break in, Mary eventually gave up and just knocked on the window. Bob's wife came and looked out, but the moment she saw JJ, she instantly shut the curtains.

"How much you wanna bet she's about to call the authorities on you?" Mary asked.

"None, because she definitely is..." JJ sighed in defeat.

"Okay then. Maybe Bob would've helped us, but now that his wife is calling the cops, we should probably run."

"To where? The whole village is about to be searching for me and Mikey in just a few moments." JJ pointed out.

"Who said they'd find you guys?" Mary asked, having a devious smirk. "Don't you remember how good I was at navigating through the vents? Nobody else in the village knows how to do that."

"You're right!" JJ realized. "Mary, do any of the vents lead outside? So we can escape?"

"Maybe. I haven't tried escaping that way before; I usually just leave the normal way. But unfortunately, the normal way is stock full of guards." Mary said, realizing the fatal flaw in her plan as she went on. They could end up getting lost trying to find an escape route.

Suddenly, the door swung open. Bob stood outside and started beckoning everyone inside.

"Hurry, the patrols are coming!" He sounded pretty desperate, and remembering his wife's reaction to seeing them outside their house earlier, it was kind of ironic to see her husband making an effort to protect them.

"Patrols?" JJ asked. Just then, he saw tons of guards starting to line up in the center of the platform.

"Eeek!" Mikey squealed, and darted inside the house. JJ watched with resentment as the commander got out a megaphone, but he was eventually forced inside by Mary. The door was closed silently behind them to avoid drawing any attention, and Bob watched what was going on outside closely. The news was broadcasting exactly what was going on outside, so nobody else had to risk looking out the window.

Mikey hid in a corner. But then, Bob's kid came up to him and fell on top of him, and they started play fighting to distract themselves. Thankfully, Mikey was good with kids, so he knew how careful to be.