The Jade City

Chapter 4: The Graveyard, Part I

*Trigger warning: there are some graphic descriptions of zombies and a little bit of blood if you guys don't like those. I would put asterisks around the parts but they're kinda sprinkled in everywhere so... :/*

Harumi's POV

I caught Ruby as she fainted.

The scabbed hand, with its grayish-green skin partially peeling off, dug its fingers into the dirt as another came up. At the same time, several others burst out from the ground, one only inches away from Jay's feet. The Lightning Ninja let out a shriek and ran behind everyone else, dragging Nya as he went. Kai laughed, just as several bony fingers grabbed his ankle and wrenched him down onto the ground. His fire extinguished, and he screamed even after Morro stomped down on the hand and Cole and Zane had pulled him up.

Rock-cracking sounds continued to echo around the graveyard nonstop. I smelled some sort of putrid stank that smelled like rotten eggs mixed with raw fish and wanted to gag. Kai was now shakily on his feet again, but he didn't look like he was in any shape to fight, which I figured we were gonna have to do soon. Cole stood his ground as he rummaged through his bag and pulled out a fruit knife, looking visibly distraught. I felt a hand squeeze my shoulder then turned and realized it belonged to Lloyd. Zane hastily shoved his maps into his bag, pulled out a cleaver, and stuck it out in front of him, his head turned slightly to the side.

Knowing that I couldn't go on with the weight of my sister, I dragged her over to the side so that she'd be safe. I drew a sword from my bag (earlier Cole had triple-checked to make sure everyone had weapons and the Ninja gave Ruby and me several upon hearing that we had none) and got in a fighting position. Aside from myself, Morro was the only person who wasn't trembling with fear. We'd both been in Ninjago and had had our fair share of villains, both being ex-evildoers, after all.

By now the heads were beginning to emerge. Some of them had an empty eye socket while others had cracked eyeballs. Stringy hair stuck to their scalp, if they even had one. There were plenty of them who didn't have any skin on their face at all. Worms crawled out of the skulls, which were covered in a layer of mold and grime. Their teeth were jagged and rotten, and I knew at once that they were zombies.

The bodies came after the heads. Some of their skin was peeled off the way their faces had been. Ragged clothes were draped carelessly over their shoulders and waist. They held weapons of all sorts, from katanas to tree branches. If they looked better, the Ninja probably wouldn't be frozen on the spot in fear, since the zombies' movements were anything but menacing. I held out my sword before me and prepared for combat.

The corpses began to stumble out of their graves, with their knees bent at odd angles and their bony hands reaching out towards us.

"Use your powers!" Morro shouted as I sprang into action.

As I severed bones and limbs, I glanced back every few seconds and saw the Ninja's feeble attempts at summoning their powers. Jay and Lloyd could only form several sparks and Kai couldn't even conjure a flame as big as the one he had easily created earlier. Meanwhile Cole refused to touch the dirt, and Zane was still waving his cleaver around, stopping abruptly at times in fear of hitting one of the others. Nya struggled to draw moisture out of the air, barely able to produce a water ball as big as her fist.

"You can do it!" I said, trying to sound loud and encouraging at the same time. And just as I turned around to see their progress, a rock slammed itself into my forehead.

"Take her."

Then I passed out. For the millionth time.

Lloyd's POV