Chapter 1
Wir sind nicht alleine...
We Are Not Alone...
Zelma's POV
This old, abandoned theater wasn't much of a home, but it was enough of a shelter for my sister and I to recuperate before moving on. Now that it was just us two, we couldn't stay in one place for very long anymore. The lobby had a raised, circular pad in front of the double doors we managed to hold shut with a bit of rope tied around the knobs. We moved some of the furniture away from the barricade in the event that we would need to leave this theater and relocate. There were a pair of curved staircases on either side of us. To the right of us in the corner was a bar or some kind of area for drinks and food.
I looked around the entire lobby, scanning every bit of this place with my eyes while my sister snooped around the place on her own. Being the glutton of the two of us, she made a beeline for the bar.
"Hey, Zia! Look!" She put her arms around it like she was giving it a hug. It was rounded, somewhat square-shaped. "It says...Quick Revive."
"That's good, Rose...could come in handy later." I mumbled to myself as I continued to walk forward towards the set of double doors between the stairs...until another familiar object caught my eye: Dr. Monty's Gobblegum.
"That's even better." I muttered. "Moving on...."
The double doors were locked. There was another boarded up area to the right of them. Looks like the zombie hordes must have gotten in here, too. The doors to the left down the corridor were locked, too.
"Scheisse (shit)! No luck here, either." I jogged up to the front of the lobby. "Rosie, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
After a wooden clatter, Rosemary groaned. "These doors up here are locked, too, Zee. This map says we're in the lobby."
I started to make my way up the right stairs. "Looks like we'll have to wait awhile, sis."
I glanced at the map my sister was looking over. Drawn out with chalk, scribbled and fairly easy to read. Lightbulbs were placed on the map, too, for some odd reason. I was looking at the bottom portion last; apparently, that circular pad was a teleportation device. There was an even bigger teleporter in the theater on the stage behind the first pair of doors I came across.
The stage or the saloon would be a good place to stay for awhile until the next wave of zombies come again. But until we can unlock the doors, we're stuck here. Scheisse, I have zero fucks to give right now. I lost both my parents and my husband to the hordes. I've lost every-fucking-thing. Rosemary is all I have. And I'm all she's got. The last thing my sister and I needed was to lose our parents. We got separated one time, and we nearly get swarmed by zombies. If it weren't for the fact that Rosie is a zombie magnet, it'd be easier on us to survive the undead monsters.
My mixed emotions and thoughts were disrupted when my sister made a comment on another object that I found weird and, in this case, hated with a passion.
"This teddy bear's seen better days..."
"That's gross...and creepy." I nearly gagged at the caked blood on the miserable stuffed animal. "Don't touch it, Rosie." I growled
"C'mon, why not?"
"Just leave it alone."
"Ugh, fine..."
Suddenly, I heard demonic screams coming from the front doors to the lobby and low growls, echoing from the boarded up areas downstairs.
"About time they showed up...." Rosie said with a hint of sarcasm.
"This should be quick." I growled. "Go get the Sheiva downstairs, I'll cover you with this." I made a dash and got the RK5 and crouched behind the teddy bear stand.
As Rosemary gracefully slid down the rail of the staircase, she quickly grabbed the gun and made her way up the stairs...until some unknown voices stopped her in her track and made me come up from my crouch.
"What are you doing, Dempsey?! Open the doors!!" He sounded like he was German.
"Gawd-fuckin'-dammit!!" No accent at all. Must have been American.
"Out of my way!!" The German yelled again.
"They are getting closer!!" L's sounded like R's. Chinese, Japanese, maybe?
"I can't hold them off forever, guys!" The American said.
"Everybody, stand back. I'm going to open these doors!!" Couldn't quite tell what part of the world this man was from. Sounded similar to German, but not quite German. Russian, perhaps. I growled at myself, frustrated at my self-distraction.
"Rosie, hol arsch (haul ass) NOW!"
Rosie scurried like a panicked rat up the stairs and crouched beside me just as we heard what sounded like a KRM shotgun blow through the double doors.
"The doctor will see you now..." The German man said calmly, loading his gun.
"Let's get 'em!" The American yelled out as they proceeded to go after the barricades that were being torn down by the undead.
The German "doctor" sliced through the undead with his knife as if their bodies were made of butter. The American soldier used a pair of MR6 pistols to blow away his undead attackers. The Japanese or Chinese man used his sword to cut through the zombies and the Russian one put his shotgun away and used a combo of pistol and knife to eliminate the zombies that came after him.
"Zee, these guys look pretty tough...maybe they can help us..."
"I'll be the judge of that....Follow my lead."
"What're you gonna do?"
"Pull up your scarf."
We were disguised as men, so I pulled up my brown scarf over my face, so that only my eyes were visible. Rosie pulled her black scarf up and we quietly took a deep breath. I had my plain white, filthy tank top; my black German soldier's hat that hid my long, blonde hair; and my baggy cargo pants and combat boots with matching gloves. My face dirty and bloody enough to conceal my more obvious feminine features. My sister wore a long-sleeve dark-green shirt; cargo pants, combat boots and a German side cap, perfectly straight atop her head that concealed her short, brown hair that came just above the top of her shoulders.
I waited until the last of the zombies were killed by these strange men before giving my sister the green light.
"NOW...." I hissed and quickly got up from my crouch, pointing my RK5 at the group of men. Rosie cocked her Sheiva and quickly copied my stance.
"HALT (stop)!" I bellowed with the utmost masculinity.
"Who the hell are you?!" The American snapped.
"Tell us who you are first, American." Rosie grumbled, trying to hide her naturally high-pitched voice.
"We're here looking for a teleporter." He said, locking eyes with me. "You guys seen it by any chance?"
"Maybe...?" Rosie sang slightly.
"Then again, maybe not." I played along with her vagueness.
"We do not have time to dance around this all day!"
"Right to the point then, huh, soldier? Fine."
I held my RK5 with one hand and jumped down from the balcony, landing with a loud, echoing thud. "The map says the teleporter is through these doors."
"Finally, some good news." The American barked.
"But there's one teeny little catch: you have to take the long way around to reach it. Me and my little brother got chased here by a swarm of zombies, so we're stuck here until we find a way out of here."
"The doc here says the teleporter can get us outta here."
"Did he now...? Interessant (interesting)....Okay, men, we'll make you a deal. We help you get to that teleporter in one piece, you help us get out of this hellhole."
"How do we know we can trust you?" The American pointed out.
"We'll lower our weapons if you lower yours, American..."
They all exchanged glances at us before putting their weapons away.
"Your turn, buddy."
I put my RK5 back in my holster as my sister jumped down behind me and put her Sheiva on her back.
"So, now that we understand each other, there is---" I was instantly cut off.
"Something we need you to know about us...."
I saw her shrug her shoulders at me, then it hit me. "What the hell're you---?"
She took off her scarf from her face and removed her hat, fixing her hair briefly. Irritated and annoyed, I took off my scarf and hat as well.
We all got surprised looks from the men as they took half a step back.
"My name is Zelma Wolfe. This is my little sis, Rosemary."
After clearing his throat and straightening up, the American spoke again.
"I'm Corporal "Tank" Dempsey, US Marines. This is Takeo Masaki, Nikolai Belinski and Doctor Edward Richtofen."
Takeo to the far left nodded once. Nikolai waved slightly. After Dempsey shook my sister's hand, I saw her blush slightly. "Nice to meet you all."
I extended my hand out as the German proceeded to shake it. "Likewise."
As another chorus of screams, groans and growls pervaded the air, I looked over Richtofen's shoulder. Rosie began to back up. "They're coming again!"
"We need to hold out here until we can open the doors to the theater room." I told the group as I readied my pistols.
As everyone dispersed, I held my RK5 up to the barrier at the top of the left staircase. "Time to die again, you stinkin' corpses...."