ZombieLoz: Homecoming, Part Two
Part Two, in which the plot begins to appear.
Imagine good ol' 1950s monster movie vibe here.
And Guitar Wolf.
Title is from a song by t.A.T.u. which has lyrics involving the words "living dead". No, really.
Part Two (Dangerous and Moving)
It wasn't just the situation with Loz that made Yazoo think that nothing was the same any more.
The town they'd come upon was obviously a planned community, with a lot of straight grid-set streets and greenery so well-trimmed that the care was obvious from the mountainside they stood upon. There was a solidness to the place, a palpable age, that was completely unexpected.
"Since when did North Corel look like this?" Yazoo muttered.
Kadaj snorted. "It doesn't matter what it looks like," he shrugged. "All that matters is that there's a retired Shinra scientist that worked with Mother here. We have to find out what he knows." He blinked, staring down at the decidedly ordered and well-established town. "Besides, Shinra rebuilt Nibelheim. Maybe this is the same kind of deception."
"Mebbe z'not Corel," Loz suggested, catching up and slipping down several feet of slope until Yazoo put out is arm to catch him. Loz simply couldn't react fast enough anymore to keep himself from damage, it seemed. ...Though really, Yazoo reflected, they didn't have to worry about Loz being damaged so much as doing damage...
"There is supposed to be another day's walk before we get there," Yazoo said with a nod to Loz, though he refrained from saying anything about their slow pace being largely due to Loz himself. If Kadaj managed to keep his mouth shut about how long it took them to get anywhere, it wasn't Yazoo's place to mention it.
Kadaj shrugged again. "Doesn't really matter, does it." He hopped from the rock he'd perched on and started downhill again. "Come on, I see a road..."
Yazoo trudged along behind, glancing back occasionally to be sure that Loz followed, not quite waiting for him to catch up - which Loz wouldn't mind. Yazoo staying close to and protecting Kadaj, since Loz wasn't quite as effective any more, was more important.
Loz did catch up again as they made their way out onto the road, which was well-kept and paved in solid young black with yellow lines down the middle. Unusual for this part of the world.
"Miss th'cycles," Loz mumbled, his gait a little unsteady.
Next to him, Yazoo glanced over. They'd left the motorcycles back on the other continent when they'd ferried here - not just to avoid the effort of paying (or forcing) their way across and caring for them on a less-habited continent, but also because Loz's dulled reactions made him a downright liability on his. And having Loz ride behind one of them, so close to their heads should he grow hungry... that was just a little more unnerving than Yazoo or Kadaj could stand.
Yazoo voiced none of this, only smiled faintly as he responded. "Yeah, they'd practically fly on a road like this."
Kadaj said nothing.
"Hungry."
Yazoo's head jerked aside to face Loz, but Loz was only watching the ground, perhaps trying to be sure he didn't stumble as he walked.
Kadaj made a snorting sound. "We'll be there soon."
They walked silently through the fiery autumn forest that lined both sides of the road for a while longer. The wind blew, swaying the tops of the trees with a soft roar, carrying little but the scents of musty leaves and earth and decaying plant matter.
Loz grunted, stopping in his tracks and looking over his shoulder. Yazoo walked ahead a few paces before stopping as well, looking back. "What is it?"
But a moment later, the sound was audible to all three of them - an engine.
"Vehicle," Yazoo murmured, the three of them moving closer together. "Car. Modified engine..."
Kadaj abruptly turned to continue walking again, though he moved to one side of the road. "Keep moving."
Yazoo and Loz complied without question. When the car approached, the three of them were walking single-file along the side of the road.
The car was impractically low-slung and dusty black, with chrome ducts and chimneys rising through the hood like a miniature cityscape. It slowed to a crawl next to them, pacing them, the occupants studying them without pretense.
"You the competition?"
Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz simultaneously stopped and turned to look at the occupants of the car as it halted. Two of the three occupants seemed to be nearly identical, with partly slicked-back black hair that rose up a bit in the front, like Loz's but not as short. Those two wore leather jackets, while the third lounging in the back seat had shaggy hair and a red jacket. All three wore similar sunglasses and stony expressions. Their weapons were smaller - shoulder-holstered pistols and a few rifles and a katana, and what looked like a guitar, in the back seat.
Kadaj narrowed his eyes, but offered a small, sweet smile. "That depends," he said airily. "Do you think you can compete with us?"
Yazoo tilted his head, regarding the men with his usual unimpressed gaze. He disliked sunglasses - they were a mask that made it more difficult to read a human - but these guys were clearly little to be concerned with, more style than substance. Otherwise they'd not be wasting their time with a vehicle that stood little chance to traverse much of this continent. Kadaj obviously saw this as well - he was playing.
The near-identical pair in the front opened their doors and simultaneously stood. The one on the passenger side, facing them, reached back to open the door to the back seat, and the shaggy-haired man got out as well, his expression nearly as unimpressed as Yazoo's. The other two pulled combs from their back pockets and ran them through their hair in unison.
Beside him, Yazoo heard Loz lick his lips, and he smiled.
An entertaining hour later, Yazoo started the car up again as Kadaj flopped into the passenger side of the front.
The youngest propped his leg up with his foot out the open window, stretching his arms back over his head as best he could with the low ceiling. "That was fun," he commented, his attitude and smile radiating contentment. His sword rested beside him, cleaned and sheathed.
From the backseat, Loz grunted in agreement. There was a wet cracking sound as the eldest pulled the last of the severed heads apart a little more to get the last traces of brain inside.
The corner of Yazoo's mouth twitched upward as he shifted the car into gear and they began to head down the road again, without having to worry about anybody lagging behind. This wasn't such a bad day at all.
Yet.
Imagine good ol' 1950s monster movie vibe here.
And Guitar Wolf.
Title is from a song by t.A.T.u. which has lyrics involving the words "living dead". No, really.
Part Two (Dangerous and Moving)
It wasn't just the situation with Loz that made Yazoo think that nothing was the same any more.
The town they'd come upon was obviously a planned community, with a lot of straight grid-set streets and greenery so well-trimmed that the care was obvious from the mountainside they stood upon. There was a solidness to the place, a palpable age, that was completely unexpected.
"Since when did North Corel look like this?" Yazoo muttered.
Kadaj snorted. "It doesn't matter what it looks like," he shrugged. "All that matters is that there's a retired Shinra scientist that worked with Mother here. We have to find out what he knows." He blinked, staring down at the decidedly ordered and well-established town. "Besides, Shinra rebuilt Nibelheim. Maybe this is the same kind of deception."
"Mebbe z'not Corel," Loz suggested, catching up and slipping down several feet of slope until Yazoo put out is arm to catch him. Loz simply couldn't react fast enough anymore to keep himself from damage, it seemed. ...Though really, Yazoo reflected, they didn't have to worry about Loz being damaged so much as doing damage...
"There is supposed to be another day's walk before we get there," Yazoo said with a nod to Loz, though he refrained from saying anything about their slow pace being largely due to Loz himself. If Kadaj managed to keep his mouth shut about how long it took them to get anywhere, it wasn't Yazoo's place to mention it.
Kadaj shrugged again. "Doesn't really matter, does it." He hopped from the rock he'd perched on and started downhill again. "Come on, I see a road..."
Yazoo trudged along behind, glancing back occasionally to be sure that Loz followed, not quite waiting for him to catch up - which Loz wouldn't mind. Yazoo staying close to and protecting Kadaj, since Loz wasn't quite as effective any more, was more important.
Loz did catch up again as they made their way out onto the road, which was well-kept and paved in solid young black with yellow lines down the middle. Unusual for this part of the world.
"Miss th'cycles," Loz mumbled, his gait a little unsteady.
Next to him, Yazoo glanced over. They'd left the motorcycles back on the other continent when they'd ferried here - not just to avoid the effort of paying (or forcing) their way across and caring for them on a less-habited continent, but also because Loz's dulled reactions made him a downright liability on his. And having Loz ride behind one of them, so close to their heads should he grow hungry... that was just a little more unnerving than Yazoo or Kadaj could stand.
Yazoo voiced none of this, only smiled faintly as he responded. "Yeah, they'd practically fly on a road like this."
Kadaj said nothing.
"Hungry."
Yazoo's head jerked aside to face Loz, but Loz was only watching the ground, perhaps trying to be sure he didn't stumble as he walked.
Kadaj made a snorting sound. "We'll be there soon."
They walked silently through the fiery autumn forest that lined both sides of the road for a while longer. The wind blew, swaying the tops of the trees with a soft roar, carrying little but the scents of musty leaves and earth and decaying plant matter.
Loz grunted, stopping in his tracks and looking over his shoulder. Yazoo walked ahead a few paces before stopping as well, looking back. "What is it?"
But a moment later, the sound was audible to all three of them - an engine.
"Vehicle," Yazoo murmured, the three of them moving closer together. "Car. Modified engine..."
Kadaj abruptly turned to continue walking again, though he moved to one side of the road. "Keep moving."
Yazoo and Loz complied without question. When the car approached, the three of them were walking single-file along the side of the road.
The car was impractically low-slung and dusty black, with chrome ducts and chimneys rising through the hood like a miniature cityscape. It slowed to a crawl next to them, pacing them, the occupants studying them without pretense.
"You the competition?"
Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz simultaneously stopped and turned to look at the occupants of the car as it halted. Two of the three occupants seemed to be nearly identical, with partly slicked-back black hair that rose up a bit in the front, like Loz's but not as short. Those two wore leather jackets, while the third lounging in the back seat had shaggy hair and a red jacket. All three wore similar sunglasses and stony expressions. Their weapons were smaller - shoulder-holstered pistols and a few rifles and a katana, and what looked like a guitar, in the back seat.
Kadaj narrowed his eyes, but offered a small, sweet smile. "That depends," he said airily. "Do you think you can compete with us?"
Yazoo tilted his head, regarding the men with his usual unimpressed gaze. He disliked sunglasses - they were a mask that made it more difficult to read a human - but these guys were clearly little to be concerned with, more style than substance. Otherwise they'd not be wasting their time with a vehicle that stood little chance to traverse much of this continent. Kadaj obviously saw this as well - he was playing.
The near-identical pair in the front opened their doors and simultaneously stood. The one on the passenger side, facing them, reached back to open the door to the back seat, and the shaggy-haired man got out as well, his expression nearly as unimpressed as Yazoo's. The other two pulled combs from their back pockets and ran them through their hair in unison.
Beside him, Yazoo heard Loz lick his lips, and he smiled.
An entertaining hour later, Yazoo started the car up again as Kadaj flopped into the passenger side of the front.
The youngest propped his leg up with his foot out the open window, stretching his arms back over his head as best he could with the low ceiling. "That was fun," he commented, his attitude and smile radiating contentment. His sword rested beside him, cleaned and sheathed.
From the backseat, Loz grunted in agreement. There was a wet cracking sound as the eldest pulled the last of the severed heads apart a little more to get the last traces of brain inside.
The corner of Yazoo's mouth twitched upward as he shifted the car into gear and they began to head down the road again, without having to worry about anybody lagging behind. This wasn't such a bad day at all.
Yet.