Tom / Jonathan Coulton / barways -- WITH ZOMBIES

[mm_adiva]

Comments

[untiedtheknots]

One of the zombies sprouts an arrow from his forehead.

(Made from cypress wood, to be precise. Artemis has been keeping a few more of them around after that trip to Las Vegas.)

She climbs up on top of a table for a better vantage point, lining up her next shot.

[re_mybrains]

Tom ducks instinctively, hitting the floor again.

"Holy fuck!"

The zombie teeters and falls backward, into the shamble. It slows down the other zombies for a moment as they try to push past.

[untiedtheknots]

"Sorry!" she calls. "Keep your head down for a minute?"

Three more shots follow in rapid succession, bottlenecking the zombies in the doorway. Artemis hops down off the table and scrambles for the door.

[re_mybrains]

Don't need to tell him twice. He stays low, shifting so he can watch the archer (archeress? Whatever), and keeps his gun ready to fire if she needs backup.

[untiedtheknots]

One of the lead zombies is wiggling its way free of its fellows. Artemis shoves him back into place by stabbing an arrow through his eye.

She kicks him hard in the chest and grabs the door, trying to slam it shut.

[re_mybrains]

Too many bodies in the way. Tom drops his gun and scrambles forward, shoving at the fallen zombies, heedless of the gore.

[untiedtheknots]

Artemis kicks at the bodies, trying to get them through the door.

The less dead zombies, meanwhile, are pushing back. Artemis drops her bow and pulls another arrow from her quiver, stabbing blindly through the gap.

[re_mybrains]

Well, something makes a displeased noise, anyway.

And a hand grabs for her wrist.

Tom yells something with four letters and shoves again, getting the pile to move a few inches.

[untiedtheknots]

Artemis snarls, baring her teeth.

"Big mistake." She stabs again until she meets resistance, then abandons the arrow to grab the wrist attached to the hand.

(She's a goddess of healing, like her brother, but this thing is dead in all ways that matter and she can't fix that.

Also like her brother, she is a goddess of plague.)

The virus replicates in a hurry, burning through its host. The hand slides from her wrist; something falls back behind the door with a wet sound.

She gives the door another hard shove.

[re_mybrains]

"Watch it--"

The pile shifts again. The door is more than halfway closed now.

"Hold it," Tom calls, and grabs his .22 out of his back pocket. The angle isn't very good, but he manages to drop another zombie. There's two left in there, moaning and pressing against the pile of bodies.

"Would you guys fuck off!"

[untiedtheknots]

Artemis is cursing low and creatively in Greek.

(She wishes fleetingly for her sister; Persephone could always get the dead to listen to her.)

She slams her shoulder hard into the door.

[re_mybrains]

Almost there. Tom fires again through the narrowing gap, then clambers to his feet and adds his weight to Artemis'.

It's a struggle, but the door finally, finally closes with a kchunk.

Tom keeps leaning on it like he expects it to open any second.

[untiedtheknots]

He's not the only one.

"Hi," she says after a moment, still trying to catch her breath.

"I'm Artemis."

[re_mybrains]

He looks up at her, blinking.

". . . So I'm back in Milliways, then, huh."

[untiedtheknots]

She nods.

"Welcome back."

[re_mybrains]

"Holy shit."

Okay he is sitting down now. The floor looks good. Leaning against the door (just in case) also looks good.

"Thanks. Um, thanks. I'm Tom."