Warning: The following contains violence, coarse language, and excessive amounts of awesomeness. Please prepare your mind for blowing.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Devi and Tenna pant heavily as they stop running when they reach an intersection in the hallway. They can either go straight or turn left. They look in both directions as they try to decide.
"Which way do you think?" Devi asks.
"Um," Tenna muses.
"Keep in mind if we go the wrong way and have to double back, we'll waste a lot of time," she points out.
"Yeah," Tenna nods, "let's go left."
They turn down the left hallway and race towards a destination. Meanwhile, at the end of the other hallway, a fierce battle is being fought between Zoli and Johnny.
Their blades constantly clash, sending sparks flying in all directions. At first glance it looks like Zoli has the upper hand since Johnny is injured and bleeding. But he strikes with such ferocity that his injuries aren't even a variable. They seem equal in skill and strength.
"This fight could go on forever," Shmee mutters, "we should do something. I could fight too."
"No," Squee states, "this isn't our battle to fight."
"...right," Shmee nods.
Johnny growls as his blades collide with Zoli's for the umpteenth time. This is getting old fast. She doesn't have the same range as her scythe, but with those knives our skills seem pretty much equal. If I want to beat her, I may have to get a bit... creative.
He starts to swipe at her chest with his right knife. She tries to block but Johnny suddenly angles his arm so instead of their blades clashing, her knife jabs into his wrist. He takes advantage of this and swings his left knife at her left side, her unprotected side. Zoli lets go of the knife and tries to jump back to dodge, but she's too slow and he successfully leaves a deep cut on her left shoulder. Dark red blood sprays from the wound.
She recoils in pain and looks at Johnny with surprise. He grunts in pain as he tears her knife out of his wrist and tosses it across the room.
"That-that could have stabbed through a major artery," she says with disbelief, "you should be in crippling pain right now."
"Yeah, how odd," Johnny muses. He lifts his knives and smirks at her. "You're welcome to try again."
Zoli growls, "don't get cocky."
She drops her other knife and takes a large machete out of her jacket. She charges him and swings. Johnny sort of sways to the right to avoid a fatal hit and instead allows her to cut his left arm. Once she's close enough, he swings his left knife and stabs her in the gut. She gasps in pain and stumbles back.
Johnny smirks. He lifts both of his knives and begins slicing her, quickly and mercilessly. The cuts aren't fatal but they sting like hell. Zoli isn't able to fight back. She drops her machete and stumbles back by the force of each attack. Johnny follows her, his grin growing as Zoli's discoloured blood sprays in every direction. He finally stops when she's backed up against a wall. Then he places one blade against her throat and leans in so their faces are only inches apart.
"Game over."
Meanwhile Devi and Tenna race angrily back to the intersection. They quickly turn left, down the hallway leading to Johnny and the others.
"There weren't even any doors that way!" Devi barks, "what was the point of it?"
"I should've known that was the wrong way," Tenna sighs, "my instincts must be rusty."
"It doesn't matter. At least now we know this must be the right way," Devi says.
"You're right. Look, goons," Tenna smirks as Edgar, Jimmy, Krik, and Dillon come into view.
"Hey, look! There's the rest of the group," Dillon exclaims.
"We can't let a couple of chicks get past us," Jimmy growls.
Devi snarls. She jumps into the air and high kicks Jimmy right in his chin, sending him flying a few feet down the hall. She lands in a crouch and immediately continues running, stepping on his crotch along the way.
Tenna smiles cheerfully as she runs by the other zombies. "See you, guys."
Edgar, Krik, and Dillon watch with slack jaws as the girls race down the hall, while Jimmy groans in pain on the floor.
Back in the room, Zoli scoffs at Johnny. "Game over? Not for me. I won't lose."
Her right hand trails up to her neck, where she grips the upside down cross on her choker. "I can't lose."
Johnny doesn't notice her left hand disappear into her jacket. He does however recognize that faint, metallic click.
Devi and Tenna smile with relief when they see a doorway ahead and begin to slow down. Squee's eyes widen with fear as Zoli pulls a certain metal weapon out of her jacket. Johnny tries to step back, to escape, but he's too slow.
Devi and Tenna appear in the doorway. Shmee suddenly jumps up to Squee's head and covers his eyes. Zoli points a handgun at Johnny's forehead.
She pulls the trigger.
Everything seems to move in slow motion. Squee's hands shoot up to cover his ears as the sound of the gunshot bounces off the walls. Blood sprays out of the hole in Johnny's forehead as his body plummets to the ground, his knives closely following. Devi and Tenna's eyes slowly widen as it all unfolds before them.
Once everything has quieted down, Squee's trembling hands slowly take Shmee off his head. He opens his eyes and the first thing he sees is Johnny's unmoving body and a puddle of blood, slowly being fed by the trickle running from his head and over his face.
"Nny?" he squeaks pitifully. He swallows hard and says it a little louder. "Nny? Johnny!"
No matter how many times he calls his name, Johnny doesn't respond. Not even a twitch. Tears rush down Squee's face as he hugs Shmee to his chest and stares at Johnny's body.
"No way," Tenna whimpers, "did-did that really just happen?"
"Johnny!" Devi shouts. The only thing keeping her from running in is the person that caused all this.
Zoli pants as she lowers her gun and stares at Johnny's unmoving body. She slips the gun back into her jacket and sighs.
"Ah, I didn't mean to kill him. I could get in big trouble for this," she groans. Then her burning red eyes fall on Squee. "Well, maybe I'll be forgiven if I hand you over."
Long, black tendrils suddenly grow out of her back and lash around angrily. Squee flinches when Zoli steps forward. The tendrils suddenly stop moving and point right at him.
"The Nightmare hungers," she purrs.
Squee can't move. His brain is shouting at him to run, but his body won't listen. An ugly smirk appears on Zoli's face as she steps around Johnny and strides over to him.
Devi and Tenna watch it all from the doorway. But they can't move either. They can only stare in fear at Zoli and the Nightmare's appendages.
