Running Rooftops and Starlit Streets

Chapter 2: Maybe Not Insane...Yet

Yorick and Emma stood up at the same time, Emma's tail swaying slightly. A group of six anthros walking over. Yorick stared in bewilderment. Actual people stood in front of the young man. He saw all of the ladies slowly approach with blades and guns at the ready but they weren't overly threating to him.

Before him stood a wolf, shark, hyena, dog, a muscular version of Emma, and....a dragon? It was rare for an anthro dragon to be born in recent centuries. Yorick stood there, awkward and slightly anxious. The bubbling fear that this was too good to be true, slowly surfaced.

"Emma!" The larger version of Emma made a beeline to her, embracing her tightly. A loud purr emanating from the two. "I knew I should've accompanied you."

"I'm fine Stella. Yorick helped me." Emma raised her right arm to Yorick. All of the girls looked at the thin man. Stella approached, arms crossed but Yorick could see the small firearm in her left paw.

"So you saved my sister?" Stella asked, tall and broad, Yorick was intimidated by the hulking woman. He slowly nodded his head angled more so to the ground. He felt a paw grasp his left shoulder. "Then you have my eternal gratitude." Yorick took a step back away from Stella whom was confused. Yorick was in a state of shock as he grasped his left shoulder and rubbed it. Stella walked over to her little sister. "What's wrong with him?"

Emma gave her sister a glare. "That's not nice." She whispered. "He's been alone for two years, it's possible he is coming to terms with this new development." Emma theorized to the rest of the group. They stood there staring and giving the human looks. His eyes focused back at the situation, and he whipped his hand away from his shoulder.

"Sorry about that, just thinking to myself." Yorick but his left hand to his chest. "My name is Yorick, it is nice to see some not reanimated people for a change." He joked, getting the tallest of the bunch, who was a wolf, to chuckle. She stepped forth separating from the cluster of anthrae. A golden piercing was in her ear.

"The name's Charlotte." The behemoth of an anthro spoke, her voice deep and rich in a southern accent. "We're from down south. Texas, Houston. Most of us are from the same college, except Maya o'er there." She pointed over her shoulder to the dog anthro. "It's been difficult, and a pain, but we plan on staying up here, a lake for fishing, a lot of farm land, and two major cities." Charlotte listed off her reasons. Yorick nodded, but took a deep breath. "What's seems to be the problem?" Charlotte asked.

"Did you have climbers down in Texas? If so how many?" Yorick asked. Charlotte put a thumb to her muzzle and pondered.

"I'd say around fifty per city we came across, and Chicago was hell." Charlotte gave her answer.

"Well, did you come across Listeners?" Yorick looked around the grounds of the government building for some walkers, noticing a few on the ground a ways off.

"What do you mean Listeners?" Emma butted in the conversation.

"Thick, tall pillars of flesh. They are typically composed of many humans and anthrae corpses. They scream when they hear voices or any sound and climbers come in quick to the Listener's position like ants." Yorick gave a brief description. The girls had a look disgust at the horrifying picture they were just given. "I'm going to assume no."

"No we haven't come across any yet. Are they common up here?" Charlotte asked, her left palm on her holstered gun. Yorick nodded.

"They are, or they used to be at least in this city. Dealing with them is a top priority, and they are weak to fire and explosive force, or just really loud sound." Yorick started. "Living here with them can cause more problems than you possibly know, they attract hordes and climbers will chase you endlessly." Yorick heard some glass shatter off in the distance. The girls started to get a little restless.