Mythlands: THE HEIST

Part Two: Fear The Walking Dead

The Hare was freaking out.

Stay Calm. Don't make any noise.

He kept repeating Future Hare's warning in his head ... and it had been ok for the first mile or so, trudging through the freezing snow. The group had kept a tight formation, with weapons at the ready and Hare thought they might even make it without encountering any zombies ... and then the fog rolled in.

Somehow, despite trying to stay close to his other self, he had found himself at the back of the group and then had stumbled and fallen. When he had looked up, he couldn't see a thing and brave as The Hare was in certain situations, other situations threatened to put him in full on panic mode. Being caught in a fog in an icy wasteland full of the walking dead was one of those situations.

'Guys? Where are you? GUYS!!'

Something lurched out of the fog towards him and The Hare froze - the hideous animated corpse was moaning, it's bulbous eyes seeking him out, the rotten flesh of the dead man's face, hanging off like strips of salami.

Clammy hands reached for him and still The Hare couldn't move.

The jaws opened and dead hands touched his neck.

Suddenly the walker lurched backwards with an arrow bolt in it's forehead and behind him, Goldie emerged from the white mist.

'Hare ya drongo!' she was whispering but the annoyance was clear. 'What did the other you say? Shut the hell up and keep calm.' Her voice trailed off, softer at the end as she realised Hare's teeth were chattering. 'Come on mate, stay close. Jess would never forgive me if I let your dumb ass get bitten.'

The Hare perked up. 'Jessica said that? She still cares? What else did she say about me?'

Goldie rolled her eyes. 'Not the time mate, not the time.'

'Yo! You guys all right?'

The Gingerbread Man appeared.

'Yeah babe, Hare just had a moment. Won't happen again will it lop ears?'

But suddenly The Hare shrieked like a little girl. A hand had grabbed his ankle - down at his feet a legless zombie was dragging itself towards him. He turned to run and fell over again, still shrieking.

'That's done it!' The Gingerbread Man was over in an instant, pulling his knife free and slamming it in the zombie's head. 'Hare, shut your damn mouth and keep calm. Do it now man, or I'll slit your throat myself!'

The Hare was painfully aware that The Gingerbread Man didn't make idle threats so he sat, panting and taking in the cold air in freezing lungfuls. forcing himself to be quiet.

All around them, groans and rattling scraping movements indicated that the dead were converging on the sounds. The Hare sat sobbing in the snow with one pair of short gingerbread legs on one side of him and a pair of longer more shapely legs to the other. He briefly wondered how Goldie could go bare legged in this weather. He heard two swishing noises, that indicated they had both drawn their blades and were standing ready.

A noise from the side - Goldie tensed but relaxed as Future Hare, Wiley, Cottontail and the Rabbitz appeared out of the fog and formed up around them.

'Kid get ahold of yourself and stay quiet. We'll clear this area as quietly as we can. Steady everyone - bats and knives ready - let them come to us. Nobody breaks formation.'

The Hare was gasping, trying to control his panic attack. Around him he sensed more than saw, his companions calmly and methodically clubbing the dead or using their knives. Goldie and Cottontail were knocking walkers over and as they hit the ground, The Gingerbread Man gleefully stabbed or bashed in their heads. Slightly to the side, Future Hare and his gang were using baseball bats and iron pipes to clear the dead.

Then Hare felt Cottontail dragging him up and pushing him forward. 'Quick, walk and follow the file. Fierce and Velveteen are flanking us. We stay close, we move quickly and quietly.'

And they almost made it without encountering any dead, but swiftly dispatched stragglers ... then within a few hundred yards of the tree-line, Future Hare pulled the group up short and indicated they should all duck down behind a huge frozen log.

He whispered and the message was passed back - close to seventy zombies were milling around blocking their way forward. Hare could actually see a few dead turn towards the trees but sort of stumble back like they had hit an invisible force field.

Future Hare leaned over. 'They're spread too wide. The fog's starting to lift to the sides so if we try to skirt them, we'll be caught in the open. Our only chance is to fight our way through where they're thinnest.' He looked over at his past self. 'Think you can do that buddy? Huh? Course ya can son, I know ya got it in ya!'

The Hare swallowed hard and attempted a nod. He could feel his whole body begin to shiver. Someone handed him a baseball bat to replace the iron bar he'd dropped earlier.

'Alright,' began Future Hare. 'Everybody get ready. We move on my signal. In three, two ...'

That was when they heard the shots. They were coming from a few miles away, at the start of the ice fields and there were lots of them!

Future Hare leaned over again. 'Whoever's behind us, I've a hunch they're not here to help us, but look ... the swarm is starting to react. Everybody keep down and when they've passed we make a run for it!'

It was the most nerve racking few minutes of The Hare's life, crouching behind the trunk as the dead shuffled past in the fog, but soon enough the signal was given and The Hare did what The Hare had always done best - he ran! He ran hard and he ran fast, skidding into safety along with the others and to his great relief he saw Pegasus and the others up ahead.

'Yo Hares, what up?' greeted his friend.

His Future self answered. 'Out of the frying pan ...' he looked grimly at the trees ahead, '...and into the fire!'