Horsehair Worm

[Ben Brown]

"Ok, let's go. I saw the wave: it's a friggin zombie tsunami. Too much for us. Avery, we are going now, a or no more cocoa for you" Dunder threatened. "I say we move to the city." Dunder suggested on the way to the truck. "That was my plan anyway. But we should split up. I will explain on the way." Everyone hopped in the vehicle, Caulin offered to drive, and Dunder continued explaining his plan. "Me and Avery will set up camp on one side of the city, the rest can be on the other, we will occasionally visit each other, and stay in contact, but if we are apart, it will be easier to move, and easier to stay hidden. I know it will be better this way." "You just want to be alone with Avery" Gavin joked. And Dunder didn't acknowledge him. "All in favor say I" Dunder continued. Caulin, Ali, and Hailey said "I" and Gavin said "Nope". "Avery?" Dunder asked. "How 'bout you?"

 

[DegagetheAvianDragon]

"Aye Aye capn." Avrey answered, throwing a salute. "Alright, when will we meet, and what will we do once we're in the city." Avrey asked.

 

[Ben Brown]

"Well, I was thinking we could just check on each other every once in a while, and as for what we would do.... well, work on a cure, scavenge around, find survivors, the usual. Let's head there." As they arrived at Dunder and Avery's side of the city, Dunder and Avery hopped off. "See you before sundown!" Dunder yelled. "Now let's go set up camp."

 

[DegagetheAvianDragon]

"Suuuure....Sundowwwwn." Avrey mumbled, not so sure. He made sure they were gone before he chose to speak again. "No, Funded, I meant...What can we do...as buddies...or whatever?"

 

[Ben Brown]

"Ummmm... First things first. Let's find a camp. I think on top of a building would be optimal position for sniping things... and lookout... and hiding... what do you think?"

 

[DegagetheAvianDragon]

Avrey sighed in frustration. "Not...what I meant. But WHATEVER let's just..do...something I guess."

 

[Ben Brown]

"Once we settle down we can cuddle again. Then we should go- or I shold go- visit the others for a bit. But right now, we should go find a building. How about that one?" Dunder pointed to a tall, but not too tall building, made out of concrete. He could see where stairs came up to the top from the ground. "I think I could call this home. Let's go." Dunder notched an arrow, and walked into the building. They only encountered one zombie on the way, which he easily shot and killed. When they reached the top, they found a large flat area, with a lip that went up to about Dunder's waist. "Perfect" he said as he pulled out the tent, and started setting it up.

 

[DegagetheAvianDragon]

Avrey unpacked supplies, bored. "Since when did we have so much bloody stuff?" He asked, pulling out various assortments of junk and generally useless things. "Like...this...this...this...thhiiissss..." He listed items, then threw them over the lip of the building. He found a case shaped like a large rectangle, that had a heavy weight to it, and rattled loudly. "Oh...wait...is this the.." He opened the case, and pulled out a long rifle, sleek and cold. It had veins of blue pulsing through it, that shimmered and glowed faintly. "What..when...did we find this..." He asked, looking all around it. He found etchings on the side of the rifle. He frowned slightly.

Find the source...



​

 

[Ben Brown]

"Stop throwing stuff over the edg- noooo!" Dunder's vision seemed to be in slo motion as he watched a very fragile piece of equippment- his first invention- which 3d printed arrows for him. He had no idea how it got into Avery's pack, but without thinking twice, Dunder leaped over the edge of the building. "Oh, $#!+" he said as he realized he was plummeting to his death. When he hit the ground, he tried his best to tuck and roll, but he heard a few things go "snap," and then lost conciousness.

 

[DegagetheAvianDragon]

Avrey screamed as Dunder jumped off the ledge and jumped after him. Hooking a parachute with his foot, he threw it on mid flight, and reached for Dunder midfall, but couldn't grasp him. He pulled the pin, and descent slowly beside Dunder, throwing the parachute away, and checked for a pulse. It was faint, but there. He scooped Dunder up carefully, and hurried him back to the building. Normally, he wouldn't of been going so fast, but just moments ago, where he had once been, was now inhabited by a small horde of zombies. He wheezed, grabbed the pulsing blue rifle, and knelt over the ledge. Zombies scrambled at the walls, unable to get up while Avrey fired shot after shot after shot into each one, a quiet hum buzzed through the rifle, followed by a momentous "sssss." Finally, all was silent. He glanced around, looking for anything more of an immediate threat. He sighed with relief when none were shown.


Then he turned around. A hooded figure, showing no skin, completely cloaked in a familiar sort of clothing. "Avian, Your time has come..." It growled. It whipped out two schimitars, seemingly from out of nowhere, and lept at Avrey, launching into the air with extreme grace. Using his quick reflexes, Avrey dashed and slid under the figure, who crashed down, schimitars in the ground right were Avrey had been literally seconds ago. The figure yelled as he yanked a schimitar out of the ground, and in the small amount of time, Avrey managed to grab his spear. He and the figure charged at eachother quickly, colliding weapons, a ting rang through the air. Avrey tried to catch of the attacker, but couldn't make anything out. Avrey twirled his spear under his foe, but the thing managed to grab Avrey's spear arm with one of it's...talons...and sent Avrey twirling sideways into the ground. Four deep wounds had been put into Avrey's arms, but the pain infuriated him like no other. Before he knew it, he was fighting the target without a weapon, and winning. He fought with a sort od...unequalled passion, and in a flurry of feathers, spun around, ducked under his opponent, disarmed both swords, and held them to his neck. The figure submit, putting it's hands up. "Who...Are you..." Avrey rasped, pressing the swords tighter against its neck. He pulled back the hood and spun the person to face Avrey. It was an Avian.

 

[DegagetheAvianDragon]

"Wait...Oh dear...I think they fooouuund meeee..." Avrey mumbled. He grabbed a rope coil and begun tying the Avian up. It lashed out once with it's talons, but Avrey expected it, pulling the rope tight and moving aside. He sighed when he was finished, leaving the bird in a rope heap on the floor. It didn't move. His arm stung, still bleeding. He looked over at Dunder. "Why do you have to do stupid things like that..."

 

[Ben Brown]

Some time later, Dunder woke up. He groaned. Everything hurt. From his head, to his toes, literally. He had been bleeding from his head, although it was bandaged up now. And he couldn't move his legs. In addition to that, his spine hurt, and he felt like vomiting. His eyes flitted open, and he saw Avery. "You- you saved my life. Thank you." Dunder said weakly. Then he noticed that Avery's hand was bandaged up, and some blood was seeping through. No, it couldn't be. That was just a dream. It wasn't real was it? "Avery... while I was knocked out... we didn't encounter any strange figures- did we? And by the way, where are we?"

 

[DegagetheAvianDragon]

"Uhm...Yes strange figures...aaaand...we're probably in hell. Probably." Avrey smirked, looking over. He had camped out, waiting to see Avrey's condition before making a verdict on any sort of plan. "How ya feeling?" He asked, offering a mug of cocoa he was sipping.

 

[Ben Brown]

"No, thanks, I will probably just spew brown liquid from my face if I drink any of that. I hurt everywhere, and I can't move my... well, my anything, besides my head and face. So, you said strange figures, what is going on?"

 

[DegagetheAvianDragon]

Avrey sighed. "Dunder...I can...Tell you everything later...But, right now, I can't really explain. What do you need me to do..?" Avrey sipped his cocoa, staring at the tied up figure. "It's...pretty bad as it is...but...I probably need you."

 

[Ben Brown]

"A wheelchair. I am a ranged weapon, so a wheelchair would be OK. I just need to move my arms... What do you need me to do? I think I could move my arms." Dunder tried, and let out a yell of pain. "This is gonna take a while to heal. If I move my spine, I may cause further damage. I'm no doctor, but I'm in pretty lousy phisical condition. So, what do you need me to do?"

 

[DegagetheAvianDragon]

"I need you...to trust me." Avrey said, nodding. "I can...just stay." He grinned. "And watch, if your ready to have your mind blown..." He stood on the ledge of the building, looking out towards a faint orange light in the distance. The camp... "Dunder, this...is evolution!" He yelled, leaping off the building. All was silent from Dunder's perspective, but Avrey's was a lot more...dramatic. He was falling, he hadn't tested this, it may not work, buuuuut...faith would catch him. He winced, and mere moments before he hit the ground, A loud crack shout through the air. He was flying...it wasn't technology, it wasn't an illusion, He had wings. True wings...the first of the winged, the first to test the boundaries of evolution. He soared through the air...it felt natural, and amazing. He would be there in no time...

 

[Ben Brown]

Dunder watched Avery in awe. His friend was flying! Dunder was so proud of him. But, he sat there, immobile, looking around, examining his surroundings. That was when he noticed the tied up figure. It was wriggling, and squirming, struggling to escape. Dunder recognized it as the figure from his dream. What was it trying to do to Avery? Why was it here? What did it look like? Was it human? All of these questions ran through Dunder's mind as he stared at the thing.

 

[DegagetheAvianDragon]

Avrey couldn't help but laugh hysterically as he flew, all the motions and the muscles felt...natural...And it was so easy! Glide...lift...Glide..lift..balance..Glide...repeat..He loved it!


Owl couldn't believe this. He won't expect it They said. It'll be easy They said. Now, here she was, tied up by her own target. And not only had he done that, he had literally flown off, as if to insult her. She growled, frustrated. She was almost out of her binds, just a little more. The human wouldn't do anything to stop her, as he was obviously incapacitated. She would just kill him, and go after Avrey.

 

[Ben Brown]

Dunder noticed that the prisoner was getting out of its bindings. He didn't know if Avery wanted it dead or alive, but, just in case, he reached for his bow, and a few arrows. The pain was extremely bad, but he gritted his teeth and pushed onward. By the time he had an arrow notched, the figure was already standing, and walking towards him. "Aaaaaacccckkkkk!" Dunder yelled as he attempted to pull back the bowstring. As it approached, he could see the figures face. He gasped. It looked just like Avery! But it was holding two swords and approaching Dunder. "One more step and you die" Dunder said weakly. But the avian (or at least thats what he assumed it was) just laughed and kept walking. Pointing the bow at its head, he fired, hitting his target in the shoulder, temporarily stopping it's progress, which gave him just enough time to notch another arrow. Once again, he aimed directly at its head. The avian was dangerously close now, it was now or never. Dunder took a deep breath, and fired. Miss. Before he could even reach for another arrow, the figure was over him. "AVERY!!!" He screamed.

 

[DegagetheAvianDragon]

Owl winced, grabbing the arrow in her shoulder. This little human was fearless! She pushed the arrow through, taking it out, then reached at her side for a syringe. She stabbed it near the wound, then sighed with relief. "Well...I will say..you are...persistent." But suddenly, she had an idea. "Oh...that was a cute scream...let's hear it again..." She ripped the bow out of the Dunder's hands and literally snapped it in half. The Syringe was some sort of healing and enhancement drug. She grabbed Dunder by the arm, and jerked him upwards. "Now...that scream...one more time?" She said softly, digging her talons into Dunder's vein, and dropping him again. She smiled as he screamed in agony. She reached into her pack (It was farther away) and grabbed a beeping device. She hit a button, and set it in Dunder's hands. "Hold this..." Chuckling, she stomped on each one of his legs, and took off sprinting.


Avrey heard a scream, but...didn't think it was real. Just his head. He heard it again, and turned around. He was far away, but the figure was running. He turned back and flew as fast as possible to Dunder.

 

[Ben Brown]

The last thing Dunder saw before he blacked out was his bow, being snapped in half. His pain turned to rage, but then the sheer agony of the avian crushing his legs under talon, was too much to bear, and he went unconcious.

 

[DegagetheAvianDragon]

Avrey landed a few minutes after Owl had left. "Dunder...What happened...where is she...WHAT DID YOU DO?!" He yelled, shaking Dunder. It then became apparent that Dunder wasn't conscious, and a faint beeping was coming from him aswell. Avrey opened Dunder's hands, and saw the device. "It's...BOMB?!" Avrey grabbed it, and threw it as far as he could, mere seconds before it blew up. He watched then looked at Dunder. It didn't look good. "D-Dunder...Can you hear me?" He asked, looking at him. His pulse was faint and fluttery. He listened for anything. "Dunder...Please.."

 

[Ben Brown]

Dunder lay there, limp in Avery's arms, barely alive, unconcious, and in agony. As he was asleep, he dreamed, he dreamt of getting revenge, he dreamt of a time after the apocalypse, when the world was normal, and he pictured he and Avery being roommates, sharing the same home, same life, with Avery. But after this was over... if Avery left... Dunder tried not to dream of that, but he had no control whatsoever. The world would be gray, and grim, and gloomy all the time, and life would never be the same. Dunder... Dunder... these words echoed in his head, Dunder...


His eyes flitted open, revealing a fuzzy outline of Avery. His legs hurt like crazy, worse than befor, and then it all came rushing back to him. The avian, his bow, his legs, him screaming... horrible memories. "Who-Who was that?" Dunder said shakily.

 

[DegagetheAvianDragon]

Avrey sighed in relief, holding Dunder close to his chest gently and carefully. "Well...I just...Some...people want me dead..." He growled, looking around. "Did you see where she went..I'll KILL her for what she did. KIIIILLLL HEEEERRR!" Avrey yelled. He set Dunder down, and reached into his pack. "There is alot...you don't know about me..I'm sorry...but I'll fix it.." He pulled out a syringe almost exactly the Owl had. He jabbed it into Dunder's vein, and pumped the liquid in.